I'm a terrible, terrible person. But I really don't care at this moment.

No, this is not the next Dark Light chapter for those that read my YJ story.
It also isn't the Original Twin chapter I've been promising you Vampire Diaries fans for almost a year (halfway there, I promise. Just wait 'til exams are over.)
And it definitely isn't the Saviour Angel update that I owe you after that lovely little bomb I dropped.

I'm so sorry. Really, truly I am. But I watched Season 4 (finally) and was inspired by that lovely little explosive we call Liam and I decided that he needed some more love. Particularly a pretty, equally troubled girlfriend. And then it just kept flowing. Then I watched the mtv season 2 marathon and I was even more determined to keep writing.
The Liam/OC is slowburn and only really a reason for me to have created a character. There will be plot first.

This is going to be a good time for me. You guys, not so much.
It starts after Season 4 and will probably not include Season 5 because I've seen the promo and I'm worried. I'm scared shitless what they're going to make our babies go through again. And no Derek. Its unimaginable. I have a theory though...

Okay, enough rambling.

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf because if I did Stalia would be obsolete by now because no matter how cute they are, I'm Stydia for life. Oh, and Derek would never, ever leave. Or put a shirt on.

Read. Review. Enjoy.

Lucy had been staring out the car window for over an hour. Her headphones were firmly stuck in her ears, the music cranked as loud as she could handle. Her book was sitting open in her lap, though she hadn't read a single word since they'd pulled out of the Academy's parking lot. She was in silent protest, determined to ignore the man in the driver's seat for as long as possible.

She knew he was unsure of what to do, unsure of how to handle a surly teenager that had just been kicked out of another boarding school. Lucy also knew that Agent Raf McCall had no idea how to handle a girl, let alone a teenaged one, which was why she had spent most of the past three and a half years in boarding schools and summer programs far away from her legal guardian.

He was tapping the steering wheel now, probably trying to figure out a way of getting her attention without having to make any awkward physical contact. Unbeknownst to him, Lucy had spent most of the drive scrutinizing him. He was handsome, she guessed, in a federal agent-older guy way, with his grey-free hair and large dark eyes. Nothing like her own dad, whose blonde hair had been peppered with grey and whose green eyes had always been squinting from refusing to buy glasses, something her mom had always chastised him for. Lucy ignored the soft pull in her gut that always accompanied thoughts of her parents. Instead she took pity on her driver and pulled a headphone out of her ear. He took this as a sign of open communication.

"So, um, there are a few things I want to go over before we arrive and we're getting pretty close." He glanced over at her to make sure she was actually listening before he continued, "I'm not going to lie or sugar coat it; things are going to be weird for you. They're going to be weird for all of us, but Melissa is doing us both a huge favour by letting you move in with her and Scott." Lucy let out a snort.

"Right, because we're totally not paying off half of her debt and making it so she can keep her house or anything."

"Which you're not going to bring up," he warned sternly before smiling a little, "Melissa is a good person. She would have taken you in even without the money."

"If she's such a good person then why are you two divorced?" prodded Lucy.

"That's not important." He sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. "What's important, is that this is another chance, okay Luce? This is a chance for a normal high school experience."

"Boarding school is a normal high school experience!" Lucy huffed. "I don't see why you don't just ship me off to another one of those. I'm sure we could find a few that wants to "straighten me out" or any of that other crap."

"Because I owe it to your parents to try harder than I've been trying for the past four years. Maybe it's my fault why you've been acting out, maybe I haven't taken enough interest or initiative. At the time, it's what was best. But that was seven schools ago, Luce. Seven. So we're going to take it easy for awhile and try public school." He was pleading with her, trying to make her understand that this was what was best for her, but Lucy wasn't going down that easy.

"But why in Beacon Hills?" she whined, "There are plenty of public schools in San Francisco. And might I remind you that you were investigating murders here. Murders, with an S. As in plural, meaning more than one murder. You were hunting serial killers and assassins and a lot of freaky stuff has happened here lately. I don't see how that's taking it easy."

"I'm trying to patch things up with Scott, Lucy. I need to be in Beacon Hills." His voice was tired but final. The topic was no longer open for discussion. Lucy slumped down in her seat.

