Help me Derek

Chapter 3

Isaac woke him the next morning, prodding him in the shoulder gently, a look of concern on his features.

"Derek, we have to get going, if, you know..." He trailed off and Derek nodded, shifting back to human for the first time since finding Stiles' body and having to take a few minutes to adjust to the differences.

"You look like shit." Lydia said from nearby and Derek turned to look at her, Jackson was stood next to her, Chris and Allison stood a little further away from Derek, he could smell the guilt coming from both of them and he felt a little glad about that, at least he wasn't the only one. Peter was stood off to one side, a bucket of water at his feet and Derek strode over to it, he didn't care that he was naked, his body covered in filth from the forest, or that he had more of a beard than he'd ever had before, his hair was sticking up in all directions, matted together slightly and his eyes were red-rimmed with grief and exhaustion.

He ducked his face in the cold water, scrubbing at his face and running his hands through his hair, Peter threw him a cloth and he ran it quickly over his body, snatching a towel from Isaac and then moving to grab some clothes, he looked at the dark t-shirts and trousers and fought back a wave of grief, thinking about the multiple times that Stiles had teased him about his fear of colour, throwing on a pair of dark jeans and a t-shirt, shoving his feet into his boots and grabbing his leather jacket.

"Noah wants us all to wear something colourful." Jackson explained and Derek looked back down at his clothes, the most colourful item he owned was still a light grey, Lydia rolled her eyes impatiently and threw a plaid t-shirt at him, he caught it easily and stilled as the overwhelming scent of Stiles hit him and he practically shoved his nose into it, desperate to lose himself in his scent, no matter how pathetic he looked he couldn't help it.

He slipped his arms into the shirt, feeling an odd warmth surround him as he inhaled Stiles' scent and then they were going. He glanced again at the others, noticed the bright pink of Lydia's skirt, the green of Jackson's shirt, Allison's purple shoes, Chris' bright blue trousers, Isaac's yellow scarf, Peter's red jacket, they'd all complied with Noah's wishes and Derek choked back a sob of pain as he thought about how much Stiles would have loved taking the piss out of all of them, especially Derek, in plaid.

They arrived at the church and it was already heaving, Derek was surprised, considering Stiles had always said that nobody would notice if he disappeared for a few days, the number of people there suggested otherwise, teachers, other students, deputy's and their families from the station. Derek was going to stand at the back of the church but Lydia sighed, grabbed his hand and dragged him to the front where the front rows were empty, no doubt for family, Derek felt like hundreds of eyes were burning into the back of his head and they probably were, he could smell the curiosity wafting off a lot of them, wondering what Derek Hale was doing on the front bench at Stiles' funeral when they'd barely known each other.

The doors opened at the back of the church and everyone went silent, Derek tensed, hearing the shuffle of feet coming along the aisle, he couldn't turn and look, he was barely holding it together as it was, the coffin came into view and Derek felt his legs weaken, Peter's grip on his wrist the only thing keeping him upright.

Noah, Scott and Melissa moved to the bench, Noah barely looking away from the coffin and Scott nodding at him in greeting. Derek couldn't breathe, he couldn't do this, Stiles was dead and it was his fault and he couldn't stand here and pretend it was okay, he had to leave, he couldn't be here, he took a step forwards, fully intending to run out of the church and never look back when Scott's hand clamped down around his other wrist and Derek looked at him in shock.

"Stay." Scott pleaded, looking at him with wide eyes and Derek nodded before he'd really had a chance to think about it. The service was emotional, Derek was barely holding it together and then Scott had dropped his hand from Derek's wrist and moved towards the front of the church, clutching a piece of paper in trembling hands and clearing his throat nervously.