Author's Note: I just wanted to thank everyone who alerted, favored, and especially those who reviewed. I really do appreciate the wonderful feedback I got for the introduction.
Reunion Chapter One: Early Morning Conversations
Helga released her grip on the baseball bat and it landed on the floor next to Arnold with dull thud.
Helga and Arnold just stared at each other for a long moment; both too shocked at the other's presence to speak. Before Arnold could stop himself his eyes began wander Helga's body. The pajamas she wore were light pink capris with a dark red tank top that dipped low enough for Arnold to take a peek of her cleavage. He cursed himself silently when he wished her shirt was just a little bit lower. Finally, he tore his eyes away from Helga's cleavage and back to her face.
Helga's features became more delicate and feminine than he ever imagined they could be. One of the first she noticed was the fact she had gotten rid of the one eyebrow. Now she had two thin lines that were furred together in confusion above a pair of light blue eyes. Her lips were light pink and curved up in a small smile. Her blonde hair was lighter now and it flowed a few inches past her shoulders. She was slender, but had all the right curves in the right places.
Arnold wondered when Helga had gotten so beautiful. He supposed she had a been a cute kid, but now…He remember how pretty he thought Olga was, but now she didn't begin to compare to Helga in his eyes.
It was Helga that broke the silence between the two of them, "What the hell Football Head? Are you trying to give me a damn heat attack? Criminy." She sat on the edge of her bed looking down at Arnold, who was still curled on the ground holding his groin.
"I'm in so much pain right now." Arnold moaned. "God, you can hit." One hand left his groin touched his nose, frowning when he looked at his hand and saw blood
Helga let out an annoyed sigh, "I'll go get you some ice and a first aid kit." She got up from bed and walked past him, "Wait here." She mumbled before flipping on the lights and exiting the room.
Arnold took the opportunity to take a look around the room. He was surprised to see the blue walls were gone and was now painted a light cream color. The twin bed was gone and replaced with a queen sized bed with a light purple comforter. He looked over his shoulder when he heard Helga come back into the room. "What are you doing in my room?" He asked.
"This hasn't been your room in fourteen years bucko." Helga stated the fact as she sat down in front of Arnold, two bags of ice, a first aid kit, and some towels in hand. "It's my room now." She murmured, "Here," handing him the larger of the two bags of ice. "That is for your…" Her eyes tried not to look, but her line of vision went to his boxers. She pretended not to notice how well defined Arnold was now. "You know…" She bit her bottom lip, a light pink blush burning on her cheeks. Gently, she brought one of the towels to his nose, cleaning off the blood. She rolled his eyes when he winced, "Stop being such a big baby. You're fine." She mumbled under her breath. She paused, "So no one told you I was living here?"
"No." Arnold quickly answered as Helga held the towel up to his nose, trying to stop the bleeding. "How long have you lived here?"
"It was six years last month." Helga answered, lifting the towel to see if the bleeding stopped. It hadn't so she placed the towel back on his nose, pressing a little harder.
"Six years last month?" Arnold repeated and Helga nodded, "Just after you turned seventeen." Again Helga just nodded. "What happened?" He asked curiously.
She shrugged, "Bob and Miriam kicked me out." She told him simply, "I'm surprised no one told you."
"No one ever talked to me about you." Arnold admitted awkwardly. He wanted to ask her why her parents had kicked her out, but he sensed that she did not want to talk about that right now. He winced again when Helga pressed down a little harder on the towel. "You throw one hell of a punch." His lips curved up into a smirk, "So was that the Five Avengers or Ol' Betsy?"
"Ol' Betsy." She raised her right fist giving it a quick kiss, "She hardly ever fails me." She set down the now bloody towel and began to work on the small cut on the bottom of Arnold's nose. "How's your…" Helga trailed off as her eyes fluttered down, "Other injury?"
