Author's Note: This is Bo and Luke's life together, from the first year Bo was with them, until when Luke leaves for the Marines, and one year after he gets back. It is all different events, but they all begin with more or less the same phrase. I thought it might be fun to tell their lives together by something that keeps happening. This follows on the same line as 'It's Cold,' and some of the events are even similar with the ages.

Big thanks to Earendil Eldar for beta work.

Warning: The warning is placed here for vinsmouse, who wanted a spew warning here, claiming it might be a bad idea to drink while reading the funnier parts. So please keep in mind that drinking any kind of beverage while reading this, might be hazzard'ous to the health of your screen.

Disclaimer: The Duke Boys are not mine, I don't own the Duke boys, nor the General Lee. I promise that once I'm through with them, there will be nothing broken that a trip to Cooter's garage can't fix….

I'm Thirsty, Part Three

"Luke, I'm thirsty." Ten year old Bo called from his bed. "Can ya get me some water, please Luke."

"I wanna sleep Bo," Luke groaned as he turned around in his bed.

"I know, but I'm really thirsty." Bo was sitting up now and looking at Luke.

"Aw Bo." Luke groaned, but he knew he would be getting up. Bo had twisted his ankle, not bad at all, just enough so it hurt when he walked, and Jesse had asked Luke to take care of him if he needed anything during the night. Saying that if he just kept off it during the night, he should be fine in the morning.

Luke could understand it, his cousin didn't need to stumble on anything on the way to the kitchen. So he got up and went to get the water for him. One thing was for sure, Bo was grateful when he came back with it, no one could say anything else.

Satisfied that Bo had gotten his water Luke went back to his own bed and fell asleep.

"Luke, I'm thirsty." Bo said from where he stood. His hands and arms were smeared with oil from having helped Luke and Cooter with the car. He also had a smear of grease on his cheek, where he had swatted at a very annoying fly. He guessed that the fly won, seeing as how it had gotten away, and even made him slap himself so hard it hurt.

They were out at the farm, Cooter having come out to them to give them a hand, and Bo thought it was loads of fun, Luke however wasn't in his best mode, and he had snapped at his eleven year old cousin a few times already.

Now he looked up and glared at Bo. "Dang it Bo, ya ain't done nothing but complain. What's the matter with ya?"

"I haven't been complaining." Bo objected defensively. He was getting tired of being yelled at.

"Ya have." Luke snapped. "An' I'm just about fed up with ya whining. What's the matter with ya anyways, can't even help out without complaining."

"I wasn't." Bo pleaded, he hated it when his cousin was angry at him. "Cooter, I wasn't, right?"

"I wouldn't say that ya was complaining bad enough for him to get that riled up." Cooter said thoughtfully with a sympathetic look at Bo, and a more annoyed one at Luke. "Kid ain't really been a bother, and anyways, he's just a kid. No reason to snap at him."

"I'm just tired of having him around whining all the time." Luke glared at Bo. "I told ya that I wouldn't have ya be a nuisance. So stop being one."

"But Luke," Bo started, he was cut off before he could say anything more though.

"Be quiet Bo, just be quiet if ya gonna stay here with us, got it?"

Bo nodded, pouting even though he tried not to. He knew that Luke tended to snap when he was annoyed, and it didn't mean that he himself had done anything wrong, but he still hated it when Luke shouted at him like that.

"Ya know he don't mean nothing with that, right kiddo." Cooter said softly as he draped an arm over Bo's shoulder.

Bo nodded and looked up at his friend. "I wasn't complaining, honest." He said quietly. "I was gonna say how I was thirsty, an' was gonna get me some lemonade, an' I just wanted to ask him if I was gonna get some for y'all as well. I thought it might make him stop snapping at me for everything I did."

"Uhu." Cooter grinned. "How about the two of us go an' get us some of that lemonade, an' leave ol' grumpy there to himself?"

Bo nodded, served Luke right for yelling at him when he was only trying to help.

