The Magic Show - I do not own Hey Arnold. Hey Arnold belongs to Craig Bartlett and Nickelodeon...yay

"Why are you doing this?" Helga asked with mixed feelings about this situation.

"Because I always try to help out my friends whenever I can," Arnold replied with a smile.

Helga didn't reply, she just kept following Arnold while he still held her hand guiding her to his boarding house. She looked at her feet while walking, not wanting to bring her head up and let her mess of hair cover most of her face. She wanted to cry very very badly, but she couldn't. Not in front of Arnold.. Never in front of Arnold, but she knew it was already too late for that statement.

When they reached the boarding house known as Sunset Arms, she watched Arnold let go of her hand and rummage through his pocket to pull out a key. He guided her to the side of the stoop, and opened the door to reveal many different animals pour out of the front door. Once they were all gone, he held the door for Helga to come in the house first, then followed after her and shut the door.

Helga followed Arnold up a flight of stairs, which led to another flight of stairs, which led to his bedroom. Helga should've been ecstatic at this very moment, but the situation she was in was holding her back. She watched Arnold close the door and shortly after, pick up a remote control and press a button, which caused a small orange sofa to emerge from the wall. She then watched Arnold take a seat on that small sofa, and made a gesture for her to do the same. Helga hesitated a few seconds, contemplating if she should just quickly bolt out the door, but where else could she go? Sure, there was Phoebe, but wouldn't Helga just be a burden for her? Phoebe's parents would never approve of her arrival to live with them anyway, so what's even the point of-

"Helga," Arnold began, which snapped Helga out of her thoughts. She finally decided to sit down next to him.

Arnold noticed she was avoiding eye contact with him. He also could barely see her face under her hair. Without thinking, he slowly grabbed a strand of hair on her face and put it behind her ear. "She's kinda pretty with her hair down...wait what." Both Arnold and Helga's faces were a light shade of pink, but Arnold quickly brushed it off by clearing his throat and restarting his statement. "Uh, Helga, if you don't mind me asking, what happened to you during the magic show? Why did you leave in the middle of my trick?" He said this with both a look of concern and slight frustration.

Helga sighed, "well why do ya think Arnold, I wanted to make your lame magic trick backfire."

"Yeah. Thanks for that." Arnold replied sarcastically, still a little peeved that his magic show he put a lot of effort into almost was a complete bust. "But did something happen after you left? What caused you to almost start crying after you came back?"

Helga stared at the floor for a few seconds until responding with, "why do you care?"

"Because I know there's a different side of you, Helga. I want to know more about this side, about the real you."

"What are you blabbering about, Football-Head?! Sides?! This is the real me! Helga G. Pataki, as simple as that!"

"You can't act like I didn't see anything I just saw! You crying and running home, your dad throwing you out of your house like you were nothing but trash! It's really not as simple as Helga G. Pataki, there's more to you than just 'the school bully'. I obviously know that deep down you're not a bully, in fact deep down, I know you're actually really nice, and have feelings! I want to help you Helga, let me in!"

Helga's face was pure red, and her heart was beating a mile a minute. Arnold actually seems like he cares about her! Oh Arnold, what a kind soul, so companionate and affectionate towards others, so...

"I don't have to tell you anything about my personal life! Since when are you my therapist?" She knew this was a pathetic attempt at rebuilding her broken wall, but even though the damage was already done, she just couldn't help it.

"You're right," Arnold replied, "but I just feel I kinda deserve to know what happened to you, since you kinda almost ruined the big finale of my magic show.."

Again with the stupid magic show! Helga was silent for a few moments, then she sighed. She finally decided she would spill the beans.

"Fine...I...I'll tell you. But you can't tell anyone else what I'm about to tell you, and you especially can't tell anyone what Bob did earlier. Not the police, not the school, not your friends, your family, not even your pig."

Arnold frowned, "but... are you going to tell someone?"

"Yeah. When I'm good and ready."

Arnold's frown didn't leave his face as he quietly sighed, "whatever you say, Helga."

Helga leaned back on the small orange couch, "okay, time to begin this fiasco of a story.."

(Sorry this chapter was so short! Idk if anyone even still cares about this fanfic lol, since it's been longer than a year since I updated it! But I'm gettin' back into the groove :D)

(Updated version made 11/11/17)