Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.
They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.
Title: "Everybody talks"
Summary: After having spent most of their childhood being enemies, it was a shock to everyone when Arnold and Helga became friends. When rumors about them being lovers in secret started to roam around though, Arnold and Helga found themselves in quite the awkward predicament. Because they weren't in love… were they? It's true what they say: "Everybody talks too much"
Author's 1st note: Hi-hi-hi! So all in all, this story is an experiment for me. This story is more of an exploration of how Arnold and Helga might have gotten together if Helga had actually never had any feelings for him growing up and that they had in fact hated each other until their teen years, become friends and suddenly everyone suspects there's something more when there's really not… at least not what they think ;)
Now, what you will need to know before you start reading: On the citrus-scale (level of sexuality) this is only 'orange', as in a bit of kissing. Honestly, the rating is mostly due to foul language and jokes. Oh, and in case there's any confusion then Arnold and Helga are supposed to be in their teen years, but I couldn't really decide an age between thirteen and sixteen, so choose whichever one that is mostly to your liking! Or which one makes more sense xP
[Please notify me if you notice any grammar mistakes. This isn't my first language, so there's bound to be mistakes.]
"We agree then, right?" Gerald asked, but kept his eyes glued to the book on his lap. "Hm?" his blonde friend muttered absentmindedly. Gerald frowned and looked at him. "You're not listening at all, are you?" he asked. The boy simply hummed again, causing Gerald to frown and throw the pillow next to him at the wide-headed boy. "Ow! Gerald!" Arnold scolded and rubbed his head. "That's what you get for not listening to me!" he scolded and rolled his eyes. "What's on your mind?" he asked. "Nothing." Arnold insisted, but his best friend through 16 years didn't believe him for a second. "The hell you aren't." he said and put the book in front of him. "Come on. We're not getting anywhere with this assignment before you admit it anyway, so out with it."
"I'm…" Arnold started and then sighed in surrender. "I guess I'm just a little worried on Helga's behalf." He admitted and waited for the inevitable and by this point; usual rant from his best friend and, indeed, Gerald rolled his eyes. "Helga doesn't need your worry! And even if she did, then you worrying isn't going to help her. She's just going on a date, Arnold, that's it." he pointed out, but Arnold shook his head. "It's her first date since Wolfgang and you know how sad she was after that." he insisted, but Gerald was the one to shake his head this time. "She was angry, not sad. Not that I blame her. The guy punched her in front of the entire school." He said and cringed at the memory.
"You know that Helga's anger mostly means sadness rather than actual anger." Arnold pointed out and leaned back in his chair. "Of course she was sad. A guy punched her and she never got the chance to punch him back." Gerald said with a snicker and Arnold couldn't help but snicker as well. "Sad because of lack of revenge is still sadness, Gerald." He pointed out and the African-American boy nodded in agreement. "I would have loved to see Helga deck Wolfgang though. Even if he hadn't punched her then that would have been the most awesome thing ever!" Gerald exclaimed and fell down on the bed. "Imagine it: blonde girl in pink bow and dress beats up big, bulgy guy in front of entire school. He'd deserve it. I don't get why she even started dating that guy at all."
"You know Helga. She's a bad boy magnet." Arnold said with a lopsided grin. "Bad boys are boys who do questionable things like minor crimes, rides motorcycles and has a helluva lot of tattoos. The bad boys Helga dates are more likely to get a death penalty in court rather than a 500 dollar fine." Gerald insisted and Arnold frowned. After a few seconds of considering it though, he had to nod in agreement. "Fair point… I'm just confused by it, I guess. I thought Helga was smarter than that…" he muttered absentmindedly. "She is smart… but maybe she just likes it rough?" Gerald suggested. Arnold frowned at that, grabbed the pillow Gerald had thrown at him earlier and then threw it right back at him. "Pervert."
"That's not what I meant." Gerald said with a grin and put the pillow in its place on the bed. "But now that you've already opened this can of worms…" he uttered curiously, causing Arnold to shoot him a slanted look. "Since you and Helga have been best buddies for a year now then would you know the answer to that?" he asked curiously. "No!" Arnold insisted, but folded at Gerald's penetrating stare. "Ok, we don't really talk about sex in that way, but if I had to guess, I'd say my guess would be… reliable." Arnold admitted. "And?" Gerald probed. "Ask her yourself if you're that curious." Arnold said and rolled his eyes. "She would bite my head off if I tried." Gerald pointed out and stood up from the bed.
"Why do you care anyway?" Arnold asked and looked back at his friend. "Because she confuses me! All my life, I've seen her as the tomboy, the girl with the iron fists and then, a year ago, she came out of the closet!" Gerald exclaimed dramatically, which Arnold cocked an eyebrow at. "The closet?" he repeated. "The…" Gerald muttered and thought about it for a second. "The even-I-have-feminine-sides-closet." He decided and Arnold snickered. "Why did that surprise you? She is, in fact, a girl. Who wears almost nothing but pink clothes even." He reminded him. "Ah." Gerald said and lifted a finger. "But she is also the girl who curses more than the boys, the girl who can punch your face in and the girl with worse temper than any of the other girls even when they are on their period. The fact that she writes poetry and is good at it still amazes me."
