There was one thing Helga could always rely on at home and that was that in some way, there would be drama. When Olga was home, her parents were typically in good spirits. Even when Olga was upset about something, like her recent boyfriend issues, her parents would join forces to take care of her, comfort her, and soothe her back into the perfect, perky daughter they knew and loved. However, when Olga was away, it was almost like a light switch would turn on and her parents would realize that they actually couldn't stand each other and, aside from their mutual love and adoration of Olga, didn't have much in common. They'd either argue about everything from Bob leaving messes in the kitchen to Miriam's drinking to whether or not the mail was left on the same table to which it was normally designated.

Olga had gone home a couple days ago and the Pataki household had settled into its normal routine with Bob and Miriam ignoring each other sans a few gripes and quarrels here and there and Helga largely trying to steer clear of both of them.

She was texting Phoebe every day when she was home just to keep her mind off of things. Phoebe couldn't talk on the phone since she coughed a lot… and slept a lot… so texting sufficed. That, and her project with Arnold gave her something to look forward to everyday.

Today was the first day they were going to head over to the park and get started collecting their samples. Spring was already making its way into Hillwood. The air had grown warmer and while some trees were still barren sans hundreds of little buds on their branches, Arnold and Helga were confident they could find enough variety in the plants at the park to do their assignment.

They met at the park by a small play area after school with a two-person swingset and little metal animals on springs that kids would ride like mechanical bulls. It was late afternoon and the park was getting busier by the minute as more kids and families came to spend the rest of their days.

Helga watched as Arnold skated up to her, relishing the few moments she could watch him without it appearing weird. "About time you showed up, Football-head," She said sarcastically, adjusting the backpack on her shoulder.

Arnold gave her an incredulous look. "Cut it out, Helga," He countered. "I saw you walk into the park five minutes ago. I was getting a drink at the fountain," He jerked a thumb over at a metal water fountain several yards away.

Helga rolled her eyes. "Whatever," She said, turning on her heel and stepping off the path in the direction of the woods. "Let's just get to work,"

"Fine by me," Arnold said, smirking at the back of her head as he followed her across the grass.

Teenagers sometimes went back into these woods to drink or get high so Arnold wasn't surprised to see the remnants of broken beer bottles scattered around in the brush. As they climbed through the foliage, pushing past branches and stepping over low-lying bushes, there was a small clearing to one side with a few large rocks that everyone knew was the hot spot for hanging out when you cut school.

Some of the trees surrounding them were still bare, working their way up to regenerating the leaves that covered their unsightly skeletons every summer. Some of the trees were early bloomers with little pink flowers having already bloomed, their petals delicately strewn across the ground beneath the trees' reach.

Helga walked over to one such tree and admired the full blossoming of one of the flowers. Arnold caught himself staring. Something about her surrounded by such natural beauty, the pink petals of the flowers still on the tree forming a halo of sorts around her from where he stood, was breath-taking. The juxtaposition of the soft, delicate blooms around her and her lackadaisical appearance made no difference. He thought the band shirts she wore were cool; however, he still found himself imagining her wearing - instead of a well-worn pair of jeans, over-sized T-shirt, and her hair in a loose ponytail - a long, flowing white dress, her soft blonde hair down and falling over her shoulders as rays of light bounced off of it, making her even more radiant.

"Do you wanna take a picture?" Helga said without looking at him, snapping him out of his daze as she admired the flower in her hand.

"Huh?" Arnold startled. What is wrong with me?

"It'd probably last longer," Helga finished sarcastically. "You could keep staring at me like I have three heads or we could actually do the project we came here to do,"

"Oh, right," Arnold said, shaking his head. "Sorry," He mumbled as he walked over to another tree, studying the few leaves on its low-lying branches.

What was that about? Helga wondered internally as she tossed aside the flower she'd been admiring.

They spent the next half hour or so collecting and comparing different plants - Helga's flowers, different deciduous leaves Arnold had gathered, pine needles from evergreens. Arnold placed them all into small glass mason jars he'd brought from the boarding house, each labeled individually. Helga took a picture of some poison ivy with her phone.

