Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.
They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.
Title: "Leave the lights on"
In the last chapter: At her first day in Arnold's class, Helga made quite the impression on both the teacher, the girls and the boys; albeit in very different ways. While the boys thought Helga was the coolest girl they had ever met, the girls were a little iffy about her; Rhonda downright hated her already.
Arnold was told to bring Helga home with him for dinner and so they got a chance to talk and bonded more than either had imagined. The happiness was momentarily shot down though when Miles told Arnold that he had already found a house he and Miriam wanted to move into. Helga was the one to soothe the blonde boy that evening.
Author's 1st note: I am so tired as I am uploading this. I didn't want to ruin my one chapter a day streak just yet so I was basically about to bang my head down at the table while I had to re-read this xD Enjoy ~
[Please notify me if you notice any grammar mistakes. This isn't my first language, so there's bound to be mistakes.]
Chapter 4: "Brotherly eyes"
Arnold wasn't sure what to think about all this. It was the fourth day in a row he was spending time with Helga and her mom. It wasn't that he minded spending time with them at all; it was more the reason behind it that bothered him.
Phil seemed to be the grumpier one though; it was obvious by the way he had his arms crossed and was pouting like a child. "Are we there yet?"
"Dad, we've been walking for about a minute." Miles responded. "And yes, we are actually there soon. I can see the house already."
"What? Really?" Arnold asked in surprise and looked at where Miles was pointing.
"Not bad, huh?" Helga asked and pushed her shoulder against Arnold's. He couldn't help but smile back despise still having mixed feelings about the situation. It did look like a nice house though. "Race you!" she declared before storming off.
"Hey! No fair!" Arnold yelled in a chuckle and followed her.
"I think Helga's really good for Arnold." Miles observed with a smile. "He's taking all this so well thanks to her."
"I think he's good for Helga too. I've never seen her this comfortable with someone she's just met before." Miriam added and took Miles' hand in her own.
Eventually, the grown-ups caught up with the teenagers who had taken it upon themselves to inspect the small garden. They were chatting cheerfully before noticing the basement door.
"Can we go in there?" Helga asked curiously.
"Wouldn't you like to see your rooms first?" Miles asked and the teens ran inside once he had unlocked the door. "You too, dad."
"Say what now?"
"You didn't think I would buy a house without a guest room for my parents, did you?" Miles said as he smiled at Miriam who smiled back.
When Phil understood what that meant, he made an excited whistle and jumped, clicking his heels together in a way you wouldn't expect a man in that age to be able to. He then proceeded to run into the house, leaving Gertie look like the more sane one for once.
"Boys." Gertie joked before following Miles and Miriam inside.
While Miles and Miriam showed Gertie around, who was being uncharacteristically calm, Phil, Arnold and Helga were each exploring their rooms. Arnold followed Helga into hers first though.
"Criminy!" Helga greeted the room. "Not bad. I'll need to pimp it up Helga style, but I've got a lot of space to work with."
"You sure do."
"I have a feeling your room is bigger though." She said with a wink.
"Like a sort of Band-Aid on the wound?"
"Exactly." Helga confirmed, closed the door and walked towards the door in front of her own which led to Arnold's room. "Ready?"
"As much as I'll ever be." Arnold answered before Helga opened the door, revealing a slightly bigger room than her own. It was almost empty, per Arnold's request so he could put his stuff in there as soon as possible; the only thing in there was a chimney.
"You have a chimney?" Helga asked in incredulity as she approached it.
"Whoa…" Arnold said as he looked up at the ceiling. He would have to get used not to see the sky every night, but he could always get a projector or something if it felt too weird. "With some blue paint, this will soon look like a bigger version of my room."
"Oh, Arnold." Helga said in a singsong voice and showed him a note she had just grabbed from the top of the chimney. "Miles left you a note here."
Arnold frowned in confusion and approached her to read the note with her looking at it over his shoulder. "Check out the chimney." Arnold read and looked questioningly at Helga who moved inside the chimney.
"Oh, man, there's a ladder in here!" she bellowed and started climbing it.
"You're kidding." Arnold said and went down on all fours to look as she ascended the rope ladder. He followed her soon enough and once they were both by the end of the chimney, they could see the roof of the house along with most of the city. "Oh, my - - "
"Criminy!" Helga interrupted.
