These characters are from the sweat-beetled brow of Craig Bartlett... lucky stiff.
Rated PG-13 cause I felt like it, and some characters might end up nude later. We'll see...
Enjoy.
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Arnold and Helga stood agog at the scene in the living room. Evidently, during the struggle for the control of Helga's cell phone, Arnold had disturbed several of his grandmothers smiley face candles, and inadvertently set the room ablaze. The fire had already covered one wall and half the length of the carpet, and seemed intent on making up for lost time. The heat had a pronounced effect on the remaining candles, as they began to soften and sag, their jovial expressions became more pensive and dour. Helga looked to Arnold,"Where's some buckets!" Stern faced, Arnold replied,"There's no water. We'll have to try braving the outside. Get as much of your clothes back on as you can manage..."
Quickly ducking into the fire, Helga grabbed as much of smoldering cold weather gear as she could safely reach and retreated into the foyer to suit up, constantly eyeing the fire's progress. Reappearing in his own parka, Arnold nodded to her and said,"Let's get out of here,"
"Wha- oh, okay. Aren't you taking anything?" Helga was unnerved by his calm.
Silent for a moment, he whispered,"Everything is right where it belongs..."
"Uh, alright... how we getting out? The front doors iced shut. That's why I came in up top." she gestured.
"The back door's been blocked off for a year or more... Hmmmmm..."
"Y-you think we can make it out from the top?" she asked expectantly.
"Nah... hold on." and he turned and disappeared into the inky gloom of the dining room. As she finished dressing, she heard a grinding, scrapping sound emanating for the dining room, them a large shape begin to emerge. Staring in disbelief, she watched as the families upright piano rolled into view, it's ancient casters now purring with new life. Standing from behind it's furtherest face, Arnold said," C'mon, I think we're only going to get one shot at this."
Taking her place beside him, she braced herself and readied to push. Looking into his still green eyes, she shoved at the count of three. A mighty scream and they were off and gaining an impressive head of steam. Ahead, the fire had filled the living room and was making it's first tentative explorations out into the hall. Both screaming at the top of their lungs, they let loose of the now speeding piano as it beat a hasty retreat. Striking the front door head on, it smashed it completely off it's hinges and out onto the front stoop where it fell, forming an instant ramp over the stairs. Not having even come close to expending it's energies, the piano slid merrily down the now supine front door, did a somersault on the sidewalk, and finally came to rest upright in the middle of the street, it's shining white keys an open invitation to the next pass of the city snowplow.
Dodging the flames, Arnold and Helga followed the piano into the street, then once a safe distance away, turned to look back at the boarding house. A soft glow in the second floor window indicated the fires progress, and a crashing roar and similar glow from the basement window hinted that the living room floor had collapsed. Arnold looked on silently at the old boarding house's new tenants and mused that he hoped they enjoyed their new home as much as the previous ones had. Turning him to face her, Helga brushed his hair from his face and drew him to her for a kiss. "I am SO sorry, Arnold." she whispered. But he seemed at peace. Hugging her, he whispered," It's okay. There was no place in there for the living. I was just intruding..." Oblivious to the heavy snowfall around them, they set off in the direction of Phoebe's apartment.
There is almost no describing Phoebe's reaction to their arrival. Helga and Arnold both had neglected to retrieve their cell phones during the mad rush out of the building, and as such showed up on her doorstep unannounced. Tearful and in a joyous panic, she ran back and forth between the two hugging and kissing them in between machine gun bursts of incoherent speech. Finally collected, she wiped away tears as she made soup for the pair, though Arnold asked for a hot shower first. As he disappeared into the bathroom, Helga leaned against the counter top and smiled at Phoebe, "So... you and Arnold were an item, eh?" The small woman wilted before Helga's eyes.
"I-I'm sorry Helga! I-It was an accident. We didn't mean to... it... it just sort of happened...we..."
"Phoebe, calm down. Truth be told, I knew ALL about this." Helga grinned slyly.
