64 - Promise - Snow Days - beatzz - Hey Arnold!

[beatzz.livejournal.com]

Hello all, I'm beatzz. You can call me Bea. This is my first post to the community. I joined in hopes of being able to get some good writing practice. I want to try and keep writing for as long as I can. The weekly challenge is a great idea. I hope you guys like this little fic. It's set in the Hey Arnold! universe. I have no idea if anybody here still remembers that old cartoon. I really loved it way back when. Anyway, I'm off on a tangent now. On to the show...

Title: Snow Days
Fandom: Hey Arnold!
Prompt: Prompt #64: Promise
Warnings: None
Rating: G
Summary: Years after P.S. 118, Arnold is reunited with the one girl who kept coming back to him.



AN: This is set a few years after the proposed Jungle Movie and TV show The Patakis, both of which never happened. Basically, in the plans for the Jungle Movie, Arnold finds his parents, Stella and Miles. Also, he and Helga finally get together. They're together for a few years and, according to creator Craig Bartlett, they've broken up by the proposed time setting of The Patakis. In The Patakis, Helga has moved away but continues to write to Arnold about her life. Both of these projects did not come into fruition. Although since Craig Bartlett told us this about them, I think of them as canon. Also, I have to mention that Grandpa Phil and Grandma Gertie are no longer with us during the time of this fic. May they rest in peace. Anyway, this is getting really long. Read and enjoy. =)


SNOW DAYS

“Breathe,” she whispered to herself, commanding her then not-functioning respiratory system to start working.

“C’mon, Helga Ol’ Girl, you can do this.”

The breath that came with her nervous sigh formed a cloud in front of her as she shivered. She couldn’t quite get herself to stop fidgeting, her gaze fixed on the door that stood a foot away from her.

She’d been on the stoop of the boarding house for almost ten minutes now. She still hadn’t worked up the nerve to knock. Anyone walking past would’ve thought her odd. Nobody stood out in the snow with only that little pink dress on.

Yet, there she was.

It was her first night back in Hillwood in years. It was her first chance to see him again. The moment they’d gotten settled back in the old brownstone, she’d made her way down a familiar path --- one that led Arnold’s childhood home.

It had begun snowing almost the second that she’d gotten to the Sunset Arms. It had been snowing ever since and she’d been standing there ever since.

She didn’t really know why she couldn’t just knock. It was beginning to get dark and the snow didn’t show any signs of letting up.

Looking up at grey sky, the young blonde girl mused that it hadn’t snowed once while she was in California. If she really thought about it, she guessed that she missed this.

She missed those snowy afternoons when she’d stay cooped up with him in his room. She missed those last moments before the skylight was completely covered in snow. She missed the feeling she got when the stars couldn’t be seen anymore. She missed the feeling that she got when the only thing left to look at was him.

She missed him. So, why not knock?

Shaking the snow from blonde hair, she raised her hand to knock. It was then that she got knocked backward in a hug.

“Hi, Mrs. Kokoshka,” she said, greeting the woman with a bit of a laugh.

Disentangling herself from the older woman’s grasp, she smiled at the blonde football head standing in the doorway.

“Hey, Football Head. What’re you looking at?”

“You. Standing there in the snow. With almost nothing on,” he answered cheekily.

“Well, I wouldn’t be standing here in the snow if you weren’t blocking the door.”

With that, he stepped aside. Suzie excused herself to get a towel and some warmer clothes. Then, it was just the two of them, sharing the cup of hot cocoa that Arnold had been clutching.

There was a comfortable silence between them those few minutes while Suzie busied herself. It was funny to see the three of them, the former lovers and the motherly boarder of the Sunset Arms. The eye contact didn’t really break between the two former flames, not while Suzie fussed over the wet hair that hung loosely from the young girl’s shoulders, not while she later excused herself, noticing the pair’s unspoken need to be alone together.

