Author's Note: A normal day in Hazzard is when the Duke boys get run into the pond. Not so much normal when one Duke boys get run into the pond, and can't get out of there.
Big thanks to JordynD for beta work and Gray Wolf for all the help.
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….
The Days After The Night Before
Chapter 13: Up On The Roof
Luke and Cooter went back to work while Bo remained seated on the roof eating a last doughnut. Grinning at them and not really caring that he was not within easy reach from the floor anymore. Luke figured that he'd let him stay there where he would presumably be out of trouble for the time being. He wasn't sure if there was any way to completely keep him out of any kind of trouble, but he reckoned that was about as close as you would get.
At least where he was he could keep an eye on him. It was kinda funny in a way, there was people that Luke guessed would have claimed that there was no way to be comfortable on the roof of a car, especially not with a broken leg. Yet after a few minutes Bo had stretched out on his back, his legs going down the back window, and he looked to be quite comfortable. Smiling softly when Cooter asked if he wanted his pillow and teddy bear so he could get a really nice nap.
Luke looked at him, deciding that he did actually look a bit tired. It was no wonder really, it was the first time he had really been up and doing something since the accident. Luke had already guessed that it would be tiring him. He glanced down to the far side of the garage where Cooter kept an old backseat ripped out of a car.
"Bo, why don't cha' go over there for a bit?" He hoped Bo wouldn't think he was acting the mother hen and get annoyed at him. It didn't seem like it luckily enough.
"Doesn't sound too bad." Bo answered sleepily, even accepting Luke's help to get down from the General's roof while Cooter handed him the crutches. There was a lot of junk spread out in the garage, but Luke let him maneuver that on his own, or he had a feeling it would be too much mothering for Bo.
Two minutes later when he glanced towards the backseat Bo was asleep.
Cooter turned to face Luke, grinning while motioning towards Bo. "Ya know Luke, I ain't seen him that tuckered out in here, since before he started high school."
Luke nodded. "Me neither, let's finish up here, an' then I think it's time I got him back home."
"Yeah." Cooter nodded grinning. "If we don't, I bet Uncle Jesse ain't gonna be too happy with us."
"Yeah." Luke nodded as he glanced over at his cousin.
He was finishing up when he heard Bo starting to toss and turn where he slept. Mumbling uneasily in his sleep.
"Nightmare?" Cooter asked concerned.
"Yeah." Luke nodded as he walked over and knelt beside him, shaking his shoulder gently. "Hey Bo, about time ta get home."
"Luke?" There was a scared look in his eyes as he woke up and focused on his older cousin.
"Yeah, I'm here cousin, don't worry." Luke gave him a reassuring smile. "Time ta head back home though."
"Okay." Bo sat up and rubbed his knuckles over his eyes. Luke had woken him up before the dream got too bad, but it had been bad enough as long as it lasted and he was actually relieved that Luke had woke him when he had.
"See ya later buddyro." Cooter grinned at him as Bo followed Luke out to the pick up and got in.
Back at the farm, Bo pushed the door open and tried to wrestle out the crutches as Luke came around the pick up. Sensing that he wanted to get it under control on his own Luke let him. It was hard to make yourself let go and stand back as he eased himself off the car seat, but he did it. Only walking up to him as Bo headed for the farm house.
"Thanks Luke," Bo mumbled as he started up the porch steps.
"I ain't done anything Bo." Luke shook his head. Since the two doors were both open there was no need for him to do anything but keep a watchful eye on his cousin.
"Yer doing a lot of things Luke." Bo turned his head to smile at him. "I just, I'm kinda stuck with that dang thing on my leg fer now, an' I'm gonna have ta learn how ta get around here anyway."
Luke nodded slowly, he knew the feeling. "I know Bo, an' ya doing great, just promise me ya'll let me help ya when ya need it, okay?"
Bo nodded. "I ain't gonna do something I know I can't handle Luke." He beamed at him. "That's why the good lord gave us cousins right, ta do the things we can't fer us?"
Luke found himself throwing his head back and laughing. It was just like Bo to say something like that. He knew what he meant, that it would fall to Luke to do the chores Bo couldn't, and that Bo would gladly pass on a few of them to him. Neither of them really enjoyed mucking out the stall, but it had to be done.
"And I bet there is a few of them you won't be losing sleep to let me do fer ya." He grinned. "I'll do them though, but only for as long as I have to…."
"Thanks Luke." Bo grinned at him. "Wasn't there some of that pie left?"
"We still got some ice cream left, yeah." Luke told him headed over to the cabinet to get a plate.
"That wasn't what I was asking Luke." Bo pointed out with a guilty grin.
"But it was what ya was after…." Luke grinned as he put the plate on the table and got the ice cream. Loading a few scoops on two plates, before breaking up the last of the pie and dividing that too between the two plates. "Ya can have it, but this round ya's gonna have to share."
