"Watch it, Kelsey."

"Alright," Nathan walked back into the living room after getting off the phone, "They agreed to meet with us tonight."

A sigh of relief went way through his parted lips as he finally relaxed, letting the news sink in.

Kelsey was in no way capable of handling whatever nonsense Luke had cooked up and he was determined to keep her away from all sorts of drama that could potentially hurt her more than she already was.

Jackson eyed Nathan warily, a sudden thought coming to mind about something they had discussed earlier today, "And...?" He trailed off, hoping he'd get the message on what he meant.

"Kelsey will be left out if it." Nathan confirmed, "Zack, Natalie, Miranda, James, Bryan and I will take the bait and go see them. I'll handle it all, just like I promised." He rested his hands inside the pockets of his jeans. "You won't have anything to worry about."

Nodding his head in agreement, he also dug his hands into the pocket of his jeans. "Alright."

"You got nothing to worry about, Jackson. Kelsey is safe in my hands; she always has and always will be. My position here is to make sure each of my gang are well kept together and out of harm's way—though I can't guarantee neither of them to get hurt, I try my best to keep them from it."

"Yeah," He swallowed, "Thanks."

Nodding in approval, Nathan added in. "It's also my job to make sure you're alright, too." He murmured.

"Same with you." He retorted.

"Make sure Kelsey stays in bed and doesn't wake up. The last thing we need for her is to make her not find out we left."

"I don't think Kelsey will wake up anytime soon but if she does, I'll be sure to keep her from leaving the room." Reassuring him, he watched as he ordered for Bryan, Natalie, Miranda, and James to come down while taking out his gun and making sure there were enough bullets inside before slamming it shut and sticking it behind the pocket of his jeans.

"It might take us a while so be ready. We'll be back as soon as we can to make sure Kelsey's alright. Meanwhile, if you want, you can hang around here and do whatever it is that you do on your spare time before heading up to Kelsey."

Watching as Natalie, Miranda, James, and Bryan gather around Nathan in the living room, he caught sight of Zack slipping on his leather jacket, fixing the collar before making his way over to him.

"She's going to be alright, just give it time. We know you're worried, we all are, actually. Don't psych yourself out too much."

"Yeah, thanks. Just be careful." He glanced at them, "All of you." He hissed.

"You too." Natalie giggled, sending him one of warm smiles before brushing past and walking out the door with the rest following behind.

"Hang in there," James murmured before being the last to disappear behind the now closed door.

Waiting until he heard the rumbling of Nathans' car turning on before driving down the street, he let out a much needed breath, praying that what was going to happen, whatever it was that they had planned, would go accordingly.

---

Trying to close the door as quietly as he could, a frown tugged at his lips as he saw Kelsey's eyes open.

"Hi." He murmured, running his hands through his hair. "Sorry," He apologized, "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"It's okay," She shot him a shy smile, "I was going to wake up eventually."

Nodding, he returned the smile. "How are you feeling?" He asked quietly after a stream of silence embarked them.

Jackson nearly flinched when she saw her stiffen. Squeezing his eyes shut in defeat with himself, he inwardly cursed the second he opened his mouth; Stupid, stupid, stupid me. Opening his eyes, he forced himself to glance up at her, which only made him freeze as he caught her dark gaze.

She shrugged her shoulders. "I'm fine," She muttered, frowning in a struggled gesture as if she wasn't even sure of her words.

"Are you sure?" He retorted.

When she didn't say anything, he maneuvered his way towards her, cupping her cheek into the palm of his left hand, forcing her to look at him. "Aye, you can tell me," He comfortingly urged, looking between the both of his pained eyes.

"I don't know." She murmured, "I feel okay but..." She trailed off, shrugging. "I just don't know."

Letting go of her cheek, he reached over to grab her bandaged hand. "Does it hurt?"

Doing a double take as to what he was talking about, Kelsey's eyes widened slightly. Licking her lips, confused tinted in her amber irises. "No? I don't even know—" Pausing, Kelsey frowned, "What happened?"

