Live and Learn.

Chapter 12

Maddie yawned as she exited her room, Kate handed her a piece of toast as she entered the kitchen.

"Are you sure you don't want me to drive you?"

"Nah, it's fine, Tyler is gonna take me…"

Kate turned back to the stove mumbling to herself.

"Yeah, on that bike…"

Maddie groaned and rolled her eyes at her mum's over protectiveness, she leaned over the bench.

"I heard that! Mum, I told you, he's super responsible! Plus, I'll kill him myself if he mangles me…"

Kate chuckled sipping on her coffee, Maddie was unquestionably her daughter.

"Good girl…"

Maddie jumped up as she heard her phone beep, pulling her phone out of her pocket, she eagerly replied to the message with a giant grin on her face.

"Tyler?"

Maddie nodded, her eyes still focused on the screen, Kate shook her head, how kids fingers could move so fast on a tiny key pad was a mystery to her.

"So, Tyler seems like a nice boy…"

Maddie continued to type, oblivious to Kate's conversation, Kate folded her arms over her chest, tapping her foot on the floor, waiting for her to realise.

Maddie's eyes slowly moved towards Kate hearing the persistent tapping, she smiled sweetly putting her phone back in her pocket.

"Sorry, Mum, did you say something?"

She smirked trying to hold in her amusement, Kate shook her head turning back to the stove.

"Mum! I heard you!"

She walked up behind her and placed her chin on Kate's shoulder.

"Yes, he is a nice boy, maybe a little too nice?"

Kate groaned internally, she knew what dating the bad boy got you, a broken heart.

"No such thing as too nice! Don't ever wish the nice away, okay!"

"Mum, you worry too much!"

Liv waited at the gate for them to arrive, she bounced up and down seeing Tyler's bike pull into the car park. Maddie jumped off the bike, removing her helmet as she ran up to Liv and wrapped her arms around her.

"Feels like forever!"

Liv squeezed her back and squealed.

"OMG, you have to tell me everything!"

Maddie glanced back at Tyler unable to hide her smile.

"About our date, or Mum, Mike and Charlie?"

"Umm, all of the above!"

Tyler laughed seeing them huddled together and pulled her bag off the bike.

"I'll take this to your room while you weirdos catch up…"

Maddie gave him a peck on the cheek as he walked past them.

"You're the best!"

"Yeah, don't forget it!"

Liv chuckled and wrapped her arm around her as they walked towards the dorms.

"He's smitten…"

"Yeah, he's alright…"

"So, are you okay after, you know, your mum and Mike, which I'm still not over by the way?"

"Yeah, we had a bit of a fight, but we talked… still weird though!"

"I know, I can't picture them together either! So, Charlie then? I'm kinda surprised she likes him…"

"Yeah, well, who knows, I wouldn't have thought Mike would have been her type either, so we'll see… have you heard from Nate?"

"Nah, I don't know how to get through to him…"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I think this is all because he actually likes you..."

They stopped seeing Nate talking to Tyler in the hallway, Nate looked up and spotted the girls and quickly walked away. Maddie hissed, shaking her head.

"This is bullshit..."

She stormed up to Nate and grabbed his arm, dragging him into his room.

"Okay, what the hell is the problem?"

Tyler and Liv stood at the door trying to hear their conversation.

Inside, Maddie stepped closer, poking him on the shoulder, trying to get a reaction from him.

"You open up to me, then you yell at me for sympathising with you, and now you're avoiding me."

He shrugged still unable to meet her infuriated glare.

"Nate, c'mon!"

He turned his back to her, fiddling with books on his desk, hoping she'd give up and leave. She wasn't letting this go, they were all friends and she wasn't going to tiptoe around him, she grabbed his shoulder.

"Nathan!"

He spun round, looking aggravated.

"Just leave me alone, I don't need people like you, or your mother in my life."

Maddie's tilted her head, why was he bringing her mum into this? Her anger rose, how dare he speak about her like that.

"What did you say?"

He didn't mean for it to be so personal, but he was feeling cornered, it was his natural reaction, he couldn't back down now.

"You heard me!"

Maddie tried to control her emotions, but after the weekend and all the drama, she was at her wits end. Before she knew it, her fist connected with his face, she yelped, her hand pulsated in pain. Nate was stunned and stumbled backwards, letting out a pained grunt.

