**A/N: OK, so this update only took me six weeks to finish! And that includes a little two-chapter Valentine's Day story that I posted last month! So, if I hadn't worked on that story this chapter would have been up sooner! Horray, I'm starting to write faster. ^_^ Having this new netbook really is helpful. If I really get in to the swing of things I just might be able to get one more story in before my April Script Frenzy hiatus. Yup, I'm taking a prose-writing break throughout the month of April to participate in NaNoWriMo's sister event: Script Frenzy. I will be co-writing my own version of The Jungle Movie's script! So excited! Stay tuned for that!

Anyway, let's get this legal stuff out of the way so you guys can get to your chapter! Just remember HelgaxArnold shippers, you might want your tissue boxes. . In case you forgot, I do not own anything in the 'Hey, Arnold!' franchise. 'Hey, Arnold!' remains the property of Nickelodeon and the intellectual property of Craig Bartlett.**

Helga and Arnold were cuddled up on her bed. She had replaced the heart-covered wallpaper right around the time her and Arnold had broken up. After clearing out everything that reminded her of him she needed to completely redesign the bedroom to fill in all the empty spaces. She had painted her bedroom a slate-blue and added texture by painting gray over it with a feather duster. She replaced the green drapes that matched her old wallpaper with regal purple ones. There were new box shelves - the ones where every other box had a backing to it in order to add dimension. A bookshelf that reached the ceiling was filled with Helga's library of literary works and textbooks for school. Arnold was a little upset that he couldn't spot a single journal or notebook on the shelf. He wondered if Helga still wrote poetry, and if so, where she hid it.

The renewed couple had been spending nearly every waking moment with each other since Helga's birthday. The only time they really were away from each other was on April first when Helga joined Sid and Stinky for an April Fools prank on Harold during his Passover celebration. As much as he would have enjoyed hanging out with the boys, and as much as he hated not being with Helga, Arnold still felt that a religious celebration wasn't the time to pull a prank on someone. He tried to convince Helga of that fact, but she just kissed him, called him a loser, and went with the boys anyway.

As Helga lay quietly on Arnold's chest, he held her tight and thought about the only other day they were apart. Yesterday. Easter.

Even though Arnold's grandmother always got the holidays confused - except for Halloween, she always seemed to remember Halloween - Arnold still had a mostly normal Christmas and Easter. Since these were religious holidays they were also the only times Phil didn't indulge his wife's confusion. They might have shot off fireworks and barbequed on Thanksgiving. They might have exchanged gifts for the "twelve more days of Christmas" whenever Gertie saw her shadow on April first. They might have ignored the glaring of black cats she tried to wrangle up every Friday the Thirteenth. They might have even re-celebrated Christmas on Independence Day. However, Phil still tried to keep Easter and Christmas as normal as he could – to preserve the religious aspects of the holiday.

Helga's family was sort of the same. No matter what animosity there was the day before or after, during the "big four" holidays – Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and Easter – they tried to put everything aside and act like a traditional, loving family. It came easier after that Thanksgiving Helga ran away. Everyone realized how unnoticed and underappreciated the youngest daughter felt, and they tried their hardest to remedy those feelings – at least around the holidays. And Helga also learned that her family's pathetic attempts at normalcy were their way of showing how much they really cared for each other.

Seeing how Arnold and his parents had to head home the next day, neither member of the couple wanted to spend Easter apart. They each had their own family obligations, though, so they promised to spend as much of the following Monday together as they could.

"Oh, it was a disaster yesterday." Helga finally killed the silence with this revelation. She nuzzled her head against Arnold's shoulder until it was finally tucked underneath his chin. He tried to look down at her to acknowledge that he heard her statement, but with her head nestled under his own he couldn't see her very well. With an awkward craning of his head to the side he finally caught her gaze. She laughed at his unnatural positioning and scooted back to his shoulder so he could again look at her without putting a kink in his neck. Once they were back in comfortable positions she continued, "I wish you were here as a buffer. I could just look at your sweet smile and nothing else would matter."

