A/N: Happy New Years everyone! Yeah when I said I was going to update ASAP I didn't realize that it'd mean nearly two months later. All bad lol. Sorry about that! Thanks to everyone for the support! Reviews are also greatly appreciated.

Chapter 6: Glancing into the Past, Present, and Future

Arnold found himself in the city park alone, shivering as a cold breeze passed by him. He couldn't even remember why he was here, yet alone how even got here in the first place. Anything that would've given him even the slightest hint on the reasoning behind his presence at this location was out of sight, and even more worrisome, out of mind. While the needle like sting of small flakes gently landed on his face, his eyes wandered around the snow ridden park, finding that it was completely deserted. He wasn't comfortable with that fact at all, and although crime in the city had hit an all time low, that didn't mean it didn't happen. His gut instinct told him to get home as soon as possible, and the only way he could do that was by taking the trail that went straight through the park. Fortunately for him, the city had recently introduced gas lamps that would light up the path, making it much easier, and most importantly, a tad safer, to navigate the large park. Walking forward, he traveled deeper and deeper into the lightly forested area, constantly looking over his shoulder, and listening for even the faintest sound of activity. He didn't get the impression that he was threatened, but he was sensing something else that was definitely odd.

Five minutes in and he spotted a figure sitting one of the benches that were lined out along the side of trail. Now who could still be at the park at this hour? He pondered, heading nearer towards the said person until he could hear what sounded like quiet sobs. Whoever it was appeared to be a girl, and one who was under great stress. Coming within ten feet of the female, he could recognize the red hair that came down from the girl's head, and a familiar green snow jacket and denim jeans that folded into her boots. It took him a second to register what was going on, until he realized that it was in fact who he thought it was.

"Lila?! What are you doing out here?"

Arnold ran, wasting no time to meet her. He softly grasped her shoulders, causing her to stare back up at him with watery eyes. Her sorry soft cries tugged away at Arnold's heart, and he wasn't sure how long he could take it before he broke down as well.

"Lila, what happened? Why are you crying?"

"They... they..." she managed to stutter out those words before her uncontrollable emotions inhibited her from going on.

"Who Lila? Who?"

"Arnold, I'm so sorry, I didn't... they just..." the girl covered her face with her palms.

Realizing that he wasn't going to get answers from her at this very moment, he figured all he could do now was ease whatever pain she was feeling. He wasn't going to force her to tell him what had happened; it didn't feel like it was the right thing to do.

"Shhh... Lila it's ok." he whispered as he embraced her into a tight hug. He could feel that her cheeks were ice cold when her face made contact with his chest, but her small hands clinging onto his back was warm and gentle

"Let's get you home ok?" Arnold suggested. He could feel the red-headed girl merely nod before she wiped a tear that dripped down her lightly freckled cheeks. She was shivering uncontrollably, and the fact that she was crying didn't help either. She could potentially freeze to death if she didn't keep herself warm, and Arnold knew it. Acting purely on Lila's behalf, the selfless teen took off his jacket.

"Arnold, what are you doing? It's freezing, you might get sick!" Lila exclaimed before she sniffed again. For one second she left her state of sorrow, and replaced it with a thought of concern for her friend.

"Don't worry about me, it's cold outside and I'd hate to see you catch hypothermia." He wiped her cheeks with his wool gloves, and placed his jacket on top of the one she already had on. He pulled her hood over her head, and several seconds later, she stopped shivering.

"Thanks... you didn't have to do that you know." She said softly.

"Don't mention it, now let's get out of here." Arnold replied shivering back. He was hopping Lila wouldn't notice, because he knew that even the faintest sign of him suffering would undoubtedly stress her out. Unfortunately for him, about only two minutes after he had given his jacket to Lila, he was unbearably cold, huddling his arms against his chest in a futile attempt to maintain his body temperature.

She stopped, noticing Arnold's walk slowly degenerate into a heavy shuffle. The girl turned back, realizing that Arnold wouldn't hold out much longer if he stayed out here much longer. The boy was freezing, that much was obvious. Without hesitation, Lila took off the jacket and attempted to return it back to Arnold.

"No Lila, stop." The blond firmly ordered.

"But you're freezing."

"Lila my priority if getting you home, and if you're concerned about me that much, think about it like this; the sooner you get home, the sooner I get out of the cold. Now keep the jacket on, alright?" He assured to her.

The girl nodded, putting her arms back into the jackets sleeves and using it to cover the rest of her body.

