Hey Arnold!
Secrets and Lies - Chapter Four
Disclaimer: I don't own Hey Arnold or work on the show.
Notes: Yeah, I'm sorry that I made a few typos in the last part. Thanks for pointing them out. I did check through the chapter a few times before uploading, but I must have missed them. I've edited the part now, so it should be okay. This chapter will be quite dramatic when Helga decides whether she wants to stay with Arnold!
Arnold was busy playing with James when his doorbell rang. He quickly left James and answered the door to find Phoebe and Gerald at the doorway. They both looked very serious and Arnold wondered why they were here. Had Helga sent them? Didn't Helga want to stay with him?
"Hi," said Arnold. "Helga's sent you, hasn't she?"
"Yes, she has," said Phoebe. "Can we come in for a moment?"
"Sure," said Arnold, who led them into the living room. "What does she want to you to tell me?"
"She wants to take James," Phoebe said. "While she thinks this whole thing through, she wants to be close to her son."
"No! You're not taking James!" said Arnold. "James is my child, too, and I have a right to stay with him!"
"Helga is really shocked," explained Phoebe. "We all know that she will get over it and come back to you, but until then, I think that it will be a good idea for you to just make life easy for her. She will see that you are being reasonable and come back to you!"
"Are you sure that she will come round?" asked Arnold.
"I talked to her and, deep down, she knows that it's not your fault," Phoebe reassured him. "She'll be back to you in no time."
"Okay then," said Arnold. It was difficult for him to give his son to Phoebe, but if it would make Helga come back to him any sooner, it would be worth it. "You can take James."
"I know that this is hard for you," said Phoebe.
"It is," said Arnold, turning to James. "James, you are going to go and stay at Phoebe's house for a while!"
"I want to stay here!" said James, knocking down his building blocks.
"Your mummy will be there!" Arnold told him.
"Yay, mummy!" shouted James.
"He'll be okay," reassured Phoebe.
"Do you want to stay for a coffee or something?" asked Arnold.
"We'd better get going," Phoebe said. "We'll see you soon."
Phoebe stepped outside into the hallway, leaving Gerald with Arnold for a minute. Phoebe noticed the photographs of Arnold, Helga and James together. There were pictures of James as a baby and pictures of him at the park, in his pram. Yet again, Lila had tried to ruin the relationship between Helga and Arnold, but this time, it looked like she was succeeding.
"Don't worry, man," said Gerald to Arnold. "Helga will be back in no time. We'll make sure of that."
"Bye," said Arnold, as Gerald joined Phoebe in the hallway. They opened the front door and said goodbye and then drove back to their house.
Arnold began to cry. Lila had made him lose everything, but hopefully, this would only be a temporary arrangement.
For two weeks, Helga and James stayed at Gerald and Phoebe's house. This was much longer than Gerald and Phoebe had expected her to stay for and they began to worry. Helga hadn't mentioned Arnold once while she stayed there, and Gerald and Phoebe tried to stay away from the subject and let Helga get through the whole thing on her own.
Gerald telephoned Arnold every day to reassure him that Helga was okay and would be coming home soon, although Gerald had serious doubts whether Helga would be home any time soon. Arnold sank into depression. He didn't take well to living alone without his wife and child. Phoebe had come over again to get some of Helga's clothes, but again told him that she would come round.
One day, Arnold was having his lunch when the telephone rang. Arnold figured that it would be Gerald, so he wasn't in much of a rush to answer the phone. Every day, Gerald had said that Helga was close to coming home, but she never seemed to actually come home.
When he answered it he said hello and he was delighted to hear Helga's voice say hi back to him. "Helga!" he exclaimed. "Is that you?"
"Yeah, it's me," said Helga, who was still at Gerald and Phoebe's house. "I want you to come over in about an hour. We need to talk."
"Okay, I'll be sure to be there," said Arnold, who was delighted to hear from Helga again.
"See you in an hour," said Helga.
"Bye!" exclaimed Arnold.
