When school let out that day, he was waiting for her at the bottom of the steps by the front gate. He couldn't resist the slight blush that painted his cheeks as he realized it was the first time he had ever waited for a girl after school in his life.
As Helga practically bounded down the steps, she spotted him almost instantly, stopping dead.
"A-Arnold?"
"Hey Helga," he replied sheepishly, scratching the back of his head and looking down at his shoes. He suddenly felt very awkward. "Um, are you doing anything right now?"
"Does it look like I am football-head?" Helga retorted, crossing her arms, though Arnold did not fail to notice that now she was blushing too. "Phoebes is a bit busier these days than she used to be."
"I thought so. So...I was just wondering if you wanted to grab some ice cream or something? My treat."
"R-really?" Helga stammered. "Um, sure I guess. I mean, whatever floats your boat Arnold."
"Helga," Arnold repeated, smiling at her knowingly. "You can drop the act you know." He held out her hand to her. "It's okay to be yourself around me."
Helga swallowed. She had been contemplating the bizzare new nature of their relationship ever since they had returned from San Lorenzo. Arnold kissing her had been without a doubt the single most euphoric moment of her ten-year existence, but it left her in a bit of predicament to say exactly what their relationship was now. He knew her feelings well enough, but did he really understand how deep her love for him actually ran?
Still, mulling all this over didn't stop her from taking his hand. "You might end up regretting it football head."
He grinned. "I'll take my chances."
They two of them had eaten their ice cream and were now sitting at the end of Hillside pier, staring out at the waves. Seagulls darted every now and then above their heads, and Helga silently prayed she wouldn't end this day with a bird-poop stain on her favorite pink sweatshirt.
She picked up a stone and tossed it into the water.
"So...how are things with your parents?"
They are great. Things are like I always dreamed about now. My dad wants to take me on a fishing trip with Grandpa and me, and my mom wants to teach me how to cook."
She raised an eyebrow at him. "Arnold is going to become a culinary wizard huh? That'll be something to see."
Arnold laughed. "Yeah, I thought it was kind of a funny idea too. But imagine if it turned out I was really good at it?"
"It honestly wouldn't surprise me. In case you haven't noticed, you're kind of a boy wonder, Arnold."
Arnold noted that it was the second time she had said his name, rather than her usual "football-head."
"Well, maybe I'll invite you over sometime and you can see for yourself," Arnold ventured, looking over at Helga and smiling.
Helga blushed again, and just barely restrained a swoon. "You don't have to do that Arnold. I mean...I wouldn't want to impose on your time with your parents. You just got them back."
Arnold shook his head. "I know they'd love to have you Helga. If it weren't for you..." Arnold trailing off, remembering how broken he had felt before Helga had come up with the idea that saved their lives. Her "heart of gold."
Helga had felt more exposed in that moment than ever before, but the need to resuscitate Arnold's parents trumped any hesitancy she had to give up her locket. She knew that she probably would give up her real heart if it were for Arnold's sake.
"Let's not talk about that, Arnold. It's over now," Helga said, with a wave of her hand. "Anyway, we should probably head back before it gets late. Your parents might think you got kidnapped or somethin'."
"And yours?" Arnold asked.
Helga kicked another stone off the edge of the pier. "Nah, Olga is still here from overseas with her new fiancee, so they'll be preoccupied with gushing over her until she boards her plane home most likely."
"Well, in that case, do you want to come over now?"
Helga heart hammered against her ribs. Oh Arnold. I never thought I would be so blessed as to be personally invited by you into your humble abode. It stuns me that I haven't yet fainted by the mere knowledge of your tender gaze upon me.
"Um, well I guess if it doesn't make a difference to your folks then..."
He took her hand again. "Of course not Helga.
As they entered Arnold's room, she had to steady herself against a sudden lightness in her chest. As if she had unwittingly downed a glass of champagne and was now feeling the first twinges of intoxication flutter through her veins. Arnold's scent filled the room; a pair of his pajamas lay scattered on the floor by his bed. His skylight was open to the wondrous plain of twinkling stars against the ebony night. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined she would be invited into Arnold's bedroom, and she silently pledged to cherish every beautiful second.
