Chapter Seven

"How could you be such an IDIOT?" Helga paced back and forth, holding onto her head as she took in quick shallow breaths, they had just been chased by men with guns, men who wanted to kill them, men who wanted to kill Arnold. Arnold leaned his head against his knees, soaked from head to toe. After the initial shock of being nearly killed the two had run through the jungle in silence, only to find that the "small river" they had jumped into turned out to be a "small waterfall".

They had found a cave behind the roaring waters and climbed inside for safety. For a while they just stared at the floor, Helga hyperventilated for a little while, but now that she was breathing the anger had caught on. However even worse than that was the fact they couldn't leave. Men in similar clothing to the ones attacked them could be seen strolling past the waters nearly every hour, and with no idea of where they were or where they could hide they were stuck.

"I told you to go back to camp!" she screamed pointing a finger at him. "I TOLD YOU it was dangerous! But did you listen to me? NO!"

"I didn't have a choice." He whispered weakly against her.

"Oh don't give me that bullshit, you had a choice, you did, you could have turned right around and asked someone for help, you could have gone to the government or filed a missing person report, but NO, no YOU needed to be the hero Arnold, you needed to out alone and gather all the glory that comes with it." Helga shook her head as she stepped toward him.

"This wasn't about being a hero." Arnold finally protested, throwing his head up angrily. Helga glared at him before twisting her knuckle.

"Oh yea, then what was it about Arnold?" Helga asked sarcastically.

"It was about saving my mom and dad!" Arnold yelled out.

"Oh what's so great about them Arnold, you don't even KNOW them, why is it suddenly your duty and yours alone to save them from this 'great evil' they're facing. You're just a kid, they should be protecting you!" Helga yelled pulling his hair quickly. He slapped her hand away.

"They're family Helga, MY family, I don't get why this is so hard for you to understand." Arnold glared at her in turn as she laughed pitifully. She took a step back and moved her arms to gesture to herself.

"You don't understand? You don't understand football head? Alright well then I'll just fill you in, I don't have a family, I have a biological waste dump that has made my life a living hell ever since I was born! In case you didn't notice I was an accident, a baby who wasn't SUPPOSED to be here. They NEVER wanted me. My mom never drank before me…! Bob tells me that all the time. 'You know, she never even tasted beer before she had you' he says." She slowed down her speech before laughing, throwing up her hands.

"For god's sake she doesn't even register anything anymore, all she does is sleep, and cry, and beg to be taken care of, is that a mom to you Arnold? IS IT? She's not a mother she's a fucking baby I have to take care of night after night! And Bob…" She started to laugh hysterically. Arnold sat wide eyed, not quite knowing what to do as the girl started to get short of breath.

"Don't even get me started on Bob. He was bad before sure, always calling me by the wrong name- do you have any idea how horrible that makes me feel? Like I'm not even good enough to mention, to utter a name, like he has to pretend I'm his precious Olga so he's not so disgusted each time he sees me! Pft… he's just gotten worse since his beeper emporium closed. Too fucking proud to stop selling those pieces of junk, even when no one was buying them- he just refused to just move on with the times. Of course I begged him to sell the store, to do something- but you know what he did Arnold? He took his beer bottle and said 'I swear to god if you don't keep your trap closed and stop telling me what to do, you're gonna find out REAL soon what it's like down in hell'" Helga sniveled mimicking her father as she continued.

"We're losing everything and his solution, well let's drink ourselves silly and hit anything that comes near us till I feel more like a man! That's no fucking father…that's just a bully living in your house, waiting for the moment when you're weakest…he's supposed to be keeping other kids from hurting me Arnold, and he's the one dealing the blows-"

She stopped for a moment to catch her breath as she felt tears stinging in her eyes.

