Date: Sat, 22 Oct 2011 18:12:26 -0400
From: mpseagle16@gmail.com
Subject: "Boys of Waverly Place (Chapter 3)

Justin had decided to go into his room and relax for a few minutes before
dinner was served. He was lying on his bed staring at the white painted
ceiling whose portraits of Galileo Galilee and Albert Einstein as well as
various mathematical equations were slowly swirling around one another
captivating his attention. Justin's mind had just begun to grow foggy as the
vortex created by the circulating figures hypnotized his senses, when his
mother's voice brought him back, echoing up the hall from the stairway into
his room.

"Justin... dinner!"

He pulled himself into a sitting position swinging his legs over the side of
the bed. His thoughts now coming back into fruition from their previous
haze, he focused on the subject that had been boggling his mind over the
last several days.

*Max...*

* *

Immediately the image of Max's extraordinarily handsome baby face appeared
in his mind. His lips slightly pursed and his eyes brilliantly lit up by
some unknown source of mirth. Justin recalled how Max had smiled at him
earlier for the first time in nearly a month and his heart felt light as if
he were floating back on top of the sun soaked fluffy cloud again.

"Justin... hurry up. Let's go mister. Ondely!"

Justin walked out of his room heading for the stairs not wanting to try his
mother's patience any further. He felt butterflies beginning to swarm in his
stomach as excitement and anticipation fueled his descent. Justin hoped that
Max's pleasant attitude which he had displayed toward him mere minutes ago
would keep up and that his little brother wasn't going to jump up on the
dinner table halfway through the meal and try to gouge Justin's eyeballs out
with his salad fork.

Justin laughed at the completely absurd idea, but it was a thought that he
wouldn't have put past Max barely an hour ago. He hit the landing and the
smell of his mother's phenomenal lasagna as well as freshly baked garlic
bread caused his mouth to begin to water in expectation. Justin rounded the
spiral staircase and walked over to the family dinner table which was
already occupied by the other four Russo's. Theresa and Jerry sat at either
end of the large mahogany table and Alex and Max sat next to each other
along one of the spacious sides.

They all looked up as Justin approached the table, though Max was the first
to look back down studying his salad intensely when he and Justin made eye
contact. His mother and father greeted him as he sat down and pulled his
chair in, the legs scraping loudly on the tile floor. He smiled back
sheepishly feeling guilty for allowing his family to wait on him to start
dinner. Justin cleared his throat uncomfortably as the four Russo's
continued to stare back at him. Max had attempted to stare at Justin almost
secretively through his long brown eyelashes shading his doe like eyes. The
special attention only lasted for two or three seconds but for whatever
reason it completely freaked Justin out. It was as if his family was privy
to some secret information about him that he wasn't aware of. Did they know
something of the unnerving thoughts Justin had been having about his little
brother lately?

Max broke the silence finally, averting his eyes once more from Justin.

"Can I have some lasagna?"

Soon dishes were rattling as they were passed about the table. Silverware
scraped against china plates, and a din of light conversation broke out. As
per usual Jerry and Theresa lead most of the discussion.

"So Max," Theresa asked tentatively, unsure of how her son's mood was going
to dictate his response. "How was school today?"

Max paused for a moment his eyebrows furrowed in thought.

"It was okay I guess. I got in trouble for passing a note to one of my
friends and the teacher made me read it in front of everyone."

"Well what was the note about?"

"It was a joke about how Mrs. Dresdan's boobs sag so low that they almost
touch her knees."

Theresa gasped and Jerry had to shove a fist in his mouth to keep from
laughing out loud. His large beefy face turned bright red, however,
betraying his reaction.

"I think it was okay though because everyone laughed and that definitely has
to be a good sign." He finished smiling proudly.

Justin and Alex snorted into their dinner plates and Jerry couldn't help
laughing out loud. Theresa glared at him and he quieted down scrunching his
face up into a failed look of severity.

Theresa turned on Max and was about to berate him for making trouble in
class, but faltered when she saw the jovial look on his face. Something she
hadn't seen in him for far too long. Her lips twitched and she couldn't help
but allow herself a small smile. Then, and rather surprisingly, she let out
a loud uproarious laugh. The room was silent for a moment and then everyone
joined in laughing. Accept, of course, for Max.

