Okay so here is the next chapter.
heyarnoldfangirl: I am glad you like it so far. And that is what I was trying to go for although I really hate cliffhangers I don't want to give it all away in one chapter. :)
AmorFatiAhMi: I never really took Helga as the type either but later on there will be an explanation revealing why she chose that particular path. I do agree with you on the Phoebe/Gerald aspect. I may try to bring them back at one point but I don't know how far I am willing to let it go from there so sorry for those rooting for P/G. I also understand that due to my choice of genre many may not take an interest but I am willing to take that hit. I don't want this to revolve around a budding romance but I am not saying that I wont include it at some point. I do love A/H but I do not want to introduce that so soon. As for the main plot...your assumptions are on point but I will say no more. Hahaha! I am glad that my story has caught your attention so thank you for taking time to give it a chance. :)
Guest Reviewer: I am glad that you like my story and took the time to leave a review. You will find out soon enough who the two were and then some so stick around! :)
I would also like to thank my reviewers for the kind words regarding my writing style. I do not consider myself a well rounded writer so those compliments have helped to boost my confidence. Thank you!
Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold.
Chapter II
"You have to show me how to do that." Phoebe pointed at Helga, "Ever since I decided to let my hair grow out I can't find the time to style it so it usually just ends up in a ponytail."
Helga smiled at Phoebe as she reached up to undo her bun, "It's actually really simple and there is a trick to it I think you might like." She pulled the various hair bands from around the bun one by one, her hair fell loosely until finally it was completely free from the bindings. Helga placed each hair band around her wrist before reaching back up to her hair.
"What is that?" Phoebe's eyes focused on the object in Helga's hair tilting her head and raising an eyebrow in question.
"That is the trick." Helga smiled knowingly to Phoebe as she grabbed the object and pulled it from her hair. "See." She held it out so Phoebe could get a better look at it. "It's a sock."
"Huh?" Phoebe's eyes widened and darted back up to meet Helga's amused ones. "A sock?"
"Mmhmm. It's just a rolled up sock that I cut the toe out of. It's the secret to a fast, good looking bun." Helga smirked twisting the object around so Phoebe could see it from all angles.
"Okay, well how do you make this exactly?" She poked the sock with a curious fascination, "It looks like a doughnut."
Helga chuckled, "That's the key. You see you roll it up nice and tight and when you are at the end, cut off the toe and fold the excess around it. It should look like this and then you slip it over your ponytail. The tricky part is getting the hair around the sock evenly so there are no bulging areas or gaps where the sock can be seen. Then take a hair tie and pull it over the hair and sock. It will hold it in place and you can tuck away the excess hair however you want. I usually use multiple hair ties." She held up her wrist and pointed to the many hair bands she had pulled from her hair moments before.
"Well," Phoebe spoke adjusting her glasses, "Seems simple enough."
"You'll get the hang of it once you do it a few times." Helga shrugged placing the sock doughnut down onto the smooth wood surface of the coffee table. She sidestepped to the right and sat down on the plush sofa with a long sigh. "Great choice on dinner by the way, I'm stuffed." She stretched her arms towards the ceiling then placed her hands behind her head interlacing her fingers and leaned back. Her eyes rose to the ceiling watching as the dark blades of the fan placed in its center spun creating a blur of color against its plain white surface. The soft wind it was creating hit her face gently and tousled her loose hair about.
Phoebe was still examining the sock sitting on her coffee table with slight amusement. "Well, thank you for treating me to it Helga." She sent a sweet smile to Helga whose eyes lowered to meet hers, a soft smile spreading across her face. "So, what is on the agenda for tomorrow?" She asked moving over to take the empty space on the sofa next to Helga. The soft cushions sent a wave of calm throughout her tense body, the day had been anything but ideal. Given situations from the day flashed before her eyes and her small smile began to slowly disappear. Her eyes trailed to the left where Helga was sitting and she waited silently for a response.
