A/N: So, I decided to basically skip the more explicit part that I had originally intended on writing, basically because I found that once I wrote the part right before it, and then I wrote the end of the chapter, and read it through, it had the same feeling that I wanted it to have.

But, if you guys really, really want me to write the scene in between, then I will and will post it as a one shot, since that seems to be the best option for those of you who want me to keep it as a T rating.

On another side note, if any of you are artists, and would like to try your hand on designing me a cover for this story, please let me know! PM me if interested.

"Hey Babe, all they have is pork rinds." I call from the other side of the convenient store.

"No pork rinds!" She yells from in front of the soda's. "You remember what happened last time."

"Oh yeah," I say to myself, the memories of our childhood drifting into my mind. "That was funny." I say and look down at the empty chip rack.

"Funny for you maybe. Try waking up the fire escape of the boy your in love with." She says next to me.

"Can't say Ive ever been in love with a boy, Helga."

"Shut it." She says playfully and pokes me in the side with her finger, two sodas in her hands.

We check out and climb back into the Packard, where Helga has a little nest set up for herself. We have been in the road for about forty five minutes, and we're still at least two hours away. But we still have plenty of time to get to the inn and still enjoy most of the day. The first fifteen minutes were only of her singing along with her favorite No Comply CD at the top of her lungs. She says it's therapeutic for her, like a release or something. She said that she doesn't think she's that good of a singer, but I didn't want to tell her how great she is because I knew if I did, she would stop.

I know it's coming. I knew she would do it when I saw that she had a book with her when I first picked her up. She knows that it's very dangerous, especially while I'm driving, and she knows how crazy it drives me, and how much I have a hard time controlling myself when she does do it, but we just got back onto the high way and she just pulled out her book and flipped open to the first page. "Helga..." I warn her, only glancing over to her. Sure enough she is pulling out the small black case that she keeps them in. Oh man, this is either going to end very badly, or very well.

"Hmm?" She hums innocently. She knows what she's doing.

"Can't you read without them?"

"It's not my fault that I inherited my mothers eyes, Football Head." She replies and snaps the case shut.

"You know I can't stand it when you wear your reading glasses." I plead.

"Oh?" I can hear mischief practically drip from her tone. I know it will kill me, because I want to get there in time, and I really do, and really don't want to see her with those small, frame-less glasses on. She looks so sexy when she wears her reading glasses, it drives me nuts. I hold my breath and check my mirrors to make sure that I'm clear to take my eyes off the road for a second, and glance over to her. God, she's so hot with her glasses on, I'm so close to pulling over.

"Helga, please, I'm begging you." I continue to plead and forcefully yank my eyes away from her.

"That's why this is so fun." She says to me in her low, husky voice that she only uses when she's trying to rile me up.

"Helga, I'm taking you on a romantic getaway. So the least you can do is make sure we get there in one piece. Once we do, I promise, you can torture me for the next two days straight." I say quickly and grip the steering wheel tighter with both hands.

"Really?" She asks with a gleeful lift in her voice.

"Yes." I see her pull her lower lip between her teeth with a smile and she pulls her glasses off and puts them back into their case.

"Can I get that in writing?"

It's always so fun to torture and tease him like that. In reality, I do need glasses to read, and because of that, I have yet to actually finish a chapter of a book when we are together. I don't know what it is about me wearing glasses, but nothing seems to turn him on faster. I smile slyly at the thought, tucking it away to pull out later tonight.

We've been on the road for a little over two hours now and it's just passing eleven o'clock in the morning. We turned onto a small, two lane high way a little bit ago, and we're deep into the upper Washington woods. The trees are so tall and lush, surprising for this late in the cold season. Arnold has had his eyes going from the piece of paper he wrote the directions on to the road for the past ten minutes. Theoretically, we should be there any minute, but we're going to a secluded bed and breakfast, and secluded usually en tales hard to find. But I know it will be worth it.

All the fights we've had about our hidden relationship, all the times I've had to explain to him why no one else can know and will never understand us as a couple, they're all going to be forgiven and forgotten this weekend. We're just going to spend two days loving each other. Being open, loving, and happy. Like we were meant to be. It's not even the physical part I'm looking forward to, it's the part right after. Getting to fall asleep together in each others arms. I usually end up being the big spoon, simply because he starts to get restless in his sleep if I'm not subconsciously petting his hair.

I love it when we fall asleep with his arms fully coiled around my midsection and his head laying just below my shoulder. It's the best way I can gaze at his beautifully sleeping, angelic face and still have his arms around me.

I'm lost in my mind when I feel the car stop. I look up and I feel a bit floored. This place is gorgeous. It really is secluded. The trees seem to engulf the whole place. From the outside, it just looks like a big log cabin, but I know that there's so much more to it. "Wow." I say and push open my door.

