Summary: Derek gets married.

Derek/Girl Stiles/Derek-not consummated -

The ceremony was beautiful, just like Derek knew it would be having been planned by Stiles and Lydia. When Derek had first asked Stiles to plan his wedding the young man had looked so shocked and for a brief moment, heartbroken before he had smiled widely and gone off into a rant of all the ideas he had for the ceremony and reception; looking around the reception hall Derek could clearly see the additions made by Lydia and his wife but those made by Stiles and himself seemed to blend so perfectly that Derek couldn't remember what had been his input and what had been Stiles'

The Pack was all laughing and talking as they moved to their seats and Derek let his wife pull him along to their spot at the long table at the front of the room, Lydia and his wife had insisted that they have a special table when Derek just wanted to sit with the pack and be surrounded by his family.

Lydia tapped her glass, "And now we have the best man speech."

Scott stood and cleared his throat, and Derek had wanted to ask Stiles but when he had taken the man aside and opened his mouth to ask he had seen the pain in his eyes and as much as he wanted Stiles to stand by him he couldn't bring himself to cause him more pain by asking him to hand him the rings that would bind him to another, to ask him to plan his last night single when he was already giving him the wedding Stiles would never have with him, so he had asked about Scott being his best man and Stiles let out a relieved sigh and Derek had let the moment pass.

Now Stiles was hidden in the shadows, still making sure everything was running smoothly as the night continued and Lydia started making hints at Jackson.

And Derek let his wife drag him onto the hardwood floor in the middle of the room where they had their first dance and Derek threw the garter and she threw the bouquet and Derek had to smile when Allison caught the bouquet of roses and baby's breath.

Then Derek let his wife's father led her away for a dance and sought Stiles out.

"Just once." Derek had said and he saw the deep breath Stiles took and heard the stutter in his chest as he fought back the tears that filled his eyes.

"Okay." Stiles breathed and Derek took him in his arms and let the music carry them into a pattern.

But they didn't leave the shadows that Stiles had hidden in, if they did the guests might see a deeper love than the one between Derek and his bride.

"I'm sorry." Derek whispered in Stiles' ear.

"I know, she makes you happy, she makes you smile, that is more than enough for me." Stiles whispered back, "As long as you're happy, that's all I need to know."

Derek let his hand brush the hair back from Stiles' forehead and let his hand rest heavily at the back of Stiles' neck before he pressed a soft kiss to Stiles' forehead as the song ended. If anyone from his wife's pack saw it they would take it for affection for a pack mate that had been with the pack from it's beginning, they wouldn't care to notice the way Stiles' eyes were clenched tightly shut or the way it took a moment for him to unclench his fingers from Derek's suit coat.

Derek tugged away gently, and Stiles let him pull away, his eyes filled with tears as Derek stepped away and back towards the woman he had married who was searching him out and Derek pulled up a smile when he turned away from Stiles and tried not think about the tears that fell from the young man's eyes as he danced again with his wife.

He tried not to remember a skinny boy, more bones than meat struggling to keep him afloat in a pool with their death all around them, the water both keeping them floating but also drowning them and how he hadn't let him go, even if it would have saved him, and how he just kept saving him even when he didn't realize he needed saving, how even with the constant threats he had stayed.

Scott and Lydia had both wanted Stiles to give a speech but Derek had watched Stiles' reaction to the suggestion and couldn't ask that of the young man, because even with Derek forever out of his reach he wouldn't leave, even if his heart broke every time he saw Derek and his wife together, saw his children be born he wouldn't leave because to him Derek's happiness was enough.

Derek didn't have the strength to tell him that this marriage had been arranged when his mother was still alive, made to strengthen the pack and it would even if it was the new Hale pack. Derek didn't have the strength to tell Stiles that he was the one he would have married if he was strong enough, if he didn't think that the pack deserved more security than they had at the moment, a chance to marry for love and have their babies come into the world safe and protected.

Years later Derek would place a bouquet of Ambrosia, Forget-me-nots, Orange blossoms, and Sweet pea atop a grave as he did every year since the boy died, only he ever knew what the bouquet meant and he almost hated Stiles for his random knowledge.

While he was sick he had babbled a lot and he had told Derek all about the language of flowers whenever he sat beside him while the other man had his treatments, but eventually the treatments stopped working and Stiles had told Derek he wanted to die at home with the pack and Derek had told his wife to take the children to her birth pack while the original pack took care of Stiles and he would always be thankful for the loyalty of his bitten pack members and the Hunters that were part of their pack and the loyalty that Peter held for Stiles that they would never tell his wife that his hold on Stiles was bordering on bruising, like if he held on just a bit tighter Stiles would stay, that there was always black lines trailing up one of the pack's arms as they took Stiles' pain, that at any given moment Derek could be found with Stiles leaning tiredly against Derek's chest as they spoke softly or Derek tried to get Stiles to eat.

And not a single one of them would mention the broken howl that echoed through the town when Stiles breath his last in Derek's arms, just a quiet exhale that left a hole in the Alpha's heart that would never be filled again.

So, every year on the day Stiles died Derek would go to the florist and pick up the bouquet he had on order for the next thirty years at least and take the trip to the graveyard to talk to Stiles, and once, only once did he dare to admit to the silent headstone a secret he had kept since his wedding day.

"I danced with two people at my wedding. The one I married, and the one I wish I married instead."

Every flower has multiple meanings, for the purposes of this story the flowers mean as follows.

Flower meanings:Ambrosia-love reciprocated

Forget me not-Memories/true love

Orange blossom-Eternal love

sweet pea-goodbye