A/N: So, here's another story for the next generation, hope you enjoy

Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Wolf or its characters

James McCall was in love.

And if he was being perfectly honest with himself, it hadn't happened all that recently, either. It had been discovered later, but it had existed since his childhood, when he and Scarlett Hale had pinky-promised to be best friends forever.

He hadn't realized he loved her until they were about thirteen, a year and some change after they'd kissed each other.

They'd been laying on their backs in the same clearing—it had quickly become their hangout spot, for when Scarlett wanted to talk to him and only him. Honestly, she used it more as an excuse to escape Caleb and Jocelyn.

Caleb wasn't so bad, but he and Scarlett clashed. Caleb was quiet and brooding, even for a twelve-year-old and Scarlett was loud and sarcastic, confident where Caleb was actually kind of shy.

Jocelyn, on the other hand…well she and Scarlett had about a fifty-fifty relationship. By that, James meant that four out of the seven days of the week, Jocelyn pestered Scarlett until Scarlett was ready to 'tear Jocelyn's throat out…with her teeth'.

All in all, Scarlett needed some time to herself…or at least, time away from her family. Since she often spent time at James's house, she didn't often need alone time when she and James were at her place.

James opened his eyes and flopped his head over to his left, where Scarlett was staring up into the sky.

She wasn't staring into the sun—Scarlett was no idiot, but the sun was filtering into her eyes, making them glow almost as bright as they did when she shifted. The sunlight also illuminated her hair, causing the strands to look closer to red than brown.

Then, Scarlett looked at him and grinned.

"What do you see, Jamie? In the clouds, I mean."

James looked at her for several seconds. He loved her grin. He loved the way she looked when the sun hit her…when she smiled, when she was just sitting there with a bored expression. He loved that she was grumpy in the morning and the fact that she was willing to stand up to anyone at any time, just for him.

She was incredibly loyal and honest and funny and the smartest person he knew and he loved…

He loved her.

"Jamie?" Scarlett asked, brow wrinkling with concern. James smiled at her and gently poked the center of her forehead. Scarlett's nose scrunched. James laughed and caught a strand of her hair between his fingers.

"Your hair looks really cool in the sun," he said, holding the strand in front of her eyes. Scarlett looked at him…then at the piece of hair…back at him…hair…then back at him again.

"You're really weird, Jamie." James laughed again and looked back up at the sky. Less than two minutes later, Jocelyn and Caleb were stumbling into the clearing. Scarlett stood and swore at them, telling them off for interrupting her alone time.

James sat up and looked between the siblings, Scarlett scowling, Jocelyn pouting and Caleb looking like he'd really rather be anywhere else, and laughed. They all ignored him and continued arguing in a way that he and his little sister didn't.

James was pulled from the memory by Scarlett's voice.

"Earth to Jamie! What are you thinking about so intensely?" she asked, amused. James smiled at her.

"Just thinking about the first time I realized I loved you," he said casually, watching Scarlett's face for her reaction. His smile spread into a grin when she responded the same way she always did when he mentioned loving her—her face went beet red and she muttered that she loved him, too. James laughed.

The first time he'd told her he loved her had been six months previous, after they'd been dating for eight months. He'd never before seen such a shocked expression on her face. After a few moments of dead silence, she started stuttering something that sounded like 'I love you too' but was lost in the flurry of words she'd spoken.

After that, he'd said it more frequently and Scarlett was able to say it back without stuttering, though the blush still hadn't gone away.

"Stop smirking, you smug bastard," Scarlett said with a scowl. James laughed.

"Aw, come on. That's no way to talk to someone you love!" Scarlett crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.

"I'm going to hit you."

"And I'll call your dad to take you down to the station." Scarlett gave him a look.

"You're an idiot." James shrugged.

"You love me anyway, so I don't really care." Scarlett groaned and clapped a hand over his mouth.

"Shut up," she demanded. James licked her palm to make her release him. Immediately, she pulled her hand back to wipe it on her jeans. James laughed loudly just as Caleb and Jocelyn walked into the Hale living room.

Caleb wasn't looking at them, black hair falling into his green eyes, which were entirely focused on the cell phone in his hands. James and Scarlett shared a look. They could've bet anything in the world that Caleb was texting Hannah Mahealani, the only other pack member, aside from Marnie, that was his age. Caleb had been crushing on the girl for years. Scarlett had likened it to her father's former crush on Aunt Lydia.

Jocelyn was looking over his shoulder. When she snickered, Caleb shoved her away from him. The fifteen-year-old only laughed, skipping over to the couch and kneeling on it, looking at James and Scarlett with a sly smile.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Were we interrupting something?" she asked. Scarlett rolled her eyes.

