So this story is not mine at all, and i just want to say that I am honored to have been chosen to help write such an amazing story with such a truly great plotline that is deep, interesting, and what i believe a very canon situation. plus it's angst and we all know how much i love angst.

So i'd like to thank the ever amazing SpectrumBunny AKA Spec AKA gay-arnold on tumblr. You are such a great person and you have come up with a truly amazing story that i am so happy to be a part of creating with you and showing the fandom. I take no credit in the plot- i am simply the messenger haha.

It was a typical Monday. I'd woken myself up, had breakfast with the boarders who were rowdy as usual, gotten myself ready and then waited for Gerald's mom to come and pick me up to take me to school. We'd switched to this carpool idea about a year ago after Gerald's mom had switched shifts at the store she worked at and she had to start around the same time school opened. It worked well; I usually got into the car as Timberly sat up front and Gerald and I shared the back seat. Timberly talked incessantly about whatever she'd had for breakfast or a cartoon she watched while Gerald usually got annoyed and made various comments to me about how annoying she was, though it didn't bother me that much. After our short distance to school, we'd exit the car and head inside of PS118; Gerald I talking to each other about our weekend as our fellow classmates made their way into Mr. Simmons' classroom with us- a herd of students filling into the room as the bell rang and we awaited class to begin.

But today, on this a typical Monday, was not as typical as I had hoped.

"Good morning students," Principal Wartz greeted us as we filtered into the room and Gerald and I eyed each other in confusion. It wasn't every day the Principal was the one to greet us and I glanced around the room before looking to Gerald.

"Where's Mr. Simmons?" I asked quietly as I took my seat, and Gerald shrugged his shoulders while taking the seat next to me.

"Beats me, Arnold. Maybe the guys running late?" He offered and I shook my head.

"Mr. Simmons is never late, Gerald," I mumbled as the bell rang and the rest of our class took their seats.

"Students," Principal Wartz greeted us again while standing in front of the classroom. "Mr. Simmons will be gone due to some personal matters today, so I'd like to introduce you to your substitute teacher for the day, Ms. Callee," he said, a woman entering the room with a smile, though a tired one at that.

Personal matters, I thought while shaking my head. "He isn't running late, Gerald," I whispered over to him and he shrugged.

"So?"

"Yeah," Helga chimed in from behind me. "So what, football-head? Granola Boy is probably just stuck at home sick or something."

I shook my head, "Didn't you hear Principal Wartz? He said it was personal, not that he was sick."

"Yeah, and?" She retorted back at me before crossing her arms over her chest and frowning. "Maybe the guys got family over or something, WE don't know, criminy." She said with a roll of her eyes and I sighed while giving her a deadpan look.

"I just hope he's okay, don't you?"

Helga shrugged her shoulders. "I'm sure he's just PEACHY, Hair Boy."

But I wasn't sure. Mr. Simmons had always been a great teacher to us and I found that him not being there caused for a very weird day. I was so used to his cheerful disposition all day that, while Ms. Callee was a fine teacher, she just wasn't living up to the expectations Mr. Simmons left behind while he was gone.

And I couldn't stop hoping he was okay.

Personal matters, I kept repeating to myself and frowning as I did so. What exactly were personal matters?

The day went by slowly as Ms. Callee droned on about fractions and other topics that we'd been studying under Mr. Simmons. Nobody seemed to question what was happening with Mr. Simmons and it bothered me to know that nobody in our class was worried whether or not he was okay. It wasn't like him to miss class, even if he was sick or had company over.

I brought it up at recess and was once again shot down by my fellow classmates.

"Maybe he's off at the spa taking a day off," Rhonda concluded while checking her nail bed. "If I were a teacher, I'd certainly play hooky for a day at the spa."

I sighed and shook my head. "Rhonda, he's not at the spa I'm almost sure about it."

"Maybe he's got tickets to go and see that new show downtown at the theater!" Sheena squeaked out as Eugene nodded his head.

