Love Just Is
Authors: Jonathan Fan and Glassangels2008
Dukes of Hazzard story.
Fourth part of Dare to Dream Series.
Summary: Bo meets the love of his life when he attends the Hazzard County fair. Only problem is, Layla his love interest has an abusive boyfriend. Can he help her out of her mess?
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Dukes of Hazzard Characters except Layla Henderson. I do own her.
Layla was working as a flight attendant and going to College at the same time. She had signed up to help out at the Fair by selling tickets.
It was so lonely to be without someone but after her fair share of crazed boyfriends and her psycho boyfriend, Rick, Layla just didn't want to be in any relationship right now.
Bo was ready for the fair. he hadn't gone last year because that was the time that Lisa and Will had come back. Now he was like a little boy at Christmas and was ready to show his nephew and niece the fair. In Hazzard there were chili cook-offs and the rattlesnake competition that Bo entered every year. The object was to put as many snakes in a bag before the time ran out.
Bo went to the gate to get the tickets and froze when he saw the ticket girl. She looked to be in her late thirties and had a porcelain skin color and chocolatey brown hair. She smiled at him and her beautiful brown eyes were the saddest ones he'd ever seen.
"May I help you, Sir?" She asked politely.
Bo then realized he was staring at her and he flushed with embarrassment. "Yes. I need about fifty dollars worth of tickets," Bo managed to say.
The girl grabbed a big wad of tickets and handed them to Bo. Bo took the tickets, at a loss what to say next. He had never been the shy type around girls, but this one made his heart beat erratically and he suddenly wanted to date her.
"My name's Bo Duke. What's yours?" Bo asked conversationally since she had no other customers wanting tickets.
She looked at him with a panicked look in her brown eyes. "You don't want to know my name, Mr. Duke. Please, just take your tickets and go," the girl said, her voice catching slightly.
Bo then noticed a dark smudge on the girl's arm. He gripped her wrist and looked at one of the most hideous bruises he had ever seen. "Who did this to you?" Bo asked, gently touching the bruise.
"It's nothing. I fell down a flight of stairs," the girl said, her voice breaking altogether.
"You fell down a flight of stairs? Don't you abuse victims think of a better excuse than that? Everyone knows that excuse!" Bo snapped sharply.
"Please, Mr. Duke. Just go. If my boyfriend sees you here talking to me he'll hit me again," the girl said, the tears pouring out of her eyes. Bo looked at her astounded and wondered what he should do since he just heard that confession.
Layla turned around so he wouldn't see her cry. She felt bad for being rude and lieing to him about falling down a flight of stairs. It was true, she was being abused and had been for some time now. She had grown terrified of her boyfriend named Rick and he just wouldn't leave her alone. If she even looked at a guy, she'd regret it later.
By refusing to speak to Bo she was just only trying to protect herself. She didn't know the man in front of her was a police officer a sheriff of Hazzard County in fact and he could protect her. Layla sighed and started to cry thinking Bo had left. She didn't know that he was still there and would come inside the booth with her.
At age thirty three, Layla had never been in love. She had been in one disaster relationship after another. And with this situation with Rick, Layla started to believe that their was no more good men out there. That all were abusive towards their girlfriends or just plain mean.
Truth was, Layla didn't know what to do. If she went to the police, who's to say that her ex wouldn't try to kill her then? Bo was right, what all she said was complete excuses. And it sounded stupid.
Layla turned to face Bo "Bo, your right, that was a excuse. It's just I'm afraid of what he would do me if he saw us speaking together", Layla didn't see him at first "Bo Duke?" she called out thinking he left.
Bo then opened the door to the small ticket window booth and made sure no one was looking. He found the pretty lady sitting at counter a complete mess and she had been crying. "I thought you left", said Layla. Layla repeated what she had said a few minutes ago about her boyfriend and what he would do if he saw them together and what she said was an excuse.
"How'd you get in here? Customers aren't suppose to be in here". Layla had no idea he was a cop and was on duty he just wasn't in his Sheriff's uniform because he was out on a family outing and he didn't want those to know he was a cop at the fair.
Layla wore black dress pants dressed for the fall, a white silk blouse, her brown hair was down to her shoulder. On her shirt top, on the right was a name tag Bo read it. It said Layla Griffin on the gold plated tag on her right shoulder.
Bo looked with concern at Layla. The tears streaming down her tanned face were enough to make him upset. He felt like taking her in his arms and kissing all of her tears away. he couldn't do that since he had just met her.
