Runaway

by AmberKog

Something is going on in the Pataki household... Bob's temper is raging on and Miriam has had enough. Helga needs to find salvation but where can she go when even her best friend doesn't have a place for her stay? Couch surfing is less than ideal when you're a sophomore in high school. "Write-along" style, taking your ideas into consideration for the story! M for violence.

1. Chapter 1

FanFiction 1

Hey, Arnold!

Runaway.

Author's note - This fan fiction is not exactly in canon with Hey, Arnold! The Jungle Movie. San Lorenzo may be mentioned but since I have not seen the movie my interpretation of the location may be different than the shows. Also, this fanfiction takes place when the gang is in high school their sophomore year. I try to proofread to the best of my abilities.

Chapter One - Something's off.

As Arnold walked into class, like he did every morning, he couldn't help but notice the ominous feeling in the air. It wasn't apparent to anyone else but Arnold always had a way of knowing when something bad was right around the corner. Especially since he was usually the one who was going to fix it, not necessarily because it was his fault he just simply felt the overwhelming need to help others. He looks to see his friends all preoccupied with their usual distractions, Gerald was on his phone playing some new game he just downloaded, Phoebe was reading the textbook probably a chapter or two ahead of the rest of the class, Sheena and Eugene were passing a note back and forth writing a little more on it each time, Rhonda was holding up a mirror applying yet another layer of makeup on to her already covered face. Arnold then turned to the girl who had tormented him throughout his childhood, although she still would say something insulting every now and then she seemed to have laid off of being his personal bully. She would just keep to herself and her best friend Phoebe.

Helga sat there writing in her journal when she felt a pair of eyes on her, as she looked up from her personal writing she saw Arnold starring at her, and he quickly averted his eyes when he noticed her catch him starring. Helga rolled her eyes at this went back to writing Since when does Arnold stare at me? Helga thought to herself. It wasn't like she still had the childhood crush anymore, they were sophomores in high school now. She had to admit that she still held a candle for him in her heart somewhere but she wasn't the obsessed Arnold-worshiping girl she had once been. She picked her head back up and saw that Arnold was once again starring at her "What football head?" She snapped at him.

"Nothing, I was just….Nothing…." Arnold stammered, Helga rolled her eyes and went back to writing. Arnold looked down then once again back to her before starring out the window. I was just wondering if you were okay, geez Arnold thought to himself. He knew that Helga could take care of herself but she seemed off today. He couldn't put his finger on it but something was different.

Class started as their teacher Mr. Peterson entered the room, he set his briefcase down and told the class to pair up for an in-class project they'd be working on. Arnold, of course, looked to Gerald who winked back at him. Helga and Phoebe pushed their desks together as the rest of the class shuffled around to pair up and sit next to their selected partners. Mr. Peterson walked around the classroom handing out worksheets to each pair of students. "Make sure both names are at the top of the page and begin. The assignment is due at the end of the period."

Phoebe took out her textbook and smiled at Helga "Let's see... the first question…. 'Who wrote the Federalist Papers?' Hmmm, I think I know this one…" Phoebe said as she thumbed through her textbook to confirm her answer. "Yup! It was Alexander Hamilton!" Phoebe said cheerily. Helga chimed in "So did James Madison and John Jay." Phoebe looked on in the textbook, "You are correct Helga!" She said as she wrote down the names of the three authors. "Mmhmm" Helga nodded. Phoebe took notice since Helga would usually say some like 'Of course I'm correct Phoebe, you're not the only one here who studies' "Are you feeling okay Helga?" She asked knowing Helga might not tell her now but maybe once they're alone.

"Yeah, just some personal stuff going on" Helga shrugged.

"Personal? Is it your dad?" Phoebe pried

"Yeah," Helga sighed "He's just being his usual self, but worse. It's like his temper is twice as bad and his fuse is cut in half."

"Did he… do it again?" Phoebe said, not wanting to give away Helga's secret to anyone who may be listening. Helga simply nodded. She had told Phoebe earlier that school year, that Bob had been in a rage and fighting with her mother when he, for the first time, took a swing at her. He knocked her to the ground and then went up to their room to go to sleep while Miriam slept on the couch. He hadn't hit Helga or anything but she made sure to stay clear of Bob when he was in a mood. Phoebe knew he hadn't hit Helga but the fact that he was able to hit her mother hard enough to knock her to the floor made her nervous for Helga's safety. "How often does he…" Phoebe trailed off knowing that Helga would answer before she finished the question.

