Red River Blue
Chapter 26
After fainting from dehydration and exhaustion, spending the next day tracking through the woods, and taking on a hostile group on the way back from Hilltop, the moment Harley's head hit her pillow she passed out. In her own bed and with her lanky body curled around her daughter's smaller one, she slept harder than she could remember sleeping in years. When she woke it was to the sound of laughter drifting up from the stairs and the smell of breakfast cooking. Harley arched her back, stretching her muscles out like a cat before she rose from her bed. Spying a discarded pair of denim cutoffs crumpled up near the wall, Harley grabbed them and pulled them on over her underwear. After a quick trip to the bathroom, Harley headed down the stairs, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
Walking silently came naturally to her. So when Harley arrived in the kitchen doorway, no one looked up. She yawned, shaking her head at what she saw. When she smelled breakfast, she assumed that Beth was the one cooking. But Beth and Luke were nowhere to be seen. As they'd been through close to as much as she had in the last few days, she assumed they were still downstairs in the basement bedroom, asleep.
The tiny kitten Axel brought back from Hilltop was on the table. Monroe and Judith were trying to tempt it with tidbits of food as they took turns rubbing their hands over its fluffy back. The kitten was arching into their hands, its tiny floof of a tail sticking straight up in the air. Axel was sitting on Monroe's other side, quickly working his way through a lumberjack sized plate full of pancakes and eggs that were dripping with syrup. And closer to the stove, Negan was standing with his back to her, clothed in nothing but a low slung pair of jeans.
"I thought I told you to get the hell out of here," Harley groused, yawning again. From his absolute lack of response to the sudden sound of her voice, Harley knew that, unlike the kids, Negan was only pretending that he didn't hear her coming down the stairs. He flipped over the pancake he was poking at before he turned, favoring her with a big shit-eating grin.
"But I'm making breakfast," he countered. Harley laughed. Making breakfast. His pain in the ass was going to be making a necklace out of his guts if her dad got home and caught him lounging around their house. Merle was holding on to his grudge against the man like a camel held water. He would love any excuse to kill him. Negan had to know that.
"It's yer funeral," Harley scoffed, moving forward into the kitchen. She rubbed her hand over her daughter's hair before she headed for the stove. "Is there any more bacon?," she asked. "I can smell bacon." Negan pointed to the microwave.
"Wasn't bacon, it was sausage," he corrected. "...and I hid a couple links in the microwave just for you."
Harley reached over him, opening the microwave and pulling out the plate that was hidden inside. Setting it on the counter, she grabbed one of the links with her fingers and took a bite. It was still warm and she closed her eyes, enjoying the taste of the slightly greasy meat. She could tell it was from one of the batches of sausage her sister made. Because in addition to the fennel, sage, and thyme that was traditionally used to flavor breakfast sausage, Wren always added red pepper flakes. So there was a little hint of heat to balance out the fatty taste of the pork. Harley finished the link, starting on the next one while Negan flipped a pancake onto her empty plate. He split the rest of the scrambled eggs between them. And since they were clearly done eating, Harley shooed the kids and their new cat out of the kitchen. She took the spot her daughter vacated, purposely avoiding the sticky syrup mess Axel made on the other side of the table.
"Heard there were fish traps that needed checked today…," Negan mentioned, keeping his tone intentionally casual. Harley's only response to his statement was a small snort and a roll of her eyes. Since Carl was gone, she did need to check the lake traps. But how or why that concerned Negan, she wasn't sure.
Negan tried his best to keep his eyes on his plate. But it was hard when the woman next to him was wearing an old threadbare Nirvana t-shirt without a bra. The full curve of her breasts was clearly visible through the thin fabric. Harley's long blonde hair had been tamed down into two tight braids. But lots of fuzzy little curls had escaped and were fluffed up around her face. The muscles in her arms were well defined, and Negan had seen her in action enough times to know that she was stronger and faster than she looked.
"Keep starin' at me like that and yer gonna end up lookin' worse than Aiden," Harley warned, forking another bite of pancake into her mouth. Negan laughed like he wasn't scared of her threat to blind him. But Harley noticed he was quick to avert his hungry eyes away from her body.
"I can help with the fishing," he announced, trying not to sound too hopeful. Harley rolled her eyes as she considered his offer. She wasn't exactly eager to spend more time with Negan. He was annoying even when he wasn't ogling her breasts. But he would be more help than the kids when it came to hauling the heavy metal traps up onto the boat. And if Negan was with her, then at least she could keep an eye on him.
"Fine," Harley huffed, stuffing the last bite of her breakfast into her mouth.
