#falltober23

[anniesocsandgeneralstore]

deep dark valley | rhett abbott x oc, time travel au

Summary: A year ago, Rebecca Abbott went missing. Now, Rhett is nowhere to be found. The Amelia County Sheriff's Department has put together a search party. One of the volunteers: Tessa Abernathy. But it takes more than searching on horseback for her to find him out in the west pasture. (wc: 3631)

Warnings: background ocs, 🕳 the hole 🕳, language, a bit of a cliffhanger and a flashforward

✎……To start off falltober on a slightly spooky note: the time travel au! I'm really liking how this story is going so far. Please let me know your thoughts and if you want me to continue this! I have so many thoughts and ideas!

✎……MAIN MASTERLIST || FALLTOBER MASTERLIST

Don’t go out in the fields at night, Where the black sky opens at your feet And swallows you whole A god with a sickle,  tearing through time Don’t go out in the fields at night, You’ll disappear without a trace Not to be found, not to be home And come back later Not completely whole Don’t go out in the fields at night,  Unless you want To risk your life

Rhett Abbott went missing three days ago. Sent out to check the fences on his family’s ranch on Wednesday and he never came back. The Abbotts thought he was just off doing what Rhett did — drinking or bedding some girl he didn’t know for a few days. So they didn’t call the police until he had been missing for a full forty-eight hours. Worry starting to settle in when they finally seemed to notice that his truck was still parked up by the barn just north of the house.

The sheriff put out a call that a search party should gather at the Abbott ranch at two o’clock after the missing person’s report was finalized and an initial investigation had been underway. Rhett was still out on Abbott land somewhere, of that much the police were certain. Possibly hurt. And he needed to be found fast before anything worse happened to him out there — the weather forecast showing his impending doom as a great storm cloud approached the region. 

Tessa Abernathy, along with her father and mother, answered that call. Arriving at the Abbott ranch with their horses in tow to search the land as best they could. 

Tessa couldn’t imagine what Royal and Cece must have been going through. It wasn’t even a year ago that their daughter-in-law Rebecca went missing on their land. Went out for a walk to cool off one night and never came back home. Her father, the cynic he sometimes was, said it was a little suspicious that another person just disappeared on their property. He wondered if they should just start digging instead of looking for that boy alive. 

His wife and daughter both told him to stop talking like that. His defensive what? making them double down on their efforts.

“You went t’school with’im, didn’ya, Tess?” her mom asked as she peered into the back bench seat where her daughter sat with her knees scrunched up. 

“Yeah,” she answered, unable to look at either of them as she turned her head to look out the window, watching the endless Wyoming landscape zoom past. “Graduated the same year. I — I hope he’s okay.”

“M’sure he’s fine. Jus’got a little lost s’all.”

“On’is own land? That don’t happen! Unless he’s drunk…”

“Nate! Will you quit!” her mom hissed, hitting her husband lightly on the arm with a pointed look back at Tessa.

It wasn’t like she was close to Rhett. She barely spoke two words to him in school and not a single one after graduation. Their friend groups didn’t mix and she stopped doing rodeo stuff. They might have lived in the same small town with not much to do, but the two of them just never seemed to cross paths. Still, a pit, an open maw that gnawed at her insides, had opened up in her gut when she heard the news that he was missing. It hadn’t gone away since and only worsened when they turned into the drive that branched off into the Tillerson and Abbott ranch entrances. The simple rought iron gate with that circled A looming over them like some omen she didn’t understand and didn’t want to. 

What anguish the Abbotts must be experiencing, what worry. What tears had been shed. And what if Rhett was out there somewhere? Injured and alone. Hungry and cold. It made her guts twist up and her teeth sink into her bottom lip. Hand reflexivly curling around the bag she brought. Filled with a fresh bottle of water, food, and a first aid kit — just in case she found him. Just in case he needed it. 

Tessa hadn’t prayed since she was a little girl and her parents still dragged her to church every Sunday. But she closed her eyes and spoke to the Lord then as their truck pulled up to the Abbott ranch house. 

Please let him be out there. Let him be okay. Let someone, anyone, find him.

Her father killed the engine and they all climbed out of the truck. The sheriff and deputy were already there, standing on the Abbotts porch talking with Royal and Perry. Cece was out in the yard, talking to a few other women. There were about twenty people there already. All with their four-wheelers and gators and horses to aid them in their search of the expansive land. The sky was growing dark, greyed over in cloud, a wind blowing in from the east.

