This chapter is slightly different. It focuses on several flashback moments with Erin and Voight.

The music felt like it was erupting from beneath the wooden floors of the house. Erin stood in the kitchen, pouring herself a vodka tonic and getting the measurements completely wrong. This was the first party in a month that she'd been invited to and she was going to try and make the most of it. She had heard the rumors about her; some of her classmates were not subtle about their nickname for her.

Narc.

Erin had rolled her eyes at it but it stung her. It wasn't easy having a cop as a father, let alone a sergeant who was the definition of 'overprotective'.

She tried her best to brush off the rumors and laugh about them but she hadn't been oblivious to how many parties she had only heard about after they'd happened. She wanted to point out the fact that there had been many parties she had attended that hadn't been broken up by the police but it was useless. So Erin pretended not to care.

Thankfully, her friend Lydia had thrown a party while her mom was out of town for business and Erin was definitely on the invite list. But it didn't mean that people would necessarily want to hang out with her.

Erin mixed her drink using a straw and watched the rest of the party goers. She didn't know everyone here; Lydia was one of her newer friends. She had become distant from her other friends after the accident. Erin couldn't stand seeing sympathy stamped all over their stupid faces all the time. So they had drifted apart and Erin had found new friends who didn't know about her dead mom and dead brother.

She preferred it that way.

"Erin!" Lydia's voice called from behind her. Erin turned to see Lydia standing next to a very tall, very handsome guy. "I want to introduce you to someone." Lydia gestured to the tall guy and gave Erin a playful wink.

"I'm Erin." Erin extended her hand out to the guy. The guy smirked and shook her hand.

"I'm Charlie." He said. His voice was deep with a slight rasp like hers, and Erin bit her lip. "What are you drinkin'?"

Erin couldn't believe how interesting Charlie was. He was twenty-one and gorgeous. No other guy in her high school was half as good-looking or interested in her. Charlie had travelled to Canada all by himself. He was an adult.

Charlie wasn't much of a dancer but he knew how to mix real drinks and had made them for her.

She was pretty drunk at this point and completely aware of how much she was giggling. At least he didn't seem to mind.

Blue lights flashed from outside followed by a short wail of a siren.

"COPS!" someone yelled from the front lawn. Everyone in the house began to scatter like cockroaches. Erin felt Charlie grab her hand and pull her outside through to the back yard. Erin had never been to Lydia's house before but it looked like Charlie had because he knew exactly which way to run.

The fresh air hit her suddenly and Erin gripped Charlie's hand as he led her to where his car was parked. She could see a tattoo peeking out from beneath his sleeve and her heart thumped harder.

"Oh, I thought you'd have a motorcycle." She said without realizing she was saying it out loud. Charlie turned back at her.

"I do – it's in the shop. This is my brother's car." He told her. "Get in." Erin got into the passenger side and belted up. Charlie gave her an amused look and belted up too. "Wanna go somewhere?" he asked.

Erin froze and stupidly replied with "I have a curfew." She hated herself as soon as she said it but she was still tipsy from the drinks and her heart was beating so fast from the mix of alcohol, the cops, the crisp winter air, and Charlie, that she felt like she could have a heart attack at any moment.

Charlie tried to hide his surprise – Erin guessed not many girls turned him down, but he just asked for her address and before she knew it, they were zooming down the road and away from the busted party.

They parked up a few doors away from her house and Charlie kept the engine running. He didn't say anything and Erin didn't know what to say except to thank him, and then she tried to get out of the car whilst still belted up. She groaned when she realized and he gave a low chuckle.

"I'll see you around." He said.

In her head, Erin tried to come up with a witty reply. Something that would make him remember her and want to see her again. Instead, she just nodded and got out of the car. She shut the door and turned towards her house. She heard the engine rev and speed down the street.

Erin wanted to see him again so desperately.

Erin could feel her smile radiating from her even in the winter air. It had been a month since she had met Charlie and she couldn't get enough of him. They had been at a bar with his friends and then they'd spent some time in the backseat of his car. She had never felt so much excitement in her life.

