Movin’ On

Part IV

September 15, 1987

Hazzard County, Georgia

“Uncle Jesse, I’m worried about Luke,” Daisy said, as the two of them were in the kitchen putting up applesauce and apple preserves to get them through the winter months.

“I know, Daisy, I’m worried about him too, but I don’t know what to do. Frankly, Daisy-girl, I’m at my wits’ end.”

“I am, too, Uncle Jesse, you should see him down at the Boar’s Nest, all he does is sit in the corner and watch everyone else. It’s like he’s miserable without Bo, but can’t accept what Bo wants to have with him.”

“I know, I only wish that I knew some way to get to him.”

“Me-” Daisy was interrupted by the ringing of the phone. “Hello?” she said, grabbing the receiver on the second ring.

“Hey, Daisy.”

“Bo Duke, it’s good to hear your voice,” Daisy said with a smile.

“It’s good to hear yours too, how are you?”

“I’m just fine.”

“How’s Uncle Jesse?”

“Good.”

“And Luke?” Bo couldn’t resist asking, though it hurt to say the name.

“Not so good, Bo, he misses you something awful.”

”I miss him too, Daisy, I really miss him,” Bo said with a sigh.

“How’s the new job going, Bo?” Daisy said pointedly, just as Luke walked into the house.

“It’s going good, cousin, though I’ve been here nearly four months and would hardly call it new.”

“True, hang on a second, there’s someone here who wants to talk to you,” Daisy said nervously, as Luke was motioning to her to hand over the phone.

“Okay,” Bo said, figuring it was Jesse or Cooter or someone.

“Don’t say anything, just listen to me. I can’t keep living like this, if you can, that’s great, I’m happy for you, but I hate the way we left things. I’ll be there as soon as I can get a flight, please, will you just take the time to talk to me, there’s some things I need to say to you,” Luke’s voice was nearly pleading as he spoke to his cousin, his love, for the first time in four months.

Bo’s heart had caught in his throat as he heard Luke’s voice, and he didn’t quite know what to say, so he said the only thing that came to mind, “Let me know when your plane gets in and I’ll meet it.”

“Thank you,” Luke said, a measure of relief in his voice.

“You’re welcome.”

“Listen, Jesse wants to say ‘hi’, I’ll see you in a few days.”

“Okay, I love you, Luke,” Bo said, but he was too late, Luke had already handed the receiver to Jesse.

“Hi, Bo, it’s Uncle Jesse.”

“Hi, Uncle Jesse…things haven’t been good, have they?” Bo asked, point blank.

“Not really, no, maybe things are looking up though.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“Bo, I gotta get, take care of yourself, ya hear?”

“I will, take care of yourself, and Daisy…and Luke.”

“I will,” Jesse promised.

“Give my love to everyone.”

“Will do. Bye, Bo.”

“Bye, Uncle Jesse.”

Jesse and Daisy looked at Luke, after the phone call ended, Jesse was the first to speak, “When did you decide to go see him?”

”I’ve thought about it for the past few days. By now you both know the reason I wouldn’t ‘come out’ with him…I can’t do this any more, I’m miserable without him. Only one problem…I still don’t know where he is,” Luke said with a hint of a smile.

“San Francisco,” Daisy said, reaching for the phone. “I’ll make a reservation for you.”

“Thanks anyway, Daisy, but this is something I need to do myself.” Luke said. And within just a few minutes he had a flight and hotel room booked. “Looks like I’ll need a ride to the airport tomorrow, would you mind, cousin?”

“Not at all,” Daisy said, hugging her older cousin.

“And would you call Bo and tell him when the flight gets in, I’m afraid if I talk to him anymore right now, I’ll break down, and what I need to say, needs to be said face to face.”

“Sure cousin.”

September 16, 1987

San Francisco, California

Bo paced in the lounge of the airport, waiting for the plane from Atlanta to land. The past 24 hours had been rough for the younger Duke. It had taken all his concentration the previous night to keep his mind on his job, lucky for him the only bouncing he had had to do was to call a cab for a couple of people from the dance bar. He had also coerced a couple of the other bouncers who had the next couple of nights off to switch with him. As it stood right then, he was going to be working almost 3 weeks without a break But he had the next five nights free. He figured he was going to need them, either to spend with Luke, or to recover once again from their breakup.