"You're just jealous…" Arnold mocked in a singsong voice, which Gerald frowned at. "I do not write poetry." He insisted stubbornly. "Oh, you're right… what you do is something called spoken word, which is an artistic poetry performance which, in your case, includes bongo drums." He pointed out with a big grin. "I'm still not reciting poetry." Gerald stubbornly insisted. "Call it whatever you want. The only thing I know is that the last time I went to one of your spoken word competitions, about 70% of the contestants were girls." Arnold muttered and turned his eyes back to the book, mostly just to annoy his friend. "What's your point?" said friend asked in annoyance. "My point is…" Arnold said and closed the book once more. "That if you are allowed to have a girlish side, so does Helga. Criminy, she's the girl after all."
"Don't say criminy. It's a Helga word." Gerald muttered with an odd mix of confusion and disgust on his face. "Helga doesn't have patent on that word." Arnold pointed out with a slanted look. "No, but don't deny that you learned it from her." Gerald said and pointed accusingly at Arnold, who shrunk a little. "Point taken." He uttered and Gerald smiled in triumphant as he started to walk around in the room. "Anyway, this whole Helga being a girl thing is still sorta freaking me out." He admitted and shook visibly. When Arnold was about to respond, they heard a click above them. Both boys turned their heads to look at the skylight, only to see a blonde girl about to open it. Well, mostly blonde. As of a couple of years ago, she had made a habit of coloring one small lock of her long hair on the left side of her head pink. Gerald turned to look at Arnold. "Is this considering breaking and entering?"
Arnold simply shrugged before Helga opened the skylight, her face cringed in absolute hate and anger, her mouth cursing and hissing. "That son of a bitch…" she muttered and started to walk down the stairs build into the floor. "Arnold, you gotta hear this. This asshole seriously…" Helga said, but then noticed Gerald in the room. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize your boyfriend was here." She said nonchalantly. Gerald rolled his eyes in slight annoyance at the somewhat old joke and Arnold just gave a lopsided grin. "What's up, Helga?" he asked and put the book back on the table. "You sure I'm not interrupting?" she asked before shoving her hands into the pockets of her loose and ripped jeans. Gerald blinked a couple of times before he pointed at her as he looked at Arnold. "The old Helga wouldn't have given a rat's ass if she was interrupting!" he added to his personal list of things that freaked him out about the new Helga.
Helga lifted her eyebrows at Gerald's comment. "The old Helga would also have punched your lights out for that comment so consider yourself lucky, bucko." She said and Gerald smiled in relief. "Yeah, that sound more like Helga…" he said and sighed. "Wonder Boy over here was so worried about your date anyway that we barely got any work done so fire away." He told her before he sat down on the chair next to Arnold. "Aww." Helga said before strolling over to Arnold and then ruffling his blonde hair. "Aren't you cute?!" she asked playfully before walking past him and to his desk. Gerald noticed that Arnold smiled perhaps a little too sweetly for his liking at Helga's gesture, but decided to ignore it for now. She hopped onto the desk, put one of her feet onto it and then rested her arm on her knee. Gerald's eyes widened at that, but when he looked at Arnold, he didn't seem affected whatsoever. That's weird. Gerald thought. Arnold cares so much about his room looking tidy, so why is Helga allowed to put her feet on the table like that?
"So, what was the problem with this one?" Arnold asked. "Remember Jake?" Helga asked and Arnold nodded while Gerald shook his head. "Well, let me put it this way… Same shit, different toilet." She said with a frown and Gerald's eyes widened at the language, while Arnold only sighed. He had become so accustomed to the way she talked that he barely noticed it anymore. "So he also looked at you as more of a toy than a human?" Arnold asked and crossed his arms. Helga nodded as she groaned. "That little shit actually had the balls to tell me that we he would have preferred me in something shorter." She said and gestured to her ripped jeans. "Like hell!"
"I'm sorry it didn't work out, Helga." Arnold sighed and said girl sighed once more. "Never fucking mind. I give up." She said before jumping off the table and walking towards Arnold's collection of CD's. "Give up?" Gerald repeated and she nodded as she looked through Arnold's CD's. "Yeah, I'm giving up on boys. Maybe I should just go lesbian. I might steal Phoebe from you, Gerald." She responded and snickered at the thought. When Gerald was about to retort, he heard Arnold snickering next to him. "You gotta admit… They would be an interesting couple." He pointed out and kept snickering. "Phoebe would be what you'd call a victim of abuse if she started dating Helga." Gerald said stubbornly and crossed his arms. "Oh?" Helga muttered and looked at him with a slanted look. "And wouldn't you call someone who gets groped against their will in public a victim of abuse as well?"
Gerald's eyes widened while Arnold decided to look away completely. He had been thinking the same thing and had desperately tried to hint his thoughts to Gerald, but he hadn't caught onto any of them. It seemed like Helga had noticed it as well though. "What do you mean?" Gerald asked with a deep frown, but he knew very well what she meant. "You keep touching Phoebe's ass every chance you get." Helga said with a frown and then looked at him seriously. "Look, I know she hasn't said anything, but if you took the time to, oh, I don't know, look at her face whenever you do that, you'd notice how uncomfortable she gets. Stop it."
Gerald was slightly surprised at Helga's words; she didn't usually stand up for people and he honestly hadn't noticed that Phoebe had gotten that uncomfortable with him touching her. Rather than answering, he just sighed and crossed his arms in surrender. Helga seemed content with that because she returned her attention to the pile of CD's. "Arnold, where is that CD I let you borrow last week?" she asked. "Oh, it's in the player." He answered and pointed. "Oh, so you've been listening to it?" she asked with a grin and he nodded sheepishly. "I like it… Well, I still prefer jazz." He admitted. "But they weren't terrible?" she asked before hitting play. Some soft piano playing started until it turned a little rougher. "I'm guessing this one's your favorite?"