"Oh, hey, Arnold," She said innocuously. "Why don't you grab a sample of that one there?"

Arnold looked at the shiny leaves of the bush she was pointing to. "Very funny. I don't think so," He said, giving her a slanted look as she grinned devilishly.

As they were leaving the woods and walking along the path out of the park, Arnold's skateboard under his arm and both of their backpacks slung over their shoulders, Helga ventured a question.

"So when do you get your license anyway?"

"Well, I take my test on Saturday so we could go to the river later that day?" He replied, glancing over at her. This felt nice. Even despite her teasing, it was light-hearted and they'd actually done well working together today. "Or Sunday, if that's better for you,"

Helga shrugged. "Either should work,"

"Okay," Arnold smiled at her and she fought to keep from blushing. Damn him and his ability to do this to her! "We can plan on Saturday then,"

"Alrighty then…" Helga said casually. The relaxed nature of this conversation was making her feel a little self-conscious. He was right next to her, their hands barely within reach as they swishing back and forth with their pace. She noted the way he made sure to walk on the outside of the sidewalk, closest to the street, when they made their way out of the park and headed in the direction of home. He could easily skateboard home. He could easily go in a different direction. But he was walking with her. Why? She obsessed over this for the majority of their walk which is why he caught her off-guard when he asked,

"So when are you getting your license?"

"Huh?" She said dumbly. "Oh, um…" As she registered her question, a scowl formed on her face. "Probably not until I move out of my parents' god-forsaken house,"

"Really?" Arnold asked, curious and surprised. "Why?"

"Because," Helga said with an exaggerated sigh, her voice conveying her resentment, "Bob doesn't wanna pay for driver's ed, or a permit to freaking practice," She huffed. "'What do you think you're gonna practice on, little lady? I'm not havin' you bust up my car!'" She imitated his deep, gruff voice.

"That sucks," Arnold said empathetically.

"Yeah, well," Helga responded haughtily. "Such is life, Football-head. I wouldn't want his help anyway. All he does is rub it in your face after the fact," She muttered.

Arnold's brow softened. He always felt bad for her and the way her home life was. He'd known things were strained since they were kids and it seems that not too much had changed over the years. Helga seemed a little more detached from her parents than she was when they were younger but he suspected there was still a child-like part of her that was disappointed that things hadn't improved very much. He bit his lip, eyes cast down, as his mind wandered to Helga's relationship with Phoebe. He wondered when Helga would find out and how? How would she react? He was very aware that Phoebe was the one person who'd always stood by Helga. Even when she was being completely ridiculous and downright nasty, Phoebe had always had her back, despite Helga's often selfish ways. He felt heavy thinking about how Helga would react when she finally learned about Phoebe's condition. Of all people, he certainly wasn't going to be the one to tell her. Oh no, that was not his place. But still, he felt bad for her and his desire to help her hadn't subsided over the years.

"If you want," Arnold said carefully, an idea forming. "When I get my license, I could pick you up on my way to school and give you a ride home?"

Helga looked at him, perplexed, as her brownstone came into view down the road. "What? Why would you do that?"

"I dunno," He shrugged, the presence of her eyes on him suddenly making him the slightest bit bashful. He fought the sensation of his cheeks pinkening. It was no big deal. Why was his body responding this way? "Your house is on the way and it'd be a nice thing to do?"

"I don't need your charity, Football-head," She glared.

"It's not charity!" Arnold said defensively. "It was just an idea! Sheesh…"

Helga was quiet a moment before they crossed the street, her house only a few houses down now.

Are you kidding me? She chastised herself. Get yourself together! Take his freaking offer! The chance to see him, ALONE, every morning and afternoon? You're an idiot!

Arnold walked with her up to her stoop and stopped at the base. "I guess I'll see you at school," He said, laying his skateboard down on the pavement and stepping on it with one foot.

