Learning to be Helga

by Azure129

What could be more amusing than taking two hundred thousand words to make Arnold realize he loves Helga? Taking EIGHT hundred thousand words to explore in detail how this newfound relationship is working out! Sequel to Tutoring Arnold! Let's do this! FINISHED!

10. As Gerald Put It, 'Meeting the Parents'

New A/N:

Hey guys! So, as an avid HA! fan I'm slightly ashamed to admit that it was brought to my attention that I sort of violated a bit of HA! canon with part of this chapter, so I reworded a thing or two to fix things :) SLIGHT SPOILER ALERT FOR ANYONE WHO HASN'T READ THE CHAPTER YET:

I just switched the parts about the synchronized swimming so that Helga knew about it previously since Zabei let me know that Helga was actually in the audience at the time. Thanks Zabei ;))))

Old A/N:

HEY GUYS! :D Okay, here we go—Arnold's dinner at the Pataki house! And once again I swore I was going to keep things at a reasonable length and once again I'm at over twenty thousand words, but I really like how it turned out and I hope you all do too! Please review!

Also, apologies in advance for my potentially atrocious Japanese… especially that word that Phoebe teaches Gerald (for the love of HA! I hope I conjugated that right and am using it in the correct sense, lol!)

Please enjoy and review and read my closing A/N for news about the next update!

LEARNING TO BE HELGA

Chapter 10:

As Gerald put it, 'Meeting the parents!'

---

DING DONG!

"I'll get it, I'll get it—nobody touches that door!" Helga Pataki suddenly yelled out as she ran through the hallway and down the stairs to the foyer of her house, pulling her slightly startled best friend alongside her.

"Helga! Please slow down!" Phoebe Heyerdahl called out, trying not to trip on the last few steps and a bit surprised by Helga's sudden enthusiasm. In point of fact the young Japanese-American girl wouldn't have minded a moment or two longer to gather her courage before encountering who, in all likelihood, was on Helga's stoop currently waiting to be let in…

Helga, meanwhile, finally having gotten them both to the door, released Phoebe's hand and put her palms against her knees for a second as she leaned over slightly to catch her breath. The smile was still on her face as she turned to her best friend. "Oh come on, Phoebe—you don't want to keep tall hair boy waiting, especially on your first date." She straightened up and winked as she added with a half grin and a shrug, "Besides, I've been looking forward to this all day! And also that doorbell ringing means Arnold's also here too, so we've got a triple win situation here!"

Helga reached forward enthusiastically to the door handle.

She stopped, though, as she felt Phoebe's small hand (with freshly painted red fingernails) tug at her shirtsleeve. "Helga…" she began nervously, "Are you sure I look…are you sure I look alright?" The genuine uncertainty about her personal appearance was evident in the young girl's eyes as she glanced down after asking this question.

Helga just blinked at the (in her opinion, completely unjustifiable) question. "Phoebe," she suddenly began, her face melting into a warm smile as she turned away from the door for a moment to look her best friend in the eye. In a small way Helga couldn't help but be reminded of her own doubts about her own looks from yesterday that Arnold had made disappear in their entirety with his wonderful assurances that he found her to be the prettiest girl he'd ever cared about. "You look completely boss! I mean it…" Helga rolled her eyes and grabbed Phoebe's wrist again, now pulling her to a mirror hanging up over an end table in the hallway. "Look!"

Helga gave Phoebe a nudge in front of the mirror and then stepped back to give the girl a chance to really observe her appearance after two hours of being made up by Helga (with an occasional call to Olga for ideas).

Phoebe just blinked and her mouth dropped open slightly at the sight of the finished product before her.

She was in a red sweater instead of her usual blue one, and the color matched her nails that Helga had painted. Her hair was pulled back in its normal style except her usual faded blue hair scrunchie was replaced by a large chocolate-brown one with sparkles in it, and there were two small silver clips on either side of her head to add to the sparkling visual effect. And on her lips was just a touch of red, almost glittery lip-gloss.

Helga just smiled at the obviously surprised expression on her best friend's face. 'Told her she looked great… Helga G. Pataki—the master of makeovers. Yeah, I could get used to the sound of that! Hmph—eat your heart out, Ms. RhondaLloyd!' She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the wall next to the mirror, a very proud smile on her face. "What did I tell you—am I a genius or am I a genius? You are going to blow tall hair boy away, Phoebe—no question."

Phoebe just blinked once more at the sight in front of her (like she was trying to verify it as a reality) and then finally turned to her best friend. A very grateful smile instantly blossomed upon her face. "Oh…oh thank you, Helga!" Suddenly she threw herself at Helga and hugged her tightly.

Helga blinked a couple of times at the sudden embrace, but then her smile only grew. "Aw, hey, Pheebs—what are friends for? Besides, like I said, I really owed you from that whole sleepwalking/pork rinds thing, anyway."

Phoebe giggled and pulled away from Helga, a big smile still on her face. She took a deep breath and then stated, sounding much more confidant, "Okay, Helga—I'm ready now."

Suddenly, there was a knock or two at the door.

"Helga, I could hear you yelling all the way from your hall and coming down the stairs—are you going to let us in yet? It's actually starting to feel a little cold out here."

Helga just rolled her eyes at the sound of the warm voice that had taken on such a big and active presence her life over the past week. She smirked in the direction of the door, putting her hands on her hips. "Hey cool it, Arnoldo—haven't you ever heard of making the guy wait a little bit before just throwing yourself into his arms for a date?"

"Actually, yeah…" came the playful response without missing a beat, "You did something like an extended version of that once, right, Helga?" She heard him laugh to himself.

Helga blushed slightly at the comment but just rolled her eyes yet again, now crossing her arms over her chest as she shot back (still with her smirk), "Ha-ha, yeah we get it, Romeo—your wit never ceases to amaze. Now just cool it and I'll let you and the 'man of the hour' in in a second."

Helga then turned back to Phoebe, still grinning. "Okay, so, before those two 'freeze' in the slight chill of a late spring evening, why don't we do this?"

Phoebe nodded confidently. "Doing!"

Helga nodded back and then returned her sights to the door, approached it once more, gripped the handle and finally opened it wide.

She was met with the smiling face of her beloved right outside, standing contentedly upon the landing of her stoop. Her eyes became half lidded as she looked at him with a smile, leaning against the side of her doorway with her arms crossed in front of herself. "Hiya, Football Head!" she started, then sighed in mock pity, shaking her head a little. "So you couldn't stay away, huh? You missed me that much?" She shrugged, thoroughly enjoying this. "I mean, it has been a whole nine or ten hours since the last time you heard my voice so I guess it's understandable that you—"

She watched as Arnold just sighed and smiled at her words, and then cut her off by suddenly placing a single finger lightly across her mouth.

"It's nice to see you again too, Helga." He winked at her…and did his best to leave it at that…for now. It wasn't helping, though, that they had been apart for so many hours…and that the last time they had been together a lot of 'stuff' had happened…and that she was standing right there looking so nice, as usual…and that he was technically touching her lips. 'I knew this was going to happen…I stop being afraid of liking her so much and now I can't stop smiling every single time we see each other…' He almost chuckled to himself. 'Oh well…as long as we're happy…'

Meanwhile, Helga's face had flushed and her heart was now pounding at the feeling of even his finger upon her lips, and their sudden proximity after so many hours apart wasn't helping much either. Her blue eyes continued to stay wide as Arnold, whether he knew it or not, just kept looking at her with a slight spark of that mischief in his gaze that he'd been getting more and more frequently lately. 'Heh, well…no more ten foot minimum distance so at least it looks like he took my advice to heart for the long haul last night…' she thought to herself in nervous, almost giddy anticipation.

"Hey, SOME of us would still like to have appetites for dinner, and also SOME of us are 'Arnold and Helga' 'd out, so can you two save it until later?"

The sound of Gerald's annoyed voice coming from the bottom of the stoop made Arnold and Helga each quickly blinked and then pull away from each other, blushing and glancing to the side awkwardly…both still smiling slightly though.

Finally, Helga cleared her throat and found herself glancing to Gerald, now recalling that her and Arnold were indeed not alone in their own little world. As her awkward gaze fell to him, though, her eyes suddenly lit up and a big smile came to face, and any notions of embarrassment were quickly put on the backburner. "Hey, you actually got him to show up in a suit and tie?" She turned to Arnold. "Good job following orders, Football head! I'm impressed!" And indeed Gerald was dressed in grey pants and a jacket, a white shirt, and he was wearing a red tie that (much to Helga's delight) pretty much matched the color dominant in Phoebe's ensemble.

