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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
- 15
- 16
- 17
Helga woke with a crick in her neck and the sun in her face. She groaned, twisted her face into the pillow…

… hold on… pillow?

She cracked an eye open an peered around the room. She was in the lounge, where she had obviously fallen asleep the night before. But when she had finally succumbed to sleep, she had just been leaning up against the arm-rest, with her reading blanket over her legs.

Now two of the pillows from her bed were cradling her face, and her down comforter was tucked in around her…

Arnold. It had to be… no one else would tuck her in to bed… he must have finally come home after she had passed out from exhaustion. She snuggled down beneath the duvet, unwilling to face the world just yet…

The previous evening had been a nightmare. Amy had been wrong when she thought Mark was coming around the back. What he was actually doing was running from the police sirens. Lord knows why he didn't drive, but when the cops caught up with him, forty minutes and thirteen blocks later, he had attacked one of them, screaming threats and obscenities.

He'd ended up with a face full of pepper spray.

Apparently he'd been drunk. Shitfaced, as one of the cops had put it, and probably on other drugs too… but they would need to do a drug test to confirm that.

Nina had been oddly OK with the entire fiasco. After Arnold left, and the police had had a little chat with her, she had dampened a tea towel and wiped Mark's blood from Lucy's face. Just like she'd seen Helga do earlier… it was a little cute, but mostly disturbing. A policeman gave her the number for a good child therapist… but Helga wondered if Dr. Bliss was still practicing…

She sighed. Her poor little girl.

The clinking of crockery in the kitchen caught her attention. It was early, the sun was just shaking off the soft sideways slant of dawn. Ithad to be Arnold.

Feeling weirdly calm, she threw back her comforter – wincing when she put pressure on her cut finger - and put her feet on the floor.Tssss. It was cold. Where were her slippers? She was sure she had still been wearing them the night before…

… of course. They had been taken off her feet, and were sitting on the carpet next to the sofa. Her stomach trembled. I don't want to leave this house.

She pulled the sweater she was wearing tight around her shoulders as she padded into the kitchen – being careful of her finger this time. It seemed colder than usual this morning… or maybe she was just cold inside.

He was standing at the coffee maker, in his track pants and sweatshirt… exactly like she had seen him a thousand times before. But this wasn't those times… this could possibly be the last time she would ever see him like this.

She took a deep breath, bit her lip. She needed to keep herself collected.

"Arnold?" Her voice cracked as she said his name out loud.

He turned to look at her, smiled. "Morning. Coffee?"

She just stood there, dumbfounded. He didn't wait for an answer, but put the pot back on the warming plate and pressed in the orange button. Moving about the kitchen, he pulled two mugs from the mug cupboard, and the bowl of sugar with its crocheted cover from the tea cupboard…

This is too normal. She didn't know what to do. She had been expecting… well, she didn't know what she had been expecting, but something other than ordinary.

Once he had everything lain out for their coffees, he turned to face her, his head cocked slightly to the side as he looked her up and down. "So… big night last night, huh?" A smile quirked up the side of his mouth.

"Oh Arnold…" she groaned. "Your face…" She stepped forward. Her hands itched to reach up and touch him, but she jammed them under her arms. His poor face. His nose was still swollen, although not crooked anymore. Dark bruises smudged under both his eyes, swelling them slightly so he looked like a strange, sad caricature of himself. She bit her lip. Don't cry, stop being at the centre of alldrama!

He just kinda shrugged, reaching up to touch at the bridge of his nose, before flinching… He didn't say anything though… just looked at her…

She shuffled a bit. Suck it up… just ask… She drew in a breath. "Do you want us to leave?" Her voice was rushed, husky… she didn't sound how she had wanted to, she didn't sound matter-of-fact and together… she sounded hurt.

He frowned, pushing himself off the bench to close the gap between them with one step. "No!" He looked angry again, she instinctively leaned back… "Shit." He sighed, his shoulders slumping, his face crumpling. "Damn it, Helga! Why do you say things like that? Why onearth would you think I want you to go?"

She shrugged, keeping her eyes focussed on the middle of his forehead, too nervous to meet his gaze. "You were so angry… and I've caused all of this…" she gestured to his face, unable to explain herself properly now that he was right here. She couldn't think, couldn't get her sentences straight when he seemed so mad. It did something to her, froze her…

He put his hands on her shoulders. She stiffened. This is the first time he's touched me since New Years… "I'm sorry for snapping at you last night… but I wasn't angry at you… I was angry at him… and me…" He squeezed her shoulders a little. "I want you to stay. OK?"

It was all too much. She felt her chin wobble as she tried to sniff back her tears. She nodded, too close to crying to reply… His eyebrows drew together, his eyes widening as though he was in pain. "Shit, Helga…" His breath seemed weirdly shallow. "I don't know what to do here!" He stared at her for a second… his eyes searching her face. "Can I hug you? Is that OK?"

