After many attempts on getting Lexi to go explore with her, Jasmine decided to go into town by herself. She still hadn't found anything suitable to wrap Stefan's present with, so she figured that should be her main priority. She didn't have any plans for the majority of the day, so she took it upon herself to not rush and actually take time to look throughout all the shops.

Ten shops later, the raven-haired beauty walked into a store that held various antiques. She skimmed the aisles, finally settling on a small wooden box with intricate designs engraved on it. Being content with her finding, she decided it was time for a snack.

"I can't believe she would leave like that." Her ears perked up at the sound of a male who happened to be rounding the corner. She timed everything perfectly, the 'accidental' bumping into each other, his need to help her gather her belongings, and of course, him holding out his hand to introduce himself.

"I'm--"

"That's real fascinating." She held onto his hand tighter and looked him in the eye, pupils dilating, "don't make a sound, relax, and follow me."

The male obediently followed her into the alley way where they were out of sight. She placed him against the brick wall, smiling at his calm demeanor. She always liked to take her time to admire. With one hand slowly caressing his neck, the other holding him in place, she slowly leaned in, sighing at the scent.

She didn't let him see her expression when her face transformed. Veins protruded from under her eyes, which were now dark red, and fangs pushed themselves past her gums. She quickly punctured his neck and welcomed the pouring liquid into her mouth. The taste was sweet and warm like a nice hot chocolate on a cold day. After a couple seconds, she pulled away while licking her lips making sure none of it dripped down.

She then bit her wrist and shoved it into the boy's mouth only to pull away when his wounds healed. She placed her hands on his shoulders and looked into his eyes again, pupils dilating.

"Forget what just happened. We bumped into each other, you helped me, I thanked you and then we both went our separate ways. Now, go back to where you were heading." She smiled when he left, picked up her bag, and headed back to the Salvatore Boarding house, whistling.

▪▪▪▪

Once she got to the house, she quickly wrapped her gift and headed up the stairs. She laughed once she noticed Lexi sleeping on Stefan's bed, mouth wide open. Using her magic, she maneuvered a pencil from Stefan's desk and lightly grazed the inside of Lexi's mouth. The blonde immediately woke up with a start, looking around her only to glare at the laughing vampire.

"Not cool, Jasmine."

"Oh, come on! It was classic." Still laughing, she sat beside her friend and laid back, "is this what you've been doing the entire time I was gone?"

Lexi draped her arm across her eyes and nodded, "yeah, until Damon showed up and decided to bother me." Various swear words escaped her lips as she recalled how the eldest Salvatore brother annoyed her to Jasmine.

Hearing her ramble for a good ten minutes, she opted to entertain her with a little magic parlor tricks. Levitating objects, causing and putting out small fires, and disappearing before her very eyes were some of Lexi's favorites. She never grew tired whenever her best friend would perform small spells or tricks. It fascinated her.

The sound of a door closing caused the pair to race downstairs. Stefan looked towards his friends and smiled, happy to see his friends after having a small heart clenching conversation with the girl he loved.

"You guys are childish." The pair responded with giggles as they resumed trying to pin one another against the couch.

Finally, they looked towards their friend and sigh when they notice his sulking expression, "whose ass do we have to kick for leaving us with a brooding Stefan?"

Stefan rolled his eyes and simply sat on the couch. Both girls huffed and walked towards him. Lexi grabbed a small suitcase from under the table while Jasmine poured herself a glass of bourbon, the only drink the Salvatores seemed to have.

"So, this Elena girl, she'll come around. I'm sure of it. Have you had sex yet?"

Jasmine spit out her drink and looked at Lexi appalled, "you can't just ask that, Lexi."

She shrugged as Stefan sat up, somewhat embarrassed but nonetheless used to the blonde's forward questions, "no, we haven't."

She sat down next to him with a surprised look, "sex always works! I mean you'll rock her world so hard with your vamp sex, she'll be yours forever."

Jasmine laughed and shook her head, wondering why her friend was always so blunt. Stefan looked at Jasmine and smiled slightly at her expression. He admired her at that moment. Legs crossed over the other, back leaning against the couch, and a glass attached to her lips, greedily drinking the toxic liquid. Realizing he was staring, he turned his attention back to Lexi.

"Yeah, but see, this isn't about sex or... or complusion or any of our other tricks. She has to want to be with me on her own terms." Lexi furrowed her eyebrows while unzipping her suitcase which was filled with blood bags, Jasmine assumed when she caught the smell.

"Wow, Stef, that sounded all mature and grown up. Look at you!" Jasmine nudged his shoulder, proud that he wanted to take things slow with this girl.

"Well, I'm not getting any older." They all laughed until Lexi stabbed her blood bag with a straw, taking a slow drink, sighing. Stefan's expression hardened as he looked at the crimson liquid.

Smirking, Lexi held the bag out to him, "want some?"

"No. Thank you." He stood and walked a bit ways from Lexi, not wanting to have the temptation near him.

Rolling her eyes, Jasmine handed the conflicted vampire her glass. She knew how Stefan was. It was either the animal diet or ripper mode with him, never in between. She never understood why he didn't learn how to control it. Stefan gulped down the bourbon and went to refill it, looking at Lexi warily.

"Relax. I didn't kill anyone for it. This phlebotomist I went out with a few times, he's my supplier." Stefan's face still didn't waver as he downed the second drink, "oh, don't judge, okay? Listen, I tried the animal diet... lasted only three weeks."

Lexi's stare moved towards the smiling vampire on the couch, "at least I drink from blood bags and not from people like somebody."

Jasmine's mouth fell open in mock shock. Lexi smirked at her as Stefan's wary expression was now trained on Jasmine.

