chapter thirty seven

tweedledee, tweedledum and tweedledumber

・❥・

IT WAS THE afternoon of Alaric and Jo's wedding and Jordanna was ecstatic. She hadn't seen the Saltzman man since before he died, and I know, I know that was a while ago, but when he came back to the land of the living she was heavily pregnant—too lazy to travel and then she turned her humanity off.

Sure, they called every now and then and she annoyed him by spamming him with texts everyday—like an annoying daughter does, Alaric would say, rolling his eyes whenever Jo asked about it, but that didn't change the fact that she hadn't seen him, she didn't think she had been this excited since Klaus got her a new pair of shoes ( which, if anyone was wondering, she was wearing now ).

Jordanna walked through the gardens with a distasteful look spread across her face, it was a wedding day for God's sake... why were people wearing white?

    But nevertheless, she wouldn't let some incompetents that couldn't dress themselves ruin her mood for the afternoon. This was one of the rare times when she didn't want to jab a fork into her eye—no, she was actually willing and happy to be there.

    Surprise, surprise.

    As she made her way around the venue her eyes tersely shifted across the surrounding area. Whoever decorated and planned this wedding had taste... even she was impressed. Fairy-lights dotted in the trees, shining lightly as the sun slowly made its way to bed, the white table cloth that covered the tables, the type of white that remained pristine, clean of dirt and dust. The flowers that sat atop the tables, fresh and blooming. Waiters walked around, trays of fizzing, bubbly champagne in their grasp.

    It was the kind of place that made you feel... at home.

    Warm.

The raven-haired teen had yet to bump into Caroline, Stefan, Bonnie or Alaric—and thankfully Elena and Damon, but she had something to do first. Someone to see.

Jordanna walked across the grounds of the wedding venue, Sebastian sat at her hip, as she found her way inside she came to a stand. The Jones pushed her hair from her ear and listened to the sounds around her before she made her move.

The vampire knocked on one of the doors, shortly after, an old man popped his head out, Joshua Parker stood with a confused look on his face as Jordanna slyly, yet discreetly looked him up and down. A false, tight smile sat on her lips, "Jo in there?"

The man nodded with a frown before tentatively pulling the door open, allowing the vampire and sleeping baby, who laid his head on her chest, in the room—where she found a woman sat at a table in a white wedding dress, fixing her makeup.

"Uh—I'll leave you to it," the man said to his daughter before swiftly making an exit, leaving the two.

Jo nodded in thanks and turned, getting up from her seat before a small, almost shy, smile pulled at her lips as she stared at the sort-of-familiar teenager in front of her. Jordanna was the only part of Alaric's family she had yet to meet—and to say she was scared would be an understatement.

    She was just like she was in the pictures Alaric had scattered all over his and Jo's apartment. Smooth, porcelain skin and silky raven hair. She oozed elegance, importance. If she were to walk into a room, all eyes were on her, scrutinising her closely, from the designer shoes, the expensive jewellery, to the pristine clothes that hugged her body—she was their very own 'it' girl, like in those silly high-school movies.

    Except, she was no longer in high-school, making her so much more than that. Yes, she may have been younger ( and quite a bit shorter than Jo ) but she stood tall, strong. It was intimidating. It was intimidating how the second she entered the room the sunlight that blared through the windows fell upon her, eyes twinkling, brightening in the sun as she offered Jo an amicable smile.

    And her smile. Her damn smile... she even smelled good! The second she walked in the room the scent of expense followed her, but not the kind where it smelt too bitter to the point it tickled your nose and you're holding in a sneeze. No, it was just perfect. Sweet but not too sweet. Just like Jordanna.

"Jordanna, right?" Jo pulled a face in thought as she slowly made her way towards the vampire. The Jones nodded eliciting in Jo's smile to widen slightly. "Nice to finally meet the face in the pictures."

Jordanna huffed out a laugh at that. "And you," she replied smoothly, trying to seem somewhat polite, for Alaric's behalf, after all he was marrying this woman, making her Sebastian's honorary 'grandmother.'

    In a way, anyway.

The two talked for a good half-an-hour as Jo sat and finished her makeup for her wedding, gushing over Alaric any chance she got and Jordanna could see just how much she loved him and it warmed her dead heart. Jo had also revealed that she was expecting and Jordanna was shocked to say the least—he hadn't mentioned that.

Jo had told Jordanna about her two younger siblings, Liv and Luke, the latter whom passed away in a merge. Something about that tickled Jordanna's brain, she was sure that she had met someone somehow connected to the Gemini coven but she couldn't think—whatever.

The Laughlin woman, formerly Parker, had also spoken to Jordanna about Elena. And the Jones could've gagged at the sound of her name rolling off of Jo's tongue. Her name alone reminded her of Kol, and it stirred up that pesky emotion she hated... sadness, grief.