Bo felt his heart fluttering in his chest as the landing of flight 106 out of Atlanta was announced. He watched the entrance gate with bated breath, waiting for the dark haired man who was his heart and soul to emerge.

Luke was having trouble breathing as he thought of what the next few hours could mean, to both he and Bo. He flowed off the plane with the other passengers, their constant motion the only thing keeping him going.

Bo and Luke spotted each other at the same moment and started moving toward each other. Each was unsure how to greet the other. Each wanted to just run up and hug their partner, but knew that it might not be welcomed under the circumstances.

“Luke-“

“Bo-“

They laughed softly at the irony, and the rightness of speaking with one voice.

“Come on, let’s get your luggage, traffic will be a bear in a few minutes.”

“Okay,” Luke said, following Bo to the baggage claim.

Once they were in Bo’s Firebird, a silence descended on the car. They both had so little and so much to say.

“I booked a room at the Holiday Inn,” Luke finally said, breaking the silence.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Bo objected, almost automatically.

“I figured that under the circumstances, asking you for a place to sleep might be a little awkward.”

”Yeah, I guess,” Bo reluctantly agreed, though he could see the logic in Luke’s thinking. “Do you want to go there and freshen up first?”

“If you wouldn’t mind, I think I would.”

“Of course,” Bo said, putting the car in gear and heading toward the highway.

“Here we are,” Bo said, several minutes later, as he pulled to a stop in front of Luke’s hotel.

“Yeah, here we are,” Luke agreed.

“I’m not quite sure what to do from here…” Bo admitted.

“Could we maybe talk this evening , that is if you don’t have plans.”

“Sure, that sounds good, why don’t I pick you up in three hours? Will that be enough time?”

“Yeah. I’ll meet you in the lobby in three hours then?”

“Okay.” Bo said, his eyes never leaving Luke as the older man walked away.

Bo was having all he could do not to pace as he waited for Luke in the lobby of the hotel later on that evening. Each time he heard the elevator doors chime he whirled around to see if it was Luke, each time it wasn’t sent a fresh wave of panic, mixed with relief, through the blonde.

Then the chime sounded yet again, and Bo turned, the sight that met his eyes made his heart race, his blood sing, and his breath catch. It was Luke, looking better than Bo had seen him look in a long time. The elder Duke was wearing a black button down shirt over dark, perfect black jeans that showed off his features to perfection. Bo felt underdressed in his simple blue jeans and denim shirt.

“Luke…” Bo said as Luke approached him.

“You look terrific, Bo.”

“I was just about to say the same thing.”

“Should we get out of here?” Luke asked, feeling as though people were staring, though in truth not a single person in the lobby cared that these two men were former, and possibly future, lovers.

“Sure, I thought we’d go to a restaurant that I love down by the waterfront.”

“Sounds good to me, though I ain’t really hungry.”

”Me either,” Bo admitted.

“Why don’t we save the food for later then, can we just walk or drive or something?”

“Let’s still go down by the water, we can take a walk in the park down there.”

“Okay,” Luke agreed, following Bo out to the Firebird.

“Bo, I don’t know where to start…” Luke said as they walked side by side down a secluded path in the otherwise busy public park.

“I don’t know either, Luke, I wish like hell I could say I’m sorry, and in a way I am, but in a way…I’m not.”

“I’m not asking you to be sorry. I’m the one that should be sorry. I’m the one that pushed you away.”

“I knew what you were afraid of, and I pushed you too far.”

“Actually, that’s part of it, you don’t know what I was afraid of. Bo, I was never, I repeat, never ashamed of loving you. Not for any reason. Not because I thought I’d be seen as less of a man, not because I was afraid of what society was going to say, and not because of who you are. I was afraid to admit my love for you because when I was in the Marines I sent someone to jail and he swore revenge on the person I love most. I live in constant fear that he’ll find you and hurt you if I don’t deny my true feelings for you.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?”

“Because I know you, I know you’ll say it doesn’t bother you, that we can deal with it and protect each other, but I didn’t want you burdened by the thought of constantly watching your back. I didn’t want you to have to fear leaving the house, the way I feared for you each time we weren’t together. Only thing is, I realized in the past four months, that the fear has doubled because I wasn’t there to protect you.”

“Oh, Luke, I wish you hadn’t had to go through this alone. I wish you had told me sooner, I would have understood.”