Arnold, with a smile, was about to thank her and (of course) try and tack on something clever and just a little bit flirtatious to see if he could make return to her features that blush he'd come to like so especially…

However, Gerald cut him off, taking a step up toward Helga and letting out an exasperated sigh. "Okay, Helga—look, let's level here. Yes, I'm dressed up, yes I'm going on a date, and yes I actually have you to thank for it when you get right down to it, but how about a deal?" He crossed his arms over his chest and proposed with a mixture of seriousness, desperation and anticipated embarrassment, "No cheap shots about all of that stuff for now and I'll hold off on the shrine lay in until Monday. Okay?"

Helga looked quite intrigued at the offer for a moment, and then suddenly smirked and let out a chuckle and opened one of her hands, palm facing out, in mock defense. "Hey, I was already going to at least try and keep the teasing to a minimum since my best friend actually likes you…" She turned her face back into the house and hollered out, "Don't you, Phoebe?", raising part of her brow.

A quiet yet nervous, "Helga!" was heard from somewhere nearby the door, though neither boy could see far enough past Helga to catch a glimpse of the well-known person who owned it.

Helga, meanwhile, just laughed to herself at Phoebe's flustered response and then turned back to the boys. "Anyway, with all that stuff I…guess I figured you deserve a break…" She just shrugged and smiled innocently at Gerald…

…Who was giving her a more than cautious 'Not exactly buying it' look.

Finally, at his unflinching look of scrutiny, Helga let out a sigh and rolled her eyes at him, crossing her arms over her chest. "Okay, okay, I might have had an awkward comment or two planned to throw in just for good measure… But, good call on your part, Geraldo, because it probably would keep me from getting too carried away with sarcasm if you kept my whole 'not-so-secret-anymore dedication to your best friend' on the back burner for now…maybe." She winked.

Gerald just rolled his eyes but couldn't help half smiling at her admission. "Okay, okay…I get it—you won't 'destroy me' right now but you just wouldn't be you if you didn't at least say something." He sighed, the half smile remaining on his face though. "But can we at least just get this whole 'you basking in the irony of this situation' thing over with as soon as possible so that me and Phoebe can leave, because I'm starving!"

Helga just laughed at his very correct observation of her nature. "You got it, Geraldo!" she announced and then glanced back into the house, calling out to the person they were all waiting for (and who was obviously still clinging to a wall somewhere specifically out of sight of the two boys [or at least specifically out of sight of ONE of the two boys]…and maybe having a second thought or two about all of this, she was feeling so nervous all of a sudden now that the time had really come). "Hey, Phoebe!" Helga began with a smile. "Some chucklehead's here to pick you up for a date or something. Don't worry, though—I checked him out and he seems like a decent enough guy. He gives you any 'lip,' tonight, though, that isn't part of a good night kiss, you just let me know and Old Betsey and the Five Avengers will take care of him!"

"Helga!" came both Gerald and Phoebe's simultaneous embarrassed exclamations at the kissing comment.

Helga couldn't help laughing to herself at the responses. She opened her mouth and was actually about to make another small comment (in her defense, this was the first romantic situation in quite a while that she'd been a part of that hadn't been PAINFULLY awkward for her) when she blinked as she suddenly felt Arnold gently take one of her hands and pull her all the way out onto the top of stoop alongside himself.

"Come on, Helga…" he began with a patient, warm smile, "I think that's enough. Besides, you know the sooner they start their date the sooner we get to ours." He winked, and then gently raised her hand and kissed the back of it before lowering it to their sides, still keeping his fingers laced with hers. 'Am I going to feel like holding her or touching her this much the second I see her every time we're apart and then see each other again…?' He recalled the sudden warm loveliness that her opening the door had made unexpectedly flow through him…as well as the sudden urge to hug her hello or to take her hand and gently kiss it like he'd just done or even to just plain be standing near her again… 'Well, at least it's something to look forward to whenever our dates end…' he thought to himself with a mental chuckle.

Helga, meanwhile, felt her heart flutter and her eyes go wide in surprise for just a moment at his sudden mention of their date, but then she couldn't help succumbing to a smile and a giggle at the romantic gesture that had accompanied it. "Uh, yeah, of course. Good call, Arnoldo… We should just let Pheebs and tall hair boy get to it, already. Heh, good thing you've got enough of a conscience for the both of us, right?" She gripped his hand just a little more firmly.

Arnold just chuckled at the comment and felt a warmth come to his cheeks. He opened his mouth, about to reply with something that he hoped would make her laugh like that…giggle like that, again…

Gerald, meanwhile, still with his arms crossed on the sidewalk, just sighed in impatient exasperation once more. "Once again, you two, can the obvious flirting be saved for the make out session pre-gamming or something that I'm sure you're going to do the second your both alone again, because I—"

A movement near the doorway had caused Gerald's scowling eyes to shift half way from Arnold and Helga to the entrance to the Pataki household as he had started speaking. His gaze now went there entirely though (and his jaw dropped quite significantly) at the sight of Phoebe coming out onto the front steps.

The young girl, her hands shyly behind her back and glancing down, cleared her throat slightly and announced quietly with a smile on her face. "Good evening, Gerald. How are you this evening?

Arnold couldn't help but have to stifle a chuckle as Helga suddenly leaned in close to his ear and eagerly whispered. "Alright! I knew his mouth would be on the floor the second he saw her! Sheesh, what is with boys becoming drooling, mindless, speechless zombies the second they see a pretty girl, Football Head?"

Arnold just blushed and let out a sigh, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "Helga…" he whispered back, opening his eyes, a grin more than apparent on his face. "I did not drool last night…"

She tried very hard to suppress her laugh at the reply.

Gerald, meanwhile, just continued looking at Phoebe, his eyes very, very wide and his mouth still quite agape.

Finally Helga rolled her eyes and, with a grin, leaned over and loudly whispered over toward him. "Hey, tall hair boy, this is the part where you say 'I'm cool—how are you, babe?' and then take her to dinner! Anytime!"

She pulled back smiling to herself and Arnold couldn't help rolling his eyes and having to try and stifle a chuckle.

At the sound of being addressed Gerald blinked a couple of times and then blushed. Then he cleared his throat, put his arms behind his back, and did his best to smile up casually at Phoebe. "Uh hi, Phoebe…I'm, I'm fine…how are you?"

The response and the nervous voice in which it was said actually made Phoebe giggle warmly, helping to relax the shy girl a bit. She took a few steps down the stoop. "I'm quite well, Gerald. Thank you."

Finally after another second or two of just staring awkwardly (yet adorably) at each other, Gerald cleared his throat once more and brought his arms forward again, rubbing one with the other nervously. "Hey, uh, you know, you look great tonight, Phoebe…" He seemed lost in her eyes for a second, but then blinked and blushed slightly. "I mean, you look great all the time but…I guess there's just something special about tonight…"

Phoebe smiled and blushed just a little. "Arigato gozaimasu, Gerald." 'Helga's correct—this…isn't so difficult once you take the first step.'

He swallowed and rubbed the back of his neck, smiling as well, and looked up at her, trying to seem like he wasn't a complete nervous wreck. 'Man, Arnold makes all of this look a lot easier than it really is.' "Hey, and dooitashimashite right back at you."

Phoebe blinked at the response, her eyes lighting up. "Gerald, you remembered from yesterday!"

Gerald laughed a little, glancing away sheepishly. "Yeah, well…I think spending time with you just makes me absorb new words or something. Even Japanese words, apparently too."

She laughed and he laughed.

Helga ribbed Arnold and quickly whispered to him again. "See, I told you! He's practically in love with her already! He calls you up later and starts using anything more than five syllables and you'll know something happened between them."

Arnold did his best once again not to laugh out loud at the comment. "Okay, Helga. I'll make sure to be on the look out for any new vocabulary the next time we talk…" he whispered back.

Meanwhile, as this small exchange between the two blondes took place, another awkward but adorable moment of silence passed between Gerald and Phoebe until finally Gerald, smiling in a sort of daze, took a breath and reached forward, gently taking one of Phoebe's hands and giving a small kiss to the back of it.

She just blushed and blinked several times at the unexpected (though very welcome) gesture, and then smiled warmly at him in return (a touch of red creeping up into her cheeks, coming close to matching the shade of her sweater).