"You like it, my boy?" Miles's voice asked and the teens looked around in confusion for a moment until Helga saw Miles standing in the garden. She clapped on Arnold's shoulder and pointed at Miles. "I'm planning to change the roof so you can walk around up there. It's not quite the same as Sunset Arms, but is it ok?"
"Ok?!" Arnold repeated in disbelief and looked around in awe. "This is amazing, dad! Thank you so much! I… I can't reach you." He admitted, which caused Miles to chuckle.
"You can hug me later." He joked and went inside the house. Arnold almost blushed at his dad's comment, especially when Helga nudged him teasingly.
They both descended the ladder, but Helga was the first to reach the floor. "So, Football Head. Is it all as horrible as you imagined?" she teased and looked at him once he was done.
He chuckled. "I never thought a new house would be horrible. I'm fully aware that some people might think that a boarding house might be a little… uh…"
"Crowded? In total lack of privacy? Run down?"
"Thanks, Helga." Arnold said sarcastically. "Yeah, all those things, I guess, but it's been my home for so long. Didn't you miss your house when you had to move?"
"Sure, but that was because I changed that house for an old apartment and my new roommate became a rat, and I hate rats. Our situation wasn't the same."
Arnold didn't know what to say to that so he looked away awkwardly. He decided to attempt to at least say something though. "You never specified what was wrong with your dad…" he pointed out. Smooth, Arnold. Gerald would be so proud of you right now.
Helga shrugged. "He was a jerk; what more do you need to know?"
"I-I know about the Olga thing, but… something tells me that's not all? If you don't want me to know though that's fine."
Helga mulled it over and then smiled. "No, it's ok. I want you to know." She said, repeating his words from last night and then started telling him about her dad.
At one point, while Helga was once more telling Arnold about her childhood, they found themselves outside in the garden, walking around aimlessly. They were sprawled unceremoniously on the grass, staring into the sky as she talked. At some point, she grew tired of talking and grabbed her cigarette pack from her pocket.
Arnold frowned. "Does Miriam know you smoke?"
"Yeah, but she's got no right to talk to me about bad habits." Helga sneered before turning the cigarette on and exhaling the smoke slowly.
Arnold wondered what she meant by that, but decided not to ask. "You ever considered quitting?" he asked gently.
Helga hummed. "Yeah… when I die." She responded with a chuckle, but Arnold didn't find it too amusing. "What?" she asked and looked at him. "You worried about me?"
Arnold felt the hidden meaning behind Helga's question or perhaps that was all in his mind; nevertheless he heard himself stutter as he answered. "W-Well, sure, you're going to be my step-stepsister after all. I'd like to keep you around." He answered honestly, wondering why his heart was beating like this just because of her question.
Helga didn't say anything at first; she simply studied the cigarette between her fingers. "You mean that?" she asked a little quietly. Arnold looked at her in surprise. Was she seriously considering it? Because he had suggested it almost unconcernedly? The more he thought about it though, the more he meant it.
He sat up and she looked at him. "I do." He answered honestly and seriously.
Helga stared at him for a bit before she started laughing. "Sheesh, no need to get all dramatic on me! I'll stop if you care this much." She said as she sat up, turning the cigarette off by rolling the end of it on the grass.
"R-Really?" Arnold asked in surprise.
"Sure. Why the hell not? I'd like to die of old age and not cancer anyway." Helga said before grabbing her cigarette package and snapping it until she felt the cigarettes inside crack. Arnold looked at her in awe as she let the broken cigarettes fall to the grass
She dusted her hands off. "If Miriam is trying to change, I might as well too." She said with a smile before lying back down in the grass. "But I'm warning you; I'm already a woman of temper. Who knows what kind of monster I'll become while I'm quitting?"
Arnold chuckled. "I'll keep that in mind. You are hereby pardoned from any rudeness until your need for smoking has passed."
"Careful, Arnold." Helga said with a mischievous grin. "You just gave me a free pass."
The next day in school, Arnold had half expected Helga to have bloodshot eyes from trying to sleep, but only be able to think about how much she wanted to smoke, but she looked oddly normal. She sat down next to him and yawned, but besides that she seemed usual.