Liv and Nate rushed into the room hearing the strange noises, they froze, assessing the situation, Nate sat on his bed cradling his face and Maddie stood in the corner shaking her hand. Liv approached Nate and peeled his hand away from his face revealing a swelling cheek, her eyes immediately focused back on Maddie.

"Maddie, what the hell!"

Nate shrugged off Liv's grip and Tyler inspected Maddie's hand, she winced as he ran his fingers over her knuckles.

"I think you'd better see the nurse."

Tyler escorted Maddie to the sick bay leaving Liv to deal with Nate.

"Don't go anywhere…"

A few minutes later she returned to his room throwing a bag of frozen peas at him.

"Don't say I never do anything for you!"

Nate flinched as he held the peas to his cheek.

"Where did you get a bag of frozen peas?"

"I'm in with the lunch ladies, now, do you wanna tell me how you made the perfectly nice, Madison McGregor, snap?"

He sighed and lowered the peas, Liv shook her head and raised them back to his cheek.

"Do you know?"

Liv nodded as she lowered herself on to the bed.

"About your dad and Kate? Yeah…"

"And, I supposed she's on her mum's side?"

"Ah, well, did Mike tell you everything? It's kinda hard not to be?"

"Yeah, but she strung him along…"

"Hmm, well you could say the same about your dad, and since when are you on his side?"

"Doesn't matter…"

"Ah, yes it does! Have you seen your face? Look, she was pretty upset about the whole thing, so, I don't think she's on anyone's side. They had a big fight about it, she was pretty upset, please don't tell her I told you that. Nate, you really need to sort things out with her…"

"What do you mean? There's nothing to sort out…"

Liv groaned at his denial, she didn't understand why he couldn't just admit his feelings to her. He rose from the bed and walked out of the room. Liv shook her head and fell back on to the bed

"Nothing to sort out, my arse!"

Maddie sat anxiously in the waiting area of the sick bay, the nurse popped her head out from the treatment room.

"Madison?"

Maddie stood up and smiled, Tyler went to follow.

"It's okay, I'm a big girl..."

He gave her a kiss on the cheek and sat back down.

Maddie sat on the bed, her leg bounced as she realised she would have to explain how she came about her injury. She faked a smile as the nurse approached with a clipboard.

"Madison McGregor?"

"Yes, that's me…"

"Any relation to Captain Kate McGregor?"

Maddie groaned internally, her grin grew trying to hide her irritation.

"She's my mum…"

The nurses eyes lit up.

"Oh, I remember, Katie, she was a bright one, she's done very well for her self."

Maddie clenched her jaw, contining to hold her fake smile.

"Yeah, ah, anyway, I think I just need some ice…"

Maddie presented her hand, the nurse shook her head, looking concerned at the swelling.

"Oh, no dear, I think we'll need an X-ray…"

Maddie snatched her hand back not wanting her to ask any questions.

"Really, it's fine…"

The nurse place a hand on her hip and shot her an unimpressed look.

"Who's the nurse here? So, how did you do this?"

"Ah, I just tripped."

Maddie avoided eye contact hoping she'd believe the lamest excuse ever, the nurse raised an eyebrow.

"Really?"

Maddie nodded.

"Look, just give me an ice pack and if it still sore in a couple of days I'll come back for an x-ray."

"Okay, well at least let me strap it. Don't want to be responsible for not treating Captain McGregor's daughter properly."

20 minutes later, Maddie appeared from the nurses room with her hand strapped. Tyler jumped up from the chair.

"What's the verdict?"

"Ah, just have to wait a few days, might need an x-ray, but I'm sure I'll be fine…"

They walked back to her room, she flopped on to her bed, the realisation of she had done was sinking in.

"Do you think he'll say something? I mean, he won't have to, the evidence is on his face…"

She bolted upright.

"I can't believe I punched him, I'm so gonna be expelled..."

Tyler tried to comfort her, he rubbed her back.

"Ah, do I wanna know what he said for you to punch him?"

She shook her head and fell back onto the bed.

"It's a long story, I'll explain later, right now I just wanna rest."