They walked together through the winter night, but the longer they were exposed to the cold, the more Arnold began to feel dizzy and uncoordinated; he wasn't going to last much longer, and he knew it. But he tried to hide that from Lila as much as possible.

"Hey Arnold, are you ok?"

"Yeah Lila, just keeping walking." he barely managed to mumble as his teeth chattered. With a jacket on he couldn't feel the cold, but now with nothing but a light thermal covering his upper body, he could feel it pierce all the way to his bones. From his estimates they were about ten to fifteen minutes away from Lila's house, which didn't make him feel any better. Under any normal circumstances it would've been an easy task to accomplish, but in the middle of a winter night, that was a different story. Arnold could feel the temperature drop further and further as the bone chilling frozen droplets of water pummeled every inch of his body. He wasn't sure how long he could take this, but he could care less about himself right now. He just wanted to get Lila home safe; something had gone terribly wrong with her and he desperately wanted to find out why.

As time progressed, Arnold began to feel weaker, until finally, he stopped shivering. He felt numb, and he couldn't even feel the cold around him anymore.

Sensing Arnold drift further behind, she looked over her shoulder. Lila gasped at the sight of seeing how pale his face had become; void of any color.

"Arnold! You're getting hypothermia" Lila instantly pulled off the extra jacket he had given her and tried to put it on Arnold. But he just stood there, slowly blacking out as the cold began to claim his body.

"We need to keep you warm." Lila hugged him tightly, hoping that her body warmth would somehow alleviate the boy from his symptoms. She held him up by placing both her hands around the side of his abdomen. "Please keep walking, we're almost there." She begged.

He couldn't respond, he was far too confused and disoriented to do that at this point. He tried to mutter something out, but nothing but slurred un-comprehensive speech came out. And then, his legs gave out, making him collapse on the ground below. Lila, who was still holding onto him, managed to break his fall, but he still hit the ground hard.

Arnold's vision faded in and out as his body slowly began shutting down. At least if he was going to die, it would be with a person he cared for even greater than almost anyone else in his life.

"Arnold!" Lila shouted. The last thing he felt was her hand on his face, then everything went black.

"HEY ARNOLD, HEY ARNOLD, HEY ARNOLD!"

Arnold nearly jumped out of his bed inhaling as much as air as possible. He was completely dazed, and for almost a minute didn't have a clue where he was. Taking deep breaths, the blond boy began to calm himself down, realizing he was still in his room, in his own bed. He brought his hands up to his face, his thoughts overacting from his dreaming experience.

He could've sworn what had just happened was real, because it sure felt like it was. He always thought that in dreams you couldn't feel a thing, but in this one, he felt everything. Arnold could recall the chilly cold, Lila's fingers tightly gripping onto his back, and even shock-waves of collapsing onto the cold hard ground. It was a dream he couldn't put in words, for it's description escaped him. The rampant emotions that surrounded him and Lila in the dream felt so surreal, but after awhile of contemplating, he regained his grip with reality.

"Oh crap!" He blurted out loud.

Speaking of Lila, he remembered that he told her he would help her and her dad move furniture today! He checked his phone; it was 10:45, and there was one text message from Lila herself.

"Hey Arnold, you're probably still sleeping but I just wanted to tell you can come after 10 today. We'll be moving around a lot of stuff so take your time!"

Damn, even though Lila told him to take his time, he still felt like he was running late. In an absolute hurry, Arnold took a quick shower, brushed his teeth, and put on a set of just washed clothes in the span of ten minutes. He ran down his stairs, catching an off-guard Phil sitting in the kitchen.

"Hey grandpa, remember that girl I was going to help move furniture today? Yeah I'm running late, and we need to get there like right now!"

"Oh that Lila girl you like? Yeah I remember, I'll take you there right now short man."

Arnold rolled his eyes, there was no point in denying it now.

After sitting through Phil's whole lecture on the physical contact that comes with intimate relationships, the car pulled up next to Lila's semi-decent looking apartment. But it was a little too late, Arnold was now traumatized hearing the gruesome details on how his grandparents MADE his father.

"Remember the birds and the bees talk I had with you." Phil firmly reminded Arnold.

The blonde boy shook his head; like that was going to happen anytime soon.

"Thanks for the ride grandpa, I'll call you when I'm ready to get picked up."

"Alright Short Man, remember not to..."

"Nothing sexual is going to happen between me and her, ok?! Geeze!"

Phil stared back bewildered, "I was going to tell you not to overlift, but ok."