"I've heard it has some really great numbers in it. He'll have to show us the playbill when he gets back!" Eugene added and I frowned while looking off into the sky.

"Guys, don't you think it's out of character for Simmons to just up and skip school for something as silly as a play or the...spa? He just wouldn't do that to us," I said while most of the kids rolled their eyes and Helga stood up from the picnic table and crossed her arms.

"What does it matter to you ANYway, Arnoldo?" She asked with a raise of her brow. "We've got a substitute teacher for a day which means no homework and THAT'S something to be celebrated."

"Maybe," I said while biting my lip. "But no homework or not, I just hope he's okay."

"I'm sure he's fine, man," Gerald reassured me, "let's just focus on recess, alright? I'm sure Simmons will be back tomorrow."

But I wasn't so sure. There was something about the term 'personal matters' that set me off into panic mode because it didn't mean he was off doing something else or sick. It meant something was going on in his life that prevented him from focusing on teaching and that just wasn't something Simmons did. In all our time with him, he hadn't ONCE called in sick or missed a day of class for any reason. Something in my gut told me there was something going on and I just couldn't let it go, no matter what the day brought.

"So that Ms. Callee," Gerald said on the way home from school as we sat on the bus, "she was a real piece of work."

I shrugged my shoulders. "I guess."

"Arnold, are you still hung up on Mr. Simmons? The guys a big boy, he can take care of himself," Gerald stated flatly and I sighed while looking out the window as we passed the town on our way home.

"I know, Gerald, it's just... I can't help but feel like something is wrong."

"And so what if it is? What are YOU gonna do about it?" He questioned and I frowned as I continued staring out the window.

"I don't know," I mumbled as the Sunset Arms boarding house came into view from the bus and I stood up to get ready to exit the bus. "I just thought-"

"Relax, man," he said with a smile. "Stop worrying about everyone and their mother, okay? I'm sure Simmons is just fine and he'll be back tomorrow."

"Sure Gerald," I said as the bus came to a stop in front of my house. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"See ya."

I sighed as the bus pulled away and I made my way up the stoop to open the door of the boarding house and enter it with an exhausted feeling washing over me.

"Grandma, Grandpa, I'm home!" I called out as I heard a commotion taking place from the living room.

Curiously, I wandered there where all the boarders were huddled around the TV watching the news- an occurrence that didn't happen often unless something serious had happened. "What's going on?" I asked from where I stood behind the couch and Grandpa turned around to look at me from where he sat.

"Hey there Shortman, how was school?"

I shrugged my shoulders while watching the news reporter talk about an incident from downtown. "Fine. What's going on, Grandpa?"

"There was fire," Mr. Hyuhn said from where he sat in a foldout chair next to Oskar and Ernie. "Downtown."

"A fire?" I repeated as they nodded their heads; their faces glued to the television and I sighed before turning around to head up to my room. Halfway up the steps, Grandpa called for me, my eyes widening at his words.

"Hey Shortman! You better come down here!" He called out, "That teacher of yours is on the news!"

Immediately turning around, I rushed down the steps to rejoin everyone in the room where Mr. Simmons' face was plastered on the television screen, tears streaming down his tired expression.

"Turn it up," I requested and they did as I instructed.

"I'm here now with local school teacher Mr. Robert Simmons and his roommate Peter Perez who were involved in the chaos that ensued down here early this morning. Robert, can you tell us about what happened?"

My eyes widened as he leaned in towards the mic and sniffled before speaking. "We were still in bed when it all happened. Probably around 3am or so when we smelled... smelled smoke and- and – and," he erupted into more tears and my facial expression dropped to see him in such a manner. His roommate reached over to pull him into a hug and then said for him, "We had to evacuate the house immediately. It wasn't until we were on the street with our neighbors that we saw just how bad the fire actually was."

"Wow, he looks pretty hung up about this," Ernie commented and I tore myself away from the television to shoot him a serious look.

"They just lost their house, Ernie," I said sympathetically. "I'm sure they're devastated."

