WHEN DREAMS FADE 4
Author's Notes: I'm so glad that a lot of the reviewers were openly honest about their opinions of the story. I just wanted it known that I wanted to try something different, and I got a mixture of good reviews as well as bad ones. Anyway I hope that you like this chapter of our little saga. Oh, fans of Helga and Arnold, don't give up just yet. Anyway just read the story, and tell me how you liked it, or how you didn't like it.
Disclaimer: Not mine. These characters belong to someone that I could care less about. So there.
Helga Pataki couldn't believe her luck. It was just yesterday that she was eating at a five star restaurant, and eating lunch with her new fiancé. Things couldn't be any better than they already were. Days ago she was happy just being Harold's girlfriend, and now he was her fiancé. She stood in Harold's attic, preparing for the two-day move to Dallas.
She had spent the last four hours packing up boxes, and throwing away old junk. She came across a few pictures that were stored away in a rusty old chest. She looked at the pictures of Harold, during the time he was a little on the hefty side. Helga recalled how the two of them would wreck havoc on the school. She never would've thought that they would eventually end up together.
She pulled out a picture of their entire classroom, and she looked at all of her former classmates. There stood all her former friends staring back at her, through a void of still photos. She looked at her best friend Phoebe, whom she still talked to from time to time. She made a mental note that she was going to make Phoebe, her bride's maid. Then her face strolled across Gerald's face, and then it settled on Arnold.
She recalled how often she would obsess over him, and how he never showed any interest in her whatsoever. She hated that she spent so much time secretly lusting over Arnold, when she could've been after Harold the whole time.
Arnold was a sweet boy that treated her with a certain level of respect. However, he never had any feelings for her. In a way she was glad that he never made any moves towards her, because if he did she wouldn't have had any clue as to how wonderful Harold was.
There were times when she was at her all time low, where Harold would come with just a smile and make her feel better. He was everything that she could ever want, and as time passed she was quickly getting over the whole Arnold infatuation. She wanted that part of her life over with, and she wanted to do nothing but think about Harold.
She thought about the loving way her fiancé treated her, and she wanted to do nothing but be by his side. So as she packed away his belonging from the attic, as she dreamed of what it would be like to be Harold's wife. She wasn't looking forward to moving to Dallas, but as long as she with the love of her life she would be all right.
She moved from every corner of the room packing a wide variety of boxes, until she came upon an old shoebox. She was just about to throw the ragged box away, until she heard something make a noise inside the box. She shook the box side to side, making sure that there wasn't some kind of germ infested pest inside. Once she was satisfied that there were no living creatures in the box, she slowly removed the lid of the box.
She stood there looking down at a bunch of letters, which had a long string tying them together. She felt her heart skip a beat when she noticed the name that was listed on the front of the envelope. She read the name over and over again, to make sure that she wasn't hallucinating. The handwriting was unmistakable, and it was one that she was highly familiar with.
She stared at the envelope, which read the name Arnold. She tried to figure out why Harold would have a letter from Arnold. Upon looking closer to the envelope, she realized that they were pretty old letters.
Suddenly her knees began to get weak, and she had to take a seat on the dusty floor. She pulled the letter from the string that held all them together. She turned the letter over in her hand, and noticed that the envelope had already been opened.
She pulled the letter out of the envelope, and unfolded the letter at once. She looked at the first thing that her eyes fell upon, which was the date. She could remember that day as if it were yesterday. The letter was dated on the day when Arnold went to Paris.
She started to read the letter, realizing what the letter contained. She looked on as she read a very familiar passage, and her heart caught in her throat. She read the letter, and the tears began to fall.
Dear Helga,
The only thing that I can say has to be said through my idea of poetry. I'm not much of a poet, but this is pretty much how I feel. So I hope that you like the poem, and once you're finished with that I have a very important question that I need to ask you. So here goes nothing Helga.
