A/N: Im having a hard time finding gifs of Elliot, and Hazels face claim so gifs maybe few and far between xD 

Between the teacher constantly staring at her every time she spoke, and the consistant snickers and whispers since she entered the classroom Hazel was already overwhelmed and overstimulated. 
"I'll bet Hermione reads the dictionary just for funsies." The boy said.
Hazel looked down at her hands, even in an advanced placement class she didn't fit in.
"Thats enough Kyle. Leave her alone, or you'll be taking a trip to the principals office, just for funsies." Mr. Augustine said.
"It was just a joke." Kyle snorted and turned back around "You can take a joke can't you Hermione?" He asked.

Hazel stood up and grabbed her backpack.
"Miss Oate's what are you doing?" Mr. Augustine asked.
"Leaving." Hazel said. 
"Miss Oate's you can't just leave class." Mr. Augustine said. 
"Why not? I have legs, they work so I'm leaving." Hazel said and started walking towards the door. 
Mr. Augustine followed and put his hand on her shoulder. 
"Hazel, please just sit down-" 
Hazel spun around with a look in her eyes that resembled a caged animal. 
"Don't touch me!" She said. 
Mr. Augustine stepped back, not exactly expecting that reaction. Hazel noticed that his expression was confused, possibly a little hurt. 
"I'm sorry. I have to go." She said and hurried out of the classroom. 

Elliot turned to Kyle and glared at him. 
"Happy?" He asked.
"Come on man, I didn't think she'd be that upset. These people that come from the states are so soft." Kyle rolled his eyes. Elliot stood at the front of the class looking at his students with his arms crossed. 

"I'm disappointed in all of you, This is high school guys, this is an advanced placement class, you are the best of the best of your peers. You guys are supposed to be the role models to the other students who are striving to be where you are. Where you are very lucky to be.  it's time to put the name calling, the bullying and the absolute disrespect that you showed Miss Oates this morning behind you. Because I can assure you, it will not be tolerated in my classroom. Now, I will be right back. Everyone read the material and be prepared to discuss when I get back and Kyle you can tell your coach you wont make practice today because you have detention." 

Elliot turned on his heels and walked out of the classroom, and Hazel was nowhere to be seen. in the hallway
"Damnit.." He sighed. He didn't know much about Autism, however he did know that someone who was overstimulated should not be alone, especially in an unfamiliar place. He also vowed a that moment to learn as much as he could about Aspergers syndrome so he could make school a comfortable place for Hazel to be.

Elliot walked down the hall, to the History classroom and looked in the window, Holly was almost unrecognizable since the last time he saw her in person which was 16  years ago, back then she was withdrawn and quiet, but now it appeared she was glowing with confidence and she appeared to be commanding the attention of her class like a Captain running a crew of unruly teenagers.

He opened the door and poked his head in.
"Ms. Oates. Can I borrow you for a moment?" he said. Holland turned and looked at him. Her eyes widened and that glowing confidence disappeared in a heartbeat, and he felt as if he was looking at the Holly he knew again. His Holly.

"Uh... class I have to step out for a moment. Just go ahead and read the chapter and answer the Chapter questions and we will discuss when I get back. If I don't get back before class is over, consider the chapter questions homework and we will discuss tomorrow morning." Holland said and walked out of the room and closed the door behind her.

"Elliot. Hi." She said.
"Holland. I didn't know you were back in town. Let alone working here." Elliot said.
"You mean you missed the giant Welcome Home Holland Oates banner that my mother's put up downtown?" Holland asked.
"I haven't been downtown much recently. Anyways... We have a problem." Elliot said.
"Oh no. Is it Hazel? What's going on, is it a meltdown, is she climbing the walls? I told Monica to give her decaf this morning, then again she was pretty busy so she could have forgot." Holland rambled. 
"Holly, you are going to have to calm down for a second It is Hazel but unless she's been bitten by a radioactive spider, I don't think she's climbing the walls." Elliot said and raised an eyebrow.
"Oh God it's a full-blown meltdown. Did you leave her in there alone?!" Holland panicked and started walking down the hall towards Elliots classroom.
"Holly she's not in the classroom." Elliot sighed.