"Fine. But do I really have to live with them?"

"I have to go back and forth from the field office a lot and we both know I suck at cooking. This is a chance at stability, Lucy. Please just let it go. It's already been decided."

"Decided without my opinion. I thought you were going to let me decide what's best for myself?" she challenged. She knew what was good for her, and it wasn't moving in with his son and ex-wife.

"I'm trying, Lucy. I'm trying to fix things between me and Scott, and me and Melissa, and me and you. Give me this chance." His hands tightened determinedly on the steering wheel. "Give me two months. If you are absolutely miserable by the time that's over, we'll find another school, okay?"

"Fine." She grumbled, shoving the headphone back into her ear and turning up the volume to tune him out.

Lucy knew he was trying. He was trying more than he had since the first little while after her parents died. She just didn't know how long it would last. She liked Agent Raf, she really did, but that was who he was. He was Agent Raf— not Raf or Uncle Raf— but Agent Raf, her dad's former FBI partner. He was a good guy and a good agent, but his ability to be a caretaker was a little lacking. Which had never bothered her before. He signed papers and she sent him a check-up text once a week. All was well.

Lucy went back to staring out the window, not bothering to keep up the charade of reading her book, and watched as the trees blended into a general blur of green. It was the second week of April, a completely disastrous time to be switching schools. Apparently Carlton Academy couldn't allow property-destroying delinquents to finish the semester, even with only a month and half left. Not that Lucy could stand being there any longer. If she'd been able to, she'd still be stuck behind ivy-covered walls, planning her expulsion for sometime closer to June. Then they would've been forced to let her finish the year.

She hadn't been back to Beacon Hills since she was 12. She had hated that trip. She'd been forced to tag along with Scott and his annoying best friend, Stiles, while Melissa and Agent Raf had an "adult conversation" about who knows what. Then they'd all sat through an awkward dinner of Italian takeout and Stiles passive-aggressively insulting Agent Raf while Scott barely looked up from his plate and Melissa repeatedly told Stiles to cut it out. Lucy had sat silently and watched it all enfold before her.

She wasn't looking forward to this little experiment given that it had the extreme likelihood of blowing up in all their faces. She was even more apprehensive about the whole thing since Agent Raf had warned her about Scott and his friends' constant camping trips, failing grades (though she had a feeling he hadn't meant to mention that), and tendencies to be in the wrong places at the wrong times. She didn't know if they were drug runners or just out of control teenagers, but neither of those seemed like viable options for her future.

Lucy had a plan, and it didn't really involve making friends at all. Friends made it harder to leave. Besides, it was halfway through the second semester. It was too late for her to join most school clubs or to try out for cross-country. Volleyball season wouldn't start until the next school year, and she would hopefully be gone by then. Hopefully.

Her plan was foolproof. She was going to be the perfect child for the next couple of months, starting with being a wonderful houseguest for Melissa and finishing with acing her classes and her finals. Then maybe she could convince Agent Raf that she was through with her "phase" and he would send her to that school for academically gifted kids in upstate New York. She may have gotten herself expelled from all the good schools in California but New York State had a lot of boarding schools and a lot of options. Maybe there she could find a school nurse that would give her something stronger than melatonin without parental permission. Melatonin had stopped working by the third school. It had worked even less when she stopped taking her pills.

Lucy didn't need Agent Raf worrying about her insomnia. They were just dumb nightmares that didn't even make sense. If he got involved then she would have to go back to the doctors and shrinks who pretended to care but only really wanted a topic for their research papers. She didn't need a sympathetic ear or someone to trace the root of her disturbing dreams. She didn't need someone asking her about how her prescriptions were or how often she was taking them. She didn't need that. She didn't want that. All she wanted was a good night's sleep and a new school, preferably one with uniforms and a 20-second walk from her dorm to her first class. To bad she was getting Beacon Hills instead.

