pairing – garrett graham x reader
summary – everyone keeps asking for too much. garrett has a very simple solution.
warnings – fluff, established relationship, people-pleasing, boundary issues, garrett being protective, strong language, alcohol mention
notes from me – based on this ask!! so so cute, thank u babe!
word count – 2.1k
navigation – masterlist |
Garrett notices it first at Malone’s, which is annoying because Malone’s is loud, sticky, crowded, and absolutely not the sort of place where he should be having emotional realisations over his girlfriend’s inability to say no.
She’s tucked into the booth beside him, one knee pressed against his thigh under the table, her drink sweating a wet ring onto the wood in front of her. The place is packed in the usual Friday-night Briar way, all flushed faces and hockey jackets and girls laughing too loudly over music.
Dean’s somehow acquired a tray of shots no one asked for. Logan’s flirting with a girl at the bar. Tucker sits across from them, calm as ever, eating fries.
Garrett has one arm stretched along the back of the booth behind her shoulders, his fingers idly playing with the ends of her hair.
She looks pretty tonight in that slightly dangerous way she gets when she’s made herself look casual on purpose.
Little skirt. Sweater slipping a little off one shoulder. Gloss on her mouth that he’s been trying not to stare at too obviously because she gets shy when he looks at her like that in public, even though she had been in his lap thirty minutes before they left, kissing him stupid in his bedroom while wearing that exact same gloss and making very few arguments about public decency then.
That’s the thing, she isn’t shy with him. Not when it’s just them and his door is closed and she’s stealing his shirts and talking shit from the middle of his bed like she owns both him and the mattress.
She can be bossy, ridiculous, soft in that greedy sleepy way after sex when she tucks herself under his chin and mumbles half-formed complaints about his cold feet even though his feet aren’t anywhere near her.
But out here, with everyone watching and liking her and wanting a piece of her, she gets quieter. She makes herself easy to need. Easy to ask. Easy to lean on. She smiles before she’s decided if she means yes. She nods while her fingers have already gone tense around her straw.
And Garrett, unfortunately for everyone, has started noticing. It happens three times before he says anything.
First, a girl from one of her classes slides up to the booth and asks if she can send over her notes from Tuesday because she missed half the lecture and you always write everything down so neatly, babe, you’re literally a lifesaver.
Garrett feels her knee press a little harder into his under the table. She smiles, quick and sweet, and says, “Yeah, of course, just text me,” even though she’d told him in the car she hadn’t even finished her own summary yet because the week had been brutal.
Second, some guy from a group project appears beside them holding a beer and a sheepish expression that Garrett immediately doesn’t like. “Hey, sorry, I know you’re out, but could you maybe fix the slides before Sunday? You’re just better at making them look, like, less shitty.”
Her mouth opens. Closes. Garrett watches the pause happen in her body before anyone else would catch it. The tiny lift of her shoulders. The way her thumb rubs once over the condensation on her glass. Then she says, “Yeah, I can look at them,” and the guy grins like he’s just successfully outsourced guilt.
Garrett’s jaw clicks. Dean’s eyes flick to him. Because Dean, for all his crimes against taste and door-knocking etiquette, has predator-level instincts for upcoming drama. His mouth twitches around the rim of his drink.
“Don’t,” Garrett mutters.
Dean lifts both hands. “Didn’t say anything.”
The third one is the one that makes Garrett set his beer down a little too carefully. A puck bunny named Kelsey, who’s sweet enough in a mostly harmless, very shiny way and has been around the hockey house enough to know better than to flirt with Garrett anymore, bounces up with her phone already in her hand.
“Oh my God, there you are. Can you please help me with something? My roommate’s birthday thing is tomorrow and I told her you’d probably make those little cupcakes you brought to Tucker’s party because they were so cute, and I know it’s last minute, but you’re so good at that stuff.”
Tomorrow is Saturday. Tomorrow she has a paper to finish, a brunch with her friends she already tried to cancel once, and plans with him that he has been looking forward to with what he would personally consider a normal, chill, masculine amount of anticipation.
He hasn’t been mentally organising the entire day around keeping her in bed until noon and then taking her to that diner she likes where she steals his hash browns. That would be insane. He’s very normal about his girlfriend.
She smiles anyway. “Um,” she says, soft enough that Garrett’s attention sharpens around it. “Yeah, maybe. I can probably–”
“Nope,” Garrett says.
The table goes quiet in the satisfying way a table does when the captain voice comes out without warning.
She turns her head toward him, eyes widening. “Garrett.”
He doesn’t look at her yet because he knows if he does, she’ll do that thing where she says his name like she’s embarrassed and fond and mortified all at once, and he’ll be tempted to soften before the point lands. So he looks at Kelsey instead and gives her his nicest, most public-facing smile, the one that has made professors extend deadlines and girls forgive him for sins he’d absolutely committed.
“She’s not making cupcakes tomorrow,” he says easily. “She’s busy.”
Kelsey blinks. “Oh. I mean, it’s totally fine if–”
“She’s busy,” he repeats, still pleasant. “Sorry, Kels.”
Kelsey looks a little surprised, then shrugs and laughs it off with a, “No, yeah, totally, sorry, babe, don’t worry about it,” before drifting back into the crowd with her phone still in hand, probably already searching for another girl with a functioning oven and weaker boyfriend security.
But beside him, his girlfriend has gone very still.
Dean’s grin spreads slowly across the table. “Wow.”
Garrett points at him without looking. “Shut up.”
“I’m just saying. Very brave. Very feminist of you, speaking over a woman like that.”
“Dean,” Tucker says mildly.
“What? I’m processing.”
Logan appears at the edge of the booth, because the scent of Garrett doing something emotionally revealing has summoned him from the bar. “What’d I miss?”
“Garrett just became her secretary,” Dean says.
Garrett leans back, arm still behind her. “I became her union rep.”
Tucker nods like this is fair. “Better benefits.”
She makes a tiny sound then. She looks down at her drink, and Garrett feels the heat of her embarrassment without needing to see her face properly. It moves through her in little tells he knows too well now: fingers to the straw, mouth pressing together, knee shifting away and then back again like her body can’t decide whether to hide from him or lean into him.
Garrett’s humour softens before his mouth does. He ducks his head closer, voice dropping under the noise. “Baby.”
She gives him a look from under her lashes. “You can’t just say no for me.”
“I can, actually. Felt pretty natural.”
“Garrett.”
“What?” He lets his fingers slide from her hair to the back of her neck, thumb rubbing once under the edge of her sweater where her skin has gone warm. “You were about to spend your Saturday making cupcakes for some girl’s roommate because she called them cute.”
“She was being nice.”
“She was asking for free labour.”
Her mouth twitches before she can stop it, which feels like a personal win.
“I could’ve said no,” she says, but there’s not enough force behind it to convince either of them. Her gaze drops again, softer now, landing somewhere near his collar. “I just didn’t want to make it awkward.”
Garrett looks at her for a second. The whole bar keeps moving around them, bodies and noise and sticky light, but the booth seems to pull inward a little, shrinking down to the line of her shoulder against his ribs and the careful way she’s not looking at him too directly.
“Babe,” he says, low enough that Dean’s nosy ass has to pretend very hard not to listen. “You are allowed to make things awkward.”
She snorts, quiet and reluctant. “Easy for you to say. You make everything awkward on purpose.”
“Yeah, and look at me. Thriving.”
“You’re not thriving. You got banned from the student union coffee cart for arguing about oat milk.”
“That was a misunderstanding.”
She actually laughs, small but real, and some of the tightness leaves her shoulders. Garrett’s hand stays at the back of her neck, warm and steady. He watches her fight with the smile on her mouth like she doesn’t want to give him the satisfaction, which is fine. He has plenty of satisfaction. He’s rich in it. Obnoxiously wealthy, really.
He bends closer, lips brushing her temple because he can get away with that in public and because he likes the way she tilts into him even when she’s trying to be cross. “Let me be the asshole sometimes.”
She turns her face slightly, just enough that her cheek brushes his jaw. “You’re already the asshole sometimes.”
“Exactly. I have experience.” His thumb moves again, slow over the delicate knobs at the top of her spine. “You don’t have to say yes to everybody just because they like you.”
She stares at the table for a second too long, at the fries, the damp glasses, the little chaos of napkins Dean has somehow shredded into a pile. When she speaks, her voice comes out quieter. “I know.”
Garrett doesn’t push. He’s learning that with her. The same way he’s learned that she gets overwhelmed at parties before she admits it, that she says I’m fine in a tone that means please notice but don’t make me explain this in front of people, that she can be the girl everyone loves and still go rigid when too many expectations hook into her at once.
So he keeps it simple. Keeps it warm and a little teasing because that’s where she can breathe. “Here’s the system,” he says. “You look at me. I say no. They get mad at me because I’m a huge dick. You stay perfect and beloved.”
She rolls her eyes, but her shoulder settles more fully into his side. “That’s not a system.”
“It’s a great system.”
Across the table, Tucker lifts a fry. “For what it’s worth, I support the system.”
Dean nods gravely. “Same. Mainly because watching Garrett politely tell people to fuck off is one of the few joys he provides.”
Logan slides into the booth beside Tucker with a fresh beer. “Wait, are we weaponising Garrett’s resting captain face? Because I’ve been saying we should do that for years.”
She groans and covers her face with one hand, but she’s laughing now, soft and helpless behind her fingers. Garrett feels it against his ribs and smiles down at her like an idiot, though he would deny the idiot part in court.
“See?” he murmurs, kissing the side of her head again. “Whole team effort.”
She drops her hand and looks up at him at last, eyes warm and slightly embarrassed and full of something that makes his chest go a little stupid. “You’re annoying.”
“Yeah,” he says, grinning. “But you picked me.”
Her mouth curves. “I did pull Garrett Graham.”
Dean gags immediately. “Please don’t say his full name during couple foreplay. Some of us are eating.”
Garrett flicks a fry at him without looking away from her. “You did,” he says, smug and soft at the same time because with her, apparently, he can be both and survive it. “So use me.”
Her eyebrows lift.
“Not like that,” he says, then pauses because, false advertising helps no one. “Also like that. But right now I meant for saying no.”
She laughs again, brighter this time, and tucks herself closer under his arm, her hand finding his knee beneath the table and squeezing once. Her fingers stay there afterward, warm through the denim, like some part of her has put down a weight she didn’t realise she’d been carrying.
A few minutes later, when the group project guy circles back and starts with, “Hey, sorry, one more thing–” she doesn’t answer right away.
She looks at Garrett.
Garrett smiles. “Nope,” he says, cheerful as hell. “She’s off the clock.”
The guy blinks. “Oh. Okay. Yeah, no problem.”
He leaves.
She stares at Garrett for a second, then bites her lip around the smile trying to happen. “You enjoyed that way too much.”
He leans in, brushing his mouth over hers once, soft and quick and shameless enough to make her cheeks go pink. “Baby,” he says, voice low, grin right there against her lips. “You have no idea.”
❄︎ ❄︎ ❄︎
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𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘺: you wake up to a knock at your door to be met with your very drunk and clingy boyfriend
𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴: kissing, swearing, garrett being drunk, garrett proposing
𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵: 1k
𝐘𝐨𝐮 let out a small groan as there are multiple knocks at your door making you drop the bed covers out of your hand and walk over to your door.
As you open the door you are met with Garrett hanging off the shoulder of Logan with a smile on his face.
“My baby!” Garrett yells as he moves into your arms
“He wouldn’t shut up about staying with you tonight” Logan says to you
Garrett’s head is tucked into your shoulder and neck with his arms around your waist.
“Thanks for getting him here safely” you tell Logan
“Have fun” Logan says before you shut the door
“I love you” Garrett says kissing your neck “Missed you so much”
“Alright, let’s get you sitting down” you say moving Garrett to sit on your lounge
“Hey, who was that?” Allie asks coming out of her room “Oh”
“I’m so sorry if he woke you” you say to her
“No, you’re fine i wasn’t even asleep yet” Allie tells you
“Baby” Garrett says grabbing onto your hand
“I’ll get you to bed in a minute, okay” you say giving Garrett a smile
“You’ll stay with me?” Garrett asks giving you puppy eyes
“I’m not going anywhere, baby” you say kneeling down in front on him with your hands on his knees
“I’ll leave you to put him to bed” Allie says with a smile “Goodnight”
“Goodnight” you and Garrett say to her
You get up only for Garrett to let out a whine as you walk over to your mini fridge to pull out a bottle of water.
“You left you” Garrett says with a pout
“I’m right here” you say handing him the water “And i’ll never leave you”
“I love you so much i can’t lose you” Garrett says grabbing your cheeks in his hands
“You won’t lose me, i promise” you say before kissing his cheek “Drink some water please and then we can go to bed”
“Okay, baby” Garrett sips at the water as you quickly walk into your room to finish making your bed and pull out some of Garrett’s clothes that he has left here
“I’ve got some clothes for you to wear” you say walking back out and Garrett lifts his head up
“I missed you” he says standing up to pull you into a hug
“I missed you too” you say hugging him back “Let’s get ready for bed, yeah?”
“Yeah” he nods his head
You pull away and grab onto his hand then walk to two of you into your room shutting the door behind the both of you. Garrett sees his clothes sitting on your bed and starts to get changed immediately.