"Don't you have a Parrish to stalk?" The effect was immediate. Jocelyn's face turned bright red, just as Scarlett's and Caleb's did when romance was the topic of conversation. James bit back a laugh.

"I don't stalk anyone!" Jocelyn protested. Scarlett held up her hands with a smirk.

"No need to get defensive, little sister. I just seem to notice that you hang around Chloe an awful lot." Jocelyn's green eyes narrowed.

"We're just friends," she said through gritted teeth. Scarlett laughed and leaned over, looping an arm over James's right shoulder and leaning her chin down on his left.

"Jamie and I were just friends…and look at us now," she teased. James turned his head and sneak-attacked his girlfriend, pecking her on the lips. Jocelyn laughed at Scarlett's shocked and any mention of Chloe Parrish was forgotten.

Caleb was still decidedly not paying attention to any of them, checking his phone every few seconds and scowling, seemingly at himself, trying for several noble moments to look anywhere other than the phone…only to give in about ten seconds later. Scarlett sighed, patting James's shoulder.

"Let's go, Jamie. The Playground Crew is boring me." James rolled his eyes, but got to his feet, only half-listening to Jocelyn's protests. Caleb was still engrossed in his phone and didn't appear to have heard Scarlett. While that was highly likely, it could also be that he was just used to his older sister's habit of name-calling.

"Let's go to my house. I think my dad tried calling me," James said, frowning at his phone.

"You're lucky that your dad's just one big puppy dog. If I missed a call from one of my parents, they'd kill me." James put his phone back in his pocket, climbing into Scar's car.

"I'll put Glowing Dahlia flowers on your coffin." Scarlett shot him a grin as she started the car up.

"I knew there was a reason I liked you."

In no time at all, Scarlett was pulling in front of James's house. They both frowned at the car in the driveway—the one that belonged to no one in the McCall family.

"Do you know who that is?" Scarlett asked. James shook his head.

"I guess Dad has guests over…though I don't know who it would be. We know everyone in the pack—and their cars," he muttered. Scarlett and James got out of the car and walked into the house.

"Dad?" James called. Dad responded from the living room. James and Scarlett followed the sound, finding four strangers standing there.

The first was a man around Dad's age, with curly brown hair and blue eyes. Judging from the smiles going around, James would guess that the man and his father were friends. Dad beamed at James.

"James! This is Isaac Lahey—an old friend and pack member from before you were born." James's eyebrows shot up into his hairline and he reached out a hand. As Isaac reached out and shook his hand with a smile, James frowned.

"Wait, Isaac?" he said questioningly. Dad nodded.

"Isaac, meet James Isaac McCall," he said with an easy grin. Isaac looked about as surprised as James felt.

"You named him after me?" Dad nodded. Before either of them could get too emotional, Isaac turned to James.

'So your initials are J-I-M? Hope you didn't get teased too much for that," he joked. James shrugged.

"Scarlett took care of that for me," he said casually, looking back at the girl in question. She took it as her cue to step forward and introduce herself. She grinned widely and shook Isaac's hand forcefully. Isaac blinked at her.

"Scarlett Hale. Nice to meet you," she said, tilting her chin up. Isaac looked at Dad.

"Derek had a daughter?" Dad laughed.

"He had two. And a son—with Stiles." Isaac's eyes bugged out of his head.

"What the hell have I missed?" he asked incredulously. Then he thought.

"Though I guess it makes sense that those two wound up together. They finally stopped dancing around the idea, huh?" he mused. It was Dad's turn to blink.

"It was really confusing at the time," he protested. Isaac shrugged and turned to look at the other three strangers with him. They were all clearly under twenty.

The first was a guy who looked about a year older than them—Lena's age. He was the spitting image of Isaac, which led James to the conclusion that he was Isaac's son.

There was a second boy who was far younger than the first—probably around fourteen…about as old as Scarlett's cousin, Alexander. He was blonde with blue eyes and he looked quiet and shy. He looked similar to the first guy, meaning they were likely brothers and James figured he must've looked more like whoever the mother was.

The last stranger was a pretty girl closer to the first guy's age—likely eighteen, like James and Scar. She had curly brown hair like Isaac and her brother, though it went past her shoulders, with eyes just as blue as her relatives'. Those slanted eyes were trailing over James with an interest James wasn't used to seeing. She had one hand on her hip and she was smiling in a way that kind of unsettled James.

