Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.

They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.

Title: "Let me be your hero"

Summary: When a girl is known for being strong, it can tear her apart to be looked at with pity. Helga Pataki, an 18 year old girl, had a part of herself stolen from her one night and ever since then, she lost herself. She was ready to give her life up, until someone reached a helping hand out for her. Arnold wouldn't let her fall, especially not when someone else was going down with her.

Author's 1st note: Warning: Dark story (with a happy ending!) This story is – in a way – a journey into how twisted and dark your world can become, when something precious is taken from you, but with Helga, it's slightly different. (Slight twist warning, lol) Besides the darkness, there's ALSO gonna be a lot of fluff and romance! Don't worry, you're not about to read something with only depression fuel! XD Again: happy conclusion! However, more than 'Blackmail toy', this is going to be darker and more psychological. We'll hear both Arnold and Helga's thoughts (same style as in 'Blackmail toy'), so there's a chance to dive deep into the minds of them xP

(As always, please notify me if you notice any grammar mistakes. This isn't my first language, there's bound to be mistakes :P)

So. Without further ado, I now present you "Let me be your hero"!

Chapter 1: "It seems so surreal"

"Move it, geek bait!"

That little too familiar voice echoed through the hallway of the school, causing a certain young man to freeze in place, rather than moving as he had just been ordered. That did seem to be his reaction from time to time; to freeze in slight fear rather than doing the smart thing, like moving the heck outta her way. "Hey, football head, are you deaf?!"

Arnold finally gasped a little as that last sentence rang a bell in his memory and he stepped aside. "About time!" Helga said as she walked past him with that usual scowl on her face. He didn't notice the scowl – it was always there, so he'd notice it if it was suddenly gone though – he only noticed that she was wearing her hair down today for one reason or another. The long locks brushed against his nose and chest, which made him flinch a bit since it tickled.

Arnold moved his hand up to his nose to scratch it as he looked at Helga. She was wearing one of her more colorful outfits this day. A pink top with a rather lazy looking light blue hoodie over it. The lazy part being it was made to fall down her shoulders, showing of half of the very toned lines of her biceps. It truly didn't matter what she wore, no matter how feminine, it'd still be obvious how physically strong she was.

It wasn't like Helga tried to hide her strength though – not at all. At that particular moment, a poor freshman dared not to notice her going his way. His punishment? Arnold flinched as the boy was pushed into his locker, all of his books falling out of his arms. Arnold wanted to chastise her, he really did, but considering the lack of success in his former attempts, he simply went to help the freshman off the floor.

"Thanks, Arnold." The boy said gratefully as he stood up and started to brush himself off. "Man, Pataki's a real pain in the ass!"

Arnold opened his mouth to speak, but he seriously couldn't argue against that. Having been her favorite victim since preschool, he knew how much Helga could be rather annoying to be around, but he also knew that she wasn't only a bully. "She's not always this bad, I swear." He decided to say though, causing the freshman to look at him incredulity. "You always say that, but I've never even seen her smile. She's just scowling all the effing time."

Arnold wanted to argue against that, but then realized he hadn't really seen Helga smile himself since… since fourth grade, now he thought about it. On the FTI roof, where she… He shook his head to get rid of that image that had haunted him ever since, though he wasn't really sure in what way anymore. Back then, he had just been a small boy, how else was he supposed to react to a girl telling him she loved him and even when that particular girl was his personal tormentor? Now he was older, so it was a long time ago, and yet he couldn't help but wonder why they had agreed to take it back? Life had continued, as usual, and nothing had changed… except for him being even more gung-ho about making her show her loving side a little more, since he had seen it so very clearly that morning.

"She does smile, just… only on special occasions." Arnold explained vaguely, but couldn't help the small smile that formed on his face. Special occasions… He repeated in his head, suddenly feeling a little proud at the fact that Helga Pataki had feelings for him – at least at some point. The freshman cocked an eyebrow at that somewhat content smile on his face. "Hey, Arnold… you have feelings for her?" he asked.

Arnold almost choked on his own breath at that question, since he had just been thinking about Helga's love confession to him back then. "Huh? What? Uh… n-no, that's not it. I'm just… She's a mystery, you know, she's… intriguing." He answered, and it was the honest truth. Helga had always intrigued him. She was a mystery that made no sense to him. As soon as he wanted to get rid of her, she would pull him right back in and he'd be stuck with her yet again. She wasn't a girl one could let go of, even if they wanted to. Not that he really wanted to, at least not anymore he didn't. She was a part of his life now. If she suddenly disappeared or changed, he had a feeling that it would start to change him as well. One way or another.