"Then where is she Elliot?!" Holland asked.
"She got upset and left. I don't know if she left, left or if she's in the school somewhere but I figured you would know where best to look." Elliot said.
"Let me think.." Holland sighed. "The library. She loves to read we can check there. Does the school still have a computer lab? We can check there too."
"Ill check the lab, you check the library." Elliot said.
Holland shook her head
"Its best if we stick together, if she's in full blown meltdown mode I'm probably the only person besides Nick who can calm her down."
"Wait before we go I have a quick question." Elliot said.

"Now is not the time for questions I have to find my kid El. God... if she left the school, we just got here last night. She has no idea where she's going. I have to call Nick. If she's out there he can look while we are looking in the school." Holland was frantic and pacing the hall. 
"Holland." Elliot said. 
"This is all because I burnt the pancakes..." 
"Pancakes?" Elliot asked and raised an eyebrow. "Never mind that's not important right now Look Holly-" 
"The Pancakes are very important! They've been a tradition since the first time we moved when Hazel was 7. I burnt the pancakes. I cursed the day!" Holland exclaimed. 
"Holland just listen to me for just a second!" Elliot snapped.

"What Elliot?! What question could you possibly have that is more important than finding my kid?" Holland demanded.
Elliot swallowed hard.
"Did you think that I wouldn't find out?" Elliot asked. 
"Find out about what? Me moving back to town, of course I figured you find out, we work together." Holland said. 
Elliot sighed. 
"Not about the move, about Hazel." He said and put his hands on his hips. 
"What about Hazel?" Holland asked. 
"Are you really doing this right now?" Elliot asked. 
"Are you really doing this right now? I have to find my Kid Elliot!" Holland snapped. 
"You mean our kid." Elliot said. "Come on Holly she's basically a carbon copy of me!" Elliot hissed trying to keep his voice down. 

"Elliot I'm begging you to not do this right now. Just help me find her. You don't understand she has autism, she's already on edge with the move, and then instantly starting over at a new school. Not just a new school High school. High school is confusing and scary for any kid, but when Hazel gets overwhelmed she can't process her thoughts and feelings fast enough for her brain to comprehend and she completely freaks out and I'm really scared right now." Holland said. She was on the verge of tears. Which Elliot always had a soft spot for. While he and Holland weren't as close as friends as he and Nick, Elliot understood her, because she was a lot like him. 

Elliot sighed.
"Okay, we will find her. But this conversation is not over." Elliot said.
"Fine. Lets check the library first." Holland said. "I'll call Nick on the way." Holland said as they walked down the hall.
Holland pulled her cellphone from the pocket of her slacks and dialed Nick's number and put the phone to her ear. 
"Miss me already Holly?" Nick asked with a chuckle. 
"Nick, this is very important. Hazel went awol in Elliots class, we don't know if she left the school or if she's still here, but Nick if she's out there she has no idea where she is we just got into town last night I didn't have time to drive her around showing her everything. God.. I should have done that!" Holland groaned, she was really beating herself up over this. She should have known better than to expect her daughter to slip into an entirely new routine overnight. 

Nick could hear the panic in his sisters voice. 
"Holly, calm down. I'm on it, if shes out here I'll find her. Do we know why she left? Just so I know what to expect when I find her." 
"I'm assuming something or someone upset her, She's been in a mood all morning so just expect the worst and call me as soon as you find her." Holland said. 
"Don't worry. I've got it call me if you find her before I do." Nick said. 
"I will. Thank you Nick." Holland sighed. 
"What are big brothers for?" Nick said. "Just try to calm down, its not going to do either of you any good if you are freaking out too." 
"I'll try. I gotta go Thanks again." Holland said and hung up the phone. 
"What exactly does expect the worst mean in this situation?" Elliot asked as they walked down the hall to the library. 

"When Hazel gets too overstimulated, she goes into what we have lovingly called meltdown mode. Of course I can't tell you exactly how she feels but shes explained to me that it starts by feeling like shes wearing microphones on her ears amplifying every little sound, a lot of the times she doesn't even realize what shes doing or saying, during the really bad ones, Nick has had to sit down on the floor with her and wrap her in a bear hug so she doesn't hit herself or scratch herself, I've had to do it myself, and it is not easy but the extra weight helps to calm her down." Holland explained. 

