A/N: I promise that Bradley WILL go through character development and it'll end up okay....but for the plot, I need him to be going through it and being a jerk. Thoughts?

April 2016:

Meeting up with her brother in Barcelona, Spain while she was supposed to be doing a work trip was not something that had been planned. In fact, she had no idea when she walked into a bar to get some directions that she would come face to face with her older brother.

But there he was—stupid mustache and all, wearing his dumbass Hawiian shirt and attempting to woo some lady in fairly fluent Spanish. And Kelsey just couldn't help herself. "Brad-Brad?!" She blurted.

The panic that was on his face was plain as day at the sudden title and usage of nickname. He spun, eyes landing on his baby sister—standing in a bar in Spain. His favorite one, actually. He came here every Tuesday evening.

He reacted faster than she could give him credit for. Bradley rushed forward, wrapping his baby sister up in a tight hug and she grinned in excitement. "Holy shit! I knew it was you—but—"

"How the hell did you find me, Duckie?"

"Brad, I'm 25 years old. I think we can cool it with Duckie." Kelsey insisted, taking in the sight of her brother.

But he was still taking in the sight of her too—with hair cut to her shoulders and dressed to clearly impress—he had no idea what she was doing here and that was only somewhat terrifying.

"Well I'm older and you still call me Brad-Brad."

"You'll always be Brad-Brad to me."

"Then you'll always be Duckie." Bradley insisted. "Wanna—"

"Get a drink? Sure."

Girl he was flirting with forgotten, Bradley and Kelsey took a seat at the bar. "Okay but actually, how did you find me?" Bradley asked, taking a sip of his Sangria.

"Well I didn't mean to. I'm here to record the Seville April Fair for work." Kelsey admitted, playing around with the umbrella in her drink.

"Oh yeah, your blog spot." Bradley was somewhat surprised that it was still up and running. "How's that going?"

"2.5 million followers and growing."

Bradley let out a low whistle. "Damn, that's impressive."

"And you're stationed here now? I guess I should've remembered that. Uncle Ice did mention that."

"Still sucking up to Ice?"

Kelsey gave her brother a flick on the ear and a look of annoyance. "Listen, I happen to like having parental figures every now and then."

"So you're probably gonna tell Mav you saw me?"

"Probably yeah." Kelsey answered awkwardly.

"It's fine." Bradley said shortly.

"Except you forget that I grew up with you and your tone suggests otherwise." Kelsey bit back her tongue. "Sorry...we shouldn't argue."

"No, mom would kill us."

"Probably. At least she never made us hug it out after beating each other with sticks." Kelsey fondly recalled the summer Uncle Pete made them beat each other with sumo suits to get their anger out—Kelsey had accidentally ruined a date for Brad and he had gone with the silent treatment, until then.

"True," Bradley laughed lowly. "Man, it's...been awhile."

"Yeah, it has." Kelsey murmured, a frown appearing on her face. "Do you like it here?"

Bradley gave a shrug. "It's good. I mean, I can't complain. I've got a great apartment and the people are nice enough. Except that no one wants to date an American."

"Well that's Europe for you."

"How would you know?"

"I did live in Italy for a few years."

"You moved?" Bradley asked in surprise, nearly choking on his drink. "When? Where?"

"Don't kill yourself there," Kelsey patted him on the back, shaking her head at him. "I moved to Hawaii for a few months. Now I'm located out of Tennessee."

Now if Bradley Bradshaw had given any thought to those locations, he would have put together the fact that those places had naval bases. Which meant that she wasn't there for herself—she was there for someone.

But Bradley Bradshaw did not, in fact, put those things together.

"Tennessee?" He made a face.

"It's for my boyfriend's work." Kelsey said with a shrug.

"Oh don't tell me you moved for a guy again!" Bradley said in annoyance, shaking his head at her.

"I've been dating him for years."

"Not Paolo—"

"No, not Paolo." Kelsey snapped. "Do you even open any of my Christmas cards? God—Brad—"

"No, I don't." Bradley said defensively. "I think it's stupid and a waste of time. Kinda like your job."

"You are such an asshole." Kelsey said, grabbing for her bag.

"Where are you going?"

"Anywhere but here!" Kelsey snapped, eyes flashing with fire. "I haven't seen you in years and you just shit on me like this? What the hell happened to the brother I idolized? Cause this isn't him."

"Kelsey—Duckie—I'm sorry—shit—" Bradley tripped over himself, attempting to go after her.

But she was already spinning around, flinging her drink at him. Alcohol soaked through his shirt and he spluttered for a minute. "Why do you do this every damn time, Brad?"

"I—"

"Is it because you're not happy? Because I am. I'm successful. And I'm proud of the work that I do. And I know my worth and it doesn't depend on you. I'm not some kid who's going around looking for your approval."

"Kelsey, I didn't mean—" Bradley choked out.

"You know what? Do me a favor. Talk to me as often as you do Uncle Pete."

"Don't do that."

"Goodbye. Rooster."

Damn—The callsign and everything? That meant she was well and truly pissed off at him. She only used their callsigns when she was seriously upset. And he had no idea how to fix this.

So Bradley Bradshaw didn't go after his little sister or try to fix things. He simply sank into his chair and had another drink. Because he knew his mother would be furious at him. But he had no idea what to do.

And if he didn't have contact with her—it was better for them both. Less of a chance he'd screw up again. Less of a chance that he'd hurt her like before.

Meanwhile, Kelsey made her way to the nearest bus, and promptly began to cry as soon as she was in her seat. She cried like she hadn't cried since her mom's funeral—because Bradley was her big brother.

And he hadn't been acting like it in a long time.

She just didn't think he would ever treat her like he did Uncle Pete. But she shouldn't have been surprised.

So Kelsey did something. She dialed the number on her phone that she had long since memorized. It took a few rings, but he answered. He always answered her.

"Hey sweetie, what's up—"

"Uncle Pete?" Kelsey choked out.

She sensed the urgency in his tone as he shifted all of his attention onto her. "Kelsey, what's wrong? Are you okay—"

"Brad—he—" Kelsey could barely get the words out.

And all at once—Pete Mitchell understood what had happened. Because he remembered how it had gone down with Bradley the first time around. And he remembered the pain, it still seemed fresh for him some days.

His first reaction was anger—and then the second one (The one probably sent divinely from Carole) came through. "Honey, I'm sorry about him," he let out a deep sigh.

"I just...don't feel like I have...anyone. Brad was always supposed to be there and he's just—not the same." Kelsey admitted helplessly.

"Honey, you're always gonna have me. And who else do you always have?"

Kelsey sniffled. "You and Ice."

"And?"

"And Jake and Javy." Kelsey mumbled into the phone.

"He'll come around eventually. And when he does, I'll kick his ass for you."

She smiled through the tears. "You'll bust a hip, old timer."

Pete snorted. "Take it back."

"No."

"Hey Uncle Pete?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for answering."

"Always, honey."

She paused for a minute. "Jake has to work on the 4th of July....Can I come visit?"

"You want to willingly come to the desert in the middle of nowhere?"

"I'll bring the Karate Kid."

"I'll see you then."