Roommates

Helga and Arnold are college roommates.

While Arnold continues to date Lila, Helga has been dating up a storm.

Can these two be more, or will they just stay roommates?

**I hate summaries**

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Hey Arnold, hence why this story is here on FFNET.

Helga squeaked as the drywall cracked and then disintegrated beneath her. Oh god, as if her day wasn't bad enough. As if she hadn't had to wake up to glassware crashing and loud screaming as her parents erupted World War 3 in their living room, oh no…it wasn't as if she had to run out of the house that morning without breakfast, money, or a packed lunch, as usual, only managing to narrowly escape being hit by an ugly vase.

It wasn't as if in her haste to leave her sad excuse of a house, she had forgotten to take with her the American Lit paper she had due that day, and she was pretty sure she'd be getting a failing grade for that.

It wasn't as if she had to go hungry at lunchtime, with her best friend, Phoebe, unfortunately scheduled for a different lunch break.

And of course, the kicker, it wasn't as if she had to watch the love of her life flirt with the bane of her existence at lunchtime that day, he smiling with that half-lidded smile she loved so much and she giggling and hanging on to his every word.

Oh no, to top off all that unpleasantness that particularly horrible day, after bursting out into one of her monologues in the alleyway next to Sunset Arms as she loitered around, unwilling to go home, she just had to have her locket get stolen – again – by a very light-footed, very crafty pig – again!

And now, now, her bigger, heavier, thirteen-year old frame had just broken through the ceiling – again! God she was obviously too old for this. She hit the ground butt first and groaned in pain, "Owwwww! Criminy!"

The sound of a throat clearing from some where behind her distracted her from the pain as she swiveled her torso around, her eyes widening as she came eye to eye with the person who made the sound. Oh for all that was holy, it just got worse. Arnold's grandma had just entered the room, her eyes wide as they zeroed in on in the ceiling in the living room before turning to her in a heap on the floor. Oh crap!She thought, as her eyes darted from side to side, trying to find a suitable exit strategy. This might have been cute when she was nine but she wasn't nine anymore, and she was sure the old woman was probably livid that she kept putting holes in the ceiling.

So when the older woman smiled, Helga's anxiety turned to confusion because why would Arnold's grandma be smiling? Before she could stop it, she blurted out "I'm so sorry!" and quickly took herself off the floor, intending on making a quick enough getaway. She would pay for the ceiling later.

She had just broken into a run when she heard Gertie say, "Eleanor dear, I think you're forgetting something," Helga froze, her movements fearful as she turned back around, a lump forming in her throat as she saw Arnold's grandma holding out her gold locket, "I snatched it from the Russian spy as he ran through the house, you may want it back,"

With a gulp, Helga walked back and reached for it gingerly, her hands shivering. The older woman merely smiled and dropped the locket into her waiting hand. She gave a big sigh of relief. Unfortunately what happened next made her lose even more oxygen, "As for the ceiling –

"I-I'll pay for it!" she said, feeling her face redden as she looked at the hole.

The old woman shook her head, "I don't need the government funding from you, Eleanor," Helga blinked, "But how about we have some pancakes and tea and you help me prep up dinner while I task the general with fixing this up? The president shouldn't be home until after all our tasks are done,"

Helga swallowed, "I-uh-I actually have to go, uh –

"Nonsense," Arnold's grandma smiled, "You've got a ceiling to pay for and I have need for a new helper so chop chop! To the kitchen we go!" she finished, cackling as she raced out of the room, Helga still wide eyed as she looked on. The younger girl sighed, a smile creeping up her lips as she followed the older woman after a few seconds had passed. So maybe the day wasn't so bad after all.

After that day and some very persistent, very consistent coaxing from one very pushy old woman, Helga became a semi-permanent fixture at Sunset Arms, taking advantage of the fact that Arnold wouldn't be home early for at least four times a week due to being on the football team. Though she did resist at first, she had come to find that Gertrude Shortman was nothing if not persistent, making it obvious where Arnold got that particular trait. That first time, Gertie had persisted all throughout the cooking, and then persisted some more until Helga had finished every last bit of her surprisingly good pancakes and bacon (though it could be the hunger), finally persisting up until Helga had found herself agreeing to visit Gertie anytime Helga wanted, especially when things weren't 'going so swell at the White House'. And while Helga knew she should have refused the offer, she thanked Gertie quietly in her mind once she got home that night and found Bob and Miriam still arguing, all the ugly vases around the house now shards of glass at their feet.

