Garrett Graham x female!reader
This morning, I woke up annoyed. Not because of an 8:00 am alarm (thankfully I only have later classes today), but because my brain decided it would be a fantastic idea to make me dream about Garrett Graham. All. Night. I bury my face into my pillow and groan. I begrudgingly get myself up and look at my phone. It’s 10:30-ish, and Char is awake on the other side of the room. She’s sitting at her desk working on something.
“You’re being dramatic.” she calls from her desk.
“You don't even know what about, Char.” I retaliate.
She turns in her chair to face me. “I don’t have to.” She says with a knowing smirk. I groan again. I don’t dare tell her about the dreams because I know for a fact she’ll make fun of me relentlessly. The dreams basically just consisted of him holding me like he did at the rink, but I could smell his cologne; earthy, warm, and sophisticated, and feel every shift of his muscles against me. I genuinely need to avoid him at all costs because if I see him, that’s all I’m gonna think about. Luckily, I don’t think he’s in any of my classes today.
I decide I actually want to look presentable for my classes today considering I have the time. I sit down at my desk which I desperately need to organize, and apply some mascara. I put on some baggy-ish jeans, a white cami tank top, and a low-cut green sweater over it. I throw on my shoes and head out.
After a painstaking hour and a half of the professor talking at us, I head to my next class. After we’ve been assigned about a billion pages to read in a stupidly large and heavy textbook, I go back to the dorm where Charlotte is patiently (impatiently) waiting.
“Babe, get dressed. We’re going to Malone’s tonight.” she says excitedly.
“We went this morning for pancakes, tomorrow night?” I propose. She just shakes her head.
“Nope. No can-do. The hockey team is hosting a fundraiser for… I forgot what, but we’re going because free drinks.” She tells me. I grin at her excitement.
“Fine, what’s my dress code?” Char has a much better style than I do and is much better at makeup, so whenever we go out I let her take care of all that.
“I’ve been waiting for you to get home because I have the most perfect outfit for you!” she squeals. I roll my eyes and let her drag me to her closet. She pulls out a classic jean skirt and a flowy dark red top.
She holds them up against her for me to see. “Red looks incredible on you. Please?”
I grin, “Fineee, I guess I’ll wear it.” I say, snatching it from her hands. She jumps in excitement and goes to get herself ready.
“I’m showering first!” I yell as she beelines for our shared bathroom.
I look at myself in our full length mirror. Her outfit does look really good on me. I turn so I can see all angles of myself.
“Please style me for the rest of my life oh my god.” I say. After she does my makeup, I’m so close to asking her to marry me. She looks stunning too, of course. She's wearing a matching jean skirt because according to her, ‘every sensible person owns multiple’, with an off the shoulder blue top that matches her eyes. We get in her car and she starts driving us to Malone’s. The place is already packed when we get there and Char just gets more excited. I get a little more anxious just because I don’t love crowded places. The first thing we see when we walk in is Dean Di Laurentis on a makeshift stage, shouting into a microphone. He’s holding a jar which looks like it has slips of paper in it. Probably some sort of auction drawing thing. We find some of our friends talking around a booth. We sneak up behind them and they all practically cheer when they see us. We give out so many hugs and finally find a table to fit all of us. Our friend Audrey is going on and on about this guy she hooked up with last weekend and how he hasn’t texted her since. I’m half-listening and half-paying attention to everything going on around us. There’s some sort of karaoke thing going on and now Logan is up on the makeshift stage talking about the fundraiser. My eyes catch Garrett’s, who is already looking at me.
“Oh my god.” I say quietly, swiftly turning back to whatever my friends are talking about.
“Oh my god? Did we just see the same thing?” Charlotte whispers to me. I nod slowly.
“Don’t make it obvious.” I kick her lightly under the table. I glance at him really quick, just to see if he’s still looking. I let out a breath. He’s watching Logan now.
“You should go talk to him.” I look at Char with my mouth agape.
“Um, no. Absolutely not. No.” I tell her sternly.
