Elena rolled her eyes behind the splintered door. Tyler was not the first man to be so overconfident and cocky about his sex appeal and she knew he wouldn’t be the last. “Do they all involve turning, tail between your legs, and running like a wounded animal?” she shot back effortlessly. That right there was bound to get her some points in the bad column for sure, but at the moment, Elena couldn’t care less. Her emotions were flipped and hurling perfectly formed insults at Tyler was just a game to her. No matter what he retaliated with, it wouldn’t matter. She didn’t feel anything anymore. He could call her the whore of Mystic Falls and Elena would merely shrug her shoulders and dole out a few words that could make him see red instantly. It wasn’t like he gave her a lack of ammunition either. Caroline. Klaus. Running away. His mom. His lack of friends. His dumb jock ways. Yes, Elena could go on forever and ever with the insults to Tyler Lockwood and make sure each and every one of them hurt like a knife to the heart. It was that simple.
The smirk on Elena’s face slightly waivered and she took another step back towards the open balcony door. “Walk away, Lockwood,” she yelled back, but her voice lacked a bit of the confidence it held so strongly before. Would he actually break down the door? Bust his way in like some criminal? If it would have been anyone else outside the apartment, she would have said “no” instantly. Tyler just happened to be a bit more destructive then anyone else and deep down, Elena knew he had no qualms about breaking down her door or just smashing it to pieces. Pushing his buttons in every way possible was fun, but she knew all along she’d end up regretting it. The vampire should have made for the balcony right away and never looked back, but she couldn’t help herself. Igniting Tyler’s fury was fun because it was so easy to strike the match and let it burn. She was going to pay for it now. That door was nothing compared to a hybrid’s speed, agility, and most important, strength. He could have it down in a matter of a few seconds; the chair would just be collateral damage.
Another step and Elena was at the threshold of the door, cool wind blowing her brown hair around her face, but she went no further. It could have been because the vampire truly felt no fear at all along with everything else flipping the switch brought upon her. That or she was eager too see how it all played out. The outcome of her needling insults and bitchiness was on the other side of that door; the reaction would be explosive for sure. Before she had a chance to make up her mind, his foot collided with the door, the impact sent it swinging open, the chair demolished at the strike of violence and rage. Her brown eyes caught his own and her stomach twisted; she knew she waited way too long. They were both monsters, but Tyler was the stronger one. Elena was the prey. He could rip her apart if he wanted to, her abilities paled easily in comparison with his own and she knew it all too well. His gaze was furious, rage literally coming off him in waves and he hadn’t even broken a sweat from taking out the door and chair.
“I guess you’re just special. Or I really don’t like you,” she retorted smoothly. “What do you want, Ty?” She mocked his nickname that even now he still carried with him. “Lena” was pretty much extinct except for the hybrid’s use of it and Elena was mildly shocked he remembered it at all and that he so easily wielded it like a weapon. It did nothing, of course. One needed emotions to be wounded, right? “For a knight in shining armor, you’re lacking the armor.” It was a taunt, but also it explained perfectly that she could still cause him more bodily harm if he tried to take her down. She’d go down fighting, kicking and screaming, and biting with some clawing for good measure. “Oh, wait. No. You’re not doing the whole white knight ulterior motive, are you? If you wanted to make Caroline jealous, all you had to do was ask really sweetly. I might have done it.”