Nate jumped up from his bed as Mike burst into his bedroom.

"Nate! What happened? Are you okay?"

Nate wandered around the room, trying to hide the swollen half of his face. Mike grabbed his arm, stopping him and pulled him close. Nate swatted away his hands.

"Who told you? Liv?"

Mike refused to answer, Nate sat on his bed and folded his arms across his chest.

"Dad, I'm Fine, I just fell..."

Mike stood above him, shaking his head.

"You fell? Really? Was it into a fist?"

"Dad, just leave it…"

"Nate, you can't afford to start causing fights."

He turned away from Mike, before the nurse told him what had happened, he was coming to Nate to tell him he asked Kate on a date. He looked over to Nate and sighed, he knew it wasn't the best time. He got up off the bed and pat him on the shoulder.

"I'll see you in class."

Maddie sheepishly walked into class and sat next to Tyler, Mike turned to face the class and frowned seeing her bandaged hand.

"McGregor, what happened?"

"Oh, I umm, I tripped, nothing too serious, Liv's gonna take notes for me."

He exchanged an all knowing glance with Nate, Nate immediately looked away.

"Right. Okay, anyway, class, today we're moving on to a new topic, Personal Development, which involves discussing the application of Navy's values, as it pertains to moral and ethical leadership."

Nate raised his hand, Mike nodded towards him.

"Yes, Nate."

"Does it involve talking about the non fraternisation rule?"

Mike hesitated knowing this was about him and Kate.

"Ah..."

"Well, integrity, honest, they're apart of the Naval values, and it seems that people break the rules all the time. Tell me, how are we supposed to respect these people, especially if they're in a leadership role."

Mike cleared his throat, his eyes darted over to Maddie, checking she wasn't going to react.

"Ah, yes we can discuss that, but it's not really as relevant than the other points."

Nate turned his head towards Maddie and raised an eyebrow, she shook her head and hid her face in her book.

Class had ended and Nate was the last to leave, Mike pulled him back into the room and shut the door.

"What was all that about?"

He chucked his books on to the closest desk.

"I just, she sits there all smug, and she doesn't know what kind of hypocrite her mother is."

Mike stepped towards him and lowered his voice.

"Hey, you leave Kate out of this..."

"Kate? What happened to Captain McGregor?"

Mike exhaled sharply, trying to keep his cool.

"Nate, what really happened to you face?"

Nate shook his head and grabbed his books.

"This is such bullshit..."

The next afternoon Mike sat in his office marking papers, someone knocked on the door, he called out for them to enter. He looked up and smiled seeing Kate and rose from his desk.

"Hey!"

His smile faded as he recognised the, all to familiar, irritated look on her face.

"Oh, god, what is it?"

She calmly walked into his office knowing she couldn't make a scene.

"Did you forget to tell me something?"

"Ah… I don't think so?"

"I had a call from Helen, the nurse, Maddie sprained her hand?"

Mike rubbed his hands over his face feeling guilty.

"Umm, yeah, I was going to tell you at dinner, look, she's okay, she's been coming to class, Liv is taking notes for her."

"Mike, I can't believe you knew and you didn't tell me!"

He sat at his desk hoping she'd stay calm, he gestured for her to sit.

"Well, I think it's a bit more complicated that that, if I was to make it official, she may be in some trouble."

"Trouble? What are you talking about? Apparently she fell? Why would she be in trouble for that?"

"Well, she's supporting and injured hand and Nate has a fist shaped bruise forming on his face."

Kate sunk in to the chair, raking her hands through her hair.

"No, she wouldn't do that, she's never been violent, and especially when she could get kicked out."

Mike got up and sat beside her, taking his her hand in his.

"Look, I haven't reported anything..."

"Are you going to?"

"If there's no other issues, I won't,."

"I gotta go talk to her."

Kate lept up from the chair and headed for the door, Mike ran after her, stopping her.

"Kate, don't you think she needs to learn to deal with things on her own?"

Kate hesitated, he was right to a point, but she was concerned about her actions.

"Look, I'll keep an eye on her, I promise, if I notice anything out of the ordinary, I'll call you."

She sighed and gave in, she knew she wouldn't be able to act like this when she was out a sea, she would have to eventually let her make her own mistakes.

