Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold! or any of its characters.
The two teenagers leaned against each other, holding their sides in attempt to simmer their current fit of giggles.
"Wait," Arnold finally spoke up through one last chuckle. "So you pretended to have amnesia just to hang out with me?"
"Not at first," Helga pouted, innocently. "You make me sound so devious."
Arnold smirked. "Alright, so when did you start pretending?"
Helga inwardly sighed. Don't get her wrong. Reminiscing on old pranks she had used on Arnold in the past was fun. Especially when they got him to laugh that adorable laugh of his.
And even though the couple had been dating for months now, she was never too sure just which story from her obsessive past would have him running for the hills and never looking back.
"The morning after you beaned me," She sighed aloud this time. "That's when my memory returned. Though, my memory of the day before never actually returned."
Arnold shook his head, an amused grin on is face. "So, April Fools Day...I never actually blinded you?"
"No, you did," She started, noting Arnold's frown. "But I was pretty much good as new by the time I reached the nurse's office."
Arnold laughed for a moment, before clearing his throat. "I really am sorry for that, by the way."
She could tell by his tone that he wasn't just talking about the blinding, but the pool tossing, as well.
Helga just shook her head. He would apologize for something that happened almost ten years ago. "And remember that parrot that recited poetry?"
Arnold's face fell. "No."
Helga bit back a grin. "Yup."
"Yours?"
"My dad's," She replied. "It sorta...uh, overheard me talking about you one night."
Arnold's mind went back to the memory of his almost pet parrot, when suddenly a look of horror took over his face. "Oh no, is that why you bought that lizard at the pet store?"
"No, no, no," Helga held her hands up and shook them wildly in front of her. "No, that was just a...happy accident."
Arnold shook his head again, and playfully knocked her shoulder with his own.
"Oh, and the school play!"
He blinked. "What about the school play?" He asked, cautiously.
"You know how all the girls kept dropping out for the part of Juliet?"
"Ha!" Arnold howled, clearly amused. "You?"
Helga grinned innocently and pointed a finger to her chest. "Me."
"What'd you do?" Arnold smirked, crossing his arms and slouching further into his couch. "Threaten them with your cleverly named fists?"
She held a hand to her chest, a look of mock-surprise. "Of course not! You act like I was some sort of monster!"
"A beautiful monster," He smiled, leaning forward to kiss just below her ear.
Helga giggled, surprised that all her ruthless confessions were such a turn on for him. "Yeah, it was all too easy. All I really had to do was find their weakness and use it against them to scare them out of doing the part." She paused, recalling them all. "Well, except for Lila. She was a little harder to crack."
"So, what'd you do?" Arnold asked, clearly only half listening at this point, as his lips found her hair.
She shivered at the contact, but managed to continue. "I-I told her I loved you."
Arnold paused, though didn't remove himself from her tresses. "How did that help?"
Helga tried to ignore the vibrations of his voice against her scalp and the effect it had on her. She didn't trust her voice at this point, so she just shrugged.
"Wait," Arnold pulled back. "So is that the reason Lila never...like-liked me?"
"Heck if I know." Then she glared at him. "Why? You want her to like-like you?"
He frowned. "Of course not, I was just curious."
"Curious, my ass," She matched his expression, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Come on, Helga," He started, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Don't be like that."
"Arnold, don't."
"Don't what?" He asked, casually pressing his lips to her neck.
"Don't...don't do that."
He pulled back slightly, though his breath continued to tease her skin. "You want me to stop?" He kissed her ear gently.
Helga attempted to swallow. Arnold was well aware of the effect he had on her, even after all these years. He tried not to abuse the power too much, though he couldn't help using it to get himself out of a jam with Helga. And it usually worked, like 110% of the time.
His lips were at her neck again, traveling further down. "If you want me to stop, just say so, and I will."
He was smiling, she could tell. He knew very well she didn't want him to stop. And that's why, with a very shaky breath, she managed to release a quiet, "Yes."
Arnold wasn't about to give up, though. "Yes what, Helga?"
Helga cursed to herself as he sunk lower, his fingers tracing her shirt collar, before carefully pulling it down and kissing the skin underneath. Damn, he was good. He knew all too well her mind was way too far gone to attempt a full answer right now.
He decided to give her a little lead way. "Yes, you want me to stop?"
Helga bit her lip and with all the strength in the world, gave a firm nod. Arnold paused his ministrations, and straightened up. "Oh."
He wasn't expecting that. Usually by this point she couldn't think straight, his voice merely background noise through the pleasure. He must have really hit a nerve with the whole Lila thing.
As soon as Arnold's lips and fingers left her body, Helga's mind seemed to clear up. She had been practicing to be stronger against his weapon of tease, as it were, and it seemed she was finally getting the hang of it.
She wasn't really sure what she expected when she looked up at Arnold then. Maybe a mock-pout to counteract her defiant look. But instead, he looked downright guilty. Cheeks burning red. Not like blushing, but from embarrassment.
Helga was just about to ask what was wrong when he spoke up.
"Helga," He rubbed the back of his neck, still too nervous to look her in the eye. "I...I'm sorry for bringing up the whole Lila thing. I didn't mean it, really!"
The realization struck her instantly. He thought she was still mad about that? Oh, this boy was too much sometimes. She continued to look on in amusement as Arnold continued to apologize for something Helga didn't even care about.
He didn't seem to notice the smile slowly growing on Helga's face, too far into his apology. She rolled her eyes, and quickly pressed her lips hard against his in a chaste kiss. He mumbled the rest of his sentence into her mouth. He seemed shocked at first, but eventually, his eyelids slowly fell shut and the kiss deepened.
When they finally broke apart, Helga rested her forehead on his. "Hey," She said, giving him a small peck on the lips. "Remember that time you thought I was mad at you for bringing up one of your ex-crushes?"
His eyes widened as he realized what she meant and then chuckled a bit at himself.
"Heh, yeah," Arnold leaned forward and spoke against her lips. "Good times."