The next morning Alexis woke up and went downstairs. She needed her morning cup of coffee, and she needed to talk to Ned. He needed to know that she had told Addison about their non-wedding. It wasn't a deliberate decision not to tell their kids about this part of their past, it just hadn't seemed necessary. She still questioned whether it was the right call, but it truly did seem to help Addison wrap her head around the anxiety she had about this audition today. She walked into the kitchen and poured her coffee, as Ned said good morning, and walked over to her. "Hey," she said, kissing him lightly. "I need to talk to you, before the kids come down."

"What's up?" He said as he took her hand and led them over to the kitchen table where they sat with their coffee.

"Addison." She said and he covered her hand with his. "Last night she was up, worried about this solo audition."

"She's always been a worrier."

"She has. And as she started to tell me how she felt…, well the conversation led to a painful part of our past and I wanted to let you know."

"What did she say?"

"She said she wanted to want to audition… and then asked me if I had ever felt that way about anything."

"Oh."

"Exactly."

"What did you tell her?" He worried that dredging up this part of their past would do more harm than good.

"I tried to dance around it. I told her it was her head's way of trying to protect her from risking something that she cared deeply about."

"I take it she wouldn't let it go there?"

"No, and so, reluctantly, I told her about what happened at our wedding. About how I had hurt you out of a place of irrational fear." She paused and looked at him, empathy in her eyes. "But I also told her that it helped me realize I needed to talk about how I was feeling to people who love me unconditionally and that we love her that way. I told her that we'd support her decision either way."

"How did she take it?"

"Really well, actually. She's never known us not to be on solid ground. I just wanted to let you know, in case she asks you anything. I think I framed it in a way that will help her, but we'll see."

"It sounds like you did and I appreciate the heads up. She's always been more open about her feelings with you."

"Because she thinks you hung the moon and doesn't want to disappoint you." She said, placing her hand on his cheek.

"I don't want her to feel pressured about this audition. Sure, she's talented. But I won't make the mistake that Lois made with Brook. If she doesn't want to sing…"

"I know. But maybe she needs to hear that from you." He nodded in agreement as Addison and then Owen walked into the kitchen. "Here's your chance." She watched as Addison poured a bowl of cereal and sat down at the island, while Owen started making himself toast.

"You're coming to my game today, right Mom?"

"I wouldn't miss it." She stood from the table and went to pour another cup of coffee. "I need to go get ready for court. Dad's taking you to school today…Addie, remember what we talked about."

"I will."

"Are you auditioning today? You'll be great."

"I don't know, Owen."

"Why not?"

"Hey, buddy, your sister's not sure. Let it be, ok?" He knew his son was trying to be supportive, but he didn't want her to shut down.

"I don't get what the big deal is. She can sing, but sure." Owen said as he went to eat his breakfast and Ned stood and went to stand by Addison.

"You do whatever it is you want to do, Addison. Don't choose to audition for anyone but yourself." He said supportively, trying to encourage her to decide for herself.

"Really? But you said you thought I should." She was surprised.

"Because you are so talented, and yes, I think you're sure to get that solo. But I only want you to sing because you want to, not because you think everyone else expects it of you. Do what will make you happy, sweetheart." He hugged his daughter and kissed the top of her head. "Finish up, we need to leave in a few minutes."

Addison tried to silence the thoughts telling her not to audition and arrived at the auditorium. When she saw the amount of other kids there who wanted a solo, she almost bailed. She told herself she could do this, that she wanted to do this and pushed past the initial wave of anxiety and walked to sit down off towards the middle of the room, when Joss came and sat next to her.

"You're here?" Addison asked, shocked.

"Obviously." Joss said as if she should have expected it.

"You're not even in Music Theory."

"I'm in Chorus, we all need an arts elective, remember? And in case you missed it, I did participate in the Nurse's Ball last spring. I do know how to sing."

"And in case you missed it, that was me, closing it out with my dad." Addison replied, making her point.

