Author's Note: The following chapter has scenes describing a sexual assault. This could be potentially triggering for those who have experienced trauma. Reader discretion is advised.

The next morning came quickly. Neither of them slept well, thoughts about what happened to Addie, what Owen could possibly know or how he was involved, the fact that their son had lied to them, and then there was Kristen who truly did seem apologetic, but whose choice the previous night made them question who they thought she was becoming. She'd never been that irresponsible with her siblings. Alexis thought it was because they were distracted, not paying enough attention to what had been going on. Ned thought it was because they were teenagers and that Kristen, however wrong, really did want to earn back her sister's trust. Regardless, they knew they needed to be on the same page as they went downstairs and discussed what to do over coffee before any of their children were up. They were shocked when Kristen came down early and went out, stating she had errands to run. What errand she could possibly have that needed to be done at 8am on a Saturday morning threw them both for a loop, but she was an adult and at the end of the day they felt like they had to let her live her life.

Soon, Addison walked into the kitchen and they both hoped that she'd open up. They needed to know what happened. They needed to know in order to help her navigate the emotional hell that was foisted upon her at that party. They also wanted to take action. They wanted justice for their little girl. "Good morning, peanut." Alexis said, getting up from the island, walked over to Addison and hugged her.

"Pancakes?" She looked at her dad. She had told him not to make this a thing. She wanted to forget about it. She wanted to go back to the way things were before she stupidly went to that party. She didn't want a special breakfast because they felt sorry for her. She thought as she sat at the kitchen table.

"You said no french toast; so, It had to be chocolate chip pancakes." Ned said. He wanted his daughter to feel supported, loved.

"My favorite." Addison couldn't help but smile.

"I know." He said as he put the plate down in front of her and sat at the table.

"Where's Krissy?" It was bizarre that she would be the first one up.

"She said she had an errand to run. She's not here. Owen's still asleep. It's just us for now." Alexis stated, sitting next to her daughter.

"Oh." Addison said, thinking that it was odd her sister would be out so early. "It's not her fault. Don't blame her, ok?"

"We know that's how you feel. You made that clear last night." Ned stated.

"But you don't?" Addison questioned.

"We're just worried about you right now, Addie. And we're so thankful you're safe. Eat some breakfast." Ned explained and Addison nodded quietly, not quite ready to divulge details.

They sat around the table and ate and as Addison finished, Alexis looked at her daughter and asked, "I don't mean to take a page out of Daddy's playbook and talk over breakfast, but are you feeling up to telling us what happened?" She asked as she tucked a strand of hair that had fallen out of her daughter's braid behind Addison's ear.

"I probably should…?" She knew it wasn't good for her to keep things to herself. Spinning everything that could happen from this. All the potential fall out. It wasn't helping her think clearly.

"I'm not trying to pressure you. If you need more time. We'd understand."

"No, I know I need to tell you and you've both been so great. Can I maybe just get dressed and then we can talk later? I'm still trying to figure it out, parts of it are really blurry because it happened so fast."

"Sure." Alexis said and she took Ned's hand, knowing this was as hard for him as it was her.

Addison got up from the table and cleared her plate and Ned followed her lead heading to start cleaning up from breakfast. Mentally preparing to hear things he never expected any of his daughters to have to experience.

Alexis watched him from the kitchen table, frozen in her own thoughts about what her daughter could be going through, something she understood in ways she'd never told anyone, except Stefan. Memories of a past on that island unwillingly surfacing when she'd kept it buried, locked away in a place that couldn't haunt her.

Her book falling off the cliff overlooking the ocean. The guard. There was nowhere to run. Nowhere to escape. Noone in sight to hear her screams.

"Alexis?" Ned asked as he turned back towards her, the dishes in the dishwasher, a plate for their son sitting on the counter. He was hoping to talk to her about how they should approach this. He saw her expression, she seemed a million miles away. "Honey?"

"Hmm?" She said, realizing he was calling her.

"Where were you just now?" He asked as he walked towards her.

She stood and met him in the middle of the kitchen. "Nowhere. Just tired. It was a long night and now, I'm just worried about what we'll hear."

"Me too. Come here." He said, suspecting more, but leaving it be as he pulled her into a hug and then took her hand and led them to the living room.

Kristen woke that morning to a text from Michael. He wanted to meet her at Kellys. He said it was about their siblings. She reluctantly agreed and met him for breakfast. Not entirely trusting his intentions. He had been fighting for control of ELQ and she knew he wasn't ready. She questioned whether he actually wanted to be CEO or whether he felt pressured by AJ. Regardless, ELQ aside, a lot happened last night and it was clear that whatever happened to Addison and Owen last night was connected to Joss and Morgan. She walked into Kellys and sat at the table in the corner across from Michael. "I'm here Michael. What do you want?"