Arnold nodded, not at all surprised that Helga knew that this particular song would be his favorite. "Isn't that Skillet?" Gerald asked in surprise at the blonde teens nodded. "You come to me with scars on your wrist…" Helga started singing softly, closing her eyes and leaning up against the wall. "I have tried getting you to listen to less rough music than Skillet, but when Helga suggests it, it's suddenly not so bad?" Gerald asked in disbelief, but noticed that his friend wasn't really listening to him. When he turned to look at Helga, she was still singing softly, completely engulfed in the music she was listening to, her tongue-piercing showing when she opened her mouth. He then turned back to look at his friend and frowned at the odd look on his face. He could recognize it and yet not at all.
Gerald would probably have kept looking back and forth between them until Arnold started singing as well. "This is the last night you'll spend alone." He whispered and she looked at him with a small smile. "Look me in the eyes so I know you know I'm everywhere you want me to be." They sang together and they continued singing together until Gerald started frowning in deep thought. This is weird… so very, very weird. It was strange enough when they became friends, but now Arnold's listening to Skillet? Saying 'criminy'? This is getting out of hand. He thought and just as he thought that, Arnold stood up from his chair. Helga had started dancing halfheartedly as she continued to sing. The two blonde teenagers continued to put on a small show for Gerald, almost as if they had forgotten he was there. They kept singing, getting more and more into it and then it suddenly clicked for Gerald when he recognized the smile on Arnold's face. Oh… shit!
Gerald couldn't believe his own thoughts. No, seriously, he really couldn't. The thought had crossed his mind for a mere second when he watched Helga and Arnold dance together in Arnold's room yesterday, but the thought had been shoved away deep, deep into the forbidden cavern in his mind. The same place he shoved every other stupid, unbelievable and perverse thought into. This particular thought was probably at the top of that list. He refused to remember the thought though; it had just been that stupid. He actually snickered maliciously at it once he had fully understood that the idea of Arnold and Helga having any sort of love-considered feeling towards each other had actually crossed his mind. It was just too damn funny.
"Football Head, wanna work on that assignment we just got?" Helga asked and Gerald turned his head towards her. She had been sitting next to Arnold on this particular day, they did that from time to time, and was currently collecting her books from her desk while Arnold did the same thing. "I figured with your brains and my fists we could easily got some information out of some politicians." She said with a bit of humor in her voice and Arnold snickered. "Sure, Helga, but don't go and punch any of them, ok?" he begged as he followed her out of the classroom. "No promises, Football Head." She told him and then laughed manically.
Gerald rolled his eyes at the exchange between his best friend and former enemy. He had to admit that Helga had gone better over the years, but her mouth was still rotten, especially if you pissed her off. Gerald had, along with Arnold, been some of the kids who had gotten the most earfuls from the Pataki girl over the years, so he should know. "That is still the weird thing I have ever seen." Rhonda said with disgust in her voice. Gerald turned to look at a couple of his childhood friends who had been sitting on the row behind him. Nadine, the dark-skinned and yet blonde girl, nodded in agreement. "It almost seems a little… unnatural, right? I mean even if they hadn't been nemeses since they were born then it's still a little weird for a boy and a girl to be hanging out that much without them dating." She muttered with a thoughtful frown.
Gerald snickered loudly at the sheer thought. "What do you find ever so funny, Gerald?" Lila asked with her usual sweet smile and the boy removed a tear from his eye. "Oh, it was just ironic. That whole Arnold and Helga dating thing." He said and stood up from his desk. "Why?" Rhonda asked curiously and leaned a little closer to him, though she couldn't see his face even if she did so. "Are they dating?" she asked as if she was a vulture feeding on gossip. Gerald wanted to laugh, but he just couldn't. "Of course they are." He said with very little sarcasm in his voice. He simply couldn't muster it. "They have been dating in like forever now. They are just hiding it. Kinda like star-crossed lovers." He added, still laughing on the inside before grabbing his bag and walking away from the girls. Arnold and Helga dating… He thought and finally laughed loudly once he was out of the room. That would be the day!
Rhonda made an inaudible gasp and turned to grab Sheena's shoulders in excitement. "Did you girls just hear that?!" she asked as she shook Sheena eagerly. "Yeah… Arnold and Helga are dating." Nadine said with some confused disgust on her face. "That is just weird." She stated and Sheena and Rhonda nodded in agreement. "I actually think that they make an ever so adorable couple." Lila said thoughtfully and stared into the air as if she could imagine them getting married. The girls just ignored her; that girl had after all some weird ideas about who should date whom. She was after all still in love with Arnold's less-than-attractive cousin whom she hadn't seen in years. "But don't you think that Gerald was being, how should I put it, ever so sarcastic when he said they were dating?" Lila asked with her finger placed in front of her lips as if that somehow made her mind clearer.
