Made For The Bush- Gabe Brown Fic (ABPChallenge)
Title: Made For The Bush
Rating: PG, because of the little bit of gore mentioned
Word Count: 3,069
Warnings: It might get a little gory, and an animal dies, but there shouldn’t be any other triggers.
Description: You and Gabe just went hunting for the first time together, and you take down your first animal.
You were gathering up your belongings for an overnight trip. This would be your first hunting trip, and it would be an overnight thing. Unsure of what to pack, you call in Bird. “Grab your box of ammo, just in case,” she points to the almost full box of cartridges for your shotgun. Sometimes you and your fiancé, Gabe, got your guns confused, because they matched, almost perfectly, except your gun has your initials engraved into the recoil pad. He got it for your birthday three months prior, and you fell more in love with him.
With the help of Birdy, you finished packing your bag, swinging it over your shoulder as you left the cabin, calling out. “Gabe, I’m ready to go.” Gabe head poked out from behind trees, he grinning ear to ear. “Alright,” stepping from behind the cabin, he took your bag, even with the many protest leaving your mouth. “Mom, Da, we’ll be fine!” The tall curly haired man called to his watching parents, grabbing your hand gently. You couldn’t get enough of the feeling of his rough skin on your much softer skin. He loved that you didn’t find his callouses repulsive. Waving your goodbyes, you stepped into the treeline surrounding Brown Town. Adrenaline coursed through you as you started on your first hunt.
Unsure of where he was taking you, it almost crossed your mind to ask. “Where?” The word slipped off your lips before you could stop it. I’m not entirely sure yet, but I’m following some trails Bear scouted a couple days ago,” the leather jacket clad muscular form in front of you stooped down, touching some mud, making you involuntarily shudder. His words came out as something slightly above a whisper, the silence of the world around you breaking at the sound slipping past his pink lips. “Deer tracks, not even a day old,” Standing up, he wiped what little bit of mud clung to his index and middle fingers. “That means?” Matching his volume, you looked around very excited and nervous.
“Deer were here, passed through, might return.” He lowered his gun from his shoulder, removing the covers on his scope. He checked all around, motioning you to do the same. You noticed a shade of brown, different from the trees, and small in your scope. Barely letting any sound out, you whispered, “I think I see something over there.” Gabe looked through his scope in the direction you were gazing, and nodded, the words he spoke made you giddy. “It is a deer, but it’s a doe.” The first deer you’ve ever seen isn’t going to be food, but it lifted your mood even more than you imagined it could.
You also felt a little disappointed. Even if it meant the difference between starving and living, you and Gabe swore to never take a doe or a fawn. “That’s a good sign though, right?” Your eyes sparkled with anticipation of living out the way your new family got food. “Yes, and no. It’s mating season, so there might be a buck around somewhere, but there also might not be.” He explained, his words didn’t make you feel like he was talking down, but he also made sure you understood what he was saying.
After several more hours of slowly hiking through the woods, following some trails that gave no rewards you were worried about the fading light. “It’s going to be an overnight thing, isn’t it?” You wanted time with your Gabe, but you also wanted to get a deer and bring it back home. The smile that broke out on his face told you it would be. An entire night of just you and him. You almost couldn’t wrap your head around it. The fear you had of bears coming around didn’t cross your mind, because you knew you were safe with Gabe.
“I’ll keep you safe babe,” his arms went around your waist resting perfectly on your hips. “I know,” the smile that broke out on his face gave you butterflies. The time alone would not be spent how many would spend it, but you and Gabe were ok with it. “Would you mind gathering some wood for me please?” He asked you sweetly, removing his arms from your body. Nodding, you walked around, gathering up small sticks and pieces of broken tree branches you could find.
His jaw dropped a little when he saw you with almost an armload of different sized pieces of wood, dropping it in front of you. “I didn’t think you’d pick up that much Y/N,” his laugh made you smile widely. Picking a spot, he cleared as many of the leaves away as possible, proceeding to use a large, sturdy stick to make a ditch about two inches wide and an inch deep around where he informed you would be a fire. “Teach me how to make a fire please,” your voice sounded small, and you blushed realizing how strange it may have sounded.
“Place the sticks in a pyramid shape, it lets the fire breathe while it’s burning,” he instructed, helping your less than capable hands form the shape he described. Giving you more instructions, Gabe stood back as you brushed your hair away from your face as you gently blew on the fire you started. “I did it?” You stared at the red and orange flames slowly growing larger. “Yes, you did it. We can stay warm, keep any bears away, and dinner will be hot when we eat.”
