Fanfiction - Hey Arnold! - Trying - Chapter 3
Title: Trying
Fandom/Universe: Hey Arnold!
Character(s): Helga, Arnold
Rating: Teen
Chapters: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12
“Fuck.” He exhales the obscenity like it’s as simple as breathing. Helga is still frozen in place, but something in the back of her mind is affronted at the not-dead man’s first word to her.
She only has a moment to feel insulted, before he pushes her aside and rolls onto the ground. Then he’s on his feet, swaying just a little as he stumbles towards the kitchen. She stares at him wordlessly from the ground, still not really sure how to feel about everything that has happened so far this morning.
“Gotta…gotta move. And you can’t….” His hands are shaking as he tugs them through his wild hair. His shirt hangs loose on his torso, but she can still see hints of the body beneath. She notices, absentmindedly, that he’s no longer fifteen.
Neither is she.
“What are….” He isn’t making much sense to her, but she isn’t all that surprised. An elephant could drop into the room and she wouldn’t really be shocked at all. She’s already seeing a dead man walk.
Suddenly, he turns to look at her. Her insides begin to boil under his stare, which she returns just as forcefully.
“You weren’t supposed to be here.” He says finally.
She raises an eyebrow at him and crosses her arms over her chest. She’s still sitting on the ground by the couch, staring him down from across the room. He’s still shaking, though his hands have managed to come to an uncomfortable rest on the doorframe. Helga can feel her heart pounding in her head.
“I live here. Doi. Where else should I be?”
She notices that his breathing is getting more erratic. He’s got more than just a hand on the door to steady him now - his whole body is leaning on it for support. She gets to her feet and moves towards him.
“Whoa, why don’t you sit down or something? You look like he-“
“I didn’t know this was your house.” He whispers, before finally loosing his balance and toppling forward. She manages to keep him from smacking his head against the wooden floorboards, but he still goes down hard. He’s close to passing out again.
“Hey.” She says as she gently shakes his shoulders. “What is going on? Hey, Arn-….”
She stops.
She hasn’t said his name for three years now.
“Come on, stay awake.” She’s shaking him a little harder now. His eyes flutter open and close again. “You big stupid idiot thing. Stay awake and tell me what you meant - what you’re doing here!” She yells at him, but it doesn’t seem to do much good. He passes out again, his head resting on her knee. She sighs heavily and leans her back against the side of her coffee table.
Without really thinking, she places her hand on top of his head and brushes his hair out of his face.
His eyes twitch.
Helga contents herself with staring at the wall for the next fifteen minutes - thoughts flicker in and out of her head, but nothing stays. She feels worn out and exhausted.
She never called work to tell them she wouldn’t be able to make it in today.
Strike 24. She is most assuredly out.
“Oh well, it was a crap job anyway.” She mumbles.
“Huh?”
“Hello again, Sleeping Beauty.” She taunts (same old Helga, she thinks to herself). He blinks.
“Fuck.” He says.
“Y’know, this is not the first time you have said that to me today, Football-face. And I’ll have you know that it’s not quite as amusing the second time around.” She tells him, her hand now far from his face, resting on the ground beside her. He looks at her wearily and she finally gets her first good look at him. Once again, she thinks about how strange it is that he’s no longer fifteen - even weirder that she’s grown too. When did she get so damn old?
He makes an attempt to force himself off the ground again, but she puts her weight against his shoulders to pin him down.
“Lay down for a minute. You’re obviously still mixed up.” She says.
He glares at her and her grip on his shoulders falters.
(there’s too much hatred in his eyes for him to really be…)
“Arnold?” Her voice comes out kind of tiny and meek - it’s foreign to her, but somewhere in the back of her brain she realizes that it’s the voice she’s been using for a long time now. Too long, she thinks.
He says nothing, only uses her unsteadiness to his advantage as he suddenly sits upright. He stands once more, as shaky as before, but with a determined expression on his face. He starts a slow walk to the door.
She scrambles to her feet and runs ahead of him, thrusting her arms out across the hallway.