He sat in his chair stunned in bewilderment at everyone's hysterics.

"What is so funny?" Max looked back and forth between his family. He found
no answers however in anyone's face but when his eyes grazed over Justin's
he smiled coyly and quickly focused back on his lasagna.

The second smile that day from his brother warmed Justin's soul and he
couldn't help a slight giddy laugh. Then, Alex threw a crouton at Justin
from across the room which smacked him directly in the center of the
forehead.  He slowly turned to glare at her as the crouton slid off his face
and clattered noisily onto his plate.

She giggled evilly as her deed had gone unnoticed. Max's attention was drawn
back to Justin and he fixated on the splatter of salad dressing left on his
brother's forehead. He covered his mouth attempting to prevent a snort
conjured deep within his throat from the hilarity of the absurd look on
Justin's face, but to no avail.

Although Justin felt embarrassed and annoyed at being the brunt of a
practical joke, Max's laughter ringing out across the table was music to his
ears. He completely forgot about the salad dressing trickling down his face
and joined in laughing with his younger siblings.

Jerry and Theresa exchanged confused looks at their children's seemingly
random, aimless laughter, but dismissed it as an inside joke, pleased to see
their youngest getting on so amiably with his siblings.

The meal went on extraordinarily well and soon Alex and Jerry dismissed
themselves to attend to their various activities. Theresa got up from the
table and began to clear it of the remaining dirty dishes while the two boys
slowly tackled the remnants of their dessert.

"Max, Justin, can you finish up these dishes? I need to go make some phone
calls about my upcoming Tupperware party."

Justin knew from the tone of his mother's voice that this was an order, not
a request as she had initially phrased it. He stood up from the table with
Max and they carried their dessert plates over to the sink as Theresa headed
over to her office opposite the living room.

The boys stood in companionable silence for a while as they cleaned the few
dishes left in the sink. Justin found his mind beginning to race as he stood
in such close proximity to his brother. Max suddenly cleared his throat and
Justin found all of his senses at a standstill, anticipation flooding
through him in wonderment as to what his brother was about to say.

"I..." Max began, his attention focused on the dish in his hands that he had
washed at least three times now, his voice barely audible over the running
water. "I'm sorry."

Justin's heart melted hearing his brother's voice break. His guard was
completely down and vulnerability was beginning to seep through his
character. Traits Justin had never before witnessed in Max's usually
overconfident personality.

"You don't have to..." Justin couldn't help but immediately forgive his
brother at this sudden show of repentance and humanity.

"No Justin," Max interrupted him, accidentally dropping his plate. It
shattered loudly inside the metal sink but went unnoticed by either boy,
their eyes locked solemnly on each other. "I... I can't believe what I did
today... how I've been this week."

"Maxie..."

Max held up a hand and shook his head allowing brown locks to fall across
his face.

Justin felt a stirring in his groin gazing at Max's shaggable appearance. A
strong desire to brush the hair out of his brother's face suddenly jumped
into his mind.

*Wait... Shaggable??Isn't that like fuckab...*

* *

Justin felt a strong hand on his upper arm. He looked up at Max and found
the boy's brown eyes strangely clouded over.

*When did Max become so sensitive?*

* *

Suddenly a pair of lightly muscled arms snaked their way around Justin's
torso pulling him into a tight hug. Then, Max buried his face firmly into
Justin's neck. Instinctively Justin wrapped his arms back around his brother
feeling Max's incredible warmth against his body. The boys stood there for
several seconds embracing, their bodies forming together perfectly. Justin
nuzzled his face into Max's soft hair taking in the scent of his sweet
shampoo. As Max's body pushed into Justin's, Justin couldn't help but to
allow his hands to work exploratory circles over his brothers well muscled
back gently massaging his skin. As his fingers traveled down Max's sides he
felt his brother's body elicit a pleasure induced shiver.

"Mmm Justin..."

