I know, I know! It was suppose to be posted a LONG TIME AGO, but life keeps you busy :/ I hope you enjoy this new chapter and i have yet to start on the next chapter but at least I have a rough idea on what it will be thanks to Connor and his song suggestion :D Thank you, Connor! And thanks to all of you guys that still supported me and patiently waited for the new chapter. It means the world to me. Enjoy! p.s. I don't own Hey Arnold! which is completely unforturnate.

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"What the hell are you doing, Miriam?" Bob hollered.

"I'm trying to-hiccup- cook, B." Miriam slurred.

"It isn't edible now! You burned it!"

"I'm sorry, B. I'm trying my best."

"If Olga was here, I wouldn't have burnt food!"

Silence follows his outburst.

"Please don't say something stupid, Miriam." Helga thought to herself, silently begging Miriam to be careful.

"Well, I can't be Olga!" Miriam screamed. "I'm sorry I'm-hiccup- not good enough for your standards!"

Crash!

"So much for that new lamp," Helga thought numbly.

"Of course you aren't, you drunkard!" Bob hollered back. "You're always wasting our money of your booze!"

"It's the only thing that helps me get through your bull shit, B!"

"Oh, what could that be?! I provide for this family more than you do! You sit on your fanny all day, drinking you smoothie concoctions, and letting bills pile up!"

Crash!

"And some plates." Helga thought, "Didn't even take him an hour to start a fight."

Helga sighed, glancing at her closed bedroom door; she then peers at the clock on her night stand.

"5:45," Helga muttered, "That's a new record, Bob."

Bang!

"You worthless piece of shit!-Hiccup- You won't let -hiccup- me get a job!" Miriam screamed, sounding more sober with each word.

Another scream resonates through the brownstone only to be followed by a thump against the walls. Helga immediately sits up.

Silence.

"Something is wrong." Helga thought as she rose from her bed to her door. The silence chilled her to the bone.

She knew what to expect with the crashing and the banging. It was predictable, expected even. With silence, you can't anticipate anything; it makes it seem that you're in a scary movie and the killer is about to attack you from behind.

"Miriam, please be ok." Helga whispered as she gradually makes her way out of the comfort of her room and down the cold stairs. When reaching the second landing, she heard whimpering and tiny sobs coming from the first floor.

"Mom!" Helga called out, running down the stairs as fast as she could. Jumping from the top of the last landing, Helga skidded into the wall, making the pictures sway.

"Mom!" She called out once more, straightening herself up the wall.

Helga looked down the hallway and sees her mother on the floor weeping in a fetal position. Helga didn't know what to do; instincts told her to run to Miriam and scoop her up, but she knew that it could be a trap and her mother was the bait. Large, bulky steps make their way from the living room. Bob appears, peering down at Miriam in disgust.

"You lazy bum," he spitted down at Miriam. "You're the piece of shit; all you do is drink.

"Plus, I doubt you'd be able to stay sober long enough to keep a damn job" He laughed.

"You never-hiccup- gave me the chance to-hiccup-." Miriam sobbed out.

Helga, quietly as she could, walked closer to the two of them.

"Cause I know better that to give you one." Bob muttered.

Miriam began to cry harder, the sobs strong enough to shake her small frame.

"Oh, quit your crying!" He hollered. "You did this all to yourself!"

Bob raised his foot to kick her in the abdomen; Miriam prepared for what was to come.

"No!" Helga screamed, running up to Bob at mid-kick and throwing him off balance and into the wall beside him. She took a protective stance over her mother.

"You little bitch." Bob muttered under his breath, straightening himself from Helga's blow.

"Helga," Miriam mumbled urgently to her daughter. "Run!"

But she remained there, waiting for him for his next move. Helga kept her gaze on him as he stood up and made his way toward the two of them. Bob lifts his open palm to connect with Helga's cheek.

-SPLOSH-

Helga wakes up, breathing heavily.

"It was just a dream." She muttered, slowly taking in her current environment.

She was on a charter bus. The tacky seats were filled with senior citizens in cheesy tourist attire.

"We're going to make a quick stop at the upcoming gas station," the driver announced over the speakers. "So if you want something, get it. We will be there in twenty minutes."

Helga rummaged through her bag and made a mental list of what she needed.

"Toothpaste, 2-in-1 shampoo, some snacks, and tampons." Helga thought, pulling out coupons and cash for said items.

Looking out the corner of her eye, she thought she saw a flash of blonde hair running toward a bus preparing to leave. Turning to the window, she caught only another glimpse of the blonde stranger as he made his way on the bus, seeing nothing but the back of his head.