“Move.” He says through clenched teeth. He sways a little, but manages to keep his balance. He’s still glaring.
But Helga isn’t backing down that easy.
“Not until you explain -“ She waves her hands around. “- all of this.”
Instead, he grunts and pushes past her. The sudden movement catches her off guard. She tries to hold her ground, but it’s been years since she’s worked out and he’s stronger than he used to be.
(when the hell did they become not-fifteen?)
He gets to the door and has to steady himself for a second. She realizes somewhere in the back of her mind that he’s leaving and never ever coming back.
“I-…” But she doesn’t know what to say to make the fire deep inside her bones stop raging.
He doesn’t look at her.
“It’s better that you don’t know anything.” He says quietly. His hand is on the doorknob and shaking so bad that she thinks it might rattle the handle right off the door. “Good-bye Helga. Sorry.” And with that he throws open the door and steps onto the front step.
Helga screams as a shot rings out. Arnold dives to the ground and scrambles back inside, slamming the door shut behind him.
In one fluid movement, he lifts Helga to her feet and tugs her along after him.
“Fuck fuck fuck!” He yells, before stopping dead. He whips around to face her. She realizes then that there are tears on her cheeks. She ought to wipe them away, but she’s forgotten how to move.
“Helga,” He says slowly, begging for her to understand despite the ringing in her head. He presses a hand to her arm and it’s only then that she realizes she’s bleeding. She is bleeding and he is not fifteen or dead and she knows then that, like it or not, things are going to be changing drastically from here on out.
“We need to find another way out of here and as quickly as humanly possible. Okay Helga? Helga?” He shakes her shoulders as she stares at him through blank eyes.
Nothing will ever be the same, she thinks.
His emerald eyes are locked onto her own baby-blues when she suddenly realizes something very important.
Helga is not afraid.
a/n: Lol, longest chapter yet and the plot in my head at the beginning of this was basically: "Get Arnold to the door." Haha, awesome.
Um, also I don't really foresee this being a super fluffy story. More adventure-y than anything? But there's a lot of Helga/Arnold bonding!
Fandom/Universe: Hey Arnold!
Character(s): Helga, Arnold
Rating: Teen
Chapters: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12
“Fuck.” He exhales the obscenity like it’s as simple as breathing. Helga is still frozen in place, but something in the back of her mind is affronted at the not-dead man’s first word to her.
She only has a moment to feel insulted, before he pushes her aside and rolls onto the ground. Then he’s on his feet, swaying just a little as he stumbles towards the kitchen. She stares at him wordlessly from the ground, still not really sure how to feel about everything that has happened so far this morning.
“Gotta…gotta move. And you can’t….” His hands are shaking as he tugs them through his wild hair. His shirt hangs loose on his torso, but she can still see hints of the body beneath. She notices, absentmindedly, that he’s no longer fifteen.
Neither is she.
“What are….” He isn’t making much sense to her, but she isn’t all that surprised. An elephant could drop into the room and she wouldn’t really be shocked at all. She’s already seeing a dead man walk.
Suddenly, he turns to look at her. Her insides begin to boil under his stare, which she returns just as forcefully.
“You weren’t supposed to be here.” He says finally.
She raises an eyebrow at him and crosses her arms over her chest. She’s still sitting on the ground by the couch, staring him down from across the room. He’s still shaking, though his hands have managed to come to an uncomfortable rest on the doorframe. Helga can feel her heart pounding in her head.
“I live here. Doi. Where else should I be?”
She notices that his breathing is getting more erratic. He’s got more than just a hand on the door to steady him now - his whole body is leaning on it for support. She gets to her feet and moves towards him.
“Whoa, why don’t you sit down or something? You look like he-“
“I didn’t know this was your house.” He whispers, before finally loosing his balance and toppling forward. She manages to keep him from smacking his head against the wooden floorboards, but he still goes down hard. He’s close to passing out again.
“Hey.” She says as she gently shakes his shoulders. “What is going on? Hey, Arn-….”
She stops.
She hasn’t said his name for three years now.
