Arnold POV

The morning sunlight filtered through my skylight like it did every morning since I was a kid. I woke up with a small yawn and stretched, eager and ready to embrace another fresh, new day. Waking up extra early was a habit that I still hadn't broken since the time I spent abroad with my parents. I didn't mind though. Being up this early gave me the perfect excuse to text Helga and ask if I could walk her to work. A small chuckle escaped as I turned my phone on and started texting her.

A: Morning beautiful. Can I walk you to work today?

I then hopped out of bed and got dressed, wanting to be ready for her inevitable but reluctant yes. When we first started dating, Helga had a tendency to pretend not to want me to do nice things for her only to give in at the last second. As I checked myself out in the mirror to make sure I looked nice, my phone beeped with Helga's response. I picked it up with a smile it quickly turned into a frown when I read the message.

H: Morning. No thnx.

I rolled my eyes and tried again.

A: Come on Helga, please? I'm already up and I would love to see you.

H: You saw me yesterday.

"Really Helga?" I sighed in annoyance. "What are we, back in 6th grade?"

A: Are you mad at me or something? Why don't you want to see me?

This time it took her longer to reply, but at least when she did, I finally got a believable answer.

H: I'm not a morning person ok! I don't want to take it out on you.

My smile came back. Typical Helga to not be honest with me the first time, but at least this time it didn't take me nearly as long as it usually did to get to the real truth.

A: I don't mind really. I'm enough of a morning person to be pleasant for the two of us.

H: ….

H: That doesn't sound appealing.

H: But fine. Be at my house in fifteen.

By the time I got to her house, the cool of the morning was already beginning to give into the regular heat of the day. Just as I was about to ring the doorbell, the door opened and Helga poked her head out.

"Shhh," She whispered holding a finger to her lips, "I don't want to wake up Olga."

I nodded and followed her inside. Helga was already dressed in her work clothes; form fitting black pants, a burgundy polo with the coffee shop logo on the back, and black sneakers. Her hair was still loose around her shoulders and was slightly curly and damp. Helga turned to me and I could that her eyes were still groggy and she looked very irritated.

"Did you sleep okay?" I asked as gently as I could. "You look kinda…"

"I hate the sun." She answered immediately. "I hate mornings, I hate going to work, I hate being alive…"

I couldn't help but chuckle at her whiny tone, "I'm sure you don't mean that. You're just having an off morning. I'm sure-"

Helga shot me a murderous glare. "You can take your positive attitude and shove it up your butt, Shortman."

She then began busying herself with making coffee, her movements tight and angry. I smothered a small laugh and waited patiently at the table for her. Once the coffee maker was bubbling and she fixed two bowls of cereal, Helga came back to the table with a small, sheepish smile. She handed me one of the bowls and sat down next to me.

"Sorry." She finally mumbled, "but I told you that I'm not a morning person."

"I don't mind." I reached over and tucked a stray of wet hair behind her ear. "I'll get used to it."

Helga's face flushed and she turned away to hide a smile. I didn't bother to hide mine though. We ate our breakfast in happy quiet with small chatter over spoonfuls of whole wheat cereal. But then an alarm on Helga's phone went off and she suddenly started choking and sputtering.

"Gah! I'm late!" She yelled and leapt up from the table. "I should have left ten minutes ago!"

"Ten minutes doesn't seem that bad." I said but I quickly gathered the bowls and put them in the sink.

"Doi Arnoldo, I have a morning shift at a coffee shop," Helga snatched her hair up into a high ponytail and tied it off, "A ten minute delay in getting coffee could mean someone goes to work homicidal. I'm concerned for the well-being of office workers throughout the city."

I laughed as I followed her out the door and onto the sidewalk. She walked at a fast pace, her long athletic legs easily carrying her further with each stride. I quickened my own pace so I could catch up with her, and laced my fingers with hers.

"So what do you plan on doing while I'm trapped at work?" She asked slowing down a little.

"Looking for a job," I sighed, "that late application fee really tapped me out. Besides, I need to start making some real money if I want to take you on some real dates."