Arnold gave her a soft half-smile and kissed her forehead. "I'm sure it wasn't so bad, Helga."

"Wasn't so bad? Sure, they try to not take me for granted so much since that incident when we were nine, but Olga still treats me like her little kitchen slave!" She changed her voice so it was a mocking wisp, "Hel-ga boil me some eggs. Baby sister, dear, make sure the honey glaze is even on the ham." Helga then changed her voice to as deep and manly as she could, "Girl, don't forget we need these hundred-some plastic eggs filled with coupons so I can hide them around my store tomorrow." Helga huffed and returned her voice to normal, "Olga tries to play it off as 'sisterly bonding' and Bob tries to get Miriam and Olga involved so the plastic egg stuffing is a 'family affair' but no one fools Helga G. Pataki. Holidays here are still a pain."

Arnold sighed knowingly and kissed Helga on the top of her head. "You're right. It's bad, and I'm sorry I wasn't here to comfort you," he said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, you better be sorry, Bucko," Helga teased as she brought her lips up to meet his. "Do you know how much better yesterday would have been if I just snuck off to see you? That one Thanksgiving we spent wandering aimlessly together was probably one of the best holidays I've had."

Arnold's only response was brushing Helga's bangs out of her face and smiling. She shifted so she was lying on her side, her elbow propping herself up so she could look Arnold in the eyes. Her eyes were deep in thought, a little sad looking, and filled with longing. A hint of a smile gently tugged at the corner of her mouth. "No matter how bad everything else is going that day, all I need is to be with you and my day is magically better."

Arnold had every intention to grab hold of her, never let her go, and kiss her with as much passion as she always kissed him. Instead, her words lingered in the air like a thick fog. He had a hard time focusing on anything else. She needed him, really needed him. She always had. Ever since that one act of kindness at the Urban Tots Preschool she had needed him for one reason or another. Although it felt great to be so needed, it was also still too much for a teenager to bear. Especially from a distance. What if she had a horrible day and she needed him? What if the only thing that could comfort her was his kiss, his smile, his voice, or his arms? A thick pain filled his chest and Arnold found it hard to breathe all of a sudden.

"Arnold? What's wrong?" Helga sat up and stared at him with concern plastered to her face.

He couldn't look at her; he just sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. "I have to go."

"Go?" Helga frantically glanced at her alarm clock, "I thought you didn't have to head out for another two hours."

"I don't-" Arnold's voice was soft and trailed off.

"Do you still have packing to do? Because I can go over to the boarding house with you and help."

"No, I'm packed." Arnold hunched over and avoided Helga's gaze.

"Is there something else you need to do? Why do you have to leave so soon?"

Arnold clenched his eyes closed, forcing his eyelids to dam up the tears threatening to break through. He sighed heavily through his nose and again tilted his head away from Helga.

"Arnold?" Her voice was laced in panic. It was the same way she called out his name when he broke up with her three years ago. He hated hearing her say his name like that. He wanted to grin ear-to-ear, hold her close, and tell her that there was nothing to worry about.

Instead he heard a voice scarily close to his own say, "I don't think I can do a long-distance relationship."

The air escaped Helga's lungs so violently Arnold could hear it rush past her lips. "Wh-what do you mean?"

Arnold sat in the heavy silence for a moment before his eyes abruptly shot open and his head bolted around so he was looking at the heartbroken blonde sitting next to him. His own breath left him with a shake as it struggled to exit his throat. Why? Why did he need to let her go again? He wanted so badly to keep her. Everything was so unfair. Before he had Helga, but he didn't have his parents. Now that he had his mom and dad he couldn't have Helga. Was there a grand scheme that the Fates had in store that required that he couldn't have all three in his life at once?

"Helga, this is wonderful. I've had the best week of my life – except for the one we spent in San Lorenzo that is. It's just-" Arnold released another shaky breath, "what kind of relationship would we have, really?"

