Promise to Love Me, Even When You Hate Me.
Chapter 8.
The next morning Kate awoke on the couch, she groaned as she attempted to re-position her body, but she couldn't move. Opening one eye she flinched seeing Dutchy's body intertwined with hers, she lay there for a minute feeling protected, she fit so perfectly in his nook. Shaking the inappropriate thoughts from her mind, she tried to remove herself from the couch without waking him, but she caught her foot on his leg and stumbled and fell on top of him. He jolted upright, startled at her body falling on top of his.
"Oh, sorry, Dutchy…"
She instantly moved herself to the other side of the couch as he sat up and stretched his arms.
"What time is it?"
She peered over the kitchen counter to the microwave.
"It's 10am."
He rubbed his eyes as he arched his back.
"Good sleep in, pity it wasn't in a comfortable bed though, I guess I better get back to mine."
Kate avoided eye contact and shifted in her seat feeling awkward about their close sleep over.
"Oh, yeah, cool…"
He smirked and playfully punched her on her arm.
"Don't tell me you're gonna miss me?"
She scoffed and rose from the couch and headed into the kitchen.
"Yeah, sure…"
"Umm, catch you later? I'm sure the others will be up for a pub night?"
"Maybe."
Later that day Kate sat on the couch with her computer, the screen full of surveillance photos, bank statements, character assessments and psychologist reports, all belonging to Dutchy. She massaged her temples, processing it all was giving her a headache. She had investigated dodgy officers most of her career, she knew their traits, their personalities, but her gut feeling was that there was more to him than just a straight up bad guy, and her gut was generally right. She sighed as she scanned through his bank statement, there were multiple large deposits dated from the past few months. Her eyes narrowed as she read the descriptions of the transactions.
"Who is that from?"
She clicked over to his Naval Profile.
"What is your motivation?"
She scrolled through the documents and read through his psychologist reports.
"Revenge? But, you don't hate your job, well, not obviously. You say you love the crew, that they're your family, you wouldn't do this to your family…"
She grabbed her phone and searched through her contacts, she pressed on a name and placed her phone between her ear and her shoulder. She continued to open other documents on the computer as the phone rang.
"Sam, it's me… yeah I'm good, this one's getting to me though. Did Warren get you to trace any deposits for Dylan Mulholland? No? Okay, can you do me a favour? Find out where these deposits came from? I'll send you the account details... Thanks, ASAP if possible, I'll owe you one, great, talk soon!"
She let the phone drop from her shoulder as she opened an email and attached the screen shots.
Later that night the crew were having a get together at the pub, Kate had ignored the messages from Dutchy asking her to go. She had just made herself comfortable on the couch, about to start her Grey's Anatomy marathon when the doorbell rang. She let out a huff and stomped to the door and looked through the peephole, it was Dutchy. She raised an eyebrow as she opened the door.
"What's up?"
"Did you get my message? Thought you might want to come and have a drink with the crew?"
"Nah, not tonight…"
"Oh, c'mon, break out some of the new clothes, and I'll ignore the fact you haven't complimented me on my outfit yet…"
She looked him up and down and noticed he was wearing the clothes she had picked out for him.
"Very nice…"
She tried to resist as he entered the house and pushed her towards the stairs.
"Break out the fun Kate, you know you want to!"
She exhaled sharply and plodded up the stairs, she knew he wasn't going to give in.
"Fine, give me 20 minutes…"
Half an hour later she descended the stairs in the dress he had picked out for her, he rose from the couch and smiled.
"Still looks good! Oh, umm, and I got you something…"
They walked over to the kitchen counter, he handed her the larger of the 2 parcels that sat on the bench. She inspected the flat, rectangle shaped object wrapped in brown paper.
"What is it?"
"Just open it!"
Kate carefully peeled off the sticky tape from one end as Dutchy bounced impatiently up and down on the spot. He let out a groan and ripped open the other end.
"Come on!"
She laughed and snatched the parcel away from him.
"Hey, it's my present, I'll unwrap it how I like!"
