The sequel for Carry This Picture. This takes place right after Arnold and Helga's date in the boardwalk. Enjoy!

Carry This Picture II

Chapter 1

Arnold's mission was a success. He finally got Helga confessed about her true feelings for him after her secret was revealed when he opened her locket. He brought her to the date she will never forget and after spending a lovely afternoon together in the boardwalk, it was time to go home.

"Well, this is me." They stopped as soon as they reached her stoop. "Thanks for walking me home, Arnold. I really had a wonderful time." Helga said with a smile.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it. I had a great time too." Arnold said, also with a smile. "And like I promised, we'll do this again next time."

They were standing in front of her house when a car stopped. It was Big Bob Pataki's and he hurriedly got off when he saw Helga.

"Helga!" he shouted.

To Helga's surprise, her Dad picked her up and hugged her so tightly she could hardly breathe.

"Dad what are you doing?" Helga asked, really embarrassed.

"Where have you been girl? We've been looking all over for you? We've been calling everyone, I went to the police station, your mom's crying..."

"Hold up, Dad!" she interrupted. "I was just in the boardwalk with Arnold. What's going on?"

Before Big Bob could explain to Helga, Miriam came running out the door, crying. She too picked up Helga and hugged her tightly.

"Helga, my baby. You're back!" she said while endlessly kissing Helga on the cheek.

"Mom stop it!" Helga said, trying to push Miriam off her face. "What's going on Dad?"

"We've been worried sick about you Helga."

"Criminy! I was only out for hours. I do this all the time."

"We thought you ran away!" Big Bob finally said.

"Why on earth would you think that?" she asked, confused.

"We found this in your room, little lady." Her Dad held up a piece of paper. Arnold and Helga read it. It was the letter that Helga wrote for her parents, in panic, when she decided to skip town after her locket was finally opened by Arnold and her secret was revealed to him.

Arnold gave Helga a knowing look. He understood right away what the 'terrible leap of fate' was about.

"That..." Helga gulped. Her face was bright red.

"...is my...homework, Dad." She let out a nervous laugh and snatched the paper off Big Bob's hand, crumpled it and casually tossed it over her shoulder.

"Homework! Why in the world would that bald teacher of yours would give you such stupid homework?" Big Bob asked angrily but Helga didn't answer. "That's it! Miriam, get me the phone number of that teacher, pronto! He's in big trouble."

"Yes B." Miriam hurriedly abides.

Big Bob angrily stomped inside the house. Helga desperately tried to stop him. "Don't do that, Dad! It was just a mistake. Criminy!"

She waved Arnold goodbye. "Good night, Arnold!" she called over her shoulder then shut the door.

"Good night, Helga." Arnold just said quietly.

As soon as Arnold got home, he reached for the phone and dialled Helga's number.

It was Helga who answered. "Hello?"

"Hey Helga. It's Arnold."

"Arnold?" Helga covered the mouthpiece and let a long swoon out before she speaks again. "Hey Arnold. It's so nice to hear you." she said politely. Her tone was even sweet and lovely.

Arnold couldn't help but "love" the changes in Helga's behaviour towards him after the confession. Before, when she was still hiding her true feelings from him, she would scream insults at him over the telephone. But she don't have to do that anymore. She can be the Helga that Arnold has always known to be only hiding behind the tough exterior. She no longer have to torture him and call him names like football. She can finally be the real Helga that Arnold actually like.

"So what happened? Did your Dad call Mr. Simmons?"

"Unfortunately." Helga answered with a sigh. "It was such a mess!" She said then slumped herself on her bed.

"What excuse did you have to make?" Arnold asked.

"First, I had to convince Miriam and Bob that it was just a big misunderstanding and it wasn't Mr Simmons' fault. I told them that our assignment was about creative writing but Mr. Simmons didn't tell me to write that 'letter'. I said I came up with the idea myself."

"What about Mr. Simmons? Did you talk to him?"

"Yeah I did, after my Dad yelled at him on the phone. I feel sorry for the guy. He was obviously confused by what happened." she sighed. "I told him that I was just experimenting on my creativity by writing different styles about different topics, stuffs like that." She said then added, "And I asked him to forget about the whole thing."

"Poor Mr. Simmons." Arnold chuckled. He find the whole thing a little amusing. "I can only imagine his face when your Dad started yelling at him on the phone with no apparent reason. What did he say?"

"He told me it was okay and that he understands. He said that it was 'uniquely me' and that he's happy to know that I give 'special' attention to the assignment." Helga said, stressing on the words favoured by Mr. Simmons.

"You're lucky he's such a good guy. Did your Dad apologize to him?"

"Yeah. They bought what I said and apologized to him. It's just embarrassing, you know, that it had to come to this. Well, you can count on my parents to be the first to over react."

"Can you blame them?" Arnold asked. "I saw what you wrote and if I were them, I would react the same way too." he continued. "They're your parents, Helga, and they love you. They may not be perfect but they care about you so much. They don't wanna lose you."

"I know. I had to apologize to them too. I didn't even consider the consequences. I was too selfish."

"I'm sorry too, Helga." Arnold apologized all of a sudden.

"For what?" she asked, surprised. "You didn't do anything."

"I didn't realize until I saw that letter..." Arnold was struggling to find the words. "If it wasn't for me finding out about your secret, you wouldn't think of leaving." he explained. " You were there in my basement, weren't you? And you saw me opened your locket and it really scared you." he continued.

"I realized...if I didn't get in your house on time to ask you out, you probably had already gone to your plans and left. Or maybe you were just over reacting, I don't know. But still, I feel bad about it and I want to apologize."

"That's just so you, Arnold." Helga said with a little snicker. "You always make yourself responsible for everything. You don't have to feel bad about it." she assured him. "The only thing you've ever done was to bring me to the most beautiful afternoon I ever had and make me realize that confessing to you was the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"Really?"

"Yeah." She rolled on to her stomach. "I always thought it'll be the end of me once you find out my secret, but it's not. It's the opposite. I feel like a new born, like I'm a whole new person."

Arnold couldn't help but feel all goofy inside. "You see, telling truth the wasn't that bad. It's very freeing, don't you think?"

"You're right." she agreed.

"And I'm glad that everything is well in your house."

"Thanks Arnold. Speaking of which, Dad decided that we'll have a family date every Sunday starting tomorrow. Just me, him and Mom."

"That sounds great!"

"I know. I haven't told you yet but my parents apologized to me too. Miriam won't stop crying and Bob said the scariest moment of his life was when he read my letter and thought I really ran away. They thought it was their fault."

Arnold just listened. He's happy that Helga was opening up to him. "They felt that I had come up with that idea for my 'creative writing assignment' because I feel like they don't pay enough attention to me. They both promised that things will be different around the house from now on."

"I'm really happy for you, Helga." Arnold paused then said, "Well I guess you already have plans for tomorrow. I was actually gonna ask you if you want to hang out again or something." he said shyly.

"Really?" Helga's heart flutter. 'Oh my word! Arnold's asking me out again. I' think I'm gonna die!' She thought happily. She even fell off her bed.

"Helga? Are you still there?"

"Yes Arnold… I am. How about I'll call you as soon as we get home and I'll tell you all about it?"

"Sounds good to me. I'll wait for your call. I'm sure you guys are gonna have a great time."

"Thanks. So I guess I'll just see you Monday at school."

"Right. See you Monday, Helga."

"Good night, Arnold."

"Good night, Helga."

They both hang up. Helga, once again, let out a customary swoon. And that night, Arnold and Helga dreamed of each other.

This is only the Chapter 1. Chapter 2 will be up soon. Thanks for reading!