Chapter Text
as you opened the door to the record store you could hear the small jingle of the bell and a ‘hello, welcome..!’ from whoever was behind the counter. the small humming from the ac and whatever 90s band they were playing lightly on the speakers were all you could hear. besides that it was silent.
it was your first time going there since you had moved to los angeles, the city of your dreams. your dream university was there so it wouldnt hurt to apply, and who knew you would be moving there less than a year later. freshly nineteen and full of hope, all alone in a big city.
your sneakers dragged along the carpet, dust coming off from how old it was as you walked towards the vinyls. you had hoped to find either something by the cranberries or maybe something new that piqued your interest. you skimmed lightly through them, your fingers brushing up against the covers some looked brand new while others were probably older than your mother.
“need any help?” you heard someone ask from behind you, a man whose arms were covered in ink, you examined his face and noticed a small closed up hole by his lip, probably from a past piercing.
“oh, um could you show me where you have the cranberries?” your voice soft as you laid your hands against your denim skirt.
he nodded and led you around towards the back of the store. as you followed him you noticed a scorpion tattooed onto his neck and other various tattoos all over. you wondered if they had some sort of special meaning to him.
he stopped once he reached the final shelf turning as he opened his mouth to say something, but you so entranced by his tattoos kept walking until you walked straight into him. practically falling into his chest. all the keychains on your bag jingling, hitting your arm from your bag.
“oh— sorry about that, i was uh, i was looking at your tattoos.” you muttered out, heat rushing up your cheeks as you backed off of him. he gave you a small ‘thats alright’ and pointed to the section marked ‘the cranberries’ big and bold. you practically couldve seen it from across the store, you felt bad for wasting his time almost.
you thanked him as he walked off and let out a small squeak as you sifted through the vinyls, looking for one you didnt have in your possession yet. finally, you pulled out ‘roses’ and took it up to the front counter where you were met with the same man from before.
he was humming softly, his own song against the one playing from the speakers. as you set the vinyl down and began to look through your bag for your wallet he finally spoke more than three words to you.
“huh, i havent seen anyone buy this in a while.” he looked down, flipping it over to view the tracklist. “whats y’favorite song?” he asked as he scanned the sticker, giving you a small grin.
god he was beautiful, you looked into his hazel eyes and couldnt help but smile. “oh um, my favorite? well i really like all of them but my favorite is definitely tomorrow.” you rambled on and on about the album saying how much you enjoyed it and how you had actually been meaning to buy it but always put it off.
“oops, sorry im talking too much here,” you laughed before handing him your cash.
“no worries sugar, im into all the music in the world. i could talk about it f’days almost.” he chimed while started to open the register to give you you’re receipt and handed you the paper bag with the vinyl lightly packed inside.
you gave him a small smile, your cheeks rosy from the petname. you didnt even know his name but you knew you had to talk to him, well outside of this record store.
as you walked out, you couldnt help but have a small jump in your steps, the happiness beaming off of you. this somewhat unknown man will be the death of you.
once you arrived home, you decided to listen to your new vinyl. as you pulled it out you noticed a receipt fall out, with something written on it.
you picked it up and read what it said,
come back soon.
p.s. my favorite song is astral projections. :)
you couldnt help but giggle, you didnt even realize how much you had rambled and you didnt even return the favor of asking what his favorite song was.
the next week, you decided to return to the same record store after a long week of running around the coffee shop trying to keep everything in check.
you walked in, the same bell jingling, and looked towards the counter. to your surprise the mystery man was nowhere to be found. you couldnt help be drop your smile a bit, you hoped you would see him after your encounter last week.
you decided to not dwell on it and check out some vinyls, you found yourself following the same path he led you down and walking towards the same section you went to last time.
you walked with your head down, staring down at your mary janes and frilly socks. as you stopped and lifted your head up you noticed someone, it was him. he was next to a cart restocking the same section you came to see, his tongue poking out the side of his mouth as he focused and tried to put them in order.
“hey,” you muttered, “i thought you werent here today, i almost left.” you let out a small giggle as you held your bag closer to your body, stepping foward towards him.
he looked up, his eyes slightly widening as he realized who it was.