Justin felt Max smile into his neck, and then something else far more
surprising. Something wet and cool began to trail from his pulse point
towards his jaw. Justin felt his cheeks starting to burn, a combination of
morbid embarrassment and shock raked over him. His mind immediately went to
the gutter and it suddenly seemed way hotter in the kitchen than it had only
moments ago. An oddly carnal desire began to creep into his gut. He felt
Max's hands slip down to his lower waist and then Max's cool lips began to
press longingly into the spot just below Justin's jaw. Something in Justin's
groin began to burn with desire.

Then, Justin felt Max's hips push against his pelvis and something very hard
pressed into his groin. Justin's eyes shot open and at the same time Max
seemed to snap out of his own dream like trance his eyes wide as saucers.

*The fuck?*

* *

They pushed away from each other as if driven by some sort of polar force,
neither able to look at the other. Max continued to move out of the kitchen
backing up towards the stairs shaking his head furiously as if attempting to
eradicate himself from some sort of morbid thought.

"What just..."

But before Justin had the chance to get out another word, Max took off,
flying up the stairs. Justin stood numbly on the spot, swaying slightly as
if mildly intoxicated. He could still smell Max's scent on himself and the
thought of their bodies being pressed together so snugly and the warmth that
they had exchanged caused Justin's pants to become noticeably tighter. And
then there was the obvious fact that Max too had become... excited by the
close contact.

The thought... the very idea that Justin's little brother had had the same
reaction that he was now experiencing, throbbing achingly within the
confines of his jeans, was far too much for him to handle. In desperation
for absence of the thoughts which were beginning to completely overwhelm
him, Justin bit his bottom lip viciously until he could taste warm coppery
blood. The pain from his own self injurious behavior momentarily distracted
his mind from the bombarding memory of his encounter with Max and helped the
blood that was rushing to his groin to taper considerably.

Regardless of the pain reverberating from his lip Justin head was still
reeling and he felt it impossible to think clearly. Shaking his head Justin
began to make his way back toward the stairs to his room to try and process
whatever the hell had just happened. His heart leapt remembering how Max's
smooth toned body had molded itself to his and then the distinctive bulge
Justin had felt against his thigh through his brother's jeans. He crossed
the living room and was about to ascend the stairs when Alex appeared in
front of him seemingly out of nowhere.

"Whatcha doin?" She smiled mischievously.

Justin attempted to walk around Alex brushing her off.

"Ah ah ah..." she tutted blocking his way again. "I wanna know what happened."

Justin sighed debating the ethics of drawing his wand and cursing his sister
into oblivion. He attempted to side step her again but Alex persisted
stubbournly.

"Come on Justin, tell me. I'm your little sister." She pouted pursing her
lip out. "You can talk to me about anything. I'll never tell a soul."

Justin greatly doubted this last part, however, his sister's intentions
seemed true enough. He really didn't feel like he could talk to Alex about
what had just happened between himself and Max, but his brother trusted her
enough to keep her in his confidence. So what *had* Max told Alex?

* *

*And how much? *Justin noted more importantly.

* *

The thought gave him an idea, and his own rarely seen devious nature started
to seep out. Justin's eyes sparkled and Alex's own darkened aware that his
brain was cooking something up.

"Okay, I might tell you what happened... but first I want to know what you and
Max talked about." Justin waited anxiously, gauging his sister's expression.

Alex's mouth opened and closed stupidly and then her lips finally pressed
together in frustration.

"Oooh, that's a low blow!" She huffed in outrage.

Justin raised an eyebrow waiting in anticipation. What, if anything, was
Alex going to reveal, and would he be able to handle it?

She took a deep breath and glared at Justin, her eyes burning right through
him. Then, she paused to collect her thoughts.

Justin noticed defeat slowly creeping across Alex's face.

Her shoulders slumped and then she squared her jaw resignedly, sighing in
defeat.

"First of all," she began. "I pretty much saw everything that happened
between you and Max a second ago, but I really want to hear the gory details
from you so..."

Justin blushed profusely knowing Alex had been witness to his and Max's
entirely too intimate moment.

"And that just totally confirmed everything." She continued referring to
Justin's involuntary burning reaction.