"Oh...wow." Elliot said. That sounded...very overwhelming to him. 
"Don't worry, the bad ones are few and far between the older she gets, most of the time when shes overstimulated she just gets kind of mean. I mean.. that child is brutally honest when she's mad as is, she's not violent or anything at least not to other people, she more so takes her meltdowns out on herself which absolutely sucks but we get through it." Holland said and shrugged her shoulders. 

While searching the library Elliot followed Holland through the sections, she thought Hazel would be in, most of it was nonfiction, but the fact that his daughter shared his love of science fiction also made him smile. 
"So.. what happened exactly?" Holland asked. "Why was she so upset?"
Elliot sighed.
"Some jerk of a kid was pestering her, calling her Hermione." Elliot said. "Don't worry, that will be handled."

"Not Hermione." Holland sighed. "She hates it when people call her that. God.. What am I supposed to do, she's too smart for regular classes, so she gets bullied, and now she's too smart for Advanced placement classes. No matter what we try it doesn't work. We even tried online school, but she finished everything months in advanced and she was bored out of her mind. " Holland ran her hands over her face. 
Elliot put his hands on her shoulders. 
"Hey, don't worry about it. What happened in class today isn't going to happen again I'll make sure of it." Elliot said. 

"Im sure you will, but what about her other classes?  She doesn't have any friends, the one time she tries to make friends, they were so cruel to her Elliot..She's terrified of water, she can't swim and these kids threw her into the school pool and watched and laughed while she was basically drowning, luckily the swim coach was in his office and he ran out and jumped in and got her out, but he had to do CPR She had to be rushed to children's hospital for observation I almost lost her because kids.. They just don't understand her. She doesn't understand social cues much and she gets taken advantage of and its not fair."

"Its not fair, and I'm so sorry that happened that must have been traumatizing for the both of you." Elliot said. 
"I had to sit in the bathroom while she showered for months because the feeling of water running over her face sent her into a panic attack and she has had nightmares her whole life about drowning and now when she has one I have to ask if its a pond dream or a pool dream." Holland sighed and ran her hands over her face again.
 "Shes not here. Lets check the computer lab and then I'll call Nick again and see if he has eyes on her yet."

"Pond...dream? Elliot asked as they walked out of the library.
"She's had this dream since she was a child about falling into a pond and drowning. Thats why she's so afraid of water. Anyways that's not important right now I just have to focus on finding her."

Elliot stopped in the hallway thinking. It couldn't have been the pond on the Landry land, she's never seen that pond before. But he also knew for a fact that she has been in the pond but he could never even think about trying to explain that mess to Holland right now, as panicked as she was, she'd probably have a meltdown herself...

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Hazel almost instantly regretted leaving the school campus. She had no idea where she was going, and living in the big cities she'd lived in, she was not very comfortable asking complete strangers for help. She knew she was downtown but nothing here was familiar to her. She tried to keep her head down and just walk and eventually she would figure out where she was.

Hazel ran into someone, and her glasses were knocked from her face. Hazel couldn't see more than a couple of inches away from her face without her glasses so she instantly started patting around her looking for them. 
"Oh shoot, I'm sorry kid are you okay?" The man she ran into asked.
Hazel didn't respond, she was so focused on trying to find her glasses because she couldn't see anything. 

The man knelt down and reached to help her up but the sudden hand appearing in Hazels face startled her and she smacked the mans hand away. She was hyperventilating at this point and panicking because she couldn't see. 
"Jesus kid I was just trying to help." The man muttered and walked away from her.

The sounds of people chattering as they walked by, and the sounds of cars driving on the street seemed to be more amplified than usual. Hazel sat on the sidewalk she pulled her knees up to her chest and closed her eyes and covered her ears rocking back and forth.

