Stuart Twombly x reader

18

It's three quarters of an hour when Stuart storms into the library, his eyes panic-stricken and his fists clenched by his sides; you look up from the magazine you are idly flipping through with a jolt, jumping hard when he suddenly whirls towards you in annoyed anguish.

 "Y/n, where's my phone?" he growls breathlessly, cheeks red from what you assume is terror.

 You slide your hand into your trouser pocket and tug out the phone, passing it with him without breaking eye contact. He immediately snatches it off you and looks down at the screen, stroking it with his thumb as if it is his one true love. You pull a face at the obvious, exaggerated relief on his face, and he turns to walk away before he freezes, looking back to you as if yanked by an invisible cord.

 "Y/n, you didn't - you didn't look through my phone...did you?" he asks in a quiet and quivering voice, eyebrows knitted together. You shake your head, forehead still creased.

 "No?" you reply, wrinkling your nose. Stuart exhales calmly and nods, placing the phone into his own pocket, though his hand goes in with it, unable to break his clasp with it. You question how healthy his relationship with his phone is.

 "You're sure?" he checks, and you nod slightly irritably.

 "No, I didn't. Why does it matter?"

 Stuart doesn't reply for a moment and shifts his hand in his pocket, tongue clearly tracing the inside of his cheek thoughtfully.

 "I just...I get paranoid about my phone sometimes," he settles on, and you immediately remember when Neha told you he was going through your Facebook profile. Your mouth opens mechanically to ask him and you hold your tongue, knowing if you ask that question you'll be opening a Pandora's box between the two of you.

 "Okay. Well, thanks for taking care of it," Stuart says robotically, and you smirk.

 "Well, we couldn't have someone taking away the ring, Gollum," you tease, and Stuart actually smiles at you for the first time in days, his chest still heaving from what must have been the run to get to the library. He nods at you to non-verbally say goodbye and walks away, raising his hand at you as an extra farewell gesture before jogging slightly out of the doors. You don't realise you're staring after him until a tap on your shoulder captures your attention.

 Carrie bends her head close to you. "Boyfriend?" She nudges you playfully and you bat her off lightly.

 "Nope. Just a..." What? Friend? You can't really say enemy anymore, even after your unfriendly conversation earlier. What the hell is Stuart Twombly to you, and what are you to him?

 The lack of knowledge is becoming an unbearable itch. You know you're going to have to scratch it sooner or later.

WHY DO THESE ALWAYS GET SO SHORT??