Look into my eyes, And tell me what you see? Am I everything? That you'll ever need? There's no reason to hide, No don't you be afraid You have no reason to fear, Because we've got it made So I'll be there, With open arms To guide you and protect you. I'll keep you safe from harm. With open arms, I'll be all that you need. To Paris I go. Please come with me
There it is. I'm leaving to go to Paris to live, and I want you to come with me. I know that this is sudden, but I have come to the realization that I'm in love with you. I don't know how or when this happened, but it has. Like I said, I'm leaving tomorrow. I want you to come with me. If you come with me, I'll take that as a sign that you love me too. However, if you decide to stay, I'll take that as a sign that you don't care about me at all. I'll be at the airport, and my flight leaves at 6:00 P.M. please be there, because without you I'd be lost. I know that this is rather sudden, but I meant every word that I said. You have always been a friend, and it took a while to realize that I wanted you to be something more than a friend. If you feel the same way, then meet me at the airport. Then we can begin our lives together.
Love Arnold.
Helga held the letter in her eyes, unaware that she had tears in her eyes until they fell. She stood up and slowly climbed down the attic stairs. She went in search of Harold, wanting some answers to the obvious questions that she had to ask.
"Harold."
Harold stepped from behind her, and lightly kissed her neck. She turned around to face him, and the memories that she had with her came flashing back into her mind. How many times had he lied to her, and the thoughts about the lies that he told as he proposed to her infuriated her to no end. She instantly thought about his proposal, which was identical from the letter Arnold sent. All lies.
She looked into his eyes, wondering if he meant anything that he said. Was he using her? Did he really have any genuine feelings for her? The answer to that was obviously not, because he wouldn't have lied. So she did the first thing that came to her mind.
She raised a shaky hand, and she slapped Harold as hard as she could. There was a look of sheer astonishment written on his face. He questioned her with his eyes, and Helga couldn't take it anymore. She slumped down to her knees, and began crying. Her entire body racked back and forth, as she cried harder than she's ever cried. Love wasn't supposed to be this painful, was it?
As she cried Harold was instantly by her side, trying to console her with smooth words. Were those lies as well, Helga wondered. When she couldn't take any more of his lies, she thrust the letter in his face. For an instant there was a look of confusion written on his face. Then there was a look of acknowledgement, and then a look of guilt.
Harold stood up, and turned his back toward Helga. He didn't want her to see the tears in his eyes, or the fact that what she accused him of was indeed true. He didn't want her to know that for years he had been lying to her, and what made that worse was the fact that he had used someone else's words.
"When were you going to tell me?" Helga sobbed.
"Helga I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you."
"It's too late for that Harold. You've already hurt me. Is that what you wanted?"
"I didn't want any of this to happen."
"Then why? Why did you do it?"
"Because I didn't want to lose you, to him." He said as he turned back around to face her.
"What are you talking about Harold?" Helga shouted.
"I know Helga. I know!"
"Harold?"
"You love Arnold don't you?" He asked.
"No."
"Don't lie to me Helga." He shouted out in rage.
"You're the one whose full of lies Harold!"
"It's true. You really do love him don't you? Is that it?"
"What does it matter? You never loved me, because if you did you never would've lied to me in the first place." She said pointing an accusing finger at him.
"You're still in love with him, aren't you?" He asked sadly.
"Where are you getting this crap from?"
"Do you still love him?"
"NO! You're the only one that I love Harold. Why are insisting that I'm still in love with Arnold."
"Because I read your journal Helga. Now try to deny your feelings. Look me in the face right now, and tell me that you don't love him." Harold accused.
"Look I may have had feelings for Arnold when we were kids, but that's over now."
"Since when Helga? If I were to give you those letters years ago, do you honestly think that you would've chosen me over him."
"What do you want from me?"
"The damn truth!"
"Yes I would've if you'd only gave me the chance."
"Bullshit!"
"How can you say that?"