He rolled his eyes and placed a hand on his hip, she smirked in his direction as she slowly undid the next piece of tape knowing it would drive him crazy. He let out a louder groan and rolled his head back in disgust, she laughed at his childish reaction and tore off the last piece. She flipped it over to reveal a panoramic photograph in a large white frame, Dutchy stood beside her and admired the work of art. She squinted at the photo, the scene looked so familiar.
"Where is this?"
"It's the place we visited yesterday…"
She held it out in front of her and smiled, she walked over to the lounge and removed one of her paintings and hung it on the wall.
"It's beautiful…"
"Well, you're the one who took it…"
"Dylan, this is so thoughtful of you!"
"Yeah, well, now you can see the beauty in the world every day."
She took a step back pretending to admire the photo, but in reality she wanted to be out of his eyeline as she felt tears well in her eyes. He walked back over to the counter giving her time to compose herself. He picked up the other package and went to hand it to her, but he pulled it back at the last second.
"Hey, you've never called me Dylan before…"
She snatched the other package from him and eagerly ripped it open.
"Huh? Yes, I have…"
She flung the paper to the side, it was another photo frame, it contained the selfie that he took of them. One half of the frame had the photo of Kate rolling her eyes, and other half had the one of them both smiling.
"And this is a reminder that life doesn't always have to be so serious…"
Kate's eyes were fixed on the photo, she had never seen herself like this, she looked normal, happy even. Dutchy made his way to the front door and opened it, he turned assuming she would follow, but she was still staring at the photo.
"You okay?"
Kate snapped back to reality and placed the photo on the counter and sighed.
"Dutchy…"
He tilted his head confused by her tone.
"Yeah?"
She hesitated for a moment and shook her head and grabbed her bag from the chair.
"Never mind…"
He laughed as she waked passed him out the door.
"You're a strange one, McGregor…"
Kate approached the pub, she got to the doors and stopped, Dutchy bumped into her not expecting her to stop.
"You okay?"
"Ah, yeah…"
Dutchy could tell she was nervous, gave her an encouraging nudge.
"They don't bite! C'mon!"
She brushed off her dress and straightened her posture, he gave her a nudge with his elbow as they entered the pub.
"Hey, at least if they don't like your personality, you know you look great!"
Her jaw dropped and she playfully shoved him back with both of her hands.
"Well, I don't think it'll be a problem, they like you, don't they?"
They continued to rile each other up as they approached the crew, 2Dads split off from the group as he saw them.
"Dutchy! Ah, X! good to see you, didn't expect you…"
She winced hoping the crew were going to be accepting of her presence, she knew she needed to bring out 'Fun Kate', and fast. Placing a smile on her face she gave 2Dads a friendly pat on the back.
"Ah, yeah, thought I'd better come keep an eye on you lot."
2Dads looked uneasy, Kate laughed and rolled her eyes.
"Relax, 2Dads, we're off duty!"
He almost sighed with relief, Dutchy wrapped his arm around his shoulders.
"First rounds on you I think!"
2Dads eyes lit up and peeled Dutchy's arm off of him.
"Shots it is…"
He walked off to the bar, Kate shot Dutchy a worried look, he laughed and grabbed her by the shoulders.
"C'mon Kate, relax! Let them get to know the real you!"
The smile dropped from her face, the real Kate, she had no idea who that was. Dutchy noticed her hesitant expression.
"Oh, c'mon, you let me in, that wasn't that hard, was it?"
She placed a smile back on her face and shook her head, they walked over to the table and were greeted with enthusiasm. 2Dads returned with a tray of shots and handed them out.
"What are we toasting to?"
Mike held up his glass and nodded in Kate's direction.
"How about, to Kate, welcome to Hammersley!"
Charge nudged her.
"Oh yeah, this is your first pub night isn't it? Welcome to the family!"
Kate smiled and charged her glass.
"To family…"
They all swallowed their shots, Kate cringed as the liquid burnt down her throat, Dutchy patted her on the back.
"Ugh, what was that?"
Charge cleared his throat and gathered up the glasses.
"Oh, X, I'll get you something tasty…'
Charge shimmied to the bar and turned and called out.
"Guava Mojo!"
A chorus of "Guava Mojo" rang out amongst the crew.