"Are you kidding? Even if he was sarcastic then this is pure gold! Imagine the uproar! The bullied dating his bully! What juice stuff! Come on!" Rhonda said and waved for the girls to follow her. They looked at each other, shrugged and followed their leader. This recess turned out to be so much more than just a break from the tedious lessons. Rhonda, Nadine, Sheena and Lila all split up to talk to several students about the possibility of Arnold and Helga dating. While Sheena and Lila were more vague and assumptious, Nadine and Rhonda gave it their all at making people believe that Arnold and Helga were in fact a couple. As Rhonda had foreseen, it created quite the stir. Once the recess was over, everyone in the whole school knew of this relationship Helga and Arnold shared in secret.
Arnold and Helga were blissfully unaware of being the attention of the entire school once they were on their way back. They had gone to Slausen's to eat lunch like they had made a habit of lately so they had been nowhere near the school grounds while the gossip had spread like the flu during rainy season. Helga was the first to notice the odd stares she and Arnold got from their peers. Some snickered at them, others simply smiled, while some actually had the guts to start whispering whenever they would notice her and Arnold walking by. At first, Helga was sure she was going mental, but once she and Arnold sat down next to each other, as usual, the whispering started to create a buzz in her ears.
"Arnold…" Helga whispered and noticed how he seemed to be frowning in confusion as well. "Yeah…?" he muttered, but barely looked at her. Like her, he was looking around at their peers. She leaned closer to him. "I know I'm a basket case, but… are people… staring at us?" she asked. He looked around for a few moments before nodding. "It seems like it… but I don't know why." He answered honestly and when his eyes met Helga's, he knew what she was planning. She stood up from her chair and banged her fist angrily into the desk. "Ok, what the hell is your problem, all of you?!" she asked in seething rage, but her peers simple kept smiling when some of them started clapping.
Arnold and Helga gawked at the applauding teenagers in astonishment. "What's going on?" Arnold asked and Helga simply shrugged. "Congratulations!" a random girl yelled while a boy whistled. "Con-what?" Helga muttered in shock and it was Arnold's turn to shrug. "I gotta say, I never saw it coming, but this is the most awesome thing ever!" a boy shouted and some boys pumped their fists against each other's. "Hey!" Helga shouted and the room grew a little quiet. "Mind letting us in on the joke?" she asked and crossed her arms. "Oh, don't call your relationship a joke, Helga!" Harold, one of the teenagers Helga and Arnold had known since childhood, bellowed and started laughing. "My…" she muttered in shock and growled. "What the hell are you talking about?!"
"It's ok! There's no reason to hide it anymore." A girl said as encouragingly as she could. Helga lifted her hand as if about to pound the girl, but then clenched her fist and took a deep breath. "Hide… what?" she asked as calmly as she could, but she had asked it smashing her teeth together and hissing the words. "Oh, don't play coy!" a boy said behind Helga and she turned to scowl at him. "Call me coy one more time and I'll deck you!" she said and tried to lash out at him, but he simply leaned back and laughed. "What am I supposedly hiding?!"
"Tell me, how much of it is true, Arnold?" a girl asked before crouching next to him. While Arnold frowned in confusion at the question, Helga turned to look at the girl. "What is true?" she asked and went to stand next to Arnold who remained seated still. "I mean, a lot of the rumors must be exaggerated, right? Surely you're not planning to move in together, right?" she asked with a bit of hope in her voice, indicating that she hoped that particular rumor was in fact true. "Mo-Moving in together?" Arnold asked in a stutter. "With who - - "
"And what about that thing with the two of you having been caught having sex in public?" a boy asked and laughed loudly at the idea. "S-S…" Arnold stuttered, but didn't manage to finish his sentence. The word simply got stuck in his throat while Helga felt nothing like that. "Sex in public? What the hell kinda rumor is roaming around? And who is the two of us?" she asked in pure rage. "You and Arnold, silly!" most of the students answered in choir as if they had planned it for dramatic effect.
Arnold and Helga were too shocked to react. They slowly, almost mechanically, turned their heads to look at each other. They stared for what felt like forever before they both blushed heavily and let out a shriek in terror. "What?!" they both exclaimed in shock and turned to look at their laughing classmates. D-D-Dating… me… and Helga?! Arnold thought and shut his eyes tight. It was a really weird image that decided to show its glory in his brain right then. He imagined him and Helga lying next to each other, on some sort of flower field just staring up into the sky as they held hands. The image should have made him feel all sorts of things and it did… just not the things he thought. Helga was in something akin to the same dilemma: certain images of her and Arnold being more than a little friendly. Her mind was a tad more sexual than Arnold's was and her brain her gone straight to her on bed with him. The image of him grinding on top of her, looking at her with love and lust. She had to slap herself literally to get out of the daydream.
The sound of Helga's slap seemed to pull Arnold out of his own daydream as well and he turned to look at her. He saw the slightly red tint on the cheek she had slapped. He gawked at her as she soothed her cheek a little bit. He knew what this meant: Helga would usually slap herself if she ended up ranting about something. If she was thinking of something disturbing or if she was… lost in a daydream. He caught himself hoping for the last one to be true. When she turned her eyes to look at him though, he instantly looked away, hoping to conceal his blush.
"Oh, you two are so busted!" Sid exclaimed and jumped around excitedly. "N-Now, wait. Hold on." Helga begged and forced her voice to go stern, but it did little to nothing. Their peers started to chat excitedly about this supposed relationship she had with Arnold. "It actually makes sense to me." Lila said, earning everyone's attention, including the couple of attention. "Makes…" Arnold repeated in a mutter and he turned to look at Helga, who was looking at him too. "They do always stand ever so close together." She explained with a dreamy look in her eyes. That statement seemed to cause a new stir. "Actually, now that you're mentioning it… Helga and Arnold always sit together during class, don't they?" Stinky observed with a thoughtful look and Lila nodded eagerly. "And they always seem to have some internal joke!"
