Bo sat on his own in his and Luke's shared bedroom of the Duke Farm, trying to read his car magazine instead of listening to the constant excited chatter that was going on in the kitchen just a few short steps away. He had been invited to join them by Jason and eventually Luke as well, but he had refused the offer seeing that it was obvious Luke didn't really want him there.
Now you could say that he was just being silly and that Luke always wanted him around, but Bo found that when something Marine related turned up, Luke always seemed to push him away and try and keep him distanced until the said event was over. Bo could understand this of course, of everything that Luke had seen and been through there were probably things that he didn't want Bo to know or just didn't want to recount and Bo could respect that.
But now, listening in on what was being said in the kitchen and doing a good job of it too considering that the pair's voices were fairly lowered, he was starting to feel a little left out….and no, he kept having to tell himself, it was not jealousy. Luke had his friends and Bo had his own from the time the two were separated and every so often they sprang up to say hello, Luke's less often than Bo's seeing as his friends remained mainly in the same area as the boys whereas Luke's were spread all over the country…some didn't even make it back. The difference was however, Bo never wanted Luke to be left out when his friends came….
Suddenly, he threw the magazine down and sat bolt upright, listening in wide eyed disbelief as he heard the topic of conversation change to something that made the green-eyed monster flare with a vengeance.
"Hey Luke, how hard did you find it….to…you know….get back with girls again…after you came back…"
Bo shook his head, Luke had always refused to talk about that and with a smile he heard the same old response he had gotten a few times before. Of course, Bo had always asked it in a kinder, softer kind of way but the reaction had been the same.
"Jas…I don't wanna talk about this…"
"Aww c'mon Luke please…."
Again, the blonde Duke smirked and looked up to ceiling. He knew Luke, that pathetic attempt to get him to reveal secrets would never work, not when he – the cousin Luke said he loved more than a brother – couldn't even get him that way, puppy dog eyes and all.
"Well….I guess it was a little hard…I mean…without actually being around them for so long….it was like being a novice again you know…"
Bo's jaw dropped to the floor, blinking as he quizzed himself on whether he was hearing right….Luke had actually answered one of the questions that he had completely refused to talk to him about…and his jaw fell even further when other questions started to come up from Jason of the same nature and Luke answered them all without hesitation. Luke had met up with this guy less than two hours ago and here he was sharing secrets like they were brothers…which he thought was his place in Luke's life.
Swallowing hard, Bo stood up, flinging his magazine to the wall and storming out his bedroom and down the hallway, not stopping as he thundered past Luke and Jason who were leaning against the kitchen counters sipping some shine Uncle Jesse had let them have…not even looking back as he heard Luke's concerned call of his name.
He slammed the front door behind him and strode past Jesse who was sharpening the wood chopping axe outside the front door, kicking the dust to make the chickens scatter as he headed towards the barn, aiming for the hayloft. If he really thought about how hurt he was, the tears would have formed easily in his eyes. He was always the more emotional of the two boys, and it wasn't uncommon for his emotions to get in the way sometimes…but right now all he felt was a deep anger fuelled by the hurt towards his cousin. He faintly heard someone calling his name, but wasn't aware who it was until he felt a familiar hand on his shoulder and turned angrily to find it belonged, as he suspected to Luke.
The older Duke Boy had hurriedly excused himself from the room apologetically when he had seen Bo storm out, knowing without looking at him, just by listening to his heavy footsteps and ragged breathing that something was upsetting his younger cousin, and so he had followed. Now though, he staggered back a little, swallowing at the intense ferocity in Bo's normally soft baby blue eyes, shaking his head slightly as he frowned quizzically and asked gently.
"Bo….Bo what's the matter cousin?"
He could do nothing but look on however, as Bo did nothing more than shake his head, open his mouth to say something but think better of it and turn back around to head towards the barn. Normally, Bo being like this, Luke would have given him some time to cool off, but right now he didn't have the time to do that. He hadn't seen Jason in years and the gentle reminiscing was soothing to his still sometimes tortured mind. There wasn't many people around near him that he could talk about his lost 4 years to in Hazzard, he spoke to Jesse sometimes as he was also a war veteran and would at least understand a little of what he was saying….but there was no one around who could understand the horrors he had seen….and he really didn't want to introduce Bo into that world either…Bo worried about him enough.
"Bo c'mon! Please…talk to me…"
"Why Luke? So you can go back to Jason and spill some more things you'd never tell me in a million years?!"
Luke stopped in his tracks as Bo yelled at him, the younger once more spinning on his heels to face him with a ferocity that Luke wasn't entirely sure was fuelled by. Shaking his head, he stepped forward, hands on his hips.
