Taylor would have been nervous for the dinner with Buck's parents even if she hadn't known all the details of their past relationship.
She'd had long term relationships before but they'd rarely gotten to the point of meeting one another's parents, and even when they had, it hadn't felt anywhere near as important as this. And the longer they'd put it off, the more her apprehension over the meeting had grown.
Buck had assured her for years that the reason he had never introduced her to them had everything to do with his poor relationship with them rather than any reflection of their relationship and Taylor, knowing what she did of them, had believed him. But they couldn't avoid it any longer, not when they were in town and had more or less invited themselves around to their apartment to celebrate their recent engagement.
But despite her nerves and his trepidation the dinner had started as smoothly as could be expected. Sure, Buck's parents were about as… friendly, as he had warned, but they managed to get to the dinner table without any voices being raised, which Buck had warned would be considered a win. Yes, Buck's father had asked with an infuriating condescending smile whether he was still allowing people to use his nickname, which had caused Buck's smile to become fixed and distant until Taylor had reached out and taken his hand. And, of course, there was the moment when his mother had inquired about Taylor's job and had only sniffed and commented "how modern" when she'd told her about it. Taylor's back had stiffened, her entire body going a little cold at the dismissiveness in her tone, before relaxing once again when Buck had settled a hand, large and warm, on her back.
Still, they made it through dinner, enduring the Buckley's cutting and backhanded comments, and Taylor thought they were home clear by the time she was offering coffee and slices of cake. Right up until Buck's mother rested her chin on her clasped hands and turned her frighteningly intense attention on Buck and Taylor.
"So," she prompted, smile worryingly wide. "How soon after the wedding are you two planning to get pregnant?"
"Oh," Taylor said, blinking at the directness of the question. Buck had only popped the question a few weeks before and they'd been too busy enjoying engaged bliss to start making plans for the wedding let alone for children. "We hadn't really talked about it," she said carefully, with a sidelong glance at Buck. They had in fact talked about children before, both agreeing that they wanted them, but Taylor wasn't sure that she wanted to share that with Buck's parents just then.
"Oh," his mother said, deflating a little as she shared a sad look with her husband. "Perhaps that's for the best," she added with a heavy sigh.
At Taylor's side, Buck went rigid, and Taylor felt the fire, which had simmered in her stomach, growing with every barbed comment over dinner, spring higher.
"What do you mean by that?" Taylor asked tightly. Buck's hand went to her knee, squeezing gently, but it did little to extinguish that fire. In fact, if anything, the show of love and support, made it burn all the more.
"Well," his mother said, oblivious to the temper boiling under the surface. "Just that Buck is such a daredevil, as I'm sure you know." She offered Taylor a commiserating smile that Taylor didn't return. "And with how dangerous his job is… it wouldn't be fair on the child if something unfortunate were to happen. And besides, I'm not sure Buck has quite the right temperament for fatherhood." Buck's father was nodding mindlessly beside her, while Buck clenched his jaw and looked away, allowing the slight to roll off his back.
Well, Taylor wasn't so willing.
All of a sudden, she found herself on her feet, hands clenched into fists as she stared down at them.
"Well, I think you're wrong. I think Buck's going to be an amazing father one day; he's kind, and he's patient, and when he loves someone he loves them with his whole heart. And more than that, I think it's incredibly sad that you don't have the kind of faith in your son that he deserves. And I think you have a lot of nerve coming into our home and talking to him that way. In fact, I think it would be best if you left now."
Buck's parents gaped up at her, before turning their betrayed expressions on Buck, who'd sat quietly during Taylor's tirade.
"Are you going to let her talk to us this way, Evan?" his mother said in a pitiful, warbling voice.
"I don't let Taylor do anything, Mum," is all Buck said in response. "And I think she said it all."
They just stared at him for a heartbeat longer, until Taylor said, in a dangerously low voice, "Please leave our home."
They silently gathered their things and Taylor followed them to the door, seeing them out without another word. That is until she was about to shut the door behind them and paused for a moment.
"And his name is Buck!" she called after them, before slamming the door.
Buck watched with an unreadable expression on her face as she blew back across the room to start stacking the dirty cups and plates from the table. She hauled them over to the kitchen and practically threw them into the dishwasher, slamming the door shut when she was done. And then the apartment just lapsed into a heavy silence, Buck still sitting at the table, while Taylor stood, hands braced on the kitchen counter, long hair falling forward to curtain her face.
"So," Buck said, blowing out a long breath. "That just happened."
"I'm sorry, Buck."
The words were so quiet that Buck almost missed them, but when they registered, he twisted in his seat in shock, staring at Taylor, still turned away from him.
"What?" he asked, rising from his seat and approaching her. "What could you possibly have to be sorry for?"
It was only when he touched her shoulder that she turned to face him, her expression remorseful. "I should have kept my cool, I shouldn't have talked to them like that."
"Taylor," he said gently, thumb stroking along her jaw. "I don't think anyone's stood up for me like that before. Maddie's tried but…" he sighed, and shook away the memories. "I didn't think I could love you anymore and then you go and do something like that."
"You're not mad?"
He leaned down and kissed her softly, sweetly. "Never," he breathed against her lips. "Not for that."
Ha ha fuck the Buckley parents, amirite? Honestly I hope we get to see Taylor meeting them in canon because no way would she tolerate their bullshit. Give me more protective Taylor plsssssssssssssssssss. As always hope you enjoyed the fic x Two more days of BuckTaylor Week to go!