“Bo, I’ve realized though that even if you did understand it wouldn’t have been fair to either of us. Neither of us should have to walk around in fear that someday one of us will be taken from the other.”

“That’s true, we shouldn’t.”

“God, I hate that he could do this to me!” Luke hissed.

“Who was it, Luke?” Bo asked softly, his hand resting lightly on Luke’s arm.

“A traitor by the name of Jack Talon,” Luke’s voice was harsh.

Bo gasped when he heard the name. “J..Jack Talon?” he nearly whispered.

“Yeah, why?” Luke asked, suddenly nervous.

“Because…I…I know him.”

“You What?!”

“He was one of the first people I met when I got to town. We met on a bench right over there,” Bo said, pointing off into the distance. “He encouraged me to talk about what was wrong, saying that sometimes it’s easier to talk to a stranger, and I believed him. I told him, not everything, but enough…oh God, he knows who I am. All this happened and it doesn’t matter anyway. I left you and he found me anyway.”

“Bo, calm down,” Luke said softly, pulling Bo into a hug, “You don’t know that, he may not have put it together.”

”I’m sure he did, Luke. He’s been to my place, he’s seen your picture. I’m sorry.”

“I’m the one who’s sorry, babe, I never should have let you leave, I should have told you the real reason I was frightened of anyone finding out. Can you ever forgive me?”

“Do you even have to ask?” Bo asked from where his head was resting on Luke’s shoulder.

“Guess not,” Luke said softly.

“So what now? Do we go back to Hazzard?”

“I don’t know, do you want to?”

“I’m not sure, I’m getting used to it here. I love my job, and I really would like to explore the city…with you.”

“Think you can stand to have me around 24 hours a day, seven days a week?”

“I stood it for over 20 years, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, you did.”

“What do we do about Jack?” Bo asked uncertainly.

“We don’t let him get the drop on us. I’ll fight, now that I realize the harm he can do.”

“You said you knew him before, you knew what he could do.”

“That’s not the harm I meant. I meant the harm he did by allowing me to let you get away.”

“Will you stay with me?”

“Of course I will, you don’t even have to ask. I love you, Bo Duke and I want to stay with you always.”

“And I love you, Luke Duke, and I want you to stay with me always.”

“You never did tell me what you were doing now,” Luke said four hours later as they sat on the couch in Bo’s, now their, living room, after having moved all Luke’s things from his hotel.

“I’m working as a bouncer, at a bar called the Striped Lion,” Bo said, snuggling deeper into the embrace Luke had him in.

“The Striped Lion?” Luke asked with a laugh.

“Yeah, I don’t know where they got the name, but it seems to fit, somehow,” Bo said, joining in Luke’s laughter.

“It sounds like a gay bar,” Luke said in all seriousness.

”It is.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, but the customers are really nice, and it’s a mixed gay bar, so it’s a little more comfortable for newcomers.”

“Like me?”

“Yeah, like you…or me for that matter.”

“What’s it like?”

“A typical bar,” Bo said with a grin.

“Come on, Beauregard,” Luke said in a warning tone, using the name that only he could get away with.

“Seriously. They have a stage where they have male and female exotic dancers three nights a week and a band two nights a week. They have a huge dance floor with a DJ, spinning balls, mirrored walls, the works. That’s the main floor. Upstairs they have a leather bar, you have to be wearing at the very least one article of leather clothing to get in. There’s a smaller dance floor in the leather bar, and they have mostly hard rock on the Juke Box. And then in the basement is what is known as the Dungeon. It’s actually more like a separate bar, you get to it by going through a door and down stairs before you get to the main bar. That’s an S/M bar. I’ve been down there once, off hours, and to be honest, I don’t think I want to venture down there when it’s open. Other than that there’s really nothing to set it apart from any of the bars we visited when we were on the circuit, except the fact that you’re more likely to see same-sex couples dancing.”

“How…how do you stand it?”

“What do you mean?”

“I just mean, doesn’t it seem weird?”

”No, Luke, not really. At first the hardest part about working there was seeing men together and knowing they had what I wanted. Now it just seems as natural as seeing Cooter at the Boar’s Nest with his girl of the week.”

“I’m so sorry, babe, I wish I hadn’t put you through all this.”

“Love, it’s okay, we’ll get through it, together.”

“You’re right, we will.”