Chapter Text
Bobby is quiet for a moment after Buck pulls back.
He places a Hand on Buck's shoulder.
“I was joking last night,” he says.
Buck gives a wet, shaky laugh.
“Yeah, I noticed.”
Bobby shakes his head.
“No. That’s not what I mean.”
His hand stays firm on Buck’s shoulder.
“I was joking when I said it like it didn’t matter,” he says. “That part was the joke. Not the rest of it.”
Buck goes still.
“Because the truth is…” He pauses, and when he speaks again his voice is low and certain. “If I could’ve adopted you years ago, I think I would have.”
Buck makes a small, wrecked sound in the back of his throat.
Bobby keeps going before he can retreat from it.
“I don’t want to push you into anything,” he says, quieter now. “And I don’t want you to think I’m saying this because of what you said last night.”
Bobby exhales slowly.
“I know you have parents,” he says carefully. “A dad—”
Buck lets out a sharp, humorless scoff, the sound cutting through the space between them.
“Yeah,” he mutters. “Sure.”
Bobby nods once, like he understands, because he does.
A breath.
“If you want that, if you want me in your life that way—”
His voice lowers, steady and sure.
“Then I’m here.”
A beat.
Then, softer, undeniable:
“I’d like to be that for you.”