Swain positioned himself next to Dutchy and looked him up and down.
"So, you got a new lady friend, mate?"
Dutchy was thrown by his question and tilted his head.
"Ah, no, what makes you think that?"
He pulled on his shirt and looked him up and down.
"Ah, you're upgraded look, it's good."
Dutchy smiled and spun around showing it off.
"Hey, I've always had style, but, you like?"
Swain nodded and sipped on his beer.
"Yeah, very nice…"
Dutchy leaned in and whispered in his ear.
"It's still me though, right?"
"Yeah, looks good, mate!"
He wrapped his arm around Kate and pulled her towards them.
"Well, I can thank the X for my enhanced look."
Swain nearly choked on his mouthful, he took another sip of his beer in an attempt to cover his surprised looking face.
"Oh, so, umm, you had a bit of a shopping trip?"
Kate couldn't hold in her giggles thinking of Dutchy in the bikini.
"You could say that!"
She looked over to Dutchy and burst out laughing. Swain's eyes darted back and forth from Kate to Dutchy, he was lost.
"Ah, did I miss something?"
Dutchy eyes widened giving her a warning, Kate couldn't help herself, 'Fun Kate' had been unleashed.
"Yeah, you totally missed Dutchy in a pink frilly bikini…"
Charge nearly dropped the tray of cocktails on the table as he returned hearing Kate's comment.
"Ah, what?!"
Dutchy knew he wasn't going to be able to change the subject, he rubbed his hands over his face.
"It was a dare, okay?"
Charge handed out the Guava Mojo's and laughed.
"Sure, sure! Man, what I would pay to see that…"
Kate took a large gulp of her cocktail.
"Oh, no you don't wanna see that! Trust me…"
She glanced down at her glass and nodded with approval.
"And yeah, Charge, this tastes great!"
She swallowed the rest of her glass as Charge took a bow and handed her another one.
"You're welcome!"
Placing the empty glass on the table, she took a sip of the next one. Charge leaned close to Dutchy and whispered in his ear.
"Do I tell her how much alcohol is in them?"
Dutchy shook his head, Kate sat down and glanced over to Charge raising an eyebrow.
"How much would you pay? Hypothetically?"
Charge sat down beside her, his eyes widened with childlike excitement.
Kate grinned and took out her phone and placed it on the table, Dutchy's smile dropped off his face.
"You didn't?"
He went to snatch the phone off the table but 2Dads beat him to it, Dutchy lunged at 2Dads who threw the phone in Charge's direction. Charge eagerly flicked through the photos on Kate's phone, his jaw dropped as Dutchy's barely covered body appeared. He cringed and chucked the phone back on the table furiously rubbing his eyes.
"I can't un-see that!"
Dutchy snatched the phone off the table before anyone else could see the photo.
"Aww, come on, you could have at least taken it from my good side…"
Kate laughed and took her phone back.
"That's every side!"
Later that night Kate stood at the bar waiting to order another round, Mike approached and stood next to her.
"Having a good night?"
"Oh, Boss, hi, yeah, actually, I am…"
"Good, you know, I think we're gonna make a good little team…"
He leaned on the bar and glanced back at the crew.
"You're never gonna want to leave…"
She gave him a halfhearted smile and picked up the tray of drinks.
"Yeah…"
Later that night Kate and Dutchy made their way home, they had a few too many drinks, so they left their cars at the pub. They stumbled along the footpath giggling, Dutchy gave her a slight hip and shoulder.
"I can't believe you took a photo of me in that bikini…"
"I couldn't help it, thought it might come in hand later when needed a favour or..."
"Or what? To blackmail me…"
She shrugged smiling a devilish grin and skipped ahead.
"Maybe…"
He jogged after her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
"You know, I take it back, you're not a strange one, you're a total mystery!"
The next morning Kate's phone rang on her bedside table making her jolt upright in bed. She was about to reach for the phone when she felt the contents of her stomach rise, she lept out of bed and ran into the bathroom just in time.
A few minutes later she exited the bathroom wiping her face with a face washer, she placed it over her face and flopped back into the bed.