"Hmm, too bad." The freshman grabbed his books and then stood up yet again. "I think someone like you loving her would help her." He added thoughtfully. "Someone like me?" Arnold repeated with his head cocked a little to the side. "Yeah, good, kind, someone who could show her that she doesn't have to act like that all the freaking time. You know, love her unconditionally and all that jazz." The freshman answered casually.

"And all that jazz?" Arnold repeated with a chuckle. "Hey, I'm definitely not the one to be that guy to her." The freshman answered. "Well, I'm afraid I'm not either." Arnold answered with a slight smile. The freshman shrugged and walked past him. "Too bad." He said before he disappeared. Arnold turned his head around thoughtfully and looked in Helga's direction. She was currently banging at her locker, trying to pry it open. He snickered at the image and started to walk towards her.

"Come on, you stupid thing!" Helga grunted, as she was almost ready to use her nails to pry it open. Not that it would help; her nails wasn't exactly the length of every other girl in school. They weren't fake either, so if they broke, it'd hurt like hell. "Need help?" Arnold asked when he reached her. She shrieked and almost jumped ten feet into the air. "Arnold! You idiot, you scared the shit outta me! Why do you always have to do that?!"

"You're jumpy; that's not my fault." Arnold pointed out with a small smile. Helga huffed and threw a lock of her hair away from her face. "No, I'm not. You're the creeper." She answered and pulled down at her hoodie. He hadn't noticed until she did that, but it had sneaked up quite a lot after her jump. She really was jumpy, even if she wouldn't admit it. "Playing the good Samaritan again?"

"Huh?" Arnold muttered. Helga rolled her eyes. "You asked if I needed help, right. Well, good luck, this thing is so fucking stupid. Doesn't matter what I do to it, it won't follow orders." She explained as she glared at the lock on her locker. "It's because you're using force." He explained and went to try to open it. "What's the combination?"

"5-8-3-9." Helga answered as she crossed her arms. "But that's not the problem. I know my combination. It just won't open anyway!" she added with a scowl just before the lock popped open. Her eyes popped open as well, as the door to her locker now opened before her eyes. "There you go." Arnold said as he did his best not to laugh at her shocked expression. "How the holy hell did you do that?" she asked as she went closer to the locker.

"Some things just need a more gentle touch. You can't force everything open with violence." Arnold explained with a slight shrug. Helga turned her eyes to look at him for a couple of seconds, not liking the way his sentence seemed to have two meanings. "Well, thank you, yutz, now I won't have to be late for math." She said as she grabbed her math book and banged the door at its handles. "Wanna go there together?" he asked with a small smile as he pointed with his thumb in the direction of their classroom.

"Sure. We're both going there anyway." Helga answered indifferently and started to walk. Arnold strode right up next to her, wearing a smile on his face, since it wasn't always she'd say yes to a simple suggestion like that. She seemed to be in a rather good mood this day. "You have any plans today?" he asked, wondering if something good had happened to her. The corners of her mouth picked up a little bit, causing his smile to get bigger. "Actually, I do. I'm going to WrestleMania tonight."

"WrestleMania?" Arnold repeated with a slight frown. He knew Helga had a weakness for such events, though he didn't really watch that kind of stuff himself. That wasn't what bumped him though. "Isn't that… in the outskirts of town?" he asked with a worried face. "Yes, it is. Why?" she asked as her eyes narrowed a bit. She knew him; she knew him really well, so it didn't surprise her that he seemed so worried about such a small thing.

"And WrestleMania… that's kinda going on pretty late, right?" Arnold asked as he continued to frown. Helga stopped walking, crossed her arms and stepped in front of him to stop him from walking as well. "What are you getting at?" she asked in annoyance. He wondered if he should keep pressing the subject, but he just couldn't help it. He was a worrywart, and as strong as she was, she was still going to be one of the few – if not the only – girl at that WrestleMania match.

"It's just… y-you going with anyone?" Arnold asked. "I was going with Harold, but he had to take a rain check. He still gave me the free tickets though; we've been going every year since fourth grade. His cousin works there, so he always lets us in for free." Helga explained which caused his eyes to open a little more in surprise. "Really? I didn't know that." he muttered. Helga and Harold weren't the best of friends, so the image of them getting along once a year seemed a little strange.

