The car ride home was icy. As everyone rode silently back to the house, not wanting to get into what transpired and not wanting to set off an argument. When they arrived, Owen went downstairs to the once playroom turned teen hangout space, and Addison tried to head upstairs but was immediately stopped by her parents just as Kristen was pulling in, having taken her own car, since she had driven home for the Thanksgiving break.

"Stop right there Addison." Alexis said, as her daughter turned to face her. "We need to have a conversation. You owe us an explanation."

"Why don't you ask my sainted sister. She was more than happy to give you the details earlier." Addison said as Kristen walked through the front door.

"It's not my story to tell." Kristen said.

"Then why'd you do it? You're my sister and I trusted you to keep your mouth shut!"

"I didn't know it was a secret, Addie. You never told me they didn't know!"

"Girls, please–" Alexis started to try and get them to stop fighting. She truly hated it when they were like this.

"No, let them get it out." Ned stopped his wife. He knew his daughters needed to hash it out or they'd be in for a tension filled weekend and there was already enough of that building in their marriage. They didn't need it with their kids as well.

"I shouldn't have to! It's my life. I get to decide what I can handle. Not you."

"I told you. I was trying to protect you!"

"You're not my parent. I don't need you to protect me!"

"True," Alexis quietly agreed with her youngest.

"I know that! But you're my baby sister. I don't want to see you hurt because some idiot kids don't know how amazing you are."

"You always do this! You always try to fix things for everyone when no one even asks for your help!"

Ned looked at Alexis as Addison described her perception of her sister. The same thought running through both their minds. Had they unknowingly raised a gatekeeper? Was Kristen their family gatekeeper?

"I'm sorry, ok!" Kristen said, overridden by guilt that her sister was so hurt. "Just talk to Mom and Dad. I was right and you just can't handle the fact that for once you're the one who messed up and maybe won't be the family favorite anymore." She said, reaching her limit and heading upstairs.

"You think I'm the favorite? Ha! That's a good one, what planet do you live on?" Addison yelled as Kristen continued to walk up the stairs ignoring her.

Addison looked at her parents, "Do we really have to do this right now? Like can it wait?"

"No, it can't wait." Alexis answered.

"But what about–" There were Thanksgiving traditions to uphold. Maybe she could persuade them to wait.

"Go sit Addison, we're finishing this tonight." Ned said, calmly as his daughter rolled her eyes and went to sit on the sofa and they followed, sitting across from her. "Help us understand what we're dealing with here. So you joined myFace? When?"

Silence.

Alexis took a deep breath, trying not to get frustrated, "Addie, answer your father. This isn't you."

"If you think that, then maybe you don't know me as well as you think you do." She knew what to say to hurt them despite knowing her parents did know her and they knew she hadn't been herself for weeks.

"We will sit here for as long as we need to, princess." Ned jumped in, knowing that what his daughter just said was intended to be hurtful as he watched Alexis react. "So?"

"Yes, when school started."

Progress. "We need to see it. You've changed and we need to know what's going on so we can help." Alexis said. "Where's your phone?"

She shrugged.

"I don't buy that. You've been glued to that thing. You used to read when you were upset. You would devour books. Now all you do is look at that device." Ned said, explaining the change he'd seen.

"I still read." She said, confused.

"Not like you used to," Alexis added. "What is on this app that you can't pull yourself away from? Just show us."

"Whatever it is, it won't change the fact that we love you." Ned told her.

She wouldn't do it. She wouldn't give them her phone and let them see what was being said about her and what she said in return. Silence could be powerful.

"Show us the page, Addison." Alexis stated. Her 14 year old was not going to win a power struggle as they sat there and waited her out. They could sit in the silence and experience had taught them, usually their teenage children would break eventually.

"I'm not doing anything wrong!" She couldn't take sitting there any longer, the disapproving look on her parents' faces.

"Then why wouldn't you just ask us?"

"Because I know you would have said no and because I'm 14 and legally I could. The age of digital consent is 13, Mom. Look it up."

"Don't quote the law to me. You're still a minor and we have a right to know what you're doing online."

"Everything happens on these apps. Literally everything. If I'm not on it, I'll be even more of a social outcast. Is that what you want?"

"She's not wrong," Owen added as he entered the room overhearing only part of the conversation, a bit surprised this was still going on.

"Did you know your sister was on this?" Ned asked.

"Don't bring Owen into it. He didn't know." She promised her brother she wouldn't rat him out and she wouldn't go back on her word. She wasn't her sister.

"It's ok, Addie. Yeah, I knew. I'm friends with her. She's not the problem." He felt badly that Kristen threw her under the bus. It wasn't her business.

"We need to see these posts. Give us your phone, Addison." Alexis asked again.

"Are you going to give it back?" Because no phone, that was not an option.

"We'll see. Hand it over."

"No. Promise me you'll give it back."

"Addison Grace Ashton. This isn't a choice."

"If you want to help her fit in at Madison, you'll give it back." Owen said sticking up for his sister. "Without a phone, she'll stick out even more and be completely out of the loop."

"Stay out of this, Owen, before you lose your phone, too." Alexis said to her son.

"I tried." He said, directed at Addie and then headed towards the kitchen.

"Thanks." She stared at her parents, completely committed to the power struggle and refusing to back down. "So, are you going to give it back to me?"

"If you want to play it this way, that's fine by us. Until you give us your phone, consider yourself otherwise grounded. School and home. That's it." Alexis knew her daughter and she knew limiting her contact with Cam and Sophie would hit harder than losing her phone.

"But what about studying with Cam? You can't possibly banish me from studying."

