Ketchum, ID

ch 17 - jo

"Give me your phone," Alex said angrily. "Now."

I handed them my phone without hesitation. I knew they were going to block her, and at this point I was okay with it. I glanced at Julien again, this time she made eye contact with me. I started to mouth the words, "I'm sorry," in her direction, but she looked back at the floor before I could. Seeing that she was upset hurt me more than any ex showing up at work ever could, and that's how I knew what I was feeling for her was real.

"Alex, can you watch the bar for me for just a second?" I asked.

"I'm sure you're a little shaken up, go ahead," they said, their anger starting to slip away.

I took my serving apron off and handed it to Alex. As I went to walk away from the bar, I grabbed Julien's hand and dragged her into the office with me. The second the door shut behind her, I felt my reserve slipping as my eyes started to tear up.

"Hey, no, no, it's okay, angel," Julien said as she reached out to wipe my tears away.

"I'm sorry. This is embarrassing," I said as I tried to compose myself. "I really thought this wouldn't have this effect on me."

"Of course it's going to have this effect on you. She showed up unannounced and caused a scene at your place of employment. That would have some sort of effect on anyone."

"But I don't love her anymore!" I said, admitting that out loud for the first time.

"Well, that's-" Julien started, awkwardly.

"I'm sorry, that's not what I pulled you in here to talk about," I said, immediately regretting the words that I had spoken.

"You don't need to apologize," Julien said in a comforting tone. "And you sure as hell don't have to explain yourself to me."

"But I want to explain myself to you," I said in a small voice.

"What was that?"

"I said I want to explain myself to you," I said with a little more confidence in my voice. "I want to tell you all about me, and I want you to tell me all about you. I want to tell you my good news and bad news, and I want you to want the same. I want you to hear my story and be a part of it, and even more than that, I want to hear your story and be a part of it. I'm sorry that you had to see her in here and see how she is; I never wanted that to happen, and I'm so sorry that it did. Now I'm just word vomiting so you can chime in at any point to stop me-" I said before I was cut off by her stepping toward me and placing both of her hands on either side of my face.

"Can I kiss you, please?" she asked.

I couldn't find the words, but I felt myself nodding my head in response. The second our lips touched, I could feel her smiling into the kiss. I had kissed plenty of people in my time, and I always thought the fireworks saying was a myth. But as we were kissing, it felt like the Fourth of July in the office. Sparks were flying, butterflies were filling my stomach and chest, and my heart was beating uncontrollably. We kissed for a minute before she pulled back.

"I cannot explain to you how bad I've wanted to do that since the first time I saw you," she said with a dorky grin on her face.

"I'm glad I'm not alone in that," I said, my cheeks turning bright red.

"When are you off?" Julien asked.

"I mean I was supposed to be off at 6, so I'm sure Alex won't mind if I leave. They'd probably force me to leave in about an hour anyway since I've been here since before they got here today."

"Perfect, let's go," she said as she grabbed my hand and walked out of the office with me in tow.

As we walked back to the bar, I saw that Izzi was behind the bar now. She was talking animatedly with Nick, so I didn't want to interrupt their conversation. Julien spotted Alex, Phoebe, and Lucy before I did, and I felt her tug on my hand in their direction. When we got to the table they were sitting at, I remembered that they had told Alex they would sing for everyone.

"I ended up remembering that Live Music Thursday was last week," they said, throwing a wink in my direction.

"I thought you said the guy called and canceled on you just today?" Julien asked them.

"Yeah," Alex said, dragging on. "He called and canceled for next week," they said, awkwardly looking down at the floor.

"I knew it!" Julien exclaimed.

"She did know it, can confirm," Lucy said, nodding her head in affirmation.

"Okay, okay, you caught me," Alex admitted, causing us all to laugh. "But he did call and cancel for next week, so I do need to go in the office and start calling our backup options."

"I'll go to the office with you!" I said with much more excitement than I had anticipated.

"Oh, okay," Alex said in a confused tone.

"We'll be right back!" I said with the same enthusiastic tone I had just used.

I gave Julien's hand a squeeze, and Alex and I headed in the direction of the office.

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note: 

it happened. seventeen chapters in they kissed. a true sapphic story if i've ever read one. also i am actively writing the next part so it shouldn't be too much of a cliffhanger if anyone reads this in the timespan of me posting this and writing the next chapter. i'm also trying to make them all 1000+ words so it's not the world's shortest chapter.

okay i'm done now

love u xoxo