"No one knows. It's just this annual thing, you know, since none of us know anyone else who likes wrestling. Well, except for Patty, but when they're together, it gets mushy really fast, so they've given up on watching wrestling together." Helga answered with a small smile. Arnold started smiling as well at that reminder. Harold and Patty had a fling from back in fourth grade, but it didn't get serious until a year ago. Exactly a year ago, now that he thought about it. "Did they start dating after WrestleMania last year?" he asked.

"Yup. We ran into Patty at WrestleMania last year, I pushed them together and boom, they were a couple by the time WrestleMania was over, so it's their first anniversary. I would probably have punched him, if he told me he'd spend his anniversary with Patty at WrestleMania with me." Helga answered. "So you helped them get together, didn't you?" Arnold asked with a proud smile. She shrugged. "I guess you could say that… Why are you smiling like that?"

"It just… It always makes me happy when you do something kindhearted like that." Arnold answered. For a second, he could've sworn Helga's cheeks went a little red after he said that, but then she just shook her head in disbelief. "O-Oh, please. You're such a goody-two-shoes. You're just happy because you think it's somehow thanks to you that I did it or… something." She replied, though she realized the lack of logic in her argument quickly and just shook her head again and started walking.

"No! I get happy because you're mostly known for not being that… uh…" Arnold muttered his last words when he realized that he was about to step onto a landmine. Helga turned her head and looked at him over her shoulder. "Choose your next words very wisely, yutz." She said with a warning scowl. He gave a very pensive look as he struggled to figure out a way to finish his sentence without losing any teeth. "Uh… you're not known for being that… soft?"

Helga blinked a couple of times, and for a second, Arnold was sure he could start planning his next trip to the dentist, but then she started laughing. "Soft?! Cute, Arnold, real cute." She said in-between her laughter and continued towards the classroom. He kept standing for a couple of seconds, a little more than slightly dumbfounded. Cute? He repeated in his head before he ran up next to her again. Well… at least I won't need a denture.

"So you couldn't find anyone else who'd go with you?" Arnold asked, still haven't forgotten about Helga going to the outskirts of town that late at night. "Naw, I haven't really asked anyone to be honest. It's a me and Harold thing at this point. Besides, I've gone to WrestleMania alone before. No biggie." She answered, and she seemed rather honest. It was true that she did many things on her own; her being an absolute tomboy might be a huge part of that, but she always seemed a little alone in general. She seemed fine with it though.

"Well… just be careful then, ok? Harold's not gonna be around you, so you're easier to target." Arnold pointed out, knowing exactly how Helga would react to that. "Excuse me?! You think I can't handle myself?" she asked with an obviously insulted tone in her voice. "Helga, you know that's not why I'm saying this." he said, but was stopped from speaking any further. "Then what are you saying?" she asked him.

"W-Well, it's just…" Arnold started, struggling to find the best way to phrase his concerns without making Helga use him as a punching bag. Then, as if a light bulb had just appeared over his head, his face lit up. "W-Well, the difference between the boys at our school and the men who're going to be at WrestleMania is that the boys at our school knows that you're strong and can beat the living heck out of them, the men at WrestleMania don't know that, so they won't be scared of trying to attack you."

"So they'll be surprised when I introduce them to Old Betsy and The Five Avengers; that seems like a pretty good thing to me." Helga replied as she felt her eyebrow quirk a bit. "When you put it like that, then, yeah, but what if they surprise you?" Arnold asked. She blinked a couple of times in confusion. "Surprise me? Like jump at me from behind?" she asked. "Yeah, something like that." he answered. "You keep saying 'they', you expect me to be gangbanged?" she asked in incredulity, earning a disgusted look on his face. "Helga! I'm serious here!"

"Well, so am I!" Helga said with a recognizable wrath in her voice before she stopped in front of Arnold yet again. "Arnold, I don't wanna hear anymore! I'm going to WrestleMania alone and I'm going home alone, and unless you wanna try to stalk me then you can't do shit about it!" she added, her eyes filled with fire and something he knew far too well… something she'd call independence, and he'd call stubbornness.

"You're right; I can't control you. Just… Just be careful, please?" Arnold begged. Helga opened her mouth and lifted her hand, obviously ready to get into a complete hissy fit at this point, but then she started to bite at her lower lip, doing her very best to hold back. She then used the hand she had lifted to smack it against his chest, as if doing at least something. "Fine. I'll bring a freaking pepper spray if that'll help you sleep tonight."

"I-I doubt a pepper spray is more intimidating than your fists, but it's better than nothing." Arnold said as he couldn't help but notice that Helga hadn't moved her hand from his chest. "Fine." she said and used her index finger to poke at his torso a little roughly. "But if I actually do find you stalking me this night, I'll cut your head off and hang it up in Mighty Pete for everyone to see."