Her joy was shortlived, however, when Erin spotted her dad's car in the driveway and inwardly sighed. This wouldn't end well.

Thought her last drink had been over an hour ago, she was still a little tipsy. Erin popped a mint in her mouth to mask the mix of alcohol and cigarettes and then sniffed her jacket. If she was lucky, her dad might not be able to smell the smoke.

Erin turned the key in the lock and gently pushed the door open. She had hoped that her dad might be asleep already, but she saw the light gleaming in the kitchen and her heart sank slightly. She wasn't in the mood to argue.

She hadn't even managed to get to the first stair before her dad emerged from the darkness of the living room. Erin let out a shriek.

"God, dad! You scared me." She gestured towards the kitchen. "I thought you were in there."

"It's after midnight, where were you?" He demanded. Erin turned from her dad to take her jacket off.

"I was at Lydia's." She told him coolly. She wasn't technically lying. She had been at Lydia's earlier that day but Charlie had picked her up around six and they had gone to the bar with his friends.

"Look at my eyes when you're answering me."

"You don't have to interrogate me." Erin retorted. "I'm not a suspect."

"No, but you're my daughter and you'll answer me in the way I ask you to." Voight's worry about his daughter's whereabouts was rapidly transforming into rage at her brusque attitude.

"What are you doing here anyway? You told me you'd be home late."

"The guy confessed. Case closed." As Erin began walking towards the stairs again, he stepped in front. "Don't walk away from me when I'm talking to you. Where were you?"

"I told you I was at Lydia's! What's the big deal?" She said with a groan.

"When I come home late at night, I expect you to be here; or at least know where you are."

"I left a message."

"No, you didn't."

"I called the precinct."

"You didn't ca-" Voight let out a frustrated sigh. He didn't want to go around in circles with Erin. Not when it was already late and he'd had a terrible day. "Your school called and said you cut class today."

Erin paused before replying. "It was only last period."

"You shouldn't be cutting at all. I expect you to be at school during school hours."

"You are 'expecting' a lot of me lately." Erin spat. "You're my dad, I expect you to be home at a reasonable hour too. I expect us to have dinner together more than once a week. You're never home, dad. Do you expect me to come home to an empty house and wait all night for you so you can yell at me about something?" She crossed her arms. "I cut study hall because all the juniors cut it when it's last period. I went to Lydia's to hang out and do homework. I had dinner with her family and I'm late because we were watching movies and I fell asleep."

Voight didn't say anything. His eyes stared back at hers and his mouth opened slightly before settling into a tight line.

"You don't go to Lydia's or anyone else's house without my express permission." He told her. She rolled her eyes again.

"Fine." She said as she jogged up the stairs and left her father behind.

Her bedroom door slammed a few moments later. Voight didn't mention that he could smell the alcohol on her breath.

Erin wasn't worried about being in a bar underage—she'd been to bars before. But walking into a bar with Charlie seemed different. Like she belonged there somehow. Nobody would really bat an eyelid seeing her there if she was with him. He strolled into the bar like he owned it and they settled into a booth near the back. His hand was still grasping hers and she gave it a small squeeze. He turned back with a lazy grin and squeezed it back.

Charlie had text her earlier that night and told her to look out of her window. He was standing in her back yard. Erin had snuck out of her bedroom window several times before and was now pretty good at it. It was becoming a habit and she knew she would be caught eventually, but she was having fun with Charlie and her dad was working late most nights. He didn't need to know.

Charlie was more than she thought. He wasn't just a guy with a motorbike and tattoos. He knew people and he always had a group of friends around him. Sometimes it annoyed her, preferring to spend time with him alone, but she always had fun and it was so exciting being out with him. No-one in her high school held a candle to him.

When they were alone, he was sweet and flattering. She had dated guys before but Charlie was the first real boyfriend she'd had. He bought her gifts, picked her up from school most days, and even ocassionally helped her with her homework.

More than anything, he was there.

He wasn't an empty house. He wasn't a microwave meal or another night alone because a body had been found.

