2.28.14

Thank you for all the support! I might be a bit slow at updating ( trying to finish another story in the meantime.) Anyway, hopefully you guys like this chapter! And, yes I know this chapter might be a bit confusing. Next chapter will have more background on some confusing topics. (:

Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold!


Forget Me, I'm Remembering (1)

Longing

"Can you show me what this life is for?"


"I love you." The girl gasped with her mouth slightly open. Under the moonlight her blonde hair shimmered. His emerald eyes staring at her made left breathless. A smooth hand moved against her cheek. Goosebumps erupted upon her skin, a slight shiver moved swiftly up her spine. Her heart was starting to melt.

He leaned in toward her face, "Well?" In that moment a chilling wind moved past them. Leaves swirled around on the street below. She didn't want to focus on him, she didn't want this to end, and she didn't want this to happen. How could she not want this though? She didn't deserve him, not after all these years. Not after making his life miserable. Tears brimmed at her eyes; she was going to end this. No more teasing each other, no more friendship, no more nothing.

Nobody needed Helga G Pataki in their life.

"I-I-I don't love you." He turned his football shaped head to the side; curious in the least bit.

"Good try, Helga." A smirk played on his lips. "I know what you're doing."

"No, you don't. I really don't feel that way about you."

Before she knew what was going on his lips crashed into hers. It took Helga a while to overcome the shock. The heat from the kiss spread throughout her body. Of course she kissed him back with the tears and all. He pulled away and laughed, "I know you better than anyone, Helga. And, because I know so much about you, it only makes me love you more." A smile played on his lips, "Now, stop acting like you don't feel the same. I understand why you're doing it and its bull."

She sighed, "Okay, I love you too. But, you don't want to be with me. Trust me."

Gently, he pecked her lips once again. He kissed her check, chin and slowly moved down to her neck. They didn't need words, they didn't need body language. Those two could practicality read each others mind. "Helga, just shut up and be my girlfriend."

She blinked, "Very romantic."

"Is that a yes?"

"Yes, it is."


"Helga dear, were leaving in an hour. You better get up." The blonde shot straight up out of bed leaving her to tumble-down on the ground. Ugh, just a dream! She desperately wanted to scream her lungs out. Every time something like this happened, it crushed her mentally. Why can't it be real? It killed her. Why can't I have the one boy I love? Does the world hate me or what! While laying on the floor she stretched her arms and legs out. That nap really felt wonderful to her. Considering she couldn't sleep the entire night.

Helga scratched her head from the floor, "Yeah, yeah. Miriam. I got it. One hour." Her eyes bugged out of her head, "Wait! One hour! There's no way I was napping for that long!" Miriam just yawned, shrugged her shoulders and waltzed down the hallway.

Why am I so stupid! Oh, gee. I still have to pack for Arnold's house! Helga's cheeks lite up in a bright red. That's right, I get to spend two whole weeks at his house! Every waking hour I can be around football head! Oh, crimeny! This is amazing. I'll get to see him everyday and every night! Plus my parents won't be in town! Heck, half of the neighborhood is gone. Thanks to that high school trip!

Glancing over at her alarm clock, it numbly read: six thirty-five. A sigh passed her lips, Miriam was actually thirty minutes off. They were leaving in about thirty minutes. Which meant Arnold would be at her house in less than an hour. That locket of hers jingled against her skin while she walked around her room. Helga pulled a pink duffel bag out of her closet and began frantically gathering clothes from her dresser and closet. Time flew by faster than she had anticipated. It was already seven, her bag still wasn't packed all the way and plus Bob and Miriam left without even saying goodbye. Miserably, she sat down on the bed. The only reason she knew they had left was the sound of the old beat up car starting up out front. That only made her roll her eyes. Once you've been invisible for so long, it's just something that you get use to.

Pacing around, Helga gathered up her toothbrush, notebooks and some other things. At this point it was already seven ten. Of all the things Arnold decided to show up early. Helga groaned while hearing him knock on the door. Her stomach growled from the lack of proper food for the day. Ugh, I didn't even get to eat dinner! I'm not even done packing!

The door opened revealing a now sixteen year old Arnold. He was taller now, probably five eleven or even six-foot. His features had stayed the relatively the same. That blue baseball hat still sat in the middle of his head. Those golden locks of his still shot out unruly from his head. Surprisingly, he had even gained some muscle. Sure, he was still skinny Arnold, just with a little more pow. Helga found out the summer of Eighth grade when Rhonda had a pool party. The sight of his toned chest and slightly worked arms almost made her drool.