"I was worried about you. I'm a police officer, Layla," Bo said, tentatively touching her wet face with his hand like he would have done if it was Sandra or Lisa crying.
"Thank you. I thought that all guys were like my boyfriend, Rick. He beats me and he tried to choke me last night," Layla said, showing Bo her bruised arms. Bo felt anger rise inside as he saw those dark bruises on her pale skin.
Bo gripped her hand and pulled her up. "You're coming with me. I want you to stay with my family. I'm a police officer, but I live with my cousin and his son. Luke's a former firefighter and Will is a former cop like me. We can all protect you," Bo said, stroking her face gently.
Layla looked surprised and happy at his offer. She was probably one of those people who had never had that much protection in her life. "But what if Rick decides to go after me and your family?" Layla asked fearfully.
"Don't worry. He won't. There'll be four men protecting you. Sometimes even five," Bo said as he and Layla went through the crowd and saw Lori, Luke, Will, Alicia, and Little Luke on a bench eating roasted corn. Bo only hoped they would protect Layla. Bo had promised. He was also hoping he could marry Layla. At 38 years old he wanted to have a wife and kids. He had seen Will's and Luke's marriages and they all seemed happy.
Layla was happy to meet someone like Bo. He seemed so nice and kind and
wanted to protect her. They soon joined his family at the picnic
benches that were spread around the fair. Bo introduced Layla to his
family and Layla tried putting on a smile even though it probably
looked fake. Then he explained to everyone the situation Layla was in
and how he wanted to get her out of it with their help. Layla sat next
to Bo but her eyes kept darting around afraid that she would see Rick.
She then told Bo that she would go and get them something to eat at a
nearby food stand. As she walked towards the stand, Layla noticed Bo
the other men kept a close watch out for her and she felt so glad to be
protected. Layla ordered them two hotdogs with the works on them and
back next to Bo where she felt the most safe. When she left her ticket
booth, Bo told her co-workers she'd be leaving for the night since she
had to stay with him.
Layla decided that from now on, she would avoid Rick and ignore his
phone calls. If he tried coming onto the Duke property, she wanted Bo
to arrest him. She didn't deserve this treatment from Rick. He wasn't a
boyfriend if he did these things to her. If she had Bo and the others
around her, no more harm should come to her. Layla tried paying
attention to the Duke's conversation topic, but her mind kept drifting
she kept looking around afraid to see Rick storming up to them. She
hoped he didn't show the rest of the night.
Bo stayed close to Layla all day as they walked through the fair and rode a few of the rides. Layla looked at him with wide eyes as they rode one ride after another. "Bo, you don't have to stay near me if you don't want to," Layla said timidly as they sat down to take a rest.
"I want to. You are the prettiest girl I've ever seen and you deserve to be treated special," Bo said, reaching out and stroking her face gently. Layla blushed slightly as his finger touched her face.
"Bo, you just met me today," Layla said.
"I know, but I always know when I feel like I love someone," Bo said, his voice low.
"Bo, I'm not ready for a relationship right now. After what I've been through with Rick I want to make sure that a man won't say that he loves me and then will beat me when I make him mad," Layla said, backing away from Bo with a scared look in her eyes.
Bo grabbed her by the shoulders gently. "Listen to me. I'm not Rick. I'm Bo. I will never hurt you. I promise," Bo said, kissing her forehead gently.
Layla looked at Bo gazing into his eyes. The way he spoke seemed to calm her and ease her mind. He sounded like he truly meant every word.
Plus, she loved hearing the sound of his deep voice.
"Okay." said Layla giving into his charm. She felt like she was falling madly in love with Bo to even though they just met. "I feel the same way like I'm in love with you." Layla gazed into his eyes and for a moment, the rest of the world seemed to dissapear around them. People screamed on the rides, and prizes were being won, but Layla and Bo ignored all the sounds and focused on each other.
Her and Bo's lips met in a passionate kiss. Layla felt the sparks between them fly everywhere. She wondered if Bo felt them too.She also
knew that once Rick found out about them he would want to hunt her down.
After kissing what seemed like more than 15 minutes, Layla and Bo pulled back to catch some air.Kissing Bo made her feel a little lightheaded, but in a good way.
"Rick's not going to like this. Here I am falling deeply in love with you, and I have a boyfriend", said Layla. But she wasn't sorry about falling in love with Bo. She needed someone new. "But, I'm not sorry about it, not one bit". she said.
