Restricted Section (Frerard)

Chapter 1: Hardback

"Hey! Back again?" Gerard grinned wide when he saw Frank, his eyes sparkling with warmth behind his gold-rimmed spectacles. Frank's stomach immediately swooped, his heart skipping a beat just from the sight of the librarian.

"Heh, yeah... Got a ton of work to do." Frank lied, trying hard to appear nonchalant as he reached into his messenger bag and pulled out a small, delicately wrapped brown paper package. "I got you something from Lola's." There was nothing he could do to stop himself from blushing, and he thrust the package at Gerard fast, before he could lose his courage.

Gerard's eyebrows rose in surprise but he smiled as he took the paper parcel from Frank. "You did?" He immediately began to unwrap it, long fingers pulling paper aside so carefully that it made the back of Frank's neck sweat.

"I hope that's okay." He said, his voice taking on a slightly squeaky pitch in his nervous state. "Thought maybe it would um, I dunno, brighten up your day?"

"Well, you always do that just by being here." Gerard chuckled, so sweet and so earnest that Frank actually believed him. He watched eagerly as Gerard unveiled the pink box beneath the paper, then lifted the lid with those beautiful fingers of his...

"Oh!" Gerard's look of surprise quickly turned to joy. "Maritozzi! My favourite!" His grin was brighter than the sun. "How did you know!?"

"Lucky guess?" Frank shrugged, even though there was nothing lucky about it at all. He wasn't a stalker or anything, but Gerard was certainly something of a fixation, and he had overheard (deliberately listened into) a conversation he'd been having with an elderly woman a couple of weeks ago, where he'd gushed over the cream buns for sale at Lola's Bakery.

It had taken Frank a few days to work out a way to casually drop the bakery into conversation himself, giving him an opening to buy something for Gerard from there without it being too obvious that he was trying to impress him.

"Thank you, Frank, this is very sweet of you." Gerard looked delighted, enough to ease some of the nervous fluttering in Frank's stomach. "I'll look forward to eating this on my break later." Gerard slid the lid closed and placed the box beside his coffee mug on the desk.

"Great." Frank hovered awkwardly for a moment, smiling like an idiot. "I um, better get to work." He waved vaguely behind himself and Gerard just nodded, already turning to sit back down.

"Give me a shout if you need anything." He said, as he did everyday, and Frank flashed a thumbs up as he tripped away.

The library was an old building, and vast, full of bookshelves that groaned beneath the weight of so many books. The library had three levels, all visible from the centre of the building, where Gerard sat inside an enclosed ring of wood that served as his desk.

Frank had loved the library as a kid, where he'd spend many a rainy weekend tucked away with a book. There were several fireplaces on the ground floor, with squishy old sofas and chairs pushed close to the safety grate; Frank used to love reading there, soaking in the warmth of the fire and getting lost in the pages of his favourite books.

There were more studious areas too, with sturdy wooden tables to sit at and spread your books over. Frank had always imagined himself as a student, working on essays there, but his parents had moved out of state before he'd started High School, and he hadn't returned until long after he'd graduated from college.

He wasn't sure what had made him return to New Jersey when the time came for him to find his own place. Belleville hadn't been his home for two decades; he had no family left there, his parents still lived hundreds of miles away, he had no real ties to the place at all. He went into the city from time to time for work, but it wasn't nearly frequent enough for it to be necessary to live close by, though that was the excuse he made when choosing Belleville.