Helga couldn't find actual words to answer him. She tried. She started a hundred words, always cutting off at the first syllable. She stumbled over her tongue as the thesaurus in her mind quickly flipped through its pages in an attempt to find just the right answer.

"Helga, really, we'd just be boyfriend and girlfriend by title alone. We wouldn't even talk to each other in who knows how long."

Like a magic spell, Arnold's sentence untied Helga's tongue and she immediately shot back, "What on Earth do you mean by that? We'd talk to each other!"

"Can you remember the last time we've communicated in the last three years since I've moved?"

"You wrote me at least once a week, Football Head. Don't tell me you've forgotten." Helga was defiant and sat up straight. She was going to win this debate.

"Yeah, and I never got a letter back from you and so I gave up last year." Arnold didn't want to sound mad or hurt by the fact that she never responded to his letters, but bitterness seeped through regardless.

Helga's eyes widened and she sheepishly looked away from him. At first Arnold thought it was her admission of guilt that made her turn from him, but then she stole a quick glance at him and hopped off the bed. She ran to her closet and knelt down to the floor. She lifted a loose floorboard just in front of her closet door. Out of the hiding place she pulled out an accordion folder. Clutching it close to her chest she shyly returned to her bed. Looking away from him still, Helga handed the folder to Arnold.

The folder was stuffed to the point of nearly ripping. Each subfolder was labeled with a month. Inside each month's subfolder were unstamped letters. They were all addressed to Arnold and there was nearly one for every day he had been gone. Arnold shot his head up and caught Helga's gaze. With a soft nod of permission, Arnold arbitrarily opened some of the envelopes.

The letters read like diary pages. She would tell him about life in Hillwood, the chaos created by their friends and classmates, the insanity inside the Pataki home – especially after Olga moved back home with a brand new career goal of becoming an actress, but mostly she wrote about how much she missed him. She missed being able to see his face every day. She missed hearing his voice. She missed using him as a moral compass. She missed just sitting quietly with him. She just missed – him.

The tears again pushed against his eyelashes and threatened to fall. She needed him. She needed to talk to him. She needed his advice and comforting words. She needed his warm arms and quiet embraces. She needed his tender kisses on her forehead and temples. She needed his nonjudgmental shoulders to cry on and ears to vent to. Arnold's chest knotted and a burning pain grew in the nook of his ribcage. This was exactly what he feared. Helga needed her boyfriend. She needed Arnold. And he wasn't available to her. Granted, it wasn't exactly his fault. He didn't know she needed him because she never sent the letters. But still, he should have called to make sure she was alright. He knew she wasn't still mad at him because they had hung out on the few occasions he visited Hillwood. Why didn't he call her to make sure she was fine?

"Why didn't you ever send these?" Arnold's voice cracked.

Helga looked away from him with such sad and ashamed eyes. With a shrug she just shook her head. After a moment she finally responded, "I guess I was ashamed. You seemed to be having this exciting new life with your parents and you were fine without me. My life wasn't all that amazing and I just needed you so desperately. I didn't want you to pity me, or feel bad, or think I was pathetic or anything like that."

For a moment Arnold forgot that he was trying to break up with her and he pulled Helga in for a tight embrace. Shock kept Helga stiff for a few seconds before she melted and rested her head on Arnold's shoulder.

Realizing he just took steps backwards, Arnold pulled away. "This is exactly why we really wouldn't work. You needed me and not only couldn't you tell me, but even if you could I wouldn't be able to do anything about it. I wouldn't be able to hold you or kiss you. Who knows how easy it would be for us to get on the phone or even on the internet at the same time with the time difference between us? You would have to wait for me to get your letter, read it, and respond. That's too much time passing when you need me to comfort you. If we couldn't even communicate as friends, how would we be able to do so as a couple?"

"I'll send you letters, I swear I will. You know me. I'm a writer. I can write. Hell, I already pretended to be Cecile once; I'm sure I could do so again and be twice the penpal she ever was! And I can send emails instead of snail-mail. Sure, there's still a delay, but it would still work. I won't be embarrassed this time. I can write to you, or stay up late so you can call me when you're available. Or texting. I can buy us cellphones and we can text each other."