Suddenly, meanwhile, Gerald blinked and, realizing his actions, instantly released his date's hand and took a step back, swallowing hard. He decided to do his best to move on from the romantic/awkward moment, especially since he had no idea where the heck THAT had come from all of a sudden (in point of fact, that had been the first time he had kissed the back of Phoebe's hand like that, but he guessed that because he had seen Arnold doing it just now with Helga that something in him had figured that doing the same would somehow at least be a start to putting him on the right track for tonight). "Uh…so," he finally spoke up, trying to put on a smooth smile (though he wasn't doing the best at it, and the fact that his voice had just cracked a little wasn't helping matters), "…do you want to, um…get going now? I think our reservations are at 6:30 and we don't want to be late, right, babe?" He managed a small laugh.

Phoebe blushed at the inquiry (and of course at the fact that the sweet, suddenly shy boy in front of her had actually kissed her hand) and then smiled more than Gerald ever seen her smile—ever! "Of-of course, Gerald. Let's depart."

"Aw, Arnold…" Helga suddenly announced (this time aloud), releasing her hand from Arnold's and now putting an arm around his shoulders, causing him to raise an eyebrow at her. "Look at them!" she continued almost sentimentally, gesturing with her head down in Gerald and Phoebe's direction. "Our best friends going out on their first official date after two solid weeks of side flirting while you and I were having the biggest emotional crisis of our lives…" She sighed dramatically. "They grow up so fast!"

Gerald rolled his eyes to side, and then put a hand on one of his hips and looked to his best friend with a smug grin. "Hey, Arnold, can you tell your girlfriend to save the wit for someone who's got time…like that Arnold shaped thing in her closet? I'm pretty sure he doesn't have any plans for tonight and that he'd just love to hear her cheap jokes."

Arnold tried to fight it but had to let out a few chuckles at that comment. He glanced from Gerald to Helga, who smirked and looked like she was about to give some clever trump reply. More than foreseeing this course of action, though, our football headed hero suddenly reached up with his hand closest to the door to take the hand of hers now dangling over his shoulder, and then replied with a smile back to his best friend. "Oh, I don't know, Gerald…I think she's got a point. It kind of feels like you two are leaving the nest or something, you know?" 'Hmm…' he couldn't help but observe to himself, having taken a second or two to actually consider why Helga might be laying it on a little thick right now, '…maybe Helga's got the right idea with a few jokes… Both of them do look sort of nervous so it probably wouldn't hurt to lighten the mood just a little…' He recalled the butterflies in his stomach during his own first date last weekend and couldn't help but sympathize.

Gerald, meanwhile, just sighed and dragged a hand down his face at suddenly finding himself double-teamed, while Phoebe just glanced away, blushing and smiling slightly to herself at the idea of her and Gerald kind of graduating to a new level of their relationship.

Back with the two blondes, Helga's smile brightened at the sound of Arnold actually going along with her (and of course at the feeling of managing to both have her arm around him while at the same time getting to hold his hand again). She looked to him. "Exactly! There you go, Football Head! Our little Gerald and Phoebe, all grown up!"

Arnold laughed warmly to himself and Helga joined in.

Finally, Gerald just sighed and smiled at Phoebe, jerking his head in the direction of the blonde couple. "We should probably get going before they really get started." He held out his hand, a much more relaxed look upon his face now.

Phoebe sighed and smiled in return, stepping forward and cupping her hand with his, also looking just a little calmer. "Yes, I believe that would be best."

"Oh, wait a minute!" Helga suddenly exclaimed, grinning ear to ear and causing them both to turn back to face her with raised eyebrows. "Just hold that pose for one second—I need to get the camera!"

She instantly unwound her arm from around her beloved and was actually about to head back in the direction of the door…when Arnold's continued grip on her hand caused her to pause and turn around.

"Helga…" he began, still in that warm, understanding tone of his, "Don't you think we should actually let them get going so that they don't miss their reservations…?" He smiled sweetly at her. After all, a little good-natured joking was one thing but there was something to be said for embarrassing their friends too much. 'If Olga or Phoebe or Lila had come downstairs to take pictures during our first date, I…' The blood rushed to his face and he couldn't finish his thought…though a small, embarrassed yet lovesick smile finished them without words.

Helga frowned just a little bit at his hesitation and then sighed to herself. 'And here we go—back to Mr. Responsible. Come on, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity! I'd KILL for pictures from OUR first date…' That idea almost brought a lovesick grin back to her face. "Aw, Football Head, come on you were doing really good there for a minute—don't go back to having no sense of humor aga—"

"…You can take the pictures after." He suddenly cut her off, shrugging and winking playfully. 'Oh, I guess just one photo of them when they're done or tomorrow to celebrate if she really wants one wouldn't be the worst thing… Besides, it's…kind of hard to say no to her when she looks sad at all…' And slowly he was slipping more and more back into being dazed at just the mere sight of her…and at how she'd pouted just now. She could look even prettier when she did that…her lower lip pushing out just slightly…almost like she knew it was cute and was doing it on purpose for him…

At this new suggestion of his, meanwhile, Helga couldn't help but blink at Arnold…and at the strange, sudden blush and half lidded gaze on his face (which she wasn't going to question at the moment but figured couldn't be foreshadowing of anything too 'horrible' for the rest of her night) and then a large smile came to her face. "You are a lot more fun ever since I came into the picture, you know that, Arnoldo?"

His smile in her direction brightened at the observation…and that made her giggle…and that made him chuckle…and at this point they would have probably been more than content with just staring into each other's eyes for the rest of the night…or the rest of forever…

"I hate you two SO much right now…" This sarcastic statement from Gerald as he rubbed his temples and shook his head, smiling to himself, caused Arnold and Helga to break from their trance in front of Helga's door, and to turn from looking at each other to looking back to their best friends on the sidewalk.

They observed as Gerald just took a breath, the smile still on his face, then cleared his throat, and just turned back to Phoebe, gripping her hand just a little more firmly. "You, uh, seriously wanna get out of here before our best friends bust a gut?"

Phoebe, a small blush in her face, gave him a small half smile and squeezed his hand back. "I do believe that would be the best course of action, Gerald…" she replied. "Helga's never been known for stopping a good joke once she's gotten going."

Gerald laughed at the comment. "Yeah, and like I was saying last night, Arnold's basically a sucker for her at this point so I'm pretty sure he'd go along with the whole gag until she stopped." He shook his head. "Mmm, mmm, mmm…boy never could hold his own around a girl he liked…let alone around one he loves!"

Phoebe giggled as her and Gerald commenced walking away from the stoop and up the street, still suddenly totally ignoring Arnold and Helga...and totally gossiping about them! "Yes, and as long as it was making Arnold smile, I'm sure Helga would keep up the teasing as long as she could." Phoebe rolled her eyes. "She does have quite a fixation on his smile." She sighed in just a touch of exasperation. "I've lost track of the number of times I've caught her just staring at pictures of him for hours…or staring at him for hours…"

Gerald laughed and rolled his eyes. "Hey, at least you didn't have to hear this morning about how nice it is when Helga smiles and blushes and…" he geared up for an Arnold impression, "and how when she kisses it just…" he sighed dramatically and chuckled. "I had to cut him off at that point so that I wouldn't lose my lunch. Man, are those two gone on each other or what?"

Phoebe nodded. "Shitsurenshimasenyo."

Gerald blinked and hesitated for a second just before they rounded the street corner they had been approaching. "Huh?"

Phoebe glanced back at him and smiled. "It means they have absolutely NOT been disappointed in love."

"Ah…" Gerald replied in understanding. "Shitsurei—"

"Shi-tsu-re-n-shi-ma-se-n-yo." Phoebe repeated slowly.

"Shi-tsu-re-n-shi-ma-se-n-yo." Gerald repeated back.

"Excellent, Gerald!" Phoebe replied, her smile bright.

"Well, who could help learning from someone as wonderful as you, babe?" He winked, a nice bit of his usual smoothness returning.

The last sound Arnold and Helga heard was Phoebe giggling once more as the happy new couple rounded the corner entirely.

In fact, Arnold and Helga had both been just watching the entire little exchange between their best friends with mouths agape, totally speechless.

As Gerald and Phoebe left their sights, though, the two blondes finally blinked and then turned to each other with wide stares.

They remained silent for several seconds.