Arnold grunted, waving at his grandpa as he drove away. Turning back, he was embarrassed to find that Lila was watching from the front door this whole time.

"What was that all about?" Lila questioned innocently.

"Um, nothing, just gramps being gramps." He answered back walking up the stairs into the girls apartment.

"Hmm, ok," The red-headed girl smirked mischievously. She had heard enough of the conversation to know what it was about. It was humorous and cute at the same time.. and a bit well... let's just say guys aren't the only ones with a little overactive imagination.

As they walked in, Arnold could hear shuffling and moving going on upstairs; a big step up from the one room apartment they had when she first moved into Hillwood.

"Daddy, my friend Arnold is here!" Lila shouted up to the second story of the building.

The movement stopped, replaced by the sound of heavy footsteps heading down the wooden stairs. A heavily built man emerged from the steps, creating a sense of intimidation to dawn upon Arnold. He had a height was slightly above average, and reddish-brown hair, a trait that was obviously passed down to Lila. Arnold observed Mr. Sawyer coming towards them, noting more of the similarities and differences shared between Lila and her dad. One thing that Lila's dad didn't have was his daughters light green eyes, making it all to obvious that those characteristics were acquired from her mom.

"So you're Arnold?" Mr. Sawyer said as he offered Arnold a handshake with his large hands.

Returning the handshake, the anxious boy managed to stutter out a response "Um, yes."

"Nice to meet ya' Arnold! Lila talks about you like all the time, it's pretty funny actually."

"Daddy!" Lila sheepishly frowned.

The man chuckled, "Well anyway, I'm glad you can help out Arnold. As you can see we're trying to fix this place up so it's a little more... well... presentable. Obviously it's not in the greatest in shape, but with a little work we can make it happen."

Arnold turned to Lila, who seemed to be a bit nervous about him meeting her dad. "No problem , what do you need help with first?"

Lila's dad rubbed his chin, "well like my daughter told you, there's some furniture that needs to be moved around so I can repaint the remaining rooms, so I guess we'll start there once you're comfortable with your surroundings."

The blonde boy nodded, "ok cool, let's get at it then."

"Alright, Lila can you show Arnold around the place first so he becomes familiar with it? I'm going to move around a couple of things around to in the kitchen first just to sort everything there out."

Lila nodded, and they watched as her intimidating father walked away. Just as he was just about to go into the kitchen, he stopped and glared at Lila and then Arnold, "Let me know when you're done showing him around, and remember, no funny business you two." His voice was joking, yet also dead serious. Though Mr. Sawyer was generally a nice guy, Arnold knew that if he did anything to his daughter, absolutely anything that would betray his trust, he'd be thrown out with a few broken bones in an instant.

"Um, I'll show you around upstairs first, that's where most of the work will be taking place." The girl stated hesitantly.

They climbed the steps that led up into the second floor, which then intersected straight into a small narrow hallway. It was left untouched for the moment, but there were several paint cans on the ground, foreshadowing future renovations in this section of their home. Lila led Arnold into a medium sized room that seemed to be a bit plain and outdated, having a broken old school air conditioner, a tattered shelf and desk, and a lone small mattress sitting in one of the corner walls.

"This is my daddy's room. It's not the best, but we try to manage with what we have. We'll be fixing this room last."

"Why last? It looks like it'd be the easiest to fix." Arnold asked.

Lila sighed, "Yeah... but my daddy wants my room done first so I'm more comfortable."

Arnold nodded in understanding, following Lila straight into another room. He'd always wondered what it was like to have loving parents, even if it was only one of them. Unfortunately for him, he'd never experienced having that privilege, or rather, didn't remember.

This room was a bit smaller, but seemed to be much more renovated and tightly kept. In one of the corners sat a small bed as well as a desk and a laptop. Next to the laptop were several pictures and books.

"And this is my room." Lila commented.

"It's almost, all we have to do is move in some new furniture and that's it."

Lila took a step back to show him the rest of the place when she noticed his gaze lay on a picture that showed three people; her, her dad, and her mom. There was no point in keeping it back now, she was going to have to tell him sooner or later. She walked in the room and grabbed the picture to show the boy.

"This is my mom, back before we moved in the city. We took this when I was in the third grade." She took a deep breath.

"Where is she now?"

"Two weeks after we took this picture she died because of a car accident on the way home from getting grocery stores. When we got the call, my dad wasn't sure how to respond, and all he told me was that mommy got into an accident and that we needed to get to the hospital right away. At the time I was too young to understand what was going on. I thought that she would get well soon..." The girl stared down at her feet. "They told daddy that her injuries were fatal, and that in a matter of days all her organs would fail. He was presented with two choices, let her live for a little longer and prolong her suffering, or pull the plug now and let her pass peacefully."