"About once a month, last night was pretty bad though." Helga shrugged again "Let's finish this paper," Helga said moving on to reading the next question. She didn't want anyone to overhear and put pieces together. However, unbeknownst to Helga, Arnold had been eavesdropping the entire conversation.

"You going to help me with this or not?" Gerald asked. Arnold turned his head to the paper to see that Gerald had already answered the first three questions and was digging in his textbook for the fourth.

"Sorry man, I was a little distracted…" Arnold opened his textbook but his mind was still on Helga, What did her dad do? Has his eyes were skimming the page about the founding fathers, terrifying thoughts spun around in Arnold's head. He glanced up and scanned Helga, she was wearing a pink tank top with black skinny jeans. Her hair, that once was pulled up into pigtails was now worn in a lazy ponytail, her hair cascading down her left shoulder. As he scanned her body he couldn't find any red marks or bruising. It doesn't look like he hit her… did he throw her out? Or maybe it has something to do with her mom? Did he hit her mom? Or Olga? …No, Big Bob has a temper but he would never hurt Olga. Arnold rolled his eyes at that thought, it was always very apparent that Olga was the favorite child, that had to be hard to deal with.

"The war of 1812 was between the U.S. and…Great…Britain…" Gerald said allowed as he wrote down the answer to the fourth question he had been searching for. "And it ended in…" He continued as he turned back to his textbook. Arnold pointed at the page and said "1815!"

Gerald gave him a tired look "I know, that doesn't count as helping" he said as he wrote the date.

"I know, I'm sorry… I'll do the next five." Arnold apologized as he took the paper and started to focus on the questions in front of him, putting his thoughts of Helga aside.

As the bell rang, the students lined up at the desk to hand in their papers. Arnold finished scribbling down the last answer and stood up rushing to turn in the paper. Gerald stood at the door with his arms crossed waiting for his friend who was the last student to turn in the paper. As Arnold approached him Gerald shook his head "Man o' man Arnold, something definitely has you distracted. What was up with that? You usually take the lead when we partner up."

As they walked down the hall Arnold looked down "I know, I'm sorry Gerald. I was just distracted by something else." He shrugged and started to look around for Helga.

"Looks like you're distracted now," Gerald said looking around trying to figure out what had his friend so distracted.

"Do you know where Helga hangs out during lunch?" Arnold asked as they walked into the cafeteria, his eyes still scanning the surrounding area.

Gerald looked at him questioningly "Helga? Helga G. Pataki?", to which Arnold just nodded. "Um, no. Phoebe might know though." He said as he approached his girlfriend. "Hey, babe!" He gave her a kiss and rested his arm on her shoulders.

"Hi, Gerald!" The young woman blushed.

"Hey, Phoebe, do you know where Helga hangs out at lunch?" Arnold said as they moved into the lunch line.

Phoebe put a finger to her chin as she thought "We used to hang out outside, under the oak tree in the field. She might be there with Wolfgang." She shrugged.

"Oh, okay" Arnold looked over but he couldn't see the oak tree from where they were standing. I forgot about her dating Wolfgang, I wonder if he has anything to do with her acting differently. Maybe her father isn't the source of her shift in demeanor. As they got through the lunch line with their trays they sat down by a large wall that was made entirely of windows. Arnold looked out and saw Helga and Wolfgang sitting under the tree. It looked as though they were simply talking. Gerald and Phoebe were making plans for the weekend with it being their three year anniversary coming up. Arnold took another bite of his pizza and looked back to Helga. She was standing over Wolfgang, who was sitting carelessly on the ground. It looked like she was very angry and yelling at him while he seemed to not care. She raised a phone over her head and threw it down at Wolfgang who narrowed his eyebrows and started to talk back to her. Helga turned around and stormed off. She looked angry but not at all upset. Arnold was sure that they had just broken up but usually, a girl would be crying and have a devastated look on her face. Although, this was Helga after all.

Helga stormed off into the bathroom and sat in a stall. She did need to use the restroom but she'd be damned if she let anyone see her cry. She heard footsteps and saw shoes stop in front of her stall door "Go away Phoebs, I'm fine." Helga said sternly while wiping her eyes with the back of her arm.

"What happened?" Phoebe said, refusing to leave her friend when she knew she was upset. Although they had started to drift a little since she started dating Gerald they were still best friends.

"Wolfgang was cheating on me," Helga said opening the door and walking over to the sinks to look in the mirror and fix her eye make up.