"This is Eli, my oldest son…that's Sam—he's only fourteen and this is my daughter—"

He was cut off by said daughter, who got off the couch with all the grace of a cat and surged forward to get close to James, holding her hand out and almost touching him with her fingertips.

"I'm Selene. Pleasure to meet you, James," she said in an almost-purr. James carefully reached out and shook her hand, taking a step backwards to do so. She tilted her head and smiled sweetly at him.

"Would you mind showing me around? Dad's moved us out here and I'm sure I'd just get lost." James frowned. He barely felt an arm coming across his shoulders to lay there almost possessively.

"Um…sure?" he said, in a way that was more question than statement.

"Great! How about you start by taking me to the local date place, yeah?" she asked. James gulped, but Scarlett spoke for him.

"I'm afraid he can't. He already has a girlfriend," Scarlett said in her sickly-sweet voice. James hadn't heard it all that often, but he knew it only meant trouble.

He was too young to die.

His pulse jack-rabbited at Selene's response. The girl tilted her head and swept her eyes over Scarlett's form.

"Not much of one. I think he needs an upgrade." Normally, James would be telling her off for talking about Scarlett that way. However, he was caught between an angry future-alpha and an unknown girl who was curling her hands into fists and straightening as if prepared to start throwing punches.

James was really too young to die.

He looked at Isaac only to see the man covering his face with one hand, shaking his head in an exasperated fashion. Selene's older brother looked disgusted and her younger brother…well, he was staring wide-eyed between his sister and Scarlett.

James cleared his throat, nearly whining when he felt Scarlett's fingers tighten on his shoulder, nails nearly breaking the skin.

"I think it's time to go. It was great to meet you, Isaac," James said. The man responded in kind and James grabbed Scarlett's hand, turning and pulling her along. Just as he got the door, he felt Scarlett's hand ripped from his.

He turned in confusion only to be surprise-attacked by Selene.

With her lips.

He froze for all of one second. Before he could shove her away from him, Scarlett was pulling the girl back by her hair and growling, eyes flashing gold. Selene growled back, flashing her own eyes. Scarlett bared her teeth and shoved Selene away. They immediately dropped into defensive stances.

How was this his life?

James went behind Scarlett, pinning her arms behind her and starting to drag her out of the room. Murder was not needed that day. And anyway, they'd be dead meat if they got blood on the carpet.

"I don't know which one of your fathers that you're getting this from, Scar, but you need to chill out. Everything's fine." Scarlett sounded partially shifted when she spoke next.

"Everything's not fine. She doesn't know about boundaries."

"You have two dads? Huh. No wonder you've got a brain the size of a pea." Everything was quiet for a moment. James released Scarlett.

"Okay, go at her. Try not to ruin Mom's carpet." Scarlett launched herself at Selene.

Selene didn't have a chance.

Everyone, including Marnie, popped into the living room. Isaac's oldest son was watching with a detached expression while the younger one was watching with a gaping mouth and wide eyes. Isaac looked resigned while Dad looked embarrassed and Mom looked outright horrified. Marnie asked what the hell was going on. After a quick rundown of what had elapsed in the time since James had gotten home, Marnie turned to the fighting girls.

"Go for her throat, Scarlett!"

James sighed as Scarlett did just that. It ended when Scarlett slammed Selene onto her stomach, knees in the middle of her back, pulling Selene's arms as far back as they would go without tearing from her body. Scar's eyes were still glowing gold and her canines had lengthened, fur sprouting on her face. She leaned down and whispered something in Selene's ear. James only caught the threatening tone and ending growl.

When Scarlett stood back, her eyes were still glowing, but the other wolf-y features had receded and she apologized to Mom for making such a racket. Then she turned to Isaac.

"I'm not sorry I kicked your daughter's ass." Isaac gave her a pained expression and shrugged. His sons had given up interest. Scarlett walked over to James and laced their fingers together.

"Let's go Jamie."

He didn't need to be told twice. They got in the car and Scarlett started driving off more quickly than normal. James side-eyed her.

"What did you say to Selene?" he asked. Scarlett's eyes narrowed, but she answered him.

"Nothing much. I just made it explicitly clear that she shouldn't kiss you again." James quirked an eyebrow.

"Not if she wants her organs in the right place…or her throat intact." James shook his head.

"You didn't have to do that, Scar. You know—"

He cut off as Scarlett parked and got out of the car. He scrambled after her. He knew exactly where she was going—their spot. When they reached the little clearing, she stopped and turned.

"Now, what did you want to say?" she asked.