Nick was driving slowly down the streets, looking out for Hazel like his sister asked him to, he spotted the teenager sitting in the middle of the sidewalk There were people that stopped and where almost circling around her like they were watching a circus act. Nick sighed and put his car in park and got out and hurried over to Hazel

"Come on people give the kid some space!" He shouted.
"Nick do you know her?"
Nick rolled his eyes at the voice and turned around
"Yes, Rita I know her, she's my sisters kid, now tell off of these people you've gathered to watch to kindly go the hell away. She's not a freak, and the show is over." Nick said. It always infuriated him when people acted like they've never seen someone with Autism before.
"Go on, get!" Nick said and gestured for the people standing by to leave. The crowd dispersed slowly and Nick looked down at Hazel. 
"Oh kid.." He frowned. 

Nick sat down in front of Hazel, it was much easier to calm her down when he was on her level.
Nick carefully placed his hands over Hazels that were covering her ears, her fingernails were digging into her skin she was holding them so hard.
Hazel let out a yell and tried to push him away with her elbows but Nick was prepared for that he just scooted himself closer and gently pulled Hazels hands away from her ears

"Hazey its me. Its Nick. Open your eyes sweetheart." He said.
Hazel shook her head and continued rocking back and forth Nick had to hold her hands tightly because she kept trying to hit him. He never got mad at her when she got into fits like this. She couldn't control it.

 "Easy Hazel. You're okay. Just breathe." Nick said. He turned the teen around so he could easily hold her arms to keep her from scratching or hitting herself, or him. He wrapped his arms around her tightly and pulled her as close to him as he could rocking back and forth with her in his arms knowing the extra weight would soothe her. 

This was probably one of the worst episodes he'd ever seen her have, but he was confident he could bring her out of it. He rested his chin on the top of her head.
"Come on Hazey, calm down for me." He said softly. "Your heart is beating like a kick drum kid." He sighed as she continued to fight to get out of his grip.
"You're going to make me sing aren't you kid?" Nick asked with a chuckle. "You and your mother got the musical genes in the family, I don't know if my voice is going to actually be soothing or make the situation worse." Nick said. 
Hazel was crying so hard she was hiccuping, she kept hitting the back of her head against Nicks chest. 
"Alright, alright don't give yourself a concussion kid." Nick sighed

Nick started humming a melody to one of Hazels favorite songs before he started softly singing the lyrics.  he knew this song was almost a guarantee to bring her out of the meltdown.

"Show me a smile then
Don't be unhappy, can't remember when
 last saw you laughing
If this world makes you crazy
And you've taken all you can bear
You call me up because you know I'll be there
And I'll see your true colors shining through
I see your true colors, and that's why I love you
So don't be afraid to let it show
your true colors
Your true colors are beautiful, like a rainbow"

As Nick sang, Hazel slowly stopped trying to fight her way out of his grip, so he was able to loosen up his hold on her a little.
"There we go. Breathe sweetheart. You're okay, you're safe, Uncle Nick's got you and I'm not letting go until you are ready. 
"What's wrong with me? Why don't the other kids like me?" Hazel sobbed breaking Nick's heart to pieces. 

—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
While walking down the hall to the computer lab, Elliots curiosity was getting the better of him. Did Hazel know he was her father? Did she ever ask about him? If she knew, what did she think of him? She didn't seem like she knew in class, but he couldn't get a good read on her before she left either. 

"Does Hazel ever ask about me?" Elliot asked.
"Don't take offense to this, but not really. I mean when she was really little, she'd ask questions and of course I'd tell her about you but as she got older, the questions stopped. She seems pretty content with it just being me and her." Holland said. "I told her about you, but never mentioned your name and she has no idea that you are her father." 
"Holly... I want to know her. I don't want her to think that I never cared... I mean God... if I knew. I would have dropped everything and i would have been there. I want her to know that."

"El. I promise she has never felt like you abandoned her, I kept the details of our very brief fling to myself, but everything I've told her about you... It was good. And I promise you will know her but this is a very delicate situation and I know I should have given you the opportunity to be in her life long before now. She's already upset about the move, she's frustrated because no matter where we go no matter how bright the future looks, someone always snuffs it out for her. She's fragile right now, I can't drop that bombshell on her right now Elliot please understand. She needs time to adjust. I know this is completely unfair to you because you've already missed so much but I really think we should wait to tell her." Holland said.