Arnold gulped as he could easily imagine Helga doing something like that, or at least something resembling it. "S-Sure. I'll, uh… stay away. Just have fun… without having too much fun." He answered with a nervous chuckle. Helga snorted before she took a step back, crossed her arms again and smiled at him. "Thanks for worrying about me though. You're a sissy and a worrywart, but thanks."

"You don't have to thank me for worrying about you, Helga." Arnold answered with a smile. Helga smirked back a little bit. "You're right; you'd worry about everyone. What was I thinking?" she wondered aloud before she turned around and went inside the classroom. His eyes went a little wide at that. "Uh, no, that's not what I meant. I…" he said, but then gave up with a sigh. Well, sure I'd worry about anyone, but… Oh, forget it. He thought before he went inside as well.

"Worst… match… ever." Helga muttered under her breath and drew a very long sigh. It was around 12am, and she was on her way home from possibly the most boring wrestling match in her entire life. The winner had been settled from the very beginning; it was obvious who'd win and yet they kept going on forever and ever. To make matters worse, she had been seated next to a really loud and really rude guy who kept hitting on her – and calling someone loud and rude meant a lot coming from her.

"I guess going alone doesn't work anymore. Not when I'm used to Harold being around. I guess I'm going to have to find a new wrestle buddy… or a new anniversary date for those two." Helga muttered and went to grab her phone in her pocket. When she saw Arnold's name above the text saying 'new message', she couldn't help but rolling her eyes. You sweet dope…

As Helga opened the message, a loud voice interrupted her from reading it. "Hey, baby! Remember me?" it yelled in a slurry, half-drunken voice. She turned her head slowly around, as she noticed the guy she had been seated next to through the night, jogging towards her. Ugh, great… She thought for a second, turned around and started to jog away from him. "Hey! Wait up! I just wanna talk!"

"Well, I don't have anything to say to you!" Helga answered with the usual scowl on her face, before she went to read her text: Hey, Helga! Listen, grandma sent me to grab some last minute groceries for tomorrow's breakfast. Apparently, she has something very special planned. So, I'm actually near you. Want me to come pick you up?

Groceries, my ass, you just couldn't help yourself. Helga thought with a loving smile and was about to reply, when she heard the man call at her again. "I wanna talk to you! You were really rude to me at the match!" he said. She was about to just start texting, when she felt a big hand grab her shoulder and swing her around. "Hey! Leave me the fuck alone or I'll cut your smaller head off!" she said warningly, stepped on his foot and then walked past him, on her way back towards the stadium where WrestleMania had just been occurring.

"Hey! You fucking bitch, I think you broke my foot!" the man called. Helga turned to look at him over her shoulder, noticing how he was jumping around as he held it. "Consider yourself lucky! If you don't leave me alone, I'll break the whole fucking leg!" she shouted at him, tapped at Arnold's number and put the phone to her ear.

"Hi, Helga! You're not… mad, are you?" Arnold asked, answering at the same second Helga had called him. "Besides you not taking orders and so obviously being so worried that you couldn't help but come pick me up? Sure, I'm not mad at you." she answered with seething sarcasm in her voice. "… Sorry. Want me to just go home?" he asked. "Uh…" she muttered and went to look over her shoulder again. "Actually, your timing is perfect. Some drunken dude has been harassing me all night. He's fucking annoying."

"Harassing you?! W-Where are you?" Arnold asked worriedly and went to put his seatbelt on. "I'm on my way back to the stadium. Can you pick me up there?" Helga asked. Her voice didn't reveal any sort of fright, but he could hear the slight edge in her voice. "Ok, I'm on my way." He said and started the engine. "Yeah, thanks. Uh, hurry up, will ya? He's a real pain in the - - Hey!" she suddenly shouted as some static could be heard on the phone.

"Helga? Helga! What's going on?" Arnold asked as he stopped everything else that he was doing besides holding the phone. "Get the fuck off me!" Helga yelled at the other side of the line. A male groan could be heard, and Arnold figured he had just been kicked or something along those lines. "I told you that I'd break your leg if you came anywhere near me again! Get the fuck away from me, you bastard!" she continued to yell as something resembling struggling noises kept developing around her.