After about fifteen minutes of sitting around the flames, you smiled at the man sitting next to you, “what’s for dinner?” Chuckling at the sound your stomach made, he pulled out large thermos-like object from his bag that was on the ground behind him, placing it very close to the fire. “Deer stew from lunch today, just let it get warm.” He pulled two bowls from his pack,setting them down before reaching back in for another item. “Do you want a spoon or a fork?” He asked in a funny french accent, and pulled both out, making you giggle. You took the fork, letting him place the spoon back where it was. For himself, he grabbed the remaining fork.
Moments later, you were full from stew, and trying to help make your tent, and pouted when you kept getting told to sit down. He knew you were more than capable of helping pitch the tent, but he didn’t want you to because he wanted to treat you to an easy night on your first hunting trip. “I’m going to make our bed, alright,” he kissed your cheek as you nodded your ok. His lips were a little chapped, and rough against your cheek, but you didn’t mind at all. It came with the gentle way they brushed against your face, the roughness the only way you knew for sure he had even had them on your skin.
“Come here please,” he called for you, in the sweetest way he could. Standing up, you wandered the few feet to the tent he had set up. It was set up so beautifully, the bed being two sleeping bags, the tied fleece blanket you made him on top of another blanket. You carried a sleeping bag and a blanket with you, and he had taken them from your bag to make your sleeping arrangement for the night.
There were almost tears in your eyes as you stared at the pink cheeked man next to the bed. “The bed is beautiful, but why?” It was your turn to blush, from the words passing his lips. “Because you’re worth more than a sleeping bag and blanket, and I want you to have a perfect first hunting trip. Is it too much?” He was worried about you not liking the bed he made, and you were in awe that he made a beautiful bed from two sleeping bags and two blankets.
“It’s perfect. What do you want?” You asked skeptically. He looked up innocently, “I really just want this trip to be perfect for you.” It already was perfect, because it was just the two of you. “It is already. Should we go to bed now?” You motioned to the setting sun, Gabe nodded. “I’ll turn away if you want to get into more comfortable clothing. If you packed any that is,” he laughed a little, the sound making you smile. “I brought pajamas and clothes for tomorrow.” You made sure you had extra clothes in case it was a two day adventure.
Turning around, he added more sticks to the fire and turned back to you when you had finished changing. “Do you have spare clothes you want to change into?” You questioned, making him nod. Just as he did, you turned so you weren’t looking, even though you had both seen each other changing before. “Gabe, can I ask you something?” He sat down next to you, and lifted your small frame onto his lap. “Of course,” he ran his fingers through your hair. “Was it hard to take down your first deer?” Glancing up, you saw small wrinkles forming on his forehead. “It was, but it also wasn’t because I knew it wouldn’t go to waste. We needed the meat, and I wanted to be able to provide for my family.”
Before either of you knew it, it had gotten very dark. You both hadn’t spoken much after you got the answer to your question. He patted your thigh gently, “lets go to bed, the fire will keep and we will be safe.” After a few more moments of quietly sitting together, you both made your way to your bed, crawling under the blankets, and cuddled as close as possible. “I love you,” you mumbled, burying your face into his muscular, but comfortable chest. “I love you too,” Gabe whispered back, placing a gentle kiss on your head. “I know,” you giggled, looking up into his sparkling blue eyes.
“Are you looking forward to getting food for the family tomorrow?” The small sparkle seemed to grow in his eyes as he smiled. “I’m looking forward to seeing you get your first deer,” upon hearing that, your heart fluttered nervously. To say you were scared was an understatement. Your fiancé definitely had high hopes that you would get a deer. “What if I can’t take the shot?” His hand went to the side of your face that wasn’t on his chest, cupping it gently. His calloused thumb ran along your cheekbone. “Then I’ll be there to get the deer. But I have faith that you’ll do it,” his lips, chapped yet soft, brushed against your forehead. “I know you’ll get the deer, baby, you were made for the bush,” Gabe spoke between soft, loving kisses placed in your hair.
Smiling sleepily, you thanked him for being confident in you. “You need all the sleep you can get, you should sleep.” His voice was soft, and you nodded in agreement. “Goodnight Gabey,” you mumbled before closing your eyes. “Goodnight baby, more,” he squeezed you gently once before closing his eyes. You mumbled “more” before finally letting sleep take you.
When you woke up, you were alone, and the smell of bacon registered in your mind. “Gabe?” you called out, smiling when he replied. “Good morning, how did you sleep?” You sat up, stretching, ignoring the soreness in your body from sleeping on the ground. “Great, what about you?” He made a face, somewhere between disgust and tiredness. “It wasn’t the best sleep I’ve had, but not the worst.” Curious, you asked what he meant. “I was too excited, I kept thinking of you shooting a deer, and learning how to field dress it,” his sleepy smile took over his face. “How many deer do you want to try and bring back?” You didn’t want to take the shot on a deer, in fact you wanted to just watch him shoot. “We really only need one, but if we get two that would be better. In reality, we only need to get one, then we can head back home, but if we find another one, it would be smart to get it.”