Such little observations kept roaming around the room and both Arnold and Helga just kept listening in shock at the rather long list their classmates were making. A list of reasons why they must be a couple. This is insane… Helga thought with a deep frown and shut her eyes. Arnold and I dating… Yeah, that would be the day. I'm not even sure how we even became friends. That in itself is a miracle. I hated that boy for how many years, we magically become friends and now we're dating. What is this? Some dumbass love comedy? She sighed a little bit and turned to Arnold in hope for him to look at her with the same incredulous expression, but when she saw his face, she noticed that he was already looking at her. He was looking at her curiously, his cheeks slightly flushed as if he was trying to figure out a puzzle. When he noticed her eyes on him though, he made in inaudible gasp and seemed like he wanted to turn his eyes away, but that he couldn't.
Don't tell me… Helga thought, but then just smiled at Arnold as indifferently as she could, hoping to have him laugh at the ridiculous situation. After a few seconds, he smiled back and they chuckled lowly together. The way he looked at me just now… Helga thought while she and Arnold turned their gazes away from each other, still smiling. Could he be…? Her smile fell into one of confusion and if she had turned to look at Arnold right then, she would have seen that his face looked the same way.
Needless to say; the rumors ended up having quite the impact on Arnold and Helga's friendship. It didn't matter whether they were seen together or apart, people were teasing them and asking them personal questions. They both tried to brush it off, hoping this would just be one of those rumors that would get boring within a short amount of time. Within a week though, the rumors still hadn't died and it started to cause both Arnold and Helga to question their friendship. Everyone else seemed to love the idea of them together and it even seemed to make sense to their peers that they should be dating. Were they, the people in question, missing something?
"This is getting out of hand, Gerald." Arnold said once he and his best friend were alone at the park. "Helga and I can barely look at each other without feeling awkward. I'm starting to miss her." he confessed and sighed heavily. "Miss her? I-Is it that bad?" Gerald asked a little guiltily. He still hadn't confessed that he was the reason for the whole commotion, but now he was starting to wonder if he should. "Yeah… I never realized how much we had started to hang out since last year until now. One week without seeing her outside of school seems like a lot longer." He admitted and put his chin onto his knees to rest it on them.
Gerald groaned and then let his head fall. "I'm sorry, dude." He said. "Don't be. It's not your fault." Arnold said, but Gerald shook his head. "Yes, it is… I…" he started, but grew nervous. "You what?" Arnold asked and frowned at him. Gerald sighed in surrender. "I'm the one who started those rumors." He confessed and Arnold gawked at him. "You?!" he asked in disbelief and Gerald put his hands up in defense. "Hey! It's not like I meant to! It just happened!" he insisted, but Arnold started to seem angry; an emotion Gerald didn't see very often on his best friend's face, especially not directed at him. "Gerald, explain!" he ordered irritably. "Ok, ok. I…" Gerald said and rolled his eyes. "Listen, Rhonda and the other girls just mentioned that they thought maybe something was between you two and I just thought it sounded so ridiculous so I told them that: yeah, sure, of course you two were an item and they didn't hear the seething sarcasm apparently…"
"Gerald!" Arnold scolded and then groaned loudly. "You're the reason I've been feeling so weird around Helga?" he asked in slight anger and stood up from the grass. "Yeah, I know! I'm - - Wait." Gerald said when he realized what Arnold just had said, but Arnold didn't notice that Gerald was giving him an odd look as he simply paced around like a lion in a cage. "Helga and I were fine! We were having fun, we were just friends and now this whole thing has blown up and we are acting weird, and strange images cross my mind when I think about her and it's all your fault!"
"Arnold!" Gerald repeated and finally caught his attention. "Do you have feelings for Helga?" he asked. Arnold, who was breathing heavily, staring at Gerald in surprise at his question. "D-Don't be ridiculous! It's just because of these rumors! I-I…" he insisted, but Gerald's expression made him grow uncertain of his own words. "I don't know…" he then confessed and sat back down. "I just know that… that the feeling I get around Helga is different now. I-I… feel nervous around her in some strange way. I… I don't know what I'm feeling anymore."
On the other side of the park, unbeknownst to either of the teenagers, a similar conversation was taking place. Helga was currently sitting next to her best friend Phoebe while picking the grass next to her out of the dirt. "I have hated him for so many years, Phoebe. I hated his guts. I hated his sunny attitude. By some miracle by God or whoever I came to like those qualities. You know, kinda like… like if he was the Yin to my Yang or something… Now look what's happened. I can't look at him without poisonous butterflies flying through my stomach like if they were in heat or something." Helga said and threw a big chunk of grass away from her.
"Sounds like you are in quite the predicament. You don't know how you feel about Arnold ever since the idea of possibly dating him has crossed your mind." Phoebe observed. Helga groaned as she turned a little to the side so that she was leaning against the same tree Phoebe was leaning against. "It's also such a weird idea. Arnold and me dating? We are complete opposites!" Helga said with a throaty laugh. "They say that opposites attract." Phoebe pointed out with an innocent smile. "Yeah, but… b-but he's also shorter than me! I mean, imagine us kissing: doesn't it look a little weird?" Helga asked and imagined it herself. Somehow, the fantasy made her blush a little bit. She was pulled out of the small daydream when she heard her best friend snicker. "I can actually easily imagine you taking him by his collar and telling him: kiss me, you big lug."
