A/N:

Hey guys, I've been wanting to get another update to this story done for a while so here it is ^w^ I hope you all like it! It's just the start of Arnold and Helga's first official date now that Arnold has FINALLY realized he has romantic feelings for her XDXDXD Took the little shrimp long enough, right? ;) Anyway, please read and review, and have a wonderful rest of your summer, everyone! (Or winter, depending on your hemisphere ^w^).

Also, a special shoutout to all my good HA! buddies and friends and sisters (BrokenRose, KasuKAPL, HAFanForever, etc.), but especially to NintendoGal55 who's not only been giving me a world of crazy writing to look forward to every day, but who's also just been…very wonderful in general about helping me cope with some stuff lately, and especially with something kind of upsetting that happened a few weeks ago:) Lol, I feel like she always ends up being the person I happen to be talking to when I'm having a particularly bad or sad moment, and she's always so loving and supportive and caring about me and my emotional basketcase-ness so…thank you NintendoGal 8D I luffles you! ^w^

Also, a slight note:

In the second chapter I had it established that Arnold and Helga were eating breakfast on Sunday morning which would make the day of this date Sunday night. I have changed that line in chapter 2 to read 'Saturday morning' so that now the day of this date is Saturday. It's helpful for me with something coming up in the fic, and also it makes more sense that the April Fools dance is on a Friday since they were in school before going to it. Okay, thank you! ^w^

Alright, here we go!

APRIL 2nd

Chapter 4:

Date Night


"Okay, so…just…to make absolutely sure that I have this straight now…" Gerald Johannsen started. He was sitting upon Arnold's living room couch beside his best friend and with a (now chilling) slice of pizza on a paper plate in his lap…And the tall-haired boy's eyes were just looking down and forward, and his mouth was quirked to the side contemplatively. He spoke. "Exactly one week ago…while we were trying to save the neighborhood…you ended up on the roof of the FTi building and found Deep Voice out there in a trench coat. Deep Voice turned out to be Helga. You asked her why she did it. She made some bad excuses. You asked her again. She told you that she did it for you and because…she l-loves you." He was going to be having trouble with that word for a while. "Then she started going on about her obsession with you, getting hysterical, and ended it by grabbing you and planting one right on your lips. You had no idea what to do after that so you just took her with you to help us finish saving the neighborhood. Later after Sheck got taken away you both pretended her whole confession was just some 'heat of the moment' thing. Then that morning at the big neighborhood breakfast you found out it was her birthday. That's why you set up that surprise party for her. Then you went to her house and walked her to Slausens. Both of you tried to talk a little about everything but agreed to wait on the big stuff until you were both more ready. Then at the ice cream parlor at some point in the back room you ended up all but making out with her." A little twitch came from him now but it was an improvement over the almost shuddering cringe that had gone through him when Arnold had explained all of this stuff to him in the first place over the last half hour. Anyway, though, Gerald moved past the awkwardness and went on, moving to a conclusion of things. "And ever since then, you've spent the last week thinking of her constantly and wishing she would act nice and loving to you again. You got your wish last night after the April Fools dance. She let you walk her home…but then you took a detour back to your house." Gerald's quirked mouth almost went into a smile at the idea of his man being that shrewd with a girl, whether he had meant to be or not. "You ate some ice cream on the couch. She said she loved you again. You kissed her. She dove at you. You both ended up giggling and making out with her on top of you until you fell asleep together. You both slept that way…and then woke up this morning in each other's arms…ate some breakfast and talked more. Then you met up at Slausens and pretty much talked about everything. Then she kissed you in an alley and then you asked her out on a date. And now you're just petrified of screwing it up. And now here we are." Gerald let out a deep breath and looked over at Arnold. "Is that all, man?"

For this entire lengthy summarization, Arnold had just been sitting next to Gerald on the couch and looking at him with a plain face and big eyes…and also his mouth slightly stuffed full of pizza. Our football headed hero really had been sort of a nervous and embarrassed wreck while explaining all of that stuff to Gerald in the first place, and then having to hear it explained back to him by his best friend just now hadn't exactly helped to ease matters, so by now Arnold was kind of unconsciously cramming down his third slice while Gerald's first one still sat cold in his lap, the tall haired boy's shock at this whole 'whirlwind romance with Helga G. Pataki' thing far outweighing any hunger he might have for tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese.

Now, though, upon Gerald addressing him, the football headed boy swallowed down the final big piece of pizza crust from his once-again-empty plate and gave his friend a small nod in response to his question, a light blush upon his cheeks. "Um…yeah…that's pretty much all of it." Arnold shrugged a little and then actually smiled sheepishly and added, "Pretty, uh…crazy turn of events, huh? Helga…actually in love with me…a-and me…sort of…being into her too now that she brought up the concept…Heh…" He shrugged a little again and nervously looked forward toward the pizza box on the coffee table. "Uh, heh…do we really still have that much pizza left?" He reached forward to get a fourth slice, just wanting something to occupy his hands and mouth and attention from the twitching nervousness running throughout his body and mind in response to this unprecedented romantic predicament into which he had gotten himself.

Gerald blinked at his best friend's reply at also at the sight of Arnold going for the box (again). Quickly the tall-haired boy reached out and pulled Arnold's eager hand away from its greasy goal. "Whoa, whoa, man…Ease up! You're so nervous you've almost eaten half the pie already, and you want to make sure to have enough room for eating tonight with Helga on your date, right?"

Arnold blinked at these words of reason and then instantly, and with quite a bit of embarrassment in his eyes, pulled his own arm back to his side as Gerald released it. "O-Oh, uh, yeah…heh…Almost forgot. Eating with her. I don't just have to entertain her while she's here tonight, I also have to feed her, don't I?" He gulped and put his hands into his lap, twiddling and wringing his fingers a little, looking so nervous. 'It's Saturday night…It's Saturday night and I have a date and I've kissed a girl and I'm thinking about being in love. What is WRONG with me? What sane kid gets himself into these kind of things…?' A voice at the back of his head whispered something about Helga also getting herself into just this kind of thing…and maybe that was more of a sign that they really were 'destined to be!' Arnold hid from the whispered thought entirely though, in the interest of not passing out from the very notion of it all, and how much it reminded him that he wasn't just dealing with a crush (at least on her end) here…He was dealing with love. Love.

Gerald, meanwhile, NOT on the verge of a self-induced nervous breakdown like SOME certain fourth grade boys in this room (and well aware of this fact), just smiled at his buddy and tried not to laugh as he replied to Arnold's nervous little observation about having to not just manage to successfully entertain but to feed Helga as well. "Exactly, man! An activity, dinner…all part of the date package! Heh, and besides…" he gave him a friendly smirk and even a tiny elbow nudge, "…you don't want to have pizza breath for kissing her tonight, do you, Casanova?"

Arnold's eyes flew open wide and his breath hitched sharply and audibly in his throat and he stood straight up from the couch and his jaw even fell a little! "Gerald! I…I…" he squeaked out!

Gerald just chuckled a tiny bit and shrugged, waving him off. "Aw, calm down, man—it was a joke! Just having a little fun with you."

"Gerald!" Arnold went on though with a terrified shake of his head, obviously oblivious to what his best friend had just said (and obviously more terrified about something specific than angry at Gerald)… "I never even thought about that!" Instantly he had his hand cupped in front of his mouth and he breathed against it and sniffed it a little. His eyes went even wider. "Oh no, it really does smell like pizza! Last night it smelled like ice cream and that's sweet and cool and it was just like her own breath so it was okay, but I can't kiss her with my mouth tasting and smelling like garlic and grease and sauce! I have to brush my teeth!" He pulled his pocket watch out of his shirt pocket and checked the time. "It's 2. Four hours until our date. If I start brushing now and use a lot of mouth wash and eat a box of breath mints maybe I can get all the pizza out of my breath!" Instantly he was really about to run up the stairs like a shot! 'I'm lucky enough an interesting girl like her fell for me, let alone kisses me…I need to make the experience as perfect as possible!' An image flashed through his mind of a smiling Helga closing her eyes and putting her lips to his, only to pull back in disgust and with an upturned nose and an announcement of 'Yuck! You taste terrible, Football Head! Sheesh, what kind of guy doesn't kiss his girlfriend with a clean mouth?' He banished the image. 'No, it's okay, it'll be minty and cool and fresh and clean…It'll be perfect for her…And—' "Whoa!"

