Alex in Between

of Wizards of Waverly Place The Movie

written by Stessa

"It really bothers me that you can't stay with me now." Harper mumbled, as she sat on Alex's bed and fidgeted with something in her lap. Her face was bent downwards, her red bangs hiding her positively hurt expression from the brunette, who was currently trying to pack a suitcase without actually packing it.

Alex swallowed loudly and was torn between sitting down next to her and placing an arm around her for comfort, or just staying where she was, agreeing with Harper by cursing her mother and her stupid rules. She knew that it was partly her fault that they were now in this situation, because she absolutely had to go and disobey her parents by going to that party. But it was always like that with her; she didn't want to disappoint Harper by not going to the party, and now she was disappointing Harper by going away for two weeks.

Their plan had been that Alex was going to stay with Harper and her family while the Russos went away on vacation. It was perfect in more ways than one; Alex hated family vacations, and mostly, she hated them with her family while her family (mainly her brothers) loved them without her. She also couldn't make do without Harper for two weeks, and Harper couldn't make do without her for two weeks, so all in all, she thought that it was a pretty clever idea she had, when she presented it to her parents. Her mother had reluctantly agreed, but after the stunt she pulled last night, there was just no way that she was being left behind.

Not that Alex in any way believed that she had done anything wrong last night. Her mother was the unreasonable one. She was the one who kept messing up her life and embarrassing her countless of times. She was the one who didn't understand her, who didn't get her – at all. It wasn't Alex's fault that she was so close-minded and that telling her anything – trying to explain to her anything – wasn't doable. She just wouldn't get it.

Harper sighed deeply, and Alex came to a solution somewhere in between; she kneeled down in front of her girlfriend, placing a comforting hand on the redhead's knee. "I'm sorry, Harp." Alex whispered, and finally Harper lifted her eyes to meet hers. There were tears in the corners and Alex felt even guiltier.

"It's not your fault, I'm just being stupid!" Harper tried to convince Alex – and probably also herself. She wiped her cheeks off with the back of her hand. "I'm just gonna miss you so much, Alex... I haven't been away from you for so long before."

Alex offered the other girl a warm smile. "I'm gonna miss you too, Harper. And I'll be the one suffering, think about it! Spending time with my dorky family non-stop for the next two weeks, huh!"

Harper let out a warm chuckle. "Your family is awesome, Alex." she whispered.

Alex couldn't help a small smile come to her lips, because she never really thought that the word 'awesome' fitted her family that well, but for some reason, Harper thought very highly of them. "I love you, Harper."

"I love you too, Alex." Harper replied and placed her arms around the brunette in a tight hug.

Alex inhaled Harper's strawberry scent deeply, knowing this would be the last she could smell it for the next couple of weeks. She had no idea how she would cope without it. She knew Harper felt the same; they weren't prepared for this, they weren't ready to be apart for so long.

"You haven't finished packing yet!"

The two girls broke apart to the sound of Theresa's accusative voice. Harper pulled back fully and somehow mustered to get a smile onto her face. Alex however, just stood up from the floor, hands in her sides. "I was just saying goodbye to Harper, ain't I allowed to do that now?" she hissed.

Theresa's jaw tightened. "You need to finish packing, Alex. And you need to quit using that tone with me. You're gonna ruin the vacation for your brothers."

Alex scoffed. "Please, I don't care, my vacation is already ruined, but who cares about that?"

Theresa swallowed loudly, and Alex wondered what was going through er mind. It wasn't that she didn't love her mother. She loved her with all her heart, but she was just so fucking tired of the fact that she still treated her like she was some little girl. She wasn't, she was 16, for Christ's sake, and ready to make her own decisions! She was old enough to date, to choose whether she wanted to focus on art or school, to decide if she wanted to work in the substation or not. But they never allowed her to make those choices for herself – they always told her what to do.

And she hadn't even told them that she was happily in love – that she couldn't wish for more, that Harper was everything she'd ever need. She couldn't even imagine what their reactions would be, how her mother would frown upon her, say she couldn't see Harper anymore. She couldn't deal with that finger pointed right at her. She wasn't sure if she'd ever be able to tell her that she and Harper made perfect sense when they were together, that their curves fit perfectly against each other, and that when their lips touched, she felt like her feet were literally lifting her off the ground.