"How's it going?" Arnold asked in a whisper.
"How is what going?" Helga asked with yet another yawn.
"You know; with quitting."
"Oh, that…" Helga said, closing her eyes slowly and opening them again. "Yeah, I actually haven't felt any need to smoke at all."
"Really?" Arnold asked excitedly.
"Uh-huh. I'm starting to think I was smoking just because and not because I was addicted."
"Well, that's really great, Helga. Maybe this won't be so hard on you then."
"Yeah." Helga said and grinned lazily. "Or you for that matter. I'd say we both dodged a bullet." She joked as she pointed at his chest. He automatically looked down and she couldn't resist that temptation; she flicked his nose, which made him growl at first, but then chuckle.
"Oh, get a room, you two!" Harold teased from behind them and laughed.
"Oh, ew, Harold! They are stepsiblings." Rhonda insisted in disgust.
"I'd say the keyword there is step, Rhonda." Sid interfered with a sleek smile.
"No way! The keyword is siblings." Nadine insisted. "They are going to be living together after all. It'd be too weird if they hooked up or something."
While the class seemed to be starting a moral discussion of this particular subject, Arnold started to think about it as well. He had never really thought about what other people would consider him and Helga as and what the norm was. He had been in the early state of developing a crush on Helga when he first met her, but he had also been a little freaked out when he realized she was going to be his stepsister too so that people reacted this way, even due to an innocent joke, shouldn't have surprised him. But there was something, and he would refuse to admit it until the end of the world, in his heart that stung at their words.
Arnold was still in deep thought on his way home. He was curious after all; how did the society actually look on stepsiblings who might fall in love? There was no law against it, he was almost sure of that since stepsiblings weren't blood-related, but how did others see it? Was it just as disgusting between stepsiblings as it was between actual siblings, just a little bit or not at all? He was still thinking about it when he reached Sunset Arms and he almost forgot the herd of animals. He quickly stepped to the side before they could trample him down and he went inside as he panted in surprise.
"Welcome home, my boy. Have a good day?" Miles greeted from inside the living room.
Arnold nodded, but then remembered his dad couldn't see him. "Uh, yeah." He answered as he shoved his shoes off and put his bag down. "Uh, dad? I need to go and check something on the computer. Is it ok if I come down later?"
"Sure."
Arnold wasted no time before he ran up the stairs, through the hallway, up his own staircase and into his room. He sat down on his bed, grabbing his laptop with expertise and opened it. Why do I even care? He wondered even as he typed the words in on Google and went through the links.
Arnold decided to rephrase his search after he found a link for a porn site. He had clicked on it accidentally and when he realized it was a video, he had quickly exited the page, his cheeks burning red. After having rephrased his searching words, he found some more proper answers. It seemed to be accepted by some and frowned upon by others. Some also seemed to think it was fine as long as it was purely sexual, but there was no feelings involved.
Arnold didn't feel any better after having read those articles and closed his computer with a sigh. He lied down on his bed, staring into the sky. Why does this bother me so much…? It's not like I have feelings for Helga or anything. They died when I found out she was my stepsister… right? He thought and frowned willfully. Right! He insisted and sat up, opening his computer in order to do some homework and get his minds off things.
Just as Arnold's finger touched the keyboard, his phone rang in his pocket. He flinched in surprise before shoving his hand down and pulling out his phone. He gulped at the name on the screen.
"H-Hi, Helga." He said, cursing on the inside for the obvious stutter.
"Hey, Football Head. You're good at math, right?"
Arnold perked up; he wasn't sure why, but he liked the thought of impressing Helga. "Uh, yeah. I understand it at least. You need some help?"
"Don't flatter yourself too much, bucko. There's just this one problem I don't remember the formula for." Helga admitted and started reading her problem aloud.
"Oh, you're at the same place as me." Arnold said and before he could think about his actions, he heard him continue talking. "Hey, if you want to, you could come over here and we could work on it together." He said and felt nervous as soon as he had said it. "W-We'll, I-I mean we're in the same class, right? It almost seems silly not to."