"Thanks for coming." Michael said.

"Why don't we just get straight to the point. Why am I here?"

"I need to know what your sister is planning to do."

"What are you talking about?" She needed to know what Michael knew.

"You don't know."

"Know what?" She continued to fish.

"What happened last night."

"Are you talking about that party?"

"Yes, Joss called me completely distraught after she caught Morgan trying to force your sister to have sex. We were trying to find him when you called."

"What?! I mean my parents thought she was assaulted, but Michael this isn't what I expected."

"I know. Morgan completely snapped last night. By the time I got there he had taken off, drunk. There was a car accident..he drove off and left the scene. I got him to GH last night, but Mac showed up at the hospital and arrested him for violating bail and driving under the influence."

"Wait…Owen was in an accident last night. You don't think…"

"Probably. So I need to know. What's Addison planning to do?"

"I knew Morgan was a bit erratic, but I never would have thought he could do something like this."

"Me either. He was drunk and he's been struggling with emotional extremes for awhile. It was not a good combination and he truly believed that your sister was coming on to him. He couldn't hear or see beyond his own ideas about what he wanted to happen. Honestly, he doesn't even remember most of it."

"That's not an excuse for attacking my little sister!" Kristen was outraged.

"Which is why I need to know what she's going to do." Michael explained.

"So what do you want me to do about that? He deserves everything he gets."

"Your mom is his lawyer, Krissy. It's a mess."

"She won't be once she hears about this."

"Well that's my point. I'm trying to protect my brother right now. If sexual assault charges get added to this case…he doesn't need to be in prison. He needs treatment."

"You want me to keep this quiet? You want Addie to stay silent when the whole world should know?"

"I know it's a lot to ask."

"A lot to ask?" Kristen truly couldn't believe this was what Michael wanted that morning.

"Monumental, better? Listen, I'm willing to make it worth it for you." He knew Kristen would be tempted, he had something he could offer and he knew she'd want it.

"How? What do you think my sister's silence could possibly be worth?"

"My vote at ELQ. I'll back out of the race for CEO. I'll vote however you want, as long as Addie keeps this quiet. At least until Morgan's in a better mental state. I don't want to see my brother kill himself, Kristen. I understand what he did, but I don't want to see him end his life over it."

"He's suicidal?"

"When I told him again what Joss stopped him from doing…it broke him. I don't think he thought he could do that either. But he was arrested again last night. He's been at the station all night. They've been waiting for him to sober up to question him. I don't think they believe he's as unstable as I saw him last night."

"Ok, listen, I need to talk to Addison or at least get a sense of what she's planning to do. As of last night she hadn't even told my parents what happened completely and I won't force her into keeping quiet to spare her abuser; as tempting as having your vote is."

"That's fair."

"I'll text you with a decision later today." She needed to protect her sister, first. The vote was tempting, but she needed to keep reminding herself her sister came first.

"At the very least thanks for hearing me out." Michael said, hopeful.

"Does my mom know he was arrested? She didn't go to the PCPD last night."

"I don't think she's answering her phone. I know my father tried to call her last night, but Mac also saw what shape he was in and I'm not sure they've even questioned him, yet."

"Thanks, Michael. I have to be honest. I hate that my mother is involved in this."

"He needs a good lawyer, Kristen." Michael was rational.

"Who doesn't need to be my mom. I've got to go talk to Addie. I'll be in touch." Kristen said as she stood to leave. She hoped that Addison was going to tell her parents what happened. She didn't want to be in this position. She left Kellys and drove home. She had to talk to her sister. She had to talk to her parents. She had to resist the temptation to put the battle at ELQ to rest once and for all for her dad.

Addison knew she couldn't hide in her room forever. She was eventually going to have to talk to them. She came downstairs and took a deep breath before walking in to face her parents. She found them sitting together, waiting for her in the living room. She walked into the room and stood in front of them. "I'm not really sure where to start…" Addison shifted uncomfortably, balling the sleeves of her hoodie in her hands, as she stood in front of her parents who were on the sofa.

"So you asked Kristen to drive you to a party…" Alexis started for her and Addison sat on the chair across from them and pulled her legs underneath her.

"Yeah. I wanted to go because everyone had been telling me to try and make friends at school and it was the first thing I was invited to. And then there's what happened at Rice Plaza, it messed with my head." She said, Cam almost kissing Joss again flashing before her.

"What happened at Rice Plaza?" Alexis asked, confused.