XXX

Helga worried her lower lip as she glanced at the date on her calendar, ignoring a little stab of pain as she studied the relevance of the date.

Instead she focused on the picture next to it, letting her mind wander, a smile gracing her lips. Said picture was of her and Gertie during one of their afternoon tea sessions in Sunset Arms' living room. Her fourteen-year old self's face had been caught in a big smile she's yet to see again on her own face, while Gertie was captured mid-cackle, probably during one of her long-winded stories only they could understand. She smiled wistfully remembering those afternoon tea sessions, a ritual she had done with the old woman from the time she fell through the ceiling when she was thirteen.

The faintest whispers of sad music from across the room snapped her out of her trip down memory lane, making her sigh as she was reminded of what she had to do that day, what she had been doing since her Junior year of highschool. Knowing she had to do it again made her want to throw something but she settled for groaning into her hand.

She had a lot on her plate that day – a test in the next hour, a presentation to prep for right after that, a shift at the campus café where she worked a few hours a week, and a date that night with someone she actually liked for once. She was booked, and, just like every year, was currently asking herself if there was any way she could cancel any of it.

You really shouldn't keep getting involved, though, a nervous thought intervened, the old fears of a certain football head finding out her secret returning to the forefront of her brain. It was becoming harder to hide just how in love with him she was, something that, now especially, she never, ever, ever wanted him to know.

Getting up from her makeup chair and slinging her book bag across her chest, Helga wondered what would happen if she just…forgot. After all, for all that they were really good friends, she was still little more than a completely detached third party in this. She wasn't his grandmother, his mother, or his girlfriend, and he wasn't a little boy anymore, but a grown man capable of making his own decisions.

The right thing to do would be to let him figure things out without me for a change, she thought as she mashed her lips together after applying on her lipgloss.

Too bad her love and concern for him won out, steeling her resolve as she found herself walking across the short expanse of the living room to his bedroom door, unmarked except for a cheesy looking wooden sign with the words 'Arnold's Room' on it that she remembered rolling her eyes over when she saw for the first time. She lifted a fist to knock. Maybe someday, in the distant future, Arnold wouldn't need her pep talks anymore, wouldn't need her anymore, and she had already promised herself that on that day, she would back off, let him live his perfect life while she tried her best to live without him. Someday, that would happen.

Someday, but not today.

Today, she had a promise to uphold.

XXX

Her knees buckled as the ambulance sped away, the keys to the Packard still clutched tightly in her fist. Phil had thrown it to her with his free hand as he got into the ambulance, his other hand still firmly in his wife's. She felt her knees hit the concrete first and was pretty sure it would be all bruised up come morning. She didn't care though. Though she had seem so strong earlier – barking orders at the boarders to stay calm and get themselves ready if they wanted to go to the hospital, calling for an ambulance then directing the medic team once they arrived – now that they were gone, all the fight had left her system, leaving her numb.

A weird heaving sound reached her ears and she looked down, her eyes meeting a hunched figure clutching his chest and shaking a little as he sat on the bottom stair. Her heart broke for him as she watched him. His skin was turning pale green when her mind sprung to action and she got up, dusted her bloody knees with her palms, and walked down the rest of the stoop to where he was slumped to the floor, placing a hand on his shoulder, "Football Head, are you okay?"

His breathing hitched. His neck craned comically slow as his head swiveled around to face her. It would have made her laugh had she not been about to cry. Tears began flowing from his big green eyes, and she had to brace herself on her arms when he suddenly lunged, wrapping his arms around her shoulders, and sobbing into her shoulder, "H-Helga! G-Grandma, she…she…"

Throwing out any lingering notions of her secret getting out, she wrapped her own arms around his waist, her thumb rubbing soothing circles on his lower back as his body was wracked with sobs, his tears flowing down her shoulder.