"Oh, ew!" Helga said with a laugh and pushed playfully at her friend's shoulder, but the idea had actually made her heartbeat speed up. "Seriously, Phoebe… What should I do? Arnold acts so nervous around me." She muttered with a sigh. "Maybe he's thinking about the same things you are?" Phoebe suggested. "I suppose, but… I still don't know what I'm supposed to do then. I mean, I guess the logical thing to do was just to sit down and talk with him, but somehow that feels really… awkward." Helga muttered and sighed yet again. "I don't know, Phoebe, what if… what if this is the end of our friendship…?"
Their fellow friends started to worry about Arnold and Helga when they started to sit apart. In fact, on this particular day, they were even sitting in opposite corners of the room. "Trouble in Paradise?" Sid wondered in a whisper while the teacher continued talking about some war that happened years ago. Probably World War Second, he really didn't know nor did he really care. "Well, they're not glued to the hip anymore so I guess so. Do you think it's because everyone found out?" Harold suggested while the others boys shrugged. Gerald sighed at his friends' conversation and turned to look at his girlfriend. "What are we gonna about our buddies, babe?"
"Oh, I don't know, Gerald… I was so happy when they became friends, that way the four of us could hang out together too, but now they're…" Phoebe muttered and then sighed heavily. "Helga's really confused. Is Arnold too?" she asked and Gerald nodded. "Yeah, I think he's starting to feel something, but he doesn't have a clue." He answered. "It's the same thing with Helga. She's also so scared that this is the end of them." Phoebe said and turned to look at Gerald with curiosity. "Do you think… there might be something there that wasn't there before?"
"What's with the beauty and the beast reference?" Gerald asked teasingly, earning a small push on the shoulder from his girlfriend. "I'm serious. Do you think the others are right? Do Helga and Arnold have feelings for each other?" Phoebe asked and Gerald hummed thoughtfully. "Well… Arnold definitely worries a lot about her." he admitted absentmindedly. "Helga always compares other boys to Arnold…" Phoebe muttered just as absentmindedly.
"Arnold doesn't mind when Helga puts her feet on his desk."
"Helga barely makes fun of Arnold's love for jazz even though she hates jazz."
"He actually tried to listen to a music genre he hates just because she suggested it."
"She let him convince her to watch The Notebook and she didn't gag."
"He doesn't mind her cursing." Gerald muttered. "She doesn't mind him preaching." Phoebe muttered as well. What happened next seemed like something taken out of a bad comedy movie. Phoebe and Gerald's eyes got so big that they seemed like they would pop out of their eye sockets any second. They gasped and turned to look at each other. They both lifted their finger to point at another and as if they had rehearsed it, they exclaimed in unison: "They are in love!"
"Ms. Heyerdahl and Mr. Johanssen, is there something you would like to share with the rest of the class?" the teacher asked the young couple who immediately flinched at being addressed. "N-No, Mrs. Jackson." They muttered in embarrassment, barely noticing that each their best friend was looking at them in disbelief. What were they talking about? Both Arnold and Helga wondered before turning their attention back to the teacher. "Very well." she said and put the small piece of chalk down on the table. "Before I let you go, I would like to remind all of you of the project that is due tomorrow."
Both Arnold and Helga gulped at the reminder. With all the rumors going on, they had forgotten the project completely. It was due tomorrow, the teacher knew they were partners and it was a pretty important project too. Oh, criminy! Helga exclaimed inside her head and let her forehead bang onto the table. Unbeknownst to her, Arnold had been watching her when she did that and felt his heart fall a bit. I guess we… have to work on that project today after school. Oh, I had been looking so much forward to do this with her and now… He thought before copying Helga's action and banging his head to his desk.
Attempting to collect enough courage to actually approach Helga once the class was over turned out to be much harder than Arnold had ever thought. Their relationship had been so casual, so worriless and now his palms were sweaty, his heart was beating and he felt like passing out just so he didn't have to deal with all these stupid feelings he didn't even knew where came from. But he had to do it. He had to just normally and casually ask his best female friend to join him to work on their project after school. It would have been simple if said female friend wasn't in the eyes of everyone else his girlfriend.
Before Arnold could approach Helga, she approached him. She was the first thing he saw when he turned around. The surprise almost made him fall backwards, but he managed to steady himself by holding onto the desk. "H-Hi, Helga, how's it going?" he asked with a slight stutter. She quirked an eyebrow at his reaction, but she seemed to brush it off and replace her curious expression into a shy one. "Uh… that project." She muttered and refused to look at him as she did so. "Uh, yeah… Wanna…" he started, but then coughed awkwardly. "Wanna come over to my house and do it?" he asked, earning a mocking whistle from a male classmate who happened to only hear the last part of their conversation. "Shut up!" Arnold and Helga shouted simultaneously and ignored the teasing laughter from the boy.
"Yeah…" Helga then answered when the boy was gone. "So wanna go now then?" she asked, but didn't wait for Arnold's answer. She turned on her heel and started to walk towards the exit. "Uh, yeah." He answered even though he knew it would be redundant. He grabbed his bag and ran after her, almost looking like a homeless puppy. Ironically enough they were going to his house and not hers, but she was leading the way. Going to Sunset Arms was so natural by now that she knew the way like the back of her hand. He almost seemed a little surprised when she made a short cut that he didn't even know.
