Chapter Text
Derek has no idea how he ended up with an engagement ring.
Ok, that's a lie. He knows how he got the engagement ring. He bought it three months ago.
However, he has no idea why he bought it, and that might be just as bad.
(Also a lie, he bought it for Braeden. Duh.)
But he really doesn't know what to do with the engagement ring. Obviously, he has to propose. But how?
He has no clue.
Relationships have never really been Derek's strong suit. This is a well-known fact and one he has accepted a long time ago. In fact, Derek was very ready to just die alone. That was, of course, before Braeden came along.
Braeden was perfect for Derek. She made being in a relationship easy while still challenging him enough to get his head out of his ass. And she wasn't a psychotic bitch who wanted him dead, which was a plus.
It makes sense that Derek wanted to marry her. They had been together for years, they lived together, and they had talked about it before. And with Beacon Hills being in its current state of peace, now would be a great time for a proposal.
This brings us back to our original problem. How does one propose?
He’s been trying to find the right moment for months now. The ring has practically taken up permanent residence in the pocket of his leather jacket.
He thought about doing it after dinner at some fancy restaurant but Braeden would have declawed him for such a public display. He considered presenting her with breakfast in bed with the ring on her fork, but that felt too casual. Nothing he thought of was perfect. Braeden deserved perfection.
“This has to be perfect people. I will accept nothing short of it.”
Braeden has been planning this proposal for months. From the flowers to her speech. It all had to be the best. It’s what Derek deserves.
She’s enlisted the help of the pack members still in Beacon Hills to pull off the perfect surprise. Isaac and Liam are on decorations, Malia is on photography, Parrish is on security, and Scott is keeping Derek away from the preserve while everyone finishes setting up.
She has everything planned out to the second. Hopefully, it will all go perfectly.
As Derek pulls up to Scott’s house, he is unable to shake his thoughts of the potential proposal. He hasn’t told anyone about the ring but he’s starting to think he should outsource for help.
Scott walks out of the McCall residence with an easygoing smile on his face. He never told Derek why he was so insistent they hang out today but his chemosignals seem to be normal, so Derek supposes he has nothing to worry about.
“Hey dude!” Scott says as he climbs into the car.
“Don’t call me dude.”
Scott doesn’t acknowledge his request. “Are you ready to go?”
“Go where exactly,” Derek raises his eyebrows in feigned annoyance, “You never told me where we’re going. Or why, for that matter.”
“We’re going to that antiques shop my mom told you about. And then for lunch.”
Now Derek is suspicious. “Why do you want to go to an antique shop?”
“Because I’m a great friend who is willing to support his friends and their hobbies. No matter how old ladyish they are.” Scott explains with an amused smile.
“You’re up to something.”
“You think so poorly of me.”
“Did you summon some monster again? Because so help me Scott-”
“I didn’t summon anything!” Scott exclaims, throwing his hands up dramatically. “We just haven’t had a chance to hang out in a while and so I thought this would be fun.”
While the explanation does sound like something Scott would do, Derek is not completely over his suspicion that there’s a secret motive at play. However, Scott’s puppy dog eyes are too powerful for even him to resist, so he sighs and turns on the GPS to take them to the antique store.
God, he’s gone soft.
Derek didn’t mean to tell Scott he’s planning on proposing to Braeden in the middle of the antiques shop, it just slipped out. Of course, once Scott registered what he said, the vintage cuckoo clock the younger boy was holding slipped out of his hand. And broke.
That was 20 minutes ago. Now they’ve paid for their purchases and the broken clock (and Scott apologized a million times to the store clerk) and are in the food court, staring at the ring.
Scott is the one to break the silence. “You know sometimes I forget you’re rich, then you show me shit like this ,” He gestures towards the ring, “And I’m forced to remember that we reside in two different tax brackets.”
“So you think the ring is nice?” Derek asks hesitantly.
“Dude. The ring’s amazing! If you asked me to marry you right now I’d say yes just for the ring.” Scott starts to reach towards the ring, so Derek grabs it and slams it shut.
“I don’t want your grubby fingerprints on my ring.”
“You mean Braeden’s ring.” He sounds smug but his face slowly begins to morph into an uneasy expression.
