Alaskan Bush People OneShots

Matt Brown

You had worked in the only café in Hoonah for four months now and for the past four months, you had gotten to know the locals and regulars pretty well. The café was one of the central elements of the community, so you knew pretty much everyone and their regular orders.

There was this one guy though, who you made an effort to remember the details about. He came in to the café every Thursday at 10am with his brother and ordered 6 cups of tea, sometimes 9 cups of tea, and he came in alone on Saturday's.

At these times, the café was empty most of the time, except for one or two of the people who came in every single day. He was the first one to strike up a conversation, and the both of you had continued it for the four months.

On a dreary Thursday morning in October, he came into the café alone. That was odd. His brother, Bam always came with him on Thursdays.

"6 or 9?" you ask, already laying out the take away cups.

"5 actually," he replied, looking a little sombre. You pause for a second but nod and carry on with the order.

"Bam not with you today then?" you ask, making casual conversation.

"No," Matt replied, "I left him in charge of the Integrity."

"Oh," you nod. Normally Billy, Matt and Bam's father, is the one to leave people in charge of the vessel, since he is the skipper. Matt had told you about his family at length and how they live in the bush.

"My Dad had an accident," Matt tells you, "he won't be working with us for a while."

"I'm sorry, Matt," you say, laying the 3 ready cups on the counter.

"Yeah, it sucks," Matt nodded, scratching the back of his neck as you lay the remaining two cups in front of him, "how much?"

"On the house," you tell him, "I hope your Dad gets better. Tell Bam I said hi, too."

"Thanks," he says, giving you a weak smile and carrying the drinks out of the café.

As you are about to close up the café that night, you notice Matt walking from the dock, towards you. He should probably be back at the island by now, the light won't last forever.

"Hey!" he calls as you turn to lock the door.

"Hi," you reply, shoving the key into the pocket of your coat, "do you need something?"

"Not tea if that's what you mean," he said, laughing a little though it's not the full hearted laugh that you have come to expect from Matt Brown.

"What can I do for you?" you ask, pulling your hood up against the rain that was beginning to fall.

"This is probably going to sound really corny, but just hear me out, okay?" he asks, looking more vulnerable than you have ever seen him.

"Sure," you nod as your heart begins to race a lot faster.

"What happened to my Dad has made me realise a lot of things, one of those being that we don't really know how long we have," he begins, "for four months I've been trying to work up the courage to ask you out, but I kept chickening out, I guess. But like I said, you never know what's going to happen, so I realised that I probably should ask you out."

"And are you?" you smirk.

"Yeah," he laughs.

"Then yes," you smile, "I will go out with you."

"Awesome!" he smiles, "I'm back in town on Saturday, as you probably know, how about then?"

"Sounds good," you nod.

Your date with Matt went so much better than you could have ever hoped for and you realised that you liked him a lot more than you previously thought you did. His smile and his laugh were infectious and his energy and humour was uplifting. When girls talk about what they want in a man, you knew that Matt was what you wanted.

But you knew that he would have to go back to island sooner than you would like. To finish off the date, you walked to the dock with him to see him off. You know you definitely want to do this again.

"So, do I get a second date?" Matt asks as you reach the Integrity. He had been holding your hand for a while now, but now he takes the other one and holds it too.

"I'd like that," you smile, nodding your head.

"Yeah?" he asked, as if he couldn't quite believe that you had agreed to another date.

"Yes, Matt," you laugh. He laughs too and looks up at the sky.

"I have to go," he says, looking back to you, "not much light left."

"Yeah," you nod. He lets go of your hand and steps towards the boat, turning his back on you. He steps up onto the little raised platform and places his hand on the railing, to haul himself up. You step a little closer to the boat, "Matt."

He turns at hearing his name and looks at you. You grab the front of his jacket and pull him towards you. Your lips meet and he kisses you softly. One of his hands let's go of the boat and he holds your face. You can feel him smiling.

"My parents taught me not to kiss a girl on the first date," Matt mumbles against your lips before pulling away a little so that he can look you in the eye, "but Bam told me that we have been on like 30 dates before now."

You let go of his jacket and step back, smiling like crazy.

"I'll see you on Thursday," you smirk before walking slowly back up the dock.

"Aw!" you hear him complain, "now I don't want to leave."

"I'll have those six cups of tea waiting," you call, turning to look back at him. The last thing you hear is him laughing followed by a thudding sound as he jumps over the railing and lands on deck.