"Okay…"

Mike closed the door and stood close.

"So, now that you're here, what about dinner tonight?"

"I dunno, I've got a busy day tomorrow… we're interviewing."

"Oh, for here? That means you're here over night?"

A mischievous grin covered his face, she frowned and whacked him on the chest.

"Don't go getting any ideas."

Kate hovered around the door wondering if she should make a quick escape.

"I dunno, Mike…"

He took a step closer, placing his hand on her arm, a shiver ran down her spine.

"What's the difference between today and Thursday? You're already here…"

"Well, I didn't technically say yes…"

"C'mon Kate, for old times sake."

Kate hesitated, she couldn't believe, after all the drama, all the pain, that she didn't refused immediately. Taking a deep breath in she brought her eyes up to meet him.

"Fine…"

A smile beamed across Mike's face, he rushed back to his desk and gathered his belongings.

"We can sneak out now, while the kids are in their last class."

Maddie and Nate sat in their rooms, they skipped their last class, both Maddie's hand and Nate's face were throbbing in pain.

Their phones beeped, it was a message from Liv to both of them.

"Did you know your folks were here? Just saw them walking across the oval."

They immediately sprung up from their beds and looked out the window, both their jaws dropped seeing Mike and Kate walk out the gate.

Kate walked into Mike house unsure of what to expect, she looked around and laughed, it was such a blokes house. The basics, couch, TV , bookcase, walls still stark white, no interior design what so ever.

"Ah, nice place..."

He looked at her doubtfully, he knew that tone in her voice, she was lying to be polite.

"What's wrong with it?"

"Ah, let's just say, I can tell you don't have a wife?"

He stood close, his cheeky grin had returned.

"That's a good thing though, right?"

Kate broke eye contact and continued to inspect the house.

"So, I can make my famous curry for dinner, and if you wanna drink you can stay here..."

Kate pursed her lips together disapproving of his suggestion, Mike rolled his eyes.

"I have a spare room...it's not gonna he like the first time..."

"Well, it needs to be like no other time, Mike, if we're gonna do this I really need us to start again."

"I think that's a fantastic idea... so, Ms McGregor, would you like a drink?"

"Ah, it's only 4pm..."

Mike grabbed a bottle from the wine rack and waved it in her face.

"Just think about how many interviews you have to do tomorrow, you're gonna wish you had some fun tonight, cos tomorrow ain't gonna be fun."

"Even more reason not to drink I need to be alert tomorrow."

Kate wandered into the lounge room, Mike watched her for a moment and shook his head. He followed her into the lounge and stood close.

"Why can't you relax around me?"

Kate sighed and wrapped her arms around herself.

"Cos I can't afford to be..."

"What do you mean?"

Kate lowered herself into the couch, there were more than just her feelings involved this time.

"Oh, just get me a damn glass."

Mike unscrewed the bottle and poured her a large glass, Kate picked it up and inspected the contents, it was filled way past the line.

"Are you trying to get me drunk Captain Flynn."

"That would be rather unethical of me… So, did you end up telling Maddie we're were dating?"

"Well, no, cos we're not dating?"

He moved closer and tapped his glass against hers.

"What do you call this then?"

She frowned and shifted away.

"Reacquainting ourselves, Mike, I'm serious about this, we need to tread carefully, and to be honest, Maddie's not your biggest fan right now."

"Why?"

Kate took a large gulp of wine, buying herself time, she didn't want to argue again.

"Well, after everything, you can't say that we treated each other, umm, fairly."

Mike tilted his head, concerned about her explanation of the situation.

"Yeah, but you told her we were friends after everything, right?"

"Yeah, everything, from the beginning, and she may have thought you were a jerk, that you messed me around and..."

"Wait, is that what you thought?"

"Well, yes and no, you can't exactly think how you left me that first time was right?"

Kate winced as he slammed his glass on the table.

"Well, no, but did you even defend me?"

She raised her voice, matching his tone.

"Of course I did, see this is why I wanted to leave the past in the past."

"You're the one that brought it up, technically."

She could tell he was becoming defensive, and that never made the conversation easier.

"Yeah, okay, look, I said that it was a tough situation, and she needs to respect that you're her teacher..."

