"You should have seen him, Pheebs," Helga sighed, sitting down across from her petite best friend, swirling a fresh glass of Moscato white wine. She sat sideways against the back of the couch, her bare feet tucked under her as her head tilted to rest against the fist her right hand made.
She had changed into dry clothes, changing her light pink shirt for a plain white t-shirt with a small pocket over her left breast and a light gray jacket. She had on her favorite soft, black leggings and her damp hair was pulled over her left shoulder.
"It was like something in him had just snapped," Helga said, distractingly taking a long, slow sip of her wine as she replayed the admittedly more interesting part of her day back in her head.
She shivered slightly as she remembered the unfamiliar way his face contorted with anger and, was that jealousy? Or how his actions and words were powerful and swift, yet lacked thought, like he was acting on auto-pilot.
"You both looked like a mess when you came home," Phoebe laughed slightly, remembering how the blondes had stumbled into the apartment, both soaked and with disheveled clothes. Helga's lips looked swollen and bruised while Arnold's eyes shined darkly.
"So, what happened?"
Helga hesitated momentarily before launching into explaining everything in excruciating detail. "He was so hostile towards James, someone he didn't even know but made assumptions about and played his masculinity card. Not to mention, he's gay."
Phoebe took a small sip of wine, thinking of her next words carefully, looking Helga straight in the eye. "Did he know that?"
Her words were slow and meaningful, leaving no room for error of Helga misunderstanding what she had meant.
"I," Helga started, running her fingers through her hair, flinching as she hit a knot. She took the distraction to give her time to plan her next sentence carefully. She changed tactics.
"Do you think it would have made a difference? Helga asked, not looking at Phoebe but instead a loose thread on the couch cushion in front of her.
"I think," Phoebe said, her words deliberate. "It might have slowed the process of things escalating, but I'm not entirely sure it would have stopped anything."
The two girls sat in silence, Phoebe looking over Helga's shoulder, watching the rain harshly hit the window. She had an idea about what happened with Arnold, but an idea wasn't enough to warrant freaking Helga out.
"I think he just needs time to process everything," Phoebe smiled, laughing a bit. "Who knew Arnold Shortman could be bold and aggressive?"
Helga smirked and immediately blushed, the color red spreading down her neck and under the hem of her shirt. She already knew how bold and aggressive Arnold could be.
Her smiled suddenly contorted slightly into a thin line, one meaning she was in deep thought. Her movements were jerky as she leaned over to set her glass down on the living room table. She pulled a pillow into her lap, pulling lightly on the tassels hanging off the corner as her stomach started feeling nauseous.
"Talk to me," Phoebe whispered, leaning forward to put a hand over blonde's and squeeze. "I'm here."
"Um, right after our fight, he told me to let him "make it up to me"," Helga whispered, remembering his lips on her skin, mixed with the rain. How his fingers gripped her skin as he pushed her against the side of a building, the name unimportant as his fingers unbuttoned her jeans and worked her over the edge again and again.
She looked into his eyes as she came down from her final high, a shiver running down her spine as his eyes darkened when she dropped to her knees, his head falling back in ecstasy at her talented lips, her name being drowned out by the rain.
"I'm assuming he did?" Phoebe interrupted her thoughts, letting go of her hand to put her almost empty glass on the table and mimicked Helga's previous position. She could feel her energy shift from a few minutes ago.
"Multiple times," Helga whispered, unsure why now she felt so embarrassed when she had literally almost caught them in the kitchen less than a week ago.
"But….?" Phoebe urged, knowing there was more the blonde needed to say, her mind trying to fill in the blanks. She used to be so good at reading Helga and knowing what was on the blonde's mind, but as they got older and their lives got progressly more complicated, it became more and more difficult to crack the code that was Helga's ever active mind.
"He said I don't always make the best decisions when it comes to people." Her voice was low, barely above a whisper. It was mixed with confusion while trying to grasp and understand her own swirl of emotions.
It was true she didn't have the best track record with her choice in boyfriends, as her last one repeatedly cheated on her for the better half of the two long years they were together.
The day things ended had been an all around bad day for the roommates. Helga was sure that if she didn't stop him, Arnold would have left the apartment, banging on Wolfgang's door, and want a talk. Luckily Phoebe was able to calm him down while Gerald blocked the door.
The intensity of his mood that day, he was literally radiating anger, was similar to how today had felt, but less intense?
Was he still mad and holding dating Wolfgang against her? Was that a jab or a statement? People say awful things when they're mad, but then again, Arnold doesn't get mad.