“oh hey, i thought i scared you off or something” he chuckled and looked back at the vinyls, “i bought some more so i could lure you back in. i guess it worked, huh?” he looked back at you with a stupid grin.
“yeah i guess it did,” you turned your body towards the vinyls pulling one out and pretending like you were interested in it. “you never told me your name, id like to know who im coming to visit.” you let out a small huff, not daring to look up from the vinyl.
he gave you a small laugh, “my name is frank, and i didnt know you were coming to visit i wouldve made myself more presentable.” you looked up and starred at his messy hair, then down to his stained shirt.
you set the vinyl down and opened your mouth as if you were going to talk, but before you could ssy something he beat you to it.
“i was uh, i was wondering if youd like to go go that cafe. the one thats a few blocks down?” you could tell he was shy to ask, his tough persona slowly breaking down. you smiled and nodded your head.
“id love to, do you wanna go another day or—“ he cut you off. “we can go now— um, only if you want to.” he was making eye contact now and you could see the blush creeping up his cheeks. he started down at his hands, as if all the tattoos on them were somehow new and hadnt been there for the past twenty years.
you nodded and held your hand out. this time you were leading him out the store. He quickly pulled his phone out to tell one of his friends, ray you think, to watch the store as he was gonna be gone for a few.
you only let his hand go as you reached the cafe, his rough calloused fingers slipping out of your soft and taken care of ones.
“ill, uh order you can go get us a table, yeah?” he pulled out his wallet and asked you what you wanted. you thanked him and walked away to find a table for you two, hoping to find one near the window as the weather looked somewhat decent for once.
after a few minutes of sitting on your phone he came back, two drinks in hand and a small smile as he set them down.
“so, besides stalking me in the record store, what else do you do?” he asked while picking up his drink to take a small sip.
you blushed and set your drink down, small bits if whipped cream on your lip. “well, im currently going to university for my art degree and i work at a cafe near my campus.” you smiled as you felt under qualified compared to him, he owned his own record store and you were still a sweet little university student. your high school diploma basically fresh out the printer.
his eyes widened when you mentioned the world university he hadnt even bothered to ask how old you were, it was obvious you were young but he wasnt sure how young you were.
“how old are you?” he muttered, “oh im nineteen, i graduated last year, im in my first year of university i shouldve specified sorry!” you squeaked.
frank couldnt help but want to run out, while you were busy being born, he was out selling thousands of vinyls and cds with his globally popular band. guilt tainted his mind, he shouldve left. but he couldnt.
he let out a soft ohhh, as if he understood. he hadnt been nineteen in twenty four years, no way in hell would he understand the struggles of being a nineteen year old. especially today.
“i uh, im fourty three.” he let out a small chuckle, he couldnt believe he even had to tell you how old he was, probably a few months younger than your father.
“i know,” you gave him a small smile, you know?
“my sister used to be a big fan, dont think im some groupie. i just searched up the shop after i got home and realized who it was owned by.” you set your hands on the table, parallel from his.
“so then why did you ask for my name?” he sighed, why couldnt he leave.
“i didnt want you to think i only liked you because i was a fan,” letting out a small laugh you picked up your drink, scooping a bit of whipped cream with your fingers and holding them up to his lips.
he stared at you confused, until you mouthed him a small open, he opened his lips and you dipped your fingers in until he wrapped his lips around them, swirling his tongue as he tasted the whipped cream.
“how is it? sweet?” you asked, slowly pulling out your fingers as you wiped them on your skirt.
“yeah, uh—“ he got a quick look at the time on his phone, he was supposed to be back 5 minutes ago. “i gotta go but call me, okay? ill be sure to answer before you even call okay sweetheart?” he scribbled his number onto a napkin with a small heart and a xofrank next to it.
as much as you were confused, you couldnt believe you got his number. you muttered a small goodbye and blew him a kiss as he walked out the door. you could see him laughing and looking down at the ground with a big grin in his face as he shook his head walking away.
you were young, but lord you knew how to get to frank ieros heart. he knew once he got back to the shop he wouldnt be able to tell ray about this. keeping it his secret, how could he ever explain he was starting to fall head over heels for a girl as old as some of the songs in his notebook?