Author's Note: Thanks for reading and reviewing.

Princess7Strawberry – Sorry for the mix-up. Actually, where I'm from ' flea market ' and 'farmers market' are pretty much interchangeable. What I pictured was like a bunch of booths set up with people selling used stuff or selling food and crafts and stuff. I hope that kind of makes sense. Haha. Anyways, thanks for reading!

She sat there, staring into the fire. Helga wondered what was going to happen tomorrow; she didn't want this night to ever end. Right now she didn't have to think about her parents or her sister. She didn't have to think about having missed school the past couple of days and all of the work she would have to make up now. Right now was perfect, she wished it could always be like this. Somehow, she had managed to show her other side to Arnold. She didn't even pull away like she usually did. She let all her worries go and just had a good time for once.

They sat in silence for a bit and then Arnold's grandpa, who was surprisingly still awake, started telling them stories. The one he told was one that Arnold had heard before, and Grandpa knew that, but he had a motive. Phil told them about when he was Arnold's age. There was this girl, a bully, that would constantly pick on him, tease him, hit him, and who was just mean in general.

As soon as he started the story, Arnold knew where he was going with this. The first time his Grandpa had told him this story Arnold thought he was crazy. There was no way that he, Arnold, would ever like Helga. Now, however, things were very different. He knew why Helga acted the way she did. He also knew that she had a totally different side to her that she kept hidden. He didn't know if he'd ever marry Helga, like his Grandpa married that girl who used to tease him, but he hoped that maybe his relationship with her would change.

Helga eyed Arnold's Grandpa quizzically. Every time she had been in Arnold's boarding house Arnold's Grandpa had given signs that he knew she liked Arnold. She always thought that maybe he was crazy, but now she knew that Arnold's Grandpa knew the truth. When he finished his story, Helga smiled. She knew it was a long shot, that the same thing would happen with her and Arnold, but she hoped that maybe they would be friends after this at least.

Arnold's Grandpa told them more stories. As it got later and later, Helga was sure that he was starting to stretch the truth a bit with what he was saying. Each story seemed to get more out there than the last. Helga could feel herself getting tired. It seemed like this was true for all three of them. Even Mr. Hyuhn had gone up to his room at least twenty minutes ago.

Arnold yawned, "Grandpa, you know we have school tomorrow right? I think I'm going to head up to bed."

"Oh, look at the time! Sorry, Arnold, I must've gotten carried away. Goodnight Arnold," he said. "And goodnight miss Helga."

Arnold got up out of the chair and Helga followed suit.

"So, where am I going to sleep?" Helga asked.

"Hmm, well I guess you could sleep on the couch in my room. If that's alright?" he replied.

"Yeah sure. I'm sure that would be fine."

They reached Arnold's room and Helga waited near the doorway. Arnold flipped the couch out from the wall and found an extra blanket from the closet. He also got the extra pillow from his bed and made a makeshift bed for Helga.

"Thanks Arnold," Helga said.

She took her shoes off and pulled the pink bow from her hair. It's not good to sleep with your hair up, you know. Then she slid under the covers and rested her head on the pillow.

Arnold had gone to the washroom to get changed and brush his teeth. When he came back, he too slipped under the covers of his own bed. He clicked the lights off and the room was dark.

Even though they were both very tired, neither could get to sleep easily.

Helga didn't want the night to end. This was one of the best nights she had had in a long time. She had surprised herself. She usually freaked out around Arnold and put on her façade. Tonight though, she found it relatively easy to just be her self, her real self. She hoped she would be able to stay that way.

She also didn't want the night to end because she hated to imagine what tomorrow would be like. She was going to go back to school… because she knew if she ran away then she wouldn't even have Arnold to go to anymore. But then after school she also knew that Arnold would probably make her go talk to her parents, or at least just go home since she couldn't stay on his couch forever.

Eventually though, Helga drifted off into sleep.

Meanwhile, Arnold had also been lying awake in his bed, thinking. He didn't want the night to end. He had learned so much about Helga and this was the first time he had had a good time while being with her (well at least to his knowledge… you know, not counting the other times he had had with her but not exactly known it was Helga he was with). He wondered what would happen tomorrow. Would things just go back to how they had been between the two of them? Would Helga go confront her family? He couldn't help but imagine how Helga's father, Big Bob, would react. Arnold thought maybe he could go with Helga to see her parents, but then thought it might be a bad idea. If her father knew Helga had spent the night at the boarding house he might get more upset. But Arnold still wanted to help Helga… he just didn't know what to do.