Finally, Arnold had a smile on his face! In an hour, he would be reunited with his true love! Helga had finally came round after two weeks! Arnold went upstairs to find his best clothes. This would be great!
"I've finally sold my Internet company," said Phoebe, walking into the living room of her house, fifteen minutes later. Gerald and Helga were both watching TV. Phoebe could tell that there had been an awkward silence in the room before she had walked in.
"You sold it?" asked Gerald.
"Yeah, I just signed the papers!" said Phoebe. "Hopefully the new owners will be more successful that I have been lately!"
"What do you plan on doing next?" asked Gerald.
"I'm not sure," admitted Phoebe. "But, I might not carry on working, any more! I'm still a millionaire, despite how much money I lost from my company."
"Yeah, you don't need to work again!" said Helga. "But, now that you're both here, I'd better tell you that I've been in touch with Arnold."
"That's great news!" exclaimed Phoebe.
"Arnold will be happy!" said Gerald.
"He's coming over in about 45 minutes, but I suppose that I'd better tell you what I'm going to tell him, before he comes," said Helga. "I'm not going to get back together with him."
Gerald and Phoebe's worst fears were now coming to life. "What do you mean?" asked Phoebe. "You don't want to carry on your marriage with Arnold?"
"I can't stay with him now that I know that Arnold has another son!" explained Helga. "He will want to see his son. He's not just going to forget about him, is he? That would mean that we would always be in contact with Lila! I couldn't handle that! She would constantly be trying to break us up and that is why I can't stay with Arnold."
"I don't believe this!" moaned Gerald. "You can't do that to Arnold. He is in as much shock as you are!"
"Do you plan on getting a divorce?" asked Phoebe.
"I suppose that we'll have to," said Helga, sadly.
"You don't sound too happy about this," said Gerald. "I think that you need to reconsider."
"Of course I'm not happy about it!" exclaimed Helga. "But I don't feel like I have any other options!"
"You have other options!" shouted Gerald. "If you break up with Arnold, you will destroy him!"
"I don't have any other options, whether you believe me or not," said Helga, who could feel tears forming in her eyes. "Now, could you two make yourself scarce when Arnold comes over?"
"Yes," said Phoebe. "We'll go upstairs now."
Gerald and Phoebe went upstairs to their bedroom, and closed the door. "Can you believe this?" asked Gerald. "She's only thinking about herself! She hasn't taken it into account that this whole thing has came as a complete surprise to Arnold, too!"
"I know that she is making a mistake, but I can see what she is saying," Phoebe told him. "Lila would be constantly around them, trying to break them up."
"They would get through that," said Gerald. "She is making a terrible mistake!"
Fifteen minutes passed and Gerald and Phoebe saw Arnold walking up the path, from their bedroom window. "Oh my gosh, he has flowers!" sighed Phoebe. "He thinks that he is getting back together with Helga!"
Arnold knocked on the door and Helga let him in. They stepped into the living room and they both sat down. "You're early," said Helga.
"I couldn't wait to see you," said Arnold. "I brought you these flowers."
"Thanks," said Helga. "But, you may not want to give them to me after you hear what I have got to say."
"What do you want to say?" asked Arnold.
"I think that it would be best for both of us if we were to break up," said Helga.
"Break up?" asked Arnold, gently. "You can't mean that."
"I've had time to think this through," explained Helga. "I can't carry on playing happy families with you if you have another son."
"Why is that so hard for you to handle?" asked Arnold. "It came as a shock to me, too!"
"I wouldn't be able to cope with Lila always being around us," Helga told him. "You would want to see your other son and that would mean us always being in contact with Lila."
"We would have some contact with her!" said Arnold. "But, we wouldn't let her come between us!"
"She would find a way to break us up, like she always does," said Helga. "That wouldn't be great for our marriage, would it? Instead of us getting hurt in the future, we might as well stop this right now."
"Helga, please change your mind!" pleaded Arnold.
"I think that it would be for the best if you went now," Helga said. "I'm not going to change my mind."
"Helga, no!" said Arnold, starting to cry.
"I'll talk to a solicitor about our divorce," said Helga. "Please, go."
