[A/N: The semester is OVER and I felt inspired to write! I do intend to get back to my other stories but I felt this one-shot bubbling up and decided to let it out. Hope you like it!]

The bathroom tiles were cold under her bare feet. Peeling paint on the wall caught her eye and she stared at each delicate fiber, desperately trying to take her mind off the situation. Time moved with no respect or consideration for the weary. No inclination to speed up for young children desperate for adulthood and "freedom". No hints at slowing down for those yearning to relish their dearest moments. No chance at stopping for those begging the world to stop turning, stop moving, stop everything long enough to process what was going on and let their minds catch up.

She'd been dating Arnold for close to a year now and things had been going pretty well. Considering where they came from and where they were now, she couldn't have been more grateful. To go from bullying and shrines to awkward teen avoidance to finding yourself in college and realizing something that had always been there. It was quite the journey they'd been on over the years. It started freshman year when they realized they were living in the same dorm. Helga had a single near the staircase and Arnold and his roommate lived in a room across the hall and down a couple doors. Time and space had served them well in all the right ways and it was hard to ignore someone you saw every morning on your way to class, every afternoon on your way back from a stressful quiz, every evening on your way to the dining hall for dinner…

Hillwood University was small in relation to other schools in the area but considering how encapsulated they'd been in their years going through school with the same neighborhood friends, it still felt like a new world full of so many strangers and unfamiliarities. And so they bonded. Two somewhat friends in a sea of unknowns, battling the waves of a new experience with some tether to their former world. It was comforting, it was normal, it was familiar.

And with exposure comes comfortability. With comfortability comes friendship. And with friendship, particular ones in which seeds have affection have been sown years ago, comes affection. Late night walks to the dining hall for pizza, long talks walking across the quad with only the stars as a guiding light. Ice cream and movies as a reward for an exam gone well. Ice cream and movies as a consolation for one that bombed.

A whirlwind of memories spun around in her head as she rested her forearms on her knees, leaning forward, her head down and blonde hair covering her like the branches of a weeping willow. Would she cry? Would he?

Things happen so fast and time seems to be a figment of the imagination. What is time if it is so fleeting? Moments. Memories. A gasp of air as you come up from the water.

One more minute to wait. She stared at the numbers on her phone. How arbitrary are those numbers, telling her what time is is. Telling her how the minutes have passed. Could she go back? Could those numbers move in reverse and bring her back to where she'd been before? When things had finally gotten to a point where they were easy, safe, comfortable, idyllic…

Time had served her well over the years, allowing her to grow and blossom into the person she'd always hoped she could be, though she still doubted herself. She wondered if that thread of doubt would always be sewn into the fabric of her life.

She didn't dare look anywhere but the floor as she waited. She wasn't sure if she would be able to bring herself to look up, to look at the device sitting atop the sink in a house that was not her own. A bathroom that was not her own. A life that was not her own. It couldn't be.

She'd dared to be happy. She'd dared to think that things were finally perfect. To finally be with the one person she'd loved for most of her life? And to have that love and affection returned? It had to be a dream. All of it had to be a dream.

The timer on her phone went off and she felt her heart sink. She needed to look.

Deep breaths, heart pounding, palms all of a sudden clammy and she wondered if she'd slip and accidentally drop her phone in the toilet beneath her.

She didn't move. Her eyes darted to the sink but from her position, she couldn't see much. Not without picking that little device up and reading the screen. Maybe if she sat motionless, wordless, nothing would change. She could seek refuge in this bubble of time and if she didn't move, didn't break the bubble, time would not move forward.

But time is relentless. Time does not care about your wants. Time stops for no one.

A knock on the door. "Helga?"

She found her voice. "Yeah," She mumbled.

"Are you alright in there?" His voice, smooth and low, full of concern but so unaware. "You've been in there for a while. Do you feel sick?"

She imagined a line of boarders standing outside the bathroom door waiting for entrance. She was in the primary community bathroom after all. Arnold had invited her to stay with him at the boarding house for Thanksgiving break. It was their sophomore year. They were only sophomores. Not even in their 20's yet. Too soon. Too fast. Too young. Too much.

"Uh," She hesitated, stalling, her pulse quickening and her vision slightly lighter - was this adrenaline? "Uh no, I'm fine," She managed. "I'll be out soon - sorry," She mumbled again, gripping her knees and forcing herself to breathe. Deep inhale. Deep exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale…

She had to look. Time stops for no one. No matter how you wish it. No matter how much a person may be deserving of a second chance, a pause, anything…

With trembling hands, she picked up the plastic stick from the sink beside her and closed her eyes as she let her hands rest in her lap, the screen staring up at her closed lids.

This was it. She realized she'd been waiting to exhale. Her head swimming with the need for air. A long breath out and her eyes opened.

Something dropped inside her; her heart, her lungs, her stomach all seemed to bottom out and she felt cold. She felt hot. She felt everything at once except the tears that snuck up on her and filled her eyes, making it difficult to see the screen. But she'd already seen it. She already knew. A gasp escaped. A small sob.

Another knock. "Helga, what's going on?"

He's still out there. Get it together.

How can she tell him? Would she? Should she? Could she?

Of course she needed to. Only desperation would have her hide it. But if she hid it, if she pretended… No, there was no pretending anymore. She'd suspected this and in her heart, she'd known. The only possibility for falsehood at this point would be through a blood test but she didn't need to do it to know. She'd known for a while now - this was only proof.

Damn these hands. How to make them stop shaking? How to feign normalcy even just for a minute? How to break the news gently?

How would he take it?

