Title: And They Say Romance Is Dead
Pairing: Helga/Arnold
Disclaimer: This is non-profitable fanwork. No copyright infringement intended.
Author's Note: Written for Shortaki Week Day 1, for the prompt "Window." Happy reading, everyone!
and they say romance is dead
Helga was startled awake by the sound of glass shattering.
She shot up from her bed, heart hammering as she blindly reached for the lamp on the nightstand, her eyes straining to see in the dark. She exhaled when her fingers made contact with the cool ceramic of the lamp and hastily turned it on, wincing as the room was instantly swathed in blinding light.
Blinking rapidly, Helga swung her legs over the bed and swept her gaze across her room, slumping a little in relief upon realizing that she was alone in it.
It was easy enough to make out what the source of the noise had been—there was a large, gaping hole in her window that definitely hadn't been there when she'd gone to sleep. An exasperated sort of resignation fell over her as she followed the trail of shattered glass to a small rock, and with a silent prayer to whatever deity was listening, she pushed herself to her feet, stepped into her slippers, and carefully walked around the glass to get to the window.
She wasn't in the least surprised to find that the culprit—rather than flee like any rational human being would have—was still standing on the street below, feet shuffling as he stared awkwardly up at her.
"Football head," Helga said flatly, folding her arms over her chest to fend of the chill that was seeping through the hole. Her voice was pitched to carry as nothing short of a nuclear explosion would wake Bob and Miriam from their sleep, and so managed to convey the what the hell are you doing you complete moron that went unsaid.
The golden glow of the streetlight allowed Helga to see the slight slumping of Arnold's shoulders as he pocketed his hands, his eyes not quite meeting hers.
Helga sighed so heavily her bangs fluttered. A smile threatened to form, but she willed it away.
"Give me a sec, I'll be right down," she told him before withdrawing into her room and quickly exchanging her nightgown for the first pair of jeans and a t-shirt she could find. She shoved her bare feet into her sneakers, grabbed her keys and phone from the nightstand, and after sparing a final glance at her broken window, left the room.
It wasn't until her skin made contact with the cool night air that she realized she forgot her sweater, but laziness kept her from going back upstairs to retrieve it. She shivered a little as she made her way down the stoop, eyes on her boyfriend the whole time.
"I'm so, so sorry, Helga," Arnold said when she was close enough, eyes darting up to the window he'd essentially confessed to breaking before settling on her. "I swear it was an accident."
"You lobbing a rock at my window was an accident?"
Even in the dim light Helga could see Arnold's face redden. "Breaking the window was an accident. I threw a few rocks before that but you wouldn't wake up."
"So you decided to throw one harder?"
He was looking at a point over her shoulder again. "…That might not have been my smartest idea, no."
"You think?" she said, shaking her head at the unbelievable boy standing in front of her. "Why were you throwing rocks at my window, anyway?"
Arnold muttered something unintelligible.
"What was that?"
"I said I thought it would be romantic," he confessed, rubbing the back of his neck as he peaked up at her through his eyelashes, and the combination made something already soft inside of her liquefy completely. Warmth spread through her at his words, pushing the chill that had seeped through her skin back into the air, and she buried her face in her hands, overcome by affection for this ridiculous boy.
"Helga?" Arnold said warily.
"You are such a dork," Helga accused, unable to hide the fondness in her voice.
Arnold seemed to catch it because he sighed with relief and edged closer to her.
"So you're not mad?" he hedged.
"Oh, I am," she refuted, watching the way his face fell through her fingers. "You'd better think of a way to make this up to me, Arnold."
"I could pay for the necessary repairs," Arnold said after a moment of studying her. His tone was even, but there were a new spark in his eyes that had nothing to do with the lamplight.
"You're going to do that anyway," she said. "But no, that's not nearly enough."
He inched closer. "I could give you an apology massage."
"You're going to do that anyway," she repeated. "Try again."
Arnold was full-on smiling now. Helga's breath caught as he closed the distance between the two of them and said, close enough that she could feel his words against her lips, almost taste them, "I could kiss you. As an apology."
"Apology accepted," Helga murmured before she leaned in and kissed him. It was awkward, what with the two of them smiling like idiots, but still Helga could feel her toes curling in her sneakers in pleasure. Arnold's skin was as chilled as hers yet everywhere he touched left imprints that burned. Eventually they both lost their smiles, too caught up in the slow give-and-take of their mouths, familiar yet all the more thrilling for it.
It was a miracle that Helga even heard the sound of something slamming over her thudding heartbeat. She glanced up just in time to see her bedroom window light up and jerked away.
"Helga?" Her dad's voice was loud even three stories up. "Helga, what the hell is this!"
She and Arnold glanced at each other.
"Run," they said in unison before grabbing the other's hand and dashing away. They were halfway down the block when the sound of a window being wrenched open met their ears.
"Helga G. Pataki, you better not be out there!" Bob hollered.
Helga laughed loudly, knowing full well that Bob could hear it.
"You're not going to get in trouble, are you?" Arnold asked once they reached the entrance of Hillwood Park and slowed down. They collapsed onto a nearby bench, both slightly out of breath from their run.
"Probably. Hold on." She pulled out her phone, typed—
some stupid kid broke window. don't know who it was. going to get ice cream. be back soon.
—in a new message then shot it off to her dad. Put the phone on vibrate before pocketing it. "There. I'm good now. So, want to make out before getting ice cream?"
Arnold eyed her like she was crazy but leaned forward anyway.
"It's cold," he pointed out.
"What's that got to do with anything?"
"I hope you're buying."
"What? You're such a cheapskate, Arnoldo."
"Yeah, well, this cheapskate has a broken window to pay for."
"Maybe next time you'll reconsider throwing rocks at people's windows," Helga said, unpitying.
Arnold rolled his eyes, opened his mouth to say something, then seemed to reconsider it. Tilted her face towards him and kissed her instead.
He was trying to shut her up and she knew it.
Helga, feeling magnanimous, allowed it.
the end
A/N: Thanks for reading, everyone!