Jackson sent her a perplexed look, "You mean you don't remember?"

After a few seconds, Kelsey slowly shook her head.

"You cut yourself on a piece of glass," Jackson informed warily.

A grudged look crossed Kelsey's face as though she were straining to remember. "I don't—I don't remember." Blinking, Kelsey looked up at him, seeming lost.

"It's okay, don't stress yourself. You'll remember on your own time." He soothed patiently, "maybe it's best if you don't know.."

"It's not, Jackson." Kelsey hissed through gritted teeth, her jaw tightening. "I need to know what I did. I need to know if I hurt you, Jackson."

"You didn't hurt me." He muttered silently, gazing at her with big eyes, "You didn't punch me or anything."

"How the fuck do I know if you're telling the truth? How do I know you're not lying to me?" Shaking her head, a scowl tugged on her lips.

"Kelsey, I'm not lying. You didn't do anything to me. It's more along the lines of what you did to yourself because of me—" Shaking his head in disappointment, he sighed, feverishly running his hands through his hair, "It doesn't matter anymore, okay? I took care if you, it's done—"

"That's the thing, Jackson!" Kelsey spat, anger radiating off of her, shooting up from the bed, she shot him a glare. "I don't want you taking care of me."

Awestricken, he blinked, "Kelsey—"

"It's my job to take care of you Jackson, not the other way around!" She shot through his words, cutting him off short as she began pacing the floor of her bedroom. "I can't believe this," She muttered through clenched teeth.

"You need to stop this right now, Kelsey. You're in no state of mind to be taking care of anyone. You need to be focused on yourself and get yourself back together, for fucks sake."

"Don't," She spat, her eyes blazing hazel, "don't do that."

"Do what?" He gave her an exasperated look, completely oblivious to what he had done.

"Act as if I can't handle myself. As if I'm some kid. I'm fine Jackson—"

"Fine?" He hissed in complete disbelief, "You call cutting yourself on purpose just because I did so myself by accident, fine?" He emphasized with disregard to how harsh he had sounded. "You're not fine, Kelsey. If anything, you're—"

"I'm what?" She challenged, setting her jaw tightly as she willed him to keep talking.

Just as he was about to shot back something harsh, he reconsidered it and clamped his lips together before shaking his head, rubbing his forehead with the tips of his fingers, willing himself to relax. "I don't want to fight with you." He hissed, letting out a breath of air he hadn't even realized he'd been holding in.

Slumping forwards, a look of acknowledgment to what he meant sunk in as she ran her fingers through her curly hair, "Me neither."

---

"The car rumbled to a stop outside a fairly built warehouse as Nathan pulled the keys out of the ignition. Glancing sideways towards Zack who sat in the passenger seat, Nathan nudged his elbow. "When we get in there, we act normal as if nothing's wrong. They can't suspect a thing about Kelsey."

"I know," Zack hissed, looking out of the window, "Let's just get this over with so we can go home. Quite frankly, I'm getting sick and tired of not only hearing about these bitches, but talking about them."

Chuckling though not much humor was meant behind it, Nathan patted his shoulder in complete knowing to what he meant. "Yeah, let's go." Opening the door, Nathan stepped out into the cool night air as he slammed it shut, waiting for the rest of the group to meet by his side.

When they all huddled together, Nathan eyed them all, "You guys know what to do."

Nodding, Natalie, flashed her gun from behind the pockets of her skinny jeans before turning around just as quickly, "I'm ready, if anything."

"Good, and, I'm guessing you're good to go, too?" Nathan now turned his attention away from Natalie and over to Miranda.

"Yup," Miranda shot a smug smirk as she reached for her gun.

"Alright, let's get this show on the road." Toeing to the front door of the warehouse open, Nathan shuffled inside with the rest hot on his tail.

"Lookey here boys," A musky voice called from afar, a dark essence falling amongst them all, "Seems as if they weren't bluffing."

"We don't bluff," Miranda muttered in annoyance, "Clearly you idiots haven't done your research thoroughly."

