Author's Note: College sucks. Assignments, tests and tutorials drove me insane these past several weeks. Nearly a month, apparently. And you guys thought I abandoned this story. Shame on you. So here's another addition to the story, extra long to compensate the long update delay. It's the middle part and also a focal plot point of this story that ties up most of the questions of why Helga ran away from home. I really am dreadful about this chapter, because this is the most important chapter of this story and if I screwed up I will have no chance of redeeming myself back. What's worse, I feel like I'm not doing it right, since I didn't touch this story for weeks and I think my skills are kinda rusty as I wrote it. Please give me some feedback.

Legal junk: I don't own Hey Arnold, but Nickelodeon does and Mr. Craig Bartlett created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.

Chapter 12: Truth

"I'm sick of living inside of my house. Every day is a nightmare to me." she said sullenly. "Bob and Miriam had been fighting since… honestly, I've lost count. Days… weeks maybe… I mean, it's really painful to hear them fight. And it's really hard for me to put up with…" she paused a while and scoffed, "Tch, I—" thunder cracked, "ing hated it."

Arnold nodded morosely, "I'm sorry to hear that. If you don't mind I'm asking, why do they fight?"

Helga scoffed back and replied, "You think I care?" she raised her voice, "Bob and Miriam aren't exactly what I would call 'Model Parents' with them continue to ignore my retched existence and being so terribly inept at parenting. Well… maybe I'm being too hard on my mom, she's not that bad. Besides, you put yourself in my shoes Arnold. If you heard your parents fighting and arguing vehemently with vitriolic remarks, would you really want to know why?"

Arnold shook his head weakly in understanding and replied, "No… I really wouldn't want to."

Helga nodded back, thinking that she made her point, "I could hear them arguing from my room." She continued weakly, "I think the neighbors could hear them too. Bob usually is the first one who makes the attacks, and leaving Miriam to refute back, futilely. You know how big of a hothead Bob is. I usually don't care much when they fight… but this time, it really hurts…" Helga's eyes started to brim with tears again. "It's absolutely terrible. I could hear screaming, yelling, cursing… I don't know what are they are fighting about and I'm sure don't want to find out. I even heard rumors from my neighbors that Bob's cheating on Miriam. I don't know whether it's true or not, but it's totally screwed up. And alas, I got tired of it that I couldn't bear with them anymore, and I really don't like living in that house, so I ran to Olga's place for a while."

"You stayed there?" Arnold asked her.

"Unfortunately no. She just moved in the new apartment with her husband so a lot of things haven't been unpacked yet and I really don't want to disturb them. 'Sides, their house is far away from school and work and I couldn't afford to be late. I usually hang out at their place after work and would return back home around 11 or so when the house is quiet a bit. I did tell her about Bob and Miriam but with she being a big daddy's girl and all it's difficult for her to understand my problem. She never seems to care about me and always sided with Bob when I talk to her about the fight he's having with Miriam. God, that sister of mine is a stupid, dumb, idiot!" She said angrily through her clenched teeth.

"She remains oblivious?"

"Are you kidding? Every time when I told her about Bob, she'd always refute to me back that I shouldn't talk that way about him, and told me that he acts like that because he was having a bad day… or something similarly inane to that stupid excuse. She's totally hopeless." She shook her head. "But despite of her being oblivious of the ordeal I'm having, I continue to hang out at their place until late at night each and every day. Then one day, I decided to come home early. God, I was so stupid for making that decision."

"What happened?" Arnold asked her.

With a morose voice, she replied back to him, "I'm still hurt by this. Please bear it with me."

---

Like always after work, I go to my sister's house to loosen up, you know… watch TV, flirt with her husband and all that, trying to get my mind off from the insanity back home. But one day when I arrived at her house, all I got was note on the door that said she's out to a brainstorming session to do a scene in a new acting gig she just got in some indie play. Her husband wasn't in since he was in Los Angeles at that time. She also said that she could come over to my house after her brainstorming session was over to assure me that everything was fine. Oh… she's in for a surprise let me tell you that. So I just shrugged, took the subway ride back and went to Slausen's for a while to have dinner because I know Miriam won't cook ever since this whole shenanigan began. Man… I should've gone to Phoebe's house but… I don't even know why I didn't. So I went back home.