"Helga!" Arnold kept calling. He wanted her to answer him and in that moment, he really couldn't think logically. He just wanted to hear her telling him that she was just fine. That she was joking, that the guy was knocked out, anything. She never did. Before he knew it, a loud crash could be heard on the other line and then he was met with a beeping tone, indicating the end of the call. "Helga! Helga, answer me! Shit!" he shouted before he threw his phone away carelessly, not even noticing his violent exclamation and then took off like a bolt of lightning.

Shit… Shit! Oh, for crying out… Please… Please, dear God, let me be in time! Make Helga punch him into a pulp! I'd rather pay for her to get out of jail than to see her being… being… Oh, fuck! Arnold thought in a complete frenzy and couldn't help but step on the speed pedal. It felt like his car was the slowest thing in the world. In a way it was; it was his grandpa's old, beloved Packard, but he couldn't care less about breaking the gearbox or whatever he'd might do at this point. He just wanted to get to Helga… and fast!

It felt like it had taken forever before Arnold finally reached the stadium. It had taken roughly ten minutes, but that had been more than enough. He stepped out of the car and looked around. "Helga!" he yelled loudly, locked the car and stepped closer to the stadium. "Helga, where are you?! Helga?" he called yet again and looked around. Everything was dark, even with the streetlights on. Then he noticed something out of place. A small, pink, square thing, looking very much like…

"Oh, no." Arnold whispered when he realized that he was looking at Helga's phone. He jogged right towards it and crouched in front of it. With a shaky hand, he grabbed it. Yes, it had been turned off thanks to the fall against the pavement. "Shit… Helga!" he yelled even louder, hoping that if he somehow shouted loud enough for his voice to disappear, then hers would appear. There wasn't a soul nearby and he couldn't hear anything. Except for a small, whimpering voice that only lasted about a few seconds.

Arnold's head snapped right towards the sound. "Helga?" he asked carefully and started to step towards the sound. He could see a big, dark building, probably a regular condominium, but when he heard the whimpering sound again, he noticed a small alleyway. "Oh, God… No… No, no!" he prayed as he started to pick up his pace and was eventually sprinting towards the alley.

When Arnold reached the corner, he had to literally grab the building with his hand to stop his own legs from keeping on running. He looked inside the alleyway and noticed a small figure, lying up against the wall. The clothes on the silhouette seemed torn, practically shred apart. Some blonde locks were on the pavement, probably ripped off this person's skull. Oh, God… please don't let that be Helga. He thought pleadingly, not caring one bit that it seemed like a somehow selfish wish.

"Helga?" Arnold asked carefully and took a careful step towards the body. The head of the body moved gently and there was no way those blue eyes could belong to anyone else. "A-Arnold…?" a whimpering, completely unfitting voice said. No… He muttered in his head and went to sit on his knees next to her. Carefully, as if she would crumble by the sheer touch of his hand, he went to remove a lock of her hair out of her face. In the dim moonlight mixed with the streetlights, he could see a black eye on her face. Helga's face.

Arnold choked on his breath and his hand, that had touched her face, went straight to cover his own mouth. He was afraid that he'd either start cursing or crying if he didn't. "Oh, God…" he said in a muffled voice because of his hand, but then moved it and started to reach for her again. "Oh, God, w-what am I supposed to do?" he asked her, hoping he would gain a useful answer. She opened her mouth to speak, but only a small choke came out, followed by a bit of blood.

As he watched the blood trickle down from the corner of Helga's mouth, something inside Arnold snapped. "Fuck!" he exclaimed loudly and let his fist smack into the brick wall next to him. When he noticed her flinching a little at his violent action, his hand went to touch her shoulder gently instead. "S-Sorry… I, uh… oh, boy, look, we gotta get you to the hospital, ok?" he asked and went to grab her.

"No!" Helga screamed in terror and winced to get away from Arnold. He froze in the middle of his movement, his eyes wide and his breath caught in his throat. To see her cower in fear like that… it was tear-jerking to say the least. "Helga… it's me, Arnold. I'm here to help you, ok? I'll just carry you to my car then get you to a hospital. It's all gonna be ok, all right? Please…" he said soothingly. When she didn't say anything and thereby didn't object, he slowly went to sneak his arms beneath her already bent knees and her back. He could hear her wheeze a little bit and even if it broke his heart, he had to continue to pick her up.

Helga was so light in Arnold's arms that he almost got scared if this guy had beaten her up so badly that she had lost weight or something. It made no sense, he knew that, but he just wanted her to be ok again. When he reached the Packard, he stopped short. Oh, what now? He wondered as he looked at her face. "Helga… I need to put you down for a second. Can you stand up?" he asked gently. Without a word, she started to move her legs a bit, signaling for him to put her down. He did so, carefully, but still held an arm around her waist to keep her steady. With quick movements, he grabbed the key in his left pocket, opened the door and helped her sit inside.

