A/N: Still don't own anything. :)
Please let me know what you think. Love to hear what you have to think!
Andrea woke up and realized that she was the only one in the room. She slowly crawled out of bed, still in pain, and headed towards the bathroom to wash up a little. Not wanting to get her cut wet, she used a washcloth to clean her face carefully, and brushed her teeth, and then headed upstairs to the wheelhouse where she saw Andy watching the guys with intense concentration.
"Good morning." She said to him.
Andy turned to look at her, and smiled.
"Hey, you're up. I thought for sure you'd be in bed in pain for days." He said, smiling.
"I am pretty sore, but thought I'd get some fresh air. How's it going today?" She asked, looking out the front window at the guys. She noticed that Johnathan was out there working, helping sort crab.
"We got some good numbers in the pots. Hopefully we can wrap this awful trip up soon." He said, watching the guys as well. It was raining out, and still blowing pretty hard, but nothing like it was the night before. The worst of the storm had passed, which was the good news, but it still left for horrible conditions on deck.
"I wish I was out there." Andi said, watching a pot come up over the rail.
"You are in no shape to go out there today. Maybe in a couple days I will allow it, but not today."
Andi sighed, sitting down on the bench by the captain's chair.
"The string is almost done. If you want to help, you can cook them all a nice meal." He offered.
Andi nodded in agreement, and then headed down to the galley. She looked in the freezer for something that she could fix for them all. She decided on cooking some steaks that she found, and made a potato dish and steamed veggies to go with it. She took her time with the meal, trying her hardest to not mess things up, but had a feeling that it was bound to happen. She moved slowly, her left arm in a lot of pain as she moved it to lift things. She almost dropped one of the many steaks she was cooking, but managed to finish. She had everything on the table by the time everyone came inside.
"Aww, honey. You baked." Russell said with a smile.
"Sorry if it tastes bad. You know I'm not much of a cook." She said, shrugging her shoulders.
All of the guys sat around the table, dishing up their food, and digging in.
"The steaks are a little overdone, but otherwise, not bad." Johnathan said, taking a bite out of his steak.
"Well, as long as you guys say it's good, then I know it's safe to eat." She said, sitting down next to Johnathan.
"You know that's bad if you are afraid to eat your own cooking." Mike joked, smiling at her.
"Now, the cookies I have baking in the oven, I will jump on those as soon as they come out. I think they may be my best batch yet." She said with a smile.
"That's what that smell is. It smells amazing." Russell answered.
"Dessert will be ready soon." Andi said with a smile.
Everyone chatted over dinner, the talk staying lighthearted after all of the bad things that had happened on the boat that season. Johnathan and Andy switched spots so that he could grab something to eat, and then announced that they would be on the next string within the next 20 minutes. Andi watched as all the guys stood up, putting their dishes away in the sink. Andi started to clean everything, putting the food away, checking on the cookies, which were ready to come out.
"I have fresh cookies everyone." Andi said, pulling them out of the oven.
"Wow, those look good." Neal said, hovering over Andi.
"Let me take them off the pan so you can have one." She said, and then started to take them off the pan. Once they were on the plate, the guys immediately started to dig in to the fresh baked cookies. Andi, grabbing one for herself before they were gone, stuck it in her mouth, holding it there, while she stuck the hot pan in the sink.
"Thanks for the great food!" Andy said, smiling.
"I'd say anytime, but this may be the best meal I can pull out of myself." She joked.
"It wasn't that bad. If you tried again, I bet you'd do great." He said, then headed up to the wheelhouse.
"You only say that so that you don't have to cook." She said with a smirk on her face.
Andy shrugged his shoulder with a smile as he started to climb the stairs.
Andi cleaned the galley slowly, trying not to hurt her arm. Every now and then, she would run into something and her side would scream in pain, but she ignored the pain as much as she could. Once the galley was clean, she headed up to the wheelhouse to watch the crew work. She felt bad not being able to go out there and at least sort crab, but Andy wasn't having anything to do with it.
"I want to go sort crab." Andrea said.
"You really are a true fisherman." Andy said, laughing. "I'd be the same way right now."
"Then let me go out there."
"You really think I'm going to let you out there when you can't even hardly move your left side? You're nuts. The weather is too bad out there for you to go out there. Your uncles would murder me if something happened to you, so I'm not letting you out there when you aren't 100 percent."
Andi groaned, sitting back on her seat.
Andi watched as the guys worked, and she felt helpless. She hated the fact that Johnathan was doing her job at that moment. She moved her arm, trying to get the pain to go away faster, but after lifting it twice, she had to stop. She felt tears sting her eyes with the pain. She had the thought of it being broken pass through her mind, but ignored it, since she was able to move it normally.