"Arnold, wait," Helga said as he started to turn around. He looked back and she had to force herself to keep talking. God, his eyes were mesmerizing to her. "Um… I guess uh, a ride couldn't hurt," She managed. Be nice! Be gracious! Be EVERYTHING YOU'RE NOT, FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS HOLY. "Uh, I… appreciate it,"

Arnold smiled. "Cool," He slipped into his backpack so that both straps were now secured onto his shoulders. "See you later, Helga,"

Helga watched as he skateboarded down the sidewalk in the direction they'd come. Her heart did a little bounce thinking about the fact that he'd gone out of his way to walk her home. His house, after all, was in the opposite direction.

. . . . . . . .

Phoebe was back at school that Friday. As she stood at her locker getting what she needed for her first class, several students came up to her in succession to say hello and ask how she was doing. Phoebe would reply politely and tell them she was feeling much better, thanking them for thinking of her as she smiled sweetly. Everyone seemed content with such an answer and the fact that Phoebe was back seemed, to anyone unaware of Phoebe's underlying illness, to convey that everything was back to normal. As she watched friends and acquaintances walk away, her smile would falter slightly. Her secret was beginning to feel quite heavy on her shoulders.

"Hey Phoebe," Arnold said as he walked up to her just as she was shutting her locker. "It's good to see you," His smile was warm but there was a strange tension in the air. Arnold was the only person in the school, at least right now, that really knew what was going on with her.

"Thanks Arnold," She gave a small smile that seemed to only be skin-deep.

They stood awkwardly for a moment, neither quite know what to say to or expect from the other, until Arnold spoke.

"I know it isn't any of my business," Arnold began hesitantly. "But I was just wondering why you haven't told Helga yet? About what's going on?"

Phoebe inhaled, exhaling slowly. "You're right, Arnold; it isn't your business to discuss," She stated plainly and Arnold cringed for a moment before she continued with a sigh. In truth, she had been thinking about this quite a bit lately, especially since she'd been out sick. "Honestly, I don't know how she's going to react," She confessed. "I'm actually dreading it quite a bit,"

Arnold nodded, understanding. "But she's your best friend," He said gently.

"Yes," Phoebe replied. "But she also tends to boss me around, forget about me, leave incredible burdens on my shoulders… she isn't the most considerate person and I know you're aware of this fact,"

"Well, yeah," Arnold admitted. "But still, it's gotta be really tough keeping this all to yourself. I mean, you can always talk to me if you want to and I'll do what I can but I think it's really important that you talk to Helga, too. Even though she does do all that stuff, she's your best friend for a reason, right?"

Phoebe considered for a moment, then sighed. "Yes, you do have a valid point," She said. "I'll think about it… but I'm still hesitant,"

"I get it," Arnold nodded. "Well, I'll see you around, Phoebe,"

"Good-bye, Arnold," Phoebe said with a sigh as he disappeared down the hallway. In her gut she knew she had to tell Helga. But she didn't want to be let down and she didn't feel ready to deal with Helga's emotions about the matter when she'd barely processed her own. She certainly wasn't in denial about what was going on but the emotional reality of it hadn't quite hit her. She was dealing with her situation with a stoic grace that left her parents in awe and bewilderment but it wasn't because she was being brave or strong. It was because it was simply too much. She'd barely lived. There was still so much that she wanted to do with her life. So she wasn't denying her reality - she knew what was going to happen and the physiological processes her body was going through - but she had muted the emotional truth of it all.

"'Sup, Phoebe?" Gerald jarred her out of her thoughts as his body was suddenly right next to hers and his arm was resting above her head against the lockers. "How are you doin'?"

"Oh," Phoebe said, pushing down all of the butterflies that made her want to grin uncontrollably. "Much better, thank you," She smiled politely, tilting her gaze up to meet his.

Gerald smiled. "I'm glad," He said, his brown eyes mesmerizing her as she studied the flecks of gold around his pupils. "You were out for a long time,"

"Yeah…" Phoebe said, trailing off as she attempted to formulate some sort of excuse as to why it took so long to recover but she didn't need to ponder very long as Gerald continued.