Alex reached for her wand and played with it between her fingers for a two, completely lost in thought, while Theresa turned to Harper and offered the redhead a small smile. "I think it's best if you leave now, Harper. Alex will be back in two weeks, then you can come spend the night."

Harper didn't say anything – she just quickly hopped off the bed and was out of the room and down the stairs before Alex, who was still gazing at her want, managed to say a word. She threw it onto the chair next to her and groaned.

"Well, thanks, Mom!" Alex sarcastically said as she turned around to start throwing half of her closet into her suitcase. "You just ruined our goodbye. Do you realise this is the longest I'll have to be away from her – my best friend?"

Theresa sighed heavily again. "I'm sure you'll survive two weeks, Alex."

Alex paused, frozen in the middle of her search for tees. It was just typical of her mother to say something like that, just typical! She went ahead and commented on everything, thinking she was right, when really, she had no idea what was going on! Alex hated her for her I-know-what's-best attitude. She couldn't stand know-it-alls.

Ignoring her mother's existence further, Alex started sorting through her skirts, selecting whichever ones she wanted to bring with her.

You might think I can survive two weeks, Alex told her mother in her thoughts, but I can't. It's two weeks without Harper and two weeks without magic.

She glanced at her wand again and froze. She knew that eventually she'd have to choose between one of the two. But she couldn't figure out how to. Every time she did magic, she thought she would never be able to function without it. But then every time she was with Harper, she was sure that Harper was most important. She couldn't figure out how to make the decision.

Is Harper worth it?

"So you're pretending I'm not here, now?" Theresa said from behind her, in a slightly sarcastic tone. "Well, that's mature. You can see why I am just thrilled to let you make more decisions on your own, huh."

Ignoring her mother's attempts to get a rise out of her, and forgetting about the question that had her frustrated everyday, Alex threw some skirts into her suitcase and started choosing her underwear and bathing suits. She had no idea how she was going to survive on a vacation island for so long. It wasn't her style, her type of vacation consisted of staying home and relaxing in any way she could. She was certain that there would be no relaxation whatsoever when they got there, because her family would – without a doubt – want to go to all these sightseeing places.

Her mother sighed from behind her. "Alex." she said, sitting down on the bed, just as Alex turned around, arms crossed, not ready to listen at all. "I want this vacation to be perfect, it's the last we're gonna have together." her mother pleaded with those huge eyes of hers. "I know you're growing up, and I know you think that you're ready to handle everything, but truth is, you're only 16, and I can't stand to see you slipping away from me."

Alex unclenched her jaw and gave a sigh of exhaustion. She was tired of having the same fight over and over again with her mother, tired of fighting again and again about the same things. "It would be easier if you loosened the leash a little, Mom." she mumbled then.

Theresa blinked a few times. "I can't loosen the leash when I'm afraid you're gonna tare it away from me, now can I?" she stood up then and crossed the floor, placing a hand on each of Alex's shoulders. "You're my baby girl, and I feel like you're not sharing your life with me, I feel like you're pulling yourself further and further away."

"That's because you don't understand." Alex groaned and pushed her mother's hands off of her shoulders. She turned around then to resume packing her suitcase, leaving her mother in a complete silence. She didn't get how her mother didn't understand, that she just couldn't talk to her about these things. She wanted to, badly, because it would be so much easier if her family knew that she was dating Harper; she hated keeping it a secret, not being able to kiss her and hold her hand. But she just couldn't tell them, because she knew they wouldn't understand.

Her mother touched her lower backside then, giving it a gentle rub. "What is it that you're not telling me, mi hija?" she wondered, her voice straining with hurt and confusion.

Alex swallowed loudly and breathed in heavily. She wanted badly to erupt into sobs and just tell her mother everything, but she didn't, couldn't. Instead, she kept it inside and continued to stuff her suitcase.

Her mother's hand fell to the side. "When you're done packing, put your suitcase downstairs so it's ready for tomorrow." Theresa whispered, before she turned around and slowly walked out of the room.

Back in her bedroom, Alex bit her lip to stop from doing the thing she hated the most – crying.

WOW

Okay, so she'd been angry with her mother for quite awhile, but she had never really meant it to go that far...

All she wanted was a few hours away from her crazy family to be able to call Harper and say things she longed to say when she wasn't with her, but not even her cover of a party with some lame dude had helped her, and her mother still told her she had to spend every waking moment with her family during this lame ass vacation.

