If you guys have any feedback feel free to leave a review.. I know my spelling has been lacking really bad, but I'm all that worried about spelling. Guys, this is a very dark chapter. It may contain TRIGGERS. Also keep in mind this is pure fiction, I don't want some jumping to conclusions. Also I promise this story will not stay dark. My goal is to resolve things happily. I do not own any of these characters.

Back at my apartment, I found it empty. I hoped things were going well over there. Sometimes a little time with your best friend can help you. I would know, I experience something like this back in the sixth grade. I shook my head. I didn't want to think about sixth grade. That year was horrific.

I heard laughter coming from next door and decided it was a good time to head over. If they were laughing then they were, hopefully, doing ok. Maybe Arnold was doing a little better. Maybe a little therapy and being near his friends and family would be good for him. Maybe he was just away from all of this for too long, and was seeing so much bad stuff that it took its toll. But there was still something that had happened. I almost got the feeling that it didn't happen to him though. But that it was something he had witnessed. I wasn't sure where I got this idea from, other than a feeling. I didn't ignore it though, my hunches were almost always right.

I sighed, questioning while I was still thinking about such negative things. We had made a huge step, whether he knew it or not. I was going to wait to ask about the therapist though. I wanted to give him a couple more hours of positivity before we trudged down this path again.

Phoebe opened the door almost as soon as I knocked. "Hi Helga. Arnold is with Gerald in the living room. I was actually about to get some drinks. Do you want to help me with them please?" That was Phoebe for 'I need to speak with you.'

I followed her into the kitchen where she pulled a pitcher out of the fridge. I pulled some glasses out of the cabinet and gave her a minute. There was never any rushing when it came to Phoebe. She spoke when she was ready and she gave hard facts. Although sometimes she was nice when she said them, hoping to ease the burn of the fact on occasion.

"Helga, he's doing better than he was last night, but he has a long way to go. He seems like his usual self but I detect an underlying darkness that has not quite left. I'm not sure it ever will to be honest." She sighed.

I agreed with her whole heartedly. "I know. And I think you're right Pheebs. But I have a feeling it has something to do with something he has seen. If it had happened to him, I don't think he would be this bad. We all know how Football head thinks. His first thought would have been 'At least it was me and not someone else.' But I think he witnessed it.

Phoebe nodded. "Alright. I was just worried. I wanted to make sure we are on the same page."

"Yeah. I went to talk to Bliss. She wants to see him. I'm not really sure how to approach the topic of a therapist though. He seems to be perfectly open to help, but therapists make you talk about what's disturbing you."

"I think, Helga, that you should just ask him if he want's to see a therapist. He appearss to be very open to help. He knows he is not at one hundred percent anymore and needs assistance to get himself back there. Or as cose as he can get to one hundred. Who knows what he has seen. Even you are not one hundred percent yet and it's been years since that happened. so keep in mind, Helga, that he is very open to help, but that it most likely will not be easy."

"See Pheebs. This is why you're my best friend. You always know what to say. All that logic swimming around in that pretty little head of yours." Phoebe blushed and that was the end of our conversation.

In the living room, Arnold and Gerald were cracking up about something, and I nearly froze in my steps. Arnolds eyes shined, tears from laughing in them. He almost seemed like who he was before. Not the broken boy staying at my apartment for the time being. He looked up and a grin split across his face. I could still see the darkness lingering, but it almost felt like Arnold had shoved it onto a back burner, like it wasn't important. Or maybe he didn't want to see how bad he had gotten. I hoped one day he'd tell me what he saw. "Helga! You're back."

"Of course Arnoldo. We all know you three are the only ones who can handle me. I lack the social skills to try making new friends. People are all idiots anyways."

He laughed. "Seems legit. At least for you."

I gave him an offended scowl. "What's that supposed to mean?" Arnold shrugged and gave me an innocent smile. Good to see he still had some parts of him intact. Something of which made me very happy to see.

"Alright Arnoldo. C'mon. We got stuff to take care of."

"'Kay. See ya later Gerald, Phoebe. And congrats on the ring." the both smiled and gave each other googly eyes.

"By Gerald," Phoebe replied. "You're just next door, so don't think we won't bother you plenty."

We left then, letting them continue their googly eyes. It was time to ask Arnold what he wanted to do. I turned on the tv and sat down, patting the couch next to me. "Alright Football head." I paused, suddenly nervous. I didn't want him mad. And that made me frustrated, Arnold was the only one who could ever make me feel this way.

"You can ask Helga. Whatever it's about."

I sighed and started. He needed a little back story. "In the sixth grade, something happened and it sent me in a downward spiral. No one knew but Phoebe, and my therapist, Dr. Bliss. Bliss helped through the darkest time in my life, and we both know my life wasn't sunshine and rainbows. I went and talked to her today. About you. She wants to see you. See how you feel about regular visits."

