#i LOVE that picture of him | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

katcoquette · 2 years

Text

Almost There

Reuben "Payback" Fitch x Reader

part of my cabin in the woods collection happening throughout the month of october- a collection of stand-alone* stories (cute fall & spooky) set in the same cabin in the woods, read them all if you dare uncover the full mystery...

summary: the drive up to the cabin you've rented for the weekend is uneventful, until you can't shake a dreadful feeling for the rest of the night.

✦ word count: 2.8k

✦ tw/tags: 🕷 spooky spider out of 5, sense of impending doom, weird feelings, ghost sighting, driving through a forest at night, nausea

✦ author's note: the amusement park in my town rates their haunted houses out of 5 pumpkins or whatever so I'm gonna do the same for the spooky half of this collection, five spider scale 🕷🕷🕷🕷🕷 meaning I was so scared while writing this I almost shit myself when my dog opened my bedroom door & 🕷 meaning just a little spooky, might give you a little shiver

The evening had died down enough that even the stragglers had finally made their exit, leaving you and your family to sit in the satisfying silence that came at the end of a successful event.

Streamers, glitter, and ring-shaped souvenirs were scattered around the floor- remnants of the celebration that had come together, through no small feat of your own, in less than a week after your baby sister’s proposal.

“Well that was fun.” Your brother interrupts the silence to comment. “Yeah, it was.” Your sister confirms, giggling with her new fiancée from where they were sprawled across the couch.

You smile at their interaction, snuggling further into your boyfriend’s arms as the conversation about the night continues. You’re close to falling asleep when you feel Payback shift.

“We should probably get going.” He says softly, kissing the top of your head. You almost groan, but pry yourself up anyway- he was right. You stretch your arms back, trying to wake yourself up, and then you offer him a hand to pull him up.

“You headed out?” Your sister notices and stands up to say goodbye to you both.

She hugs Payback first, “Thank you for coming.”

“Of course. Congratulations again.”

She smiles at him, and then turns to you, pouting as she holds out her arms.

“Thank you for putting this together for us. It was such a fun night.” She’s teary-eyed when she pulls away, and you pout back at her, pinching her cheek. “Of course, honey. There’s no one else I’d rather be planning a wedding for.”

You say goodbye to the rest of your family, and your mom walks you to the door. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay the night? Go up in the morning?”

“We’ll be alright, Mom. It’s only an hour from here.” You kiss her cheek. Payback’s hand is resting on your lower back as you walk out the front door. “Thanks for having me, Mrs. Y/L/N. It’s always great to see you.”

“It’s our pleasure, Reuben. You’re welcome anytime, even without our daughter!” He laughs, promising to take your mother up on her offer at some point. You don’t doubt that he will.

“Parent-pleaser.” You mutter as soon as the front door closes. He slings his arm over your shoulder, walking you down the driveway. “One of us has to be.”

“Hey!”

He chuckles, then changes the subject. “Want me to drive?”

“Yes please. I don’t think I can mentally handle trying to get us to the cabin.” He fishes your keys out of your front pocket, giving you a quick kiss in the process. “I figured. You’ve had a long work week.”

He unlocks the car and opens the passenger door for you, closing it once you’ve dragged your legs inside.

“It was a fun long though, for the most part.”

“The party tonight was fantastic; you really did a great job.”

It’s close to midnight by the time the two of you manage to pull out of your parents’ driveway and get on the road. He intertwines one hand with yours over the middle console, the other firmly holding the wheel.

The radio plays softly in the background as you settle into the drive. You catch yourself yawning, and, having decided that you weren’t going to sleep and leave him alone, you shift in your seat, sitting up straighter.

“Tired?” He glances over at you with a smile.

You rub the back of his hand with your thumb, returning it. “A little bit. Are you?”

“Nah, I’m doing good.”

“You apologized to everyone about us being late right?”

“Your sister’s engagement party wasn’t something we were ever going to miss, but yes, I apologized anyway.”

“Okay. Good.”

He takes one hand from the steering wheel and squeezes your thigh. “You have nothing to worry about. Everyone’s gonna love you.”

“How did you know I was thinking about that?”

“Your thoughts are written all over your face, I can always tell.” You sigh, looking out the window.

You’re not convinced.

Sure, nothing to worry about- apart from this trip being with eleven of his closest friends and their own guests, and your first trip as a couple.

Exciting yes, but also, a little stressful.

“You’ll know some people there; it won’t be all strangers. And you also aren’t the only ‘new’ person in the group.”

He squeezes your hand. “And- there’s no way the entire group will still be awake when we get there, so you can meet everyone in smaller waves.” You purse your lips as you ruminate on his words.

“Annddd… you know me. I’ll be there the whole time too.” He grins, teasing you.

That causes a smile to break out onto your face. “You’re rightt.” You do feel better about it.

“God you’re good at pep talks.”

“I know.”

