It was Leo's day off and he was sitting in the living room going through some old case notes when the door was flung open and a sixteen year old Erin bundled through the doorway
"Erin?" Leo said sounding worried as Erin ran up the stairs, her echoes of her tears sounding loudly behind her
Leo frowned as he followed up the stairs after her. He knocked on her door which had been firmly shut
"Erin?" he called again
"Go away!" she sobbed "I don't want to talk about it"
"Can I come in" he called but this time he got no response
Taking this as a sign of consent he gently opened the door and as he stepped inside he saw Erin curled up on the bed sobbing her heart out
"Erin what's the matter?" he said perching on the corner of her bed
"Everyone knows" she said, her body shaking with emotion
She pushed herself up and at once Leo embraced her, wrapping her in the safety of his arms
"Who knows what?" he asked gently
"Everyone at school knows what Mum and Ryan did to me" she sobbed
"How do they know?"
"Stacey told them" she said still violently shaking
Leo sighed as he recognised the name of one of Erin's small and intimate circle of friends
"I told her because I thought I could trust her and then she spread it around school"
"Why did she do that?" Leo asked
"I don't know!" Erin wailed "They all know now!"
"Erin it doesn't matter" Leo said pressing a kiss on the top of her head "You have nothing to be ashamed of. What happened to you was not your fault"
"But they know!" she repeated
"Erin look at me" he said pulling away from her slightly and looking down at his teary eyed daughter who eyes were glistening with tears "It doesn't matter if anyone knows. Any decent human being wouldn't judge you on what happened to you and even if they did then those aren't the kind of people you want in your company anyway"
"Please don't make me go back their tomorrow!" she cried harder leaning into his chest
"Erin…" he sighed
"Please!" she begged
"Erin listen to me" he said gently "Tomorrow you will go back to school…"
"…No!" she shook her head wildly
"You're going to walk through those gates with your head held high and show everyone how brave ands strong you are that nothing can ever keep you down"
"I cant" she shook her head again
"Yes you can" Leo smiled "And do you know why?"
Erin shook her head as she wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her top
"You're a Dalton" he said gently "And you can withstand anything"
Erin nodded slowly taking in everything Leo was saying and slowly her tears began to subside until they were mere bleats
"You go and wipe your face and I'll go and make us some dinner" Leo said untwining himself from Erin "You'll see Erin, everything will work out for the best"
Erin nodded wiping her eyes as she took Leo's hand as he led her out of the room.
The next day Leo pulled up outside the school gates and turned to Erin who had suddenly fallen very quiet as they got nearer and nearer to the school
"Remember what I said Erin" he said "You walk in their with your head held high"
Erin nodded and wiped a stray tear that was slowly making its way round her face. She stepped out of the car and walked through the gates just like Leo said. He sat their watching for a few minutes to make sure she was okay and he saw Nate come over to her as she walked through the gates. They stood together for a moment deep in conversation and Leo smiled as he saw Nate put his arm around Erin's shoulder and led her gently into school. It was at that moment that Leo knew Erin had enough strength in her to face anything in the world.