Arnold leaned back and thought. He didn't seem particularly upset. But I was still nervous. Sometimes he was hard to read, and i had made it my mission as a kid to understand everything about him. "I can do that. But on one condition." this made me even more nervous. This didn't sound like anything I expected to happen.

"What is it?"

"Tell me what happened in the sixth grade. I'll even promise to tell you what happened as soon as I am ready. Fair?"

I froze. That really was fair, but did I want to talk about it? Was that something I wanted to rehash? I thought to myself. If I didn't tell him, he would understand, but he may not go to therapy. Then where would we be? I finally decided it was worth it. I had to tell him. I had to help him, even if I had to open old wounds to do it. "Ok." he waited Patiently while I collected my thoughts. His brow creased in concern, but I started before he could retract. To be honest I had wanted to tell him eventually. It was something Bliss recommend since I trusted him so much. "In the sixth grade. It was the middle of the school year. As you remember I had just hit puberty, so I looked more feminine than I used to." Arnold blushed but kept quiet. "i was on my way home from school." I cleared my throat. This was getting hard. "Um. I was on my way home from school when a van pulled up next me. I didn't even question it. I tried to run as soon as I saw it pull over. But I wasn't fast enough." I really didn't expect this to be so hard. "These guys pulled me into the van and slammed the door shut. I as terrified." I didn't realize I had started crying until Arnold interupte me and wiped away the tears on my cheek. My heart warmed at the gesture.

"Helga, you don't have to tell me. We can stop. I'll go see Bliss ok? You don't have to keep this up."

I shook my head though. "I have to. You have to understand just how bad it was. You have to understand why I want you to see her, otherwise she would seem like any other therapist, and she's not. Just hear me out ok?" he nodded, but gripped my hand tightly. "They took me somewhere, I still don't know. I was blindfolded so I didn't see anything. There isn't a day that I'm not thankful for that because to see what they were doing to me, and feel it too would have destroyed me." Arnolds face got white as a sheet. He knew where this was going. "They raped me. Over, and over. And over again. I don't know how many there were. I don't know who they were." I was having a hard time talking through the tears. But I was happy in a way. I needed to tell him. It was a weight o my chest, that I wasn't aware of. "I went to the hospital and the did a rape kit. But they had used condoms. There was evidence of rape, but no dna. None. It was a dead end. And through out the whole thing, I never got one phone call the hospital called big Bob but he must have been busy or just didn't care. He never told Miriam what happened.

I cleared my throat again. "Somehow Olga found out. It tore her up. Almost as bad as it did me. She immediately took me to live with her in her apartment a couple miles away. That's why I moved." Arnold was frozen, but I kept going. I had to or I'd stop before I was done. "It got bad after a month. I didn't tell anyone, but I needed an outlet. I started cutting. It was a relief at the time. But I kept thinking about it. About how they couldn't be caught. About how my own father didn't care. And one day I'd had enough. I cut too deep. I sat in the bath tube and just kept on bleeding. I mean, my own parents didn't give a shit about me. Olga found me and took me to the hospital. She had wrapped my wound up. I didn't know she had minor medical training. I was eventually reffered to a therapist, who turned out to be . She was the only one I trusted anyways. She got me out of that darkness. And, Arnold, it was so dark. I thought I was done."

I was bawling. The pressure I didn't know I felt was finally gone. But was it the right time? Should I have waited? The hand the gripped mine squeezed hard, almost painful. "Why didn't you say anything? Why didn't you tell me? I could have been there for you. I could have helped you. What if I'd lost you? Do you know how important you are to me? Do you have any idea?" he took a deep breath. "Helga, I would be farther gone than I am now if I had to live a life without you in it. Why didn't you say anything?

I sighed, the tears finally subsiding, to be replace by a warmth. To know he cared that much gave me hope. Maybe my dream of us being together wasn't so far off. "I was, and still am, Helga G. Pataki. The most stubborn and independent girl you will ever meet. Back then it was worse. I didn't want anyone thinking I was weak. But I also didn't want anyone to be burdened by this. At the time I felt like it would have been better had I just not been alive at all. Then I could stop trying to be strong. Then I wouldn't be Helga G. Pataki, the girl who let herself get raped." I knew it wasn't my fault. Or well, I do now.

"Helga... I'm not even going to dig into that statement. I can see you don't think that way anymore. But let's get one thing straight. If you ever keep something like this from me again, I will throttle you. Do you understand? If it is weighing on you and you need to talk about it, talk to me."

I gave him a smile smile, almost startled by his strong resolve. "Thanks Arnold. But right now, I'm doing ok. Now it's your turn."