Bo drove along the road and inwardly cursed his wrist. He was sure he could handle going at least 80 with one hand, but there was always the off chance something bad would happen, or even worse… Luke was following and saw him. He glanced to his left and saw Hazzard Pond. It was so peaceful. He wished that more things in life could be like that. It was about then that he noticed somebody sitting on a rock on the other side. He quickly turned around and squinted to see well. It was Rosalyn… he could feel it. He pulled over and shut off the engine, staring at her for a minute. She looked up and immediately met his eyes. He smiled meekly before pulling himself up using his good arm and legs to the window, then swinging his feet over and steadying himself. That wasn't so hard… He swallowed hard and made himself walk forward. She looked as though she wanted to run; yet she stayed put, just sitting on the rock. Not moving. Just looking. They never broke eye contact as he approached her. His smile had grown bigger as did his confidence, but it dropped when he was close enough to see her red puffy cheeks. He slowly sat down next to her and looked down at her hand resting on its surface. He slowly went to put his hand over hers, and she flinched, pulling it back slightly, but he looked into her eyes and instilled security within her. They sat for a moment, looking at their now entwined hands and occasionally smiling at each other, wondering who would be brave enough to strike up the conversation.
Bo swallowed and opened his mouth, hesitating slightly. "I… uh… I didn't mean to… to push you or nothin'…" He continued to stare at her hand, and tried not to focus on how perfect hers, so small and soft, fit inside his big calloused hand. He felt another one of her fingers lift his chin, putting him eye to eye with her. "I guess I just wanted to let you know how sorry I am… I didn't know the whole story… Daisy kinda filled me in. But she was only doing it because we were both worried."
"It's okay, Bo. I guess y'all have a little bit of a reason to be worried. She's right you know… I can't keep it cooped up inside forever…" Bo held his breath as she spoke. This is it…she's finally gonna tell me… "Bo, there's a lot of things in my past… that you don't know about… A little over a year ago, I met one of the most amazing guys. He was my first true love… we were actually set to marry the day I met you. Ironic, huh?" Bo gave a small smile, and nodded for her to continue. He had to keep his mouth shut or she'd stop talking. "A couple of weeks before I came to Hazzard… he started to act… different…" she trailed off and looked out on the pond, and slowly pulled her hand out of his. She looked up at him apologetically. "I can't do this… I'm not ready…" She got down off the rock and began to walk away.
Bo knew he couldn't let her run away any more, and he jumped down carefully and went as fast as he could on his aching leg to catch up to her. He grabbed her upper arm and turned her towards him. "You ain't goin anywhere, Ross. You can't keep this all inside of you and I ain't lettin you leave until you let it out." He noticed tears in her eyes as she fearfully looked at his hand gripped on her arm loosely. She looked as if she was afraid he would tighten his grip. "Ross?"
"Please… let go… don't hurt me…" Bo immediately let go and stumbled backwards. Hurt her?
"Rosalyn, you know I'd never hurt you…" she continued to stare at the ground. "Don't you?"
"I'm sorry Bo… I can't do it…" He put his hand on her shoulder, overly gentle, and made her look him in the eye.
"I care about you way too much to let you walk away from this." She didn't speak for several minutes, and despite his leg aching, he didn't leave his spot. He never let her divert her eyes away from him. Finally, she closed her eyes and breathed deeply.
"He started to act different…" she whispered. "He started talking about our wedding night a lot, and how much he was looking forward to it. It seemed like he was getting obsessed with the idea. One night he came over to my apartment… we were gonna have dinner and watch a movie… as a break from the all the frustration surrounding the wedding, you know?" He nodded, letting her know she could continue. He was listening. "Well, dinner went pretty well, and I was so relieved to have a normal evening… until he started blowing in my ear. It was cute at first… but then he started to kiss my neck… I told him to stop but he turned my head towards his and cut me off. It hurt." Bo's heart sunk for her. What has this poor girl been put through? She breathed in and out steadily for a moment before continuing. "He kept getting really forceful… he grabbed my arms really hard… I tried to tell him to stop, but when he looked at me… his eyes were… overcome with lust… I couldn't believe it was the same person…"
"Ross, you don't have to…" he trailed off as she shook her head.
"I need to, Bo. I'll never free myself if I don't." She led him over to the rock they were sitting on earlier and held his hand for support as he steadied himself on it. She took a deep breath and continued. "I tried so hard to fight him off… but he was so strong… I didn't leave my apartment for a week… he came home so angry every day, and I couldn't get myself out of there… I couldn't take it any more and I slowly got out and left. I wound up here the next day."
Bo was in shock. How could somebody be so violent and uncaring? Tears ran down her face, and soon a few ran down his to match them. "I… I can't believe…"
She was getting more upset every moment, and she buried her face in his chest. "He stole the one thing I can't take back, Bo… I feel like he ruined me forever."
He kissed her forehead and spoke softly to her. "The way I've always seen it, that's something you can't have taken away from you. It's kinda like rewrapping a present that was opened too early, ya know?" He tried lighten the mood without being totally inappropriate. She looked up and slowly smiled and kissed his cheek.
"Really?"
He smiled again. "You're still a virgin in my eyes. That can't ever be taken from you." She broke down then and hugged him tighter than ever before. Bo wanted to kiss her so badly, to just melt into each other. But he knew right now he had to be supporting her, and he was almost positive intimacy wasn't something she was looking for at the moment.
Ross closed her eyes as she felt his embrace, so strong and protective despite his injury. His chest moved up and down rhythmically, and she could feel his muscles tensing. She knew he was controlling himself for her, because he knew she needed him right now to be a rock for her. She looked up, making a decision.
Bo felt her lift her head and gazed down into her loving eyes. A smile played across her lips and she began to move closer to his mouth. This time, there was no hesitation, and they shared their first kiss. Bo smiled as he kissed her. Out of all the men she could have to help her through this time… and she had chosen him.
Luke put the truck into park and opened the door angrily as he looked at the General. "Bo, once I get my hands on you…" He couldn't believe Daisy let him go by himself. His gaze shifted to the pond, and he caught sight of Bo and Rosalyn, softly kissing each other. He smiled to himself and shook his head. "It's about time…" He climbed into the truck and put it in neutral, sliding away as to not be heard.