"Why the sass baby?" Peter came out from the shadow casted throughout the warehouse due to the lack of windows allowing light inside, "It's just a statement—no need to get your panties in a twist, eh?"

Growling angrily, Miranda kept herself from knocking a fist into the side of Peter's head.

"Listen, we didn't come here for games. We came here to talk business." Nathan spat, slicing through the silence.

"What do you have to say that has any relevance to us?" Peter cocked an eyebrow as he gestured openly around him, "As you can see, business is going great for us."

"That's funny, because I recall coming home to your logo burned into the grounds of my property." Holding his hands tightly to his sides to keep from doing the opposite of what he came here to do, Nathan rolled his head to the side, "If business was going great, you wouldn't find us as a threat, now would you?"

Just as fast as the scowl that appeared in Peter's face, it disappeared. "I did what I did as a showing to you that I'm not afraid of a little competition and I'm almost not going to back down to some amateur little threats."

"If I'm not mistaken, that bullet was about an inch away from slicing through your heart," James growled lowly, "And I know just as much as you do that you nearly pissed your pants then and there." Standing beside Nathan, James now took control as dimness shadowed the depths of his chocolate brown eyes.

Placing an arm in front of him to keep James from walking any closer to Peter, Nathan quietly urged James to calm down. "Relax," He muttered low enough for only James's ears to catch onto.

"Speaking of which, where is the little bastard?" Peter changed the subject as his eyes flickered on all six of them, finding him vacant of another body of who he knew to have been there.

"She had some other things to take care of tonight," Nathan shot back, "Unlike you; we don't waste our time trying to utter useless little doings. We handle things on the spot, something you might want to consider."

"How's that little boyfriend of hers?" A silhouette of a figure stood off to the side of the room, a stream of light shining through the small opening of the one window they had present, splashing color over their face to reveal silver of a smirk on Luke's face.

Nathan almost choked in saliva. How the fuck did he know about Kelsey's ex? "Leave him out of this." Nathan quickly interjected, a protective stance overcoming him as he shot Luke the sickest of glares he could muster, "He has nothing to do with this. With us."

"I beg to differ, he seemed to be a little too in love with Kelsey, don't you think? That vacation you guys went months ago."

"You son of a bitch," Nathan muttered as he took Luke in from head to toe, "It was you who was watching them?"

"Who else?" Luke chuckled sarcastically as he fell in line beside Peter, "Someone had to keep tabs on what the little fucker was doing. Who knew she'd have a boyfriend? I thought she knew better than going around acting like a little whore."

"I'm warning you," Nathan snarled in fury, a finger pointed strictly in Luke's direction, "You shut that fucking mouth of yours or I swear to god I will murder you myself."

"Why? You got a thing for her yourself? Who knew you were the type?" Luke raised the both of his eyebrows as he stood smugly staring with amusement twinkling in his eyes, "Don't you have your own girlfriend? Stephanie, I believe is her name?"

Charging forwards, Nathan grabbed Luke by his shirt, holding him up, his feet close to rising from the floor. "I'm telling you now Delgado, you better leave them the fuck out of this or I swear on everything, you'll be dead before you even have the chance to blink."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Peter, stepped in to break them apart, his face relevantly calm as he held Luke back, moving in front of him, "Hold the threats for somebody who cares, buddy."

Without even as much as a second thought, Nathan threw his closed fist into the side of Peter's face, connecting it to his jaw as he watched him tumble back. Taking this as his chance, Nathan rocked another fist towards Peter, this time, hitting him in the stomach instead, watching Peter as he doubled over. Not giving him a chance to retaliate, Nathan pinned him to the floor and in seconds, Luke and the rest of his gang came forwards, ready for a fight when Natalie, Miranda, Bryan, and James held them all at gunpoint at the exact same time, warning them away from the scene that was unfolding on the ground in front of them.

"I don't usually reduce to physical violence because I don't like dirtying my hands on pieces of shit like you, but I have had just about enough of you. I want you to leave New York and go back to wherever the hell you came from because you are not needed here." Standing up, Nathan dusted himself off as he stared down at Peter's cradled body.