Arnold almost tripped and he suddenly realized that it was because as he had been about to plow forward to run upstairs to the bathroom, Gerald had stood up from the couch and grabbed onto one of his shirttails to hold him back. "Hey, hey, easy there, man…" Gerald spoke with a lot more concern in his voice this time around. "Remember, this pizza/ 'guys only' time right now is supposed to help you RELAX about your date tonight, not work you up about it even more! Now calm down…you do NOT need four hours to sanitize your mouth for her. Now just take a breath…and turn around and look at me, okay, man?"

Arnold did take in a breath and let out a breath…He cringed a little at the realization that he had just indeed gotten seriously carried away about how his mouth would be for kissing Helga tonight (and he also felt a little presumptuous all of a sudden for assuming automatically that there would indeed be more kissing). And then with a small nod Arnold turned around to face his best friend, looking extra sheepish and extra in need of some help and perspective on all of this. And he really had been yo-yoing so much lately between finding Helga's love just pleasantly charming and finding it to be the most nerve-wracking thing in his entire existence.

Gerald just stood there before him, looking seriously into Arnold's eyes. Then the tall haired boy reached out and put his hands on his best friend's shoulders. And then he smiled supportively and spoke in a calm, level, soothing tone. "Okay, that's better. Now, here's what's gonna happen. We are going to spend the next two hours watching a monster movie. No talk of girls, no girls allowed, nothing involving females whatsoever! Then, when that's done, during the last two hours before your date tonight, we'll just run a brush through your hair, straighten your clothes a little, you can brush your teeth but no more than twice (it's not going to help kissing her if your gums are bleeding from being brushed raw), and also I'll let you use mouthwash and breath mints as you want if it'll make you feel better. Then we'll go over some potential dinner/date activities for when she gets here—just simple, basic things. And then you'll leave here at 5:30, swing by Mrs. Vitello's and pick her up a little bouquet, and then show up at Helga's door by 6 o'clock with a smile on your face and ready to woo her. And Arnold…just for the record…if she's as in love with you as you say she is…I think as long as you calm down and act like yourself tonight, this date'll be FINE. Now, if you understood everything I just said, please nod." Gerald smiled a little more, actually trying not to chuckle about having to put his friend through such an intense pep talk in the first place. 'Mmm mmm mmm…The boy's a goner, isn't he? And this time around the girl digs him too…' He almost had to sigh and shake his head. 'I'm going to be the best man at the wedding and it is going to be insane, isn't it?' Arnold and Helga: it was unbelievable and yet…a strangely cute idea at the same time, if you thought about it a little.

Anyway, in response to Gerald's little pep talk…

Arnold just let out a sigh at first…It was a very deep sigh. One that had been building up for the last seven days actually…and arguably, in ways, for the last seven years. And then after that sigh he genuinely smiled a little himself for the first time (in a relaxed manner, that was) in a while…and then he looked back into his best friend's eyes and nodded. "I understand…" his voice was his old normal, calm, sincere, sensible one, once again… "And thanks, Gerald," he added, "I needed that, I think. And, um…" a bit of a sheepish look came to his face again, though none of the hysterics seemed threatening to return for now, "If I get hysterical or anything again about all of this, feel free to smack me or toss some water on me or something. It keeps being really hard to snap myself out of being like that once something makes me fall into it, you know?"

Gerald just chuckled and nodded and winked, happy to have the old Arnold back. "You got it, man!" His grin then grew and he removed his hands from Arnold's shoulders and crossed them over his chest. "So…monster movie now? You can pick which one…"

Arnold's grin grew as well. He nodded. "Okay. I'll pick and you get us some sodas from the kitchen."

Gerald nodded in return. "Sounds good to me. And no talk of girls until the movie's over, right?" A still grinning Gerald raised an eyebrow at Arnold.

Arnold shrugged and raised an eyebrow right back at him. "What's a girl?"

Gerald full on laughed. "Exactly!" He winked once more and then went off to the kitchen while Arnold went over to the TV to select their movie, the whole time doing his best to think only of gory monsters rather than smiling girls…or rather one girl in particular...for the next two hours, at least.


"Phoebe, I…I don't know about this…I mean, I want to show him that I can be girly and loving and sensitive but…I still wanna be myself. And besides, remember, I've tried the whole 'girly makeover for the sake of girly-ness' thing with Rhonda's sleepover that one time? It really didn't work out. And then there was my failed attempt at acting like Lila at Rhonda's costume party so that he would 'like me like me' instead of just like me…Another bomb basically. Phoebe, this is it—this is the big time! This is my shot with him! A real, genuine, mutual date! But I don't want to taint it by winning his heart through deceit. There's been enough lies between us. I just…want to show him what's really inside of me…the soft and loving piece of me that I've been hiding…but on a long term scale."

Helga Geraldine Pataki, after delivering this little heart felt speech, just let out a deep sigh and collapsed back on her bed in her pink room…and she was surrounding by Pre-Teen girly magazines and make-up bags of cheap nail polish and blush and mascara and lip gloss, and, on top of that, Helga's pink bridesmaid dress from Coach Wittenberg and Trish's wedding was even laid out on the covers along with a pair of pink heels.

Phoebe Heyerdahl took a seat on the edge of her best friend's bed beside her prostrate form, and gave an understanding nod and a smile. "Yes, I quite agree, Helga. And I'm happy you're being that wise about how to handle this evening with Arnold." The quiet, petite girl's smile picked up on one side a little as she then added in a quiet yet somewhat matter-of-fact voice, though of course modestly, "Actually, I mostly brought over the magazines and borrowed the make-up from Rhonda and suggested the bridesmaid dress to you because, well…when you said to me over the phone that you wanted to show Arnold your more feminine and loving side I thought that perhaps this might turn into another one of those instances when you would…" she reach up and moved her glasses to clean then absentmindedly on her sweater, "…sort of have to put yourself through something a bit drastic and unnecessary to realize once more that being yourself with 'ice cream' and letting him like your own real 'flavor' just as much as you like his really is what's best. So I was just…preparing to help out with another potential life lesson of yours regarding Arnold, Helga." She replaced her glasses on her face and then looked to Helga's form with a smile.

Meanwhile, this revelation from Phoebe processed and then Helga's eyes instantly flew open and then she blinked and then sat up on her bed, and looked at Phoebe in surprise and confusion. Her jaw fell open. "Uh…I…but…then…" was all she could stammer at first. She blinked several more times…but then, the first shock ebbing and her friend's point sinking in, Helga just let out a breath and shook her head at the dark-haired girl and smiled. "Phoebe…" she crossed her arms over her chest, grinning at her a little, "Have I mentioned lately how grateful I am to you for putting up with all of my nutty schemes and with the fact that I've always insisted on doing everything the hard way over all these years?"

Phoebe just chuckled, grinning back at her. "Dooitashimashite, Helga. You're welcome. What are best friends for?"

Helga gave a small chuckle as well and rolled her eyes to the side. "Beats the heck out of me. But yeah, yeah, I appreciate it, now quit getting all mushy on me, Pheebs, and lets move on." Helga let out a sigh and glanced over at her alarm clock near her bed, then stretched up a little and then turned her sights back to Phoebe. "Well, it's about three o'clock. Now that we've gotten down to the nitty-gritty fact that I'm finally mature enough to not even want to try being another person for Arnold, and just want to show him the softer side of myself that I keep hidden within me…guess we should put all of this junk away and figure out what I really need to make tonight magical, huh?" She shrugged a little.

