Okay all…here is the next installment. This one is by me- Jordyn. Please let me know what you think….

"Don't go Luke…please don't go…" begged Bo from within the recesses of his cousin's strong arms.

"I gotta Bo…"

"No ya ain't! We'll hide! We've hidden from Rosco lots o' times. We could go t' the caves… 'er Jenson's mine… they'd never find us there!"

"Bo…ya don't understand, buddy…I can't… I got friends out there…" His voice faltered as he thought of his comrades out fighting in the Vietnamese jungles while Luke was safe at home, though at the moment, Luke would much rather have faced an ambush by the Viet Kong than the heart-wrenching look on Bo's face. "They need me, Bo."

"They need ya! Well what about me! What about what I need!" He pushed himself up out of Luke's embrace and stood over him, his body quivering with anger, his eyes like clouds before a storm. "Ya know what you are, Luke? Ya ain't nothin' but a low-down, dirty-rotten pole cat… and a liar!"

Luke flinched as though he had been struck with a cat-o'-nine-tails. Bo's words ripped through him, tearing at his very soul. It hurt and he fought to control the now- instinctive urge to hurt back the one that hurt him.

"Bo!" cried Daisy, unable to believe the words that left her younger cousin's mouth. She had just come into the boys' room to see what kind of pie Luke would like with dinner. She forgot all about asking when she witnessed the scene playing out before her.

"What!" snapped Bo in turn. "He's a liar, Daisy! He said he was home on leave! How can he call it a leave if he ain't left! He's a liar! He's just gonna go back! Why'd ya come at all Luke, huh? Why'd ya come at all!"

Luke could feel his hand and knees start to tremble with fear, more so even than when he was looking down his rifle at the enemy sniper yards in front of him. It wasn't supposed to happen this way. Not here…. and not with Bo.

Bo was his cousin, but more than that he was his best friend. Luke couldn't help thinking of the small Bible his uncle had given him before he left. It was the one Jesse had taken with him to war many years before, and was well marked and creased. Now, since in Luke's possession, it was creased so much so that it opened right to Luke's favorite proverb: There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. For Luke, that friend had always been Bo and now, with him so far away, Luke understood more than ever what Jesse had been talking about all those years: that family was the most important thing. There was nothing that Luke wouldn't do for Jesse, Bo and Daisy. He lived for them and if needs be, he would die for them too. The thought that Bo wanted him gone hurt more than the gunshot wound, more than having Tommy die in his arms. He looked to the floor, unable to say anything.

Daisy swallowed down her anger, fighting to stay controlled. "Bo you act like Luke wants to go back!"

"Well ask him Daisy! Just ask him! He cares more about these buddies of his he just met than he does 'bout his own family!"

"Bo y'ain't bein' fair…" began Daisy.

"Bo please…" begged Luke in a choked whisper, "ya don't understand…"

"Oh I understand… I understand plenty, Luke! Good ol' Semper Fi… always faithful…that's the Marine motto ain't it? Well, I'll say one thing…yer sure faithful t' yer friends… yer family ya don't care a rat's behind about, but hey… ya got yer friends. That's all ya need ain't it, Luke? Sure don't need any of us… so why'd ya come back! Just go…." continued Bo with tears running down his cheeks.

"Bo! Yer hurtin' him! Don'tcha see!" exclaimed Daisy, looking on fearfully as Luke drew his knees to his chest and sat with his face hidden on his legs.

"I don't care! Let him know what it's like for the rest of us t' hurt!"

"How can you be so mean! He came back for you…for all of us… an' this is the way ya treat him!"

"I don't want him back!" cried Bo through his tears, unconsciously driving the knife deeper into Luke's heart.

He should have seen the slap coming, but he couldn't help let out a surprised gasp when he felt Daisy land one across his cheek… hard.

"How dare you!" She turned to Luke quickly. "Luke…" But it was too late.

Luke was gone from the room.

"How could you! Don't you think he's gone through enough!" cried Daisy. She turned and fancying she had a pretty good idea where Luke would be, headed to the loft in the barn.

"Knock, knock…" she ventured quietly looking up from her mount on the ladder. "Can I join ya?"

Luke was half immersed in a pile of hay. He looked up upon hearing his cousin but said nothing.

Daisy took that for a yes and soon was sitting beside him, noting fait tear marks on his cheeks.

"He's just scared, Luke…like the rest of us… he loves ya"

"Sure's got a funny way of showin' it," answered Luke, the hurt lingering on his voice.

"Well, you know Bo… he never did think before he spoke… ya gotta know he wants ya here Luke… we all do…"

"He's right," sighed Luke. "I shouldna come… I didn't think about y'all….I shoulda stayed where I was needed"

Tears began to fall from Daisy's eyes. "Luke…ya came where ya was needed… an at the perfect time."

"Ya don't need me… all I do is hurt people I care about…"

"Luke you have no idea how much we missed you… it's so different without ya…." She hesitated, not sure how to put into words what her cousin meant to her…until a small smile crossed her lips.

Luke saw it and wondered how she could actually be smiling when he felt like his life had ended.

"What?"

"Luke… I don't think I ever told ya… all those years Aunt Martha would make a chocolate cake for our birthdays… an' we'd blow out the candles and make a wish…well, I used to wish for the same thing every year… somethin' I wanted more than anything…"

"What was it?"

Daisy blushed. "For you an' Bo to be my real brothers… I still wish that… every year. I love you… ain't nothin' ever gonna change that."

Luke was deeply touched by Daisy's words and, as was his habit, whenever something affected him greatly, Luke would grow quiet. With his emotions as topsy-turvey as a rollercoaster at the moment, the Marine pulled Daisy into his arms, taking in the feel of her head on his shoulder, the scent of her hair, the sound of her heart-felt sigh. He stored it up to remember, some things being just too important to forget.