Disclaimer : I own nothing except my own fictional characters and recieve no payments of any sort. This story is for simple entertainment and fun only.

Hi everyone. Hope your liking the story so far. I've had alot of fun writing. This wont be one of my longer chapters but I still hope you enjoy it. Please review and tell me what you think. Thanks alot !

The next morning Gia awoke with a splitting headache. She groaned loudly and rolled over on to her side. Already regretting all the events that occured last night, from getting completely wasted to declaring her love for Norman, Gia wanted desperately to sleep in bed and hide out in her room for the next 36 hours until the Northwestern reached the fishing grounds, but she decided that would be cowardly on her part. Gia slowly sat up from her bed and made her way to the galley. Already sitting at the table eating and drinking were Matt, Nick, and Norman. Jake was just fixing up a plate of breakfast for Gia, which held the contents of bacon and scrambled eggs. He procedded to hand it to her but she shook her head.

"Got a pretty bad hangover, huh birthday girl?" Matt said smiling.

"Please...stop shouting." Gia said with a groan, which caused everyone, except Norman, to chuckle because Matt hadn't even been close to shouting. Norman, who wouldn't so much as look at her, sipped his coffee and said

"Probably should learn to hold your liqour better."

Gia didn't respond to this. She instead turned her attention to Jake, who had set down the breakfast plate he'd made for her, and went to the fridge to get a bottle of water. He handed it to Gia and then dug in to his hoodie's pocket and handed her a bottle of Aleve. Gia smiled and placed a hand lovingly on Jake's left cheek.

"Always thinking of me." she said softly and placed a kiss on his forehead.

With her bottle of water and Aleve in hand, Gia left the galley and slowly ascended the stairs to the wheelhouse. When she'd reached the top she saw Sig at the wheel, who turned to give a smile, before returning his gaze to the sea. She then looked over to the co-captains chair to see Edgar occupying it. He took one look at her and rose from his seat and gestured for her to take it. She smiled with gratitude and made her way to sit, stumbling quite a bit due to the rocking of the boat and her hangover. Edgar rolled his eyes as he watched the hopeless case and grabbed her up by her waist, placing her down gently into the chair. Gia pulled her legs up under her, unscrewed the cap on her water and Aleve bottle, and quickly downed 3 pills.

"Pill poppin' now?" Edgar asked jokingly

"You know it."

Edgar smiled and rolled his eyes as he made his exit from the wheelhouse. Gia sat silently in her chair and finally permitted herself to recall the events from last night's birthday bash. Gia smiled fondly as she remembered how surprised and flattered she'd been when she found out that her friends had thrown her such a nice birthday party. She'd definitely have to remember to send John and Becka a 'Thank you' card when the season was over. Gia also thought about how hurt she'd been to see Norman flirting with that blonde bimbo from the bar last night. For someone who was extremely reticent, especially with strangers, Norman seemed to be eating up the attention from the blonde, which was extremely out of character for him. Gia briefly wondered if maybe Norman had done that just to make her jealous, but quickly dismissed the idea. Maybe Norman wasn't as much of a hermit as he presented himself to be and that he did it mostly because of the cameras. Maybe Norman really was an outgoing, hot-shot, lady killer. Gia found herself laughing inwardly at her assessment of Norman, seriously doubting he was any of those things. But she sadly came to the conclusion that maybe she didn't really know Norman at all. The way he'd treated her, the things he'd said and the way he'd ignored her and dismissed their entire relationship's existance couldn't have surprised Gia more. She never would have thought Norman, of all people, would react that way to a simple misuderstanding which he wouldn't even allow her to explain.

Gia sighed heavily and sank back even farther in her seat. Her biggest mistake last night was allowing Norman to control her emotions, which he had a way of doing unknowingly, and let herself get drunk. And though she was suffering the consequences for it now, even she had to admit she had more fun and felt better emotionally than she had in months. Dancing with Jake Harris had also been a pleasant surprise since she'd always found him to be very cute, though she'd never spoken to him much. The boy knew how to move and he had been very funny and charming, though the dance and chat were nothing more than platonic, which suited Gia just fine. She just needed a release from all her pent up frustration and hurt and the surprise party had done just that for her.

What still had Gia puzzled was why Norman had been so angry about her dancing with Jake Harris. It was the first time she'd gotten a reaction from him since she'd arrived in Dutch Harbor weeks earlier. At the time, Gia had briefly entertained the idea that Norman was jealous and that he still had feelings for her. If he was angry it must mean he still cared, right? That was also part of what gave her courage to ask Norman for a birthday kiss, that and the alcohol of course.

'The Kiss'. Though Gia had been disappointed at the time that it hadn't gone further than that, she was now grateful that Norman had the common sense to stop them. If Norman could barely look at her now after a kiss, she could only imagine how he'd treat her if they had slept together. Gia was sure she'd be feeling a million times more empty than she did now and silently thanked God for small blessings.

Finally Gia forced herself to think about the big bang of the night. Her telling Norman she loved him. His reaction had been nowhere near what she would have liked it to be. She'd been hoping he would've turned back around, taken her in to his arms, and told her how much he loved her and missed her. It nearly killed her when he walked away. Gia wasn't sure how much more her heart could take before she finally just broke down. She decided that she would explain things to Norman once and for all, whether or not Edgar already had. She'd make one last plea for his heart, and if he still turned her away then Gia would let him go. She'd still continue to work on the Northwestern, because it was her home and they guys had become her brothers and loved them. No matter what happened between her and Norman, she wouldn't throw them away.

Gia closed her eyes as her headache started to return and she quickly popped two Aleves into her mouth and took a big gulp of water. Thinking about the events that transpired the night before, a lot of it due to alcohol, reminded Gia about that Asher Roth song " I love college." She silently sang it to herself as she looked out the window towards the vast Bering Sea.

"Hold the beer bong, nothing wrong with some fun,
Even if we did get a little bit too drunk.
Time isn't wasted when you're getting wasted,
Woke up today and all I can say is

That party last night was awfully crazy."