She thanked all the gods she had managed to corral the longtime boarders back inside the house on threat of a good beating before Arnold broke down. It gave her and Arnold some peace and quiet as they sat outside that night, with no one else but the wind and the ghosts to see them breakdown. To see him breakdown. Let the mystery of Hillwood's Angel remain a mystery a little while longer.

After a few minutes of them just clinging to each other, Helga finally sighed and loosened her arms around him. They had to go, "C-come on, we have to go back inside and get the boarders,"

He continued to sob, "B-but grandma –

"Will be there when we get there. You know she will. Now, call Gerald for support while I get some of Gertie's things, we'll be at the hospital in no time," She tried to smile, repeating the words in her head over and over and over again. Gertie would be fine.

XXX

It's just a pep talk, Helga ol' girl. Just a pep talk.

Her fingers rapped on the wood as her stomach roiled in her gut. In all honesty, it really, really should be his girlfriend and not her at his door. His girlfriend should really be here. Hell, she should have been here yesterday. Helga quietly mocked the redhead in her mind, bemoaning the fact that her beloved football head had to go through this year after year alone.

The sad music increased in crescendo and her knock became a little louder. If she didn't give him at least a pep talk, then he be truly and irrevocably alone. She wasn't banking on Lila being supportive, seeing as she had never been supportive of Arnold when it came to this specifically, and if Lila wasn't supportive, and Gerald was off with Phoebe halfway across the country, and with no one else in this vicinity except her who could understand what her football-head was going through, then it wouldn't be so hard to believe if he just…snapped…again. Ugh fine, just give him that damn pep talk, she decided, anything to not have a repeat of the previous year.

Knock, knock, knock. Her hands rapped on the wood more urgently.

The door opened, and Arnold peered out of his room, a sad smile gracing his features as he looked at her.

"Hey, Helga" he tried to sound chipper, 'sound' being the keyword here. Helga knew what real 'chipper' Arnold sounded like, and that wasn't it. She tried to smile but it must have come out as a grimace because he sighed, "I'm okay, Helga,"

"You know what I'm about to say, right?"

He rolled his eyes, "I know," he smiled, "I'm fine, Helga," she squeaked when he tugged her into his arms, "I know you're worried, and I know you have good reason to be worried, but I'll be fine this year. I know I have you, and Gerald, and Phoebe and Lila, and everybody, and I'm thankful for that every day. I'll be okay, okay?" he chuckled sadly against her clavicle and she shivered at the contact of his warm breath on her skin.

"You better be, because I can't stay with you this year," she said quietly, wondering once again if she could cancel any of her plans and responsibilities that day, and sighed when it was immediately followed by a resounding no. Her test…forty five minutes to go, her afternoon presentation, the mountain of homework she had to finish before the holidays (god the holidays), her date, and her part-time job at the campus café were all waiting for her, and she wasn't his girlfriend, and this was all too suspicious, and she had to go.

He nodded, his head still pressed against her shoulder, "I'll be fine,"

"I won't be back the whole day – classes, job, date, all that," she tried to explain, but he simply nodded again.

"I have class and stuff as well…but…" he said quietly, "I'll be here when you get back,"

She nodded before holding him at arms' length to make him look into her eyes, "No matter how busy I am today though, I want you to call me if you suddenly ever feel like you need a companion or something. No matter what time, no matter where I am, you call me, got it?"

He nodded again, "I'll call you," he parroted before letting go, giving her another sad smile as he stepped back. "Go, Helga,"

She nodded one last time, and with thirty minutes to go before her test, bolted out of the apartment, Arnold still watching until the front door closed behind her.

XXX

"Eleanor," Helga was snapped out of her reverie when she heard her 'nickname' leave the old woman's lips. Gertie smiled as she beckoned for the frozen and pale girl standing just inside the door to come closer, hands coiled into fists at her side, "Could you come closer?"

