DISCLAIMER: ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO CRAIG BARTLETT AND NICKELODEON!
OBVIOUSLY if a character appears in this story that is not from the show it's my own filler character or whatever.
Chapter 13:
"Hey Arnold, Hey Arnold, Hey-" CRASH. Arnold slammed his hand across his nightstand, sending his alarm clock flying into the floor. Sitting up from bed, his hand moved over his face, ball of his palm pressed against his right eye as he squeezed his green hues. It had been a couple days since Helga left, everyone just went on like it was all normal. Even Phoebe didn't seem as reluctant to be around him when Gerald and her would meet up with him and Lila, however, her obvious glowers were more-so for Lila than himself. In fact sometimes she looked at him, almost with pity. As if he deserved anyone's pity.
His relationship with Lila was getting rather stagnate, it was almost like both of them no longer had it in them to propel it forward, something that the blonde male was hoping for, because all these gaps in her company left him to his thoughts far too much. Over and over he kept thinking about Helga. Almost everything he looked at had made him feel for her. It was funny almost that the moment he finally let it dawn on him that he did have feelings for his childhood friend and bully, was the day she fled the continent. To get away from him of all people. Some part in the darkest part of his mind was relieved she was gone, because she left Wolfgang behind too. However, he wished that meant he didn't need to see the bulky bastard.
Wolfgang and the girls had seemed to grow exceedingly chummy. Here and there he'd hear Helga's name on their lips and find himself looking over to them if he saw them in public. Even Harold started to hang out with the clique, which left Sid, Brainy and Stinky hanging around him and Gerald more. It seemed losing such a big friend meant they needed two to fill the void.
Scratching at his stomach, he moved to his feet and stalked over to his sofa, his clothing from the night prior thrown about. Grabbing the shirt, he grabbed a towel and headed for the bathroom. Arnie was at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for him. "I really don't feel like it today, Arnie." He groaned. Each step he took down from the attic was heavier than it should have been. His mood growing increasingly more sour as he was soon face to face with his cousin.
"I reckon you must be awfully happy, now that Helga's not around." Arnie snorted.
"How do you even know that?" Arnold felt his anger grow. Most of the kids from his school ignored him like he carried the plague, which looking at him sometimes, Arnold wondered if he did.
"I got my sources. You don't know what I do with my time after all, Arnold." He shrugged his arms and turned. "Oh right, I don't know what all Lila thought she was going to get out of me, but tell her I might be country, but I'm not looking to sow trailer trash." He tossed something at the other boy, Arnold caught it on instinct. The silk squished in his hand and he felt his stomach flip. Hesitantly he opened his hand as Arnie made his way down the steps.
Unfurling his hand, Arnold blanched as the small pair of familiar wrinkled panties looked back at him, remembering the day he'd helped Lila pick out this very set. In an instant he saw red. In an instant he realized what he'd done. In an instant, his entire world crashed down on him like a tsunami of glass.
There was silence as Arnie made his way for the front door, snorting and scratching at the stumble coming in on his chin before the sound of heavy footsteps resounded throughout the boarding house. Paying it no mind, the pale blonde opened the door just as a force crashed into his back, sending him and his assailant flying down the steps of the stoop. Bracing himself for the impact with the cement, he felt a large hand grasp his shoulder, yanking him up from the pavement and turning him over to his back. Arnold, barefoot and cherry red straddled him. Before Arnie got to say a thing, or shield his face, Arnold let loose punch after punch into his cousin's face. The boy's eyes wild, his face disfigured with such hatred, he couldn't even think past completely destroying the face that looked up at him.
Arnie tried his best to cover his head, every connecting hit making his head jerk here and there. There was screaming going on around him but every time Arnold's enraged fists met his cranium, his ears rang and he saw white. There was warmth dripping from his nose and mouth.
"Short-Man?! Arnold, you got to get off him, son!" Grampa yelled in the background.
"Ahrnawd, please, cahm down." Mr Hyunh begged, tugging on Arnold's shoulders. He shrugged the hands away, but it had given Arnie enough time to anchor himself and let his own fist run into Arnold's jaw.
Sitting up, Arnie grasped his cousin by the collar of his shirt and spun him off his waist, freeing himself and standing up shakily. Arnold was already back on his feet, but Arnie was ready for the next charge. Ducking the first punch, he tackled Arnold down this time, the boy's back slamming into the brick wall as he gritted his teeth, Arnie's fists bruising his ribs with sturdy punches into his side. Clawing at Arnie's back, Arnold grasped his shirt and tugged it over his head before kicking him back toward the street. The separation giving Ernie a chance to step in, grabbing Arnie and stopping the youth from tumbling backward off the curb. Hyunh grabbing Arnold as Grampa Phil got between them.
