Disclaimer: I own nothing, zilch, nada, nil.
Note: FTI happened, TJM 'kinda' happened in the sense that Arnold attempted to discover the location of his parents but failed, and thus, Helga then spent years after that trying to track them down for him...
Helga Pataki's heart beat dangerously in her chest, her entire rib cage shook with each palpitation and she struggled to take in the necessary amounts of air. Deep, dark green eyes pierced at her skin, Arnold Shortman's infuriated stare felt like knives against her very soul.
Helga shut her eyes tight, "I was only trying to protect you." she managed to splutter, an uncomfortable lump forming in her throat.
Arnold moved closer to her, his body tight and his fists clenched by his sides, "Five years!" he shouted at her in a cold and furious tone of voice she'd never heard from him before, "You knew where they were for five years!"
"I wanted to tell you, Arnold!" she countered, her eyes pleading with his, "I wanted to tell you so bad it hurt but, don't you understand, if you so much as stepped foot in that jungle, La Sombra was going to KILL them" her voice was rising, now she was practically screaming, "No more discussion, no more negotiations – he was going to kill them and then kill you!"
"Who are you to decide which risks I take?" he shouted back, his voice sending painful feelings through her chest, "How could you do this?"
Helga took a heavy breath, "How could I? How?" she seethed, one hand pulling at the roots of her hair in frustration, "Because I love you!"
Silence befell the room, Arnold made no effort to move, his emerald eyes, dark and searing remained locked to hers as she stood breathing erratically.
Palms shaking, she continued, "But you already know that, you've known since we were NINE."
Arnold scoffed, turning his face away from her, "That is not what we're discussing right now." he hissed, "You betrayed me, I can't even trust you!"
"Trust me? You can't even trust me?" Helga cried out, thumping her fist onto the nearby desk, "I've been here, right HERE, for fourteen years – watching out for you, doing anything I could to make you happy." her hands trembled as she gripped at her jacket sleeves, "I walked bare feet in the snow for miles one Christmas, just so you would believe in miracles, because YOU are the most wonderful, optimistic... frustrating boy I have ever met and... I-I love you! I always have! Why do you think I worked for years to locate your parents in the FIRST PLACE?"
Shaking his head, he turned to fix her with another heartless glare, "I don't know Helga, so you could control my life?" he suggested with a sneer.
Helga shut her eyes, letting her head drop, "I couldn't just sit back and let you walk into your own death." she said quietly.
"Oh? So you neglect to tell me where my parents are because you think I'm stupid enough to just walk into LaSombra's convenient trap?" he raged, gritting his teeth, "You think I wasn't prepared for the worst?"
"They're going to kill you!" she screamed at the very top of her lungs, so hard and loud her throat went dry and she winced in discomfort.
"Let them try" he yelled back, moving toward her once more and backing her against the bright blue wall, "My parents are in that jungle and I'm getting on that place and going to FIND them!"
Helga shook her head furiously, "Don't do it, please." she begged, little pinpricks of tears coming to the back of her eyes, her voice quaking, "You can't go out there on your own."
Arnold narrowed his intense green eyes at her, leaning down over her, "I'd rather die alone out there... than be anywhere near you." he snarled.
"You..." Helga began, her voice no more than a whisper now, teeth biting down hard against her bottom lip, "I..." she looked up to him, but he simply stared back with disdain, stepping slightly to the side indicating his desire for her to leave.
Clenching her hands tightly into shaking fists at her sides, and trying her hardest to control the oncoming hyperventilation, Helga stepped tremulously out onto the stairs. "Goodbye." she whispered softly, a final farewell that she wasn't even certain he heard as he slammed the door behind her.
Arnold gripped tighter at his hand luggage as he peered from the terminal window, awaiting the boarding call for his flight to San Lorenzo. He shook his head and turned away from the view, unable to look at it any longer - it was raining and it was raining hard.
Gerald raised an eyebrow at his friend, but chose to say nothing, maybe because he didn't realise why the rain was making Arnold so uncomfortable – or maybe because he honestly did, and didn't want to bring it up.
"Attention all passengers for Flight IJ-8-8-7." hummed a cheerful feminine voice through the crackly speaker system at the terminal, "Due to unexpected malfunctions, the passenger boarding bridge to your plane has been deemed unsafe for current usage." she continued politely, "Unfortunately, we will require all passengers on Flight IJ-8-8-7 to board the aircraft via the tarmac. We apologise for the inconvenience."
Arnold grimaced, knowing the very last thing he wanted to do was walk through the rain, across the tarmac and climb up onto the plane. Friendly flight attendants removed the red rope around the doorway and signalled for passengers to begin their journeys toward the plane.