"Um, excuse you?" Helga turned to me with a mock indignant look, "This is the 21st century football head, I have a job and I am perfectly capable of taking us out myself, thank you. Besides, what's wrong with staying in?"

"Maybe I want to show you off." I lifted her hand to my lips to give it a soft kiss. "Or maybe I want to make up for all the dates we didn't go on this summer."

Helga blushed and looked away like she always did when I showed the tiniest amount of romance towards her. My smile broadened just seeing hers. Her embarrassment was always cute but I couldn't wait until we got to the point in our relationship when she was more comfortable and less embarrassment.

When we finally reached Hill O' Beans though, the smile was wiped off of my face and Helga stiffened beside me. Like Helga warned me earlier, the coffee shop was already bustling, but what she didn't tell me was that Jake was also working the morning shift. Helga stiffened beside me and I subconsciously tightened my grip on her hand.

"I didn't know he'd be here." Helga said quickly. "I swear; Carlos was supposed to open today."

"It's fine," I spoke levelly and forced myself to relax, "it's not like you two were ever a thing, you're just coworkers right?"

Helga's eyes flickered around nervously and she bit the corner of her lip. "I never told you, but um… the night we had our 'talk' he kinda confessed he had feelings for me. It's no big deal, it's just… been sort of weird working with him."

"Hey, it's no big deal," I repeated, giving her a reassuring smile, "just go about your day like you usually would. Maybe I'll even drop by for lunch later."

Helga rolled her eyes. "Get real hair boy, you just spent $125 on a late fee remember? Besides, I don't need you checking up on me."

I pouted in disappointment but had to agree. Helga took a quick breath and we finally walked inside. The door dinged signaling our entrance and Jake looked up from the register. His eyes met Helga's and held hers for a long moment before finally turning his attention back to the customers in front of him.

"I gotta help him out." Helga sighed and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, "see ya later football head."

I smiled at her affectionate nickname for me and backed out of the coffee shop so I wouldn't get caught in the now growing stream of customers. Safely outside, I watched as Helga literally jumped over the counter and began making orders. Within a few moments, she and Jake were able to rapidly fulfill orders, almost without having to speak to each other. They almost seemed to move on autopilot, as if they've been doing this forever…

I shook my head and walked away. It would be ridiculous to feel jealous just because Helga worked well with Jake. That's all they were and I was comfortable with that.

"Mmn, mmn, mmn," Gerald shook his head, "I dunno man, I don't think that I would want my woman working with a dude who was just macking on her last week. It means nothing but trouble."

I rolled my eyes. "I think I trust Helga enough to let her work with him. Besides, I'm the one she choose to be with, not him."

"Right, but does he know that?"

I didn't bother answering him and shot the ball at the hoop. After about three hours of job hunting on the web and in the newspaper earlier, I felt the strong need for some fresh air and exercise. So when Gerald called and asked me to come to the court with him, I jumped at the opportunity to get out of the library.

My shot flew through the air and went around the rim, but as it started to fall off Gerald ran up, grabbed it, and sunk it in himself.

"Look man," he said in a slightly more tactful tone, "I'm not saying that Helga's isn't loyal because she is, but Jake was already going after Helga pretty hard before you even got back. That rumor about them didn't get started for no reason."

"Well I trust Helga and that's all there is to it." I said simply.

Gerald started to shake his head again. I ran forward, knocked the ball out of his hand, and shot it straight through the basket.

"Lucky shot." Gerald huffed playfully.

"Skillful shot," I corrected with a grin, "so back to what we were talking about earlier, are you going to get a job while on campus."

"Maybe, maybe not," Gerald shrugged and made another shot, "I heard the coach for the university's basketball team is pretty stringent when it comes to his players getting jobs. I might just get a part-time one so I can make money to spend on my lady."

"Ugh, I wish I could spend some real money on Helga, but she won't let me." I groaned. "It's such a weird three-sixty from when we were kids. Back then, she would have ready to strangle me if she thought I was being cheap on our dates."

"Hmph, be grateful for that. I'm pretty sure none of us want the return of old Helga and your infamous fights."

"Shut up!"

A/N- Sorry that this isn't that long. I've had some writer's block lately