"I was wondering," He said, turning to lean his back against the lockers, crossing his arms over his chest and sliding down slightly so he was almost eye-level with the petite girl. "If you're feelin' up to it, what do you say to grabbin' Slausen's tomorrow?"

Phoebe could feel her face blushing furiously but she carried on regardless. "That sounds delightful," She smiled and Gerald's facial expression mirrored her own.

"Great!" He said, a little too excitedly. "I mean, I would say let's go today after school but I've got practice and -"

"That's fine," Phoebe said, thinking ahead to other business she should attend to today - namely, Helga. "I have other plans this afternoon as well, but tomorrow sounds nice,"

"Cool," Gerald nodded in satisfaction as he stood up straight. "I'll call you?"

Phoebe gave a small nod in response. "Sure,"

The deafening sound of first bell rang through the hallway, signaling the students only had five more minutes to get to their first period classes.

"Alright," Gerald said as he started to walk backwards in the direction of his class, still facing Phoebe. "See ya later, Phoebe," He said before turning around to continue walking.

"See ya," Phoebe said, her cheeks almost painful from smiling so hard.

. . . . . . . .

Around 4 pm, Phoebe sat by the window in her room, anxiously waiting for Helga to arrive. She was coming over after serving detention (a freshman had gotten in her way in the hallway and Mrs. Henley, one of the resource teachers, had witnessed the altercation).

Phoebe contemplated how she would tell Helga. This would be her first time telling anyone about her illness. Her parents already knew, obviously, and Arnold had stumbled upon the information on his own. Phoebe hadn't given much thought as to how she would communicate about her illness up until this point so she tried on different phrasings, all the while trying to wrap her own mind around the truth. Words like "leukemia" and "cancer" felt foreign on her lips and nothing sounded right - everything she thought to say made it feel like she was on the set of some dramatic soap opera and she was a main character.

The soft ding of the doorbell downstairs, coupled with a few hard knocks, signaled Helga's arrival. Phoebe's heart rate inexplicably quickened and she talked herself into calming down as she padded down the carpeted staircase.

"Hey Pheebs," Helga said casually as Phoebe opened the door, letting her in. "Man, what a joke!" She exclaimed, seemingly having held in this outburst for the duration of her walk to Phoebe's house. "Mrs. Henley is such a bitch. I swear, she's had it out for me since sophomore year,"

Phoebe closed the door behind Helga as she continued.

"I mean, criminy!" Helga let out an exaggerated sigh as she tossed her backpack to the floor next to the staircase. "I barely even touched the kid,"

Phoebe listened quietly, nodding and providing sounds of approval and understanding as Helga went through her rant.

"There's something I wanted to talk to you about, Helga," Phoebe said when Helga had finally seemed to finish and calm down.

"Yeah?" Helga said as she shrugged off her hoodie and tossed it on top of her backpack. "What's up?"

Phoebe followed Helga into the living room and watched her best friend flop onto the sofa, kick off her shoes and look around for the TV remote before propping her feet up on the coffee table. The casual demeanor of Helga's actions made it tempting to avoid the conversation altogether. It would be so easy to engage Helga in more details about her disdain for Mrs. Henley or the incident with the freshman that led to her detention. Still, a burning in the back of her mind told her that she needed to come clean to Helga. Wringing her hands together, her nervousness and contemplation unbeknownst to Helga, Phoebe cleared her throat.

Helga's eyes were glued to the screen as she flipped through commercial after commercial. "Out with it, Pheebs. I don't got all day," She groaned, sinking deeper into the couch cushions.

"Well," Phoebe breathed. "I'm really not quite sure as to the best way to put this…" She watched for Helga's reaction but she her gaze was still fixed on the TV. "And it's rather important," She said pointedly and Helga looked up.

"Well then, spit it out!" Helga exclaimed impatiently, resting an elbow on the arm of the sofa. "Criminy, Pheebs…"

Phoebe sighed. "Okay," Another breath. "I'm… sick,"

Helga blinked. "...Um… okay? Again?" She quirked an eyebrow. "Like, achk achk, I have bronchitis again or are you gonna spew on me… gimme a little more to work with here,"

"No," Phoebe shook her head as her eyes prickled with the hint of tears. "Not like that…" She paused, hoping Helga would catch on.