You move around your bed and lay down under the covers as Garrett’s falls on the bed with a groan and rolls over to lay his head onto your chest.
“I love you so much, baby” Garrett says looking up at you
“I love you too my clingy boy” you say leaning down to kiss his forehead
“I’m not clingy” he says and squishes his face into your neck “Just telling you i love you”
“Don’t need to be embarrassed” you say running your fingers through his hair
You feel Garrett melt more into your touch and lets out a groan with his arms tightening around your body.
“Get some sleep, love” you whisper into his hair
“Baby” Garrett says moving his head up to look at you but his eyes are closed “I love you”
You let out a small laugh “I love you more” you say smiling
“Not possible” Garrett mumbles as you kiss his nose
It didn’t take long for him to pass out with his arms wrapped around you and his head moved down to your chest.
The next morning when you woke up you let Garrett stay asleep while you went to your early class and to grab some breakfast for the two of you.
Once you walked back into your room and put your bag down Garrett is slowly waking up with a groan and he opens his eyes to see you moving around your room.
“Baby” Garrett says with a groan “I’m sorry”
“Sorry? Why are you sorry?” you ask moving to sit down next to him on the bed
“I woke you up, made you deal with me all because i fucking missed you” Garrett says sitting up to lean on your headboard
“I wasn’t even asleep yet and i would much prefer you to come to me when your drunk then go home alone or with someone else” you tell him moving a little closer
“Fuck, baby. You know i would never go home with anyone but you” Garrett says grabbing your hand
“I didn’t mean it like that” you say with a shake of your head “I meant with someone who would take advantage of you”
“All i wanted was to be with you” Garrett says moving to put a hand on your cheek “I love you so much and clearly my drunken brain knows that too”
“So you remember what happened when you got here?” you ask him
“I remember everything” he says with a smile
“I love you too, baby” you say leaning in to kiss his lips “And i brought you breakfast”
“I fucking love you so much” Garrett says leaning his head back making you laugh and reach over to grab the bag of food for him
“All your favourites” you say then grab the drink for him “And coffee”
“So-” Garrett says taking a bit of his food “-you wanna get married?” he asks
“Garrett you can’t ask me things like that” you say with a laugh and hitting his arm
“Why not?” he asks sitting up more
“Ask me when we’re out of college and have a house and jobs, then i’ll say yes” you say taking a sip of his coffee
summary: you haven’t talked to garrett or anyone else since he denied being in love with you. you’re eventually forced together by dean and have no choice but to figure it out.
warnings: fluff + angst. suggestive content.
it had been a couple of weeks since you last talked to garrett or any of the other guys. the truth bomb that dean dropped causing a strenuous rift between the two of you.
time felt like it had moved slowly since then, every day dragging it’s feet as though it was never going to end.
you still saw him floating around campus, the muscle in his jaw ticking whenever his eyes landed on you.
what did he have to be upset about? you were the one who got demoted to something even less than casual . . . whatever that was.
sighing, you slammed your textbook shut, resisting the urge to roll your eyes when everyone in the library shushed you.
they were acting as though you had just opened your mouth and screamed from the top of your lungs.
glancing around, your eyes narrowed when they spotted the big mouthed gossip that had outed his own best friend loitering in one of the aisles.
dean didn’t exactly seem like the type to even know what a book was, nevermind actually read one.
as if he could sense your eyes on him, he turned around, his expression changing to one you couldn’t quite decipher.
“please don’t come over here” you repeated to yourself almost silently, crossing your fingers under the table as if it was an absolute solution.
dean hesitated for a moment before rolling his eyes, pushing off the bookshelf as he headed in your direction.
“shit” you cursed, regretting your choice to study in the library instead of your isolated dorm room.
he tutted at you and shook his head, “i heard that, and here’s me thinking you were a lady”
you scoffed at him, “jesus, you’d know all about the ladies wouldn’t you? manwhore”
he perked up, grinning brightly as he sat down across from you, “thanks, gorgeous”
oh, did he think that was a compliment-
gritting your teeth, you clicked on the end of your pen in annoyance, “is there something you wanted? other than to piss me off, of course”
dean looked around the library and gestured for you to lean in closer.
you happily obliged so you could get this over with, resting your arms on the table and leaning in closer.
“you need to fix whatever high-school drama you have going on with g. i shouldn’t even be talking to you about this shit but we need our captain back” dean whispered, acting like someone could be spying on the two of you.
you were about to tell dean to mind his own business, but the sound of someone clearing their throat made you jump back in your chair.
the two of you turned your heads towards the sound, a beat of awkward silence now circling the room.
garrett graham was standing at the end of your table, and he looked pissed.
of course garrett was here right now! you had never even seen these idiots in the library before, and now you suddenly you couldn’t escape them.
it felt like someone was sat behind a big screen, laughing and pointing at you as if this was some sort of joke.
“can we help you?” dean says, trying to fight the mischievous grin that was forming on his face.
garrett looked between the two of you in annoyance, “what do you mean can we help you? why the fuck are you huddled together”
this whole interaction felt like a bad case of déjà vu, feeling a little too similar to the events of the last time all three of you were together.
you shrugged, “we were just having a chat, no need to get your panties in a twist”
dean snorted loudly, getting up and offering his empty seat to garrett who was still stood there with his arms crossed.
“i’ll leave you to talk and for fuck sake graham, be a man for once” dean says, patting garrett on the back before pushing the library doors open, winking at the two of you as he left.
garrett looked tired - he had dark circles under his eyes, his brown hair was a mess, and he had a face full of stubble which told you he hadn’t bothered to shave in a while.
pursing your lips, you tapped your pen against the stack of papers in front of you and waited for him to stop standing there like an idiot.
garrett eventually gave in, taking his jacket off and slinging it over the back of the chair as he sat down.
his tall frame made the chair look small, leaning back with his arms behind his head and his knees apart.
the way his muscles bulged through the thin material of his plain white t-shirt had you distracted, not even registering the words he was saying.
“and yeah, allie and dean slept together last night” he says, trying to pull your from your perverted daydreaming.
“that is the biggest lie i have ever heard! you could’ve picked something more believable” you huffed, slightly annoyed that his tactics worked.
garrett shrugged and his lips tilted up in a smug smile, “yeah, no shit - but it worked didn’t it?”
“ugh, whatever. are we going to talk about the elephant in the room or not?” you asked, feeling impatience start to creep in, wrapping around your mind like poison ivy.
he dragged his hands down his face like he was feeling the same impatience, “i don’t know what else there is to say”
unbelievable.
one minute garrett was supposedly “in love” with you and the next minute he was saying that you had been around “too much” lately.
there was plenty to say, you were just trying to remember a library was not the place to start anything more heated than a light discussion.
”do you love me, garrett?” you asked outright, not caring whether his answer was yes or no - you just wanted the truth for once.
“you can’t just ask someone if they love you” garrett exclaimed, throwing his hands up in frustration.
the air turned colder as the seconds ticked by, almost as if nature could feel the thick tension too.
“it’s a simple-“, “it is not a simple question at all and don’t pretend like it is” garrett says, cutting you off.
the people sat at the table next to you shushed the two of you.
“goddamnit, we’re having a conversation. if you don’t like it, fuck off” garrett whisper shouted in their direction, staring them dead in the eye.
they murmured amongst themselves before getting up and pushing their chairs in, heading for the exit.
he pushed his brown curls away from his face as he tried to find the right words to say, “look, i know i like spending time with you. my friends clearly seem to like you too which is the biggest achievement of all”
he huffed out a sigh of amusement and disbelief as he continued, “dean and his big fucking mouth”
you nodded in agreement, “dean and his big fucking mouth”
he gave you that dimpled smile that could melt icebergs as well as hearts, “you’re the first person i’ve wanted more than sex with. i just don’t know what that means yet” garrett admitted.
“uh, thanks?” you say.
he rolled his eyes dramatically, “you know what i mean”
you did know what he meant, he just had a very garrett graham way of saying it.
and although it felt like garrett still wasn’t telling you the whole story, it wasn’t up to your or dean to force it out of him.
“how about you take me on a date first before you kill me with these panty dropping declarations?” you say, wanting to lighten the mood, tired of the darkness that’s been following you like a shadow lately.
this caught his attention, “jesus, don’t talk about panties right now” he groaned, his mind going somewhere else, just like a typical man.
”or what?” you say, tilting your head in defiance as you looked up at him through your lashes.
he grabbed your hand that was flat against the wooden table, pulling you up and guiding you round until you were stood in front of him.
your ass was perched on the edge of the table and garrett placed his hands on your thighs, pulling them open so he could slot his body between them.
he fit perfectly, like he was made to fill any empty spaces you created.
garrett pulled you towards him and you landed on his lap, a squeal escaping your mouth at the unexpected move.
his gaze landed on your lips, a gruff groan leaving his mouth when your tongue darted out to wet them.
“fuck it” garrett said, hand wrapping around the back of your next as he pulled you in for a breathtaking kiss.
his other hand slid up the back of your t-shirt, his warm skin against your own feeling euphoric after going so long without touching him.
you could feel his arousal, the loose basketball shorts he was wearing doing nothing to conceal what he was feeling for you right now.
you were so wrapped up in each other that you didn’t hear the door creak open.
“damn, y/n. i didn’t know you had it in you” dean says, arms crossed as he leaned against the doorframe.
garrett’s hands slipped from your body as your heads simultaneously whipped to the side at the sound of deans voice.
“what the fuck?” you both say at the same time.
“when i said sort it out, this wasn’t exactly what i meant” dean whistled humourously, his watchful gaze full of heat.
garrett reached around you to grab one of your books from the table and threw it in deans direction, “why are you lurking like a fucking pervert, dude?
the book was just short of hitting dean, much to garrett’s annoyance.
“some of us have exams to study for, g. whatever, i’ll just come back later and leave you lovebirds to it” dean says, voice laced with mock sadness.
as if. everyone knew dean didn’t study, he just wrote what he thought was right and prayed for the best.
garrett closed his eyes and took a deep breath, looking like he was ready to chase dean out of the door himself.
“wrap it before you tap it, graham! i’m not ready to be an uncle yet” dean says, not turning back around as he headed out of the door, leaving you alone with garrett once again.
you rested your head on garrett’s shoulder, your body shaking with laughter at the blonde hair menace who always had the worst timing in the world.
when you were finally out of laughter, you pulled back and nodded at garrett to which he nodded back, coming to a mutual understanding without even having to say anything.
“hey, and no more secret meetings with dilaurentis because he’ll end up corrupting you with his bullshit. deal?”
“deal” you murmured in agreement.
this was a temporary resolution, but it wasn’t like love was the first thing on your mind either considering you hadn’t even been out with garrett off campus yet.
although, a date with a man known for one night stands was as close to love as you could get. for now at least.
summary: you talk with the guys while waiting around at the house and dean accidentally let's it slip that garrett is in love with you.
warnings: nothing specific.
frat houses were an unclean place full of boisterous men and they were a place no one with any self respect would be seen dead, and yet here you were.
in your defence, you were only here to see garrett. everyone else was a package deal apparently.
garrett graham was the star athlete at briar u, known for his supposed ice hockey skills. you say supposed because he's never actually invited you to a game, and you weren't about to show up all "go team" if he didn't want you there.
the two of you had been hooking up for a while now, but it was . . . casual. he was too busy for a girlfriend and you were too busy to try and change his mind.
sighing, you drummed your fingers against your thighs impatiently, waiting for garrett to come downstairs.
"is he even here?" you asked tucker, settling on talking to the most "normal" one out of all of them.
you had plans to meet garrett at his house today, but he wasn't exactly known for his top notch timekeeping skills.
he nodded, slapping deans hand away when he tried to reach for the spread of food that was being arranged on the table.
"dude, why do you keep making food if we're not even allowed to eat the damn stuff" dean huffed, throwing himself down on the couch next to you in defeat.
the blonde haired trouble causer turned to you with a big grin on his face, "so, what's the deal with you and graham? that boy doesn't tell us anything"
"i find that hard to believe. you're all his bro's or whatever aren't you?" you say, using your fingers to put air quotes around the word "bro's".
instead of answering, dean went on to pepper you with more invasive questions.
you huffed out a laugh despite yourself, "you're awfully nosey, you know that?"
dean's hand slapped against his chest in mock disbelief, "you're lucky that graham loves you because otherwise i would be-"
"he what?" you cut him off, not sure if you just heard him correctly.
"ohhh, shit" dean says.
the whole room went silent. tucker stopped chopping vegetables, logan paused his video game, and dean stared at you with wide eyes like a child that had just been caught sneaking candy.
a creak on the stairs broke the painful silence and you glanced up to see garrett stood there, his arms folded across his chest.
"what the actual fuck is going on down here?" garrett says, not moving from his spot on the stairs.
dean pursed his lips in thought, "i just told y/n that you love her"
okay, maybe it wasn't in thought at all. jesus christ this guy had no filter.
not knowing what to say, you chuckled awkwardly and pointed towards towards the door, "sooo, i'm just going to go"
you scooped up your bag and dashed out of the door before anyone could try to stop you, shutting it tightly behind.
even through the heavy wooden door you could hear the sudden arguments.