"Morning…"
She screamed and bolted back up hearing Dutchy's voice, the face washer falling into her lap. She looked to her left, Dutchy lay next to her, her eyes ran from his face down to his feet. She swallowed hard seeing he was in his boxers, her eyes widened terrified that something had happened, he let out a laugh knowing what she was thinking.
"Oh, seriously? Kate, I'm a gentleman…"
Kate picked up the face washer and placed it back over her face and slumped back onto her pillow, she wrinkled her face hearing him chuckle.
"Plus, if we did, you would remember…"
She patted the bed feeling for a pillow, gripping it tight she hurled it in his direction. She felt the bed move and exhaled with relief.
"Yes, leave me in peace, please."
He walked around to her side of the bed and stood above her removing the face washer.
"Sorry, no such luck! The Boss called your phone when you were, umm, preoccupied, we're sailing today, now…"
She sat up back up and clutched her head as the throbbing intensified.
"Wait, you answered my phone?"
"Yeah, why?"
Kate maneuvered herself to the edge of the bed and hunched herself over and let out a groan.
"Cos it won't look good…"
Dutchy rolled his eyes at her assumption.
"What? The boss knows you'd never break a rule, he has met you right?"
She let out a scoff and headed to the bathroom and slammed the door.
Kate boarded The Hammersley and was able to get to her cabin without running into any of the crew. She flopped on to her rack still feeling like death, a few seconds later there was a knock on her door. She let out a groan and rolled off her rack, she leaned against the door as she opened it.
Mike stood on the other side not looking impressed, she straightened herself in an attempt to look less hungover.
"Oh, Boss…"
"Big night?"
She winced as he walked into her cabin and shut the door, she knew she was in for a talking to. She sat on her rack unable to make eye contact with him.
"Sorry, Boss, I know out of everyone I should be the responsible one, but I was just trying to, you know, relate to the crew."
Mike sighed as sat on her desk chair, he didn't know how to say was he wanted to say delicately, so he was just going to say it.
"Kate, you're the last one that I thought I'd be quoting the non-fraternisation rule too…"
She jumped off her rack and hit her head in the process, she fell back on to the rack rubbing her head.
"Boss, I think you have the wrong idea…"
Mike scooted the chair closer to her.
"Really? Dutchy answered your phone this morning, he said you woke him up with your vomiting in the en-suite."
"Yeah, but Boss, we're just friends…"
She looked up into his eyes hoping that he believed her.
"Kate, just, don't put yourself in that situation…"
She couldn't help herself, she shook her head and wrinkled her nose.
"Boss, I think that's a little unfair, I mean, what? So I can't have friends stay over?"
"No, not at all, but, look you're in a position of power, and sometimes people…"
She stood from the rack and paced around him.
"Hang on, what are you saying? That he's using me or something…"
"No, Kate, I mean, I trust Dutchy with my life, it's just, well…"
"Boss, just spit it out."
She sat back on the rack and glared in his direction.
"Kate, look I'm not saying that guys and girls can't be friends, but if you do find yourself feeling… look, when you spend so much time together and, well, you can't help who you fall for…"
Kate shook her head and scoffed.
"Yes, you can! Boss, I can reassure you there is nothing going on between me and Dutchy…"
"Okay, well just as long as both of you know that…"
"Huh? Are you saying he's got feelings for me?"
Mike rubbed his neck feeling awkward, the discussion wasn't going to plan.
"Ah, no, it's more of a, umm, this isn't coming out right, all I'm saying is, just be careful…"
The conversation had got out of hand, Kate couldn't deal with it in her current state.
"Okay, Boss, I hear you loud and clear…"
Mike nodded and made a quick exit leaving her with her hangover. She lay back on her rack and attempted to get comfortable, it was no use, she was irritated. She made her way to the galley in search of coffee, 2Dads stood at the bench waiting for the kettle to boil.
"Oh, good morning, Ma'am…"
She forced a smile and leaned herself against the bench.
"There's nothing good about it."
He let out a chuckled and poured them both a cup.
"Guava Mojo?"
She let out a groan and closed her eyes, just thinking about them made her want to run to the bathroom.
"I don't ever want a Guava Mojo again…"
2Dads looked over to and could see she was struggling.