Jordanna had never gotten Elena back for what she and Jeremy did to Kol back in Mystic Falls and him dying again, it only reminded her of how much she loathed the two Gilberts. She hated Elena, she hated Damon and she hated Jeremy. Unfortunately for her, Jeremy didn't come to the wedding, but Elena?

Luckily enough for Jordanna, she was here.

Unlucky for Elena though.

Jordanna rolled her lips into her mouth, pulling her from her thoughts as Sebastian stirred in her lap, "Elena... she isn't one of your bridesmaids, is she?"

"Yeah," Jo answered with a small smile, failing to notice the mischievous pull of Jordanna's lips. "Why?"

As Jo turned to face her, that sly look turned into a sweet smile, "No reason."

Just that you may be missing a bridesmaid is all...

A sigh fell from the Jones' lips as she rose from her seat, "I guess I've got to go find the old lump of a groom, haven't I? It was nice meeting you, Jo."

And she made her leave, vindictive thoughts ran through her mind as she strode off. Sebastian seemed to have woken up from his nap as his mother wandered around the venue, she looked down at him with a teasing smile on her, normally, glossy lips. "What am I gonna do with you while mommy goes and hurts a bitch, huh? Wanna hang with Care, Bon-Bon or Stef? Gotta' warn you though... be careful of Uncle Stefan, he usual eats the small and cute things."

The seemingly cheerful child let out a squeal, unaware of what she was saying and that brought a smile to her face. Oh Sebastian,  she was just as excited as he.

Alaric hadn't seen her coming as he stood in the gardens—greeting his guests with a polite, charming smile on his face. The harsh smack upside the head was what widened his smile, while he secretly held in a grimace, but he knew it was her, weirdly enough he recognised her backhands anywhere.

He spun on his heels to face her, face dropping at the sight of the small child in her arms, but before he could question it, she had already began speaking, "You didn't tell me she was pregnant, you asshole!"

Alaric glanced between her and the baby, a look of shock and bewilderment danced across his face. "Language," he managed out, shock practically radiated off of his body. "Uh—that's a baby," he stuttered, pointing at said child in the Jones' arms.

Jordanna's face scrunched. "Duh. What does he look like? A pickle?" Jordanna asked as her phone buzzed in the small bag that perched on her shoulder, the vampire huffed and held Sebastian out to Alaric—watching in amusement as a scared look covered his face. "Hold him for a second, please."

NIKOLICIOUS
killed anyone
yet?

JORDANNA
sadly no.
thinking about it though

NIKOLICIOUS
of course you are

Jordanna mindlessly trailed after Alaric as he slowly headed to sit down at one of the tables in the gardens—Sebastian still in his grasp. The raven-haired teen shoved her phone back in her small bag before she took the available seat besides Alaric.

"So... are you gonna' explain this to me or keep me guessing?" Alaric spoke, eyes wide as Sebastian fidgeted in his lap.

"Well, as you can see, he's very much alive-"

"Clearly," Alaric interrupted, sending her a pointed look. "You said he was dead, Jords—wait, does that mean that-"

"Ah." A noise climbed up the back of her throat, ushering Alaric to pause his words. "Anastasia is dead. That one wasn't a lie."

Alaric's face pulled downwards, "Oh, I'm sorry, JJ."

Jordanna brushed it off, reaching a hand out to stop the waiter in passing as she swiftly grabbed two champagne glasses from the silver tray in his hands. Alaric rose his brows as she downed one of the glasses before taking a short sip from the other.

"What? It's been a hard couple of days."

Alaric shook his head, dismissing it as he watched her reach forward toward the baby, the Saltzman grinned at the small child as she seated him on her lap. The Jones pulled a small toy from her bag before she placed it in his grasp—distracting him from tugging on her hair or her necklaces—like he always did.

    "Wow," Alaric whistled as he watched her, eyes flitting between the teenager and her son. "This is weird. Are you sure this isn't some alternative universe where you like children and I'm getting married again?"

    A wry scoff left Jordanna's lips, "Who said I liked children?"

    "The fact that you haven't thrown him off your lap, Jords. That says a lot in itself," Alaric spoke, shaking his head as he rested his forearm on the table. "You're going soft." She pulled a face at that. "No, no. It's okay. It's sweet watching you in mom mode. I mean, you even bought him toys, JJ, for you that's a lot," his tone turned teasing.

    Jordanna squinted her eyes at the man, clicking her tongue. "First of all, I still hate children, like a lot. But this is my child, which makes him bearable.  Also, do I look like fucking Mother Teresa? I shop for shoes, not babies. I got it before we came, I was hungry so we stopped and Sebastian saw it and he wanted it-"

     Alaric gave her a knowing look, which elicited in an eyeroll.

    "—And I'm not a bitch so I was gonna' get it for him, but turns out it was the last one and someone else grabbed it before me... so I ate them."

    "Of course you did," Alaric muttered.

