Red River Blue

Chapter 49

"Maybe I'm your lucky charm," Luke said, pulling Beth closer and kissing her through her laughter.

They'd been sleeping in the same bed together every night since the day after he arrived. And while they'd been doing plenty of kissing and cuddling, last night was the first time that they actually consummated their blossoming relationship. Which, for Beth, was the first time she'd gone that far with anyone. And her admission of this led to the discussion they were having now. About how she made it to her mid-twenties in the middle of the end of the world with her virginity intact. The answer to this conundrum was as simple as it was gruesome. Every time Beth managed to find herself a boyfriend, the boy in question died. Jimmy was the first. Then Zach. Noah. Ron. After that lovely run, and with what happened to Spencer and then to Ron, she and Harley decided they were done with boys. The two girls were never romantically involved. But they were each other's number one for years. They shared a room. They raised Monroe together. They loved each other so much that Beth stayed behind with Harley instead of moving to Hilltop with Maggie and Glenn after the war with the Saviors was over. Harley was the best and greatest friend she ever had. Beth was a little sad that the dynamic between them was slowly changing now that they were both moving on to new relationships. But Beth was happy about it too. Since it meant more happiness for both of them. And if there was one thing she was sure of, it was that Luke made her crazy happy.

"I'm telling you," Luke teased, holding her against him. "I'm the luckiest man on earth."

His hands ghosted over her ribs and Beth wriggled against the ticklish touch, giggling as he quickly moved his hand down to rest on the slight curve of her slim hip. She rolled onto her back, her blonde hair a wild golden halo around her head as she stared up at him. Luke wasn't what Beth would have pictured when she imagined her perfect man. He was short. He was stocky. And the way his curly hair fell down into his face reminded her of a bit of a floppy eared golden retriever. His looks were not what drew her to him. It was the way the kindness practically shone out of him that caught her attention. He was something beautiful in this ugly world. Leaning down, he brushed the tip of his nose against hers before he began to softly croon a few well known song lyrics to her.

…So excuse me forgetting

But these things I do

You see I've forgotten, if they're green or they're blue

Anyway the thing is, what I really mean

Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen…

"Did you write that just for me?," Beth teased, laughing harder when he nodded his head. "You did? You and Elton John?," she asked. Luke rolled off her and onto his back, exploding in laughter. She caught him that time.

"I'll write you a hundred songs," he promised, smiling when Beth followed his movements, leaning over him like he'd just been hovering over her. Her slim thigh hiked across his hip. And her long blonde hair hanging down to tickle his face. She was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. "But there's no song as beautiful as you," he said, cupping Beth's face with his hand. She leaned into his touch, humming her pleasure.

"I love you so much," Beth said. As she looked down into his eyes, savoring the perfect moment they were having, her stomach let out a loud and rolling grumble. She flopped back, both of them laughing as Luke told her that he loved her too.

After they dressed, Beth spotted Harley at the breakfast table. She moved in, bumping her hip slightly against the taller woman. Harley bumped her back, much harder than Beth bumped her of course. That was typical Harley. The girls filled their plates and sat with Rick and Luke. Once they got their first few bites down, the conversation quickly turned to the concert later. Beth knew Harley hoped that Aiden would arrive before they started. But they wrangled another keyboard player just in case. And Sam was taking Lydia to the movies instead of participating. But Luke could play the drums. He could play almost anything, which impressed the girls to no end.

Beth had her notebook out. And she was working on their playlist, moving songs around to try and give the concert a good flow. They were going to play a few things they wrote themselves, but most of the songs on the list were of the guaranteed crowd pleasers variety.

"Put a question mark by that one," Harley said, pointing to the list. "I'm not doing it unless Aiden shows up to help with the vocals."

Beth nodded and made the marking Harley requested. She was surprised Harley was willing to sing that particular song in front of people at all. It was more personal than some of the others, a song Aiden and Harley wrote together that Beth suspected was about his brother. She'd heard it a few times. And it was good, maybe even one of their best. Aiden and Harley had opposite taste in music. So any collaboration between them was sure to either be pure genius or a total dumpster fire. There was no in between.

"If he doesn't get here on time, I can sing with you," Luke offered.

"You sing too?," Harley asked, not even with much surprise. They all pretty much knew by now that unlike the rest of them who were mostly self taught, Luke was an actual trained professional musician before the outbreak.

"I don't have much range, but I can harmonize," Luke promised.

Beth knew Luke was telling the truth. Since she'd heard him sing. But when Harley gave her the look and started snapping her fingers Beth laughed and went right along with what she knew the other girl was doing. Which in this case was belting out the lyrics to End of the Road at the top of her lungs. Luke caught on quickly, adding his voice to theirs. Rick, who wasn't paying much attention to their conversation and had no idea what was about to happen, nearly choked on his eggs before he cracked up laughing. Harley stood up, raising her voice even louder as she made him the object of her serenade. By the time she finished, Rick's face was red and his eyes were watering with the force of his laughter. Harley finished her song just as abruptly as she started it, plopping down and turning back to her breakfast. She ignored the people around them that were laughing and whistling for more.