"What in the Dickens is wrong with you boys. Out here looking like you're trying to kill one another. Arnold I know you both have your differences but this was a bit much." Phil seemed disappointed with his grandson and Arnold blinked back the hate in his eyes, head cantering up to the old man as he sported a bruised cheek and bloody lip.
"He ruined everything!" He growled out, brows knitting tightly as he turned back to Arnie, who spit some blood onto the ground and fixed his scuffed and wrinkled clothing.
"I ruined nothing, this is all your bullshit. Arnold." The other boy laughed with a snort. "You thought you were so high and mighty, bossing me around? Yea? Well it didn't take no convincing to get your girl. 'Fact she basically threw herself at me. Beggin' like a sow in heat!" He agitated further.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Arnold yelled, his eyes were watering and he felt like he was losing his mind. As his knees buckled, Mr. Hyunh couldn't support him and he fell to the concrete. "She was telling the truth.." He grated before he dug his palms into his eyes. "She was telling me the truth." He repeated, teeth gritting as he crumpled onto the ground outside the boarding house.
"Arnold.. Arnold, what's going on?" Phil pleaded, moving toward his grandson.
Arnie shrugged out of Ernie's hold with a snort. He was done here. The 3 adults moved over the sobbing teenager while the other adjusted his clothing and wiped his mouth again. "I found work in the city, like I sought to. I just thought I should leave my cousin a little wake me up now that there aint much interesting round this place. Thanks for having me, Shortmans." His tone not even one bit shaken. With that, he made his way down the block before hopping into his pick-up. Arnold thought he was hotshit, chasing that Helga girl outta town, well now he can wallow in his own stupid.
X-X-X-X-X
Present Day
Arnold didn't need these memories holding him down. He glowered at the clock as he made his way from the attic. The smell of breakfast wafted through the air and he sighed, making his way into the bathroom. Taking a quick shower, he dried and dressed and headed downstairs. A pair of familiar faces turning to greet him.
"Ay man, bought time you woke up." Gerald's chill voice chuckled from the dining room table as Phoebe waved at him, spatula in hand. It had been around 4 years now since Phoebe and Gerald moved in after they got married. The boardinghouse had gotten rather quiet after graduation. Mr, Hyunh's daughter had moved out of town, to a house big enough for her father to move in with her and her husband. Ernie finally moved forward with his relationship with Lola and the two of them bought a nice townhouse on the corner of the neighborhood.
Sitting at the table after getting a plate, Arnold grabbed himself some eggs, bacon and toast. Looking to the corner Abner used to sit and wait for scraps with a sigh. so much had changed. Leaning back he pinched the bridge of his nose. "The big day is finally here and I just want to sit my ass at my desk and play some video games." He groaned.
Gerald stuffed a forkful of egg in his mouth, swallowing he cut in. "Did SuaveStrawberry ever message you back on DredgeSage?" Phoebe tripped on her way to the table with the pitcher of orange juice, prompting Gerald to stand up and stabilize her. She thanked him and then glared.
"You should know better than to pick at his wounds.." She warned quietly. Mainly because the guys might not have known, but against all odds... thousands of miles away. Helga and Arnold had found one another again.. On an online game at that and only Phoebe knew... "Gaming aside, I think we should go hang out with everyone for a bit, we still have plenty of time before we have to be at the airport."
"What do you mean, I thought we had an early flight?" Arnold said, glad that the conversation steered off his horrible luck with women after Lila turned out to be everything he'd been warned she was. His hand moved to rub against his chest. Life just really, really sucked.
"Oh, yea, sorry about that man, we forgot to tell you the flights got delayed, apparently it's storming pretty bad in the direction we're going and the airport delayed us a whole six hours. Can you believe it?" Gerald groaned.
"I see.. well in that case, I uh.. I should probably go see my grandparents before we go too.. ya know.. it is a big trip after all. A really important, big trip." The couple looked over at Arnold and nodded.
"We'll meet you at the Plaza and get everyone gathered. Or as many as we can, been pretty busy for us all haha. I think I heard Curly got back from Paris last Friday, right?" Gerald looked to his wife who nodded.
"Alright then. Thanks for breakfast Phoebe, it was delicious as usual." Arnold smiled as he moved to the sink, washing his dishes and taking his leave.