She spent much of the next day either cooking for the guys, or sleeping, trying to rest, which was rare to get on a crab boat. She found wrapping material and was able to wrap her wrist, which was where most of the pain was coming from, and convinced Andy and Johnathan that she was ready to go out and work. They agreed, restricting her to only sort crab, which she accepted almost immediately. The guys were okay with that, just relieved that she was well enough to come out and work again.
"I'd milk the injury all I could." Russell said as they sorted the crab on the sorting table.
"Do you know how boring it is on this boat without being able to work?" Andi asked, smiling at him.
"I'd sleep. Lord knows I don't have enough of that right now." He said, shrugging his shoulders.
"I'd say we have had enough time off this season." Mike responded, heading away from the sorting table to throw the hook to get the upcoming pot.
"I do wish that we were done with this season. I do agree there." Russell said.
"Be happy with the fact that you are well, and healthy. Who cares how long the season takes, as long as you are well."
"You are way too positive to be on this boat." Russell said with a smirk.
"Well, you all are way too negative. No wonder why I don't work for you guys." She responded with a smile.
"And working for the Hansen's is the better alternative?" Mike joked.
"I am a Hansen, so tread carefully." She said, giving him an evil eye.
"Not saying it's a bad thing." He said with a smile.
"You're just saying that because I am here. You know I can kick your ass, even with a sore arm." She said, throwing the last of the crab into the tank.
"I'd take you, but that would mean taking on a girl, and I don't harm chicks." He said, looking over at her from the side of the boat, where the pot that was on its way up to the boat was about to emerge.
"Wish my uncles would feel the same way." She muttered under her breath, leaning against the sorting table.
The next pot came over, and they continued on sorting through the crab that came on board. They spent many hours doing the same thing, and the guys sent Andrea inside when her wrist couldn't take the pain anymore. She never complained, but when Russell noticed that she wasn't using the wrist at all, he insisted that she went inside. She went inside and cooked a chicken dinner. She made scalloped potatoes and grilled vegetables. She sat down next to Mike as everyone dug into the food when they came in from sorting crab, and watched their expressions to see if everything was acceptable to eat.
"Wow, Andi, may be your first decent meal." Neal said, taking another bite out of the chicken.
"Seriously?" She asked, looking at him.
"Seriously. Chicken is nice and tender. Potatoes have an actual taste to them. The veggies aren't soggy. I'm surprised you actually made them." Johnathan said, giving her a look of approval.
Andi took a bite out of the meal she prepared, and was surprised herself by how good it was.
"Did I really make this?" She asked, astonished.
"Told ya' that you wouldn't be that bad with a little bit of practice. All of this cooking you have been doing has actually done some good." Johnathan said with a smile.
"Don't tell Blake. I kind of like not having to cook at home." She said with an evil grin.
"Do you guys do a lot of take-out, or does he cook?" Neal asked.
"He cooks a lot. I can make a mean macaroni and cheese though." She said with a smile.
"That is the extent of what you can make?" Mike asked, laughing to himself.
"Well, that, and this now I guess. I guess when I put my mind to it, and follow instructions very well, I can make anything. Not like when I bake desserts. I can make just about anything when it comes to desserts, without ingredients. It's a wonder how I'm not 500 pounds."
"Now that's an image." He joked, laughing at her. She elbowed him in the side, which made her get a look from Mike.
"You have a bad habit of that."
"Then don't give me reasons to do so." She said, sticking her tongue out at him.
Andy came down to the galley at that point, and everyone looked over at him.
"I have some good news. According to my calculations, as long as we are still on the crab, this should be our last string."
Andi smiled while the others cheers. She was excited to finally head back into Dutch Harbor. She enjoyed her time on the Time Bandit, even with all the hardships, but was ready to get back to town.
"Hurry up and finish eating. We will be at our last string soon." Andy said, then walked back up to the wheelhouse.
The guys finished up eating as quickly as they could, and Andi started to clean the galley. Once everything was done, she went outside to join in the efforts to finish the season. When she walked out on deck, she was in time to see a pot come over completely empty.
"You have got to be shitting me!" She yelled, stopping dead in her tracks.
"Yeah, things aren't looking too good, huh?" Neal asked.
"We better find that crab soon. I will not be stuck on this boat with you guys much longer." She said, leaning against the sorting table.
"What are you going to do? Swim back to Dutch?" Mike asked, laughing.
"Sure, why not? It's just a hop, skip, and a jump from here, right?" She asked, smiling.
"Yeah right." He said, shaking his head.
They came up to the next pot, and Andi found herself holding her breath, praying that it came up with crab. When it surfaced, she leaned over the rail to get a good look at what was hidden inside. She felt relieved when she saw crab.
The pot had more than 450 keepers, which Andi was more than thrilled about, and the pots following were just as good. When they came up to their last pot, she heard Andy say over the hailer that it was going to be, in fact, the last pot of the season. The crew cheered, and Andi didn't even care what the pot contained at that point.