“Come on, stay awake.” She’s shaking him a little harder now. His eyes flutter open and close again. “You big stupid idiot thing. Stay awake and tell me what you meant - what you’re doing here!” She yells at him, but it doesn’t seem to do much good. He passes out again, his head resting on her knee. She sighs heavily and leans her back against the side of her coffee table.
Without really thinking, she places her hand on top of his head and brushes his hair out of his face.
His eyes twitch.
Helga contents herself with staring at the wall for the next fifteen minutes - thoughts flicker in and out of her head, but nothing stays. She feels worn out and exhausted.
She never called work to tell them she wouldn’t be able to make it in today.
Strike 24. She is most assuredly out.
“Oh well, it was a crap job anyway.” She mumbles.
“Huh?”
“Hello again, Sleeping Beauty.” She taunts (same old Helga, she thinks to herself). He blinks.
“Fuck.” He says.
“Y’know, this is not the first time you have said that to me today, Football-face. And I’ll have you know that it’s not quite as amusing the second time around.” She tells him, her hand now far from his face, resting on the ground beside her. He looks at her wearily and she finally gets her first good look at him. Once again, she thinks about how strange it is that he’s no longer fifteen - even weirder that she’s grown too. When did she get so damn old?
He makes an attempt to force himself off the ground again, but she puts her weight against his shoulders to pin him down.
“Lay down for a minute. You’re obviously still mixed up.” She says.
He glares at her and her grip on his shoulders falters.
(there’s too much hatred in his eyes for him to really be…)
“Arnold?” Her voice comes out kind of tiny and meek - it’s foreign to her, but somewhere in the back of her brain she realizes that it’s the voice she’s been using for a long time now. Too long, she thinks.
He says nothing, only uses her unsteadiness to his advantage as he suddenly sits upright. He stands once more, as shaky as before, but with a determined expression on his face. He starts a slow walk to the door.
She scrambles to her feet and runs ahead of him, thrusting her arms out across the hallway.
“Move.” He says through clenched teeth. He sways a little, but manages to keep his balance. He’s still glaring.
But Helga isn’t backing down that easy.
“Not until you explain -“ She waves her hands around. “- all of this.”
Instead, he grunts and pushes past her. The sudden movement catches her off guard. She tries to hold her ground, but it’s been years since she’s worked out and he’s stronger than he used to be.
(when the hell did they become not-fifteen?)
He gets to the door and has to steady himself for a second. She realizes somewhere in the back of her mind that he’s leaving and never ever coming back.
“I-…” But she doesn’t know what to say to make the fire deep inside her bones stop raging.
He doesn’t look at her.
“It’s better that you don’t know anything.” He says quietly. His hand is on the doorknob and shaking so bad that she thinks it might rattle the handle right off the door. “Good-bye Helga. Sorry.” And with that he throws open the door and steps onto the front step.
Helga screams as a shot rings out. Arnold dives to the ground and scrambles back inside, slamming the door shut behind him.
In one fluid movement, he lifts Helga to her feet and tugs her along after him.
“Fuck fuck fuck!” He yells, before stopping dead. He whips around to face her. She realizes then that there are tears on her cheeks. She ought to wipe them away, but she’s forgotten how to move.
“Helga,” He says slowly, begging for her to understand despite the ringing in her head. He presses a hand to her arm and it’s only then that she realizes she’s bleeding. She is bleeding and he is not fifteen or dead and she knows then that, like it or not, things are going to be changing drastically from here on out.
“We need to find another way out of here and as quickly as humanly possible. Okay Helga? Helga?” He shakes her shoulders as she stares at him through blank eyes.
Nothing will ever be the same, she thinks.
His emerald eyes are locked onto her own baby-blues when she suddenly realizes something very important.
Helga is not afraid.
a/n: Lol, longest chapter yet and the plot in my head at the beginning of this was basically: "Get Arnold to the door." Haha, awesome.
Um, also I don't really foresee this being a super fluffy story. More adventure-y than anything? But there's a lot of Helga/Arnold bonding!