Hi everyone, Gina here. Well I haven't written a fanfic in sooooooo long and never on Hey Arnold! but I think I can do a decent job. Sorry if this story isn't as well written as others but I'm a little rusty in the whole fanfic realm so try to be a bit patient with me. So thanks for reading and enjoy :)

Okay so this is where I put my my disclaimer huh? Alright so...

I don't own Hey Arnold! or any of the characters from the show. I own nothing except the idea of this story. I have plans to get rich and buy the rights for everything HA! later on in the future but sadly that day hasn't arrived yet so I'll wait until then.

Pictures Worth A Thousand Memories

Ch. 1 Growing Up

Arnold knew there was something about Helga that was worth knowing, something different that made her special.

Even when they were younger he always knew that special something was there. Even when she was mean and aggressive and pushed everyone away, he had seen it.

She was smart, she had humor, she was real and Arnold- being the good, helpful, dreamer that he was- couldn't help but be fascinated with her charm, wit, her now well- placed aggression, and sense of realism. It all intrigued him. She intrigued him.

After the FTi incident, Arnold- trying not to deal with the concept of love but focusing on the fact that if Helga was able to love somebody (he couldn't think of his own name at the time), then she couldn't be a bad person. She obviously had feelings- finally got the courage to talk to Helga about being real friends. After a long talk about Helga letting go of her defensive, bullying attitude- with Arnold's help of course and a full summer of trying to let her good side out- they finally did become close friends. Phoebe and Gerald were officially introduced to the nicer side of Helga and their small intimate group of friends was established within the greater P.S. 118 gang.

Helga entered the 5th grade with a better, nicer attitude and a group of real friends to depend on and Arnold now had a more realistic view on the world and a knack for understanding Helga's taste in humor. He had a new girl best friend and she had a new guy best friend. Yet one thing did not change; they never spoke about the FTi incident. It was like a taboo to them and both felt too awkward to really settle things outright so they pushed the incident to the side to remain unacknowledged. They would only ever think of it to themselves but never did they bring it up in conversation.

The young kids of P.S. 118 grew up over the years and became the teens of Hillwood High. They all went through the stages of growing up: puberty, finding themselves, moving ahead in school, making new friends, losing some old friends, going to parties, the plague of acne, raging hormones, falling in and out of love… the teens went through it all and they did it together, supporting each other and just being there for each other as their lives spiraled toward the future.

Falling in love, though, was something they all did together but was an issue nobody really wanted to talk about.

So Helga and Arnold became the closest of friends. They forgot the cruel moments of the past and built a bond that seemed to surpass any normal bonds of friendship. They lived like kindred spirits; natural and meant to be.

They had all grown into the bodies of young adults, sounded different, had new ideas and interests… dated new people, and just took new chances. No one would have expected the biggest change to happen in the realm of Hillwood but it did happen and shocked Arnold as he was the only one who knew it.

Arnold fell in love with Helga, his best friend.

Everything about her filled his mind and intoxicated his senses, the idea of her made his heart beat erratically.

Arnold loved Helga. He felt it- this unbelievably consuming love he had for her- must've always been there. He just hadn't admitted it to himself until eighth grade at a very specific moment during the… well, that was another memory meant to be spoken of at another time.

He felt it was absolutely wonderful to love her. Oh how much he wanted to just pick her up in his arms and tell her just how much he loved her- with everything he had!

There was just one problem…one that pretty much made him unable to tell Helga how he felt. No, the biggest downfall wasn't that he was scared to tell her- he got over that fear and now felt that she deserved someone as bold and passionate about everything as she was and telling her outright would be just like something she would do.

The problem was that she was dating "the most amazing guy in all of Hillwood"- as told by pretty much the entire female population in school- and he wasn't that guy.