"Hurts like hell. You have a boney knee." He complained, "I can't believe you kicked me…"
"I woke up to some creep getting in bed with me." Helga quickly defended herself, "What did you do if some guy got in bed with you? If I knew it was you I probably would not have done it. Doi. What happened to getting here in two weeks?"
"You're right, you had no idea who got in bed with you and had to defend yourself…I'm sorry I scared you." He apologized "I had some things I need to take care of." Arnold told her, "I thought it would be nice to get settled before Gerald's bachelor party."
Before Arnold could stop himself he addressed the elephant in the room, "Are you still in love with me?" He blurted out.
Helga rolled her eyes, "Don't flatter yourself Arnold-o." She shook her head, "It has been fourteen years. Of course I'm not. Besides we were nine, love might have been too strong of word. I mean, what in the hell do nine year olds know about love?"
"You were really angry when I decided to stay." Arnold pointed out.
"Like I said, it's been fourteen years. I'm over it" She mumbled, "Besides, I was an angry kid. Not everything had to do with you." She finished up with his nose, handing him the other icepack. "You might want to ice that for a little while. Hopefully it won't bruise or be too swollen when you wake up."
"You're not angry anymore?" Arnold asked.
"Sometimes." Helga admitted. "I'm not angry as I used to be."
"So what have you been up to for the past fourteen years?" Arnold asked, holding the icepack up to his nose.
"Can we not do this right now?" Helga asked pinching the bridge of her between her thumb and index finger, "It's three-thirty in the morning. I want to go back to sleep. We can do this awkward catch up thing later."
Arnold nodded; suddenly remembering just how tired he was. "Do you know what rooms are empty?"
Helga nodded as she stood. "The one across the hall is." Arnold stood up, grabbing his jeans and shirt off the floor with one hand as he still held the icepack to his nose, "I'll grab your suitcase." She offered, seeing that his hands were full. She pulled it to the room across the halls from hers. "There are extra blankets in the closet if you need them." She told him.
"Thanks." Arnold set down his clothes on the dresser, looking around the room. It looked different. It didn't look as run down as he remembered. There was a different shade of pain on the walls and the room looked newer than it did fourteen years earlier
Helga yawned, "I'm going back to bed." She told him as she made her way to the door.
"Helga…"
"Hmmm?" Helga stopped at the door, but didn't turn to face her old friend.
"You look really good."
Helga turned to him; a blush kissed her cheeks and a shy smile on her lips. "Thanks. Who would have ever thought I'd be a real version of The Ugly Duckling."
"You were never ugly…" Arnold argued.
"Yes I was." Helga scuffed. "So do you, by the way. I mean you look good. Whatever you have been doing in San Lorenzo has been working for you." She paused, "Night Football Head."
"Really? After all these years you are still going to call me Football Head?" Arnold asked. "My head isn't even that football shaped anymore."
She shrugged with a coy smile playing on her lips, "Sorry, old habits die hard I guess. You're pretty lucky you have that football shaped head. I never would have recognized you without it. I don't know if you remember, but I'm pretty good with a baseball bat." There was another short pause, "Get some sleep." With that she left the room, closing the door behind her.
"Goodnight Helga." Arnold said the closed door as he heard the faint sound of Helga's own bedroom door opening and closing. He yawned. He really needed to get some sleep.
Arnold woke up later that morning to his stomach growling in hunger. He grabbed his watch that he had set on the nightstand next to his bed before he went to sleep. Eight thirty. He yawned, stretching before getting out of bed. He opened his suitcase, pulling out a pair of jeans and a grey t-shirt.
As Arnold exited his room he looked to the closed door of Helga's room and wondered if she was awake yet. Arnold made his way down stairs towards the kitchen, wondering where his grandparents were. He was surprised to find Helga standing over the stove cooking something in a frying pan, "Good morning." He greeted from behind her.
"Criminy!" She jumped at the sound of his voice. She whirled around to face him, "You scared the crap out of me Arnold-o! Why do you keep sneaking up on me like that?"
"Sorry." Arnold apologized with an amused smile, "I thought you heard me come in." He looked around the kitchen, "Are my grandparents up yet?"