Elliot sighed.
"You know her better than I do, so you are probably right. I just can't help but feel like I should be doing something more for her."
"You are helping me find her. That is enough for right now." Holland said. 

Hollands phone started ringing she looked down at the caller ID.
"Its Nick." She said and answered.
"Nick??"
"I've got her Holls don't worry." Nick said.
"Oh Thank God." Holland said and pulled the phone away from her ear. "Nick found her." She told Elliot.
Elliot breathed a sigh of relief knowing that she was found and she was safe.

"Where was she?" Holland asked.
"In the middle of downtown. Rita had people gathered around her watching her have a meltdown." Nick said bitterly.
"Damn that woman..." Holland sighed. "How bad was it?"
"It was bad. I don't think I've ever seen an episode like that, but I got her out of it, She's home. She's pretty upset. Hey, did you bring any spare glasses for her? Hers got knocked off her face into the street and... Well, there's nothing left of them." Nick said.
"Yeah, I did, but I haven't really unpacked so they are likely in a box somewhere." Holland sighed. "Just tell her I'll be home as soon as I can." 

"Holly, its fine. I've got her. You need to go grocery shopping on the way home the only thing you have is pancake mix eggs and milk. I'm going to have to order something for her. She still eat the same things?" Nick asked.
"Yup. Pizza, chicken nuggets, canned ravioli the Campbells kind not the one with the chef guy on it. Trust me, there is a difference and hot dogs. Oh We've also ventured to Sushi this year, nothing raw though."

"Got it, One pizza with chicken nuggets, canned raviolis, hot dogs, and a California roll on top."
"Nickolas that sounds disgusting." Holland said and scrunched her nose.
"Relax I'm kidding. I'll figure out what she wants. If she wants anything right now, like I said she's pretty down right now, don't worry though. Uncle Nick to the rescue. Just do your teaching thing and I'll see you when you get here." Nick said. 

Holland sighed and nodded
"Nicky... thank you." She said.
"Anytime." Nick said. "See ya." He said and hung up the phone.

"Pizza, chicken nuggets, canned raviolis, hot dogs and sushi?" Elliot asked. "Is that all she eats?"
"Oh Gods no, thats just the lunch and dinner options, she has breakfast foods she likes, certain snacks she likes and desert is a free for all, kids got a massive sweet tooth. and if I know my brother she's going to be more hyped than a squirrel in a nut factory when I get home." Holland smirked. 

Elliot chuckled.
"So she's okay?"
"Shes pretty upset, but Nick managed to get her out of a massive meltdown. But she will be okay. We'll get through it."
"Holly..." Elliot said.
"Yeah?" Holland asked.
"I know things seem rough right now, it was her first day. Please don't up and run, give Port Haven a chance...give me a chance." Elliot said.
"El there is no way that I would just up and leave especially now that you know about her. We will give Port Haven a fair shot and I promise if we have to leave again, She will know who you are before that happens."
"Thats all that I ask." Elliot said.
"Of course." Holland nodded.

The bell rang bringing both of them back to the reality that they missed practically a full class, and there was no telling what their students were doing in their absence. 
"I guess we should probably go and teach." Holland said. "Oh... Uh Nick said something about Karaoke tonight with you and Kat? He was planning on taking me with, but I'll have to make sure everything is okay with Hazel before I go so... I may or may not be there."
"Understood." Elliot nodded. "So...shall we?"
"Yeah..." Holland said. "That teaching thing we do. Our classes are in separate directions. So, I'm just going to go, my next class is a freshman class and there's no telling what they will do unsupervised." Holland said.
"Absolutely. I've got seniors next. So, I better get going too." Elliot said.

However, neither of them moved. They just stood there staring at each other.
"Holly..." Elliot said.
Holland shook her head.
"I've got to go. Catch up with you later..." Holland said and turned on her heels and walked away from him.
Elliot sighed heavily and turned around and slowly walked to his classroom. He stopped suddenly, feeling panic in his chest for the first time in a long time. 
Oh my God. I'm a father.  He thought.