Phoebe nodded, and really felt just so very grateful inside that her best friend was going to be handling this romantic opportunity in such a mature way, and right off the bat, no less! "Putting away!" she eagerly squeaked, and then she stood up and grabbed Helga's bridesmaid dress and her shoes first and walked them over to her closet.

"Okay. Thanks, Pheebs. And, hey, I'll take care of all this make-up junk…" Helga offered, turning to the mass of stuff all laid out on her bed. She almost had to laugh and shake her head at the sight of it all. She grabbed one of the make-up bags it had all come out of, and commenced putting things away, starting with the most extreme stuff—anything infused with glitter and/or that was a color so bright and obnoxious that it practically hurt her eyes to look at it. 'Ugh, the only sane person who would use most of this stuff is a circus clown!' These items were packed up safely after a few seconds, and then Helga began to move on to putting away some of the more tame stuff in a second make-up bag.

As she was handling some this 'more tame stuff' though…she paused at some of it a little…just to look at it, of course…and only just if something there happened to catch her eye...

"Helga, I've finished putting away your dress and shoes. Do you need any assistance with putting away Rhonda's cosmetics?"

Phoebe's voice asking this question brightly made Helga blink and drop some of the stuff she had been looking at. "Oh, uh…" Helga turned to her best friend and swallowed and rubbed the back of her neck. "N-No, no, I've…got it, Pheebs…heh…"

Phoebe looked at her curiously for a moment. But then the young dark-haired girl carefully observed the situation a little more. And then a small smile came to her face. She looked at her best friend understandingly and added softly and unassumingly… "Unless…you maybe wanted to try using a tiny bit of some of these items, Helga…just because you want to for yourself, of course, as a small experiment, and not to impress anyone else," she tacked on meaningfully.

Helga blushed a little and glanced down and gave a sheepish shrug. "Well…I…I-I mean, I don't want to do anything extreme for tonight, like I said, but…maybe some lip balm with a nice flavor to it wouldn't kill me, and…I don't know, maybe we could do something small with my hair…and…" a little frustrated sigh escaped her as she suddenly admitted, "…and I might be willing to at least try painting my nails…but NO fake nails, NO obnoxious colors, NO scratch-and-sniff, glow-in-the-dark, neon flashing nail polish crap…Just something pale and pink…Just to try it…B-But that's all! The mascara, the lipstick, the blush—none of that at ALL, okay, I LIKE my face the way it is!" She crossed her arms over her chest and looked away with a stubborn little scowl as she added, "And even though I'm willing to put on the polish, if I don't feel right and like myself after it's all over then I'm taking it all out and off because I'm Helga G. Pataki and if Arnold's gonna fall in love with me it's gonna be with ME and not some fantasy chick I make myself act like for him! Hmph!"

Phoebe knew that Helga always wanted to be taken seriously and to never lose face, even, a lot of times, when it was just the two of them in private away from the other kids, but still the young dark haired girl couldn't help but smile and give a small giggle under her breath at her friend's way of admitting that she wouldn't mind just primping a tiny bit for her first official planned date with Arnold. She got it under control though and then just let out a sigh and nodded, knowing the best way to go along with this after seven years of practice. "Alright, Helga. We've got time—so, like you said, we can try a few things and if you like them we'll leave them and if you don't like them we'll remove them. Whatever you want to do, Helga. Besides…" Phoebe's tone went a tiny bit more meaningful, as did her smile, "I believe that if you were to try and act very stereotypically unfeminine for Arnold just because you're worried about getting carried away like with Rhonda's slumber party and costume party, it would be just as faulty a decision as trying to act very stereotypically feminine for him, Helga. It's better that you just be however you feel like being whenever you feel like it…You have a chance to just be you this time, and it's so good you want to take it. And, since you really are a lovely person, Helga, I'm sure Arnold would adore an evening of getting to see and know all the parts of who you really are deep down inside."

For a moment Helga still remained glancing down sheepishly and with a scowl at some of the cosmetic items on the bed.

A blush came into her features pretty quickly though.

And then she glanced to her best friend's eyes, her face softening a little. "Um…th-thanks, Phoebe…" And then suddenly the young blonde lurched forward and gave her best friend a quick, tight little hug!

Phoebe blinked in surprise at the action but the hug was gone in an instant and Helga was just sitting back in her former place on the bed, still blushing and just looking very shy. "S-Sorry," the young blonde quickly explained "A-Arnold's got me all…t-touchy feely lately…I-I'm hoping it'll pass before I become a COMPLETE sap all the time, heh…And, um…thanks again…" Helga smiled more to herself, so very appreciatively. She even swung her legs a little as they hung off the edge of the bed. "Maybe he really will love me…" she mused quietly in a small, hopeful voice.

Phoebe smiled so much at her friend's touch of confidence and her sudden new affectionate streak, and then she nodded her head and put a hand on Helga's shoulder, causing her best friend to look over at her. "I believe so with all of my heart that he will, Helga. Now…" Phoebe removed her hand and gestured down to some of the cosmetic stuff still remaining on the bed on the bed. "Why don't you pick out a nail polish color you like and I'll do your nails for you, Helga…as long as that's okay?" she tacked on shyly.

Helga chuckled at the idea and nodded eagerly. "Of course, Pheebs. That actually sounds nice—getting my nails done."

Phoebe's smile brightened. "Okay then, Helga. Oh, but, before we start, just so they don't get messed up, did you want to select a different outfit for this evening at all? I know we decided the bridesmaid dress is too much, of course, but if there's anything else you would like to consider it might be better to change into it before your nails become wet." She looked at her friend, awaiting whatever sensible response she might give.

Helga just smiled and shook her head at Phoebe. "Nah, Pheebs, forget 'dressing up' or whatever—this isn't the 'prom', it's just us hanging out at his house. I think I'm just gonna go with my usual pink jumper. I don't want to turn this into some big, pressured affair—I just want it to be simple." She shrugged. "And besides, I'm comfortable like this—if Arnold wants some girl who's gonna buy a new dress for every time she sees him or something then, well…he'll just have to deal with the fact that that's not me…Although I honestly don't think he'd be that demanding. But anyway, yeah, I'll stick with this—tonight should be classic Helga G. Pataki with just a few extra personally approved frills and nothing more, don't you agree, Pheebs?" She winked.

Phoebe smiled and nodded. "Agreeing!" She chuckled.

Helga chuckled as well and then turned her sights to the bed still half strewn with cosmetic stuff (the tamer stuff, as stated.) "Alright, well, now that my 'ensemble' has been decided upon, let me find a nail polish color that's bearable to me…" She searched a little and then snagged a modest, pale-pink-color-filled little round glass vial with a white, long, cylindrical top. "Eh, let's give this one a shot." She tossed it to Phoebe, who caught it, and then Helga spread out the fingers of one of her hands and held it forward for Phoebe to take. Helga's best friend eagerly responded by opening the polish bottle, and holding it in one hand while she used the other hand to start brushing the color onto Helga's nails.

This went on for a few more seconds and then Helga asked, the thought occurring to her, "Hey Phoebe…how did you get this junk from Rhonda without arousing suspicion, anyway?"

Phoebe blinked (though her steady polishing continued) and then she blushed a tiny bit. "Oh…well, um…I told her I needed it for myself…for a date I had with, um…s-someone…"

Helga blinked and looked at her best friend curiously. "Really? Heh, not a bad story, Pheebs…And wow she actually let you get out of there without putting you through the Spanish inquisition to get a name out of you?"

Phoebe swallowed and shrugged and smiled a little…still blushing, and still painting. "I…told her a name, Helga."

Helga looked very intrigued now. "Really? Who's?"