"Because I know it's the truth. You wouldn't have given me the time of day, if I gave you those letters and you know it."
"Now I guess we'll never know now, will we?"
"So that's it? You're giving up on me for a man that's not even around anymore?" Harold said angrily.
"I'm giving up on a man that has told me nothing but lies."
"So it's like that?" He asked.
"It's like that Harold."
"Did you ever love me?" He asked sadly.
"More than you could ever realize. It's just too bad that you loved me so much, that you thought the only way to my heart would be to lie."
"It was the only way I knew how to get close to your heart Helga. I'm sorry that I wasn't man enough for you. I'm sorry that I wasn't Arnold, but I do love you."
"Which lie do you expect me to believe Harold?"
"I just wanted you to love me." Harold said as he walked out the room.
Helga sat on the floor, as she stood up from the floor. She tried to decide if she wanted to go into the living room to apologize to Harold, or if she wanted to walk out of the house leaving her whole new life behind. Yes she was in love with Arnold, but how many years ago was that?
Now things were different. Weren't they? She still wanted to marry Harold, even if he knew that she was once in love with Arnold. However that was the past, and that was long forgotten. She came upon the realization that she wanted Harold in her life, and she had to find him in order to let that truth be known.
When Helga looked out the front door, she noticed that Harold's car was now gone. Feeling a deep-seated fear, she ran upstairs to their bedroom to find it empty. Harold's suitcases were also gone, as she wearily noticed. So he was gone, and there was nothing that she could do about it. She knew that she could go to the airport, but she decided to stay.
*If he wants to run away, then he's the one that doesn't really love me.
She went into the living room, and grabbed her purse off the kitchen counter. She grabbed her car keys, and locked the front door behind her. She got behind the car seat, and began driving to the only place that her heart would allow her to go. After about thirty minutes of driving, she soon found herself in the airport parking lot.
She locked her car, and ran inside the building looking for Harold. As she went to waiting area, she saw a flock of people flocking around one individual. She should of known who the mystery man was, the moment she walked into the terminal. However, she crept in between the hordes of people in order to get as close to Harold as she could. At once she could see his huge form, bending over to sign a little kids autograph.
As soon as she was able to get in front of the mad crowd, she found herself standing face to face with Harold. For one instant it seemed like time had stood still, as the two lovers stared long and hard into each other eyes.
For one brief instant Helga thought that Harold was going to scoop her in his arms, and that all the fighting would be just a memory. However, things didn't go as they were supposed to. Instead Harold took a complete stranger into his arms, and gave her a kiss that was only supposed to be reserved for Helga.
Helga looked on as the skinny blonde devoured her fiancé's lips, and he was doing pretty much the same. Of course the groupie didn't know the reasoning why Harold was kissing her, she was just glad that a celebrity was actually kissing her. Helga wasn't mad at the girl though, because she was ignorant to Harold's whole scheme. This scheme was to let Helga know that the relationship was over. She felt her heart fall to the floor, knowing that Harold was the one ending their relationship. She felt the tears fall from her eyes, but she kept her head up high and strong. She wanted him to know just how much that he had hurt her, so she maintained their eye contact.
When he finally looked up and saw her, she looked him straight in the eyes. She then turned around and walked back out the building. She headed back home, ready to start her life over without Harold in it.
Harold boarded the plane with a bunch of groupies following closely behind. He was glad that they couldn't make it through the checkpoint, and that he had time to let his thoughts run wild. He had never intended to hurt Helga, but somehow he managed to do just that. He had wondered why she came back at all, especially after the way he had treated her. Did she really love him? Was that why she came back? Was that why she was standing there crying a thousand tears, or was it because he stepped all over her feelings by kissing another. He took his seat on the plane, and once he was seated he cried. He cried for the loss of the only woman that he had ever loved. He cried for all the promises that were broken, and most importantly for breaking Helga's already fragile heart.
That's it for chapter 4. Review, and let me know what you think.