"WHAT?! With who?" Phoebe said shocked. Helga and Wolfgang had been dating for a while now, almost a year and she was sure that they were a good pair. They both deal with their issues in similar fashions and seemed to really relate to one another with similar home lives. Wolfgang's dad left when he was in fifth grade, that when the bullying started for him. Both teens had so much to deal with at home, but I suppose that doesn't automatically make them a good match.

"Some chick at another school. Apparently, they met at a party." Helga shrugged and turned to face her friend.

"Don't you two go to parties together?" Phoebe questioned. Helga loved going to those parties to get out of the house and get her mind of personal issues but Phoebe rarely went.

"Usually but the night Bob smacked Miriam down, I decided to stay in so I didn't cause another fight to occur. That's where he met Cheryl." Helga said rolling her eyes.

"Wasn't that a few months ago?" Phoebe asked trying to piece the story together.

"Yeah, I suspected something was up a few weeks ago… Today I decided to sneak his phone and go through it."

"Helga!" Phoebe said sternly. It was a blatant disregard for personal property.

"What?! He was guilty. Caught him red-handed." He said wanting to end the conversation since she knew a lecture was coming.

"Still! How would you feel if he looked through your personal journals?" Phoebe asked arching an eyebrow.

"I have nothing to hide." Helga bluffed.

"What about when you wrote about Ice Cream?" Phoebe said with a cocky tone, referencing Arnold by using Helga's old code name for him.

"I haven't written about Ice Cream since we started dating." Helga fibbed. Phoebe just stared at her with a knowing look. "Fine! Fine. I have. Can you blame me?"

"Helga, I'm not scolding you for holding a candle for… Ice Cream… I'm just saying that it is never okay to go through someone else's personal property." Phoebe said as she touched the back of her shoulder trying to comfort her.

"Whatever, it's over now. He was in the wrong when he slept with Cheryl and I was in the wrong for taking his phone. Either way, it's done now." Helga walked out of the bathroom and down the hall. She was having a really bad day so far and was too distracted in her thoughts to notice Arnold and Gerald standing outside the bathroom.

Phoebe walked out with her head down. "Damn, Wolfgang cheated on Helga?" Gerald asked only to receive a confirming nod.

"Phoebe, what were you guys talking about when you said 'Ice Cream'?" Arnold asked still running the conversation they overheard in his head.

"Huh? Oh, nothing. Just a guy she used to have a crush on from a long time ago." Phoebe watched Helga walk down the hallway when the bell rang and the hallway flooded with students making Helga disappear in the distance.

After school, Helga walked home by herself, as she usually did if she wasn't going to Phoebe's house. She was listening to her music trying to sort out her thoughts. It's not like I loved him or anything but I trusted him. I started to let him in and be vulnerable with him, and for what? Only to be betrayed. Maybe there is no such thing as true love. Only lust, obsession, manipulation, and betrayal. Helga walked up the steps to her house and as she opened the door she sees Bob and Miriam arguing in the trophy room, Helga decided to just go upstairs quietly and keep to herself. I guess that means no dinner until Bob goes to sleep. Great. Helga sat on her bed and pulled out her laptop and start to work on her homework. She had taken out her headphones and decided to just play music on her computer since her ears were starting to ache from the earbuds.

"Fine! Fine, Bob FINE!" She heard Miriam shout.

"SO THAT'S IT?!" Bob bellowed

"Yup! GOODBYE!" Miriam shouted in a sore voice. Helga looked up confused Goodbye? Where is she going? Helga moved her laptop to the side and walked to the window to see her mother walking to a taxi cab with a suitcase. Oh god. Is she really leaving? Helga saw Bob stand on the stoop. "YOU CAN'T SURVIVE ON YOUR OWN!" Helga's body got cold as she saw the taxi drive off with her dad shaking his fist in the air shouting "YOU'LL BE BACK!"

Bob stormed back into the house. Helga waited and when she didn't hear him yell anything she assumed he went to go watch t.v. Helga grabbed her phone and started to text Phoebe.

H [ Hey Phoebs, guess what?]

P […what?]

H [Miriam bailed]

P [WHAT?!]

H [Yup, she just left Bob. Saw it from my room. She left in a taxi.]

P [Did she say anything to you before she left?]

H [pfff no]

P [are you okay?]

H [I'll be fine. I'm gonna do some homework and go to bed. We'll talk more tomorrow at school okay?]

P [Okay, I'm here if you need me.]