Justin kicked himself for being so transparent; a trait that he had had his
entire life. That was why he had always taken the fall for his and Max's
mischievous exploits. He had never been good at lying.

"Anyway, I suppose Max will tell you eventually. He pretty much sucks at
keeping things to himself for very long."

Justin allowed a chuckle to escape his lips at Alex's very true statement.
He thought back to the time when their brother hadn't been able to stop
himself from telling a girl whom he had only been dating for a few days that
he and his siblings were wizards.

"Aww, yeah that was good times." Alex reminisced, reading Justin's mind,
going back to that fateful day. "But seriously, he's been going through *a
lot *of angst lately."

"No shit."

Alex suddenly glared back at Justin, throwing him completely off guard.

"And you're pretty much the reason why." She bit back at him.

This statement threw Justin for a loop. He figured he had been the cause of
some of Max's anguish as apparent from the attack earlier on, but hearing it
from the source via Alex drove some kind of emotional steak right through
his heart.

"He's so much better now though." Alex added seeing Justin's dejected
expression. "We talked for a while and he said..." She hesitated, briefly
looking around guiltily as if scanning for anyone attempting to overhear
their conversation.  "He said that the reason he's been so angry with you is
because you've been..." She lowered her voice to a barely audible whisper,
such that Justin had to lean in closer in order to hear her. All the while
her eyes were locked onto the stair case as if anticipating someone walking
down the steps at any moment.

"Because you've been putting him through so much turmoil."

"What?" Justin asked bewildered.

*How the hell have I been causing him turmoil?*

Justin couldn't think of anything he had done that could have added chaos to
Max's life. He had always tried to be a good brother. Maybe a bit nerdy yes,
a touch embarrassing perhaps, but to cause turmoil in his little brother's
life...

"It's nothing you've done," Alex put a stop to Justin's spiraling thoughts.
"It's just..." Her voice dropped down again. "Don't get freaked out but..."

"Don't get freaked out about what?" Justin interrupted concern starting to
bubble up.

"Can't you see Justin, can't you tell? I noticed it before Max even talked
to me... for the last year or so."

Justin's face was blank, dumfounded by the line of direction their
conversation was going

She sighed in frustration. "Gawd, do I have to spell it out. Justin, Max is
in..." Her voice abruptly faltered. Alex's attention was still focused on the
stair case, but her complexion had changed to a look of trepidation and
surprise.

Slowly, Justin turned his head and his heart began to beat so rapidly that
he felt like it was going to burst out of his chest.

Max was standing on the third step from the landing, his eyes shifting
between Alex and Justin. Had he heard the conversation between his older
siblings? His face didn't seem to indicate so. Justin subconsciously licked
his lips, feeling that stirring once again in his boxers. Max only had his
jeans on and was standing there staring innocently back at them his tanned
torso bare and rippling for the entire world to see.

Justin's eyes slowly traveled from Max's defined chest to his light six
pack. Finally, he directed his gaze to Max's curvy hips framed by the black
waist band of his white Under Armour boxer-briefs which had ridden up over
his dark blue jeans.

Max eventually broke the awkward silence between them focusing on his
sister.

"Alex," he asked with a completely innocent albeit confused expression.
"Have you seen my wand anywhere?"

Justin looked to her as well, slightly put off that Max had pretty much
ignored him, once again in favor of Alex, especially since she had been
about to break Max's trust and reveal something very confidential from their
earlier conversation.

"Did you check your back pocket?" She responded without missing a beat.

Max frowned and reached a hand behind him into his pocket, flexing his bicep
and pectoral muscle. Then, his face lit up in realization.

"Oh yeah, I put it in my back pocket." He grinned goofily. "Thanks Alex."
Max's eyes darted over to Justin and his cheek bones flushed. Then he spun
around providing Justin with a nice view of the small of his tan muscular
back and his curvy hips and quickly ran back up the stairs.

Justin's breathing had become heavy as Max zoomed out of their sight and it
occurred to him with stark reality as he felt the stirring within his jeans
returning that he was falling hard for his brother.

"I know," Alex concurred with Justin's unspoken interest. "He has become
quite the little hottie."