"jesus christ, dean. you're with a new girl every day and suddenly you can't have a normal conversation with one just because she doesn't want to fuck you?" garrett yelled.
the rest of the conversation became incoherent but you were sure you heard dean say, "how do you know she doesn't want to fuck me?"
your head was a mess as deans accidental confession actually started to sink in.
you didn't have a chance to make it off the porch before the door swung open again, revealing garrett stood on the other side.
dean popped his blonde head around the frame, "he has plans to kill me later so if you-"
someone decided to have mercy on you and dragged him back inside the house, the door slamming shut behind them.
here he was in all his glory. he had messy hair from the nap he clearly took not long ago and basketball shorts low his hips, toned abs on full display.
"see something you like?" he smirked, leaning back against the wall, the tension melting with every word he spoke.
you shrugged indifferently, "do you mean like or do you mean love? because who knows the difference these days"
he let out a long sigh of frustration, dragging a hand down his face, "listen, take no notice of that idiot. i never do"
"how come you don't invite me to your games? i mean, we've been seeing each other for months now and i haven't been to a single one" you say, frustration bubbling in your gut as words spill out of your mouth before you can stop them.
"i'm going to kill that little bastard- fine. i don't invite you to my games because you distract me. i can't focus on anything else when you're in the room and i can't risk being distracted out on the rink"
was that a compliment? it sort of sounded like one.
you nodded slowly, "so why couldn't you have just said that? why does everything have to be a mystery with you garrett"
"this was meant to be a casual one time thing, and suddenly you're in my house and you're talking to my friends" he says.
scoffing, you jabbed a finger against his bare chest, "you're the one who asked me to come over garrett and despite what you're clearly used to, i didn't beg to see you"
the audacity of men would never fail to amaze you. they ask you to come over and then wonder why you're suddenly in their house.
"can i finish my sentence?" he says, raising his eyebrows in amusement at your persistent rebuttals.
you shrug and gesture for him to continue, "if you must"
"jesus, what i'm trying to say is that it doesn't feel casual anymore. i see you more than i see those fuckers in there and i live with em'" he says.
"i'm not saying i'm in love with you ─ because shit, we've never even been on a date. unless fucking in a frat house full of other guys counts as a date to women"
"it does not" you add.
"i don't do girlfriends. you know this as much as every other girl knows this" he says.
the words taste bitter in his mouth. it wasn't a lie, he doesn't do girlfriends, but everything was telling him to break his own rules.
"wow, garrett, does this type of flattery usually work on these lucky girls?"
he grinned smugly, hands in the pockets of his shorts, "damn straight it does, baby"
your phone buzzed in your pocket and you internally groaned when you glanced at the time. you were only meant to be staying for an hour because you promised allie you would help her study for midterms.
"look, i've gotta go. i promised allie i would help her with the upcoming exams. we're all good, graham. casual it is!" you say brightly, jogging down the steps before he can respond.
garrett watches on until you disappear around the corner before going back inside to be met by the disappointed stares of his three friends.
"dude, really? i don't do girlfriends?" logan says, repeating garrett's earlier words.
dean sighed dramatically and shook his head, "yeah, you really fucked that one up"
garrett points a finger at dean accusatorially, "it's your fucking fault, dipshit. this is the last time i ever tell you anything" he says, breezing past everyone as he grabbed a beer from the fridge.
"practice is tomorrow" tucker says in concern, nodding towards the beer in garrett's hand.
"lay off, tuck" he says, jaw tense as he sat in his usual spot on the couch.
logan being the more empathetic one of the group, decided to take over the conversation before it got out of hand.
"so, you do love her then?" he says carefully, not wanting to end up on garrett's shit list along with dean.
garrett cursed and leaned back against the couch, "yeah? no? how am i meant to know if i love someone or not"
"the fact that you're instrested in more than just sleeping with her is answer enough" logan says, knowing garrett hasn't given this much time or thought to one person before.
"fuck this ─ someone pass me another beer" garrett muttered, needing a way to turn his mind off for a couple of hours.
₊ ֹ ˖ BF!GARRETT ABSOLUTELY LOVES SEEING HIS JERSEY ON HIS GIRL ﹙ even if he’s mad at her ﹚ ᱺㅤㅤ ୨౿
there were three things in the world that got garrett going the most. first was hockey. second was when you put him in his place. third was discovered recently.
a newfound interest: you in his jersey.
he’s had lots of girls wear his color and number in the stands, cheering for him during games, but he’s never ever had an actual girlfriend put one on.
until you.
in his eyes, it’s basically like walking around in lingerie, so what happens when you put the said jersey on, that’s reaching your knees almost, as a trump card when you’re both fighting?
tonight was supposed to be a get together between you and allie and the guys, a movie night she and dean insisted on to get some quality time.
and you were excited for it; you’d be lying if the idea of cuddling up with garrett throughout the night didn’t get you all warm and fuzzy.
but the asshole just had to ruin it by starting an argument (he started and you dragged it out for no reason but we’ll just ignore this bit) this morning over something stupid you don’t even remember.
you didn’t talk for the whole day because, well, you’re both stubborn as hell; neither of you was willing to be the first one to apologize.
so hence you pulling the card on him, strutting into the living room where everyone’s sprawled on the couch, logan and grace—the only ones on the floor because it “keeps them grounded”—logan’s philosophical bullshit.
garrett’s eyes heat up, arousal already seeping through his pores as he tracks your movement. just as he thinks, for the sake of his friends, you’ll sit next to him, you go right next to allie instead, separating her from a very much annoyed dean and cuddling up with her the whole time, glaring at garrett.
he glares right back.
for fuck’s sake, he can see your black panties from where he’s sitting. he’s glad tuck and dean are closer to you so they don’t get the view.
graham <3 : is that an invitation to get fucked?
he’s still eyeing up your legs as he pulls out his phone, sending you a quick text. you know damn well what he mean. overall you were the one to put them on. his favorite pair on you.
you: get fucked <3
you answer right back.
graham <3 : i admire the enthusiasm. should we go to my room to follow through?
you: boringggg
from all the time that you’ve been with him you damn well sex is never boring with him, but you text back anyways , annoyed at him and his dirty mouth that always paints your cheeks red and your panties a little too wet, you make a show of putting your phone away, further pissing him off.
but he knows he can't stay mad for long when he has you bent over his bed later, while your shake and writhe with his name on your back as he fucks you so good you can't remember what you were even fighting about.
The Briar University hockey team had a lot of rules, but the unofficial one everyone knew was simple: Do not mess with Garrett Graham’s focus.
As the captain, his mind was usually a hyper-fixated grid of plays, stats, and leading his team to a national championship. But lately, his focus hadn’t been on the ice. It had been on you.
And frankly, you were exhausted.
For three months, it had been a relentless back-and-forth. Flirty banter in the library, lingering stares across crowded party rooms at the hockey house, and text messages that walked a razor-thin line between friendly and something that made your stomach do backflips. Garrett was a self-proclaimed flirt, a guy who treated the dating scene like a casual scrimmage. But you weren’t interested in being a scrimmage. You wanted the real game, or you wanted out.
Which brought you to tonight.
The hockey house was buzzing after a massive win against Harvard. Music rattled the floorboards, cups were flying, and Garrett was currently the center of attention in the living room, surrounded by teammates and a handful of adoring fans.
You stood by the kitchen island, watching him laugh at something Wellsy said. As if sensing your eyes, Garrett’s gaze shifted. His smile softened, turning into that specific, crooked smirk he reserved just for you. He excused himself from the crowd and started making his way over, his broad shoulders easily cutting through the sea of college students.
"Hey," he said, leaning his hip against the counter right next to you. Up close, he smelled like expensive cologne, cold air, and just a hint of beer. "I was wondering when you’d show up. Did you see that third-period assist?"
"Hard to miss it, Graham. The announcers wouldn't stop screaming your name," you said, keeping your tone casual despite the way your heart hammered against your ribs.
"Yeah? Did it impress you?" He leaned a fraction closer, his dark eyes sparkling with that familiar, playful mischief. "Because I'm pretty sure I did it just for you."
There it was. The line. The playful push-and-pull he always initiated. Usually, you’d bite. You’d throw back a witty retort, he’d laugh, and you’d spend the night dancing around the giant elephant in the room.
But tonight, you just felt tired.
You set your drink down on the counter with a soft thud. "Garrett, stop."
His smirk faltered, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion. "What? It’s just a joke."
"That’s the problem," you said, your voice quiet but steady beneath the thumping bass of the music. "Everything is a joke. Or a game. And I think I'm done playing games with you."
Garrett blinked, completely caught off guard. The easy, confident posture he usually held melted away, replaced by a sudden, rigid tension. "What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean," you sighed, crossing your arms. "We’ve been doing this dance for months. You flirt, you pull me close, and then the second things feel real, you back off and pretend it’s all just casual banter. I like you, Garrett. I really do. But I'm not going to sit around waiting for you to decide if I’m worth taking seriously or if I'm just another trophy for your ego."
The noise of the party seemed to fade into the background. Garrett stared at you, his jaw dropping slightly. For the first time since you’d met him, the golden-boy captain looked completely speechless.
"I... y/n, that’s not—"
"It's fine," you interrupted gently, giving him a sad, small smile. "You don't have to say anything. Congrats on the win tonight. I’m gonna go home."
You turned on your heel and headed straight for the front door, not wanting him to see the sting of tears in your eyes. You pushed through the heavy wooden door, stepping out into the crisp, quiet autumn air of the porch. You took a deep breath, trying to steady yourself, and began walking down the driveway.
"y/n! Wait!"
You heard the heavy thud of his sneakers before you saw him. You turned around just as Garrett jogged down the porch steps, completely ignoring the fact that he hadn't grabbed a jacket.
"Garrett, go back inside, you're going to freeze," you said, stepping backward.
"I don't care about the cold," he panted, stopping a few feet away from you. The porch light caught the sharp angles of his face, and for once, there was no smugness there. He looked desperate. Terrified, even. "You think I'm playing games with you?"
"Aren't you?"
"No!" Garrett dragged a hand through his hair, pacing a small circle before stepping right back into your space. "God, y/n, no. If I'm dancing around it, it's not because you're a game. It's because I'm terrified of ruining the only good thing in my life right now."
You froze, staring at him. "What?"
"I’ve never done this before," he confessed, his voice dropping into a raw, vulnerable register that sent shivers down your spine. "The real stuff. The relationship stuff. Everyone expects me to be this confident, untouchable guy who has everything figured out. But when it comes to you? I’m clueless. I flirt because it's safe. Because if I told you how much I actually think about you, how much I need you around, I was scared I’d scare you off."
He took another step forward, closing the distance between you until you could feel the heat radiating from his chest. He reached down, his large, warm hands gently cupping your face, his thumbs brushing over your cheekbones. His eyes searched yours, completely open and entirely defenseless.
"I'm done playing games too," Garrett whispered, his breath hitching. "I don't want to banter anymore. I don't want to pretend. I want you. Properly. If you'll have me."
Your heart did a violent flip, the anger and exhaustion evaporating into the cold night air. "You're serious?" you whispered back.
"Dead serious," he said, a small, relieved smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "I'm crazy about you, y/n."
You didn't answer with words. Instead, you reached up, wrapping your hands around his wrists, and pulled him down to meet you.
The kiss wasn't like the playful, teasing brushes of lips you'd imagined. It was deep, desperate, and filled with months of built-up tension. Garrett groaned softly against your mouth, his hands sliding from your face down to your waist, pulling you flush against him. He held you like you were the only anchor keeping him grounded, his lips moving against yours with a fierce, possessive warmth.
When he finally pulled back, just enough to breathe, his forehead rested against yours. His eyes were dark, a heavy, beautiful heat swirling within them.
"So," Garrett murmured, his thumb stroking the bare skin of your waist where your shirt had ridden up slightly. "Are we on the same page now?"
You let out a breathless laugh, burying your face in his chest for a second before looking back up at him. "Yeah, Graham. We're on the same page."
He grinned—that bright, blinding smile that usually made headlines, but this time, it belonged entirely to you. He looped an arm around your shoulders, tugging you back toward the warmth of the house.
"Good. Because now that I've finally got you, I have zero intention of ever letting you go."
He had opinions about practice schedules, bad refs, terrible coffee, and the correct number of snacks one should keep in a dorm room at all times. He also had a strong opinion about you sleeping on his chest.
Mostly, the opinion was that he liked it.
A lot.
It started innocently enough. You had both been curled up on the couch in the hockey house after a long day, a movie playing low in the background while Garrett’s hand absently traced slow circles over your shoulder. At some point, sometime between the third tired laugh and the moment your head settled against his chest, you had drifted off.
Garrett noticed immediately.
He glanced down, saw your face softened in sleep, and went perfectly still like he had been handed something sacred.
“Aw, come on,” he muttered under his breath, though he was smiling.
Your breathing was slow and even, your hand resting lightly against his stomach, and Garrett looked at you with the same expression he usually reserved for game-winning goals and especially good insults. Fond. A little stunned. Deeply, annoyingly soft.
Then his phone buzzed on the coffee table.
He did not reach for it.
It buzzed again.
Still no movement.
A few minutes later, Tucker poked his head into the living room and stopped when he saw the two of you.
