(A/N: Hello! Didn't think I'd be back so soon did u? Well here I am! I hope you all are enjoying the story so far, please let me know by leaving reviews. I love to read them :) ive also tweaked a lot of the previous chapter, so if you read chapter 8 like the first few days it was posted, then check again cuz something might be different haha. Also nickelodeon signed something with netflix :0 I hope this might mean what I think it means! I really didnt think id want another season of hey Arnold but.. I do. I really really do :( anyway! Sorry for getting sidetracked. Here it is, chapter 9! Enjoy!)

Hey Arnold! belongs to Craig Bartlett and Nickelodeon. I own none of these characters.

To be perfectly honest with herself, Helga had no idea where she was going. Once she ran out of the school she immediately thought back to what Bob had told her this morning…

"Don't even bother coming back here unless you plan on making dinner."

This thought made Helga scoff. What was she supposed to make for him? She doesn't even know how to cook, and even if she did, she wouldn't waste her energy on making anything for Bob. That being said, she was not going home just yet, but where else could she go? Helga slowed down in her tracks to think of a place to stay at for just an hour or two. Then it came to her, the park. Nearly no one would be there at this time because almost all kids are still at school right now, so it's the perfect location. She quickly crossed the street and made her way to the Hillwood park.

Arnold almost struggled to keep up with Helga, he'd never seen her run so fast before. A part of him was thinking that he should just leave her alone. She had been practically avoiding him all day, but he had little to no clue why. For the past couple of days she had been just fine conversing with him, and now she won't even look at him. He needed to know why, whether she liked it or not.

Once Helga arrived at the park, her eyes instantly landed on the nearby bench. She seemed to be correct about no one being at the park at this time, she could not see a single soul here, it was actually pretty relaxing. This was the first time in a while that she had felt relaxed. This week has been nothing but anxiety filled torture for her, but now she was finally able to-

"Ah!" Helga shrieked while flinching back after noticing Arnold was standing just a few feet away from the bench she was sitting on.

Arnold immediately saw the scowl forming on her face, "I'm sorry I followed you," he quickly stated before she could say anything, "I just wanna know why you ran out of the school."

Helga's emotions became very conflicted. One side of her was over-the-moon that he cared so much to follow her here, and the other side of her was completely enraged that he wouldn't just leave her be. But how exactly was she gonna respond to him? She didn't have the energy to scream, and she certainly didn't want to make herself more vulnerable than she already was, especially to Arnold. No way was she showing Arnold her eye, she couldn't even imagine the outcome of that happening. She quickly snapped out of her thoughts. He was waiting for her to respond. She needed to lie, and fast!

"I-I ran out because…" Her eyes darted around the park, focusing on practically everything but the person she was talking to, "I.. I forgot something here. I left my journal here on this bench, I'm glad it was still here." She nervously chuckled after her obvious fib. Arnold gave her a half lidded stare.

"No you didn't," he bluntly replied, "You had your journal out during second period."

Helga grabbed at her hair, "I-I did?" She asked in a panicked tone.

Arnold frowned at her, "Why are you lying to me, Helga?" After recieving no response, he took a seat next to her on the bench, "Remember what I told you on the phone? That I would always be here for you? I know you said you didn't want to talk about this anymore, but you can't just bottle up your sadness, it's not good for you. That's why I really want you to talk to me about this stuff, I just want to make you feel better, Helga."

Helga looked away from him, "I.." A lump formed in her throat, causing her voice to break.

"God," she thought, "Why is he saying this to me? Why me? I don't deserve this. I don't deserve him.. Oh, Arnold, I just want to tell you everything. I want to, I want to! I.."

"I would feel better if you left me alone for once!" She blurted out with anger, "I mean, criminy, Arnold! What part of 'I don't want your concern' do you not understand?!"

Arnold was obviously taken aback by this, though part of him was expecting this kind of reaction from her. She did say that she didn't want him to be concerned, but that's just not how he worked. He knew that he wouldn't be able to stop thinking about her running away from their school until he knew exactly why. He was still determined to know, but maybe he was taking this too far..

"You're right, Helga," he told her, "I'm sorry for pushing you." Arnold looked down at the grass, feeling defeated yet again.

Helga didn't want to admit that she herself was also taken aback by her sudden outburst at Arnold. She didn't want to say that to him at all, but it just came out.. She felt tears at the corners of her eyes. Getting scared that they might come down, she quickly rubbed her knuckles across her eyelids, completely forgetting the real reason as to why she was in this park to begin with, her black eye. Helga suddenly yelped in pain, causing Arnold to flinch.

He looked at her with a panicked expression, "Helga, what's the matter? Are you okay?"

Helga had her head turned away from him. It hurt so bad, she couldn't take it anymore. She felt herself shake her head 'no,' while her subconscious screamed at her for not lying again and saying she was fine.

Arnold quickly took her shoulder and spun her around to face him, "Did you get hurt when you fell earlier?" He calmly asked her, looking for an injury. She kept shaking her head, and there it was again.. That redness on the right side of her face. Her hair is covering something, this must be it.

He instantly pushed her hair behind her ear, and was appalled by what he saw. Right on Helga Pataki's face.. Was a swollen black eye. She slapped his hand out of the way, but the damage had already been done.

"H-Helga," he began slowly with his other hand still on her shoulder, "you have to tell me what happened.."

She continued to shake her head, the tears finally started to stream down her face, and she became completely pale.

"Please," he begged her to say something. She then stopped shaking her head to see his expression. Deep pity was plastered all over his football-shaped face. She hated it, but she couldn't stop it. She was obligated to respond now. This nightmare had to end..

"It was an accident," she managed to whisper.

"What kind of accident?" Arnold's tone got low while something sparked in his eyes. Was that anger?

"I-I was eavesdropping on Bob when he was on the phone yesterday," she replied, feeling humiliated that she had to come clean about this to Arnold, "He swung the door in my face by accident."

"And he apologized, right?" He asked her with that same tone.

"Y-yes," she lied, immediately getting mad at herself for saying that. Why was she covering for Bob? He definitely didn't apologize to her, if anything, he threatened her multiple times after she confronted him, so why did she lie about that? Was she scared of Bob? Her thoughts were again cut off by Arnold. He was… Hugging her. She had nothing else to do but hug him back.

"I'm so sorry, Helga," now Arnold was the one apologizing to her, "I know things are tough right now, but I promise it will get better."

They both let go of the embrace and Helga sniffled. "It's okay to cry," he told her with a weak smile, "even the strongest people you can think of have cried, it's just a part of being human." He took her hand in his, "Why don't we go and get you an ice pack for your eye? Then we can go to Slaucen's if you want.. My treat."

And for the first time in a while, Helga genuinely smiled.