Chasing Shadows

Wine and Ashes

Jordan

One second she was faking her laughter and drinking with some heavily made up ladies and the next she was being dragged by Gray, her brother, who for some reason looked distraught and tense. His hand was tightly gripping her wrist like a vise and she wondered if he realized that he was hurting her. She had to concentrate on walking and avoiding spilling her drink on anyone they passed by. Her dress made it difficult to walk fast but somehow she managed to keep up with his long strides.

 Jordan was a little glad that her brother chose this time to take her aside and talk because honestly the party bored the crap out of her. She only listened halfheartedly to anything that was said to her, every word uttered only sounded like annoying chatter. She simply kept on nodding and commenting at the right time. Jordan had to keep herself busy and amused by either remembering every element on the periodic table or by singing 80's tunes with the tiny voice in her head.

Her shoes made shrill noises on the floor and she looked around to see if anybody noticed but luckily the other guests were all busy showing off to each other. She tried to look around for Juvia, craning her neck and sweeping her gaze around the room, no such luck, maybe she was still with that Lyon-fellow Jordan met earlier. 

Those eyes of his, I've never seen anything more peculiar.

 At first she admitted that she was a little wary of Juvia's companion, it was not often that her best friend interacted with men more than what could be called as friendly or courteous. One look at them and Jordan knew that there was something deeper than friendship between the two. This excited her, Juvia needed someone like that to help her heal. Jordan did her best to help but Juvia needed something more. She needed to connect with someone on a far deeper level, although Jordan couldn't help but feel a little worry for her brother. Gray confused her, she didn't know if he simply wanted to be friends with Juvia or if he wanted to reignite what they had.

"Gray, Graay, hey slow down I'm gonna trip" Although she knew that saying that would be futile and he probably wasn't listening anyways, she decided on trying just to see if he was. His consistent pace proved that he wasn't. From the corner of her eye, she saw auburn hair. Following the direction, she caught her boyfriend's gaze and saw him raise an eyebrow in question of her situation. Jordan simply shrugged and gave a small smile, which her man returned with an easy grin. Her heart fluttered at the sight.

This night turned out better than she expected, she met Zeref's parents and they weren't as bad as she thought. They had been accepting of her and their relationship and that was all she could ask for, the last thing she wanted was to be branded a gold digger.

Gray was nearing an empty balcony with her in tow. She shivered a little when she felt the wind rush by her. Her brother released his grip on her and Jordan placed her drink beside where his hands gripped the marble so hard his knuckles showed white. She waited patiently for him to tell her whatever it was that was bothering him. She studied the tired planes of her brother's face as he let out a sigh.

"I think I'll call it a night. You can stay if you want" he whispered still not turning to look at her. Jordan wanted to ask what was making him so frustrated but decided not to, he could tell her at his own time. Ever since their mother died a few years back, Gray had become more protective of her yet slowly she felt like he was drifting away, closing off his feelings. She could understand his concern since they had only each other to call family but she wanted the old Gray back. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes at the memory of their deceased parents but she swallowed it down with a deep breath, Gray needed her now and she wanted to be strong for him.

He only came to this party in the first place to accompany her and make sure that she got home safely. Coincidentally, some of the photographers that he was mentoring were the ones hired to take care of taking pictures, he opted to come and supervise.