She nodded. Please.

His arms pulled her in to him, mushing her face into the front of his sweatshirt. His hands wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her in tight, gripping at the top of her arms. Her breath shuddered as she tried to inhale. "What can I ever do to thank you?" She asked, her question muted against his chest.

She felt his chest rumble as he chuckled. "I dunno… dinner sometime?"

She shook her head, stray hairs rubbing against her face as she moved against the cotton of his top. How could he be so casual? He had taken a fist to the face for her… a dinner wasn't going to cut it. "Somehow I don't think a few lasagnes could ever make up for what you've done for us."

He rumbled again, his fingers tensing for a second. "No… I mean…" She could hear the whoosh of air rushing into his lungs as he drew in a deep breath. "let me take you to dinner… on a date…"

She felt herself tense up… "This is a joke, right?" She spat, reacting purely on instinct.

He sighed, his fingers loosened slightly. "If you're not interested, you can just say so." He sounded… sad… and a little fed up.

She pulled back to look at him. "Wh-why?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. He had this weird look on his face, like he was about to laugh, but also strangely sad… "Why… am I asking you out?"

She nodded.

"The usual reasons?" He squeezed her arms a little. "You do know why people date, right?" He was teasing her… and she had no idea how to react.

Her head was reeling… this was all just too much to take it. After the tension of the night before, and the relief of this morning… thenthis? She had never felt so stupid in her life. She just stared.

He closed his eyes. She took the opportunity to study his face… bruised as it was, he was still beautiful… "I like you." He breathed. "And sometimes I get the feeling you like me too…"

"You don't like me." She gasped, her disbelief plain in her voice. "Since when have you liked me?"

He paused for a second, his eyes cracking open to look at her. "I'm not sure… it kinda snuck up on me."

"But… you never said anything…" Yeah, well you never said anything either, did you? Just say yes! Why are you stalling? But she was scared… that weightless feeling was surging in her stomach, like in the few moments before you flung yourself down a massive flying fox. She needed to gather her courage.

The look on his face was incredulous. "I kissed you!" His voice was soft, but completely stunned. "And you yelled at me… I just figured you didn't want…" he trailed off… sighed… "Did you really not get it?"

She shook her head.

The smile returned to his lips. "And I thought I was being way too obvious..."

"Why now, then?" She couldn't help but ask pointless questions. She couldn't help but drag the moment out a little longer. Fear, as well as excitement, danced through her veins.

He looked at her for a second before he answered. His eyes had always been so beautiful… such a clear green… something inside her snapped into place. This was Arnold… her Arnold. She knew what she wanted, she knew who he was. She didn't have to freak out the way that she was.

Sure. This was the thing she had wanted desperately for almost all of her life… if it didn't work out, it would crush her… But she was Helga G. Pataki… and as lame as that sounded, she knew what it meant. She was brave. She wasn't a little girl anymore, afraid of being teased. The person she wanted, wanted her back, and she wasn't going to let that pass.

"I may have told Phoebe everything…" He admitted, his cheeks reddening a little. "She seemed to think I should try again… but not to… uh… spring anything physical on you."

"Last night?" She groaned at herself when she asked more questions… but this one was genuine. She knew she'd have to talk to lawyerPhoebe today.

He nodded. "She drove me home… she came inside to see if you were OK, but you were already asleep."

She felt a smile tremble at her lips. "Thanks for the pillows…" she breathed. Her heart fluttered in her chest. Of course he likes you, you moron! Look at what he does for you!

"My pleasure. I didn't want to wake you… after everything…" He trailed off again, his gaze roving over her. Her heart hitched, just like it had before he had kissed her on New Years. He had that same look on his face. How had she been so blind? How had she ever thought that kiss had been platonic?

"OK." She whispered. Answering a question that had been asked minutes before.

His eyebrow twitched up. "OK?" Oh god… his voice. She had always loved his voice. Soft and husky… and now it was full of question… of anticipation.

She nodded. "Yes… I… would love to go out with you."

He blinked, his face running through a hundred emotions before he just sort of collapsed. His arms pulled her into his chest again and he bent his head to rest his cheek on her head… his long, relieved sigh huffed through her hair. "Tonight?" He asked.

It was her turn to chuckle. "I can't leave Nina with a sitter after last night…" She let her arms drop from where they were crossed between them, and gripped his sweatshirt in her fingers. "Friday?" she asked, breathing in the scent of him. God it felt good to be this close.

He groaned. "I suppose I can wait two days…" he sighed… "I've waited this long."

She giggled. Waited this long? You have no idea, Bucko.
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Dependents