"I'm thirsty Luke, can we have something to drink." Bo was seated on the hood of their uncle's old pick up truck, while Luke was leaning against it.

"Uncle Jesse told us to wait here." Luke told his twelve year old cousin patiently.

"I know that, but I'm really thirsty." Bo went on in a thoughtful voice. "If we were to go down the street just a little bit, we could get some soda."

"Waiting here means waiting here Bo, not over there."

"We don't have to wait there, we can just go there, and get a soda and then we can go right back here again." Bo said eagerly. "Please Luke."

"Or we could just wait here as we were asked to." Luke said with a soft sigh.

"Yeah, but wouldn't a soda be really great?" Bo asked hopefully.

"Ya ain't gonna give up are ya?" Luke asked tilting his head to the side as he regarded his cousin.

"No, I'm really thirsty, and really want a soda, so no." Bo grinned. "Does that mean we can go and get one?"

Luke sighed with a shrug, when you knew that you would lose no matter what you did, you might as well give up at once and save yourself the trouble of arguing. "Yes, Bo. We can go and get a soda."

"All right." Bo grinned as he jumped off the hood. "Come on then Luke." He hurried over to the shop.

"Luke, I'm thirsty." Bo knew he would be ignored even as he spoke. When he was with a girl, Luke never had any time or attention to spare his thirteen younger cousin. He sighed and kicked at a pebbled as he wondered what he should do.

While it wasn't fun being ignored, Luke would get really angry at him if he managed to get his attention. That wouldn't be very good either, then he would be thirsty, and in trouble at the same time.

One was bad enough, but both would be worse.

He moved away from the snuggling couple and decided that if Luke ignored him, he could go off on his own and find something to drink.

"Luke, I'm thirsty." Bo croaked in a hoarse voice, his throat was dry and hurt quite bad, and he wasn't able to speak up very loud. So he was almost afraid Luke wouldn't hear him.

He didn't have to worry though, Luke woke up faster than he ever had before. The years in the Marines had taught him to sleep very lightly, not to mention how he was very attentive towards his seventeen year old and, at the moment sick cousin. He was sitting up and swinging his legs down on the floor almost before Bo had finished talking.

"You okay Bo?" Luke asked as he moved over and sat down on the edge of Bo's bed.

"Thirsty." Bo whispered, hoping that whispering would hurt his throat less than talking did.

"Okay." Luke made to fill a glass with water for him from the pitcher they kept on the bedside table, but the pitcher was empty. He frowned, the last time he had given Bo some to drink, it had only been half empty.

"I'm sorry I had to wake ya." Bo whispered, actually, that hurt just as bad, but that didn't mean he had to stop hoping that whispering hurt less. "But last time I tried to get some I spilled most of it, and now there ain't none left."

Luke moved his hand over the mattress towards the pillow, and sure enough there was a damp spot there. The pillow was wet as well.

"Ya should've woken me up." Luke said softly as he took the pitcher.

"Didn't want to bother ya." It was no use, whispering or not, his throat hurt.

"It's not a bother Bo." Luke said with a smile. "And you ain't a bother either." He indulged himself into brushing Bo's hair away from his forehead. Not sure how much of a show of affection Bo was comfortable with, but having his hair in his eyes could not be any more comfortable. "I'll get some more water now, okay."

Bo nodded, that shouldn't hurt, but bobbing his head made his neck hurt, and that just wasn't fair. He wasn't speaking so it shouldn't hurt.

Luke came back with the water and helped him to drink, it soothed his throat a bit while it quenched his thirst a bit more.

"Thanks." He gave Luke a grateful smile as he lied back down again.

"Don't worry cousin." Luke put the now empty glass down on the bedside table. "And the next time, wake me up, okay?"

"Okay." Bo was starting to fall asleep again now that he wasn't thirsty anymore.

"Good night Bo." Luke said softly as he pulled the cover up to his shoulders. He waited until he could tell that Bo was asleep again before he went back to his own bed.

The End

TBC

Thank you all for reading, I'll do my very best to reply to all signed reviews, Elenhin