There had been a collective sigh of relief in the waiting lounge when the doctor told them that Gertie had woken up. That relief turned to confusion and all heads turned to Helga when he followed up that first statement with a request made by the old woman, wishing to speak to an 'Eleanor' before everyone else. She had blinked, questioned, almost refused, with Gerald doing the exact same thing, but seeing Phil encouraging her to go with a watery smile, and Arnold's nod at her when she caught his eye made her change her mind.

So she had agreed, following the doctor towards the room that smelled of antiseptic, sickness, and sweat.

She walked closer now and stopped just in front of Gertie, the woman who had unknowingly saved her from a darker path by opening her home to her. Helga looked at the pale, pushing ninety-year old woman, looking older than she had ever done, and swallowed a whimper. She tried to smile instead, knowing it came out as a grimace. Gertie simply smiled back and held out a hand, beckoning her to take it. She did. "Gertie, your whole family is outside waiting to talk to you, why am I here?"

The old woman continued to smile, "Because I have a favor to ask of you, Eleanor dear," The smile turned melancholic, "It's about the president,"

She bit her lower lip again, but nodded. She could never refuse Gertie, "What is it?"

The old woman sighed, looking saner than Helga has ever seen her, "I know my grandson, and I know you do too. I know that, so soon after he just found out about his parents, he won't be able to cope with it when I die, so I want you to help him cope with it, Ellie,"

Helga shook her head vehemently, unable to believe what the old woman was telling her. She was awake now, right? She was okay now, right? She wasn't going to die. No! No! NO! "No Gertie, you'll be fine! Fine! Okay? And your grandson, he'll be fine, he'll have you, and – and Phil, and –

"Eleanor," the lower, more serious tone of Gertie's voice snapped her out of her breakdown, and she looked back at the woman with tears in her eyes, "I know this may be selfish of me, but please promise me that you will help my grandson move past this. That you will help him get into some fancy college, help him make new friends, help him smile again,"

She sniffed, willing the tears to go away, not wanting Gertie to see her weak, "But why me?"

The old woman laughed, nothing like the lively cackle she always did, which unnerved Helga to no end, but a small, sad chuckle that did not belong on the eccentric woman's lips, "Because he listens to you, Eleanor. While the general would also be of great help in these tough times, I – and here the old woman sighed, - I wouldn't want him to start worrying about too much too soon as well, they'll both need your support," the old woman's eyes left Helga's, removing her hand from Helga's grip to fidget at her blanket, "I want my grandson to have a great life, not bogged down by those darn responsibilities he thinks he has when it comes to us, to the boarders, to all this. My boy doesn't owe us anything, and you'll find that the General agrees, so please promise me, Ellie,"

Helga nodded again, finding it in herself to answer verbally this time, "I –I promise," She said in a dull tone, "I promise you, Gertie, I'll do it,"

XXX

Arnold wrung his hands together as his gaze wandered. He was getting more upset the more Lila talked.

"Oh but why Arnold baby?! I already promised them that you would go! It's Trish's birthday, you see, and she was ever so pleased to find out that it was your birthday month too," Lila said with her usual pout. Usually Arnold would melt at the particular sight, and ever since their last fight he had been more prone to giving into her requests, but not this time. Not this month. Not the next couple of months if he were being honest.

He shook his head, unwilling to bend on this, "No, Lila, and you know why," He said in a quiet voice, wishing she could just understand for once what he was going through.

She scoffed, "Oh Arnold baby, but that's why you have to come!" she said, tugging on his sleeve, "It's ever so time for you to move past this," she gestured to his head, "See you're not even wearing that blue cap anymore! I know they were your family and all, but you have to move on! Let me help you move on," At the last 'on' Lila's chirpy tone had devolved into a whine but Arnold, still not feeling his best, didn't catch it.

He sighed, giving Lila a look as he wondered once again if he should just break it off. He had, after all, discovered long ago how incompatible they had become, or probably even always had. But then who else would I have? He thought in a moment of selfishness that was very unlike him, I'd be all alone.