"Helga, it's not just the communication. What about the interaction? We wouldn't be able to go on dates, or go to school dances, or kiss each other, or hold each other. Really, what 'couple-y' things would we be able to do? What is really the point? When it comes to socializing it would be like we didn't have a boyfriend or girlfriend. Worst yet is if someone else liked us we still wouldn't be able to go on dates, or kiss, or hug anyone, because we'd be cheating on the other person. There would be no point."

"You have been my only boyfriend, Arnold," Helga's voice was soft, like she was afraid to admit this fact to him. "Even if we weren't technically dating, I still wouldn't go out with anyone else. I just want you."

"See? All I'm doing is standing in your way. You should enjoy high school. You should go out to dinners and movies and bowling. You should go to school dances with a guy and then drag him on to the floor to slow dance. You should have someone you can steal kisses from on your front porch. You should have someone you can wrap your arms around and never let go." Arnold's throat started closing up as he mentioned everything he wanted to do with Helga, but imagined her doing all of it with some other guy.

"Arnold-"

"No," his voice squeaked. He cleared his throat to drop his voice back to its normal level, "You deserve all of this. You have so much love and it's not fair that I'm stopping you from enjoying a real relationship."

"You putz! Aren't you listening to me? You. Are. The. Only! Person. I. Want. To. Date!" Helga over annunciated her last sentence. Fire regrew behind her eyes.

"What about Iggy?"

"What?"

Arnold recalled his former classmates gathering around Helga at her Sweet Sixteen earlier that week. Each boy asking Helga to dance with him, hoping he would be the one she'd finally say yes to. His stomach turned as much as it did when he witnessed them Peacocking in front of her. "Or Joe, or Park, or Robert?"

Helga really started to get worked up. She bounced on her bed, simultaneously twisting to better face Arnold and pulling her legs up under herself so she was kneeling at his eye level. "What are you talking about?"

"And I'm sure someone as gorgeous as you have even more men tripping over themselves. You have all of these options that you're ignoring because of me. I'm holding you back."

"Stop it! You're not holding me back!" She started flailing around. "You are who I want and even if we weren't together I wouldn't date anyone else! I loved you from afar for seven years; without being able to hug you, kiss you, hold your hand, or even be kind to you. I then remained single another three years after we broke up. I would wait until I could follow you to the ends of the Earth! There. Is. No one. Else!"

Arnold caught Helga's hands and held them, trying to calm her down. He kissed her fingers and stood up. "But there should be." He closed his eyes and turned his head away from her as he let go.

"Arnold Phil Shortman! You promised me you wouldn't do this again." He had. She didn't want him to kiss her up on her rooftop. She didn't want to dance with him. She didn't want to start up a relationship that was doomed from the start. He had convinced her that he wasn't going to let go this time, and yet here he was, turning away from her.

He felt so guilty for causing her this pain again, but he also knew he was doing the right thing. If he hadn't broken things off she would resent him for never being here. She would resent him for not being available to comfort her, hold her, or kiss her. She would resent being left home alone Friday nights when all of her friends were going to the movies with their dates. She would resent spending Valentine's Day alone. She would resent going to dances alone – if she went at all – and then not having someone to slow dance with. He knew her high school years and her teenage love life would both be filled with regrets and missed opportunities if he held on to her. He hated the idea of her having regrets and resenting him for it. He knew he would eventually feel guilty about that and would have to let her go over the phone. She deserved more than a relationship mercy killing over the phone. She also deserved more than to waste her time in a doomed relationship. Yes, breaking it off now was what was best. Arnold was sure his grandfather would be proud of his decision.

"Arnold, don't leave me." Helga's voice was stern and demanding, like a parent trying to figure out who broke the livingroom lamp, but it also had pleading grunted in to it.