That storm was coming in faster than anyone expected.

When Cece noticed them, she wrapped her cardigan tighter around herself, and approached with a tight smile. 

“Thank you f’r comin’,” she almost whispered as she wrapped Tessa’s mom up in a hug.

Her dad patted her on the back, all skeptism gone as he said, “‘Course. Can’t even imagine. Anythin’ else we c’n do t’help — jus’let us know.” 

“I’ppreciate that,” Cece said as she pulled away from the embrace. 

Then she caught sight of Tessa still standing by the truck, hands stuffed in her Carhartt pockets, trying to blend into the background. But there Cece was. Walking up to her with tears in her eyes and the wind blowing her brown hair across her wrinkled face. 

“Thank you,” she said as she took Tessa by the shoulder firmly. 

What do you say to someone who keeps losing family left and right? What do you say to a mother whose son is gone — and might be gone forever? Tessa surely didn’t know as words and phrases that all seemed cliche and insincere rolled and tumbled on her tongue until they all felt like a knotted mess in her throat. Clogging her up until all that came out was: 

“N-No problem.” 

That definitely wasn’t the right thing to say. But Cece didn’t seem to mind. She only smiled and gave her shoulder another squeeze. Then let go to talk to her parents some more. Tessa heaved a sigh of relief as she slipped away, turning on her heel to check on the horses in the trailer. 

A few minutes past two, the sheriff rounded up the search party and gave designated zones of land for people to search. The Abernathys and the Brownings were going to search the west pasture until dark. The section of their land that Royal said Rhett was supposed to be checking the fences of — that butted up against Tillerson property. 

None of the Abbotts’ neighbors showed up to help with the search. Not even Luke, who seemed to be the only one with his head on straight. But neither Royal or Cece seemed to mind. It was probably best that they stayed away, considering the two families' history of bickering and petty squabbling that Tessa only heard in gossip her parents liked to share around the kitchen table. 

At the sheriff’s call for everyone to head out, Tessa mounted her horse. 

Peaches stamped her feet and whinnied softly as Tessa settled into the saddle, a loose hold on the reigns. Her horse was excited to explore the new land, having not gotten off her own family’s ranch much since Tessa retired from barrel racing some years ago. With a click of her tongue and a light kick of her heel into Peaches’ side, they were off at a trot towards the west pasture. 

No one spoke. Abernathys on their horses and Brownings on their four-wheelers. A heavy tension in the air that could nearly be touched. Nothing to fill the silence save for the high-pitched whine of the small engines and the distant sounds of thunder. Tessa looked to the east, one hand on her thigh as she guided Peaches forward. The clouds were still a few miles out, but they were dark as night, lightning already shooting out. The wind whipped at her face. It even smelled like a storm.

“Y’all go north from’ere! We’ll go south!” Mr. Browning shouted over the noise. 

The three Abernathys nodded, and turned their horses to the north. Into pasture that seemed neverending. And after only a few minutes of riding together, they split off as well. 

Tessa veered even more north, towards the treeline. The trees felt like a logical place for him to be. If he got injured and lost his horse, it would provide at least some cover from the elements. Her eyes darted this way and that, focused on the ground, never stopping for long, just enough to make sure there was no sign of Rhett. Picking over the land slowly. She hoped and prayed for the toe of a boot, a scrap of blue jean, or a flash of flannel amongst the dried leaves and ferns and long grasses. Hoped that she would recognize it if she did see it. 

But so far, there was nothing. 

Nothing but empty fields and silence and an incoming storm that would surely cut their search short. 

Sighing, Tessa looked up from the ground for the first time in ages. Her parents and their horses were nowhere in sight. How long had she been looking? How far away were they? A knot formed in the pit of her stomach, her hands tightening around the reins as Peaches shifted anxiously. Tessa didn’t like being alone out here. With the grey and infinite sky, the unsettling howling of the wind, a missing person nowhere to be found. 

Only a mile ahead, she could see the fence line, barbed wire and thick posts, that separated the Abbott land from the Tillersons. Hopefully, if she followed the fence line and headed south from there, she would run into her parents eventually. She guided Peaches in that direction and took off at a faster pace than she had been going previously, eyes still scanning the ground for any sign of Rhett despite her discomfort. 

Suddenly, a hum filled the air. It sounded nearly mechanical — but also animalistic. Otherworldly, coming from a certain point but also coming from everywhere all at once. It made a shiver run up Tessa’s spine like a finger of ice as she turned her head towards what sounded like the source of the noise. Just a little further north. What appeared to be nothing. 

