Chapter Text
Helga put her head in her hands.
Anna kept tugging on her arm.
"Mommy, i want ice creaaam...."
"Not right now, Anna."
Anna was her daughter, 5 years old.
Usually she was pretty cute, but right now Helga had other things on her mind and her daughter's whiny voice was grating on her last nerve.
Helga had gotten the divorce papers today.
The papers made it feel so... final. Her husband had moved out, and she wasn't going to miss him.
The only person Helga really missed was, well...
"Hey, Helga."
Helga raised her head in shock at the voice she knew so well.
"FOOTBALL HEAD?!" She yelped, shooting up.
She hadn't seen him in, oh, 11 years at least. And suddenly, there he was. Just standing right in front of her.
He still had the same football head, and he was still wearing his stupid blue hat. did he never take it off?!
His hair had kind of grown but it still stuck up like he had it blow dried or something.
He had some nerdy clothes on and was grinning at her like he expected her to come running into his arms at the sight of him, or something.
"Is it alright if i buy your daughter some ice cream? she really seems to want some."
"Who's he?"
Anna whispered, in a little-too-loud whisper that everybody in the park could hear.
"Anna, this is my old.... acquaintance, Arnold."
"Acquaintance?" He wrinkled his nose at the word, like it was some foul being.
"Yeah, acquaintance. You WEREN'T my friend, Football Head."
"I'm glad you still remember me, Helga."
"Nobody could forget a head like that." Snide comments. Nice. Right back to 11 years ago.
"Yeah, thanks."
He rolled his eyes.
"It's not THAT big."
"Can i have ice cream now?!" Anna yelled.
Arnold smiled hopefully at Helga.
"Yeah sure, Football Head. take her. Don't give her anything with strawberries in it, she's allergic."
"Just like you.." Mumbled Arnold, and took Anna's hand.
They walked down to the ice cream man, and Helga could see Arnold laughing with her daughter.
Helga suddenly realized she had just let her daughter go off with a man she hadn't seen in over 11 years.
He could have become some kind of psychopath.
But as she watched him lift Anna up so she could pay for the ice cream, (Helga hadn't even given him any money, to top it off he was waltzing in and paying for her daughter right off the bat,) She knew he would never do anything to harm Anna.
Helga sighed.
He really was her true love.
She didn't know how she ever managed to live without him.
"So, do you think you could show me your place?" asked Arnold, and Helga glared at him.
The ice cream was almost gone, and the last few minutes had gone by painfully slow, with awkward small talk from Arnold and Helga skillfully avoiding his prying, nosy, do-gooder questions.
"Not a chance in he-" She started, but was cut off by her daughter.
"Pleeeassee, Mommy?"
Anna tugged her skirt again.
Helga sighed.
"Fine. As long as it keeps you happy."
Anna jumped for joy.
"YAY!"
Arnold talked to Anna the whole ride home, about her school, and her friends, and what she liked doing.
Helga sighed and focused on the road, not on Arnold.
He was just an... acquaintance. From her past. It struck her how odd this was. How odd they were. They had just picked up right where they left off? Helga knew Arnold had probably changed.
When Arnold stepped into her house, Helga was made aware of how crumby it looked.
She lived in an apartment, an old, run down, cracked and faded at the edges apartment.
A small TV in front of the worn out couch was directly on the left as soon as you walked into the door.
Helga was just glad that it was a first floor house, she wouldn't be able to live if she had to walk up stairs or take an elevator every day. And she couldn't complain too much, at least there was a small fenced in yard.
The renters living above Helga were never much in the yard, and Anna had filled it with her things. Most of the time the other tenants were old ladies that loved watching Anna play outside, so they never objected to the Patakis taking the whole yard.
Helga had bought the apartment. She at the very least wanted Anna to grow up knowing that she did have a solid house, (albeit a small one.)
But she was made painfully aware of how awful it looked when Arnold walked in. He took a look around, and opened his mouth to say something, but then Anna was pulling him into her room to show Arnold.
Helga went to her own room and tried to forget that HE was right in the next room.
As the afternoon went by, Arnold entertained Anna by playing dolls with her, while Helga packed up the last box of her former husband's stuff.
Arnold was busy entertaining, so he didn't question her.
Once Anna was down for a nap, however, he had a million questions for her.
"What's that? Are you moving away?"
He kept asking stupid things, and finally Helga got fed up.
"just GO away, Arnold! get OUT of my house!"
She slammed the door to her room, leaving Arnold in the hallway.
He came in anyway.
What a nosy-
"Helga, can i talk to you?"
"Sure, but i'm not listening."
She was lying on her bed, and Arnold sat on the corner of it.
Arnold sighed as he looked at her. He appeared deep in thought, or just trying to form a question.
"Who's the dad?"
Helga glared at him.
"I SAID, football head, you can talk to me, but i'm not listening and i'm not answering any questions."
Arnold stared at the ceiling for a while.
"Fine."
Helga sighed.
"I'll talk about myself, then."
Helga rolled her eyes.
Who did he think he was, anyway? Barging into her house like he just belonged there. Man, if she wasn't so in love with him, she'd have to have a serious talk about personal space.
"I broke up with Lila a few months ago, because she really didn't ever like-like me. and i think she was seeing another man while we were dating."
Helga snorted.
"I moved back to Hillwood last month, to see if anyone i knew still lived here."
Arnold folded his hands.
"And i found you."
Helga jumped up from her bed.
"WHAT is this leading to, Arnold?! i don't have time for you!"
Arnold gave her a weirded out look.
"It looks like you're just lying there."
"FINE! I have to go into court and get my divorce papers settled, OKAY? Are you HAPPY?! You've pried into my personal life, and-"
Arnold mouth tugged up into an apologetic smile.
"QUIT IT!" Screamed Helga.
"Quit what?"
"Your stupid... THING! that you do! That always makes me wanna tell you everything! Just GO AWAY!"
"What am i doing, Helga?" He looked amused and she hated him.
"I DON'T KNOW!"
Arnold was smiling more now.
"I can do that to you? make you want to tell you everything about yourself?"
Helga stopped screaming and gave him a glare that could silence the earth.
"GET. OUT."
Arnold grinned at her and started to walk out of the room.
Then he stopped and turned around, the smile gone.
"I'm sorry. I know what a breakup is like. I guess you never really understood it before, to have someone you really love not like you back."
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" Helga was screaming again.
"ME, loving someone who doesn't like me back?! HOW ABSURD!"
Arnold stared at her.
"Was that sarcastic?"
"What do you think, football head?"
Arnold sighed.
"i'm sorry. divorce must be really hard."
Helga rolled her eyes, but the anger was gone and replaced by a new emotion.
Sadness.
"I guess."
Arnold hugged her, and Helga's mouth dropped in astonishment.
"A-Arnold..?"
"I want you to know that you have people looking out for you, and-"
"Yeah yeah football head, here's my number so you can call me whenever you want and annoy me with your, "Oh, everybody wants to help you," And "Everybody loves you," crap."
And with that, Helga pushed Arnold out the door, him still grinning.
As soon as the door closed, Helga gave a happy sigh.
She had actually given him her number!
As soon as the door closed, Arnold broke into a huge smile.
Helga pataki actually gave me her number!