"But why does she have to live with you?" whined Stiles. He was currently following behind Melissa as she moved around the kitchen preparing dinner, trying to convince her that this was a bad idea. It didn't help that Melissa was already second-guessing her decision. Scott was sitting at the kitchen table with Liam and Kira, discussing the next lacrosse game. It was close to the full moon and against a rough team. They needed to make a plan to keep Liam in control and in the game. However, Scott interjected when he heard Stiles' complaint.

"Because Dad asked her to and she's too nice to tell him no."

"Apparently she can't say no to any strays that come waltzing her way," mumbled Stiles, "First Isaac and his stupid scarf, and now this, this girl." His face contorted in distaste. Melissa breezed past him to the fridge and grabbed a pre-made salad.

"What can I say, Stiles," she remarked as she pulled a bowl from the cupboard, "I've always wanted a daughter. Instead I got a pack of wolves, assorted supernaturals and you."

"She is not a girl," grumbled Stiles, crossing his arms over his chest and causing his plaid shirt to stick out at an odd angle. "She's a demon."

"Then she'll fit right in," joked Kira from the table. Liam smiled along with her.

"No." Everyone, minus Melissa, turned to stare at Scott, startled. His voice had been hard and flat.

"Scott?" asked Stiles.

"Mom and I talked about this. She doesn't need to be caught up in all this. She doesn't know about werewolves or kanimas or supernatural deadpools, and we aren't going to tell her." His mom nodded in agreement.

"This is her chance to be normal. I agreed to take her in because I was friends with her parents. That poor kid doesn't need to know about all of this," she finished, gesturing to the two werewolves and the kitsune.

"That poor kid decided my backpack would be a good place to empty an entire bottle of glue after I told her she couldn't play with my transformers. That type of contemplative, vengeful evil doesn't go away, it gets worse."

"She was a four year old girl who wanted to play with the big kids, Stiles," sighed Melissa. She remembered that day, how smug the little girl had looked when Stiles came to show them what she'd done.

"She was a demon with pigtails and butterfly hair clips."

"I doubt she'll be dumping glue in your backpack anymore, Stiles," consoled Scott. "Besides, she's two years younger than us and I have super strength. I think we can take her." Stiles ignored his friend and whirled around to face Liam. He narrowed his eyes at the younger boy.

"No."

"What do you mean no?" asked Liam. He leaned away slightly, blue eyes wide with confusion.

"No, you cannot date her. In fact, no dating, no looking, even no thinking about her. She's no good, I know it. I mean, how many school has she gotten kicked out of? Seven? In three years? That's excessive and ridiculous." Stiles was staring at the younger boy, studying him like he was a piece of evidence to be taped to his board.

"Maybe they sucked," argued Liam.

"You mean, maybe she had a coach that benched her for the entire season so then she destroyed his car?" said Stiles. Liam shrank back, the hurt flashing across his face briefly before it settled into a stony glare.

"That was mean and uncalled for," pointed out Kira. She stood and grabbed her jacket from the back of her chair. "Come on, Liam, I'll drive you home. My mom said I had to be back by dinner anyway." She looked at Scott. "See you tomorrow before class?" He nodded.

Kira kissed him on the cheek as she walked past. The two had settled into a more comfortable relationship since the Mexico fiasco. He knew she was leaving mostly to get away from Stiles' pointless ranting and to help Liam escape. Liam spared a hostile glance at Stiles before slinking out after Kira, but not before Scott patted him reassuringly on the shoulder. The younger boy relaxed slightly, shifting from defensive and angry to disgruntled.

The remaining three waited in silence until the sound of Kira's car faded away. Melissa had pulled the chicken skewers from the oven and set the tray on the counter. Scott looked pointedly at his friend as Stiles slid into the chair across from him. "Kira's right, Stiles. That was uncalled for. If you had said that a month ago, he would have ripped your throat out."

"That was the point. He'll be the weak link." It was his turn to give Scott a pointed look as he tipped back his chair. "I stalked her social media, I know what she looks like. Green eyes, freckles, never smiles in any of her pictures. She's cute for a freshman, and Liam is a freshman. I don't need another "Scott and Allison" thing on my hands. Pretty new girls and young werewolves are a bad mix, Scott. You were bad enough; now imagine that with Liam's anger issues. It's not a pretty picture."

