A/N: And the unhinged behavior continues.....there is not a single brain cell present here Like, ever. That being said, I hope you have a ton of fun with this chapter! Let me know what you think/if you have any comments or questions!

"You can't be serious, right?" Kelsey's anger had quickly grown into something colossal, something that demanded to be let out. To spill out into her words, into her voice.

Paolo just threw his hands up in the air. "I don't know what you want from me anymore!"

"That's just it!" Kelsey snapped. "I never wanted anything except the bare minimum, and you can't even do that!"

"Is that why you're screwing him?"

Dead silence fell over the apartment that had been loud for well over thirty minutes now. Kelsey was fuming, shoulders hunched forward as her jaw dropped. "Who the hell are you talking about?" She demanded.

"Oh don't act all innocent! I've seen the pictures!"

"Are you talking about Jake—"

"Oh, his name is Jake?" Paolo hissed, voice full of venom. "How nice for you."

Her face felt hot. "I'm not screwing him, he's a friend—"

"He's in almost all of your pictures!"

Kelsey honestly could have screamed. "It was supposed to be you in half of those!" She retorted. "You're the one who's never even HERE!"

Paolo just let out a cold laugh, running his hands through his dark curls. "You are such a liar. You just manipulate people, it's what you do."

"Me?!" She choked out. "You cheated on me with that bitch, Anna—"

His finger had flown in her direction, shaking his head. "That's not fair—you forgave me for that!"

"No, no I didn't! You just didn't listen to me!" Kelsey snapped. "I've never cheated on you, or kissed anyone else, let alone slept with anyone else while we've been dating."

"You are such a lying bitch." Paolo spat out.

The silence and tension between the two was heavy. She took a step closer, hurt clear on her face. "Take that back."

"No, you're cheating! I give you everything, a place to stay, expenses, whatever the hell you want and you just—" His hand smacked outwards and hit her cheek.

Kelsey's eyes went wide at the same time Paolo's did. "Paolo!"

"I—I didn't mean—" Paolo started.

But Kelsey wasn't willing to take that from a man. If he got violent accidentally, she knew just how easy this whole thing could get physical. She made a move towards the door and he grabbed her wrist.

Then all hell broke loose. She shoved away from him and he shoved her forward, slamming the door and locking it after her. Effectively keeping her from the apartment.

"Let me in, you—you asshole!" Kelsey pounded on the door, anger continuing to build.

"No!"

"I want my stuff! I'll leave—"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kelsey was near tears as she made her way outside of the apartment, finding the sun just beginning to go down. No passport, no phone, no drivers license—literally all of her stuff was still in the apartment and he wouldn't even let her in.

And he had hit her—an accident, but violence all the same.

For a moment, it was all she could do to just inhale deeply. She wasn't going to cry. She couldn't. Because if the waterworks started, they'd probably never stop.

What she needed was a game plan. She needed to get the hell out of that apartment and get her stuff back. Preferably a way that didn't end in her getting hurt. That left two options.

1: Go to the police, who she didn't necessarily trust.

2: Go to Jake, who at this point, she knew would always have her back.

The only thing that sucked about option 2? Swallowing down her pride and being willing to ask for help. If there was one thing that Kelsey Ryan prided herself on, it was the ability to be self-reliant.

But she couldn't do everything on her own.

It felt like a long walk over to his apartment that he shared with Javy. It took a hot minute of her just standing outside of the door before she finally just knocked, feeling trepidation build within her.

Jake was the one to come to the door, a laugh on his face. "Holy shit—what the hell happened to you?"

Kelsey nearly burst into tears. "Paolo—" She couldn't even get the rest of the sentence out before she was being ushered into the apartment and sat down between Javy and Jake.

Javy, ever the gentle giant, just softly rubbed her back while she took a sip of water. "So—wanna tell us what's going on?"

"He's—he's such an ASSHOLE!" Kelsey finally screeched.

"Well I coulda told you—" Jake was quickly silenced by a sharp look from Javy. "Uh...what did he do?" He amended.

"He thinks I'm cheating on him!"

"With Jake, right?" Javy said with a wince. Both of their heads whipped to him so quickly he could've gotten whiplash just from watching. "I'm sorry, but it's, like, the most obvious thing he'd think."

"Yeah, whatever." Kelsey huffed. "So we were arguing and then the next thing I know, his hand is flying up—"

Both Javy and Jake were on their feet in seconds, eyes wide. "He HIT you?!" They echoed at the same time.

"Accidentally, yes." Kelsey murmured. "And then he kicked me out and he won't let me get any of my stuff! Not my phone, or passport, or drivers license!"

"That asshole is dead." Jake said firmly, pointing at the door.

"You know I've got your back."

"Well I'm coming." Kelsey was on her feet in seconds too.

"Oh no, Bambi," Jake started.

"Bambi?!" Both her and Javy asked in the same confused tone.