"Well," Helga leaned forward and placed her elbows on her knees moving her hands around animatedly with her words, "I need to go back to the house first. I have to decide what exactly I want to do with the place. If I keep it I will barely be in it and it will probably be harder to sell after what happened." Her eyes fell to the ground and she breathed in deep. "I'm not sure what I want to do right now. My younger self would not hesitate to sell it off but now, well…I'm conflicted." Her eyes fell to the floor and her hands ceased their movements now hanging limply between her knees. Phoebe leaned towards Helga as she began to speak softly while Helga's eyes stayed trained to the carpet.
"I understand Helga. And just know that I am here if you need me, okay?" Phoebe placed a reassuring hand on Helga's shoulder. A small smile appeared on Helga's expressionless face but her eyes stayed trained on the carpet still. Taking in the tiny details, the soft plush look of the material that made it, the color, beige….eh, not the best choice. How some of the material frayed in some areas from wear and improper maintenance, just the little details, such details and ways of thinking to help Helga take her mind off of the world for just a moment. A focus technique that kept her mind busy on meaningless things to avoid the larger scaled issues from beating down on her full force. It helped.
The room fell silent, only the sounds of steady breathing, inhale and exhale of both girls filled the room. Times like these made Helga wish she wasn't an adult, sometimes she just didn't like having to deal with adult issues. A constant burden of decisions and consequences, it was a constant mental strain but an inevitable part of her life and for all those of the appropriate age. Then again, for the majority of her life she had to be 'grown' in a sense. But, times were different and right now all she wanted to do was get away for a while and not think about everything that has happened. Just find somewhere too beautiful for words to describe and maybe become the one that finally finds the words to create a worthy description.
"I think I'll go and visit them tomorrow too." Helga finally spoke, "I haven't been back since the funeral service. I'm sure the flowers need to be replaced by now." She leaned back against the soft back of the couch and propped her feet on the surface of the coffee table, crossing one over the other. A long weary sigh left her lips as she closed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Would you like me to go with?" Phoebe asked looking at Helga with concern.
"Sure." Helga opened her eyes and looked at Phoebe with a smile, "Thanks Pheebs."
"No problem Helga." Phoebe smiled back.
...
"It's just so…desolate." Helga mumbled as she walked through the old house, her steps silent. The walls held no pictures and the floors no furniture of any kind leaving the house vacant, stony and cold. The house had been stripped of everything soon after the incident removing anything that could prove useful towards the investigation and leaving what could not. Helga had the house gutted after the fact and the cleanup crew did a good job of taking away all evidence of what had occurred there. They were quick; the interior was completely void after only a few short days after the yellow tape came down clearing it for entrance.
"So, what happened to everything that was here?" Phoebe asked from the doorway of the bedroom Helga was now standing in the middle of.
"I had a lot thrown out but some is in a small storage unit. I need to sort through it eventually." Helga spoke over her shoulder then turned back to the empty space she was now occupying. It was her old bedroom, the pink walls faded over time and some areas were chipping away revealing the white undercoat. Wood floors now lay beneath her feet after ripping up the old ragged carpet she had laid during high school several years before. The lighting in the room was dim and would flicker occasionally. She was able to get the power turned back on temporarily but most of the house remained boarded up. Only a few boards here and there on the main floor were removed to allow a bit of the natural light to flood the rooms.
After walking the short hall and inspecting the rooms upstairs the two began their descent back to the main floor. Helga ran her finger along the railing of the staircase as she stepped down and looked at the thick layer of dust with a grimace. Even though Miriam wasn't much of a housewife, the dust never accumulated to this magnitude. It made Helga think back to all the little things she probably missed, the little things that the woman she finally came to call 'mom' might have done without her knowledge. Along with the fact that only up until just a few years back she was just too angry to pay attention to what Miriam or Bob did. A fact that at times would pull at her heart but would just as quickly vanish back into the deep, dark recesses they would occasionally spring from.