"And Olga…she's not even a person to me anymore. I tried to get to know her, I really did. I thought that maybe, just maybe, she was only so perfect because our parents made her, maybe secretly she cried herself to sleep too, maybe she was scared of going home after school, maybe deep down she somehow resented our parents as much as me, but somehow still loved them. But…the more I tried…the more I put myself out there for her…I found myself being hurt more than ever." Helga laughed softly at that before shaking her head.

"…and..somewhere deep inside, I'd always hoped she'd be the one that would save me…Miriam..cared…but she was so..gone, I couldn't expect anything from her…but Olga…Olga knew how to work Bob, she knew how to soften him up…one word from her and he'd…" she paused shaking her head.

"She saw it, I…I KNOW, she knows what he does to me…" Helga whimpered out. "when I told her..she wasn't surprised…she wasn't…sad…or shocked…or hurt…she was scared…and told me that it was all my fault…that I needed to be a better daughter so he wouldn't be so mad at me all the time…so he wouldn't need to punish me…"

Arnold watched her with sad eyes as she stopped pacing, her head dropped down and her entire boy limp and weak, like she'd just been struck with an arrow.

" …I wouldn't risk my life for any of them, not a single one…they could die out in this jungle for all I care…" Helga crossed her arms, biting her lip to keep back tears as Arnold watched her. Slowly he stepped toward her, placing his hand on her arm. She jumped and he quickly pulled it away before slowly placing his hand a top her own.

"So why did you do it for me?"

"I…I didn't football head, this was all to make sure that I didn't get blamed for you diapering, it has nothing to do with you." She stuttered out angrily.

Arnold shook his head, stepping closer to her.

"I don't believe that for one minute Helga, why would you get blamed for me running away?"

Helga looked away as she crossed her arms.

"C-cause I'm the rebel, and you know, I play mean tricks on you."

"You saved me Helga…I just want to know why."

"It doesn't matter ok Arnold!" Helga yelled out pushing her hair away from her face as she felt her test start to tighten.

"It just doesn't make any sense to rescues a person you supposedly hate." Arnold nitpicked. Helga shook her head angrily before throwing out her arms this way and that, trying to get away from his ever closer body.

"I don't hate you ok football head? I guess I just didn't want to see you get hurt is all, is that so weird?" She asked quickly. Arnold tilted his head before moving closer to her, she tripped and yelped, grabbing onto his collar for support. Arnolds body weight was not enough to support her however and they ended up crashing down onto the ground. Arnold groaned rubbing his head before quickly realizing she had fallen as well. He moved his hand under her head, pulling her closer to his face as he looked her over.

"Helga are you alright?" He asked peeking under the bandage that covered her previous wound. Helga blushed before nodding quickly, closing her eyes in an attempt to keep her embarrassment in. Arnold smiled at that before nodding, pushing her bangs away from her face.

"Good…you had me worried…" He whispered "I thought you'd gotten hurt."

Helga bit her lip before taking in a deep breath, a defeated look coming over her.

"…that's why I did it Arnold…that right there…"

"What do you mean Helga?" He asked gently.

"Look…you just…you say nice things to me even though all I do is pick on you, and, you think that I'm a good person, even though I've never ever given you a single glimpse of anything like that, you protect and stand up for me when I'm the one ridiculing you…and..you..you..you're so…you're everything I thought didn't exist…you're so charming, and brave, and loyal, and you always do what's best…and even though you should hate me, and you should be the one hitting me to the ground you're- you're the one that's gently lifting me up when I never even realized I'd fallen…"

She let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding.

"I didn't want them to take you from me…you're the only good thing in my life Arnold…" Helga whispered.

Arnold stood speechless as he stared at her. Helga pushed her hair back, obviously embarrassed by her outburst. He slowly smiled before kissing her cheek. She flinched at the feeling of his soft red lips against her skin and let out a slow breath as he whispered gently against her ear.

"…thank you Helga."

She mumbled before pushing him off of herself and the ground, quickly turning away from him.

"Yea well, don't ever expect me to say it again, you got that?"