After three long days of being home, Addison could not wait to get her son back to school. She was just about to throw his school uniform into the washing machine when she noticed a small red stain on the inside of the collar. When she flipped the fabric over, she realized the mark looked like half a lip imprint. Did he have a girlfriend? Were girls his age sporting red lipstick these days? Was it her own red lipstick? Had she maybe rubbed it off on his shirt during a hug? No, he hadn't been too keen on getting hugs from her recently.

Ignoring the thoughts, she put the shirt into the washing machine and started the cycle.

When she got to work, she saw her sister-in-law, Nancy, sitting in the physician's lounge with a medical journal and a cup of coffee. She smiled broadly as she approached her; she and Nancy had always been close. Nancy was just under two years older than she and Derek were, she was in the same specialty, and they had a lot of common interests outside of work. They also happened to have children around the same time and had bonded over that.

"Nancy, what are you doing here so early in the morning?" she asked as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

"I have a delivery," Nancy replied briefly.

Addison looked over the rim of her cup and noticed Nancy's cold demeanor and she instantly knew that Derek's family must be aware of her one night stand with Mark. She swallowed and tried to push the thought to the back of her mind. "Listen, Nance, I really need to talk to you. I need help with Christopher. I think something is going on with him and I can't figure it out and he won't tell me. What should I do?" Nancy had a son who was three years older than her own. She would have to have some guidance to share with her.

"You could start by not screwing his godfather," Nancy suggested casually, closing the medical journal and sitting upright. "How could you do that? How could you betray your husband like that? I mean, I know your marriage is far from perfect, I see how neglect Derek has been, but to sleep with his best friend? That's too much, there is no coming back from that."

"It was one time, Nancy, it was one stupid, drunken decision. I am not sleeping with anymore, I'm not even talking to him anymore. And I get that you're Derek's sister and you're on his side, but you're one of my best friends. I just need some advice. I'm drowning here and I just need some help."

"I can't, I can't do this, Addison," Nancy told her, getting up. "I can't forgive you. You shattered my brother's heart."

"Okay, I get that. I'm sorry, I really really am. I love Derek, I hate that I hurt him. I've been calling him every day to tell him how sorry I am. I left messages. I am trying, Nancy, I really am. And this thing with Chris, I feel like I'm trying to help him alone and I can't, I don't know how. We don't have to talk about Derek if you don't want to but please help me with Christopher."

Nancy briefly looked into her eyes and then quickly looked away and shook her head before walking out.

"Oh, come on, Addie, it's been a week, you can't still be ignoring me," Mark all but begged when he bumped into her in the hallway as she was coming out of the scrub room and he was coming in. "You're just as to blame as I am."

"Trust me, if I could ignore myself, I would."

"It was a mistake. I am sorry, you are sorry. Why can't we just put it behind us and move on?"

"I'm trying, Mark, but it's not working. Nancy won't talk to me, my son keeps calling me a slut, my daughter keeps asking for her father, and he won't take any of my phone calls."

"Nancy's not talking to me either, neither is anyone else in that family, especially Carolyn. You should avoid her for a while, just so you know. And you're not talking to me which means I don't get to see the kids, Derek's not talking to me. I have no one left."

Addison sighed, "I'm sorry, Mark."

"Then stop ignoring me!" he exclaimed, a little more loudly than he intended. "Sorry, didn't mean to yell. I'm just desperate for a non-patient human to speak about anything other than work."

"Can you talk to Christopher? I don't know if he'll be open to talking to you, I don't know if he's mad at you. I just know something is going on and I want to know what it is."

"Chris? What's wrong with Chris?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. "There was lipstick on his polo the other day. I think it might be a girl. Maybe it's an on and off thing and it's got him in a mood? And if he is, if they're physical, I need him to know to use protection. I don't think Derek ever talked to him about that and I've tried but he just walks away from me. Which I get, I guess, it must be awkward talking to your mother about condoms."

Mark nodded, "Yes, it would be very unpleasant to discuss that with one's mother," he confirmed. "I'll pick him up from school today. Maybe I can get it out of him."

Addison gave him a nod and stepped passed him when she heard his voice from behind her.

"Thanks, Addie. I needed this."

She turned back and smiled at him before going to see her patient's family.

When Christopher walked out of the school gates he had expected to see his mother or his nanny standing around waiting for him. Instead his eyes landed on Mark Sloan and then rolled back into the back of his head.

"What are you doing here?!" he asked, annoyed.

"Hello to you too," Mark greeted him. "Your mom asked me to pick you up."

"I thought she wasn't talking to you."

"She's not, not much anyway. She just wouldn't be able to make it to get you today so she spoke to me long enough to ask if I would be able to and I could so here I am. She was desperate."

"That's an understatement," Chris mumbled under his breath. "Can you just take me home?"

"Actually, there is this place I wanna take you to."

"What place?"

