A/N: Here the second chapter for you, hope it is as well received as the first :-)

Read and Reveiw please!!!!

For the next week, the Dukes didn't see much of Luke at all, not that they didn't try to but more he started avoiding them and going off on his own, shirking his chores in favour of running off somewhere early in the morning and only returning at night when everyone was asleep in bed.

Bo had stayed up late at night sometimes to try and catch Luke and talk to him, but whenever Luke did return, he walked straight into their room and into bed without a word to his worried younger cousin, blocking out his concerned voice and falling straight into bed. More disturbing to Bo was that in the moonlight that fell across Luke's face, he could see the tear tracks down the worn cheeks and permanent state of puffy redness surrounding those eyes.

Jesse told both cousins to leave Luke be, whatever Rosco had told Luke had obviously shaken him up bad and while he agreed that what Luke was doing was not the most brilliant of ways of dealing with whatever had happened, forcing Luke to come out with it would only result in arguments and push him further away, destroying all the work all of them had put in, in building back up their relationships.

However, Daisy and Bo both kept eyes out for Luke when they were travelling and several times, Jesse knew, Bo made up reasons to go out on a drive to see if he could find his wayward older cousin. By the time the week was up, Bo was about ready to call in Rosco and have him bring Luke home to them and Jesse was not far off agreeing with him. It was the evening before Christmas Eve and while there were traditional things that the Dukes could have been doing, as they usually would have done, it just didn't feel right doing them when Luke wasn't there. They had done them while he was away in the Marine's…but knowing he was home and choosing not to do those things just hurt each and everyone of them.

As the afternoon was drawing to a close and everyone was resigning themselves to spending the evening like any other, Luke walked softly through the door, causing everyone in the lounge to look up. Daisy and Jesse knew from the expression that all Luke wanted to do was to be left alone but Bo, who had been in the bathroom and came jogging down the hall at the sound of the door opening, was straight to Luke before anyone could say a word.

"Luke, where the heck you been?! We's been lookin' all over fer ya!"

Luke didn't answer, trying instead to push past his younger cousin to get to their bedroom once more, only to be stopped by his younger cousin's firm hand on his shoulder and a slightly testy voice demanding again from behind him.

"Luke! Answer me!"

The next thing Bo knew, he was lying on his back in the lounge, his jaw pounding and a ringing in his ears as he blinked to try and recover from the slight daze. There was nothing but stunned silence around him as he pushed himself up onto his elbows with Daisy and Jesse's help, swallowing gently as he realised that Luke had hit him.

Luke looked down at the sight, horrified at what he had done. Bo's nose was bleeding as was his bottom lip where Bo had bit it on the way down, and the look in his younger cousin's eyes was something he wished he hadn't seen. He dropped down to his knees in front of Bo, swallowing gently as he reached out and noticed heart-brokenly that Bo flinched away from him…just for a split second, but the longest split second Luke had ever been forced to live.

Jesse sighed as he watched the two boys silently, swallowing gently as Luke got back to his feet and backed down the hallway, clearly scared and horrified at what he had done, rushing to his room and slamming the door. For a moment, no one moved, until Daisy saw Bo move his sleeve up to wipe at the blood trickling down his nose and chin. She stopped him quickly but gently, shaking her head.

"Not on yer sleeve Bo…c'mon we'll clean ya up…"

They both helped Bo to his feet and into the kitchen, sitting him down at the kitchen table. Daisy rushed to get Jesse the medicinal shine from his bookcase and a few clean cloths while Jesse looked over Bo's injuries. The cut on Bo's lip wasn't bad, the nose bleed already starting to halt its flow, but boy was Bo going to have a shiner on his right cheek along his jaw line where Luke's fist had caught him. He stood up and retrieved some ice from the freezer, wrapping it softly in a tea towel, pressing it against Bo's jaw softly but still hearing the hushed hiss of pain from the young man.

Once Daisy had returned with the shine, they both set about to the task of cleaning Bo up who still appeared to be in a small amount of shock, not being able to comprehend what had happened between him asking Luke where he had been and how he had gotten to the floor…sure he knew Luke had hit him, but for what reason and just how hard he didn't know.

Eventually, they manoeuvred him to the couch and sat him between them, both cradling Bo in their own holds, making him feel safe and hoping to bring him back out of the shocked state. When that failed to work, Jesse used the last resort, helping Bo to drink a small amount of shine before soothing him to sleep, knowing that would be the best thing until the morning….Christmas Eve Morning.

As Bo was put to bed, having fallen deeply asleep on the couch, Luke watched from where his head was buried in his arms. He saw the gentle kiss Jesse planted on Bo's forehead and felt the gentle rub to his own back before the room fell silent and he sat up. Quietly, he padded across to Bo and swallowed hard as he saw what he had done.