"This place is beautiful, huh?" He says from the other side of the car, which he just pushed himself out of. I look over and he is smiling beautifully, but softly up to the sky. I close my door and start around the front of the car over to him. I catch his eye when I'm only a few steps away and his soft smile turns into a loving smirk. I step into him and wrap my arms around his waist, entwining my fingers around his back, while his arms pull me in by the shoulders. "But not as beautiful as you." He continues.

My complete and endless love for him bursts through me, and it's so much that I can almost feel tears work their way into my eyes. I just love him so much, and can't believe that he cares for me, and loves me so much in return. We're staring right into each others eyes, and I can't look away from him. He's just so amazing to me. I take the last small step separating us and hug him tightly and bury my face into the crock of his neck. I love it when he wraps his arms around my shoulders and kisses my hair. "Don't ever leave me." I whisper to him against his skin. Inwardly, I hope he can't hear me.

"Why don't we check in, then we can settle in." He says and starts rubbing his palm against my upper back in a small circle.

I pull back and smile up to him. "Sure."

We take each others hands and quickly make our way up the set of wooden steps up to a door with glass windows, leaving our stuff behind to get later. We both reach for the knob, but he ends up pulling it open before I can reach it and we step in together and stop to take in the decor. There's a sofa and two chairs facing a sheet rock fireplace that's lit with a few small logs. On the far wall, there is a stair case leading up to the second floor where I'm guessing is there the rooms are, with what looks like the reception desk in the corner. To our right there is a small arch way leading into a dining area. From what I can see, there is about 5 or six tables that seat two, with small place settings and small bouquet of probably fake flowers as center pieces.

The whole place has a nice rustic, yet tasteful look to it. For our first weekend away together, I couldn't have asked for a better place for him to take me to. I feel him squeeze my hand, and I look over to him and see him still smirking lovingly to me.

She probably doesn't know it, but her eyes are dancing with excitement. I was really hoping for that look. It makes me feel like every lie I've told to make it this far with her has been worth it, that look in her eyes right now.

I give her hand another squeeze and nod my head over to where I saw the reception desk and she smiles a bit wider. We make our way across the room and up to the desk just as a short woman, probably about mid to late twenties with black hair stepped around the desk with a smile. "Hi there," she greets us friendlily, "you two must be Arnold and Helga." She says and flips open a large book, probably the log book or something.

"Yes, we are." I say with a smile and feel Helga step deeper into my side.

"Yes, I uh... actually meant to call you, Mr. Shortman, last week. The room you booked actually sprung a leak." I feel my stomach drop to the floor and feel Helga let go of my hand. "But," she continues and I feel Helga squeeze my hand harder than before, "in order to apologize for this incident, I have personally arranged for you to stay in suite five. It has the nicest view of any of the other rooms. And I've also taken the breakfast off your bill because of the inconvenience."

"Oh... Thanks." I say with another smile. Man, this weekend is already turning out better than I ever hoped it would.

"By the way," She says and turns around and grabs a key off one of the hooks behind her, "I'm Henrietta, or Etta for short. My parents are the actual owners, I just run the day to day operations."

"It's nice to meet you, Etta." I say and follow her up the stairs.

Etta leads us up the stairs and into a long hall way with two doors on either side of the hall way and one at the very end. She leads us to the door at the end and I feel an anxious feeling start to make my heart beat faster. Etta unlocks the door and pushes the door open and steps inside. Helga is first to move and pulls me with her into the room. "Wow..." I hear her say from the doorway.

"Yeah... wow." I say and take in the beautiful room.

The balcony is on the left side of the room, and the large sliding glass doors are enough to light up the room. The bed is at least a queen, and the frame looks like finished wood, but it's cut to look like tree branches. There are windows on either side of the bed and I can already see the tops of the pine trees stretch out as far as I can see. The bathroom is on the other side of the room, and I can see some fancy tile work on the wall of the shower. "This is one of our nicer rooms, and the view is just spectacular." Etta says from a few feet away.

"This is awesome, thank you." I say and give the room one more once over. Man, this is so nice. I'm definitely coming back here with her.

"Well, I'll let you two get settled in. I'll be just downstairs if you need anything." Etta says and moves around us. I smile in thanks and look over to my girlfriend after I feet her start to bounce up and down. Sure enough, she has one of her gorgeous smiles on, the kind where you can just feel her happiness radiate off of it. She only smiles like that when nothing is bothering her, and nothing is weighing her down. It doesn't happen very often, but I would give anything up, with the exception of her, just to see her smile like that for the rest of my life. "Breakfast is usually served around eight thirty. But if you're not up by then, we can certainly wait for you if you want."