Charlie listened to her stories about her day. He made her dinner (not well, but he tried). He took her to clubs, listening to music she had never heard before but could feel she knew the songs in her bones. Tonight, one of his friends had offered her a white pill of something that she didn't know. She had refused but Charlie laughed and took it instead, and he had been so sweet to her and his smile hadn't faded all night. Like he was having the time of his life. She had felt a tinge of envy but shook it from her mind. She couldn't mess with pills like that.

"You should take a chance next time." He had told her in her ear, pressing her gently against the wall of her bedroom. Her dad had text to say he was working late on a shooting and probably wouldn't see her until she was on her way to school the next morning. That was three hours from now.

"I don't take pills." She told him in between kisses. He laughed in her ear.

"You're no fun." He teased. "I'm plenty fun."

"My dad's a cop." She reminded him. "I can't."

"Oh, but it's so much more fun when you shouldn't." He growled, earning a laugh from her. "What he doesn't know can't hurt." He said, pulling away from Erin and lying down on her bed. "He doesn't know I'm here and I'll be gone by the time he gets in. He won't know a thing. Isn't that exciting?" He asked.

Erin considered it for a moment. "Okay, well I'll think about it next time." She said by way of compromise. "But I'm not that type of girl." She said. She had been so responsible until recently: homework, after school clubs, even mentoring middle schoolers. But she admitted she was having more fun now. Maybe she could have a little more.

Charlie reached for Erin's arm and pulled her down on her bed. "So show me what type of girl you are."

Erin was getting a headache. She had been standing near a speaker for almost ten minutes and it was driving her nuts. She wanted to move but this was her spot and she wasn't supposed to move until she was told to.

"Hey!" A voice behind her yelled. She winced as the sound cut through her brain, exacerbating her headache. "You cool?"

Erin turned to see Trig, one of Charlie's friends. She didn't like him much but she gave him a tight smile and nodded. Trig pointed behind him to a slim guy in a blue hat. At least it looked blue under the club's pulsing lights.

"Got one here." Trig leant into her ear. "Hundred for a gram, okay?" She nodded back. Trig took a step back and ushered the guy in the blue hat to come forward. Erin slipped her fingers in her purse and pulled out a small bag, tucking it into her hand. The guy in the blue hat nodded towards her and said something.

"What?" Erin couldn't hear what he was saying. The music was too loud and her head was pounding to the beat.

"I said I can't really think." The guy said. "The music's too loud."

"Yeah," Erin replied. She wasn't in the mood for small talk but she had to make a sale. "So Trig told you the price?"

"What?" The blue hat guy asked as the DJ whooped into the mic. He and Erin both made a face as the whooping sound droned through the speakers. "I can't hear you."

"I said did Trig fill you in?" Erin yelled back. The blue hat guy nodded again. "Show me the money."

Blue hat guy discreetly pulled out two $50 bills from his pocket and tucked it between his middle and index fingers.

Erin looked behind blue hat guy and towards Trig who was standing a few paces behind. Trig gave a nod and Erin nodded back.

"Okay," she said. She grabbed blue hat guy's hand and pulled the bills out. Her other hand crept into his jeans pocket and slipped the bag in. "Done."

Blue hat guy put his hand in the pocket and pulled out the bag inspecting the white powder.

"Hey, put that away!" She hissed at him and pushed his hand down. She looked over for Trig but he had already turned away.

"Look, I've never done this before." Blue hat guy said. "I don't know what to do with it."

Erin looked at him. "You got another bill on you?" She asked. He nodded. "Have you seen a movie before?" He frowned but nodded. "Work it out, genius." She shook her head.

"You wanna do some?" He asked.

"No." She said quickly. She winced again as the music changed and a new beat started blaring through the speakers. Her throat was starting to fill with bile from the nausea.

"You okay?" He asked. She pointed at her head. "I can get you a water if you want. I need one too."

She looked for Trig but he was still looking elsewhere. "I need to be here."

"Come on, two minutes. There's an exit here." Blue hat guy said. Erin glanced again from Trig or Charlie or anyone but no-one was there. Two minutes couldn't hurt. She wanted to be anywhere but here with the booming music or under the glaring lights.

