A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed! Happy to see people are interested, I was a little nervous about how it would be received. Obviously this is AU but also FYI timeline wise, Elizabeth became MSec not too long prior to this story but they never moved to the farmhouse in Virginia.

Alison walked through the halls with her head up for the first time in weeks. She quickly glanced at everyone she passed, not looking long enough to see their stares only to know they weren't the face she was looking for.

Her excitement faded when she arrived at first period without seeing him. It dawned on her that she didn't know anything about him. He could be in a totally different grade than her, she didn't know if he ditched all classes or only some and how often. Great, she had finally found a reason to go to school and it was taken away before first period.

Whispers filled the classroom as the students took their seats. She wanted to stand up and announce yes, she showed her face today, it's a miracle. Can they all just move on now? But having a public breakdown would only make things worse.

The time ticked by, it was the same routine in each class; walk in, sit down, ignore the stares and whispers, exchange pleasantries with the teacher, "yes, I'm feeling better. I will get this work to you by the end of next week," sit for an hour and do it all again. Her life was a Charlie Brown cartoon; the teachers talked but all she heard was wah wah wah.

Alison was walking to the fourth period when an arm reached out and grabbed her, pulling her into the stairwell. She opened her mouth to scream and her arm pulled forward to elbow her attacker when his voice stopped her.

"Don't freak out, it's just me." Logan.

She smacked his arm, "Why would you do that?"

"Ow!" he held his arm where she hit him. "I could ask you the same thing. You were about to attack me!"

She rolled her eyes, men were babies. "Serves you right for attacking me."

"Where did you learn that?"

"My dad was a marine and mom was in the CIA you really don't think I know how to defend myself?"

He reached out intertwining their fingers and pulled her towards him, only leaving a few inches of space. "I missed you at our spot this morning."

She blushed and ducked her head, her hair falling into a curtain, blocking her face. "I got caught yesterday. My parents said they know I've been skipping class so they made me promise to go."

"That sucks. What are they going to do if you don't?" He tucked the hair behind her ears

"I get my very own body guard to walk me from class to class."

"Your mom can't do that."

"Uh yeah, she definitely can," she said. A silence fell between them before she groaned in frustration. This sucked. She missed going out, having a life. It's not like she was the first teenager to ditch class or drink. Sure, her parents were saints but things were different back then. They didn't understand and wouldn't. They were never the talk of the school, the walking freak show.

"Jason shut up. Why are you so annoying?"

"You're the one who won't shut up about make up this and fashion that." Jason's voice went up a few octaves, "Omg guess how many views my YouTube video got?"

Alison smacked her brother's chest. "I do not sound like that!"

Henry intervened before it escalated, "Jason go upstairs and leave your sister alone." He waited until he was gone and Elizabeth joined them before asking Alison to sit down so they could talk.

"Why?" Henry asked.

This was the talk she had been waiting for. She shrugged while looking down at her feet, "I don't know."

"Alison, I know you've been going through a hard time but alcohol is not the answer. If you need someone to talk to, you have me and mom or if you don't want to talk to any of us we can find someone."

She expected anger and punishment not concern and understanding. The wall she had up cracked. "It was only one time. I don't have a problem, you and mom drink at the end of a long day. I didn't think it'd be a big deal."

"Your mom and I drink responsibly, we don't get drunk and we aren't underage. It is illegal for you to drink, not to mention on school grounds. You could be kicked out or arrested for that. Do you understand?" Henry was stern, making sure to get his point across. He wanted to get through to her; he knew if he didn't he would be getting a phone call they couldn't come back from.

"Yes, I know. It was just one time, what's the harm?"

Elizabeth looked her daughter dead in the eye, pleading with her to understand. "The harm is your brain is still developing and alcohol can impair that. It impairs judgement causing you to make stupid decisions, potentially life threatening decisions, like getting behind the wheel or putting yourself in a compromising position."

Alison sat back, putting distance between her and her parents. "Okay, okay I get it. Are we done?"

"Not quite, we need to know where you got it from."

"Why?" Alison started panicking, they could not find out about Logan. They would not approve and she needed him. He was the reason she went to school right now. He made her smile and laugh, he made her forget about everything else. It wasn't the alcohol she needed, it was him.

"If you got it from a friend then we need to talk to their parents and if you got it from us then that's a whole other issue we need to address."

"It wasn't yours and it wasn't a friends either." She hoped that answer would be enough, she wasn't lying to them. She wasn't stupid enough to lie, her mom was a human lie detector and her dad could read her like a book. Hiding her emotions was not one of her skills, always one to wear her heart on her sleeve. Her mom told her that was a good thing, but lately she wasn't so sure.

Elizabeth's stomach dropped, "You got it from a stranger? God, Alison how stupid are you? You don't know what is in it! It could have been drugged, you could have been-" she choked on the last thought that hung in the air. The thought that her baby could be violated made her stomach turn. If one hair on her head was harmed, Elizabeth would blame herself. She thought her kids were old enough that she didn't need to be around as much, clearly she was wrong. She'd failed as a parent. She should've seen how badly her daughter was hurting. She should've been there for her.

"I'm not stupid! I made a mistake, a stupid mistake. I said I'm sorry and it won't happen again. What else do you want from me?" Alison yelled, fighting back the tears. Her parents were scared, she knew that; she also knew they were right, she was stupid and reckless. The scary part was part of her liked it.

"We want you to be safe and happy."

"Henry what are we going to do?" Elizabeth asked, pulling on the edge of her shirt.

"I think tonight got through to her."

"It better have. We are not letting her go down this destructive path. I mean it Henry, over my dead body is she-"

Henry cut his wife off, "She knows she made a mistake. Let's give her a chance to gain our trust back."

"Maybe I could be a secret detail on her, someone to keep their distance but make sure she's going to class and not drinking."

"That is not a good idea." Elizabeth was worried, but they did not need to become helicopter parents. Alison would only pull further away, they needed to give her a chance to prove herself. "Come on babe, what's this really about?"

"This is my fault," she finally admitted.

Henry shook his head adamantly. His heart broke for his wife. He hated to see her blame herself, this was not her fault. She was an excellent mother.

"I know what it's like to grow up without your parents. I promised myself that I would never do that to my children."

He moved to sit behind her and started to massage the tension out of her shoulders. "This is not the same thing."

"But it might as well be. I'm gone before they go to school and home when they're in bed. I'm not here anymore."

"They know you love them. You may work more than you used to but look at the example you're setting. Stevie wants to go to law school and is interning at the White House. Alison is fearless when it comes to fashion, always trying to new things and putting herself out there in her videos. Jason isn't afraid to speak his mind. You taught them that, you taught them to do what they love and not to let fear hold them back."

Elizabeth heard her husband but it did little to console her. She turned around and wrapped herself around him. Words were not enough tonight, she needed the physical comfort of her partner.

"I'm scared Henry," she whispered into his neck.

"Me too," his confession hung in the air.