"Phil went to the store to pick up potato chips. He should be back any minute. Pookie is still in bed. I'm making her breakfast right now." She explained. She glanced at him, "Your nose doesn't look too bad." She observed, Arnold's nose was slightly bruised and swollen, but nothing too serious.
Arnold studied Helga for a moment; taking in how effortlessly beautiful Helga looked in the morning. Her light blonde hair was pulled back into a braided pony tail. The loose fitting light blue button up shirt she was wearing made her eyes an even more intense blue. He cleared his throat, "What are you making grandma?"
"Today is Saturday, so she thinks it is the Fourth of July. She thinks that every Saturday." Helga explained sadly, turning back to the frying pan on the stove. "On the Fourth of July you baroque; so I'm making her a hamburger, Phil went to get some potato chips for the dip. I know a hamburger and potato chips aren't the best breakfast, but it's what she likes." She paused, "After I give her breakfast I'm making eggs and sausage links if you want some."
Arnold nodded, "That would be great…Do they know I'm here yet?"
Helga shook her head, "No. I figured you wanted to surprise them." She told him, flipping Pookie's hamburger.
Arnold leaned on the counter next to Helga, "Be honest with me…How much time do you think she has?"
"Honestly?" Helga asked before she swallowed the growing lump in her throat before answering, "Not long." She looked down at the hamburger sizzling in the frying pan, "Her health has really declined the past few weeks. She sleeps most of the day now."
Arnold studied the blonde for a moment, quickly realizing how sad she was about the whole situation, "You have gotten close to them, haven't you?"
She nodded, "I have…You have a really great family Arnold." She smiled, "Did you know they came to graduation? Everyone knew Bob and Mariam wouldn't be there…I didn't think anyone would be there to cheer me on when I got my diploma, but they were there. Pookie can be loud when she wants to be." Helga laughed, "They've been there for me more in the past six years than Bob and Miriam had in seventeen." She paused, "You have a really great family Arnold." She told him again.
"I do." Arnold quickly agreed. "Are any of the boarders still here from when I was here?"
"Just Ernie. Mister Hyunh moved out five years ago to be closer to Mai. Oskar and Suzie moved out just before that, after Oskar finally got a decent job." An amused smile appeared on her lips.
"Mister Kokoshka actually got a decent job? How the hell did that happen?" Arnold asked, shuttering at the memory of trying to get Oskar Kokoshka work a paper rout.
Helga laughed, "Well Suzie says I'm to thank for that one…"
Arnold raised an eyebrow, "Really? How's that?"
Helga shrugged, "I made him cry." She admitted.
Arnold chuckled, "I don't imagine that being very hard. I remember him being pretty whiney. How did you make him cry?"
"It was a little while after I moved in and I got really fed up because Suzie was constantly working overtime and Oskar was sitting on his useless ass, asking her for money and not even attempting to clean or make Suzie supper…It just really pissed me off so I yelled at him one night and called him pathetic…I guess it was the kick in the ass he needed."
"Well, good job. You achieved what I thought was impossible." Arnold looked up at the sound of the front door opening and then closing moments later. He grinned, "That must be Grandpa. I'm going to hide. Just tell him there is a surprise for him." He ran to the pantry, slipping inside before closing the door.
Helga bit the side of her cheek to prevent herself from smiling too wide. Arnold was kind of cute when he was excited. Right now he was as excited as a kid on Christmas morning.
"How's Pookie's breakfast coming along Girlie?" Phil Shortman asked as he slowly made his way into the kitchen a bag of potato chips in hand. Phil was now ninety-five had had slowed down significantly in the past couple of years.
"Almost done Gramps." Helga replied, turning off the burner. She hid her smile by turning her head, "Can you go in the pantry and get the hamburger buns?"