She let the blue hat guy usher her towards an emptier area. Already she could feel the nausea abating as she moved away from the noise. A bottle of water was put into her hand and she checked the cap. It was unopened so she unscrewed it and took a few gulps, sighing in relief. Away from the heat of the crowd, she could feel sweat dampening her skin.

"You feeling better?" Blue hat guy asked. Erin nodded and took another swig and screwed the cap back on. "Good."

Erin felt her arm being firmly twisted and pressed into her back, quickly followed by the other.

"You're under arrest. You have the right to remain silent…"

"Wait, what?" Erin cried as the blue hat guy placed handcuffs on her. "What's going on?" A man and woman she had seen dancing nearby appeared with a very unhappy Trig in tow. Trig had also been arrested. "What's going on?" she asked again but this time towards Trig.

"Shut up." He barked at her. "I knew you were trouble. I warned him."

Erin frowned in confusion. "What?" She tried resisting when blue hat guy started leading her through a side exit but was warned not to make it harder.

As she felt the cool air outside, she saw the police van flashing blue lights and one of the girls she knew being led inside in handcuffs. Erin approached the van and led towards the back.

"Where are you taking us?" She asked her arresting officer.

"District 16." Blue hat guy replied.

"You need to call my dad." She pleaded.

"You'll get your phone call at the precinct."

"Get a message to District 21," she told blue hat guy. "Ask for Sergeant Voight."

Blue hat guy didn't reply and the doors to the police van shut with a clang.

Erin hadn't been at the precinct for more than twenty minutes when her dad arrived. An officer came to her cell and told her she was going to Interview Room C. Her dad was already there when she entered.

"Dad!" she said. "I'm-" He held a hand up to his lips. She stopped talking as the officer released her from her handcuffs and left the room, shutting it behind her and leaving Erin with her dad.

Voight didn't make a move towards her. He was standing up and put his hands into his pocket. After a few moments of silence, she cleared her throat.

"Dad," she tried again.

"How long?" He asked. He couldn't even look at her.

"A couple of months." She replied.

"Are you using?"

"Dad, I-"

"Are you using?" he asked firmly.

"No!" She replied. "I swear."

"Who put you up to this?"

"Nobody."

"What, you decided to sell all by yourself?" Voight shook his head. "You better tell me, Erin. You've got no leg to stand on here. You don't lie to me when you're standing here in handcuffs. Don't protect them."

"I'm not. I'm just saying that it's not a big deal really."

Voight stared at her. "Are you really this stupid? Being caught dealing coke to an undercover cop isn't a big deal?"

"I made a mistake."

"Erin, a mistake is denting the car or missing the deadline for a paper. This isn't a mistake you made one time." He let out a frustrated groan. "Do you know how many strings I had to pull to stop them processing you?"

"You stopped them?" Erin felt relief wash over her.

"Yes, because you're a minor and because you have your whole life ahead of you. Do you know how badly you messed up?" Voight asked. "They've got the others brought in with you but because you didn't make the transaction, you can go."

Erin frowned. "But I did-"

"No, you didn't." He told her plainly. His eyes were steely and Erin suddenly remembered who she was looking at.

"Dad…"

"We're going home now, Erin. But I'm telling you this once. You are going to stop hanging out with those people—all of them—starting now. I'm giving you one pass because I get one pass in these sorts of situations. I'm not going to be made a fool out of. From now on, you go to school and come straight back home. Your friends can come over to study but you can't go to theirs unless I give you permission. I'm going to keep a close eye on you because you're going to need to be protected. You think these guys will protect you? They're going to come after you because you're related to me. I need you safe so you need to keep yourself safe." He told her.

"Okay."

Voight didn't reply. He knocked on the door and thanked the officer. Erin followed him out of the interview room and towards the processing bank where she was given back her purse and personal belongings.

For someone who was promising to keep an eye on her, he didn't look at her the entire way home.

Erin was furious. She heard her father's car pull into the driveway and she stood waiting at the foot of the stairs. He opened the front door and greeted her before noticing the sour expression on her face.

