"Sir?" Eugene stepped into the office hesitantly. He'd just been called in by Mr. Barnes, and wasn't entirely sure why.
Mr. Barnes gave him an almost sheepish expression. "Maybe I'm just a nosy old man, but I wanted to ask you something."
"Shoot," Eugene said, confused. He had nothing to hide, except the chills that rained down his arms at the thought of potentially losing his job - and even that was covered by the long sleeved, green shirt he wore to ward off the cool September weather. He leaned down on the desk, watching Mr. Barnes' face for a hint of what he was about to say.
"You love her, don't you?" the old man asked, leaning in to ask it quietly, as if everyone in the entire store was waiting to hear the question.
Eugene leaned back. "What evidence do you have to support that claim?" he asked, curious.
Mr. Barnes sat back in his chair and maintained eye contact with the young man. "You're taking her out regularly now, despite the busy school season. She seems very happy around you, different in a way. She trusts you, I can see that. That's no easy task. Plus, the loving glances you give her are beyond obvious. You're the talk of the whole store - everyone's figured it out except maybe her."

Eugene blinked, thinking this through long and hard. He immediately pushed aside the I'm bad luck, I can't possibly be around her argument he'd held in his mind for a little while now. She'd been the one to show him that any form of that argument was stupid, actually. He couldn't deny the feeling of warmth, affection, general care that he felt for her. Let alone the strange need to protect her. It solely wasn't the fact that she'd helped him out in a time of need, either. He'd fallen long and hard for this petite girl with such a cold past, much as he tried to refuse it.
"Yes, sir. I love her," he wanted to keep his gaze trained on his boots as his face flooded with warmth, but knew that he needed to maintain eye contact, so as to confirm that he wasn't lying or anything. That he truly meant it.

Mr. Barnes grinned. "Good. You need her as much as she needs you. But you take good care of that girl. I don't doubt you, but all I know is she's had a really awful past. When we met, she was eighteen, skin and bones, bedraggled and hadn't been welcomed inside a place in two weeks. I don't know how much you know, but all she told me was that she was running away from someone who had hurt her, and she showed me this big long cut on her arm. I left her stay in the stock room in here that night, locked it up so she could get out but not in in case she was trying to steal stuff - books are too bothersome to steal, so I wasn't worried about them - and by morning, she'd found the stack of new 'wanted' posters and was prepared for an interview for the job she has today. We fed her and let her stay in the stock room until she could rent an apartment. She saved every penny and sold some paintings, and when she was twenty, she put a down payment in on her little house."

Eugene was surprised. Of course she'd been a runaway and had not had anywhere to go. He just hadn't considered that. He sucked in a breath as he realized that she knew about homelessness, even if it had only been two weeks.
"Thank you for telling me that, sir," he nodded. "I knew some things, but I didn't know that."
He nodded good-naturedly. "Just take care of 'er. I don't think many people do."
Eugene agreed, and when Mr. Barnes had dismissed him, he left the office and headed straight for the stock room, making sense of all this new information and how it felt to admit that yes, he was in love with the girl.

After five o'clock, when Ms. Neelson had flipped the sign from 'open' to 'closed', Rapunzel clocked out and then bustled to the stock room, wondering where everyone was at. Eugene had practically avoided her today for some reason, and all of the employees would give her an unusual smile in passing. Had she spent the entire day with something embarrassing plain in sight? Something between her teeth? Hair mooshed up on one side; flat and silky on the other? Clothes inside-out? She could only imagine.

Everyone was in the stock room: all seven employees, eight including Rapunzel. Even Ms. Neelson. Mr. Barnes' wife, who managed the bills, alerted everyone to Rapunzel's presence, which was another red flag. Their two youngest children, Joanne and Morgan, were crowded around, whispering gaily amongst themselves. Gunther didn't look amused. Levi was teasing Eugene about something. But when Mrs. Barnes gave a sharp whistle, everyone dispersed, and Levi fled with Eugene giving him a disapproving gaze.
"What's that all about?" Rapunzel whispered as soon as she could get near Eugene.
Eugene knew exactly what it was about - everyone's suspicions had been confirmed, and what was better - or maybe worse - was that Rapunzel didn't know. Clearly, it was highly romantic. And clearly, Mr. Barnes was an old gossip. "Oh, that bunch loves some gossip. I don't think it's even worth repeating," he chuckled. "Something about an old woman who came in here demanding we give her all the books. During lunch break, I guess, since only Gunther knew about it. No wonder he's extra grumpy today," he laughed, hoping his imagination wouldn't fail him now.
"Why would she want all of the books? On the shelves or in here, too?" Rapunzel asked.
He shrugged. "I don't know. Something about her love of them. Thought she needed ten copies of each, I guess," he grinned, but almost grimaced at his subtle hint. ...Love...he hoped it wasn't too obvious.
Obviously, it wasn't. She grinned sadly. "The poor dear! I wonder if she was alright..."
"Gunther said her son soon tracked her down and took her with him, so she's not alone, at least," Eugene reassured her of the fake woman; the fake incident. He wanted to cringe at the idea of lying, but then he'd have to give a lie as to why he cringed, too! The vicious cycle.

Rapunzel shook her head and grinned. "Okay. Well, I'm planning on making lasagna for dinner. You're welcome to come if you want? I got a DVD rental in the mail yesterday, so we could watch that, too."
He smiled teasingly at her. "You had me at lasagna."
She giggled. "I don't know how good it'll be, since I don't make it often-"
"Oh, c'mon. It'll be the best food known to mankind, I'm sure, Chef Rapunzel Louisa."
Rapunzel rolled those green eyes of hers and shoved him playfully. "Oh, sure."