"Hey, Helga. Ready to go?" He gently smiled at her.

There was an eye roll, "No, Football Head. I'm still not done packing yet."

"Oh, well I can wait until your done."

Helga sighed, when really she was overly giddy on the inside. "Whatever floats your boat. You can crash in the kitchen or wherever."

"Oh, well, I meant I could uh, wait out here. " He shyly scratched the back of his head.

She glared, "Fine, fry to death outside. What do I care."

"No, no! I just thought you might not want me waiting inside. That's all." He quickly stated.

Helga just shrugged at him and left the door open. Her footsteps echoed on the stairs leaving Arnold to awkwardly stand by the door. For awhile he rocked his feet back and forth. Boring- that got real boring real fast. Curious as always, he began to stroll down the hallway. Pictures of Olga were all lined up down the hall. More pictures of Helga's family were hanging on the way. He only counted three that had Helga in them. She wasn't even in some of the family pictures. He knew her family wasn't the best, but this was a little over the top. Thinking back on all the times her family had flaked out on her made his heart-break. On Helga's eighth grade graduation her family failed to show up. Then there was her basketball games, they failed to show up to those too. It seemed that everything Helga had accomplished had gone unnoticed by her family. Maybe she was right all those times when she said: "I would have rather had no family." Arnold remembered how upset he was after she told him that. That turned into a big fight. Now, though, he understood what she meant. No child wants to feel invisible in their own home. Sometimes, he had felt pity for her family, not realizing what a great daughter they had. Not Olga, but Helga.

Arnold stared curiously at the wall. Until he decided to wait in the Kitchen like Helga had suggested. An empty feeling hit him in the gut. The Kitchen wasn't very warm to say it the least. Plain and unfriendly, that was the vibe it left him with. About twenty minutes of him examining the kitchen passed by. Hearing Helga's steps down the stairs made his ears perk right up. She was lightly muttering to herself after he didn't hear footsteps coming down the stairs anymore. The footsteps started back up again when he heard her mutter: "Where did he go?"

Their eyes locked for brief seconds when she entered the kitchen. Helga decided to break the silence, "Let's hit the road, Jack." He laughed and gently followed her out the front door.


The street lights dimmed along the sidewalk. Really, it was beyond her why he didn't want to take the bus. In twenty minutes the next bus would have come hobbling along the pavement. Instead, he just waved it off saying something about it getting late. Each of their footsteps echoed throughout the neighborhood. For a summer night it sure was quiet. Maybe even a little too quiet for their liking. A windy breeze blew past them, taking away some of the sudden heat they had felt the whole way. This summer night was far too hot.

"So, Phoebe actually said that about Gerald?" Arnold asked.

Helga nodded, "You better believe it! What did Gerald tell you?"

"He told me Phoebe started it."

"What a sap! It was totally his idea to start wearing those matching lovey dovey clothes!" She laughed. "I'm kind of surprised he wouldn't tell you straight up. I think its cute that he thought of it."

He was taken aback, "Cute? Did you just say cute?"

"Yeah, I did. Gee, I'm not a totally tom boy, Arnoldo. " He lightly shrugged, not wanting to start a fight.

Both of them kept on their descend to the boarding home. The night was young, so they took it pretty slow. Just talking and gossiping about the neighborhood kids. Though, sometimes they would get so caught up in the talking, they wouldn't even notice their shoulders touching each others. Their footsteps were in sync as they strolled along the narrow sidewalk. All the lights from most of the houses were now off. Arnold glanced down at his watch surprised to see that it was heading towards nine thirty.

"Helga, it's almost nine thirty."

"Really? Pretty speed this parade up before your grandpa has a fit."

"Race you there?"

"Your on, Football Head!"


Most of the lights were off in the Boarding house. A porch light and kitchen light stayed lit up, which made the street brighter for the two teens to see. Many noises of their shoes clanging against the sidewalk made some people look outside. The two blondes were now almost side by side sprinting at full force. Sweat was now building up on each of their foreheads. In the distance the Boarding House was coming into view.

"You're so not gonna beat me, hair boy!" Helga managed to pull a slight lead.

He pulled ahead of her, "Don't get too cocky, Helga!"

Suddenly, they were in front of their detestation. Arnold looked at her almost out breath, "L-let's ca-ll it a tie."