Phoebe took a breath, hesitated for just a moment, but then said it (knowing it had to be said sooner or later…and especially as she also kind of had to inform her best friend about certain things that a certain party besides she (Phoebe), Helga and Arnold might be aware of.) "Gerald." Phoebe waited for the response, recalling at the back of her mind Helga's teasing last weekend about Gerald offering her a ride home from the Slausens surprise party.

Helga blinked at first…and then she grinned very widely. "You are so into him, aren't you, Phoebe? Crimeny, one ride home from my birthday party and one date to an April Fools dance and you're hooked. You HAVE to let me know how long this has been going on behind my and Arnold's backs! Oh and hey, after we gussy up ME maybe I could gussy you one night to repay the favor, and then we really could get you a date with Geraldo?" She grinned and then added, feigning some smugness, "I'm in with Arnold now, you know, so I can pull some strings…" She winked.

Phoebe just chuckled and then cleared her throat a tiny bit, still painting away, and shook her head with her small little smile. "That won't be necessary, Helga…"

A tiny bit of a frown came to Helga's face. "Aw, but Phoebe…come on! Don't be a basketcase like me and wait seven years before making a move! Don't you even want to try getting a real date with him…?"

Phoebe let out a little sigh, still not making eye contact with Helga…still blushing…still smiling…still painting away as casually as could be. "Helga…what I meant was…it won't be necessary for you to help me…as I have every intention of working out a date for myself and Gerald all on my own in very due time."

There was a moment of silence during which Phoebe just continued to paint Helga's nails, and Helga's jaw dropped completely.

But then young blonde's eyes lit up and she smiled widely and chuckled a little in pride! "Alright, Pheebs! I knew you had it in you!" She swung her free hand through the air! "And hey maybe if everything works out in both of our love lives, we can all double together sometime? And you know, not like that 'dinner for four' fiasco at Chez Paris but an actual, sane, 'non law breaking' double date!" She laughed a little more at the fun idea.

Phoebe laughed as well and nodded, making eye contact with her again. "I would like that, Helga…"

Both girls smiled at each other and then eventually turned their smiles and sights back to Helga's nails.

The nail painting continued for a few more moments. Phoebe switched hands.

Then Phoebe spoke up again…this time much more quietly than any time before. "Um…Helga?"

Helga nodded, her eyes still on her nails as she analyzed her real feelings about whether or not she liked them painted. She was still a little on the fence, but overall she wasn't finding this experience or the result of it too bad or anything. "Yeah, Pheebs?"

Phoebe let out a sigh, hoping Helga would take this well. She continued painting. "Well…you remember how earlier when I got here and we were talking about all of the recent events with you and Arnold, I mentioned that I had seen you both in the pool at school the other night, and that was part of why I wasn't very surprised about you and Arnold now having a date together tonight…or that things had gotten so 'intense' for you both last night, for that matter?"

Helga nodded, still mostly looking at her nails to think about them, still with an average smile on her face and tone in her voice. "Sure, Pheebs. What about it?"

Phoebe let out another little breath and then just said it. "Gerald was with me when I saw you and Arnold, Helga…Actually he was the one who saw the two of you first and then he called me over to see it. He then brought up how last weekend, when he questioned me about you and Arnold remaining behind at Slausens after your party, I expressed to him that there was a certain bond between the two of you but that I didn't consider it fair of me to tell him specifics about it. And then he asked me if it counted if he figured things out on his own and that's when he showed me you two in the pool last night. So…he really does know, Helga…about you and Arnold…more or less. But I don't believe he would tell anyone of course though…if not for your sake then for Arnold's and certainly for mine. Anyway, I just wanted you to have that information, Helga."

Phoebe waited for a response.

Her ears were just met with silence though.

She stopped painting Helga's nails for a moment and looked up to her best friend's face.

Helga's eyes were wide and she was blushing and not moving or saying anything.

"Helga?" Phoebe prompted cautiously.

Helga blinked once at her name, took in a breath and seemed to consider for a moment…and then she just released everything and closed her eyes for a second, shaking her head. "Crimeny…" she spoke to herself…let out a deep sigh…and then smiled to herself and said quietly, almost amusingly, "Well…at least this gets rid of any awkward fabricated tales or introductions I'd have to make to him during that double date I talked about, right?" She actually looked up at Phoebe and chuckled a little.

Phoebe blinked at first in a bit of surprise at this particular calm reaction on Helga's part. She waited just a moment to make sure her friend wasn't just being sarcastic and about to now fly off into a frustrated and panicky rant about the dangers of Gerald knowing her feelings for Arnold! But a few seconds of looking at Helga's calm, amused eyes told Phoebe that her best friend really was seriously…okay with everything. And that fact made Phoebe smile once more, and she gave a small chuckle herself and nodded at her best friend. "Yes, I suppose you're right, Helga. At least you won't have to tell Gerald yourself now. But…" her smile went a bit more serious for just a second…She just wanted to confirm that Helga really wouldn't be worrying about Gerald knowing, out loud or in private, "You really are okay about Gerald knowing about 'ice cream' now too?"

Helga just shrugged at the question though, still smiling. And in truth…she really wasn't feeling too weird about the whole thing at all. "Well, can't change the past…not that I would change anything about last night with Arnold at all even if I had the chance, and that includes the stuff in the pool…And besides, now that Arnold knows and he's okay with it and actually likes it…and likes me…I…I don't know…tall hair boy finding out just doesn't bug me as much as it might have before, you know?" She smiled more. "I mean, I know I'm afraid of the other kids teasing me if they ever find out how I feel but my biggest fear over the years, even bigger than that one, was always Arnold finding out and just hating me for torturing him because I loved him. But we're clear of that now so…just Geraldo finding out…and being sworn to secrecy by you…eh, why the heck not?" She shrugged. "Besides, at least it'll give Football Head someone to talk to about all of this if he needs it." That being all said, she now let out a breath and held up her finished hand (which had dried by this point) to examine it for another moment. Then she nodded, having come to a decision. "Okay…I can deal with this whole 'painted nails' thing…They actually look a little…nice. And it doesn't feel too weird or anything. I think I'll just keep it for the date tonight though and then get rid of it for baseball practice on Monday—it'll bug me too much with all the chipping it'll probably do with how hard I play. But still, not bad for just tonight." She glanced at Phoebe with a grin and then she proffered her still unfinished other hand forward to her best friend. "Not get to finishing up my other hand so we can get a move on with the rest of the stuff I have to get ready and prepare for before Arnold shows up here at six! Chop chop!" The command sounded sarcastic but it was said more jokingly than anything else of course.

Phoebe smiled, happy both that her best friend was genuinely enjoying doing a little something special for herself for once and also at the fact that she hadn't fallen into some kind of spiraling panic about Gerald knowing. And so with a nod, "Finishing!" Phoebe said this single word and then proceeded to finish painting the nails of the rest of Helga's second hand before they would get to anything else that needed to be handled tonight for her big date with Arnold.


It was a quarter to six o'clock in the evening, and Arnold had just walked out of Mrs. Vitello's flower shop with a small and…rather 'varied'…bouquet in one of his hands…And now he was finally on his way to the house of Helga G. Pataki to pick her up for their date…their first 'official' date together.

The seriousness of this impending event flashed through his mind once more, and Arnold took a moment to close his eyes and let out a breath as he continued on his slow little walk the block and a half left to Helga's house (and all the while he was holding his little bouquet for her very carefully out in front of himself with a very stiff arm in total fear of anything happening to it). Done centering himself with his breath, Arnold opened his eyes again and went over some things to himself one more time just to really make sure he could go into this evening as calm and cool and collected as he wanted to be.