Arnold stood in the middle of her room; looking at nothing and his back towards her. "Honestly, Helga, I'm not just thinking about you." He instantly felt less noble stating that aloud. "I just don't know how I would be able to handle missing out on all of that stuff as well. Not being able to take my girlfriend out to the movies or to dinner or to the school dance or surprise her with something on Valentine's day. I want to be able to hold my girlfriend, comb my fingers through her hair, and kiss her soft lips. Plus, I would feel guilty knowing that you'd want to go to a dance and I wouldn't be able to take you. I would feel guilty forcing you to always be alone."

Helga walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around him, trying to lure him back. "Arnold, you believe in so much. You have faith in so much. Why can't you have faith in our love? Why can't we be something you fight for? You'd risk everything for a vacant lot, or an old tree, or a school teacher, but you won't fight for us?"

Arnold's muscles twitched as each one tried on its own accord to turn him towards Helga. He struggled against his impulses and instead stated, "I fight for things that are worth the effort." Helga instantly dropped her arms and backed away from him.

God, he sounded like such a jerk saying that. The words were bitter in his mouth. He didn't mean to sound so harsh. He didn't want Helga to think their love wasn't worth fighting for, he just meant that they were doomed from the start and that it would hurt more if they dragged things out. All of a sudden Arnold recalled their fourth grade play and how a bizarre turn of events left him – the last possible male student – and Helga – the last choice of female students – as the leads of Romeo and Juliet. What wicked foreshadowing of their own star crossed love affair.

Arnold turned and saw Helga struggling to breathe as she hugged herself. His own breath lodged in his throat and he couldn't manage to swallow the suffocating lump. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean that how it sounded. I meant-" He placed the side of his index finger under her chin and gently raised her head so their eyes could again meet. "I really did have an amazing time this week. I just think it's best if we considered this as one last fling – sort of like a summer romance. Completely wonderful while it lasted, but with the understanding that it had no future."

Helga turned her head away and clenched her eyes closed. Some tears still managed to slide out and streak down her cheek. That knotted burning in Arnold's chest returned and he wiped the tears away with his thumb.

"Please, don't cry. Just, think of this as a memorable week. Think of our rooftop dance. Think of this as our own 'we'll always have Paris' moment. I know I will." Helga slowly opened her eyes. Her glistening diamond eyes. He couldn't look at them. The hand Arnold used to wipe away Helga's tears snaked its way to the back of her head and he used it to pull her close. He touched his forehead to hers and closed his eyes. He wanted to breathe her in so deeply he would never forget her scent.

"I'm so glad I was able to hold you one last time." Arnold absentmindedly massaged the back of Helga's head, "Able to kiss you one last time. Able to call you mine one last time." He wanted to say so much more, but his own tears finally crept past their barrier and dripped on to Helga's skin. He couldn't find his voice and so he just wrapped his arms around her head in a gentle, but tight embrace. In a quick movement he kissed her forehead and let her go.

With her own quaking breath, Helga whispered, "This doesn't have to be the last time."

"I think you know I'm right, Helga." Arnold hoped that was the case. "You needed to love me Once Upon a Time because of some transference whatever with your own family. I get that. But your family is treating you better now and I saw how popular and loved you are. You don't need to love me and you don't need me to love you. Not anymore."

"I do, though," Helga whispered.

"No. I'll just be in your way now. I'm no longer what you need. You need someone who can be here for you and take you places and dance with you. You know you don't really need me anymore."

"You're wrong. Just so wrong, Football Head." Her voice was monotone and barely audible.

"Look, I know that you are destined for great things, and I'm hoping to see your name posted everywhere someday. I hope that everything that has happened the past three years proves that Life will be good to you and that you'll have everything you've ever dreamt of and hoped for."

"If I don't have you I'm not going to have even half the stuff that I've envisioned my future to hold." Helga rocked a little, as if she wasn't sure if she should walk towards Arnold or back away from him.