Author's Notes: I'm so glad that a lot of the reviewers were openly honest about their opinions of the story. I just wanted it known that I wanted to try something different, and I got a mixture of good reviews as well as bad ones. Anyway I hope that you like this chapter of our little saga. Oh, fans of Helga and Arnold, don't give up just yet. Anyway just read the story, and tell me how you liked it, or how you didn't like it.
Disclaimer: Not mine. These characters belong to someone that I could care less about. So there.
Helga Pataki couldn't believe her luck. It was just yesterday that she was eating at a five star restaurant, and eating lunch with her new fiancé. Things couldn't be any better than they already were. Days ago she was happy just being Harold's girlfriend, and now he was her fiancé. She stood in Harold's attic, preparing for the two-day move to Dallas.
She had spent the last four hours packing up boxes, and throwing away old junk. She came across a few pictures that were stored away in a rusty old chest. She looked at the pictures of Harold, during the time he was a little on the hefty side. Helga recalled how the two of them would wreck havoc on the school. She never would've thought that they would eventually end up together.
She pulled out a picture of their entire classroom, and she looked at all of her former classmates. There stood all her former friends staring back at her, through a void of still photos. She looked at her best friend Phoebe, whom she still talked to from time to time. She made a mental note that she was going to make Phoebe, her bride's maid. Then her face strolled across Gerald's face, and then it settled on Arnold.
She recalled how often she would obsess over him, and how he never showed any interest in her whatsoever. She hated that she spent so much time secretly lusting over Arnold, when she could've been after Harold the whole time.
Arnold was a sweet boy that treated her with a certain level of respect. However, he never had any feelings for her. In a way she was glad that he never made any moves towards her, because if he did she wouldn't have had any clue as to how wonderful Harold was.
There were times when she was at her all time low, where Harold would come with just a smile and make her feel better. He was everything that she could ever want, and as time passed she was quickly getting over the whole Arnold infatuation. She wanted that part of her life over with, and she wanted to do nothing but think about Harold.
She thought about the loving way her fiancé treated her, and she wanted to do nothing but be by his side. So as she packed away his belonging from the attic, as she dreamed of what it would be like to be Harold's wife. She wasn't looking forward to moving to Dallas, but as long as she with the love of her life she would be all right.
She moved from every corner of the room packing a wide variety of boxes, until she came upon an old shoebox. She was just about to throw the ragged box away, until she heard something make a noise inside the box. She shook the box side to side, making sure that there wasn't some kind of germ infested pest inside. Once she was satisfied that there were no living creatures in the box, she slowly removed the lid of the box.
She stood there looking down at a bunch of letters, which had a long string tying them together. She felt her heart skip a beat when she noticed the name that was listed on the front of the envelope. She read the name over and over again, to make sure that she wasn't hallucinating. The handwriting was unmistakable, and it was one that she was highly familiar with.
She stared at the envelope, which read the name Arnold. She tried to figure out why Harold would have a letter from Arnold. Upon looking closer to the envelope, she realized that they were pretty old letters.
Suddenly her knees began to get weak, and she had to take a seat on the dusty floor. She pulled the letter from the string that held all them together. She turned the letter over in her hand, and noticed that the envelope had already been opened.
She pulled the letter out of the envelope, and unfolded the letter at once. She looked at the first thing that her eyes fell upon, which was the date. She could remember that day as if it were yesterday. The letter was dated on the day when Arnold went to Paris.
She started to read the letter, realizing what the letter contained. She looked on as she read a very familiar passage, and her heart caught in her throat. She read the letter, and the tears began to fall.
Dear Helga,
The only thing that I can say has to be said through my idea of poetry. I'm not much of a poet, but this is pretty much how I feel. So I hope that you like the poem, and once you're finished with that I have a very important question that I need to ask you. So here goes nothing Helga.