"Did…" finally, Helga managed to find it in her to speak, raising part of her brow, "Did we just get…served…or something?" She scratched her head. "I mean…I'm not even really clear on what that term means but…I think it might have just happened to us, Football Head…"

"I, uh…" Arnold still had a totally confused look on his face as well, "I'm…I'm not sure…" he brushed back some of his hair in perplexity, "Gerald's better at knowing things like that than me…actually my Grandpa is too…I'll ask one of them tomorrow…"

Helga glanced down and blinked a few times, and then couldn't help scoffing and a smile coming to her face. She looked up to her beloved. "Huh… Did you know they talk about…complain about…us, Football Head?"

Arnold raised an eyebrow and shrugged, now looking to her again as well. "No. Did you?"

Helga shrugged in return and then rubbed the back of her neck with her free hand. "I had a feeling the subject of you and me came up every once in a while, especially at the beginning there…but I didn't realize it was about anything except total admiration of my skills at snagging you or of you actually having the stamina to keep up with me…" She gave him a playful half grin.

Arnold, smiling, just rolled his eyes despite the blush the comment brought to his face.

Helga appeared to be in thought for another second or two but then just sighed once again and smiled. "Well, I don't know about you, Football Head, but I might be censoring things I tell MY best friend a bit more in the future…"

Arnold couldn't help but chuckle at the suggestion and look down a little sheepishly. "Yeah, I think you might be right about doing that, Helga…"

"Mmm hmm…" Then suddenly she smiled a bit more mischievously than before and took a coy step toward him, breaking from his grasp and putting her arms behind her back. "But, uh, as long as we just discovered how annoying we can both be in private…you wanna tell me more about how nice it is when Helga smiles and blushes and how when she kisses it just…" She sighed dramatically just like Gerald had during his impression, and then burst into laughter. "I'd pay big money to hear the end of that sentence, Football Head—believe me!" She shook her head at him in amusement.

"And I would pay big money to hear about how even though we were 'mortal enemies' you somehow found ways to stare at me for…hours, was it, Helga…?" he suddenly took a step closer to her, smiling with that half lidded gaze of his and effectively catching her off guard by the movement of his face to within mere inches of hers now.

Helga blinked, her eyes going wide, and almost reeled back at the unexpected comeback as well as at her beloved's sudden proximity…and how it made her heart flutter wildly (especially considering the last thing that had happened between them when Arnold had suddenly come that close…last night…alone in her room…).

Arnold, however, seeing her moving back like that, suddenly quickly reached out caught her behind the back, effectively keeping her from losing her balance while at the same time managing to pull the two of them very VERY close to each other now….wide blue eyes flowing almost directly into loving green.

There was a second of silence in which Arnold just continued to smile into Helga's face while Helga just stared in minor terror into his, feeling his warm arm around her waist and her heart pumping like mad…She couldn't imagine that he wasn't hearing it, it was so prominent. 'Uh…'

"But…" Arnold then whispered slowly…and then he let her go and moved away from her, putting his hands behind his back and still just smiling at her. "We have dinner plans ourselves, if I'm not mistaken. Something about meeting your parents again?" He raised an eyebrow.

Helga had to blink a few times and take several deep breaths to get herself calm after practically being nose to nose with Arnold, his arm around her body. But then, "Wh-huh? Oh, uh…yeah, yeah…dinner with Bob and Miriam. Heh, heh…" the ten-year-old blonde managed to get out. She continued by trying to play off her flustered reaction, though she more than knew it was pointless. Once again, getting used to Arnold's more romantically aggressive side (however much of a dream come true it was for her) was something she handled much better in small, pre-planned doses. Yet, he seemed bent on spontaneity. 'Still, not the WORST Arnold situation I've ever had to deal with…' she couldn't help but think to herself, feeling a small smile come to her face.

Arnold, meanwhile, just chuckled to himself at how much he had obviously just gotten to her and then turned back toward the door. 'That was really fun, actually… And she always really does look so pretty when her eyes get wide like that and she blushes around me…' He felt a sigh escape him. 'If she'd done that even once in front of me during those six years before her confession, I… Well, it at least wouldn't have taken until nearly the end of the fourth grade to feel my heart skip a beat for the first time around her…'

Helga, meanwhile, finally took one last breath and, feeling as back to normal as she was probably going to get for now, rolled her eyes and went in the direction of the door herself. "And by the way," she began playfully, feeling much more in control of herself now, "That was a pretty cheap shot grabbing me like that just so I'd let you off the hook for now about the kissing thing again." She smirked at him, crossing her arms over her chest. "You better plan on explaining to me in detail just how incredibly earth shattering my kissing is sometime real soon, Football Head."

Arnold was about to reach for the door handle to allow her to enter as he prepared to reply to her (a slight blush upon his features), but she beat him too it and held it open, gesturing for him to enter first instead. "And, hey, didn't we already establish that I don't want a bunch of special treatment because I'm a girl?" She put her free hand on her hip. "You can 'go first' sometimes too, Football Head. Especially when you're the guest!" She smiled.

Arnold just smiled back and entered the foyer with a nod. "Thank you, Helga…"

Helga entered as well and closed the door behind them. "No problem, my Arnold…" she replied with a small, happy sigh.

Arnold let out a bit more of a nervous sigh and crossed his arms over his chest, trying not to blush at the possessive before his name. A small smile came to his face as he then spoke to her in a low voice to be sure that only the two of them would hear. "Is that your way of telling me to call you 'my Helga' when we sit down to eat with your parents?" He shrugged and glanced back over his shoulder in her direction. "I mean, I was just planning to stare at you dreamily and hold your hand and kiss up your arm all evening but if you'd like the 'my Helga' too I guess I could—"

The color instantly drained from Helga's face and she lost her smirk immediately. "Arnold, I swear," she suddenly began desperately, cutting him off, and now running up in front of him and gripping his shoulders, "I know you're addicted to all this lovey dovey stuff and I know I like to have my fun with you when we're alone but please don't do anything even remotely like that to me! Even as a joke! Bob will KILL you. And Miriam…" Helga glanced to the side and swallowed hard, "Well…I'll explain more later but Miriam kind of found out…everything… But trust me somehow that would make it even worse."

Arnold blinked, his smile suddenly growing. "You told your Mom?" he couldn't help but almost exclaim in surprise. 'But…she's always complaining about how her parents never listen to anything she says…how they don't care…' Arnold couldn't help the small bit of pain that went through him as he recalled some of the things he'd managed to get out of Helga in regards to her more 'familial-based' motivations for always acting so defensive over the years…especially those extra details she'd filled him in on about the day they'd met and how she'd ended up wet and alone at that preschool of theirs in the first place. He came out of these memories and couldn't help but also wonder to himself with curiosity and confusion. 'And also, I know Helga…she'd never give up how she feels about me to anyone unless she really trusted them…unless she really thought they cared about her…' "I mean…" he suddenly continued, coming out of his thoughts and looking into her eyes again, "she was actually there for you to have a real conversation with her, and you told her about—"

Helga put a hand over his mouth (just in case Bob was within earshot (his voice had unintentionally gotten a bit louder in his surprise) ) and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, more or less, Football Head. I told you she and my Dad have been acting…well, I don't know…better lately, and I thought it would tank the second Olga left but apparently they're in this new 'parent of the year' streak for the long haul. So, when they came home last night Miriam and I were talking a little and…" he noticed Helga blush just a little, "She already had some suspicions thanks to my sister and a few other things from the past but…I…kind of accidentally completely confirmed it for her."

Arnold gently removed her hand and couldn't help but smirk at her nervous looking face just slightly. "You told someone else your secret, Helga? Again?" He tried very hard not to chuckle as he did his best to lighten the mood a little, seeing how much this new development had probably been putting her through over the last twenty four hours (and also he was just happy that it sounded like Helga had indeed made some headway with letting Mr. and Mrs. Pataki see just how wonderful and interesting of a person she really was). "At least tell me this time didn't involve making the person you told pass out in a kitchen like with Gerald." He raised an eyebrow at her playfully.

Helga, to his amusement, just rolled her eyes with as much exaggeration as she could muster at this question (and she was also unable to hide the smile starting to pick up at one side of her face). "Ha-ha, Football Head. Hilarious." She let out sigh and crossed her arms over her chest, looking to the side just a little sheepishly. "Actually, I was who blacked out and ended up unconscious on the floor…after she found my locket."

Helga couldn't help the touch of worry she was feeling about having shared this information with her beloved… She didn't want him going into the dinner feeling self-conscious or uncomfortable, but she had at least wanted to share the truth with him and to also show him to just what extent Miriam was in the loop now.