Even before she steeped inside her house, Helga could hear the screaming and the shouting of her parents fighting. She took a deep breath and shook her head. She could see her neighbor Mr. and Mrs. Martinez through the window looking at her with a sympathized look at the poor girl. Helga was pretty embarrassed actually, knowing that the loud shouting of her parents arguing was heard by the neighbors around her house. She stood in front of the stoop, took a long deep breath and opened the door. She tried to bear the pain.

"Maybe we should help her, dear." Mrs. Martinez said to her husband. "Maybe if we invite her to stay here for a while from Bob and Miriam—"

"Why bother?" Mr. Martinez cut her off, "Don't get me wrong, I'd really want to help her honey, but letting her stay in our house for a while still won't make any difference to her. She still can hear Bob and Miriam arguing."

Trying hard to ignore the fuming quarrel, Helga walked hastily to the stairs to go to her room. All of the sudden Bob turned around and saw her daughter in front of him. He was tired of the endless bickering with his wife, and he needed someone else to take his anger on. Helga was his target.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! You wait just a little second there missy!" he ordered her as he walked out of the living room, leaving an exasperated and frustrated housewife behind for a moment. Helga groaned in annoyance and did what she was ordered.

"Oh, for heaven's sake, Bob!" Miriam said to him, "Now you're going to—"

He turned around, pointing at her, "Hey, shut up, Miriam! I'm not done with you yet!"

"What is it now, Bob?" Helga asked angrily. "If you want to take your anger out on someone, pick someone else. I really don't have the will to listen to your incoherent nonsense right now."

"You pipe down, little lady." Bob replied back furiously, "Where have you been, huh? Didn't I tell you to come back home in a decent hour?"

Now he just being unreasonable, she thought as she rolled her eyes, "Oh great, since when did you actually care about me?" Helga retorted back, "I've been home late in much later hour than this, Bob. And don't you worry your little head, I was just at Slausen's having dinner, if you're 'concerned' so much about my wellbeing."

"It's still doesn't justify you coming home late!"

"What?" Helga shouted back, "its just 8:30 Bob, and tomorrow is a weekend for crying out loud!"

"Why do you disrespect me, Helga? Huh?" he riposted back, "I'm the one who provide you with shelter under my roof and food for you to eat! And still, you disregard me!"

"I would've respected you if you'd just treat me like your own kid instead of a person who's squatting in your house!"

"You're out of control you know that?" Bob yelled back, "If only you were just as half as good as Olga—"

"No Bob!" Helga retorted back angrily, "You're the one who's out of control, and you're taking it out on me! All I have been hearing these past few weeks are nothing except your incessant garbage and mom and I are the one who're the victims of your idiotic ramblings! And stop comparing me with Olga! I'm not her! I HATE IT!" she shouted vehemently in a fit of emotional outburst, "Can't you just accept that we are two completely different individuals, huh? I don't even want to be like her! She's not the only daughter that you have, you know!"

"You're my kid, you know that!" he yelled fumingly, "I can shape you to whoever I want! If I can do it to Olga, then certainly I can do it to you! If you behaved just like her, then none of this crap would've happen!"

Helga narrowed her eyes and gazed at Bob deeply in the eyes in a fit of bravery and nearly suicidal, "Well, sorry to disappoint Bob, but you've failed, and I'll never going to be like her." She said through her clenched teeth. The angry and furious gaze between them lasted a few seconds before Helga turned around and climbed the stairs. As she trudged up, a tear rolled down from her eyes, and she wiped it of with her hands.

Yet, Bob still wouldn't want to admit defeat. He raised his hand and pointed to her threateningly, "This conversation isn't over, young lady. After I'm done with Miriam, you're next." Helga didn't turn around nor answer her father back. She just ran straight to her room, slammed the door and went to her bed, hugging the pillow as she cried on it.

After the commotion was over, Bob placed both of hands on his waist and sighed. Miriam shook her head in disbelief that Bob actually dragged Helga along into this ridiculous fight. Building some nerve and after taking a deep breath, Miriam said to Bob, "Why'd you do that Bob?"

