Disclaimer: I own Ella, Natalie, Charlie, his friends, and any other random person that's never been mentioned in the show.

Don looked away from the TV and at his door. He thought he heard someone knock on it and went to check it out. He looked through the peephole and saw a little figure walk passed. He knew that it was Ella. She looked weighed down with her backpack and a sports bag on her shoulder. He knew that she participated in a lot of extracurricular activities, but he never knew which ones. He had about fifteen minutes before Danny came over, so he decided to say hi. He unlocked the door and walked out into the hallway. "Hey, Ella," he called.

Ella froze and tensed in the middle of the hallway. A few seconds later, she continued walking down the hall like she never heard him and walked up the stairs to her floor. Don was worried about the reaction he got from her. "Hey, Don," said a small voice behind him.

He turned around and saw Natalie standing here with two bags of groceries in her arms. He reached out to help her, but she shook her head to decline his offer. "Did something happen after I left?" he asked her.

"No. What are you talking about?" Natalie asked, adjusting the bags in her arms.

"Last night, after I left your apartment. Did anything happen?" he demanded. He came off angrier than he meant to.

Natalie looked at the man standing in front of her with confusion. She was mostly surprised with his tone. "No. Charlie went to sleep."

"So did I do something wrong?"

"Of course not! Now why are you asking this?" Natalie asked.

Don exhaled and tried to calm down. He only spoke when he knew what he was going to say and the tone he was going to say it in. "Your daughter."

"What about her?"

"I saw her walking down the hall, and I called out to her. She tensed up and then kept walking. She didn't even turn around. I didn't know what to think. I just thought of the worst case scenario."

"Oh." Natalie ran to the stairs and looked up. "Ella!" she yelled.

"What?" Ella yelled. She had just gotten to her floor of stairs.

"Come down here, now."

"Why?"

"Gabriella Laine Corson, get down here now," she said sternly.

She stomped down the stairs and out of the stairwell into the hallway. "What?" she complained.

Natalie knelt down in front of her daughter. "Did you ignore Mr. Flack?"

"No."

"Gabriella."

"I didn't," she stubbornly stated.

"Gabriella Laine, don't lie to me," Natalie scolded.

"Fine." Ella took off her sports bag and dropped it on the ground at her mother's feet. She walked down the hallway to Don who was standing in front of his door watching the entire scene play before him. "I'm sorry, Mr. Flack."

"It's all right, Ella. Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she whispered.

She turned toward her mother and flung her arms out seeking approval. Natalie shook her head in displeasure. Ella took her wallet out of her backpack and used the key attached to it to open the door to Don's apartment. He reached behind and unlocked the door so that he could get back in. Natalie walked over to Don after slinging Ella's sports bag over her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Don. Let me get her out of there."

"No. It's fine. I kinda locked myself out of my place anyway," he said with a smile scratching the back of his head. "Look, I'll walk her back up after I find out what's wrong. Or when she's ready."

"I thought she was acting this way because she got into an argument with a boy today at school."

"About what?"

Natalie shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. She wouldn't tell me." They stood awkwardly in silence for a few seconds. "Going out tonight?" She asked noticing the way he was dressed. "So, who's the lucky lady?"

Don let out a laugh. "No ladies. Me and some guys from work are gonna go out, get a few drinks, shoot some pool. Danny Messer? I think I've talked about him a few times."

"Name sounds familiar." She shifted the bags in her arms one more time. "I better get going." She turned and started to walk down the hall. She stopped at the base of the stairwell and looked back at Don. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Just go. I think I can handle her."

Natalie sent him a smile and disappeared up the stairs. Don entered his apartment and saw Ella sitting on the couch staring at a blank TV screen. She was sitting on the furthest cushion from the door, and Don took a seat on the closest one leaving one cushion between them. They sat in silence for about five minutes before Don reached for the remote and was about to turn it on. But Ella got to it first and moved it out of his grasp. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Don was taken aback by the question. "I'm good. Why wouldn't I be?"

"That's good," she said hoping that Don would let it go.

He moved a seat over and lessened the space between them. "Why did you ask me that?" he asked.

She hadn't even looked at Don since the conversation started. And it wasn't going to change any time soon. "Charlie."

"Oh."

"I heard you guys fighting. He's stupid. I don't like him."

"Did something happen last night?"

"No," she replied, her eyes still not leaving the black screen.

"Is that why you didn't talk to me in the hallway?"

Ella turned and looked into Don's blue eyes with tears forming in her brown ones. "I'm sorry," she cried with tears rolling down her cheeks. "I really am."

"Come here," Don said holding his arms open out to her.

She leaned over and started crying into his chest, dampening his clean shirt. But Don didn't seem to care. He rubbed small circles on her back to calm her down. "I didn't want you to get yelled at again because of me," she whispered.

His hand stopped drawing circles and he gently lifted her off his chest. "You thought that I got yelled at because of you?" Ella looked away from Don. Don tipped her chin and made her look at him. "I didn't get yelled at because of you. Like you said, Charlie is stupid. I can take care of myself. I don't want you worrying about me."

