Gabriel Brown: Collection of Short Alaskan Bush People Fan Fics

No Chance

The car slowed and finally came to a stop. Your foot came off the gas pedal as if it had a mind of its own. You almost forgot to put the car into park when you stopped. That's how rattled you were. Standing on the side of the road was the most handsome man you had ever seen. His dark curly hair shone in the bright sunlight and his bulky muscles strained against his tight long-sleeved shirt.

"Definitely need to work on getting that shirt off of him." You mumbled to yourself and tried not to laugh out loud at the shameless thoughts that flew through your mind. "Easy there, girl." You spoke to yourself as you waved your hand at the man to draw him toward your car window.

Feeling so much like a creepy stranger luring an unsuspecting victim to your windowless van, you smiled your best smile pushed open the passenger side door.

"Hop in, Gabe." You offered. "I'll give you a ride."

When Gabe finally recognized you, his grin grew and he hopped into the seat beside you, his bulk filling the small space. You had met him a couple times before in town but never had the chance to talk for more than a few minutes.

"Where to?" You tapped your fingers happily against the steering wheel.

"Going to meet the ferry." He said.

He smiled broadly at you and you blinked and turned your head away, tying to push down the vivid image of you sucking the braces right off his teeth. You took a few deep calming breaths to clear your mind and turned to face him again.

"Why aren't you married yet, Gabe?"

You were nosy and blunt and sometimes it was a scary combination. But if it bothered him, Gabe didn't show it. He bobbed his head a little and shrugged his shoulders.

"Don't know." He said and looked out of the side window toward the small houses beyond.

He seemed to be thinking of something but you had a couple more question for him before you dropped him off at the ferry.

"So...No serious relationship right now?" You wanted to know right away if you had any kind of a chance with him. Seeing him and his brothers walking through town, Gabe was the one who always caught your eye. His shoulders swayed as he strutted along and you tried to stop yourself, but every time you saw him, you saw your life with him. And life with him was beautiful.

Now that you finally had him trapped in your car – you hit the door lock button just to make sure he didn't get away too fast – you wanted to find out as much as you could about him before you got him to the ferry. You also hoped he didn't notice how slow you were driving. If this was your only chance, you wanted to make it a good one.

"Nothing serious yet." Gabriel answered right away and your heart did a funny little skip that made you close your eyes for a second. But not for long. Because you were driving.

"OK." you tried not to sound too excited but inwardly you were dancing and possibly even doing a little Tina Belcher twerk.

"Well, any girl would be lucky to have you." You smiled over at him and you saw his shoulders loosen and his smile relax.

When Gabe finally began to talk to you, he said so much in such a short period of time that you were stunned. He was sweet and funny and talked of things much deeper than you would have expected from a bush guy. He was in a word, amazing.

Watching the road ahead, you saw the turnoff for the final short distance that would lead you to the ferry. You didn't have much time left. You took in a deep breath and prepared to ask Gabe if he would like to go out for lunch with you. His blue eyes were sparkling as he looked out the window and back to you and it seemed he was having such a good time chatting with you. It looked so promising.

"We're here!" He announced and your stomach dropped a little as you pulled your small car over to the side of the road.

"I'll get out with you and stretch my legs." You said and swung out of the car, trotting quickly to stand next t to him at the foot of the ferry ramp.

Your easy conversation continued as you watched the ferry move closer and closer. Gabe didn't ask many questions about you, but that was ok. You wanted to know as much as you could about him. And everything you found out made you sure he was someone you wanted to spend even more time with. When you laughed at one of his answers and squeezed him lightly on the arm, he didn't pull away. He smiled and nodded and your confidence soared.

"I really need to get going, but I wanted to ask you something." Your smile widened as you looked up into Gabe's bright blue eyes. "Would you like to have lunch with me today?"

"Sorry. I can't." Gabe frowned slightly and looked beyond you toward the dock. "I'm here at the ferry because I'm picking up my date. We just met and it's not serious yet but I really like her a lot and we have a lot of fun together. This will be our second date." Gabe smiled, slightly embarrassed and your heart shattered into a million pieces.

"That's wonderful!" You lied and threw your arms around him.

Your hug was longer than you intended it to be. But you wanted to feel his arms around you at least one time and pretend that he might have had some feelings for you as more than a friend and ride to the ferry. His arms went around you and he gave you a brief squeeze and then his body began to tense slightly against yours. You moved to quickly let him go.

Pasting a happy fake smile on your face, you pulled away from him and shook his shoulders playfully.

"Good for you, Gabe. I'm happy for you." Your voice surprised you and held steady even though your insides were a quivering ball of jelly.

But your words to Gabe weren't completely untrue. You were happy that he had found someone who made him feel special. He didn't need to know that you had hoped that person would be you.

Slipping back behind the wheel of your car, you looked away as the cute young girl bounded down the ramp of the ferry toward Gabe. You didn't want to see his eyes light up when he saw her. You didn't want to see them embrace. You wanted him to be happy. You truly did.

Pulling back onto the main road, you clenched your jaw against your disappointment as you realized you never had a chance. What if you had talked to him sooner? What if you had gotten to know him before he met her? As your battered heart slammed your mind with so many painful questions, you heard a commotion coming from the ferry ramp.

Gabe and his friend were running and waving and trying to get your attention. The crushing in your chest was almost unbearable as you realized the happy couple was going to ask you for a ride. In a split second you ran through your choices. You could pretend you didn't see them and continue to drive. Or you could push down your pain and stop the car and take them where they wanted to go.

Gabe was an amazing man and you hoped he would be happy. You wanted him to be happy.

You stopped the car and unlocked the doors and you lifted your head and smiled.