"Okay…" he spoke quietly to himself, "There is really nothing to worry about. Like Gerald pointed out, she's already in love with you…it would probably take A LOT to get her to stop loving you…so if you're just nice and honest and open with her, things should go great." He gave a little nod to himself, and then added, just to make himself feel better as he crossed the street to start walking up the final block to Helga's house, "And, just to break the ice and make sure we get off on the right track…you have some flowers for her," his eyes went to the little bouquet in his hand and then went back to looking down and forward, "…and you fixed yourself up kind of okay…" Arnold had brushed his unruly tufts of blond hair so that they fell back at the top just a tiny bit—just a little something to show that he was very serious about seeing this as a big event. As for Arnold's ensemble for the night, it was his usual attire…except he, at the last minute, had added a small, red and yellow plaid bow tie to his outfit...He just…wanted to look presentable and good, especially for a girl who had spent last night on his living room couch covering him in place of a blanket!

Arnold blushed a lot at the memory as he passed the half way point of Helga's block now (his steps becoming increasingly more hesitant at this point, and also a thin line of sweat could be seem forming on his brow). He instantly shook his head quickly back and forth, trying to break away from getting lost in reminiscing about that…that…unforgettable evening of romance they had spent together. 'No, no, no, just…don't think about what you guys did last night! It'll only make you more nervous! Just…think about all the calm, good times with her. The smiles and the jokes, pranking each other in the pool, having that little eating contest with breakfast this morning…' All of these concepts instantly went right to his heart and took it from having electrical palpitations of nervousness and excitement to just emitting deep, warm flutters of affection and adoration instead. He let out a sigh and smiled a little dreamily, feeling much more content and much more in control in a state such as this.

He spoke to himself a little more as Helga's house came into view now. "Anyway, you've got the flowers and the look…a-and to get rid of the pizza taste you went and brushed your teeth twice and gargled with half a bottle of mouth wash and ate every mint you had on you…and that Gerald had on him…" He blushed a little sheepishly at this strategy of his, but let his thoughts plow on and away from the blush worthy, as he knew he had to wrap up this little pep talk to himself. "Now you'll just take her back to your house for the evening and you'll feed her and find something fun to do together…and then she'll be happy…and that'll make me happy…a-and then, um…maybe…there could be kisses i-if she wants…kisses and more of her 'I love yous'…." He blushed and smiled so much to himself, letting his heart have just a tiny bit of fun with that electrical feeling from before… He did not know if he loved Helga…but he did know that he really really really loved experiencing her loving him. What a beautiful side to herself that she had hidden so long in shyness and fear…and that he would help her not to hide any longer, if she would let him…

Arnold walked a few steps more forward.

And now he was in front of the stoop of the house of Helga G. Pataki.

Arnold took in a deep breath and let out a deep breath, looking at the slightly intimidating door. For a moment, he recalled last week when he had shown up here to rouse Helga for her surprise birthday party. Even then he had felt somewhat…intimidated by that door. Like behind it was something so big and unavoidable that it might consume him if he faced it…and yet at the same time there was a feeling of wanting to face it, wanting to let it drench him and soak him in all that it was, wanting…so much…And there was certainly 'so much' behind that door…

And now he was going to get it.

He sighed, shook his head from these thoughts and then, with a slight clearing of his throat and an adjusting of his bowtie (and double checking on the bouquet, still held out straight in front of himself, once more), he walked slowly up the stoop to its top, reached out…and knocked briskly on the door.

KNOCK, KNOCK

Exactly ten seconds passed.

Then the door opened.


One minute ago.

Helga G. Pataki looked at the clock on the wall of the foyer right by her front door. '5:59…Okay, only one minute to go…' She double-checked that her nails looked alright, which they did—none of the polish had smudged or chipped. And it pleased Helga to note that the color she had chosen was pale and sheer enough not to scream its presence but yet apparent enough to still come off as a nice extra detail as part of how she looked. She had also put on just a little bit of cherry flavored lip balm—nothing unnatural looking or messy, just a little something to keep her lips soft and 'approachable' should any situation involving them come up this evening. In addition to her nails and lips, Helga's hair was also brushed out and down, her familiar pink bow nestled happily upon her head. Her attire was her usual one, of course (except that at the last minute, with her nails finally being totally dry and the change not being a complicated one, she had changed into the newest and crispest and cleanest pink jumper and white shirt she owned—just an extra touch on her part).

And so anyway now it was 5:59 p.m.…and in one minute an event would start that might seriously determine the course of her life…her romantic life at least…forever.

As the seconds of this minute ticked by on the clock overhead though another thought suddenly occurred to Helga that made her gulp and go just a little pale. 'Wh-What if he's late?' Oh she couldn't even think of the idea! All the tension of waiting for it to be 6 p.m. had practically driven her mad today! But to have to wait another five, ten, fifteen…maybe even TWENTY minutes and all because possibly he wasn't taking this date thing as seriously as she was or because maybe he wanted to try being 'fashionably late' or something…Oh it was UNBEARBALE! She felt herself scowl and felt one of her sudden urges to pound Arnold for something like that come over her…though she knew in an instant, as she had always known, that one look from those jelly bean green eyes of his, one word from those soft, strong little lips of his, one touch of his warm, lithe skin to hers and she would instantly switch to her true desire of showering him with kisses.

Her anger was cooled, replaced by love as the thought finished…But then…she went pale again at another thought…a much worse one than him being late…

'What if he doesn't show up? What if he…ditches me?'

Okay, she knew that was SO very unlikely! Arnold obviously liked her a lot (if last night and this morning and this afternoon had been any indications), on top of which he was too good-natured a person to ever be cruel enough to ditch someone. No, no, he wouldn't ditch her…

But still, until he showed up at her stoop, the fear of it would be lingering…and the heartache it would bring would be threatening her…Standing near this door for hours, waiting and waiting and…him never coming…If that happened…she would just run up to her room and let herself crumble for the rest of the night, until the next day at school when she would barely drag herself out of bed to get there and then promise herself over and over, no matter the temptation, to never to speak to him nor look at him nor think on him again.

The second hand hit its apex.

It was now officially 6 o'clock.

KNOCK, KNOCK

Helga practically jumped and her heart almost flew out of her chest! She smiled so much!

She was about to eagerly rip open the door but…she had promised herself earlier, as a sign of not coming off as a total desperate loon, to count to ten before answering it after she heard his knock (not wanting Arnold to think that she really had been waiting by the door for the last fifteen minutes, as she had indeed been doing.)

'One…two…three…'


Seven seconds from that point with Helga…aka the point at which the door opened for Arnold who was still out upon her stoop….

Arnold held his little breath in his little lungs, his big green eyes didn't blink, his arm was stiff and still holding out the flowers, though some instinct in him made him suddenly hide them behind his back just before the door finished opening.

Helga appeared before him.

And then Arnold's eyes went extra wide and he gulped.

Perhaps it was the whole 'I have a crush on her' thing…maybe that was…not so much 'clouding his judgment' as 'softening his eye' a little…and maybe part of it was the sun shifting from its afternoon glow to its evening one, lending peach shadows to cream colored flesh…and maybe part of it was that he HAD spent the better part of last night kissing a certain someone in the most intimate experience he had ever had with another person…and part of it might have also been the fact that he was just still getting used to seeing her smile…And part of it was just Helga too of course.

But whatever it all was, the point was…though she still looked so much like all the thousands of times over their lives when he had seen her…Arnold thought Helga looked prettier than ever right here and right now.

Her hair, long, shiny, thin yet bouncy, falling around her shoulders and down her back, cute little ribbon atop her head…Her jumper somehow just looking extra white and pink, almost sparkling…And she was looking down a little, holding her hands in front of herself, and a little smile was on her lips, which looked somehow…softer than the last time he had beheld them this afternoon.

Arnold felt his heart starting to pound. All the nervousness from earlier was coming back to him. This was really happening and Helga was really pretty and he really liked her…oh he hoped and hoped and hoped that she would really like him!

