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

chapter thirty-three

Maggie's Pov:
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It was my first day back at work, sure I was excited to be there but I missed my girlfriend. "I'm walking into work right now, Quinn opened so I got to show up later. I love you, I'll talk to you soon!"

"Bye baby, I love you too!" Julien smiled before hanging up.

In the shop, there were a few teenagers and a man who looked to be in his early fifties. "Hey Quinn, thank you for keeping the shop running." I clocked into work.

"You don't have to thank me! Is everything okay now?" They asked me as they helped ring up the teenagers.

"Yup, we're all good!" I glanced over at the records they were purchasing, "Ooo good choices! That record sounds so good on vinyl! Have a good day!"

"Thank you! You guys too!" the customers smiled before exiting the store.

"I have to go to the restroom, I'll be right back," Quinn told me as they made their way to the restroom.

The older man walked up to the counter, sliding two country records across the counter. "Just these today."

"Perfect," I politely smiled, using my scanner to ring him up.

"I bet you and your boyfriend are cute," he commented. My face scrunched up in disgust, I knew he had overheard my conversation with Julien when I came in.

"Um girlfriend actually, but thank you," there was definitely not a bone in my body that was embarrassed to be in a relationship with Julien, but it was scary to admit to someone who you didn't know.

"Oh, well that's just not natural. You should really be with a big, strong man," he remarked as he pulled out his wallet.

"I don't need your opinion, sir. I'm just trying to do my job, that'll be forty-eight dollars and ninety-five cents," I sighed as the dude paid for his items. "And for the record, it is natural. Some animals in the wild participate in same-sex relationships. Also, my girlfriend might not be very big but she is right at the kneecap level, plays guitar, and likes to climb trees so she'd probably be able to kick your ass." I shoved his records and his receipt into a bag and slid them towards him. "Here are your shitty albums, have an awful day. Now get the hell out of my Queer-owned store and don't come back."

The man quickly made his way out of my store. I sighed, leaning my elbows onto the counter, placing my head in my hands.

"Get it, girl! My God. I was gonna step in but you clearly had it covered," Quinn walked out of the break room.

"Why can't we be treated like normal people?"

"Because people have a lot of hate in their hearts. One day we'll be equals with everyone else, till then we keep living our lives, that's all we can do."

"You're right, I'm thinking about moving in with her and proposing too. As much as I like North Carolina, she's in Tennessee, so are Josiah, Noah, and Fallon. I don't know how much more this place has to offer for me."

"If you think that's for the best then you should put some serious thought into them. They're both big deals."

"I know, I love her a lot, and the only thing I dislike a lot in the world, besides homophobic people, is being away from her."

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a/n: I have officially started on the last three chapters of the book before the epilogue.

Today's update will be a double update, next chapter will have some very important questions that I need feedback on before I get to write the epilogue.

-A