She blinked and looked up at seeing his shadow move closer to her. Her breath caught in her throat and her heart skipped a bit as her eyes rose to meet Arnold's half lidded ones…which were quite close to her again this evening, along with the rest of his perfect self, all of a sudden. "Well…" he began, looking up into her still slightly downcast eyes, "I'm just happy you have someone else from your family to talk to about things, especially since Olga's not around all the time. And I'm also happy you're parents are still being nice to you…" he added, referring to the fears Helga had shared with him at one point over the last week that when Olga left the whole 'we're a happy family' thing would leave Bob and Miriam's systems right along with her.

Helga took a second to absorb what he'd just said…and then felt a truly happy smile come to her face. She just sighed and gave him a look. "You know that you're the greatest boyfriend on the planet, right, Arnold?"

He just chuckled a little and pulled back slightly to give her some space. "Whatever you say, Helga…"

Helga, despite the fact that she knew that they indeed had a dinner to go to, gave herself a few seconds to just gaze happily at her beloved, and to once again take in the fact that him caring for her now was a reality…until she saw a slightly uncomfortable look come over his face, which he was obviously trying to conceal.

"So, um…" he suddenly began, trying to sound casual. Helga was intrigued, to say the least. "Does…your Dad kind of suspect anything…?" Arnold did his best to smile at Helga but it was hard to do so considering the touch of fear currently running through him. Arnold had gotten over any kind of reservations about seeing Big Bob Pataki this evening hours ago… In fact, he actually had a sort of a 'plan' for how to behave at this dinner to maybe help things along with allowing Helga's parents to feel more comfortable around him and for allowing Helga to feel more comfortable having him around them. But, if Bob knew that Helga was in love with him…and that he was in love with her…that might…complicate things, to say the least.

He was very relieved when Helga blinked and smiled and instantly put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Oh for Pete's sake, NO, Arnold! I asked Miriam to not go into details about things with us to him, and I already gave Olga a good talking to for hinting even to our Mom in the first place, and as for Bob's own 'keen sense of observation'…" She laughed. "Well, he's the only person on the planet who I think could top you for denseness, Football Head." She smiled and removed her hand from his shoulder, jerking her thumb in the direction of the dining room where her father currently was. "The Beeper King still just thinks we're friends who've gotten a little too close for his tastes. Nothing more." She winked.

Arnold let out a very happy sigh. "Oh, um…good. I…I mean," he looked at her a little more seriously, "If you ever want to tell him, then of course I want you to, Helga." He glanced sheepishly to the side. "But I guess I just…feel a little more comfortable, since we're all going to have dinner together now, knowing that he doesn't know about…everything…" He blushed…but then blinked and looked up and added. "But, him knowing aside…he really is treating you better and giving you more attention too, right? Just like your mom?" He finished with a touch of concern evident in his voice.

Helga couldn't help but let out a small, happy laugh at his caring question. She waved him off. "Don't worry, Football Head, he's behaving too. Actually…" He watched with interest as she suddenly rummaged in one of her jumper pockets for a second, and then pulled out a cell phone. "…That's where that cell phone I mentioned last night came from—belated birthday present from Bob himself. Can you believe it?" She glanced at the phone for a second with a smile and then shook her head and put it back in her pocket. She then looked to Arnold again, crossing her arms over her chest. "Actually, this dinner with you and WITHOUT Bob going postal is part two of my three part present…"

Arnold smiled at her confirmation that things were indeed going well with both of her parents) but then couldn't help raising an eyebrow at that last bit of information she'd revealed. "What's part three?"

He noticed, with more interest, the question suddenly brought a serious blush to Helga's face. She glanced away, half smiling to herself. "Oh…don't worry about that, Football Head…" She waved him off coyly. "You'll, uh…you'll know when I decide to fill you in…or if you decide to pull anymore random break-ins sometime in the slightly distant future."

Arnold just continued to raise an eyebrow at her in total perplexity. 'What could she have asked for for her—' And then suddenly he blinked like a random realization had come over him...which, indeed, it had. 'I never…how could I be that stupid?' "Helga!" he instantly exclaimed, looking at her with wide eyes. "I…I never got you a present for your birthday. I mean a real present!" he added, referring to his prank present for her back during April Fools Day. 'That's a basic thing—you're supposed to get the person you care about a present on their birthday. And even though I didn't love her back then I knew she loved me and I've always at least cared about her. How could I forget something that important?'

Meanwhile, Helga had to just blink at this sudden fearful observation from her beloved, and at the amount of guilt and sadness present Arnold's tone as it came out of his mouth.

"I mean…" Arnold continued, still looking quite distressed and glancing down, "I know that I wasn't…that we weren't together then but…it was only a couple of months ago…" He looked right into her eyes. "Helga is there anything that you—"

Realizing now where he was going with all this, Helga had to roll her eyes and she then placed a hand over his mouth once again that evening before he could continue. "Football Head," she began, shaking her head at him and his little do-gooder ways in amusement, "Less than one week after my birthday you were my personal slave and then danced a tango with me that I still have dreams about. Why don't we leave it at that for now and you can catch me next time around? The big one-one." She winked and removed her hand so he could speak again.

Arnold had to smile at her wit but he still looked a bit unsure. "But…are you sure, Helga? I mean, I just—"

She just sighed, still smiling, and crossed her arms over her chest. 'Always with that conscience of his…Lucky for him it's one of his cutest character traits…' "Football Head," she began lightheartedly, "If you really want to get me something then just do something small and…I don't know, pay for the movies tonight or something." She had to almost chuckle as she added truthfully, "Actually that would be really helpful since I'm a little strapped for cash considering all those pink books I've been having to invest in. Once again, Arnold—human being, not a printing press. Pace yourself, my love." She winked once more.

At this new affectionate little nickname Arnold felt his heart pound and he had to glance away, knowing full well how red his face must be. 'My love'…. That was a little more intense and unexpected than just 'My Arnold…'. 'My…my love… I'm her…her love…' He felt a happy twist in his stomach. 'I'm…okay with being that too…' That strange, funny feeling in his stomach that he'd been coming to like more and more lingered. 'Okay, wow, I'm actually really, really okay with being that too…'

Helga, meanwhile, just sighed and rolled her eyes at Arnold's seemingly catatonic state, and then grabbed one of his hands in one of hers again. 'Nice…I have to remember that calling him new stuff makes him look all shy and cute and embarrassed like that.' "Okay, okay, come on, now, enough flirting!" she then announced, giving him a look over her shoulder. "Miriam and Bob are probably finished setting out the food and junk, and last I checked the table was set so let's get in there and the sooner this is over the sooner I get you all alone in the back of a dark movie theatre for two hours …" She lowered her eyelids just slightly and leaned back a little closer to him as she added in a lower voice, "And this isn't Lulu or Hilda we're talking about it's me, so I don't want to hear about how I'm 'Arnie's girlfriend and we're nine,' because I'm your girlfriend and we're ten…" She then took a moment to turn completely back around to him and take a step very VERY close to his already blushing face. "Besides…you seem to have developed this new habit of putting an arm around me to pull me closer every time there's suddenly a kiss in the air between us, Football Head…and I want to make sure it sticks. Practice makes perfect, after all!"

She giggled quietly and Arnold felt his heart pound in his chest. He took several shallow breaths, his wide eyes caught in her laughing ones as he tried to process once again that this charming, funny, smart, creative, pretty, interesting girl was excited…all about kissing him…and about feeling his arm around her…And then he couldn't help but recall how in that dream of his Lulu had suddenly tried to pull him secretly off to the side in the movies and kiss him…and wondered if Helga would do the same thing… kind of like he'd been imagining doing with her at school…

His love-paralyzed thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Helga announcing with a laugh as she took a step back from him and shrugged, "Sorry, Football Head—just getting you back a little for what you put me through out there on the stoop."

She released his hand and now secured her fists on her hips. "Now, let's eat, Arnoldo, because I am STARVING!" And with that she turned around and began earnestly heading in the direction of the dining room. "Hey, Mir—Mom, Dad—Arnold's here for dinner!" she called out, cupping one of her hands over the side of her mouth.

"Okay, sweetie! I'm just finishing setting up things in here and your father's already sitting down!" came Miriam's voice from the dining room. "Just come in and have a seat anywhere! I hope you kids like…er, Bob, what did Olga call this?"

An audible grumble from Bob in the dining room could be heard. "Eh, I don't know, Miriam—one of those fancy Olga dishes. Stroganoff or something"

"Oh right, right…." came Miriam's airy voice in reply.

"Hey, O—Helga, get in here already so we can chow down! Yeesh, how long does it take to let the boy inside and just say hello to him?"

