JamieMac26:
Aw, that's really sweet. I actually happen to agree with you. Haha. Yep! You're right. It was the Northwestern and it was Matt and Edgar. I saw that and I was like, holy cow! I wanna do that. So, I did it. That's one of my favorite moments on the show. Haha.

Mahone-chic-89:
Me too! I'm ready for it. Haha. I'm glad you liked it! That was one of the parts I liked writing the most. Dude, seriously. Wouldn't it be awesome?

Archermusician:
Yeah. Haha. I do too.
Yep. It was the Northwestern crew. [:
I'll never tell. You'll just have to see.

Don't-let-Them-take-You-alive:
I'm glad you're liking it. [:
I'll do my best.

Disclaimer:
See chapter one.

Is there a chance you may change your mind?
Chapter Eleven !

"Six-ninety-one, six nine one," Kyle said before turning back to the pot coming up over the rail. It was the final week of Opilio season, at least for the Cornelia Marie. Their 1.2 million quota was nearly filled and they were all moving in high gear. It was almost over, almost time to go home.

The crew were reduced to having to basically skate around deck due to all of the ice. They'd spent the majority of their morning trying to clear as much ice as possible. It wasn't until eight that they were finally able to start hauling pots. Their first string had produced low numbers and that did nothing for the crews moral. They were able to take a two hour break around midnight that night.

Now, break time was over and it was time to get back to hauling. This string, the crew was pleased to find, was much better then the prior. They were averaging about four hundred to eight hundred a pot. The sooner they got through this string, the sooner they could move on to the last and be finished for the season.

Jackson and Kyle slid the pot into place, securing it before going back to the pot now being hauled up by Corey and Josh. Kyle slipped inside after the majority of the crab had been shaken out, grabbing the rest of the cod and the bait bag, tossing them out of the pot. She picked out the rest of the crab still stuck in the pot, sliding them down the chute.

Every pot they pulled out of the Bering Sea got them one step closer to the end of the Opilio season. This kept the crew going, not wanting to stop until they had reached their goal. Of course, one hundred pots into their one hundred and twenty pot string, Phil had them stop, giving them an hour to shovel down food and coffee and catch a few minutes of rest. They went inside, reluctantly of course.

They spread out in the galley after eating grilled cheese sandwiches, laying where ever they could. Kyle spread out in a booth while Josh took the other side. Jackson and Jake crashed on the floor, Corey and Freddy spaced out in the ready room, and Murray went upstairs to check on Phil.

The break was over soon and everyone felt a little better. They moved quicker on board, being all the more aware of their surroundings due to their revived energy. Seeing as it was their last couple of pots, the crew decided to give Kyle a shot at working the rail, more specifically the throwing hook.

She was nervous as hell and that caused her to miss the buoy the first time. Cursing, she quickly pulled the hook back in and threw it back out, catching it on the second time. Yeah, this was definitely a lot harder then Jake and Jackson had made it look. She had a feeling she would be on bait and pot clearing for a while. Though the crew were encouraging, Kyle could see the truth. At least she had tried, right?

"Last pot of the season," Phil said and the crew cheered.

Jackson grabbed the hook and threw it out, catching the line. He pulled it in and ran the rope through the block. As the pot came out of the water, more cheering went on as it was nearly full to the pot.

"Good way to end the season," Kyle heard Corey say to one of the cameramen. Damn straight it was.

& &

It took them two days to travel back to port and another to offload all the crab. Their final weigh in was something close to 1.1 million pounds. This made everyone extremely happy, considering they were just a little away from their full quota. They were one of the last boats to get back to port, the Northwestern had arrived a day after them.

All the captains decided to throw a bit of an end of the Opilio crab season bash, for themselves and their crew. The majority of them had other things they fished for during the off season but this would be the last time this year they'd be fishing on the Bering Sea together.