But what if it was Rhett? 

What if he had heard the same strange noise just before he disappeared?

Tessa pushed down her fears, wrestled them into a pit at the very center of her gut that sat heavy and insistent, as she got down from Peaches’ back. She wasn’t about to run off because she was scared. Rhett needed help, and this noise could lead her right to him. So she walked forward. Leaving Peaches behind.

The humming got louder the further she walked. And when she got to the source, she stopped dead in her tracks. Her veins felt frozen. Her lungs seized up, her chest heaving. And despite every instinct telling her to turn back, get back on her horse and run — she couldn’t move.

A horrible void was laid out before her. Large and gaping and utterly black. A dust floated and danced just on the surface. The hum was coming from deep within. Gentle and continuous. It was shaped like a perfectly circular hole in the ground. With no sign of a bottom at the end of it. Just great consuming blackness and swirling dust. Like the opposite of the sun, it seemed to sap what was left of the light trying to stream through the clouds. Casting the field in shadows that stretched and stretched to meet their maker at the center of it all. Even the noise of the wind and the coming storm and small creatures thriving in the tall grass ceased. 

And the void, humming and consuming, called to her. 

 Her feet moved of their own accord, unable to resist as they carried her forward towards the hole. 

Standing mere inches from it now, she could feel the pull of it. The tug that drew in the light and the shadows and the noise. It pulled at her gut. It wanted to take her as well. Another step forward, and she was at the edge. Like standing on a cliff.

Run, run, run — get away everything inside her screamed. Her heart pounded in her chest as she looked deep into the void just past the tips of her boots. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end as the wind blew past her. All around her. But the hum of the inky blackness sang just for her. She felt herself leaning forward. 

Then Peaches whinnied somewhere behind her. Tessa turned sharply — and suddenly she was falling back.

Infinite cold. Infinite darkness. Nothing and everything all at once. There was no ground beneath her and no sky above. Floating through a nothingness that cradled her on all sides with a hum. Because it wasn’t falling. Not quite. Tessa felt there would be no end to this. She would spend the rest of time and space surrounded by void. Consumed. Gone forever.

Just like Rebecca. 

Just like Rhett.

Wait. 

Grass.

Grass beneath her palm. She was touching grass. No longer falling down but crawling up. A desperation filled her to be free of the inky dark and cold, as she dug her fingers into the earth and pulled with all her strength. A gasp escaping past her lips as her head broke through the void and she was staring up into pale blue sky. Like she was finally breaking through the surface of water. 

Then a hand wrapped around her wrist and tugged her up. Tessa cried out as she was yanked belly first onto the grass. Her lungs felt like they were on fire. Like she had been holding her breath for too long. There was a ringing in her ears that wouldn’t stop. And the sun — the sun felt so bright after what felt like an eternity, an entire life age of the earth spent in darkness.

She was then rolled onto her back, a pressure and weight placed on her cheek. There was a muffled voice, like listening to someone through a wall. She tried to open her eyes; blinked against the harsh light of the sun. But quickly, the form of someone’s face was taking shape.

Rhett Abbott’s face. 

“R-Rhe…?” she tried, but the sound of his name came out heavy on her tongue.

Blue eyes looked down at her with concern pulling his brows down over them. His chin and jaw were covered in a layer of scruff. And his hair…It seemed longer than in the picture the sheriff passed out. His face looked harder too. Like he had seen things he shouldn’t — or more than he should have. 

“Hey, hey, c’you hear me? Y’r gonna be alright. We just gotta…” He trailed off as he looked away from her. Then his expression dropped. “No, no, no, no! Not again! Shit — fuck! Come on! Fuck!”

His face disappeared from her sight completely. The weight of what she could only assume was his hand falling away from her face.

She could look up at the sky without squinting at least. Pale blue. The color of early morning. Not a storm cloud in sight. How long was she…Gone? Where even were they?

The only way to find out is if she sat up and got her bearings. Even if all she really wanted to do was go to sleep and try and pretend this was all just some bad dream her friends would think was crazy. But this couldn’t have been a dream. The grass was damp beneath her, wetting her clothes and sending a chill over her skin. It poked into her bare hands. She could smell smoke and hay off in the distance. Those things didn’t happen in dreams.

So she pulled herself up into a sitting position with a groan, blinking hard to further adjust to the light. 