After requesting time to get out of your pajamas, you changed quickly, and watched him from behind as he cooked some bacon over the fire. He had it hanging over some sticks, and how it never burned amazed you. That was when you noticed he had on jeans, not the plaid pants that he went to bed in. “When will breakfast be ready?” Sitting next to him, you leaned your head onto his shoulder, as a way of giving him affection without pressing your mouth on him before brushing your teeth. “In a couple more minutes. Did you want to brush your teeth before eating?”
Nodding, you reached for your bag, reaching into the pocket you placed your toothbrush and toothpaste. “Use this,” he handed you an already open bottle of water, and you walked away from the campsite just a little bit. You quickly and thoroughly brushed your teeth, and rinsed with the water from the bottle you had. “Thanks for the water,” you walked back to Gabe. He handed you a napkin with some bacon on it. “We also have some trail mix if you’d like it,” you shook your head, taking a piece of bacon between your teeth.
It took you almost three minutes to finish your bacon, your stomach comfortably filled. “Let me pack everything up, put out the fire, and we will continue tracking deer.” He said, his large hand gripped your thigh firmly but not roughly. It felt normal for his hand to be there.
You sat back, staying out of the way as he took apart the place where you spent the night. The way his body moved while working as you watched him made you smile. “I liked the view,” you joked after he finished packing everything up. “Just grab your gun, Y/N, and let's go,” he smiled softly. Taking your gun from the ground, you swung it onto your shoulder, the small strap attached to it draped down.
You took the time to swing the strap over your shoulder, and dropped your gun a little ways, holding the strap tightly so it wouldn’t slip from your body. The two of you walked for what felt like hours, but was only actually around twenty minutes. Pointing at a tree that had some of the bark rubbed off, you quietly asked if it seemed fresh. “Yes. Really fresh,” he whispered, his voice almost not even coming out.
At the same time he did, you took the covers off your scope, and lifted your gun to search for a buck. Gabe pointed at an area that looked like it had something moving. “There’s a buck, take the shot, Gabe,” you mumbled, lowering your gun a little to speak better. The tall man next to you shook his head when you looked at him, point at your gun, then the deer, “you saw the deer first, you can do it.”
You lifted your gun back to your shoulder, resting your cheek on the stock. Breathing in, you aimed, releasing your breath as you smoothly squeezed the trigger. The kick knocked you back a little, but the sight of the deer getting struck and falling made you giddy. “You did it?!” Gabe couldn’t contain the happiness running through his body. You both walked over to the deer, and you almost squealed.
“I didn’t think I could do it!” You giggled, watching for any unwelcome visitors as Gabe set to field dressing the animal. “Liver for Matt, deer for everyone, and it was taken down by my future bush wife,” he removed the stomach, kidneys, and heart. The intestine coming out almost turned your mood sour, but nothing could in that moment. “Where did I get him?” you couldn’t really see where you got the deer after shooting, and now you couldn't exactly stare. But you did glance down every once in awhile.
“Clean kill, through the heart,” he finished what he had to do, turning the deer into almost a backpack of sorts. “If we go through those trees, and continue straight, we will find the beach,” Gabe spoke, slightly straining under the weight of the deer. “Once we are there, we can find the way back home, right?” You asked. He nodded. “Lead the way,” you motioned for him walk ahead of you.
The both of you made it out of the woods, and to shore on Browntown by the time the sun was beginning to set. “We’re home!” Gabe called to his family as you walked to the main cabin. Bear was the first one out, followed by Ami and Billy. Then Bam, Matt, Rain, and Bird left in a row from the cabin after their parents.
Matt and Gabe stepped off to the side to skin the deer, leaving you to bring in the guns and bags of gear. “Was it fun?” Ami asked, wanting my opinion on my first hunt. “It was well, I didn’t get sick like I thought I would when Gabe was field dressing it.” You didn’t tell them you took the deer down. The boys finished skinning the animal, and walked back towards the benches around the fire, where everyone was waiting. “Who took the shot?” Billy asked, and immediately Gabe spoke up, “Y/N did,” while pointing his thumb at your small figure sitting at the edge of the bench.
“Really?” Bird was the only one who didn’t look shocked. “Yeah, it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be to pull the trigger.” Heat creeped up your cheeks. “Where did she get him?” Bear asked, wanting to know what kind of shot you were. “Straight through the heart,” Gabe nudged you, getting some of the deer blood on you. “Gabe, please go wash that blood off,” Ami requested, and you thanked her silently. “Alright, I’ll be back.” He stood up and headed towards the cabin, stepping inside.
A few moments later, he walked out with blood-free arms and hands. “Thank you,” you spoke up before Ami could. He hugged you with one arm, his other arm reaching out for his mom. “Maybe you really are made for the bush,” Ami patted your upper arm gently.
