They sat together, at the Port Charles Grille, salads and seltzer with lime. A throwback to their usual when they were first starting out and both were intrigued at the idea of the other. They had family secrets to keep and playing verbal dodgeball with one another was a highlight in what were otherwise stressful, and exhausting days filled with gatekeeping. This was good. They needed it. They needed more time to be a couple. They needed to be reminded of all they had and why they had vowed to never let go of each other. It was good, until he started a conversation that he didn't realize would be so off putting an idea to her.

"Just keep an open mind." He said, knowing it was a risk to bring up an idea he had been tossing around in his head since the deadlock at ELQ.

"Oh god, it makes me nervous when you say things like that."

"Come work at ELQ as Chief Counsel." He was direct.

She hesitated as she poked at her salad, "Uh, I don't think so." It caught her off guard. It wasn't what she expected and it was the last thing she wanted.

"Why not? We've worked together before and got along great." He didn't understand her sudden change in disposition. They had been having such a great afternoon. They were themselves, free from everyone and everything. Witty, flirtatious banter, everything that had drawn them to each other in the first place.

"Honey, one of the reasons this marriage works is that you let me be me and you get to be you. I don't think working together everyday will be healthy for us." She explained what she thought was their secret. The reason they were one of the only couples she knew that hadn't divorced at the first sign of inconvenience or challenge and there were definitely times when they could have.

"I don't understand, Alexis. We were just saying how we never really get to see each other."

She saw the confusion in his eyes, "Can we work together? Absolutely. We make a great team–"

"Then what's the problem?"

"The problem is that if we disagree about something it will inevitably filter into our life at home and vice versa. I just think we should keep our professional lives separate." She knew she was right about this. She also knew him well enough to know it would be work to get him to see that.

"You're afraid we can't figure that out? You do the legal work for L and there's no issue."

"Ned the last time I worked for ELQ, it didn't exactly go so well." She tried to get him to remember. It broke them. She had to do Helena's bidding. She didn't warn him. She hurt him and he cut her out of his life until enough time had passed and he couldn't deny how he felt about her any longer.

"The circumstances were different then. We were different then." He knew what she was referencing. It wasn't the same. They were cautious and just starting to fall completely in love. What they had then was fragile. It had taken them a year to even trust each other enough to give into the want and need they both felt and finally sleep together.

"I'm sorry, but no. You're not even CEO, yet. Can we maybe drop this?" She was sympathetic, but resolved. She would not work at ELQ.

"Sure. For now. But, I'm not giving up that easily."

"You wouldn't be the man that I love if you did. We should go. We need to get to the school."

The drive to the school was quiet as they both thought about how they had ended their lunch and tried to push it out of their mind as they prepared to face whatever the school had in store for them. It was rare that a teacher initiated a meeting about one of their children and they didn't know what they could be walking into. They arrived at the school that afternoon and walked into the classroom where they were meeting with Addison's math teacher. Not quite sure what to expect. Addison's version of events didn't seem to quite warrant a meeting. An email perhaps, but a meeting? There had to be more going on.

"Mr. and Mrs. Ashton, thanks for coming in. How's Kristen? She was always so prepared and had a natural aptitude in math. I always enjoyed having her in class" Mrs. Ryan said.

"She's good, thriving at MIT. Thanks for asking. Mrs. Miller, we didn't know you'd be here, too." Alexis said, wondering why her daughter's counselor was suddenly involved.

"Well, when Mrs. Ryan came to me, I thought I could help give some insight into Addie's other classes."

"Ok, so, why exactly are we here? She's working hard. Her grades are solid. I guess we're just confused as to what's going on." Ned said.

"Addison does try hard, I agree. I asked you here to find a way to work together to try and support her. She's still struggling to keep up, and freezes when she's called on. To the point that I usually have to go to other students. Yesterday, she left class to go to the nurse as I was trying to move her seat. I thought maybe being closer to the front might help."

"She had a pretty bad headache. I wouldn't read into that." Alexis explained.

"That may be the case, but I've seen students like Addison before and I just don't want to see her develop a pattern of avoidance."

"We talked to her last night. She says she's called on a lot when she's not ready. And that's not a judgment, we understand that she should be prepared to participate, but maybe we can find some middle ground." Ned tried to speak up for his daughter, calmly, rationally.

"Right. Maybe just give her a few minutes if she asks, or let her know you're coming to her. She wants to do well. She's always been quiet and eager to please. We know her and our daughter is not trying to escape anything. In fact she's been studying so hard, we're concerned she's going to burn out." Alexis added.

"She has been." Ned agreed with his wife. "What do her other teachers say? Mrs. Miller?"

"Everyone agrees, Addison is a motivated student. She's just inconsistent with how she presents in class. Her English teacher reports that she's adjusted and has been participating more, volunteering to lead some of the small group discussion. She seems to struggle the most in math, but her English teacher has also noted she's eaten alone in the library a few times. I've also seen her tense up in the halls and cafe several times myself."

"Neither of us want to see her socially isolated, but she's also been the type to have a few close friends. She's the total opposite of both her siblings in that regard." Alexis nodded as Ned described their youngest daughter.

"That's helpful. Does she have a history of being anxious? Because there are ways to approach her anxiety that can support her here, if that's the case." Mrs. Miller stated.

"She thinks things through, tends to over analyze situations, but there's never been anything atypical as far as we're concerned." Alexis stated, getting a bit defensive at the implication that they saw something wrong with her daughter.

"In fact this is the first time we're hearing from teachers it's concerning." Ned added, eying his wife carefully, sensing her defensive state, knowing she would be Addison's fiercest advocate, knowing she was trying to resist channeling her inner Cassadine.