Rhett was sitting beside her. Elbows over his knees with his head hung low against his chest. Her brow furrowed as she took in his attire. Brown pants and worn, dusty boots; suspenders and a white button up that looked too big for him. Not his usual style if she remembered him right — or remembered what century they were in for that matter. 

“Wha —” she tried to ask, but her voice cracked. She coughed and tried again. “What’s goin’ on?”

“I’ve been stuck’ere for six months,” Rhett grumbled, not even looking up at her as he spoke. “‘N’now y’r stuck too.”

“Rhett…Y’ve been missin’ for three days…?” 

He finally turned his head to look at her, brows furrowed as he ticked his jaw to one side. “Guess that makes sense. Considerin’ when it fuckin’ spat us out.” 

Drawing his hands over his face with a sigh, Tessa only became more confused. Besides the sudden change in weather, and maybe the sudden change in the time of day (and his clothes and the fact she just fell into a black hole and Rhett Abbott pulled her out of it), everything seemed normal. They even appeared to be in the same field as the one she found that hole in, which was gone now. No hum and no all-consuming darkness. But now that she looked around…There were more trees surrounding them than she remembered. And when did that hill rising to the east with the little log cabin sitting on top, get there?

“I don’understand…” she said with a slow shake of her head as she looked around.

“I don’understand much either. But what I do know s’that I fell n’a hole six months ago n’climbed out of it here — in this field. N’now y’re here. So, same thing must’a happened t’you,” he replied, blunt and bitter.

“I — yeah. I-I guess so. I’s out on y’r family’s land…Lookin’ for ya.” His head jerked over to look at her with an expression she couldn’t quite read. “Didn’know I’d have t’fall n’a black hole n’order t’find ya, though.” 

A small smile quirked at the corner of his mouth, but then he looked away again with a shake of his head. “M’sorry. This…Shit…It ain’t gonna be easy.”

“What?” she asked, a sudden and acute fear gripping at her heart.

“That hole didn’jus’ spit us out n’a different place. It spat us out n’a different time.”

Grass beneath her palm. She was touching grass. No longer falling down but crawling up. A desperation filled her to be free of the inky dark and cold, as she dug her fingers into the earth and pulled with all her strength. Which she knew there wasn’t much left of. A gasp escaped past her lips as her head broke through the void and she was staring up into brilliant blue sky. Like she was finally breaking through the surface of water.

Her other hand found purchase in the dirt and she pulled. With a cry and a soft groan, she landed belly fist onto the grass. Gasping for breath, her lungs feeling like they were on fire, she rolled over onto her back.

At least the sky felt familiar. At least her body didn’t ache like she thought it would. Like it did before she jumped. She did wonder though, as she laid there trying to adjust, how she was going to get up from the ground. She was pretty sure she hadn’t gotten down in the dirt for twenty-odd years.

Distantly, like from a different room of the house, she heard a groan and a thud as another body crawled out of the black void. She felt his presence at her side, like he was always supposed to be, solid and warm. Tessa smiled. 

Good. He made it too.

She turned her head to the side and opened her eyes. 

What she saw was not what she expected. 

It was a picture of herself. Young and beautiful. The glass protecting it stained from rain and sun, leaned up against a lone fence post. The large picture was surrounded by smaller ones. Wilted flowers. Crosses. Teddy bears. Wreaths. And candles long burnt out. Tessa craned her neck to see what else was there. On another fence post was a picture of Rhett. Handsome as the day he pulled her out of that hole with his lips pressed into a thin line. He didn’t have as many things surrounding his picture, but still, there were flowers and candles and a few belt buckles strewn around.

No. It couldn’t be. It wouldn’t spit them back out right where they left off.

Would it?

Tessa turned her head towards where Rhett lay beside her and her chest heaved. Her heart raced in her chest. Her limbs felt heavy.

Handsome as the day he pulled her out of that hole. Unburdended by time and years upon years of hard work. Strong and lean. Before she even knew she was moving, Tessa rolled over onto her side and leaned against his chest. She took his smooth face between her hands, hands ungnarled with no wrinkles in sight, as a shaky breath escaped her.

Rhett opened his eyes, blue and dark as an oncoming storm. Blinked against the harsh light after infinite darkness. And then widened at the sight of her.

“Sunshine?” he whispered, fingers curling around her waist.

She smiled down at him, tears stinging her eyes. “This ain’t gonna be easy.”

