The Way It Used to Be

51

Author's Note:
Sweet little flashback before we catch back up in the hospital.
Also... this song fits young Beau and Colton so well! I've been listening to it on repeat when I need inspiration.
xx

"One funnel cake, please," I said, holding a five dollar bill out to the vendor behind the counter. "And a sweet tea with lemon."  The woman nodded and yelled out my order to the cook in the small food truck.

Beau hovered close by, her hair piled high on her head in a messy bun.  She was wearing little blue jean cut off shorts with frayed edges, and they'd been driving me crazy all day.  Her face glistened with sweat, and she fanned herself with her small hand. She was also wearing a blue and red tie-dyed tank top and some sandals. Her skin was tan from days swimming and laying on the dock.

The Fourth of July festival and parade was one of the biggest events in town each year, and she loved it. She'd loved it when she was ten and we had both tagged along with our mothers. She'd loved it at thirteen when she tagged along with me and Jack. She loved it now at seventeen with just me.

When the vendor handed me the sweet tea, I immediately passed it to her and I took the funnel cake. We walked back to my truck, where I lowered the tail gate and we sat on a folded up quilt. We passed the tea back and forth and I broke off pieces of the funnel cake for her because she hated getting her fingers sticky. She still ended up covered in powdered sugar, and I thought she was adorable.

These days, everything she did left me smitten. I adored her in every possible way.  I couldn't put my finger on what changed. Or when. Or how. I just knew that one day, I looked at her and realized I was in love with her.

When the funnel cake and sweet tea were finished, she hopped down from the tail gate. The sun had set, and lights from the food trucks and other vendors dotted the perimeter of the field at the old fair grounds.  A band had started playing cover songs on the makeshift stage on the old band stand, and the speakers rang out across the field.  "Dance with me," she said, tugging on my hand.

I hated dancing. Absolutely despised it. I hated it even when I went to prom with Beau, but I still did it just for her.

"Aw, Beautiful, come on, now..." I started. She stepped close to me, squeezing herself in between my legs where they still dangled from the tail gate. "Pleeease," she said, giving her best pleading expression.

And it worked. I melted every time. I slid from the tail gate, dusting my powdered sugar hands on my jeans and kissing her forehead.

We walked toward toward the stage, and I weaved us through other couples spinning and moving. When we finally had a good spot, she started dancing. Her knees bent, her head swayed. Her whole body moved with the rhythm. She laughed and sang along with the lyrics. I wrapped an arm around with her waist, doing my best to keep up. It was no use. She out-danced me during every song. Eventually, she was glistening with sweat and laughing. I was exhausted, but I couldn't stop.  My hands never left her side.

Yours, Beautiful, yours.

When the band left the stage, our Mayor took the microphone. I led Beau back through the crowd as he spoke, back to my truck.  I picked her up effortlessly and set her down on the tail gate, and then, I hopped up, too. I scooted all the way to the back of the truck bed, resting my back against the cab of the truck while sitting on the old quilt. I spread my legs instinctively, and Beau settled between, leaning her head and back against my chest.

I watched her face as she watched the fireworks. I watched her eyes shine with each different color. Each shower of sparks. She said they were beautiful, but I could only focus on her.

When the fireworks were over, we sat still and listened to the band some more. When Beau's head titled and dropped, I knew she was sleepy. "Come on, Beautiful, let's go home."

She nodded, and we both shimmied to the end of the truck bed. When both of our feet were on the ground, a group of girls from high school walked by.

"Hey, Colton," one of them said. I couldn't remember her name, and I was too focused on folding the quilt up to try to  remember. "Hey," I said back, nodding slightly. "How are y'all? Y'all remember Beau, right?"

The girl nodded, giggling for a reason I couldn't quite put my finger on. "I don't think so. She's younger than us, right?"

I nodded, and she continued. I was already annoyed. "Well, we are going to a party at Lila's later, if you want to come. You can bring your friend, if you want."  She paused. "I mean, you'll come, Beau, right?"

I knew what they were doing. Girls had been doing it ever since I stopped dating. Boys did it with Beau occasionally, but I tried to deter as many as possible before they opened their mouths.

"Actually," I said, reaching for Beau and sliding her closer to me, "I think we're gonna go to her house and watch movies.  Right, Beautiful?"

She looked uncomfortable for a moment before I felt her relax against my side. The girls looked annoyed, and they sauntered off without another word.

When Beau and I were settled in the truck and on the way home, she leaned her head against my shoulder. I put my hand on her thigh, and she intertwined her fingers with mine. She was asleep before we turned on to the main road.

Friend.

The girl had called Beau my friend. I had yet to label me and Beau as anything other than just that... me and Beau. Girlfriend seemed to impersonal. Girlfriend was something cliche and meaningless. Beau wasn't my girlfriend.  But, we weren't friends.

Friends don't look at her the way I do. Friends don't want to constantly be touching. Friends don't kiss each other and then immediately want another.

We weren't friends. Beau was my forever.