Disclaimer: don't own it. You should know that by now :P

*****

Beginning: the event consisting of the start of something

First: Preceding others in time or space or degree

*****

For history, it is very important to remember when things began (or so he is told). But when it comes to his own life, he finds it very difficult to pinpoint the beginning of these sickening thoughts (but who said his life would be easy?). That doesn't mean he would stop his research on that (even though he knew he might never succeed). He would say that he had felt this way since eternity, but that would sound too sappy and sugar-coated (but then again Alex sometimes does call him a 'mushy freak from a boring soap opera' ).

****

The first time he felt sick was on his 16th birthday, and he had to puke his stomach's contents (but then Alex did trick him to eat something horrible).

He tells himself it had nothing to do with the fact that Alex was looking so beautiful, gorgeous and…. attractive (but then he sees the birthday picture frame by his bedside, and he's not so sure anymore).

He totally blames Alex for this though (because she is his annoying little sister after all, he grew up blaming her). She was the one who dragged him into the dance floor in the first place (to embarrass him to the people for his dancing skills, or perhaps, lack of that). But then the song changed into a slow romantic song (and he should have known it was a malfunction of Max's magic). He had expected her to break away from him (but hoped she wouldn't anyway). And then it hit him- he wanted to dance with her (not that it meant something, brothers dance with their sisters, right?)

To his surprise, Alex didn't break away and continued to slow dance (and for a moment he was sure that Alex could read minds). They danced together perfectly, completely in sync, and their parents 'aww'-ed at how adorable their kids were (and that's when guilt hit him for the first time in his life).

The song ended, he broke away. And his next stop was the toilet sink.

And when he returned, Alex had a satisfied grin in her face (and he inferred it was because she thought it was the food).

*****

He tried ignoring the thoughts and feelings, but thanks to Alex again, it didn't work.

It was a family movie night, and somehow (and he's guessing it was magic) Alex had managed to convince her parents to hire a horror movie. Max was sent to bed before the movie began, and their parents left half-way, but Alex dared Justin to watch it till the end (and as usual, none wanted to lose).

It was going fine, unless some hand came out of nowhere and grabbed the actress. Alex screamed and buried her face in his chest, and for the first time in his life, his breath hitched (but it could be the scary movie, right?)

"Alex, maybe we should stop watching this."

Alex shook her head. (Talk about stubborn!)

"Alex, we don't have to do this. Lets call it a draw okay?"

Alex nodded and pulled away. She gave him a grateful smile. "Thanks Justin, good night."

And he thought that was the end. But then there was a knock in his door at midnight. (He should have known).

He groaned into his pillow, sighed and got up.

"Yes, Alex?"

"I- I can't sleep." Alex murmured sleepily. She looked like a little girl (and he remembered the time when he was 6 and she was 4).

He was the responsible big brother, and he had to comfort her. "Okay, come in."

She slowly walked in and plopped down on his bed. And then he realized that she wasn't 4 anymore. She had…. grown (into a beautiful, gorgeous, attractive woman that he could never have).

He cursed himself inwardly and decided to ignore his thoughts for the night. Slowly, he sank down beside her (and maybe that wasn't the smartest thing to do). But then Alex had to wrap her arms around his neck and hug him tightly (and he made a note to himself mentally: no more horror flicks).

"Are you scared, little girl?" Justin teased, trying to be the annoying big brother (and suppress the thoughts running through his mind- dirty sinful thoughts).

"Yes." Alex confessed. And then he realized that maybe she is still a little girl at heart after all (but then she wouldn't put prank love letters in his locker, would she?)

"Don't worry. I'm right here." He comforted.

"I know." Alex replied, and tried to place a tiny kiss on his cheek (but he had to turn at the right wrong moment and their lips brushed.)

And he thanked god that Alex didn't notice his heart rate speed up (or so he thought).

And for the first time his life feel like those adrenaline-generating forbidden love fan fictions. (And that still leaves him one hope: maybe he is stuck in a fantasy world, maybe this isn't real?)