Andi walked inside after the deck was secured and stripped her rain gear off and walked towards the bathroom immediately wanting a shower. She stripped her wet clothes off and got into the shower, letting the hot water run over her sore body. Once she felt clean, she walked out of the shower with her towel wrapped around her. She heard a pounding at the door to the bathroom, and she opened it, steam pouring out of the bathroom, and saw Russell standing there.
"Now that was worth the pounding on the door." He said, looking at Andi.
"Funny. Bathroom is all yours." She said, making her way out of the bathroom with her wet clothes in her arms. She walked through the galley where Mike, Johnathan, and Neal were sitting, to throw her wet clothes in the washer. The three guys watched Andi walk around with just the towel on until she went out of sight into her room to change.
"So, what would it take to get her uncles to give her up again?" Johnathan asked, taking a drink of his soda that was in front of him.
"She is their secret weapon. That was proven on this trip." Neal responded.
"Yes, but they don't get perks like that. And if they consider that a perk, then I don't think I want to know them anymore." Johnathan said, making a face.
"Maybe that's why the rest of the guys don't say jack shit about how good she is. They enjoy that just as much as we do." Neal said with a smile.
"Why do we never get to see that when she is on the boat for herring season?" Johnathan asked, looking over at Mike.
"We are never lucky enough to see it I guess." Mike said, chiming into the conversation. Andi emerged from the room wearing a pair of sweatpants and a tank top, her hair was brushed, but still wet. She glanced at the TV that everyone was watching, and then climbed into the booth, worming her way in to sit between Mike and Johnathan.
"Excuse you." Johnathan said, smiling at Andi.
"Please. I know you'd rather sit next to me than Fourtner." She said, smiling at him. "Don't think I can't hear what you all say in here while I'm in the room. The walls aren't that thick."
Johnathan responded by laughing, shaking his head.
"And to answer your question about never seeing it during herring season, I usually walk around naked when I know you're not around." She said with a sly smile.
Johnathan gave Mike a look, and then looked back at Andi.
"I'm kidding Johnathan." She said, smiling.
"Either you say that, or you know that I would do whatever it takes to find the truth out." He said.
"I know you well enough to know you would hide a video camera in the galley to get a free show. I'm not stupid." She said, watching the TV. She reached over to the bowl of popcorn that sat on the table and grabbed a handful of it, then put some in her mouth.
"What can I say? I'm a guy." He said, shrugging his shoulders.
"You all are. Don't think I don't know what you all think. I know each and every one of you had the thought of me in bed with you has crossed your minds more than once." She said, still not looking at them.
"What makes you think that? You sure do think highly of yourself." Mike said.
"Oh please. I see the way each and every one of you guys look at me. And you aren't the only ones. All the guys down at the elbow room give me the same look. The only guys that seem to not look at me that way are my uncles."
"Thank God for that." Neal said, laughing.
"The rest of the guys on the Northwestern are starting to not give me that look, but every now and then, I do see them starting as my ass. I am not oblivious as to what is going on around me."
"If it bothers you so much, why do you keep coming back?" Neal asked.
"Did I say it bothers me? I choose to ignore it. I love my job, and I know that the looks I get come with the territory of being the only girl up here."
"So, of all the guys that gave you this attention that you don't seem to like, what made you decide to be with Blake?" Mike asked, looking over at her.
"He was one of the only guys who talked to me as a person when I first met him. He didn't make a comment about my looks or anything like that. He got to know me." She said.
Mike didn't say a word, just looked back at the TV.
"You guys are downers." Andi said, crawling out of the booth they were all sitting in. "I'm going to bed before Mike joins in and keeps me awake with his snoring."
Andrea walked out of the room and shut the door before climbing into her bed. She was asleep only for a little more than an hour before she was awakened by someone climbing into bed next to her.
"Andi, you asleep?" Mike asked softly.
"Yes." She responded sleepily.
"Good." He said, laying on his side, propping his head on his arm, facing her. Andi, who was facing away from him, laid on her back to see what he wanted.
"What's up?" She asked, rubbing her face with her hands.
"I can't seem to get what you said out of my mind." He said to her softly.
"What?" She asked.
"The fact that nobody but Blake treated you like a person, and not a piece of ass."
Andi laughed. "That's not really what I said."
"Not in so many words." He said. "You know that's not true."
"I said one of the only people, not the only person." She said, correcting him.
He stared at her.
"What?" She asked, waiting for him to make his point.
"Never once did I treat you like a piece of ass." He said. "Yes, now I may give you shit, but never once did I treat you like the many other guys up here."
"I never said you did." She said.
"Then what makes Blake so special?" He asked.
Andi just looked over at him.
"He made his move. You, however, didn't." With that, she rolled over and faced away from him, closing her eyes.
PLEASE review!!! I want to know what you all think!!! It gives me the will to write more, and update faster! :)