Helga was quiet for a while and Arnold considered taking his suggestion back, but then he heard her hum in acceptance. "Sure. Sounds great. I'll be there in like… ten minutes, ok?" she said and hung up before Arnold could say anything. The blonde boy stared at his phone, wondering if he had truly just invited Helga over on his own. He had just invited a girl over; that wasn't very like him. He usually wouldn't have the guts to do something like that; that was partially the reason why he never got anywhere with Lila.
With inhuman speed, Arnold got up from his bed and darted out of his room. He ran down the stairs and jumped past the last three before running into the living room, where Miles was staring at him.
"Boy, where's the fire?"
"N-Nowhere. I - - hold on." Arnold said and took a deep breath. "Do we have any snacks or something?"
"Top shelf." Miles replied and Arnold hurried towards the cabinet above the TV. "You got a sudden craving?"
"No, uh… H-Helga's coming over to study with me so I just thought, you know…" Arnold said awkwardly, wondering why he felt like he should have kept this a secret.
Miles' grin was implacable. "Really?" he asked almost with a sleazy voice, but Arnold knew it only meant he was very pleased.
"Yeah, there's nothing wrong with that, right?" Arnold asked defensively as he grabbed a bag with popcorn in it.
Miles let go of his book and put his hands up in defense. "Absolutely not. I'm glad you two are getting along." He said, ignoring the first ring from his cell before pulling it out of his pocket. "Hi, honey." He said as his eyes followed his son who was on his way into the kitchen with the popcorn in his hands.
"Helga just left, saying she was going to study with Arnold!" Miriam said on the other side of the phone excitedly.
"I know and Arnold's preparing snacks and everything."
"Oh, this is just too precious. I was really worried about what Helga would think about Arnold because her relationship with Olga has always been so hostile, but they seem to make quite a connection."
Miles felt relief flooding through his body, even as he heard Arnold making some panicked sounds from the kitchen, presumably due to him not being able to find something. He nodded at Miriam, even if she couldn't see him. "Uh, hold on." He said. "Arnold?" he called.
"Uh, yeah?"
"If you're looking for salt for the popcorn, I suggest the lower shelf."
After some rustling a grateful thank you came from the kitchen and Miles chuckled. "My son seems to care what your daughter thinks of him. He's always wanted a sibling after all."
"Oh, and now he has one. I hope they'll stay friends." Miriam said.
"Me too, Miri - - "
"Uh, dad?" Arnold interrupted.
"Yeah?"
"Do we have any popsicles?"
Miles blinked a couple of times before he snickered in incredulity. "Are you trying to fatten your stepsister?"
"… Yeah, you're right; it's too much." Arnold declared before the microwave beeped, signaling that the popcorn were done.
Miles chuckled. "I think he may have a fissure at some point if they make this a weekly thing." He said, earning a chuckle from his fiancé.
Arnold continued in the kitchen, pulling his fingers through his hair more often than he usually would because it kept falling forwards. He groaned in annoyance and looked around for something to force his hair back. He saw a container of rubber bands, momentarily questioned what they were for and then decided to use one of them for his hair. He tied it into a low ponytail and continued his work in the kitchen.
Arnold put another bag of popcorn in the microwave as he opened the cabinets with the bowls in it. He was about to grab two plastic ones, but then noticed two made of glass. He made a dive for them, but changed his mind and picked the plastic ones in the end. He spilled the popcorn into the first bowl and grabbed the other bag once the microwave beeped. It took him about five seconds to have both bowls ready.
He was about to grab them and get them upstairs until he remembered something. "Drinks." He reminded himself and put the bowls back on the desk. He opened the refrigerator and took the last two Yahoo sodas that were inside. He sighed in relief as he put them on the desk and closed the refrigerator again. He grabbed it all a little clumsily, but he felt he had a good hold on everything when he walked out of the kitchen.
As soon as Arnold had taken the first step on the stairs, he heard the doorbell. He looked at it in disbelief. "That was ten minutes?!"
"Well, I'm here, aren't I?" Helga asked outside the door and knocked for effect. "Lemme in!"
"Y-Yeah, of course, sure, I just need to, uh… H-Hold on!" Arnold begged and walked around in a circle, trying to figure out what to do with all the stuff in his arms.
"You don't leave someone waiting outside, even if it is summer. Come on!" Helga complained and made an obvious hard knock, doubtlessly with her foot.
