Hey everyone,
hope everyone is staying safe! My state has unfortunately been placed into lockdown, however I am classified as an essential worker so I've had to escape to fanfic land after the nut bag filled day! Lets hope the ext week goes fast!
xx
Somebody That I Used To Know.
Chapter 13.
Dutchy and Jack jogged down the esplanade in silence, each of them glancing over to the other, not knowing how to start a conversation. Stopping at a bench to stretch, Jack cleared his throat, breaking the awkward silence.
"So, you and Katie, how close are you guys exactly?"
Dutchy's eyes remained firmly fixed on the ground, afraid his expression would give away his dismay.
"She's my best friend… Why? You still in to her?"
Dutchy froze, not believing the tactless question that had left his mouth, Jack was his boss, he could make his life hell. He continued to stretch hoping Jack hadn't taken offence, Jack chuckled seeing his nervous expression and gave him a friendly shove.
"It's okay, mate, we're off the ship. Look, I'll always have a soft spot for her, but, our relationship is in the past. Anyway, I think she's a bit upset with me…"
"Dare I ask why?"
Jack flopped on to the bench, Dutchy placed himself next to him.
"I made the mistake of telling her, that back then, I may have bought a ring."
Dutchy's face twitched, uncertain how he should react to the supposedly shocking news he was already aware of.
"Oh…"
Jack rolled his eyes, seeing through his act.
"You already knew, didn't you?"
Dutchy nodded ever so slightly.
"You guys must be close then, I'm glad she's got someone to talk to."
"So, you really don't want to rekindle anything?"
"I'm just glad to be in her life again, if she's happy, I'm happy. Ah, while we're talking about Kate, what happened? How did she get amnesia?"
Dutchy exhaled sharply, reliving the night was not something he enjoyed.
"It was a car accident. We're not quite sure what caused it, it was pouring with rain, she might have over corrected and hydroplaned. She slammed in to a barrier, she was trapped in the car for a while before anyone found her, she was 8 months pregnant."
"Jesus."
"Yeah, she was pretty lucky. She was in the hospital for a while…"
Dutchy removed himself from the bench and continued to walk down the esplanade, Jack quickly followed behind him.
"So, she had to come back to shore cos of her memory?"
"Ah, no, she applied for the transfer beforehand, but she was pregnant, so probably happened for the best."
"Fair enough, strange though, she never really talked about kids, she was such a career person."
"Yeah, she was like that when she first arrived, but seeing her with Aria, she's a great mum."
"I have no doubt she would be, and her hubby to be, he's a good bloke, right?"
Dutchy hesitated, worried it would get back to Kate that they were talking behind her back.
"Yeah, they've known each other for ages, he's actually, umm her old CO…"
Jack stopped dead in his tracks, grabbing Dutchy's shoulder, checking he heard correctly.
"Wait, Kate McGregor is marrying her CO? Man, she must have changed, breaking all the rules."
"No, it wasn't like that. They met at a course years ago so..."
Jack chuckled at Dutchy's defensiveness.
"Yeah, okay, that kinda makes more sense."
"Yeah, I mean, they've been on and off, but ah, maybe she should tell you more about it. C'mon I'll race you to the end of the jetty."
Kate farewelled Bird and returned to the spare room, placing Aria into the cot, she stood in front of the wardrobe.
"What else has Uncle Dutchy got in his magical wardrobe?"
Aria let out a squeal as she slid open the door.
"Hey, don't judge me..."
Rummaging around in a drawer, she frowned as she pulled out a pink teddy bear with Aria's name sewn on its belly.
"Aww, look, I wonder why he hasn't given this to you."
She placed the bear next to her and turned her attention back to the wardrobe. Pulling out more drawers, she discovered dummies, baby Panadol and other random things.
"Wow, he really was prepared."
Her hand hit something hard, a photo frame containing a picture of Aria and Dutchy, she was only hours old.
"This should be on show."
She placed it on the bedside table and stood back, admiring it for a moment.
Jack and Dutchy arrived back at his house, Kate quickly slid the door shut and sat back on the bed. Jack knocked on the door and poked his head in.
"You decent?"
She scoffed as he smirked and entered the room, sitting beside her he wanted to ask how she was but didn't want to make her feel pitied.
"Why don't we have our dinner tonight, huh? Get you out, I'm sure Dutchy would be happy to look after Aria?"