She turned to Justin who returned her look. Alex gazed into his deeply
dilated misty eyes and nearly staggered back in understanding.

"Oh my god!" She grinned giddily. "You are totally in..."

"Shhh," Justin hissed shooting his gaze back up the stairs. "Don't even
think about finishing that sentence. Anyway, I have no idea what you are
talking about," he added in complete denial. "And even if I did..." Justin
stood in shock of what had just been going through his mind about Max
moments ago. He drew in a deep breath and continued with what he had been
trying to say. "Even if I did know what you were talking about... that would
be sick... and really wrong. Really really wrong." Justin's eyes faltered on
Alex and then he gazed down at the floor in embarrassment and dejection.

Alex's grin broadened and she began to giggle, very uncharacteristicly
compared to her usual cackle. "Justin," she said knowingly pulling him
around by his shoulders to face her. "Come on... I'm your sister. You may be
the brains of this family, but I'm the go to girl. I know you better than
you know yourself. I've seen the way you've been looking at Max lately..."

Justin's breath hitched in his throat. She knew...

*Fuck me, fuck fuck fuck!*

* *

"It's okay." Alex reassured lifting Justin's chin so he would look at her.
"These things happen. It's like brotherly love. You're around each other all
the time. So a little sexual frustration develops. I mean honestly when was
the last time you had sex with a g..."

"No Alex," He contradicted her abruptly. "These things don't happen!
Especially between two brothers!"

"So you admit there is something!" Alex shouted triumphantly.

"Shh," Justin attempted to quite her down as if one of their parents was
going to come investigating. "I've admitted nothing. Yeah Max is cute in a
quirky way, and I've missed his old care free personality. He just needed a
hug earlier and it was the perfect opportunity for us to make peace. That's
all."

Alex laughed again. "Okay, if you wanna call that peace." She replied
sarcastically. "It looked a little more like... stimulating negotiations to
me. Plus, from what Maxie told me earlier and what I saw a little bit ago..."

"What did Max tell you?" Justin jumped in, his heart fluttering anxiously.

"Dude," Alex said seriously. "Max is totally crushing on you. He can't get
you out of his head. He said he's been dreaming about you lately... and I
don't mean the sweet innocent dreams with white fluffy clouds."

Justin got the implications, and a shiver traveled down his spine causing
his arms to erupt in goose bumps. Max... *liked* him? Butterflies erupted in
his stomach and he felt a nervous anxiety fueled by desire beginning to take
over. The room started to spin at the thought of his brother having... *dreams
*about him. Justin wondered what he and Max had been doing in those dreams,
but his mind was already creating a variety of different... intimate
scenarios. He found himself growing very hard and he had to resist the urge
to squeeze his package.

Alex stood before Justin, intensely studying his reaction to the revelation.
"Justin," she called tentatively, as he was staring off dreamily practically
through the white washed wall in front of him. "Justin!"

Justin snapped out of his erotically spiraling thoughts. He felt himself
becoming increasingly dizzy as the room seemed to spin more quickly about
him. What had he been thinking? Max was his brother. Justin had held him
when he was just an infant. He had always taken care of his brother and they
had grown up together for the last sixteen years.

Justin felt bile rise up into his throat and he had to swallow in order to
keep from vomiting. He could understand Max having a boy crush on him.
Justin was somewhat of an authority figure in his brother's life and Max had
always looked up to him. Plus there was the fact that Justin was a diehard
hottie and Max certainly wasn't the first boy that seemed to have had a
crush on him. But the thing that bothered Justin the most was that he had
begun to think of Max in more than just a plutonic brotherly sense. When
Alex had revealed Max's feelings toward him, Justin had become aroused and
began to vividly imagine different positions... err... ways that Max could
seduce him.

He pictured Max's bare upper body and imagined running his hands up and down
his brother's firm torso and slipping his finger into the waistband of Max's
boxer-briefs. Justin could see himself crushing Max's burning soft pink lips
with his own and slipping his tongue into his brother's sweet willing mouth.
He wanted Max to squeeze his throbbing hard on through his jeans and pump
his cock as they grounded their bodies together.

