Later that afternoon, standing barefoot in her kitchen, Kate slowly stood slicing the vegetables she was going to use to make their salad. She had spent the remainder of the day outside on her balcony, overlooking the water as she allowed her mind to wander, following the news Mike had given her.

She had gone over it in her head, again and again, trying to establish why she felt so heartbroken by the news, where those emotions stemmed from and what she needed to ask, and to tell Mike about when she saw him.

As she lifted the wine glass to her lips and took a sip, she heard a knock at the door. Releasing a large sigh she walked toward her front door, opening it to find Mike standing on the other side.

"Hey, Kate." He said softly, his eyes locking with hers as though he was trying to read her emotions.

"Hey…" she responded, her voice in the same tone. She opened the door wider and gestured for him to come inside.

As he followed her through her house, he smiled to himself, the familiar smell of her intoxicating him.

"I'm just finishing preparing dinner, do you want a wine?" Kate asked as she gestured toward the stools in her kitchen.

"Hmm, I would love one. I can get it though" he responded, walking behind her as she stood at the island bench again. In the kitchen he had grown so familiar in over the years, my reached for a wine glass, Mike poured himself a drink, topping up her glass in the process. As he took his first sip, he looked towards her. The woman before him who had stolen his heart all those years ago. He watched as her brow furrowed slightly as she chopped the cucumber and chuckled to himself.

"What?" she asked, turning her head slightly in his direction, as she glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes.

He shook his head and smiled "No, nothing…"

Kate narrowed her eyes at him slightly, before passing him a dish to take to the table.

As they finished their meal, growing tired of the small talk, Kate placed her cutlery on her plate, pushing it forward slightly on the table to signify that she had finished eating.

Mike moved to stand, but she quickly interrupted. "Mike, sit. Enough avoiding the issue. We need to discuss this now; we've been skirting around this conversation all night."

Sighing, he sat back down. He knew this was coming, that's why he was here. He just had no idea how the conversation was going to play out.

"I need you to let me speak, Mike." Kate started, watching as he nodded slowly. "I've been thinking about this all day… and I need to get this off my chest."

"Kate…" Mike interrupted, reaching for her hand.

Pulling her hand back, Kate shook her head. "No, Mike. The physical contact… that's what we're good at. We need to talk. Really talk."

She watched as he clasped his hands together in his lap, and nodded softly, allowing her to continue.

"I know we're not very good at this" Kate chucked nervously as she waved her hand between them, he smiled softly in her direction."…And I know we both find it very difficult to talk about our feelings…. "

Taking a deep breath, Kate whispered "Were you… or… are you in love with her?"

Mike looked at her, the level of vulnerability in her voice foreign to him. "Maxine? Kate, no. god no. Not then, and certainly not now. We had a one-night stand, 19 years ago. We were both drunk… "

Kate nodded slowly, looking down at her lap still. "Do you still love me?" she whispered.

"Kate…" Mike started, his heart breaking at the question. "You know I love you…?"

"No, Mike… I don't." she admitted, lifting her chin to look at him, eyes brimming with tears.

He was always amazed at how magnificently green her eyes became when she was emotional.

"I don't know you love me, because you've never said it…" She admitted.

"Kate…"

"No, Mike… you have also done nothing to show that you love me either…" her eyes met his as the both tried to work out what to say.

"Kate…" Mike's voice hitched, fuelled with emotion. "You…" he sighed "I…" he closed his eyes and rubbed his eyelids with his thumb and pointer finger.

Kate watched on, her heart constricting as she watched him struggle to articulate what he wanted to say. "It's okay if you don't, or if you don't know Mike. I just, I feel like neither of us really know where the other stands anymore… we've gone through moments of anguish, love, fury… god, I feel like we've felt every emotion towards each other. Maybe not necessarily at the same time as one another, but we've been there."

Mike nodded in agreeance.

