Summary: Helga took her pink make up bag from her suitcase and walked towards the bathroom, choosing to reapply her make-up and check her hair after the trip she had just undergone from New York to Hillwood. After all, she was attending a very important wedding and, because of that, she had to look at her best.

Matters of the Heart

A blonde, 25 year old woman walked slowly through the streets that reminded her of simpler times. Her intense cerulean gaze kept falling on every corner of the old neighborhood where she had grown up. Her luggage was held limply on her right hand, while her left hand held a very familiar golden locket with the picture of a 16 year old football head young man. The sun shone brightly on the blue sky, a good omen for a beautiful wedding.

Helga G. Pataki sighed tiredly as she continued walking heavily down the streets towards her old home. She deliberately avoided visiting her old neighborhood after having left for college when she was barely 18 years old. Her clothes no longer consisted of jeans, a pink t-shirt and her gray beanie, but rather she was dressed, in that moment, with a simple black dress that reached her mid-thighs and black stilettos to match. After all, Helga G. Pataki was dressed for the occasion of a wedding, but not just any wedding…

She suddenly realized that she had already arrived to her old house, barely recognizing it as her old home. Its paint was decaying as time went by, with no maintenance seemed to have been given to the old blue house. She took out a key from her black purse and inserted it in the old doorknob. It still fit perfectly, even after all that time in which she refused to visit. She pushed the door open and dropped her luggage right next to the door, closing it after entering the place that filled her with bitter memories and an emotional rollercoaster.

She sighed tiredly and walked towards the phone that stood in the old trophy room, picking it up in her trembling hands and dialing a number without thinking of the number in particular. After all, it was a number she dialed frequently, even more than the one to which she called her parents who lived in Miami after having moved out when she left for college.

"Hey Pheebs, what's up? Yeah, I just got here. I'm at my old house. I'm fine, geez, you worry too much. Yes, I'll be there. I have to be there. Yeah, I know where it is. No, no, I'll get there by myself. You already asked that! But yes, I'll be fine, crimeny. All right, see you in an hour then," Helga hanged up the phone and took a look at the trophy room with its empty walls and old furniture still intact. Hmm, they only took their precious Olga's trophies. Why am I not surprised? The fact that she still had electricity and water services surprised Helga even more than the fact that the house still had the old furniture. After all, her parents had moved out after Big Bob expanded his Beeper's Emporium to Miami, earning them a life full of luxury. They sent her a very juicy check every month while she was on college and until she graduated. Those checks didn't stop because they didn't care for her after having received her bachelor's degree in creative writing, but rather because she called them, thanked them for everything and asked them to get lost very nicely. After that short call, Helga never heard of her parents or Olga ever again.

Crimeny, what's with this trip to memory lane? I gotta get ready, can't be late for the wedding.

Helga took her pink make up bag from her suitcase and walked towards the bathroom, choosing to reapply her make-up and check her hair after the trip she had just undergone from New York to Hillwood. After all, she was attending a very important wedding and, because of that, she had to look at her best.

Half an hour later, Helga climbed off the yellow taxi in front of the white chapel in which the wedding was going to be taking place. The chapel shone brightly due to the sun's shiny rays of light, giving the place a magical and peaceful sensation. It was surrounded by colorful flowers, roaming from petunias to roses, making the place look like a scene taken out from a romantic movie. The guests stood outside the chapel, waiting for the ceremony to begin, and most of them wore light colors. At first glance, it seemed that she was the only young woman dressed in black for the happy occasion. Her blue eyes rested on a familiar group of people that stood right in front of the entrance to the chapel. She stood frozen a few meters away from them, taken aback with their new appearances, her wide cerulean eyes and her mouth somewhat hanging open.

Her Asian best friend, with whom she had spoken before through the phone, wore a light blue strapless dress that reached her knees and flowed softly with the wind. Phoebe had dropped her glasses during their freshman year at high school, changing them for contact lenses, and her hair now reached her shoulders, slightly curly in the ends for the occasion. She was laughing softly at something a tall Afro-American young man, who was dressed in a simple black tuxedo and slacks, was saying and who stood right next to her with his left hand resting on Phoebe's lower back. Suddenly, a tall, lanky young man also dressed in black tuxedo and slacks, slapped the back of Gerald Johanssen with a grin on his face. Stinky's hair was no longer spiked up, but rather it was kept short and slightly combed to the sides.

From what Helga could see from afar, Rhonda Wellington Lloyd, with her long, black hair flowing and curled in the ends just like Phoebe's, was still the best dressed young woman from the group. She was wearing a bright red V-neck dress that hugged her form nicely and one inch red heels, which most likely were designed by a famous French designer especially could her. She could hear the brunette bragging about her latest trip to Switzerland to a familiar pair of young woman. The young women, who were dressed in simple dresses and small heels with their distinctive childhood colors, blue for Nadine and green for Sheena. Nadine wore her hair in an elegant ponytail, while Sheena's cascaded down her shoulders, both of them with a look on boredom in their faces as they heard the ramblings of their conceited female friend.