Which of course she should have accepted, but hadn't. That was how they ended up in this mess... as usual, always her fault, and as usual, Justin thought that he'd safe the day and be everybody's hero. But how does one even wish that her parents never met? Hello, that's just stupid! Everyone knows that if parents never met, children were never born – hence... well, no vacation or family to be tired with for starters.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Alex mumbled to herself and hit her forehead repeatedly with a flat hand.

Letting out a sigh, she had to think for a few seconds, try to figure out what to do next. Whenever they tried talking to one of their parents it became evident that none of them knew who they were, and none of them even liked the other. And no simple spell could safe them from this, because their wands were at home, and since their father never gave up his powers, he now had The Forbidden Book of Spells and The Full-Wizard Wand and there was nothing her and her brothers could do about it.

She needed to talk to someone who'd listen to her and offer good advice, but not lecture her. She needed to talk to Harper about all of this, and let's face it – she could now call her all she wanted, because she had no parents!

Slipping coins into the machine in the lobby, Alex dialled Harper's cell phone number and pulled the cord out as far as it could go, so she could shield herself from curious stares. It took Harper a while to answer, and when she finally did, Alex was tripping on her feet.

"Hi, this Harper?"

"HARP!" Alex exclaimed, feeling a burst of relief in her chest as soon as she heard her girlfriend's voice. "It's so good to hear from you!"

Harper chuckled on the other end. "It's good to hear from you too, Alex. I miss you! Is everything OK there, are you having lots of family-fun?"

Alex swallowed loudly and clung the phone tighter to her ear. "Harper, I did something stupid and we don't know how to fix it."

"I'm sure it's not that bad, Alex, what happened?" Harper questioned, and Alex could hear that she tried to sound calm and collected, but the worry was right there in her voice.

"I accidentally wished my parents never met and now they haven't and they don't know who we are, and Harper, if we don't fix this, Justin, Max and I are gonna disappear and this will be the last you hear from me!" Alex rambled off in a voice that got louder and louder with each word. She could feel small tears slipping down her cheeks and she was feeling truly scared and lost, because this wasn't just some stupid spell she'd done wrong, this was a matter of life. If she didn't fix this, none of the things she'd planned for her and Harper would ever happen.

There was silent on the other end of the line and Alex had her heart up her throat whilst waiting for Harper to say something.

"I can see why that is a problem." the redhead replied and Alex couldn't help but giggle lightly, because this is why she loved Harper; Harper always made her laugh, even when things were serious. In the most serious of moments, Harper would always say something to relieve the tension.

Alex rubbed her nose shortly and said, "We don't know what to do Harper. But I don't wanna die! I wanna live and be with you and have a happy life."

Harper's voice was low on the other end. "I want all those things too, Alex. And I'm sure we will get them. I know this is a serious situation, but I have faith in you and Justin and Max. You'll figure something out."

Swallowing a huge lump in her throat, Alex couldn't understand the faith that Harper had in her. No one else believed in her that much, but Harper always did. She always saw the best in her and thought that no matter what, she could do everything. Harper didn't let her down or lecture her, she was just the perfect girlfriend with the perfect amount of hope, even in situations like these. Normally Alex didn't think much about it, but right this moment – she appreciated that fact very much.

"You really think so?" Alex heard herself question with a low voice into the phone.

She could practically hear the smile in Harper's voice. "I know so."

"Thanks Harper." Alex heaved out and leaned her forehead against the brick wall the phone booth was hanging on. "I think I'll go find Justin now – we have to figure something out."

"Good idea." Harper replied. "I love you Alex, and I'll see you in about a week." she finished, before she hung up the phone, and Alex was left clutching it tightly.

She sighed again, but couldn't help the small hope in her chest. Harper was certain that she'd return home again. She had to. "I have to go home." Alex told herself and placed the phone back in the charger. "Alright... gotta find Justin!"

WOW

Most sane people probably wouldn't have left Max behind to 'take care' of their parents, but it was evident to Justin and Alex herself that the two of them had to go find The Stone of Dreams before it was too late. That Archie and Giselle had decided to join them hadn't exactly been a part of the plan, but it was the only way they were able to gather the map and start their trip.

As usual, Justin was being obnoxious and stupid and Alex just wanted to take control and maybe if he didn't lecture her constantly, she'd hold the map the right way and everything would be cool.