"I said, you didn't have to do that. For insulting you and your parents…well she kind of deserved that. But I sure hope that didn't have anything to do with her kissing me." Scarlett narrowed her eyes and sat down, patting the space of grass next to her. He sat down.

"Scar—"

Scarlett lay down on her back, staring up at the sky.

"I know I don't have any reason to really be…unsettled…by her. I can't help it. She made the wolf in me angry." James lay down beside her and twisted over on his side, looking at Scarlett's scrunched face and reaching down to twine his fingers with hers. He stroked his thumb over the back of her hand.

"I can understand that, I guess. I just want to make it clear to you that there is no one in the entire world that could ever convince me to leave you. You are the person I love more than anyone else." Scarlett tilted her head so that she could look at him. James smiled and moved his head closer, their noses brushing.

"I never told you about when it was I actually realized I loved you, did I?" he asked. Scarlett shook her head, frowning.

"You said it six months ago. I figured it was around that time." James shook his head, grinning.

"Nope. We were thirteen." Scarlett's eyes widened.

"What the hell? Jamie! And you never said anything? Moron!" James laughed.

"You said it yourself, Scar. I'm not an initiator. But I've loved you for about five years now and I plan on loving you for a lot longer than that. I just need you to know that." Scarlett was fighting a smile. She kissed his cheek.

"I do know, I swear. She just rubbed me the wrong way, that's all." James nodded.

"She didn't need to say anything about your parents." Scarlett's eyes narrowed.

"Yeah. Dad's really smart and Pops is, too. I don't know where the hell she was going with that." James shrugged.

"I've got a pretty good idea," he murmured. Scarlett frowned at him.

"Excuse me?" James shook his head.

"Isaac looked like he'd been expecting it. His sons seemed to be just fine—Selene was the only one who acted…inappropriately." Scarlett tilted her head. James continued.

"My best guess is that she didn't want to come to Beacon Hills. Wherever they lived before, she must've been happy. Then, her dad drags her out here to the middle of nowhere to meet a bunch of people he used to know but she has no clue about." He paused to look down at their interlocked hands.

"In retaliation, she hits on the first boy she sees and starts a fight with an alpha-in-training her first day here. Either she's doing it as revenge or she's doing it as an attempt to convince her dad that they need to leave Beacon Hills as soon as possible," he finished, looking back up at Scarlett, who looked contemplative.

"I guess you're right. You're pretty smart, Jamie," Scarlett said with an amused twist to her lips.

"Well, we're pretty compatible—I couldn't be completely stupid." Scarlett grinned.

"I figured you matched my outstanding hilarity, while I got to be the brains of the operation." James shrugged.

"I love you," Scarlett said softly. James raised his eyebrows. She'd never said it first, before. And the blush was still there, but it wasn't as bad as it was normally and he'd never seen Scar looking so serious. James smiled and kissed her chastely.

"Love you too. So, do you want to go do something? Meet up with anybody?" he asked, shifting and preparing to stand. He stopped when Scarlett tugged him back by his hand. She was still wearing that focused expression.

"Or…we could stay here," she said. James shrugged and fell back onto the earth.

"Are we cloud-watching again?" he asked with a laugh. Suddenly, Scarlett's face was blocking his view of the sky. He frowned.

"Scar? What are you doing?" Scarlett placed one hand on his chest, directly over his heart, and the other cupped his face. She leaned down and kissed him. James felt his heart speed up slightly and knew Scarlett could feel it, too.

When she pulled back, she smiled at him. She fiddled with the top button and slid it free. James was confused. He was considerably less confused, however, when Scarlett kept undoing the buttons of his shirt and his heart kept speeding up as each one was undone.

When she finished with the shirt, she paused and looked him in the eye, tilting her head. She didn't have to speak out loud for him to know just what she was asking. He smiled and lifted his hand to brush over her cheek. He kissed her lightly, once, and nodded, trailing his hand down her arm.

James would have liked to say it had lasted for hours—as it had felt like hours had passed. In reality, it was more like twenty minutes. Another ten minutes was tacked on because they used them to lay beside each other and enjoy the silence around them. It was only after those ten minutes had ended that James spoke.

"We should probably get going." Scarlett wrinkled her nose.

"Why? It's nicer here," she said with a sly grin, curling further into him. James laughed.

"Yeah, I know. I agree with you. However, I'm not too fond of the idea of one of your dads, or Caleb or Jocelyn stumbling out here and finding us." Scarlett nodded.

"True. Pops would murder you," she said, reaching for her clothes. James dropped his jaw in mock-outrage.

"You told me he loves me!" he shouted playfully.

"He does. That doesn't mean he won't kill you for defiling his daughter." James snorted.