He reached out, knowing Bo would stay asleep, and ran his finger gently over the swollen bottom lip, wiping away the small trail of blood that Jesse had missed from his chin before resting his hand on Bo's bruised jaw, shaking his own head and whispering.

"I'm sorry cousin…I'm so so sorry…"

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Jesse looked up from making the breakfast as Daisy bounded into the room the next morning, gleefully clapping her hands.

"Uncle Jesse it's snowing! It's snowing Uncle Jesse! It's only light and probably won't settle but, Uncle Jesse its snow!"

The old man couldn't help but chuckle at the excitement in her voice, remembering very rare occasions when Daisy was only small that it had snowed. Even though it had only been light, all three of the cousins had gotten so excited over it and usually spent the whole day outside playing in it, pretending to make snowmen and snowballs. He took his little girl into his arms and hugged her.

"An' a good mornin' to you too."

Daisy smiled again, chuckling a little as she pulled away and started to help him with the breakfast, Jesse laughing a little more as every so often Daisy would glance out the window just to make sure the white stuff was still falling.

Jesse however, soon lost interest and his mind turned to the topic it had been on all morning since he had risen at the usual 5am, his two boys. He had been relieved to find that Luke had stayed on the farm and slept, apparently, through the night and so had Bo. He just hoped that both were in a more sensible mood than last night and that they could sit and talk about what happened rationally.

Luke was the first to get up, not having the heart or will to wake his younger cousin up after the hurt he had caused, looking shamefully to Jesse as he eased himself to his space at the table, his ribs aching….not that he really felt it. His Uncle looked to him and smiled softly.

"Mornin' Luke…Happy Christmas Eve…"

He sighed as Luke only nodded in response, picking up his coffee cup and letting the silence fall at the table again. Jesse looked to Daisy and she nodded silently, taking over the morning breakfast preparations as Jesse hoisted Luke gently to his feet without a word and took him to the old man's bedroom, sitting beside him on the large bed and saying gently.

"Alright Luke…what happened…."

For a while, Luke said nothing, staring down at the coffee cup in his hands that he had brought with him. Jesse would not usually push him, he knew that, but from the concern in his voice he wanted to know what happened and he also knew that from the way he had been behaving, Jesse deserved an explanation, as did Bo….especially Bo. Looking up to his Uncle, Luke swallowed softly and spoke for the first time in a week, his voice full of emotion and pain.

"I…Rosco…came to see me…"

Jesse nodded softly, resting one weathered hand on Luke's knee and squeezing it supportively as Luke's hands started to shake. He took the coffee cup from him and put his other over Luke's clasped ones as Luke continued to speak.

"You remember Rob…from my platoon…the guy who saved my life so many times?"

Jesse nodded gently, not wanting to say anything.

"Well…he got home last week…"

Jesse frowned slightly, nodding and this time having to say something as Luke looked away again.

"Well…ain't that a good thing…"

Luke nodded too, looking back to him.

"Yeah…it was…"

"Was?"

Luke took a deep intake of breath as his voice turned hard and cold.

"Yeah…until some…"

He only just managed to hold in the curse on the end of his tongue, biting it sharply back before continuing.

"He'd taken his family shopping in Atlanta…they were buying Christmas presents and decorations together….until they were stopped in the street…someone recognised his military haircut…asked him if he was a soldier...served in 'Nam…"

Jesse swallowed, not liking where this was going as Luke trembled harder and tears formed in the hate-filled blue eyes.

"They…they shot him Uncle Jesse…right in front of his family…called him things like Baby-killer…murderer…he'd only just got back…his family had only just got him back…he'd survived 'Nam…an' they shot him for followin' dang orders!"

Jesse swallowed and pulled Luke into a tight hug, letting the young man sob in grief and frustration, rubbing his back and feeling tears spring into his own eyes for his oldest son's pain. He looked up as he heard small gasps and saw Bo and Daisy standing in the doorway, clearly having heard everything that had been said. He motioned them over with a nod and soon Luke felt two more pairs of comforting arms around him.

For a long while that was how the family stayed until Jesse coughed gently and everyone pulled away, looking to him for instruction.

"Alright….let's get breakfast done and then we'll go to church…then we'll talk more about this okay Luke…"

Luke nodded and Jesse gently patted his knee as they all stood and headed for the door…all except Luke. Looking back, Jesse said quietly.

"C'mon Luke…"

But Luke only shook his head.

"Luke…why not?"

Luke sighed and said determinedly, the look in his eyes sincere and holding a disturbing coldness as he whispered out.

"I ain't goin' to somewhere I don't belong."

Jesse frowned.

"What do you mean you don't belong?"

"I don't belong there."

"And what makes you think that?"

"Because I don't believe in it anymore."

Jesse stood in shocked silence, before saying gently.

"Luke, you're upset…"

"No Uncle Jesse, I've never been more certain about anything in my life. I'm not going to worship some religious icon that isn't even real. As far as I'm concerned, God is just a bunch of made up words."