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

chapter forty-eight

Maggie's Pov:
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"I don't know how I feel about you going to work," Julien sighed, handing me my phone and keys that were looped onto a carabiner keychain clip.

"I'll be okay! My shift is shorter than usual today because we have a new person starting and Quinn is training them so I don't have to stay late. I'll be okay," I hooked my keys onto my pants and kissed her cheek.

"That car has been following us around, I don't think it's safe. What happens when I'm not there to protect you?" she worried, her hands were shaky.

"Hey," I grabbed both her hands. "I'll be okay, you don't have to worry," I kissed her knuckles, I was trying to keep calm but the truth was, I'm just as nervous as she is.

"What if I drive you, then wait in the parking lot until your shift is over? That could work!" I had never seen her this nervous about something.

"Hon, you would be waiting for hours. As much as I'm a passenger princess at heart, that's a little absurd. I'll be okay, I can call the police if I need anything."

"Fuck the police, I can do what they can do but better," she blocked the front door with her body so I couldn't leave.

"I'm sure you could and as much as I hate them, I'll call them if I need something and then I'll call you. It'll all be okay, I love you," I hugged her, then picked her up and moved her so she wasn't blocking the door anymore.

"If you weren't so cute, I'd be mad at you for picking me up and moving me. Please let me know if anything happens, okay?" Julien stood on her tippy toes and kissed me.

"Of course, you have my word. Do whatever you want while I'm gone, if you wanna smoke, go out on the balcony because all the vets are connected and they're kids down the hall." I let her know. Before she quit smoking, Tina made the mistake of not going out on the balcony one day and got in trouble.

"I'll keep that in mind, I love you. Please, be safe," she begged.

"I love you too. I'll be safe, I always am," I grabbed her hand, bringing it up to my mouth and kissing the back of it. "I'm overly cautious."

"You are and that's okay, I'll see you after work," Julien gave me one last hug before I left. I felt an unsettling feeling the whole drive to my workplace, it didn't help that fog stretched as far as the eye could see.

No black car though, that's a good sign. Maybe we're all just overreacting! Light raindrops hit my windshield as sirens started to fill the streets, it sounded like they were coming from a few blocks away.

I tried my best to ignore it as I pulled into the parking lot, it was Quinn's turn to open the store so I didn't have to worry about that. "Hey dude," I smiled, clipping my keys back onto my pants.

"Hey, some person was looking for you earlier," they smiled as they restocked the shelves.

"Oh, do you know who it was?" I ask, clocking into my shift. It wasn't uncommon for people to ask about me, I've had people from my high school come in and ask for me so It wasn't out of the ordinary.

"He just said he was an old friend, looked a bit older than us, tall dude with dark hair," they shrugged. "Can you restock I, J, and K for me?

"Yup, has It been a slow day?" I started replenishing the section. I tried my best to put them in alphabetical order but I eventually just gave up and put all the I's in all at once before moving on to the J's.

"It has, yesterday It was packed because some fuckin' album came out and it was the anniversary of another one but we got through it. How has it been having Julien around?" They asked.

"It's so great, she's so cute. I felt awful, I made her tear up when we were in bed and then we went to the dance studio and I made her cry because I danced to a couple of Boygenius songs. I'm also so incredibly sore after doing that, my God."

"Awe, she was crying?" Quinn cooed as they brought out another box of records.

"To be fair, everyone was so I'm not totally a horrible person. I've been sleeping better now that she's with me," I pulled out the last few J records, only to be met with three copies of 'Little Oblivions.' "How pissed do we think she would be if I bought this?"

"Probably annoyed at least, she was annoyed when you bought the band's stuff," they shrugged. "You should get it"

"I will," I left the K records in the box and quickly rang myself up. Sure, she could just give me one but I wanna give her some type of profit for it.

"There's that car again!" Quinn was looking out the window, I placed the record into a bag and then looked at the car. My face drained of its color, it was the black car.

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a/n: I want to thank you all for your unconditional support on this book, it blows my mind that something i made is number one on the Julien Baker tag (as of 8/16/23). The highlight of my days is seeing how you all react to the chapters through your comments. Thank you so much <3

Just as a reminder, after this week my posting schedule will be Monday's and Fridays.

-A