"Y-You KNEW! But... HOW!" Phoebe looked close to tears again.
Cocking her head to one side, she raised an eyebrow,"You two's letters. It wasn't what you said, but rather what you didn't say that was the clue. I have four years worth of mail from each of you, so I know how you talk, the rhythm of your speech, how you present your ideas..." She crossed her arms," A year and a half ago, you both stopped talking about each other in the letters... you filled me in on ALL the latest doings of everyone else... but were oddly silent about each other. This went on for about eight months, then all of the sudden, not only are you talking about each other again, but you're both falling all over yourselves telling me how close we all are and how much you both love me. It's called 'conspicuous ommission'..." she grinned.
Phoebe looked more ashamed than Helga had ever seen her in her entire life,"I... I'm sorry Helga... we didn't mean to hurt you. It just..." said Phoebe, eyes downcast, her tears making a comeback.
Stepping forward, Helga scooped her little friend into a warm loving hug,"..hey, hey...none of that." she said gently, "I was upset at first, but losing Arnold as a boyfriend was preferable to losing you both as friends. Really, I mean that. Funny thing is, I'd just come to terms with it and decided I could live with it when you two broke up." she laughed and gave Phoebe a little hug. "Okay Phebes, tell me the truth now, no shit... is it over between you two?"
Phoebe muzzled against Helga's bosom as she thought, then softly answered,"Pretty much... yes, I think so."
"Do you still have feeling for Arnold? Shoot straight with me, I mean it..."
After a small eternity, Phoebe whispered softly,"...yes..." then tightened her grip on Helga's waist.
"But... he has it bad for me, right? Yeah, I thought so. My Christmas visit that year was... intense, as I recall. Did um,... did you two make love?"
Again, she choked out a whispered 'yes' them sought more physical reenforcement from her friend.
"Phoebe, it's okay. I'm not upset. But... does Arnold know how you feel? Have you talked to him?" Phoebe pulled back from Helga, eyes wide with panic.
"Oh please Helga, don't! He... he thinks we agreed about the breakup, but I... He just loves you so much, and... I love you. I... I thought it was for the best..."
Helga softly chuckled as she drew Phoebe back into her embrace,"Y'know, he was really worried about you when we thought we were stuck out there. That nonsense on the phone was his own inept little way of bracing you for the worst... if we didn't make it. He was... scared that he was saying his goodbyes to you. He really does still care about you..." she began to slowly rock back and forth as she hugged her, "We talked about a lot of stuff on the way over here... our past, plans for the future, but especially you and him. I think his feelings for you aren't quite as final as you may think..."
Phoebe looked up at Helga, a hundred years of worry were squeezed into her two soft brown eyes. So much of their lives, the three of them, seemed to be a never ending loop of unfinished business. Arnold and Helga, Phoebe and Arnold, Helga and Phoebe... Their lives and feelings for each other were so hopelessly entangled, a Gordian knot of the heart. None could live without the others, but how to follow their hearts without someone getting hurt. What Helga had never realized was that both Arnold and Phoebe had been drawn into the airy dreamworld of their letter writing as well. Each had become so wrapped up in Helga, that the set the world around them aside. Only the three of them existed, everything else was merely window dressing; surface gross to be recorded for Helga's amusement.
"If you two are going to keep that up, at least let me set up a web cam so we can make some cash off this..." Arnold stood in the doorway, shirtless, fluff drying his hair with a towel. Laughing nervously, Phoebe disengaged from Helga and headed for the back, "I'll... get the futan set up for you guys. Um..."
Watching her go, Arnold walked over and stood before Helga, towel draped over his shoulders. Looking deeply into his eyes, Helga smiled and began running her fingers across his bare chest. Arnold, who'd spent much of his young life councilling and consoling others, found out suddenly that he had no words to ease his own pain. By now, the boarding house, and for that matter everything of his childhood, was embers. He was truly starting with a clean slate... except where she and Phoebe were concerned...