But the ones who had changed the most from her childhood group of friends were Harold Berman, who was no longer overweight and looked respectable in his black tuxedo, and Brian "Brainy" Williams. The latter had seen her from afar and now stood right in front of her with a warm smile gracing his lips. While dazed, Helga didn't notice Brainy taking her hand and guiding her towards the side of the chapel, where no one else could be seen. Once they reached the shade of an old oak tree, Brainy swiftly hugged Helga tightly. The only thing that her mind registered was that her old stalker had a well-fitted form and that he was taller than her, as her head rested on his chest, her nose filling with his enchanting cologne and her ears deafened with the steady beat of his heart.

"It's been a while, Helga. I've missed you," whispered the young man, who seemed to have received a treatment for his asthmatic problems.

"Yeah, well, what can I say? Money does not grow on trees," Helga chuckled nervously and her body a little tense.

You know, how the time flies…

Brainy swiftly dropped his hold on Helga after noticing her nervousness and grinned, "Technically, it does." After a couple of seconds in silence, both of them laughed whole heartily and erasing the awkwardness of their encounter. Both of them had become close friends after their trip to San Lorenzo and reuniting their football headed friend with his long time lost parents. After returning to Hillwood without that same boy, Helga and Brainy continued being friends until the moment she bid farewell and climbed on an airplane towards New York and her new life. They kept in touch through Facebook, as she did with Phoebe, until the moment Arnold Shortman returned to Hillwood two years later after she had left for college. At the time, Helga even avoided her Asian best friend, since she didn't want to know anything about her first love.

"I thought you wouldn't come," whispered Brainy with his hands now in his pockets and his brown eyes fixed on her own blue ones.

"Me either. Phoebe kept calling and I kept saying no. That was until my boss heard the conversation one day and he ordered me to take my vacations and, well… here I am," said Helga, her gaze falling on her feet and her hands flattening her dress as she talked.

"For what it's worth it, it's good to see you," smiled Brainy, his hand resting on her shoulder, making Helga's eyes meet his own.

Helga cleared her throat and grinned, "Yeah, yeah, I know you missed me. Why are you so mushy today? Crimeny!"

Both of them laughed whole heartily until the chapel's bells interrupted their reunion, signaling for the beginning of the first wedding in their childhood gang to take place. Brainy cleared his throat and took Helga's hand swiftly, guiding them towards the entrance of the chapel, never letting go of her hand and squeezing it with reassurance as they joined the rest of their childhood friends.

Helga dragged her feet towards a nearby bench in the side of the groom with Brainy following close behind, their hands still intertwined. As Helga sat down, her gaze fell on the altar. She could see Gerald speaking animatedly with his best friend, and her childhood love, Arnold Shortman. The boy from the picture of her locket had turned into a well-fitted man and his green eyes seemed even brighter than she remembered. The world seemed to stop when blue and green gazes met each other.

I hoped you'd see my face and that you'll be reminded that for me, it isn't over…

As Helga and Arnold stared at each other, music abruptly filled the air and everyone turned towards the entrance of the chapel. Helga woke up from her daze as Phoebe smiled sadly and waved at her from her seat as she turned. The blonde returned her gesture with a small smile and nod of her head, also turning slowly to see a couple of flower girls in their light green dresses, twirling and dancing as they spread the white roses down the aisle. Soon, the bridesmaids, Nadine and Sheena, followed the flower girls, smiling and waving as they walked down the aisle. As they got closer to where she sat, both of the bridesmaids recognized her and smiled brightly at her, waving their bouquets of yellow roses and petunias, which were the bride's favorites. Helga smiled softly at them, but her smile dropped slightly when the Pachelbel's Canon started playing in the chapel. Brainy, noticing her tension, hugged her by the shoulders with one of his arms, while his other hand held hers tightly. The bride finally entered the white chapel with her beautiful strapless white gown that was adorned with diamond cuts around the torso, making the gown shine brightly under the warm light that filled the chapel, and her large bouquet of white roses and petunias held tightly by both of her delicate hands. The long tail of the dress was being held by two small boys, but because of the size it continued being dragged. She knew who it was behind the white veil and had stolen that half-lidded stare that Arnold wore at that moment as he gazed at the bride from the altar. Helga's heart seemed to stop beating the moment Arnold took the veil out of the bride's face and Helga finally saw the lovesick smile that was etched on the bride's face.

It was Lila Sawyer's smile and with it everything became dark.

Dazed, Helga sat on her bed, her eyes roaming every inch of her room. She was trying to stop her thoughts from rambling to all of what she had seen and felt. Her eyes fell on her laptop, which lay open on the top of her desk that stood right in front of her. Helga slowly rose from her bed and sat right in front of her laptop, her eyes glazed as she took in its contents. The blonde blinked rapidly as she realized that her computer kept playing repeatedly a soft song she knew by heart.

Helga looked around once more and groaned. "Crimeny, I gotta stop listening to Adele!"

The blue eyed young woman sat on her single New York college room with the song "Someone like you" filling the air.

Who would've known how bittersweet this would take?

Hope you enjoyed my small HA! one shot. Please review, comments and constructive criticism are appreciated!

~Melody of Perdition