"Please. You defiled me. And your dad would be the first to say so." Scarlett yanked her jeans on and gave a huff.

"How dare you…but you're probably right," she said with a laugh. James grinned and started pulling his own clothes on.

When the last zipper was zipped, they observed each other. Scarlett stepped forward and fixed his hair while James fixed hers. They looked for more noticeable changes and, finding none, linked hands and walked through the forest to get to Scar's car.

Scarlett immediately started the car up.

"Where are we going?" James asked.

"Your house." James frowned.

"Why?" Scarlett only smiled. James gave her a look. He had a vague idea of where this was going. Scarlett pulled up in front of James's house and parked. She waited for James to get out and hold her hand before going back inside.

Isaac's car was still in the driveway.

Scarlett pulled James along, into his house, with a cheerful greeting for everyone. Instantly, they all simultaneously wrinkled their noses.

The synchronization was a little unsettling.

Dad threw his hands up in the air and started walking up the stairs.

"I am not responsible for any damage that is inflicted on you, James. You're eighteen. I advise you run and run fast." He muttered about teenagers and hormones.

Marnie was next up the stairs, shaking her head and noting that she could've gone her whole life without smelling that smell. Mom looked as if she were going to pat his shoulder, but pulled back at the last second and went up the stairs.

Isaac was pointedly looking away, the younger boy was blushing and avoiding their eyes while the oldest just tapped at his phone. Selene looked halfway between amused and irritated. "Uh…boys? Why don't we go home? Selene…" Isaac trailed off and ran a hand through his hair.

"Behave, please."

Selene rolled her eyes as her relatives all but ran from the room. She crossed her arms and jutted a hip out, eyes lidded as the door slammed shut.

"I don't see how that was necessary," she said blandly. Scarlett smiled, thumb sweeping over the back of James's hand.

"It wasn't. I didn't drive back here to rub it in your face." Selene raised an eyebrow.

"Oh really? Sure seems that way." Selene drifted over to James and slid a hand around his the back of his neck, the other going to his chest. She stuck out her lower lip in a pout.

"She treats you like you're a toy, Sweetie," she said. Scarlett let out a low growl, seemingly against her will.

"I wanted to…make amends, in a way," Scarlett said with a smile. Selene gave a low chuckle.

"Unless you're planning on sharing your boyfriend, I highly doubt that will happen any time soon, Princess." Scarlett's smile was more a baring of teeth.

"You don't want to be here," she said. That somewhat startled Selene. Selene blinked rapidly several times.

"Your dad must have decided to move here. You're not happy so you decide to go after the first guy you see. He happens to be taken? Not your problem." Selene narrowed her eyes.

"So what? No one likes their parents moving them out to the middle of fucking nowhere. Just because you've discovered part of the reason I went after McCall here—because let's be honest, your boyfriend is gorgeous—does not mean I want to have happy fun times and become the best damn friends in the whole world," she said scathingly. Scarlett pursed her lips.

"I'm not exactly keen on being friends with you, either. The only reason I'm trying to make amends is because you're going to be here, around the pack a lot and I need to tolerate you…well that, and the fact that Jamie's a great influence." She scowled and looked as if she were going to step forward, but restrained herself.

"If I didn't have either of those motives, you wouldn't be a thought in my mind unless it were about slamming your face into the dirt and snapping your limbs."

"Descriptive," Selene mused. Scarlett ignored her.

"So, for the sake of everyone around us that we care about…let's put this first impression behind us and move on with our lives." Selene seemed to ponder it for all of two seconds.

"No. I don't care about you and I don't care about your silly pack. I care about getting out of here. The minute September rolls around and I can leave this hellhole, I'm gone." She suddenly turned her smile back on when she looked at James.

"I do hope to see more of you, Handsome." She blew him a kiss and strutted out the door. Scarlett and James exchanged a look. James shrugged. Scarlett sighed exaggeratedly.

"The one time I actually put forth an effort to be nice, and I get rejected." She shook her head. James laughed.

"It's okay. It's my fault. I'm outrageously attractive and my metaphorical milkshake brings all the girls to the yard," he said. Scarlett stared at him for several moments before laughing loudly and gently shoving his shoulder.

It only took moments to escalate into a tickle fight, James pinning Scarlett to the couch and grinning down at her squirming figure. Scarlett tried to tickle him back, but she was busy trying to cover her sides.

Yeah, he had fallen in love. And he wasn't planning on falling out of it anytime soon.

A/N:So there's that. I'm planning on another Derek x Stiles story, but I haven't started writing it yet because life.