"Ah, why don't you go sit in the mess and I'll bring it in to you."
She didn't have the strength to argue, she made her way to the mess and sat with her head on the table. 2Dads placed the cup near her head and sat down opposite her.
"So, you had a goodnight though?"
She lifted her head and took a small sip from the mug.
"Yeah, I guess…"
"So, you and Dutchy are like, well, friends now?"
She let out a groan and place her head back on the table.
"Oh, not you too…"
"Huh?"
"Just, sick of people assuming things…"
She turned her head in his direction her cheek squashed against the table.
"Actually, do you think guys and girls can just be friends?"
2Dads sipped on his brew thinking about it.
"Well, yeah, I mean, well, I'm a bad example, I tend to fall for a lot of my female friends, but definitely. I mean, I don't think you've got anything to worry about, you're not his type."
He hesitated realising it may have come across offensive.
"Oh, I mean, look, that's not a bad thing…"
Kate let out a scoff, it was a bad thing, she needed Dutchy to fall for her, he patted her arm trying to reassure her.
"He's a good friend, X, he's always been there for me. Don't let the tough guy exterior fool you, he's been through a bit…"
"Yeah, I know about the boarding incident…"
"No, I mean, there' more …"
She sat up intrigued by his claim, her head throbbed, she supported it with her hand.
"Really? Like what?"
"It's not my business to tell, X, sorry, but just, give him a chance…"
"What? I am, what has he said?"
2Dads laughed, she was always so defensive, this is exactly what he meant.
"Well, exactly like you're being, he tries to talk, but then if he's faced with, well, a wall, he'll shut down."
"No, I get it…"
"Yeah well, I feel like I owe him, I was a bit of a pain in the ass at the beginning…"
Kate gave him a shove and put on a sarcastic tone.
"No, I never would have guessed…"
"Yeah, I know, so, it was either this or juvie, and I resisted for months, but he took me under his wing and, well, here we are, 3 years later and I'm still here…"
Kate couldn't help but smile.
"Well, that's good, the CO said he'd trust him with his life…"
"Yeah, if there's anyone you want to have your back, it's him."
"C'mon, he' got to have some bad qualities…"
2Dads shook his head as he took another sip of his coffee.
"Nope, well, apart from stubbornness, his over protectiveness, his, nah, kidding, why? What have you heard?"
"Ah, nothing, just, just making sure…"
Dutchy knocked on the door frame making them both jump.
"Having a gossip session are we?"
Kate placed her head back down on the table, 2Dads and Dutchy laughed as Dutchy sat down next to Kate. He placed a hand on her shoulder causing her to flinch, Dutchy frowned a little hoping it was just her fragile, hungover state. 2Dads noticed their strange exchange and excused himself.
"I'll umm, catch up with you guys later..."
Dutchy shifted into 2Dads' seat not wanting Kate to feel uncomfortable.
"So, you're not good I take it?"
"I haven't felt like this since I was 21"
"Oh, so there were some crazy party days in your past life?"
Kate let out a scoff and sipped on her brew.
"Maybe one or 2, definitely no more than 3..."
Dutchy rolled his eyes and sat back next to her and rubbed her back.
"Oh, c'mon! You need to live more!"
Kate wasn't in the mood for his niceties, she was hungover, embarrassed by the fatherly lecture/advice that Mike had attempted to give and irritated that he seemed to be the most beloved person in the navy. Nothing was making her job easy, especially him. She let out a groan as Dutchy rose from the bench.
"I'll help you back to your cabin..."
He reached out to help her up, she snatched her arm back.
"I'm fine..."
She winced realising that she was taking her agitated state out on him, Dutchy stepped aside and allowed her to exit first, he shook his head and followed her.
He stopped at her to her cabin on the way to the bridge, he leaned on her door frame as she went to close the door.
"Remember, X, boundaries don't keep other people out, they fence you in..."
He walked off with a smirk on his face leaving Kate dazed by his words, she went to close the door when she had a lightbulb moment.
"Hey, that's a line from Grey's..."
Dutchy turned back and winked at her.
"Yeah, sure, and I'm McDreamy!"
End of Chapter 8.