“Why are you making that face? Do you know something I should know?” Derek asks, sounding more and more distressed as he leans closer to Scott.
“No, I know nothing.” Scott squeaks out unconvincingly, leaning further back into his seat.
Derek stares at him for a bit, trying to figure out what Scott is hiding. Eventually, he stood up.
"Where are you going?" Scott asks, clearly confused.
"Back to Beacon Hills to figure out what you're hiding from me." And with that, Derek marches off, leaving a scrambling Scott behind him.
"Scott just texted and said he and Derek are on their way back," Braeden reads the message on her phone out loud for everyone to hear, "Meaning we have an hour to finish setting up."
Everyone froze at the news. Scott was supposed to keep Derek away for another 3 hours.
Currently, the balloon garland was only half finished, the lights hadn’t been strung up, and Malia hadn’t found a good place to hide and take pictures from.
In other words, they were fucked.
“Would you just listen to me?” Scott pleaded in a last-ditch attempt to slow Derek down. They were currently walking through the preserve and Derek was determined to find out what was going on.
“I’ll listen if you tell me the truth.” He doesn’t slow down and continues to march towards his home.
“You didn’t find anything at my house,” Scott finally catches up to him and they are now side by side, “So clearly I’m not hiding anything.”
“No, that just means you’re not hiding anything at your house.” With that Derek makes one last turn towards his front yard.
“What the fuck is this?”
Standing before Braeden is the man of her dreams. If you asked Braeden if she saw herself marrying Derek Hale when she first met him 6 years ago she would’ve thought you were crazy. And yet here she is, in a white jumpsuit, ready to ask him if he wanted to spend the rest of their lives together.
God, he’s turned her into such a sap.
Derek himself looked extremely perplexed by the decorations. But the second he locked eyes on Braeden, everything else seemed to melt away.
“You look beautiful.” He said quietly as he stepped closer to her. The tension from his shoulders dissipated and his frown turned into a small smile.
“You don’t look too bad yourself, even if you didn’t get the memo. '' Braeden replies, gesturing to his worn leather jacket and ruffled hair.
“Well, you didn’t give me much warning.”
“That’s fair I guess.”
“What is this for anyways?” Derek finally asks. So Braeden decides to take it as her cue.
“Derek,” she began, “I first realized I was in love with you when I woke up in the hospital and you were sitting there next to me. Whether you still want to see it as ‘Protecting your investment’ or not, I felt cared for and protected in a way I have never experienced.”
“You, Derek, are the bravest and strongest person I know. And despite everything that has happened to you, you are still kind. And I’m not going to lie, the love I feel for you terrifies me sometimes. I’ve never felt an emotion this strong before. But you…you make me want to feel all of it and more. I’d rather be anxiously in love with you than calm without you.”
For most of the speech, Derek was stunned to silence. As Braeden got on one knee he muttered a shocked “ Oh my God ”, but never let go of her hand.
“So,” Braeden pulls the ring box out of her pocket, “Derek Samuel Hale, will you do me the honor of hanging out with me for the rest of our lives together?” With this Braeden pulls her hand from Derek’s to open the box, revealing a simple engraved silver band.
Derek, who has been at a loss for words this whole time, clears his throat in an attempt to find his voice. Once he gets his bearings, he answers “Yes, of course, Yes!”
With that, the two are entangled in each other’s arms. They eventually lose balance and end up on the ground but they could care less.
When Braeden finally gets to put the ring on Derek’s finger, Derek remembers his own piece of curved jewelry he’s been carrying around.
“Wait!” He exclaims as he digs through his pocket, pulling out the ring box. When Braeden sees it, she starts cackling.
“Oh my God, what is this? A rom-com?” She expresses lovingly between fits of laughter as Derek gets on one knee this time.
“Braeden Lucilia Morgan, will you give me the honor of calling you my wife and marrying me?”
Of course, Braeden pretends to think about it for a second. Then, as she sticks her hand out, she says, “I’d love to.”
Derek slides the ring on her finger and kisses his new fiancée.
Later:
“So I’m guessing Scott was in on it?”
“Oh yeah. Did you think he would really go to an antiques store with you willingly?”