"You're making a mistake!" said Arnold, leaving.
Once Arnold was outside, Helga shut the door. Arnold walked slowly down the path of Phoebe's large garden. Arnold needed to take a walk. He headed towards the city.
"He's leaving!" said Phoebe, looking down at Arnold from her window. "Oh my gosh, he's crying! Helga must have gone through with it and broke up with him!"
"That was quick," said Gerald. "I wonder what she said?"
"We'd better leave Helga alone for a while," said Phoebe. "Let's just stay up here for another hour."
"Okay," said Gerald, reluctantly.
"Don't be too hard on Helga," Phoebe told him. "This is a hard time for her."
"It'll be even harder for Arnold!" Gerald pointed out.
As Arnold walked down the city streets, he saw a woman who he recognised, pushing a pram into a hotel. It was only when she was out of sight that Arnold realised that the woman who he had saw was Lila. Arnold hadn't taken a proper look at the child who was in the pram! He had had the chance to see his child and he missed it! Arnold wasn't going to give up now. He had lost enough today, he wasn't about to lose the chance to see his son.
Arnold went up to the reception of the hotel and gave in Lila's name. He asked the woman at the reception desk whether she was staying at the hotel and he also asked what room she was in.
"I'm sorry, I can't give out that information!" said the woman.
"It's very important!" said Arnold.
"I'm sorry, sir, I cannot help you!" repeated the woman, firmly.
"Will this help?" asked Arnold, putting a £20 note onto the reception desk.
"Okay," said the woman. "She's in room 674, it's on the third floor."
"Thanks, miss," said Arnold, who went into the lift and pressed the button to take him to the third floor.
Notes: Cliffhanger! I know that you're probably going to hate me for splitting up Arnold and Helga, but I did say that this fic wouldn't be as happy as All Grown Up right at the start. Future chapters will still be very exciting and maybe I will slowly develop the relationship between Arnold and Helga again. Please don't let this put you off reading future chapters. Look out for chapter five - where Arnold meets his secret son!
Secrets and Lies - Chapter Four
Disclaimer: I don't own Hey Arnold or work on the show.
Notes: Yeah, I'm sorry that I made a few typos in the last part. Thanks for pointing them out. I did check through the chapter a few times before uploading, but I must have missed them. I've edited the part now, so it should be okay. This chapter will be quite dramatic when Helga decides whether she wants to stay with Arnold!
Arnold was busy playing with James when his doorbell rang. He quickly left James and answered the door to find Phoebe and Gerald at the doorway. They both looked very serious and Arnold wondered why they were here. Had Helga sent them? Didn't Helga want to stay with him?
"Hi," said Arnold. "Helga's sent you, hasn't she?"
"Yes, she has," said Phoebe. "Can we come in for a moment?"
"Sure," said Arnold, who led them into the living room. "What does she want to you to tell me?"
"She wants to take James," Phoebe said. "While she thinks this whole thing through, she wants to be close to her son."
"No! You're not taking James!" said Arnold. "James is my child, too, and I have a right to stay with him!"
"Helga is really shocked," explained Phoebe. "We all know that she will get over it and come back to you, but until then, I think that it will be a good idea for you to just make life easy for her. She will see that you are being reasonable and come back to you!"
"Are you sure that she will come round?" asked Arnold.
"I talked to her and, deep down, she knows that it's not your fault," Phoebe reassured him. "She'll be back to you in no time."
"Okay then," said Arnold. It was difficult for him to give his son to Phoebe, but if it would make Helga come back to him any sooner, it would be worth it. "You can take James."
"I know that this is hard for you," said Phoebe.
"It is," said Arnold, turning to James. "James, you are going to go and stay at Phoebe's house for a while!"
"I want to stay here!" said James, knocking down his building blocks.
"Your mummy will be there!" Arnold told him.
"Yay, mummy!" shouted James.
"He'll be okay," reassured Phoebe.
"Do you want to stay for a coffee or something?" asked Arnold.
"We'd better get going," Phoebe said. "We'll see you soon."