    "It was a two-in-one, I guess, I got my food and Sebastian got his toy. See, I can be a good mom and still hate kids-"

    "-Except your own," Alaric added.

    "Except my own," she nodded in confirmation.

    "Speaking of kids... " Alaric trailed off. "How'd you know that Jo is pregnant?"

    "She told me, idiot," Jordanna rolled her eyes, bouncing Sebastian up and down on her knee. "I wanted to meet the woman who, sadly, has to put up with you for the rest of her life."

    "And?" Alaric asked hesitantly. He was scared of her opinion on Jo, if she didn't like her he didn't know what'd he'd do. His ( future ) wife and 'daughter' not getting along? That's bad. But Jo and Jordanna, not getting along? That didn't sound too fun.

    "And... she's lovely," Jordanna inwardly cringed at her own words. When was the last time she had outspokenly been nice about a person, especially after their first meeting?

She didn't like it.

    "Really?" Alaric let out a relieved breath.

    Jordanna nodded, "Yeah. I was scared she was gonna' be some stuck up bitch, but then I remembered that it's you that's getting married, and you wouldn't be able to pull a stuck up bitch. Which made me question how you got Jo... did you drug her or something? She's way too sweet to be with your drunk-ass."

    "Did I mention how much I missed you?" Alaric spoke sarcastically, a dry smile pulled at his lips as Jordanna sent him a wide, rueful grin.

    "Just kidding," she said through a smile, before lowering her voice just a little, a short breath leaving her lips. "I am proud of you, you know that, right?"

    A small, elated smile pulled at the Saltzman's lips as he turned his gaze toward her, eyes momentarily flitting down to the child that, still, sat playing with the toy, before he looked back up to Jordanna. "I know," he whispered, voice just above a murmur. "I'm proud of you too."

    Jordanna's lips tugged upwards as they sat and stared at the people walking past them, the odd few guests stopped and congratulated Alaric with big, assumed fake, smiles on their lips.

    As Alaric waved another guest off he turned to the amused vampire seated next to him. "I ain't doin' this again," he muttered. "The next wedding I go to better be yours-"

    Jordanna pulled a face at that.

    "I don't know where you're getting this idea from, but-"

    She was cut off as Sebastian suddenly let out an excited squeal, waving, or attempted to, his arms around in joy. A grin broke out on Alaric's face as he held his arms out to the child, "C'mere, kid."

    And he snatched him from Jordanna's lap.

    Jordanna watched as Alaric tickled Sebastian's clothed stomach, eliciting in a noise of delight to reverberate from his chest. "You ready to be a dad?" She asked curiously, eyeing him as he played with Sebastian.

    "Sorta," he shrugged in answer. "I have experience in dealing with teenagers, spent the past few years dealing with you lot, but a baby?" He sighed. "That's just... a big step."

    "Well," she bumped his shoulder with her own. "We can learn together, they're only gonna' be a few months apart, a year at most. We can help each other, but if you call me crying about shit-"

    "Nope," Alaric shook his head, grimacing. "Don't even wanna think about it," he said before a sigh slipped passed his lips as he brought his forearm forward, checking the time. "I should go, I need to get some stuff done before the ceremony."

    Jordanna nodded, reaching forward to grab the baby from Alaric's grasp as the Salzman came to a stand, moving to walk away before Jordanna's voice stopped him. "Ah, ah." A noise climbed up the back of her throat. "Spin around then, I wanna have a look at you before you go."

    The Saltzman gave her a deadpanned look, the raven-haired teen merely stared back at him blankly, much to his annoyance. "Die," he mumbled under his breath before doing a quick, hasty spin.

    "Already did," Jordanna quipped as the man turned back to face her, he held his arms out in defeat as she grinned. A dainty hand lifted to her face as she pretended to wipe a tear from under her eye. "They grow up so fast," she let out theatrically.

    "Which one of us is the adult here?" The man pursed his lips, raising his eyebrows as he watched her rise from her seat.

    "If I'm gonna be honest here... neither of us," Jordanna responded.

    Alaric opened his mouth to argue but clamped his lips shut before a look of agreement pulled at his face. He reached forward, pulling her in for a short hug before he pulled away, "See you in there, kid?"

    "See you in there," Jordanna nodded. "Good luck."

   He sent her a grin over his shoulder before sauntering off into the crowd, leaving Jordanna with Sebastian.

    "C'mon," she spoke, grabbing her champagne glass in her free hand as she began strolling off. "Let's go find Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber."

・❥・

    After walking around for God-knows how long, Jordanna had finally found two of the three people she was searching for. Caroline and Stefan. The latter had his back to her, so he never saw her coming. But Caroline? Caroline saw her, that's why an excited grin broke out on her face.

    It'd only been two days since the pair had seen one another. After Hayley and Jackson's wedding Caroline decided to stay in New Orleans for an extra day, and that extra day just so happened to be the day that Naomi and Cami returned from hiding ( Naomi had taken Cami out of New Orleans in order of her safety from Finn ).

