It's a miracle guys, a new chapter already!

I was supposed to be at Disney World in Florida today, insert crying emoji, so instead, I have escaped to the Fanfic world to try to ease the pain!

I'm not sure what's going on with the site/ app but some feedback is not displaying, but rest assured I am getting it! I've just been super slack at replying! But again, big hugs to everyone that leaves a comment!

Live and Learn

Chapter 24.

Nate found Maddie sitting at a desk in the library, her head buried in a book. He sat down beside her, clearing his throat.

"Hey…"

Maddie glanced over to him then continued to read.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Ah, so I thought I'd let you know that I won't be joining you on sea training next week."

Maddie took a moment to absorb what he said, placing her book down, she turned to face him, giving him her full attention.

"What are you talking about?"

"I, umm, I'm leaving…"

Maddie's nose wrinkled, not believing him.

"What do you mean leaving?"

"Ah, well, Dutchy's offered me a traineeship to do PT at his gym."

She sat there staring at him, trying to comprehend her feelings, he nudged her sensing she was a little disappointed.

"Don't tell me you're going to miss me?"

"I guess I was kinda looking forward to kicking your arse on board, that's all!"

"Yeah, well, it's not a total waste. I guess being here has taught me some stuff, it made me realise that you have to really like what you do. But also, the rules on board makes it hard, and I guess having any type of meaningful relationship is difficult if both of the people are out at sea."

Maddie was confused about his reasoning, her eyes darted to his face trying to figure out what he really meant.

"Yeah, I guess, but what's that got to do with..."

"Cos I wanna ask you out."

He didn't mean to blurt it out, but he was nervous. Maddie felt her cheeks burn as a smile came over her face.

"Oh?"

He nodded, unable to form another word, he was mortified, but most of all he hoped she didn't think it was a joke after everything that had been said in the past.

"I mean, Tyler told me you broke up with him, and I didn't want to be that guy who asks out his friend's ex, but, I, I dunno, there's just something about you. Also, I spoke to Tyler, he actually asked when I was gonna ask you out. So, I figured that he was okay with it and if it's not weird, then…"

Maddie placed a hand on his, stopping his rambling.

"I'd love too…"

He glanced down at her hand on his and smiled.

"Cool, well I'll be living next door to your mum's place. Dutchy's offered me a room, cos Dad won't be around. So, I'll probably see you tomorrow, and we can arrange the details of our first date?"

She nodded as she picked up her book to cover her smile, she didn't want to seem too keen. He rose from his chair unable to hide his grin, he walked off and pumped his fist in the air, Maddie looked up in time to see and chuckled to herself.

The next morning Kate strolled over to Dutchy's house looking for him, she found him sitting on his deck enjoying the sun, she walked up behind him grabbing his shoulders making him jump.

"Do you ever work?"

"Hmm, apparently not."

She plonked herself down beside him and placed her head on his shoulder.

"So, go on, say it!"

"Say what?"

She sat up raising an eyebrow, she thought he would relish being right about her doomed relationship.

"I told you so..."

Dutchy repositioned himself on the chair, shaking his head, it was the last thing on his mind.

"Kate, I didn't want to be right, I never wanted him to hurt you..."

"I know... I just feel so stupid."

Dutchy smirked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, I would too..."

She scrunched her face, confused, and whacked him on the arm.

"What?"

"I'd feel stupid for pushing Charlie away..."

Kate scoffed and shoved him, sick of his teasing.

"Ugh, Dutchy, not with this again!"

Dutchy grabbed her chair and pulled it towards him, their faces inches a part.

"Kate, I'm serious! He likes you, he's a good guy, I promise."

Kate shook her head and shuffled her chair away from him.

"Dutchy..."

Dutchy waved his hands in the air, giving in.

"Okay, I don't wanna upset you lets change the subject, do you wanna hear some gossip?"

She looked over to him, her face displaying her classic disapproving Kate McGregor stare.

"Dylan Mulholland, are you rumour mongering?"

He leaned in close and whispered.

"Nate is leaving Creswell."

Kate's eyes widened, her jaw nearly hit the floor.

"What?"

"He's coming to work for me, I may have offered him a traineeship, and a room."

Kate leaned back in her chair, gob smacked.

"Why would you do that?"

"Hey, I wasn't trying to cause trouble, he asked. I mean, I have to give him some credit, it took some guts. I see how Nate is a mini Mike, but I think he's a little more evolved."

"Did you get an angry phone call?"

"Well, I got a message from Nate saying Mike wasn't happy, I felt so bad that I actually went to Creswell to talk to him. It must have made a difference because an hour later I got a message saying he said it was okay."

"Wow, I'm impressed…"

They sat there in silence for a moment, Dutchy gasped and grabbed Kate's arm.

"Oh, my, god, I just realised, you and Mike could be in Laws!"

