"Hey, Marty, I'm going to Tay's house," Rosa said, rushing between rooms as she spoke.
"Ok. Text if you go anywhere else, and try to be back by 11," Deeks called out, tracking her movements for a few circuits, then went back to cleaning dishes.
It was a few minutes later when Rosa wandered back into the kitchen, wearing an entirely different outfit and a frown.
"You forget something? I think I saw your phone out on the patio earlier."
"No." Rosa leaned against the counter next to him, absentmindedly grabbing a clean dish, and started drying it. "You're always so careful with me. About everything," she said after a minute. "Where I go, who I see, when I get back."
"Yeah," Deeks agreed. "The whats and the whys too. What about it?"
"Well, you weren't so cautious when you were my age." She lifted her chin, a touch of defiance in her eyes. "You got into all kinds of trouble and Roberts always says you turned out just fine. It seems kind of hypocritical."
He tilted his head, considering before he spoke. "I can see why you would think that. It's true, I didn't have a lot of boundaries for a good part of my teenage years, and that meant I didn't always make the best choices. At the time I didn't see it, but looking back, I'm lucky I didn't have more problems." He smiled a little sadly. "My mom tried her best, but with how much she worked and everything else, she wasn't around to bug me about where I was going or who I was with. Sometimes a tiny bit of smothering isn't an entirely bad thing."
"I never thought about it that way," Rosa whispered, rubbing her thumb along her bottom lip.
"It's not that I don't trust you," Deeks assured her. "You're a great kid, but even the best kids run into situations they never anticipated."
"That makes sense." She gave him a half-grimace. "I'm sorry I questioned you."
"Hey, if you don't feel you can ask me things, then I'm doing my job wrong." He nudged Rosa's shoulder, gesturing towards the door with his head. "Go see Tay. I'll finish up here."
"Thanks, Marty."