Author's Note: This is Bo and Luke's life together, from the first year Bo was with them, until when Luke leaves for the Marines, and one year after he gets back. It is all different events, but they all begin with more or less the same phrase. I thought it might be fun to tell their lives together by something that keeps happening.
Big thanks to Earendil Eldar for beta work.
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.
Disclaimer: The Duke Boys are not mine, I made up the names of the other drivers, but I don't own the Duke boys, not 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….
It's cold, Part Three
"Luke," Bo paused and waited for a reply. "Luke."
"What." Luke groaned from his bed, at ten, Bo could be a pest at times, like when he woke him up in the middle of the night.
"I'm cold."
"I don't care, get a blanket, shut up and let me go back to sleep" Luke told him gruffly.
Bo sighed and got up for a blanket, wincing at the cold floor under his bare feet, and wished he was again small enough to make Luke get one for him.
"Luke." Bo's voice piped up in the darkness. "It's cold."
The eleven year old boy had been allowed to go camping with his older cousin and their friend Cooter. He loved it, but now it was so cold he couldn't sleep, even though he had his sleeping bag.
Luke's only reply was a soft snore as he apparently had no trouble with sleeping.
"Luke." Bo sounded a bit more indignant now.
On the other side of the boy Cooter grinned, for all his complaining Bo rarely whined. Complaining about things just was a way to state facts for him, and he didn't really expect anyone else to fix everything for him, he just wanted to make sure that they were aware of the problem. Cold when sleeping was however not fun, that much Cooter knew from a lot of experience.
"Hey buddyro, scoot closer to ya cousin there." Cooter grinned as Bo rolled around, until he was pretty much pressed against Luke, Cooter shuffled after. Between the two of them, Bo would be a lot warmer.
Cooter grinned to himself as he saw the young one fall asleep, Bo wasn't just his friends tag along, he was his friend as well, and more than that, he was a bit of a little brother to Cooter as well, and he found he liked that.
"Luke, I'm freezing."
In spite of the situation Luke laughed, the twelve year old Bo had been standing fishing on the bank, a few yards away from him, and then suddenly Luke had wound up fishing him out of the water. An unexpected tug at his line had pulled him right out into the river, and it was flowing rapidly enough that Luke had been worried there for a bit.
It was just lucky for them that Bo was a strong swimmer, and Luke was a fast runner. Getting far enough up ahead, to get a tree branch out to his cousin.
What made him laugh was that Bo still saw the need to point out that he was freezing, as if Luke hadn't noticed. His teeth were chattering so much that Luke could hardly hear his words, not to mention that he was almost afraid he'd bite his tongue out. Still the young boy had to point it out.
"Oh, I know Bo, I know." He grinned again at the soaked boy who stood therewith rivets of water running from his clothes, he would have been pouting if he hadn't been shivering to much. "Take of your jacket, and your shirt." He instructed. Bo would be a lot warmer if he gave him his own jacket, seeing as how one dry garment was a lot warmer than two wet.
So cold his fingers fumbled with the buttons Bo did as he was told, and when he stood there, shivering eve more with his bare upper body Luke helped him into his jacket.
"Okay, now we head for home, and we are going to walk fast." He ignored the fishing poles as well as Bo's clothes, he could get them all later. The important thing to him was getting his cousin back to the farm and warm.
"I'm cold Luke." Bo scooted closer to his older cousin, who didn't even notice, considering that he had a girl hanging on his side, and his arm around her, Bo wasn't really all that surprised. He had however draped a blanket around themselves, and Bo thought it was just as cold as they did, just cause he was Luke's thirteen year old cousin and not some pretty girl shouldn't mean he had to freeze.
So, shuffling closer still he lifted a corner of the blanket and pressed himself to Luke's side, Luke being so busy flirting with the girl that he didn't even notice. Seeing as how it was warmer there, Bo didn't really care.
"Bo, you okay?" Luke asked out into the darkness.
"I'm cold, Luke." The answer came back with chattering teeth.
Luke was again reminded of how he had left a thirteen year old kid, all elbows and knees, and gotten back home to a seventeen year old young man, full grown, though still skinny as a fence post.
"Want me to get you another blanket?"
Normally he would say the boy was old enough to get it on his own, he had thought so since a bit before Bo turned ten, now however was different. He had only been back home for about two weeks, and all of the plans they had made had been put on hold since a few days back when Bo caught the flu. Even if he didn't like the thought of the cold floor, he'd never make his sick cousin get one himself, he'd rather give him his last blanket and do without it himself.
"Please." Bo was shivering, Luke could hear it, so he got up and retrieved the warm blanket Jesse had left in their room should Bo need it. Draping it over him and tucking it in around his sides. "Anything else?" He asked, he thought Bo had been a bit hesitant to ask for things, as if he thought Luke couldn't be bothered with such pesky things as a sick cousin since he had been to war and all. "You thirsty?"
"A little." Bo admitted, curling up a bit on himself.
"I'll get you some water." Luke promised, ruffling his hair lightly. He had missed his cousin so badly when he was away, it had been the worst thing with it all, not having Bo near as he was so used to.
He headed to the kitchen and brought a glass of cold water. Then he helped his cousin drink it, noticing how he was still shivering just as much, as if Luke hadn't just put the warmest blanket in the house over him.
"Poor Bo," he said softly. "Ya still freezing just as much, ain't ya?"
"So cold." Came Bo's reply, arms tightly wrapped around his chest.
"Come here then, I'm gonna get ya warm." Luke assured him. Slipping in under the blanket behind Bo, draping one arm and holding him close. At first Bo seemed surprised, but then he pressed closer to the source of warmth he was offered. Luke wasn't really comfortable though, it was to hot under the blankets, and Bo was a source of heat all by himself, hot enough for Luke to feel the fever burning in him. Still, after some time Bo finally stopped shivering so badly and started falling asleep. It was the additional body heat from Luke, in combination with the reassurance that he was there that put him to sleep, and Luke couldn't care less if he though it was stifling hot when he noticed Bo nodding off. He really had missed his baby cousin so badly, and whatever plans they had could wait a few more days. He squeezed Bo tight once more before nodding off again himself.
The End
Thank you all for reading, I'll do my very best to reply to all signed reviews, Elenhin