Kate rubbed her hands over her face, not wanting to hear it.

"You're not helping!"

"Imagine if you two were still together, they'd be dating their step sibling."

Kate shuddered at both thoughts, Dutchy laughed and patted her shoulder.

"It'll be fine, look, I'm pretty sure he's gonna ask her out, so you gotta prepare yourself."

"Yeah, I know, I've gotta make all of this right."

"Why is this up to you?"

"It's not but, I know I was in the wrong too, I technically started it, there's no way I wanted us to break up like that."

"I know, but you've got to admit that the fact you kissed Charlie means that it was probably not going to work, anyway."

Kate sighed as she leaned her head on Dutchy's shoulder.

"Am I pathetic for hoping we can go back to friends, or at least professional friends?"

"No, you guys have a great professional history, I get it…"

"I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said about Mike and I's relationship."

"Yeah, probably. Look, I know he's not a bad guy, he's just bad at relationships with people I care about. So, was your heart set on going back out there?"

"I dunno, might have been the fact that Maddie will be gone, and I won't have her life to distract me."

"See, that's why you need a man."

She gave him a shove, a warning for bringing up the topic again.

"I know what you're trying to do."

His phone beeped, he read the message and replied with a cheeky smile, Kate tried to peer over his shoulder.

"Who's that?"

He clasped the phone to his chest.

"No one..."

"It's Charlie, isn't it?"

"Maybe, he says that he thinks he's upset you and wants me to go check on you. God Kate, you really can't see a good guy, can you?"

Kate folded her arms over her chest.

"I'm not talking about this, Dutchy."

A knock on the door saved her, Dutchy went to answer it as Kate stole a sip of his coffee. She couldn't help but flinch hearing Nate's voice, taking a deep breath in she got up knowing she should make an effort. Nate froze, and eyes widened seeing her, he didn't know what to say.

"Ah, Captain McGregor…"

Kate shook his hand, giving him a reassuring smile.

"I think Kate is okay now, Nate."

"Yeah, umm, thanks. How are you?"

Nate cringed, it was a dumb question, she had just been crushed by her boyfriend, his father. Kate could see he regretted his question and put on a bigger smile.

"Good, thanks, I hear you're having a little career change."

"Yeah, thanks to this guy!"

Nate gave him a friendly nudge with his elbow.

"And, umm, look, I know it's not any of my business, but, I'm sorry you didn't get the posting."

Kate swallowed hard, knowing her response needed to be diplomatic.

"Oh, that's sweet of you, I guess it wasn't my time."

There was an awkward pause, Nate was desperate to move the conversation on, but the next topic was just as touchy. He wanted to let Kate know about his intentions to date Maddie, scuffing his shoe along the floor he cleared his throat.

"Umm, also, I thought you should know I asked Maddie out yesterday…"

Dutchy grabbed his bags, wanting to make himself scarce.

"I'll just put these in your room."

Kate wasn't sure what to say, it's not that she wasn't happy about Maddie dating him, it was more Maddie dating in general.

"Well, thanks for letting me know, and you know you'll have more than one person to answer too if you hurt her…"

Nate's body stiffened, unsure whether she was being humorous.

"Yes, Ma'am, don't worry, Dutchy's already made that very clear."

The stern expression dropped from Kate's face and was replaced with a smile.

"Good, c'mon then, we better get to know each other..."

A few days later Maddie's graduation day had arrived, and Kate was a stressed mess. She threw her bag into the car and honked the horn, Dutchy came running out shoving a piece of toast into his mouth.

"Kate, calm down, we're gonna be on time, actually, we're going to be like 5 hours early."

"Dutchy, I can't risk being late, you know how Sydney traffic is…"

He rolled his eyes as he pulled the car door shut.

"Okay, I'm going to ignore all your unreasonable requests today, but only because your baby is graduating."

She turned the key in the ignition and started the car.

"Good, now put your seat belt on…"

Dutchy saluted and pulled on his seat belt. They sat in the terrible city traffic, he couldn't help himself, he knew she was stressed but he couldn't let the idea of her and Charlie go.

"So, umm, Brisbane is in port for a few days."

She shook her head as he eyes fixated on the traffic light.

"Dutchy, I don't wanna hear it."

"What do you mean? What if I was implying that Mike was in town for a bit longer, so you could make up?"

Kate let out a fake laugh, tapping impatiently on the steering wheel, still focused on the light.

"Yeah, sure, and I would be asking, has hell frozen over? Or did you have a stroke?"

"Yeah, okay, it was really about Charlie…"

"Dutchy, I swear to god I will push you out of the car over the Sydney harbour! C'mon, go green!"

He watched as Kate's grip tightened around the steering wheel, he was going to drop the Charlie topic but needed to raise another stress inducing topic.

