two pink lines change everything. Sometimes the biggest plot twist isn’t falling in love. It’s finding out your life has already changed before you even had the chance to prepare for it.
A fresh start at Briar University was supposed to be simple. Go to class. Keep your head down. Graduate. Instead, y/n finds herself caught between two best friends who couldn’t be more different. Dean Di Laurentis is charming, confident, and impossible to ignore. Garrett Graham is steady, dependable, and quietly becomes the person she trusts most. What begins as friendship slowly grows into something neither of them expected—and neither of them wants to lose. As feelings deepen and loyalties are tested, the three must decide if love always has to fit the rules… or if sometimes the best endings are the ones no one saw coming. A slow-burn, friends-to-lovers, why choose (MFM) college romance filled with banter, hockey, found family, emotional healing, and plenty of yearning.
It started with a wrong number. Now it’s months of late-night calls, jealousy, and almost-confessions. Rudy Pankow is famous, you’re not—and everything between you exists in the space where friendship should have ended but didn’t.
You thought transferring to Briar would be a fresh start. After something happened at your old college, you packed up your life and came back home without telling anyone—not even your best friend. Dean Di Laurentis is furious. For months, you’ve ignored his calls, avoided his questions, and kept the truth locked away. Now you’re suddenly back, living minutes away, and he’s determined to find out why. The problem? Dean has always been your weakness. You’ve spent years hiding your feelings behind friendship, convincing yourself that loving him was a mistake. But with old wounds reopening, buried secrets threatening to surface, and Dean refusing to let you push him away, keeping your heart guarded becomes harder than ever. Sometimes the hardest promises to keep are the ones you make to yourself.
When Dean Di Laurentis’ car breaks down in a Briar parking lot, the last person he expects to save him is a stubborn automotive engineering student with grease on her hands and zero interest in hockey players. What starts as a quick repair turns into late-night drives, relentless banter, and a connection neither of them saw coming.
Dean Di Laurentis has never met a girl who wasn’t charmed by him—until Y/N. A music major with a quick wit, a growing online following, and zero patience for hockey’s favorite flirt, she’s determined to keep him at arm’s length. But when constant run-ins, mutual friends, and undeniable chemistry force them together, their rivalry begins to blur into something neither of them saw coming.
Everyone at Briar knows Dean Di Laurentis never catches feelings. You’ve been best friends since you were six years old, surviving childhood, long-distance, and four years of college side by side. As senior year begins, the line between friendship and something more starts to blur—and everyone seems to notice except the two of you. A slow-burn childhood friends-to-lovers romance.
At Briar University, figure skater Y/N lives by control, discipline, and perfection—until NHL-bound hockey star Dean Di Laurentis skates straight into her carefully structured world. What starts as shared ice and constant clashes slowly turns into late-night practices, unexpected trust, and a connection neither of them planned for… or can easily walk away from.
Rudy Pankow and Y/N, best friends and Outer Banks co-stars, sit down for a live interview on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon—where years of rumors, fan speculation, and unspoken feelings start to feel a lot harder to ignore under the studio lights.
You, Dean Di Laurentis, and Garrett Graham have been inseparable since the day you became friends. Three completely different people who somehow fit together perfectly. Dean is the charming, cocky disaster who can make you laugh when you want to scream. Garrett is the dependable hockey star who always knows when something is wrong before you say a word. And you’re the one caught between them, keeping their chaos from completely destroying the three of you. You’re best friends. That’s all you’ve ever been. At least, that’s what you tell yourself. Because lately, something feels different. Dean’s teasing lingers a little longer. Garrett’s touches feel a little warmer. Jealousy surfaces over things that shouldn’t matter. Movie nights become a little too intimate, hugs last a little too long, and sometimes you catch one of them looking at the other when they think nobody is watching. But nobody says anything. Because admitting there’s something more could destroy the friendship you’ve built your entire world around. What none of you realize is that the feelings aren’t one-sided. Dean isn’t only falling for you. Garrett isn’t either. And somewhere between late-night conversations, hockey games, parties, shared beds, stolen glances, and years of knowing each other better than anyone else, the three of you may have crossed a line you can’t uncross. Maybe this was never a love triangle. Maybe nobody was ever meant to choose. Maybe the three of you were always meant to be something more. The only question is whether you’re brave enough to find out what happens when best friends fall in love—and the person you’re falling for is falling for both of them, too.
College Outer Banks AU Sophomore year of college was supposed to be normal—classes, chaos, and trying to keep the Pogues from falling apart. No treasure hunts, no life-or-death stakes… just growing up in real time. Y/N (Liana) is an art major with a chaotic streak a mile wide, known for her sarcasm, humor, and tendency to choose violence first and think later. She’s fiercely protective of the people she loves—especially her twin brother John B, who she’s been inseparable from her entire life. If he’s the impulse, she’s the consequence waiting to happen. JJ Maybank is her best friend—the loud, reckless hockey star everyone on campus wants but nobody really knows. Between practices, parties, and his complicated relationship with Kiara, JJ is untouchable… except when it comes to Liana. With her, he drops the act. Surrounded by a tight-knit group of friends—Kiara, Sarah, Pope, Cleo, John B, and JJ—college life is loud, messy, and complicated. And somewhere between late-night arguments, shared apartments, and unspoken feelings, everything starts to blur the line between friendship and something more. In a world where everyone is figuring themselves out, nobody is safe from change.
Y/N Graham comes to Briar University hoping to escape the weight of her family’s name and finally discover who she is beyond the shadows of her father and brother. Dean Di Laurentis has one rule: never get involved with a teammate’s little sister. But some rules are easier to make than they are to keep. As friendship turns into something neither of them expected, they’ll have to decide if love is worth risking everything.
Working on Outer Banks was supposed to be the opportunity of a lifetime. Becoming best friends with Rudy Pankow was never part of the plan. Between chaotic adventures, endless laughter, and quiet moments away from the cameras, the line between friendship and something more becomes harder to ignore.