This one, from Granny Annie, posed a bit of a challenge, what with Bo tripping over his own feet while staring at the girl. Still, when the boys drove away from Granny Annie's place, Bo was behind the wheel. Upon arrival at the Boar's Nest, they had inexplicably changed places. I took advantage of that. (And also of the fact that Bo's young, dazed and confused. Sadly, though I took advantage of that, Luke didn't...)
"It's not funny, Luke. I don't think it's funny." Luke, of course, thinks it's funny, or at least that he is, over there hiding behind his hand and just too cool for words.
"Oh no, of course it's not," is the assurance he gets, as he mashes his foot down on the accelerator. "Still, seems like you might want to let me drive."
This might be what he loves best about Hazzard, how only seconds ago he was blushing in front of Granny Annie and Holly Mae, and within two shifts of the General's gears, he and Luke are on a dirt road passing through the middle of nowhere. Which is as fine a place as any to kill his damn show off of a cousin and dump his body in the bushes if he's of a mind to.
"Why would I want you to drive?" From the first time Luke let him take control of the steering wheel, Bo has never wanted anyone else to drive.
"Just seeing as how you're having so much trouble walking," Luke's saying, dead serious. It would be easier to take with a smirk or an elbow poking at his side. "I don't reckon you're in good enough shape to be behind the wheel."
Yeah, that's enough. Bo cranks the wheel left, off the road and into some pleasantly bumpy terrain. A couple of hops over natural ramps for good measure, and Luke's pretending not to reach for the dash or steering wheel, acting like his grip on the doorframe is cool and comfortable. For the icing, Bo aims them straight for a big old oak that Uncle Jesse might have climbed when he was a boy. Solid thing, would really hurt if they hit it. Luke's thinking that, too, right about now – Bo can tell in the way he's giving up his cool, bit by bit, as they get closer.
Without any need for consulting his brain, Bo's right foot comes off the accelerator and slams onto the brake at full force. Just to make things interesting, his hand gets into the act, pulling up the parking brake and spewing grass, dirt and stones for feet around them. Pretty much as expected, the General's passenger side comes to rest within about six inches of the tree trunk.
"Damn it, Bo!" Proof that his cousin isn't always as cool as he'd like everyone to think.
"I reckon I can drive just fine," Bo informs him. Reaches down to restart the car; somewhere in the acrobatics he stalled it out.
But Luke's half out of his window already. Must be a tricky angle, what with the tree right there, but Luke's twisting around to manage it. Hopping around a little bit out there while he drags his left leg free, and then he's gone.
"Luke!" So much for his cousin's unflappable self, that there is a man stalking away in a temper. "Luke!" he calls a second time, gets ignored all over again. Infuriating cousin always has to have the last word, and if he can't, he'll just march off where there's no one to talk to but himself. And that's just fine. Bo has no plans of getting out of the car, not going to chase after him this time.
Which completely explains how he comes to be tackling Luke, or trying. Takes too many steps in the running approach, not leaving himself enough power behind the hit, and the angle is all wrong. Luke doesn't go down quickly, but Bo's unrelenting weight finally wins the battle.
"Damn it, Bo!" Luke hollers again, but it's satisfyingly superior to being ignored. "Leave me alone!"
"Why do you got to be such a baby, Luke?" That's going to get him hit, which may not be quite so satisfying after all. Except it doesn't quite happen like that. Luke just pushes himself up, wiping his hands on his jeans, and starts to walk away again. "Luke!" Not much to grab onto, but he gets a knee, enough to bring his cousin back down.
Yeah, Luke's lost his cool. If he was his normal calculating self, he'd stand up and pull Bo after him before swinging. That's not quite what happens here, it's more of a shove, more of Luke trying to distance himself. Bo is damn sick of getting walked away from.
"You ain't got no right—" and that sentence has no end, at least none Bo can say out loud. To walk away from me is what he wants to say, but Luke's got every right to go where he wants within the boundaries of their probation. Bo's simply got no intentions of letting him. For every time that Luke tries to pull away, Bo finds an arm, a shoulder, a belt buckle to pull him back by. "Don't—" He's getting tired, but so is Luke, who stays put just too long – enough that Bo can get a good grip on him, both arms around his waist. "—just stop, Luke."
Funny how they're sitting there gasping for air, Luke's back against Bo's chest, hind end between Bo's spread legs. Meanwhile Bo's arms are still tightly wrapped around Luke, his chin practically on Luke's shoulder. They must look like a pair of little boys, or maybe if a person only looked but so hard, like a couple courting out in the sunshine of a remote field.
Either that of Bo's dizzy from lack of oxygen. And there's more evidence to support that thesis, things he only realizes as his breath begins to even out: his right hand stroking up and down Luke's chest to settle him down, and the fact that it's working. His cousin is actually sitting still with him, maybe even resting against him.
"She ain't," Luke says, quiet and close. "Worth killing me over, Bo."
That's true enough, Bo nods to that, near enough to Luke's face and shoulder so that his movement will be felt. Of course, it wasn't the girl that pushed him over the edge to trying to teach Luke a thing or three. He could explain all that, remind his impossible cousin that the girl wasn't the one who left him with a bad feeling. But he chooses not to, not with how good it feels to hold onto Luke like this, how unbelievable it is that Luke's letting him. He rests his chin on Luke's shoulder, feels Luke's cheek against his temple. Only for a second, but it's there.
Then his cool cousin is back. "Come on," he says, pulling away, standing up and leaving Bo with nothing more than chilly air where Luke used to be. "Let's get to the Boar's Nest." A hand comes down to help him to his feet. "B.B.'s probably still there waiting on us."
Bo grabs the hand and lets himself be pulled up, but doesn't stop there. He's not ready to let go, not yet, so he keeps on pushing forward until he's in Luke's arms, up against Luke's surprised mouth. Seems to take a second to register in Luke's brain that they are kissing, but as soon as the message gets from his lips to his brain, Luke's shoving him back. Not hard, just away.
"Sorry, Luke," Bo mutters down toward his own toes. Doesn't know what he means by it, whether he's talking about the fool stunt with the car, fighting him or the kiss just now.
"It's okay," Luke reassures him, his calm, cool, collected self restored. "You wasn't thinking." Which does nothing to clear any of it up.
Minutes later Luke pulls the General up to the Boar' Nest, a parking spot right by the door. Interesting how the Duke boys always manage to get one of those. Even more amazing is the little trick Luke pulls.
"Hey, Mary Ellen," he calls to a girl that's strolling by, hand in hand with Bobby Joe from down in Black Hollow.
Only Luke – somehow his cousin gets the girl to trip over her own feet. At about the same time, Bo stumbles his way out of the passenger window, swearing all the while that it's because he's getting out of the wrong side of the car and has nothing to do with Luke.