"Would you like a drink Helga?" Arnold offered.
"N-no thanks Arnold," she replied, trying to keep a level voice as she lowered herself onto his comforter. The soft cotton met her palms and while Arnold was closing her the door, she quickly laid back on his pillow and sighed happily. My angel sleeps here every night...
Arnold sat down a few inches away from her. "You're sure you don't want to call your parents Helga?"
Helga now sighed for a completely different reason. "Positive hair-boy, it doesn't make a difference to them where I am right now."
Arnold frowned. "That's really hard for me to believe."
"Well, such is my life. An incomprehensible domestic mess. But it's fine. I'm used to it."
A silence stretched between them after that.
"So...Helga, there is something I've been wanting to ask you ever since we got back from San Lorenzo."
"Well, ask away football-head."
"How long?"
Helga froze. "H-how long what?" She stammered, feigning ignorance.
"You know, how long has it been since you had these...feelings for me?" Arnold clarified. "I've kinda been analyzing all our time together for the past eight years, trying to pinpoint when anything suddenly changed or anything you might had done that would make more sense in hindsight, but as far as I can tell, you've always been..."
"An angry basket-case?" Helga offered.
Arnold chuckled. "Well, maybe not a 'basket-case'"
"Oh trust me, if you knew everything about me, let's just say that would be putting it mildly."
"Well, I already know about your locket. What else could there be?"
Helga swallowed, suddenly imagining a startling image of Arnold accidentally stumbling upon her volumes of poetry. Her shrines, hell, even the inscription on the inside of her locket that he had never gotten the chance to see. How would he react if he suddenly knew about all that? Wouldn't any normal person run away screaming?
"Um, a bit."
"Like?"
Helga shot upright. "You know, on second thought, maybe I should get going." She bolted for the door.
"Wait!" Arnold cried, grabbing her hand. "Helga, I'm serious. I promise I won't laugh, no matter what it is."
"That's not what I'm afraid of, Arnold."
"Then what could it be?"
Helga thought for a moment. "To be honest, I think the only way you would believe it is if you saw it for your own eyes."
"Then how about letting me."
Helga snatched back her hand. "Are you nuts? Why are you so determined all of a sudden to know everything about me?!"
"Because I found out you love me Helga! That's kind of a big deal, don't you think? More than that, I feel like I've been starting to..." Helga perked up, but he shook his head. "A-anyway, I want to know everything about you, because for so long I thought I already had, and I found out just how wrong I was...about all of it."
Helga sighed. Should she acquiesce to her beloved? I mean, he knew about the locket, so he'd be somewhat prepared at least.
"Well, I know one place we could start, if you really want to go down this road." Helga turned away towards where she had placed her backpack. After a few moments of rummaging through it she found what she was looking for. Not meeting his gaze, she handed it to Arnold; her little pink book.
"Just remember; this was your idea." She warned, shoving her hands into the pockets of her sweatshirt and sitting back on his bed.
Wordlessly, Arnold began to thumb through the pages next to her. After reading through a few pages, his eyes finally widened in understanding.
"Helga...these poems..."
"They are all about you," she finished for him. She looked down at her feet. "Now do you see why I didn't want to show you?"
Arnold was blushing. "Um, no, that's not it...its just...there are so many..."
"Oh please! That's nothing!" She laughed cynically. "I've got a few hundred more volumes back at home."
"Wow...I mean, that's..." He looked over at her. "Wait, volumes?"
Now he turned towards her. "Helga...I wish I'd known that...I meant this much to you."
"That's a funny way to respond to someone you just found out has been obsessed with you," Helga retorted. "Arnold, just stop this. None of these are things I ever planned on telling you."
"But I want to know. Helga. It's like all these years I never really knew you at all."
"What more is there to know, Arnold! I love you! When you've loved, no, adored a person since you were in preschool, this is what ha-" Realizing suddenly what she had just revealed to Arnold, she clasped a hand over her mouth.