She looked down and pulled at the sleeves of her sweatshirt again.. "Nothing. It doesn't matter." She had no intention of telling them she saw Joss and Cam again and it sent her spiraling. "Anyway, I was actually surprised I was even invited, but I should have known better. When I got there I only knew a few people…"

"Kristen said she saw Sophie there…"

"She was with her other friends, it's like I told you that day Mom."

"Right, ok, so what happened once you were there?"

She made eye contact with her dad. "I figured I'd just stay there for a little while, Krissy was going to pick me up at 10, and then maybe I wouldn't be the friendless freak everyone thinks I am."

"You have friends and you're not a freak." Ned said, heartbroken.

"Not at Madison and that's exactly what people think I am. The freshman freak."

"They're still calling you that?" Alexis asked as her daughter nodded. "What happened at the party?"

"A few kids kept offering me this punch they made…"

"Did you drink, Addison?" Ned asked, concerned.

"No. I swear to you I didn't. I took it, to get them off my back, but I never drank it. I swear. Krissy warned me about open containers before she dropped me off."

"She did?" Alexis asked, relieved. Maybe Kristen wasn't as irresponsible as she thought.

"Yeah, she did. You believe me, right?"

"We believe you." Ned assured her. "What else happened? How did you end up at Elizabeth Webber's because your brother was there. Why didn't you seek him out?"

"I didn't want to seem like I was this baby who needed her older brother to rescue her."

He could understand that, "Rescue you from what?" Ned asked supportively, trying to encourage her to keep talking.

Addison got quiet, she wasn't sure she wanted to actually say what happened out loud yet. She had replayed it all night long, but actually saying it was something different. "Addie, come here." Alexis said, reaching for her daughter and Addison moved to the sofa and sat next to her mother, who wrapped her arm around her. "You're safe, sweetheart. You're here with us and you're safe."

She nodded. She knew she was safe with her parents. "When I got there, I found this quieter corner and sat on the couch. I was just kind of watching everyone make stupid choices, and I was actually kind of ticked at myself for thinking I wanted any part of it but that's when…" Her sentence trailed. She didn't want to say who noticed her. She knew it might cause more problems. She didn't want to cause more problems, so she was deliberately vague. "...a senior noticed me sitting alone…"

"And?"

"He sat with me, and I'm not a complete idiot so I tried to make some sort of conversation, but he kept insisting I owed him because he got me invited, which there was no way was true. Hope invited me." She looked between her parents, pausing before continuing. "He kept moving closer to me and I ran out of space to back away and I started to feel like I couldn't breathe. Like I had no space." She paused to take a breath, feeling the fear and anxiety creep back into her body as her mother tucked a stray hair behind her ear. " I tried to get up, but he put his hand on my waist and he kissed me, but I pushed him away. And I said that I wasn't interested, but he didn't hear it and tried to kiss me again. Then, someone came into the room looking for him, and I was so relieved because I thought it was over."

"But it wasn't?" Ned asked, fearful.

"I went to a room with more people. I thought I'd be safer there and I told myself I could get through 90 more minutes. I didn't want to bail early and then add to this narrative that I'm some sort of social freak. Stupid I know. I should have called Krissy right then. I should have tried to find Owen."

"No, not stupid. You are such a smart girl. That was such a smart decision. We understand why you wouldn't want to find your brother. Right?" Alexis asked her husband.

"We do."

"Well that senior…he found me there and kept staring at me. He would say something to his friends and they'd all stare and keep laughing. At first I thought it was all in my head. That I wasn't thinking clearly because of what happened with that list and maybe I was panicking for nothing. You know how I sometimes do that…"

"You're also perceptive, Addie. I'm certain if your gut was telling you something was off, you were spot on." Alexis told her.

"I kept telling myself it was nothing, but I couldn't breathe and felt super uncomfortable, so I went to try and get my stuff, so I could call Krissy. I stupidly left my phone in my coat pocket. I didn't want to bother you, Mom. I didn't want to ruin your night away."

"It's ok, you were planning to call someone you trust. That's what we talked about. But for the record, you can always call either one of us." Alexis reassured her. Dismayed that out of everything that was happening to her at that party, she was still worrying about the thought they might divorce.

"But you never did call Krissy…" Ned said, fearing the worst.

"I didn't get that far. He cut me off in the hall, said I was playing hard to get and backed me against a wall in the hallway and kissed me again. I pushed him away, again, and went into the closest room and tried to close the door, hoping maybe someone would see what was happening, but it was loud and kids were drunk and he grabbed me, and I tripped when I tried to get away again, and before I could even process what was happening…" She hesitated, making eye contact with her mother and then her father, whom she could barely look at, the distress visible in his eyes.

"Nothing you tell us right now will change how much we love you, Addison, nothing." Alexis reminded her.

