Isabelle French was the Storybrooke librarian; she actually was Storybrooke's only librarian. She woke up one spring morning to the shining light coming from her window. She looked at her alarm clock and saw that it was seven in the morning. Well, I've got three hours until I open up the library she thought as she stretched. One great thing of being the only librarian in Storybrooke was that she could set the schedule that the library was open. She opened the library at ten and kept it open until six during the weekdays; she kept the weekends for girl's nights with Ruby.

Belle got showered, dressed, and headed to Granny's for breakfast. She tried to go at least once a week so that she could chat with Ruby. She opened the door and sat down at the bar.

"Hey Belle, how's it going?" Ruby asked, giving her a menu.

"Not too bad, a little tired" Belle said, shrugging.

"Can I get you some coffee or something?" The brunette asked.

"Um, just tea please. Can I get two sugars in it?"

"Of course, darlin'" Ruby smiled, "Do you know what you want or do you need a minute?"

"I'd love the eggs benedict, Ruby."

"That's what you've gotten for breakfast the last three times. You don't want to try something different? Be a little daring?" The waitress smiled at her friend.

"I just love hollandaise sauce right now. I can't believe I'd never tried it until a couple of weeks ago." Belle smiled to herself.

"Okay, it's on its way!" Ruby punched her order in and brought Belle her tea before going to serve other customers. Belle noticed Ruby floating around Archie's table, trying to start a conversation with the psychiatrist. Belle smiled to herself, seeing Archie being noticeably flustered by her friend.

The door to the diner opened and Belle turned around curiously; Mr. Gold walked into the diner. She had never seen the pawn shop owner in the diner before, and had rarely seen him leave the shop or his luxurious home down the road.

He was wearing his typical black suit with a black button up shirt. He rarely wore any clothing that wasn't black. The only colours in his attire were his ties; today he wore a red one. He looked at Belle and gave her a dismissive smile that he gave most people in the town. Belle smiled in return and turned towards the bar, taking a sip of her tea. Mr. Gold sat at a table towards the back of the diner, separating himself from anyone else by at least fifteen feet.

Ruby came back to Belle with her plate of eggs benedict, with a side of home fries. Belle eyed the plate hungrily and grinned.

"Ugh, why is Mr. Gold here? Granny refuses to serve him so I'm always stuck with him."

"What's so bad about him? I've never really seen him much around Storybrooke."

"Other than the fact that he once tried to make Granny bankrupt, he gives everyone the creeps. Nobody wants to come into the diner once he's here."

Belle looked at her friend empathetically. "I'm sorry, Ruby."

"Yeah, well, can't do anything about it now. Just have to get it over with, I guess."

Ruby walked over towards Mr. Gold's table and Belle looked on towards them. She didn't think Mr. Gold was that bad. All she knew was her father absolutely hated him. Angry at Mr. Gold's treatment to his flower shop, her father had stolen from him; she knew that they had gotten into a heated fight, and her father had come home bruised and without Mr. Gold's belongings. Belle thought her father was idiotic at the time. Mr. Gold was known around town as someone you don't want to meet in a dark alley. It's not like you're on such good terms with dad anyways she thought. The reason she moved out and opened up the library was because her father was trying to control her life, even going as far as setting her up with a suitor from town. He was very traditional that way.

When she finished her breakfast and her tea Ruby came by with the bill.

"So do you want to come by tonight and watch a movie? I'll buy a bottle of wine, and you can stay over." Ruby smiled enthusiastically. Even though Belle was feeling tired, she couldn't say no to her best friend.

"Yeah, that sounds good."

"Alright hun, see you then!" Ruby left the bar and went back to Archie's table, trying to convince him to have one more cup of coffee.

Before she left, Belle inexplicitly looked towards the back of the restaurant. Mr. Gold was still there, and he was looking in her direction past the book in his hand. He raised his mug of coffee in what appeared to be his version of cheers. Belle smiled awkwardly and left the diner.

Belle opened the library and worked at her desk waiting for customers. Archie stopped by looking for a collection of Sherlock Holmes stories. Belle smiled to herself thinking of the psychiatrist reading about the Great Detective. She thought of mentioning it to Ruby, maybe it would make her friend blush.

Unfortunately, the library was never really busy; Belle just kept the library open because she loved books. Most times she would be reading novels in the library waiting for customers. A couple of hours passed before she heard the door open. She looked from above her novel to see Mr. Gold in the library.

To say Belle was surprised was an understatement; she rarely saw Mr. Gold outside the pawn shop and now she has seen him twice today.

"Hello, Mr. Gold." She said politely.

"Good afternoon, Miss French. How are you today?"

"Fine, thanks. I don't think I've ever seen you in the library before."

"Well, I am very busy, but I need a new book. Do you mind if I take a look around?"

"No, of course. Let me know if you need anything." Belle smiled at the man in front of her and he wavered slightly, looking at her before going to the shelves.

Belle continued reading as Mr. Gold walked around. She kept peaking at him through her book and she hoped that he didn't notice. He came towards the desk without anything in his hand.

"No luck this time?" she inquired.

"Well, I was wondering if you had anything to suggest. To me it seems that if you're looking for a book you should consult the librarian." He smiled shyly, which made Belle blush for some reason.

"Um, well…What type of books do you like?"

"I'm easy going when it comes to literature. May I ask what is your favourite novel?"

Belle thought for a moment, but dismissed the book that came to mind. "I doubt you'd like my favourite novel actually. It's a bit of a 'girl' book."

"Well I don't tend to concern myself with gender constructs, Miss French." When he said her name she felt flushed. What the hell is wrong with you? she wondered. She tried to focus on Mr. Gold as a customer but was distracted by his tailored suit.

"…Besides, as long as it isn't Fifty Shades of Grey I think I can handle it." He smiled at the librarian, and laughed at his comment.

"No, no, it's a little older than that. My favourite novel is actually Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. She's my favourite author."

"You know, it's been a very long time since I've read that. Do you have it in the library?"

Belle nodded emphatically and went down the aisle to retrieve it. She could always find her way through a library and since she felt as though this was her own library, she knew it like the back of her hand. She took the book out, quickly smelling the pages before returning to the desk.

She ran the book through the system and handed it to Mr. Gold. "Here you are, Mr. Gold. I hope you like it."

"Thank you, Miss French, I trust I shall."

As Mr. Gold left the library and went back to the pawn shop, Belle peeked out the window. She was feeling flustered and her stomach hurt. Maybe I'm coming down with something she thought.

Mr. Gold's heart was still pounding when he reached his home. He had begun to notice Isabelle a couple of months ago when she opened up the library. He had wanted to talk to her before, but he had always struggled with being courageous. It had taken all his nerve to go to the library and talk to her today. He hoped that he didn't scare her off. He went to his study to read.

Tomorrow would be another day.