Arnold leaned inside of the car, grabbed the seatbelt and made sure she was seated safely. Before he went to his own seat, he took a look at her. One of her blue eyes now had a serious, dark circle around it, blood was running down her chin and if he had looked further down at that moment, he would have noticed that her hoodie was ripped apart, revealing most of her stomach and a big part of her chest. He didn't though as he simply wanted to get her to the hospital as soon as possible.

Arnold pulled his head out of the car, closed the door gently and ran to the other side of it. He got inside of the car and turned on the engine, feeling as if he was moving purely on instinct at this point. He tried being careful as he drove towards Hillwood Hospital, but he couldn't help but look at Helga from time to time. During those times was also when he finally realized that her clothes truly had been ripped apart.

Oh, God… Please be ok. Please survive. That son of a… Fuck! Arnold turned roughly on the wheel and stopped at the nearest parking spot at the hospital entrance. With shaky movements, he managed to get himself out of the Packard, run to her door and then he opened it roughly. "I'm grabbing you again, Helga." He said with brief warning. He then grabbed her firmly and pulled her out. Unlike the last time, she didn't struggle against him, which honestly worried him.

When Arnold had closed the door, he looked at Helga's face. "Helga?" he asked gently, but not a sound or breath came from her. "Oh, no!" he sneered with a worried frown and started running towards the hospital. He cradled her carefully in his arms as he practically kicked the door open and ran inside. "Help! Please help!" he yelled loudly, gaining a lot of attention around him. "Please help her!"

"What's happened?" a nurse asked as she came running, a couple of other nurses or doctors or whoever - Arnold didn't really notice what kind of people came towards him - following her. "I-I found her like this. She called me and some guy was after her." He tried to explain as one of the nurses started to look at her and touch her. He didn't know what she was doing, but whatever it was, he hoped they could help her. "Please help her…" he said pleadingly, gaining the nurse's attention. "Please?"

The nurse nodded at Arnold affirmatively and then grabbed something resembling a walkie-talkie or something like that. "Doctor Smith, please come down to the main hallway, we have a rape victim down here." She said into it. Arnold's eyes went wide. "Rape?" he repeated in disbelief. She looked at him with a slight frown, wondering how he hadn't noticed. She cocked her head gently to the side, gesturing towards Helga's pants before she resumed speaking in the walkie-talkie.

Arnold's eyes automatically went slowly towards Helga's hips and he gasped at the sight. The jeans were shred apart, much like her hoodie, but the big difference was the blood. There was blood on her inner thighs, and if he had readjusted his head a bit, he would've noticed that her undergarments matched the rest of her clothes. "Oh, God… p-please take her." He begged to a nearby nurse when he felt himself getting sick. The nurse took one look at his face, realized what was about to happen and grabbed Helga.

When Helga was out of his arms, Arnold turned around and ran out of the hospital. He then bent over and puked. The image of Helga like that would haunt him forever, he knew that, but mostly he just felt sick at knowing that anyone could make themselves do something like that. To anyone. To Helga. It seems so surreal… Helga Pataki can't be raped, the thought of her getting beaten up alone is insane enough! He thought with pure fury.

Arnold arched his back and looked towards the street. He was shaking in the slight, fall-like cold as he lifted his hand to use his sleeve as a napkin. He didn't care how disgusting he felt; he could only think of how Helga felt. How any girl would feel. Then an ugly thought hit him… Something like this could tear any girl apart… but Helga… Helga was different; she had a sort of pride in her strength no other girl had. How would she take this?

Arnold wheezed loudly at the sheer thought of how… broken Helga might feel once she woke up. He shut his eyes tight and felt something wet run down his left cheek. In anger at feeling so weak, when he was supposed to be strong for Helga, he wiped the tear away from his cheek. With a big breath, he forced all of his power to stay within him and then marched right back into the hospital.

Author's 2nd note: Not sure what to say right now. It seems a little unorthodox to leave an author's note with this kind of ending… and at the first chapter even! Anyhow, please tell me what you think. I wasn't sure how much I should've written about Helga's 'situation' but I figured most people would be able to handle this. I didn't wanna write an actual 'scene' with that… Heck no xD

Oh, and also: I know nothing about locks on lockers… So I actually had to google it xD Does that combination make any sense? O.o