Jamie should have been used to saying goodbye by now.

It turned out that Kaleb could not handle his smoke. Not. One. Bit. He'd been a bit of a mess at first, breathless with laughter and wisps of smoke that curled the same as his hair. Blond hair set ablaze by lamplight in a blue washed room, hands wandering across her skin as if he'd never felt flesh before. Then, when the joint was nothing but a husk of ash, it was as if he suddenly realised he was high- that he didn't know how to handle it in the first place.

The door to the shoddy hotel room bathroom was thrown wide open, him looking all of a giant in the crowded space as he moved about spasmodically then sluggish, as if he can't make up his mind. From the windowsill of which she was perched atop, Jay craned her neck to follow his movements, eyes half hooded and lips quirking upwards. Had she ever reacted to a high that way? When she smoked her first joint, felt the smoke in her lungs as she got the sudden rush to her head, did she feel the same way Kaleb did now? She couldn't remember, but it suddenly didn't bother her. All she knew was that she liked weed, she liked it a lot.

She should have been used to saying goodbye. She'd left her old life, the memories battered her like waves, swallowing her whole before pulling away with the tide.

He groaned, pale-faced, paranoid. "Jay? Jay- I think I'm dying." He caught his reflection in the bathroom mirror, grimacing. His voice, scratchy from smoke, went up an octave, "I'm definitely dying."

Jay grinned. "Thought you were a servant of nature. Well, this is one of nature's grand gifts."

"Why is my face so white? There's- There's no colour at all. What's happening to me?" He leaned into the mirror, poking at his cheeks as if to will the colour back into them. He was looking awfully pale, whitewashed even.

"Throw up or lay down," she advised from the window, letting the cool dawn air wash over her, her own buzz pleasantly running through her in waves. "You're greening out. Maybe you shouldn't have smoked so much. It's your first time, right?"

"Right," he groaned, folding into himself beside the safety of the toilet bowl. She figured they'd be well acquainted by the time the sun came up.

Jay hadn't had much of a chance to say goodbye. Not to Elijah, who crumpled under the weight of a dagger and his brother's mistrust and petty vengeance. Not to Abel, who held a note in his pocket as the flashing lights of the ambulance approached.

She could feel the thrum of the air conditioning, the buzz of the TV set beside her. Everything was heightened in that odd, comforting way that lazed about her. Jay was content, sitting there watching the world pass her by, knowing that her goodbye was quickly approaching but too relaxed to care.

She watched cars park and pull away, people hurrying to the reception or packing up suitcases in the trunk. A little girl wearing a hat and carrying a bucket and spade, her little legs pumping as she struggled to toddle after her harried mother to the car. A man and a woman with their hands entwined leaning into each other as the brickwork of the building bit into their sides. A couple having a domestic in their car. An old lady teasing the motel's stray cat, the one Roscoe liked to bother on his walks.

Jay watched it all, indifferent and brazen. Here she was with the sharp scent of marijuana clinging to the shirt she'd stolen from Kaleb. Here she was saying goodbye the only way she knew how, the only way she could.

Motels were always awake, alive with the faint movement of people ambling around with key cards and vehicles, luggage that hit the sidewalk and a summer breeze pulling at their clothes.

Kaleb toppled out of the bathroom, utterly miserable. His face twisted as the light hit his eyes and he dove for the bed like a lamb taking its first steps.

She lit a cigarette, motel policy be damned. Nik had done his fair share of compelling on the staff, after all. Absently, she wondered what Nik would be like if they got high together. Probably even more paranoid than usual, if it were even possible.

A part of her was happy that Kaleb had crashed. If he'd kept it up, the dimples and the earnest face with his deep laughter filling her with warmth, she didn't know if she'd be able to say it. The words felt hollow to her, they felt lame- because Kaleb was the first human interaction that she'd wanted. He was a choice that was hers and hers alone, untouched by hybrid's and memory loss and the questions that piled up at the doorstep of her countless motel rooms.

So, sparing him one last glance, she crept out of the room.

She left him, wearing the shirt he had given her, with a goodbye entirely unspoken but meant with a vehemence she'd never felt before.

The sun was going strong for nine. Jay was on the sidewalk, still pleasantly buzzed, as Stefan struggled with the luggage.

"You could help, you know," he shot her with a disapproving look, that frown ridged on his face like usual.

She shrugged, kicking her legs out as Roscoe pushed himself onto her lap. "I'm not the one with supernatural strength. Besides, Nik told you to do it, so get your ass in gear."

He huffed, she grinned, and all in the world was right.

She shot a curious look towards Kaleb's room, wondering if he was still sleeping off his high and if he dreamed at all. Roscoe let out a low whine.

"At least I have you, right boy?" Jamie murmured, her hands embedded in his fur as his tail thumped against the sidewalk. "You'll stay with me."

(AN: I hope you're all staying safe. I finish Uni in May, all my assignments are digital submissions so hopefully I have more time to write.)