Helga half smiled and blushed at the comment from her father. "Hey, Bob, wasn't there some kind of condition tonight about no interrogating questions?" she called out playfully.

Another grumble from Bob could be heard. "Oh alright…" he finally said in defeat. "Just get in here before everything gets too cold, okay?"

"You got it, Bob!" Helga called with a smile.

She then turned back to Arnold, took a deep, centering breath and finally just shrugged. "Well, now or never, Football Head."

Arnold laughed warmly to himself at her slight nervousness about the situation they were about to walk into, and that she was obviously trying very hard to hide for his sake... Though to be honest he really had been thinking about this dinner for several hours now…and about the best way to handle it considering what he knew from Helga and from his own observations about Big Bob Pataki (and, of course, maybe from a small talk not too many hours ago with his grandfather about how he had handled really meeting Gertie's parents for the first time). "After you…" he suddenly announced to her, bowing low and extending his arm in the direction of the dining room.

Helga had to raise a skeptical eyebrow at the overly formal gesture.

Arnold just looked to her with that same happy smile though. "What?" he asked, almost with a chuckle. "You let me come inside first, and now I'm letting you go into the dining room first. Just trying to keep things equal, Helga."

The explanation couldn't help but get a small, amused chuckle out of her, and Arnold was happy that he'd managed to make her laugh a little and thus possibly help ease her secret worries about this dinner even just a tiny bit.

"Whatever you say, Arnoldo, whatever you say…" She shook her head and began to walk forward. 'Oh well, if he's got to have some outlet for his chivalry, better it's letting me walk into a room first sometimes than fighting it tooth and nail to resist nine out of ten urges he has to kiss me…' she couldn't help but think to herself with an amused half grin.

Suddenly, though, Helga was ripped from her thoughts and she had to blink and pause in her next step forward as she felt Arnold's extended arm suddenly grab one of her hands from behind firmly. She turned to face him…and her breath hitched in her throat as he quickly moved his face as close as possible to her ear and whispered, "And as for that question you asked me before about how exactly it makes me feel when you kiss me…well, I'm planning another crazy scheme to let you know that but you'll have to give me a little while longer…I've got some good ideas though, and believe me I think you'll like how it all turns out…"

He then pulled back, winked and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, not giving a stunned looking Helga the chance to say a response as he suddenly pulled her into the dining room where the Pataki parents were currently sitting. He let her hand go just as they entered.

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Pataki, it's nice to see you again." Arnold accompanied this polite greeting to Helga's Mom and Dad with one of his usual innocent smiles…which he was trying very hard to maintain since much of his focus was also currently on avoiding the bright blush threatening to come to his face at what he'd just said and done to Helga. In his defense, though, he really hadn't been able to resist…especially with all of the very descriptive writing he'd been doing about a certain person whenever he'd gotten the chance this morning and afternoon.

Miriam Pataki smiled and her voice took Arnold away from his thoughts on Helga for the moment, and put them back on the dinner at hand. "Oh hello…uh, Arnold. It's very nice to see you too." She smiled a bit more brightly. "Isn't it B?" She turned to her husband.

"Huh? Oh, uh…" Bob blinked and hesitated for a second, but recalled his promise to his youngest daughter about his behavior tonight and then cleared his throat and continued speaking, trying not to seem nearly as frustrated as he really was about this whole situation of another one of his daughters suddenly starting to cling to a boy so much. "Yeah, it's…uh, it's nice to see you again…Arnold. Is, uh…is Helga still tutoring you or whatever you two were working on for school?"

Arnold pulled out a chair for Helga (who was still standing there dumbstruck, almost causing him to give into a chuckle) and then he pulled one out for himself and sat, still smiling as he turned in Bob's direction. "Actually we finished the project we were working on last week, but…Helga's always been a special friend of mine and she helped me a lot so we've been spending a bit more time together ever since then. Right, Helga?"

He looked to the wide eyed girl still just standing frozen stiff near the chair he'd pulled out for her.

"Helga?" Arnold asked with an eyebrow raised, trying very hard not to laugh once again and hoping no one else would notice the significant blush creeping into her cheeks.

"Huh?" At the second calling of her name from her beloved Helga blinked and came back to planet earth. She quickly did her best to regain herself, recalling that the eyes of both of her parents were currently upon her just as much as Arnold's were. "Oh uh…yeah…the tutoring." She cleared her throat and glanced in Bob's direction, arms behind her back. "Yeah, I mean…I started talking to the little shrimp so much while we were working on all that stuff for Simmons that I guess I figured it wouldn't kill us to spend a little more time together." She hopped up into her chair and had her mouth open to speak again, when she had to pause at the feeling of Arnold suddenly lightly grabbing her hand just before she pushed her seat in. She swallowed hard and did her best to finish as causally as possible, hoping no one had noticed his move or her obvious reaction to it, "Uh…that's about the long and short of it between us…just a couple of crazy kids having a good time together, heh, heh…" 'Oh great—I just had to come into this mess rambling like an idiot!' Helga mentally chided herself. 'Next thing you know I'll start Freudian-slipping worse than that first time at Bliss' office. I can just see dessert now: 'Oh Helga, would you like a slice of apple pie?' 'Oh yes, Miriam, I'd just love a slice of Arnold! With extra whipped cream!' ' She mentally sighed to herself. 'Stupid Football Head and his stupid cryptic flirtatious statements and his stupid hand holding to help me feel better about things!' Then she smiled to herself. 'If I didn't love the little loser and if he didn't love me back I'd pound him or something.'

Managing to come just a little out of her thoughts, Helga reached forward for a ladle and put a heap of mashed potatoes on her plate, and began to play with them with her fork, not looking up at either of her parents...especially as she now had a very slight lovesick grin on her face that she couldn't really control at the moment.

"Well, Helga," she heard her mother begin supportively, obviously trying to move the conversation along and to cut Helga a small break as she took a spoonful of potatoes as well and then passed them along, "It's nice that you've got such a special friend in Arnold here, isn't it B?" She turned back to Bob with a smile.

Bob piled some meat onto his plate and started to play with it with his fork. "Yeah…uh, special friends…great…" He glanced at his youngest daughter, a slight scowl on his face. "You still have that cell phone I gave you, right, Helga?"

Helga blinked and managed to look up, feeling a blush starting to come on again. "Oh, uh…yeah, of course Bob."

The Beeper King turned back to his food at the reply, still looking a little protestful as he responded as casually as he could, "Oh, good…good…just uh, just keep it on in the movies tonight like I asked, okay?"

Helga sighed and scowled and was about to lose her temper a little at how difficult it looked like her father was gearing up to be tonight about her and Arnold despite the conditions she'd set down in advance for this meal…when she suddenly felt a very warm feeling move along her arm and realized that Arnold had just squeezed her hand a bit more firmly underneath the table. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye but he was just sitting there smiling and sipping some water and eating a bite of food here and there.

And then, randomly enough, he cleared his throat and she heard him address Bob in her place (her eyes going wide at this bold move.) "You gave Helga a cell phone, Mr. Pataki? Wow…that's really smart…" Arnold observed in a genuinely impressed sounding voice. "I mean, even if she's just out with a friend you should have a way of getting in touch with her and…I think it's important that she always has a way of getting in touch with you and Mrs. Pataki. Don't worry, I'll make sure she doesn't forget to turn it on tonight." He then put down his fork and reached for his napkin, wiping at the corner of his mouth before putting it down again and suddenly adding 'seemingly' as an afterthought, "Oh, and her curfew's ten, right? I just wanted to double check so that we don't pick a movie that's too long so that I can walk her home on time. After all, we're only ten—it probably isn't safe for us to be out later than that and I want to make sure Helga's safe and at home where she belongs before I head back to the boarding house." Finishing this small speech he then casually reached forward for his glass and took another sip of water, a content smile still on his face as it had been the entire time he had been talking. He then turned to the girl beside him and asked casually, "Can you pass the vegetables, Helga?"

Miriam's fork actually dropped to her plate and a serious grin started forming on her face.

Helga just blinked and her mouth went agape…. She at least did manage to slide the bowl of food closer to him, though.

Bob, meanwhile, just blinked several times, trying to process everything Arnold had just said to him. "Oh…well, I…" And then suddenly, to Helga's continued great surprise, a smile actually came to her father's face. "Hey, you're pretty sharp, kid." He glanced at his daughter. "Ol—Helga, you didn't tell me this boy had a head on his shoulders!"

"Uh…" She was completely at a loss for words. "I…" 'Uh…what just happened?'