Phil only nodded as he set the potato chips down on the table before making his way to the pantry. Helga turned, leaning against the kitchen counter to watch Arnold's surprise for Phil. Phil jumped when he opened the pantry door to see his grandson standing there. "Arnold!" The old man pulled the young man into a hug. Phil turned to Helga, "Girlie, did you know Arnold was in the pantry?"
Helga laughed, nodding, "He wanted to surprise you."
Phil turned his attention back to Arnold, "When did you get in Shortman? You weren't supposed to be here for another two weeks."
"About three this morning." Arnold answered.
It was then when Phil noticed Arnold's bruised and swollen nose. "What happened to you?" Concern was clearly evident in his question.
"Helga punched me." Arnold answered simply. He laughed when he saw Helga scowl, shooting him a look. "It's not her fault though. I didn't know she was living in my old room." He rubbed the back of his neck, "I kind of got in bed with her. Gave her quite a scare."
Phil laughed, "Girlie has quite the right hook."
"Arnold toss me the hamburger buns, won't ya?" Helga asked, "Pookie is probably getting hungry."
Arnold searched for the hamburger buns, finding them in seconds. "Heads up." He warned as he tossed the bag to Helga. Helga quickly caught the bag and pulled out a bun, placing it on a plate.
"What do you two kids have going on today?" Phil asked both Arnold and Helga.
"Just visit you and grandma." Arnold told him, "I don't have anything else planned."
"Phoebe has another wedding dress fitting this afternoon." Helga told the two men. "Gerald and Jamie-O are going for a tux fitting at the same time." She informed Arnold. "Did you send Gerald your measurements?"
"Why don't you go with them Arnold?" Phil asked. "Surprise Gerald."
"I don't know…" Arnold paused, "I thought we could spend the day to catch up."
"We have plenty of time to do that. Pookie usually sleeps all afternoon and I usually end up falling asleep for a couple of hours."
"Gerald would be really excited to see you." Helga pointed out. "Plus then you'll know the tux will fit you and you won't look like a total idiot."
Arnold nodded, agreeing. "Okay. I'll go."
"Go bring Pookie her breakfast and I'll start ours." Helga told the men as she grabbed a carton of eggs and a package of sausage links out of the refrigerator. She threw some sausage into the same pan she just used to make Gertie's burger and got another one out for the eggs.
"Why didn't you tell me Helga was living here?" Arnold asked curiously as he and Phil walked to Phil and Gertie's room.
"I would have sworn I mentioned it." Phil told him, walking into his bedroom. "Pookie! Look who's here."
"Helga?" Gertie asked without opening her eyes.
"No. It's Arnold. Our grandson!" Phil stated loudly.
"Arnold?" Gertie opened her eyes, "Arnold's here? Oh, I've missed you." The old woman smiled brightly. "You're here just in time. It's the Fourth of July today. There will be fireworks later."
"I've missed you too Grandma."
"What happened to your nose?" Gertie asked when she noticed Arnold's bruised and swollen nose.
"Helga punched me."
Gertie laughed, "That girl has a lot of spitfire for such a little lady." She smiled, "That girl has always reminded me of me." She grabbed Arnold's hand, "I'm so happy you are here."
Helga had been dreading seeing Arnold again ever since Gerald had announced that Arnold would be his best man. The last time she had seen him she completely humiliated herself and fourteen years later she was still embarrassed by her outburst. She thought she had another two weeks to prepare herself, to slowly tare off the Band-Aid. It was probably better that he suddenly appeared in her room earlier that morning. The Band-Aid had been ripped off. It was awkward to be around him again, she was humiliated once again when he asked if she was still in love with him.
And the twenty-three year old woman she was knew was not in love with Arnold. She had been over him for years now. She knew she would hardly ever think about him if she wasn't living in his old room. It was hard not to think about him once in a while living with his grandparents. She knew just because she thought about him did not mean she was in love with him anymore. The twenty-three year old woman she was now wasn't anyway.
But the nine-year old girl that was still in the tiniest part of her brain …She still swooned at the sound of his voice.
She groaned, wondering why Arnold had to be so damned attractive.
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