Bob turned around and looked at his wife with a piercing gaze, "The heck you're talking about?"

"Oh, yeah." She threw her arms as she scoffed, "like you don't know. Leave her out of this. This is between us. If you want to throw a fit, throw it on me, not on her."

"What? I was just trying to handle that kid." He retorted back. "Don't you tell me on how I am supposed to deal with my own kid!"

"I'm her mother, Bob!" Miriam yelled back, "I have just as much responsibility as you do to raise our child! You know, Helga's right, you know that? You're out of control. You're a bully who's been picking on some hapless people and you, picked that innocent girl to be your victim!"

"That's a load of crap, Miriam!" Bob retorted back. Thus it commenced a new round of fight between them again. But this time around, it centered on Helga, and it was much more venomous than their previous argument. As Helga thought of her miserable dilemma she was facing, it was disturbed by the arguing of her parents downstairs. She then tried to mute them out by putting the pillow over her, but it did little to suppress it down. Helga could feel that the argument was a bit odd than usual. She couldn't believe that Miriam was actually defending her from Bob, and that made her happy a bit to know that her mother cared about her. But despite her mother's best efforts, it was shot down by Bob multiple times. It made Helga feel defensive of her mother. She wanted to help her out.

Though she was quite reluctant at first, she felt obligated to help her mother because of what she had done to defend her from Bob. Her feelings about her mother, in a sense, changed. Helga wiped all her tears away with her hand, and slowly got out from her bed. She had her hand holding the knob, but before she opened the door, she contemplated again on her decision. After much thinking, she quietly opened the door and slowly descended down the stairs.

"It's all your fault!" Bob shouted to Miriam, "This family is better off without her!"

"How dare you Bob!" Miriam shouted angrily back at him, "How dare you talk that way about Helga! She's your daughter!"

Helga immediately stopped at her tracks upon hearing the venomous remark from Bob. She was absolutely heartbroken to hear that from her own father. Her own flesh and blood, blaming her for the quandary he was facing. She found herself hard to breathe. She began to expel some breath out quickly from her system in small volume, and she eventually collapsed on the stairs while still held a hand on the handrail. She placed her other hand on her heart, as though she wanted to hold her broken heart from shattering even further. She was extremely upset and tears began to roll down from her eyes. The argument in the living room became more and more intense. Helga moved her body towards a bit to look into the living between the door threshold and the wooden column that supported the handrail. She could see Bob clutching Miriam's arm tightly, like he just stopped her from slapping him.

"M-Mom…?"

And the worst happened. Bob yelled a degrading slur at Miriam and slapped her on the face. The blow was so hard that she fell down to the couch. It made Miriam cry. It was the first time that Bob assaulted her. Helga quickly got up and ran to her, but stopped when Bob turned around, and saw the shocked Helga staring at him in terror. She was stunned, in disbelief, and in horror at what Bob just did to Miriam. She couldn't move, she couldn't open her mouth, and she was too scared to do anything. Bob glared back at her in fury, and in embarrassment. Harshly, he said to her while pointing outside to the stairs, "Get back to your room, girl." He said in a rather harsh, threatening tone through his gritting teeth. But Helga still didn't do what she was ordered, as she gazed at her mother, who had her face drowned on the couch, sobbing. She felt so sorry for her.

Challenged by her daughter's defiance of his authority, he scanned around, and saw a pretty looking ceramic vase on a pretty looking table with pretty looking flowers placed inside it. He snatched and abruptly threw it at Helga. "I SAID GO!" Her survival instinct kicked up, and she snapped back up, successfully dodging the projectile. The vase hit the wall behind her and shattered into hundreds of pieces. Miriam cried out loud upon hearing the crash.

"Shut up!" Bob roared with a fit of rage.

Once more, Helga couldn't believe what she just saw. How could her own father did this to her? She realized that Bob was too dangerous to stay with under one roof right now, and so she ran out of the house, bringing her dejectedness and her sorrow along with her. She felt unwanted.

"Fine! Go on! LEAVE! Good riddance! If I ever see you in this house again, I swear I'll kill you!" Bob shouted from inside the house, as Helga ran away as far as he could with her eyes all teary. She needed a shelter. She needed someone to hear her out.