"Investigators have not yet been able to determine just what caused this terrible fire as of yet, but our sources tell us the damages are severe and could take up to a month to fix. We at channel 8 send our sincerest thoughts to those affected in this time of crisis. From Downtown Hillwood, this is Rebecca Frost. Back to you, Bob."

I stared at the television as the news faded out and into another piece and Grandpa turned to look at me with concern.

"You alright there, Arnold?" He asked and I shook my head in disbelief.

"I can't believe Mr. Simmons' house was in that fire," I muttered while continuing to shake my head. "I knew something bad had happened, I just knew it."

"Take it he wasn't at school or something?" Ernie asked while hopping off of his chair.

"No, Principal Wartz told us that he had some personal matters and had to miss class today," I said still in a trance.

"Well yeah, I'd say that fire seemed pretty personal," Ernie said while heading back towards his room and shutting the door.

"He must just be a wreck," I commented and Oskar took a bite of his sandwich before replying to me while chewing loudly.

"He was crying like a big baby," he said and Suzie smacked his arm lightly from where she sat next to him.

"Couldn't you be more sympathetic, Oskar? He just lost his house." She said and he shrugged his shoulders.

"At least it wasn't ours, heh heh heh," he laughed and I frowned in his direction.

"But it could have been. How would you feel if that happened to us? Now he has nowhere to live and we have all these empty rooms here..." my voice trailed off as an idea hit me. "That's it! We have all these rooms here! Grandma, Grandpa," I said as they perked their heads up at the sound of their names, "Do you think we could offer Mr. Simmons a room here until he can get back on his feet and the repairs are done?"

"What like a sleepover? With your teacher? I don't know, Arnold..."

"Not a sleepover Grandpa," I said flatly before continuing, "he could really use our help and since we have extra rooms right now, why don't we offer him one until he can move back into his own house?"

He stroked his chin in thought at my proposal. "Hmm... I suppose we could do that, for your teacher and all. He's a good one, isn't he? A little weird, but a good teacher?"

"Grandpa, he was your teacher too. He helped you pass 4th grade, remember?" I said and he thought about this for a moment before laughing.

"Oh! Oh ho, that's right, I plum forgot. All these brain cells dying on me, Shortman, I tell ya."

I sighed, but a smile growing on my face. "Your brain cells aren't dying off, Grandpa, you remember him. He's a great teacher."

"Well, if you really want to Shortman, I suppose we could let him stay here for a month or so until they fix up his place. That is if he wants to." he said and I grinned from where I stood.

"Thanks Grandpa. I'll... I'll have to figure out where he's staying and ask him if," I stopped mid-sentence and furrowed my brows. "I have to figure out where he's staying!" I announced before running off to my room and closing the door behind me.

I didn't know where to start. I couldn't even imagine the pain that Mr. Simmons and his roommate were feeling right now and the worst part was I didn't even know how to reach out to him. Where did someone go when they lost everything?

"I guess I'd go home," I said to myself as I stared out my bedroom window and lay on my back. "Home... where is home for Mr. Simmons?"

Then it hit me. The Thanksgiving dinner Helga and I were privy to being a part of. All of his family must have been there, including his roommate if I remembered correctly. But the whole thing was foggy and I could hardly remember any of the names of the people that sat around the table. If only I could remember the darn play. If only I could remember the names of those people...

"But maybe I don't have to remember," I said to myself while sitting up from my bed. "Maybe Helga still remembers!" I exclaimed before rushing to my phone where it sat on my couch-side table.

I dialed Helga's number, one I knew by heart for a reason I couldn't quite figure out but I didn't have the time to worry about which numbers I had memorized and which ones I didn't. After a few rings, Helga was the one to pick up.

"Hello," she said dully and I cleared my throat nervously.

"Hi, Helga, it's Arnold."

"A-Arnold?" She said almost off guard before adjusting the phone in her hands and spitting back into the receiver, "What could YOU possibly want?"

