Ticci Toby x Fem!Reader — childhood friends, eerie old town, finding yourself, slow burn-sorta, etc etc just read ts bro </3
Not proofread, I hate myself
Word Count: 1.4k (Getting into the swing of a series, chapters will progressively get longer.)
After moving away from everything you once knew, growing up, hating where you moved, and now spending as much time as you can away from home, you indefinitely find yourself right back where you left your childhood. Right back where you left him.
It was barely midnight. Your eyes stuttered and fluttered open, looking around the old creaky room you once visited as a kid. The light from the farm across the street echoed onto the wall with a greyish blue hue.
You sat up, almost immediately shivering in the brisk room, wrapping the comforter on your lap over yourself as a last hope to warm yourself before getting up for water to sat your antsy energy.
For the past few days you’ve needed to get up in the middle of the night, for reasons unknown even to yourself. Something about this once familiar town left your unconscious mind unsettled, so much so you had to wake up every damn night you spent here.
Sighing into the darkness, you let go of the warm blanket and stood, cringing at the abrupt cool air. In that same breath you noticed something off, what looked like a figure in the field just past the road across from your—the guest—room. You squinted, trying to piece together the blur into something coherent.
You swore it was human, or human adjacent. You blinked harder and harder until it seemingly disappeared, writing it off with a swat of your hand. Surely you were just tired and disoriented, your mind seeing things oddly before you could process what was infront of you.
The creak of the dark hallway was like a siren alerting your aunt and uncle of your whereabouts, which of course they had probably heard four times each night consecutively since your arrival. You hoped they had already fallen asleep and wouldn’t wake too easily as you pattered down the stairs quietly as you could. You silently willed those stupid steps to just be quiet for a change.
After finally reaching the landing you shuffled toward the kitchen and swiftly pulled a glass from the dishwasher, as swift as you could be from the rusty old thing. Pouring quite a large sum of water into the glass, you couldn’t help this churning feeling of being watched. ‘You’re just being paranoid’, you reasoned with yourself. ‘It’s just the change of scenery that’s messing with you’, you muttered.
Then as quickly as you were to reassure yourself, a twig snapped outside the window nearest to you. You froze, telling yourself not to look at it, as if looking at the window would then allow whatever was outside to come in.
After what felt like an hour of staring at the countertop you sheepishly turned your head to look over at the window. Nothing.
Of course there was nothing, why would there be anything?
Taking one large gulp for the trip, you cradled your glass in your hand, shoulders tense as you walked back upstairs into the guest room.
First you placed the glass on your nightstand and looked outside just for good measure. You can never be too sure.
When you looked, there was nothing. Just the wheat field as it’d always been, covered with fog as it always seemed to be. Trees lined the field except for where they’d been cut off by the road. Where you had a perfect view of the land.
It was nice to have such a peaceful view, as a kid you’d dare your friend to run through it. Christ, you really need to stop thinking about him. He’s probably long gone from this place by now anyways.
Oh, but how you missed him, Tobias. Toby. Without him you’d have been alone all those years, him vice versa. Growing up an outcast wasn’t exactly nice, not as the movies romanticized it. You never really had that turn around, where after you leave high school you “find your people” in college. Why couldn’t you just be alone? You were comfortable that way.
At least, you think.
You huffed, having frustrated yourself with the same thoughts you tormented yourself with for years. This so called vacation was supposed to be—and going to be peaceful.
Slumping back onto the plush bed, you wrapped yourself in the still-warm blanket and prayed for sleep to take you sooner than later.
By the time morning came you were already tired. As if you had really been awake all that time, you groggily rolled over hoping to somehow fix the exhaustion behind your eyes.
Reluctant to get up, you looked outside. The fog had lifted, leaving morning dew in its wake, the sun’s light perfectly reflecting off of the stalks of wheat just for you.
Getting up and attempting to fix your hair neatly in the mirror you immediately gave up and huffed. A later problem. Walking downstairs the house was quiet, your aunt and uncle must have already left for work. Good for you, their kitchen is at your mercy.