"That's alright." Helga says and places her hand against my chest. "Don't hold up on our account." She says and smiles up at me.

"Okay then. Again, just let me know if you two need anything, and I'll be down stairs." Etta says and moves out of the room and down the hall way. I feel Helga tug on my arm after I looked to see if Etta closed the door behind her and see Helga pulling me toward the balcony. I laugh and follow her outside. Man, this place is like paradise. The tops of the trees seem to stretch out forever. Helga lets go of my hand and leans against the railing and I can almost hear her smile.

"This place is beautiful, Babe." She says.

I feel something fill my chest and I just have to wrap my arms around her waist from behind. "Yes," I tell her and start to push her hair off to the side with my nose, "you are." I press my lips to the soft, warm skin on her neck and I hear her giggle. I continue to tease her neck for a minute or two and she reaches behind her and runs her fingers into my hair.

"I thought I was going to do the torturing." She says in her low, husky voice, that sounds a bit breathless.

"You'll have your turn." I say and kiss her neck one last time. "I made a promise, didn't I? And believe me, I intend on keeping it."

She laughs and turns around in my arms and I lean against the railing, trapping her when she throws her arms around my neck. "You're so cheesy sometimes."

"Coming from the girl who actually named her fists when we were kids. What was it again? Ol' Betsy and..."

"The Five Avengers." She said with a proud smile.

"You know I don't even remember you actually using them on anyone except for Brainy." Oh crap. We made an agreement to not mention him, and I already feel terrible. Her smile disappears in the blink of an eye and I can tell that she's still blaming herself for what happened. I look down and pull her into me. "I'm sorry. I just forgot, that's all."

She wraps her arms tighter around my neck and lays her head down onto my shoulder, "I know."

It took a while, and a lot of sessions with Dr. Bliss to get her back to her old self after what happened to Brainy. But after when the word got out of how he actually died, it hit her pretty hard. When I heard, it almost didn't seem real, like something out of a movie or something. You hear about that kind of thing on the news, but you never think that it could ever actually happen. And even after Dr. Bliss telling her over and over again that it wasn't at all her fault, she still blames herself because it was a picture of her that they found in his hand. It was heartbreaking and very tragic. But still, whenever we heard what actually happened, and heard that it wasn't suicide, we were all a bit... disgusted, to put it lightly.

Great, now the mood is ruined. We were doing so well too. Okay, think of something to say that will bring my Helga back to me. The last time I mentioned it, and tried to reassure her, it didn't end how I planned it. I guess I should just lightly change the subject. "Hey," I say and cup her cheek and push her back to look her in the eye, "why don't we go get our stuff and we can get this getaway started."

She smiles up to me and leans up, pressing her lips to mine. It isn't heated or anything, but still, I don't want a day to go by when we don't kiss like this. When we kiss each other just to kiss each other, and because we love each other.

"Helga, you've been in there for forty five minutes!" I call from the bed. I've been sitting here waiting for her to come out of the bathroom, and I'm starting to get a little worried that something is wrong. Maybe she's still upset that I brought up the topic of Brainy again. But we had fun on our walk this afternoon, didn't we?

"Patience is a virtue, Football Head!" She calls back.

"One which I remember you not having!" I retort.

"I waited ten years to tell you that I was in love with you, and six more for you to get it through your thick, football shaped skull that I actually meant it. The least you can do is wait a few more minutes. I'll be out in a minute, so just... get in bed and wait for me."

I sigh and lean back against the bed and look out the glass doors of the balcony. I wonder how many stars are out tonight. "Hey," I hear her unmuffled voice call from the bathroom door.

Oh my god. She's killing me. "Where on earth did you get that?"

She smiles brightly and pulls her lower lip in between her teeth. "I stole it from Olga." She says and runs her arm up the door frame and curls her long, toned leg over the other long, toned leg. Christ, she's so sexy.

She's in a black nightie that only comes a few inches past her hips, with a small pink bow in the middle of her chest, her gorgeous hair coming down in long, silky curls. My heart is slamming so hard. I don't remember it slamming this hard even when we first kissed. She starts toward the bed, and she's swinging her hips with every slow stride shes taking, crossing her legs and smirking at me devilishly. "Is this what you meant by torture? Because you're killing me." It's getting so hard to keep myself from her.

She chuckles deeply and bends over and starts to crawl onto the bed seductively. She's never been like this before. Well, almost. Not like this anyway, she's teased me every once in a while, but never like this. I think I like it. "Well, I just need you alive a little bit longer." She says and before it's actually registered in my stuttering brain, she's straddling me and pushing me back down to the bed, towering over me. The low, dim light of the bedroom is casting dark orange shadows across her features, and it's both haunting and memorizing.