"Well, hope you don't freak out like you did yesterday in math. I'd think if you can't even answer a simple question in class, you'd avoid putting yourself in this situation. Don't embarrass yourself even more." Joss said in a poorly veiled attempt to be friendly. She knew she could psych out some of her competition and Addison would easily take the bait.

"I didn't freak out." She may have froze for a few seconds when she wasn't ready to answer, but she most definitely did not freak out. And now she was second guessing herself.

"Whatever you say." Joss had known Addison for a long time, and she definitely panicked.

"You're on the volleyball team. Why do you think you need to do everything?" Addison replied, exasperated, she had thought this might be something truly her own.

Before Joss could respond, the school's music teacher approached them. "Addison, I'm glad you decided to audition."

"Thanks, Ms. Wilson." She replied as her teacher walked to the front of the room to start. She took a deep breath, her teacher had wanted her here. It was going to be fine. She could do this, she thought to herself again; and now she not only wanted the solo, she wanted to prove Joss wrong.

Ms. Wilson asked everyone there to take a seat and the solo audition process started a few minutes later. As Addison watched her talented classmates perform, she questioned the decision to even show up. She wasn't in Chorus, she was only asked to be there because in music class they did one short sight-singing exercise and ever since Ms. Wilson wouldn't stop asking her to step outside her comfort zone and join the after school chorus. She told her the fall concert might help her make up her mind about what to do and gain some confidence. It wasn't until her dad had told her she didn't have to, that she felt like it truly was her choice and so she sat there as her stomach turned to knots. The Nurses's Ball was different, it was mostly family members or people from Port Charles she'd known her entire life. This was a room full of judgy kids. This was a competition, especially to Joss, who actually did have a decent voice she thought as she actually listened to her for the first time. She could do this. She could prove Joss wrong. She could.

After school that afternoon she made plans to help Cam with his essay. She felt good about her audition, despite faltering initially, Ms. Wilson let her restart. She felt like she had truly nailed it the second time. A few upperclassmen had even come up to talk to her about it after. Something she never expected. To top it off Sophie had even sat with her at lunch that day and her life seemed normal and in her control for the first time since she started at Madison.

"Thanks for coming here. I had to watch my brothers when my mom heard practice was canceled. She picked up an extra shift at the hospital." Cam said as he let her into his house.

"That's ok, your brothers are fun. I don't mind." She said as she set her backpack down.

"Do you want a snack or something? We've got chips, popcorn, I'm not sure what else." Cam asked, hoping to delay actually working on homework, which was likely a futile mission with his friend. She was focused and she used to help make sure he was, too. Another reason he missed having her at school.

"Sure. Popcorn would be great."

"Works for me, but be warned. I always burn it. Drives my mom crazy."

"There's a trick. I'll teach it to you."

"Soda, ok?"

"Yup." Addison said as she unwrapped the packaging and placed the bag of popcorn into the microwave. "Ok, so you hit the popcorn button and then we just gotta wait and listen for it to slow down. The button is great, but you need to get the bag out just before the timer goes off." They stood there as it started to pop, waiting. "Now, take it out now."

Cameron opened the microwave door and took the bag out and put it on the counter. "How'd you figure this out?"

"My mom, she can barely boil a pot of water, but she perfected microwave popcorn. It's like her only cooking skill. Come on, let's go study." She picked up the bag of popcorn and walked into the living room. They sat on the floor by the table in the middle of the room and she took the novel from Cam and started flipping through the pages of the book, finding just the right pages he needed as he opened his school laptop and started a document.

They sat there together, focused, working on homework, and it was like nothing had changed. He was her friend. They were good friends and even though they may not be at the same school they could still study together.

"Addison, I've been thinking about your math situation and although I'm sure I can help with your homework from Madison. I thought maybe I could try. I'm sure there are a bunch of videos that could help, too, if you did a quick search."

"Thanks, Cam. I'll try that." She appreciated her friend. "My ride's here." She said as she looked at her phone as it pinged.