Arnold really didn't know what to say to her now, his head and heart being so bogged down with so many new feelings…

Luckily though Helga spoke first, using a joke to break the ice (nothing sarcastic or biting or crude though…just a softly delivered observation, the smile never leaving her lips.) Her gaze was still downward as she spoke. "Well, um…six on the dot. E-Either you're really eager to get this over with…or you're really eager for it to start, Football Head." She ended with a small giggle. "I wonder which one it is…"

Her voice got Arnold to blink and made air fill his lungs once again, and now he spoke too. "I…um…The second one!" He blushed quite a bit and looked down sheepishly, and the sound of her giggling again didn't make matters any easier. He let out a deep mental sigh to himself.

"Hmm…eager for it to start, huh? Well, that's nice to know…" Helga, feeling…so much better now that he was here and obviously wanting to be here, finally let out a breath she had been holding and brought her eyes up to look at him.

Her eyes then went wide and her jaw fell and she colored quite distinctly!

His hair was a little styled and he had a little bow tie on and he looked just…like this was the most important night of his young little life.

She watched as her strange look at Arnold made him look at her strangely as well. "What?" he asked, almost nervously.

She swallowed and blushed a tiny bit more. "Uh…" she half smiled a little, "Nothing just…you look…you know, handsome…like, um…even more so than usual…sort of 'extra handsome', heh…A-And, um, the bowtie's cute…" Her eyes went a little half lidded and she giggled again.

Arnold just blinked a lot of times and blushed fully. "O-Oh!" his voice cracked and he swallowed and cleared his throat and tried to speak more deeply. "I-I mean, um, oh…thanks…I-I just wanted to, um…dress up a little…Do you really think I'm extra handsome?" He looked at her with a smile that said that no one had ever tried to make an observation like that about him before…but that he was sort of taking to this 'first time' of it.

Helga just nodded and smiled more at him. "Yeah…" she sighed out, affirming her opinion of him yet again, "I really do…" A touch of something dreamy went into her gaze.

Arnold's smile instantly brightened at these words and that look from her, and a pleasant sigh escaped him. 'She…thinks I'm extra handsome today….' Okay he definitely felt more confident about this evening working out. He almost felt rather proud of himself actually for being able to impress her a little with how he looked.

Arnold heard Helga then giggle to herself a little more (probably at him zoning out a little right now in his pride), and the sound instantly made him blink and reminded him of a bunch of things! "Oh and, um…you look beautiful!" he quickly assured her, realizing his delay in letting her know and almost cringing at having accidentally waited so long to tell her. "I love your hair like that, Helga, and there's just…something else about you tonight too…" He smiled a little more and added, the thought occurring to him, "You're smiling…that probably adds something to it all. I really like when you smile…" His own gaze took on a touch of something dreamy this time.

Helga blinked, still so…in awe at the idea of compliment from him. And he liked her smile? She just kind of smiled and blushed more and gave a little shrug. "Uh…th-thanks…" a little chuckle escaped her. "Kiss up…" She rolled her eyes to the side upon making the humorous little addition to her thank you.

A small little grin came to Arnold's mouth and then he remembered something else. "Oh, um…and…" and then he removed the bouquet from behind his back and presented it to her. "These are for you, Helga…" He smiled warmly at her.

Helga blinked and looked at the flowers perplexedly for a moment. "I…" she did her best to find her voice, "I…for...me…" she wasn't asking a question so much as just…trying to absorb the fact that Arnold had just showed up at her house for a date and had brought her flowers. And such a lovely little bouquet—so many different flowers…each and every one of them a different flower, actually.

Her heart filling with warmth and joy and love, she reached out and hesitantly took the bouquet from him, almost afraid, in a silly and superstitious part of herself, that touching it would make the 'wonderful dream' of this moment end or something. "A-Arnold, they're so…pretty…" She smiled, her hand now clasping around the stems of the bouquet as she removed it from his grasp ( 'And I didn't wake up in my bed holding onto my curtains or something instead of these flowers! Boss!'). "And…all different kinds—they smell so nice together!" She took a little inhale of the flowers…Arnold's flowers. Their scents made her shiver inside.

Arnold smiled happily and glanced down with a touch of bashfulness and a definite amount of pride. 'Alright, new rule number one about dating for me…Always get the girl flowers…' "Um…glad you like them, Helga. A-Actually I got so many different ones because I…really wasn't sure what flower's your favorite so I just…got one of as many kinds as I could. I hope at least one of themis your favorite." His eyes looked at hers so warmly, and yet also there was a genuine hope in his those little green jelly beans of his…like right now in his ten-year-old life he wanted nothing more than to have found the right flower for her somewhere in that little bunch of them.

Helga, seeing all of this in his gaze, let out a warm sigh and smiled tenderly at him, focusing more on him than the flowers for a moment. "Arnold…my love…every single one of them is my new favorite and all because you gave them to me."

His eyes went extra wide for a moment. "R-Really, Helga?" he asked with so much sudden wonder and surprise. Such a beautiful reply from her…He had expected a little teasing about his silly strategy with the bouquet's contents, or maybe a slight scoff and an eye roll, or maybe even, if he got lucky, just a coy, pleased blush…but not such a beautiful reply. But then again…if there was one thing he had been learning about Helga G. Pataki lately, it was to expect the unexpected.

Helga just nodded and winked at him. "Yes, 'r-really', my little unsure Arnold. I love them with all of my heart…just like I love you."

She smiled sincerely at him and he smiled sincerely back at her. (And they both felt that little touch of chemistry between them once again in their lives.)

"Although…" Helga then suddenly added with a bit of a chuckle underlying her voice, now looking at the bouquet a bit more and touching the soft white petals of one of the flowers in particular…a private little smile on her face… "I will say this though…Even though I love them so much, the daisy can't help but hold a special place in my heart. After all, that was the first flower you ever gave me…" She blushed more. "Remember, Arnold? When I had amnesia and asked you about the 'little suns growing out of the ground' and you told me they were flowers and picked one for me…?" She brought her eyes to his, fluttering her eyelashes a little…not even really meaning to do that but just…so lost in her feelings for him that always seemed to be dying to burst and bubble from her now whenever she was in his presence. She was trying to keep a lid on the extreme 'ga ga' stuff just like she was trying to keep a lid on the intense 'tough-as-nails' stuff, but it really was so hard…and especially when he was right there for the taking… 'No, no…' she reminded herself gently and calmly, 'No grabbing him up or planting one on him or anything…not just yet, at least. Just…let him make a move or two for once…It'll be nice to see how comfortable he is with pushing things further with us anyway…'

Meanwhile, at her reminder of the amnesia adventure, Arnold nodded, his smitten little smile growing at the memory, and at the fact that, thanks to some of their talking this morning, he now knew the 'whole' story of that incident. "Uh huh…" his voice was warm and full of reflection, "I remember, Helga…The little suns growing out of the ground…" He chuckled a little, his voice relaxing more and more now as these minutes were passing. "I'm happy you like the flowers and especially the daisy, Helga," he finished with satisfaction and happiness.

Helga just chuckled warmly right back at him. "And I'm happy you brought them for me. Thank you, Arnold. Now, um…just let me put these inside and then I'll be right out to join you and we can get on our way, okay?" She smiled at him and winked.

Arnold just let out a breath and nodded, seeming to come more back to a state of coherency. "Whatever you say, Helga."

She smiled more. "Thanks, Football Head. Be right back!"

She gave him a little salute, and then Helga quickly popped back into her house (and shut her front door so that Arnold wouldn't be able to see what she was doing or where she was going), raced upstairs, flung open her bedroom door, looked around for something vase like, ended up running up to her attic shrine, then coming down with an empty paint can, running into the bathroom, washing it out and filling it up with water, then running back up to her closet shrine, and then pausing, letting out a breath…and then she placed the water filled can on the floor before her Arnold shrine, and took five seconds to let out a deep swoon. "Oh little flowers…I'm going to worship you like crazy!" She giggled and then raced out of her attic, out of her closet, out of her room (shutting all doors behind her firmly of course) and then back down the stairs. She took a second to catch her breath before her front door, then straightened up and checked her hair and stuff in the mirror in her foyer, and then, satisfied with herself, she reopened her front door and popped outside once more with a smile on her face to see a still smiling and even more relaxed looking Arnold still waiting for her…him and his cute little bowtie.

