Author's Note: Boys will be boys, I've heard that being said a time or two, especially accompanied by the sound of breaking glass….

There is however more to it than that, and there are many things that a boy goes through to become a man, this is one of them.

Big Thanks to JordynD

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….

Chapter 1: The First Punch

"What have you boys been up to?" Jesse asked as he came in through the kitchen door. Seeing the two boys on the farm, without the General up front was unusual; seeing just one of them without the other was even more unusual, though he suspected that Luke could be around somewhere as well. It wouldn't surprise him at all. There was no telling what those boys would do, and keeping track of them at all times was more than he could manage.

Bo was seated at the table with his elbows propped on the table cloth. His shoulders were hunched and he was holding a wet towel to his face.

"I ain't been up to nothing," he muttered.

"Uhu, I can see that alright," Jesse noted. "Now, why don't ya tell me all about it? And where's Luke anyway?" He was a bit concerned. Bo was the high-spirited kid in the family. It was almost never that he looked this sullen. In truth, Jesse could hardly recall the last time the boy had been glum for more than five minutes, and that included the time he had scolded them for blowing up the outhouse, even though it had been a mistake. He just was too high spirited by nature for that glum and sullen look not to worry Jesse.

"I don't know where he is," he muttered.

"Now Bo, don't you go trying to convince me that nothing's going on here. I know better than that. So come on now boy, tell me what's been happening." He knew Bo was trying to keep from having to tell him.

"I argued with Luke," Bo admitted grudgingly.

"And it was a hard argument, eh?" Jesse noted.

"Yeah, I guess you can call it that," Bo shrugged, letting the towel drop. He had a huge swollen bruise on his cheek.

"I take it you got that from Luke." Jesse touched a finger to his chin and tilted his head so that he could see better. "Did he give you that by accident, or was it on purpose?"

"He hit me." Bo admitted.

It was really odd, when something was bothering Bo, he never could keep it in. He would seek you out to tell you everything about it. Sometimes if it was bad he couldn't look you in the eye, but he never could keep it in.

"Bo, the two of you always bicker, but I've never seen one of you do that to the other before. So now I want you to tell me what got Luke so worked up he hit you like that?"

"I don't rightly know." Bo looked down. "Can't really remember. We argued, he knocked me out, and then I hitched a ride back with Cooter, I guess the rest don't matter much anyhow." He shrugged.

Jesse put a hand on his shoulder. "Bo, it matters, I can't have the two of you like this, now when he gets back, we'll sort it all out, okay?"

"Guess so." Bo looked down again.

"Now look here Bo," Jesse squeezed his shoulder fondly. "I know one thing for sure, and that is that I can't stand to see the two of you at odds."

"Me neither," Bo shook his head. "But he's so dang angry with me that I don't think he'll ever forgive me for what I did, whatever that was."

"Don't worry Bo, we'll sort it out" Jesse patted his shoulder.

"Oh, Uncle Jesse, he was so angry at me I reckon he has to hate me." Bo's voice was thick.

"No he doesn't." Jesse assured him, tousling his blond locks fondly. "Trust me he doesn't. Now, shall we see if we can do something about that there bruise, eh?"

"Ah, that don't matter now," Bo shrugged. "I don't care about it." He put the towel against it again though, having wet it with cold water since it really hurt.

Cooter had been really surprised when Bo came to him and asked for a ride home. For once he didn't try to get some food as a part of the deal. He just told Bo to get in the truck and took him home. The good lord knew that no one had ever accused Cooter of being the smart one, but he knew when his friends needed him. So it didn't take him as much as a second to make up his mind that the transmission could wait until he had his friend back home. Actually not sure if he should really leave him there, though Bo had insisted that he would be fine, and in the end Cooter trusted him enough to get back to work.

"You sure boy?" Jesse asked, and Bo nodded.

"It hurts, but it ain't like I've never gotten bruises before," he said.

Jesse didn't argue with him. The boy had learned counting by counting bruises each night. If he didn't have a dozen on each leg, he hadn't had any fun. After some time he and his wife had figured that it was as it should be and no need to worry. Still he took the towel and wet it again with some colder water before handing it back to him.

He watched Bo sit and hang his head until Daisy came in through the kitchen door. Bo clearly thought that it was Luke, because he looked up with a hopeful expression, and then his head dropped on his shoulders again.

"Bo!" Daisy exclaimed as she got a good look of the bruise on that time he looked up. "What's happened to you?"

He mumbled something that she couldn't catch.

"Bo, what's wrong?" She walked over to drape an arm around his shoulders.

"I don't wanna talk about it, Daisy." Bo shook his head. "Ain't nothing you can do about it anyways."

Daisy could not stand to see him so dejected and tried to give him a hug, one that he almost tried to duck out of.

"Sugar, who was it that hit you?" she asked.

"Daisy," Jesse said in a hushed voice, trying to discourage her from asking too much.

TBC

Thank you all for reading, I'll do my very best to reply to all signed reviews, Elenhin