AMOR VINCIT OMNIA
Show: Off Campus
Rating: M
Chapters: 10 + epilogue
Word count: Currently 14k but I’m only halfway through writing.
Ship: Garrett Graham x F!Reader
Spoilers - Off Campus Season 1 though this story is AU. There are also Easter eggs for the first 4 books of our hockey boys. Teenage romance. Second chance. Reader is the main character. You are described as petite and curvy with golden auburn hair. No Y/N but you are called Caroline, Red, and Sunshine by other people. Caroline is not your real name. Garrett is your first love. Dean is your best friend. Garrett and Dean are closer to Belmont and Stephen’s real ages in this. Garrett and Dean are both 25 and you are 24. TW for gambling, violence, and homelessness. Dark and angsty at times but there is a happy ending. Each chapter is named after a song. Not beta'd so all errors are my own.
Synopsis: You and Garrett were next door neighbours as teenagers. The two of you fell in love. One stormy night your lives imploded because of lies and greed. You vanished that night while Garrett went to boarding school in London. 10 years later the two of you see each other at Briar U. Will this be your second chance at love or will your past tear you two apart for good?
A/N - This is the AU storyline that I was talking about before. Remember Garrett mentioned Phil sending him to boarding school in 1x05. That is where this story comes from. I haven't written something this big in a long time so I'm kind of nervous. I posted part of it yesterday but then I took it down because I wanted to finish it completely. I have some time off so I should be able to write and edit the rest of the chapters over the next couple of days. Hopefully if everything goes right I'll start posting full chapters in August.
CHAPTER 1
IN ANOTHER LIFE
In another life I would be your girl We'd keep all our promises Be us against the world In another life I would make you stay So I don't have to say you were The one that got away The one that got away
Today had really been one of those days. Housing had called this morning to leave a message for Caroline Redford about the apartment that was supposed to come with your new teaching contract. You were so busy with the doctors that you hadn’t been able to call back at the time so you let it go to voice mail. You still did a double take whenever you heard the name Caroline but you knew you’d have to get used to it like everything else. When you finally did call back a flustered secretary only said you’d have to come into the admin building for clarification. Another delay. Another night in your car. Maybe this was your sign to move on. You had already started to question if this job was the right choice. You’d assumed the anonymity of the large campus would help you blend in. You’d just be another TA. A voice in your head that sounded like Uncle Pete says “This isn’t your life anymore.” It hadn’t been your life since… You knew the rules that he drilled into you. You shouldn’t stay too long in one place. The same place every night was like putting a bullseye on your back. Routines. Simplicity. Comfort. Stuff that other people took for granted were all dangerous for you. You’d learned early on that credit cards leave a trail. You didn’t make friends anymore because then you’d have to keep your story straight. It was so exhausting always looking over your shoulder and wondering when the next shoe would drop. You knew you could call him, “I won’t let you fall, Sunshine.” but you couldn’t put him in danger. It had only been 6 months since Uncle Pete… and you still woke up screaming.