3rd Person P.O.V

Two weeks had passed since Ram and Kurt had died. That particular day, Ms Fleming had decided to hold a televised assembly to help raise suicide awareness, much to the annoyance of the students. It had a rough start when Veronica had to intentionally hurt Martha, an action which killed the brunette on the inside because Martha had been her best friend her whole life. But she'd had to stop Martha from wanting to look in Jasmine's locker to try and find proof that Ram and Kurt had been murdered, as she had no idea how Jasmine would have reacted to having her locker looked through, especially considering how her girlfriend had started becoming a little unstable ever since the cemetery. Other than that, the assembly has gone well enough, right up until Ms Fleming has tried to get them to open up about their own fears. This had led to Mac admitting that she'd thought about killing herself, and this had resulted in Duke and the other students taunting her until she fled the assembly. This had caused Veronica to go on a bit of a rant about the ridiculousness of the assembly, and as a result had accidentally revealed the truth about Ram and Kurt's deaths. Fortunately for her, no one had believed her, instead thinking that she was just trying to gain popularity. Instead of arguing against that, Veronica had rushed off, and had only just got to the girls' bathroom in time to stop Mac overdosing on sleeping pills. The blue-clad girl could only feel relief at the fact Chandler had not been at school that day, and therefore had not witnessed the events of the assembly. Once the school day had ended, Veronica had gone to Jasmine's house, knowing that they needed to talk about what had happened during the assembly. Once she got there, she found Jasmine waiting in the living room.

"So, I'm guessing you're mad about that little confession." Veronica said.

"Not mad. Confused. You wanted us to be normal teenagers. I did that. I joined the gods man A.V. Club, for you." Jasmine said.

"I know." Veronica said quietly.

"Do you know what would have happened if they'd actually believed your confession? Handcuffs. Separate cells. Cops trying to turn us against each other, right before they ship us off to different prisons. Is that what you want?" Jasmine questioned.

"Of course not." Veronica answered.

"Well, what then?" Jasmine asked.

"Everyone's cashing in on the fake suicide, making it about them. It's a sick trend, and we started it." Veronica answered.

"Turning ourselves in won't stop human nature." Jasmine pointed out, a slightly cynical tone in her voice.

"Then what? Fleming's little kumbaya party almost ended with Heather Mac dead on the bathroom floor." Veronica said.

"Fleming is not the problem, Heather Duke is! She's the one who made McNamara want to die. If you want to slay the dragon, cut off its head! But no, you'd rather treat bubonic plague with band-aids. We had the power to change things, but we gave it up to be "normal teenagers"." Jasmine said. Veronica tried to speak, but both girls ended up trying to talk over one another.

"Stop talking over me! You promised!" Veronica finally managed to interrupt what Jasmine was saying. Jasmine knew she had taken things too far, so she took Veronica's hands.

"Alright. I'm sorry." Jasmine said, pulling Veronica close to her. The two were about to kiss until Big Bud Dean entered the room.

"Stop playing grab-ass and wait for me in the car." Bud said. Jasmine quickly pushed Veronica behind her in a protective manner.

"I'm in the middle of something." Jasmine said.

"I need backup. Our friends have another job for us. Kaboom." Bud said, making an exploding motion with his hands before turning to walk out of the room.

"I said I'm busy!" Jasmine shouted, having finally had enough. However, Veronica noticed the way Jasmine flinched when Bud walked back over and put a hand on Jasmine's shoulder.

"Lot of pretty women out there, sport. I can make another child any time I want. Now get your ass in that car." Bud said, before leaving the room. In her anger, Jasmine pulled a gun from her pocket and pointed it at her father's retreating back, but at the last second, turned and fired it at the TV, causing the device to explode in a shower of sparks.

"Dammit, Jasmine. No firearms in the house." Bud's voice could be heard. To Veronica's shock, Jasmine was laughing at her father's reaction.

"What? It pissed off my dad. It's funny." Jasmine said.

"None of this is funny. Why are you carrying a loaded weapon?" Veronica questioned.

"For protection." Jasmine answered.

"From what? Re-runs?!" Veronica gestured to the ruined TV.

"We have got to stop pretending. This is who I  am. If you don't like it, take it up with him. He made me." Jasmine told her.

"Oh, Martha was right about you. She was right and I broke her heart." Veronica said, knowing things were past the point of no return.

"Let's talk about Heather Duke." Jasmine said.

