Disclaimer: I still don't own the characters and I never will

A/N: Now, Della's side of the story. How does she perceive what happened between them? Read on to find out! Enjoy!

Paul stepped just inside Della's door when she invited him in and was still standing there when she closed her door. She moved to her couch to sit down and Paul still hadn't moved. She rolled her eyes. "You aren't going to stand there for this whole conversation. Sit down and tell me how you know what happened."

Paul obeyed. "Little Paul couldn't keep his mouth shut. He was angry that Perry left us, but more importantly left you, and he let Perry know. Little Paul hasn't let it go and I was angry until Perry told Eve and me what actually happened. You know how much Little Paul loves you."

Della shook her head gently and let a small smile appear. "He's more like his father than you realize. You would always give up anything to protect me. You and Perry both."

Paul didn't have the patience for this. "Why didn't you tell me! Perry asked you to come to San Francisco and you said no? And you told him to come anyway!"

"How much do you know?" Della asked, surprised that he knew about that last part.

"The bare minimum," Paul said. "Please explain why, when you knew how mad I was, you didn't say anything!"

Della shrugged. "You didn't ask."

"Oh, please!" Paul exploded.

"Well, you didn't," Della reminded him. "You just assumed. Besides that though, at first I was fine. I knew it was my fault he wasn't here and I didn't need him, or at least that's what I kept telling myself. When I realized how much of an idiot I was and that I should've came with him, what happened between us no longer mattered, it was too late."

"I don't understand why you said no in the first place," Paul told her. "Did you want him to give it up?"

"Oh, Paul," Della sighed. "Of course not! I wanted him to take the judgeship. I would've killed him if he let that opportunity pass by."

"Then why say no?" Paul asked.

Della sighed. "I was much too old to move. I had roots in Los Angeles. It was where I got my first job and where I started working for Perry. It was where I realized I could do something with myself rather than become a wife and a mother, something I didn't think I really wanted anyway. Los Angeles was home. I had made a name for myself there. It was where my job was, where my friends lived, it was…my life. I couldn't just up and move.

"Of course, a few weeks after Perry left, I realized what a fool I had been. I only had a name for myself in connection with Perry. I wasn't Della Street, I was Perry Mason's secretary. I had to look for a new job when Perry left since he was my job, another stupid oversight on my part, and every time I introduced myself they would say, 'Oh, right, Perry Mason's secretary.' They knew me…but it was only in connection with him. You guys lived in Los Angeles, but you were my only friends left there. You and Perry had always been my best friends, aside from Felicity who lives miles away and always has, and now Perry was gone so I only had you and your family. I failed to realize that everything I loved about Los Angeles revolved around Perry. My life revolved around Perry. But when I realized all that, it was too late," Della explained.

Paul knew this girl and normally he would've believed her, believed that. There was something in her eyes though. A hidden shadow, something that was telling him there was more to this story. "There's more," Paul said, nonchalantly. "I want it all."

Della bit her lip. Did she want to tell him? No, she didn't. At the same time though, she knew he did deserve everything. She took a deep breath. "I was scared. I was scared of what this move would mean. This would mean Perry and I were way too serious than I wanted to think we were. I mean, of course I knew we were serious, we had been together for a long time and any other couple would've gotten married and had three children and one on the way at that point, but that's not what I wanted for my life and Perry respected that. He knew I wanted to keep working for him and he knew I didn't want to get married, so even though he never quit asking, he never pressured me. Besides, he knew and I knew he wouldn't have had time for a wife while he was a defense attorney. Who was to say he would going to be as busy being a judge though. He wouldn't have been. He could have a regular nine to five job. He told me I could be his secretary here, but how much would he really need one? Would I get bored with working as his secretary as quickly as he might get bored with the routines of a judgeship. And when we both got bored, who's to say he wouldn't start asking me to marry him again and who's to say he wouldn't use the move as proof that I should marry him?" Della tightly closed her eyes, willing her tears to stay away. "I wouldn't have been able to resist. I wouldn't have wanted to resist. I would've said yes and everything we'd ever had, everything we'd ever worked for would've been ruined."

