A/N: Hi peoples! No, I have not fallen off the face of the earth…well technically I have since that's basically the same as graduate school…I am now one-thirds done with it and miraculously I am still standing. Anyways, no, I have not forgotten about my current fanfic ("The Wall Knows All"). I'm kind of going through a little writer's block with the next chapter. I don't know. But in the meantime, this idea randomly popped into my head a few days ago and since I'm currently on break until next week when I start summer classes (ugh), no time like the present, right?

This story is different from the others I've written because it's not modeled after an episode. I was going to give a little background info here but now that I think about it, the way I wrote the dialogue makes it all pretty self-explanatory. This started out as a one-shot but I decided to spread it out a bit for a few reasons. Basically, I wanted to have it finished before I started summer classes tomorrow but that's not happening. However, I still wanted to post something now since I'm close to finishing it. I know it's pretty crazy of me to start a new project while I'm still working on another but…well, I am crazy! Seriously though, this won't take me as long to finish and it's a shorter story.

Haven't done this in a while…: I MAY HAVE WRITTEN THIS STORY AND YES, THAT IS MINE BUT THE ACTUAL SHOW "HEY ARNOLD!", IN WHICH THE CHARACTERS AND OTHER STUFF IN MY STORY WERE TAKEN FROM, IS NOT MINE, HAS NEVER BEEN MINE, AND NEVER WILL BE MINE…GLAD WE CLEARED THAT UP!

Breaking Point

Part 1: Enough

Helga began to ascend the boarding house stairs all the way up to Arnold's room. That day they planned for Helga to come over so the two of them could 'do their homework together'. In practically no time at all, though to Helga it felt more like an eternity, Helga was in front of Arnold's bedroom door. She opened it and walked in and found Arnold peered over his desk in concentration. 'He's so adorable when he does that,' she thought to herself. As soon as Helga closed the door behind her though, Arnold's focus on his homework was broken and suddenly something else, or rather someone, had his undivided attention. He gave a broad and loving smile as he walked over to her to greet her.

"Helga, my love, my one and only, my sole reason for living," Arnold greeted as he took one of her hands, placed it up to his lips, and kissed it softly. Arnold loved to do that because it always made Helga's cheeks turn scarlet and every time she attempted to hide her face from him, like she was doing in that moment. 'She's so adorable when she does that,' he thought to himself. After a few moments, Helga removed her hands from her face and then took his hands in hers as she gazed at him lovingly.

"Wow, that's quite the introduction, my sweet prince. You sure are a quick study and I think you've hanging around me too much!" Helga smirked as she looked into her boyfriend's eyes with adoration. She was loving every moment of this and she loved it every time they did this sort of whenever they greeted the other.

"Nonsense! No amount of time is enough, my precious darling, whose eyes can be both soothing and dangerous as the ocean waters," Arnold reasoned, half-jokingly and half-lovesick-like as he stared into her eyes.

"What a coincidence! Because I think your eyes are like two emerald pools that I want to bathe in," Helga mimicked the same lovesick look that Arnold was giving her. She also leaned in a bit to get a better look at his 'emerald pools'.

"I love it when you quote one of your own poems, how you remember every line I mean," Arnold stated, in awe of his Helga whenever she did that.

"Why of course, my Arnold," she answered sweetly. Before continuing, she playfully ruffled his hair, the same hair she often referred to as 'cornflower'.

"Of course, I remember. Every line from every poem is everything I have ever felt. They are each as constant as the blood running through my veins. And until the end of my days and even beyond that, they will continue to remain constant," Helga vowed genuinely, her gaze was soft but steady and unfaltering. Arnold was in awe at how Helga could master that kind of gaze. 'My talented love,' he thought with a light, internal chuckle.

"Oh, Helga," he then drew his beloved into a warm embrace. This only lasted for a few seconds since a certain thought that had been bothering Arnold for some time had just reentered his mind, which caused him to pull back and give Helga a look of concern. As a result, Helga immediately responded with a look of curiosity and puzzlement.

"My darling Helga, forgive me for taking so long to figure out my true feelings but not only that but for also lying to you and hurting you the way I did," Arnold's expression became solemn and his gaze grew more desperate as he waited for his Helga's response.

"Oh, my sweet and wonderful love, it has already been forgotten. After all, we're together now," Helga assured him and then she felt it was her turn to lift up his hands and kiss them. This definitely put Arnold at ease, but something was still troubling him a little bit.

"True, but sometimes the fact that it took me so long because of my denseness and stubbornness really annoys me…" Arnold looked down as he trailed off, an annoyed clearly painted across his face.

"Why?" Helga asked, perplexed that Arnold was dwelling on this because after all it was ancient history as far as Helga was concerned.

"Because that was time that I could've spent being with you…" Arnold explained rather glumly, which almost sounded like he was whining, at least a little bit. Everything then started to click with Helga. It took nearly everything she had to keep herself from busting into fits of laughter. 'My silly, sweet, sentimental, Arnold,' Helga thought. And even though she knew that there was no way that she could love Arnold any more than she already did, if it was even possible then she was certain that that would do the trick.