Spitting blood to the side of him, Peter gazed up with hot eyes. "And if I don't?"

"You're a dead man." Motioning for his gang to put the guns away, Nathan backed away, keeping his eyes set on each of them until he was met within an inch of the entrance. Without even a second glance in their direction, Nathan turned, disappearing with Natalie and the rest following behind.

---

Just as he was about to continue the conversation, a distant commotion downstairs caught his attention, yanking him back to life once more. They were back. Sitting up from the chair almost instantly, he looked towards Kelsey.

"What's wrong?" Kelsey worriedly asked, her eyes pouring with fear. "What happened?"

"Nothing," He shook his head, "I'm just.. thirsty. I'll be back." He nodded approvingly to himself to excuse what he had come up with. He didn't feel bad at all, he lied to her multiple times.

"So? I can just get it for you—where are you going?" She sat up from her bed, her eyes watching his every move.

He blinked, whirling around to face her again. "I already told you where I'm going."

"Jackson—"

"It'll just be a quick second, okay?" Making his way over to her, he gave her a quick peck on her forehead before pulling away. Walking out of the door and down the stairs, he was relieved to see they had all made it back in one piece. "How did it go?"

Turning around, Jackson nearly choked in his saliva once he saw the gash sliced through Nathans' bottom lip. "What the fuck happened to you?!" He whisperly hissed, keeping in mind that Kelsey was wide awake and waiting for his arrival.

"I sort of fell into a bit of a predicament with one of them but no worries, I'm fine." He reassured, "Everything's fine."

"Damn it Nathan—" He sighed as he put a hand up to silence him.

"Calm the fuck down, damn it. It's just a cut, nothing I'm not used to."

He grumbled in annoyance, pulling his lips to a frown. "You're just like Kelsey," He muttered.

"Where do you think she learned it from?" Nathan arched a brow at him, his lips twisting up into a childish grin which only made Jackson to chuckle. "Speaking of the devil," Nathan chuckled, showing he was merely teasing, "Where is she?"

Slapping a hand to his forehead, he muttered incoherently under his breath, almost forgetting she was waiting for him. "She's upstairs waiting for me to get a glass of water...." He trailed off.

"Creative."

"Thanks," He muttered dryly.

"Your wel—"

"What the hell is taking you so long, Jackson?" He snapped his head around to see Kelsey heading down the stairs, running a hand through her hair in complete and beyond belief.

Just as he was about to answer despite his lack of knowledge as to how he'd go about it, Kelsey spoke up once more, continuing her interrogation. "Nathan? What are you doing here?" Taking notice of Natalie, Miranda, Bryan, James, and Zack as well, Kelsey narrowed her eyes, scanning them each from head to toe before catching sight of Nathans' lip. "What the hell happened to you?"

"I slipped and fell outside." Nathan shrugged, acting nonchalant though Jackson was dying inside.

If Kelsey found out what they had truly been doing, she'd have his head. Literally.

"Oh really?"

"Yes."

"Then why are you all dressed up as if you have somewhere to go?" Scanning him from head to toe once again, Kelsey held a firm gaze as she waited for an answer.

Glancing down at him, Nathan inwardly cursed eyeing the leather jacket he had on and keys in his hand. After fighting with himself to think of something to say to that, Nathan let his shoulders fall, defeated though he held up a strong front. "It's nothing that concerns you."

"I think it has everything to do with my concern, where the hell have you all been and don't tell that gash on your lip is from a fall because by the looks of it, it seems as though someone decked you."

"It's nothing, go back to sleep. You've had a busy night."

"Don't try to change the subject, Nathan." Kelsey hissed and in moments, her entire playful aurora from earlier had disappeared and now stood the angry Kelsey—the side of her Jackson tried to keep as far away as possible. Something told him this wasn't good.

"I had to take care of a few things, you happy now?" Nathan countered, letting out a hiss of air as he shook his head, mad at himself for caving in.

"Take care of a few things such as...?"