"What the heck are you talking about?" Helga demanded but her brow began to soften as an unwelcome realization began to dawn on her.

Phoebe took a steadying breath, her gaze lowered to the floor. "I have leukemia," She said quietly, the weight of the words seemingly grounding her to this spot on the floor.

Helga was unusually quiet. Phoebe watched as her best friend sank back into the couch with a stunned but otherwise blank facial expression.

"Helga, please say something," Phoebe said after a moment, her voice breaking the slightest bit.

This seemed to pull Helga from her daze. "Okay…" She started slowly. "So there's gonna be chemo… and radiation… or both, I don't know how this stuff works…" She mumbled, partly to Phoebe and partly to herself. "You'll probably catch every virus under creation but that's no surprise… maybe some time in the hospital…"

Phoebe's eyes welled up as she listened to Helga talk herself through her expectations of what would happen. She didn't want to stop her but she couldn't let Helga go on building up her hope in this way. It was so difficult to hear all of the things Phoebe had already gone through to no avail.

"I've already done that stuff," Phoebe said softly, lifting her gaze to meet Helga's eyes. Her face was scrunched up in thought and her prominent brow furrowed as she processed everything Phoebe was telling her. "I'm afraid it was unsuccessful,"

"You've already…" Helga looked at Phoebe incredulously. "How… How long have you known?"

Here it was. Phoebe inhaled deeply. "I was diagnosed almost two years ago,"

Helga's eyes widened and once again she was stunned into silence, staring at Phoebe as if she'd grown a second head.

"God, please, Helga, say something," Phoebe begged after another agonizing moment of silence.

"Say something?" Helga parroted bitterly. "Say something? Like you could have said something? Why didn't you tell me, Phoebe?!" Helga exclaimed, her voice harsh with anger and the threat of tears on the horizon.

"I wasn't sure how to tell you!" Phoebe exclaimed, desperately wanting to go back in time to either tell Helga sooner or never tell her at all. She still wasn't sure which would have been easier, if either of them could be easy at all. "I wasn't sure how you'd react and I was trying to process it all on my own! It still doesn't make sense to me and I knew you'd be upset -"

"Upset?!" Helga cried, whirling from this information. "No shit! But you still -"

"I wanted to!" Phoebe interrupted her, her voice rising in pitch as she became louder. This was the most she'd engaged her emotions up until this point and it seemed the floodgates had opened. "But I needed to process this on my own without anyone worrying or treating me differently. It's enough to deal with on my own, let alone have to deal with everyone else's emotions about it!"

Helga sat shaking her head, her gaze lowered. She couldn't even look at Phoebe. So many emotions were swirling around inside of her and she wasn't sure what she would say. She was almost afraid of what could come out of her mouth at this point. More than anything, though, she was stunned. She felt like she'd had the wind knocked out of her and she was simultaneously ready to fight and flee.

"I just wanted space," Phoebe finished, deflating as she slowly calmed down again. She pushed aside her glasses to wipe a tear with the end of her sleeve.

"Okay," Helga said simply, nodding as she stood up. "You want space? I'll give you space. That's fine," Her voice was unusually unexpressive and she walked out to the foyer to pick up her things.

"Helga, don't go," Phoebe said, following her friend. "I don't want you to leave,"

"Yeah, well, you seem to be handling things pretty well without me," Helga countered coldly and the icy retort stung Phoebe. "I need… I don't know what I need…" Helga muttered, hastily tossing her jacket over her shoulder and slipping one strap of her backpack onto the other. "I'm just… ugh…" She groaned.

"Helga," Phoebe said pitifully.

"What?" Helga whirled on her, startling her. Phoebe noticed Helga's eyes were watering despite the furious scowl on her face. "You don't need me!" She yanked the front door open and Phoebe was powerless to stop her.

[A/N: Alright, so it's finally hitting the fan! I struggled a bit with getting this chapter out so blah. Hope you like it!]