"How dare you!" she yelled before he could even ask what the matter was. "You're insane!"

"What did I do now?" he asked.

"You've already shackled me to this house but you still need to send officers to follow me home?" Erin demanded to know. "I know what an unmarked patrol car looks like, dad. They're not subtle."

Voight sighed. "What did you expect me to do? You've been skipping school entirely with that Charlie guy. Don't even try and deny it. I live in this house too. I know about it all."

"That's not an excuse to have me followed. I know you used to do it before."

"And yet you still ended up dealing coke so that worked out well." Voight replied. "Erin, I need to know I can trust you."

"So trust me!"

"I can't!"

"You mean you won't." She countered.

"I mean, you're a closed book and I can't seem to get it through your head that you need to be protected." Voight explained. "I know what's out there, Erin. I deal with it every day."

"That's no reason to treat me like a toddler. I can get to school and home by myself. Is it a big deal?"

"It's a big deal when you think about who you're spending that time with." Voight asked. "I've told you before to stay away from those friends of yours and you're intentionally defying my orders. You promised you'd only go to school and then home. You've broken that promise so I'm doing what I need to do. He's bad news, Erin."

"So you'd rather keep me prisoner in this godforsaken house?!" Erin yelled. "I'm almost an adult but I'm not trusted to even have windows that aren't bolted down. What's going to happen when I go to college? GPS trackers? Am I going to have cop as a study buddy? Do you want me to stay here for the rest of my life? Just you and me in this big house with a room that we keep locked?" She gestured towards the stairs; towards Justin's room. The ghost they lived with.

Voight's eyes narrowed and he tensed his jaw. "Don't bring that up. We're not talking about that."

Erin rolled her eyes. "Well, maybe we should. It's been three years already. Justin used to sneak out all the time and you never cared."

"I cared!" Voight snapped, incensed that his daughter could insinuate such a thing.

"It's not like you showed it. That time he snuck out to the party at near Jefferson Park and passed out on the neighbor's front lawn, you only grounded him for a week."

"He wasn't picked up for dealing coke," Voight reminded Erin.

"Let it go, dad. It's not like I'm still doing it."

"And I'm going to make sure of that. God, sometimes I wish-" Voight stopped himself and sighed.

Erin looked at him with a steely gaze. She swallowed hard.

"Finish that sentence." She demanded. Voight look back at her quizzically.

"What? No, it doesn't matter." He dismissed. She shook her head.

"No, finish it. What were you going to say?" Her lip was quivering. She wasn't shouting anymore. Her eyes filled with tears and she could barely see her father's face through them. "Sometimes you wish what? That Justin was still here? That mom was still here?" She shook her head. "No, I think you were going to say something else."

"Erin…" Voight started towards her but Erin stepped back up the stairs.

"Sometimes you wish it had been me instead of Justin, right? At least you wouldn't be so burdened with me." Erin darted up the stairs and into her room. Voight ran up behind her but she had already locked herself in her room.

"Erin? Erin, that's not what I was thinking. That's never crossed my mind." He called through the closed door but it was no use. He tried a few times to knock but eventually gave up. At least Erin was locked in her room. She could hate him but nothing could hurt her there.

Charlie pressed his cheek close to hers. She loved it when he held her like that. She felt safe. Loved. Like she existed. Not just an entity floating around. It had taken some time for their relationship to get back on track after her arrest. Trig had gone to jail. Charlie hadn't been happy about it but Erin had tried to explain it wasn't anyone's fault. None of them had flagged an undercover cop. Things had been better recently. She wasn't dealing anymore, she refused to, but Charlie had said it was okay. He hadn't wanted her because he wanted her to deal. He had wanted her. His hand was wrapped around her stomach and he hummed happily.

She wanted to stay there forever.

Almost like she had wished it into existence, she had wished it away. Within seconds his hand pulled away and the warmth of his body vanished. She turned around, pulling the covers over her, and watched Charlie sit up and lean over to the opposite side.

"Everything okay?" She asked. He was pulling something out of his shoe. "Charlie?"