You occupy the next forty minutes with random discussions and upbeat music. The roads narrow to one lane and start to wind around and through the twisted trunks local to the area. By the time you reach the sign announcing your official arrival to ‘Elfin Forest Recreational Reserve’, you’re feeling more awake than you have all day.

You’re in the middle of laughing at something Payback has said when you’re hit with a wave of nausea. It’s unlike anything you’ve felt before, and it happens almost instantaneously as you pass the sign.

Your head spins as you try to process it, had the curves in the road made you carsick? Suddenly, the car feels too hot, your clothing feels too tight, and the road feels too small.

You shift uncomfortably in your seat. The nausea has morphed into a different feeling- one that you’re not even sure you could describe if you tried to in this moment, but it’s heavy, dark, an overwhelming dread.

It’s worse than the nausea.

“Can you pull over?” You can barely keep your voice steady, and your hand is gripping the arm rest.

“We’re almost to the cabin, I think-”

“Pull over!” You wince at the tone of your voice, but you need to get out of the car, you must. You’re trying your best to control your behavior, but you can’t help grasping frantically for the door handle as soon as the car stops.

“Jesus- are you okay?” You barely hear your concerned boyfriend. The cool air that hits you provides some comfort, so you swing your legs out of the car and plant them on the side of the road, leaning over and resting your elbows on your thighs.

“What’s going on?” He’s leaned over the console as far as he can manage, rubbing circles into your back.

“I don’t know.”

“Do we need to call someone? I don’t know who we would call- an ambulance? Do you need an ambulance?” You focus on your breathing, squeezing your eyes shut, and whisper, “No, it’s not that bad-“

“Shit- baby, I don’t have cell service.” He hits his phone against his palm, and holds it higher- as if that will make it start to work. You’d make fun of him for it if you were in different circumstances. He’s genuinely scared and doing anything he can short of willing a cell tower to suddenly appear.

“Reu, I don’t need an ambulance.” It starts to get easier to breathe the longer you sit in the cool air, unmoving. “It’s okay- I’m okay.”

“What- are you serious?” You sit back into the passenger seat, taking a moment to mentally check over yourself. “Yeah.”

He looks at you with wide eyes, still in disbelief. “…are you sure?” You nod, more scared at your body’s outburst than anything else, because as quickly as it had descended on you, it had completely subsided.

You glance outside again, taking notice this time of a mile marker right where you’d pulled over.

Mile marker 314. Your car door is still open, and suddenly you feel an urge to close it- your mind convincing you that if you don’t close it now- something will happen.

Mile marker 314 is exactly six and a half miles from the sign. Of course, neither of you know this, nor do you know that it’s much newer than any of the other markers that dot the forest’s road- on account of it being the only one that had to be replaced.

You pull your legs back into the car and slam the door, clicking the lock immediately after.

“Let’s keep going.”

“That seemed pretty fucking serious.” You can hear a wobble in his voice, and though you’re completely freaked out by the whole thing, you’re trying not to let it show.

“I know, Reu, but I just want to get to the cabin. I’m sure it was car sickness.” His brow is still furrowed, not entirely convinced. You’re not either.

You have no other explanation, and you just want to leave the dark road.

You twist in your seat so you’re facing him, and take his hands, giving them a reassuring squeeze.

“I’m sorry for scaring you. It was just sudden, probably because of how curvy the roads are.” You move a hand to cup his cheek and kiss him. “I promise I’m okay.”

He rests his forehead against yours, searching your eyes. “Okay.” You smile softly, giving him another kiss before you sit back against the headrest.

You feel even more relief as you pull away from the side of the road, and mile marker 314.

It takes 20 more minutes to reach the gate of the cabin. You find the code in your notes, and Payback gets out of the car to punch it in. You take more deep breaths as you watch him walk around the front of the car. He must punch it in wrong the first time, because a light blinks red at the top of the box.

Your eyes wander over the landscape beyond the gate as he continues to try to get it open. The cabin was much bigger than you’d been expecting from the few pictures Payback had showed you from his group chat.

It looked nice, really nice, and from what you could see of the grounds, everything had been well-kept.

The gate finally creaks open, and you see your boyfriend jogging back to the car. “It’s really cold out there.” He comments, rubbing his hands together as you wait for the gate to open fully. “I’m glad we’re not camping.”

As you pull up the driveway, you can’t help the words that come out of your mouth, “It’s so beautiful.”

You notice movement on the roof over the entry way, and you crane your head to get a better look.

Sure enough, you see two figures stand up and walk back toward the light from a nearby window that sits behind a porch on the second floor. You can’t see who it is from the driveway, but you smile, glad that at least two people in the group would be awake to meet.

From the corner of your eye, you notice something else, so you sweep your eyes over the rest of the structure, landing on another figure.

They’re standing at the side of the house, near the edge of the woods. You freeze- as if all time has stopped around you.

You can barely make out any detail of their clothes, or features, as they’re facing away from you. But as soon as your eyes land on them, they start to turn toward you. It’s slow, and deliberate, and you’re struck with the same feeling from the road.