Bob turned around and looked at his wife. "And you…" he said murderously as he pointed at her, "get out of my house. NOW!"

---

Tears dropped to the plastic mattress, making a strong, yet soft thudding sound, as Helga told Arnold of her miserable state. Arnold had some brim of tears on his eyes, and he tried to hide it from Helga by turning around and wiped it away. Helga just sniffed back, wiped the tears and continued to tell Arnold her story.

I didn't know where to go. By that time I felt like I was all alone in the entire world. I had no other people to talk to. I had no other person to drown my sorrow to. I walked up to the nearest bus station and sat on the bench, trying to pull myself together, thinking where I should go now that I am unwelcome at my own house. I don't have many friends, my family is nowhere, and the only person that I could think of at that time was Phoebe. I trust her. Thankfully, I was welcomed.

Phoebe walked down the hallway from the family living room she was in earlier upon hearing the doorbell being rang repeatedly. It kind of ruined her excitement from watching her favorite television show. Hopefully the meeting would be brief. She was surprised to see Helga in front of her, looking extremely miserable.

"Helga? What are you—"

Not giving the opportunity for Phoebe to finish her sentence, Helga quickly embraced her tightly and cried on her shoulder. Phoebe was stunned at first, but gradually accepted her embrace as she hugged her back tightly, in realization that she was in need for help. She was the only person along with her sister that Helga would vent her frustration to. Phoebe had listened to Helga about her problems back home plenty of times, and she could sympathize and understand at her terrible plight.

"Phoebe…" Helga said brokenly… "I feel miserable…"

"It's okay Helga…" Phoebe said, nearing in tears. "You're always welcomed here in my house."

"Phoebe honey?" her mother said as she climbed down the stairs, "Who is— Oh my God. What happened here darlin'?"

"It's Helga, mother." She replied as she turned around to face her mother, "She needs shelter for the moment."

Reba nodded and replied, "My poor, poor dear." She sighed, "Bring her into the livin' room Phoebe. Helga, make yourself at home."

"Mother, I would prefer bringing her into my room."

As Helga wiped her tears away, Phoebe brought her to her room as Reba nodded and walked to the kitchen. Before entering, she stopped at the door and looked at her daughter as she brought Helga up to her room. She let out a depressed sigh and went in. Maybe some green tea would cheer her up, at least a bit.

"Trouble at home, I would presume." Phoebe guessed as she looked at her visitor sobbing on her futon mattress with a melancholic dismay as she sat in front of her on the floor. "I truly sympathize with you."

"Oh come one Pheebs," she scoffed, "My life is already screwed up as it is, I don't need your pity." Phoebe was stunned a bit because the response was pretty cold. Realizing that she just scoffed at Phoebe's pure and honest sympathy, she quickly replied back regretfully, "I'm sorry…" she sniffed, "I shouldn't say that. I'm just really upset over this, I have no one else to turn to."

"It's okay, Helga, no harm done. You can stay here as long as you want if you want to. Would you like me to call your sister and tell her that you're at my house now?"

"Don't bother Pheebs, she's not at home right now, and she always has her cell off every time when she's doing a rehearsal."

Then there was a knock at the door, "Excuse me." Phoebe said to Helga as she got up from the seat and headed towards the door. Reba's smiling face certainly didn't cheer Helga up, or the drinks that she had brought with her.

"I know you're sad right now Helga, having a bad day and all, but just try to calm yourself up, forget all the things that happened just now and hope things will change for the better." She said as she placed the cups in front of Helga and her daughter. "Just call if ya need me 'hun. You must be pretty distraught from all the commotion inside your house."

Helga was kind of surprised to hear that. Story of the chaotic household was spreading like wildfire. She had always thought the awful situation was being shared between close neighbors and no one else. And Phoebe's family wasn't one of her close neighbors.

"She is, mother." Phoebe replied, "She needs rest right now in order to clear her mind for a while. And thank you for the tea."

Reba nodded, and turned to Helga. "Remember Helga. I'm downstairs if ya ever need me." She then exited the room and closed the door behind her. There was an awkward silence between Helga and Phoebe after Reba left the room.