Like the last time, the guys allowed Kyle to stay behind so she could shower and get dressed. She stood in front of the mirror, fingers running through her towel dried hair. She wasn't expecting much from tonight, at all. A few drinks and good conversation with close friends was about all she wanted out of the night.

As she thought about the past year, it amazed her at how things seemed to have changed. Her and Jake were back to being the best of friends, their romantic feelings for each other seeming to not be an issue. Jackson and Kyle were asked to come back for the next Red King crab season as Greenhorns for the time being. She'd made life long friendships with people she couldn't imagine being without. Life was good for her. Maybe there were a few things she wanted to change, but if they were meant to be, well then they'd find a way to work themselves out.

She shook out her hair before turning off the bathroom light and opening the door, leaving to change into her clothes. Kyle was sad to be leaving Alaska, it was definitely her favorite place. She closed the door to her shared room and looked at the pair of jeans, MeWithoutYou t-shirt, and Cornelia Marie hooded sweatshirt laying out on Jackson's bunk, ready to be put on.

A second after Kyle had gotten her clothes on and situated, the door opened. She turned to find Jake, leaning against the wall with a look of serious concentration on his face. For a moment, she ignored him, trying to find her pair of Converse. Once she had them in hand, she sat down on Jackson's bunk to put them on. Still, Jake said nothing, just stared. It was making the woman nervous. "What?" the woman finally asked.

Jake looked at her, as if he had just noticed her there. "Nothing. Just seeing what was taking you so long."

"I'm a girl, Jake. Sometimes it takes us a little longer to get dressed."

"I noticed," he said.

Kyle didn't fail to notice the double meaning behind his words. This, though, she wasn't ready to look at all that closely. Was she ever ready to look at anything that close? While the pair were just about as normal as they were ever going to get, Kyle had noticed Jake dropping subtle hints and the woman was doing everything she could to avoid them. Before, Jake had been the one running, now it was Kyle who was lacing up her shoes and taking off. "Okay, well, I'm ready."

Jake only nodded and turned his back on her, leaving the room but waiting for her just outside of it. He ran his fingers through his hair, for once not hidden by a baseball cap or a beanie. Kyle had to admit, she was definitely liking this. It was then she noticed exactly what her best friend was wearing; her favorite plaid shirt and a nice fitting pair of blue jeans. Jesus.

& &

"Kyle!"

The woman looked up from the glass of whiskey in her hands. A small smile lit up her face at the familiar voice. "Jesus, Edgar. Long time no see." She sat her glass down on the bar and stood up to hug her friend.

"What are you doing?"

"Avoiding my problems."

The man laughed before sliding in beside the girl. "How was your first Opilio season?"

The brunette seriously thought about this. She thought about how she had wanted to quit, how it had been Jake who had talked sense back into her, and she thought about the things she had endured. "It was hard, and scary. I told Jake I wasn't sure about coming back. The guys were holding onto me just to make sure I didn't get carried overboard with a wave."

"You're going to come back." Edgar said, and Kyle noticed this was not a question.

Kyle nodded her head. "Yeah. I was telling Jake, I wanted this life to be for me but I wasn't sure. Jackson can do this, he was born to do this, but me? I wasn't so sure."

"It's rough your first time around. I can see how it would be harder for you, but if it's what you really want to do, nothing can stop you."

She knew Edgar was right. If this was what Kyle really wanted to do, then she would not take no for an answer. She took a drink from the beer in her hands and offered him a smile. "You're right."

"Of course I'm right." He looked around the pub, seeing everyone mingling and having a good times before they left port for home. "Speaking of Jake," he started as he turned his attention back to Kyle, "how are things between you two?"

"They're, alright. I guess. We're actually talking again. Everything seems to be back to normal. Sometimes though, we get to each other and then we're right back to where we started."

"I can understand that."

"You can?" the brunette woman asked.

Edgar nodded, "Jake put himself out on the line and you turned him down. He built his walls back up. You, you got tired of putting your faith in him and let him go. If you two were ever going to actually get together, I imagine it'd take a while or it would take one of you not taking no for an answer."