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#oc: tessa abernathy #fic: deep dark valley #fd: outer range #time travel au #rhett abbott #rhett abbott x oc #rhett abbott fanfiction #rhett abbott fanfic #rhett abbott fic #rhett abbott imagine #outer range #outer range fic #outer range imagine #outer range oc #new fic #rhett abbott x tessa abernathy #lewis pullman #falltober23

[anniesocsandgeneralstore]

here to stay | rhett abbott x oc

Summary: holding their hand and whispering soft reassurances while guiding them through a haunted house (wc: 462)

Requested: YES by anon

Warnings: haunted house, rhett being nick miller levels of scaredy cat

✎……MAIN MASTERLIST || FALLTOBER MASTERLIST

Tessa knew something was off as soon as they walked through the haunted house’s entrance. Rhett was gripping her hand like a vice, walking even closer to her side than normal, jumping and shifting at every little thing. 

It wasn’t even that scary of a haunted house. It was made for kids for God’s sake. For the Wabang Fall Festival, set up in the big pole barn where they usually did the barrel races at the fairgrounds. But there Rhett was, hunched in on himself with his chin practically tucked to his chest, looking around like something horrible and traumitizing was going to pop out at any second.

She looked up at him as they rounded the first corner with a raised brow. “Are you scared righ’now?” 

“No,” he quickly replied, barely even glancing down at her.

A little too quickly.

Then someone dressed in a Frankenstein’s Monster costume jumped out at them, roaring as he swiped one big hand. He was deliberately slow in his movements, much like the classic movie monster. The suddenness of his appearance made Tessa jump at first, but then she laughed. 

Rhett on the other hand let out a harsh fucking shit as he flinched. Shoulders bunched up around the brim of his stetson, turning his back towards the monster as he dragged Tessa along the hallway at a faster pace.

“What was that?” she laughed once they were clear.

“I…” Rhett huffed, shoulders still scrunched as he stopped them just before they had to weave through a section of dangling fake spiders. “I really hate gettin’ scared, alright?”

“Oh, my brave, brave, cowboy.” She really couldn’t stop the giggle that slipped past her lips as she cupped his stubbled cheek. “You didn’ave t’come in here wi’me.”

“M’supposed t’protect you…” he grumbled back, unwilling to meet her eyes. 

She giggled again and gave his hand a squeeze. “How’bout I protect you this time?”

“Y’won’t tell anybody?”

“No. I swear.”

Though it probably wouldn’t stop her from bringing it up from time to time. Just to watch him squirm and blush. Remind him all about the night they went through a haunted house for children and he had to hold onto her from behind with his eyes screwed shut. Face burried in her neck as she told him what was going on. Reassuring him that it was almost over and that he was doing so good.

But she would keep to herself the relieved look on his face when they finally made it out on the other side. The triumph and the little bashful smile. The kiss he planted on her lips and the mumbled thank you only she could hear. 

That little piece, that vulnerability from Rhett only she could see, that was for her only.

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#oc: tessa abernathy #fic: here to stay #fd: outer range #rhett abbott #rhett abbott x oc #rhett abbott imagine #rhett abbott fanfiction #rhett abbott fanfic #rhett abbott fic #outer range #outer range imagine #outer range fic #ocapp #falltober23 #rhett abbott x tessa abernathy #lewis pullman

[anniesocsandgeneralstore]

bolognese for the heart | chef!bob x oc

Summary: chef!Bob making something with the pumpkin guts/seeds while OC sits nearby carving the freshly cleaned-out pumpkin. (wc: 458)

Requested: YES by @a-reader-and-a-writer

Warnings: fluff fluff fluff, knife mention, an entire backstory that i have yet to write (whoops)

✎……MAIN MASTERLIST || FALLTOBER MASTERLIST

“Mm, the guts’re all yours, chef,” Georgia said as she slid over the bowl, a grimace on her lips and the last remaining strings of pumpkin insides dangling from her fingers. “Hated that.”

“I appreciate your sacrifice,” Bob chuckled as he kissed her cheek.

She wiped her hands on a towel. “Mm, you better.”

“So will you, once I get these guys toasted and seasoned.”

Bob took the bowl of guts over to the sink and began to pick out the seeds. Extracting them from the stringy insides and washing them off one by one. Once cleaned to his liking, he laid each of them out gently on a paper towel to dry. Georgia smiled as she watched him for a moment. Even after all this time, she could still watch him cook anything and be absolutely enthralled. Especially with the sleeves of his button up rolled up like that and his apron tied around his waist. 

