Stuart Twombly x reader

24

Stress levels are right up there at the moment :L

 After the blur of the weekend, still no closer to your goal of knowing what to say to Stuart, you are once again making your way back to the table midday, your friends smiling at you distractedly as you meander closer to them with bottle of water in hand, drenched in the delicious sunlight you can't get enough of. Your path to the table is cut by a sudden body stepping in front of yours, tall and intimidating, and you freeze with a gasp, nearly walking straight into this stranger.

 Or not so much a stranger, you realise as you look up into his face and recognise him as the guy who was flirting with you a while ago, still unnamed but labelled in your mind as one of Graham's cohorts. You groan inwardly when he flashes that alarming smile at you again and your grip tightens on your bottle as if strangling this irritating being.

 "Hey, good looking," he smirks, and you fight to keep a straight face instead of the options of a look of horror or the escape of laughter.

 "Hey," you reply tightly, biting your lip to control your expressions. The guy's eyes flash brighter and you realise he must have misinterpreted the lip bite as a good thing.

 "Fancy like sitting with me for a while?" he questions with a quirk of his eyebrow. "You can tell me all about that library job of yours."

 Just as you're about to politely decline, you notice around his arm, almost blocking your way, that Stuart is watching you expectantly, waiting for you to stop talking and to come over to talk to him. He looks so unaffected by this random bloke - who, admittedly, is fairly good looking though not quite Stuart standard - that something fizzes inside you and an idea forms in your mind.

 You smile warmly at the stranger, flicking your eyes to the ground as if you are shy and back up to his face, thankful the weather is so hot that your cheeks are pink, and nod. "Okay."

 The guy is delighted; he holds out his hand in the direction of where his table is and you begin walking with him behind you, not bothering to turn your head in Stuart's direction - a shame, since you miss the offended, gaping mouth shock scrawled on his face.

 The hour is a blur of laughter, flirting and the occasional dropping of your hand on Dominic's leg - Dominic being the stranger who wants your attention. His humour is so bland and tasteless in comparison to Stuart's, and it kills you that you're not over at the table, but you have to admit it's fun looking at him from across the tables under your eyelashes and seeing him angrily tapping the table, a deep frown cutting onto his brow and muscles twitching in his jaw and neck.

 Well, that's one way to check to see if you've got his attention.

 Occasionally, you feel terrible for doing this after you didn't kiss him and effectively swerved, but for some reason the word 'strippers' continues to play on your mind, making you bite away the smirk on your face. You don't care if he was drunk, it still got right under your skin and dug deep.

 "So, library girl, does this mean we get to meet up again tomorrow," Dominic smirks. You pause momentarily to seethe over Dominic's 'nickname' for you: you much more prefer Stuart's mocking but strangely affectionate 'bookworm' term. Also, you don't particularly want to see this idiot again, but you smile wanly and say, "Maybe," as if trying to act casual. Underneath, you're thinking, "No way, sucker."

 You slide out from the table and get up, waving your fingers flirtatiously at the smug Dominic, then turn away gagging. You hurry over to your friends but notice that Stuart has already gone with Yo-yo, leaving Neha looking amused and intrigued.

 "Explain..." she says slowly, and you just shrug, only leaving her with a mysterious smile, though you're unsure how to explain it.

 "Just trust me."

Pfft, I don't have a clue who Dominic is. What a mean reader, but I do love jealousy.