    Caroline and Naomi in the same room? A recipe for disaster. Jordanna had never seen Caroline so hostile in her life, perhaps before she had turned, but still. It bemused her, but deep down? She found it rather funny.

    Naomi, on the other hand, did better to hide her dislike. She was polite and kind, that might've merely been because Cami was there and she didn't want to act like a bitch in-front of her 'precious Camille.'

    They clashed, majorly. They were one of the same half, and disliked the other for it. It was amusing how they scorned one another, but yet, were merely the same person. It was as though they hated themselves.

    Huh... a therapist would have a field day with that.

    "JJ!" Caroline exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. Stefan's head tilted back at that, eyes widening as he caught sight of his best-friend. Green eyes darted between Jordanna and the small Mikaelson in her grasp.

    As Caroline rushed toward the two, Stefan closely following after her, she threw her arms around the raven-haired girl. "It's been two days, Care," Jordanna let out, patting the blonde on the back lightly.

    "I know, but..." Caroline sighed. "I missed you."

    An amicable smile twisted on the Jones' lips. "What a sweetheart," she teased, free hand going to her heart before her gaze turned to the green-eyed vampire. "Hi gorgeous," her lips tugged upwards as the Salvatore strode toward her, he wrapped his arms around her tightly, yet wary of Sebastian whom sat idly in her arms—staring at Caroline as she pulled weird faces, gaining the infant's attention.

    "I missed you," he mumbled against her head before reluctantly pulling away.

    "You people really can't live without me, can you?" The Jones teased, eyes flitting between the two when she paused, noting how Stefan's gaze had yet to leave Sebastian, and it dawned on her—they hadn't even met yet. "Sebby..." she trailed off, slowly moving toward the mousy-haired vampire. "This is your Uncle Stef. The killer of small animals and all things cute."

    Stefan shot her a quick look before a smile, a shy one, made its way onto his face. His gaze softened and he held his hands out as Jordanna slowly, yet carefully, placed Sebastian in his grasp. "Hey..." the Salvatore grinned, looking down at the small child who stared back up at him, big blue eyes shining with curiosity.

    "Where's Bon?" Jordanna asked, a frown fixated on her face as she pulled her eyes from Stefan and Sebastian.

    "She's late," Caroline huffed. "I'm so going to kill her when she gets here. Also, I know we don't care if Elena shows up or not, but this is Jo's wedding and she needs her freakin' bridesmaid, but no. Elena is waiting for Damon in the barn."

    The barn...

    Jordanna's mind ran with that. The barn. She was this close to her. This close to Damon. Oh, what to do? What to do?

    "You know, I'm surprised you showed, to be honest," Caroline continued, face in awe as she watched Stefan mutter things down to Sebastian, a grin on his face that brought a smile to Sebastian's face, and that, that brought a grin to Jordanna's face.

    "It's Alaric's wedding, Caroline," Stefan spoke up, turning to the two. "Of course she'd be here, you know what they're like."

    "I know. I know," the blonde dismissed. "But, you haven't seen her with him. As much as she tries to hide it, she loves being all mom-ly and stuff, so I expected her to ditch and spend time with Sebby."

    Jordanna bit the inside of her cheek. "Fuck me gently with a chainsaw," she muttered under her breath, looking up to the sky before she met Caroline's eye once again. "What do you expect me to do? Sit home and knit him little jumpers?"

    "It's okay," Caroline patted her on the shoulder, turning to look at Stefan she pulled a face and hushed the volume of her voice. "She's in-denial."

    "She's not," Jordanna replied with an eyeroll. "I honestly don't see why you all make this into a big deal when it's not. I don't hate my kid... wow, big surprise..."

    And they spent the next few minutes catching up during the last half-an-hour before the ceremony began. Jordanna's mind, however, was in a different place. She was itching to go find Elena, every part of her body twitched at the smallest possibility of her fist meeting the brunette's cheek... or perhaps her breast. Getting punched in the tit hurt, a lot. And she wanted to hurt Elena.

    A few lies about Sebastian needing his diaper changed and she was gone. She didn't know if this was a bad idea, or a good one. And particularly? She didn't care.

    Her mind drifted to the things that had turned her to acting hostile toward Elena ( and Damon ). There was many, many reasons why she was justified in wanting her to pay... at least a little bit.

   'Anytime you begin to feel even an inkling of happiness I will be there to ruin it. I will be the one to bring you misery, rain on your sunny day.' She had once told Damon, yet never did she act on it. Perhaps it was because deep down, somewhere in her wretched heart, Elena, once-upon-a-time... meant something to her.

    But now? She was fucking over it.

    Over her shit.

    Over her.

    Jordanna had quickly run to her car and put Sebastian in his car seat so that while she was... busy with Elena he would at least be sat comfortably—instead of on the floor.

