buck was stumped.

it wasn’t that he didn’t know how to deal with girls — he had an older sister, he had hooked up with multiple girls in his time and he worked with women.

but he supposes a teenage girl with hormones and a lot of angst tops the scale.

when he started fostering you, you had been his angel. hadn’t left his side, wanted everything to do with him. and yeah, you were seven, but now you’re fourteen and suddenly he feels like he doesn’t know you anymore.

like — yeah. he knows you. his adoptive daughter. the girl who loves hockey, the girl who is so competitive, but empathetic. the girl who started out rough, but is thriving under buck’s parenting.

but lately he’s feeling like he doesn’t know that girl. or that little girl he once knew is fading away? it’s stupid, and maybe parents aren’t supposed to be so involved in their kids lives — but he is.

he doesn’t want to be his parents. doesn’t want you to be like him — a wild child and breaking the rules. sneaking around. so he tries to be gentle. asks questions without sounding like he’s overbearing. with your past, too, he knows he has to tread even more careful.

it seemed like nothing he was saying was right, and every conversation turned into a disagreement or argument. he spoke to athena, who said may was the same. he spoke to maddie, who told him to be patient. so that’s what he is — patient. he texts after arguments and makes sure you know you can always go to him.

it’s not perfect all the time, but it’s a routine.

like right now.

buck can hear the music blaring from your room after a conversation about piercings turned into a disagreement. he’s outside your door, leaning against the doorway.

he knocks.

“c’mon, bug. i’m sorry. i’m not saying no to the piercing — just wait until you’re a little older, y’know?”

silence.

he knocks again.

“c’mon.”