"You'll find someone more stable." Arnold secretly hoped not, so he could be her shining knight after all, but the majority of his heart sincerely wished for her happiness. "If nothing else, I learned at your party that you are now so well loved and you seem so happy. I truly hope that from that crowd you'll find a great love that will fill you with joy, see you for who you really are, and be there for you the way you deserve."

Helga stood as tall as she could and kept inhaling; puffing herself up. She was no longer crying, although her eyes were still lined with remaining tears. Arnold gathered her in to him one last time. He moved in for one last farewell kiss.

Abruptly, Helga turned her lips away from him and shoved him away from her. "Who said you could touch me, Dweeb?" Her voice was hard and sharp, like back in Elementary school. She refused to look at him.

"Helga-" He realized he hurt her, but he still didn't want to leave like this. It was a selfish request, but he wanted her to be alright with his decision. He wanted her to cry, give him one last kiss, and agree that it was for the best before drying her eyes and sending him on his way.

"You want to leave so badly? The door is right behind you, Arnoldo! So leave already! I'm so sick of looking at you!"

"Helga." He was wounded. Fair turn-about he supposed. He had hurt her and so it was only fair that she did the same. Didn't she realize that he was already in so much pain from letting her go?

Helga rammed him, knocking him off balance for a moment. She just kept shoving him; he had no choice but to stumble his way towards her bedroom door. He called out her name a few more times to try to calm her, but she seemed to get stronger with each try. When he was nearly body checked in to her bedroom door he finally headed out of her room on his own. He stood in the hallway and looked back at Helga. She no longer resembled his evening angel. All he saw was a nine-year-old with pigtails, a pink dress, and a unibrow. His lovelorn bully returned and stood menacingly at her bedroom door.

"Helga, hate me if you have to-"

"Sounds like a plan." She didn't bother listening to the last of Arnold's sentence. She slammed her bedroom door on him as hard as she could. The hallway walls shook with the violent close.

"Hey," the gruff voice of Helga's father shouted up the stairs, "Is there a problem up there?"

Arnold stared at the closed bedroom door and placed a gentle hand on it, as if trying to feel Helga through the wood. He whispered one last goodbye to Helga and turned to walk down the stairs.

Big Bob stood at the bottom of the staircase, his arms crossed. Arnold tried to avoid his gaze as he walked past.

"Is there something I should know?" Arnold tried to avoid the question, but felt the Pataki Death Glare that he had come to know so well.

"I have to get home, Mr. Pataki," Arnold slinked over to the front door, still avoiding Bob's staredown. "But don't worry; I'm sure you won't be seeing me again." With a heavy sigh Arnold opened the door and left.

The rest of his goodbyes were still sad, but they didn't leave as much of a bitter taste. He knew he would be seeing his grandparents and the boarders in a few months and Gerald was going to spend the summer with him.

He slid in to the back seat of the Packard with his mom and waved as his grandfather drove them to the airport. Arnold stared out the window and saw nothing as they drove through Hillwood. All he could see was a reflection of a crying Helga and his heart sank in to his stomach. He really did hope he did what was best for them; he hated to think he hurt Helga again if it wasn't for the Greater Good.

He wished he was what was best for her, but he knew better. He'd always love her, and he truly wanted her happy. He hoped that she would forgive him and find that happiness. He truly did.

But why couldn't he give her that happy ending?

**A/N: Gaaw, I'm so sorry Helga! Don't hate me or Arnold XP Just wait two more years and he'll randomly show up on your door after running ten miles to get to you!

For some reason this chapter felt like it was running long, but at the same time I couldn't really find anywhere to cut, so sorry about the pacing.
The song this chapter is based on is Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" from "The Bodyguard". It is such a sweet song and says pretty much exactly what Arnold is thinking at this point. The trick was translating it into prose form. I did so much better with "Life After You" XP Please Con/Crit ^_^

OH! On that note, I added something to my profile a week ago: The Appreciation Circle! This section has all my love for my readers and reviewers. Check it out and see my big thank you! ^_^ There is also a link to my writing blog at the top of my profile, so check that out too for lengthier A/N as well as info about my progress with the next chapter!**