"P...preschool?" Arnold murmured. His memory roved back through the years, to the day he'd first met Helga...standing alone out in the pouring rain. He had held his umbrella over her head...and said he liked her bow.
It suddenly all made sense.
"Well, that answers my earlier question."
"I'll show myself out," Helga muttered, heading for the door.
"No, don't go!" Arnold grabbed her hand again. "I'm sorry Helga, I wasn't trying to upset you. It's just..."
"I know, I know hair-boy. You're allergic to secrets, and you're slowly realizing how much of an obsessive lunatic your parent's savior is. It's a big day for you, isn't it?" She spat. Feeling this exposed to Arnold wasn't something she had planned on, and it was making her revert back to her old defense mechanisms.
"And I know you're too nice to say it."
"No...that's not...
"Helga, please stay."
Helga turned and walked back toward Arnold's bed. She picked up her little pink book and held it to her heart.
"Like it or not Arnold, this is me. You wanted to find out, and I gave you your wish."
"I know who you are Helga," he said, taking her hand. "The girl with the 'heart of gold'."
She blushed furiously, but couldn't resist curling her fingers around his. "Very funny."
Another silence passed between them. Then Arnold spoke.
"I'll admit, it has been a lot to take in, but it doesn't change how I see you Helga. If anything, I respect you now more than I ever have before. I know it took a lot of courage to show me that book, just like it took a lot of courage to do all the things you did for me in San Lorenzo-"
"But do you love me Arnold?" She interrupted.
Arnold paused.
"I mean, you kissed me, but you never actually said it back."
Arnold was still silent.
"Arnold, the last thing I want is for you to feel obligated to spend time with me. If there is one thing that I hope is clear to you now, it's that if I were to be to date you, I would want you to actually return my feelings. I'm not just another helpless soul in need of your good Samaritan work. I...just love you. I want to be with you, and for you to want to be with me too..." Helga lowered her eyes, her bangs covering them from view. She knew she was asking too much. Too much from the boy who had always pined after beauties like Ruth and Lila. How could she ever really hope to invoke in him the same depth of emotion that she felt for him? How could she ever expect that from him? That's just how it was.
So when she felt Arnold's soft hand cupping her cheek and lifting her eyes to meet his, she was too shocked at first to say a word.
"But Helga...I do return your feelings," he said, stroking her cheek. "I'll admit, it took me a long time to realize exactly what I was feeling, because, well, I've honestly never been through this before. I've had crushes before but...what I felt for Lila and Ruth...I realized just how much my feelings for them weren't anything close to actual love. Lila was a nice person and all but...there wasn't much to her beyond that. And I'm pretty sure she would never have gone through all of what you did to help me. Helga...the truth is, you made me realize what people deserve love the most, and you taught me to understand that there is a lot more beneath the surface of a person that what they initially might show you. I still remember the way you looked at me on the bridge when it seemed like we both would die, and I...I realized then just how stupid I'd been all these years."
"Arnold..." Helga murmured, remembering that moment along with him.
"The point is, a lot more happened to me on that trip that just getting my parents back. I...I realized that all this time, the perfect person for me turned out to be a lot closer than I ever thought.
"I love you, Helga."
Those words made Helga's eyes gleam with tears. Hearing Arnold actually say those words to her was even more amazing and beautiful than his kiss. This wonderful, kind-hearted soul had reciprocated the feelings she had harbored since she was four years old. It just didn't seem real, but how could it when she had already seen it in her dreams hundreds of times?
Tears streamed down her cheeks in modest rivers now. "Arnold..."
Slowly, he pulled her close. Helga buried her face into his blue sweater, inhaling deeply and wrapping her arms tightly around his waist. His scent engulfed her and sent waves of emotion rolling over her as she let herself cry into the arms of the boy she loved so much.
Arnold's cheeks burned as he let Helga cry. "It's okay Helga, I'm here, and I promise I always will be. As long as you want me to be."
"You can bank on that, football-head," she replied tearfully, tightening her arms around him. "Because I've always wanted you with me..."