"Could it be Arnold?" Helga thought, her heart speeding up. "Come to save me from the storm."

Helga's heart warmed at the thought, but she began to think logically.

"Nah, it can't him." She sighed, stepping off the bus. "He is probably sitting at the dinner table with his family and crazy Boarders."

She smiled at the thought as she entered the gas station; hoping that she will be able find something like what Arnold has.

"Finally a pit stop." Arnold yawned out as he stretched his limbs.

"Who knew sitting on a bus for five straight hours could make you this stiff." He mumbled out sarcastically.

"You will be given forty-five minutes to get what you need, use the bathroom, etcetera before the bus departs." The driver said seriously. "I will leave without you if you don't get back on time."

"I need to call back home." Arnold thought. "They must be freaking out."

Arnold pulls out his cellphone, checking for any missed calls and text messages; and if he had any service to call home.

"No service." He muttered, shoving his phone into his back pocket.

He searched his pockets for some loose change as the remaining passengers got off. Pulling out his hands, he managed to pull out a few dollars in change.

"Perfect." Arnold sighed as he rose from his seat, counting the change to make sure of the exact amount.

Walking to the gas station, he looks for a payphone along the front of the gas station. Nothing.

"Must keep them inside."

Going into the station, Arnold goes straight to the clerk and asks where there payphone is at.

"Just by the beer back there to the left." The clerk mumbled, his comic being more interesting than helping a customer.

"Thanks." Arnold mumbled back, making his way back to the payphone.

Arnold counts out his change once more before slipping each coin into the slot. He waited as the phone rang, hoping someone was up this morning.

"Hello?" A tired sounding woman answered.

"Hey, it's Arnold." He answered, "Is my mo-"

"Stella!" He heard her scream over the line. "It's Arnold!"

Noise in the background began to steadily get closer to the phone; then nothing but silence.

"ARONALD PHILLIP SHORTMAN!" His mother screamed into the phone, causing Arnold to pull back from the receiver.

"You had us worried sick! What were you thinking? Just leaving without notice and not coming back home!"

Each word he heard made him feel guiltier.

"I'm sorry, mom." Arnold mumbled out. "I don't know what got into me.

"I haven't had any service since leaving Hillwo-"

"You left Hillwood!" his mother exasperated, Arnold pulling the receiver away once more.

"Yes, I did."

"Where on earth are you?!"

"I'm heading to Helga." Arnold said confidently. "I have to make sure she is ok, mom."

Silence filled the airways of the phone line.

"Mom?" Arnold questioned.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled out, "I'm worried about her, too.

"I just wish you didn't run off like that. We would've come with you to help." Stella sighed

"I'm sorry, too, Mom." He sighed out "It was a bit of a knee jerk reaction; I had to act on it."

Nothing came back on over the receiver; only the rustling or paper and draws opening and closing.

"You have your debit and emergency credit card, right?" He heard his mother struggle to get out, as if she had something in her mouth.

"Yes."

"Okay, Imma put at least two hundred dollars into your bank account." Stella mumbled out, her focus elsewhere.

He was so shocked to hear the amount he was to receive that he didn't hear her asking for his bank info and pin.

"Arnold!"

"Yes," He said, shaking his head in order to concentrate on her voice.

"Be safe, hun."

"I will." He said confidently, looking at his fellow passengers boarding the bus. "Mom, I have to go. The bus is getting ready to go, but I'll call you once I have service or we stop at another gas station, okay?"

"Okay," she said with tears in her voice "Be safe and bring Helga home. I love you."

I love you, too, Mom."

They muttered their goodbyes and Arnold ran out to the bus

"You're lucky I didn't leave you behind," The driver said gruffly, "Next time I won't be so patient."

Arnold nodded his head and proceeded back to his seat as the bus left the station.

Arnold looked at the gas station once more, seeing another bus drop off its passengers. One of the passengers in particular caught his eye. Her flowing blonde hair stopped to the middle of her back and had legs that could kill a man. Arnold continued to watch her till she disappeared into the gas station. He couldn't help but wonder why his palms were sweaty and his heart racing. Shaking his head clear of thoughts of the unknown girl, He turned back into his seat and pulled out his phone; going straight to his pictures.

I opens to the most recent picture saved; that picture being of Helga.

"I'm coming, Helga." Arnold said with a wavering in his voice. "I'm coming to get you. Please be ok."

Drawing out those last few words, he clutched his phone to his chest; a few tears dropping onto the phone.

Just so you aren't confused Yes Arnold and Helga were just at the same gas station. Sorry I can't have them together so early in the story :/ I hope you all still love me :3