Everything made so much more sense now. Edgar was right. She'd backed up, Jake had come in and then she'd just turned him down. Fuck. She felt like such an idiot. "This is why I don't like talking to you. You make too much sense."

Her friend laughed before getting up from the stool he'd been sitting on. "You love me and you know it." Edgar hugged Kyle tightly, telling her to keep in touch before going to bother his eldest brother.

& &

It had been a long night. Kyle had floated around the room, talking to the Hillstrands, the crew of the Wizard, her own crew, and the crew of the Northwestern. All in all, it had been a good night. As seemed to be their new tradition, Jackson and Kyle were staying an extra night in Dutch. Phil, Josh, and Jake were staying on the boat as well, tying up lose ends there before heading back home.

Kyle left the Elbow Room in good spirits, happy with the way everything had worked out. At least, this is what she would have said if you had asked her how she was feeling. There was something nagging at her, buried under piles of repressed feelings. "Kyle," she heard and turned around.

"Hey," she said softly.

"You heading back to your hotel?"

"Yeah." Though she was smiling, and glad to see him, she wasn't actually all that pleased. Nicholas had somehow made his way back to Dutch, still on the same National Geographic job as before. They'd talked a little at the pub but besides that, she had distanced herself. "You?"

"Yep. Mind if I walk with you?"

Yes, but Kyle didn't say that. She simply nodded her head and shoved her hands into the pockets of her jacket. They didn't speak and Kyle was grateful for that, the last thing she really wanted to deal with was small talk. Before they had even realized it, they were entering the lobby of the small family owned establishment.

"Guess this is goodnight," Nicholas said, sad smile on his face. "You know, you should just talk to him."

Kyle met his gaze, startled at his words. "What are you talking about?"

"That guy, your friend? You should just talk to him. I'm not as blind as you might think I am. I can see what's going on. Lucky for you I'm not a guy who minds being a distraction." He chuckled before turning for the hallway that would lead to his room. "Take care of yourself, Kyle."

"Yeah, you too," she called out, though a moment too late.

& &

"I know that I've got issues, but you're pretty messed up to. Either way I found out, I'm nothing without you." Kyle rolled over, ignoring the voice singing out lyrics. Whatever it was, it would turn off soon, right? It had to. Christ. She was so comfortable. It continued on though, slowly waking the woman up. "Because we belong together now, forever united here somehow. Yeah, you've got a piece of me and honestly, my life would suck-"

"Hello?"

"Don't hang up," the voice said.

Kyle sat up, one hand holding the phone to her hear, the other rubbing at her tired face. "Christ Jake. What time is it?"

"It's about three."

"In the morning?"

"No, in the afternoon."

She heard him laugh and shook her head. "Shut up. What do you want?"

There was silence on Jake's end and she wondered just what the man was up to. She heard a bit of movement on his end and then there was silence again. "I need to talk to you, Kyle."

"And this can't wait till a more decent hour?"

"No."

"Fine." Kyle huffed as she moved her feet from the warm comfort of her bed to the cold wooden floor. "Where are you?"

"I'm on the 'Marie."

Awesome. That meant she was going to have to walk. Like hell was she going to change. "This better be good. I'm not changing and I expect a cup of coffee," she said as she slid on her pair of Converse, tying them tightly.

"Promise."

"I'm leaving now."

"Alright," Jake said just before the line went dead.

Kyle trudged to the bathroom, flipping on the light and groaning as it nearly blinded her. Once she was used to the light, the woman looked at herself in the mirror. She looked like crap. Whatever, it was three in the morning and that was more then enough reasoning to look the way she did. She splashed a little cold water on her face and dried her hands before running her fingers through her wavy hair. "I am Jill's rapidly beating heart," she said to herself as she shut off the light.

[ Ashes and Wine – A Fine Frenzy; My Life Would Suck Without You – Kelly Clarkson ]