"Doesn't sounds like you defended me that well."

"Okay maybe we should just drop it. But, like any other relationship, I'm not involving Maddie until I believe it's serious."

There was an awkward silence, the booth took a large mouthful of wine. Mike couldn't help but feel a little guilty, he was the one who stuffed it up in the beginning, he didn't want to stuff it up the second time.

"Okay, moving on, so, I never asked what your official role was."

"Ah, more of an HR position, train the trainers job, that kind of thing..."

"Oh, so you're my boss?"

Kate winked in his direction as she finished her glass, her phone rang as Mike poured her another.

"Maddie, sweetie, what's up?"

"Ah, not much, umm, did anyone ring you?"

"Ring me, from where?"

"Oh, umm, I just hurt my hand that's all."

Kate tired to sound surprised.

"What happened? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just thought that Captain Flynn would have called you."

"Why would he call me?"

"No reason, he seemed concerned about my hand, anyway, what are you up to?"

Kate glanced over to Mike, she knew she couldn't reveal where she was, it would complicate things.

"Ah, nothing, just at work, the usual."

Maddie paused, should she call her out or confront her later? She clenched her jaw and chose the latter.

"Oh, okay, well, have a good night."

Before Kate could answer, Maddie hung up the phone. Mike laughed seeing the confused look on Kate's face.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah, I think so, just, strange…"

She picked up her glass hoping her gut feeling was wrong.

"Anyway, you got back together with Maxine?"

The question stunned Mike, it wasn't something he thought she'd bring up.

"I thought you said we were starting again?"

"Yeah, I meant in relation to our past…"

Mike put down his glass trying to prepare himself to explain.

"Yeah, I mean, we had 10 great years together, we had Nate not long after you left actually, probably the same time you had Maddie seeming they're not that far apart in age. I'm assuming you heard we separated? She got a promotion down here, I had just got a posting on Hobart, and we'll neither of us wanted to compromise. I know that sounds selfish, but we knew that if either of us compromised that it would eat us alive."

Kate couldn't believe the circumstances, it was the same thing they had faced while on Hammersley when Mike threatened to quit and Maxine talked her out of the relationship.

"Seriously, do you now see why I couldn't let you leave when you threatened to quit?"

He nodded ever so slightly, hating to admit she was right.

"Yeah, and then the hard part came, we divided everything and then, I dunno, we just got mad. We thought we were being sensible and selfless, cos each of us was getting what we wanted, but then I think it just hit us, and we were mad at each other, and unfortunately Nate was in the middle."

"I'm sorry that happened."

"Yeah, now I feel kind of guilty, if I had compromised I might still have a family. But then, there's us. I mean, I can't compare, but you know we had something special, right?"

Kate swirled the wine around in her glass wishing it wasn't true, she jumped as Mike placed his hand on her knee.

"And, for what it's worth, I don't mean any disrespect towards Jim."

"I know, I think I've just got to stop thinking that I'm betraying him. I know my happiness meant the world to him."

"Kate, you've done a wonderful job raising Maddie, he would be so proud of both of you..."

Kate brought her eyes up to meet his, it felt like they was staring into her soul.

"Thanks, that means a lot."

"So, what about you?"

"Maddie has been my life... I mean, I dated, but it was too hard, plus I had her to think of, how confusing would it be trying to reminder of the great person her father was and then date other people, it seemed wrong."

"You were always loyal Kate, she wound want you to be happy too."

"Yeah, I know, look umm I thought I should mention to, Lieutenant Butterworth..."

Mike rolled his eyes and let out a small groan.

"Ah, yes the Dutchy doppelgänger..."

"Ah, yeah, well he asked me out originally, but we're jut friends."

"Good! You're all mine then!"

Kate let out a scoff at his cockiness.

"Well, your arrogance certainly hasn't changed."

"It's not arrogance Kate, it's knowing in my heart that this is our second chance."

He moved closer taking the glass from her and placing it on the table, Kate swallowed hard, unsure if she was ready for what was about to happen. He gently pushed the hair away from her face and leaned in, she closed her eyes as their lips met. She swore in her head, that spark was still there, she sunk into the kiss feeling like it was 25 years ago at Watson's bay.

End Chapter 12