Welcome readers! Thank you for clicking on this one-shot! I have to give a million thanks to QueenKalana874 for giving me this idea; without you I might never have come up with this!
Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold.
Twister
Helga rang the doorbell at Sunset Arms boarding house with a mix of joy, curiosity, and worry. Arnold had invited her over to hang out and she had said yes, however just the thought of the two of them being together alone made Helga more than a little nervous.
'What if I say something that tips him off? Or what if I do something weird? What if he actually figures out my deepest, darkest secret? Okay, Helga ol' girl, just calm down; he's probably just being his goody-two-shoes self and trying to be nice to me to help "bring out the good" that he knows lays just beneath my hard exterior. Oh Arnold, my flaxen haired angel, my fourth grade prince, why must I torment you when all you do is show me kindness in return? Today I make this solemn vow: I will not bully you in any way whilst I am here! I will show you that I too can be kind, even if I can not tell you how I truly feel.'
Helga stopped and glanced around after noticing that she had begun to mumble her monologue out loud; thankfully no one was around to hear. Suddenly the door in front of her opened and she jumped in surprise.
"Hi, Helga," Arnold said welcomingly, "Come on in. Can I get you anything?"
"No, I'm fine. Thanks Foo—Arnold."
They walked into the living room and sat on the couch for a few minutes trying to figure out what to say. Just as it was starting to get very awkward Helga got up and walked over to the shelf of books and games in the corner.
"Hey Arnold, wanna play a game?" Helga asked.
"Sure, what game?"
"This one?" Helga held up the "Twister" game box.
"Sure, sounds fun!" Arnold said, just as happy as Helga to have something to do.
"Alright, you're on! But I have to warn you, Hair Boy, it's a scientific fact the girls are more flexible than boys."
"I'll take my chances."
They spread out the mat and decided who would go first, and the game was on. It started out fairly simple, but as the turns progressed they got more and more tangled.
And then it happened.
Helga spun the color wheel for her turn and it landed on blue.
"Criminy, how am I supposed to get my hand over there?" she asked.
"Give up?" Arnold asked.
"Never!" she said. Helga twisted herself around and stretched her arm as far as she could, just barely touching the blue circle.
"Hah! I did it!" she celebrated.
"Hey? What's this?" Arnold asked. Still balanced on three of his four circles he reached out and picked up a small, heart-shaped locket.
"Huh? Arnold, no!" Helga screamed. She reached for the locket and toppled over, pulling Arnold with her. They landed in a heap and Helga quickly disentangled herself and tried to grab the locket again.
"Arnold, please give me that right now! Please!" she asked desperately.
Arnold sat up and looked at the locket.
"Helga? Is this...yours?" he asked.
Helga stopped reaching for it and sat down. Quickly she tried to think of some way out of this, but nothing came to mind. It was all over. She had to tell him.
"Y-yeah, it...it's m-mine..." she whispered.
Arnold looked at the locket for a few minutes before looking at her again.
"But Helga...why?"
"Why?"
"Yeah, why...why do you have a locket with my picture in it?"
"Oh, um, because...because..." she looked away from him, unable to finish.
Arnold got up and walked over to sit next to her. He put a hand comfortingly on her shoulder and just sat there while she gathered her thoughts.
"Alright, Arnold, you really want to know the truth? The real, honest, nothing but my heart truth? Yes, that locket is mine. I have it because...because I...I...I don't hate you like I always say I do. I don't hate you at all."
"You don't?"
"No. Actually, I kinda like you. Well, actually I really like you. A lot."
"You do?"
"Yeah"
Arnold processed that for a moment. He had never really believed that Helga hated him, but he hadn't known she liked him.
"So," he said, handing her the locket back, "How long have you liked me?"
Helga took a deep breath before answering. "Since you shared your umbrella with me."
"When we were three?"
"Yeah, outside Urban Tots. My parents had made me walk to school, and I was having a pretty bad day. But then you shared your umbrella with me, and you made everything a little bit better."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
Arnold thought about that. He remembered that day with almost perfect clarity; Grandpa Phil was driving him to his first day of preschool, and he was very excited about making new friends. Then when they got there he got out of the car and saw Helga walking by in the rain. She looked so sad he had wanted to do anything to make her feel better.
"So...why did you start bullying me?" he asked.
"Well, you...do you remember sharing your graham crackers with me after Harald took mine?"
"Yeah."
"Well, the other kids started picking on me after you left, and the only way I could think of to make them stop was to use force. So I pushed Harald down, and I guess that was it. I was the pre-school bully, and it just kind of grew with me. I never wanted to be a bully, it just happened."
"Well, do you think maybe we could be friends? Now that you've told me all of this?" Arnold asked.
"I'd like that, Arnold. But, before we agree to be friends, I think there's something I have to tell you. Just...just promise me you won't freak out when I tell you?"
"I promise, Helga."
"Okay, here goes. When I said I liked you that was the truth, but it was more of a half truth. I want to be totally honest with you, so I guess I just have to say it. I..." she closed her eyes and said quietly, "I love you, Arnold."
Arnold's eyes widened in surprise for a moment, but immediately he noticed something more important going on; a single tear ran down Helga's cheek.
"Helga, what's wrong?" Arnold asked.
"I've spent seven years hiding this, and now I've told you, and now I have to sit here and listen to you try and find a nice way to tell me that we're never going to be together and that I'm crazy! I know I'm crazy, but...Arnold, you're the one thing in my life that makes me happy, and if you go...I don't know what I'll do. I'm not asking you to say you love me back just so I can live a little fantasy, I just can't believe I did this! I've waited so long to tell you, and I was so scared..."
Arnold wrapped his arms around Helga and held her close in the warmest hug she had ever felt.
"Helga, please don't cry. Please. I hate seeing you so scared and sad. Look at me," she slowly turned to look at him, "I...I don't really know what love it yet. I mean, I'm only nine. I don't think I really can understand true love yet. But I do know that you make me really happy. You're funny, and smart, and kind, and pretty. So, I can't tell you I love you too, but maybe we could start with being...I don't know, more than friends?"
"Arnold, you don't have to do that. You can just tell me you don't like me "like that"."
"But Helga...I do."
"Arnold, really, it's okay. I never really thought we'd end up together, so I've kind of been preparing for this. Just say it."
"Helga, how can I prove to you that I mean it?"
"Arnold—"
She couldn't finish because Arnold had just kissed her cheek and taken any and all thought from her head. All that was left was 'He...did he really just...my...he...oh wow...'
Arnold smiled at the dreamy look on Helga's face as she tried to process what had just happened. He leaned over and kissed her other cheek and whispered "Do you believe me now?"
"Y-yeah..." she mumbled.
"Good. So, do you, I don't know, want to go get and ice cream at Slausons?"
"Like a d-d-date?" Helga stuttered.
"If that's what you want to call it, then yes, like a date."
"Okay, yeah. Wow. Arnold, how are you not running away in terror?" Helga asked as they stood up, "Are you sure I'm not dreaming?"
"I'm sure. This is all real, including how I feel about you." Arnold said.
And so they went to Slausons for their first date, which was the first of many. Telling their classmates they were a couple went much better than Helga had feared, with only minimal problems from Rhonda and some of the boys.
Arnold and Helga stayed together all through elementary school and middle school, and in high school they enjoyed going to homecoming and prom together. At their junior prom Arnold told Helga he loved her, and she knew he meant it. They went on to be crowned junior prom king and queen. When they graduated they were voted the yearbook's "Cutest couple".
They went to the same college, and after graduating college Arnold surprised Helga with something she had been waiting years for: he proposed. She said yes.