Ok, so this is my first fan fiction, so please bear with me while I do my best! Reviews are very much appreciated as I try to make something worth while.

Disclaimer: Hey Arnold is not mine, because if it was it would still be a show, and we would all have the Jungle Movie by now :) props to Craig Bartlett for this amazing show, though!

Chapter 1

"Aaand cut! I said cut. Young lady, we have this shot..."

The director's voice cut through Helga's bliss, and she quickly disconnected herself from Arnold while trying to hide the blush that was coming over her cheeks.

'Criminy!' she thought, while barely aware of the director calling it a wrap, 'What was I thinking? I shouldn't have kissed him that long! Now he's going to start asking questions!' She walked over to get her bag, still inwardly cursing herself, but when she turned around she came face to face with Arnold.

"Arnold! Um, can I help you football head?"

"Um, hi Helga, I um, I had something I wanted to ask-"

"I've got to go change! I'll talk to you later!" She said quickly. She ducked past Arnold and ran to the beach hut that served as the girls dressing rooms. Helga dashed into the nearest cubical and locked the door firmly behind her, then turned around and pressed her back against the door.

"Great, just great! I should have known this would happen! Why did I kiss him so long? Oh, but it was so wonderful!" Helga pulled out her gold locket and stared lovingly at the picture of Arnold,

"Oh Arnold, my football headed love, why must I put up this crazy charade? If only I could tell you how I really feel! But alas, I can not."

After a moment Helga tucked the locket back into it's little pocket she had sewn in her tank top and began changing out of the bathing suit she wore for the show.

After changing back into her pink and white outfit Helga carefully opened the door and peeked out through the crack. After seeing no sign of Arnold she went to go say goodbye to the director and the rest of the cast.

Afterwards, thinking she was in the clear an Arnold had gone home, she started walking up the hill in the direction of the parking lot to wait for her parents to pick her up. Assuming they remembered.

A half an hour later, Helga was still sitting in the same place, picking at the crumbling log beneath her. 'Yeah, they forgot, didn't they?' The cast and crew had long since left, eager to get home themselves, and Helga had no cell phone to call anyone. Just as she was thinking about trying to find a pay phone (and money to use one) she heard a voice.

"Helga? What are you still doing here?" Arnold asked, "I thought you went home half an hour ago". Helga sighed,

"Yeah, well I guess Mariam fell asleep again. No surprise there".

Arnold walked over and sat down on the log next to Helga,

"Well, my Grandpa should be here soon. You can ride home with us".

"Thanks Football Head. Say, what are you still doing here? I know your grandpa wouldn't forget you, and like you said we've been done for a while." Arnold blushed slightly,

"I..uh..I just wanted to spend some time by myself looking at the water; it's relaxing. Anyway, I asked Grandpa to pick me up a little later so I could enjoy the view."

Almost as soon as he finished speaking, Arnold had an idea,

"Hey Helga? Have you ever been to Lookout Point?"

"Um..no, I don't think so. What is it?" Arnold smiled

"It's this great little spot that has a wonderful view of the ocean. Do you...do you want me to show you?"

Hega looked at him for a moment; was he actually asking her to go somewhere with him? Like a date?!

'Whoa Helga' she thought to herself, 'It's not a date. Hardly. Is just a little field trip of sorts'. But still, Arnold was inviting her somewhere, and that was enough.

"Sure. Sounds fun".

The two stood, but Helga lost her balance and fell over backwards. Considering the log was behind her, she tripped over that and ended up rolling a few feet back down the hill.

'Oh THAT was graceful' Helga thought, 'Great. Could I be more of a klutz? I can't believe-'

"Helga!," Arnold called, interrupting her thoughts, "Are you ok?!" He ran down the hill and crouched beside her.

"Um, yeah, I'm fine"

"Are you sure?" Arnold questioned "that was a pretty bad fall".

Helga tried to respond, but her brain could not form a coherent thought at the moment as, in his worry, Arnold had placed his hand on hers.

"I..um..yeah, I'm..I'm fine. Really" she finally managed, "Just a bit of a klutz, that's all. Don't you dare tell anyone about this though, got it Hair Boy?"

In response Arnold reached up and straightened her slightly crooked bow and said quietly,

"I won't". He then stood, breaking the contact of their hands, but before Helga could even think about it she realized Arnold was offering her his hand. Resisting the urge to snap at him, she took his hand and he helped her up.

As the two started walking in the direction Arnold had indicated before, Helga noticed two things almost instantly:

1) She and Arnold were still holding hands, and

2) He had an odd little smile on his face as he looked at her from the corner of his eye.