"Well if you put it that way…you're right and that's all your fault," she gave a playful smirk and then winked at her beloved. He chuckled in response.

"But," she added, "now we have the rest of our lives for you to make that up to me," she stated rather flirtatiously. She then let go of his hands and stepped back a few steps as a way to toy with Arnold a bit so he would have to come to her. It worked every time.

"Oh, Helga…" Arnold said her name in a sigh, as he responded to Helga's little invitation of sorts and then began to bridge the gap between them.

"Arnold…" Helga also replied with a sigh as he inched closer to her. Her eyes began to close and she felt his arms wrap around her waist, to which she reciprocated the action with her own arms draped around his shoulders. The faces of the two teens got closer and closer until…

…...

"Helga? Hey Helga? Helga!"

"What?! Huh? What?" Helga, who up until a few seconds ago was dozing in class, was suddenly awake at that moment and was scanning the room. She looked around out of slight fear and confusion, feelings that started out as dull due to that fact that she had just woke up. But those feelings quickly intensified a bit and then subsided the moment she was able to fully process her surroundings and memories from earlier that day.

'Ugh...criminy…I fell asleep during class…and by the looks of it, I slept through the final bell,' Helga thought to herself in observation after taking in the empty classroom, which she last remembered it as being full of her classmates.

'This is all Olga's fault. She kept me up nearly the whole night because she just had to bond with her baby sister. She's lucky I'm too tired to deck her…Every time she comes home to visit she feels the need to play catch-up with me or whatever, which honestly I don't mind much but she's been laying it on a little thick lately, well thicker than usual and this has been her routine ever since we apparently bonded so well in…' Helga trailed off and sighed before finishing that thought. She had unknowingly allowed this little rant to lead her to opening up some rather painful memories.

'Since San Lorenzo…' Helga completed the original thought and rather glumly.

'Well, now I've done it. I reminded myself yet again of that and now I gotta do what I gotta do just to get it out of my system…' Helga added to herself as she reluctantly and begrudgingly shoved a hand into the front pocket of her jeans to get something.

'It's funny,' Helga observed darkly to something that actually was not very funny at all, 'how I used to do this with love and adoration but now when I do this the feelings that surround me are so contradicting. I still feel the need to basically proclaim my love to a picture but now I see how worthless and stupid it is after everything that has happened and yet I can't stop it. It's bad enough that I still dream about him but what's worse is that all those dreams are happy and wonderful and…not real and afterwards I have to remind myself that it never happened and I have to cope with that fact again and it's enough to make me want to-'

"Um…Helga?"

Helga still had her hand in her pocket when a voice suddenly brought all her thoughts to a halt. This was a fortunate thing for Helga because the object she was trying to get out of her pocket and the owner of that voice were related. After remembering that she had in fact been woken up by someone and then realized that they were still there, and not just anyone, 'Him' Helga thought, the hand that Helga had in her pocket froze and was clenching the heart-shaped locket she had originally planned to pull out and proclaim her love and anguish to the picture taking up real estate in her locket for the umpteenth time. Helga then turned her head to the direction of where the voice came from and sure enough there was Arnold standing in front of Helga with a concerned look on his face.

'Well, it looks like it's time for one of my favorite past times, taking my frustrations out on the football head. It's also funny that I used to hate doing this but now I actually kind of like it. I feel like he deserves this for what he did to me,' Helga thought as she prepared to let Arnold have it.

"What are you doing peering over me like that, you little creep?" Helga questioned Arnold, or rather spat that question at him, as she got up from her desk and collected her books to slip them into her backpack. Arnold appeared to be unfazed by Helga's reaction, like he was expecting that.

"Sorry, Helga. I just wanted to make sure you were awake before the janitor locked up the school. You must've fallen asleep during-"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Helga interrupted while opening and closing her hand in a way that mimicked a mouth moving and then she waved her hand dismissively. That was one of her signatures. "What I do is my own business and yet here you are butting in again with the same old generic 'do-gooder' routine of yours and-"

"Enough!" Arnold snapped, in more ways than one because not only had he interrupted Helga but both the action and his evident annoyance were also very out of character for him.

"What…?" Helga asked in some kind of confused daze. Arnold's outburst had momentarily distracted Helga from her ranting and she honestly did not know what to think of think of this.

"That's enough, Helga! I'm sick of this!" Arnold continued with this out-of-character attitude, obviously not backing down from this. It seemed that after years of taking Helga's verbal abuse, Arnold had finally reached his breaking point. Unfortunately, this was enough to bring Helga back from her little daze and she suddenly matched Arnold's annoyed expression with one of anger.

'Oh great, Arnold finally grew a backbone. I am really not in the mood for this but I can't just stand here and take this…' Helga reasoned with herself.

A/N: Well, that's part 1! The next part should be up soon! Hope you enjoyed and stay tuned for "The Wall Knows All"! Though I have no idea when I'll have time to finish, I do plan to finish. And I greatly appreciate everyone's patience!