Scott shook his head. "Those were different circumstances, Stiles, and you know it. Besides, my dad is her legal guardian and he definitely isn't a werewolf hunter. Allison anchored me and made me happy. Liam deserves to be happy."

"So you're saying you want Liam to fall desperately in love with a girl who is, for all intents and purposes, your sister which would most likely drag her into this whole mess that you're so determined to keep her out of?" Stiles tilted his head and watched as Scott tried to form a response.

"No, that's… I'm not… That's not what I'm saying. I just know that telling him that he can't talk to her before they've even met isn't going to do anything. Remember when Derek told me to stay away from Allison?"

"Those were different circumstances, Scott, and you know it," repeated Stiles mockingly.

"Boys, enough," warned Melissa. She gave them the Mom Look, the one that somehow says "You're both grounded," "Stop being stupid," "For the love of god, shut up" and "Why me?" all at once. Both slumped down in their seats and stared at each other from across the table. "Good. Stiles, I'm guessing you're staying for dinner?"

"Yes." His gaze didn't waver from Scott.

"Okay. I'll make up a container for your dad. Malia, too."

"Malia doesn't need one. Her and Lydia are going to get something to eat when Lydia's done explaining trigonometry to her."

"Okay, just your dad then," she said with a small smile. Stiles had always been the kid who knew exactly what everyone around him was doing.

Scott's head jerked up and he turned to the kitchen window, listening to something the two humans wouldn't be able to hear for a few more seconds. "Car's pulling up," he said, the heartbeats of everyone in the room quickening, "They're here."

"We're here," announced Agent Raf, rather unnecessarily, as he shifted into park. Lucy held in a sigh that desperately wanted to escape. She pulled the headphones out of her phone and dropped them into her bag and then stuffed her phone into her back pocket.

As she hopped out of the car, three people exited the front door. The two boys stopped at the edge of the garage but the woman continued forward. Her shiny black curls bounced as she walked to where Agent Raf and Lucy stood at the front of the car.

"Lucy, honey, it's been too long," said Melissa. Cautiously, as if she was approaching a skittish animal, she leaned in and gave Lucy a quick hug. Lucy stiffened slightly before she relaxed into it. She remembered Melissa's hugs, and knew that no one in the world gave a better mom-hug than Melissa McCall. She smelled like fabric softener, hand soap and citrus shampoo. The clean scent washed over her and, for a second, Lucy almost felt like she was wanted, that she was coming home. And then she remembered her plan.

As if sensing her discomfort, Melissa stepped back and out of her personal space with a warm smile. Lucy studied the pavement and scuffed her shoe against it. When she looked up, the two boys had had come up behind Melissa and were talking to Agent Raf.

Scott looked a lot like his mom, with the same shiny black hair and brown eyes. He took after her so much more than he did Agent Raf. The shorter boy beside him could only be one person— Stiles Stilinski. He looked a lot like she remembered, all brown hair and light brown eyes with freckles and moles scattered around his face. He was also staring at her with barely concealed animosity.

"Hey, Lucy," greeted Scott, "It's been awhile."

"Yeah, it has," she muttered, looking everywhere but at him.

"Two years and nine months, but who's counting?" interjected Stiles, looking her over with a suspicious eye.

"Ignore Stiles," said Scott, elbowing his friend in the side, "I always do. Plus, he's still mad about the glue incident." Lucy ignored Stiles' over dramatic wince and snorted. She had been four and Stiles had been a jerk. At least one of them had grown up.

"Well, dinner is inside, you two are probably hungry. I know the boys are starving since I made them wait. Scott, Stiles, help Lucy bring her stuff in." Melissa's voice left no room for argument. Scott bounded forwards and Stiles shuffled after him. When Lucy reached the back of the car, they were staring over her meager possessions.

"This is all of it?" asked Stiles in disbelief. Lucy rolled her eyes.

"Yep." And it was.