"Have you seen the news today?" I asked and she scoffed.

"Yeah right. All anyone watches around here are soap operas and the wheel. Why?" She asked and I reached up to rub at the back of my neck.

"I was right about something being wrong with Mr. Simmons," I said sadly, "His house caught on fire along with a few others on his street downtown."

"O-oh," she muttered more to herself than me. "That's, that's a bummer."

"I know," I said, "So I thought that I could invite him to stay at the boarding house for a while. Until things get figured out with his house and all."

"Arnold that's, that's so sweet of you," she cooed into the phone and I raised a brow before she cleared her throat and then said angrily, "I mean, what ELSE did I expect coming from a goody-two-shoes football-headed weirdo like you. Pssh."

"Thanks, Helga," I grumbled before trying to refocus my attention for the reason why I called. "Anyway, I called because I was trying to figure out where Mr. Simmons would be and figured he might be staying with his mom or somebody, but I couldn't remember her name."

Helga laughed into the phone. "What? And you think I know his mom's name? Criminy, Arnold, what do you think I am? Some kind of information retainer?"

"No, no," I said backing up and trying to explain myself. "That play we were in for Thanksgiving, you remember that, don't you?"

"Yeah..."

"And we found each other after leaving our own Thanksgivings and then went to Mr. Simmons' house to celebrate with him," I reminded her and she sighed while growing more annoyed with me than interested in what I was going to say.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, and it BLOWED even worse than our OWN Thanksgivings, what about it?" She asked and I sighed while trying to compose myself.

"The names of his family, they were all the same in the play, remember?"

She paused for a moment on her line before agreeing with me. "Y-yeah, yeah they were, weren't they?"

"Now, who did YOU play in the play version?" I asked and she immediately responded with heavy emphasis on the name.

"Joy. What a horrible name." She responded and I ignored her comment.

"Okay, that was his friend. And his roommate was there right? Peter? I remember him from the news."

Helga seemed to be following me and continued. "Right, and Stink-O was Uncle Chuck or whatever and you were Simmons and Rhonda, God, who was Rhonda?"

"That was the mom, that's the name I'm looking for." I responded desperately and after a minute of thinking, Helga exclaimed the answer I'd been in search of.

"Pearl! Her name was Pearl!" She said and I nodded my head quickly while writing down 'Pearl Simmons' on a scrap of paper sitting next to the phone.

"Thank you, Helga, really. I couldn't have remembered without your help."

"Eh," she said limply, "don't sweat it, Arnold. Maybe I AM a retainer for useless information."

"Not useless, Helga," I reminded her. "You'll be helping me help Mr. Simmons in a really serious time for him. Thank you, so much."

"Yeah, yeah, you're welcome." She said before slamming the receiver down and disconnecting our call.

I had it. I had a name. Quickly, I ran to my desk where I knew I had a phone book sitting around somewhere. Finding it in haste, I rushed to flip through the pages and find the S section and search for this 'Pearl Simmons.'

"Simmons, Simmons, Simmons, Pearl! Pearl Simmons!" I exclaimed once I found the name and carried the book back to where my phone still sat beside my couch. "Well, here goes nothing," I said before dialing the number and waiting patiently for someone to pick up.

"Hello?" An older woman's voice answered and I cleared my throat nervously.

"Hi, is this Pearl Simmons?" I asked and the voice turned to annoyed rather than intrigued by who was calling for her.

"Who's asking?" She retorted and I swallowed hard.

"This is, uh, this is Arnold Shortman, I'm a student of Mr. Simmons and I just saw the news and was wondering-"

"Robert!" The voice yelled and I pulled the receiver away from my ear as she continued. "Robert! You've got a phone call!"

I pulled the phone back to my ear as the phone shuffled hands and a sad voice answered, one that I hardly recognized as my happy-go-lucky teacher. "Hello?"

"Mr. Simmons? It's Arnold."

