Disclaimer: I don't own wowp.

This one's a sweet jalex. Enjoy :)

When she had opened her eyes for the very first time, there was one person that she had noticed- him. He was hovering over her, staring at her with gray eyes that gleamed with awe, admiration, curiosity and questions. She had stared back at him for around ten seconds, with big brown eyes that looked as curious as his, before she closed her eyes again and fell asleep in her mother's arms. He had kept staring at her in wonder, until his eyes gleamed with love.

That was their mother's version of the story. His version was a bit different. He claimed that he did not remember any of it, but he did remember that he was never happy to see his little sister.

The faint smile on his lips begged to differ though...

December 2010

She opened her eyes to the shrill ringing of her alarm clock, glaring at the red digits like that would shut it up. With a groan and a yawn, she finally got out of bed, out of the cozy blankets that made her feel safe and protected.

She dragged her feet across the cold marble floor, wincing at the chilling touch and cursing her slippers for being out of her sight, opened the door of the bathroom with a fumbling hand, and sleepily reached for her toothbrush.

That's when she blinked. There were just five toothbrushes, hanging side by side. His toothbrush wasn't standing next to hers, like it had been doing, since the day he had grown tall enough to reach that shelf. He wasn't next to her.

Six months, and it still shocked her every day. Six months, and she still couldn't believe he was in college. Six months, and she still thought someone would be pounding at the bathroom door that very moment, yelling at her to get out. Six months, and she still absent-mindedly turned the geyser off.

Six months, and she still couldn't ignore his absence.

"Happy birthday!" The whole family yelled as she came down the stairs, still in her pajamas, still with messy hair, still looking as tired as she did in the middle of her forced study sessions.

A smile tugged at her lips. The idea of turning eighteen suddenly made her feel happy. Now she could go wild without getting into trouble for that! "Thanks guys…. I saw your presents. They were really nice." The smile faded soon though, as she, once again, realized that one face, one voice, was missing.

"Awww! My baby grew up so fast!" Theresa cooed.

"My little girl is an adult now!" Jerry joined in, sniffling.

She whined. "Mom. Dad. I can't keep up this sweetness for long. So please, just stop!"

Theresa sighed. "Whatever you want sweetie. It's your day. Come on. Let's eat breakfast."

"So, what are you planning for today?" Harper asked.

"We are throwing you a special 18th birthday party this evening." Jerry informed. "But if there's something you want to do this afternoon, just let us know. – No magic."

She smiled sweetly at her father. "Can I start by killing off Justin?"

Her mother cringed, raising an eyebrow at her questioningly. "He forgot to wish you?"

She stabbed her spoon on her food, imagining that to be Justin's head. "You bet."

"I know you're mad but I can explain. Please! Just pick up the call! Alex!" he pleaded at the voice-mail in exasperation, desperately hoping that she wouldn't delete the message without listening.

She crossed her arms over her chest stubbornly, while the messages were being played. She still couldn't believe he had forgotten to wish her on her birthday! On her fifteenth birthday, he woke her up at 1 a.m. to wish her and annoy her at the same time, and she spent the rest of the night making him give her a back message. On her sixteenth birthday, he kept her up till the clock struck midnight, so that he could avoid the misfortune of the previous year. As soon as he wished, and she smacked him hard for keeping her up so long, she announced she was too tired to even stand up, and it was entirely his fault- her running around all day didn't count. So he had to carry her all the way up to her room, swallowing her insults quietly since it was her birthday. On her seventeenth birthday, he had taken her to the paint tunnel underground and let her draw peacefully, while he sat behind her, watching her work, and wondering when exactly she grew up.

And on her eighteenth birthday, he didn't call her in the morning to wish her? So what if they talked on the phone late last night and he had already wished her? She had every right to be mad at him! Although she wasn't sure why she was mad, and she was definitely not going to admit that she was actually upset that he wasn't with her on her birthday.

As her thoughts continued, the apologies kept playing. Fifteen messages and counting, his voice was getting more and more fearful. He actually sounded guilty, and worried. Maybe she should pick up his call. How long could she possibly be mad at him? Just yesterday, Harper had come running to her room to tell her about a boy who apparently committed suicide out of pressure and homesickness. Now where would she be if Justin did something so stupid like this?