Arnold sighed and decided to leave the things on the sideboard below the mirror. He looked at his reflection automatically and remembered the rubber band. He was about to take it out when Helga knocked again and he forgot it once more. He went to open the door after he had readjusted his clothes.
Helga was about to say something, but then her hand went to her mouth. "Whoa, you're all ready to get some serious homework done, huh?" she teased in a grin and walked inside.
Arnold ran his hand over his ponytail and sighed shyly. "I-It's just a coincidence."
"I'll bet." Helga countered and pushed her shoes off. She looked at him, even walked around him like a tigress circling her pray playfully before jumping at it. "You know, it actually suits you."
Arnold looked at Helga in surprise and when he saw no playfulness in her eyes, he moved his hand to touch the ponytail. "Really?"
"Yeah. Not a lot of guys can pull that off, but your hair is thick and wavy so it looks good on you." Helga stated almost nonchalantly and walked towards the living room. "Hi, Miles!"
"Hi, Helga." Arnold heard Miles answer, but he wasn't truly listening. He looked at himself at the mirror. He hadn't even realized his hair was long enough to put it in a ponytail. It was a short one, but it was there.
"Hey, stud." Helga teased and pointed at the popcorn and sodas. "Those for us?"
"Oh, yeah. I thought some snacks might be a good incentive for us." Arnold explained and grabbed a bowl with popcorn and a soda.
"Aren't you a good brother; keeping your sister healthy and fed." Helga joked before grabbing a bowl of her own and the soda can.
Arnold looked at her nervously. "W-Would you rather want something more healthy?"
"No, I - - "
"Because we can get some carrots instead or something - - "
"Football Head!" Helga shouted and used her free hand to grab his chin. "Relax already." She said in a grin. "I'm not some girl you have to impress or anything."
Arnold stared at her. "Am I acting that nervous?" he asked somehow muffled since she was still holding his chin. She nodded and let go. "Oh…" he murmured before following her up the stairs. Why do I seem so nervous? It's just Helga after all; my stepsister. That shouldn't make me feel nervous or self-conscious or… He thought, but then frowned. Self-conscious? Am I being self-conscious? He wondered as he felt the ponytail swish on his neck. No. She said it looked good so it's fine to leave it there.
Helga plumbed down on Arnold's bed, successfully spreading some of the popcorn on the duvet, but Arnold couldn't bring himself to care. She had been there before, but it felt different for some reason. He sat nervously next to Helga on his bed, his fingers playing with some popcorn in his hands.
"Hey." Helga said and he whipped his head to look at her. She ignored her need to tease him. "That Lila girl… what's her deal?"
"Lila?" Arnold asked and his eyes widened. Did Lila say something about me?
Helga nodded. "Yeah. She looks at me in a funny way and I was just wondering if I'm the only one or something." She explained before pushing a popcorn into her mouth.
"She looks at you funny?" Arnold questioned, wondering how he had missed that if it really was true. Who knew; maybe Helga was just being paranoid.
"Yeah." She insisted and swallowed her popcorn. "It's like… she's looking at me like she's scared of me, but also wanna get to know me or something."
Arnold hummed thoughtfully. "Well… I haven't noticed, but… Lila's a really sweet girl."
"Oh, please. I don't get how any of you can stand her." Helga insisted and threw a popcorn at Arnold. "She sounds like someone who belongs at the top of a Christmas tree."
"What does that mean?" Arnold asked as he threw a popcorn back at her.
"She's an angel with a stick up her ass." Helga explained mischievously and threw a popcorn at him again. Arnold didn't know what to say to that because he knew it was kind of true, so he just threw a popcorn at her again. Before they knew it, they had started a popcorn fight. Needless to say; they didn't get much studying done that night.
It was definitely an odd feeling to see the room you had grown up in almost empty. Arnold had packed most of his belongings, all of those he wished to bring with him anyway. His grandpa had helped him, seemingly getting more used to the thought of his grandchild moving out. He always knew the day would come, just not quite like this.
After Miles and Miriam had taken them all to see the house, they all warmed up the place. Not only was the house great in itself, it was also only a two minute walk away from Sunset Arms; even Phil was looking forward to take advantage of the guest room Miles had offered his parents.