"Alex, we're going in the wrong direction now! The mountains aren't through the jungle, we have to cross this canyon right there." Justin lectured her and tried pointing out the gaping abyss mapped out on the piece of paper in Alex's hands.

Alex sunk her teeth into her lower lip for a second, as if to not bite her brother's head off. "I know that, Justin, would you quit interrupting me!"

He gave her a look. "If you know that, why are you leading us in the wrong direction?" he wanted to know, with both hands on both hips.

She held the map out for him with a sigh. "The jungle we're going through right now is not that jungle." she pointed out for him, "It's that jungle." she said and placed a finger on the map. "By passing through this jungle, we'll get to your important canyon and that way we'll get to The Stone of Dreams."

Justin ripped the map out of her hands and studied it for a second or two. With a scratch on the side of his head, he offered her the map back. "Alright Alex, we'll do it your way." he said, before he took off in front of her.

An 'I'm sorry' would have been nice, Alex mused to herself. But it was always like that with Justin, so she hadn't expected differently. He always thought he was better than her, and when she did do something right, he couldn't admit it – he had way too much pride. Why do we always have to disagree on everything? Alex wondered further while she watched his back as he worked through the jungle at enormous speed.

This was turning out to be a longer trip than Alex had accounted, and she was afraid they weren't gonna make it in time; at some point, one of them would disappear and then it would all be too late. She couldn't handle it if that happened – it would be her fault, she would have ruined their family and the entire life her parents had created. It would be as if it never happened at all.

Suddenly, Justin's cries pulled Alex out of her train of thoughts.

"I – I see the edge!" he exclaimed from the front, and Alex quickly ran to his side, only to come to a halt because right in front of her was a gaping canyon, and at the bottom of it ran a flood of water at enormous speed. How the fuck were they going to get across?

Apparently, Justin was able to read her mind. "How are we gonna get across this thing?" he frantically asked her.

Alex sighed and turned her head to the map in her hands. She couldn't help but giggle. Hehe. There were instructions. "I think we have to build a path of stone." she told him and folded the map again. "You know. With magic."

Justin gave her a suspicious look. "That actually sounds clever. Why would you – and not me – think of that?"

She shrugged her shoulders, but her smug smile must have given her away.

"You didn't think of it!" he said and tried grabbing the map from her. "It was on the map, wasn't it? It was right there on the map!"

"Justin!" she snapped, still trying not to have too much fun with this situation, because they were in the middle of a very serious crisis. "Let's focus on building the path, shall we?"

Giving up with a huge sigh, Justin turned and kneeled down, trying to measure out how it would be best possible to build this path. After about of minute or so with his constant muttering, he created a very impressive bridge of stone, using only his hands. He seemed very pleased with himself, but Alex had a feeling that something was just not right. So even when he started bragging, she picked up a pebble from the ground and slowly threw it onto the bridge, which effectively proved her point – trying to build an entire bridge of stone without having full-wizard powers or without a wand was just too much.

Giving her a look, Justin sighed. "Then what do you propose we do, huh?"

Five minutes later, she and Justin had left Archie and Giselle behind on solid ground, while they were both standing on a floating rock. Justin was holding them up right now, using his hand-magic, while she was moving the other stone from behind them to in front of them, using her hands. That way they were slowly – but surely – making their way across the gaping canyon, not risking falling into the dangerous river below them.

"Admit it, this was a good idea." Alex told him with a small smile on her face. It wasn't often she pulled things like this off, and once she did, Justin never told her she did a good job. "A simple levitation spell, beginner's magic."

"Yes, yes." he replied to her, clearly bothered. "You're brilliant. Could you focus now? I don't wanna fall into the river below us."

She glanced at him while holding her hands still, keeping the two of them in place on their rock. "Why do you always get so mad whenever I do something right?"

He looked at her too. "Because it's like you're not even trying." he informed her, while finally, his rock was in place, so she could make the jump from on rock to another. "I know everything there is to know about magic, I've read all the books, but you don't know anything, you just do it. You don't even think about it."

She looked looked at him as he made the jump as well. "Not thinking works for me."

"Exactly." he replied to her, now truly speaking honestly, she could hear that. "I have to study all the time, Alex. My attitude shows that I'm certain I'll win the wizard-competition, but - but when you do something like this..." he trailed off with a shake of his head.