Phoebe raised her eyebrow at the blonde, urging her to continue. She picked up her glass, her eyes never leaving Helga as she took another long sip.
"I'm just confused as to why he acted so intensely for someone who's a fuck buddy." Helga sighed, leaning over to pick up her glass and take a long, needed sip, watching the goldish, clear liquid drain slowly from her glass.
"You're not just his fuck buddy," Phoebe commented, reaching for the bottle of wine on the floor and handing it to Helga. She accepted graciously and filled her glass halfway, even though she just wanted to drink from the bottle.
"Yeah, he said that today when…." Helga started, getting interrupted by Phoebe holding up a finger, indicating she wasn't done talking.
"You are adults who has had this sexual tension build up for years. Everyone saw it but you or Arnold. Maybe that's why he said and did the things he did, or maybe not, I honestly can't tell you.
But I can tell you that there were years where he watched you get hurt repeatedly and he felt helpless because he couldn't help you. He could have definitely worded things differently, better even, but that's why I believe today happened."
Helga stared speechlessly at Phoebe over the brim of her glass, simultaneously not feeling ready for this conversation while searching her chocolate brown eyes for something to say this was a joke. She found nothing. Of course she wouldn't.
"What are you saying, Phoebe?" Helga asked, wanting to make sure she heard her correctly. Something going on between her and Arnold? That sounded absurd….right?
"I'm saying," Phoebe sighed, wondering how her friend could be so intelligent, yet so dense. "There has always been something between you two, even when there wasn't a you. Maybe the continuous build up has something to do with how today went."
"Something…..between us?" Helga echoed, the words feeling heavy and unfamiliar on her tongue. "I mean, we've been friends for the majority of our lives. Is that what you mean?"
No, Phoebe yelled internally, while she externally downed the rest of her glass, and poured herself a full new one.
Arnold was laying flat on his bed, his head a few inches in front of his windowsill as his feet were flat on the floor. Gerald had moved his desk chair in front of his bed, his arms hanging causally off the back.
Gerald could tell Arnold looked conflicted, his hands repeatedly gripped his blonde hair as he kept groaning to himself. He'd sit up, look ready to talk before he'd just silently fall back.
"Arnold," Gerald said, quirking his eyebrow as Arnold flinched before sitting up on his elbows to look at him. He had obviously interrupted some inner conversation the blonde was having with himself.
Arnold could see the the silent question, asking why he was here, mixed with curiosity of what had lead up to this meetup.
They had been sitting in silence, excluding Arnold's groans for a good 20 minutes and Gerald was getting restless.
"What's going on, man?" Gerald tried, trying to keep the curiosity and agitation out of his voice. He watched as Arnold sat up and scrubbed his face with his hands. His hair was slightly damp and he had on a dry white t-shirt and dark blue jeans.
"Something happened today," Arnold started hesitantly, closing his eyes as he wondered how to explain how today went from okay to shit storm back to semi okay in less than an hour.
"Like something like what happened last weekend or….?" Gerald probbed, slightly worried about the answer he'd get. He was surprised when Arnold flinched, his hand running through his hair.
"Yes and no," Arnold replied slowly, causing Gerald to quickly become sick of his tip-toeing around the subject. He ran his hand down his face tiredly. He was supposed to be enjoying a quiet evening with Phoebe, not spend hours tip-toeing around a subject with Arnold.
"Dude, if you don't wanna talk right now, fine, but then I'm gonna…." Gerald was interrupted by Arnold suddenly pushing off the bed and started to pace around the small rug. Gerald scooted the chair out of the way.
"Yes, we fooled around, but only after something else happened," Arnold said, frustrated at how hard it was for him to put his thoughts and feelings into words. I bet Helga isn't having this issue, Arnold thought bitterly, running his hand through his hair again.
"Okay?" Gerald probbed, his voice laced with annoyance. It caused Arnold to look up at him in surprise. "What else happened?"
"I snapped," Arnold admitted, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. He didn't expect Gerald to understand. Why would he if you don't even understand?
"Snapped as in, lost your temper or you hit someone?" Gerald asked, hoping to already know the answer.
"I lost my temper," Arnold sighed, feeling disgusted with himself and his actions. "Helga was talking to some guy,
and he touched her and I just saw red."
Gerald knew this conversation would eventually come up, but he was actually quite surprised it didn't happen sooner.