    And no! Before you ask, she didn't leave him in the car, she took the car seat out. She wouldn't be that stupid. Plus, she didn't like to keep him out of her sight for too long, she clung to him—or he clung to her, tightly, especially with this looming feeling that amassed in the pit of her stomach—the feeling that something bad was about to happen.

    As Jordanna silently pushed the door of the barn open, she spotted the one and only Elena Gilbert. The doppelganger stood, still waiting on the arrival of Damon. A smirk tugged at Jordanna's lips as she watched the brunette click the bottom of her heels against the floor, impatiently—or nervously.

    The Jones carefully tucked Ares into a corner where he would be safe, and not seen, she handed him his toy, placed a small set of headphones over his ears and an iPad. Crouching down in-front of him she smiled at him, "I won't be long, kid. Watch Peppa Pig and I'll be back to watch them get stuck in a traffic jam, cool? Cool."

    God, what had she become? She felt like crying... was she becoming... mature?

   Elena stood, fingers clasped together as she waited on Damon. She rubbed her chapped lips together in apprehension. Her heart ran at one-hundred miles-per-hour as her mind wandered to what Damon's answer would be. Was he going to take the cure or not?

    The loud slam of the barndoor caught her attention. Her head snapped toward the noise, expecting Damon, but nothing was there. A crinkle formed between her brows as she stared at the, seemingly, empty space of the barn. Turning back around she jumped ferociously in place, she was met with the menacing face of Jordanna.

    "Hey Lena, you missed me?" Jordanna's lips pulled into a smirk. "'Cause I sure as hell missed you," she spoke, amusement in her tone as she tilted her head, watching as Elena slowly backed away from her.

   "Jordanna?" Elena managed out, swallowing roughly.

    A little laugh, almost like a giggle erupted from her throat, perhaps it was because she was over-joyed in the current moment, after all—she had waited quite a long time for this.

     "Hi," she let out before her fist met Elena's cheek.

    A grunt and a noise of shock left Elena's mouth at the impact just before her nose met Jordanna's knee. Perks of being a vampire, you see... way back when she would've been tired already—she probably should've worked out more.

    "Since you're human now, I guess I'll go easy on you," Jordanna said as she threw another punch at Elena's face, the brunette scratched at her arms, drawing blood as she attempted to scramble free from her grasp. "Only joking," she said mockingly, kneeing her in the abdomen. "Kol died, again," she rolled her eyes as she gripped onto the freshly straightened hair on the Gilbert's head, angling her face so that she was looking up at her. "And it reminded me of how much I hated you when you and your greasy little brother killed him, so here I am."

    Jordanna released the brunette, letting her stumble away. Her hair stuck up in angle's that it shouldn't, blood ran down her nose, dripping over her lips and down her chin—landing on the top of the pristine, formerly clean, bridesmaid dress Jo had picked out for her.

    "It wouldn't be fun if you didn't fight back, now would it?" Jordanna's glossy lips pulled into a smirk as she drifted across the barn, picking up one of the wine glasses that idly sat on a table—the Jones guessed they were using this for storage. Keeping extra glasses, plates... cutlery, etc.

    She snapped the top of the wine glass off, leaving the rugged stem and the foot before she held it out to the doppelganger who warily looked up at her in answer. When she made no move to take it Jordanna made a 'tsk' noise with her tongue and stalked toward the older girl.

     Firmly, she opened Elena's palm and placed the stem of the glass in her hand. "Use it or don't," Jordanna shrugged as she spun on her feet, slowly walking away so she could catch a quick glimpse of Sebastian.

    The small child sat in his car-seat, a smile on his little face as he glanced down at the screen situated on his lap. Ugh, so cute.

    "Can't say I didn't give you a chance," she continued, turning back to Elena after making sure Sebastian was okay. "Plus, Alaric trained us both, Lena. 'Never go down without a fight,' he'd always say... trite, I know, but still. Do you wanna disappoint him like that?" Jordanna's lips pulled into a mocking pout as she goaded the brunette. "On his wedding day?"

    Her eyes tersely shifted down to Elena's right hand, she watched as the doppelganger gripped the stem in her grasp tightly, hiding the small quiver of her fingers. A satisfied grin pulled at her lips, "Finally."

    And they fought. Granted, Jordanna had to slow down, because it wouldn't be any fun if Elena got absolutely no hits in... Except the face, if she hit her face, she'd merely bite her hand off. She didn't spend hours looking this good for Elena to scuff up her makeup...

    A noise crawled up the back of her throat as the stem of the wine glass pierced the skin of her abdomen. Breaking the material of her dress and the smooth, porcelain skin that it clung to.

    "Why are you doing this to me?" Elena cried out, pushing the glass stem deeper into the Jones' stomach.

    "Boredom? Pettiness? Not too sure, really," Jordanna grunted out. A wry smile slowly pulled at her lips as a low, soft, groan left her mouth when she felt the glass cut harsher. Her forearm rose, creating a space between herself and Elena as the doppelganger tried to pull the glass out—attempting to stab her again when Jordanna rose her hand, causing the brunette to go flying across the barn, landing harshly on the floor.