She glared at Arnold, her eyes full of sadness,"he went with the second option."

Lila turned away from Arnold and placed the picture frame back on the desk. Unknown to Arnold, a silent tear traveled down her cheek "She died only two days later. The decision killed my dad inside, but we knew that it was the right thing to do. There was no point in extending her pain."

Lila sighed, staring out at her window.

"After she died my dad wasn't the same. He used to spend weeks at the bar trying to cope with the loss of my mom, but it wasn't enough. My dad never did once lay a hand on me, but I do remember those nights where he would call up some relatives to watch me over the night, just as a precaution. He tried to shelter me, protect me from his new founded addiction, but eventually it got out of hand. He stopped maintaining the farm we had, and eventually it was placed under foreclosure." The red-headed girl paused momentarily, "and that's when me and my daddy moved to the city in search for a job. It was tough at first, but eventually we adjusted. I always pictured the city as a place that was cruel and nasty, but it's not that bad, especially with people like you Arnold."

Lila gently placed her hand on his shoulder. "You're a great friend Arnold, I hope you realize that." She made direct eye contact with him, her gaze hypnotizing the boy into almost willing submission. Unconsciously, their faces drew closer and closer, until their lips were only inches apart. The blonde boy couldn't believe this was happening. This is it Arnold, don't screw things up this time. But fate had other plans.

"Lila! Are you done showing Arnold around the house? I could use some help down here!" Her dad shouted, interrupting their little moment. Lila pulled away simultaneously and blushed.

"Um, yes daddy. We'll be down there in a bit!"

She smiled sheepishly at Arnold, "Um, I guess, we um- yeah." She stuttered uncontrollably before she finally managed to produce a coherent sentence, "let's head downstairs yeah?"

Arnold agreed, following her lead.

Damn it, if it's not me me screwing up things it's something else! Why can't things just go perfectly for once?

It was already three o'clock in the afternoon, and well, it turned out Arnold was getting more than he bargained for when he offered his assistance to the Sawyer family. Hours of nonstop furniture moving, and they still weren't even finished with the renovations. There was still the paint job that needed to be addressed, and that was easier said than done. Arnold was alone with her dad, an awkward situation to say the least. They hadn't said much to each other really, especially since both of them were nearly exhausted.

They were finishing the preparations required to paint the next day when Lila's dad broke the silence. "So how's my daughter doing in school? She ok?"

Arnold paused what he was doing, "Um. Yeah, she's getting good grades and all."

Mr. Sawyer smiled, "of course, she's a smart girl." his mood dimmed down, "she takes it after her mom. You know things haven't been easy ever since... has she told you?"

Arnold nodded.

"Well that's a first, she's never talks to anybody about it." Lila's father said, making direct made direct eye contact with Arnold. "She must've seen something in you that made her trust you that much."

While it was a widely accepted fact that Lila was perhaps the most kind person in school, it was also well-known that she hardly talked to anyone about her family past. It took a minute for Arnold to realize that what Lila had told him about her mom almost nobody else knew. She trusted Arnold enough to open up to him, and he was hoping he'd never do anything to betray the trust that she had bestowed upon him.

"Daddy, I'm done moving all the boxes." Lila interrupted, entering into the room.

"Alright, well I guess that's it for today guys. Arnold, if you can, come by tomorrow. We just need to paint the place and it's finished." Then he turned to Lila.

"You can go ahead and take my daughter out for a couple hours, I'll finish moving the rest of the furniture."

Lila was shocked that her dad was allowing her to go out with a boy he just met. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, just be back before it gets too dark."

Arnold was about to speak up when Mr. Sawyer spoke again, almost as if he read his mind. "Yes Arnold, it's totally fine. Now hurry up before I change my mind."

Her dad was practically giving him the opportunity to spend time with Lila, and he wasn't going to say no to that.

"Um ok, thanks Mr. Sawyer, I'll bring her back soon."

The built man nodded. "Remember, no funny business you two!"

They had no idea what to do, especially since they had nothing else planned besides refurbishing the old apartment. Lila didn't expect her dad to make such a rash decision, but apparently he had trusted Arnold enough to take out his only daughter. She wasn't sure how, but her father had a trait, almost a sixth sense, that gave him a hunch about someone's character. There was no way he would've let his only daughter out with a stranger he was getting a bad vibe out of. It wasn't that she didn't want to hang out with Arnold, it was just odd how her dad let a boy he'd just met take her out.