"Grounded means no hanging out with Cam."

"But that's not fair!"

"Just give us the phone, Addison." Alexis stated plainly as Ned watched her relationship with their daughter break down.

"Fine." She said as she took it out of her pocket and passed it to her mother and started to storm off.

"Oh don't think you're going anywhere. You're going to open up this app and walk us through these posts your sister referred to."

"They aren't posts, well one or two are. There's a feature where you can send messages and images and they disappear after you read them. But sometimes people screenshot them and pass them around."

"Ok, where are they?"

"I told you, they disappear." Addison responded indignantly.

"You just said people have found ways to save these messages. What is going on that you don't want us to see?" Alexis asked, completely at a loss.

"Addie, you aren't doing yourself any favors here." She looked at her father and knew he wanted to help, but she didn't want them to have another reason to think she was a failure. "Do you trust us, sweetheart?" He tried a different approach, he softened.

"Yeah. Of course I do." She said quietly, trying her hardest to resist.

"Then let us see what's there. Let us help."

"Daddy, please don't make me. You'll think I'm so stupid."

"No, princess, I won't. I'm not trying to judge you, and neither is your mother. Just open the messages." He said as he took the phone from Alexis and tried to hand it to his daughter.

She looked at her dad, and nodded as she took the phone back and opened her DMs and passed it back. "A couple of these were posted and people added comments. But it's all there."

Ned read the messages, passed the phone to Alexis, and went to wrap his daughter protectively in his arms. "None of that is true. Not one single word."

"I don't know, some of it is. Otherwise I'd fit in."

Alexis read the messages, while she listened to Ned try to comfort Addison. "No, that's what they want you to believe." Alexis said as she put down the phone and pulled Addison into another hug. "You are not any of the things in these messages."

"How long has this been going on?" Ned asked.

"I don't know, maybe since I auditioned. But there was drama before then."

"About what and with who?" Alexis needed more details.

"When I first joined, I posted this picture with Cam and Joss seemed to think we were a thing and that I shouldn't be hanging out with him because she liked him."

"All of this over a boy? A boy who doesn't even go to your school." Ned asked, perplexed.

"Well no, then she auditioned, too and you know how that turned out." Addison added more context.

"Do you have any classes with Joss or any of the other girls involved? Is this happening during the day or just online?" Alexis asked as she fully realized the social landscape had shifted and there was no escape for anyone when the school day ended.

"Math, but it's different at school."

Things were starting to make sense. "No wonder you can't focus." Alexis said, hugging her daughter again.

"I'm not exactly innocent, Mom. I tried to ignore it at first, but then I may have said some things back."

"Online or in person, Addie?"

"Why does it matter?"

"Because what's on the internet will stay there and can follow you years from now."

"Maybe both."

"What did you say?"

"I told Joss she was acting like a spoiled entitled bitch and I called Sarah a brainless follower. I may have said some other stuff, too."

"Addison. I don't even know what to say. Why wouldn't you just tell us what was going on?" She didn't recognize her daughter.

"Because I can handle this myself. You don't need anything else to worry about."

"What do you mean sweetheart?" Ned asked, confused.

"You and Mom are fighting a lot about her working at ELQ." she stressed.

"Just because we are disagreeing right now, doesn't mean we can't work together to help you problem-solve this conflict appropriately. And how you responded, that was not the way to handle it. You understand that, right?" Alexis explained.

"I do. But it was escalating. It went from being the freshman freak to sending pictures of me in the library alone and being a social retard. There's only so much a person can ignore."

"Which is why you go to a trusted adult. You should have come to us." Ned stated.

"Maybe," She wasn't convinced. Reporting things like this usually made it worse. "Can I have my phone back now?" Addison asked, she did what they wanted. She needed her phone back. She needed to be able to talk to her real friends.

"Your mom and I need to talk about this, and we'll let you know what we decide in the morning."

"But I'm not grounded, right?"

"No, not yet. We'll talk more tomorrow." Alexis replied, and Addison went upstairs. "Happy Thanksgiving." Alexis turned to Ned exasperated after Addison left the room. "Just once can we get through this holiday without some sort of crisis?"

"You married a Quartermaine. So, no? Crisis' and pizza. You know this." He tried to joke, attempting to bring some levity to the situation.

"How do you want to handle this?" She asked, ignoring the reference to his family, tempted to pick a fight. She didn't even want to go today in the first place. Maybe if they had stayed home it wouldn't have escalated as much as it had.

"I think we give her phone back. Should she have told us about all of this? Absolutely. Should she have asked us permission to join that app? Yes, but she also needs to be connected to her peer group and I don't want to isolate her more, giving more fuel to what they've been saying."

"So you want to reward her for lying to us?"

"No, I want to trust that she can be responsible moving forward. That she will learn from this. Alexis, you saw her actual public page. It's innocent. There is nothing there."

"She has you wrapped around her finger."

"She messed up. She's never done anything remotely like this before. How would you prefer we handle this?"

"There needs to be consequences. I think at the very least, she should lose her phone for the remainder of the Thanksgiving break."

"That's a bit extreme. Don't you think? Aren't the natural consequences she's encountered enough?"

"It's three days, Ned. She'll survive."

"I guess..yeah, that's fine." He was at a loss. He didn't understand how she couldn't see what happened as clearly as he did. "But you need to tell her."

"You want to make me the bad guy in this situation? We will tell her together. Like we do everything else."

"No, because I don't agree and I won't be the reason she pulls away even more."

"You just did."

"Because I don't want to fight about it, Alexis."

"Fine. I'll tell her."