She smiled, closing her front door behind her and then putting her arms behind her back. "Alright, flowers are safe…Now I guess we just have to get to walking to your house…" Something about saying that struck Helga and she blinked and realized something that, in her total monomania about making sure she didn't royally screw up this date with Arnold tonight, had completely slipped her mind. 'Three blocks…in public…the two of us looking like this…and walking together…Sure, everyone we know is probably home and eating dinner right now, but…still…' She gulped, feeling hesitation take a small hold on her. There had probably been enough circumstantial evidence about herself and Arnold floating around for the last week between him being the one to escort her to her birthday party and then her pulling him into the back of the ice cream parlour to challenge him to an eating contest, and then them just going to the dance together in general (even despite Helga's 'he's paying me back for blinding me' cover story.) But anyway the point was that the last thing they probably needed was another piece of circumstantial evidence about them in the form of them walking together and looking all nicely spruced up.

Meanwhile, though, free from all of these cares about public exposure and mocking, Arnold just smiled and nodded at Helga…and moved a little closer to her. "Yeah, to my house we go…" He cleared his throat. Then he glanced down a little bashfully, shifted his weight on his feet a little. One of his arms moved a little and he seemed to be a little stuck on something (which he was…)

Inside of Arnold's head, now that the initial nervousness about this date starting had passed, a fresh little worry had suddenly taken hold of his mind. 'Why is it so hard to do it? Just…ask her if you can hold her hand while you walk back to your house. Or even just take her hand and start walking. You were able to do it last weekend on the walk to Slausens for her birthday party…Nothing's changed now.' And yet, with a little blush, Arnold knew things HAD changed. Last weekend he had just been a friend wanting to comfort her and thank her in any way she might like for helping him save the neighborhood. But now he was…he…He sighed. They hadn't cemented that whole 'boyfriend/girlfriend' thing yet. But at the very least he was an 'admirer' of hers now. The little boy who had a crush on her…and who now knew the effect of his touch upon her. Sort of a gentleman caller, actually. He blushed even more at the notion.

"Arnold?"

Her voice softly and curiously saying his name made Arnold blink and brought him out of his thoughts. "Oh…um…yes?" He looked to her with wide eyes.

Helga was just looking at him with her own eyes sort of big and her head tilted to the side. She smiled a little now though at him snapping out of it and she shrugged, "Uh…penny for your thoughts, Football Head?" Yes, Helga knew, inside, that she had her own doubts and worries that probably needed sharing but she was much more concerned with any doubts and worries of Arnold's about this whole 'official date' thing. On top of which, she didn't mind gaining an extra minute of stalling by letting him talk for having to decide how to address her own little current qualm about their date.

At Helga's inquiry about what might be on his hesitant little mind right now, Arnold instantly blushed extra at the idea of actually telling her that at least part of what was currently on his mind was that he had just started thinking of himself as a gentleman caller for her. He settled on sticking to the root of the situation for now though. "Uh…well, I…um…S-Sorry I was a little zoned out there for a second, Helga. But I was just wondering, I guess…um…what th-the best way would be to see if you would hold hands with me while we walked back to my house?" He looked at her with a bright blush and a sheepish grin, unbelieving that he had actually just admitted a little insecurity like that to her. 'Great. Why wasn't I just more confident? I could have just smiled and taken her hand and asked her smoothly to do me the honor of letting me hold it for our walk. But no, I have to admit to her that I don't even have it in me to pull off something as simple as asking a girl to hold hands!' He cringed a tiny bit on the inside. Though most of his basic nervousness was gone, at the back of his mind Arnold really did have this almost 'fear' that Helga was expecting (and was probably even entitled to) this strong, suave, sophisticated little gentleman who would sweep her off her feet…much like the Arnold in her dreams every night: always saying the right thing and doing the right thing and able to make her blush and say his name in happiness whenever he felt like it. 'And what do I give her instead…A confused, klutzy me who's acting like an intimidated little kid just from being within ten feet of her.' He let out a deep mental sigh: this was going to be a long date, wasn't it…and all because he had no skills with girls whatsoever. And also, just to put the cherry on top of the sundae of his awkwardness, he was starting to feel a little jealous of this 'dream Arnold' character, though he knew that was the silliest thing in the world.

The sound of giggling met his ears and broke him from his thoughts.

His blushing increased and his turned his eyes to Helga.

She was just smiling and still giggling a little to herself, one hand on her mouth as though trying to cover it a little. The giggling tapered off now and she blushed and shrugged, hands clasped in front of herself. She let out a sigh and looked him square in the eye. "Arnold…my beloved Arnold…" There was something so warm in her gaze and then she took a coy step forward so that she was right in front of his face (causing him to blink and gulp and blush more). "If you want to hold my hand…all you ever have to do is ask and it's yours…for walking up the street, for leading me down my stoop, for just sitting and swinging them together…" she smirked a little and added with an innocent eye roll to the side, "…in marriage…" Her eyes went back to his and she winked.

Arnold's face was all red. His eyes were all wide. His lips trembled. He was just so…befuddled for a moment…befuddled and confused and…

And then…much like last night when Helga had suddenly dived upon him on his couch and started kissing him…the sudden jolt of confusion to the point of fear currently flying through him just…went away. It just vanished as he accepted that, for crying out loud, he liked Helga like this…all romantic and sweet…and she liked being like that to him…and he liked being like that back to her…The two of them all romantic and sweet together. So if they both liked it, even if it was a little new, what was there to get all scared and worked up about? And so Arnold, in response to her 'hand in marriage' comment, just sighed and smiled and glanced down all bashfully and tried not to chuckle too much. "U-Uh…wh-whatever you say, Helga…It's your date, after all…" The corners of his mouth turned up more in a growing smile. "A-And that wasn't funny…In m-marriage…" He chuckled a little finally and also recalled some of the jokes they had made about that topic at Slausens last weekend as well as this morning.

Helga, however, in response to his response, just chuckled herself. "First of all, it was hilarious, otherwise you wouldn't be smiling this much and I wouldn't be smiling this much. And second of all..." She shook her head at him, still grinning, "Uh uh, it's OUR date, Arnold. And so just this once it's whatever WE say. And as such…" she shrugged and grinned, "You want to hold my hand…I want you to hold my hand…and I want to hold your hand too…and I'm assuming you want me to hold your hand…So let's just quit 'stalling' and 'get it over with'." She smiled and then scooped up his hand and pulled him down her stoop and then quickly started heading down her block to the corner (going at a very decent clip as Arnold had to struggle a bit to keep up). "Actually…" she added with a little smile and a shrug to herself, still facing forward, as she went along with him (and feeling very grateful that no one else from their class lived on this block but her, so at least they were safe until they reached the corner), "For future reference, I'm…pretty much always thinking about holding your hand when I'm near you, Arnold…ever since I was a little girl. But I guess I just 'kept it to myself' for a moment back there because, well…" her voice took on a sheepish quality, "…heck, we already know MY feelings about us, Arnold. I'm nuts about you—literally. So it's you who we're hoping to progress to the next romantic level…so…I guess part of me was just curious to see if and when you might be comfortable enough to suggest doing something like holding hands yourself. A-And besides, I…I don't always want to be forcing myself down your throat or anything romantically, so also I'm trying to…control myself a little bit better about all of this. I guess I just…want you to see that underneath 'the bully' there's my love for you…but also underneath all the raw obsession that's been bursting out of me lately there really is also a girl who genuinely and sincerely likes and cares about you." She sighed as they reached the corner of her block now and shrugged, stopping their progress forward. "I just want to be that part of myself as much as I can for you today, Arnold…to show a side of me you've never really seen before…Okay?" Finally having expressed herself as best as she could on this subject, Helga now glanced back at him with a small smile.

