A/N: Thank you so much for all the feedback! Again, I appreciate all the thoughts. I like how some of you are pro Arnold, most not, haha! I am definitely team ArnoldxHelga, though they still have things to go through/talk about. I will say, though, Arnold doesn't have ulterior motives. He's not trying to manipulate Helga, how I imagine him is just a broken man who has no hopes or expectations.

I will probably update again once this hits 95 reviews (I'm so weird about numbers, I've noticed. I'm all about those increments of 5 I guess ...)

Also, the lyric mentioned is from the song "Paper crown" by Alec Benjamin. Such a great song!

'Cause it's the story of a queen whose castle has fallen to the sea knowing there's no one who will be a king who will come and save his queen '

Chapter 14

Helga held the sweet 6 year old boy until he pulled back, embarrassed. She understood, when she was young, there were very few people she could trust, and she forever put up a hard shell.

"Miles...I think you just gotta love the people in your life for as long as you can, and really show them how much they mean to you." Helga paused on the words, she'd never really been good at that, had she? Her parents had been a mess. She hadn't connected with them because of her insecurities, and maybe it had been their job to fix it, but she hadn't made it easier.

Phoebe, her best friend and sister-Helga had lost contact with her for so many years, and Arnold? Well, he had abandoned her, and she would never love him again, but even before all that, there had been a time where he did love her, and she had continued to shield herself with walls.

'There's no one to love you, when you build you walls too high' Suddenly she thought of the lyrics to an old favorite song, she had to smile for Miles, but her heart was mourning. Helga was suddenly determined to work on herself, and vanquish her own demons.

"...but how?" The little boy asked now, still holding her hand. Did he know? Did he know how all she had wanted was to have a family with his father? No, of course not.

"Well, by spending time together, and just...saying 'I love you, and I'm here for you'" She was surprised by how much she meant the words. Was it that easy? Could she really just be there for the people she loved? 'I need to tell Phoebe how much I love her. Ludwig too'

"...Maybe we should go downstairs." Came the gloomy reply from the child, and the retired model wondered why she was even trying, she was clearly not meant for motherhood. Or adulthood, even.

"Right"

Arnold had made a spectacular meal of spaghetti noodles and salad, and for some reason it made her smile. He'd never really mastered the kitchen. She hadn't either, actually. Her diet consisted of salad, pizza or chinese food. Oh, and cereal of course.

Grandpa Phil had kept on resting, and so there she was, with Arnold, and Miles, who had once again found his cheer and was telling them all about school, and the library, and his classmates, and his classmate's mother's life struggles. Helga had to seriously wonder how his moods worked.

"Miles... you shouldn't talk badly about people you don't know. Or people you do know." Arnold sighed, worried about who exactly his child was hanging out with. It sounded like Misty's mother drank too much.

"Well, I'm just telling you what Misty said."

"It's not nice to gossip." Arnold sentenced, and Helga wondered if this is what life would have been like. Dinner at 5. Children telling stories. Arnold being...no, wait, this wasn't him, she realized for the second time that day. This was a pod person. Her Arnold would have worried about Misty and her mother and then found a way to help them, even if they didn't want it at first.

"I guess you've never done a bad thing in your life, huh, saint Arnold?" It came out much more bitterly than she'd meant, and he looked at her with vacant eyes now. He'd been so apologetic before, and she hadn't listened, and she wasn't listening now...but, curiosity remained. Miles laughed at her comment, and the two adults quickly turned to him, now, surprised.

"Dad does bad things all the time."

"Um, excuse me?" The blond father asked, not quite annoyed.

"Yeah, like you never let me have cake, or you don't throw parties, and you make me take out the garbage, and you don't like to read to me-"

"Wow" Helga laughed now, at the innocence of the child. "He does sound like the worst!"

"Yeah, I definitely sound terrible..."

"You're okay. You do hug me and tell me nice stuff, and you work hard, and you never say bad things about mommy, even though she doesn't like you very much."

At that Helga quirked a brow, Arnold was in obvious discomfort. She hadn't meant for her evening to turn out into...whatever this was, and even though she knew she shouldn't, she enjoyed it. She enjoyed seeing him squirm, and in a sick way, she enjoyed feeling like she fit in so well at the boarding house.

"Eat your food, Miles."

"Arnold, I don't think you've ever told me about your...ex wife?"

He glared at her, then, looking sideways to Miles and then back at Helga, letting her know he wasn't going to talk about it in front of his son, and why would she ask anyway? At the mental conversation, Helga gave him a vicious little grin, letting him know that she could mess with him any way she pleased.

"Helga, have more salad." He said, pushing the bowl towards her, and daring her to ask again. Her smile remained.

"Unless of course it makes you uncomfortable..."

"His ex wife is mommy. Her name is Lila, remember you saw her picture, Ms. Helga?"

"Oh, that's right, she's pretty! Tell me more about your mommy, Miles" She asked, aware that Arnold was embarrassed, annoyed and uncomfortable. She loved it.

To Be Continued...