“Dude,” he whispered, “you asleep too?”
Garrett looked up slowly, because somehow he had managed to become protective over your nap in the span of ten minutes. “No.”
Tucker took in the scene, then smirked. “You planning on moving?”
Garrett shot him a warning look. “No.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Nope.”
Tucker laughed quietly. “You’re trapped.”
Garrett glanced back down at you and brushed a thumb over your arm. “I’m not trapped. I’m committed.”
That made Tucker grin wider. “You’re ridiculous.”
Garrett leaned his head back against the couch. “And yet I’m winning.”
Tucker snorted and left them there.
The movie kept going, but Garrett barely heard it. Your weight against him was warm and comfortable, your breathing a steady rhythm against his chest. He did not intend to move. Not for anything.
Which was probably why, twenty minutes later, when Dean shouted from the kitchen that they were out of ice, Garrett did not respond.
A moment later, someone yelled, “Garrett! You want me to go get,”
“No,” Garrett called back automatically, without looking away from you.
He barely heard the laughter that followed.
Another minute passed. Then his phone buzzed again. Then again. Then a text from Logan. Then a text from Tucker. Then Garrett finally looked at the screen and saw:
we need you for the pizza order also you’re being weird is she dead or just asleep
Garrett frowned and typed with one hand.
sleeping. go away.
His phone immediately rang.
He stared at it like it had personally offended him, then rejected the call.
A minute later, Dean appeared in the doorway with the air of a man who had decided to make this his problem.
“We need food,” Dean said.
Garrett didn’t even look up. “Get food.”
“We need your card.”
Garrett finally raised his head. “I’m busy.”
Dean stared at him. “Busy doing what?”
Garrett looked down at you with obvious affection and no shame whatsoever. “This.”
Dean’s gaze followed his, then he made a face. “Oh, that’s disgusting.”
Garrett grinned. “You’re jealous.”
“I am not jealous.”
“You are absolutely jealous.”
Dean leaned against the doorway and crossed his arms. “You’re never letting her up again, are you?”
Garrett looked down at you as your fingers twitched slightly in your sleep, then smiled. “Nope.”
Dean shook his head. “You’re hopeless.”
“Correct.”
Just then, your eyes fluttered open, unfocused and sleepy, your face still pressed to Garrett’s chest. You made a soft sound and blinked up at him.
Garrett’s entire expression changed immediately.
“Hey,” he said quietly. “You awake?”
You looked around a little, confused and sleepy. “Mm.”
He smiled. “Hi.”
You yawned and shifted just enough to look up at his face. “How long was I asleep?”
“Long enough.”
You frowned a little, then realized where you were and let out a tired hum. “You didn’t move?”
Garrett shook his head. “Nope.”
You blinked. “You’re still sitting here?”
He gave you a very serious look. “I made a decision.”
That made you smile, soft and sleepy. “What decision?”
He leaned closer and kissed your forehead. “That I wasn’t getting up for anything.”
You laughed weakly and settled back against him again. “That’s ridiculous.”
“Yeah.”
“Were you at least comfortable?”
Garrett smiled down at you with the kind of tenderness that made the whole room go quieter. “I am now.”
You stared at him for a second, then reached up and touched his cheek with the back of your hand. “You’re sweet.”
He looked offended on principle. “I am always sweet.”
Dean made a gagging noise and walked away muttering something about never wanting to see that again.
You laughed and Garrett tightened his arm around you a little, clearly delighted to have you awake again but still unwilling to let you go.
“You hungry?” he asked.
“A little.”
“Good.”
“How is that good?”
“Because I was about to order pizza and refuse to move anyway.”
You smiled into his chest and shook your head. “You’re impossible.”
“And you’re warm.”
That made you laugh again, softer this time, and Garrett looked absurdly pleased with himself for getting it out of you.
He kissed the top of your head and murmured, “Still not moving.”
You sighed dramatically, but you were smiling, and that was enough for him.
For the rest of the night, he refused to get up for anything at all.
Okay but picture this meet cute: John Logan falls hard (on the ice, on the street, your choice) and the first thing he sees when he opens his eyes is reader very softly asking him if he's okay (for sure he thinks he went to heaven)
OMGOMGOMG THIS IS SO CUTE YES. YOU ATE W THIS.
Falling for You (Literally)
☄︎ Pairing: Reader x John Logan
☄︎ Rating: PG
☄︎ Words: 553
It’s nearly midnight when Logan bursts out of the library doors and into the freezing night. He shivers slightly as he scans the courtyard looking for you.
You had been sitting a few tables over from him all evening. He had spent three hours of distracted studying, trying to build up the courage to walk over to you and say hello. When he finally had the perfect opening line, you had gotten up, packed your bags, and was already walking out. He knew he couldn’t just let you disappear so he ran out after you, not thinking to put on his jacket.
He spots you, about 30 meters ahead, walking like you were in a hurry to get where you were going. It looks like a scene from a movie. The path ahead is lit by nothing but a row of glowing golden street lamps, the white of the snow reflecting the warm hue.
“Hey! Wait up!” He calls out, his boots crunching loudly as he jogs down the snow-covered library steps to catch up to you.
He moves faster once he’s down the stairs. Not looking where he’s going, he doesn’t see the sheet of black ice peeking out from the snow. His right foot lands directly on it, causing his legs to fly out from under him. A split second later, he hits the frozen floor with a thud that knocks the wind out of him.
He groans, eyes squeezing shut as his bruised tailbone throbs. He doesn’t hear you run over and kneel beside him in the slush. So, when he blinks his eyes open, he’s convinced that fall took him out.
The world around you is a blur. The only thing that’s clear is your face, full of worry as you lean over him. You’re positioned perfectly to block the glare of the lamp behind you. It creates a golden halo around your face as the white snow continues to fall around you.
Your voice is soft, almost like a melody drifting through the air. “Hey… are you okay?”
“Am I in heaven?” It isn’t the opening line he had planned to use on you, but under the glowing lights and snow, it seems fitting.
Realising he’s not seriously hurt, you let out a soft laugh. It’s breathless and light, and the sound wraps around Logan like a warm hug. “Not quite.”
The fog in his brain clears, but he doesn’t take your outstretched gloved hand. Instead, his dark eyes imprint your features to his memory, utterly captivated. Looking down at him, your eyes catch the giant Briar U Hawks logo across his chest.
“Not so good on the ice, are you?” You tease, a playful smile pulling at your lips. “And here I thought the Hawks were a decent ice hockey team.”
Logan slaps his hand over his chest. “Ouch,” he groans dramatically. “And here I thought angels were supposed to be nice.”
“Only to people who need it.” Your eyes sparkle with amusement.
He chuckles, finally reaching up to take your hand. He doesn’t pull himself up right away though, instead choosing to look up at you with as much of a charming smile that he can muster through the pain.
“Well,” Logan starts, his voice dropping into a low hum. “I did just fall.” (for you)
summary - you cancel your first date with garrett, because you get in your own head & believe you aren’t worth his time
pairing - garrett graham x reader
word count - +3.2k
a/n - lowkey just wrote this one for me & all my pmos girlies :((
It was hard to believe that you were going on a date with Garrett Graham.
Like THE Garrett Graham, who notoriously doesn’t do girlfriends, had asked you out after (apparently) secretly pining for you for months.
You can’t even remember when your friendship had started with him, but now you couldn’t imagine a life without him in it. He made you feel safe and comfortable, whilst also being able to have a good laugh and make-fun of each other.
Garrett was someone who had bettered your life.
Which is why you felt awful, sitting on the edge of your bed, phone clutched tight in your hands, drafting a message for a rain-check. An eternal rain-check.
Laughter came from just outside your dorm window.
You got up off your bed to peak past the blinds, watching a group of girls walk past in gorgeous skirts and dresses. They were the kind of girls that had legs for days, hair that just sat right with no amount of effort and the best skin you’d ever seen. The kind of girls with no blemishes.
You stepped away from the blinds and walked to stand in front of your mirror.
You’d gotten dressed in your nicest pair of jeans, a plain top and a cardigan over the top.
The anxiety in your chest built up when you really looked at yourself.
You thought back to the girls outside and compared yourself to them.
This was ridiculous. You weren’t dressed to go on a first date with Garrett Graham, and yet this was the nicest outfit in your wardrobe that you felt comfortable wearing.
You stepped closer to the mirror, taking note of all the small blemishes - the most obvious to you being the small hairs that lined your chin and your upper lip. Cursed PMOS.
Your gaze dropped down to the cropped top, noticing the gap between your jeans and top showing a small slither of skin. You pulled the top a little bit up to reveal the dark, coarse, hair that travelled down from your belly button, before sharply pulling the top back down.
What were you doing?
You couldn’t go on a date with Garrett Graham. You couldn’t go on a date, full stop.
You pulled up your phone and sent the text that you’d been drafting and re-drafting all night.
To Garrett: hey! so sorry this is on such short notice, but i don’t think i’m going to be able to make it tonight. hope that it doesn’t cause you any inconvenience?
The second after you sent it you threw your phone to the bed and immediately started undressing, all the while thinking about how excited you’d been when Garrett had asked you out.
You and Garrett were walking through campus after class.
“But if you really think about it, I should still be able to still pass the class—.” You stopped talking when you realised Garrett was no longer walking next to you.
He stood only a couple feet away, hands tucked into his pockets looking… Shy?
“You okay?” You walked up to him, looking up at him with worry in your eyes.
He smiled and nodded his head slightly. His movements were slow and soft.
“You sure?”
“I’m just thinking.” He pulled his hands out of his pockets to lock his arms across his chest.
“Oh nooo… That’s never good.”
Garrett smiled, looking away from you to try and compose himself.
He looked back at you with a nervous smile, “I have a question.”
“Okay.” You nodded encouragingly.
“I..” He let out a nervous laugh, “Would… Fuck.”
“Hey. You don’t have to ask or tell me anything you’re not ready to.” You put your hand on his arm so you could give it a reassuring squeeze.
You could see the nerves disappear from Garrett then. In fact, his whole body relaxed. He caught your hand with his before you could remove yours, holding it tight like an anchor.
“I wanted to know whether I could ask you out?”
His nervous smile returned briefly, before softening again when he watched your entire disposition light up.
There was no way this was happening.
“On a date?” You asked quietly.
“Yeah.” He chuckled.
“You’d like to take me out on a date?”
Garrett found it endearing that you felt the need to check again, but in your defence the question had literally appeared out of nowhere.
“Yes. Please.”
“Okay.”
It had been such an easy decision in agreeing to go on a date with him.
Now it just felt like the most stupid thing.
You stood in front of the mirror again, this time in only your underwear, trying not to cry.
Your hands smoothed over your stomach and your hips.
You looked over every inch of your body, from your thighs to your hips, belly to your chest, and all the way up to your face.
It was only when you got to looking at your face that you noticed the tears beginning to fall.
“Fuck.” You swore to yourself, feeling both insecure and pathetic.
Enough was enough.
You didn’t want to be that girl that stared in the mirror and hated what you saw, but some days it was just all too much.
Your mind was such a frustrating place to be.
The wardrobe door rattled as you roughly opened it, pulling out a large Briar U shirt that you knew would hide everything you were too ashamed to look at today.
The next time you looked in the mirror your body was now shapeless - hidden by all the oversized clothing you’d thrown on.
You took a deep breath.
You were okay. It was just a bad day.
Half an hour later, sitting in bed and twenty minutes into your comfort movie, there was an urgent knock at your door.
You hesitated at first, considering no one ever came knocking, but when the knocking continued you padded out of bed to see the commotion.
“Garrett…” Your face probably was probably showing the same level of shock as your voice.
“Are you okay?” He asked urgently.
“Am… Are you panting?”
Garrett’s hair looked wet and tousled no doubt from a shower. Don’t think about Garrett Graham in the shower.
He was slightly out of breath and had a crazed look to his eyes, like he was a man on the run.
“I tried calling and texting.”
“My phone was off.”
Garrett stepped forwards, his hands reaching out to maybe cup your cheeks but stopped when you stepped back. You looked down at the distance between your feet, having lost all bravery to look at him directly.
“Y/N…”
“Please don’t,” You sniffled and held up your hand, “I’m going to cry if you come any closer.”
Garrett quietly crossed the threshold of your dorm and shut the door behind him. Clearly this was a conversation meant for just the two of you, and he knew there were a bunch of busybodies in your dorm corridor.
“Garrett, please.” You walked away, blowing out a deep breath through your mouth.
“If I’ve done anything…”
“You haven’t.” You quickly shut that thought down for him.
Garrett wasn’t an insecure guy, but he did have a more tender heart than people realised. You were lucky enough to know that his compassion for others stemmed from his dad, which is why you were so eager to shut down any bad thoughts he had about himself.
Even with your back turned, you could tell he hadn’t moved from the spot in front of your door.
That was Garrett all over.
He was always respectful with you. Always letting you lead and giving you anything you needed first.
“Garrett… I-I can’t do this.” Your voice didn’t sound confident.
“Do what?”
“This. Us. I…” Your breathing started getting heavier and out of sync as you tried to find a reason. Your mind felt like soup and nothing was processing like you wanted it to. “Sorry.”
“Hey, no. C’mon.” His shoes were heavy on the floor as he closed the distance between you, “Can I give you a hug?”
