Chapter 1: Take Care Of Her

Arnold was walking Helga home one afternoon after their baseball practice. The streets were still a bit wet from the rain the previous day, although that hadn't stopped the kids from deciding to follow along with their plans for practice.

Helga was learning to become more comfortable with the idea of being open with Arnold in public. Not thinking about having to hide it from their friends allowed her to focus on her reputation without being distracted by any of his 'touching' movements.

As Arnold held Helga's hand down the street, with a goofy smile on his face, he listened to her say…

"Crimity football head! I can't believe how many times you struck out! Sheesh!"

"Well, it was just practice. It's not like it was an actual game." he replied, not caring about her hostility.

"That's loser talk! You better bring your A game next time!" she scowled, while he began to rub her hand, entertained by her aggressive attitude. It had gotten to the point where he found it a bit funny that she would still consider him to feel in any way threatened by her negative behavior.

"Whatever you say Helga." he sighed.

As they made it to her house, she scoffed "See ya later football head."

Before she could turn away, Arnold grabbed her to give her a long, lingering kiss. Although she was learning to become more comfortable with the idea of holding hands in public, there was something about the sweet sensation that came from the touch of his kisses she wasn't sure she would ever be able to get used to. Each one brought a new and exciting feeling that never failed to surprise her.

When Arnold was finished, he slowly pulled away to see her soft facial expression. The one he was one of the few people lucky enough to have the privilege of seeing. "I'll see you at school tomorrow." he smiled, holding a hand to her face.

"See ya tomorrow football hea...AHHH!" she screamed.

Arnold looked to see Helga had slipped in a puddle from yesterday's rainshower. She fell and bumped her head on the concrete before he was able to catch her. As he watched her lay there, he called out "Helga! Helga can you hear me?! Helga wake up!"

Helga slowly opened her eyes to see her boyfriend hovering over her. "Who are you?" she asked.

Arnold's eyes widened at the question. "I'm Arnold. I'm your boyfriend." he replied, sitting beside her on the ground.

"Arnold? I don't think I have a boyfriend." she said, standing up from the ground.

As Arnold helped her up, he thought to himself This is probably just temporary. All she needs is to go inside and lay down.

Normally Arnold would knock on the door and politely wait to be invited in. He felt this was an emergency however, so he didn't hesitate to take Helga inside.

When the two of them entered the house, the first person Arnold saw was Miriam passed out at the counter. I wonder if I should wake her? I don't want to be rude, but her daughter might have amnesia? She should know about this!

Arnold then walked over to the counter to nudge Miriam. As he constantly shook her, he thought to himself Helga wasn't kidding about how far gone she can be…

Once Miriam finally budged, she jumped and said "Huh? What? I'm awake!"

Arnold stood beside Helga as he heard Miriam ask "Who are you?"

"I'm Arnold Mrs. Pataki. Helga slipped and hit her head outside. I'm worried she may have amnesia. I didn't want to leave her alone without knowing someone was here to take care of her."

As Miriam tilted her glasses with a tired facial expression, she replied "Oh okay umm...yeah just...just take her upstairs."

Arnold lifted an eyebrow, wondering if he could trust Miriam to take care of Helga after he left. Once he took her to her bedroom to lay down, he decided to sit beside her. Helga laid on the bed with a confused look on her face as she glanced at everything in her room.

"So you don't remember me at all?" Arnold sighed, running his fingers through her hair.

Helga slowly shook her head, wondering where she could have seen him before. While Arnold continued to stare at her with sad eyes, he suddenly heard a screech downstairs "I'm home!"

"That's probably your sister. I'll be right back" Arnold said to Helga, hoping she'd stay put for a moment.

Arnold went downstairs to see Olga putting groceries away in the kitchen. "Hey Olga."

"Arnold! Have you come to eat dinner with us?! I'm baking a yummy casserole!" she exclaimed, while Arnold began to rub his neck.

"Actually Olga, I kind of have some bad news."

"Bad news? Oh no! What is it!" she exclaimed, widening her eyes.

"Well, Helga fell and hit her head. I'm worried she may have amnesia. I was wondering if you could keep checking on her tonight. Hopefully, she'll be better in the morning." he guessed.

"Poor baby sister! Don't worry! I'll take care of everything!" Olga insisted.

Arnold knew Helga wouldn't like the idea of being taken care of by Olga, but it was better than trusting Miriam to look after her.

"Thanks. I'm going to check on her one more time before I go." he replied, heading towards the bedroom.

When Arnold made it upstairs, he saw not only was Helga still on the bed, but she had fallen asleep.

He walked over to her with his signature smile that always managed to bring a lovesick grin to her face. As he hovered over her, running his fingers through her hair, he bent down to kiss her softly. "See you tomorrow." he whispered. Although she would never admit it, he could swear he saw a smile come to her face after kissing her.

He then headed downstairs to see Olga still in the kitchen. "She's asleep. If you could just check on her every hour or so, that would be good."

"Don't worry! I'll take good care of my baby sister!" Olga insisted.

Arnold decided to leave before finding out what crazy things she had planned for taking care of Helga.

On his way home, he ran into Gerald. "Oh hey Gerald."

"Hey Arnold. What's going on man?"

"Well, Helga fell and hit her head." he began to explain.

"Again?" Gerald asked.

"Yeah, and she has amnesia...again." Arnold sighed.

"Mm, mm, mmm! Well, good luck buddy. You remember how much fun you had last time." Gerald teased, shaking his head.

"Thanks Gerald." Arnold sighed as he walked towards home.