The Jones whistled as a loud crack followed after her, "Ouch. That sounded like it hurt."

After she watched Elena lie still for a moment raven-haired girl pouted, looking down at her dress, "Remind me why I was dumb enough to give you that?" She questioned, though no answer came from Elena as she slowly, weakly, dragged her body across the floor. "You ruined my fucking dress," she sighed. "But that's on me-"

    She stopped herself short upon hearing footsteps approaching. Her left hand shot out in the direction of Sebastian, the car-seat he was seated in suddenly disappeared and so did Jordanna.

    Damon entered the barn with high hopes. High hopes for his and Elena's future. After a long, long talk with his brother he had finally decided what he wanted. And that was to spend the rest of a human life with Elena.

    To be her partner, her husband, the father of her children, her confidant.

    He hoped to walk into the barn, and tell Elena that he wanted this. Her. And they'd be happy again. What he didn't expect was to find her body crumpled on the floor, head rested against the ground as she struggled to keep her eyes open.

    His face dropped at the sight.

    The Salvatore moved to rush toward her when he was overcome with a pain radiating through his skull. It felt like his head was bubbling, like everything in his head was popping, he briefly shut his eyes in anguish before he stumbled, turning to face the person behind it.

    "Hi Damon," she gave him a rueful smile before harshly twisting her wrist, letting his body fall to the ground with a loud thump.

    The Jones dropped her hand to her side with a sigh, feeling a tingly, burning sensation run up her fingers. She ignored it, stretching out her fingers as she pushed her hair back from her face. She ran her hand down the material of her dress, face scrunching up at the blood before she pursed her lips.

    "What to do, what to do?" She tapped her heels against the floor, merely watching as Elena helplessly, yet uselessly, dragged her body over to Damon.

    A thought popped into her head and she strode over to Damon's limp body. The vampire peeled off his suit jacket and placed it on her body, adjusting it so it covered the large crimson stain that tainted the pristine dress.

    "That covers it, right?" Jordanna asked Elena as she fiddled with the material before brushing it off. "Whatever. Okay," she clasped her hands together, pushing up the sleeve of the suit jacket to get a look at the Cartier watch that sat on her wrist. "I need to go. But first..." she trailed off as she crouched down. "I'm starving."

    She felt her teeth extend, sharpening as she picked up Elena's dainty wrist—much to her dismay. Her fangs reached for the pulsing vein beneath the skin, she tore into her wrist, locking in place as her hot blood flowed smoothly into her mouth.

   A pained cry left Elena's lips as she grew weaker and weaker by the second. She was sure Jordanna had broken her nose and her ribs. She was bleeding in too many places as the Jones liked to 'experiment' with her magic and her head felt like it was about to detach from her body.

    Jordanna pulled away with a satisfied, delighted sigh. She collected the blood that spilled on her lips on her thumb before she placed her finger in her mouth. As she finished she smiled wryly at the doppelganger and turned, facing away from her.

    Turning back she presented her with a ripped piece of Damon's dress shirt. The raven-haired girl grabbed Elena's wrist and placed the white, sheer material atop the skin, ignoring the wince that left Elena's mouth. "Keep some pressure on that, sweetheart. I can't have you bleeding out while I'm gone," she patted the top of the material before rising to her feet. "I'll be back. Don't wanna' miss the ceremony," she winked before striding away, leaving Elena and an unconscious Damon.

・❥・

     "Where the fuck are we going?" Jordanna muttered to Sebastian as she leant against the doors of the barn. There was too much noise coming from every direction for her to pin-point exactly where she was going and Sebastian was getting fidgety.

    As she strolled down the hallways she came to stop upon seeing a person linger. A whistle echoed down the hallway as the, what she assumed was a, man, stuffed his hands in the pockets of his suit trousers.

    Jordanna rose her brow as he got closer and closer to her until he finally stood in-front of her, a sly grin on his face. Recognition crossed her own. "Damon's friend," she greeted dryly, grip on the car-seat tightening.

    Kai pulled a face, scrunching up his lips. "I wouldn't say me and Damien are friends, more like best-buds," he corrected with an overly-enthusiastic smile.

    Jordanna nodded uninterestedly, not in the mood to converse with the creepy guy she had met when she had turned her humanity off. "I didn't know you were invited," she said, voice flat.

    Kai nodded, not picking up on the dry tone, and if he did, he chose to ignore it, "The bride is my sister."

    Jordanna's brows pulled together in thought when Kai's voice snapped her out of her bemusement. "Who's this cutie?" He asked, crouching down so that he was eye-level with Sebastian, he wiggled his fingers at the child with a grin.

"None of your business," Jordanna quipped, eyes narrowing at the man as she pulled her arm backwards, drawing Sebastian away from Kai.