You nodded and his arms were instantly around you.
He spun you around in the hug so your face could bury itself into his chest. His arms were strong, like pillars holding you up.
The comfort of being held by him was enough for you to break down. Your body wracked with sobs as he held you close, your hands fisting his sweatshirt like a lifeline.
“I’ve got you.” He whispered.
Your body felt heavy. The emotional weight of the evening had taken its toll on you, and if Garrett weren’t here you didn’t know how you’d keep yourself afloat.
“I-I c-an’t…”
“Just breathe.”
Garrett continued to speak in soft tones to you as he tried to calm you down.
His hand rubbed small circles over your back. The motion was calming enough, alongside his talking, to bring your breathing back to normal. A few hiccup tears slipped out, but after a few minutes of letting it all out you felt like you had nothing left to give.
Your head wriggled out of the depths of Garrett’s chest. Garrett moved his head so you could, already looking down to check on you.
“God, this is so embarrassing.” You laughed through an empty sob.
Garrett shook his head, “No it’s not.”
“You have snot on your sweatshirt.”
“Thank you.” He said proudly, earning a smile from you. That felt like the biggest achievement of Garrett’s day. Now the job was to keep you smiling.
You moved completely out of Garrett’s hold so you could slip down onto the floor back against your bed. Your legs bunched close to your chest and your arms wrapped around them to contain yourself.
Garrett didn’t hesitate in sinking down next to you.
He kept his hands to himself, even though you could tell he was twitching to hold onto some part of you.
Garrett felt like he won the moment you tilted your head onto his shoulder. His head tilted down to lean on top of yours.
“Is that a picture of Dean dressed as a ballerina?” Garrett asked, staring at the corkboard hanging over your desk.
You laughed, your throat still a little broken from crying, “Yeah.”
“When was that? And why wasn’t I there?”
“I don’t even know. He gifted it to me once and told me I had to hang in pride of place.”
“He’s so weird.” Garrett laughed and you laughed with him.
The next couple of minutes were quiet.
Garrett was no doubt looking at your endless amounts of trinkets and photos in your room, that had probably all changed since the last time he’d been here.
“You’re not pushing me to talk.” You said.
“No.”
“Why?”
“You’ll talk to me when you’re ready.”
You bit your lip to contain a new round of tears. “Thank you.”
A loud ping echoed through the room. “Excuse me.”
Garrett took out his phone, not hiding it from you. You watched on as his phone lit up.
The photo on his lockscreen was one he had taken of you skating away from him in his ice hockey jersey. It was taken moments before your legs decided to stop working, and Garrett had to quickly skate over to you to keep you upright. You smiled at the memory.
There was a notification on his screen from Logan.
Logan: Is Y/N okay?
“I might have panicked.” Garrett said before you could ask what Logan meant.
“How so?”
“When you texted saying we weren’t doing our date, I thought the worst. I was worried that you might’ve been sick and then I started thinking about you maybe getting cold feet. Logan caught be pacing about it. Instead of panicking with me, he hit me over the head with a tea towel and told me to get over here.”
You laughed, unwrapping your arms from around your legs to wrap around Garrett’s closest arm to you. Your head stayed resting on his shoulder.
“A tea towel?”
“It fucking hurt.” Garrett laughed.
“It’s sweet how you guys have got each other’s backs.”
“Yeah. I’m lucky to have them.”
Garrett closed the notification after responding with a quick ‘yes’. Even though both of you weren’t sure if that were true, at least it wouldn’t keep Logan guessing.
He switched his phone off and put it on the floor, his hand then coming up to settle on top of yours.
You couldn’t help the small smile slip onto your face when his skin touched yours. It felt stupid to say there was a spark when his fingers wrapped over yours, but that’s genuinely how it felt.
“Me cancelling this evening had nothing to do with you. I just freaked myself out, because I don’t really understand why you asked me out.”
“Because I like you.” Garrett said without hesitation.
“No, but…”
“There’s no buts, Y/N. None.” Garrett sat up, your head losing the cushion of his shoulder. His hands stayed enclosed on yours, but he made sure that he could see you.
“Garrett, just… Listen a minute, please?”
“Okay.” He nodded.
You twisted your body to sit facing him.
This conversation was best to have like ripping off a bandaid. There was nothing good about leaving it to sit and fester. It wouldn’t do you any good to shoulder this alone forever, and if there was one person you trusted enough to let in it was Garrett.
“I don’t really like the way I look.” Garrett shifted, his entire body readying to launch. Before he could say anything you shook your head, “Just listen.”
“Okay.”
“I.. I have PMOS. It’s a reproductive health condition which impacts my entire metabolic system and it sucks. It means irregular periods. It means weight gain that I can’t control. And,” You blew out a shaky breath, “It means I get an increase in hair growth across my body. So, my face, my stomach, my legs and inner thighs… You get it. Every time I look at myself I hate myself a little more. A-and this evening, I looked in the mirror and couldn’t see myself as someone worthy of dating you.”
You expected Garrett to not know what to say - maybe even say nothing. It was a lot to dump on someone and expect them to know exactly what to say.
So he surprised you when he spoke immediately after letting you finish, like he’d been waiting for the opportunity all.
“You know what I was worried about tonight?” He moved closer to you, closing the already small space between you.
“What?”
“That you’d realise dating me was a mistake.” He let out a self-deprecating laugh, “And yet here you are thinking exactly the same thing.”
“How could you possibly think—.”
“Well exactly, baby. I don’t understand how you could possibly not realise how much I like you. I’m constantly thinking about the next time I get to see you. In my head you’re already my girlfriend! Not one thing you just told me makes me like you less. I look at you and get nervous, because I’m so scared of screwing something up and fumbling the best person in my life.”
Your breathing laboured as you took in everything he had just said.
Garrett hadn't laughed. He hadn't looked uncomfortable. He hadn't tried to tell you that you were being ridiculous. He had listened and looked at you like nothing you’d said had changed the way he felt about you.
Sometimes it felt like you were being far too superficial about your appearance and then other times looking at yourself was the worst thing in the world. So hearing Garrett tell you he likes you regardless of everything was overwhelming.
You scrambled to detach yourself from him, moving to cup his cheeks instead.
Somehow you found the bravery to pull him close enough for a kiss, all for that to stop the moment his lips came within an inch of yours. You hesitated.
Were you allowed to kiss him? Is that something he wanted?
You got your answer seconds later when Garrett closed the rest of the distance between you, kissing you like he’d been waiting a long time to do it.
His hands rested on the back of your neck, keeping you close to him.
Your belly was uncontrollable with nerves as he continued to kiss you. And fuck was he a good kisser. His lips were wet and warm against yours.
The room had gotten hotter and your world had gotten smaller - the only thing worth focusing on being Garrett.
He pulled back to give you a chance to breathe, your lips making a soft smacking noise as he did. You didn’t like the distance he created, so you pulled him back again for another soft kiss. Garrett quickly took control, tilting his head to kiss you deeper.
The feeling in your belly changed to something hot and buzzing instead. The more he kissed you, the more confident you became and the nerves disappeared.
When he pulled back again, you didn’t immediately kiss him again. Garrett licked his lips, looking between yours and your eyes like he couldn’t decide what was more important to focus on.
“I like you a lot, in case that wasn’t clear.” Garrett said.
You let out a small laugh, “I like you too.”
“Good.” He kissed you once more, “Okay.”
“Okay what?”
You watched as Garrett stood up, holding out a hand for you to follow him up. You took his hand, holding back any swooning as he pulled you up easily.
“Date night.”
“Garrett…” You sighed.
“We’re not cancelling. We’re just moving it.”
“Where?”
A little while later, you were sitting on a blanket on your bedroom floor, a large pizza and cans of soda between you both.
Garrett had ordered the pizzas online and then had grabbed a bunch of rubbish chocolate from a nearby vending machine for dessert. It was kind of perfect.
It reminded you of your favourite scene from High School Musical 3 with Troy and Gabriella.
Garrett was reclined horizontally, propped up on his bicep, whilst you sat cross legged opposite him.
“You want the last slice?” Garrett asked.
You shook your head, “No thank you. Plus, I’ve seen the amount you eat daily… You need it more than me.”
“Agreed. I was just being a gentleman.”
“How noble of you.”
He grabbed the last slice of pizza and devoured it so fast it actually made your stomach hurt. Athletes and their food. You took a sip of your soda whilst he finished eating.
“So…”
“So…”
“Next date.” He raised an eyebrow, wiping his mouth with a napkin.
“Mhm.” You brought your legs up to rest your chin on your knees.
“Tell me what you’d like it to be.”
“Not ice skating, that’s for sure.” You tried to bury your face in your knees as you watched the offence slide across Garrett’s expression. “I’m just not good! I’ll end up in A&E.”
“Not if I hold your hand.” Garrett protested.
“Maybe five dates down the line, then.”
“Okay, deal.” Garrett smirked, no doubt excited by the prospect of getting to go on four more dates with you before then. “Next date though?”
“I don’t know. This one is pretty perfect.” You shrugged.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. All it’s missing is a sunset.”
“Okay, I can work with that.” He sat up and dusted the last of the crumbs off his fingers. “Sunset and pizzas.”
“And chocolate coated strawberries.”
“Done.” Garrett smiled at you, loving seeing you happy. He felt like the luckiest guy on campus, sitting here with you. And he knew you well enough to know that you were thinking the exact same thing.
summary - it's your birthday and your boyfriend won't stop kissing you for more than a minute. safe to say, he's obsessed with you.
pairing - garrett graham x gf!reader
word count - 2.3k
You felt the slight pressure from Garrett's fingers squeezing the back of your neck as he continued to kiss you.
There was a reason you carried around chapstick all the time - because Garrett was the world's No. 1 needy boyfriend and never went more than two hours without kissing you.
Garrett kissed you in a series of short pecks, allowing you both to catch your breaths momentarily. You could feel the small smile form on his lips as he kissed you again.
"God, do you two ever stop?" Allie laughed, dumping two jugs of beer on the table for everyone.
You were all at Malone's to celebrate your birthday. Well, you were meant to be celebrating with the girls by dancing and the guys each offered you a birthday shot of tequila, but instead had been cornered to the end of a booth by your boyfriend who genuinely couldn't seem to stop kissing you. As Allie pointed out moments ago.
"No."
Garrett said at the same time as you said, "Yes."
Just to prove his point, Garrett kissed you again. You swore you could hear Allie spew out an 'ugh' before walking away.
Your hand slid underneath the table to Garrett's thigh, squeezing it a little as he kissed you hard. Garrett licked his bottom lip as he pulled away, looking over your swollen-looking ones with a glint in his eye.
"I swear I've done nothing but kiss you today." You said, licking your own lips. Garrett looked eagerly at them as you did, but made no move to lean in.
You felt his arm move from cupping your neck to just draping over the back of the booth behind you.
"Sounds like a good birthday to me."
"Okay. No need to look so smug with yourself." You rolled your eyes and let your head fall onto his shoulder.
Garrett kissed your forehead, letting you rest neatly tucked up against him.
"Didn't even get a kiss from Dean this year." You pouted.
"Going to pretend I didn't just hear my girlfriend say that." He pretended to sound offended, but he knew what you meant.
Every year Dean has kissed you on the cheek for your birthday, because before your relationship with Garrett you were trying to make him jealous with the help of your best friend Dean. One night, at a house party, things came to a heat when you asked Dean to kiss you, informing him it was just to make Garrett jealous, and he barely made it to a kiss on your cheek before Garrett shoved him out of the way and kissed you instead.
"Can't believe it's been a whole two years since that house party."
"Still think you could have just talked to me, rather than try and kiss my best friend in front of me."
"Really? And what would I have said?" You picked your head up from his shoulder to look up at him, "'Oh hey Garrett. By the way, even though you could literally have any girl on this campus, of which six of them have already thrown themselves at you tonight, I think you should actually be with me.'"
"Baby, it was always gonna be you."
Before you could respond, Dean plated a round of shots on the table.
"Right. I've had enough of you two... Canoodling." Dean, already quite drunk, pointed between you and your boyfriend.
"Canoodling?" You laughed.
"Yeah, are you 85 years old?" Garrett teased, feeling accomplished when it earned another laugh from you.
"Fuck off, Graham." Dean snarled, "This is for the birthday girl." Dean handed you a shot at the same time Garrett took one for himself.
"Thanks, Dean."
"Happy motherfucking birthday, Y/N!"
The surrounding people cheered as Dean shouted.
You swung back the shot of what genuinely tasted like pure methanol, your whole body shivering to try and get rid of the awful taste in your mouth. Dean wasn't phased at all, but he was probably already five shots in.
"You didn't even bring a chaser?" Garrett asked, offended.
"You've got your girlfriend for that." Dean patted Garrett's shoulder before meandering off to the next willing participant of doing shots with him.
"He's so drunk."
"Yeah and you don't want to be kissed by a drunk-Dean."
"Oh really?" You raised your eyebrows at your boyfriends logic, "And what about a drunk-Garrett?"
"That, I think is acceptable."
Garrett leaned forwards, attempting to kiss you again. His arm curling tighter around your neck again to bring you as close as possible to him. No distance between you was the goal apparently.
