Chapter 2 guys, hope you like this so far

TRIGGER WARNING! THIS CHAPTER CONSIST OF MENTION OF POSSIBLE TRIGGERS. READ WITH CAUTION.

I shifted and stretched. Or tried to. The sunlight shined through the windows revealing the still, peaceful form next to me. The events of last night came back to me, and so did the sadness at seeing Arnold the way he was. He came to me, carrying a heavy burden and I didn't know how to help him. I sighed. I lifted his arm and laid it across him, slow so he wouldn't take up yet.

Without knowing what else to do I decided to make breakfast before waking him up. Healthy breakfast leads to a healthy day. If nothing else it would keep him on a normal human routine. Who knows what he had to deal with? Pulling out a pan, I cracked some eggs. And pulled out a few more ingredients, along with some bacon, and biscuits from a couple nights ago. After everything was ready, I set up two plates with a biscuit, some eggs and bacon.

"Arnold. Arnold wake up. I made some eggs."

He shifted, his eyes cracking open. "Helga?" He wiped the crust from his eyes and looked around. "How did I get to the bed? Didn't I fall asleep by the couch?" He scratched his head and then blushed. "Oh damn. I remember. That's embarrassing." He shot me a smile, slightly embarrassed and a little sad. I had a feeling that sadness would take a while to dim. "I'm not usually that clingy."

I blushed. He had been really clingy. I didn't really give myself time to think about it, with everything that had happened, but thinking back on it, he had pulled me close for the entire night. "Don't sweat Football head. You had a long flight. And you were a bit...broken.." I didn't know how else to put it, because that's what that was. He was broken, and he needed someone to fix him. I just wasn't sure I was the right person to do it. I wasn't exactly whole myself.

He nodded. "Did I hear you say you made eggs?" I grinned and handed him his plate and silverware."

"Sure did Arnoldo. I like to think I'm a pretty fantastic cook, if I do say so myself."

Arnold nodded after taking a bite. He moaned quietly, making me blush. That boy really needs to reign it in. He just spent the night in my bed, and now he was lounging around and moaning? I inwardly groaned. There was no way I wouldn't end up jumping him if he stayed here. But at the same time, how was a supposed to help him if he was anywhere else? And then I thought of , who I'd considered last night.

used to be my therapist when I was little, not having the best family life was a hard thing for a nine year old girl to handle. She was the one who helped me out of my funk in the sixth grade when things went downhill. I had gotten very depressed, wanting to find a way to rid myself of it, and the only way my sixth-grade brain could figure to do that was to start cutting. I have the scars on my arms to this day. It was a year I tended to avoid talking about.

Arnold looked up, clearing his throat. The sound startled me out of my contemplative thoughts.

His expression was serious, and he had his hands clasped tightly in front of him. "Helga. Um, I'm sorry. About last night. I never intended for you to see that. That wasn't something I wanted to share. But when I got here and saw you something broke inside me. I just lost control." he heaved a sigh and stood up, shooting me a very obviously fake smile. "I have a place to stay, so I won't waist anymore of your time. Thank you though. For letting me stay. I needed someone with me and you provided that without a question."

I growled. "Excuse me? More one foot out that door Arnoldo and ill reintroduce you to Betsy and the Five Avengers. You are staying here, and we are going to help you. I don't know how, but we will. We have to." The last sentence was quiet. "I can't have you turning into me Arnold. I refuse to let you do that to yourself. And I'm scared your close. I can see it in your eyes."

He gave a sad laugh. "I won't be in the way? I can't promise to stay until I'm better, but I can stay for a while. Prove to you that I'm trying."

"I think I'm ok with that Shortman. We have a deal." We shook hands, and the smile he shot me froze me. It was a smile that seemed to say thank you but also seemed just a tiny bit happier. As if he just noticed the llight at the end of the tunnel, as miniscule as that light may be. As small as that light was, his smile was that much brighter, and that much closer to being the Arnold I know. The Arnold I miss. "Alright. How about today, you go and visit your best friend and his fiancé. They miss you."

"Fiance? What? When did this happen?" His face lit up, almost completely hiding the trauma he was living with.

"Get showered and dressed and you can ask them yourself." Arnold showered and dressed in a pair of baggy sweats and a flannel he had in his bag, the bag I had only just noticed this morning. When he left I jumped in the shower. I was going to see Bliss this morning. I wanted her opinion before I recommended him to her. He seemed much worse than I had ever been, it was a wonder he hadn't already resorted to self-harm. I lsipped on a pair of jean shorts, a plain black tank top, long thin cardigan and my adidas before grabbing my purse and heading out. Thankfully ' office was in walking distance, so didn't have to drive. i hated driving, with so many stupid people around me, I didn't need to make it worse with one of those steal death taps. Unfortunately, I did have to drive once in a while, so I had gotten my reliable tammy the Tahoe, a 99 Tahoe truck that was pretty sturdy and good in the winter.

After a couple minutes I reached her office. The secretary that manned the building greeted me with smile. I liked her. When I had first started coming here, I had thrown her so much attitude, and she has just thrown it back, but kept it professional enough that she kept her job. We grew pretty close. "Hello Helga. What brings you by? It's been a while hasn't it?" She was older than me but only by about fifteen years, so she was still young, in her mid-thirties or so.

"I just need advice on something. Is Bliss free right now? I don't need too long."

She tapped on her computer for a second before smiling at me. "yeah she's available for an hour or so. She'll be glad to see you"

"Thanks Steph." I knocked on the door to her office.

"Come in!"

I opened the door and let it shut behind me. "Hi, ."

"Helga! How are you? What may I ask, has brought you in to see me? Not that I mind at all." sat back in her chair and smiled at me. Her brown hair was much the same is it was when she first started helping me, only a little longer.

"Actually, I need your help with something. Um, this is hard to be honest. It was hard to see. And i don't really know what to do.

She sat forward in her chair, her smile faltering. "Did something happen? Are you ok?"

I nodded. "I'm ok, but Arnolds not. He came home last night." I proceeded to tell her everything that has happened.

"Unfortunately, Helga, doing good can take it's toll on people. It seems like Arnold has reached his mental limit. Or is close. I think if he had waited any longer to come home, he might have been pushed past his limit. Might I have you take him to come see me? I might be able to help. I'm not sure how much I can do, because once someone has seen just how bad the world can get, that darkness can stick. But I ay be able to help him cope. I also think something personal has happened to make it worse, so I want to talk things through with him."

I heaved a sigh of relief. "You have no idea how much that would help. I want to help him. I want to do everything I can to help him, when he has done so much for me. But we both know I'm not the best person to help him with something like this."

Bliss shook her head. "Helga, it's quite the opposite I believe. I think that you can help him best, based on how you were raised, and what you were put through as a child and teenager. You understand how to be happy past the things you've seen, and has been done to you. You now know how to be happy. Arnold has had a lot of bad in his life. He has his parents back and has had them for years, his grand-parents, though old are still healthy and he has friends who love him. He has only ever seen smaller versions of the bad that our society has to offer. I think that when he saw all of that but multiplied times one hundred, it took a toll on him."

After the insight she had to offer on Arnolds situation, I felt I understood him more. I still wasn't sure I could help him, but I agreed that it was best to have him talk to her for a while. I knew that talking to her was that right choice, that things would have gone south fast had I done anything else.

With a determined smile I made my way home. Arnold Shortman, I will help you. We will teach you how to cope. How to live again. Because the boy I was in love with needed my help, and I wasn't about to disappoint.