“Dude, he was looking at you!”
“That doesn’t mean anything!”
“Go. Now. Or we aren’t friends anymore.” she threatens
“You don’t mean that, you love me.” I pout. She sighs in defeat.
“Fine, then. You have to go get us more drinks.” She says, holding up her empty glass. I huff but agree. I walk over to the bar and flag down the bartender who, tonight, is my boss.
“Hey, Margo. Could I get like… six more bloody mary’s?” I ask. I’m so glad this is happening at Malone’s and not somewhere that would card me. Margo nods and goes to make the drinks. I wait patiently, leaning against the bar watching everything else. I feel someone tap my shoulder and I turn around. Nobody. I turn back around a little confused, but then I let out an involuntary shriek.
“Gotcha.” Garrett says, smirking. I scowl at him.
“You’re such a child.” I say.
“For tapping your shoulder?” he chuckles.
“For doing the stupid thing where you tap one side and then you aren’t there when I turn around.”
He smiles, priding himself on how ‘funny’ he is. I can’t help but smile back.
“I just wanted to say hi.” he states, still smiling. I nod slowly, not getting why.
“Okay… hi?” I greet him back. It’s kind of awkward for a second until he speaks again.
“So, you here with anyone?” He asks, glancing around. I arch an eyebrow.
“Yeah, I’m here with my friends-” Margo interrupts me to slide me the drinks I ordered.
“Oh, sorry. I have to bring these over.” I nod to the table where Charlotte is watching intently.
He looks to where my friends are seated. “Yeah- sure. Do you want me to help bring them over?” He offers. My eyes widen slightly. He is actually really nice. I smile, nodding.
“Thanks, Garrett.” He doesn’t say anything as he smiles his beautiful smile and picks up some of the drinks. We make our way over to my table and Charlotte raises her eyebrows at the two of us. Audrey turns around to see what she’s gawking at, and does the same.
I set their drinks down in front of them and they pass the rest down to our other friends. They’re all looking at Garrett and I. I clear my throat.
“Uh, okay, well, thank you Garrett. For helping.” He nods at me and then taps my elbow lightly to say goodbye.
“See you around?” It sounds more like a question than a statement, so I just nod.
“Um hello? What just happened?” Audrey gasps. I cover my face with my hands, feeling my cheeks heat up once again.
“I don’t even know, Auds. I don’t know.” I say, shaking my head and sitting down. From further down the table, Cameron chimes in.
“So did I not just see one, Garrett Graham talking to you at the bar, and two, him bringing our drinks to us?”
I sigh as Char explains the whole ice skating thing that happened last night and how it somehow has led to this. Nobody knows.
Later, Char and I are watching Ted Lasso and she turns to me suddenly.
She gives me a knowing look.
“No. Let me watch my show.” I turn back to the TV. She groans but gives up. I seriously don’t know what’s going on. Garrett doesn’t know who I am, and everyone knows who he is. Just because we’ve had two conversations, kind of conversations, doesn’t mean anything. We’re acquaintances. Classmates.
I go to bed thinking about tomorrow’s classes, one of which includes Professor Armstrong's. Fuck. She’s picking our partners for whatever evil project she has in mind.
The 8:00 am alarm strikes again. I grumble as I shut it off and roll out of bed. I put on a comfy matching set and pack up my bag. I walk across campus a little slower than I need to because I didn’t fully get ready this morning. I make it to the lecture hall 2 minutes before class starts and silently pat myself on the back. I sit in one of the middle rows this time and take out my laptop. I start looking through the textbook pages for one of my other classes while the rest of the class files in slowly. The professor enters and starts her lecture. It starts off light, and I’m crossing my fingers that a miracle happened and she forgot about the partner project thing.
“Okay everyone, I’m using a name wheel thing that I found online. If your name isn’t on here, let me know ASAP.”
Nope. She didn’t have amnesia unfortunately. Nobody raises their hand to tell her their name isn’t on there, so she continues.
