Elena had been staying pretty close to Damon the whole night, though she was also making the rounds with her other friends and keeping a close eye on Jeremy. Every smile of her brother's was catalogued, pressed into paper to dry and stored inside her heart like a flower. That was why she had come up with this party idea, after all, to see Jeremy smile again, and no matter how much she enjoyed getting to spend time with her own family and friends, that was what mattered the most.
She'd seen Stiles at the beginning of the party and had made sure to say hello, but after the initial greeting they hadn't really been in the same part of the house. Once, Elena had looked out a window and thought she'd seen Stiles talking to Katherine, but when she looked back Stiles was alone. Not too long after that, though, Katherine had come up to her and whispered in her ear that Stiles had something he needed to talk to her about in private, and he was waiting for her down the beach.
Elena should have known something was wrong right then, because Katherine never lowered herself to playing messenger unless there was something in it for her. All Elena could think of, though, was Stiles' dad, and how he was better but still sick, and maybe he'd gotten a call from his mom, or a million other awful things. With a kiss to Damon's cheek and a murmured "Be right back" in his ear, Elena took off toward the beach, not seeing Katherine's amused smirk.
It only took her a few minutes to find Stiles, and when she did she couldn't help but smile. He looked nervous, sure, but not overly distraught, and that lessened the anxiety curling in her own stomach.
"Hey," Elena said softly, stepping close to Stiles.