Phoebe stepped outside into the hallway, leaving Gerald with Arnold for a minute. Phoebe noticed the photographs of Arnold, Helga and James together. There were pictures of James as a baby and pictures of him at the park, in his pram. Yet again, Lila had tried to ruin the relationship between Helga and Arnold, but this time, it looked like she was succeeding.
"Don't worry, man," said Gerald to Arnold. "Helga will be back in no time. We'll make sure of that."
"Bye," said Arnold, as Gerald joined Phoebe in the hallway. They opened the front door and said goodbye and then drove back to their house.
Arnold began to cry. Lila had made him lose everything, but hopefully, this would only be a temporary arrangement.
For two weeks, Helga and James stayed at Gerald and Phoebe's house. This was much longer than Gerald and Phoebe had expected her to stay for and they began to worry. Helga hadn't mentioned Arnold once while she stayed there, and Gerald and Phoebe tried to stay away from the subject and let Helga get through the whole thing on her own.
Gerald telephoned Arnold every day to reassure him that Helga was okay and would be coming home soon, although Gerald had serious doubts whether Helga would be home any time soon. Arnold sank into depression. He didn't take well to living alone without his wife and child. Phoebe had come over again to get some of Helga's clothes, but again told him that she would come round.
One day, Arnold was having his lunch when the telephone rang. Arnold figured that it would be Gerald, so he wasn't in much of a rush to answer the phone. Every day, Gerald had said that Helga was close to coming home, but she never seemed to actually come home.
When he answered it he said hello and he was delighted to hear Helga's voice say hi back to him. "Helga!" he exclaimed. "Is that you?"
"Yeah, it's me," said Helga, who was still at Gerald and Phoebe's house. "I want you to come over in about an hour. We need to talk."
"Okay, I'll be sure to be there," said Arnold, who was delighted to hear from Helga again.
"See you in an hour," said Helga.
"Bye!" exclaimed Arnold.
Finally, Arnold had a smile on his face! In an hour, he would be reunited with his true love! Helga had finally came round after two weeks! Arnold went upstairs to find his best clothes. This would be great!
"I've finally sold my Internet company," said Phoebe, walking into the living room of her house, fifteen minutes later. Gerald and Helga were both watching TV. Phoebe could tell that there had been an awkward silence in the room before she had walked in.
"You sold it?" asked Gerald.
"Yeah, I just signed the papers!" said Phoebe. "Hopefully the new owners will be more successful that I have been lately!"
"What do you plan on doing next?" asked Gerald.
"I'm not sure," admitted Phoebe. "But, I might not carry on working, any more! I'm still a millionaire, despite how much money I lost from my company."
"Yeah, you don't need to work again!" said Helga. "But, now that you're both here, I'd better tell you that I've been in touch with Arnold."
"That's great news!" exclaimed Phoebe.
"Arnold will be happy!" said Gerald.
"He's coming over in about 45 minutes, but I suppose that I'd better tell you what I'm going to tell him, before he comes," said Helga. "I'm not going to get back together with him."
Gerald and Phoebe's worst fears were now coming to life. "What do you mean?" asked Phoebe. "You don't want to carry on your marriage with Arnold?"
"I can't stay with him now that I know that Arnold has another son!" explained Helga. "He will want to see his son. He's not just going to forget about him, is he? That would mean that we would always be in contact with Lila! I couldn't handle that! She would constantly be trying to break us up and that is why I can't stay with Arnold."
"I don't believe this!" moaned Gerald. "You can't do that to Arnold. He is in as much shock as you are!"
"Do you plan on getting a divorce?" asked Phoebe.
"I suppose that we'll have to," said Helga, sadly.
"You don't sound too happy about this," said Gerald. "I think that you need to reconsider."
"Of course I'm not happy about it!" exclaimed Helga. "But I don't feel like I have any other options!"
"You have other options!" shouted Gerald. "If you break up with Arnold, you will destroy him!"
"I don't have any other options, whether you believe me or not," said Helga, who could feel tears forming in her eyes. "Now, could you two make yourself scarce when Arnold comes over?"