"So, what is your plan of action, Helga?" Phoebe asked her, "What are you going to do?"

"Honestly I don't know." She replied after she took a small sip from the cup, "I thought I might stay at your place for a while… I mean, if you let me of course…"

"Say no more, Helga." her friend replied, smiling a bit. "Like I said before, you're always welcomed here."

"Thanks…" Helga replied weakly. "I really can't stand my parents anymore Phoebe… especially my dad. He's a horrible, horrible human being." Phoebe stopped whatever she was doing upon hearing that from Helga. She knew Bob wasn't the best person around, but coming from Helga, it really meant a lot since she was his daughter.

"Why don't you tell me about it Helga? Who knows… it might make you feel better."

Helga then proceeded to tell her what was going on between her and her family. Her poignant and miserable story touched Phoebe's heart. She admired Helga actually, for simply trying to live through the ordeal. "And then he had the nerve to compare me with my sister." She scoffed, "All my live I've been living under her shadow, and I don't need that from him. I have my own goals, my own targets. Why can't he just accept that I am not like Olga?"

"If I may express my opinion Helga: Despite of having some ups-and-downs, Olga is successful, and your father is proud of having her as a daughter. If you could just emulate her, I'm sure—" and in this realization, Phoebe just stopped abruptly in the middle of her sentence at the thought of the words she used. She let them slip. It wasn't encouraging at all. She just realized that she just agreed with Bob and shot her best friend down. And what was more, with Helga being in a state of emotional stress it would be hard for Phoebe to denounce her own remark.

"Oh my God, Phoebe." She replied in shock. "Please say you didn't just say that…"

"I— I-I'm… so sorry Helga." She replied apologetically, "I didn't mean—"

With a disappointed sigh, and a sad tone, she replied to her, "I guess even you can't help me after all." Helga then suddenly got up and said, "I'm going out. Someplace far away. I need to clear my head for a while."

"Oh Helga, please." Phoebe too got up and went after her friend, "I'm, I'm sorry about what I've just said—"

Helga quickly turned around and snapped angrily at her, "No you're not! Don't fake your sympathy at me, Phoebe! You're just like my father, blindly thinking that Olga is on top of everything else! GOD I HATE HER SO MUCH!" she cried out brokenly, and stormed out of the house.

Phoebe followed her from behind. But even with numerous pleads from Phoebe to ask her to come back, Helga just ignored her and walked hastily away from Phoebe as quickly as possible. But Phoebe finally managed to catch up with her and grabbed her arm, "Helga… please." She pleaded, "Listen to me…"

"No, stay away Phoebe!" Helga violently yanked her arm away from her and fled.

Phoebe still didn't give up, and grabbed her arm again. "Helga please… let me help you…"

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" and with a blunt, abrupt, unthinking move, she promptly gave Phoebe a brutal slap across the face, throwing her face away from Helga and her glasses out. Helga gasped in terrified shock, as she put her hand over her mouth, and once again, her eyes began to brim with tears. Phoebe ran her hair behind her ear, and slowly turned around to look at Helga. There was a mark left on her right cheek, a tear ran down from her eye, and a pair of piercing, disappointed and disbelieving eyes gazing poignantly at her.

"Phoebe…" said Helga as she tried to reach her, "I'm… I'm sorry…"

"Just go…" Phoebe replied back morosely as she sobbed. She then turned around and left Helga alone.

I need to apologize to her for that. And because of my dumb actions, I was shunned by everyone. I felt alone, cold, and lost. I had nobody else to go to. I felt like nobody else was going to help me. And at that moment I suddenly remembered you Arnold. You've always been the thoughtful person who always helps people in the time of their need. I felt the ray of hope was shining onto me. So I went back to my house to get ready, but everything was dark inside.

Helga had made her decision: she decided to go to San Lorenzo to have Arnold help her out in her worst of time. She was in front of her house. Though her gut instincts told her that nobody was in the house, she decided to remain cautious. She went around back and climbed the fence to her backyard. To get to her room from the ground, she had to climb a tree, a feat which she had done many times when she went out late previously time and again. After she successfully went in, she slowly crept to her backpack and emptied it out. Still, she felt unsafe, so she bravely opened the door to her room and looked out. The hallway was dark and it was all quiet. She then boldly ventured out and cautiously walked over to her parents' room to inspect it.