He moved forward to kiss her, but she stopped him with a warm smile and her fingers gently to his lips, "...whoah there, cowboy. I think you and the lady have some unfinished business to attend to."
"Phoebe?" he asked, a little baffled.
"Doi! Yes Phoebe. You both have fooled yourselves into thinking it's over, but you're not even close." Helga said with a soft caress of his cheek. Ignoring his weak protest, she said, "Arnold, you know we both love you, but she really needs you right now. You and I are more at ease in the world, but Phebe's still that shy little girl we grew up with. After that shit with Gerald, then Brainy, I didn't think she'd ever be able to trust anyone ever again. When I realized that you two were...'close', that was the one thing that helped me deal with losing you... that it was to her. I knew how deep your love could be, and if you had to give it to someone else, she'd always be my first pick. I was so hoping that you could make her whole again."
"I... um, it was kind of by accident, y'know. We were both so intent on showing you how much we cared about you that... we, um... kind of fell into each others arms. It was that one link we had, that one shared secret, y'know?"
Helga nodded. It was pretty much as she'd guessed. From there, intimacy became passion, them love. Wracked with guilt, they couldn't do without each other, but their love was eating them from within. His green eyes cleared as she looked into them, "Helga, I love you... I just don't know what to do about this..."
"Arnold, you know I love you... I think you've always known how I felt, whether you admitted it or not, and I can't think of anything that will change that... EVER. But... I love her too, and if your love can get her back on her feet... well, what do you think I'd do? I've waited ten to admit to you how I felt, and I can wait another ten years for you if I have to. But we... all three of us need to take this slow and stop trying to rush things. I'm actually confident it will all work out if we just give it time." and Helga gave him a little hug.
"And if... Phoebe and I stay together...?"
"Then I'll toast you at your wedding, I'll babysit your children, and I'll love the both of you til the day I die. Period. Maybe it'll work out like that, maybe she'll find love in someone else. We'll see... but I'm willing to roll those dice, and take my chances."
Arnold just held her quietly for a while, gently rocking her. "Arnold... I think you two would be good for each other in the short term. Besides, you're going to need someplace to live." she reached up and turned his head to face her,"Are you going to be alright about... the boarding house? I mean, all your stuff..."
"Naw, it's okay. It was kind of stupid thinking I could get over the past by wallowing in it. You were right to leave town to get over your dad, I wish I'd thought of that..." he sighed.
They started as Phoebe reentered the kitchen, looking somewhat embarrassed, as though she'd interrupted something.
"I have your bed ready, if you'd like to turn in..."
The futan was actually surprisingly comfortable, and on the largish side. Arnold stretched out in it's center and Helga beside him next to the wall. As Phoebe dimmed the lights, she knelt to gather up some blankets and an extra pillow.
"And just where do you think you're going young lady?" said Helga authoritatively.
"I...I was going to sleep on the couch... I thought that you two would..."
"...Like nothing better than our best friend's body heat on this cold winter night. Get over here and do your part." grinned Arnold, his eyed quite closed.
"A-Are you sure? I... I don't want to interfere... if you... want to... um, ..."
"Oh for Pete's sake Phebes. Sex is the last thing on my mind. Get your ass under the covers" groaned Helga.
Reluctantly, but with a little grin, Phoebe shimmied out of her jeans and slipped under the covers beside Arnold. Faster than thought, Arnold's arm shot out to scoop her in close next to him. Laying her head on his chest, she looked over to Helga, laying similarly on his other side. Reaching over him, Helga took Phoebe's hand and gave it a squeeze. "Tomorrow, we'll all sit down for a serious talk about our future together... the three of us."
Phoebe looked a little confused,"A good talk?"
"I think so" grinned Helga, and patted her hand.
They lay in silence for a moment before Arnold said, "Dear Penthouse Forum, I used to think your letters were all made up until a recent experience caused me to write..."
Giggling, the girls punched him gently as Helga said, "Shut up, Football head..."
To Be Continued
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