"Don't quit your day job!," Merle hollered, laughing louder than anyone at his own bad joke. Harley took one look at him before she popped the top off her insulated cup, reaching her fingers inside and pulling out a large clump of ice. She moved like she always moved when she was on the attack. Quick as a rattlesnake. She rose and threw the ice clump as hard as she could. It exploded against the back of Merle's head, splattering everyone around him with little bits of half melted ice.

"Hey!," he squawked, rubbing his head. "What the hell was that?"

Beth was already laughing. But when she looked at Rick she had to grip her stomach. He had given up any hope of controlling his laughter. His face was beet red and he finally had to bury it in the crook of his arm and just let the laughter recede on its own. This was only made funnier by Harley's deadpan expression as she finished the rest of her breakfast like she hadn't done anything at all.

After breakfast, Rick took off to do whatever he had planned for the day. Which probably wasn't much since he had Negan trailing after him. Judith stayed with Harley and Monroe. The two little girls swung their linked hands together as they walked. The happy group dropped Luke off near the stage so he could start working on the large mess of speakers and tangled audio cords. Beth left him there with a kiss and a promise that she'd be back to help him once they got River's bakery booth set up. Harley led them the long way around, walking slowly so they could get their first peek at the items that were slowly filling the other booths. Harley was no doubt looking for one of two things, weapons or hair products. And Beth was keeping an eye out for the woman that made the beautiful handmade bars of scented goat milk soap. When she spotted her, Beth gave the woman a wave and made a mental note of where the booth was so she could stop back before all the good stuff was gone. They passed by the still empty bakery booth and ended up meeting the rest of the group as they were leaving the breakfast area. Beth pulled off the lightweight hoodie she pulled on before breakfast, tying it around her waist so her pink bakery tank top was visible.

With everyone helping, it didn't take them long to get everything set up. River tried to pay her with her choice of a treat. But Beth waved her off. She already stuffed herself at breakfast.

"I'll get something later," Beth said, leaning down and wrapping her arms around River. She never really came to think of River as a mother figure. But she loved her just the same.

"Will you get me a bar of the beer soap when you go?," River asked, handing Beth one of her tokens. Beth laughed. She never said she was stopping by the soap booth on her way to the stage. River just knew she would.

"You want soap?," Beth asked, stopping to tighten Harley's ponytail for her as she passed. Harley shrugged and pulled a token from her pocket.

"Maybe the rosemary citrus if she's got that this year," Harley said, thanking Beth for asking before she turned her attention back to the cooling fan she was fiddling with. Beth smiled to herself as she headed back in the direction of the soap booth. The woman always sold the bars two for one token. Even though Beth was sure she could charge more if she wanted to. And people would pay it without complaint. Beth spent half her tokens on soap, deciding to save the rest for snack food throughout the week. There was never any shortage of junk food at the fair. And she loved the hot kettle fried chips for snacking and the fresh marshmallows they sold to roast over the campfire.

Beth strolled away with her bag of soap tucked under her arm. She waved at Michonne as the woman passed her going the opposite direction. Beth stopped to admire a booth full of beautiful hand drawn pictures and paintings before she headed over to Nabila's booth to look over the woman's handmade jewelry. A necklace caught her eye. The pendant was tiny blue forget me not flowers sealed into clear resin on a gold chain. It was not only beautiful, it was unique. And after admiring it for another moment, Beth found herself handing over one of her junk food tokens and fastening the delicate chain around her neck. Before she was tempted to spend any more, Beth strode away towards the stage at a brisk pace.

"Oh!," Beth exclaimed, "...I'm so sorry." She apologized again to the woman that she'd slammed into. The woman wasn't familiar. And Beth smiled, remembering when the groups were so small they all knew each other by name.

"I'm Beth," she said, offering the woman her hand. "From Alexandria." The woman took her hand, giving her a warm smile.

"I'm Deborah. You can call me Debbie. I'm from Hilltop," she said, adjusting the neckline of her green sundress. The woman had a thick southern accent. And her voice was high pitched. Especially for a grown woman. It made Beth want to giggle.

"Oh," Beth said with a big smile. "I'm sure I'll see you again sometime then. I visit Hilltop all the time. Maggie's my sister. Are you new there?"

"You could say that," the woman replied with another smile. "Maggie's sister huh?," she repeated as though she was deeply impressed with Beth's family connections.

Beth did giggle a little at that. And she nodded. At least being related to Maggie always garnered her a positive reaction. The ones she got when people found out she was associated with the Dixon's were unpredictable. But Beth never let it bother her. She wouldn't trade her found family for anything. No matter what people thought of them.

"Well Beth," the woman drawled. "...maybe you could help me out with something. This is my first visit to The Kingdom. And I seem to have gotten myself a little turned around. Would it be a terrible imposition for you to walk me back to Hilltop's camp site?"

"Of course," Beth agreed. She needed to get to the stage to help Luke. But she really wasn't in a hurry. She could certainly spare a few minutes to help this woman. "It's no problem at all."