dance with the devil ✧ DAMON SALVATORE

chapter fifteen

With his thumb Tyler wipes away tears Jordan didn't realise were escaping her eyes.

Jordan laughs through her tears, "I've never cried so much in one day in my entire life. Stupid, aren't they? Tears, I mean. Most people associate tears with sadness, but sadness is such a big complex. It can be divided into so many more boxes. Depression, grief, tiredness, anger, heartbreak. Heartbreak, another stupid thing, don't you agree? Heartbreak. Heart, break. The breaking of the heart. Did you know that that is exactly how it feels? It feels like my heart is being crushed. My air pipe is being cut off, and I can't breathe properly. I feel like a falling star, but instead of carrying hope to fulfil ones wish, all I carry is despair. I've been playing with fire, but I didn't expect to get burned." She rushes everything out at once while she clutches onto Tyler's broad shoulders with a firm hand like he is the anchor to keep him from losing her mind.

Tyler brushes his hands through Jordan's blonde locks, while rocking her back and forth in a steady and calm pace. "Come on, let's sit down for a minute, alright?"

Jordan bobs her head as they sunk into Tyler's ocean blue sofa. Tyler drapes a fuzzy blanket over their legs. "You want me to beat someone up? Like I used to do?"

Jordan shakes her head, but a smile does tug at her lips.

The smile encourages Tyler to bring a happy and silly memory to the surface, "You remember Dally Rease? He used to make fun of you because you always wore flowers in your hair. You never let it bother you, but I knew it hurt. I wanted to beat him up, but you never let me. One day you were sick, which was the perfect opportunity for me. I decked him in his jaw after school that day, and when you found out, you didn't speak to me for a week. Although you were stubborn, it did help, he never bothered you again."

Jordan pulls her lips into a somewhat positive line. "I remember," Jordan murmurs, "and I'm so sorry I haven't visited you since the summer vacation. I've missed you."

Jordan feels Tyler's chest vibrate and not soon after a deep chuckle follows. "Please, Jordy, you know it doesn't matter if we go without seeing each other for multiple months, maybe even years. You are and will always be my best friend, nothing in the world can change that."

"You will always be my best friend as well, Ty."

Tyler jumps up from the sofa, only to collect the remote of his television, and he immediately sits down again. "I know you're still hurting, I can see it in your eyes. I don't know what cures heartbreak, but Caroline once told me comedies and mountains upon mountains of ice cream does wonders."

"Thank you Ty," Jordan says, indicating that she is indeed very grateful.

On cue, Carol walks in with two enormous bowls of chocolate and strawberry ice-cream, both decorated with sprinkles and tiny umbrellas.

"Thank you, mom." "Thank you, Carol." Tyler and Jordan say in unison.

Carol closes the door of Tyler's room and she can't help but smile at the two best friends who are stuffing their mouths with heaps of ice-cream while the opening credits of 'White Chicks' are displayed on the screen of the television.

♛

A groan leaves Jordan's lips the second her eyes flutter open. Her throat is hoarse, her eyes are puffy, and her head is pounding. Sunlight is peeking through Tyler's black-tinted curtains; tickling her face and arms. Beside her, Tyler is still asleep, and Jordan smiles. He looks very young and definitely not troubled with closed and mouth slightly agape.

Jordan quietly pulls herself out from under the covers. She – and Tyler probably as well – had fallen asleep last night during the fourth movie. Jordan grabs her phone, and panic instantly strikes her.

6 messages from Elena and 2 missed calls from Elena.

12 messages from Damon, 8 missed calls from Damon, and 4 voicemails from Damon.

She doesn't open Damon's messages, and she sure as hell doesn't listen to his voicemails. Jordan knows that she can't handle hearing his voice, because it will only hurt her more. She does message Elena instantly, texting that she is sorry she didn't come home, and that she is alright, and that she fell asleep while watching films with Tyler.

Her phone starts buzzing, and the screen lights up with Damon's name. The telephone shakes in her hand and she has to strain herself from picking up. 10 seconds, 20 seconds, 30 seconds. It takes Damon 30 seconds to give up, and Jordan lets out a breath she doesn't know she was holding. Not trusting herself with avoiding Damon's future calls, Jordan shuts off her phone completely so she can't give in to future temptations.

A fine fountain pen is lying on Tyler's mahogany wood desk and with difficulty Jordan keeps herself from laughing. His family is so damn wealthy, Tyler probably doesn't realise that everything he touches is worth a fortune. With the pen in her hand, she instantly feels like an elegant and sleek business woman, and if she ever has the chance, she is so going to buy a deluxe fountain pen.

Thank you, Tyler,

for yesterday, it really

helped talked with

my best friend. When

you're awake, I'm

already gone.

Love you, Jordan.

Jordan doesn't have to worry about leaving the house in complete and utter silence. Tyler's parents are probably not home – they rarely are. And Tyler is one of the heaviest sleepers she knows. She could literally throw a party filled with booze and a loud bass in his bedroom, and he would probably snore right through it. So when the marble falls in its hinges with a loud grunt, Jordan doesn't cringe from the sound.

Her heart still feels deprived of love, but being with Tyler did fill up some of that void. She decide to not walk across the main road, instead she rounds the Lockwood estate and disappears into the woods.

A soft laugh echoed through the trees, bouncing from oak trees to pine trees. She finally knows why she enjoys the intoxicating aroma that enters her nostrils once she enters the forest, and why the little rabbits with fuzzy furs bump their adorable pink noses with the palm of Jordan's hand. It is because she is part – if not whole – nymph. She shakes her head from left to right, and a feeling of unease settles over her. She is a nymph for crying out loud! Who would ever believe the sweet and kind Jordan to be anything other than that? She certainly wouldn't believe herself. And it is strange, isn't it? That for seventeen years Jordan has been invested into her future plans so much: the steps had already been laid out for her and she knew which path she wanted to walk upon. But to realise that, when walking on a certain path, you only ever stumble across dead ends. That is of course, until instead of stopping at a dead end, you climb over it. You climb over the bricks and cement that are your dead end, and when your feet come in contact with the surface again, you realise that you are no longer walking on a concrete path. Instead you are surrounded by miles and miles upon forest with no idea which way to turn to. Jordan feels like that. Trapped in her surroundings, stranded on a zig-zagging path with too many obstacles to even be close to the finish.

Something hard hits Jordan's head, and she figures she must have hit her head against a mean branch or something. Unfortunately, it isn't a branch that hits her head, and Jordan can feel her thoughts drifting away from her as she falls down. The left side of her lower abdomen coming in contact with a clammy log. Two neat black, shining shoes are in Jordan's line of sight, and they are gaining on her. They stop mere inches away from the tip of Jordan's nose and she wants to push against them, but the energy has been drained out of her and her green, almost luminous eyes roll into the back of her head.