Bo sat on his bed and pulled the boot on his foot before shaking the dust out of his blonde hair with his hands.

"That's ridiculous. Like I said I just didn't expect you to come s'all. You wearin' that or you gotta get changed too?"

Luke sighed, sensing tension in the room, combined with sudden butterflies in his own stomach. "I suppose you're right though...wouldnt do no good to have any marks against me...an' I bet they's gonna be watchin' everything I do...maybe bein' seen at the Boar's Nest aint such a great idea."

Bo looked up exasperated at his cousin, shaking his head.

"Its unlikely they're gonna be following you right now Lukas. Just make sure you don't lose yer temper an' get inta any fights. To be honest you can't do anythin' that ain't already on yer record in Boss' office..."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," answered Luke removing his shirt. To be honest the thought of his record in Boss's office wasn't very assuring. Why would they entrust the welfare of aninnocent little boy to someone who, on paper at least, was listed as a criminal? He said nothing, however, slipping on a solid blue shirt and picking a stray strand of hay out of his hair.

Bo got to his feet, heading out the room to grab the General's keys and get a glass of water before they headed out, trying also to think of anyway he could to steer the conversation away from the impending one about how he felt about the adoption.

Luke eventually followed him out, sliding into the passenger seat, not even questioning who would drive there...he had too much on his mind.

Bo slid into the drivers side of the General, starting up the engine and heading out to the Boar's Nest, whistling a tune to himself before starting to sing.

Luke wasn't in the mood to harmonize however. "Bo...Bo you ain't told me what ya think about it yet..."

Inside his head, Bo sighed heavily but did not stop his singing for a moment as he tried to think of something...anything to say. He had hoped that singing would have distracted his older cousin from the point until they had gotten to the Boar's Nest at least...but no he should have known his cousin would be fixed on the point. It was rare that Luke ever let something important just slip through the net.

So, to buy him more time, Bo pretended to play dumb.

"What I think about what?"

Luke stared at him as if birds were flying out of his ears. "You've got to be kidding..."

Luke would be the first to admit that sometimes Bo had dumb moments... he teased that it was due to the blond locks that curled gracefully around the younger man's hea. But even Luke knew that, despite these instances, Bo was marter than most people gave him credit for...even himself.

"Zack, of course. What do you think about Zack?"

Bo frowned a little, glancing to Luke with a shrug.

"Well how can I tell you what I think of him? I ain't even met the kid..."

He replied logically...realizing this was in fact true. How could he tell Luke he was okay with something when he hadn't even met the person who he was supposed to be okay with.

"Well what do you think of us taking him in?" Then you can get to know him an' everything..." Luke persisted, his blue eyes watching Bo critically. He had a feeling Bo was thinking more than he was sharing.

Shaking his head a little, Bo just couldn't think of any other way to get around it. This was his last ditch attempt.

"Luke I don't know ok...I haven't met the kid, I haven't had time t'think about it properly..."

"Fine" came Luke's short reply. It wasn't fine though. Something about Bo's whole demeanor was off. Luke ignored it for now though, biding his time until the truth would surface.

Bo glanced at his older cousin, knowing that Luke knew something else was going on underneath the mop of blonde curls than Bo was letting on and Bo also knew that this would not be the end of the matter....in fact he wouldn't be surprised if Luke brought it up again the same night.

For now though, he just resumed his singing and headed to the Boar's Nest, hoping Cooter would be there to provide a welcome distraction and a young lady also would catch his eye to keep him distracted for the rest of the night...and hopefully well into the hours of the morning as well...he was a Duke after all.

Soon, Luke was following Bo into the Boar's Nest, smiling to the girls he knew, nodding a hello to the few he didn't. He did no more than that however. Tonight he just wasn't up to the normal flirtations and skirt-chasing that he and Bo were known for...tonight he had other things on his mind.

He sipped his beer slowly, as if enjoying every moment of the bitter amber liquid, rolling it slowly over his tongue. In truth it was the same old watered-down stuff that Boss passed for beer every other day, but for some reason tonight it tasted different. So did the popcorn...the stale pretzels were crunchy... in fact everything, mediocre as it was, was more enjoyable...

Luke hadn't realized, until he met that little boy, just how flavorless his life had become....

Bo however was already off, engaged in his favourite activities of the night. Teasing Cooter, playing the usual drinking games with the watered-down beer, chatting with some of his other friends from school who had stayed on in Hazzard and of course looking every girl up and down as they walked past....which he knew they did just so he would do it. As much of a skirt-chaser as Bo was, it wasn't exactly hard when near every girl he met made the same pass at him. It was how it was in Hazzard, everybody knew everybody and so most girls knew that if you wanted to have a good night, you hooked up with one of the Duke Boys.

Like Bo, Luke was used to having girls eyeball him...stare even. But tonight he was getting looks that even Luke was unaccustomed to.

As with Bo, every girl that walked past him tended to flutter her eyelashes or send a pretty smile his way. Luke, in return, didn't seem to notice, which got him many shocked looks in return.

Cooter laughed. "Earth to Lukas...earth to Lukas," he said waving a hand over his friend's face. "Boy, he's got it bad," he added when Luke just gave a far away smile. "Who's the girl?"

Bo shook his head, rolling his eyes when not even Cooter could get a decent response out of Luke. He hadn't really expected Luke to join in...but now he was guessing he was starting to see what life would be like once the kid showed up on the farm....where all of Luke's attention would be.

"Ain't a flavour of the month...more like a permanant fixture..."

With that, he lead Cooter away to explain the situation to him.

Cooter whistled low. "I knew ol' Lukas had a soft spot for kids but...adoptin' one....that's a might...well...crazy ain't it? What's he know about bein' a dad?"

Bo shrugged a little, ordering another beer from Jerry the barman for both him and Cooter.

"Well ain't like he couldn't do it...he's been lookin after me since he was what..4..."

Cooter nodded. "S'true enough I suppose...but heck... havin' a kid... it's gonna restrict him a lot...he won't be able t' go to a NASCAR race whenever he wants... have to find a babysitter when he wants t' come to the Nest for a drink...not t' mention the expense alone...does he know what he's gettin' himself into?"

Bo shrugged his shoulders, sending a friendly smile over to a girl who called his name, giving her a wink which in turn got a giggle in response. To say Bo enjoyed the attention was an understatment. He soon however turned his attention back to Cooter.

"I don't know how much he's thought about to be honest...Uncle Jesse tried t'talk t'him bout it but all Luke could think about was how not lonely he was gonna be..."

As he replied, he just wasn't able to keep the bitterness out of his voice at the very end.

"Sounds like some part of this whole arrangement don't et right with you buddy-roe...what's goin' on?"

Cooter was more than the best mechanic in town. He was the best friend, save one another, that the Duke boys had. As such, he knew them pretty well himself and could easily read between the lines of what Bosaid to catch what had been left unsaid.

Bo shrugged, taking a seat at the bar, leaving Luke to stay behind at a table by himself with the dreamy expression on his face...he hadn't even noticed Bo and Cooter had left him by himself. Bo didn't think even if he had noticed that Luke would really care either.

"S'just the beginning of the end aint it? I ain't good enough t'hang round with no more, I ain't what he needs...he needs this kid...now it'll be him and the kid instead of him an' me. Its already happenin before you say its ridiculous Cooter..."

Bo said softly, swallowing down some of his beer, cutting Cooter off with the last past as he saw the expression on his face.