Bob turned to Arnold again, this time full on smiling. "Hey, uh, Arnold, right? You watch much football?"

Arnold smiled back politely, picking up his fork again to resume eating. "Well, not really…but me and the other kids in our class play a lot in Gerald field or the park whenever it starts getting too cold or rainy for baseball. Actually," he glanced at Helga again, "Helga's one of our best quarterbacks along with me… We kind of alternate depending on whose playing style works best for each game."

Bob blinked and looked to his daughter, an eyebrow raised. "Helga, where the heck did you learn how to play football? And you're the quarterback?"

At these typical 'clueless about her' questions from Bob, Helga couldn't help but sigh and roll her eyes, dragging her hand not currently in Arnold's grasp down her face. In addition to this reaction, her annoyance at her father's ignorance also helped to let Helga's thoughts finally start to become coherent again. 'I cannot believe this…Arnold is actually trying to relate to and level with my Dad…!' She recalled how on their date Friday she might have mentioned to her beloved Bob's fixation on sports to the point of neglect of everyone else around him, and how he'd even liked that creepy fiancé of Olga's just because he'd known something about sports. 'And, backing things up a bit…' Her thoughts went back to Arnold, 'When did ARNOLD get enough foresight to come into a potentially disastrous situation like this with a strategy and a game plan! I mean, one other than 'I'll just be totally, bluntly, painfully honest, completely disregarding all foresight, and everything will work out!' ?' She almost put her free hand to her forehead in mild disbelief. 'Sheesh, I really DID rip Football Head out of all of his cluelessness with all the stuff I've been putting him through over the last two months, didn't I? I mean, crimeny—he's buttering Bob up and actually doing really well at it, but still managing to more or less be his honest little self! I don't think pre-confession Arnold could have pulled that off in a million years!'

Recalling at the back of her mind that, despite her very real capacity to get lost in her more-than-surprised thoughts about what her beloved was currently doing, her father was still waiting for a response from her, Helga just did her best to break from her shock bordering on impressed amusement, and then replied to Bob in a level voice and with a shrug in regards to his inquiry about her football skills, "Well, all those years of watching you watch games, I guess I just kind of picked up on it or something."

She felt Arnold squeeze her hand again, and it sent another jolt of warmth through her body. "Oh, come on, Helga, don't be modest—we never would have won that big game against the fifth graders that one time without how you motivated everyone…"

Helga rolled her eyes, feeling a slight chuckle coming on (and a slight blush—'Easy on the physical contact, there, Arnold…at least until we're alone again'). "Actually, if I remember correctly, your loopy plays were what brought us to victory in the end, Football Head…" She looked to him with a half smile, taking a bite of food.

Arnold returned the facial gesture and then leaned his head upon his free hand, his elbow resting upon the table. "Yeah, but, without you leading everyone and keeping them going even during those few bad downs, we never would have been able to get that last touchdown with Gerald."

Helga finally let out a small chuckle, doing her best to just smile at Arnold and not go all 'half lidded, batting the eyelashes, trying to pout her lips just slightly so he would notice them more' on him. "Well, I can't argue with you about my ability to whip those bunch of chuckleheads we hang out with into shape on a regular basis, Arnoldo!" She rolled her eyes and half grinned at him, only to be met with him sighing at her, still with a grin as well.

Helga realized, after about two or three seconds, that somehow or other, despite her best efforts, her and Arnold were basically staring dreamily into each other's eyes. She quickly cleared her throat and looked back to her father, hoping he hadn't noticed (The attempt of Miriam, currently stationed at the end of the table to Helga's right, to keep the giggle that escaped her as quiet as possible had already alerted Helga to the fact that her mother, at least, had indeed more than seen the quick little exchange.)

Bob, however, was just smiling in amazement at the two kids, obviously not suspecting a thing. ('Are all guys completely dense when it comes to love?' Helga couldn't help but wonder to herself.) "Hey, so you won?" Bob continued in an impressed tone. "That's great! Was it really that close of a game?"

"Oh yeah!" Arnold nodded his head and met Big Bob's eyes again, his blushing thankfully not getting the better of him just yet though his heart continued to beat a little quickly at how close he'd just come to absentmindedly raising up his and Helga's hands from under the table and giving hers a small, soft kiss (it also probably wasn't helping to temper his heartbeat either that he was still holding Helga's warm hand, but in his defense…some things were more important than feeling a little embarrassed…). "You see," he continued, taking a small breath to calm himself before going on, "We had this bet with this fifth grader Wolfgang that we could beat his whole class with our whole class but then our secret weapon, Torvald (he's a fourth grader but he got left back a few times so he's thirteen) twisted his ankle on the first down so it was just us against them, and between Helga and me we managed to tie it up but then it started raining so we pulled one more desperate play in the mud and it actually worked!" His embarrassment having all but ebbed now, Arnold's smile picked up a little on one side and then a new thought suddenly occurred to him. "I can't even think of a baseball game we've played that was as fun as that one football game, to be honest…Hmm…" He smiled to himself and glanced down, taking a bite of food from his plate.

Bob took another hearty bite himself as Arnold finished, still with that kind of impressed look on his face. "You kids play a lot of baseball too?" He glanced at his daughter. "I thought that was just some kind of 'every once in a while' thing, Helga… You mean you do it all the time?"

Helga couldn't help rolling her eyes once again and replying in a slightly tenser voice (hey, he might have remembered about the strawberries on a fluke but come on—NOT knowing that baseball was one of the biggest things in her life besides school…and Arnold of course…? Really?). "Yes, Bob, welcome to the wonderful world of Helga," she responded dully, grabbing a spoonful of green beans from another bowl. "I've been catcher and practically the coach of those yahoos I go to school with for the past four years!"

Bob blinked a few times at this information. "Hey, catcher's a pretty tough position, Helga—are you sure you—"

Arnold quickly swallowed a mouthful of water and put down his glass, and spoke up again with a smile. "Oh, but Helga's really good at it, Mr. Pataki. I couldn't imagine anyone else who could take her place. This year alone she's been averaging at least three outs per game alone just from catching pop flys at the plate or diving at runner's trying to slide into home. Right, Helga?" he turned to her and asked supportively.

Helga just blinked and looked a little surprised at another sudden compliment. "Oh, um…th-thanks, Arnold…" Her voice was threatening to go just a bit dreamy so she cleared her throat and finished with, "I mean, yeah, I do do pretty fantastically if I do say so myself."

Bob took a swig of his water, his eyes brightening at this information from the two kids. "Hey, Helga, you gotta let me and Miriam come to one of those games!"

"Yes, Helga," Miriam suddenly agreed with a smile, swallowing a bite of food and bringing her napkin to her chin. "When's the next one?"

Helga blinked, looking from her mother to her father in just a touch of surprise at their quite genuine enthusiasm about the idea. No one…had ever really cared enough to ever come see her do something extracurricular (except for Olga a couple of times when she'd still been living them while she had been going to high school). "Uh…this Wednesday at four… We're going up against the fifth graders again…" 'Huh…neat…'

"Perfect!" Bob smiled. "I can take the afternoon off from the emporium and we'll come by. Hey, uh, Arnold," he turned to Arnold again, "What position do you play?"

Arnold had his mouth open and was about to respond when Helga suddenly smirked and with a chuckle answered for him, unable to resist, "Launcher of Heat seeking baseball missiles."

Arnold blinked and then turned to her and gave her a bit of a look, a sheepish smile now upon his face. "Helga…I've gotten better about that, you know…"

Bob blinked and looked from boy to girl. "What are you two talking about?"

Helga laughed to herself once more and then looked at her father, taking and swallowing another forkful of food. "Oh, well, Football Head here…" she jerked the thumb of her hand still holding her fork in Arnold's direction, "…likes to randomly bean people almost every time he gets a hit… And I mean, he gets lots of hits, I'll give him that…but about a month ago every single one of them was sending another person to the nurse's office, including me!"

Arnold sighed and rolled his eyes. "Helga, I told you and everyone else, I talked to Mickey Kaline and got it under control. Mostly…" He glanced down sheepishly again.

"Hey, you just keep up that batting average and the RBI's, and steer clear of MY head and I don't care what happens to the ball after you whack it!" she replied with her usual sarcastic yet warm tone, smirking at him a little.

Arnold finally had to laugh at that statement. "I'll do my best, Helga."

Helga was about to open her mouth to reply when…

"Oh, so you had dangerous lumber?" asked Bob suddenly of the young boy.