Helga reached the bottom step and quickly took notice of a figure standing at the open doorway. Clearing her throat loudly she spoke up, "Um, can I help you?" The unknown person had their back to Helga but quickly turned around hearing her voice. Due to the sun light shining behind them, their front was cast in shadow making it hard to distinguish any sort of features. From the outline and shape of the form she determined this person to be male but could tell nothing else.
With a nervous wave the person spoke up, "Oh, uh, hi Helga," they moved their head to the side, "Phoebe."
Phoebe peeked around a very confused Helga and gave a small wave, "Hello Brainy. How are you?"
A wide eyed Helga looked at the figure still standing in the doorway uttering incoherent words to herself as Phoebe stepped around her. "Brainy?" Her voice was a mere whisper filled to the brim with confusion.
He chuckled before pointing down to the floor, "Fine, Phoebe. Do you mind if I come in, Helga?"
Helga shook her head of her confusion closing her eyes tight furrowing her brow and quickly waved her hand, "Oh, y-yeah. Sorry. Come in Brainy. It's good to see you; it's…been a while." She inhaled deeply and let it out slowly through her nose opening her eyes to focus on Brainy. He stepped into the entryway area and stopped placing his hands into his pants pockets, his stance casual. The shadow being cast from the bright light disappeared finally revealing the features they had kept hidden. "Wow, um…a while kind of seems inadequate now." Helga chuckled, her eyes scanned from the top most part of his head covered in messy but stylish hair to the tip of his chiseled chin.
Brainy smirked raising an eyebrow, eyes no longer hidden behind soda bottle thick glasses examined Helga. "Yeah, I could say the same about you too Helga." Helga took in the sight of the new and very improved Brainy that stood before her in more detail. Broad shoulders, handsome features and the height had him looking nothing like the geeky kid she remembered. His voice threw her off more than she dared to admit, deepening with age and smooth as glass it was so odd to hear it coming from him when his usual form of verbal communication involved heavy wheezing. To say this transformation wasn't a shocker and possibly one of nature's greatest improvements would be far from the truth indeed. He was not largely muscular, from the view of flesh not covered by his t-shirt she could deduce that he was toned quite well. Probably just enough time spent working out to maintain and not gain. For once in her life and with the firm conclusion that Hell had finally frozen over Helga felt her cheeks heat up at the sight of, Brainy.
She pulled on the collar of her black t-shirt diverting her attention, "Um," she cleared her throat roughly, "Kind of hot in here don't you think? Let's go outside." Phoebe stifled a giggle as Helga walked towards the exit showing a little too much eagerness to get out the door. Brushing passed him lightly to reach her haven, her senses picked up the scent of his cologne and her steps quickened all the more. The scent of spice, deep and warm, accompanied by the light airiness of mint followed her out of the doorway and she inhaled deeply taking a few extra steps from the front of the house.
It wasn't a particularly hot day Helga noted but it was undoubtedly heating up in the small entryway of the house and she desperately needed fresh air. With a few deep breaths Helga turned back around to face the doorway as Brainy and Phoebe stepped out. Brainy's eyes drifted over to Helga and a small smile formed on his face as he stepped slowly down each step and proceeded to walk towards her.
"Better?" He asked with a hint of teasing laced in his voice.
"Better." Helga nodded, "So, what brings you over here?"
Brainy stopped; slowly his eyes left Helga's face and trailed back towards the house studying it intently. He closed his eyes as a light breeze carried through ruffling his messy dirty blond hair a small frown pulling at the corner of his lips. His focus turned back to her, his eyes carrying a heaviness that was not present before as he studied her, flicking back and forth gauging her demeanor. With a deep breath he reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a small white card and handed it to Helga.
Helga furrowed her brow as she reached forward and took the small card from him studying its content. Her eyes widened a fraction and her voice was small, "You're a detective?" She scanned the card again before looking up to meet Brainy's eyes. "Were you there?" Her eyes darted towards the house then back to focus on the man that stood quietly in front of her.
