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Dependents	By : DancingBear Category: +G through L > Hey, Arnold! Views: 6471 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold, nor any of the characters. I do not, and will not make any money from this story. (Original creator: Craig Bartlett)

Chapter List
- 1-Dependents
- 2-Lean
- 3-Steep
- 4-Long
- 5-Hold
- 6-Slouch
- 7-Arch
- 8-Turn
- 9-Fall
- 10-Drop
- 11-Gift
- 12-Balk
- 13-Spill
- 14-Pay
- 15-Scrap
- 16-Warm
- 17-Sink
- 18-Stoke
- 9
- 10
- 11
"Honey, I'm home."
Helga glanced up from where she was curled into the sofa. Arnold was standing in the doorway, silhouetted in the light from the hall.She slapped her book shut. "Ah, the man of the house returns." She smiled.
He slouched across the room, dropped down onto the couch next to her and sighed heavily, closing his eyes and dropping his head back.
Helga frowned a little, his eyes were ringed in dark smudges. "Long day?" She asked gently, he looked so tired.
He nodded.
"Have you eaten?" She knew he often skipped lunch on a busy day, and it was pretty late now, after nine at least… he shook his head. "I made lasagne, do you want some?"
He sunk further into the cushions, letting out a low kind of moan. "That would be amazing." He groaned. He made a feeble attempt to push himself up from the sofa, but Helga stood before he even opened his eyes.
"I'll get it… you look shattered. Do you want anything else?"
"You're so good to me." He yawned. "Lasagne is more than enough."
Helga doubted he'd even be awake when she brought him his dinner. She pottered around, heaved a chunk of lasagne from the baking dish, stuck it in the microwave. He must have had a bad day at work, from the looks of him. She'd seen him after long days a couple of times, when people had gone ballistic over having their animals seized, or he's had to deal with a particularity bad case of animal abuse. She wandered out and stuck her head into the lounge "You want a beer or wine or something?"
He hummed, opened his eyes. "If there's anything left in that bottle of red we opened last night? That would be awesome."
He opened his eyes again when she set his plate and wine glass on the coffee table. He struggled to sit upright. "Thanks so much Helga," he picked up his fork, "this smells so good."
Helga let him eat, pulling her blanket back over her legs to keep reading while he finished his meal. He made appreciative noises, but just kept shovelling the food into his mouth. She watched him out of the corner of her eye, he acted like he was starving, he mustn't have eaten since breakfast.
Dammit, I'm not his mother! She turned away, focussed on her book.
Eventually, he set his cutlery down with a sigh and settled back into the sofa. "That's so much better. I owe you one, Pataki." He smiled.
"My pleasure." She closed her book again, shuffled a bit to face him.
"How was Nina's first day back at school?"
"Exciting? She was the centre of attention all day. Maddy even brought her in a cupcake… and the whole class had made her a card."
Arnold chuckled. "Little Miss Popular, huh?"
Helga grinned. "Totally…" They smirked at each other, obviously each thinking along the same lines… nothing like her mother.
"What are you doing for Christmas?" Arnold's eye were closed again, he smothered another yawn.
"Uh, I dunno. Probably go to Miriam's. I haven't really thought about it."
"It's only two weeks away!" Arnold cracked an eye open to convey his incredulous disappointment with Helga's lack of festive spirit.
She shrugged. "I've got some stuff for Nina. I'll do something. Why, what are you up to?"
He smiled. "I'm going over to the Johanssen's for lunch. But I thought if you were around, we could try get some people together for a dinner, or a party, or something?
"Sounds good. Is Gerald coming into town?" I am so getting Phoebe to come over.
Arnold nodded. "Yup. Oh, and Tania and Dave are moving out next week."
Helga blinked. "That's sudden. Where are they going?"
"They got funding for their film… they're gonna store their stuff at her mum's house and live out of a van for a year."
Helga groaned. "Sounds like paradise." She sighed. "Lucky bastards."
"Indeed."
They fell into silence. The house was quiet, the street outside was still, the only light on in the room was the old standard lamp Helga was sitting under. The radiator hissed against the wall, warming the air in that dusty way radiators have. Helga found herself getting sleepy.
She yawned, wriggled. She knew she should go up to bed, but was tempted just to pull her blanket up and go to sleep on the sofa. Glancing over at Arnold, she found his eyes on her.
No matter how often that happened, it always did something to her. She managed a shaky smile. His mouth twitched up, before he sighed.
"Rose and I broke up." He said bluntly, his eyes falling from hers.
Helga's brain blipped. This is not good. Jesus. She didn't like it. She didn't like it at all. Her first, instinctive reaction was one of terror. Arnold being with Rose was the nice big roadblock she had to stop her from doing something stupid. Sure, now she didn't have to see them together, or hear them… but single, he was eligible, but still not hers. She swallowed.
"Are you OK?" Lamest question ever. This explained the bags under his eyes.
He shrugged. "Yeah… I mean, all break-ups suck, right?"
She couldn't disagree with that. She nodded. "What happened? Uh, if, you know, you wanna talk about it?" She still wasn't any good attalking about stuff.
He was chewing at his bottom lip. "I dunno… it just…" he took a deep breath. "She wanted to get serious…" His eyes flicked to hers. "She said she kept seeing me with Nina, and thought I'd be a good dad, and wanted… uh… you know… to start thinking about that stuff." He swallowed.
Oh. Helga could relate. "Well… she's not wrong, you would be a good dad." She tried to smile. "You don't want kids?"