"Touched how?" Gerald asked, wanting to make sure this situation wasn't more serious than he thought. Arnold glared at him, rolling his eyes as he continued to pace. It was starting to make Gerald dizzy.
"Hands on elbows, pulling her in for a hug that looked like a kiss," Arnold bit out, feeling more and more anger at how stupid it all sounded now. He took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself down.
"So," Gerald asked, leaning forward against the the back of the chair, his lips curling into a smirk. "You were jealous?"
"Not jealous," Arnold justified, albeit weakly, his face feeling hot as he carefully thought of his next words. "Cautious. You should have seen him, Gerald."
Gerald tilted his head, eyebrow raised. It took everything in him not to laugh.
"He's athletic, "charming," Arnold listed, James' face popping into his head with each characteristic and feature. "There's no telling what could have happened."
"Do you know his name?" Gerald asked, his voice with a teasing undertone. Their college wasn't huge, so it was extremely likely he knew the guy Arnold was talking about, especially if he was an athletic.
"James something," Arnold said, plopping down as if exhausted.
Jealousy does that to you, Gerald thought, laughing as the blonde flopped back his bed, ending in his original position. "He has a smooth, low voice, au…."
"Auburn hair?" Gerald filled in, his lips hurting from his shit eating smile. He knew exactly who he was talking about.
Arnold sat up on his elbows, confused by the large smile Gerald was giving him. "Yeah, do you know him?"
"Helga's been tutoring him in English for the majority of this semester," Gerald replied, watching as Arnold's face contorted into shock before turning into an unfamiliar facial expression borderlining defensiveness and anger?
"That could easily have been an excuse," Arnold argued, wondering why he was trying to find a flaw with a guy he didn't even know. "And guys like him are only looking for one thing." His argument was getting torn, and quickly.
"Guys like him?" Gerald asked, his face full of confusion. Suddenly, it all made sense. "Arnold, James is gay."
"What?" Arnold was starting to feel shittier and shittier with every passing moment.
"Phoebe, Helga, and I met his boyfriend," Gerald replied, piecing things together as he ran both hands through his afro. "Back when Pataki was avidly avoiding you…."
"Don't remind me," Arnold called from the bed, slinging his arm over his eyes. Gerald rolled his eyes but continued anyway.
"Phoebe and I met Helga in the library one evening to meet up for dinner, she was there with James. We all sat and chatted for a bit until his boyfriend came to get him. He's not fully out yet, but he trusted us or something."
Arnold owed James and Helga quite the apology.
"I said something today," Arnold sighed, things just kept getting worse and worse. "I told Helga that she doesn't always make the best decision with people. I don't know where that came from or why it was relevant but…."
"You know fully well where that came from and why," Gerald interrupted, glaring at his best friend. He wasn't as dense as he used to be, but sometimes he still acted like it.
"Did you ever ask yourself why you were always in her business during her relationship with Wolfgang?" Gerald asked, trying to nudge his dense friend in the right direction.
"Because she's my friendand I car…." Arnold instantly replied, being cut off by Gerald.
"Wrong!" Gerald said loudly. "Try again."
"She's my friend and I…."
"Still the wrong answer," Gerald shook his head, already annoyed. This could end up being a very long night.
"I….I don't know, because I felt similar to how I did today, but maybe less intense?" Arnold felt like he was betraying his own agreement by admitting this to Gerald.
"Better," Gerald nodded. "Why do you think that is?"
"I…." Arnold was once again interrupted.
"I'm gonna just tell you," Gerald said, not wanting to play this game all night. "There has always been something between you two, a bond you don't have with any other female in the gang. Why is that? Because you both started with shitty lives that the rest of us were lucky not to have. Has this bond always been just friends, in my opinion no. But there is something between you two, and it's powerful. But you have to be the ones to figure out what it is."
"Are you saying," Arnold asked slowly, watching as his best friend stood up, moving to place the chair back at the desk. "That you think there's feelings there?"
Gerald walked to the door, hand on the knob as he looked over his shoulder at the blonde.
"I don't know, man. Are there feelings? Only you two can figure that out."
Okay, so for real, after this chapter, there won't be another posting for a while. It's just that you all have been so loyal and extremely kind and I kinda felt shitty for leaving you without a chapter so randomly. I'll keep writing and hopefully have a collection of chapters when I come back, but I think I'll continue to upload one at a time.
A huge shout out to Writer25 and HappyLittlePychopath for their editing and help with this quick chapter!
I'll see you when I come back!
Lovelyseoulwriter
