Author's Note: Boys will be boys, I've heard that being said a time or two, especially accompanied by the sound of breaking glass….

There is however more to it than that, and there are many things that a boy goes through to become a man, this is one of them.

Big Thanks to JordynD

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….

Boys Will Be Boys

Chapter 2: A Big Dark Hole In The Ground

"I got into a fight with Luke." Bo's head dipped even closer to the table as he admitted to it.

"You got into a fight with Luke?" Daisy asked doubtfully. "Luke hit you like that. What happened?"

"I don't wanna talk about it just now." Bo mumbled.

"Okay sugar." Daisy hugged him again and started preparing supper. She could tell just how terrible Bo was feeling about it all. There was bowls of food on the table in front of him, and he hadn't tried to snatch a single bite of anything. No matter if it was her or Jesse cooking, Bo was always there with his hand in the pots and bowls. No matter how many times that hand had been slapped away with a ladle, spatula or spoon. He just couldn't resist it, just like he so often tried to steal a morsel while they said grace, it was no disrespect on his part, it was just the boyish way of his to be unable to resist.

Normally, with Bo so close to the food, she would have slapped his hand four times already, and threatened him twice.

It tore at her heart to see him like that.

"Bo, do you wanna taste the gravy?" she tried to tempt him. When he shook his head she went from concerned to worried.

Then as Jesse was setting the table they could hear the General pull up outside. Bo's head snapped up, and his face was a mixture of relief and worry.

"Now don't you worry Bo, I'm sure there's nothing to worry about." Jesse put a hand on his shoulder.

Luke came in through the kitchen door, and looked around in the room, noting how everyone was there. He winced inwardly as he saw the bruise on Bo's face, but he didn't let it show outward.

"Luke," Jesse began slowly. "I think there's something we need to sort out."

Luke held up his hands, palms outward. "Uncle Jesse, I'm sorry, but there ain't nothing much to sort out. I didn't do nothing to hurt Bo, but sometimes there has to be consequences, and I can't apologize for that."

"I just want to know what it was about?" Jesse shrugged as he watched Luke sit down at the table. Luke glanced at Bo, who was still looking at the table cloth. "I don't think I've ever seen you two at odds this way before." Jesse said slowly.

"Ah, we ain't at odds Uncle Jesse." Luke grinned. "It's nothing to worry about. It's all over now."

"Luke..." Jesse said as softly as he could. "I don't know anything of what's happening, but by the look of Bo there, it ain't all over."

"Ah, come on Bo." Luke sighed. "Y'all know it was your own fault. Lets just forget about it, okay?"

Bo nodded dejectedly, Jesse didn't know what more to say, so instead he folded his hands to say grace. Luke ate heartily, but Bo only poked in his food. Daisy doubted that he had even eaten a full mouthful.

"Bo." To her surprise it was Luke who spoke from his seat across to Bo. "Don't tell me you're so upset about it all that ya won't eat. Ya gonna make it all look ten times worse than it is, and ya have Uncle Jesse and Daisy worried as well."

"I just ain't hungry." Bo shrugged. "May I be excused Uncle Jesse, I had better go an' see to my chores?"

"Okay, Bo," Jesse said softly. When the youngest of his charges had gone outside he looked to Luke again. "Luke, I know what you said just now, but look at Bo. He sure don't think it's all over. And from what he told me, he doesn't even know what it is he's gone and done. Now why don't you tell me what happened."

Luke sighed. "He was joking with me, and he forgot to keep to the rules and started making fun of things he shouldn't. We got to arguing about it, and that's about it."

"I think you need to have a talk with him about it," Jesse decided. "No, Luke, don't go thinking I'm taking sides, cause I ain't taking any side, but seeing that poor boy like that just about breaks my old heart."

"I'll talk with him in the morning." Luke promised. He still thought that Bo was overreacting badly, but he was willing to compromise for Jesse's sake. Since the two of them were supposed to go and pick up some spare parts for the old tractor he could have a talk with him in the car.

Only in the morning when they were about to go, Bo had disappeared. He had been poking listlessly in his breakfast, and then he just disappeared. Luke looked around him for a bit, but then he had to go.

Daisy looked as the General disappeared around the next corner and Bo came down from the hayloft. He had been hiding out there when Luke was going. Now he looked wishfully after the car.

She walked over to him, the bruise was still big, discolored and a bit swollen, and he looked as if he hadn't slept at all during the night.

"Bo, why didn't you go with Luke?" She asked. "You were supposed to after all."

"I didn't want to go into town with him." Bo shrugged. "He's still mad at me and I don't want to argue with him again."

Daisy draped an arm over his shoulder. Ya can't settle it if ya don't talk with him. Ya should have gone with him."

"I'm gonna go and do the chores," Bo said quietly.

"Bo." Daisy called after him as he went into the barn. He came out again with a shovel, clearly intending to do the digging Jesse had wanted him and Luke to do for some weeks now. The two of them had kept putting it off and Jesse had put this week down as their final chance to get it done, threatening to take them both out into the wood shed if they didn't, and they both knew that he would tan their hides if he thought it was called for.

Jesse didn't only accept their constant way of getting into trouble, how they would chase trouble and girls with equal enthusiasm, he also encouraged it. As long as the boys knew they would have to get out off whatever they got into, he didn't mind. Putting a damper on those boys would be cruel; it would smother down their love of life. Yet Bo had always been the littlest one, the youngest and smallest, and ironically, the first to land in trouble.

It was Bo who got pitched over the fence trying to ride on the mule. It was Bo who got chased by the chickens after having chased them one time too many. It was Bo who fell down from the roof, Bo who was dragged over to Uncle Jesse by the scruff of his neck when they were in town, and Bo who reluctantly crawled out from under the car to take a lecture from Cooter about what he was not supposed to do.

Only thing that could ever bring his spirits down was when someone was angry at him, like Jesse, Daisy, Luke or Cooter. Then he'd look like a kicked puppy.

Bo had pulled off his shirt and stood driving the shovel hard into the dirt. He took out all of his frustration upon the wooden shaft with the metal blade, and he dug to hide the despair he was feeling over being at odds with Luke.

TBC

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