"Yes." He nodded.
"Ho-how much did you find out?" She tried to speak evenly and remain as calm as possible, her face held no expression as she looked at Brainy. The evidence and all information had been withheld from her from the very beginning or at least if felt like it had. Even after countless phone calls and accumulated hours being put on hold for the line to click followed by a dial tone all to simply find out if anything new had come up she received nothing more than a 'you know about as much as we do Ms. Pataki'. The painful thud of her heart hitting the back of her ribcage echoed in her ears as she stared at him through slightly narrowed eyes.
He shook his head slowly, "As much as I would like to discuss the details with you-"
"What? Why can't you?!" Helga snapped interrupting him mid-sentence the familiar feeling of being pushed from the subject once again filled her body and she tensed.
Brainy held up his hand to silence her outburst and continued calmly, "Helga, as much as I would like to share every bit of information that I have with you the truth is simple. We just don't have much."
Helga relaxed her tensed muscles and looked at Brainy, his body language spoke of shame, failure and truth as his shoulders slumped and his gaze fell to the ground. She pressed her lips together tightly forming a thin line looking back to the small card she still held in her hands. A small crease of concentration formed on her forehead as she began flipping the card over and over between her fingers, licking her dry lips before speaking again. "Were you able to get anything?"
With an exasperated sigh Brainy reached up and rubbed the back of his neck in frustration. He looked up towards the sky for a moment before lowering his head back down to look at Helga whose focus was still on the little card he had given her. Her eyes had darkened and the tension was rising in the open area but he spoke anyways, she deserved to know the truth. "Honestly, next to nothing. It was as clean as it can get in that particular aspect." He groaned looking to the side, a stern expression forming on his once calm face. "The lock had been picked, a small piece of the device used broke off and we were able to recover that. No prints, no sign of struggle. With your dad's business there were plenty of possible motives but everyone he associated with checked out. Each one had a solid alibi, even the more questionable figures. Nothing out of the ordinary. It's almost too clean if you ask me." He shook his head looking off to the side becoming aggravated at recalling the lack of information and suspects.
During his rant Helga had slowly began walking towards him and was now standing just a few feet away. When he looked back towards her he nearly jumped at the unexpected change of distance. Helga let out a loud huff looking away, "You know me, and you know I'm not some softy. And even though all of this has happened I refuse to breakdown, " her eyes shifted back over to him and she placed a hand on his shoulder, "But thank you. Even though you weren't able to find much I can't really blame you for this vermin being smarter than the average. You've done what you could with what you were able to find."
Brainy nodded and Helga removed her hand stepping around him leaving him to juggle the words she spoke in silence. She shoved her hands into her pants pockets as she walked passed Phoebe in the direction of her own car. Phoebe had remained silent throughout the exchange and stood there watching her best friend with a look of concern.
"Um, Helga? Where are you going?" Phoebe finally asked.
"To see Mr. Thomas…I'm hungry." Helga mumbled over her shoulder not bothering to cease her walking until she was at her car and in the driver's seat. "You coming Pheebs?"
"Oh," Phoebe piped up, she then turned to Brainy who was now standing beside her watching Helga as well. "Brainy, would you like to accompany us?"
"Hmm?" He looked down to Phoebe with raised eyebrows, "Where to exactly?"
"To the sub shop I frequent. I took Helga there the other day." She looked back in the direction of Helga seeing her now at the vehicle and opening the driver side door. "It's really good." She added with a smile as she looked back to Brainy.
"Sure," Brainy shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, "why not." He returned Phoebe's smile and gestured for her to walk ahead, "Ladies first." Phoebe laughed lightly turning to walk towards Helga's car where she was waiting with the music blaring.
Well this chapter is a bit longer than the first but the information contained within was worth it. Hope you enjoyed it!