"What do you want?" she hollered as soon as her phone rang the next time, angry at him for making her have these thoughts, and angry at herself for caring for him after he forgot to wish her on her birthday!

"My battery went dead- Hey, you hung up late last night- I'm sorry I couldn't wish you at morning." He blurted out in one breath, afraid she would hang up if he took too long.

"Apology not accepted." She growled. "Mom told me you aren't coming to my party tonight. Is that right?" she hung up before he could even answer.

He cursed at himself, dialing her number, and was once again greeted by her voice-mail. "Look I… you know how important exams are, right? Okay, let me rephrase that. You know how important exams are for me, right? Wait. I sounded like a jerk. Okay... I need to- no. I have to- Alex just pick up the phone!"

She smiled, listening to him admit that he was a jerk, while he mumbled incoherently. He became nervous so easily. Even when he was apologizing, he wanted to be annoyingly perfect. And annoying as he was, he was tolerable when he sounded so guilty and so vulnerable, like he would do anything she'd ask him to do.

The phone rang again, and she answered, forcing herself to sound annoyed. "What?"

"I have my exams next week. And I have college tomorrow." He sighed, thumb stroking his wallet by instinct, at the place where he kept the picture she drew for him on his seventh birthday. Would he ever be able to forgive himself for breaking her heart on her birthday? "I'm sorry Alex."

If a person could feel a slap to the chest or a bullet entering the middle of a soul, that's exactly what she felt at that moment. A huge load was placed on her chest, and it was weighing her life down. Before she knew it, unwanted tears were crowding in her eyes. Her voice cracked. "You are not gonna be here for my 18th birthday?"

"Alex-"

"-I was there on yours." She reminded, skipping the part where she had set up a stand-up comedy act to mimic how he played with his action figures, made him embarrassed, and had a huge fight with him that lasted two whole days. "Why won't you be there at my party, Justin?"

He bit his lip. How was he going to get out of this mess alive? He cleared his throat uncomfortably, looking at the sky and praying to whoever was listening that this worked. "I don't have to be there to be at the party."

She scrunched her nose in confusion. "What do you mean?" If he was going to say 'I'm with you all the time, in your heart', he shouldn't blame her if she hung up again and answered his next call with a 'welcome to the 14th century cornyland'.

"I can stand right here and see what you're doing now." He said instead, catching her off-guard.

She scoffed in disbelief. "Oh. Please."

"I get my Captain Jim Bob back-pack back?"

"You're on." She lied. If he ever believed she would give him back his things, and that too after he missed her 18th birthday party, he deserved to be lied to.

"Hmm... Let's see. You are rolling your eyes at me right now. Now you're making a face. You just opened your mouth to protest. Now you closed it again. You're chewing on your bottom lip now. You're looking away. Aah. Now you're smiling. Oh. And now you're blinking because everything I said was right." He narrated smoothly.

She blinked for another five seconds. "That was…"

He smirked. "Incredible?"

"No. Creepy." She looked around her, making sure that he actually wasn't standing somewhere in the room. "How could you possibly do that?"

He laughed. "Well, that's come with knowing you for eighteen miserable years of my life."

She joined in the laughter. Eighteen years of making his life miserable. "Justin…"

"No, Alex. It's your day. Go ahead. Have fun." he urged. "Don't cancel your party for me."

"I wasn't going to…" her voice trailed off uncertainly, her eyes widening in realization. She was thinking about canceling her party for him? And he knew that? Did he really know her that well?

"Happy birthday, Alex."

"Happy birthday!" Everyone yelled as soon as she cut the cake.

"Thanks guys." She mumbled through a mouthful, as she munched on the first slice. Her eyes instinctively darted to her right. The next bite was always his. But he wasn't there... he wouldn't be. She glanced at the door, feeling like he would walk in any moment and surprise her, like he did on her tenth birthday. Even though she knew he wasn't coming, she just kept hoping. After all, she was born in magic and miracles. She knew that anything could happen anytime. But the door never opened and the dorky-brother-un-charming never made his un-princely entrance and the exact-opposite-of-princess was left alone in the not-co-much-of-a-fairytale.

And the harsh reality struck her again. He wasn't there. He wasn't coming. He wasn't going to mimic how she blew out her candles, and she wasn't going to chase him through the house till either of them fell on the ground and injured him/her self.