"It's a spa. It's got great amenities. Steam room, sauna, mist room, massages, ice room, it's all just so relaxing. I thought you could use it since it's been a rough week."

"I don't have swim trunks on me."

Mark glanced over at him as they got into the car. "Why would you need them?"

"I can't be in a sauna with my school uniform on."

"No, you'd be naked."

"Naked?" Chris' eyes widened.

"Oh," Mark frowned, "I didn't stop to think that that might be weird for you. Are you self conscious about your body or something?" he asked. "You can keep a towel wrapped around you. I do that...sometimes."

"No, I don't want to do that either."

"A towel will hide more than swim trunks," Mark pointed out. "It's not weird, lots of the guys there do it."

"I don't want to go! Just take me home!"

Mark sighed, "Okay, okay, relax. I'll take you home. I think your nanny is there with your sister, right? Otherwise we have to get keys from your mom first."

"Avery is usually home with Cindy by now."

They drove in silence for a few blocks before Mark cleared his throat and asked, "Dude, I didn't want to say anything but what's with the perfume?"

"What?"

"You smell like flowers and vanilla. Like chick perfume."

"I do?" Chris asked, self consciously smelling his shirt.

"Is there a girl you've been canoodling with?" he asked, smiling encouragingly and hoping the teenage boy would feel comfortable sharing with him.

"No."

"Oh. So do you just like floral scents? Cuz that's okay too. If you're discovering that you like some new stuff, that's fine. This is the age where you learn all kinds of things about yourself. And this isn't the kind of scent your mom usually goes for so you can't just use hers,"

Chris laughed and interrupted to say "You would know what my mom smells like."

"Well yeah, I would. She uses so much perfume that you can smell her coming thirty seconds before she enters a room," Mark replied. "Even though that's against hospital protocol because we have patients with smell sensitivities, I don't think your mom cares to follow those rules. But anyway, what I was saying is that I can buy stuff for you if you don't want to ask your mom for it. I can't support whatever you're going through."

"I don't want support! It's not that! I don't want to smell like a girl."

"Is it your shampoo? I can get you men's shampoo."

"No! Just stop talking about it!"

Mark cringed. "Okay, sorry. I won't talk about it."

The next day Mark knocked on Addison's office door and waited for her to respond before opening the door. "Can I come in?"

She nodded, hanging up the phone call she had been on. "Depends. What are you here for?"

"I spoke to Chris yesterday. You're right, he is being weird."

"I told you. Did you figure out what it is?"

"No. I wanted to take him to that spa that Derek and I used to go to. But he found out about possibly being nude and he freaked out. Which I get, I guess, it is a weird age in terms of development. I don't know where he is with puberty and he clearly doesn't want anyone see what's going on down there. Can't blame him. But then I noticed he smells like really cheap women's perfume and he got upset at me for bringing it up. He denied having a girlfriend. I thought maybe he was experimenting with his gender or sexuality so I tried to support him by offering to buy whatever he needs."

"Is that it?" Addison asked, looking up at mark hoping to get some information to be able to support her son.

"No, he denied that too. He said he doesn't want to smell like a girl on purpose and he's not experimenting with anything."

"Do you believe him?"

"Yes," Mark shrugged.

"So you basically didn't find out anything."

"I found out things that are not going on. So you can cross those off your list and narrow it down," he shrugged. "I tried, Addie. Gotta give me credit for trying."

"I've gotta get back to work. I need to send this consult report ASAP so if you'll excuse me…" she told him stiffly, politely asking him to leave.

He nodded and got up to leave. "Maybe I can pick him up again next week?" he asked.

"I don't know yet, Mark. I really need to focus on this."

Just as he was about to walk out of her office, Nancy appeared in front of him. She glared at both of them, "I thought you weren't on speaking terms," she said, looking at Addison in accusation.

"I asked him for help with Christopher," Addison quickly explained. "And he agrees that something is going on so now I know I'm not crazy and it's not just in my head."

"Maybe you can thank him later with a quick roll in the sheets. I'll take the kids out of the house this time," Nancy remarked spitefully. It was very unlike her, and saying such things to her best friend were difficult but she was hurt and she couldn't filter out her thoughts.

"I'm not sleeping with him," Addison told her. "Did you come in here to tell me off or was there a reason for your visit?"

"We're having dinner at Moms tonight. I wanted to take the kids. They're still family, I want them to know that."

Addison nodded, "Yeah, you can take them. Maybe it'll be good for Chris to see his cousins. Maybe they can help without whatever he's going through. He won't tell me or Mark and Derek's not around to tell so I'm running out of options with that kid. He's going to get expelled any day now."

Nancy nodded, not bothering to offer words of reassurance or advice. "I'll pick them up from your place around 6."

"I won't be home but I'll let Cindy know to have them ready," Addison promised. "Thanks, Nancy."