"Before we go any further, Baby," she starts, the low, seductive tone not in her voice anymore. "I just want you to know how much I love you for bringing us here. It's been a dream of mine to run away with you to somewhere like this. And now," She says and reaches down and takes my wrist and brings it to her lips, kissing my knuckles lightly before she presses my palm to her chest, just above her heart. Her skin is so hot. "You've not only made my dreams come true, but you are my dreams. And the fact that we're here now, together, on this beautiful night... I just want you to know that it means more than the world to me."

I lean up slowly and softly press her lips open with mine in an open, passionate kiss. I'm so lost in this woman, I don't think I ever want to find my way back.

She cups my jaw and our breaths are starting to get deeper, and my heart is pounding. "I love you, Helga."

She just presses me back in a heated kiss and pins me.

"Arnold?"

I'm on the edges of sleep, and I want to answer, but I'm just so tired.

"Baby?" She asks again and runs her fingers through my sweat stained hair. We ended up with my head on her shoulder and our legs tangled together. With her thin, small fingers running through my hair, I don't have the energy to answer her. "Are you awake?" She asks in a small voice, just above a whisper.

I simply nuzzle myself against her and tighten my arms around her midsection.

"Good."

Huh? What's she doing?

"You know, Baby, I don't think I ever told you this before." She starts with her soft voice and keeps running her fingers through my hair. I'm so tired, but I want to hear what she has to say more than I want to sleep. "Now, keep in mind that... I'm not saying tomorrow, or next week, or next year, or even in five years, but someday... I want you to propose to me."

I feel my breath hitch in my throat, but I keep quiet and let her continue.

"Maybe on the roof top where I first confessed to you... or the beach where we first kissed." She chuckles and runs her fingers through my hair again, "You could propose to me in a porta-potty and I'd still say yes."

I don't think I would ever propose to her in a porta-potty, but the beach is a pretty good idea.

"Then, I want us to get married. Maybe... on a hillside somewhere. We could invite our families. Well... your family. I don't think mine would care enough to show up."

I'm seriously fighting the urge to call out to her, because I can hear tears in her voice.

"And our friends. Well... your friends. The only friend I have is Phoebe. And honestly, I don't think she'll stick around for much longer."

Helga, that couldn't be any less true. You're like a sister to Phoebe and we all know that. Phoebe needs you.

"Who am I kidding? We might as well not even have any chairs on my side."

Her voice is so tear ridden that it's killing me to keep still.

"But it doesn't matter," She says after a sniffle, "I'll have you, and that's all I'll ever need. I don't care if no one shows up. The only person I want at our wedding is you, Baby."

We've never really talked about getting married someday, but I guess I never thought about it until now. I know that it should probably scare me, but for some reason, it doesn't scare me at all. It makes me happy that she's talking so seriously about wanting to marry me.

"Then, maybe sometime down the road... I don't know, maybe we could try for a baby."

A baby? I never thought Helga would ever want kids. I know I do, but I never thought she would.

"I don't really know why. I mean, I know for a fact that I'll probably make a terrible mother."

That's not true, Helga, you'll be an amazing mother and I know that.

"But I know you'll make up for it. You'll be a terrific father someday. And I know that you might want a boy, for me to give you a son, to carry on the Shortman name or whatever, but I've always wanted a little girl. Just so I could show my parents how you really raise a daughter. I'd show her the love she deserves. I wouldn't ignore her, forget her name, or forget to pack her lunch for school, or let them walk to preschool alone in the rain. I'd love her unconditionally and make sure that she knows that, no matter what."

Her voice still have tears in it, and it's breaking my heart that she has this resentment for her parents.

"I know, you'll probably go off to college and meet someone else."

I'm not leaving you, Helga. Ever.

"But maybe, if I'm lucky, you'd still think of me ever once in a while. Maybe you'd just know that I loved you with all of my heart and my soul. And that I'll never love someone like I love you, Arnold."

How could she ever think that I'd ever leave her? I thought she knew that I loved her more than anything else in the world. Even the thought of this future that she pictured for us, it's a dream that I couldn't be any happier with if it came true. But the one that she has for us that she thinks will actually happen, it feel like a knife just got shoved into my chest at the thought of my having to spend the rest of my life with someone other than her.

I lay motionless until her breathing starts to get slower and more even, and her heartbeat is slow under my ear before I speak. I press my lips to her skin and move up the bed to lay my head down onto the pillow beside hers. "I'm never leaving you, Helga. If that's the future you want, then that's the future you'll get."

She lets out a small breath and turns to face me on her side. I smile and kiss her forehead.

A/N: hi-five to anyone who can tell me how brainy died.