"Guess this is it man..." Gerald said glumly, offering his long-time friend an encouraging pat on the back.
Arnold nodded slowly, "Yeah." he confirmed, "This is it."
Gerald waved briefly, as Arnold approached the two stewardesses, who checked his boarding pass and motioned toward the large doorway that lead out onto the tarmac. Taking a deep breath, followed by two more, Arnold stepped hastily onto the cold cement ground and felt the first splashes of rain hit his face.
Arnold briefly wondered why he hadn't thought to bring an umbrella, maybe it was because he honestly hadn't been expecting to encounter a rain storm before boarding his plane. Yet, he always carried an umbrella with him, he always had and... He couldn't do this.
Two steps out from the doorway, he turned swiftly on his heel, rushing back in the direction of his best friend. Gerald eyed him with a hopeful expression.
"You know, there's foreign diplomats and government officials on the case already..." Arnold began, almost desperately, "I'd be risking my life, Gerald, and I mean, what's another few years of waiting anyway? I've lived sixteen years without them, I can survive some m-"
Gerald interrupted his incessant babbling with a strong hand on his shoulder, a look of absolute relief crossed his face, "GO!" he instructed, motioning toward the lights of Hillwood city.
Arnold's heartbeat sounded loudly in his ears, pounded against his chest and caught in his throat, almost so loud and vigorous it made him feel queasy as the taxi sharply rounded the bends from the airport to Vine Street. His legs felt like jelly as he climbed the Boarding House stoop and raced to the stairwell, passing his grandparents in the living room.
"Oh, thank the good lord!" Phil cried out as he passed, "The boy finally gets it!"
Pushing against the tough glass, Arnold crawled out onto the expansive rooftop and it didn't take long to find a tall blonde figure huddled over and absolutely drenched, sitting just inches away from the skylight panels.
Helga turned around slowly, "What the hell are you doing here?" she asked, her words were tough but her tone was soft.
Arnold smiled a little at her attempted bravado, "What the hell am I doing here?" he repeated her question, "You're the one who is on my roof..."
She shook her head, pursing her lips together slightly, "Just leave me alone." she murmured.
"No." he said softly, "Never again."
Arnold shifted slightly, moving to take hold of her soft hand, feeling her warm skin against his. She held on tight, but looked at him with disapproval, "Don't make promises you can't keep." she warned.
"I'm sorry." he whispered, leaning in closer, "I'm so sorry."
Helga inched backward a little, pushing herself closer to the window panes, "You should be on a plane."
"Where I should be is here with you." he told her honestly, extending his free hand to touch her beautiful face, "This is where I belong."
Helga flinched a little under his touch, her gaze sceptical and concentrated. Arnold bit his lip guiltily, he didn't deserve a single thing she'd done for him, he had the most amazing girl in the world right there all along and all he'd done was ignore it.
Arnold heard her take a deep shaking breath, before he felt his back connect with the cold wet roof tiles and Helga's lips brush against his as she hovered above him. Her hands gripped tightly to his shoulders as he sat up onto his elbows and intensified the kiss.
Arnold's hands moved to brush lightly against the damp skin of her face, feeling the warm sensation of tears intermixing with the rain against her cheeks. Running his tongue softly against her bottom lip, she eagerly pushed past his teeth with her tongue in return making him breathless.
Maybe it was Helga herself, or maybe it was the chemistry of the two of them combined, but the sensation of her kisses was intoxicating, he could hardly remember his own name. Her breathing grew heavy as he placed kisses along her jaw, down her slender neck and along her exposed collarbone, causing her body to become limp in his arms.
Arnold pushed her back up against the nearby pane of glass, kneeling between her legs and moving forward to capture her lips once more, his hand firmly grasping at her hip. Helga's hands ran softly across his broad shoulders, grasping a little as she whimpered.
Leaning back, he placed his thumb gently onto her cheek, wiping away a small teardrop from her face. "I love you." he whispered, as Helga watched him with awe, her blue eyes shining with fragility as though she might break any second. Slowly, and tentatively, she lifted her hand to meet his and he placed a kiss against her knuckles before scooping her up into his arms and carrying her down into his bedroom.
Everything he needed was right here, where it had always been, where she had always been. Right here.
Decided that since there's so many possibilities for how this story could have gone after the opening scene, I wanted to explore a few more of them. So, I'm going to do a few more 'chapters' and each chapter will simply be the same opening fight and then various alternative endings. Hope you like & thanks for your reviews & suggestions everybody :)