Most of her stuff from before was still at her parent's house at the edge of town. Agent Raf had agreed not to sell anything from the Beacon Hills house and Lucy had gotten him to have all of the stuff that survived the estate sale moved there from San Francisco. The rest of her belongings had condensed as she moved from school to school. She had it down to the bare minimum— two large boxes filled with random items and books, a bed-in-a-bag that held all of her sheets and comforters, and a large suitcase for her small amount of normal clothing and objects too delicate to toss in the boxes. Her backpack was hanging off her shoulder and her pillow and favourite blanket were in the backseat. All of it could fit in dorm rooms the size of a closet with space to spare.

Scott took both of the boxes (she didn't know how, they were heavy and she was sure he was a severe asthmatic) and Stiles grabbed her suitcase (with much more difficulty). Lucy grabbed the handle to the bed-in-a-bag and detoured around the car to grab her pillow and blanket. The boys were waiting for her at the front entry.

"We'll just put everything in the living room for now," said Scott, not looking the least bit tired as he stood with a box in each arm. "I can help you move it all up to your room after dinner."

"Okay." She dumped her stuff on the couch and followed them into the kitchen.

Dinner wasn't a glamorous affair and Lucy wasn't the only one who noticed the similarities to her last visit to Beacon Hills. She could feel the difference in the air, though. Agent Raf was much more relaxed and Scott was having an excited conversation with his dad about lacrosse. Stiles was still full of sarcastic comments but none of them ever seemed to be insulting Agent Raf. Melissa watched the whole thing with a small smile. In fact, the only tension in the whole room had come off of Lucy herself, who was expecting to wake up from this weird ream at any moment. And then Stiles would spare an almost hostile glance her way and she'd realized this was her new reality.

After dinner, both Stiles and Agent Raf had left, the former with yet another glare (if he hadn't seemed to radiate hate she would think he was checking her out) and the latter only leaving once she'd promised to call him after school the next day. Scott stayed true to his word and helped her haul everything upstairs. She still had no idea how he was lifting those boxes like they were filled with cotton candy. They were, like, fifteen pounds each and hard to hold with two hands, yet here he was carrying both at the same time. He'd retreated to his own room after that, probably to inform Stiles that Lucy hadn't tried to kill him. Yet.

Melissa had come to check on her and to see how she liked her room. She also let Lucy know that she was working the early shift the next day, so Scott would take her to school. Then she said good night and headed down the hall to her own room.

The guest bedroom they had given to Lucy wasn't big but it wasn't small. There was a desk in the corner with a bookcase and a dresser up against the other wall. She had a large window above the bed, which was covered in a light blue comforter. She had thrown her pillow on the bed immediately after she'd come upstairs and its sea-green cover seemed out of place in the relatively plain room. Her usual comforter was a wild mix of bright colours and patterns, something that had always livened up a dorm room, but this one would have to do until she had time to wash her bedding. Apparently Carlton Academy also didn't allow students time to properly clean up their belongings after they were expelled.

The room itself was okay, she guessed, and the package of welcome Oreos sitting on the desk from someone named Kira was a nice surprise, but the room felt weirdly empty. Ignoring her lack of possessions, she figured it was because it was all hers. The worst thing about boarding schools and summer programs had to be the lack of privacy. Lucy couldn't remember the last time she'd had a room to herself. Except after Marley, and then she would have given anything for the other girl to be back on the bottom bunk snoring like a buzz saw.

Lucy gave up on unpacking after she pulled her jackets and her few nice shirts out of her suitcase and hung them in the closet. A cute and simple shirtdress in a dark shade of blue was already hanging in there with a note that said "Wear this on Monday. -Lydia" on it. Another one of Scott's friends was her guess. She had a feeling that the grey boot socks sitting on the dresser were from Scott's other friend, the one Stiles had mentioned at dinner. Lucy wasn't sure if she should be grateful that she had a group of popular juniors watching out for her or be creeped out that they were paying such close attention to her before she even arrived. But she really did adore Oreos, and the dress was made from some super soft material, and she loved boot socks by principal, so she settled on being mildly weirded out.

After shifting the boxes to the corner and her suitcase to the bottom of the closet, Lucy wandered downstairs and into the kitchen. She shuffled through the cabinets until she found a container of tea bags labeled chamomile and again until she found the mugs. A few minutes later she was tracing her steps back to the living room with a cup of tea in her hands.