"No! Absolutely not. Enough of this." Hannah's voice appeared before Garrett could fully commit to kissing you.
"What?" Garrett asked innocently.
"You've been hogging the birthday girl all day. Enough."
"Yeah, but she's my birthday girl. I have a right to hog." Garrett argued. Was it a red flag that your insides melted over that comment? Oh sue you - Garrett Graham can get away with saying anything when it comes to you.
"Um, I'm sat right here." You perked up.
"Yeah, yeah," Hannah brushed you off and crossed her arms over her chest to seem much - much - bigger than she was. "She's coming to dance with us. End of."
"And if she doesn't?"
"Again... Right here..."
Hannah gave a smug smile, clapped her hands twice and made Tucker and Logan appear from nowhere. They instantly grabbed onto Garrett's body, pulling him from the booth as best they could.
The move was not smooth at all.
In fact, you'd had to stop thanks to a short-circuit in your brain when Garrett's top accidentally lifted up to reveal a dark dusting of hair running down from his belly button.
Fuck.
"Quick, quick." Hannah brought you back to the moment.
You successfully shuffled out of the booth with a large protest from Garrett, who looked like someone had just stepped on his favourite toy.
You raised your hands in the air as Disturbia by Rihanna played loud throughout Malone's.
Hannah, Allie, Sabrina and Grace all cheered as they formed a little circle around you. Allie pretended to throw fake money at you as you swayed your hips from side-to-side, bringing your hands down your body.
You laughed as you held out your hand for Hannah to take. She twirled you around in a circle before you returned the gesture.
The girls closed the circle then, all of you joining to form one dancing pack.
Malone's was hot now, no doubt from the endless dancing.
Your neck was sweaty and you couldn't remember that last time that you had a drink.
"I'm going to get a drink." You told Grace, who you knew would pass on the information to the rest of them.
Dispersing from the group as the music changed to play Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! by ABBA, you took note of your boyfriend watching you from across the room with a sulk on his face. His expression brightened when he realised you weren't dancing anymore, but his interested visibly peaking more when you didn't come over to him.
"Vodka cranberry please!" You asked the bartender.
He nodded and got to work, whilst your body still danced to the music. Malone's was playing good music tonight.
Your breath hitched when you felt Garrett's hand snaked around the skin of your waist, beneath your top, to place on either side of your stomach. His front was pressed firmly against your back and you couldn't help but groan at the contact.
Your head rolled back onto his shoulder, eyes closed, as you continued to sway to the music. Surprisingly Garrett swayed along with you.
He didn't miss the opportunity to kiss your neck, earning a small laugh from you.
You thanked the bartender as he deposited the drink on the bar in front of you, Garrett subtly nodding his head to the guy as if to say 'put this drink on my tab'.
"You know," His voice was husky as he spoke close to your ear, "ABBA gets me."
"Oh yeah?"
Garrett’s fingers spread wider against your stomach. “Pretty sure this song is about how devastating it is when your girlfriend abandons you to go dance with her girl friends.”
"Hmm. I thought it was about a group of girl friends going out to find a good-looking man." You took a sip of your drink.
"Well lucky for you, you found me."
You rolled your eyes, though your mouth betrayed you with a smile.
"So humble."
"I try."
Garrett’s chin settled on your shoulder as the two of you swayed absentmindedly to the music. His fingers drummed lazily against your stomach, almost in time with the beat.
"You know," you said, turning slightly in Garrett’s arms, "most boyfriends would probably let their girlfriend dance with her friends on her birthday without acting like they’re being personally victimised."
Garrett gasped softly against your neck. "That’s crazy. Name one."
You laughed again and Garrett visibly brightened at the sound, like he physically couldn’t help it.
Just as you were about to fully turn around in Garrett's arms, Hannah appeared beside you both grabbing onto your arm.
"Photobooth! Now!"
"She's always at the scene of the crime." You heard Garrett sigh as you were once again pulled from him.
"Get over it," Hannah told him. "You’ve spent the entire night attached to her like a backpack."
"A very handsome backpack."
You looked over your shoulder just in time to catch Garrett watching you go with the same wounded expression from earlier.
Honestly, it was a little ridiculous how much your chest warmed at the sight.
Because Garrett Graham - campus hockey star - looked genuinely miserable every time someone stole you away from him for longer than five minutes.
The photobooth is far too small to fit all five of you and your friends in, but you somehow make it work.
You all pose with a bunch of stupid poses; kissing and squishing each other's cheeks, trying to create finger hearts with each other and just generally laughing so much that you were all worried you might pee yourselves.
Sabrina had recorded the entire time in the photobooth on her phone, which was going to be so funny to watch back later.
They all fell out of the photobooth one at a time. Grace and Sabrina decided they were going to get another round of drinks for everyone, whilst Allie and Hannah decided to the bathroom together.
You were looking at the photo strip that had been printed, when the curtain was pulled across the entrance again and you were being pinned back against the wall of the photobooth.
"You're never beating the backpack allegations, you know?" You teased as you smiled up at Garrett.
A little curl fell down over his forehead and you reached up to fix it instantly - almost like it was second nature at this point.
"Missed you."
"Missed you too." You replied, "Want to take some photos?"
"Yeah, okay."
"Come sit here." Garrett moved and patted his lap, already sat down on the small bench inside the photo booth. He pulled on your hand, forcing you to sit on top of his thighs.
You tried not to focus on how strong and sturdy they felt beneath you.
You settled comfortably sideways on his thighs, wrapping your arms around his shoulders so that you didn’t slide off.
Garrett made sure that his arms were firmly around your waist so he could keep you sat where he wanted.
It said ‘pay to start’ on the screen, you opened your phone to open up your bank app and caught sight of you lock screen.
It was a pretty picture of your boyfriend, sitting on a beach with an ice-cream. He was laughing at something you had said and as a result had gotten ice-cream on the tip of his nose. It had been one of your favourite days ever, so you just had to keep it as your lock screen.
“You changed your lock screen.” Garrett said.
“Yeah, I did.”
“What happened to the picture of us two?” He asked.
“Preferred this one of you.”
Instead of saying anything to you, he leant in and gave you a few kisses on your neck whilst your phone payed for the machine to start working.
“Stop. You’ll give me a hickey for these photos.”
“And?”
You rolled your eyes, trying to hide your smirk. Two seconds later you had to shove his face away as he started to kiss you in the same spot again.
The photobooth screen started to count down from five seconds and you positioned yourself better in front of the camera.
Garrett tightened his arms around your waist and brought you closer in to him.
The first photo was both of you just smiling into the camera. Your heads just laying on each other and squeezing each other tight, your smiles just showing how happy you both were.
The second photo Garrett looked at you so you turned to face him, his eyes sparkling at you with so much love. You rested one of your hands on his cheek and kept on looking at him as the photo clicked.
The third photo was entirely candid, after Garrett had made a joke. You laughed so loud you nearly fell backwards and it only made the entire situation funnier. The photo was captured of the both of you without you even noticing.
The last photo Garrett took the lead and kissed you.
"I love you." You whispered against his lips.
"I love you too." He mumbled against your lips.
Garrett stopped kissing you long enough to reach over your shoulder and grab the photo strips as they printed. You smiled instantly at the sight of them.
"Oh my god, the third one..."
Your laugh caught in your throat slightly as you looked closer.
In every single photo, Garrett was looking at you.
Even the first one. Even when you’d both been smiling at the camera, his eyes were tilted slightly toward your face instead.
"What?" Garrett asked softly, noticing you staring at the strip of photos intensely.
"Nothing."
His hands rubbed absently up and down your waist, "Tell me."
"You're not looking at the camera in any of these."
summary - you surprise Garrett after studying abroad for a year
pairing - garrett graham x girlfriend!reader
word count - +2.3k
a/n - lowkey love this duo enough to continue with either a summer series for them or a mom&dad type series!! lmk what you think!
For an off campus party, Garrett Graham seemed pretty miserable.
The party was small and contained. Only close friends of the guys had been invited to celebrate the start of summer. No more exams or schoolwork. Just sun, sand and sex.
Everyone had gathered in the back garden, just outside the house on the decking. Tucker was manning the grill, with Logan supervising. Dean and Allie were attempting to play a game of badminton, but were mostly just arguing. A couple other hockey guys were sitting around chatting, with Grace and Sabrina nearby. And it was Hannah who noticed Garrett sat by himself not taking part in anything.
“You okay?” Hannah asked and sat down on a chair opposite Garrett.
“Yeah.” Garrett gave a fake smile.
“Convincing.” Hannah joked, “What’s up?”
Garrett had become close enough with Hannah to know she wouldn’t take the piss out of him. He was glad that Allie kept bringing her around, because she was one of Garrett’s closest friends now.
Garrett held up his phone briefly, “My, uh, girlfriend hasn’t texted me since yesterday and I’m just a bit worried.” Garrett frowned, looking from Hannah down to his notificationless phone.
“You have a girlfriend?”
“Yeah.” Garrett’s smile went wide.
He noted the shocked expression on Hannah’s face.
Garrett rarely told people about you - not because he wanted to keep you a secret, but because he was just terrible at opening up to people about things like that. You were always encouraging him to be braver with his feelings.
“Since when?” Hannah leaned forwards with interest.
“Coming up to three years now.”
“I’m sorry… You’ve had a girlfriend for three years and I’m only just finding out now?”
“Well I didn’t know you three years ago, Wellsy.” Garrett countered.
Hannah let it slide. “Okay, whatever. Tell me everything about her.”
When someone did finally know of your existence, that was one of Garrett’s favourite things to be asked. He could talk about you for hours, days, forever. He was a healthy amount obsessed with you.
Before Garrett could delve into the 101 reasons why you were his favourite person, Dean had to ruin the moment.
“Jheez, Wellsy, are you a witch? How’d you make G smile?” Dean patted Hannah on the back as he came over with Allie in tow. No doubt their game of badminton had gotten too argumentative to continue safely.
“I was just asking Garrett about…” Hannah cut herself short, realising that she didn’t even know your name.
“Y/N.” Garrett added for her.
Dean clicked his tongue and sighed like a man in love. “Ah, mom and dad.”
“I’m sorry, what?” Hannah laughed, looking between Garrett, Dean and Allie for some explanation.
Allie sat on the arm of the chair that Hannah was sitting on, wrapping her arm around her best friend's shoulder. Dean sat on the same bench that Garrett was sitting on.
“Mom and dad.” Allie repeated, “Y/N and Garrett got the label because they are genuinely like the mom and dad of this group.”
“They’re always keeping us in check. They do the shopping for the house. Y/N actually cleans this place, God knows why. They’re just so mom and dad.”
“She sounds great.” Hannah smiled.
“She is.” Allie nodded.
“Agreed.” Dean added.
Garrett just sat there, quietly smiling to himself as he listened to some of the most important people in his life gush over the most important person.
“So how come I’ve never met her?” Hannah asked.
“She’s spent the last year studying abroad.” Garrett said, frowning again when he realised that this whole conversation had started because he couldn’t get in contact with you.
“That’s so cool. Where abouts?”
“Uh, London– Sorry, I’m just going to–.”
Garrett got up and headed back inside, continuing to stare at his phone like it was personally wronging him.
Allie got up off the end of Hannah’s chair and moved to sit down next to Dean - who immediately pulled her close to his side. Hannah was so happy for her best friend finally being with someone who actually cared for her.
They smiled without looking at each other.
“What?” Hannah asked, wondering what was going on.
“Can you keep a secret, Wellsy, ‘cause we sure can’t.”
“Yeah.”
Dean leaned forwards, double checking the back entrance to the house to make sure that Garrett wasn’t loitering close by. Hannah leaned forwards too.
“Y/N’s surprising Garrett. That’s why he hasn’t heard from her, because fuck knows she’d ruin the surprise if she opened her mouth.”
Hannah’s eyes went wide and her jaw dropped.
“When? Today?”
Allie checked her phone.
“Like, literally any minute.”
Hannah tried to control her excited smile as she leant back in her chair. Dean moved back too, raising his eyebrows to Hannah as if to silently say ‘don’t say a word’.
Logan and Tucker came over minutes later, saying the grill was all prepped and the food was ready to be cooked whenever everyone was ready. They were also in on the secret surprise, so were holding off on cooking until you arrived.
Sabrina and Grace, along with a couple of other hockey guys, had also joined the group so everyone was sitting together, when Allie’s phone pinged.
She opened the notification to see you’d texted to say you were outside.
Allie widened her eyes at the group, all of them visibly lighting up with excitement.
“Where’s G?” Logan asked.
“He went inside before.” Dean said.
“I think he was going to try and contact Y/N again.” Hannah added with a sad pout. She felt for the guy - especially when he had no clue that he was about to see you in a couple of minutes.
Allie stood up, telling everyone that she was going to go and get you. Everyone was in agreement that you should go and see Garrett first, so Tucker and Logan returned to the grill to start cooking in the meantime.
Allie wandered through the house, with no sign of Garrett anywhere.
She opened the front door quietly and silently screamed when she saw you.
You looked tired - no doubt from the long plane ride, lack of sleep and jet lag - but you also looked so happy to be back. You had a big Briar U hoodie on that was no doubt Garrett’s and a pair of navy jogging bottoms on.