"Too bad," Ella said with something that resembled a smile on her face. "So you're okay."

"Ella," he sighed.

"Sorry. I can't help it."

"So you didn't tell your mother about this?" Ella shook her head. "Why not?" She shrugged her shoulders in reply. "You know, your mother thought it was because you got into an argument with someone at school."

"His fault," Ella argued. She jumped up from the couch and glared at Don. "He tried to steal my keychain."

"Which one?"

"The one you gave me. The Superman one. Jealous because his mom gave him Spiderman and I wouldn't trade. He says that I pushed him, but he tripped on his lunchbox."

"Ella, I don't want you getting into a fight over a stupid keychain."

"I didn't get into a fight. I just wanted my keychain. It's good luck," she said. She paused for a few seconds. She returned to her seat next to Don. "And it isn't stupid," she whispered.

"I could have gotten you another one."

"It wouldn't have been the same. This one is special."

The two of them fell silent at the statement. Don never knew that she would think that about a keychain be bought when he took her out one day. She wanted that specific one, and it surprised Don. He expected her to go after the Barbie one or something more girly, but she chose the Superman one and he never asked why. After a few minutes Don broke the silence. "You good now?" Don asked. The statement felt safe enough.

"I guess."

Don didn't approve of that answer. "Ella."

"I'm good," she replied more believably.

"Okay. Not that I'm trying to get rid of you, but I gotta get you back to your mom."

"Hot date?"

"No."

"You're dressed like it."

"It's not a hot date."

"Good." They stood up at the same time and walked toward the entrance. Ella grabbed her backpack that was on the counter. "Don't forget your key this time."

He grabbed his keys from the counter and put them in his pocket. "I could always take back your key," he stated.

"That's mean," she pouted.

"I was joking, shorty," he said and tousled her hair. Just as he was about to close the door, his doorbell rang. Ella sent him a look to say that she wasn't going anywhere. He ran back in and to his buzzer. "Yeah."

Don was greeted by a familiar voice. "Don. You ready?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, I just gotta do something first."

"What?"

"Just something. You gonna wait out there for me or what?"

"Nah. Buzz me in."

"Yeah, if I'm not back in two minutes, wait for me."

"Where the hell are you—"

Don interrupted him by buzzing him in. Don closed his apartment door and saw Ella waiting for him by his door frame. "Who was that?" she asked curiously.

"A friend. Come on. Let's get you upstairs."

Ella held out her hand and Don put his hand in hers. They walked up the stairs together. At the top of the staircase, Ella wiggled her hand out of his and Don stopped walking, which was what she wanted him to do. "I can go from here," she said.

"I have to walk you to the door. I promised your mom."

"It's okay. I just…"

"Okay, I'll watch you from here," he said. He understood what she was trying to say by the tone of her voice. She didn't want him to be anywhere near Charlie. "Tell your mother to call me if she doesn't believe that I walked you up. And Ella, if Charlie or anyone does anything to upset you, you come to me and tell me."

Ella smiled and nodded. She tugged on his sleeve which made him bend down to see what she wanted. She kissed him on the cheek and ran down the hall to her apartment. He waited before she was actually inside before he headed back downstairs.

When he got back down to his floor, he saw Danny leaning on his door with his hands in his pocket. Danny turned his head when he heard someone coming down the hall. "Who is up there?" Danny asked.

"None of your business."

"Well, good for you, knowing your neighbors and all."

"That means a lot coming from you, Messer," Don said sarcastically and unlocked his door.

Don went back into his apartment and grabbed his wallet and cell phone. He walked out and saw Danny grinning like a fool. "It's a woman ain't it?"

"Shut up," Don said punching Danny lightly in the shoulder. "Let's get out of here."

"Yeah. Time to get you drunk and sort out your problems." Don didn't know if Danny was trying to get his mind off of everything that was going on around him by wanting to help Don, but it eased Don to know that his friend cared.

They walked down and Don saw Danny's SUV in front of the complex. "Wow. I feel special. You're using the SUV."

"Yeah, the Ferrari is in the shop," Danny joked.

He unlocked the car and Don opened the door to the passenger's side. "So, are we picking anyone else up?" he asked.

Danny walked over to the other side of his car. "Nah, they'll just meet us there."

"They as in who?"

"Adam and Hawkes."

"You know, I could've just driven myself," Don said getting into the car.

"I know. But you wouldn't have." Danny got into the car and started it up. "Buckle up," he warned. "Time to unravel the mystery that is Donald Flack."

Don buckled his seatbelt and with that Danny drove off to their destination.

Okay, so the next chapter is going to skip the weekend and go to Monday. Just so everyone knows the time frame in my head this story takes place after Heroes and before Charge of this Post. In my mind there is a long time—maybe two weeks—between the two episodes. If it doesn't make sense, I'm sorry, but I really want to strengthen the relationship between Don and his neighbors. All right. Please review and thanks for reading and reviewing the previous two chapters. Lil-Rock