In your mind you beg, plead to some higher power that the figure- a woman, you can see now- not turn any further, not face you. You want to pull your eyes from the scene, but you can’t seem to will yourself to do it.

“We made it.”

Payback’s voice breaks through your mind, a savior to you in this moment, and it’s enough to break whatever trance you’d fallen into. When you turn from the window and see the excitement on his face, the dread falls away from you.

You feel relief once again.

“You ready to go in?” You blink, registering his words. You don’t dare look back to the side of the house.

“Yeah. Let’s go in.”

You meet each other at the trunk to grab your bags, and then you’re walking up the steps. The door opens, and Rooster’s head pops around the side of it. He steps back when he sees the two of you, opening it wider so you can get your bags through. “Hey! You made it.”

The familiar face smiling next to Rooster immediately calms your nerves. She steps forward and pulls you into her arms, giving you a tight hug. “Agh, I missed you!” You hear Rooster close the door and greet Payback behind you.

When you pull apart you notice her husband staring at you with the best poker face he can muster. You share a knowing glance with her, and then she elbows his side. “Oh! Uh- it’s good to see you again.”

“I’m surprised you remember the last time we met, you and Reu were prettyyy out of it.” His eyes widen as he looks to his wife for some sort of lifeline, but she just shrugs, a grimace on her face. “Think you’ve been caught, babe.”

Payback laughs, clapping him on the shoulder. “She saw right through you, man. It was a good effort though.”

“You two are the worst.” He points at them. “No help at all.”

“I did appreciate the gesture though, don’t worry.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet again anyway, I promise I’ll remember most of this trip.” He jokes, causing the rest of you to laugh.

When it dies down, you speak again, “Is anyone else around?”

They glance at each other, then both shake their heads as Rooster answers your question. “Not that we’ve seen, but we have been up on the roof.”

You hum in response.

“You two have probably had a long day, we should let you get settled. But tomorrow I want to hear all about your sister’s engagement.”

“Sounds good.” You smile at her. They give you directions and say goodnight, and then you and Payback are on your way to the unoccupied suite at the far end of the main floor.

It’s quiet as you put your bags down and start to get ready for bed, not for any other reason aside from exhaustion catching up with both of you. When you’re standing at the double sink in the bathroom brushing your teeth, you make eye contact in the mirror and smile at each other.

“Are you still feeling okay?”

You spit your toothpaste in the sink, turning on the water, and nod. “Much better now that we’re here.”

He wipes his face, and you finish up your skincare routine. “I didn’t think you got carsick.”

You rub lotion into your hands, then follow him out of the bathroom, flipping off the light. “I usually don’t- that’s why I was kind of panicking.”

He stops to face you, and pull you into his chest. “I think your panic was justified. I was panicked. That got really bad really fast.” You wrap your arms tightly around him.

“I know, I’m sorry.” He kisses the top of your head. “Don’t be. It’s not something you can control. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

You tilt your head back to look at him, and he leans down to kiss you.

“Now-“ He emphasizes the word with another kiss. “-we can get some sleep, and tomorrow we’ll really start enjoying our first trip together.” You smile.

“Sounds perfect.” He rubs your back as you pull apart to walk to the other side of the room, patting your ass when you turn.

You glance back, pursing your lips amusedly.

As you pass by the large window to get into bed, you hesitate, biting the inside of your cheek. It wasn’t lost on you as you walked through the kitchen and into another hallway that you were headed toward the side of the house closest to where you had seen…someone earlier.

And though you feel a little silly for doing it, you pull the curtain aside just enough to look out toward the woods.

Because even though, according to the Bradshaws, everyone was sleeping, and even though you don’t particularly want to feel that feeling again, you still hope the same someone is still outside- that you’ll be able to recognize them.

Because then you’ll be able to put your mind to rest.

But you don’t see anything, or anyone, out of the ordinary. There’s enough moonlight to see that the property extends all the way to the edge of the tree line, with a wooden fence to mark the separation, and that’s all.

You let the curtain fall back into place, shielding you once again from the outside world.

Maybe it was just car sickness- you hadn’t eaten enough that day. And it probably was just one of your friends in the yard- they’d gone back inside without passing through the main area of the house. You let out a decisive breath.

Yes- there was an explanation for everything. It’s what you repeat to yourself as you get into bed, turn off the lamp, and snuggle into your boyfriend’s arms.

Taglist: @imwaytootires @choochoo284 @teti-menchon0604 @hopefulinlove @phoenix1389 @littlebadariell @cycbaby @seasidh @nonsensical-nonce @dracosluvbot @army24--7 @unordinare @xoxabs88xox @alexxavicry @Itsyogurl19 @toocoldoutsideforyou @double-j @classygirlything21

#payback #payback x reader #payback fic #reuben payback fitch #rueben payback fitch x reader #tgm #tgm fic #top gun maverick #payback top gun #katescabininthewoods #I love that picture of him #he's so cute

62 notes · View notes