"No, let's talk about you. You're like a drug, or a poison pill. A habit that if I don't kick now, then I never will. I used to love the rush it gave me when you held me close. But you won't be satisfied until I overdose. So, this is it. You need help that I can't provide, so this troubled teen is getting clean, and I say no." Veronica said.

"Veronica, who else is gonna...." Jasmine started to say

"No, don't say a word, because I know I'll cave in if you speak. You'll twist the truth and drill deep beneath my skin. I believed you when you said you would change, but you're still using me to justify what you did. Call it my mistake if you want, but you need help that I can't provide. I'm not Bonnie, and you are certainly not Clyde. It's not too late for me, so I'm getting straight, and I'm saying no. You can blame your childhood or your dad, or the life you never had. But hurting people? That's your choice. I believe that love will win and hate will earn you nothing, so this is the end." Veronica cut her off.

"But, I love you!" Jasmine said. Veronica flinched back, causing Jasmine to realise she had accidentally pointed her gun at Veronica. She quickly lowered it, but the damage had been done, and she knew it was irreversible.

"No, this is it. I need to start trying to pay back all the karma that I owe, and start again somewhere new that's far from cool people like you. So, I'm finally doing what I should've done after the cemetery incident, and I'm saying no. Goodbye, JD." Veronica said, before she left the house, leaving Jasmine alone to process what had just happened, as well as deal with the realisation that Veronica had just broken up with her. And the worst part was that she deserved it, and Jasmine knew it.

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The next day, Jasmine didn't see Veronica at all, and she knew the brunette was purposefully avoiding her. Rather than trying to talk to Veronica, Jasmine chose to head to the music room after lunch that day, not particularly caring that she was missing class. Hardly anyone knew that Jasmine could actually play the piano. One person who knew was Jasmine's brother, and the other person who knew was Heather Chandler. This was why Chandler had headed to the music room after hearing the sound of someone playing the piano. When she saw who it was, she allowed a small smile to grace her features as she leaned in the doorway and waited for Jasmine to finish playing.

"You haven't lost your touch." Chandler commented once Jasmine had finished playing.

"It's one of the few things that brings me comfort these days." Jasmine answered. Chandler stepped into the room and closed the door behind her, and that's when she noticed the expression on Jasmine's face.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Chandler asked, going over and taking a seat next to Jasmine.

"I really messed things up with Veronica. We had an argument about the assembly yesterday, and then my dad showed up claiming he needed backup for another job. Veronica didn't react too well to the way I reacted to him, and we got into a fight because of it, and she broke up with me. And the worst part it, I deserved it." Jasmine admitted.

"How did you react to what your dad said?" Chandler asked.

"I was angry enough that I badly wanted to shoot him in the back. I shot the TV instead. And then during the argument, I forgot I was holding my gun, and I accidentally pointed it at Veronica." Jasmine admitted.

"Ah, that was definitely not good. But a breakup seems rather drastic." Chandler noted.

"Yeah, well. Let's just say my personality hasn't been in the most stable condition since the day Ram and Kurt spread that nasty rumour about Veronica." Jasmine remarked, running a hand through her hair.

"So it was you. You killed them." Chandler said.

"Yeah, but I lied to Veronica and told them we were only going to prank them. I felt bad about lying to her and dragging her into it, but I was too angry to think straight. She didn't hurt them. I was the one who shot both of them." Jasmine admitted, knowing that trying to lie was pointless. She was just glad the door was closed, so that no one could overhear their conversation.

"I suspected as much. It's going to take time for Veronica to forgive you. But I'll talk to her about it." Chandler said.

"I would've thought you'd be happy that we broke up." Jasmine said.

"I may act like a bitch towards others, but I'm not that cruel. I've seen how happy being with Veronica has made you. I would never try to stand in the way of that because of our past relationship." Chandler told her. It was very rare that Chandler could just be herself, rather than the demon queen persona she kept up while she was at school, so it was a bit of a relief for her.

"Seems I really misjudged you then. I know time changes people, but I somehow believed you had changed a lot in the last three years, and it was a big difference from when I knew you." Jasmine said.

"I could say the same for you, you know. But going back to the point, I will talk to Veronica, but it's probably best if you just give her space for a little while." Chandler said. Jasmine gave a light nod, knowing the red-clad girl was right. Nothing good would come from trying to rush Veronica into talking to her again, and doing so would only set her back even further.