"Yes," said Phoebe. "We'll go upstairs now."
Gerald and Phoebe went upstairs to their bedroom, and closed the door. "Can you believe this?" asked Gerald. "She's only thinking about herself! She hasn't taken it into account that this whole thing has came as a complete surprise to Arnold, too!"
"I know that she is making a mistake, but I can see what she is saying," Phoebe told him. "Lila would be constantly around them, trying to break them up."
"They would get through that," said Gerald. "She is making a terrible mistake!"
Fifteen minutes passed and Gerald and Phoebe saw Arnold walking up the path, from their bedroom window. "Oh my gosh, he has flowers!" sighed Phoebe. "He thinks that he is getting back together with Helga!"
Arnold knocked on the door and Helga let him in. They stepped into the living room and they both sat down. "You're early," said Helga.
"I couldn't wait to see you," said Arnold. "I brought you these flowers."
"Thanks," said Helga. "But, you may not want to give them to me after you hear what I have got to say."
"What do you want to say?" asked Arnold.
"I think that it would be best for both of us if we were to break up," said Helga.
"Break up?" asked Arnold, gently. "You can't mean that."
"I've had time to think this through," explained Helga. "I can't carry on playing happy families with you if you have another son."
"Why is that so hard for you to handle?" asked Arnold. "It came as a shock to me, too!"
"I wouldn't be able to cope with Lila always being around us," Helga told him. "You would want to see your other son and that would mean us always being in contact with Lila."
"We would have some contact with her!" said Arnold. "But, we wouldn't let her come between us!"
"She would find a way to break us up, like she always does," said Helga. "That wouldn't be great for our marriage, would it? Instead of us getting hurt in the future, we might as well stop this right now."
"Helga, please change your mind!" pleaded Arnold.
"I think that it would be for the best if you went now," Helga said. "I'm not going to change my mind."
"Helga, no!" said Arnold, starting to cry.
"I'll talk to a solicitor about our divorce," said Helga. "Please, go."
"You're making a mistake!" said Arnold, leaving.
Once Arnold was outside, Helga shut the door. Arnold walked slowly down the path of Phoebe's large garden. Arnold needed to take a walk. He headed towards the city.
"He's leaving!" said Phoebe, looking down at Arnold from her window. "Oh my gosh, he's crying! Helga must have gone through with it and broke up with him!"
"That was quick," said Gerald. "I wonder what she said?"
"We'd better leave Helga alone for a while," said Phoebe. "Let's just stay up here for another hour."
"Okay," said Gerald, reluctantly.
"Don't be too hard on Helga," Phoebe told him. "This is a hard time for her."
"It'll be even harder for Arnold!" Gerald pointed out.
As Arnold walked down the city streets, he saw a woman who he recognised, pushing a pram into a hotel. It was only when she was out of sight that Arnold realised that the woman who he had saw was Lila. Arnold hadn't taken a proper look at the child who was in the pram! He had had the chance to see his child and he missed it! Arnold wasn't going to give up now. He had lost enough today, he wasn't about to lose the chance to see his son.
Arnold went up to the reception of the hotel and gave in Lila's name. He asked the woman at the reception desk whether she was staying at the hotel and he also asked what room she was in.
"I'm sorry, I can't give out that information!" said the woman.
"It's very important!" said Arnold.
"I'm sorry, sir, I cannot help you!" repeated the woman, firmly.
"Will this help?" asked Arnold, putting a £20 note onto the reception desk.
"Okay," said the woman. "She's in room 674, it's on the third floor."
"Thanks, miss," said Arnold, who went into the lift and pressed the button to take him to the third floor.
Notes: Cliffhanger! I know that you're probably going to hate me for splitting up Arnold and Helga, but I did say that this fic wouldn't be as happy as All Grown Up right at the start. Future chapters will still be very exciting and maybe I will slowly develop the relationship between Arnold and Helga again. Please don't let this put you off reading future chapters. Look out for chapter five - where Arnold meets his secret son!