Phoebe was sitting with Gerald doing their homework together at her kitchen table when she received the text messages. She tried to keep a straight face but that was never her area of expertise.

"What's wrong?" Gerald said when he noticed the worried look dance across his girlfriends face. When he spoke she tried to straighten her look but failed miserably.

"Nothing." She said putting her phone to the side after making sure that her volume was turned up.

"Is it Helga?" Gerald put his pen down and folded his arms ready to discuss whatever was going on.

Phoebe sighed "Yeah, but you can't say anything."

"I never do." Gerald shrugged. Phoebe had told Gerald almost everything. Although she never revealed anything about Helga's feelings for Arnold to him, she did tell him about Helga's home life and he had thus far never spoken a word about it. Most kids around the town knew she had a crappy home life but Gerald was the only one to know about the recent events of Bob's violence. "So what happened? What did Bob do now?"

"Um, it wasn't Bob this time. It was Miriam." Phoebe answered.

"Miriam? Who did Miriam hit?" Gerald asked surprised.

"She didn't hit anybody. She left. Gerald, Miriam left Bob and Helga." Phoebe answered. Phoebe added Helga's name to the people being left because it was true. Her own mother abandoned her when she left Bob. She could've stayed or at the very least fought to keep Helga. Instead, she left. When Helga told her she had said that Miriam left Bob when she knew Helga was thinking 'Miriam left us'.

"What? Like LEFT left? Like she's gone?" Gerald asked bewildered.

"Like gone," Phoebe answered.

"That sucks. What's Helga gonna do?" Gerald asked knowing that Helga had to be formulating a plan of some kind.

"What can she do?" Phoebe answered thinking the same thing. Helga would have a plan for tomorrow. That's why she stopped texting, she's thinking or rather plotting. "Just don't tell anyone, I'll know more tomorrow."

Gerald just nodded and made a zipping motion across his lips, he picked up his pen to signal that he wouldn't ask any further questions knowing that Phoebe was done discussing the matter.

Helga tiptoed down the stairs peeking around the corner to see if Bob was indeed sitting in front of the couch sleeping like he usually does. Helga's eyes widened as she saw Bob's arm move from the couch with an almost empty liquor bottle in his hand. BOB'S drinking now? Great. Helga turned to go back up the stairs and wait another hour before attempting to get food. Before she could take one step she froze as she heard Bob start to talk to her.

"Hey, girl! Get down here little lady." He barked. Helga rolled her eyes and made her way into the trophy room and stood in front of him. "So, your darling mother decided to abandon us. So you need to make dinner tonight." He started taking another sip from the bottle. Helga narrowed her eyes but decided to just nod and as she started to walk out of the room she stopped as she heard him speak again. "I don't know why I put up with her. She was never good enough to be with me anyway. I should go find someone who appreciates a man like me." At this Helga made a fist. "The only good thing she ever did was make Olga." He finished off the bottle and dropped it. Helga had enough.

"STOP IT! Are you kidding me?!" Helga turned around with a snap "She left because she is too good for this! She didn't want to be slapped around anymore! You treated her terribly and I don't blame her for leaving."

Bob rose to his feet and stood towering over Helga "Watch it, young lady!"

"Young lady? Little lady? Girl? YOU DON'T EVEN CARE TO REMEMBER MY NAME! Maybe I should leave too." She turned to exit when Bob grabbed her arm and turned her to face him. "LET GO!" Helga demanded and she kicked him in his gut causing I'm to drop her. She scrambled to get up and backed up as she saw Bob crash to the floor while mumbling something incoherent.

As Helga went up the stairs she heard Bob lift his head to address her again "She didn't care about you any more than she did about me. She left you here with me, didn't she? If she really cared about you wouldn't she have taken you with her?" At that last statement, his head rested on the floor again as he let the alcohol take him into a deep sleep.

"Screw this" Helga said as she went up to her room. She started to stuff items around her room into her backpack. She grabbed her computer, phone, some cosmetics and hair supplies. Before she turned off the light she looked and saw her journal on the bed she walked up and threw it in her bag on top of some clothes. Her bag was too full to zip up all the way but it should be good enough to get her to Phoebe's house. She pulled out her phone and texted Phoebe as she walked down the stairs.

H [Hey Phoebes, headed to your house.]

Helga looked and saw her father still on the floor and went right out the front door. I guess I'm officially a runaway. She thought as she walked down the stoop and turned to go down the street.

