Fic: let your troubles roll by 3/4 (Deadliest Catch RPS, Josh/Jake)
Title: let your troubles roll by 3/4
Fandom: Deadliest Catch
Pairing: Jake/Josh
Rating: still woefully PG. I'm working on it.
Summary: Jake, Josh, and After the Catch. Neither of them wants to be there, but at least they have each other.
A/N: Still writing this 100% for duckduck's amusement. This isn't where I planned to leave this part, but it's as good a stopping point as any. Plus, it's taking me longer to finish than I anticipated, so if I post part 3 at least you'll know I'm really still working on it.
If you're playing catch-up: Part One, Part Two
Josh doesn't find his brother at the hotel. All he finds is an empty room, which is a total waste, as it turns out, because it means he and Jake could have come back here and had the place to themselves. At least until his brother did show up, and knowing Josh's luck, that would have been at exactly the wrong moment. He lets out a sigh and closes the door behind him, then he heads down the hall to the stairs that will take him back outside.
He's halfway across the lobby when he stops, changing direction abruptly and crossing to the reception desk. "Hi," he says to the clerk behind the counter, a bored-looking girl flipping the pages of a fashion magazine.
"Can I help you?" she says without really looking up, which is just fine with Josh, because the less she remembers about this entire conversation, the better.
"I need a room," Josh says, digging his wallet out of his pocket. "As far away from that TV crew as you can get me."
She does look up at him then, but if she knows who he is she doesn't say anything. Instead she hands him a form to fill out and reaches behind her to pull an envelope out of one of the numbered boxes along the office wall. "How many nights?"
Josh blinks at the question, wondering why he didn't think of it before he decided to do this. A night is one thing, and if the guys are really getting as drunk as Jake said they were, they probably won't even notice if he doesn't go back to his room tonight. But he's pretty sure they can't risk the whole week, no matter how much he wishes they could. "Just tonight," he answers, handing over his credit card and the signed rental agreement.
"Check-out's at 11:00," she says as she hands him an envelope with two key cards and his copy of the receipt. "Enjoy your stay."
He mumbles a thank you that she doesn't acknowledge and slides the envelope into his pocket as he heads toward the door. It's a short walk back to the bar, but by the time he gets there he's already changed his mind three times about mentioning the room to Jake. Sure, Jake would rather spend the night with him than listen to Matt snore, but if anybody sees them together they'll both regret it. He knows what his dad would say if he found out; it's stupid to take such a big risk when they're going to be back in Seattle in a week, where they can have all the time alone they want. Well, mostly he'd just tell Josh he's a fucking idiot and to stop wasting his money, because he doesn't want to think about Josh's sex life if he can help it. And maybe he'd even have a point, but that doesn't change the fact that Josh misses Jake when he's not around. It doesn't change the fact that somewhere along the way, he fell in love, and that means he's going to want Jake around as much as possible, no matter what anyone else thinks.
He hasn't said it to Jake yet. He's been thinking about it a lot, though, especially since Phil had to leave Dutch and go back to Seattle where he'd be close to his doctors. Most of the time he's even sure Jake feels the same way, but it's just one of those things they don't talk about. Like they don't talk about what they're doing or what happens a year from now or ten years from now. Truth is they never get past next season, and that's mostly just when Jake's bitching about Matt and making threats he'd never follow through on about finding another boat to crew. And most of the time Josh doesn't worry about it, but if they're going to take risks like this one, they should probably decide for sure whether or not it's worth it.
The bar noise hits him a second before the smell does, and Josh takes a second to adjust to the smoky haze floating in the room. One he can see he spots his brother sitting at a table with some of the younger guys, all of them laughing at some story one of them's telling -- Brandon from the Lisa Marie, Josh is pretty sure. Jake's there too, fingers tapping absently against the empty bottle in front of him as he watches Brandon holding his hands up to illustrate whatever he's saying. All the captains are huddled around another table, along with Murray and Edgar and the older crew who've earned the right to drink at the captains' table. Josh rolls his eyes at the hierarchy and heads straight for the bar, fishing his wallet out and holding up two fingers when the bartender nods at him.
He's leaning against the bar with his back to the room when he feels someone stop next to him, and he looks up to find Jake grinning at him. He sets his empty on the bar and leans close enough for Josh to hear him over the noise, their shoulders just pressing together. "Took you long enough."
Josh laughs softly as the bartender approaches them, setting two fresh beers in front of him and pulling off the caps. Josh hands him a ten and waves away the change, then slides one of the bottles toward Jake. "Did I miss anything?"