Alex slowly started moving the rock from behind them. "Trust me, you're gonna win, Justin." she replied and had to swallow the hugest lump in her throat. This was getting very close to a subject she had yet to talk to anyone about. A subject she had no idea how to talk to anyone about. Not even Harper. It always was between them like some sort of unspoken truth, but none of them ever addressed it. Harper knew, that if Alex really wanted to be with her, she couldn't be a full-wizard, but she never asked Alex about it, because none of them wanted to hear what she had to say about the subject.

For a long time, Alex hadn't been sure if her love for Harper was great enough to give up her powers for, she hadn't been certain if magic was more important. But after everything that had happened on this vacation, she suddenly felt much more certain. Harper was the single most important thing. Nothing was going to change her love for her, and if that meant giving up her powers, then that had to be it.

Justin shook his head at her. "No. At the wizard-competition everyone has to try their hardest. And when you try your hardest, you're gonna do something like this, and I'll be blown away."

"You'll be the family-wizard, Justin, trust me." she said to him, not daring to take the jump from one rock to another right that second. This conversation was too important.

Justin must have heard the seriousness in her voice, because he gazed up at her, questions floating in his brown pools. "Do you even want it?" he asked her.

She knew it was time to come clear, time to tell him. Even if it wasn't the moment she'd imagined it to be, now was perfect, because they were in the middle of it. "No." she said. "At least I don't think I do. Not when I know what I'll have to give up."

He jumped. "What do you have to give up?" he wanted to know as she jumped to stand next to him.

She swallowed loudly. "Everyone always tells me I need to be more like you, you're so perfect, you're so smart. But truth is, I'm not you, Justin, and the thing that kills me the most is that, when I tell Mom and Dad why I don't want to be the family-wizard, they're gonna hate me."

"What?" Justin asked her, looking at her seriously for a moment or two. "What did you do since you're willing to give up your powers?"

She bit her lip. "I fell in love with a mortal."

He smiled at her, warmly and brotherly. "They're not gonna hate you for that, Alex." he said to her, "Dad did the same thing, remember? And you're not even sure you'll still love this person when we have the wizard-competition."

"I fell in love with Harper, Justin." she told him quickly, locking her eyes with his for two unbearable moments. "I fell in love with Harper."

He was quiet for a few seconds, but then a small smile spread its way across his face. "And you're always gonna love her."

Alex could feel the warmth spreading in her body when she made the jump. That hadn't been so bad. It actually felt pretty damn good to have shared that information with him. "That's why I'm so scared." she told him, as he joined her on the rock. "I'm so scared what they're gonna think, if they're gonna accept me. Now I'll just be the lesbian daughter who's good for nothing, who isn't smart, who isn't the wizard. Doing magic was the only thing I had. Now what am I?"

"You know that's not true, Alex." he told her seriously. "Mom and Dad love you regardless. And so do Max and I."

"I could say the same thing to you, Justin." she told him. "Even if I had been the family-wizard, had I not been with Harper, they would have loved you still. But there's no need to worry about that – you're gonna be the full-wizard for sure."

Justin offered her a small smile as he jumped from the rock to solid ground, Alex following him instantly. The rocks immediately fell to the ground beneath them, and feeling safe, Alex couldn't help but hug her brother tight.

He whispered to her hair. "I'm so happy that you're with Harper, Alex, I'm so glad you told me. You two will be good for each other."

"If we ever get that far." Alex whispered back, now feeling lighter after having shared these news with him. As soon as they got everything back to normal – because now she had faith they would – she was going to tell her parents, and everything would be better. As soon as she got back home, she was going to see Harper again and kiss her repeatedly.

Now the only thing left to do was find The Stone of Dreams and everything would be back to normal. Except... maybe a little bit better.

Hehehe. Thanks for tuning in! I hope you enjoyed it. Every time I watch this movie, I find Justin and Alex's talk so honest and true and I just thought to myself "What if Alex really didn't want it? What if she had a very good reason for not wanting it?" and so I decided to try my hand with this.

I know that some of it is a lot similar to the real movie, but it's what they're talking about that's the main thing, the journey Alex goes through about coming clear and facing the facts that if she wants to be with Harper, she can't be a wizard.

Anyway. Please tell me what you think? I'd love to know.

Disclaimer; I don't own Wizard of Waverly Place The Movie.