She huffed, "F-F-ine! B-but next time I'm so going to kick your butt!"

The green door to the Boarding House suddenly swung open. Only to reveal Arnold's Grandpa with a scowl on his face. Helga found herself frozen in place. Crap, he looks mad. Over the years, he hadn't changed too much. Except for losing some more hair, er, whatever he had left. During the course of time, he had also managed to gain some weight. Not too much, but just the normal amount for someone inactive and aging. "Shortman, were in blazes have ya been? It's almost ten thirty!"

"Grandpa, I told you where I was going." Arnold sighed.

His grandpa fixed his gaze on Helga. The old man rubbed his chin. "Well, well. Haven't seen you in a while, missy! Come back to beat me at some checkers?"

"You better believe it! Just stop betting me money, old geezer. I just wanna play for fun." She said sternly.

Fully aware the Arnold had no idea what they were talking about. What they were talking about their almost daily game of Checkers. Somehow, it all started a few months ago when Helga started going for her early morning jogs. Her route was to go throughout the whole neighborhood and back to her home. On her first morning she completely ran into Arnold's grandpa who had his Checkers table set up in the middle of the sidewalk. After a few more times of passing him every morning and noticing that no one was ever playing with him. She took it upon herself to play a game with him and it turned into a tradition for then on. Why had Arnold never noticed? Well, her runs started at about five in the morning. It was beyond her why the old geezer was outside at the time. Since, Helga knew that Arnold didn't usually get up until six. No, she wasn't a stalker, his grandfather told her when they started playing Checkers all those months ago.

"Wait, what?" Arnold looked at them both.

"Let's save that story for a different day, Arnoldo."

"Whatever you say, Helga."


Eleven ten at night. The fifteen year old girl groaned while looking at the clock. She ignored her rumbling stomach and kept on after the old geezer around the Boarding House. Arnold thought it would be a good idea for her to get familiar with the house, since she was going to be there for a while. Instead of Arnold giving the tour, his grandpa butted in and suggested he show her around the home. "Eh, Shortman. How about I give the tour?" The teen boy nodded and wandered into the living room. Helga wanted to hit her head against a wall. This tour wasn't necessary for her at all. Did his grandparents not remember all the times they had caught her sneaking around the house? Guess they really are getting old.

"Anyway, that's the last of it. Make yourself at home, missy!" He smiled and was turning on his heels to leave.

"Huh? Where's my room?"

The man laughed, "What do ya mean, chickadee? Right up there is your room! Weren't you listening to me earlier?" He rubbed his chin, "Well, guess I have to give you the tour all over again."

"Crimeny, no!" She scowled at him. "I just don't remember where you said my room was?"

I don't remember anything you said, old geezer.

"You sure are something, girly!" He pointed up. "Arnold's room, kid! You two are good friends, right? Shouldn't be a problem then, hm?"

Helga glared at him, "Why you-"

He interrupted her, "Whoops! Did ya hear that?" The man suddenly dashed out of her sights, "Coming Pookie!"

You stupid old geezer! Putting me with Arnold. You knew there were open rooms! I saw the freaking listing in the Newspaper. I cannot believe he picked up on my hints during Checkers. How could he have figured it out? I never split my guts! Ugh, this is what I get for getting close to people! I wish Phoebe was here right now. What the heck am I suppose to do? I can't stay in his room for two whole weeks? This is going to impossible! Why, why me?

Helga nearly jumped when her phone starting playing her ring tone, "We'll run where lights won't chase us and hide where love can save us. Lying inside our quiet drama." She suddenly groaned remembering the ring tone Olga had set on her phone when she last visited for her Caller ID. The techno music rang at full blast through the hall as she desperately tried to click ignore on her phone. This is what she got for letting Olga become a party girl.

"Nice ring tone kid. Think you could, I don't know, turn it off?" The short man with a funny nose glared at her as he passed by her in the hallway. She sheepishly clicked the ignore button on her phone. After the man had disappeared down the stairs, Helga made her way to Arnold's room. The pink duffel bag was now extremely heavy on her shoulder. Walking toward his room felt like it took hours. Sighing, she threw the bag on the floor next to his desk. How on Earth did things turn out like this?

Helga swiftly pulled out her phone to text Phoebe. Now, she was spinning around in Arnold's desk chair, feeling a bit frustrated and nervous.