The McCall house was an average size with an average design, but it felt a lot like Melissa's mom-hug. The whole house seemed comforting and safe, like she was walking into a protective haven. Lining the walls and mantel were framed photographs depicting every stage of Scott's life. Most had Stiles in them— though a few had Scott and Melissa, and even a more recent one of him and Agent Raf— and the two boys were always grinning. There was one picture she noticed on a side table, though, that was slightly different from the others. This one had three little kids; Scott and Stiles, who looked around ten with identical gap-toothed looks of surprised glee, and a seven or eight year old girl with light brown hair and smirk that probably had something to do with the purple stains on the boys' white t-shirts. All three were wearing party hats and had blue icing on their faces. In a fit of sentimentality she would later deny, Lucy reached out to run her fingers over their happy, smiling faces.

"I always wondered why she put that one in a frame," said a voice from behind her. It was all so wonderfully cliché that Lucy briefly wondered if it was a jump or a wince that made her spin around in surprise. Scott was smiling slightly at the picture. Lucy then wondered how he was always smiling.

"Your tenth birthday party, right? Stiles told me girls couldn't play Power Rangers, so I sprayed my juice box at you both." Her family had come down for the weekend from their apartment in San Francisco just for the party.

"Stained our shirts. Mom found it too funny to be mad at any of us though. Both our moms did."

"Yeah," sighed Lucy. Those kids had no idea what was in store for them. Scott's dad had moved to San Francisco for work and she knew Stiles and his dad had taken a long time to recover from his mom's death. But they both still had one parent, which was more than she could say.

"You know," said Scott softly, interrupting her thoughts, "Mom's really excited to have you here. She said something earlier to Stiles, something about always wanting a daughter. She said it as a joke but I think she was serious." He paused for a moment and Lucy could feel her heartbeat pounding in her ribcage. He was preparing himself for a speech, she noticed, and she already knew what he would say. Lucy hated this part of arriving somewhere new, the dreaded "Welcome to Your New Home" speech that housemothers and RAs gave out like candy.

"It's not like she thinks she can replace your mom— she knows she can't— but I think she just wants you to know that she cares. We'll give you your space, just I hope you know she's here for you." Lucy noticed that he said we, and that when he said his mom, he meant them both. It was in his posture; in the way he was making himself seem less intimidating and how his hands were shoved deep in his jacket pockets.

"Okay," she said with as non-committal a voice as she could, and moved towards the stairs. He set his hand on her shoulder before she could take a step.

"Look, I know I'm not that great a kid, and that I cause her a lot more stress than I should, and I feel bad about it. So if you're upset about something, don't take it out on her. Take out it on me, take it out on Stiles, hell, even take it out on my dad, but not on her." Lucy heard the subtle warning in his voice. He was staring at her with those hopeful brown eyes and she immediately felt exhausted.

This wasn't the normal pity talk she got from people who knew her backstory or who had read her file. Scott wasn't talking to her like they were still those kids in the picture, smiling without a care in the world. He was telling her that he would be watching over her whether she liked it or not, and that Melissa actually wanted her here. His voice was devoid of pity and it made Lucy want to scream. Normally this was her chance to cut people down, to tell them to leave her alone, but this time she couldn't do it. She couldn't find it in her to be mean to Scott, and that annoyed her to no end. What was so damn special about Scott McCall?

Whatever it was, it caused her to she swallow the bitter retort resting on her tongue. Instead she summoned a smile that was more of grimace, spared another glance at the picture and took her cup of tea upstairs.

In the safety of her room, she changed into the Go Wildcats! gym shirt from her fourth school and a pair of sweatpants before she curled up with her blanket on the bed. She drifted off to sleep wondering why Scott looked like he was about to leave the house at 10:30 on a school night, and why she hadn't been able to tell him to take his understanding smile and shove it up his ass.

SO I love reviews, fyi.

I hope you guys love Lucy as much as I do. She's socially awkward and full of angst. Fanfiction at its best, right?

Check out my others stories if you love slow, but impressive updates. And if you love yourself some inner turmoil. And some sarcasm. Love me some sarcasm.

Safeguard will be updated soon as I already have a number of chapters written.