"And it's okay Mike, if you don't know how you feel now too… but I suppose what I'm trying to work out is where I stand in this situation for you. If it's friendship that you want, then I will try and support you as best I can. But Mike, if it is just friendship, you need to let me go. Emotionally. I need to be able to move on from you, to find love, without feeling like you're one step behind me trying to control it."

Mike sighed audibly "Kate…"

"I'm not finished." She cut him off, the Kate McGregor 'look' etched across her features. "Because that's what I've been trying to do, with Jim. Trying to move on from you. We're tied together with this ship, Maxine sure as hell isn't willing to separate us professionally" Kate scoffed.

"Kate, that's not fair…" Mike interrupted.

Glaring back at him "It is a very fair statement, Mike Flynn. You can't possibly not understand that she's keeping us together professionally on aboard Hammersley to keep us apart in our personal lives." Her eyes narrowed in his direction in disbelief.

"I think you've got your wires crossed their Kate. Maxine is a friend… I've known her a long time."

"I'm painfully aware of that Mike."

"I suppose I deserve that.'

"You should know, she approached me at NAVCOM not that long ago. She warned me to stay away. That our relationship could cost you your career in the Navy."

"Oh Kate. I'm sure that that is just a misunderstanding…"

"Why are you choosing not to believe me Mike?" Kate defended herself, her voice raising.

"What I don't understand is what she would she get out of warning you to stay away?"

Kate scoffed, laughing to herself "Mike, she obviously still harbours feelings for you. It makes more sense to me now, now that we know about Ryan."

"That's not true, Kate."

Kate stood abruptly; her chair being thrust back as she hit her palms onto the dining table. "If you're not willing to actually talk about all of the issues here, you can just leave." Grabbing the plates Kate walked back to the kitchen,

Mike watched on as she disappeared, the sound of the dishes clanging seemed to match the mood she was now in. Mike waited a minute until the sounds from the kitchen sounded less aggressive before following her.

"Kate…" he started, leaning in the doorway. He watched as her shoulders shook gently as she stood over the sink, her posture giving away her emotional state.

In a kinder tone he repeated himself "Kate…"

She quickly sniffed and wiped at her cheeks before turning around.

"I can't do this Mike" she confessed "I don't know why I thought it would be different this time."

Mike walked closer to her, closing the gap between them.

She shook her head as she leaned against the bench top, tears silently running down her cheeks. "Please, don't." she whispered as he gently cupped her cheeks, his thumbs wiping the tears from under her eyes.

"I know the last few years have been difficult, and I don't want to be the cause of anymore pain for you Kate." Mike whispered, before resting his forehead against hers. "But I just need you to know how much I love you, I've always loved you… back at ADFA, when I was with Ursula, I just wanted to try not to think about you. I think that's what scares me. The depth of my love for you…" He pulled his head back slightly, hands lifting her face up so he could look into her eyes.

"Mike, I love you too… but we both know that's not the issue here. To be honest, our biggest issue isn't even about Ryan."

"The navy." Mike sighed.

"Our jobs make it impossible for us to be together, let alone having Maxine in charge." Kate scoffed.

"I had no idea that she had warned you off Kate. I certainly didn't ask her to do that, and I'll be speaking to her about it."

Kate shrugged, her piercing green eyes looking up into his brilliant blue ones.

"I am truly sorry." Mike acknowledged, upset at the knowledge of how he had made her feel all these years.

"I know, it's as much my fault as it is yours… I think we've both pushed our feelings aside for so long. Tried to move on from each other…"

Mike cocked his head, watching for her to continue.

"I think what we need to decide now, is if we really want to make things work between the two of us. Because I know that I love you, Mike. I know that you also love me. But there is a huge difference between loving one another, and making sacrifices so that we can be together."

Mike nodded before looking down at his feet.

"And Mike, I need you to be brutally honest with me. With yourself. Because I don't know if I'll survive thinking I'm going to spend the rest of my life with you, only to be left heart broken again."