Shaking her head, she tucked her feet under the blanket.
"I'm not really in the mood."
He ruffled her hair and rose from the bed.
"Great, Ill pick you up at six."
He said his farewells and left. Kate made her way out to the lounge room and placed herself next to Dutchy on the couch.
"He's seems like a nice guy…"
"Yeah, he reminds me of you actually…"
"Really?"
"Yeah, tough guy, a big goofball, but you can't help but love him…"
"Aww, you're making me blush."
A sharp pain ran though Kate's temple, she winced, holding her hands to her forehead.
"Kate? You okay?"
"This damn headache… I'm gonna take some painkillers and lay down, you okay to look after Aria?"
"What about your dinner?"
"He'll have to take no for an answer for once."
Later that night Jack knocked on Dutchy's door, he swung open the door.
"Hey!"
"How's she doing?"
"Umm, she's still in her room."
"I've got food, and wine, it'll help."
Dutchy stopped him before he opened the door and handed him a bottle of whiskey.
"Trust me."
He shrugged, taking the bottle from him, and knocked on Kate's door.
"Katie..."
He opened the door, flicking on the light. Kate pulled the covered over her face and groaned.
"Sleeping."
He perched himself on the edge of the bed and dangled the bag of food near her face.
"Wakey, wakey."
Letting out a groan, she pushed the bag away and turned herself over.
"C'mon Katie, talk to me, if you remember me then you'll remember what a great listener I was."
She sat back up, throwing the covers off her.
"Tell me who I am, who I would have turned into."
Jack grasped her hands in his, giving them a squeeze.
"Exactly the person you are now."
She groaned as she opened the bag of take away and pulled out a spring roll, taking a bite she rolled her eyes.
"You're not being helpful."
"And neither are you, instead of just dealing with it you're sulking."
"Ah, I'm pretty sure you'd sulk if you couldn't remember some of the most important parts of your life."
"Yeah, but what I don't understand is that to have a great support system, a husband to be, great friends, you can deal with this."
"Well, I'm glad you think it's so easy."
Jack's raised an eyebrow as his held tilted to the side.
"Kate, what's the real problem here?"
"What do you mean?"
"Something else is preventing to from moving on, I can tell. I wish I could help, but I haven't been here. I'm not the person to help you and it seems like the guy out there has replaced me."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing, Just glad you have someone who puts up with you and your stubbornness, that's all."
Jack winked in her direction giving her a playful shove, ignoring his jab she sighed as she peered into the bag and smiled.
"Shredded beef in Peking sauce?"
"You know it."
Jack took a bite out of Kate's spring roll.
"So, you and your CO, huh?"
Kate's jaw dropped and snatched the spring roll out of his hand and shoved the rest into her mouth.
"Dutchy told you."
"I asked."
"Yeah, we have a history, just, it's weird cos the last thing I remember about him is breaking my heart."
"Well, he obviously fixed it, hey. As long as he's good to you…"
"He is, well, that's what I'm told."
"Why do you sound so unsure?"
She shrugged, Jack stayed silent, Kate didn't understand his lack of response.
"What?"
"It's just, I've never seen Kate McGregor unsure of anything."
Later that night after Jack left, Kate found Dutchy on the deck having a drink.
"Thanks for letting me crash here and looking after Aria."
"No probs, what are best friends for?"
She grabbed her phone off the kitchen bench, there were multiple calls and message from Mike. She sat beside him, scrolling through the messages, she sighed placing her phone down and took his glass from his hand.
"That for me? Thanks!"
"Should you be drinking if you've already got a headache?"
She down the lot and slammed the glass on the table.
"I'm sick of thinking of the consequences, can you just be my drinking buddy tonight… I'm assuming we used to do that all the time?"
He grabbed another glass for himself and the bottle from the kitchen.
"So did Jack tell you anything new?"
"No, but he reckons you should be able to tell me everything I need to know, seeming you've replaced him."
Kate's phone vibrated on the table, Dutchy pushed it towards her.
"You gonna stare at those messages all night?"
"Jack thinks there's something preventing my mind from remembering, or rather something stopping me from moving on."
She downed another glass and wiggled it in front of Dutchy's face.
"I think this is actually helping the headache!"
Dutchy chuckled as he poured her another glass.
"Well, that sounds plausible."
