A/N Thanks for the encouraging reviews. This is my first story submission to this site and my first Numb3rs fan fic. I really am a fan of Charlie and Dons and of course, I don't really think Don is a jerk at all.

Chapter 2

On Saturday was the planned barbeque. Don and his team were there as well as Larry, Amita and Pauline. Charlie had told his father that he would be late for the barbeque due to an early appointment with a student. He had other appointments during the day but had left a two hour break in the schedule just to make his dad happy.

When he arrived at the house, he parked his bike and headed to the backyard. He could hear Alan expressing concerns about him. He stopped to listen. "He's barely eating, comes in late at night and is gone before I even get up in the morning. There was hardly a break between the long case and finals and I am very worried about him. It may help if you can talk to him since he is not listening to me."

There was nearly a full minute of silence and then Charlie heard Don's voice. "Dad, Charlie's an adult. He is old enough to take care of himself and will be just fine. Charlie is always fine." After a pause he added, "No matter what, Charlie always comes through shining. He lives and breathes numbers and teaching from the protection of his bubble. If he ever acted normal then we would know something was wrong."

Without being seen, Charlie backtracked and headed into the house instead. He decided that he really didn't want to be in Don's company today. He grabbed an oatmeal bar out of the pantry, a bottle of water from the refrigerator and headed back out to his bike.

Charlie knew that Alan was right to be concerned. He felt completely near the end of his rope. He hoped that he would not snap before finals were over. There was very little the young professor could do about the situation in any case. The reason so many students needed the extra help was due to the time Charlie had taken off for the case and while he did not regret the decision; he was paying a high price for it now.

His normal 'office hours' and 'open door policy' had turned into every spare minute before, between and after classes. They included his lunch breaks and often his weekend time as was the case today. On the return trip to his office he considered that he would have to do some thinking and make some decisions soon.

Charlie finally met Pauline Sunday evening. He was working at home alone and had papers all over the dining room table which he was referring to while preparing the final examinations.

Alan and Pauline had been to the grocery store and when Alan opened the door for her, she walked through to the dining room. As she set one of the bags down she shoved Charlie's notes to the side, with an annoyed sigh. Charlie had not noticed they were in the room until she moved the papers. His head shot up and he was surprised to be looking in the eyes of a stranger in his dining room.

If there was one thing Alan knew about Charlie it was that he was far more likely to overlook a physical attack than he would anyone moving his notes. Seeing the fire in Charlie's eyes after Pauline dropped the bag on the table, Alan quickly made introductions.

"Pauline, I would like for you to meet my youngest son, Charlie. Charlie this is Pauline Ryman that I've told you about." The fire was out but the coldness remained.

"Nice to meet you Pauline." Charlie said. While it was in no way rude, there was not a lot of warmth in the words either.

"Charlie, you father has told me so much about you and I'm glad we could finally meet." With barely a pause she asked, "Isn't the garage where you do your work? It would keep the clutter out of sight and make the house more relaxing."

Charlie normally had a lot of tolerance for rudeness, but nothing about the last few months had been normal in his life and he was not feeling tolerant now. Alan was not sure what his response would be but he was surprised when Charlie said, "Then maybe you should just go back to your OWN house and relax."

"Charlie that's a little harsh." Alan did not think it would do to get Charlie going just now with all of the stress he had been under lately and it did not look like Charlie was the least bit sorry for the comment. "We were just out doing shopping for a special meal that Pauline and I will be preparing together for when her three children and five grandchildren come here on Wednesday evening. Don has already said that he'll try to be here and I hope you can as well."

"No, I can't make it Wednesday. Finals will be starting next week and I'll be busy until they're over." He went back to his notes.

Alan and Pauline took the bags into the kitchen and Alan whispered to her that Charlie had been under a lot of stress lately and that it would be best to reintroduce them after finals.

On Monday morning, Charlie received a voice mail from Don. He wanted help with a case that is not going anywhere. Charlie did not have the time to call Don back and that night, just as Charlie was finishing up with a student and was expecting another any minute, Don called again.

Charlie saw that it was Don on caller ID and answered. "Hi Don."

"What do you mean 'Hi Don'? I've been waiting for you to call me back and I do not appreciate that you are ignoring my calls."

Charlie said, "I'm really sorry Don, but..."

He was cut off when Don said, "Charlie, I can't listen to your excuses right now. I called you because I need you to help out." Always, in the past, when Don asked for his help, Charlie was only too willing to do whatever it took to assist with the case, but he was already in over his head for the next two weeks.

"Look Charlie, I'm at your house and really expected you to be here. I have the notes from the case and will leave them here since I have to get back to the office. Call me tomorrow with whatever you come up with."

By the time Don finished, Charlie had worked himself into a bit of a steam and opened his mouth to reply, when he realized that Don had hung up without letting him say a word.

As Charlie was getting ready to leave and then on his bike ride home, he considered that the decision he was considering was something that he HAD to do for himself. When he walked into the house, he turned off the light that his father had left on for him. He bypassed the dining room table where he knew Don would have left the notes, grabbed an apple and a bottle of water out of the refrigerator and went upstairs to work on the preparation of the exams.

He woke up the next day determined to puts his plan into motion. Charlie made it out the door without seeing his father and biked to school. He had another early appointment with a student and then would be going to see the Dean.