Kai whistled, rising to his feet. "Okay, Hostile Holly," he held his hands up in surrender before his face pulled downwards, "Wait, what is your name?"

"Jordanna," she responded dryly.

Kai nodded, rolling his lips into his mouth as he held back a grin. "So, what you been doing, Jo-Jo?" He asked, eliciting in an eyeroll from Jordanna at the nickname.

"Nothing..." she trailed off dismissively. "I better get to the reception," she pursed her lips. "Bye."

Kai's laugh boomed from his chest as he stopped her—standing in-front of her. "What'd you do?" He crooned teasingly, eyes flickering from the Jones to the barndoor she was standing in-front of.

"Why are you assuming I did something?" She scowled.

"Lucky guess," Kai shrugged, grin still intact as he watched her closely.

"Well, I didn't do anything," she dismissed, raising her eyebrows as she met his eyes.

"Oh, you so did," Kai's lips lifted in amusement, a smirk etched on his face.

"I didn't."

Kai shook his head, giving her a pointed look, "Definitely did."

Jordanna ran her tongue along her teeth in annoyance, "Why are you so fucking sure I did something, asshole?"

Kai simply gave her a smile. "You have blood on your face, dumb-dumb," he lifted a finger, pointing at her cheek.

"Oh," Jordanna let out. "Uh—where abouts?"

"Just there..." Kai trailed off, pointing to an area on her cheek. "No—not there. There," he grumbled under his breath, hand smacking his forehead. "You know what? Here," he grabbed her hand and she shot him a look.

"Siphon me and I'll stab you," she warned as the Parker poked her finger on the part of her cheek that tainted crimson, a little too harshly for her liking.

"Oooh!" Kai exclaimed, ignoring her threat. "Your skin is so smooth. Goosebumps."

"O-kay," Jordanna drawled out, pulling her hand free from his grasp and ferociously wiped the blood from her cheek.

"So," Kai rocked on his heals, grin widening as he looked down at her. "What'd you do?"

Jordanna eyed him sceptically and with a sigh she hesitantly pushed open the barndoor.

Kai's eyes brightened, "Oh, I think I love you." He squinted his eyes, getting a closer look. "Is that Damien and Eleanor?"

Jordanna shot him a sideways glance, "Yep."

"They aren't... dead. Are they? It'd kinda' ruin my plans if Crazy Pants was dead."

Jordanna narrowed her eyes at that. "No... I didn't wanna miss the ceremony, which now I am—so this little conversation is gonna have to be cut short," she smiled tightly, shutting the barndoor before she tried to move, only to be stopped by Kai again.

"Whattt?" Kai groaned dramatically. "I thought we were getting along, we have chemistry, I'm telling you. You feel it right?"

"I don't like you," Jordanna spat bluntly.

Kai's face pulled into a mocking pout. "Aw, why?" He placed a hand on his heart.

"I heard what you did to Bonnie, asshole and if I wasn't in a rush and didn't have a baby in my hands, I'd stab you, like you did to her."

Kai pursed his lips. "Right... well, I'm only telling you this because you're hot-"

"Touching," Jordanna's tone laced sarcasm.

"But... you probably don't wanna go in there," Kai smiled, head gesturing to the room where the ceremony was being held.

"What?" Jordanna's face pulled into a frown. "Why?"

Kai merely smiled and Jordanna's body struck with alarm, the Jones hurriedly started to make her way toward venue, cursing herself at the fact that she couldn't use vamp-speed because Sebastian didn't like it.

Kai watched her go and called out after her, "Hey! Can I get your number?"

Jordanna turned back, squinting her eyes at the sheepish grin resting on his lips, "No."

Kai waved a hand in dismissal, "Okay then! Have fun in there! And don't worry, I'll sort out Crazy Pants for you!"

Jordanna ignored him and continued on her way to the ceremony.

・❥・

Jordanna rushed into the room. Eyes widening at the sight before her—the main area of the barn was destroyed. The once nice, decorative things all broken. Chairs flung around the room, the legs snapped from the seat, the tall, glass chandelier that once hung from the ceiling was placed in the middle of the room, the glass shattered, people fighting for their breath underneath it as they were crushed against its weight. The windows were shattered, glass spilled around the floor, piercing through people's skin.

It was pure disaster.

Chaos.

Jordanna spotted Alaric before anyone else, his pained voice called out desperately as he held Jo in his arms. The Laughlin woman's eyes were shut as her head rested in Alaric's lap, her abdomen bled heavily. "Oh God. Someone, help please!" Alaric screamed out in dismay.

Jordanna's breath got caught in her throat as she stammered in place. She sped over to the Saltzman, ignoring the cries coming from Sebastian's mouth and immediately crouched down, placing Sebastian's car-seat beside her body she began shushing him calmly before she pushed Damon's suit jacket up her wrist, biting into the skin. She hopelessly held her wrist to Jo's lips as Alaric cradled her head, whispering down to her, muttering a small 'It's going to be okay,' down to her.