“What’re ya gonna carve?” he asked, looking over his shoulder at her with a grin.

“Um —” Georgia turned back to the hollowed out pumpkin, staring up at her blank faced. “I don’t know. My family always painted pumpkins at Halloween.”

“Really? Why?”

“Less messy, more fun — less dangerous,” she said, picking up the paring knife she would use to carve warily.

Bob chuckled. “Guess that makes sense. You want help?”

He looked ready to stop everything to come back over and help her carve the pumpkin. Eyebrows raised and lips pursed, fingers third knuckle deep in pumpkin guts. Georgia shook her head with a smile.

“No, I got it. I wanna try your…The uh…”

“Sweet curry pepitas,” he filled in for her.

“Yeah, those — as soon as possible,” she said.

“Yes, ma’am.”

So they carved and cleaned pumpkin seeds quietly. A record playing from the other room and glasses of wine poured once Bob had seasoned the pepitas and put them in the oven to toast. He hummed quietly in her ear as he wrapped his arms around Georgia’s waist. Head rested comfortably on her shoulder as he watched her carve. She knew it was a little messy, but she was trying her best while also attempting to not cut herself. Bob just laughed lightly as she poked out the mouth, wide smiling and goofy — matched with a small pair of round eyes.

“He’s a very happy jack-o-lantern,” he chuckled, giving her waist a squeeze.

Their little country cottage filled with the smells of curry spices and brown sugar as they put in the electric tea candle and set the pumpkin up in the window. Even though they would be the only ones who would see it.

Just a small reminder of the perfect October night, and a bit of home.

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#oc: georgia fields #fic: bolognese for the heart #fd: tgm #robert bob floyd #bob floyd #robert bob floyd x oc #bob floyd x oc #chef!bob #top gun maverick #tgm #tgm au #ocapp #lewis pullman #bob floyd x georgia fields #tgm imagine #tgm fic #falltober23

[anniesocsandgeneralstore]

here to stay | rhett abbott x oc

Summary: one not being too focused on carving their own pumpkin because they're too worried about the other getting hurt while carving theirs (wc: 697)

Requested: YES by anon

Warnings: knife and blood mention, protective rhett, background ocs, fluff to the max with these two

✎……MAIN MASTERLIST || FALLTOBER MASTERLIST

“Jace, bud, y’r gonna cut y’rself if ya hold it like that,” Tessa warned as she reached across the table and adjusted Jace’s grip on the knife.

Rhett, on the other side of the table, just stared at Tessa’s other hand still holding her pumpkin on its side. Sharp knife stuck in what was maybe supposed to be an eye-hole, only about a centimeter away from her skin. It didn’t help that she took what felt like a butcher’s knife from the block, a knife straight out of one of those scary movies Colton made them all watch, opting to give all the boys their smaller knives for carving. Rhett hadn’t even started carving his own pumpkin. How could he, when Tessa felt determined to give him a heart attack with just how careless she was being? 

She was focused on the boys, he knew that. Making sure they stayed safe and were having fun. But she just — 

Rhett flinched and hissed as she just barely missed her fingers finishing out her triangular eye-hole. Poking it out into the hollow inside. When she was done, she looked up at him with a quirked brow and a shrug of her shoulders that said what?

“Just uh…” Rhett glanced around at the boys surrounding the table, none of them were paying that much attention save for Levi, who seemed to pay attention to everything that happened inside those walls. “Y’re makin’ me nervous.”

“How’m I makin’ you nervous?” she laughed, looking back down at her pumpkin and starting her work on the mouth. 

Barely even looking at where she was going because she was too preoccupied with what Wyatt was doing right next to her.

Rhett picked up his knife and pretended like he was carving. “By doin’ that. Not payin’ attention.”

“M’payin’ attention,” she assured.

Even as she paused carving her classic jagged mouth, knife still lodged in her gord, and leaned forward across the table towards Jace again. The sharp blade coming closer and closer to her cable-knit sweater and her prescious flesh. Rhett grimaced as he watched for a moment. Then when she didn’t pull back and instead leaned even closer towards Jace and towards the sharp knife, Rhett reached out and slid her pumpkin away from her. Feeling like his heart was about to beat out of his chest and a slight tingle in his fingers — the same feeling he would get after a bull stamped just a little too close to his head. 

“No, y’re not,” he chuckled tensly, pulling out the knife and setting it down slowly.

Tessa stole back her pumpkin with a playful glare. “M’fine!”