Justin closed his eyes in ecstasy as the erotic thought worked on his body
continuing to send pleasurable sensations straight to his groin.

*God! What the fuck is wrong with me?!*

* *

Justin's face drained of all color and he felt extremely nauseous at the
directions his thoughts had been carrying him to. Max was his brother... his
FUCKING BROTHER! While Max was fairly innocent to the idea of sex, or so he
thought, his own feelings were completely... well there was no other word for
it... Incestuous. Something Justin realized with a disgusted shudder. He
nearly vomited at the thought that he was getting off on the sexual desire
he was feeling towards his little brother. Something was seriously wrong
with him. Obviously Justin's mind was playing a sick joke on him, or perhaps
even, he had been cursed.

He cast a cursory sidelong glance at Alex filled with suspicion and
wonderment.

Still, Justin was the most adept wizard in his family. Surely he could very
easily resist a simple spell, or at least have some awareness that he was
under the influence of one. However, he was still succumbing to the
completely impure thoughts that were raping his mind and his inner being.
How horrible a brother was he to be fantasizing about Max? Justin slapped
himself subconsciously, leaving a stinging red mark in his hands wake.

Alex's firm grasp on his arm prevented him from repeating the painful action
her cool touch shocking his thoughts back to normal.

"Are you okay Justin?" Alex looked like she was ready to call the wizards in
white coats, attempting to decipher his mental state. "What's going on up
there?"

Justin wrenched his arm from Alex's grip more forcibly than he had intended.

She gave him a strange, hurt look relaxing her arm back at her side.

"You're not taking this well... I thought you... felt the same way..."

"Of course I'm not taking this well Alex." Justin seethed through his
clenched teeth. "I find out that our brother likes me way more than he
should and I'm supposed to be okay with that?"

Alex's mouth fell open and then she began to give him an outraged albeit
sympathetic look.

"And don't even start to give me the whole pity thing, because that's not
you, and the last thing I want is false sympathy. Yeah, maybe I kind of have
a thing for Max. He's just changed a lot lately, call it a boy crush."
Justin admitted. "But that doesn't mean I like him... like that."

*Liar*.

"Are you gay Justin?" Alex completely caught him off guard.

"What!"

She back tracked a few steps. "I mean, come on. How long have you ever dated
a girl? Besides Juliette..." Alex added quickly before Justin could object.
"She was imprisoned by the mummy longer than you guys actually dated. All
the other girls that you've ever dated came back here and you always ended
up getting dumped shortly after."

"That's because they met our family." Justin gave Alex a pointed look.

"I think you brought them home on purpose knowing we'd drive them off."

"That's not... I wouldn't... come on. That's not true." He was struggling,
however, to convince Alex of this. "I'm really not gay." Justin knew this...
he just thought Max was kind of cute... okay, he was really cute, but in a
feminine sort of way. He had very pretty eyes and a beautiful nearly
flawless complexion. His pouty lips and toned slim body hardly helped
Justin's carnal desire either, and the way Max flaunted himself about...  His
raspy sexy voice also did numbers on Justin for some unknown reason.

Justin had to stop that train of thought as he felt his pulse going up and
his cock which had not yet completely deflated started to swell even more.

*This is so god damned wrong!*

* *

"Okay, I hear you say you're not gay and I believe that, and you feel some
kind of desire towards Max?" Alex coaxed Justin manipulatively.

"Yes," Justin answered impulsively. "I mean NO! Alex, he's my brother..."

She waited for him to go on, crossing her arms and tapping her foot
expectantly.

"What? That's it! He's your brother," she repeated skeptically. "That's
all?"

"Yeah."

"And you think he's a fucking adorable hottie sex machine on legs."

"Alex, don't say things like that!" Justin's cheeks burned bright red in
complete embarrassment. It didn't help that there was a good deal of truth
in his sister's words. Still however, there was no way in hell that he could
actually admit this to himself, let alone to Alex of all people.

"Ahh, you may say no but your eyes say differently." She concluded sagely.

Justin sighed rolling his eyes dramatically. There was obviously no winning
with Alex. He looked away from her shaking his head in resignation, finally
realizing that this was something that he was not going to be able to keep
from her. Justin figured it was at least better to give her a little
something to chew on than to tell her nothing and have her continue to
persist until he eventually cracked and told her everything.