His voice perked up slightly at the sound of my name. "A-Arnold? Arnold, how did you, how did you get this number?"

"It's a long story," I said, "but that's not what I'm calling about."

"What...what can I help you with, Arnold? Is everything going alright at school? I'm sorry I missed today it's just-"

I shook my head though he couldn't see. "You don't have to explain, Mr. Simmons, I saw you on the news."

"Oh," he said softly in a melancholy tone. "I'm sorry you had to see me like that."

"Don't apologize, you had every right to react how you did. You went through something... traumatic." I encouraged and he merely sighed and agreed.

"Yes," he paused for a moment before refocusing and asking me again, "If I may ask again though, why did you call? Is something wrong?"

I smiled, bursting with my excitement to offer Simmons a place to stay. "Well, after seeing you on the news, I was wondering if you had a place to stay in the meantime while your house is being fixed up. We have plenty of rooms in the boarding house and my grandparents said you could stay here until your house is ready."

"They, they did?" He asked, surprised by such an offer.

"Yeah. We'd love to have you. I know it's a weird situation and all, but-" Mr. Simmons cut me off mid-sentence.

"Honestly Arnold, that's such a kind offer for you to make and I really appreciate it but I wouldn't want to put you out. My uh, my roommate and I are staying at my mother's for the time being and as much as we'd like to be...anywhere else but here...I'd hate to make you feel like you had to put us up."

I pursed my lips together and shook my head. "You wouldn't be putting anybody out, Mr. Simmons. You and your roommate are welcome to have your own room with your own space and can eat with us and have no worries here. Think of it as a hotel. And wouldn't that be better than staying with your mom?"

He seemed to think about this for a second before responding. "It really would be nice to stay somewhere with a room to ourselves," he said to himself as if weighing the option. "When, when were you thinking we could come over? If anything, just to check it out. We don't really have much to bring with..." His voice trailed off and I closed my eyes realizing that most of their things were probably destroyed in the fire.

I felt so bad for him.

"Don't worry about bringing anything, Mr. Simmons. We're all a family here and I'm sure we have everything you need for however long this takes."

He sniffled from his end of the line and I could tell he was beginning to tear up. "Arnold, that's so, so thoughtful of you to think of me, of us, after all we've been through. I'd be honored to stay with you and just so thankful."

"Don't worry about it, Mr. Simmons. You deserve to have a space to call your own even if it isn't in your own house at the moment. Come over any time you like, we usually have dinner around 5 and I'm sure the boarders would love to get to know you."

"And you're sure this is alright with everyone? With your family?" He asked again and I nodded my head with a smile wide across my face.

"Absolutely positive. We are a boarding house after all."

"Well," he said with a small twinge of happiness in his voice, "I'll talk to Peter and arrange to come over sometime tomorrow before you all have dinner if that's okay. Just so we can go back to the house and see what we can salvage and bring with."

"Of course," I said, coming to the end of our conversation but wanting to add in one final thing. "And Mr. Simmons?"

"Yes, Arnold?"

I smiled. "I'm really glad you'll be staying with us."

He inhaled deeply as if fighting back tears and there was a sad smile in his voice. "Thank you so much, Arnold. You're such a special kid. I can't tell you how much we appreciate this."

"It's no problem. I'll see you tomorrow, Mr. Simmons," I said.

"Yes, see you then, Arnold. You have a good night." He said before gently hanging up the phone and leaving me to smile to myself as I sat on my couch.

Sure, it wasn't ideal to be living with your teacher, but what else were you to do in a situation where someone needed help and you had it to offer? I knew I had to help Mr. Simmons in any way I could because he'd do the exact same thing for any of us in his class.

It might be weird, but it was the least I could do. And I was happy to do it.

Well, what do you all think so far? I hope you are as intrigued and interested as i was the first time i heard this idea. it is going to get SO GOOD and i promise you that you won't regret a single second reading this fic. please PLEASE review and let us know what you think, we would appreciate the feedback so much.

much love!

-Polka & Spec