"Ok, well thanks for the help."

"You've got this. I put a post-it on the pages with the best evidence for your next paragraph. Text me if you need any more help." She said as she grabbed her backpack and headed towards the door.

"I will." Cam replied, gratefully, as he watched her go.

Addison walked into the house after school and was greeted by her father, who had just gotten home a few minutes earlier and was surprised that his daughter wasn't home yet. He and Alexis must have gotten their wires crossed. "Hey, you're home later than usual. Where'd you go after school this afternoon?"

"Cam's practice was canceled and I was at his house. He needed help with something for English. Was that not ok? I thought Aubrey would have told you."

"No, that's fine. Maybe she told you mom."

"Is there dinner?"

"There's takeout from Kelly's in the kitchen."

"Great, thanks! Where's Mom and Owen?" Addison asked as she headed toward the kitchen, followed by Ned.

"Owen's on his way home. He had a game, remember? And Mom decided to go back to the office after it got out."

"How was school?" Ned watched as his daughter dug through the brown bag of takeout and pulled out the french fries.

"I did it. I auditioned." She beamed as she turned to face him.

"I'm so proud of you, Addison." He walked around the island and hugged her.

"I want to be the one to tell, Mom, ok?"

"Of course." He kissed the top of her head before taking out the sandwiches and setting them on the counter as Addison grabbed the ketchup out of the fridge and settled at the end of the counter, starting to eat.

"What?" She asked as he watched her.

"It's just good to see you smile, sweetheart."

"Well, it was a good day." She ate a french fry. "Daddy? Can I ask you something?"

"You can ask me anything. You know that." She was hesitating and so he asked, "Is this about what your mom told you last night?"

"Yeah, is that ok? She really didn't want to get into it, but I kind of pushed her to tell me anyway." She felt bad for prying even more, but she couldn't wrap her head around how her parents, who she'd only known to be happy, could have ever not been.

"Well you can be pretty persuasive, when you set your mind on something. Go ahead, ask away."

"How did you forgive, Mom? Like what she did had to have hurt you, a lot." She was honest, and genuinely curious.

He paused, her question was not one he would have expected and so perceptive. "When you love someone as much as I love your mom. The way I love your mom, sometimes you have no other choice."

"That's it? You just sort of knew you had to forgive her?" She asked, perplexed. It couldn't have been that easy.

"I knew I wanted to be happy and I knew your mom made me happy. I also knew I made some mistakes, too and that I had to own that." Addison stopped to think about what her father had said and seemed deep in thought as she processed the pieces of this part of her parents' past. He watched his daughter carefully. "Why are you asking?"

"I don't know. Just trying to understand it. That's all. I've sort of thought you guys were always happy. So many kids' parents are divorced and I've never questioned that it could happen to me."

"You don't need to question that. Mom and I are committed to each other and this family. Every obstacle we faced has only made us stronger. Believe that."

"I do. Thanks for trusting me enough to talk about it."

"You're my daughter. I'll always trust you and you can trust me with anything. Got that, princess?"

"Mmhmm," she dipped her french fry in ketchup and popped it into her mouth and took her cell phone out of her pocket. She opened the message with Cam and giggled at the sight of the giraffe .gif he had sent with a simple thanks today. She searched and sent back a dog smiling excessively and said anytime. He replied asking to meet at the boathouse tomorrow and she agreed as they continued to text back and forth.

Ned watched as his daughter seemed genuinely happy for the first time in weeks and let her be, choosing not to ask any questions. Not to rock the boat and cause her to pull away again. He had been glad that Owen's game went into overtime and he was late, and that Alexis went back to work. It allowed him to spend time with his youngest daughter, time that was rare and fleeting these days.

Later that evening he shared how happy Addison seemed with Alexis, who was thrilled to hear that her daughter may be finally turning a corner. However, the next morning came quickly, and when his phone rang, he looked at the name that appeared on the screen and knew life was about to change.