Once Arnold's footsteps disappeared, Phoebe slapped Gerald's shoulder. "I told you to bring up that game after that girl, if it was even a girl, just vanished without a trace."
"Yea yea, I know. I just want to be hopeful for the man, Phoebe. He hadn't seemed so at peace in a long long, long long, LONG time. Iunno what those two going on that got him so hooked to someone over the internet, but Arnold just, seemed like Arnold again. It was something that gave his spark back. To just get abandoned by them when he finally got her to cave and add her on Discord was just. It broke him up all over. Hadn't seen him so dejected since he came to my house bloodied, like 8 years ago." Gerald sighed as Phoebe rubbed his back.
"If she decides to contact him, I'm pretty sure you'd be the first to know, so stop poking the bear..." She looked away as she spoke.
X-X-X-X-X
Driving to Rhonda's Phoebe pulled up Discord on her phone, knowing it was the best and fastest way to get a hold of Helga at this time. When she answered, the disgruntled voice of an angry woman immediately spoke out.
"I read your damned posts. No, I didn't change my mind on my decision to steer as far away from him as possible. I gotta stick to my guns Pheebs and they say HELL NO, when it comes to telling Arnold that I'm the girl he supposedly bounded with over a violent MMO." She grunted into mic.
"Fine. But perhaps this is fate trying to show you two that it wanted you together. Your own books have stuff like that in it all the time, why can't it be true for you as well, Helga..." She tried to smooth her friend over. Even she had given Arnold a hard time after Helga initially moved away, but so much had happened to the man after he'd gotten his guts torn finding out he'd chased away the woman he'd cared for deeper than he'd cared for anyone. "You weren't here to see his face, you know.. the day you blocked him. He can't even log onto DredgeSage anymore. It's killing our Guild rank ya know. How is BeastCoast supposed to keep its named BeastCoast when BOTH of our main players dallied off because they have the hots for one another." Phoebe complained.
"So in the end this is about your need to dominate SpellSisters in DS..." Helga barked flatly.
"NO, that's only part of it. It is mostly me just being tired of this Helga and Arnold situation that really blew out of proportion when we were teenagers.. Helga, that boy has been in the dumps for YEARS after you left. Then things didn't get any better aft-" Helga stopped her friend.
"Enough, ENOUGH. I get it. You think because he let his guilt eat him up over the last decade or whatever that that meant he had some deep, buried feelings for me that he hid cause he wasn't sure how to handle it. I don't need his life story, I specifically forbade you from giving me info on Arnold." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Bah, my office time is getting cut short, I have a tour scheduled this afternoon. Keep the Shortman sob stories to yourself and Aztec118 better never learn who SuaveStrawberry is." With that the two said their goodbyes and an exasperated Phoebe was left in her car in front of the Gammelthorpe home.
"She doesn't want to hear about Arnold's business eh? Well I hope she's ready for that to backfire." Harrumphing, she looked out her window to see Rhonda strutting toward her car. Getting out of the vehicle, the two embraced.
"You better give her a hug for me. I visited her once in Scotland but I refuse to go to South America again for anyone!" Rhonda laughed.
"Yes ma'am. Did you already call the others? I totally forgot while cleaning up after breakfast." Phoebe started.
"You mean after Gerald cleaned you up after breakfast." Rhonda added and the women giggled wildly.
X-X-X-X-X
"Hey Grampa, it's been a while. I know I wasn't really in the best of moods the last time I talked to you. I didn't mean to make a scene. I'm going to San Lorenzo to see if I can at least figure out what happened to my parents." Arnold chuckled. "Yea yea, you didn't want me setting foot in that place if you could help it, but.." The young man pressed his arm to his face as he broke down. "..But I've felt alone for so long. I just want answers. I want some kind of closure to one of the big questions in my life. Some clarity. I'm tired of being the last to figure something out. I'm academically decent and deficient in everything else. That girl I told you about, who made me feel not so alone? She still wont talk to me. At this point, I'd just like to know if she's okay." He rubbed at his eyes, furious at his weakness.
After his shoulders stopped shaking, he leaned back from the balls of his feet, looking down at the tombstones before him. His eyes red and his jacket sleeve damp with his tears. "Maybe I deserve being alone after what I did to her, which is understandable. I couldn't imagine how it must have felt to be around me.. knowing what she knew." With a sigh, he replaced the flowers in the stoneware vase and stood up from his crouched position. "Approve or not, I just want you guys to watch over me a little longer. Let me get my answers and then I promise, I'll let you guys rest." He smiled softly before he turned on his heel to leave the Hilwood Cemetery.