“For this research project, I’ll be assigning partners and you two will pick a historical topic that is related to psychology to research and turn in two weeks from today. So, on October 9th, I expect an email from one partner turning in the assignment. Let’s start.”
I hear probably half the class groan or curse under their breaths. I sink further in my seat. I hate partner projects. I hate them, especially considering the fact that I know about two people in this class and I wouldn’t even call them my friends.
“The first lucky pair we have… Isabelle and… Connor! You guys can exchange numbers and coordinate amongst yourselves how you want to do this.” I crack my knuckles and take a deep breath.
“Next, we have…” the wheel spins so slowly I think I might be seeing things in slow-motion. “John and… Sabrina.” I glance over to where I hear light snickers. He’s sitting next to Garrett with a blush creeping up his face. John? I thought his name was Tucker. Maybe I’m making things up. Professor Armstrong makes her way through about 10 more names before my literal nightmare happens.
She calls my name. Oh god.
“And… Garrett.” My head turns on a swivel and I don’t think I’m in control of my body anymore. My ears turn pink as we make eye contact. Garrett isn’t phased, he just smiles and waves like he did at Malone’s.
After class, I decide I’ll be the one to approach Garrett first. He’s talking to Tucker, or John, or whatever his name is over by the pillars.
“Garrett, hey.” I say, trying to sound as nonchalant as I can.
“Oh, hey partner.” I give him a straight lipped smile.
“So, how do we wanna do this project? Do you want my number… or..?” I ask unsurely. He fully turns around now, promptly ending his conversation with Tucker/John.
“Yeah, give me your phone.” He says. I’m taken aback for a second but I hand it to him anyway. He turns it so it’s right in my face to unlock it. I’m just standing there with a bewildered look on my face. He types in what I assume is his number and name and then decides that I need a profile picture for him and takes a .5 picture of his face. Amazing.
“Here.” he says, handing it back to me. “I texted myself so now I have your number.” I nod.
“Cool. So uh, yeah. Text me your schedule or whatever, or however you wanna figure out how to do this.” I fumble over my words a little, scolding myself in my head. He smiles genuinely and laughs a little.
“Cool. This is Tucker, by the way.” he says, his thumb pointing to Tucker behind him. I wave awkwardly and turn to walk away. I make it probably five feet before I hear footsteps behind me.
“Wait up-” Garrett says, catching up to me. “Do you have time to talk now?”
I turn to look at him. “Yeah, yeah. Sure.”
“Great, so… when do you wanna start?” He asks, shoving his hands in his pockets.
I laugh a little. “I thought since you chased me over here you had an idea.” He looks at his shoes and laughs too.
“Well, I have hockey most mornings so… I can do nights?” He suggests. I nod in agreement.
“Yeah, works for me.” A beat of silence.
My head snaps to look up at him. The project isn’t due for two weeks, and it shouldn’t be that hard. He wants to start now? You know what, better now than later.
“What? Uh- sure. Yeah.” I stutter. Kill me.
He smirks. “Cool. I’ll text you my address. How about eight?” My eyebrows furrow together.
“You don’t live on campus?” He shakes his head, pounding at Tucker again.
“Nah, Tuck, Logan, Dean, and I have a house off-campus.” I nod. I think he winks at me?
“See you at eight, then.” He turns back to Tucker and I turn to walk to get a coffee before my next class, which doesn’t start for another hour. I’m seriously going to a hockey house tonight? I kind of wonder if this is actually all just a ploy for Garrett to have me in his bed. Ew, no. Ew. I can’t even think about that. Honestly, he doesn’t really seem like that kind of person. Dean, maybe. Garrett? I don’t think so. Regardless, I’m going to be going over there with more caution than someone feeding great white sharks. Char is going to be ecstatic. She might actually try to convince me to let her come just so that she can be in Dean’s presence. Oh god, this will be an interesting night.
A/N: yayyy i'm loving this so far. and yes, i am making this a slow burn. thank you very much.
