Feeling Empty (A Hey Arnold Story)

Be Here For You

A/N: Whoops. I'm so sorry y'all. I said I was going to update weekly and I ended up leaving you hanging for six months. Good news though, I'm back from the dead! Anyways, here's some story for y'all to chew on

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"Your parents haven't been feeding you?! Why didn't you tell me? I could've given you something or you could've come over for dinner-"

"But they would've known and made me exercise extensively until I worked off every last calorie." Rhonda explained looking down at the floor.

Nadine noticed how the whole ordeal had really taken a toll on her best friend, physically and mentally. She put her arm around her to comfort her. Rhonda responded by resting her head on Nadine's shoulder.

It was funny. Rhonda could be such a drama queen about the smallest things, but when something major happened she was practically silent.

-

"We don't really have a guest room so are you comfortable with sleeping in Harold's room sweetheart?"

"Uh.. yeah that's.. fine." Rhonda replied hesitantly.

Forget the psychiatrist, the last place Rhonda could've ever imagine herself being today was Harold's room. They walked over to his room. Harold went to his closest, put out a sleeping bag and began to lay down in it.

"And what exactly to you think you're doing?" She asked Harold with her signature sass.

"Going to bed?" He answered, confused

"I don't see you on a bed, you don't actually expect me to make you sleep on that glorified sheet, do you?" Rhonda mused, crossing her arms

"You can have the bed, I don't care" Harold responded indifferently.

"Harold Berman. You've given me enough already, I'm not letting you give me this as well. You couldn't force me to sleep on this bed."

"Oh yeah? We'll see about that!" Harold said grinning.

Harold got up and interlocked his hands with hers in an attempt to push her onto the bed. Rhonda put up a surprising amount of resistance. In fact, they were almost evenly matched in terms of strength, but Harold had a slight edge on her. He ended up getting her on the bed, but he slipped and fell on top of her. Hands still interlocked, the two were smiling stupidly and giggling.

"Got you!" Harold said, still grinning.

Harold had matured a bit since his elementary school days. He had really grown into his whole look, with a lot of his fat translating to muscle. He had also grown a bit of curly hair on top of his head, and grown a little in height as well. His whole "glow-up" sure didn't help Rhonda with getting over her crush, and it made it even worse that there was only about five inches of space between their faces. She felt her face flush a bit at that realization.

"No fair, I haven't eaten in three weeks!"

Harold's expression suddenly became somber.

"I'm sorry." He said, getting up and wrapping himself in the sleeping bag.

"It's not your fault."

"Yeah, but I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"Well.. I'm alright now, so don't worry about it."

They sat in silence for a bit before Haold got up and turned off the light.

"Well... goodnight Rhonda."

"Goodnight Harold."

-

It took Rhonda a minute to fall asleep. It's not that she wasn't tired, she was exhausted, but she had a lot on her mind. When she finally did she almost instantly started dreaming.

She was standing in what looked like a white void. About ten feet away from her, there was a plate with a sandwich on a stool. She suddenly felt famished started toward the sandwich but suddenly she was weighed down as if gravity had increased dramatically. Then, her parents appeared behind her.

"Rhonda darling, that's too many calories."

"Remember, no carbs."

"You're looking a little chubby."

"No one will want to be around a fat girl."

"No one cares about you, you're overweight."

She tried with all her might but she couldn't move. She tried calling for help and telling her parents to stop, but they kept walking toward her. She was completely hopeless. And hungry.

-

"No. No! NO!"

Harold awoke to the sound of Rhonda yelling and violently squirming in the bed. He wasn't sure exactly what to do, all he knew was he wanted her nightmare to end.

He got up and pulled the covers just enough so he could slide in. He slowly got in and pulled up the blankets. Then, he put his arms around her and noticed she slowly stopped writhing around.

-

Just as her parents were reaching their hands toward her, she felt a comforting warmth surround her and her parents faded into the background. The white void turned a deep red-pink color, and suddenly she was sitting on a chair at a beach. She noticed Harold excitedly running towards her.

"Harold?"

"They're giving out free Mr. Fudgies over there!!"

"What?"

"Come on let's go!!" Harold exclaimed, grabbing her hand.

This made her smile as they both ran into the horizon.

-

A/N Again: Aww, what a sweet chapter. Sorry that took so long to get out, I really had a lot of stuff happening so it took a minute.

Can I just say, I love the way Nadine and Rhonda's friendship turned out in this story. I never intended for it to be such a sweet dynamic but I couldn't be happier. I really wish we got to see more of their friendship in the show (and more of Nadine in general).

As for the song choice, I see it working with the support Rhonda receives from both Harold and Nadine. They both know that they can't help her entirely but they want her to accept the help that they can offer. Support.

Lyrics that relate:
"This desert's not a place you can stand/ You've gotta look to the stars/Reach out your hand"
(I see this lyric being their way of saying that getting through this requires help and not solidarity. She can't stay deserted in this struggle)

"I can't stop the world/But I promise that I'll be here for you"

"I can't stop the flames/Take away the pain/But I promise that I'll be here for you"