"You know, cause your eyes look like Bambi?" Jake offered awkwardly

Kelsey just stared him down. "I want my shit back. And as much as I'd love to see you two go through all my clothes for me, no thanks. I can handle this, I just need some backup."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kelsey had to admit, there was a slight sense of satisfaction that was running through her in watching Paolo be tricked into opening his door and then forced onto the couch and stared down while Kelsey gathered her things.

She didn't have a lot, to be honest. The work was going quickly, thanks to Jake and Javy's help. "This is bullshit, you know." Paolo piped up. "Bringing your boyfriends to help you run away."

Kelsey just bit down on her tongue, continuing to pack up her suitcase. "Well where I come from, a real man doesn't have to hit a woman to make a point." Jake said coldly.

Paolo just looked at him in disgust. "Your little girlfriend is such a bitch."

"What did you just say?" Javy's head whipped around quickly.

This time, Kelsey was proud to say that there was zero hesitation. Before either Javy or Jake could square up, Kelsey had punched Paolo in the nose—hard. There was a crunching noise as he let out a scream of pain, blood immediately beginning to gush from his nose.

"You—bitch—you broke my nose!"

Kelsey just smiled sweetly. "Yeah, I did. I know how to throw a punch. And for the record, no one will believe that such a little girl broke your nose. So chew on that, asshole! We're through!"

Sticking her middle finger up in the air and followed by Javy and Jake—the former of whom also threw his middle fingers up—they exited the apartment building.

Moments later, the trio was sitting on the sidewalk, suitcases and boxes in hand. Kelsey hissed in pain as she glanced down at her hand, a bruise beginning to form. Javy just whistled lowly.

"Damn girl, you really broke his nose!"

"Damn straight." Kelsey said, somewhat proudly.

"I gotta say, Bambi, I didn't think you had it in you." Jake grinned.

"Well I can defend my honor just fine, thank you." Kelsey smiled back at the two of them. "Besides, Uncle Pete wouldn't let me grow up without learning how to throw a punch."

"So uh... now what?" Javy asked, glancing down at the road awkwardly.

"I uhh..." Kelsey checked her pockets. "I have $7. Do you think I can get a hotel room for that?"

"No." Both men chorused at the same time.

"Well then I'm homeless at the moment." Kelsey deadpanned, face falling.

"No way in hell, you'll stay with us!" Javy insisted.

"Now hold on a minute," Jake held up a hand. "That's against regulation. We'd get in serious trouble for that."

"Not if she's married to one of us."

Kelsey immediately brightened, face turning to Javy. "You're BRILLIANT!" She said, fully kissing his face. "Javy, will you marry me?"

Javy's cheeks were burning as he tried not to laugh. "Uhh...as much fun as that sounds, and it does sound fun—I think Jake should be the one to marry you."

Kelsey's gaze turned onto Jake and between the two of them, it was like he had woodland creatures begging him for life. Jake just stared at them in horror and surprise. "No, absolutely not. It's illegal—marrying someone for military benefits—"

"Well we don't technically have to be legally married. Just engaged. In the eyes of the military, anyway." Kelsey pointed out.

"Am I the only one here that knows that this ends in jail?" Jake demanded.

"Only if we get found out! One phone call and we're set!" Kelsey insisted. Before either one could retort to that, she had pulled out her phone and dialed a number.

Waiting for Uncle Ice to pick up was agony. The admiral in question was currently sitting on a beach, watching his children play football for a family gathering. At the sight of his niece's name flashing across the screen, he answered his phone.

"Hi, Uncle Tom—"

"That's concerning."

"What?" Kelsey asked innocently.

"You never call me that unless you want something. So what do you want?"

Kelsey just grinned, giving a thumbs up to the guys as she talked on the phone. "So uh—Paolo and I broke up—and now I'm homeless in Italy and potentially facing jail time—"

"Jail time?!"

"Only if this ends badly—"

"Please for the love of God tell me that you didn't murder anyone or get pregnant."

"No, of course not. I'd never murder someone and I'm definitely not pregnant. What I am about to do is fake an engagement to the military in order to have housing?"

It was dead silent on the other end of the line. "Is this your way of punishing me since Mav has been so quiet this year?"

"No."

There was a deep sigh. "Who are you getting fake engaged to in order to exploit military benefits?"

"His name is Jake Seresin, he's super nice—"

"Fine. Yes, I'll clear the papers. But you're telling Mav, not me. And no one tells Bradley."

"Yay! Thank you Uncle Ice, you're literally my favorite!" With that, the girl got off of the phone, a giant grin on her face. "Plan fake engagement is now in motion," She knelt to the ground, grinning widely at Jake. "So Jake Seresin, whaddya say? Wanna fake marry me so I don't end up homeless?"

Jake had to resist the urge to laugh. This was absolutely ridiculous and he knew it. "Ahh screw it, why not? Kelsey Ryan, sweetheart, Bambi eyes, yes, I'll fake marry you."

And that was that.