"Ugh, let's change the topic, aren't you so sick of me and my drama? We need to find you a girl, a nice one, and before all of this I would have said Stacey."
"I don't know if you can really blame her, you were actually friends after all, weren't you? I don't believe for a minute that she would want to actually hurt you. And do I dare ask about Mike?"
"Hey, we were supposed to be talking about your love life how did it get back to me?"
Dutchy repositioned himself closer to her.
"Kate, look, I know you think your memories are important, and well, I just think if you looked inside yourself and trusted your gut, then... then you would know, so deep down, what do you feel?"
Kate swirled her drink around in her glass, she didn't want to think too much, afraid of the conclusion she would come to.
Looking up at Dutchy, she sighed, thankful for his friendship. Running her hand over his cheek, her eyes locked with his, unable to look away, she leaned towards him. Dutchy's heart beat against his chest, unsure of what was about to happen. He moved away, he couldn't complicate things. Kate felt him pull away and immediately scooted backwards.
"God, Dutchy, I'm sorry…"
Placing a hand on her thigh, he tried to reassure her.
"It's okay, Kate. Just forget it…"
"It's not okay, what am I doing? I shouldn't drag you into this.."
Her lost expression killed him, he couldn't help it, moving closer until he brushed the stray hair away from her face. Looking deep in to her eyes he leaned in, their lips met in an explosion and their hands explored each other's body. Moments later Kate was brought back to reality and pulled away, she jumped off the couch, frozen in shock.
"I, I think, I should go…"
Backing away she frantically looked for her bag, Dutchy raced after her grabbing her arm.
"Kate, it's okay."
Shaking her head, she couldn't look him in the eyes.
"I'm sorry, I'm just confused and stressed, I shouldn't take advantage of our friendship like that… I'll get out of your hair, I shouldn't rely on you to listen to all my problems."
"Kate, you've been drinking, you can't drive."
Pulling away, she headed for the bedroom.
"Yeah, ah, I'm gonna go to bed then."
The door slammed shut and Dutchy collapsed onto the couch, raking his hands through his hair.
"Shit!"
Kate tossed and turned all night, her mind unable to settle either.
She heard voices in her head, but no image.
"Why are you doing this?"
"I told you..."
"I know you did, but I don't believe you!"
"Fine, I'll say it again, I love him, and not you! I just, I don't know how to make it any clearer, I'm sorry!
Kate bolted upright in bed, her chest heaving, her eyes darted around the room forgetting where she was for a moment. Pulling herself out of bed, she grasped her head, the throbbing had returned.
She quickly packed her and Aria's things and snuck out the front door, Dutchy heard the door click shut and raced out of bed, he caught up to her as she buckled Aria into the car.
"Kate, where are you going?"
"Home."
"So you've forgiven Mike?"
She frowned at his judgmental tone.
"Dutchy, if you've got something to say, just say it."
He stood there with a blank stare on his face, she raised an eyebrow at his silence waiting for him to say anything.
"What was that last night? You kissed me!"
"You tried to kiss me first!"
She turned her back on him, chucking her stuff into the back of the car.
"We'd been drinking..."
"So we're blaming the alcohol?"
She pushed past him and got into the driver's seat, starting the ignition she looked up at him for a moment but said nothing and drove away.
Kate sheepishly opened the front door, Aria as fast asleep in her carrier, she sat on the couch, placed Aria down beside her. Mike poked his head out from the study.
"Kate!"
She pressed her finger to her lips and pointed to Aria. Mike joined her on the couch, he grasped her hands in his.
"Kate, I'm so sorry, you wanted to know about the good times… it is every moment I spent with you. I love you, and I just…"
"Mike, I need to…"
"Just let me say this. I'm sorry, I keep stuffing this up and I don't know how to fix it. I think I'm doing the right thing and I'm wrong all the time. I may be putting my foot in it again, but Stacey has been asking after you, we're both sorry. She misses you, look, this is all my fault, don't take it out on her. She's actually helped me understand things too… I've taken the rest of the week off, I've told Maxine I can not be disturbed as I'm planning my wedding, if you'll still have me?"
Kate closed her eyes for a moment thinking of kiss she shared with Dutchy, she couldn't blow her life up on an impulse. Shaking the thought from her mind, she smiled back at him.
"Next shore leave too soon?"
End Chapter 13