Work Text:
The sun was coming up over the trees while Derek leaned on the railing of the balcony outside of the room he normally shared with Stiles. He could hear people inside moving around, the entire pack had descended upon the house for the first time in three years. Even Jackson and Ethan had flown back in from England. Derek was overwhelmed by having them all in the same place, a small part of himself lost in the memory of the last time his original pack, his family, had gathered in one home at the same time.
A knock on the door behind him pulled Derek back into the bedroom. “Come in,” he called out, smiling when Cora entered, looking nervous as she twisted her fingers in front of her, her eyes flashing gold. “Morning. Everything alright?”
“Depends on how you define ‘alright’,” she muttered. Derek raised his eyebrows as he reached for the shirt hanging from the end of the bedpost and shrugging into it. “The caterers called and there was some kind of flooding in the business next door that cut the power and they lost all of the food they prepared.” Derek huffed out a sigh as he started buttoning his shirt from the bottom.
He opened his mouth to suggest calling local restaurants for carryout, the party wasn’t that big, but Cora continued. “The photographer emailed to cancel stating they’d been double-booked. The band got in a car accident after their gig last night and two of their members are in the hospital.”
“Are they alright?” Derek asked, his hand freezing as it reached for the jacket that he’d draped over the end of the bed.
“Yeah, just a few broken bones,” she said, waving one hand as she smoothed the other over her hair before tugging at her dress, the lace refusing to lay flat. “That’s to say we now have no food, no photographer, and no music. Nothing else could possib-”
Derek cut her off with a hand over her mouth, feeling strangely calm compared to his earlier worries. “Don’t even say that. Next thing you know, the groom won’t show up.” He laughed, the smile falling from his face when he saw her eyes widen above her hand. “He’s not here?”
“We tried calling and his dad is out driving around but no one can find him,” Cora said, biting into her lip, the perfect lipstick transferring to her teeth, and Derek had an image of Lydia and Erica screaming at her for ruining her makeup.
“I’ll find him,” Derek said.
“You can’t!” she shouted. “Everything here is going absolutely batshit crazy.”
“Then deal with it. Everyone can take photos, Erica’s Instagram is full of gorgeous photos. Order carryout and put it on my card, but call now so they have enough time to make it all and hopefully deliver. Offer to pay double. We can use the radio for music,” Derek said, tugging his jacket off and pulling his shirt over his head before dropping his boxers and shifting. He knew his sense of smell was even stronger in this form and he would need all the supernatural help he could get.
He was barrelling down the stairs just as Scott opened the front door, looking frantic with a much calmer Melissa behind him. Racing past them both, he heard Scott shout, “Groom on the run!” and he ignored it as he headed towards the road.
He was halfway down the drive when he skidded to a stop, an idea popping into his head. Changing direction, he ran through the woods as fast as his four legs could take him. He could hear some of the other pack in the distance calling for him but he had one thought and one thought only as he went in search of the groom, leaving the chaos at the house to someone else to handle.
When he was a hundred yards from his destination, the wrought iron fence just starting to emerge between the trees, his ears perked up at a familiar voice mumbling low enough that he couldn’t make out the words. His nose twitched with the scent he knew as well as his own and he slowed his pace not to disturb the man as he padded up to the fence closest to the spot where he knew he would find him.
He was sitting on the stone bench right in front of the headstone he’d expected, silent now as he played with the flowers in his hands. Moving slowly, Derek ducked through an opening in the bars and moved slowly to sit on the ground, leaning into his legs. A hand stroked through the fur on his head and scratched behind his ears in his favorite spot, although he’d admit that to no one else.
“Hey,” Stiles said, his voice rough and Derek didn’t have to look up into his face to know he’d been crying. Derek laid his head on Stiles’ knee and whimpered before he nosed at the watch on his wrist. “I’m late, aren’t I?” Another whimper. “I’m sorry. I woke up this morning and my head was so loud. Thoughts and memories and worries and I just had to get away from the chaos.”
Derek understood. There was a spot, not quite a hill but high enough that he could see over where the old house had stood. When things got to be too much, he ran there and sat until his mind calmed again. Stiles went to see his mother. He whimpered again and Stiles leaned over to press a kiss between his ears. “We should probably get to the house before they send out the search party.”
Derek lifted his head and rolled his eyes; he was the search party. While Stiles placed the roses in the urn next to the stone, Derek went in search of a pebble, finding one at the base of a tree that was slightly heart-shaped. Carrying it carefully in his mouth, he laid it on the gravestone and looked up when Stiles made a soft sound of appreciation. It was something Stiles always did along with the flowers and Derek had never asked, just done his own research to see it was a sign of respect in the Jewish religion and he was glad to share that with his soon-to-be-husband, especially since it brought a slight smile to his tear-stained face.
They walked to Stiles’ Jeep and Derek hopped into the front seat, nosing at Stiles’ phone that was blowing up. Grabbing it, he scrolled through the messages, his eyes growing wider the longer he did. “No food, no photos, no music?” He looked at Derek who did his best to raise his eyebrows in a ‘what can you do?’ kind of way.
Grinning, Stiles put the Jeep into gear before reaching into the backseat and grabbing the go bag that he kept back there, packed with things for both of them, and tossing it into the footwell in front of Derek’s seat. “That settles it. We’re eloping.”
He laughed when Derek tilted his head back and let loose a howl of agreement, Stiles joining in as he turned the Jeep in the opposite direction of the house and towards the interstate. As they left Beacon Hills behind, he looked over at his fiancé and knew that even though he would miss having his family witness the wedding, the only thing that mattered was the man by his side.