I'm back from death, and with a prucan story this time. Actually this is thanks to a challenge I had with a friend to write a story based on a picture as soon as he publishes it, I'll post a link to his part of the challenge. I'm really sorry about the long absence. And now, on with the story!

It was a Sunday afternoon, a very cold one, or at least it seemed so, and even though he was inside his comfortable house he felt kind of down, and a little bit exhausted. It had been one annoying week, starting with the heating breaking down, followed by an embarrasing grade on that test that he couldn't study for, since his brother had decided to pay a visit the night before. Not to mention those books that he forgot to return to the library on time, his beloved hockey team losing an important game, and to top it all he had procrastinated going grocery shopping, and now he had to go out in the freezing weather.

Matthew was definitely not looking forward to this, as a matter of fact he would have loved to ignore his empty fridge, but skipping dinner sounded downright depressing. So he got up from the sofa he had been laying on for the last couple hours, turned off the tv, got himself ready, and exited the apartment hurriedly, fearing he would otherwise change his mind.

The second he felt the cold wind hitting his face, he cursed under his breath. For a second he wondered if he could just turn back home, but he was determined to get some food to cook himself a decent meal, that was the least he needed to get the courage to start a new week. The blond cursed one more time without even worrying to lower his voice, no one was out anyways, and started walking.

The grocery shop was his first stop, it was just a few blocks away. He swiftly gathered enough food for the next couple of days, since he didn't have much money left after the heater incident, but at least the month was about to end, and soon he would be able to come back for more. Luckily he was the only costumer at the time, and soon enough he was out again. But now Matthew had to make decisions about an important matter. Would he walk the extra blocks to buy maple syrup from the little shop that had that one canadian brand that he liked? He could have bought any other brand, but it wasn't the same, when it came to anything pancake related he was a bit too picky, he had to admit that. The young man made sure he had enough cash left for it and sighed, one little luxury in his tight budget student life wouldn't kill him.

However, on his way to the store he noticed something that attracted his attention. He read the board twice, to make sure he wasn't mistaken, and then chuckled. He had to recognize that was quite something. Maybe this one time he would favour a cup of coffee instead of his precious maple syrup, for the sake of something that could potentially lighten his spirits.

He entered the small coffee shop, and jumped a little when a bell on top of the door rang announcing his arrival. A few people looked at him for a moment, and then continued talking distractedly without giving him a second thought. Though, in no time, he was greeted by sparkling red eyes and a wide grin right in front of his face. He jumped once again, making the other man laugh a bit.

"Sorry there, did my awesome face startle you?" He certainly had a very distinctive laugh.

"Uh, a bit…" Matthew started wondering what was it that he expected to do in the first place.

"You have to speak a bit louder, you know kid? It gets people's attention way faster than standing in the door hoping for someone to see you."

"Is that so?" That is a bit of a rude way of speaking to a client, he thought. "Seems to work quite well for you, right? I'm pretty sure everyone's heard you all the way to Canada." He finished with a sarcastic tone. It was a good thing he was used to his own brother being loud and cheeky all the time.

The older man had a surprised look on his face for a fraction of a second before grinning even wider. "Woah, so you're not some shy kid after all, uh? Either way, why are you still at the door? Let's get you something to drink."

"You react rather well to people being rude to you, don't you?" Matthew said slightly grinning as well. "And yeah, I would like something to drink, though that wasn't the reason I got in here in the first place."

"I would say you're more of a fun guy than a rude one, though." He seemed to think for a moment before looking curiously at him. "And if it's not the coffee, what was it that brought you here, kid?"

He wondered if it was a good idea to say it, and quickly decided that it couldn't hurt to do so. "I think it's safe to say you're the one that wrote that sign out there, eh?"

And then, there was his laugh again. "Man, so it actually worked? Well of course it did." He seemed so proud of himself it was almost cute.

"So… really?" Matthew looked at him chuckling.

"What? Are you interested, kid?"

"I was just wondering who would write something like that, really. I'm just going my way and read: Today your barista is: 1. hella fucking gay, 2. desperately single. For your drink today I recommend: You give me your number." He was having fun with this. "You definitely caught my attention."

"Well, of course it did, and about that recommendation...?"

"Maybe I'll consider it if you tell me your name first. Oh, and a coffee, I'm seriously cold right now." This could either be a great or terrible idea, but he couldn't care less.

"The name's Gilbert, kid, and you might want to give me yours before I give you whatever nickname I want, and you can ask my friends, once you get one, you're stuck with it." He said happily while he walked back to the counter in order to prepare the coffee.

"What if I didn't tell you? Ah, and if you have some maple syrup for that it would be great."

Gilbert sighed without dropping his smile. "Don't say I didn't warn you…" He kept on preparing the coffee silently, very focused.

In the meantime Matthew looked around, the coffee shop was small and it had a warm feeling to it. There were a few pictures hanging on the walls, and large windows covered with pretty curtains.

Suddenly, a cup of coffe was placed in front on him and brought back his attention. "Give it a try, Birdie, I'm pretty good at what I do."

The blond man looked at him with confusion in his face, and then down to the coffee, the sweet smell tempting him. It took him a moment to understand. "Are you for real?"

"What? You offended? I warned you, no complaints. Besides I think it's a pretty cool nickname, and it's a damn good coffee, so drink it before it gets cold."

"Do you talk like that to all of your clients?" he took a sip, and sighed with content. "The name's Matthew, in case you still want to know."

"Not really, but you don't seem to mind it too much, and not a bad name at all, I might consider using it some time, though that can't be today. Today you're Birdie, but maybe the next time you come I can call you Matthew. How does that sound?"

Matthew kept on drinking, but he couldn't help but smile. "I don't really have that much money to spend in coffee. College, you know? But maybe we could think of something else…"

By now Gilbert was sitting in front of him with an amused espression. "Well, next time the coffee will be on me, how about that? Or maybe you can give me your number and I can invite you somewhere else."

"Hm… well, this coffee is pretty good, I'll give you that, so maybe I'll accept option number one."

"You're pretty stubborn, aren't you, Birdie? But fine, I'll be more than glad to prepare you another awesome coffee."

They kept on talking for a little bit before Matthew remembered his groceries, and noticed how dark it was outside. He hurriedly finished his coffee and went to pay for it. Once he exited the shop, though, he noticed Gilbert was following him.

The blond man looked at him and smiled a bit when he saw the other one erasing the board.

"And what exactly are you doing?"

"Well, I don't really need it to work again, and you didn't even take my recommendation." He pouted a little bit.

Matthew chuckled once more. He couldn't even remember how he felt before coming into the coffee shop. "Fine, fine, just get me a pen, ok?"

His eyes instantly britgthen up. He got a pen out of his pocket in a second and offered it to Matthew, who proceeded to write his number on Gilbert's hand.

"I still expect you to buy me that cup of coffee next time." Matthew said while he started walking away.

"Sure thing, Birdie!" Gilbert yelled in response.

Later that night, while he was having dinner, he got a text. "I forgot to tell you, I don't work on Tuesdays, don't come on that day, the barista isn't nearly as awesome as me."

He laughed wholeheartdly, he was still not sure if this was a great or terrible idea, but it couldn't hurt to give it a try.

And that's it. Just a little one shot, please let me know if you liked it, since I haven't written anything in a long time. Hopefully I'll be inspired to write more in the near future. Til next time!