Not a minute later, her knife clattered to the table and she gasped. Rhett looked up from where Jace was showing him the lopsided grin he had managed to carve, only to see Tessa holding her index finger with a frown. His heart sank. She was hurt — just like he feared she would be. 

“Aw, hell,” Rhett sighed as he rounded the table.

When he reached her, Tessa looked up at him like she had just been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. But he just shook his head as he took her by the hand and led her out of the dining room.

“Tha’s a quarter in the swear jar!” Wyatt shouted.

“We’ll be righ’back! Don’stab each other!” Rhett called as they left the room.

It wasn’t a large cut, and wouldn't even need stitches. But there was a crimson trail running down into her palm by the time they got into the bathroom and she was running the cut under some hot water. Rhett got down the box of bandaids from the closet.

“I shoulda paid more attention,” she muttered as she turned off the water, patting the clean cut dry.

“Probably,” he replied with that little grin, clearing the packaging off the bandage.

He covered her cut with a delicate hand, and when he was done, he brought her finger up to his lips and gave it a gentle kiss. 

“All better,” he mumbled. 

And she smiled. “Maybe we can finish carvin’ after the boys go t’bed?” 

“Yeah. I like that.”

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#oc: tessa abernathy #fic: here to stay #fd: outer range #rhett abbott #rhett abbott x oc #rhett abbott imagine #rhett abbott fanfiction #rhett abbott fanfic #rhett abbott fic #outer range #outer range imagine #outer range fic #ocapp #rhett abbott x tessa abernathy #lewis pullman #falltober23

[anniesocsandgeneralstore]

here to stay | rhett abbott x oc

Summary: Rhett and Tessa attend a costume party as Tinker Bell and Peter Pan. (wc: 589)

Requested: YES by @saltynametag (and thank you for the beautiful and hilarious dialogue)

Warnings: none besides some suggestive dialogue there at the end

✎……MAIN MASTERLIST || FALLTOBER MASTERLIST

Tessa stepped out of the bathroom after finishing off her hair. That classic, perfectly round bun was harder to put together than she realized. Rhett sat up a bit straight in her spot at the edge of the bed, eyebrows halfway up his forehead and pointed hat he swore he wouldn’t put on until the party held between his hands. She was amazed she even convinced him to dress up with her in the first place — so she settled for the hat being a party ornament only.

He whistled as she did a turn for him. She had to admit, for being a cartoon character, the Tinker Bell costume felt a little risque. Little flats with the white pom poms glued to the toes. Short sleeveless green dress with the classic leaf-like shape cut into the hem. If Tessa bent over she was sure her entire ass would be hanging out. She was going to be freezing at the party — but at least in this outfit she knew Rhett was going to be hanging all over her. That would surely keep her warm and her ass well out of anyone’s view.

But still, a bit of insecurity crept in as she turned to look at herself in the mirror hung on the back of the door.

“Lookin’ good sunshine,” Rhett said. 

“I don’know…” she sighed as she ran her fingers over the sparkly material she had made the dress out of. “Think I c’n pull it off?”

He was suddenly standing right behind her. That little smile on his face that she found infinitely charming lifting the corner of his mouth. She liked when he smiled with his whole face, his whole body, but that little quirk of his lips was so classically Rhett she couldn’t resent it. With a hand on her waist, he snuggled in close, nose ghosting over her exposed neck.

“‘Course. I believe in you.”

Tessa shifted her weight to one foot, hand on her hip as she gave him a narrowed-eyed look in the mirror’s reflection. His smile was only growing, he knew what he was doing.

“Very funny,” she said with a playful roll of her eyes.

“Now c’mon, b’fore we’re late.” He let go of her and turned away from the mirror.

She turned to him with a smile of her own, a glint in her eyes. “What’s the rush? We’re young.”

Hat in hand and a purse of his lips, he nodded. “I see where y’re goin’...”

“Forever.” 

“Yeah, I get it.”

“Y’re not the only one wi’jokes,” she said as she snatched her wings off the bed.

“‘Parently m’the only one with a watch, let’s hurry it up, sunshine,” he replied, reaching out his hand to her as he opened their bedroom door, ushering her to move it along.

“What’s the rush? Not like we’re helpin’ set up or anythin’,” she muttered, too focused on getting the elastic straps of the wings over her shoulders.