Letting a sigh of relief since nobody was inside, she then went downstairs to check. The living room was empty, and so was the kitchen. She was relieved to know that she was alone now in the house, thus making her preparations to San Lorenzo a whole lot easier. She quickly ran into the bathroom, took away her toothbrush, toothpaste and a bar a soap and put them into a plastic bag. She went into her room back and threw the bag next to her backpack. Helga opened her closet and mustered as many clothes she could carry in one sitting and stuffed them into her bag. Finally, she put her hygiene products, an address book and a paperback book into her backpack and fastened her bag up. She then scanned around to see if she had forgotten something. She saw her laptop on her desk. She shut it off, and put it inside the carrying bag.

She was all set. She lifted her backpack and carried it alongside with her laptop. But before she went downstairs again, she stopped at her tracks and felt that she needed to tell someone about her departure to a foreign country that she vaguely had any idea on what it was. She had no choice but to tell her sister, since she knew that Olga was on her way to her house. She then walked hastily to Olga's room and headed to her old desk, which was still furnished despite of her already had moved out of the house. She took a pen and a paper out and wrote a note to her. After reading it again and again, she finally approved the contents she just wrote and left it on the table. As she walked to the front door she saw the broken vase in the middle of the hallway that Bob threw earlier: a painful reminder for her of why she must leave home momentarily.

---

A few teardrops fell to the wooden floor, as Helga concluded her melancholic story to Arnold, in the midst of the torrential rain that seemed to gradually weakening. Arnold looked at her in deep sympathy. And right now he understood why his father hated Bob Pataki so much. "Then I went to the nearest subway station, and took a train ride to the airport." She continued her story. "Because… I really felt like you're my last hope, Arnold." She sniffed, and wiped a tear away, "I wanted to see you… to help me with my problems. And I… really miss you… and I l… l-lo…"

"Say it! SAY IT!" Every part in her body told her to say it. Her heart, her mind, her lips, everything. But the only thing that hindered the way was her tongue. It became frozen and hesitant to say those three simple words. "I… lo-l-l… need your advice…" and again, yet another wonderful opportunity was passed by Helga Pataki. She really wanted to beat herself senseless right now for being too cowardly and pathetic to open up to him.

Arnold was in a difficult position right now, and he felt the burden of Helga's problem was suddenly being put on him. Helga expected him to help her, but he didn't even know how to. He didn't know where to begin. Helga's position was too difficult for him to help, and due to that he felt so helpless and weak to give any meaningful advice and take any kind of action at all. This crisis should not be handled by himself alone, and he needed someone more mature and experienced enough to help her out. He slowly got up from his seat and gave Helga a hug to assure her. Helga was moved, and embraced him back, tightly.

"I'll do my best to help you, Helga. I promise. You have my word. I will use everything in my power to help you out. I will help you."

"Oh, Arnold…"

---

Miles was stunned. He had this blank and disbelief look on his face as he stared at the door to Arnold's room. After gaining some thoughts, and took a deep breath as he wiped his wet hair back, he slowly walked to his bedroom where his wife was sitting on the bed reading a book while waiting for him. The sudden emergence of her husband at the door really surprised her.

"Miles!" Stella said as she threw the book away and ran to her husband, "Thank God you're all right…" she hugged him tightly and placed her head on his shoulder.

"I was wrong…" he said intoned disbelievingly while still had that blank face on him. Stella lifted her head back and looked at him, while still hugging him.

"What are you talking about, honey?"

"It's Helga… she didn't run away… Bob kicked her out from the house."

I don't know about you, but I think Helga's explanation is kinda weak... maybe I'm being too paranoid. Please prove me wrong, I beg of you. I wish I expanded Phoebe's scene more, because I feel there are lot of gaps, some questions unanswered and I left plenty of space and not expanding it further. And Olga's already married? To who, you might ask. Honestly, I don't know. Just think up of some guy that Bob would approve of. He's not going to play a role in this story however. My sincerest apologies for not updating this story so soon. Thanks, and please give me some feedback.