you can't help but become the sun / julien baker

chapter twenty-three

Every day for six months Magnolia Waters and Julien Baker spoke to each other. Not a day went by without a 'good morning' or a 'goodnight' text. The couple called, texted, facetimed, sent videos, photos, voice messages, sent letters in the mail, and went on virtual dates. They spoke every day.

When Magnolia hadn't heard from Julien for the first day, she brushed it off. She knew how busy her life could be so she didn't put much thought into it.

However, one week turned into two, and eventually, a month had gone by. Maggie attempted to reach out, but she never got anything in return.

"It'll be seven months tomorrow since we've been dating! I don't know if it was something that I did," she told her coworker, Quinn. It was early in the morning and the two had just opened their store.

"That doesn't seem like her, I would say you two communicate almost too much and then she just goes radio silent?" they observed. Quinn had the unfortunate pleasure of having to hear their coworker speak so highly of someone they'd never met.

Magnolia's phone buzzed in her pocket, and her face dropped when she read the five simple words, 'We have to break up.'

Both people working the register read the message, "I...I'm sorry, I have to go. I don't know when I'll be back, I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize, take however much time you need off," Quinn helped the disoriented girl get her things.

The apartment was quiet, with Chloé and Tina both doing things on their phones. Magnolia looked like a wreck when she got home, while not a tear had fallen from her eyes, her friends could still tell something was up.

"She broke up with me," the hushed words almost sounded like a question, and her head hung low as she stumbled over to the couch.

"She did what?" Tina couldn't even process what her friend had said, she was sure that Magnolia and Julien were gonna get married.

"That can't be right, hold on," Chloé called Phoebe, placing the call on speaker phone. "Phoebe, you're on speaker. Do you know if Julien's okay? She just broke up with Maggie."

Phoebe gasped on the other line, "She did what?"

"I got a text at work, did I do something?" tears welled up in the girl's eyes. Her voice sounded so dull, so hurt.

"Maggie, you didn't do anything wrong! Julien hasn't been answering any of us lately. I think she's just going through something, I don't think she wants to break up," the platinum blonde sighed over the phone.

"I'm driving to Tennessee," Maggie made up her mind and tied up her hair.

"What?" The three girls exclaimed at the same time.

"I'm going to talk to her in person! I'm not going to settle for a five-word text, throwing away our almost seven-month relationship! I love her!" The L-word was something that hadn't been used before so they all knew she was serious.

Magnolia left her apartment with a phone charger and her black clutch. Her necklace hung around her neck, her ring hugging her finger, and the Rose Quartz bracelet still draped from her wrist.

She wasn't gonna let her relationship end like this.

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a/n: Act Two has officially started!

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, i've been having a really rough day so hopefully this can at least make one of you excited to see what will happen next.

-A