Open Season

Disclaimer: Nope…still don't own anything :)

Okay then, here is chapter 4, I guess it could be better but I really just went with what I had at the time. I promise if you don't like this one, then the next one will be better. I think I'm pretty bad at writing, but I don't think that it could get any worse, it can only get better…at least I hope ;)


Chapter Four

Ava lay on her back, staring up at the top of the room. She couldn't seem to get to sleep. Maybe it was because she wasn't used to the constant motion of the boat, or maybe it was because she couldn't stop thinking about what was going to happen after the season ended. She turned her head to see what the time was, 2:04 a.m. She rolled her eyes. In the bed above her, she could hear her brother shift,

"Jake?" she asked. There was no answer.

"Jake?" she said, a little louder.

"Huh? What? What happened?" he asked, sitting up quickly. Ava winced,

"Sorry, I didn't mean to freak you out." Jake took a breath, but laid back down on his bed.

"No, it's okay, I don't mind." He said. Ava chuckled,

"Really?" she asked.

"…Okay I might mind a little, I mean I have to get up in like, and hour, but…what's wrong? Why are you awake?" he asked. Ava sighed,

"I haven't slept yet. I can't." Jake shifted,

"You haven't gotten to sleep yet?" he asked, slightly shocked.

"No." she said, turning on her side and pulling up the bed covers over her shoulders, trying to keep warm. No matter what she did, she just seemed to get colder and colder. She heard Jake shift again, but this time he ended up jumping down. He shoved her over and scooted in next to her. After she finally settled back in, she looked at him,

"What are you doing?" she asked. He laughed,

"My first time on the boat, I couldn't sleep either. Not even for an hour, and you know, on a crab boat, you at least have to have an hour of sleep here and there. So in my lame moment of weakness, dad asked Murray to take watch and he came into my room and sat with me. As girly as it made me feel, it really helped me. I figured you could use some help in YOUR lame moment of weakness." He said, smiling, even though he knew she couldn't see him. She whacked him in the shoulder, but she was laughing. She shifted so that she could face him,

"Hey Jake?" she asked.

"What?"

"Why do you fish? Why do you keep doing it, even though there's so much danger? Why do you risk it?" Jake paused. No one had really ever asked him that before, and he'd never really thought about it either. He shrugged,

"I don't know. You know, it's been in the family for so long." Ava nodded,

"But what makes YOU keep coming back?" Jake looked at her,

"…I guess it's the feeling of accomplishment that I feel after we come back and off load. It's like, yeah…I did that. I beat the odds. I survived out there…it's a good feeling." He said. Ava smiled. Jake sighed, "Have you talked with dad yet?" he asked.

"No." she answered. She hadn't talked to him since Josh had brought her back from the Northwestern. She was too afraid of what he would say…or what she would say.

"You need to talk with him. If you can fix things with ME, of all people, I think that you can go talk to dad." Ava shrugged. She didn't want to talk about this right now. Having Jake here was making her feel better and her eyelids were starting to grow heavy.

"I'm getting tired Jake." She said silently. Jake smiled at her ability to smoothly change the subject.

"Okay, get some rest." He said, leaning over and kissing her head.

"Thank you." She said. He smiled, as he too began to fall back asleep.


5 o'clock and she wanted to kill herself. She didn't have to work with the boys, Phil had said absolutely no, but by the time they were all up, there was no point in trying to fall back asleep. Between their arguing over breakfast or the later sound of her dad yelling at them over the intercom, any chance of sleep was tossed out the window.

She sat up in her bed and frowned. She was the type of person who liked eating later in the morning, so breakfast was out of the question. She was kind of at a loss as to what she could do. She got up and stretched, not even bothering to change out of her grey sweatpants and black Dutch Harbor sweatshirt. What was the point? She was in the middle of the freaking sea. Who did she need to impress? No one.

She walked out in the galley, not expecting to see anyone, but Josh was standing at the counter,

"Shouldn't you be out there…working?" she asked him, smirking. He looked over at her,

"Yes, I'm just getting coffee for Dave and Murray. Apparently they can't function without caffeine." He explained. Ava nodded,

"That's understandable." She said, and went to grab a bottle of water.

"Hey, take the Red Bull up to dad, will you?" he asked, already heading back out.

"Wait! What? No! Josh!" she exclaimed. But Josh just smiled as he closed the door behind him.

"Uugghh!" she turned back to the counter and grabbed the Red Bull. "I hate you, you tiny drink of energy." She said, dragging her feet to the wheelhouse staircase. She walked up them slowly, trying to waste as much time as possible. Once at the top, she stopped and watched as Phil worked, clicking on the computer or talking to the crew. She walked over to him and set the can on the counter. He looked up at her,

"Thanks, I didn't think you'd be up yet."

"Neither did I." she said, sitting in the chair next to him. "It's hard to sleep with you yelling at them all the time." Phil chuckled, taking the cigarette out of his mouth,

"Well what did you expect?" he asked. She laughed,

"I don't know." Ava answered, watching the boys run around on deck. She smiled as she watched Jake and Josh bicker with each other. Phil looked over at her curiously,

"How are you?" he asked. Ava never took her eyes off the deck as she shrugged,

"I'm good." She said. Phil looked back down to the boys,

"Pot coming up." He said impatiently over the intercom. Ava sighed and stood up, Phil tuning back to her, "Where are you going?" he asked. Ava looked at him,

"Back downstairs, Josh just told me to bring that up to you….and I did." She said. Phil nodded looking slightly disappointed. Ava looked back down at the deck, watching Jake work. Even though he was smaller than everyone else, he still worked hard and did a great job. She remembered him telling her that she needed to talk to Phil. She sighed and looked back at the captain,

"I could go down and get a book, then come back up here and keep you company…if you want." She offered. Phil was shocked; he didn't know what to say. But then he turned around and smiled at her,

"That would be really nice." He said. Ava nodded,

"I'll be right back." She said. Running down the stairs, she quickly grabbed one of the small books that Josh had gotten for her before they left. She grabbed the water that she had left on the counter, and then went back up.


Having Ava willingly sit next to him was a new feeling for Phil. He didn't know weather to be nervous or to be glad. He chose a medium. For the first time in a while, Phil took a close look at his daughter and realized that they had more in common then he ever realized. Somehow he would have to find a way to make up for all the lost time that they didn't have together. Maybe this trip was just what they needed.


Okay, chapter 4 done! sorry it took me a little longer than usual! xD

I hope you enjoy it though!!!

please REVIEW!! ...just so i know what you think about it :)

thank you!!!!!!!!!!!! :)