Erin heard the sound of something opening and inwardly sighed. Did he have to do that right now? Erin turned away from him, trying to block out the sounds of what she knew was happening but desperately hoped to pretend it wasn't.

"Yo, Erin." Charlie called. She turned around to see his face close to hers. "Take a hit with me."

"I told you already, Charlie." She shook her head. "I can't."

He made a face. "Why not? Because your dad won't let you?" He sucked at his thumb like a child and laughed. Erin didn't find it funny. "He also told you not to see me again." He walked his index and middle fingers up her bare arm. "You did that and a lot of other things I'm sure he doesn't know about." Erin felt him press a kiss to her shoulder. "What's one more?"

"It's different." Erin replied with a heavy sigh. "I made a promise." She mostly meant a promise to herself, not just her father, that she wouldn't involve herself so deeply in things she didn't trust. She'd already messed around with pills and that had been hard enough to shake.

She heard Charlie tut with annoyance. "I thought you were fun."

Erin squeezed her eyes shut. She knew what he was doing but it still hurt. She hated how it made her feel. She already felt like a disappointment to her parents and she didn't want to feel like one to her boyfriend.

"Fine." She heard herself say as she sat up in the bed. "I'll take a small one." The smile that formed on his face made her flush. He planted a few quick kisses on her lips before preparing a small line for her. Erin could feel her face get hot and her palms were itching as she watched Charlie.

This would be the only time, she promised herself.

He presented her with a dollar bill and a crisp white line on top of a small make-up mirror. She hesitated for a moment before reaching for the dollar. Erin felt Charlie's thumb brush over her cheek.

"I love you," he told her.

She couldn't say it back.

Erin drummed her fingers in boredom. She was meant to be with Charlie and the crew tonight but her dad had caught her trying to sneak out of the bathroom window and grounded her. Although her dad had taken her cellphone, he had no idea about the other phone Charlie had given her. She was sure that he had already read gone through her text messages but he would only find messages to Lydia and other school friends. He couldn't ground her for long if there was no evidence.

But Charlie had promised to call her and there had been nothing for over two hours. She was bored and anxious.

There was a knock at the door. "Erin, can I come in?" Her dad's voice asked through the shut door.

Erin pushed her other phone under her pillow and told her dad to come in. She didn't really want to see him but maybe he was in an apologetic mood and would renegotiate her grounding.

He had a bowl of ice cream in his hand. Erin brightened inwardly but made sure her face remained stoic. She was still mad at him after all. Voight offered her the bowl of ice cream and sat on the end of the bed.

"I need to tell you about something that happened tonight." He started. Erin frowned in confusion before the hairs on back of her neck pricked up in fear. Those were the same words he had said when he broke the news of the accident that claimed the lives of her mom and brother.

"Is everything okay?" she asked in concern. "Dad?"

"While you were here tonight, a team went to an address near Riverdale and raided a property. They found a lot of cocaine and arrested a group of eight people, including three key players." He began. Erin could feel her skin itch. "I think you know who I'm talking about."

"Charlie?" She asked quietly. He nodded.

"I know that you're in deep with this, Erin. I know you've been using, and I know that he's given you a phone." He told her. "I've known about that other phone for a while. That's how we knew where they'd be tonight. And how I knew you were meant to be there. Why else do you think I was home so early? I knew you'd try and sneak out. There's been a team following you guys for weeks so we knew where everything would happen. We built a case."

Erin remained silent. He knew everything that she thought she'd done so well to hide.

"We could have gone in three days ago but you were there. I made sure you were out of it so they couldn't arrest you. That's why it happened tonight." Voight reached out for her hand. "I need you to know that you're going to be protected. I'm going to protect you but I need a few things from you." He said.

"Dad, I don't want to talk to you right now." She managed to say. She was close to bursting into tears at this news. Her dad didn't stop talking.

"It has to happen tonight, Erin, because Charlie knows you were involved and so does everyone else in that crew. You're seventeen and they can send you to juvie. You need to sign a confession saying that Charlie pressured you to take cocaine and dealt to you while you were a minor."