Look into my eyes, And tell me what you see? Am I everything? That you'll ever need? There's no reason to hide, No don't you be afraid You have no reason to fear, Because we've got it made So I'll be there, With open arms To guide you and protect you. I'll keep you safe from harm. With open arms, I'll be all that you need. To Paris I go. Please come with me
There it is. I'm leaving to go to Paris to live, and I want you to come with me. I know that this is sudden, but I have come to the realization that I'm in love with you. I don't know how or when this happened, but it has. Like I said, I'm leaving tomorrow. I want you to come with me. If you come with me, I'll take that as a sign that you love me too. However, if you decide to stay, I'll take that as a sign that you don't care about me at all. I'll be at the airport, and my flight leaves at 6:00 P.M. please be there, because without you I'd be lost. I know that this is rather sudden, but I meant every word that I said. You have always been a friend, and it took a while to realize that I wanted you to be something more than a friend. If you feel the same way, then meet me at the airport. Then we can begin our lives together.
Love Arnold.
Helga held the letter in her eyes, unaware that she had tears in her eyes until they fell. She stood up and slowly climbed down the attic stairs. She went in search of Harold, wanting some answers to the obvious questions that she had to ask.
"Harold."
Harold stepped from behind her, and lightly kissed her neck. She turned around to face him, and the memories that she had with her came flashing back into her mind. How many times had he lied to her, and the thoughts about the lies that he told as he proposed to her infuriated her to no end. She instantly thought about his proposal, which was identical from the letter Arnold sent. All lies.
She looked into his eyes, wondering if he meant anything that he said. Was he using her? Did he really have any genuine feelings for her? The answer to that was obviously not, because he wouldn't have lied. So she did the first thing that came to her mind.
She raised a shaky hand, and she slapped Harold as hard as she could. There was a look of sheer astonishment written on his face. He questioned her with his eyes, and Helga couldn't take it anymore. She slumped down to her knees, and began crying. Her entire body racked back and forth, as she cried harder than she's ever cried. Love wasn't supposed to be this painful, was it?
As she cried Harold was instantly by her side, trying to console her with smooth words. Were those lies as well, Helga wondered. When she couldn't take any more of his lies, she thrust the letter in his face. For an instant there was a look of confusion written on his face. Then there was a look of acknowledgement, and then a look of guilt.
Harold stood up, and turned his back toward Helga. He didn't want her to see the tears in his eyes, or the fact that what she accused him of was indeed true. He didn't want her to know that for years he had been lying to her, and what made that worse was the fact that he had used someone else's words.
"When were you going to tell me?" Helga sobbed.
"Helga I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you."
"It's too late for that Harold. You've already hurt me. Is that what you wanted?"
"I didn't want any of this to happen."
"Then why? Why did you do it?"
"Because I didn't want to lose you, to him." He said as he turned back around to face her.
"What are you talking about Harold?" Helga shouted.
"I know Helga. I know!"
"Harold?"
"You love Arnold don't you?" He asked.
"No."
"Don't lie to me Helga." He shouted out in rage.
"You're the one whose full of lies Harold!"
"It's true. You really do love him don't you? Is that it?"
"What does it matter? You never loved me, because if you did you never would've lied to me in the first place." She said pointing an accusing finger at him.
"You're still in love with him, aren't you?" He asked sadly.
"Where are you getting this crap from?"
"Do you still love him?"
"NO! You're the only one that I love Harold. Why are insisting that I'm still in love with Arnold."
"Because I read your journal Helga. Now try to deny your feelings. Look me in the face right now, and tell me that you don't love him." Harold accused.
"Look I may have had feelings for Arnold when we were kids, but that's over now."
"Since when Helga? If I were to give you those letters years ago, do you honestly think that you would've chosen me over him."
"What do you want from me?"
"The damn truth!"
"Yes I would've if you'd only gave me the chance."
"Bullshit!"
"How can you say that?"