A sudden hollow feeling gnawed at her chest. Suddenly, all the lights and the gifts and the guests and the cards seemed dull to her. Suddenly, the whole party seemed colorless. Heck, the whole world seemed colorless to her at that moment. The smile was fading, the sounds of laughter stopped echoing in her ears as she heard the distinct sound of what could only be her heart breaking.

She grabbed a plate from the side, placing the slice of cake on it. "Umm. I'll just take this up to my room. I need to get something. Excuse me. I'll be back soon." She ran away before anyone could ask any question, before anyone could catch her crying for him in public.

The door opened with a bang. She slammed the plate at her dresser, deciding that Justin deserved a rotten cake when he came back two-three-four-whatever (ten, exactly) days later, took off her shoes, throwing them to two opposite corners of the room, and sat down on her bed, sniffling.

"Gosh! Alex!" his reprimanding voice came from her room, as he jumped up in terror, and scolded, holding his book close to his chest as a shield. "You're scaring me!"

Her heart leapt in her chest at the sound of his voice. Was Justin making her delusional now? Or was he really there? She looked around her room, quickly finding him seated at her desk. He had probably been there for a while, and had probably been studying for his test while she partied downstairs and blessed the world with her wrath.

She stared at him, not believing her own eyes. "You're here." She quickly wiped away her tears, before he could start asking questions and tease her later. She brushed aside her first instinct of running to his arms and crying her heart out. That's not how it's done Alex Russo style. First things first. First came revenge.

He shrugged, putting his book aside. "Well, I figured I should do something to make sure you don't kill-"

In one swift motion, the abandoned plate was in her hand and the cake was smashed on his face. "Now this is what I call rubbing it in your face." She laughed at her pun, licking the cream off her fingers, finally feeling a lot better. Honestly? She had felt better the moment her eyes met his, but she didn't give herself permission to admit that.

"Anything else?" he asked dryly, not at all amused.

"Hold on." She reached for her cell phone, clicking the precious picture. "Ok. Now I'm done."

He wiped the cream off his cheeks with his fingers, licking them away.

She sat down at the bed again, happily watching his misery. Now that was what she called a great birthday present.

"Alex! Get me a washcloth!" He ordered.

She faked a yawn. "Get it yourself. You only act like you're 40. You can still move your limbs!"

"I can't go down! Mom and dad shouldn't know I'm here!" he yelled, the sticky cream irritating his unshaven beard. "I'm not supposed to be using magic!"

"Wait." She stood up, staring at him curiously. "You broke the rules for me?"

"This isn't the first time." He pointed out. That it wasn't the last time went unsaid.

She hated herself when she jumped forward to hug him, but the moment he hugged her back, all her anger, all her disappointment was gone. Because for that one minute, she could pretend that he was still living with her, and not so far away that she could only see him on weekends. For that one moment, she could pretend that he was still five and she was still three, when they didn't know about things like moving out and college. For that one hug, she could feel all the love, all the comfort, and all the safety in the world. Because when they were so close, all they could focus on was the feeling of her heart beating against his and his breath on her neck, and the rest of the world was just shut out...

Once they pulled apart, with forced scrunching of noses and 'ewws' that sounded suspiciously like 'awws', she wiped at his face with her handkerchief.

"Alex, don't spoil your-"

She held up a finger to his lips. "I'm never gonna admit that I said this. But… thank you, Justin."

He smiled at her, eyes shining with nostalgia. The little girl had grown up so much in his absence. "Eighteen..." He breathed, as she wiped his cheeks clean. "That's cool."

She shrugged. "I've already made a list of the things I'm gonna do. And since you did none of that after you turned eighteen, you're coming with me."

"I can't-" he opened his mouth to protest, but stopped when she stomped on his feet with her heels. She smiled sweetly at him, while he winced and yelped in pain.

"And you couldn't go downstairs and get a washcloth?" He retorted, wondering why in the world she would destroy something that belonged to her for him. And then it hit him. "HEY THAT'S MY CAPTAIN JIM BOB SHERWOOD EXTENDED COLLECTION HANDKERCHIEF! ALEX!"

A/N: Okay that's the longest chapter I've written in MONTHS. Hope you liked it? *fingers crossed* Please review :) Well, later! Got a date with my 16-pages homework now. yay! :)