One time step toward creating some sense of normalcy for her kids, she told her.

"Mommy," Lizzie youngest son poked her arm at the dinner table in Carolyn's dining room that night. "How come Avery and Chris are here but Uncle Derek and Aunt Addie aren't?"

"Uncle Derek is in Seattle and Aunt Addie had work," Lizzie explained to her son.

"Seattle?" Christopher asked, looking up from his plate full of food to look into his aunt's eyes.

"Oh, I wasn't supposed to mention that. Don't tell your mother," Lizzie mumbled in response.

"He left us and went across the country."

"He didn't leave you, dear," Carolyn replied, defending her son. "He left your mother."

"He left us too," Chris insisted. "If he just left her he would have stayed around and still made an effort with me and Avery but he's not. He's across the county and he won't even call us to see how we're doing. I get that he's mad at her, I'm mad at her too, but she's the only caregiver we have now because he's been MIA since before he left."

"You have us," Nancy told him assuringly. "All of us, your aunt, your uncles, Grandma, we're all here for you. We know this must be difficult on you, that's why we wanted to makes sure to have you here tonight. No matter what is going on with your parents, you're still our family."

Chris shrugged, "I guess."

"Christopher, you seem upset," his grandmother vocalized. "Is this about your parents or is there something going on that we can help with?"

He shook his head, "No, there is nothing going on. I'm fine."

"I think he's depressed," he heard Aunt Kathleen whispering to his grandmother later that night. She was always looking to diagnose someone with a DSM-V condition.

"Addison mentioned that he's been asking weird the last couple of months. She asked for advice but I couldn't bring myself to pay attention to her long enough to hear her and give help," Nancy admitted. "She asked Mark to speak to him."

"She's still speaking to Mark?"

"Just for help with Chris, she claims, she said she didn't have anyone else to ask and he won't talk to her."

"And what came of that?" Kathleen wondered.

"Nothing. He wouldn't tell Mark anything either, apparently."

"Should I try to talk to him?" Kathleen whispered.

Carolyn shook her head, "Let's just give him space. He knows we are here. If he wants to talk, let's let him come to us."

Kathleen looked at her mother unsurely. "If something is wrong, we can't ignore it until he's ready to talk to someone about it. We should offer help. Maybe he needs it."

Carolyn shook her head, "Don't get involved."

Chris was in his room with his best friend, both completely immersed in a video game. Chris did not hear the front door open or close, but he did hear his younger sister screech loudly then exclaim, "You said you'd be home after school! You're late."

"I'm not late, this is after school," his mother replied back, her voice sounding like she was teasing the little girl but he knew his sister must not find the response at all amusing. Just minutes later he heard the sound of heels approaching his room until the half open door became wider.

"Hey," she greeted. "Oh, Andrew, hi, I didn't realize you were over."

"We were doing homework together but we finished so we wanted to play video games before Andrew's dad picks him up," Chris explained.

"Okay," Addison nodded, "I'm not saying anything, just wanted to see how you're doing."

"I'm fine," Chris replied.

"I had asked Cindy to pick you up from school. I hope she wasn't too late."

"She was late because Avery got chocolate milk on her shirt after school and she freaked out and Cindy had to bring her home and change her. I think it was only like half an hour though.."

"What did you do while you waited?"

"He was probably with Ms. Jenkins," Andrew mumbled without looking away from his game.

Addison's one brow quirked up. "Why were you with Ms. Jenkins? That's your math teacher, right?"

"Yeah," Andrew answered. "Ms. Jenkins always makes him stay with her so he won't be alone. Even during recess when he's not alone and we're there with him."

"Why?"

Andrew shrugged while Chris looked like he wanted the ground to open up and swallow him whole.

"Chris?"

"That's the teacher the school assigned to supervise me so I don't run away," he explained, giving the first answer he could think of. It was the truth, so he figured at least he's not lying to his mother.

"Oh," she nodded. "Okay, well I'm gonna go shower and change. I ordered dinner, it should be here in about forty minutes. Andrew, you're free to join us if you want," she told them before excusing herself.

"Why would you tell her that?!" Chris hissed to his friend.

"Tell her what?"

"About Ms. Jenkins."

"She knows Ms. Jenkins is the one who's supposed to keep an eye on you. I wasn't telling her anything she didn't know," Andrew shrugged. "Why are you so sensitive about it? At least they picked the hottest teacher on campus to watch over you. It would suck so much more if it was Mr. Tillis."

"Just cuz she's hot doesn't mean I like being stuck with her all the time," Christopher told his friend seriously. "It really sucks, if I'm being honest. I feel like I'm trapped in there with her and it's kind of a scary feeling."

"She's not scary," his friend dismissed. "She's hot. It could be worse. Get over it."

Some people have guessed what's going on, but for those that haven't, a few more puzzle pieces coming together in this chapter.

Review like it's still 2006!