"So... you figure out anything to do?" Arnold questioned, breaking the awkward silence that lingered between them.

The two were walking in the city's main park, observing the every so often jogger pass by them, and the occasional family picnic on the neatly kept lawns. Arnold suddenly remembered something; he'd had a dream in this very place, except it was during a cold winter night. Now he was no believer in the supernatural, but there was something about that dream that stuck to him, enough to make him ask a question relating to it.

"Hey Lila, have any dreams last night?"

The red-headed girl lowered her brows, her eyes going down then back up glaring directly at him. "Um no Arnold, why do you ask?"

Arnold rubbed the back of his head. The question did come out a little awkward, if not creepy.

"Err.. um... just asking."

Lila chuckled, "well, are you sure? I don't know about you but I believe that dreams truly mean something."

"Really? And what's that?" Arnold asked.

"Well, of course there's the rational side of the argument claiming that dreams are nothing more than a bunch of random information that our brain puts together," Lila stared towards the sky, "but I believe dreams reveal something about us, reveals things that we wouldn't otherwise notice about ourselves in the waking world."

Now that was interesting, he didn't expect Lila to expand the conversation on the topic.

"Do you also think that..." He was trying to find a way to phrase what he was about to say to not make him seem crazy, "that maybe dreams could tell us something about the future?"

Arnold was expecting Lila to take him as a complete nut-head when the words slipped out of his mouth, but the exact opposite happened.

"Possibly, I mean, there are just somethings science has yet to fully explain. We live in a very rational minded world, and I don't have anything against that; I think it's a wonderful thing. But sometimes I feel that it makes us cynical and cold, because at the same time, it sort of makes us lose that magical connection we have with the world."

He couldn't have agreed more. Her worldview astounded him, but he knew better than to expect anything less from the young girl. A brief silence fell between the two friends, but Arnold didn't really mind. Just her presence was enough for him. They stood for what seemed like hours, but in reality, was only a couple minutes. Lila glared at Arnold, asking something that he found a bit odd.

"Hey Arnold, this is a bit awkward but..." the blonde boy listened to her intently, anticipating her next words, "but did you ever like-like Helga?"

Now that was a complete shocker. Arnold didn't see that coming at all. He thought about it for a minute, finally coming up with a plausible answer.

"In all honesty, no." he sighed, "I mean, there were times where I thought that perhaps me and her had some potential, but she always seemed to distance herself away from me, like I was some sort of freak."

Lila listened intently, making sure she heard every little single detail.

The blonde boy sighed, "I know Helga is a sweet girl underneath under all that thick armor, but even then, I just don't think me and her would ever work out."

"Are you sure that's really why you didn't like Helga?" Lila asked unexpectedly.

Arnold glanced into the girls' eyes for a split second before he unconsciously stared up at the sky. He was trying to formulate another answer that would sound convincing, but anything that would sound even remotely so was escaping his mind. Now of course Arnold was partially telling the truth, but that wasn't the primary reason he dismissed any possible intimate relationship with Helga. He knew that if he really tried, him and Helga could work out, but that isn't where he wanted his future to be. He wanted to be with someone else.

Arnold desperately tried to escape her unrelenting gaze, but he had to answer eventually.

"Yeah." He muttered, locking eye contact with Lila. She nodded nonchalantly, somewhat unsatisfied with his answer. Lila knew that wasn't the whole story, but she had to settle with his response. She gazed passed Arnold, and for a second she swore she could spot a familiar blonde girl staring at them from across the street. She blinked, and when she looked towards the same direction, found that no one was there.

Lila shook her head, catching Arnold's attention.

"Um, is there something wrong Lila?" He questioned suspiciously.

"Oh, nothing wrong Arnold. Don't worry about it."

"You sure?"

"Yes, I'm fine." She smiled back sheepishly.

Arnold shrugged, "Alright, just checking."

Luckily for her, he didn't insist on interrogating her further. But either way, she knew her little hallucination was more than just her mind being hyperactive. It reminded her how in the eyes of Helga, she was stealing the boy she claimed to be in love with. She felt guilty for a multitude of reasons, and she knew sooner or later she'd have to deal with this issue.

But how Lila would manage that, remained a complete mystery. The options on the table were running out, and she knew that in the future she would have to make a choice between keep a friendship, or going into a relationship.