Jordanna pulled away her wrist and her blood sat on Jo's lips, the raven-haired woman was unmoving. Not a blink of the eye, not a staggered breath, not a twitch of her finger, nothing. Jordanna swallowed roughly.

"Ric..."

・❥・

It was around two in the morning by the time Jordanna had returned back to New Orleans with Sebastian. For a vampire, who could survive without sleep, she was fucking exhausted. After she put Sebastian to bed, she hopped straight in the shower, washing Elena and Jo's blood from her body, watching the crimson run down the drain, watching it drift away.

Like Jo drifted away.

It was too late by the time Jordanna got there, she was already dead, as well as Liv, Jo's sister. A day that was supposed to be 'magical,' the best day of Alaric's life turned into his worst. It awed her how quickly things could change, how within the blink of an eye, a snap of a finger—it could all change, it could all only go downhill from then on.

It made her appreciate what life she had going for her. Yes, they lost Anastasia, but she still cherished everything else, everything else that she had managed to keep a-hold of. She couldn't even imagine the pain that Alaric was going through, she couldn't bare to think of it as Klaus.

Back in Mystic Falls when she lost him, that hurt enough. But now? It'd destroy her. They had changed a lot since Mystic Falls. She was bound to him, mind, body and soul. Being with Klaus was a freeing feeling she couldn't explain. Like when you're drowning and you come up to gasp for air. That euphoric feeling you get when finally you break free and catch your breath again?

That's what it was like.

Speaking of, the Mikaelson wormed his way into the shower, stepping under the steaming water as he came to a stand in-front of the Jones. His lean body flush against hers, Jordanna sighed in content, resting her head his chest, letting out a tired breath.

"You are aware that everyone in the Compound has heightened senses, and you are getting a shower at half-two in the bloody morning?" Klaus questioned, amusement laced his tone. Good, he wasn't pissed. She didn't know if she'd be able to deal with a grumpy Klaus this early in the morning.

"Don't care," Jordanna muttered, lifting her head from his chest as her fingers traced the tattoos on his skin.

"What happened?" Klaus asked, eyeing the last of the blood that washed away down the drain before his eyes flitted back to her own as she leant her back against the wall, a tired look in her eyes.

"What didn't happen?" She grumbled in answer, fingers running through the ends of her hair. "Death's what happened, Nik. Death."

"Bloody hell," Klaus muttered, taking a step toward her, his hand laid flat on the side of her neck, thumb brushing her jaw as he glanced down at her. "But you're okay, yeah?"

"No," she huffed. "I let Elena fucking Gilbert stab me. Worst decision of my life, that and the fact that I missed my hair appointment I mean—"

"Jordanna," Klaus drawled, bringing her back to reality.

"Sorry," she grimaced.

Klaus rolled his eyes, "Don't apologise, sweetheart." He could listen to her talk about her hair for hours, but right now, he just needed to make sure she was okay. "So you're fine then?"

She nodded, "Fresh as a fucking daisy."

"Good," Klaus responded, brushing a piece of her hair from her shoulder. "And what of the doppelganger? What happened to her?"

Jordanna shrugged lightly, "Got put in a coma or something, not sure. Alaric wasn't really in a talking mood... so that's all I know. I haven't heard from the other three, and its not like I could stay and hang around 'cause I needed to get Sebby back here so..."

She did stay for a while after the accident, just enough to comfort Alaric and help him deal with Jo's body. Not to mention how when she turned her back for just a second to put Sebastian in the car she was overcome with a pit in her stomach, turning she found Kai stood, blood drenched his clothes as Alaric shot at him repeatedly before he turned the gun on himself, holding it up to his head.

Something ticked in her head as she watched the scene unfold and before she knew it she sent Kai flying into a car, his back smashed against the metal. Another fight she had gotten, and another fight she had ( more or less ) won.

Go Jordanna, I guess!

But she, after securing that Alaric was okay, took him to the hospital and then shortly after she had to leave. It wasn't like she wanted to, but she had to secure Sebastian's safety above anything and everything. He mattered most to her.

Besides Klaus, but don't tell him that 'cause his ego doesn't need to get any bigger than it already is.

But in the next up and coming days, securing Sebastian's safety would be a lot harder than it had been tonight.

author's note
Not a fan of this chapter but what can u do😐 i dont have the effort to rewrite it all so deal with it ;)

shitty rushed ending IK but smd

IK JJ not killing elena is ANNOYING BUt kai gets the job of fucking elena's life up atleast jj got to beat her arse xxxxx if it was different and kai didn't kill jo then jj wouldve gone back to kill her, it was her intention to do so but obvs shit got in the way so if you're gonna be mad be mad at me and not my gf jj

also... no sexy time again cos well sex after death is such a mood killler .... dk if thats just me but YH