He pulled out a piece of paper and Erin pushed it away. She felt like she was going to throw up. How had everything turned upside down so quickly?

"If you sign it, we can avoid any jail time and maybe can get it off your record. Erin, you can still go to college without this hanging over you. But you need to listen to me."

"Get away from me." She told him. "I mean it."

Voight pinched the bridge of his nose. "You need to listen."

"I can't believe you did this. Of all the things you've done, this is unbelievable." She shook her head at him. "I love him!"

Voight groaned. "He doesn't love you. He's probably already named you as an associate, which is why you need to sign this as soon as possible, unless you want to spend the next four years in a jail cell instead of college."

Erin watched the ice cream in the bowl melting. Untouched. It was her favorite flavor.

"Erin, you need to sign this and then you need to pack your bags." He told her. "I'm sending you to rehab."

"What?" Erin's features darkened. "I don't need rehab."

"Yes, you do."

"Dad, I hardly ever use. Maybe I take a bump every now and again."

"I don't want you taking a bump ever again." Voight replied. "I'm not losing you to an addiction. You have to go, Erin. I won't believe you can stop unless you go. Plus it's the best way to keep you safe while we put Charlie and his friends away. They're all going to jail and they're all going to be after you."

Erin buried her head into her hands, hot tears dampening her face and shuddering breaths being released. She was crying in a way she hadn't in a long time. She felt so alone.

"Erin," her dad's voice coaxed. "We don't have much time. I need you to do this. Don't do it for me. Do it for your future. We can still salvage this." His tone was gentle but Erin could sense the desperation in it.

"I'll do it." She said finally. "I'll write the confession and I'll go to rehab if it'll keep me out of jail. But I don't want to speak to you. You've gone too far. I can never trust you again." She told him.

Voight opened his mouth to speak but then closed it. He couldn't find any words to make her feel better.

An hour later, Erin was in the back of an unmarked police car, heading to a rehab center out of town. Her dad had tried to hug her but she hadn't let him.

"I'll come visit when you're allowed visitors." He had told her.

"Don't." Was the last word she had spoken to him.

Voight had ordered Erin's favorite food at her favorite diner by their house. The color had come back to her face after her time away. The official line was that she was spending time with her sick aunt in Evanston but he figured some people might have figured where she really was. He had tried to see her on family day but she had refused to let him come so he had stayed away. They had exchanged letters and a few phone calls so that had filled him with some hope that everything wasn't lost.

Erin ate her food seemingly content with making small talk with her dad and commenting on his new shirt. But it wasn't the same. There was something between them that was larger than before. Larger than the deaths of Camille and Justin. It seemed unsurpassable now.

But she was here and she was talking to him so maybe it wasn't that bad.

"I want to go to college," she told him, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"That's great, honey." He said. "Northwestern?"

"I want to go to NYU."

Voight shook his head. "No. You can't go out of state."

"Dad! You owe me."

"I can't have you across the country where-"

"You can't follow me?" She bit back. Voight sighed. He should have known better than to feel like everything was starting to slot back into place.

"You just got out of rehab," he told her. "You can't be making huge life changes in a strange place. Chicago has great universities. You can go to one of those. Maybe live at home for a while."

"I want to live on campus. I'm not going to live with you anymore." She said. "I'm almost eighteen."

"Okay, let's compromise on this. You can live on campus but only if you go to a university in the city." Voight offered. "In return, I'll pay for whatever accommodate you want; even when you go off campus."

"If I stay in Chicago, will you stop having me tailed?" She asked.

"Erin, I wouldn't." He said. She shook her head.

"You need to promise. No more of those stunts you pulled before. I hate that."

"I need to trust you."

"I need to trust you too. But how can I believe that you trust me if you won't stop following me?"

"Okay, then I'll prove it. You can live off campus but you have to promise that we at least talk every day. You're the only person I have, Erin. I'm not going to lose you too." He looked at her and lightly touched her arm. "I haven't lost you, have I?"

She gave him a small smile. "No, dad, you haven't lost me yet."