"Nope," Jake says, lifting the beer and taking a long pull before he looks over at Josh again. "Thanks."
"Figured you could use it," Josh answers. He glances over his shoulder at the rest of the room, but nobody's paying any attention to them. And it's not like he expected anyone to be watching, but it still makes reaching into his pocket and pulling out the key card a little easier. He sets it down on the bar and flattens his palm over it, sliding it toward Jake. "This might be a dumb idea, but..." He trails off with a shrug and pulls his hand away, then reaches for his beer.
For a second Jake doesn't say anything, and Josh is sure he's just trying to figure out how to let him down gently. And it's not really fair to ask him to take such a big risk, so he tells himself he won't be disappointed when Jake turns him down. Only Jake's not turning him down; he's not saying anything at all, and when Josh finally ventures another glance Jake's fingers are curling around the key card. Then Jake looks over at him, and Josh's heart skips a beat at the sight of those big blue eyes. "What about your brother?"
"Guess he'll crash in the room the show's paying for," Josh answers, heart pounding hard inside his chest while he waits for Jake to get it. And it takes another second, but then Jake's mouth curves into a familiar smile.
"How fast do you think you can get out of here?" he asks as he slides the key into his own pocket. Josh laughs and glances over his shoulder again, but this time when he looks at his father, Phil's looking right back at him. He holds Josh's gaze for a second before he shakes his head and turns back to the conversation at the table, but Josh still has to push down a surge of guilt before he turns back to Jake.
"I should probably hang around for awhile. Give me an hour."
Jake nods and tips his beer back, swallowing half of it in one long gulp before he sets it down on the counter and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. "Hurry," he says, shoulder pressing a little harder against Josh's, just for a second. Then he straightens up and heads for the door, not even pausing long enough to say goodnight to the rest of his crew.
For a few seconds Josh considers following him, saying fuck it to his father and the room full of half-drunk fishermen and even the camera crew that's still following them all around like it's a bad habit they can't break. Instead he picks up his beer and heads for the table where his brother's still sitting, dropping into Jake's vacated chair and pretending to listen to the fish stories they'll probably be telling all night. But all he hears is the same word over and over, hurry whispered in a low voice, and already he's calculating just how long he has to sit here before he can finally get Jake alone.
Fandom: Deadliest Catch
Pairing: Jake/Josh
Rating: still woefully PG. I'm working on it.
Summary: Jake, Josh, and After the Catch. Neither of them wants to be there, but at least they have each other.
A/N: Still writing this 100% for duckduck's amusement. This isn't where I planned to leave this part, but it's as good a stopping point as any. Plus, it's taking me longer to finish than I anticipated, so if I post part 3 at least you'll know I'm really still working on it.
If you're playing catch-up: Part One, Part Two
Josh doesn't find his brother at the hotel. All he finds is an empty room, which is a total waste, as it turns out, because it means he and Jake could have come back here and had the place to themselves. At least until his brother did show up, and knowing Josh's luck, that would have been at exactly the wrong moment. He lets out a sigh and closes the door behind him, then he heads down the hall to the stairs that will take him back outside.
He's halfway across the lobby when he stops, changing direction abruptly and crossing to the reception desk. "Hi," he says to the clerk behind the counter, a bored-looking girl flipping the pages of a fashion magazine.
"Can I help you?" she says without really looking up, which is just fine with Josh, because the less she remembers about this entire conversation, the better.
"I need a room," Josh says, digging his wallet out of his pocket. "As far away from that TV crew as you can get me."
She does look up at him then, but if she knows who he is she doesn't say anything. Instead she hands him a form to fill out and reaches behind her to pull an envelope out of one of the numbered boxes along the office wall. "How many nights?"
Josh blinks at the question, wondering why he didn't think of it before he decided to do this. A night is one thing, and if the guys are really getting as drunk as Jake said they were, they probably won't even notice if he doesn't go back to his room tonight. But he's pretty sure they can't risk the whole week, no matter how much he wishes they could. "Just tonight," he answers, handing over his credit card and the signed rental agreement.
"Check-out's at 11:00," she says as she hands him an envelope with two key cards and his copy of the receipt. "Enjoy your stay."