Your stomach rumbled with a plea. In response you grabbed a pan and placed it on the old gas burner. Wracking your brain for where the baking bowls were, you swore you saw a shadow move past the window.
Strange. You never really hallucinated during the daytime. Or ever. Dismissing such a thing as a rabbit—or—something, you prepared breakfast, pancakes.
A few hours later you finally convinced yourself to get dressed to go out and do something. A dark blue and white flannel you bought on a whim a few months back now hanging from your shoulders. Buttoning it you admired the soft lace of your tank top underneath it. You never really found yourself wearing what you wanted, but now you seemed to be more yourself. Slipping on some dark wash jeans you hummed, carelessly brushing your hair out and hoping it wouldn’t look like shit.
You ended with a ponytail, which thankfully fit with your outfit at least.
You grabbed your jacket, an old leather one you found thrifting but never wore after trying it on in the changing room. Taking your bag with you, you hummed your way to the front door, slipping on your aunt’s hiking boots.
The walk to the nature trail wasn’t far, being in a rural area there wasn’t much traffic to worry about.
Once at the head of the trail, you pushed your earbud into your ear, pressing play on your favorite playlist and walking along the dirt. It was days like this where you could breathe and not immediately choke that made the rest seem not so bad.
After walking for quite a while you stopped at a little stream. Sitting on the ground before it you just watched as the water filed through the indent in the ground. It was peaceful you had to admit.
Was peaceful, until your eye caught an almost eerily, once-familiar silhouette. You were immediately frightened, freezing in place.
The figure must have noticed your stillness, because they then proceeded to speak up.
“H-Hel—“
You stood up fast, backing away hastily, in the process nearly tripping over yourself but catching a nearby tree for stability, for whatever reason though… you stayed to look at them. As your eyes focused, you learned it was him.
He had short dusty brown hair, choppy and un-styled. Hazel-brown eyes, wide but looked like they had seen too much. Of what, you were unsure. The thing that most caught your eye was a large bandage pasted to the right side of his face made of medical tape and a sqaure of cotton. He wasn’t particularly tall, but you had to tilt your head to look up at him a bit.
The stranger hesitated, fingers flexing awkwardly at his side as though he’d forgotten what people were supposed to do when they met one another.
“…H-Hello.”
His voice was quieter than you’d expected, though it struck you from your haze of fright nonetheless. You hesitated to reply.
Heart still beating hard enough to drown out the stream beside you, every instinct screaming at you to leave, yet your feet stayed rooted where they were. The man seemed to notice your hesitation.
“…Sorry,” he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. “D-Didn’t muh-mean to sch-scare you.”
Something about him tugged at the back of your mind. Not his face, not entirely. It was the way he stood, shoulders drawn tight, like he was waiting for someone to tell him he’d done something wrong.
You frowned before you could stop yourself.
“Have we met?” muttering softly as if you would spook him right back, as if you were both deer, yet both wolves simultaneously.
His eyes flickered toward yours for just a second. Long enough for something uncertain, something eager to find out, cross his expression.
“I…” He hesitated. “I d-don’t know. Well, we hah-have now.”
The breeze stirred the leaves overhead, carrying the scent of damp earth through the clearing. Neither of you spoke. You couldn’t shake the feeling that you should know him. Equally, he looked as though he was trying just as hard to place you.
It was unsettling.
Almost familiar.
A/N:
THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING!!! this is my first fic on tumblr ever—yes, yes… oh you shouldn’t have, ah, chocolate? for me? oh you’re so sweet. kidding kidding, i know this chapter is poop from a butt, but (haha) i haven’t written anything in a BIT. i’ll edit and update later on once i get into the swing of thangs. ALSO very aware this chapter is short as fuck, don’t forget that the next chapters will be longer i sware..
also also, very aware that tourette’s ≠ stutter, but for consistency’s sake, toby has a stutter. after reading so many fics where he does would feel wrong writing him without one sooo….
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