Pheebs, major emergency. Stuck in at Arnold's for two whole weeks! And, I have to stay in his room. Ugh, can you believe it?

While Helga was anxiously awaiting for a reply, a certain Football Head made his way into the room. His eyebrow raised at the sight of Helga and her things lying next to his desk. The desk chair stopped spinning as soon as she spotted him. They locked gazes for mere seconds before he broke it off. Arnold walked over to his bed and slumped down, "So, Grandpa gave you the tour?"

She nodded, "Yup."

"And, you ended up in my room?"

Helga scowled, "Your crazy grandpa told me I'm staying in here."

"Oh, he didn't tell me that." He awkwardly looked around the room.

"Don't sweat it, hair boy. I'll just keep my bag in here and sleep in the living room or on the rooftop or something. No bigge."

By now, Arnold was lying flat on his back while staring up at the night sky from his bed. "Helga. You're the guest, you don't need to be uncomfortable."

She moved over to his couch, "Neither do you."

He laughed a little, "I'm not uncomfortable. I'll just sleep on the couch and you can have my bed. Your free to use my room too. It doesn't bug me."

Helga's phone started playing Phoebe's ring tone, "Na, Na, Na. Diva is a female version of a hustla. Of a hustla." The blonde girls cheeks flushed. How embarrassing! The song was supposed to be an inside joke between the two of us. It wasn't suppose to sound like a girly pop song. Ugh, kill me now.

Surprise overtook her when Arnold started laughing, "I-i-is that the song Gerald thought said 'Diana is the female version of a hustla'?"

Helga nodded, feeling stupid that Arnold knew about the joke, "Yeah, it is."

Sorry, Pheebs. Your gonna have to wait. She thought while ignoring the call.

"Oh my gosh. He spent weeks trying to figure out who Diana was supposed to be! Did you know that Gerald went to one of the radio stations to figure it out. Oh man, I really didn't have the heart to tell him the song said Diva."

"Haha, yeah! What makes it so hilarious is that he was just trying to impress Pheebs with his music taste. That was pretty stupid though, Phoebe didn't even like that song." Helga glanced down at her phone to text something to her best friend.

Sorry, talking to ice cream right now. Call you tomorrow. (:

At least this time Helga remembered to turn her phone on vibrate.

Oh, okay! Have a good night, Helga. ;)

Arnold sighed, "Gerald really thought she was in love with the song. I don't know why, but he thought Phoebe would like to meet Diana, the girl he thought was in the song. You know Gerald, always trying to impress."

Whatever Pheebs!

"Tall hair boy is such a dork."

Then there was silence. She hadn't exactly been looking at him lying on his bed. One that would have been kind of creepy and uncomfortable. Two it probably would have made her stutter and slur every word with all those thoughts racing through her mind. Most of the time they had talked she was staring down at her phone. Being Helga, she didn't notice how rude that could have come off. Though, Arnold didn't even really pick up on it.

"Hey, Arnold?"

No reply.

Helga glanced up from her phone. A scowl replaced her calm features. The boy was passed out cold on the bed. The locket jingled against her skin causing a smile to form on her face. What a dork. Crimney, falling asleep while I'm talking to you! Gee, how dare you. Your such a stupid football head! What a waste of a first night. Not at all what I was envisioning. Oh come on, Helga old girl, things could have went far south. I should just be happy at how smooth things went tonight. Hopefully, it stays like this and gets better. Maybe, I'll get to find more out about him. Yeah, more about him. Hey! Didn't he say I could sleep on his bed? What a liar. Oh my gosh! He was going to let me sleep in his bed. It probably smells so good. Helga glanced down at the clock on her phone. Crap, its one in the morning already! I need to get to bed! Now, I won't be able to wait up before any of them, especially Arnold. Lovely. Those stupid boarders better lay off of me. I swear if I hear one comment from them I will seriously pound them! As for that old geezer, he has something coming his way. Hm, maybe I'll but some spiders in his bed.

But, what if his grandpa really knows? He has such a big mouth! He could ruin everything. I'm doomed. So doomed.


Thanks for reading! Yes, Helga and Arnold's Grandpa have a relationship with each other. I thought it would be cool to have something like that in a story. Anyway, leave a review if you enjoyed! Any errors will be fixed as soon as possible. Please feel free to point out any. And PLEASE point out any typos, sometimes I miss those and they irk me to death. (:

Until next time,

August Passion.