"What's so funny?" She asked, inwardly worried that he was laughing at her.

"Nothing", Arnold said slowly,

"It's just...you have a leaf in your hair and it's sticking straight up on top of your head. You know, like the feathers that Native American princesses wore in their hair in the pictures that Mr. Simmons showed us?"

'What?' Helga thought. Was Arnold saying she looked like a princess? 'Steady girl. He's probably just talking about the leaf, not you.'

Arnold slowly reached up and pulled the leaf from her hair,

"There, all gone" he said with a small smile still on his lips.

It took all of Helga's self restraint not to just kiss him right there, looking so cute. And since she could think of nothing to say, they walked in silence for quite some time until Arnold suddenly said,

"Here we are. Lookout point is right up here".

Helga turned her attention to the view; it was beautiful. From where they were they could see miles of ocean, and the light was just starting to fade, casting pale orange and pink streaks throughout the sky.

Arnold sat at the edge of the cliff, and Helga slowly joined him.

"It's beautiful here", she murmured "How did you find this place?"

"It was the first time I remember coming here", he said,

"Grandpa showed it to me..." he paused, then in a much quieter voice he continued, "Because it was my parents favorite spot on the beach".

"Oh" Helga said; she knew the subject of Arnold's parents was hard for him, and she wasn't sure what to say.

The two sat in silence for a while, just admiring the view, until Arnold said tentatively

"So Helga...about earlier...well, I wanted to ask you-"

"Did I just hear a car?" Helga said quickly. She stood, but Arnold took her hand firmly before she could leave. He stood, then looked her directly in the eye.

"Helga, there's no car. Why do you keep running away from me?" Helga blushed a deep pink and looked at her shoes, then mumbled something inaudible and tried to pull away.

"Helga, please just listen to me. I think I know what you're afraid I'm going to ask, and if we're thinking the same thing then don't worry. I'm not going to ask about it; I wouldn't want you to be uncomfortable around me, and I know that's what would happen. Will you please just stay and listen to what I want to say? Please?"

Helga looked up from her shoes a bit, glancing at Arnold from the corner of her eye,

"Alright. I'll stay. On the condition that if you bring up...the subject that I'd rather not discuss, I can leave whenever I want. Deal?"

"Deal."

"Alright", Helga said, sitting back down on the sand, "Go ahead".

Arnold sat as well, then took a deep breath,

"Helga, I was wondering...if...if maybe, sometime, you'd like to...come over for dinner?" he braced himself for her reaction, but was slightly surprised when she said "You want me to come over for dinner? Really?" He turned to her and said

"Yeah. I thought, since we had so much fun here at the beach, it would be nice to have you over. But if you don't want to I understand" he added quickly.

"Why?" was all she said.

"Why what?"

"Why would you invite me over? I mean, other than this trip, I've always bullied you. Actually, a lot of this trip was like that too, considering the...Summer thing. After all of that, you still want me to come over?"

"Of course I do" Arnold said "I don't think you're really as mean as you lead people to believe, Helga. I think you're a really nice person on the inside. I just wish you let her out a little more. Besides, in the long run you really helped me with Summer; if it weren't for you I would have ended up winning the contest with her instead of you. And...I'm really happy I won with you." he finished, blushing lightly.

Helga was stunned. He really wanted her to come over! And he thought she was nice! And he was glad they won the sandcastle contest together! Her mind was swirling, but she managed to say "Oh, well, um, I'm glad we won too. And sure, I'd like to come over. That sounds like fun."

Just then they heard a car horn from the parking lot not too far away.

"That must be Grandpa", Arnold said, standing, "Are you ready to go Helga?"

"Ready when you are, Football Head", Helga said, standing as well. The two walked down the hill and across the parking lot to the old Packard waiting for them.

"Hey, Shortman! You brought your little friend along with us today?" Grandpa Phil said as the two climbed into the backseat.

"Yeah, is that ok Grandpa?" Arnold asked, even though he knew what his grandfather would say.

"Sure it's ok! The more the merrier! So, did you two have fun filming your fancy television show?"

Helga immediately blushed pink, remembering how the show had ended, but was shocked out of her embarrassment when she heard Arnold say "Yeah, it was really fun!"

'Arnold had fun?' Helga thought to herself 'That's wonderful! Maybe there's hope after all!'

The three spent the rest of the ride talking about all sorts of things, but Helga had a hard time paying attention due to the fact that Arnold's hand slowly made it's way closer to hers the whole way home.

Though he never actually held her hand, and she wasn't sure if he was conscious of doing it, she swore she saw a hint of a smile on Arnold's lips.