You had a shit tonne of luggage bags surrounding you, which Allie would make Dean take in later. It was a mystery how you managed all these bags through the airport yourself.
Allie squeezed you in a tight hug, both of you trying to be as silent as possible.
She let you go, knowing you’d be eager to see Garrett.
You both had a silent conversation with hand gestures, which basically translated to you asking where Garrett was and letting Allie know that’s where you’d be going first. Allie rushed you off, not delaying your reunion any longer.
You tried your best to be quiet up the stairs, the familiarity of the house hitting you all at once. Even the feel of your hand on the wooden bannister felt like coming home.
At the top of the stairs you felt a flurry of butterflies start up in the pit of your stomach. You couldn’t tell whether you were nervous or excited to see Garrett. It was the anticipation that was causing the feeling, you decided.
After texts and face-time calls, every day for the last year, it was hard to believe you were about to see him in real life again. It sounded weird to say, but it was true. The last year had been so great, but it had also been so hard living away from Garrett.
If that made you clingy, then you’d wear that label with pride. So what?
Garrett’s door was closed over, but not shut entirely.
You pushed the door open to find Garrett sat on the edge of his bed, crouched over with his phone in his hands.
You knocked gently so as not to make him jump.
Garrett wiped his eyes, not so subtly, before sitting up to look at you.
His whole body sagged as he saw you standing in his bedroom doorway. He closed his eyes and let his body pull him back to lay back on his bed, legs grounding him to the floor.
Tears started to fill your eyes as Garrett’s chest visibly moved up and down from crying. His hand went to cover his eyes, probably trying to comprehend whether this was a cruel trick or genuinely real.
You didn’t wait any longer to move closer to him.
“Hey.” You laughed through your own tears.
“Fuck.” Garrett sat up, taking you in. You watched the disbelief leave his teary eyes, as he fully understood you were right here with him.
He wasted no more time pulling you the rest of the way towards him - absolutely no distance between you allowed again - until you landed on his lap in an awkward straddle. Your arms wrapped around his neck tightly and his wrapped around your waist.
Both of you sat there, lightly crying.
Your face buried into Garrett’s neck as you breathed in his familiar scent. That smell alone caused a few tears, because it was so nostalgic and homely to you. Garrett’s head rested just beside yours.
Neither of you said anything for what felt like the longest time, both more than happy to just sit silently in each other’s arms.
“I thought something bad had happened.” Garrett mumbled.
You reluctantly pulled your head away from his neck, blinking away the remnants of tears as you pulled Garrett’s head up to see him. His eyes were red-rimmed and his dark circles were as dark as yours.
“What do you mean?”
“You didn’t text me for so long. I thought something bad had happened.” His eyes traced over every inch of your face, scanning every freckle to make sure they were all still there.
“I wanted to surprise you.”
“You did. If 24 hours of no contact is what it takes to be surprised, then, baby, I don’t want it.” He shook his head.
“Okay. Noted.” You brushed your thumb over his cheek back and forth. He melted into your touch, trying to get as physically close to you as possible.
“Can’t believe you’re here.”
“Can’t believe you haven’t kissed me yet.”
Garrett’s hands left your waist instantly to cup your cheeks and bring your lips directly to his, kissing you exactly how one would kiss their significant other after a year apart. The kiss was bruising, barely enough space to breathe between you.
Garrett tilted your head with his hands so he could kiss you deeper, your hips involuntarily rocking over his. The small movement was enough for Garrett to break the kiss, though the distance between you barely existed.
Both of your chests were heaving and your breathing heavy. You leaned in closer with dazed eyes focused on his lips, kissing him again. This time was shorter and with more feeling, before you pulled away with a soft laugh.
“What?” Garrett asked, still holding you close.
“I missed you.”
Garrett smiled, “Yeah, baby. Me too.” He kissed you four times in a row, before breaking off from your lips to kiss your cheeks, nose, eyes and anywhere else he could. The sound of your laughter filled his room for the first time in a year as Garrett kept kissing you.
You forced yourself forwards to make Garrett fall backwards on the bed, because you knew it was the only way to stop him from kissing you for now.
Garrett’s hair flopped around him on the bed, with a little curl falling over his forehead. His hands moved to place over your hips, whilst yours pressed into his bed either side of his head to keep you upright.
“Can’t believe you’re here.” Garrett said.
“You’ve already said that. Have you developed temporary amnesia, baby?” You teased him.
“My brain hasn’t worked since you walked through the door.”
Garrett’s hand tucked underneath the hoodie you were wearing, and traced up and down your bare skin. The featherlight touch made you smile and you rewarded him with another quick kiss.
You moved to sit back up less than gracefully. Luckily Garrett’s arms were there to support you as he mirrored you to sit up as well.
“How was your flight?” He asked, his eyes focused on you. No doubt he wouldn’t be letting you from his sight for the foreseeable future. He was going to attach himself to you like a limpet whether you liked it or not.
“Shall we go downstairs and see everyone so I don’t have to answer that question fifteen more times?”
Garrett grumbled and his eyebrows furrowed, “No.”
“No?”
“I want you to myself.” He said as his hands tightened their grip on your back.
“Baby, don’t be mean.”
“I’m not being mean, I'm being selfish. There’s a difference.”
“Not a good difference.” You argued.
“Did the Brits teach you to be polite or something?”
You tried not to laugh at your boyfriend’s childish behaviour, because, honestly, some part of you understood what he was feeling. You got possessive when he left for a hockey game for just a weekend, let alone you having been gone a full year.
Of course you wanted to just be with him too, but your friends were important to you too. They’d all kept close contact with you, always letting you know how Garrett was really doing and being there for him when he needed people around. You owed a lot to them all.
“C’mon. You’ll get me all evening.” You compromised.
“You’ve finished over there?”
“Yes,” You smiled, brushing a curl back off his forehead, “Finished last week.”
“So you’re here to stay?”
“Baby, I’m back. I’m here for summer, then autumn, winter and spring. Then summer again and autumn…”
“Okay, okay,” Garrett cut you off, “Can we spend summer together?”
“I literally brought all my shit here with me, because I intend on moving in. You’re stuck with me.”
Summary: you're on a date with a total douche who keeps bragging about playing on the AHL and (unknowingly) fanboying over your best friend who thankfully makes an apperance just in time to rescue you from a nightmare date.
Word count: 1.2k
⋆˚࿔ tina's note 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ I got this idea at 2AM while half asleep and rambled it to my notes app because I was too tired to type then laughed this morning when I read the note back because it's literally me going "And like the date is an asshole and he's talking about like… and like… but like… and then Garrett like… and blah blah blah and like… and yeah that's it" but here's the (hopefully) better version of my 2AM ramblings
Off campus masterlist
The only redeeming quality of this date is honestly the fact that you won't have to pay for the food and wine you've had. This restaurant is not one you'll usually choose, it's not your style, too fancy and grand for your liking. Your date is… well let's just say you highly doubt there will be a second date.
"So you say you went to where for college?" He asks after finishing a rant about the latest crypto he invested in.
"Oh, I went to Briar!" You perk up a little at him finally showing some kind of interest into you "In Massachusetts, I-"
Of course, he cuts you off "Yeah, I know of Briar, it has one of the best hockey programs in the country, it was one of my options but I felt Michigan calling out for me more"
"Oh yeah, you play hockey right? I have friends who do too" You comment.
He scoffs "You do, don't you? Well sweetheart I'm in the AHL right now, I bet your friends have heard of me, I'm NHL bound any day now"
"Oh really?" You ask with a raised eyebrow, you don't tell him about your two friends breaking records with the Bruins right now "Are you playing here in Boston?"
"No no, I'm with the Islanders" He says, you quickly comb through your hockey knowledge, remembering Garret say something about how the Islanders were bottom three teams in the AHL right now but you choose to keep the information to yourself for now "Just in town visiting some friends and having dates with beautiful women apparently"
"Got lots of those?" You tease jokingly but his reply comes serious.
"A few, not a great dating pool around here honestly" He shrugs "It's just a thing of our generation, women trying too hard to prove something" You give him a slow nod curious to see where this horrible point of him goes "Like just yesterday I was out with this girl who kept arguing with me about how she wouldn't quit her job as a doctor even if she was dating an athlete like me with a packed schedule so she could take care of the kids"
"That's…" You don't even know what to say and thankfully (?) you don't have to say anything because he's not done.
"Like, you have to understand one thing about me honey, I already have a brutal schedule with hockey right now but as soon as I make it to the NHL it's gonna get worse" He shrugs "I need a woman who understands that. There's too few of them around now and I think that's the reason current legends like Graham stay single"
"Garret?" You ask.
"Oh you know of him? Yeah, total beast on the ice"
You nod "I went to college with him"
Your date laughs "Oh I bet you were running around behind him for a bit of attention huh?"
"Uh not exactly" You can't wait to be done with this date.
"Oh come on honey, it's Garret Graham, legend, if not for his hockey skills then for his legacy, his dad was a beast too, really look up Phil Graham" You're not going to lie that hearing him fanboy over one of your best friends is kinda funny, but the guy is annoying to no end so you start thinking of exiting strategies "I'm already on my way up there with him" He's not, you hadn't even heard his name until now and you like to think you are somewhat well versed in the hockey world "Someday you'll be bragging about having gone on a date with me"
You're still thinking about a good excuse to leave the date when the restaurant door opens, you look that way because anything is better than the douche in front of you and you see him, your best friend, Garrett Graham, he notices you too and smiles warmly.
"Holy shit" You hear your date gasp "It's Garret Graham, and he's looking this way, I bet he recognized me from our last game against Boston"
And no matter how much of an asshole this guy is you still can't find it in yourself to break his heart so you plan on letting him believe that's the reason Garret looked your way, but your friend has other plans because he approaches your table, attention solely on you as he leans down to pull you into a warm hug and kissing the side of your head on his way up.
"Hey Tink! What are you doing here?" He asks, the nickname he gave you years ago flowing out, your date, who still hasn't been aknowledged stares in absolute shock.
"Hi Gar, I'm uh… dinner" You motion to the guy sitting in front of you and Garret finally turns his way.
"Oh hey man" He greets with a nod and his attention is back on you "You gonna introduce me to your friend?"
"This is Dave" You don't have to say anything else, Garrett has always been an expert in reading you, he already clocked how this date is going.
"Well, nice to meet you Dave" His words are polite but there's none of the warmth he's had towards you "I'm just here for a quick meeting with my agent, but why don't you wait at the bar for me when you're done here? 15 minutes top?" You nod and he leans down to kiss your forehead again "I'll open up a tab and have your drink waiting for when you're ready" Then he turns to Dave and says "Nice to meet you Gabe" And he leaves.
You fight a chuckle and see his shoulders shaking as he walks away.
A little later, Garrett's turning on the engine of his Jeep, a newer model of the one he had back in college, but before he pulls out of the parking lot he speaks "I just don't know why you insist on going out with those idiots when I'm right here"
"What and miss Dave's NHL debut?" You joke but you know he's right and you're not sure why you're still going out on pointless dates "I heard Bridgeport might have a chance at the playoffs this season, I might get a WAG jacket"
"He's in the AHL?" Garret makes a face, you nod with a laugh "Tink, the chances of Bridgeport making it to the playoffs are lower than Dean being able to recreate Tuck's chicken pot pie recipe successfuly" You burst out laughing remembering the time you had to call the fire department because Tucker was away visiting his mom in Texas and Dean insisted he just had to have chicken pot pie.
"Holy shit I'd forgotten about that" You wipe tears out of your eyes "The firefighters looked so disappointed when Dean asked if he could still eat the food"
Garett looks at you with a wide smile and loving stare "Do you think the WAGs will give me a discount for the fee because we're halfway through the season already?" His question could be taken as a joke, but you know him and you know he's being earnest "Or will they charge me a late fee? What size jacket do you wear? And you can't get mad at me for not knowing, you always end up stealing mine anyways but I don't think you want a Garrett sized WAG jacket"
"Gar slow down" You stop him and he freezes up realizing he's probably gone too far and you're about to tell him you don't see him that way but instead you grin at him "You have to get to the playoffs first, we can't go jinxing it with all this planning ahead"
“hey,” hannah says softly, concern filling her pretty eyes. “are you okay? let me get you some water.”
she grabs a bottle of water from the fridge in the boys’ house while you try to get the room to stop spinning. you steady yourself against the kitchen counter, accepting the bottle when she hands it to you.
“do you need a ride home?” she asks softly. “garrett won’t mind if i use his car.”
“i’m good.” you lie.
“(y/n),” the softness fills her tone again and you feel like you could burst into tears at any second. “i know you’re sad and that you’ve been drinking, and i don’t think they’re the best combination right now. especially not when the reason you’re sad is standing over there.”
you don’t bother to look in her direction to know she’s looking at logan.
“the worst part is i don’t hate him,” you sniffle. “it isn’t his fault that i’m unloveable.”
“don’t talk about yourself like that,” she takes your hand and squeezes it gently. “you’re amazing, and one of the best people i know. he’d be the lucky one, okay? and he’s an idiot.”
you can’t help the tears that break through the barrier you carefully constructed to attempt to keep them at bay.