"What exactly are you proposing we do? She genuinely seemed to have turned a corner recently. We thought she was figuring it out, finding her place. We thought she was happy again and we won't take that away from her simply because she's put on the spot in math." Alexis was adamant.

"No one here is suggesting that you take away anything. Like we said, we just want to work together to support her, but maybe you should bring up some of what was discussed here with her pediatrician, especially if she has a history." Mrs. Miller suggested.

"She's a typical teenage girl, and what I see here is that you're struggling to accept that she's not her sister and is just asking for a few extra minutes or not to constantly be put on the spot. None of her other teachers seem to have an issue." Alexis directed at Mrs. Ryan.

"Mrs. Ashton, we just want to see her reach her full potential and intervene so that her anxiety doesn't get worse as the year progresses." Mrs. Ryan explained.

Ned intervened to try and bring the meeting to a close before it escalated further. "We appreciate you reaching out. I think you may have just caught us off guard. We'll think about what you said and if anything else comes up, please don't hesitate to contact us." He stood and Alexis followed his lead.

"We will and please do the same." Mrs. Miller said, reaching to shake their hands, followed by Mrs. Ryan.

They walked out to the car and Alexis looked at her husband, "Can you believe that? Honestly."

"I know you don't want to hear this, but yes I can. They had good intentions; it just wasn't what we expected."

"What? You think it's that bad we need to go to her pediatrician? Ned, wasn't it you who just a few weeks ago said she seemed happier? That she seemed more like herself."

"I was and she does, but is that about Madison or about reconnecting with Cam? She's been spending a lot of time there."

"You may have a point." She agreed reluctantly.

"Thank you and for the record, no I don't think we need to go to the pediatrician. But I do think we should think about what they said and keep an eye on it. Just yesterday morning you were almost late because she was so worried about what she was wearing? That's not like her at all."

"She's a teenage girl, Ned. They worry about their appearance. Kristen went through a phase like that or don't you remember? And I bet if you asked Lois, Brook went through the same thing."

"It wasn't to the extent that the school wanted to meet with us, Alexis. And I don't appreciate you reminding me that I wasn't there for most of Brook's childhood."

"That wasn't my intention. I'm sorry."

"See how easily intentions can be misconstrued?" He said, making his point about their conversation with Addison's teacher.

She shot him a look that said she didn't appreciate him attempting to prove he was right and then conceded. "So what do you think we should tell her? I refuse to give her the idea that there is anything wrong with her. She's perfect the way she is."

"I don't want that either. I say we share the highlights and see what she says. I don't want to push her and cause her to pull away from us again. She's eating lunch alone, Lex. That's what got me. Who cares about grades, if she feels alone?"

She closed her eyes and sighed. It broke her heart to think that's how her baby girl could very well be feeling. "That's the last thing I want for her. I know what that feels like and I know you do, too."

"Did we do the right thing? Sending her there." He second guessed. His daughter was happy, thriving and now he couldn't read her from one minute to the next. Maybe they misjudged what she needed in their own attempts to do what they thought was best.

"I'm not sure. But you're right about one thing, she has us and we need to make sure she knows that. That she can come to us."

That afternoon Addison was at Cam's. He had an English paper, she had math problems, it felt good to be with a friend she trusted. A friend that she clicked with and it was just easy to hang out, be herself, have fun and also get work done.

"What's up with you today?" Cam asked. Addison had been unusually quiet and focused, more than her usual, let's just get this done first attitude.

"Nothing. Just a weird day at school." Addison replied. "Do you know Morgan Corinthos?"

"Not really. But I've heard the stories. Why?"

"These senior girls wanted me to eat lunch with them yesterday, which was in itself odd. But Morgan sits there, too, he basically implied that if I'm a social freak because of the way I dress, when we all wear those stupid uniforms. Then today, a few kids were staring at me. It felt strange. I usually go unnoticed and all I felt were everyone's eyes on me most of the day."

"I wouldn't read too much into whatever Morgan said. He's Joss' brother, right?"

Addison nodded. "He is, you're probably right. And the other kids, I'm sure it's all in my head."

"How is everything with Joss by the way?" Cam asked, knowing there was conflict, unaware it started over him.

"You know how you all told me to delete that message from Sarah?"

"You don't need that drama, Adds. You're better than that."

"Well, I didn't and there's been a few more. So I may have responded.." She said, now feeling a bit nervous that her friend, who thought so highly of her wouldn't approve.

"May have?"

"Ok, so I did. I told her she was a brainless follower. That Joss was using her and she was too blind by her need to be popular not to see it."

"I didn't think you'd ever…"

"What speak up for myself?"

"Well no, you're just always kinder about it."

"Well it's the truth."

"Did she stop?"

"For now. I'm sure she showed Joss and they'll be in my face about something tomorrow. We should probably get back to homework. Hey, I'm sorry your team was eliminated yesterday."

"Thanks, Adds. At least now we have more time to hang out."

"True." She agreed.

"Hey, watch this." He said as he tried to catch the popcorn they were eating in his mouth and missed miserably.

She laughed. "I can do better."

"Oh really? Prove it." So she tried and failed. Before long, they were both laughing so hard as it escalated into a full blown popcorn food fight. "Selfie?"

"Absolutely." He said and took out his phone, snapped the photo, posted it, and tagged her.

She was grateful for the distraction. She wasn't sure if it was intended or not, but it was needed. They always found ways to have fun together. She was grateful he was her friend because no matter how hard she tried to convince herself that those stares were all in her head and meant nothing, her gut told her there was more going on and she needed to figure out what it was.