P [Okay, Geralds here]

Helga stopped Gerald? Crap. Okay, think, think, think… I guess I can find somewhere to hang out until he leaves. I can't let him see me walk in with a bag of stuff this big…

H [Okay, never mind. Text me when he leaves.]

P [Why? What's Wrong?]

H [Nothing. It can wait. Not a big deal.]

P [Okay he's leaving now. Still coming?]

H [Sure, be there soon.]

"You need to leave," Phoebe said looking up at Gerald, which caught him off guard.

"What?"

"Helga's coming and she won't come over if you're here," Phoebe said.

"Why? I know everything already." Gerald said as he put his things back into his backpack.

"Yes, but SHE doesn't know that you know. Besides, it's getting late anyway." Phoebe said handing him his textbook.

"Fine, let me know what happens?" He said pleading.

"Maybe, depends on what happens," Phoebe said as she walked Gerald to the door. Gerald smiled and kissed her goodbye before walking down the stoop and turning to go home. As Gerald walked he saw Helga approaching, although she didn't notice him since she was typing vigorously on her phone, probably filling Phoebe in on some details of whatever happened. As Gerald got closer he saw a dark bruise on Helga's upper arm and her backpack was so full she couldn't even zip it shut.

"Hi, Helga," Gerald said as he passed her, looking into her bag. He took notice of the number of clothes, although she could just be staying at Phoebes for tomorrow and through the weekend.

"Hey, Gerald," Helga said half-heartedly as she texted Phoebe.

Gerald's eyebrows furrowed as he started to speculate. He pulled out his phone and texted his best friend as well.

G [U up?]

A [yeah]

G [coming over rn]

A [k. Everything okay?]

G [I'm okay, I'll tell you when I get there.]

A [ok]

Gerald got to Arnold's boarding house and didn't bother to knock, at this point he knew he was allowed to come and go as he pleased. Looked like they had just finished dinner he saw Suzie and Grandma washing dishes while Phil was asleep in his rocking chair. Gerald pulled the cord to open the staircase to Arnold's room and walked in to see Arnold reading a book on his bed. Arnold looked up shutting the book and giving Gerald his full attention. "What's going on Gerald?"

"Arnold, I need to tell you something but you can't say anything to anyone," Gerald said seriously. Arnold just nodded "Something's been going on at the Pataki house…" He hesitated before releasing the secret his girlfriend had sworn him to.

Arnold nodded urging him to continue, I knew that something was off with Helga.

"You see her dad had been getting worse with his temper and a few weeks ago.." Gerald closed his eyes and sighed heavily as he released the information he swore to keep secret. "Bob hit Miriam."

Arnold's eyes widened I knew it. I knew Bob did something like that. "That's horrible!"

"Well, apparently he's done it a couple of times since then and today Miriam decided to leave him." Gerald started to rub his arm as he continued.

"She left? Good for her! Where did they go?" Arnold asked assuming that obviously, Miriam took Helga with her, no sane mother would leave her daughter in a home like that.

"I don't know where she went but she went alone," Gerald stated, letting the information sink into Arnold before he hit him with the latest information.

"She didn't take Helga? Why wouldn't she?" Arnold started to wonder, then as his mind was running through scenarios he stopped himself and then looked at Gerald "You haven't gotten to the worse part yet have you?"

Gerald shook his head and sighed again "Helga texted Phoebe while we were studying and told her that she needed to come over after I left. So as I'm walking home I pass Helga on the street… she acknowledged me but didn't really pay me any mind other than a 'hey', but Arnold… I think she ran away from home."

"What?!" Arnold said shocked. "And she's going to stay at Phoebe's?"

Gerald just shrugged and continued to tell Arnold more about what he saw "Her bag was packed pretty full and she had a huge bruise on her upper arm. Like Bob had grabbed her really tight or something."

"That's terrible! What's Phoebe going to do? Will her parents even allow her to stay there?" Arnold asked.

Gerald shrugged again. "I really hope so, she can't stay with me… you know how my dad is with saving money. He doesn't want another mouth to feed.

"I don't know if she could stay here or not, I'd have to ask Grandpa but none of the rooms are vacant. So she'd have to stay in one of the common areas or in my room…" Arnold said frowning at the thought. He didn't want Helga on the streets but sharing a room with her was also less than desirable.

Author's note - This isn't my first fanfiction but it is my first Hey, Arnold! fanfiction. I hope the spelling and grammar were done well and not too distracting. Let me know what you think. Usually, I go chapter by chapter but I have a structured plan for this story but if you have any ideas let me know in the comments. Thank you for reading!