"Okay," he admitted. "Yes, Max has changed... a lot lately." Justin looked
down bashfully.

"Mmm hmm."

Justin glared back at her. "I don't know why, but I feel something whenever
he's around. There's something in his eyes. Something in the way he talks
and goofs around. Stupid stuff like the way his shaggy hair flips over his
face and the way his lips part and he grins whenever he makes one of his
stupid comments. And then whenever he walks around with his shirt off..."
Justin stopped not wanting to reveal any more details further divulging his
feelings for his little brother. Naturally his mind began to travel from
Max's cute face and shinning hazel eyes to his firm toned body and light
blonde treasure trail traveling from his flat belly button disappearing into
the waistband of his jeans and boxer-briefs.

"Oh my god!" Alex squeaked clapping her hands together excitedly and then
threw herself at Justin pulling him into a tight hug. She let go as Justin
pushed her off and then quickly composed herself. "I knew you totally had it
for Max!"

He hushed Alex again putting a hand over her mouth. "I don't totally have it
for Max!"

She looked back at him in silent disbelief.

"I don't," Justin insisted. "I can just recognize that he has become very
attractive, that's all."

Alex rolled her eyes but dropped the subject... for the most part. "Fine
Justin, but you need to be real with yourself, but more importantly, you
need to be real with Max."

Justin's thoughts fixated on their younger brother.

"He loves you Justin. I know he hasn't exactly been showing it lately, but
trust me, he's been struggling with a lot of different emotions towards
you."

Justin thought back to what Alex had said earlier.

*He really has a crush on me, like more than just fascination?*

* *

The idea scared the hell out of Justin, mostly because he returned many of
the same emotions that Alex had described of Max. He broke out in a cold
sweat thinking of eventually trying to breech a conversation with Max about
their mutual feelings.

*Not that it could happen, *Justin reminded himself. His family wasn't
particularly religious so Justin figured that they wouldn't be entirely
upset about him liking another boy, but the fact that it was his own
brother... now that was a whole other barrel of apples. Justin groaned in
frustration.

*Why the fuck does this have to be so damned complicated. *

* *

Yes, the wizarding world was very liberal when it came to many many things,
but this... this was soo wrong. Justin clutched his head in pain as a feeling
of agony began to rake through his body.

*And yet it felt so right.* A small voice reminded him, sending out a tiny
bit of warmth tingling from his core.

"Justin?" Alex asked concerned.

Justin looked up at her through his fingers.

"Are you okay?"

"No I'm not okay! I fucking have a crush on our brother! He fucking turns me
on and I can't help myself when I'm around him! I can't get him out of my
head Alex!" Justin hadn't meant to yell at her so loudly and immediately
regretted it seeing the hurt look on her face.

"Alex... I'm really sorry..." He said, his voice low and soft. He felt his
eyes burning and tears beginning to form.

"It's okay Justin." Alex pulled him into another tight hug, instantly
forgiving him for his outburst. "You've been dealing with a lot of really
tough crap lately too, and this is the last thing you needed to deal with
right now. I get that."

Justin returned Alex's embrace feeling hot tears finally spilling onto the
scratchy wool sweater she had draped around her shoulders.

"Hey," Alex cooed soothingly, rubbing gentle circles on his back as he let
out silent uncontrollable sobs. "It's gonna be alright. You'll figure this
out. I'm always here if you..."

"What's going on? Are you guys okay?"

Justin froze in mid sob. The last person in the world that he wanted to see
and the only person he ever wanted to see had just called out to Alex and
himself completely breaking their moment.



AN: So that's chapter three! I hope you're enjoying so far :) I dunno how
long this story is going to be yet, but I definitely have plans for several
more chappies. As always, I worship feedback!! I'm always loking for
direction and suggestion, whether it's plot elements or special requests, I
love to hear from you. Thanks again to all the amazing people who have been
sending such amazing reviews. You've blown my mind and most importantly
inspired me to write more!

            Love,

              Michael

Mpseagle16@gmail.com