"Business, Kelsey. I had to go take care of business since you've decided now would be the right time to practically lose your fucking mind, I had to make sure they didn't come within an inch of us for the time being. We're in the midst of a war, Kelsey. They know it, we know it, everybody knows it but now isn't the right time to be planning anything."

"So you went without me?" Kelsey shot back, her eyes blackening with every second that passed.

"You aren't stable enough to handle this right now, Kelsey. If you would have come, god knows what you would have done." Nathan shook his head, "You're safety as well as everyone else's is more important than anything."

"Since when did you decide to do things behind my back, Nathan?" Kelsey's entire demeanor had changed and Jackson noticed the way her body stood that she was pissed.

"Kelsey." He reached for his hand, desperate to calm her down.

"Don't fucking touch me!" Kelsey barked, backing away from him as she shot him a venomous glare. "'Getting a glass of water', my ass," Kelsey spat, "You were in on all of this, weren't you?" She shifted her gaze towards Nathan in complete disbelief.

"Kelsey—"

"Don't lie to me." Kelsey hissed through gritted teeth, her body shaking with anger.

"I just wanted to make sure you were safe." He hissed, suddenly feeling sympathy for her. "I couldn't risk letting you fall into a deeper mess than you already were."

"So you thought it was best to go behind my back and encourage my gang to go against me?!"

He shook his head, "It wasn't like that—"

"It was exactly like that." Kelsey growled, her eyes pouring with disgust. "Is that why you told me to go to sleep? Just so you could distract me long enough to have them run off?"

"No I fucking didn't!" He sharply barked, his face growing red in frustration.

"Oh, please," She rolled her eyes, "Don't act like this. I know made me fucking go to sleep just to do this." Kelsey muttered nauseatingly, her eyes holding pure hatred.

His whole body felt anger boiling and he couldn't move his feet, as if they have been glued to the floor underneath him.

This wasn't the Kelsey he knew.

This was.. somebody else. Somebody he doesn't recognize.

"You have no right to be so.. vile. I was just doing what's best for you." He muttered lowly, afraid that if he used his pissed off voice, she'd crack.

"What's best for me?" Kelsey baffled on a bolt of humorless laughter. "Don't make me fucking laugh, Jackson. You wouldn't know what was best for me even if it punched you in the face, which, come to think of it, you deserve one."

"That's enough!" Natalie spat, grabbing Kelsey's attention from Jackson though her eyes never left his.

"What? Am I hurting your feelings, too? Should I board the I-don't-give-a-shit plane now or later?" She sarcastically remarked.

"He's looking out for you. He actually gives a shit about you, don't be a fucking bitch." Natalie growled, shaking his head in disapproval.

"Is there something I'm missing here? You seem to be real protective of my guy, Natalie. Did you fucking get it on with him?" A sick snarl spread, "I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if you had; it's always the good ones who turn out to be the biggest bastards."

Jackson widened his eyes, not being able to process what she just said. A tingle of disbelief fell over him as he stood there, sadness coming over.

"Watch it, Kelsey." Miranda warned, her eyes masking with rage. "We didn't have to go if Nathan didn't want to. He chose to go, Jackson had nothing to do with his decision."

"What? Did you have a go at him too, Miranda?" Barking out a sharp laugh, Kelsey shook her head. "Wow Jackson, do you literally get it on with every girl who sets their eyes on you?" Kelsey averted her attention back to him, her lips curving in a wicked grin.

Keeping his mouth shut, he shifted his gaze elsewhere, trying to hold back all the rage that was building up inside of him.

"The truth hurts sweetheart, save the tears for someone who actually gives a shit." Kelsey spat, her eyes burning holes through his skin.

"That's enough, Kelsey. Stop it." Bryan took a step forward, grabbing her by the arm. "You don't even know what the fuck you're saying."

Ripping her arm from Bryans' hold, Kelsey shot him a disgruntled look. "Don't touch me. I know exactly what I'm saying."

"You know what?" James stepped in front, blocking Jackson's view from her. "You're going to wake up tomorrow morning and you're going to forget this ever happened but he," James thumbed behind him, "won't."

