How Things Changed

By Cybra

A/N: I have a confession to make…I love Ernie! :::hugs Ernie Potts::: He's probably my favorite boarder in the whole boardinghouse! (I don't count Arnold's grandparents as boarders since they own the place and I don't count Arnold as a boarder since he's the owners' grandson, ya know? But I love them, too!) This little idea just came to me since it seems like Arnold and Ernie are pretty close. ^^

Disclaimer: :::checks her deeds from the dozens of Monopoly games she owns::: Nope. I don't own the Sunset Arms boardinghouse or Ernie Potts or Arnold or anything or anyone else related to Hey Arnold! Hmm…:::thinks::: Hey Arnold! Monopoly board. Me want. Hey, Nickelodeon…

I've lived in the Sunset Arms for a while now – even before the kid first came to us – so I can tell you that when Arnold arrived, things changed.

The rules were pretty simple back then. "No long showers." "No loud noises after 11 o'clock." There were a few others, but I can't think of them right now. One thing's for sure, things like smoking and being as loud as you wanted until almost midnight was just fine.

Then they showed up.

They were Arnold's parents, about to go off on another mission to help some unfortunate people in another land. They didn't want their son to go with them in case things got too hot. (I can understand that. I mean, what parent would willingly put their kid in harms way?)

Phil and Gertie were happy to take in Arnold, but the rest of us were a little wary.

The "No Kids" rule was still around back then. That rule is one of the reasons I decided to live in the Sunset Arms. I didn't want any kids screaming when I'm trying to get some sleep. I work hard and I deserve those eight hours!

Then, Phil told us that things were going to change.

The "No Smoking" rule drove out a couple of the older boarders. (Eh, I guess they couldn't deal with the idea of giving up their precious tobacco.) And the old rule of "No loud noises after 11" changed to "No loud noises after 9".

Trust me. It was a pretty big change at the drop of a hat.

That first day I saw this little two year-old (the day after he'd arrived), I didn't really know what to make of him. He was pretty nervous (heck, I'd even say scared) of being around all these adults without a little guy his age in sight.

There was this one jerk named Wendell who used to live there that pointed down at the poor kid and stated, "This boardinghouse has a rule specifically saying 'No Kids'. I believe this is a direct violation of that rule."

"It'll only be for a couple of weeks," Phil protested, narrowing his eyes. "A month or two at most."

"I say that you find someone else to take care of that little brat. Either he goes or I go."

I'm just glad I don't have to listen to Wendell's stupid Souza marches every morning anymore. I like "Stars and Stripes Forever" just fine, but I don't need to wake up at five AM to it!

Those couple of weeks turned into months, and it soon became obvious that Arnold would be hanging around for longer than expected. His parents had vanished off the face of the Earth.

It really broke my heart to see Arnold sitting near the window in the common room downstairs, watching and waiting. I knew his parents hadn't abandoned him, but I had this feeling in the pit of my stomach that his parents weren't coming back. (I hate to admit it, but I still do have that feeling. His parents have been gone way too long.)

"Uh, hey, kid."

I hadn't really talked much to him (and he hadn't really talked much to anyone except his grandparents) so I really didn't know what to say.

He turned his head around quickly and stared at me with wide eyes. I guess he was still kinda scared of the others and me. "Hi, Mr. Potts."

"Call me 'Ernie', kid."

Obviously, the kid didn't know how to answer to that one, so he didn't say anything.

"You like living here?" I asked, sitting down beside him.

He nodded, still looking at me wide-eyed.

"That's good…"

What the heck was I supposed to say?! It's not like now when I can discuss the latest novel by Mercedes Lackey with him!

I chuckled warmly. "I don't bite, kid. I won't hurt ya."

That seemed to help calm him down since he stopped staring at me like I was some sort of monster.

"None of us will," I added, hoping to reassure him.

"Promise?" he asked quietly.

"Promise."

I didn't know it, but I lied.

There was an incident a few weeks afterward that added a new, unsaid rule to the boardinghouse list of rules:

"Do not get drunk."

Before you think it, it wasn't me that got drunk! It was this guy Joshua! He didn't like the new boardinghouse rules and rebelled by coming home drunk some nights. Gramps almost threw him out a couple times but was nice enough to let him stay.

Phil should've thrown him out before it happened.

I was sitting downstairs with the kid beside me on the couch. (We were watching that Sesame Street movie on TV. What was it? Follow That Bird? Yeah, that was it.) I was even sharing a bowl of popcorn with him. (He was getting more comfortable around the boarders but mainly stuck close to Phil or Gertie or, surprisingly, me.)

Joshy comes stumblin' in, completely skunked. Arnold looked up at him in confusion, not quite understanding what was wrong with "Mr. Zimmerman".

Before I could stop him, the kid stands up and walks over to Joshua. "Are you okay?"

Picture this: Joshua looks down and sees the reason for all the changes around the boardinghouse…

…and actually hits the kid so hard, Arnold falls back onto the stairs.

Drunk or not, there was no excuse for that kind of behavior.

The poor kid whimpered and tried to slink away, not sure what he did wrong.

I was on my feet and running towards that moron in an instant.

"Leave the kid alone! He didn't do anything!"

Joshua gave me that stupid glazed stare that all people who are way gone have and turned back to Arnold. "Ya ssssstupid li'l…"

Before the creep could hit Arnold again, I kicked him in the shin, causing him to howl in pain. Arnold did the smart thing: He ran as fast as his little legs could take him upstairs and to the safety of his grandparents.

Phil was downstairs in seconds and shouted, "That's it, Zimmerman! Get your stuff out of this boardinghouse now!!!"

We never saw Joshy again after that.

To this day, Arnold is absolutely scared to death of drunks.

Anyway, the years passed, and Arnold's parents still didn't show up. The kid even started calling me by my first name without me reminding him. (Still, he sometimes uses the more formal "Mr. Potts", but it's mostly "Ernie" now.) The kid really grew on me, and I couldn't help thinking of him as a sort of son.

Now that I think about it, he's everybody in the boardinghouse's son.

Except Oskar, of course. Kakoshka doesn't really care for anyone other than himself.

We all raise him and want him to excel at whatever. We give him little life lessons that he'll need when he's older just like his parents would if they were around.

Of course, most of the time he's pretty much an equal with the rest of us. If there's a major decision to be made, he's always right there during the debate. (I guess he kinda can't stand the idea of him being left out of the loop when it comes to his extended family. I know I wouldn't be able to put up with it.)

This changed my whole way of thinking about kids. I used to think kids were annoying and couldn't possibly be the equals of any adult.

Needless to say, Arnold proved me wrong.

You know, there's a little piece of each of us in him thanks to all of us raising him.

And there's a little piece of him in each of us because of all the changes that came when he did.

If it started all over again and I had to choose to stay or leave all over again while knowing what I do now, I definitely would stay.

Most of the time, change is bad.

Those changes he brought seven years ago were good.