“come on,” hannah puts her arm around you. “let’s get you home.”
as hannah walks you towards the door, you lock eyes with logan. he looks like he wants to say something, but the moment passes and he lets you walk out of the door with regret filled eyes.
“you’re a good friend, hannah.” you whisper, wishing so badly you could be her if it would make logan love you.
I’ve been posseessed by Tucker and cooked up this for you!!
The Fight
Summery: Logan finds out some douchebag from Eastwood was saying stuff about you in the guest team locker room.
Pairing: John Logan x fem!reader
Warning: Violence, swearing, douchebags from Eastwood.
John had just gotten out of the showers, dressed in his grey sweatpants and a plain white shirt, damp hair sticking to his forehead as he tied his shoes. He was already worked up after an intense game against Eastwood, barely winning by one goal.
“Logan! You gotta hurry man!” Birdie rushed in. “Those Eastwood pricks are talking shit about your girl in their locker room. I overheard them.”
John was on his feet in a flash, barging past Birdie as Garrett, Dean and Tucker looked at each other before following after Logan. They knew he was very capable of causing damage if he was pissed enough.
Logan shoved the locker room door open and heard four of the Eastwood players talking about his girlfriend. His vision narrowed to the Captain of Eastwood and he lunged before Garrett could stop him. Logan’s fist connected with the guys jaw, sending him to the ground. The other Eastwood players tried to get involved and Garrett got involved along with Tucker and Dean.
Coaches and players alike had to pull the chaos apart. Logan stormed out with bloody hands and a split. His shirt was more red than white at this point.
He went to find you, not caring about the state he was in or what consequences he’d get. He found you standing with Hannah, Jules and Allie. Jules noticed him first, shaking their head as they nudged you. You saw your boyfriend and took in the red covering him. You rushed over and took his hand, pressing your sleeve to his knuckles.
“Why would you do that?” You mumbled and he brushed some hair from your face. “They were talking shit about you and I was alone. The boys had my back.” He winched slightly when you gingerly touched his lip. “Come on, let’s go get you cleaned up.” You lead him to a quieter area and cleaned his knuckles, pressing a kiss to them when you finished. You cleaned his lip, kissing his cheek when you finished.
“You had me worried.” You admitted and he smiled. “That’s what I love about you.” He pulled you closer, resting his chin on your head. You two stayed like that for a while before heading back to his.
Logan, Garrett, Dean and Tucker were lectured but Coash Jensen couldn’t risk benching them all so they had a strict schedule after that.
Summary: You never asked to be the daughter of Briar University's hockey coach, and you definitely never asked to spend a week being chauffeured around campus by Garrett Graham. The problem? You can't stand each other.
Warnings: enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity, banter, panic attack comfort, and a very inconvenient crush.
If there was one thing you hated more than hockey, it was hockey players.
Which was unfortunate, considering your father happened to be the head coach of Briar University's hockey team.
The universe clearly had a twisted sense of humor.
"You're late."
You looked up from your phone to find your dad standing in the doorway of his office, arms crossed over his chest.
"I'm two minutes late."
"Three."
You rolled your eyes. "Wow. Somebody should really get you a hobby."
Your father shook his head. "Funny."
"I know."
He stepped aside and motioned for you to come in. The familiar scent of coffee and old paperwork greeted you immediately. You'd spent half your life in hockey arenas and coaching offices, and somehow you'd never grown to like either of them.
You dropped into the chair across from his desk.
"Why am I here?"
"Because your car is in the shop."
"And?"
"And I'm doing you a favor."
The way he said it immediately put you on edge.
"No."
His eyebrows lifted. "What do you mean, no?"
"Whatever you're about to ask."
"I'm not asking."
"That's even worse."
A grin appeared on his face.
You groaned.
"Absolutely not."
"You don't even know what it is yet."
"You're about to tell me one of your players is going to drive me to class."
His grin widened.
"Oh my God."
"It's temporary."
"No."
"It's only for a week."
"No."
"You don't have a choice."
You sat up straighter. "I am a grown woman."
"You are a grown woman who forgot to get an oil change for eight months."
"That's irrelevant."
"It literally caused your car to break down."
You opened your mouth to argue.
Then closed it.
Then opened it again.
"Still irrelevant."
Your father laughed.
Traitor.
Before you could continue the argument, the office door opened.
A tall figure stepped inside.
Unfortunately, you recognized him immediately.
Garrett Graham.
Captain of the Briar hockey team.
Campus golden boy.
Professional pain in your ass.
His eyes landed on you and narrowed slightly.
Fantastic.
The feeling was mutual.
"Coach," Garrett said as he stepped into the room.
Then he noticed you sitting there.
"Oh."
You crossed your arms.
"Oh."
Your father looked between the two of you.
"...Why do I feel like I shouldn't leave you alone together?"
"Because she's mean," Garrett said.
You barked out a laugh.
"Me? You're the one who almost ran me over with a golf cart."
Garrett looked offended. "It was moving at three miles per hour."
"You still hit me."
"You stepped in front of it."
"You were texting."
"I wasn't texting."
"You were."
"I was changing a song."
"While driving."
Garrett pointed at you. "See? Mean."
You pointed right back. "See? Idiot."
Your father pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Jesus Christ."
Neither of you stopped glaring at each other.
Then Garrett frowned.
"Wait a second." He looked at your father and then back at you. "You're Coach Jensen's daughter?"
You stared at him.
"You didn't know that?"
"No."
"You've met me three times."
Garrett shrugged. "I don't memorize everyone's family tree."
"You literally asked if I was lost the first time we met."
"Because you were standing in the middle of the locker room hallway."
"I was waiting for my dad."
"You looked lost."
"I looked bored."
"You always look bored."
You hated how smug he looked when he said it.
Mostly because he wasn't entirely wrong.
Your father slammed a folder onto his desk.
Both of you jumped.
"Enough."
The room fell silent.
He pointed at Garrett.
"You are driving her to class until her car is fixed."
Garrett's face immediately fell.
You suspected yours looked exactly the same.
"No."
Your father pointed at you.
"You don't get a vote."
Then he pointed at Garrett.
"And neither do you."
Garrett looked genuinely horrified.
"Coach—"
"Garrett."
"Coach."
"Garrett."
You almost laughed.
Almost.
Apparently the captain of Briar hockey folded under parental disappointment just as easily as everyone else.
"Fine," Garrett muttered.
"Fine," you echoed.
The second you left the office, Garrett fell into step beside you.
Neither of you spoke at first.
The silence lasted all of seven seconds.
"Just so we're clear," Garrett began.
You sighed.
"Here we go."
"I'm only doing this because your dad scares me."
You snorted.
"Good."
"He should?"
"He absolutely should."
That earned the first real smile you'd ever seen from him.
It disappeared almost immediately.
Unfortunately, you noticed it.
Even more unfortunately, Garrett Graham was annoyingly attractive when he smiled.
Not that you planned on admitting that.
Ever.
"You know," Garrett said, shoving his hands into his pockets, "you could try being pleasant once in a while."
"You could try being quieter."
He winced dramatically.
"Ouch."
"Did I hurt your feelings?"
"Deeply."
"Good."
Garrett laughed.
"You enjoy this, don't you?"
"A little."
His laughter grew louder.
You hated that too.
Mostly because it was surprisingly nice to listen to.
And somehow he'd managed to annoy you every single one of them.
Monday, he criticized your music.
Tuesday, he criticized your coffee order.
Wednesday, he criticized your parking abilities.
Today, he'd decided to criticize your major.
"You don't need a psychology degree to know people are weird."
You glared at him from across the table in the student union.
"I hope you fail your next exam."
Garrett pressed a hand dramatically against his chest.
"Violent."
"Deserved."
He opened his mouth to respond.
Then stopped.
His expression shifted.
Only slightly, but enough for you to notice.
"You okay?"
You blinked.
"What?"
The room suddenly felt warmer.
Much warmer.
You swallowed.
"I'm fine."
Garrett didn't look convinced.
The noise around you seemed to grow louder.
Conversations overlapped.
Chairs scraped against the floor.
Someone laughed nearby.
Your chest tightened.
Not now.
Please not now.
You pushed back your chair and stood.
"I have to go."
Garrett frowned.
"You look pale."
"I'm fine."
The lie came automatically.
You turned and headed for the nearest exit before he could stop you.
Your pulse hammered in your ears.
Your breathing became shallow.
The familiar panic began spreading through your chest.
No.
No, no, no.
Not here.
Not in public.
You shoved through the doors and stumbled outside into the cold afternoon air.
The world tilted.
Your hands shook.
You couldn't catch your breath.
You hated this.
You hated how helpless it made you feel.
How out of control.
How weak.
The cold air burned your lungs as you sucked in a breath that never felt deep enough.
Your vision blurred around the edges.
The campus courtyard stretched out in front of you, but it didn't feel real. Everything looked too bright, too far away, like you were watching it through a foggy window.
Your heart slammed against your ribs.
Too fast.
Way too fast.
You pressed a trembling hand against your chest as if you could physically force it to slow down.
Breathe.
Just breathe.
But every breath caught halfway down.
Your throat felt tight.
Your fingers tingled.
The familiar dizziness washed over you, making your knees weak.
People walked past without noticing.
A group of students laughed nearby.
Someone dropped a backpack.
The sound made you flinch.
Everything felt too loud.
Too much.
Your thoughts spiraled.
What if someone sees?
What if you pass out?
What if you can't stop it this time?
What if—
"Hey."
You squeezed your eyes shut.
Of course he'd followed you.
"Go away, Graham."
"No."
You let out a bitter laugh.
"Didn't realize you cared."
His answer came after a brief pause.
"I don't."
You shot him a look.
Garrett shrugged.
"Okay. Maybe a little."
Your chest tightened again.
Not because of the panic this time.
Garrett crouched down in front of you.
Not too close.
Just close enough that you could hear him clearly.
"You having a panic attack?"
You looked away.
Apparently that answered the question.
For a moment, neither of you spoke.
You focused on the concrete beneath your shoes.
On the violent shaking in your hands.
On the embarrassing fact that Garrett Graham was seeing you like this.
Then Garrett spoke again.
"Hey."
You reluctantly looked up.
His expression had completely changed.
Gone was the cocky grin.
Gone was the teasing.
He looked... concerned.
The realization somehow made your eyes sting.
"Look at me for a second."
You did.
"You're okay."
A shaky laugh escaped you.
"No, I'm not."
"Yeah, you are."
His voice remained calm.
Steady.
Like he wasn't bothered by this at all.
Like he wasn't judging you.
"Doesn't feel like it."
"I know."
The simple answer nearly broke something inside you.
Because he sounded like he actually understood.
Your breathing hitched again.
Garrett nodded toward your hands.
"Can you unclench your fists?"
You looked down.
Your nails had dug crescents into your palms.
You hadn't even noticed.
Slowly, you loosened your grip.
"Good."
Another shaky breath.
Another wave of dizziness.
Garrett stayed exactly where he was.
Not crowding you.
Not touching you.
Just there.
"Can you count five things you can see?"
You frowned.
"What?"
"Just humor me."
His voice was calm.
Steady.
You hated how comforting it sounded.
Slowly, you looked around.
"The fountain."
"Good."
"The tree."
"Good."
"The bike rack."
"Keep going."
You swallowed.
"The red bench."
"Good."
"The... the statue."
"Perfect."
Garrett nodded.
"Now four things you can touch."
You blinked.
"My jacket."
"Okay."
"The concrete."
"Good."
"The sleeve of my sweater."
"Keep going."
You pressed your fingertips against the cold metal railing beside you.
"The railing."
"That's four."
His voice never wavered.
Never rushed.
Like he had all the time in the world.
The panic still sat heavy in your chest, but it wasn't swallowing you whole anymore.
The roaring in your ears began to fade.
Your breaths came a little easier.
A little deeper.
Garrett continued guiding you through it.
Three things you could hear.
Two things you could smell.
One thing you could taste.
By the end of it, your heartbeat had slowed from a frantic sprint to something manageable.
Not normal.
But manageable.
You leaned back against the wall behind you and closed your eyes.
Exhaustion settled over you immediately.
Panic attacks always left you drained.
Like you'd just run a marathon.
For a few moments, neither of you spoke.
The silence felt different now.
Softer.
When you finally opened your eyes, Garrett was sitting beside you on the freezing concrete.
The same guy who spent every morning arguing with you over absolutely nothing.
The same guy who drove you insane.
And yet he'd followed you outside.
He'd stayed.
He'd talked you through it without making you feel stupid.
Without making you feel broken.
Without making a joke.
"Better?" he asked quietly.
"A little."
His shoulders visibly relaxed.
Like he'd been worried.
The thought caught you off guard.
"Good."
For a moment, neither of you said anything.
You stared straight ahead.
"So."
Garrett glanced at you.
"So."
"You can't tell my dad."
A soft laugh escaped him.
"That's your first concern?"
"Absolutely."
He shook his head.
"You're unbelievable."
"Is that a yes?"
Garrett pretended to think about it.
Then he nodded.
"Your secret's safe."
For the first time since you'd met him, there was no sarcasm in his voice.
No smug grin.
No argument waiting to happen.
Just sincerity.
And somehow that felt far more dangerous.
Because for the first time, you weren't entirely sure you hated Garrett Graham anymore.
And that was a problem.
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