Loud music and soft grunts filled Jasmine's ears as she awoke from her slumber. She groaned and headed over to where the noise was, immediately being joined by Damon. They enter Stefan's room and see him doing pull ups from the beam hanging from the ceiling.

"Could you turn it up a little bit? It's not annoying yet." Stefan mumbled out an insincere apology while Damon took it upon himself to turn off the music. Stefan jumped down and stared at them.

"Oh no, handsome. Just because the music stops, it doesn't mean the working out has to. Go on, keep going." Jasmine grinned when Stefan smirked at her and plopped onto the floor, continuing with push ups.

"When are you going back to school?"

Stefan simply grunted and muttered out a "soon," before returning to his intense work out.

"Oh come on. Just drink already!" Damon walked towards his brother and kneeled down beside him, "come on, this self-detox is not natural." He smirks slightly before gently placing his cup next to him, the smell alluring to Stefan.

"Can you get that away from me, please?" Stefan clenched his jaw, his desire to rip the cup away from Damon was strong but he knew he could contain it, so he moved away from him and continued to do push ups.

Jasmine lifted Damon off the floor and moved him towards the door, "leave him be, Damon."

Damon chuckled and moved around her to get to Stefan, "I don't get it; you know, you don't have to kill to survive. That's what blood banks are for. I haven't hunted a human in..." his face scrunched up when he realized he couldn't remember the last time he had done such a thing, "god, way too long."

Seeming to have enough of seeing Stefan becoming uncomfortable, Jasmine sped towards Damon and began pushing him out the door, "I said leave him be, Damon. Don't make me repeat myself once more."

Damon lifted his hands up in surrender before walking out the door, leaving the two alone. Jasmine sighed as she turned to look at Stefan, who had still not gotten up off the floor. It pained her to see him like this, so vulnerable and self-loathing. She walked in front of him and stood there until Stefan stood up and stared at her.

"I know what you're going to say. Just like Damon was going to say."

Jasmine rose an eyebrow and smirked at him, jokingly, "oh, really? Okay, then, enlighten me."

"You're going to say that there's nothing wrong with partaking in a healthy diet of human blood from a blood bank. That it's not actually killing anyone, but I have my reasons, you know that."

Jasmine nodded slightly before walking towards his bed to take a seat, "I do, but do you really think this self-detox is going to work? I mean, you do remember how long it took you last time, right?" When Stefan seemed more interested in his hands than answering her, she sighed heavily, "nearly four decades, Stefan."

Stefan shook his head and walked over to his dresser, trying to keep his hands occupied, "it's going to be different this time. I have my humanity switched on."

"Even with it on, you still need help, okay?" She got up from her sitting position and walked near the door when she heard footsteps coming near them, "so, if this is what you want, to get off of it completely then, I will help you, but of course, we both know I won't be much help, so I called in—"

She was interrupted when a long haired vampire appeared in the door way, "I would've have gone with secret weapon, but that seemed far too cliché."

Stefan smiled wide when he saw Lexi standing next to Jasmine. He immediately went straight for her and embraced her. She laughed a little before pulling away, "okay, let's get started shall we?"

----

Jasmine cringed when she heard Stefan scream slightly. She downed her glass of whiskey before immediately refilling her cup. Her heart was pounding by the mere thought of Stefan suffering, so alcohol seemed the only solution to partially numb her to those feelings.

A sigh escaped Lexi's lips as she walked up the stairs and entered the living room, planting herself onto the couch, "it's not working. It's stronger this time. I guess since he deprived himself of it for so long, it's just coming at him full force."

Jasmine tilted her glass back and gulped down its remains, "I know the feeling."

Lexi shot her a concerned look and moved to sit by her, "how are you dealing with that, by the way?"

Jasmine let out a humorless laugh while she stood up and went to refill her cup once more, wanting to be far away from her, "it's not my birthday, so you don't have to pretend to be concerned, Alexia."

"I'm not pretending."

"I almost killed your boyfriend, Lex. How are you not shunning me right now?"

She heard Lexi take a deep breath and exhaling it behind her, "I wanted to, but then who am I to judge? I don't know what you guys are going through. I don't know how hard it is for you guys, so why would I think that times like these are simple and easy to solve? I can tell they're not. God, Stefan is down there trying to resist human blood for the sake of Elena, so much that he's beating himself up over it."

Jasmine tensed when she heard Lexi get up and walk towards her. Lexi simply placed a hand on her shoulder and slowly turned her to face her, "and you... I know how alluring the darkness can be, but I've never submitted to it, but you have. I can see that it's been hurting you, too. You've spent so long trying to be good and now that you had a taste of that darkness again... I'm surprised you're standing here acting calm."

"Oh, believe me, it's absolute torture. All I can think about is who I'm going to kill next just to have that rush again." Jasmine sat on the couch again after she refilled her glass, Lexi following suit. Every second of every day were filled with those thoughts. She'd never admit them to the Salvatores, but she was just aching to rid the town of its founding families and so much more. The only thing that kept her from completely losing it was the occasional ripped out heart and the fact that a certain townie had caught her interest.

"See, I don't know what that's like, to have that ultimate burden. Jasmine, what you did wasn't great, obviously, but not unforgivable. You could've killed him, but you didn't. You stopped." Lexi wrapped an arm around her shoulders and nestled her head on top of hers.