"Cry me a fucking river James," Kelsey rolled her eyes, balling her hands into fists.

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

Mumbling to herself, Kelsey shot the both of them a look of frustration before purposely shoving past them, making sure to push James so that he stumbled back. Disappearing through the back door, Jackson exhaled a breath.

"Aye, you okay?"

Shrugging, he didn't respond.

"Don't listen to her," James sighed, shaking his head. "She doesn't know what she's saying. I know it's her standing there but it's not her who's talking." Running a hand through his hair, he rubbed the back of his neck, staring angrily at him. "You're not a bastard and you didn't do anything wrong, remember that."

"Then why the fuck do I feel as if I'm the one to be blamed on?" He murmured.

James frowned, "Aye. Kelsey didn't mean anything. Trust me, you and I both know that she's still not fully healed. She still has yet to recover and it's going to be overnight."

He shrugged, "She was fine before you guys came. Sorta. I don't know what happened then."

"What's going on with her doesn't just disappear, Jackson. She may seem normal to you but there's still a part of her that has yet to be healed. It's not a quick process. You just have to hang in there. We won't let her take it too far."

"Thanks, but you didn't have to do that."

"The hell we didn't," Nathan spat, "James right—Kelsey don't know what she's saying but that doesn't give her an excuse to walk all over you. I won't just stand by and watch her treat you like crap when you didn't do shit to him."

"I've seen Kelsey have her episodes before and it takes about all six of us to calm her down. You may not see it, but you actually can handle her episodes well."

Looking out behind him at the door Kelsey walked through, he silently thought back to what she had said before in her room when they were having their conversation.

"You hold more over me than anyone else in my life. You're the only one I know who can make me forget."

He blinked, turning his attention back to the gang, he sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Listen, you guys go on ahead upstairs and rest. I'll go talk to her."

"You sure?" James questioned cautiously, "We can go with you if you want."

"No. If what you guys say is true, then I shouldn't have much of a problem getting through to her."

After thinking which what felt like forever, Nathan finally managed to accept his offer. "Alright, but call us if you need anything, okay?"

"Will do," He watched as they all vanished up the stairs before turning and taking a deep breath. Urging himself forwards, he began striding over to the door that led to the back of the apartments. Opening it, he stepped out, spotting Kelsey outside, looking up at the sky.

When he closed the door, Kelsey didn't even flinch. Instead, she continued to stare ahead, as if he didn't even exist.

Swallowing, he took hesitant steps towards her, curious of what side of her was currently spiraling inside. "Kelsey?"

Pressing her lips together in a tight line, Jackson's face fell at the storm that brewed in the depths of her natural light eyes. Her jaw was clenched and she fisted her hands at her side, clearly pissed.

"Look, I know you're mad at me." He spoke, carefully standing beside her, avoiding contact. "But I just wanted to make sure nothing happened while you were recovering—"

"You know what's really annoying?" Kelsey hissed, not waiting for him to answer as she continued, "That you treat me like I've been shot or something. I may be fucked in the head, but it's nothing I can't handle. It's happened to me before and I told you to stay out of it."

"I'm just doing what's best for you—you may not see it but you will eventually." He looked down at his hands, a frown pulling at his lips. "I didn't know it'll make you hate me." He murmured, stealing a glance over at Kelsey to see her glaring ahead.

"Too late for that," She muttered, turning her head away from him.

Inhaling a refreshing breath of air, he tried his best to ignore the ache in his chest. "I just wanted to protect you, but obviously that's too much to ask for, isn't it?" Shaking his head, he frowned. "I'm done fighting with you. I will do anything in my favor to make sure you're doing okay. You may think of this as betrayal, but, I see it as a gesture of taking care of you."

Looking down at her, he pecked her cheek. "Nice talking to you." He murmured before getting ready to head back inside when Kelsey's hand quickly caught his hand, holding him in place. Frozen, he glanced over his shoulder, curious on why she had stopped him. He was completely in awe when two words came rolling off her tongue.

"Don't go."