He mumbles a thank you that she doesn't acknowledge and slides the envelope into his pocket as he heads toward the door. It's a short walk back to the bar, but by the time he gets there he's already changed his mind three times about mentioning the room to Jake. Sure, Jake would rather spend the night with him than listen to Matt snore, but if anybody sees them together they'll both regret it. He knows what his dad would say if he found out; it's stupid to take such a big risk when they're going to be back in Seattle in a week, where they can have all the time alone they want. Well, mostly he'd just tell Josh he's a fucking idiot and to stop wasting his money, because he doesn't want to think about Josh's sex life if he can help it. And maybe he'd even have a point, but that doesn't change the fact that Josh misses Jake when he's not around. It doesn't change the fact that somewhere along the way, he fell in love, and that means he's going to want Jake around as much as possible, no matter what anyone else thinks.
He hasn't said it to Jake yet. He's been thinking about it a lot, though, especially since Phil had to leave Dutch and go back to Seattle where he'd be close to his doctors. Most of the time he's even sure Jake feels the same way, but it's just one of those things they don't talk about. Like they don't talk about what they're doing or what happens a year from now or ten years from now. Truth is they never get past next season, and that's mostly just when Jake's bitching about Matt and making threats he'd never follow through on about finding another boat to crew. And most of the time Josh doesn't worry about it, but if they're going to take risks like this one, they should probably decide for sure whether or not it's worth it.
The bar noise hits him a second before the smell does, and Josh takes a second to adjust to the smoky haze floating in the room. One he can see he spots his brother sitting at a table with some of the younger guys, all of them laughing at some story one of them's telling -- Brandon from the Lisa Marie, Josh is pretty sure. Jake's there too, fingers tapping absently against the empty bottle in front of him as he watches Brandon holding his hands up to illustrate whatever he's saying. All the captains are huddled around another table, along with Murray and Edgar and the older crew who've earned the right to drink at the captains' table. Josh rolls his eyes at the hierarchy and heads straight for the bar, fishing his wallet out and holding up two fingers when the bartender nods at him.
He's leaning against the bar with his back to the room when he feels someone stop next to him, and he looks up to find Jake grinning at him. He sets his empty on the bar and leans close enough for Josh to hear him over the noise, their shoulders just pressing together. "Took you long enough."
Josh laughs softly as the bartender approaches them, setting two fresh beers in front of him and pulling off the caps. Josh hands him a ten and waves away the change, then slides one of the bottles toward Jake. "Did I miss anything?"
"Nope," Jake says, lifting the beer and taking a long pull before he looks over at Josh again. "Thanks."
"Figured you could use it," Josh answers. He glances over his shoulder at the rest of the room, but nobody's paying any attention to them. And it's not like he expected anyone to be watching, but it still makes reaching into his pocket and pulling out the key card a little easier. He sets it down on the bar and flattens his palm over it, sliding it toward Jake. "This might be a dumb idea, but..." He trails off with a shrug and pulls his hand away, then reaches for his beer.
For a second Jake doesn't say anything, and Josh is sure he's just trying to figure out how to let him down gently. And it's not really fair to ask him to take such a big risk, so he tells himself he won't be disappointed when Jake turns him down. Only Jake's not turning him down; he's not saying anything at all, and when Josh finally ventures another glance Jake's fingers are curling around the key card. Then Jake looks over at him, and Josh's heart skips a beat at the sight of those big blue eyes. "What about your brother?"
"Guess he'll crash in the room the show's paying for," Josh answers, heart pounding hard inside his chest while he waits for Jake to get it. And it takes another second, but then Jake's mouth curves into a familiar smile.
"How fast do you think you can get out of here?" he asks as he slides the key into his own pocket. Josh laughs and glances over his shoulder again, but this time when he looks at his father, Phil's looking right back at him. He holds Josh's gaze for a second before he shakes his head and turns back to the conversation at the table, but Josh still has to push down a surge of guilt before he turns back to Jake.
"I should probably hang around for awhile. Give me an hour."
Jake nods and tips his beer back, swallowing half of it in one long gulp before he sets it down on the counter and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. "Hurry," he says, shoulder pressing a little harder against Josh's, just for a second. Then he straightens up and heads for the door, not even pausing long enough to say goodnight to the rest of his crew.
For a few seconds Josh considers following him, saying fuck it to his father and the room full of half-drunk fishermen and even the camera crew that's still following them all around like it's a bad habit they can't break. Instead he picks up his beer and heads for the table where his brother's still sitting, dropping into Jake's vacated chair and pretending to listen to the fish stories they'll probably be telling all night. But all he hears is the same word over and over, hurry whispered in a low voice, and already he's calculating just how long he has to sit here before he can finally get Jake alone.