"Bo…what on earth are you talking about?"
To hear that only served to make Bo more upset, which only brushed him up the wrong way further. If Luke didn't know what he had done wrong, then he obviously didn't think what he had done was anything worth thinking about. That may not have made sense to some people, but in Bo's head it was clear. Luke didn't trust him or have such a strong bond with him after all.
"What am I talking about?! What am I talking about?! Oh nothin' much Luke, only the fact that you obviously seem to care more about this guy than you do me is all."
For a moment, nothing but silence filled the yard and suddenly Luke understood with a shake of the head and a small disbelieving laugh….Bo was jealous…just as he had admitted he was when his biological brother Judd Kane had come to find Luke.
"Bo…you know that ain't true…yer just mad….look Jason's a friend…its just eaisier to talk with him about this kind of thing…"
"Oh yeah sure Luke…its eaisier to talk to a stranger who you ain't seen for years and years than yer own cousin who's been like a brother to you since we were knee high to grasshoppers! Or at least that's what I thought…"
"You are Bo! You…I….your being ridiculous!"
"I'm being ridiculous?! How would you feel Luke if one of my old friends came out of the blue and I suddenly started telling him things I wouldn't tell you huh?!"
"You do!"
"I do not!"
Suddenly, two simultaneous shouts caught the boys attention and they came to the realization that they were nose to nose when Jesse's hands pulled Bo away and Jason pulled Luke back.
"Boys! What in tarnation has gotten into you?!"
"Luke…everything okay?"
Both boys didn't reply for a moment, both staring the other down as they battled out their anger at each other inwardly. Eventually Luke turned to Jason, not meaning to ignore Uncle Jesse but needing someone who would take his side right now and not try and show him Bo's point of view. That may have been selfish, but at the moment he needed someone who could understand and Jesse would never allow him that.
"Yeah Jas, just a little heated debate with my cousin….c'mon lets get outta here….I'll buy ya a drink and we can talk some more."
Jesse sighed and watched as Jason nodded and walked away with Luke, frowning quizzically, while Bo's jaw clenched before he ran the rest of the way to the barn at Luke's words. The patriarch closed his eyes gently and shook his head, crossing back over to his work space to let Bo have some time alone to calm down before he tried to reason with him, wondering why Luke hadn't done that in the first place.
Over at the pick up, Luke was getting into the driver's seat silently fuming to himself as he slammed the door and waited for Jason to get in.
"Hey Luke, I forgot my wallet its inside…I'll be right back."
Jason called to him before running inside, smiling to Uncle Jesse before he closed the door behind him and looked around. Carefully, he snuck through the house and out the back door, checking he was unnoticed by Luke or Jesse before slinking into the barn, hearing Bo thumping above him.
He shook his head; this was going to be way too easy. He had known Luke the whole four years they had been in the Marine's together and there was an unwavering bond of trust between them as they had each saved each other's life on more than one occasion. It was one particular occasion though that sealed the deal for Luke, the infamous (in their platoon anyway) jungle bombing incident. Being stuck in the middle of the jungle is certainly no ideal place to be, as it provided so very little cover…add to the mix a horrible gun shot wound and you've got yourself one bad situation on your hands….a situation Luke had found himself in.
When Luke hadn't returned to base after the assault, Jason and a few other members of the platoon had risked being dishonourably discharged to ignore orders to stay in the base as the bombing started and had run out to find Luke. He was no one special at the time, only a private, but in the two years the young Marine had been there he had gained many admirers, young and old alike, of his unwavering determination, enthusiasm and support that there was no one in the platoon that thought he should be left out there to die…not when he was so close to getting what he so rightly deserved. Trouble was, there weren't many willing to risk there own lives to get to him.
It had all turned out well in the end of course, the small group had got Luke back and they didn't think any of the officers were any the wiser, believing the story that Luke had found his way back alone. But Luke had never forgotten that and thus the strong trust in Jason had been developed…and Jason was going to use that to his advantage…as well as this rift that he had unwittingly caused between them.
Chuckling softly to himself underneath Bo's thumpings, he murmured softly.
"Don't worry Bo…in a few days, Luke won't be on this farm anymore…he'll be well away from you…"
With another chuckle, he walked out the barn and back through the house to get to the pick up, apologising furiously for the delay before the two sped off to the Boar's Nest together to carry on their reminiscing.
What Jason didn't realise though, that the bumping hadn't been Bo…it had been the Duke's old goat Billy ramming the support post to the hayloft, causing the thing to shake and thud. Bo had heard every word and watched Jason and Luke go, with a horrible sinking feeling in his stomach.