She heard the words, but reliving the night was getting to her and tears started to fall down her face as she made eye contact with her father.

"Addie, do you want me to leave the room? If it's too hard for you to talk about this with me sitting here…"

"No it's ok. I want you to know. You should know. It's just hard." She paused and then looked at her mother. If she focused on her mother, she could get it out. "He said he knew I wanted him. That he's known for weeks. I told him no, that was crazy, and I tried to get up, but he pinned me down and was basically on top of me. I said no, and he tried to unbutton my jeans as I fought back. I scratched him, I told him no. I remembered what you said. Do whatever it takes…and I grabbed something, I don't even know what and I hit him in the head, so I could try to get away, but I wasn't fast enough. I screamed for help…It was like he wasn't even the same person I go to school with…something was different and I couldn't over power him.

"Did this boy…did he…because last night you said…" Ned tried to ask the question he was afraid of the answer to.

Addison was so lost in reliving what happened, she didn't even hear her father's question. "Someone must have heard because all of a sudden the lights went on and he let go and I ran. I didn't even stop to see who it was. I just ran as far and as fast as I could. When I realized where I was, it was cold and then I didn't have my phone and I knew Cam's house was close or at least I thought it was and so I went there." She finally looked at her father, "Please don't hate me, please don't be mad. I didn't mean for him to get these ideas about me. I didn't, I swear."

"I could never hate you, Addie. I love you so much and you are not to blame. Not for one second would I ever think that, sweetheart." Ned said heartbroken.

"But—"

"No buts, Addison, this is not your fault. Do you hear me? This is not your fault." Alexis said as she wiped her daughter's tears and pulled her close.

"You didn't do anything wrong, princess. But, I just want to be clear, did he…because…"

"No, he was so close…but I got away…if it wasn't for that person…."

"You were still sexually assaulted, baby. You know that right?" She nodded as her mother hugged her tightly again.

"I'm calling Mac." Ned said as he stood and took out his phone.

"No! Daddy, please…" Addison jumped up off the sofa.

"Addison, we need to file a police report." Ned said, trying to stay calm, rational.

"I just want to forget it even happened. Please…" Addison pleaded.

"Someone hurt you, this boy needs to face the consequences of his actions. Who was it, Addie? Who hurt you?" He couldn't stand the thought of someone getting away with harming his little girl.

"Daddy, can we please just not talk about it anymore? It was hard enough to tell you at all."

"Let's just take a minute. I think we all need to process everything that happened and then we can talk about what needs to be done next, ok?" Alexis said as she stood behind Addison and looked at her husband.

"Alexis…"

"Ned…"

And as they quietly disagreed, Owen walked downstairs and all three of them turned to him. "What? Why are you all looking at me like that?"

"It's nothing, sorry, you just caught us off guard. How's your head?" Ned explained and checked in with their son.

He looked between his parents and his sister. "What's going on? Is this about last night? Addie?" He said, eyeing his sister who was visibly upset, tears in her eyes.

"We can't get into it right now, O. There's a plate for you in the kitchen. Your dad made pancakes this morning." Alexis said as she ran her hand over the top of her daughter's head.

"Ok…," he said unsure and he headed towards the kitchen as Alexis' cell phone started to ring.

"Ignore it," Ned said as he hugged Addison. He was almost certain he knew who it was. "Just tell us who did this and we can handle it, princess."

"Daddy, please…" She said on the verge of tears again.

Alexis took out her phone as she looked between her daughter and her husband. Sonny's name flashed across the screen and she ignored it. "Ned, we can talk more later. I think she needs a break. It's a lot to process." It rang again. She hit ignore. Nothing going on with Sonny would be more important than her daughter right now.

"Ok, maybe you're right," he said as he turned to Addison, "I just want to protect you." He said resigned.

"I know." She said and he hugged her just as Alexis' cell phone started ringing again.

"Seriously, who the hell is trying to reach you?" He snapped. He knew who it was. He saw them leave the hospital. He was annoyed they couldn't take a hint.

She glanced at it, this time it was Carly. She hit ignore. "It can wait."

"I'm sure it's probably important, Mom. It's ok. You can call them back. I just want to go to my room and read. If that's ok…"

"Totally fine. I love you and I'm here if you want to talk again today." She said as Addison escaped up the staircase and to her room.

"Thank you for not answering." He said calmly. He needed her to know he wasn't angry with her.

"We're going to get her through this, right?" Alexis asked weakly. She knew all too well what her daughter was facing. She needed him to reassure her they'd handle it. That their little girl was going to come out of this stronger.

"We are." He said as he pulled Alexis into his arms and clung to her. He needed her right now just as much as he knew she needed him.