"Wait. What are you doing?" Arnold asked when Helga suddenly grabbed the ladder that was bolted to the wall on Sunset Arms. "Uh… Oh, force of habit, I guess." She admitted and let go sheepishly. She was about to continue walking when Arnold put his hands on the ladder himself. She looked at him curiously and he shrugged before ascending the steps. Unbeknownst to him, she was smiling a little fondly at the sight of him doing what she had done so many times before. "Watch your feet! The third step is a little rickety." She told him before starting to walk up the ladder herself.
In Arnold's eagerness though, he didn't hear Helga's warning. He felt some sort of adrenalin rush when he realized that this was how Helga always came to his room. She had walked up this ladder probably too many times to count and a weird warm feeling rushed through him. That fuzzy feeling disappeared though when his foot landed on the third last step towards the roof and it cracked under his weight. With a shriek, he lost his footing and fell a couple of steps down. Thinking that he was probably crashing to his death, he was more than a little shocked when he felt something wrap roughly around his waist, stopping him from falling any further.
"I warned you!" Helga said angrily next to his ear and Arnold opened his eyes in shock. His hands were still placed on the ladder, but his feet were dangling from his leg. The only real thing holding him up was Helga who had been quick enough to move a little to the side and then grabbed him before he had pummeled to his death. "S-Sorry." He said when he saw the wrath boiling in her blue eyes, which he suddenly noticed were very blue. "Idiot! You scared the shit outta me! I almost thought I…" she said, but then seemed to try to shake the sentence away by literally shaking her head. Arnold had half the mind to ask her what she had been about to say, but then she pushed at his back so that his feet were placed on one of the steps again. "Keep moving, Shortman." She told him and then smacked his backside encouragingly.
While Arnold continued up the stairs, he felt his cheeks flash red. Helga had done a likely action before… but only on the football field where the boys also did it. Back then it had felt normal since… well, since she was one of the bros so to speak, but right then it felt… he didn't know how it felt. It had felt embarrassing, inappropriate and… embarrassing. Helga had similar thoughts as she climbed beneath him. Stupid idiot! What was that?! We aren't on the football field, you basket case! She scolded herself. What was I thinking? I could have pushed him at his back instead, but no, I had to choose his ass!
Once Arnold was up on the roof, he caught himself turning around to offer Helga a hand to help her up. He had done it before. Hell, he had even helped her out of the water once when the school flooded over during a rainstorm, but as soon as he had gestured for her to take his hand, something in his heart suddenly popped. Wait. Why does this feel different? Why is she looking so surprised? Oh, she just took my hand… He thought when she had indeed put her hand around his and let him help her up on the roof. Why is my heart pounding just because of that? She wondered as she slowly let go of his hand, wanting the feeling to linger just for a bit. We have touched hands before. We've even kissed! During that one school play in fourth grade, but still we have technically done worse… so… why am I feeling so… something I don't even know the word of?
Helga started to move towards the skylight and Arnold followed her curiously. They were silent while Helga bend forward to open the skylight, completely unaware of the show she was giving Arnold. He blushed intensely at the sight of her cream-colored thighs and just how much he suddenly got to see of them. He looked away instantly. Well, he turned his head, but his eyes seemed to wander back on their own. "You coming?" Helga asked what Arnold felt was out of the blue. "Uh-huh." He answered as casually as he could, brushed past her and then jumped onto his bed, hoping to hide his reddened cheeks from her. Luckily for him, she didn't notice as she simply copied his action and jumped onto the bed.
Arnold made a small shriek of surprise at the feeling of his bed bouncing underneath him and ended up falling backwards and into Helga. When he looked up, he saw her hovering above him upside-down, looking at him curiously. "Did I surprise you?" she asked casually, but if he hadn't been so busy blushing himself at the feeling of her thighs against the back of his head, he would have noticed that there had been a slight edge to her voice indicating that their position was just as much fuel for her heart beating as it was for his.
"Yeah!" Arnold answered and shot right up from his actually rather comfortable pillow. When he did though, his head collided with Helga's chin and she groaned in pain. He held his head for a moment, trying to soothe his own pain away, but when he turned around and saw how she was stretching her jaw in an attempt to do the same as him, he felt guilt flush through him. "Oh, I am so sorry, Helga. Are you ok?" he asked and before she could even think of an answer, he had put his hand lightly on her jaw as if to study it. Her cheeks flared at the gentle gesture and at the sight of that, Arnold did the same thing.
Flailing his hands a little panicky, Arnold put his hands behind his back as if to punish them. "S-Sorry… F-For hurting you and also…" he said, but then stopped his sentence there because he really didn't know how to finish it. He stood up from his bed and was about to walk towards his computer, or more honestly away from Helga, but he felt something tug at his shirt when he did. When he turned around, he thought his heart was gonna pop out of his chest. Helga was sitting on her knees, holding a small piece of his shirt between her fingers and looking at him with pleading eyes. He knew that right then she could have asked anything of him and he would have done it.