With Suzie in the kitchen with Stella, tending to dinner, the other boarders finally came over to greet their visitor. Oskar had been playing cards with Ernie, Mr. Hyunh and some other men. He enthusiastically asked the two teens if they’d like to perhaps join in. Arnold, though, didn’t play cards much. So, the pair begged off. Mr. Hyunh insisted that at least she should stay, apparently missing her conversation. She couldn’t leave Arnold though.

After all the fuss, they made their way to Arnold’s room, their former sanctuary.

When they got there, she quickly plopped down into his bed. Her eyes traveled quickly to the skylight. The snow had covered it by then and she frowned at that. Without the stars to look at, she’d be back to staring at him again. Reluctant to do that, she just hummed along to the familiar jazz record Arnold had put on.

Sensing her boredom and unease, the green-eyed teen tried to ease into a conversation with her. She wasn’t a very vocal person when she was being serious, he knew. He liked talking to her, though. So, he pressed on.

“Hey, Helga.”

“Hey right back, Arnold.”

“What were you doing out there in the snow?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I came to see you, I guess,” she replied, still avoiding his gaze.

“You did hear that this snowstorm is going to last until tomorrow morning, right?”

“What? No. Are you accusing me of trying to cleverly come up with a plot to sleep here tonight?”

“No, not at all,” he replied sarcastically.

“Hey! I so did not plan this. I was out there before it started snowing!”

Laughing, Arnold watched her rant and then quickly turn red at her unintended confession.

“You were standing on my porch since before the snowstorm? It’s no wonder you gulped down all the hot cocoa,” he chuckled.

Her eyebrows, now in the plural, rose at that, an offended but amused look on her face. Before she could retort, though, Arnold sat down on the bed next to her.

The laugh died on her lips as she eyed the chain around his neck.

“You’re still wearing it,” she observed meekly.

“Yeah,” he responded, his voice firm.

He took her hand in his, their current positions reminiscent of snowy nights past. She stared at their interlocked fingers. Her eyes glazed over. A wistful smile played at her lips.

She sat up abruptly, hugging him tight.

It had been two years, two long years since she’d gone to San Francisco. Not a day went by that she didn’t wear her promise ring. To know he still cherished his, that he hadn’t forgotten her, it shocked her in that good way that only he could shock her.

Tears had starting streaming down her face by then. He sighed softly and wrapped her in his own embrace. Time had been hard on her. Many times when she’d written him, he could see hints of her loneliness and depression. He’d missed her but he’d had his parents.

When Helga finally decided to stop crying, Miles had come to call the two of them down to dinner.

Heading down the stairs, Arnold’s father heard the slight blonde girl laughing and threatening his son.

“If you ever tell anyone I cried, Ol’ Betsy here won’t hesitate, Hair Boy!”

Arnold just laughed along and answered her with his trademark line.

“Whatever you say, Helga.”

Hours later, after a long trip down memory lane and a hearty dinner, Arnold’s mother poked her head into the bedroom. The reunited couple lay entwined in one other’s embrace on the couch.

Arnold was just about to doze off while Helga looked on. Her affection for him was apparent to Stella, who smiled to herself.

Comments

[lyddieonwed.livejournal.com]

Aawww. I loved Hey Arnold! I liked how you kept them in character but still had them end happily together. Very sweet and well-written. Thanks for sharing.

[thismaz.livejournal.com]

I've never seen Hey Arnold, but I wanted to say, welcome to Taming the Muse. That was sweet and nice, the way a broken relationship can sometimes pick itself up again. And I loved the image of watching the stars through the sky light, until it was covered, and then having nothing to watch except him.

[beatzz.livejournal.com]

I felt extremely nervous writing with this fandom. Mostly it was because I wasn't sure that anybody else remembered that this cartoon existed at all. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who has watched here... Thanks for reading... :)

[beatzz.livejournal.com]

I liked that part too. That probably was my favorite. I'm glad you liked it.

Thank you for reading and commenting! Also, thank you for the welcome. I think I'm going to enjoy undertaking this task of writing weekly.