****

The first time they kissed was on her 15th birthday (and it wasn't an accident).

He can totally blame Alex for it though. He had only woken her up at midnight to wish her a happy birthday (he was a loving and caring big brother, after all). She was the one who decided to seal the 'thank you' with a kiss. He tried to pull back, but Alex simply called him a 'dork' and kissed him again. (And this time he didn't fight it).

When they finally pulled apart, she smiled at him, and went back to sleep. But he had to hit the bathroom sink yet again (but maybe he can get used to it?)

How did she know in the first place? (Yeah, she was his sister, his best friend, and she knew him well). And why did she have to feel the same way? (Not that he'd ever blame her for that).

*****

Breakfast next morning was in a word awkward, and for the first time in his life, Justin felt uncomfortable while with his family (that he would surely rip apart some day). But Alex kept talking about her plans for the birthday party, and thankfully his parents didn't notice.

The most awkward thing was the tension building between them- they didn't talk since the kiss. And Justin assumed she was mad at him (or maybe he was dreaming again?)

But then his parents ask him about his plans, he said he had homework, and Alex called him a 'geek' and a 'back-stabbing brother', but how grateful she would be if he didn't turn up in the party. (Okay, so some things will never change).

But he did show up, and (after all the body-switching spells and quinceniera rituals) he had the courage to gift her a red rose, and she had the courage to tell him he had 'no idea what his sister liked' and how 'stupid' his present was, but then, the real present was the drum (he bought with his entire year's pocket money) and she almost cried in happiness.

Okay, so maybe she did forget about the kiss, maybe everything was going back to normal.

And then he caught sight of the chocolate cake bit sticking to her lips, and he wasn't strong anymore. Alex noticed him staring and smirked (and he knew she had a plan). So when she kissed him that night in all her tongue glory, it didn't surprise him at all. What surprised him was that he pulled away. He told her how it was wrong, and she rolled her eyes and reminded him that she doesn't really care about right and wrong. And okay, so maybe this conversation was boring, and they'd have it again, and Alex would say the same thing, but that didn't mean Justin shouldn't try! He had to pull apart.

He loved his sister- a lot.

He couldn't do this.

He had to end this.

*****

After one week of awkward silence and ignoring each other, things went back to normal again. The fighting began again, and it always ended in heated arguments, slamming of doors and 'I hate you Justin' (But he knew otherwise).

A few months passed before things settled in, and then she started dating Dean (why didn't he see it coming?). Okay, so he wanted his sister to be happy, but that didn't mean it wouldn't hurt? Meeting Juliet helped heal wounds though. Suddenly they felt everything was going to be all right again- perhaps their insane phase was gone.

Alex smiled when she saw him. He smiled back.

****

He should have known peace wouldn't last in his life. The feelings returned as soon as they went searching through the rain forest for the stone of dreams, nearly escaping death a few times. And when her face looked totally vulnerable in that dim campfire light, he knew he would be sick again (and it didn't help that she felt the same way too).

Maybe they could change things for themselves with the stone of dreams, but saving their family was the right thing to do. They loved their family a lot.

And for the first time in her life, Alex did the right thing without being told to do so. And Justin (though a bit disappointed) was glad that his little sister was growing up.

*****

They returned. Dean moved. Juliet got trapped by a mummy. They were both lonely again.

But she started dating Mason. And he helped them find Juliet.

And then the epic fight- Juliet and mason were gone forever. They were alone yet again, heart shattered into a million pieces just like the broken necklace.

And perhaps, that was the beginning of 'them'. Now that he thinks about it, maybe this is where their relationship began.

"Promise me we'll find normal people."

"We are not normal people."

(A/N: okay, so this was originally a one-shot but PrettyGirlRocks gave me the idea to make it into a chapter fic, and I'm going to do it in the near future. So I added a few things to this chapter and made it the prologue. I just wanted to know what you guys think about this and whether you'd want me to make it a chapter fic. Let me know in a review, okay?)