Gerald and Helga…you'll have Gerald…and Helga, his mind answered almost immediately, but that thought did not lift his spirits one bit. Gerald had a whole life to look forward to, one with Phoebe finally in it, and Helga…Helga was not going to be around forever. Sure, she was there now, but she wasn't his to selfishly keep around. One day, she would meet a guy who would give her the world like she deserved, and he would watch her go. She deserved all the happiness in the world. His heart would constrict and his world would fall apart but he would soldier on without her. He owed it to her. No. It was too selfish to think that Helga and Gerald would be around forever. They both had bright futures ahead of them, and soon they would both be off doing all the great things they were always meant to do, while his future consisted of him returning to the boarding house to be alone and broken with his own thoughts.

Unless…

He looked at Lila again and finally nodded.

He did not want to end up alone.

XXX

Helga looked at herself in the mirror and fluffed her hair a bit more. She was a little nervous. Just a little, she told herself. But as she fidgeted with her hands and feverishly re-applied her mascara and lipgloss for the nth time that night, she finally concurred that maybe it was a little more than a little.

She had met Matt in their Advanced Writing classes, and for the first time in forever, had been a little taken by a guy other than Arnold. Matt was sweet, funny, and an amazing writer in his own right. He had beautiful jet black hair that he just left completely unstyled on the top of his head, for all that it looked artfully done, the same way Arnold's did. He had beautiful brown eyes and a wicked sense of humor that she really liked. They just clicked.

So when he finally asked her out, she had taken no time at all saying yes.

And she was excited.

And nervous.

Really nervous. Butterflies in her stomach nervous, which she had never felt for another man before.

She re-smoothed the pink baby doll dress she had decided on that night, the one with the frilly v-neck collar and mid-thigh hem she had worn over opaque black stockings and a dark pink belt around her waist, before checking on her makeup for the last time, finally deeming it acceptable. She bit her lip as she eyed her usual choker with the heart shaped pendant that night but decided against it, for the first time not willing to take a picture of her beloved to a date with someone else, and settled for a gold chain necklace with a pink ribbon charm on it. It was still a present from Arnold, but at least it didn't have his picture in it, right?

She nodded as she took one last look at her reflection, and could almost hear the gushing approval from Rhonda, Hillwood's fashion queen.

Taking her pink pumps from the small shoe closet next to the door, she opened the door to her room.

Only to almost run smack into Arnold who had a hand poised on the door as if to knock. She jumped back in fright, "Football head!"

He had begun rubbing a hand on the back of his neck, something he usually did when nervous or embarrassed, but Helga was more interested in how his eyes had checked her out from head to toe before they returned to her face, something he also usually did, though it flustered her each and every time. She allowed herself to check him out too, and raised an eyebrow when she saw that he was dressed as well. He cleared his throat, "Uh, I'm sorry, Helga, I just wanted to let you know that I was going out,"

She frowned. Hadn't he said he would stay home that day? "Where are you going?"

He took one step back and fidgeted with his hands, "Umm well, Lila wanted me to go to her friend's birthday party,"

She raised an eyebrow, "And you said yes?" her eyes narrowed as she studied his form, trying to see if she could gauge his frame of mind with her eyes. He looked…okay…at least on the surface, "Are you sure you're up for it?"

He nodded, "Y-yeah…" his eyes wandered back down to her dress, then her legs, and finally to the pink pumps she still had hooked in her fingers, "Umm, you look pretty, by the way. I like your dress,"

She smiled, "Is it because it's pink like my bow used to be?"

He chuckled, "Yeah, though I hope you liked the replacement I gave you," he nodded at the necklace and she rolled her eyes, "Anyway, I'm going to go so, uh, I'll see you later, I guess,"

She nodded, yet felt the smile leave her face as she assessed him one more time, "And if it gets too much, you remember to call me, okay?"

He smiled, though this time didn't lunge at her for a hug, which was just fine with her. She needed to be able to breathe at her date, after all, "I will, Helga, okay? Now go, enjoy your date, and I'll try to enjoy mine," he reached for her hand and gave it a small squeeze, and with one last smile, walked out of their apartment.

This is 'Part ONE' of a very long chapter four that I still haven't finished yet. The whole thing would have reached 9,000+ words so I finally decided to cut it down half/half. Believe it or not, these next chapters are parts of the story I thought up later, and are not part of the original outline.

Hope you like it anyway! Chapter 5 is not long off now.

- ASHA