"Okay, promise me you won't have an aneurysm, but, how do you feel about seeing Mike? Are you gonna be okay?"

Kate's grip loosed and shoulder dropped as she exhaled.

"Yeah, actually, I think I will be."

Dutchy was surprised at her composure, his brow furrowed, assuming she was lying to make him feel better.

"Really? So, you've forgiven him?"

Kate let out a hiss as the light turned green, and she slammed her foot on the accelerator.

"Finally! And, I didn't say I was forgiving him? I just can't be bothered hating him, like you said, we've had an amazing working relationship I just need to focus on that. We should have been smarter, history should have taught us that it wasn't going to work. Plus, I have to make it work, we may be in laws one day."

Dutchy laughed and patted her leg.

"Well, Captain, you've officially moved from motherhood to sainthood. You're a bigger person than I am."

Kate couldn't believe how grown up Maddie looked in her Whites. Maddie sprinted towards her and threw her arms around her.

"Mum! I can't believe I did it!"

"Of course you did!"

Mike approached with Liv, Tyler and Nate in tow, Kate's heart rate increased seeing him, she hugged the kids and gave Mike a friendly smile.

"Well done, you guys! And Nate, it was nice of you to come out!"

He wrapped his arm around Maddie, giving her a kiss on the head.

"Wouldn't miss the graduation of the next Chief of Navy, gotta see who's gonna be bossing dad around when he's a hundred and ten."

Kate laughed, it wasn't far from the truth, Mike cleared his throat looking in Kate's direction.

"Ah, do you guys mind giving Captain McGregor and I, a minute?"

They nodded and walked off, Maddie turned every so often checking on her mum, making sure she was okay.

Mike walked a few steps before his courage kicked in.

"So, umm, Maddie will make a fine officer..."

Kate nodded as she walked along.

"Yeah, I know..."

They continued to walk in silence, Mike stopped, he fiddled with his cap trying to find the right words.

"So, ah, I just wanted you to know, I tried and get out of it, I mean, I don't really expect you to forgive me but, I knew what I did was wrong."

Kate couldn't look him in the eye, she stood there stoned face, trying to channel her feelings into a productive sentence. She didn't really want to discuss it at Maddie's graduation, but she knew he was trying to make an effort, and truly wanted them to get along, the past had to count for something.

"It's okay, well it's not, but you know, I was in the wrong too. I should have told you what happened, and I just didn't know why I didn't. Maybe I was scared too, scared that we had made a mistake, again. I think maybe we were relying on our past too much?"

He gave her a half-hearted smile and replaced his cap.

"Yeah, what do they say? We live and learn."

Kate couldn't help but groan at his words, Mike was unsure about her strange reaction.

"What?"

"Nothing, it's just, Charlie said the same thing."

"Oh, umm, so are you guys..."

"Oh, no..."

"Okay, well while we're talking about awkward topics, our kids are dating?"

"Yeah, let's hope it doesn't go down the same path."

"Well, only one of them is in the navy, so that has to make it at least fifty percent easier?

Kate finally worked up the courage to look him in the eye, glancing up to him, she was met with his charming smile.

"Lets hope so…"

He gave her a friendly nudge, sensing she was feeling more comfortable.

"I know you like to follow the rules, but do you wanna know where Maddie is being posted?"

She shoved him back.

"You know?! I can't believe it wasn't the first thing you told me!"

"Well, I didn't know if you were going to talk to me… So, she's actually with me, on Brisbane."

Kate couldn't help but smile, even through all the drama she knew she would be safe with him. Mike wasn't sure if the smile was sincere.

"Wasn't sure how you'd react to that."

"Mike, no matter what, you were a great CO, I'm happy she'll learn from one of the best!"

"Thanks, and it's my honour to be the one there to experience it."

Dutchy cautiously approached, hoping Kate was okay.

"Kate!?"

Mike turned around, Dutchy flinched at his semi annoyed expression, realising he had interrupted a moment.

"Oh, sorry..."

Mike shook his hand.

"Dutchy, good to see you! Thanks again for taking Nate on, he's loving it."

"Yeah, no probs, I guess living next to his girlfriend when she's home also helps."

"Ah, I'll see you guys a bit later, official duties."

Mike left them to talk, Dutchy looked over to him as he walked away.

"Ah, sorry, didn't mean to interrupt."

"All good, we were just chatting."

"Yeah, so you guys are okay?"

She nodded smiling in his direction.

"Yeah, I think we will be."

She looked back over to Maddie who was hugging someone, she blinked a few times trying to focus as she saw the other person's face.

"Charlie's here?"

"Yeah, he wanted to come support everyone, cos he's a good guy."

She sighed as she looked over to him and they caught each other's eyes, he quickly looked away and gave Maddie another hug before walking in the opposite direction.

End Chapter 24.