During this entire journey (near jog, actually) to her corner Arnold had just been listening to Helga and watching Helga with wide-eyed curiosity and interest. Now that they had stopped though and she was looking at him again, he blinked at first…hesitated…absorbed and processed all of that she had said…

…And then he smiled too. He chose his words with care and honesty. "Whatever way it makes you most comfortable to be around me is how I want you to be, Helga. And, well, as for the hands thing…" he squeezed her hand a tiny bit, "I'm sorry for before. I…I didn't mean to get so worked up about asking you to do it and to take so long to finally ask…even though I really did want to do it a lot. Just, um…predate jitters, heh…" He did his best to smile and shrug it off. And then he looked at her with a half lidded gaze and the smoothest smile he could manage, his confidence having a little boost now from her little confession about how she had wanted to hold his hand all the time ever since she was a 'little girl'. "But now that that's out of the way, believe me, I'll be doing everything I can to sweep you off your feet for the rest of the night." He winked, his grin picking up a little on one side.

He watched Helga blink a couple of times at his last forward little comment, blush rosy, and then she looked down rather shyly. "Uh wh-whatever floats your boat, A-Arnold, heh…" Inside, Helga felt her heart flutter a little—he was so enticing when he was bold…and he was being bold about sweeping her off her feet! Tonight! She could have just swooned and fainted right on the spot (if she wasn't trying to strike a balance tonight between her love at its most crazed and her defensiveness at its most coarse and bullying. Eh, she would save it for later in front of the flowers currently at the foot of her Arnold shrine. Besides…she…really did have something she needed to address with him right now before the continued this walk to his house).

Meanwhile, a low little chuckle escaped Arnold at her flustered response. He shook his head, the playful smile still on his face. "Uh uh, I think you mean whatever floats OUR boat, Helga. This is our date, after all, like you said." He gave her hand another little squeeze. "Now, I guess we should cross the street. We've still got two and a half blocks until we reach my house, after all." He smiled more to himself. 'Okay, this is going a lot better now. At least I'm starting to seem more like I know what I'm doing.'

Arnold went to start walking forward, but Helga didn't move, considering that 'one final thing' she needed to talk to him about before they went any farther.

"Ow!"

The end result was that Arnold tripped forward off of the curb and landed practically in the gutter and he nearly pulled Helga down with him, though she managed to remain standing by grabbing onto a street signpost with her free hand at the last second.

"Arnold…are you okay?" Helga instantly asked in worry with a blink of surprise. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you trip…." She released her hold on the street signpost and reached down with her free hand to help prop him fully upright again, dusting him off now and mentally smacking herself for letting this happen to him. 'Smooth, Helga, very smooth…Doi!'

A blushing and somewhat mortified Arnold just shook his head though, cutting her off as his own self-abashing mind did not want to dwell on his stupid little bumble at all. "Uh…forget it. It's fine, Helga, really…" He smiled half sheepishly, trying to play it cool again but knowing he must be failing. 'She really was right all those years…I am SUCH a klutz.' He cringed on the inside.

Helga smiled a little and nodded, taking a step back from him, still holding his hand. "O-Okay…" 'Stupid!' she thought to herself. 'He probably just got reminded of every single time you made him trip as a bully over the years, even if this one wasn't intentional!' She cringed a little on the inside at the idea but did her best to plow on from it. "A-Anyway, um…I'm sorry I didn't go forward with you just now, but…Arnold? Could I ask you a favor…before we start walking again?" This meant quite a bit to her…Her wide eyes looked imploringly at him…right into his own eyes, as a matter of fact…

Arnold's eyes caught those eyes. All embarrassment about tripping went away… The beats of his heart started to deepen, and then they started to speed…faster and faster…Those blue eyes…When she looked at him directly and with them so wide and so trusting, he…really couldn't look away. It was just like at Slausens earlier, when those eyes had asked him how he really felt about her romantically. And he knew now that whatever favor she might ask he would grant it, or at he would try as much as he could to grant it…He just couldn't deny those eyes. They were beautiful pools of love.

He just gave a little nod in response to her question about asking him a favor.

Helga just swallowed and hoped he wouldn't be too annoyed with her about what she would bring up now. She rubbed the back of her neck with her free hand. "Well, I…I do love you, Arnold. And I want us to have a mutual relationship…you know, romantically…more than anything in the whole world. And I know you said today that you'd basically love us going public but…like I said, I just…need to ease into something like that. It's complicated. So, um, anyway…since it's still two and a half blocks to your house, and we both look like this, and we're together, and who knows who we might run into even though it's almost dinnertime and everyone's probably at home…well, I was wondering…just to keep down the chances of us being seen and having our cover kind of blown…" she let out a sigh and finally asked it, "Could we sort of race back to your house?" She managed a half smile and added, trying to lighten the mood of the strange request, "Besides, that, uh, eating contest this morning was sort of a draw…and so was the juice drinking contest, considering the whole 'one cup, two straws' thing. So maybe this could be our tiebreaker. A 'winner takes all' kind of deal. Okay?" She gave a small chuckle.

Arnold blinked at the request. 'Oh…' He took in her words, considered how they made him feel… To be honest, though her reasoning about this situation was logical and what she wanted was understandable and also easily granted, a small something was tugging in Arnold's stomach about it all. He just…he found Helga's shyness about their secret sweet of course but…not even wanting to risk being seen walking up the street with him for two blocks? It felt a little funny. He almost wondered how far she might push this point of her fear of exposure if and when pressed in the future…

Still though, now was probably not the time for some deep thinking about all of this, and it really was a small request on her part, and she made a good point about how the race could be a tiebreaker, and also, as a gentleman, Arnold didn't want to refuse the request of a lady (and he also wanted his lady to be as comfortable as possible about their date together…)

And so, finally, our football headed hero smiled and nodded at her. "As you wish, Helga." He winked and then held up their still enjoined hands. "Do we race holding hands or separately?"

Her eyes brightened with happiness at his acquiescence and then she smirked and rolled her eyes at his reference to their hands right now. "Eh, well, not that I don't 'love your touch upon me', Arnold, but I think if we race holding hands, 'A' we'll end up with a tie problem similar to the one with that whole 'one cup, two straws' thing, and 'B' I could completely see us running and not looking where we're going and our arms crashing into and wrapping around a lamp post and the two of us coming crashing together so…I think we should race 'hands separately' for now…" She gently slipped her hand from his. "But I promise to hold your hand again very soon, if you'd like…" She fluttered her eyelashes a little, doing it consciously now and kind of liking it.

Arnold's grin widened. He forgot all about any reservations about her 'evasive' maneuvers. And also he was a little distracted by hoping that she wasn't making that lamppost joke as a result of his klutziness so far with the fire hydrant this afternoon and the curb just now. "Sounds good to me, Helga." He faced forward, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. "So...ready?" He smiled more.

She faced forward now too, smiling more as well. "Set?" she supplied.

There was another second of silence.

And then both children screamed, "GO!" at the same time and proceeded to full out race the two and a half blocks to the Sunset Arms boarding house on Vine Street.

It was an overall enjoyable start to a date for both of them.


A/N:

Well, that's all for now, folks :) Next is awkward dinner, awkward, questions, awkward attempt at watching a movie… :333 I have their date pretty much all written out so I'll try for another update soon, but mostly I think I'm gonna focus on finishing up LTBH just because I completely want that fic done by the time I start school again in January XD Not that it hasn't been fun writing it and TA, but I'm getting tired, lol, and also I have other story ideas I want to move on to. But anyway, along with LTBH, I'll still be working on a few collab stories with people and possibly my Danny Phantom story so stay tuned please! ^w^ Thank you!

Happy Reading!

AXH FOREVER!

~Azure129 aka Jenna