He told Stiles he didn't want a big funeral for his little sister. Most of the people of Beacon Hills already thought she was dead since the fire, like Derek thought himself until some months ago. As he tied his tie he kept thinking about not going. He didn't want to because he thought it would just show that he accepted his loss, that his sister never comes back. But Cora died in the hospital and Derek knew people needed the surface. He knew his little sister wasn't in the coffin but since she passed away in a room full of doctors and nurses, they needed to act like she was. Though he thought that faking her funeral was disrespectful, he asked Stiles, who was always available, to help him with the organization part. And the boy did what he asked him to.

When he finally arrived, he saw that only a few people were there. Mostly his pack and their relatives, like Scott's mom and Stiles' dad but Deaton and Morrell were there as well. And even some people from the hospital. When the priest showed up, he heard Isaac, Scott and Stiles stepping behind him. They were his moral support lately. Even Allison and Lydia were there, they stood behind the boys in silence.

He didn't pay to much attention to the priest. The only line he actually heard from his speech was the one he knew. „Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." Watching the priest on the podium, the sad faces of complete strangers and his sister's fake coffin made him think about everyone he has ever lost but didn't have the chance to say goodbye.

His parents' bodies were never found since they died in the fire. They had the ruins of their burnt house as their coffin. It was the same with some of his uncles, aunts and cousins as well. After Peter, his only uncle who survived the fire, killed Laura, his only family member who wasn't there when the house burnt down, Derek just burried her body under a spiral but never gave her a real funeral. And now when he had to say goodbye to his last relative he loved, he realized it was not for her nor for him. It was for the town, for the people of Beacon Hills who got upset when they heard he didn't want a funeral.

After the priest finished his speech, Stiles stepped next to him and put a white rose on Cora's casket. Derek knew the boy should've stepped back to the line but he just stood there, looking at the werewolf with pure empathy in his eyes. Derek just nodded when Stiles made a gesture to the podium. He couldn't help but think about all the things the boy helped him with since Cora passed away. He organized the whole funeral, talked to the priest, found a grave next to his parents' tomb. He took care of everything while Derek sat alone in the darkness of his loft, thinking about the past, about all the people he has lost in his life. His parents, his sisters, his betas.

After school, Stiles always appeared in his flat, brought some food and sat with him in the dark room till he finally made the alpha eat something. Sometimes he kept quiet all afternoon which kind of impressed the werewolf knowing about the boy's need of talking. But he was fine with silence. He grabbed his laptop and wrote his homework when he knew Derek needed him to stay for a little longer. Though the alpha had no idea how he knew when he needed company. And Stiles kept his word. He promised he'd help him through everything and he tried his best to make it happen. And Derek was more than grateful for him being there.

'They say that if we really love someone, they'll be with us forever' Stiles started his speech and Derek raised his head to look at the boy, waiting for him to continue. 'Because no matter how long they've been gone, we'll always have little pieces from them in us. Maybe and mostly just memories of moments we spent together. But sometimes you just realize you adopted some new habits or phrasings to your life, they had before' the boy tried to swallow but his throat was dry. He waited a second, cleared his throat and continued. 'And they say time heals all wounds. And, in contrary to the popular belief, it doesn't mean some day they'll all just disappear. They won't, believe me. They just become scars once, without noticing. Alas… no one can tell how long the healing will take.'

Derek heard Allison's sigh and remembered the people she lost. Her mother and aunt. And in that moment he realized he didn't become furious about thinking of them. And it wasn't because he forgot what they did and he definitely didn't forgive. But he felt sorry for Allison, for her loss. He felt sorry for all of the present teenagers. He turned his head to Isaac and Scott and saw they were also thinking about something. Derek saw some tears streaming down Isaac's face. He knew they weren't for Cora but it didn't make him mad. They were for his friends, his fellow betas, Erica and Boyd. and maybe even for his father. The alpha heard as Stiles took a deep breath as he prepared to continue his speech. 'As much as I knew Cora, she'd be annoyed by us whining over her grave. And probably she'd roll her eyes and tell me to shut my mouth' at this part Derek stifled a laugh with a cough. He felt that everyone looked at him, so he calmly nodded towards Stiles and bowed his head. 'Though we had our little misunderstandings, I can tell that she taught me that it's never too late. You can always choose to be something better… and that it's worth being brave for the people who you love, to fight for them. Because once they became a part of you, they'll be forever. They are those people around you who just accept you for who you really are' he stopped again and looked at his friends. Derek was pretty sure Scott nodded behind him. Then Stiles looked him in the eye and tried to smile reassuringly. 'And only with her existence, she also taught me that I should never waste my time on things I don't enjoy. Because to be honest, I'm just an ordinary human being so I'm not able to tell you which is the last minute of my life. None of us can ever know in which moment will we be touched by the eternity.'

Stiles bowed his head and left the podium. As he walked back to his friends, he stopped in front of Derek and patted his shoulders. The werewolf smiled at him gratefully for a moment but then he remembered when on his parents' funeral some unknown relative did the same and he shuddered. Stiles looked at him with incomprehension in his big brown eyes and stepped to his friends. Derek shook his head to banish the bad memory but it was too late.

Laura was standing next to him in a way too long black dress and with a terrifyingly straight expression on her face. She didn't cry, just watched the ten empty coffins going under. Ten because Peter, as the only known surviver of the fire, was in the hospital, hovering between life and death.
Derek knew his sister was broken. She might could handle the pain of growing up from one minute to another and becoming the guardian of a teenage boy. But losing their mother changed her, she became serious and reticent. The woman has been the only reason she liked being a werewolf, she's taught her how to handle her werewolf side succesfully even around full moon. And she felt she failed her. She felt she was not good enough to raise an angry and depressed senior boy in a town both of them lost their family, while trying to deal with her newly found extra powers as an alpha and her growing guilt.
After the funeral and Derek's graduation, they moved to New York and she forbade him to take advantage on any of his supernatural skills. Though she did that, she had to. In the daytime she worked in a coffee shop and in restaurants and bars in the evenings. She wanted her brother to have opportunities she never had, so after she save enough money, she made Derek go to college.

Derek shook his head as he stepped in the loft and closed the door behind himself. He couldn't stop thinking about his older sister who tried everything to make him feel comfortable and loved, and how sad it would make her to see him as the angry and frustrated adult he became.