Jasmine sighed in content, happy her friend was back. She fully turned to Lexi and wrapped her in a hug, "thank you, Alexia. I'm really glad you're back for the time being."

"Me, too." They both giggled as they pulled apart, "okay, well, I'm going to keep at it for another hour or two, at least."

Jasmine shook her head slightly in disbelief, "you would think the past three hours were enough." She smiled at Lexi as she disappeared back into the cellar.

----

Four hours later, her phone ringing made Jasmine groan lightly as her senses were extremely sensitive at the moment, "hello?" She furrowed her eyebrows when she continued to hear the ringing, "oh, bloody hell." Jasmine reached for her phone, which was still laying on the floor, and answered the call, "what?"

A small chuckle filled her ears causing her to slightly lighten up her mood, "you sound hungover. I suppose that would be the reason why you aren't in school today?"

Jasmine smiled lightly as she turned to look at Stefan, who was finally coming out of the cellar with Lexi's assistance, "yeah, sure... hungover. Anyways, to what do I owe this pleasure, Mr. Donovan?"

"Are you doing anything later? School is about to end in an hour and I have the day off. I was thinking maybe we could do something."

"Sure, what do you have in mind?"

Matt smiled wide and stood outside his last class, "it's a surprise. I'll pick you up at 5, is that okay?"

Jasmine glanced at the clock and smiled, "yeah, that's perfect. I'll see you then." She ended the call and began to pick up the several of empty bottles that surrounded her. She looked up slightly when she heard Lexi walk towards her.

"So, who was that?"

Jasmine avoided her gaze as she walked towards the kitchen to dispose of the bottles in her hands, "Matt Donovan."

Lexi quickened her pace as she followed her, "Matt Donovan... wait, is that the blue eyed beauty that threw you a surprise birthday party?"

"Yeah, that's him. We're kind of—sort of—together." Jasmine laughed at Lexi's surprised expression before resuming her cleaning.

"First, Stefan falls for a human and now you? Who would have thought?" She laughed when Jasmine threw a bottle at her, "so, what are you guys going to do?"

"I don't know. He said it was a surprise, which sucks because I hate surprise dates. It gives me no insight on what I'm supposed to wear." She sped towards the kitchen and disposed of the rest of the bottles as she sighed.

"Oh, please, you love surprises."

Jasmine laughed as she shrugged her shoulders, "guilty, but still the inconvenience lingers."

"Do you like him? Seriously like him." Lexi knew what it was like to confuse simple attraction to feelings. She learned the hard way that even though they are distinctly alike, they couldn't be further from each other.

"I think I do, Lex. It feels familiar with him, I don't know. When I'm with him, I just—"

"Feel human again."

They both looked towards the door way and smiled at Stefan, who looked slightly less exhausted. He joined them at the counter and sat with them, wanting to get his mind off the haunting pain.

"That's how I feel with Elena."

"Wait, does that mean you're in love with Matt?"

Jasmine narrowed her eyes, trying to decipher her feelings. She smiled when she realized her answer was clear, "no." Her best friends looked at her with their heads tilted and she chuckled, "I don't know how to explain, but I am completely sure that I am not in love with Matt Donovan, just content with our relationship."

Deciding to switch to another topic, the trio talked endlessly about anything and everything, as always. While they talked, Jasmine's mind kept wandering back on her feelings for Matt. She liked his presence, she liked the way she could easily make him blush, how he smiles every time he sees her, overall, she liked the effect she had on him. They've known each other for a couple weeks now and have been dating for the past couple days, so obviously that wasn't enough time to figure out her true feelings for him, but it seemed like she did.

Matt Donovan was a great boyfriend, an amazing friend, and an overall a good human being, but Jasmine simply didn't see their relationship going very far. She was a vampire and he was a human, a relationship like that could only end three ways: his death, him turning, or somehow he evades death, but holds resentment towards her kind. If he was turned, Jasmine wasn't sure if she liked the idea of eternity with a supposed seasonal fling.

Her mindless rambling was put on hold when Lexi announced that she had to restock on food supplies. Stefan turned to Jasmine and was about to say something when a voice called out for him in the living room. They both walked over and weren't surprised when they noticed Elena standing there, waiting expectantly for him.

"I thought we could talk for a bit." Stefan nodded and led her up the stairs, turning back a bit to say good night to Jasmine.

Jasmine sighed and quickly glanced at the clock before walking over to the couch. As she was about to sit, her eyes widened and she turned back to look at the clock. She sped up the stairs and rummaged through her belongings, trying to find something appropriate to wear.

As soon as she finally picked an outfit, there was a knock sounding throughout the boarding house. She groaned and quickly slipped into her clothes, falling over twice in her rush. Looking in the mirror, she decided to just finger comb her hair and then walked down the stairs towards the door.

Once she opened the door, Matt quickly turned around and smiled at her, "you look great."

"I'm surprised since I had no idea on what to put on."

Matt chuckled and grabbed her hand, leading them to his truck, "well, i think what you have on is perfect for where we're going. You don't like surprises?"

Jasmine shrugged as he opened the door for her, "I'm not particularly fond of them, but I suppose I can make an exception this one time." She smiled at him as she slid into her seat and closed the door.

Matt leaned against the open window and smirked at her, "I'm honored." He laughed a little and made his way to his side of the truck before settling in. He turned to look at her before starting the truck, "ready?"

"As I'll ever be."