"Arnold… what are we doing?" Helga asked sincerely, tugging at his shirt to urge him to sit down again. He did as gestured, but she didn't let go of his shirt. On the contrary, she kept looking at it and started playing with it with her fingers. She was doing her best to focus on what she wanted to say, but she just couldn't bring herself to look at him while doing it. Having something practical to do made this seem easier. "Ever since those stupid rumors started we've… we've been out of synch. I miss our synch. I-I miss…" she confessed, letting the blush creep up on her cheeks without trying to withhold it. "You miss us?" he asked and she finally looked at him and nodded. "Yeah… can we just… pretend that those rumors don't exist?" she asked and then chuckled hoarsely. "At least until we've gotten this assignment out of the world? We don't even have enough time for me to punch some politicians."
Arnold snickered at Helga's joke and then nodded. He agreed with her after all. This assignment was important and if they were ever going to get a decent grade, they would have to act civil around each other. Blushing, acting awkward and avoiding each other's eyes wouldn't get them anywhere. He also hoped that with something practical to do, they could return to the way things were before. Back to this friendship, he just realized that he treasured more than he thought.
Arnold and Helga did get to work. It was hard to begin with, but eventually they got engulfed into the project enough for Helga to even make an inappropriate joke and he had only blushed slightly, but mostly laughed. They did have a few awkward moments here and there. Like when they had both reached for the same pencil and accidentally touched each other's hands or when Helga had been scribbling furiously on a piece of paper and had therefore squished her breasts onto the table and forced them into plain view for Arnold. He'd had his unbeknownst revenge though when Helga had been unable to find something on his computer and he had then leaned over her back to show her and she had felt the air leave her lungs for a rather long moment before he moved away again.
Overall, while both teenagers had managed to keep their cool on the outside, on the inside the confusion mixed with inappropriate thoughts were quickly wearing them out. Once the project was over, they both made an inaudible sigh in relief. "We did it!" Helga said and lifted her hands in victory only to lean back and bounce on Arnold's bed thanks to her weight. He gulped at the sight of her on his bed, but clenched his fist to transfer the pulsating feeling to his hand rather than… any other place. "Yeah, we did it… By the way, we have some ice cream in the freezer." he stated. "Ooh, wanna celebrate?" she asked before she stretched her arms and a small cracking sound emerged from her back.
"Oh, God, Helga, don't do that!" Arnold begged and held his ears. "What?" Helga asked and sat up straight. "That… cracking your bones thing. It's a disgusting sound!" he told her and let go of his ears in relief. "It feels good after sitting like this for so long though." She said and cracked her fingers for effect, causing him to groan at the sound. "Stop! I'm actually begging here. I can just imagine your bones popping." He said and stuck his tongue out in disgust. "Oh, come on. Try it." she suggested and stood up from the bed. "No way!" he said and stood up from the floor, knowing exactly where this was going. "Oh, come on!" she teased before running towards him. "No!" he groaned and started to run away from her, jumping over their books on the floor. "Get away from me!"
"It's healthy!"
"The heck it is!"
Both blondes were laughing warmly while the chase continued for a moment. Helga was starting to get nearer Arnold. Once she got close enough, she grabbed his wrist and he turned around, only to trip over his own feet and fall forwards, pushing Helga down in the process. With a small shriek, she landed on the floor, her back and head luckily leaning against the edge of the bed. She and Arnold laughed for a moment, his hand still holding her wrist, but now much gentler than a second ago.
When they opened their eyes, smiling at each other, it was as if a magnet was starting to work on them. They looked in each other's eyes as they both leaned closer to one another as if that was all there was to do now. Their lips touched gently, almost experimentally. It was such a foreign feeling and none of them even had the audacity to close their eyes. The blush on their cheeks was almost as mirrored, their eyes misty from feeling so many things all at once. Arnold was the first one to close his eyes and leaning closer to her, enveloping her lips fully on his. She made a small hum in surprise, but then her eyes closed as well. She let the wrist, which Arnold was holding slide further down until their palms were against each other's. Without any hesitation, even without any uncertainty, their fingers tangled against each other's and in the back of their minds, they knew they were a perfect fit.
The kiss was so brief, so gentle and so shy that when they pulled away for air, they looked at each other's lips rather than eyes. They could feel the breath of the air blow on their lips, causing a shiver to go down their spines. "I, uh… Should I go get… those ice creams?" Arnold asked as if he hadn't just kissed his best female friend through only a year. "Sure… Sounds good." She said as if she hadn't just kissed a guy she had hated for so many years. With a small cough, Arnold let go of Helga's hand and felt almost as if he had just lost something when he did so. He stood up from the floor, caught Helga's eyes for a moment and then jogged out of the room.
Both teenagers lifted their fingers to touch their mouths. The taste of the other still lingered on their lips and their beating hearts were unbeknownst to the other beating in synch. Neither were sure what had just happened nor what it meant. The only thing they were sure of was that this was just the beginning.
You and I start now.
The end
Author's 2nd note: Ok, this actually didn't turn out at all like I had imagined xD Except for the ending. The way the kiss happened was planned from the beginning. Oh, and so was Gerald's little sarcastic speech about how much Arnold and Helga loved each other xP Anyways! Another one-shot from me, rather different than the others (no smut, haw-haw xD) but I hope you enjoyed it!
Oh, and the song Arnold and Helga were singing were "The last night" by Skillet. A somewhat angsty song I have come to enjoy a lot xD I don't know. It seemed oddly fitting to me for that moment :P
Oh, and per usual, you are all more than welcome to draw cover art for this! :D