"Because I know it's the truth. You wouldn't have given me the time of day, if I gave you those letters and you know it."
"Now I guess we'll never know now, will we?"
"So that's it? You're giving up on me for a man that's not even around anymore?" Harold said angrily.
"I'm giving up on a man that has told me nothing but lies."
"So it's like that?" He asked.
"It's like that Harold."
"Did you ever love me?" He asked sadly.
"More than you could ever realize. It's just too bad that you loved me so much, that you thought the only way to my heart would be to lie."
"It was the only way I knew how to get close to your heart Helga. I'm sorry that I wasn't man enough for you. I'm sorry that I wasn't Arnold, but I do love you."
"Which lie do you expect me to believe Harold?"
"I just wanted you to love me." Harold said as he walked out the room.
Helga sat on the floor, as she stood up from the floor. She tried to decide if she wanted to go into the living room to apologize to Harold, or if she wanted to walk out of the house leaving her whole new life behind. Yes she was in love with Arnold, but how many years ago was that?
Now things were different. Weren't they? She still wanted to marry Harold, even if he knew that she was once in love with Arnold. However that was the past, and that was long forgotten. She came upon the realization that she wanted Harold in her life, and she had to find him in order to let that truth be known.
When Helga looked out the front door, she noticed that Harold's car was now gone. Feeling a deep-seated fear, she ran upstairs to their bedroom to find it empty. Harold's suitcases were also gone, as she wearily noticed. So he was gone, and there was nothing that she could do about it. She knew that she could go to the airport, but she decided to stay.
*If he wants to run away, then he's the one that doesn't really love me.
She went into the living room, and grabbed her purse off the kitchen counter. She grabbed her car keys, and locked the front door behind her. She got behind the car seat, and began driving to the only place that her heart would allow her to go. After about thirty minutes of driving, she soon found herself in the airport parking lot.
She locked her car, and ran inside the building looking for Harold. As she went to waiting area, she saw a flock of people flocking around one individual. She should of known who the mystery man was, the moment she walked into the terminal. However, she crept in between the hordes of people in order to get as close to Harold as she could. At once she could see his huge form, bending over to sign a little kids autograph.
As soon as she was able to get in front of the mad crowd, she found herself standing face to face with Harold. For one instant it seemed like time had stood still, as the two lovers stared long and hard into each other eyes.
For one brief instant Helga thought that Harold was going to scoop her in his arms, and that all the fighting would be just a memory. However, things didn't go as they were supposed to. Instead Harold took a complete stranger into his arms, and gave her a kiss that was only supposed to be reserved for Helga.
Helga looked on as the skinny blonde devoured her fiancé's lips, and he was doing pretty much the same. Of course the groupie didn't know the reasoning why Harold was kissing her, she was just glad that a celebrity was actually kissing her. Helga wasn't mad at the girl though, because she was ignorant to Harold's whole scheme. This scheme was to let Helga know that the relationship was over. She felt her heart fall to the floor, knowing that Harold was the one ending their relationship. She felt the tears fall from her eyes, but she kept her head up high and strong. She wanted him to know just how much that he had hurt her, so she maintained their eye contact.
When he finally looked up and saw her, she looked him straight in the eyes. She then turned around and walked back out the building. She headed back home, ready to start her life over without Harold in it.
Harold boarded the plane with a bunch of groupies following closely behind. He was glad that they couldn't make it through the checkpoint, and that he had time to let his thoughts run wild. He had never intended to hurt Helga, but somehow he managed to do just that. He had wondered why she came back at all, especially after the way he had treated her. Did she really love him? Was that why she came back? Was that why she was standing there crying a thousand tears, or was it because he stepped all over her feelings by kissing another. He took his seat on the plane, and once he was seated he cried. He cried for the loss of the only woman that he had ever loved. He cried for all the promises that were broken, and most importantly for breaking Helga's already fragile heart.
That's it for chapter 4. Review, and let me know what you think.