room thirteen | stuart twombly

11 | the stuart thing

"If you can't handle alcohol that well, then you shouldn't have drank so much in the first place," Stuart chastised with an exasperated click of his tongue.

"Contest," Bree slurred back as if this was an obvious answer. It took a while before she nodded sagely and added, "Blondie bought me free drinks."

It took Stuart a second to realize that she was talking about the guy from the bar. His eye twitched at the very mention of him. "That punk ass bitch," he mumbled.

He must have said this louder than he realized because Bree laughed despite the condition she was in. Her hair was a mess, her shirt was missing a button and her jeans were dirty, but Stuart could barely tear his eyes away from the sight as she threw her head back underneath the street light.

He must have been more drunk than he realized.

However, unlike other times, Bree met his gaze this time. Her eyes were quizzical and Stuart couldn't tell what she was thinking about until she opened her mouth.

"You're doing it again," she pointed out, so quietly that Stuart wondered if she was directing the statement more to herself than to him.

Stuart didn't break away from her stare when he asked stupidly, "Doing what?"

"That thing."

Stuart raised his eyebrows, indicating that he had no idea what she was talking about. Bree didn't seem surprised by this though. Instead, she crossed her legs and blinked up at him, her fingers playing with the rips in her jeans. 

"Neha said you look at me funny," Bree said. There was no hint of embarrassment or teasing laced in her tone, just genuine curiosity.

"Well, Neha says a lot of things," Stuart replied blankly before running a hand through his hair, his shoulders pulling into a shrug. A moment went by before he asked, "What did she say this time?"

"She said..." Bree tried to think of the best way to phrase it before settling, "That you probably like me more than you want to admit."

Stuart eyed her for a second. "And what do you think?"

"I think you tolerate me, at best." This pulled a laugh out of Stuart. "And..."

"And?" he prompted.

"And," This time, Bree was the first to break away, her eyes straying back to her sneakers. "You do get that weird look in your eye sometimes."

Stuart paused, maybe for a second too long, before he exhaled a laugh. It sounded a bit too coarse compared to the one before, but it was still a laugh nonetheless. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You're doing it right now."

Stuart turned away without another word. He didn't need to have his eyes on her though to know she was already looking at him. Waiting.