Paul didn't know what to say. He didn't know if there was anything he could say. He lightly put his hand on Della's knee. When she opened her eyes a few seconds later, both her cheeks and eyes were dry.

"And you told him to take it so you didn't have to worry about all of that?" Paul guessed.

Della shook her head. "You and assuming. When are you going to learn that you have to deal in facts."

Paul sighed. She sounded very much like Perry in that moment. "Okay then, give me some facts. Why did you tell him to take the judgeship?"

Della smiled. "This judgeship was what he wanted. You should've seen his face when he told me. He was so excited. I knew he wanted this. He wasn't bored being a defense attorney and he could've gone on for the rest of his life being a defense attorney and he would've been completely content. When he got asked to be the judge though, it was a challenge. He wanted a challenge. He wanted to make a difference as more than just a defense attorney. He wanted to change the world and this job could help him do that. I didn't have a place in his new job, in his new life."

"Oh, come on," Paul said. "You know you had a place. You always have a place where Perry is concerned. If you didn't, Perry would've found a place for you."

"Exactly!" Della exclaimed. "Did you hear yourself? I didn't want him to find a place for me. I wanted it to already be there. If it wasn't, I didn't need to come."

Paul didn't believe her reasoning, but she looked so determined that he wasn't going to argue with her anymore. After all, his reason for coming over here had been fulfilled. He wanted to find out why she said no and why she told Perry to take the judgeship and he had.

Della looked at Paul. He seemed to be working through something in his mind. She waited a few seconds and when he didn't say anything she asked, "Any more questions?"

Paul couldn't help it. He had to laugh. "Not tonight. I'll get out of your way now. See you tomorrow."

Della had been thinking about that earlier that night and she remembered a question she needed to ask Paul. "What time are you guys going to leave tomorrow?"

"We were thinking around 10:30," Paul told her.

"Well, I wasn't planning on leaving until around 11:30," Della informed him. "So, I was thinking, why don't you guys just take a cab and then I'll take my own a bit later."

"We can wait for you," Paul insisted.

"No, no," Della disagreed. "That would be stupid. Besides, I would have to take a different cab anyway, there's four of us and only three people can fit in the back of a cab."

Paul looked at her skeptically. Della suddenly knew what Paul was thinking. "I'll be there, Paul, I promise. I'm not going to skip out on you. I came all the way out here for this party, there's no way I'm missing it."

Paul smiled. "Alright, alright. You'd better be there though. If you aren't there by noon I'm coming back here and dragging you there, kicking and screaming if I have to."

That gave Della such an amusing picture in her head that she laughed out loud. "You'd never drag me kicking and screaming anywhere!"

"I will tomorrow if you don't show up," Paul teased.

Della just shook her head. "Well, I'll be there, but thanks so much for the incentive. If I ever considered not coming, that idea's out of my head now."

Paul's eyes twinkled. "Anything for you, Beautiful. You know that."

Della took in a deep breath at that statement. It brought back too many memories that she wasn't about to deal with right now. She forced a smile to appear on her face and forced her voice to sound jovial. "Bye, Paul!" Della shut the door after that.

Paul frowned at the closed door of Della's room. He wasn't frowning because she shut the door in his face. Things like that were pretty normal from days of working with Perry. She would hang up on him as soon as she said goodbye or shut the door as soon as they were finished speaking. What he was frowning at was the look on her face. Was he just imagining it, or did a shadow cross her face when he called her beautiful? He didn't think that could've been it, he always called her beautiful and she had never cared. He must've been just imagining it. That had to be it.

Hmmm…did a shadow cross her face? And why? I guess you'll just have to stay tuned! I hope you all enjoyed Della's side of the story. You know…you could review and tell me. Please review and thanks for reading!