“‘Cause, sooner we get there — sooner we can leave. N’the sooner we leave…” He paused as he cocked his head slightly at her, that little quirk of his mouth back on his face. “The sooner I get t’rip that lil’thing off ya.”

“Oh.”

Tessa felt her face go bright red at the indication, at the arousal that was already pooling between her legs. Her throat dry and tongue heavy as she stared Rhett down with wide eyes. All while he just looked back with that same little smile.

This party was going to take forever.

i no longer have a taglist, please follow @anniesocsandlibrary and turn on notifications for updates

#oc: tessa abernathy #fic: here to stay #fd: outer range #rhett abbott #rhett abbott x oc #rhett abbott imagine #rhett abbott fanfiction #rhett abbott fanfic #rhett abbott fic #outer range #outer range imagine #outer range fic #ocapp #rhett abbott x tessa abernathy #lewis pullman #falltober23

[anniesocsandgeneralstore]

Welcome to Annie's Falltober 2023! Hope you enjoy some cozy fall vibes and a decent helping of fluff 🍂🍁🍂 These will start posting on Sunday, Oct 22nd until Friday, Oct 27th

☪. Day 1 - deep dark valley | rhett abbott x oc, time travel au

A year ago, Rebecca Abbott went missing. Now, Rhett is nowhere to be found. The Amelia County Sheriff's Department has put together a search party. One of the volunteers: Tessa Abernathy. But it takes more than searching on horseback for her to find him out in the west pasture.

☪. Day 2 - bolognese for the heart | chef!bob x oc

Chef!Bob making something with the pumpkin guts/seeds while OC sits nearby carving the freshly cleaned-out pumpkin.

☪. Day 3 - here to stay | rhett abbott x oc

Holding their hand and whispering soft reassurances while guiding them through a haunted house.

☪. Day 4 - here to stay | rhett abbott x oc

One not being too focused on carving their own pumpkin because they're too worried about the other getting hurt while carving theirs.

☪. Day 5 - here to stay | rhett abbott x oc

Rhett and Tessa attend a costume party as Tinker Bell and Peter Pan.

☪. Day 6 - not hungry anymore | werewolf!rhett x oc

Rhett and Tessa, two young pups playing in the fields, quickly realize that it's time to grow up. Their pack is dying, some even say it's cursed, and the only saviors anyone can see...are them.

as always, i do not have a taglist, so please follow @anniesocsandlibrary and turn on notifications for updates on anything in this masterlist. each fic will be tagged #falltober23 if you want to follow along! happy spooky season y'all!

#falltober23 #fic masterlist #falltober masterlist #oc: tessa abernathy #oc: georgia fields #fic: deep dark valley #fic: bolognese for the heart #fic: here to stay #fic: not hungry anymore #fd: outer range #fd: tgm #rhett abbott #rhett abbott x oc #robert bob floyd #bob floyd #bob floyd x oc #lewis pullman

[anniesocsandgeneralstore]

"one not being to focused on carving their own pumpkin because they're too worried about the other getting hurt while carving theirs :("

Rhett being concerned about Tessa because Tessa is too focused on helping the boys than paying attention to where she's carving

oh it's too precious, oh the fluff!! i love writing Rhett interacting with the boys at the home and I really can't wait to really get into his relationship with each of them in the actual fic, but writing this little blub was very nice. Thank you for sending it in and I hope you enjoy!

#annie answers #anons are nice #oc: tessa abernathy #fic: here to stay #fd: outer range #fic request #filled prompt #falltober23

[anniesocsandgeneralstore]

holding their hand and whispering soft reassurances while guiding them through a haunted house

Wouldn't it be funny if Rhett was the scared one and Tessa had to comfort him

It would be so funny anon and you are so so right. Rhett doesn't like being scared, and I honestly pictured that one Halloween episode of New Girl where Nick goes into the haunted house and screams and ends up punching Jess in the face. That's Rhett Abbott to a T. I hope you like it!

#annie answers #anons are nice #oc: tessa abernathy #fic: here to stay #fd: outer range #fic request #filled prompt #falltober23

[anniesocsandgeneralstore]

Just a small variation on the prompts you reblogged earlier, but how about chef!Bob making something with the pumpkin guts/seeds while OC sits nearby carving the freshly cleaned-out pumpkin? 🥰

Vee, yes. The perfect introduction to chef!bob and Georgia. I hope you enjoy this little fall blurb, love 💕

#annie answers #vee tag #oc: georgia fields #fic: bolognese for the heart #fd: tgm #fic request #filled prompt #falltober23