A slew of fears and anxiety coursing through her veins, permeating every part of her body. Maybe he would leave her. Maybe he would be angry. Maybe he wouldn't care. Or worse, maybe he would be the good guy. Maybe he would be the guy who sticks around because he should, not because he wants to. A loyalty to some responsibility he didn't ask for. A life he didn't ask for. A life they'd never talked about… Because he was a good guy and she knew this.

Either way, it hurt. But she couldn't hide it. She'd spent years of her life hiding everything. This secret would not be a secret for long - hiding it would be in vain.

She reached over and turned the knob, a loud click indicating it was no longer locked.

"Are you still out there?" She called softly and Arnold was immediately in the crack of the door.

"Yeah, are you dressed? Do you want me to come in?"

"Yeah, Football-head," She breathed in a sigh. "Don't worry, I'm decent,"

He entered the room, closing the door behind him and leaning against it, taking in the picture of his girlfriend sitting fully-clothed on the toilet in front of him.

"What's wrong?" Her face was etched with despair and worry but for what? Something in her hands…

Oh…

"Please don't be mad," Tears welling in her eyes again. "I just… I don't…" A bitter huff as she leaned back and looked up to the ceiling. Answers, guidance, written in the wall. But there was nothing. "I'm pregnant," So soft, barely audible. Barely there.

Arnold nodded, his own blood rushing. Adrenaline. What to do? What to say? What does this mean? What do they do? Auto-pilot. Instincts.

"I'm not mad," He said, crouching down beside her, resting elbows on knees, reaching for one of her hands. The screen staring up at them. "We're gonna be okay,"

"How?" An explosion of emotion. More tears. "How is this in any way okay?!"

"Helga," He reached for her back, rubbing up and down. "Helga! C'mon," Shoulders shuddering beneath his fingertips. "Don't cry,"

"You stupid Football-head," Punctuated with sobs. "This… I…" Softly, "Everything's ruined,"

"What?" His eyes wide. "No, it doesn't. It's…" Another glance at the screen. "It's soon... " He breathed. "But nothing is ruined,"

"What about school?" Her eyes fierce, staring him down. She can't feel this weak. She can't feel this powerless. But she is - this is happening, this happened.

"We'll get it done!" He exclaims, half-believing.

Humph! "You're delusional," She murmurs, looking at the screen again. "This means I go back to school with morning sickness and swollen ankles and a watermelon stomach and fatigue and all the other crap that comes along with it before some kid pops out and I'm done,"

What can he say to that? "We can find a way to make it work," He offers hope - soft, gentle hope in a sea of uncertainty. Where is that breath of air? The bubble has popped and time moves so quickly. She can't escape.

"I didn't want this," She murmurs under her breath, her eyes filling with a fresh set of tears.

"I know," He rubs his hand against her back and lays his head against her thigh. "It's not the best timing but we'll be okay. I'll make sure of it,"

"Don't do that, Arnold," She jerks from his touch. "Don't be a hero,"

"I'm not," He exclaims, shocked. "This is my kid - it's the right -"

"- thing to do," She finishes his sentence with him in a mocking tone. "I don't want us to be together just because of this! I don't even want this! I was on birth control! I don't… I don't want to be a mom…" Her outburst deflates like a popped balloon and she can feel another onslaught of tears. The corners of her eyes burn from the salt and she's angry that they won't stop.

Silence. Arnold sits back and leans against the wall, facing her. "... Ever?"

She purses her lips and shakes her head. "Does it really surprise you, Arnold?" She sits the stick back up on the sink next to her, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning forward against her knees, staring at the tiles in the floor. "Look at what I grew up with. Look at the kind of parents I had. Why would I think I'd have any clue how to be a good parent if that was my example?" A sigh. "I don't want to screw someone else up,"

"You wouldn't get…" He couldn't bring himself to speak the words.

"An abortion?" Helga finishes his thought for him, coldly. "I don't know, maybe," Her lip quivers at the thought.

Tears well in his eyes. "Helga…" There are no words. So many thoughts, so many feelings, but the words don't come out. She's always been better with them than he ever was. He wants a family one day. He wants what he never had. He lost his parents, he doesn't want to lose his child - unexpected and ill-timed as this may be.

More silence. His eyes teary, his heart heavy, reflecting on her words. "You aren't screwed up, Helga," He scoots closer, resting a hand on her knee. "Your parents are the ones who messed up," A tear drips onto his finger, tickling the light blonde hairs. "You came through it, you persevered, you are strong and amazing and…" A pause. She waits, her heartbeat thundering in her ears.

He breathes. "Helga, I love you… Your parents' mistakes are not yours,"

"But I wasn't supposed to happen either!" Where did that come from? He doesn't know that.. He didn't need to know that. Why did she say that? Could she feel more exposed?

He looks down at her hand, carefully pulling it to his face and leaving the softest of kisses. His lips warm against her skin.

"I'm glad you did," He shrugs and looks up to meet her gaze. Puffy, red eyes do not detract from the beauty he sees in her. "I'm glad I gave you my umbrella, I'm glad we spent most of our elementary and secondary years together," She gets lost in his eyes, glistening just as her own. "I'm glad you lived across the hall from me, I'm glad we got closer and started dating," He rubs his thumb across her hand and the small gesture makes her heart flutter. "I'm glad you're still in my life after all this time,"

He always does it. Knows what to say. Knows what to do. He mesmerizes her with his calmness, his strength, his compassion.

"We don't have to figure this out right now," He slowly stands up, pulling her with him. "We should get you checked out at the doctor first and then we can take it from there," He lifts her chin to meet his gaze. "I'll be with you every step of the way; not because it's the right thing to do, even if it is… but I love you, Helga. Please stop doubting that,"

She nods and accepts his embrace, his comfort, his love. In his arms, the world fades away, problems fade away and it's only him. Yet another moment for wishing that time would stand still.