"I don't mind." Bo grinned at him, especially since he noticed how one plate had a larger share than the other one. Luke was still doing the mother hen, that was only to easy to tell. Especially when Luke poured his lemonade for him. Once he was seated at the table and had propped the crutches against it, he had his hands free and there was no reason why he couldn't do that for himself.
He took the plate Luke pushed towards him, and knew that Luke had been more generous to him, if one share was larger by coincidence, there was no reason why he'd wind up with it.
"Thanks," he said again.
Luke looked up at him with a small frown, wondering what he could be thanking him for now. "I reckon we'd better use our one good excuse fer this while we still have it." He shrugged.
"It really does makes my throat feel better though." Bo looked up, "but I reckon I might be doing it too much anyway."
"Don't worry about it, Jesse ain't said nothing about it yet. It's okay Bo, and if it makes you feel better, then that's great."
Bo nodded slowly and started eating again. Sometimes his emotions would be jumping all over the scale with him. One moment he was as scared as he had been when he was trapped in the car, the next he felt brave enough to go after whoever did it with crutches and all. He'd be furious at Luke for some reason he couldn't figure out, wanting to cling to him for life, only to wind up not knowing if he should laugh or cry.
His emotions had been doing that to him ever since the crash.
"What's that frown for Bo?" Luke asked softly, and Bo hadn't even realized he had stopped eating before then.
He picked up the spoon again with a guilty grin. "I's just tryin' to figure something out."
"What? Maybe I can help." Luke leaned forward as he made the offer and Bo smiled. The look on Luke's face, the one he always wore when he was trying to come up with a plan. When Luke gave you that look, there was no way to make him give up before he had succeeded. Bo had seen it enough times to know just how determined Luke could be. If he didn't tell him, Luke would be working on it for days until he had finally figured it out.
He might as well admit it now and save himself the trouble. "It's just weird Luke, have ya ever been switching back and forth between so many weird emotions that ya hardly know what ya feel any given moment?" He looked at Luke expectantly, in his eyes Luke was still the hero that could do anything.
Luke nodded slowly, giving him a small smile. "A time or two, there was a short time after I got back from the Marines when I felt like that." He looked Bo in the eyes and gave him a bigger smile. "It ain't something that ya need ta worry about. Most likely it's cause ya mind is trying to decide how it feels about the crash."
Bo frowned as he started to scrape up the last pie from his plate. "I've been in plenty o' wrecks afore, an' it ain't ever been like this." He turned those big eyes to his cousin and Luke smiled.
"Yeah, ya have Bo, an' most often we just laugh at it and call Cooter. But this time was different fer ya, I reckon that there is a part of ya that just wants to laugh and walk away like we's always done, but it don't work this time, so ya's trying to figure out how ya should feel instead. It's confusing, I know, but it's nothing ya need to worry about."
"But Luke, sometimes I feel like I'm angry, and I don't know whom I'm even angry at, what if I go snapping off at someone?" Bo pleaded.
"Bo, if that should happen, we understand." Luke said trying to comfort him. "But I doubt that ya will, ya ain't done it yet. It's okay fer ya to feel angry, just let us know if'n ya do, okay?"
Bo nodded slowly, his plate now clean. "It's just so confusing," he mumbled.
"I know Bo, I know." Luke smiled at him again. "Don't worry about it. It's gonna work out okay in time. Ya just need to come to terms with it."
"How long's that gonna take?" Bo asked and Luke was once more amazed with his complete faith in his older cousin. The age difference was still there but it wasn't as obvious anymore. Sure, anyone they met could tell that Bo was the younger one. He looked to be even younger than he was. There were those that would say there was no way he was past eighteen, and yet he was. Even when they chased girls as if they were the same age down to the day, a part of him was always aware that Bo was younger. That was the part that always got so amazed when it realized exactly how Bo looked at him.
"I don't know." Luke just wished that he could give him better answers for his faith. "There is no way to tell Bo. It could be that it sorts out fer ya next week, but maybe it will hold on fer as long as ya have that cast."
Bo gave him a thoughtful look. "What if I could figure it out first? Would it stop then?"
Luke decided not to tell him that it was what it was all about, that he had to figure out how he felt about it. Instead he nodded. "I think so Bo."
He was really proud of Bo, sitting down and figuring it all out by reasoning with Luke. Okay, so he wasn't able to figure out all of it. Yet he sure got going into the right direction. It made Luke wonder if the accident had changed Bo in some way. Since he didn't really wait for Luke to tell him the answer, but made Luke help him find it. It wasn't quite the way Bo usually did it. He was showing a slight bit more independence than he usually did.
Luke wasn't sure if it was a good or a bad thing at the moment. It could be that Bo was learning to be more independent, but it could also be that after the night alone in the car he didn't trust anyone else to really be there.
He hoped with all his heart that it wasn't the latter one, he couldn't take it if that was how it was. Sometimes it was hard for him to tell no matter how well he knew Bo. He took the plates and put them in the sink to be washed later.
"Well, I don't know either, but I just can not see that boy not trusting his cousin..."
/Please leave a review, the cricket is hungry…..