Arnold sighed melancholically as he touched his couch. He remembered how many problems he'd had with creating the proper technology so he could control everything in his room with a remote control. He hoped Miles was right when he said he could easily do the same thing in his new room.
Arnold looked up at his skylight and climbed up on the build-in ladder until he was up on the roof. His eyes noticed the piano and he chuckled when he remembered how he had thought it was terrible it couldn't get inside, but his grandma had thought it was wonderful. He walked towards the railing made of stone and leaned against it, enjoying the view. It was already close to sunset and the sky was painted in crimson and buttery colors; it was beautiful.
"Princess Football Head!"
Arnold jolted at the sound of a booming voiced from below him. He looked down, noticing a by now familiar face even though he hadn't seen it in some time. Outside school at least.
He smiled in incredulity. "Princess?" he repeated.
"You look like a crestfallen maiden waiting for her prince Charming to come and save her. I thought you liked our new house?"
"I do!" Arnold insisted. "I do…" he insisted again, this time with less reliability. Helga cocked her head to the side and noticed the fire escape. With a grin, she ran towards it. Arnold lifted his head and leaned over the railing to look what she was doing; yet he felt the need to verbally ask her.
"I'm rescuing the damsel in distress!" Helga replied dramatically as she started climbing the ladder.
"I'm not a damsel!"
"But you are in distress!" Helga retorted and Arnold didn't want to correct her. He wasn't nearly as sad as he had been when he had just been told they were moving. Helga had comforted him that day after all, which had soothed him more than he realized. He couldn't bring himself to stop her; there was a part of him that was extremely happy she was so worried for him, but he wouldn't tell her that because he knew she would deny it.
Arnold waited for Helga to reach him and when she did, she spread her arms wide. "My lady!" she bellowed and lost her footing. Arnold was quick to grab her hands though and saved her from presumably dropping all the way down to the street.
Arnold sighed in relief. "Will you please come up here?" he begged worriedly.
"What a change of heart." Helga observed as she climbed onto the roof and let go of his hands. Arnold already missed the feeling of her hands in his, but he shook it off; she was going to be his stepsister after all.
"What are you doing here anyway?" he asked as he followed her towards the railing.
"We're here to pick you and Miles up. Our parents didn't want to spend money on a truck so instead we are spending money on gas so we can drive back and forth with all our shit." Helga explained and leaned on the railing lazily.
"It's probably cheaper in the long run."
"But not more practical." The stalwart blonde retorted. She admired the view as the wind took ahold of her hair, which had been secured under her sweatshirt until that moment, and let it fly in the gentle breeze. "You do have a beautiful view here though."
Arnold didn't hear Helga; his mind had gone blank when the wind had made her hair float like that. There was a sort of unearthly beauty about her he hadn't noticed before. When she turned to look at him though, he forced himself to think that the beauty disappeared and he looked at the sunset.
Helga said Arnold's name in such a soft voice, he almost thought he had imagined it. It was the first time she had ever said his actual name, so when he looked at her, his cheeks were matching the evening sky. He was expecting some comforting words, but that's not what he got at all. She leaned closer to him, her hand landing next to his and he stilled along with the wind. This simple gesture, which he identified as something that had been meant in a soothing and sisterly way, caused his heart to flutter.
Green met blue when she leaned back with anything but an obvious smile. "You coming?" she asked and he nodded mechanically. She walked past him and he stood back for a bit as he watched her walk tranquilly in the wind. His hand moved up to his cheek on its own and the tip of his fingers could still feel the heat radiating from the place Helga's lips had kissed.
And Arnold knew right then, by the way his heart refused to stop beating, that it would take him a long time, if not eternity, to look at Helga with brotherly eyes again.
Author's 2nd note: You can choose yourself how much time passed by from the "study session" to when they were actually moving. But not like a half year, ok? xD It doesn't take that long after all, especially since it was fully furnished and everything :P
Also a fun little fact if someone think such things are funny xD I actually wrote the very last scene of this before anything else. The kiss was something spontaneous I threw in there at the whim of the moment, so to speak, and when I realized what I had just done, I thought it should be a last scene instead of the beginning xD So I had this scene written down while writing the rest xD