Clair de Lune - K.M.

c h a p t e r o n e

"Come on Ty, we're gonna be late!" 

"Just give me a second!" 

I sigh and walk down the hallway to my brothers room, leaning against the frame and watching him frantically search. 

"What the hell is taking so long?" I ask him. 

"I can't find my keys," he tells me. 

I roll my eyes and walk over to where his shorts from this morning are laying crumpled on the floor. I pick them up and reach into the pocket, pulling out Tyler's keys and dangling them in front of him.

"How did you-" he starts, but I've already tossed the keys to him and am half way out the door. "Stella, wait!" 

"Caroline is going to kill us if we're not there to set up for Elena's party," I remind him as we head down the stairs. 

"Relax, it's not like us being ten minutes late means they're going to have to do everything without us," he says. "We've got time." 

I give him a look as I lock the door behind us and we climb into his car. 

"Are we thinking about the same Caroline here? It's not about her doing all of the work. We'll get a 15 minute lecture just for the simple fact that we're late." 

"She's not that bad." 

I close the car door and turn to face him with a slight smile on my face. 

"While I love Caroline to pieces and wouldn't change a single thing about her, she is absolutely that bad. I'm glad that you feel the need to defend her, though. Is that because she's your girlfriend?" 

"No!" he says a little too quickly, and I grin. "We're friends. That's it." 

"It's okay, Ty. I don't care if you date my best friend. Just as long as you're not a douche." 

"Hey!" he says indignantly. 

"All I'm saying is that I don't want to have to listen to her complain about you acting like an ass, alright?" I tell him. "Trust me, I'll have to hear about it." 

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," he says quietly as he pulls out of our driveway and heads toward the Salvatore's house. 

I punch him in the shoulder and he groans, reaching up to rub the spot where I hit him. 

"I hate the fact that you're stronger than me." 

"Maybe I'm just a better wolf than you. Now drive."

For the record, I was right about Caroline. Once we arrive at the Salvatore house she proceeds to tell us everything we missed out on and assign us extra things to do. 

"Stella, you can move the tables into the living room for drinks and snacks. Don't act like that," she says when I groan at her instructions. "You're literally a werewolf. I think you can handle a few tables." 

"You're a vampire," I point out to her, but the look on her face convinces me to quit complaining and just get the tables. 

Tyler and I wish Elena a happy birthday and then get to work decorating for the party, him following his own instructions from Caroline. It comes together fairly quickly, which really isn't a surprise considering who it's being coordinated by.  

"Where's Damon," I ask Elena later as we're hanging streamers in the living room. Caroline and Tyler stand on either side of us, handing us the shiny decorations as we go. 

"I'm not sure," she says. "I think he's following a lead to Stefan." 

"Any progress on that?" I ask, but she only shakes her head.