"Jasmine."

"Oh, lose the scolding tone, Stefan. I healed him then compelled him to forget."

Stefan shook his head and decided on dropping the subject, "doesn't matter. 'Cause if I started again... I just don't know if..."

"You could stop." Jasmine sat up straight and smiled gently at him. Stefan's expression turned pained as Lexi rolled her eyes.

"I'd never judge you guys."

Shrugging, Lexi smile at Stefan, "I'm just jealous of your restraint. I have none. I delight in hedonism."

Jasmine stood up and walked towards Stefan, stealing the glass back, "speaking of which, what are we doing tonight?"

Footsteps entered the room causing the trio to look, "funny you should ask."

Smiling wide, Jasmine embraced her friend, "Damon."

The eldest Salvatore held her tight and placed a small kiss on her forehead. "How are you, Jas?"

Pulling away, Jasmine tilted her head, "oh you know, receiving scolding looks by your dear younger brother has been a delight. How are you? It's been at least--"

Her smile faded when Lexi cleared her throat, glaring at Damon. "What do you want?"

"There's a party at the grill. You'll love it. Banquettes, tacky wait staff, and all of Stefan's friends." Damon kept a hand on the small of Jasmine's back while he talked to them.

Stefan stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked at Damon, annoyed, "yeah, I don't want a birthday party."

"Well, it's not for you. It's a party party. No one's gonna know it's your birthday. Caroline's throwing it." Damon shrugged and smirked at his younger brother.

"Damon, stay away from Caroline." Jasmine looked up at her friend, wondering what he could have possibly have done this time.

"We're friends! It's cool. It's important for the town to see us out and about like normal folk," his expression turned serious as he looked at Stefan, "we need to blend."

Stefan rolled his eyes and shook his head. Looking at the contents inside of Lexi's suitcase, Damon looked a bit repulsed, "I prefer mine at 98.6." He planted another kiss on Jasmine's head before leaving.

Both girls turned towards Stefan, "let's go."

Stefan's expression obviously showed that he didn't want to attend an event that his brother invited him to. Lexi turned towards Jasmine, who looked at Stefan with her hands clasped and eyes wide, "please, Stefan?"

He groaned, but nodded his head, smiling as the girls cheered.

"I call dibs on the shower first!" Pushing Jasmine to the floor, Lexi sped up the stairs.

▪▪▪▪

After taking turns in the shower, the pair stepped out of the bathroom. Lexi had a towel tightly wrapped around her while Jasmine was only dressed in her undergarments.

"Okay, we're almost ready." Stefan stood from his seat and looked at both half naked girls. A blush crept up his neck as he glanced at Jasmine. Of course, he found her attractive and it still caught him off guard when she did things like barely being dressed in front of him, but they were best friends and he valued that way too much to mess it up.

"I can't believe you actually think that we should go to this thing." Jasmine sat on his bed and rummaged through her suitcase, wondering what to wear.

Lexi looked at him and smiled, "it's not like I'm asking you to run outside midday without your ring. It's a party."

Jasmine laughed as Stefan rolled his eyes at Lexi, "yeah, a party that Damon wants us to go to, you know. So, my question is why? I think he's up to something."

Lexi mockingly acts scared before grinning, "who cares? What can he possibly do in front of all those people in a public place?"

"She has a point, Stefan."

Unconvinced, Stefan shook his head, "he knows how to keep a low profile, believe me."

Having enough of his paranoia, Jasmine stood from her spot and placed her hands on his shoulders, "relax, he'll behave, Stefan."

Lexi nodded and laid her head against Jasmine's, "come on. One day a year I get you, one day that you're not brooding and existing in your own head."

Stefan pointed to himself, jokingly, "it's my birthday, yeah?"

Jasmine shook her head as her hands fell to her sides and laughed, "it may be your birthday, but it's Lexi's day. And the guy that jumped naked in the Trevi fountain and got drunk on the torch of the Statue of Liberty--"

"That guy can take a break from all his worrying for one night and go to a stupid party. So, quit your whining and go get ready!" Lexi finished as she smacked his ass.

Stefan clapped his hands together once, "fine." He turned around and headed towards the bathroom.

The sound of an engine perked Jasmine's interest and she signaled to Lexi that someone was here. A knock at the door caused Lexi to rush downstairs, "it's open! Come on in."

The raven-haired vampire plopped back down on the bed until the stammering of a certain blonde vampire caused her to rush downstairs.

"Lex? Who is it?"

She stopped beside Lexi and tilted her head to the side, confused, "how--who are you?"

The girl looked between the two barely clothed girls, somewhat repulsed, "I'm Elena, who are you?"

Oh, Stefan, you messed up weirdo. Jasmine internally groaned at the fact that Stefan's new girlfriend just happened to look exactly like the girl who manipulated him all those years ago.

Looking at Elena she decided she couldn't do anything besides offer the girl a kind smile, "I'm Jasmine and this is Lexi. We're Stefan's friends."

Jealousy radiated off Elena as she continued to look at the two up and down, "is he here?"

Lexi, finally finding her voice, pointed up the stairs, "he's in the shower. Do you want to wait?"

"No."

"We'll tell him you stopped by?"

"That's okay." With a sound of disgust, Elena quickly walked out of the house.

Lexi, still shocked, bolted up the stairs, seeing Stefan leave the bathroom, "are you out of your freaking mind?!"

Poor Stefan looked confused as he looked at his furious friend, "what are you talking about?"

Rolling her eyes, Jasmine walked towards his desk and held up the picture of Katherine Pierce from 1864, "we just met Elena."

"You have some serious explaining to do."