"No, I mean, it's not that. I do want kids… I just…" he frowned. "I just couldn't see myself having them with her." He finished in a rush, his cheeks turning pink.
"Oh." She breathed. Poor Rose.
He made a strangled kind of noise. "I feel like such an asshole." His eyes were squeezed shut. Helga went to say something consoling, but he continued. "I just… she's sweet and pretty and everything… there wasn't anything wrong with her, with, uh, us." He sighed again. She let him think about what he was saying… it sounded like he was trying to convince her, but she knew he was just figuring it out in his own head. "But it wasn't right, either… you know?"
Helga nodded.
"Shit." He grimaced.
Helga leaned over and put her hand experimentally on his knee. He looked at her. Awkward. She tried to smile… Jesus, why am I such a spaz? She just managed to stop herself from flinching when he let his head drop onto her shoulder.
"Do you think I did something stupid?" His question was soft, it tugged at her heart. Instinctively, she reached up and smoothed back his hair in the exact same motion she used to sooth Nina… but with Arnold, she was acutely aware of her palm brushing his brow. She gaped at herself… why was she touching him?
"No." She stated softly, but firmly. "Not at all." And she was telling the truth. Putting her own conflicted, messed up feelings aside, she recognised that Arnold had done the right thing, that leading Rose on would have been cruel.
"I dunno. How many girls like that are gonna want to get serious with a guy like me?" Helga had never heard him talk like that before. She had no idea what to say.
"A guy like you?" She parroted stupidly.
He huffed, rolled his head from her shoulder and back onto the sofa. "I dunno. I don't have heaps of money. I don't have masses of ambition. I'm happy just living here and working at the shelter…" he pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes. "I've got a football head…" He peeked at her, teasing her.
She didn't know what to say. Arnold had insecurities? She found it hard to get her head around… not only because he was so happy all the time, but he was just such a singular person. She couldn't imagine being so good, and not feeling good about yourself.
Say something! She yelled at herself. But don't say too much. She leaned her head into the back of the couch. "I wish you could hear yourself." She shook her head. "You might not be loaded, but you aren't destitute. You don't have ambition because you aren't greedy, you're happy." She found her voice coming out stronger, harsher than she meant it to. She tried to soften it. "You love your job because you do good, you help the vulnerable." She didn't know how to put into words how amazing he was, without giving too much away. "You're a really, really good person. Any woman would be lucky to be with you." That was generic enough to not be too revealing, right? And it was true.
He chuckled. "You make me sound like a saint."
"If the shoe fits…" She smiled.
His hand reached out and touched her leg, just the tips of his fingers pressing against her thigh through the blanket. She gulped. "Sorry for putting this on you… I know I needed to break up with her… It just feels shitty."
She nodded. Yup. She knew what that felt like. She still cringed when she thought about Brainy, even after all these years. She'd broken the poor guy's heart… but she'd never meant to. "Anytime, Shortman."
He smiled, hefted himself up and gathered up his plate. "You want a cup of tea?"
… She spat the last of her toothpaste out into the sink. It was late, almost midnight. She was going to be tired in the morning. She rinsed her hands and made her way out of the bathroom, flicking the light off on the way.
"Nite Helga." Arnold was just outside the door, giving Helga a heart attack as he padded silently across the carpeted floor.
"Jesus, don't sneak up on me like that!" She admonished, but she was grinning.
"Can't help it if I have a certain cat-like grace." He huffed, holding his chin high. She laughed.
"Yeah yeah… whatever you say Arnoldo. G'nite." She beamed. She made to move off, but his hand came out, touched her wrist.
"Hey, uh… thanks… for listening to my bellyaching before." He was blushing again.
She shook her head. "Somehow, I think that you beat me in the altruism stakes… taking me and Nina in and all…" she raised an eyebrow. Arnold stepped closer, too close. "Least I can do is lend an ear when you're less than happy." She forced herself not to ramble.Too close too close…
"Shut it, Pataki." He smiled, before wrapping his arms around her shoulders and tugging her against him for a hug.
She fought herself. Part of her wanted to shove him away. How dare he touch her without her permission? But then, part of her wanted to slide her hands around him, to push herself hard up against his skinny ribs. She could smell him, all clean and homely smelling. Shereacted when she was this close to him… she couldn't help it.
She forced her hands up, patted him on the back. That was weird. She didn't know if she could feel any more awkward. He pulled back, his fingers came up, brushed her cheek as he pushed a lock of hair away from her face.
Now I know how deer feel, just before they're run over. She was terrified.
"I'm glad you turned up here, you know." His smile was gentle. "You're over your whole imposing thing?"
She nodded. She thought of the Sunset Arms as home… more of a home than Bob's house had been. Far more of a home than the little unit she had with Mark had been.
"Good." His smile twitched, like he was stopping himself from laughing. He let her go. "Thursday tomorrow. You want a ride into work?"
She stood there, feeling like someone had pulled a carpet out from underneath her feet. How did people hug all the time? Did no oneelse feel what she was feeling right now? "Uh, yeah. That'd be good."
"Done. Nite." He turned and went into the bathroom.
"Nite." She managed to spit out. She retreated into her bedroom, seeking the relative comfort of her bed. She tugged the blankets up, tucking them in around her feet, cocooning herself. She hated that a hug, such a small action, something normal people could do without thought, had such a massive impact on her. She hated that she couldn't feel settled around him… that he did such strange things to her stomach.
Every time she felt like she had a handle on herself, he took her breath away.
- 9
- 10
- 11
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Dependents