Harley scrubbed the syrup off the table and swept up the floor while Negan washed the breakfast dishes. And about an hour later, they were pushing the boat away from the dock towards the first small blue buoy. Harley slept later than she normally would have on a fishing day. And the hot sun was already beating down on them as they pulled the first large trap out of the water. The kids already stripped down to their bathing suits. And they quickly sorted the fish, placing the ones large enough to eat in the metal basket that was attached to the side of the boat and throwing the smaller ones back. In the warmer months, fish was a diet staple in Alexandria. And most people had a favorite type of fish. Harley's was pan fried catfish. And she was excited when her brother pulled one of the giant whiskered bottom feeders from the trap, placing it carefully in the keeper basket.
The kids were ready for a swim after the first trap. And Harley leaped off the side of the boat with them, eager as they were to feel the cold water against her skin. Once they cooled off, she coaxed them back onto the boat with the promise that they would have plenty of time to swim once they got done checking the other two traps. None of them were eager to spend more time than necessary sweating under the hot sun. And they worked quickly and efficiently, emptying the other traps in record time. Once the third and final trap plunked back down into the lake the kids scattered, leaping off the sides of the boat and squealing when their warm bodies hit the cold water.
Negan shimmied out of his jeans before he dove off the side of the boat into the water. Harley laughed, relieved that the man at least left his boxers on. She tossed a few old worn pool noodles over the side so the kids had something to float on. Then she grabbed a large floppy sun hat Wren left on the boat and set it near the ladder. Harley balanced herself on the edge of the boat, cannonballing her body into the water and aiming the splash towards her brother. She came up for air to the sound of laughter. Axel flicked water at her, trying to pay her back for the large wave she just sent over his head. Harley kicked away from him, grabbing one of the floaties and sliding it under her butt before she reached for Wren's sun hat and flopped it down on her head. Harley spent the majority of her time outdoors. But since the bathing suit she was wearing left a lot more of her skin exposed than her hunting gear, she was trying to avoid getting a sunburn.
Harley watched the kids play, smiling at their antics. She was a little surprised at the way Negan was interacting with them. He was more natural with kids than she would have expected. And before long he was holding one of the dilapidated pool noodles parallel to the boat, letting the kids compete to see which one of them was able to jump far enough to clear it. Harley didn't know anything about his life before the outbreak. And she'd never really cared. But suddenly she found herself curious about the man. And wondering if he had children of his own back before the civilized world ended.
"A few more minutes and then we need to get back," Harley hollered down from the boat. Axel groaned. But Judith and Monroe nodded their heads. Harley lowered herself back down onto her folded beach towel. She pulled a granola bar out of the little sack lunch bag that Judith packed for them, cracking it down the middle and holding half of it out for Negan to take.
"Gonna tell me what yer angle is?," Harley asked.
"Huh?," he snorted. She narrowed her icy blue eyes at him. Playing dumb might work on Maggie and Glenn. But it wasn't going to work on her.
"I know yer not just out here fishing fer the fun of it," Harley pressed. "So why don't ya just cut the games and tell me what it is ya want." So far, he'd shown no interest in returning to Hilltop. So he had to have some other plan in mind.
Negan chuckled. He really didn't have a master plan in mind when he left Hilltop. He just saw Harley and Aiden leaving with her brother and that little walker baby. And he helped them partly out of sheer boredom and because he didn't want anything to happen to the kids. But once Negan arrived in Alexandria, the wheels in his mind started turning. He liked the way Harley and Aiden dispatched that group of marauders on the way back to town. It made Negan feel like Negan again. Instead of a pariah that people tried to avoid making eye contact with.
"I'm sick of those fucking farmers," he admitted. "I want a place here." Harley snorted, almost choking on the last bite of her granola bar.
"You want to stay in Alexandria? You know people here hate you?," Harley said. "I mean, everyone hates you. But people here really fuckin' hate you." Negan cut out Aiden's eye. He killed Tyreese's sister. He fucked her mom. He beat Abraham to death in front of half the council. And Harley was sure those offenses were only the tip of the iceberg. There probably wasn't a list long enough to hold all the shit Negan did to them. And the offenses he was still wracking up. Like making out with her teenage cousin. That was dumber than hell.
"Are you a special kind of stupid?," Harley asked, bringing on a round of laughter from the man.
"I'm willing to do whatever it takes to earn my place," he said.
Harley didn't respond right away. She took a moment to consider Negan's proposal. The man was a pain in the ass. But he wasn't totally without value. He was smart and strong and brave to the point of stupidity. Negan was a strategic mastermind. He was good at organizing people and motivating them to do what he wanted them to do. And while no one on the council liked to actually admit it, Alexandria prided itself on being more ruthless than their allies. Harley could already picture it in her mind, the intimidation factor of having the real live boogeyman as part of their council.
"All I can do is get you in front of the council," Harley finally said. And she was even hesitant to do that much. Mostly because she was worried it would upset her mother. "You'll have to plead yer case ta them on yer own." Negan smiled, looking happier than Harley thought he had any reason to be.
"That's a deal," he agreed.