Helga blinked and turned to her father, totally unsure of where that had come from or what to make of it.

Arnold blinked and looked to Bob Pataki as well, equally puzzled and surprised…and then suddenly a genuinely impressed look came to his face and he raised an eyebrow. "Yeah…Dangerous Lumber. How did you…I mean, that's not a term that everyone seems to know, Mr. Pataki. Did you know someone who had it once?"

Bob actually laughed to himself as he took another helping of food from a platter. "Oh, well…you know I played a little ball in college myself and you'd be surprised how many people end up with that problem. It's great for your stats but murder on anyone in the field—including your own teammates. If you want to make it even better, try closing one of your eyes when you bat—I don't know how but it helped a lot of the guys. Some kind of optical illusion—messes with depth perception or something and at least makes it less likely that you'll hit the pitcher."

Arnold smiled. Genuinely and sincerely smiled. "Wow, thanks Mr. Pataki—I'll try it!" he responded brightly.

Bob nodded, still smiling with approval at the young boy he'd been so hesitant about having a meal with not too long ago. "You're welcome, kid. And hey, so, what position do you actually play?"

"Shortstop," Arnold replied, taking a helping of Stroganoff.

Bob blinked in total surprise, and then his grin picked up on one side. "Hey, I used to do shortstop back in high school until my knee gave out and they switched me to left field." He looked to his daughter again. "He any good, Helga?"

Helga couldn't help but smile and glance down again at her food at the question…and at how well Arnold really was doing with making this meal NOT be a nightmare for her. "Oh, probably better than I give him credit for…" she began with that familiar lilt of sarcasm, "But I gotta be harsh on him or he'll never be the best!" She glanced at Arnold out of the corner of her eye. "I swear, Football Head, you have gotten good over the years thanks to me but you practically needed me to 'hold your hand' through everything sometimes."

Arnold did his best not to blush at the joke.

"Well, it certainly seems like you and Helga and all of your friends have a lot of fun together," Miriam suddenly added with a smile, dabbing her face with a napkin. "Are there any other sports you two play together?"

Arnold considered for a second, then looked to her. "Well, we bowled against each other once with Coach Wittenberg and his wife…"

Miriam raised an eyebrow but then blinked. "Oh yes, I remember now…" She turned to her daughter. "Helga, weren't you the maid of honor at their vow renewal?"

Helga cleared her throat and glanced away, trying not to smile too much as she took another sip of water before replying. "Uh, yeah…and, uh…" she glanced to her beloved with an all-knowing half grin, "You were the best man if I'm not mistaken, right, Football Head?"

Arnold swallowed some food and couldn't help feel a very warm and fluttery feeling come over him at the memory…and how interesting it was, now that he thought about it, to have had him and Helga walk down the aisle together that day as part of the ceremony. And how she'd fainted after catching the bouquet and he'd caught her in his arms and wondered why she'd been smiling and saying 'I do, I do…' He tried as hard as he could not to laugh, settling instead for clearing his throat and replying with a small sigh. "Uh…yeah…for Coach Wittenberg…"

He was just sitting there smiling and looking incredibly goofy and Helga knew that, impressed with him or not, even Bob was bound to notice him staring off into space for a good minute or two and maybe mumbling her name while he gave into a few romantic daydreams until he came back to his senses of his own accord. 'Come on, Arnold, we can't blow this now—it's actually working out! Who knew?'

So Helga cleared her throat and did her best to help her dearest Arnold along. "Uh…so, you do any other sports with Wittenberg besides the bowling, Football Head?" She gave him a very light punch in the shoulder with her free hand. "I mean, how did you meet that guy in the first place?"

Arnold blinked and looked up, and suddenly remembered that he had been in the middle of answering a question from Helga's mom about Coach Wittenberg before he'd let himself get (quite pleasantly, actually) sidetracked by the idea of himself in his tux holding Helga in her dress in his arms when she'd fallen with that smile on her face…right near the altar…with the flowers in her hand…

He cleared his throat, finally tearing himself completely from these quite consuming reminisces and imaginings, and finally turned back to Miriam (avoiding eye contact with Helga, of course, as he knew the cute smirk that must be on her face right now at his actions wouldn't exactly help him stay focused here). "Oh, uh, yeah—I, uh, I actually met him when I was doing basketball at the Y for a little while…" Suddenly Arnold couldn't help grinning to himself as another memory of Coach Wittenberg surfaced in his mind. "And as for other sports we did with him, one time he might have convinced me and the other guys from our class to help him out with a synchronized swimming competition…"

Helga actually almost choked on the bite of food in her mouth, the compulsion to laugh at the image Arnold had just reminded her of was so hysterical to her.

"Synchornized Swimming? What the heck is that?" asked Bob, scratching his head across the table.

"It's swimming in choreographed sequence to music, B," Miriam suddenly informed him, and then she turned to Arnold. "I used to do a lot of swimming back in college—mostly races but I tried some synchronized swimming myself once or twice. Not as easy as it looks, is it?"

Arnold had to laugh and shake his head. "Definitely not. But…it was a good experience and I was glad we could help out the coach."

"Football Head," Helga began with an impressed smirk, moving closer so she was right in his face, "I can't believe I almost forgot about that..." And indeed on that particular day Helga had made sure to completely free her schedule… Arnold in a bathing suit performing in public? Yeah, that had more than called for doing an emergency free up of an afternoon. "You have got to give me all of the details about how the heck you got yourself roped into that!"

Arnold just smiled as he continued eating, now just staring straight down into his plate as it was the only way he could avoid making eye contact with Helga since she'd just made it so that those very...very nice blue eyes of hers were so close... "Whatever you say, Helga…"

She just giggled at his continued shyness with not looking at her, and then moved away from him and resumed eating as well, cutting her bashful little beloved a small break for now…

For a minute or two the four occupants of the Pataki table just sat and ate in peaceful silence. Eventually, Miriam found her gaze turning away from the happy face of her daughter (who was just eating and occasionally glancing at Arnold out of the corner of her eye), and for a few seconds she couldn't help but just smile gratefully at the equally content face of the nice boy (who was just eating as well, and also maybe giving a quick glance or two to the girl beside him) who had taken such an interest in her…

Then seeing out of the corner of her own eye her husband pick up a bowl, load something more onto his plate and put the bowl down, Miriam then picked it up herself and held it out to the children. "Would either of you kids like some more potatoes before they're all gone?"

Arnold looked up and smiled at her. "Sure, Mrs. Pataki. Thank you." He reached forward and grabbed the bowl, scooped out some of the last of what it contained and put it on his plate. He then looked to Helga, still holding the large serving spoon. "Would you like some, Helga?"

Helga turned and just half smiled at him, but shook her head and then rested it against one of her fists, her elbow on the table. "No thanks, Football Head, I'll pass." As her beloved placed the bowl back down on the table, seeing her mother starting a conversation with her father now and her father's attention turn away from the kids and in Miriam's direction, Helga lowered her voice a little so that only the two of them could hear…that small half smile still upon her face. "I wanna save room for popcorn and candy later…and of course for my dessert." She went back to her plate, just moving around a bit of this and a bit of that with her fork.

Arnold picked up his own fork and grabbed a bite of food with it, putting it in his mouth and swallowing. "Oh." Come to think of it, though, he hadn't really considered what the menu would be before coming over here (as long as he got to be with Helga, who really cared what they ate, right?) "What's for dessert, Helga?" he asked to her with genuine innocence, looking down at his plate again as he went to take another bite of food.

"Your lips." She shrugged, just barely glancing at him out of the corner of her eye.

She watched with amusement as Arnold's eyes instantly went wide and his forked dropped from his hand to his plate. A distinct rosiness that she knew he had been trying at all costs to avoid this evening finally fully flowered in his face.

Recalling that it would probably not be best to bring her parent's attentions to them considering the sight of her beloved, Helga gave it her all to not let her current smirk turn into full blown laughter.

---

Twenty minutes later…

"Helga, sweetie, would you come and help me get the plates and everything from the kitchen for dessert?"

"Huh? Oh, sure Miriam!" Helga replied with a smile, pushing back her chair and standing up. She turned back to table for a moment and announced brightly, "Be right back!" It sounded like a general statement to her father and Arnold…though she was clearly looking a bit more at the latter as she said it (at least, from Miriam's visual angle on the situation). Helga finally released Arnold's hand for the first time since they'd sat down as she stood and prepared to join her mother for a moment in the other room.

"I'll be counting the minutes…" Arnold managed to reply to her under his breath and Helga had to try seriously hard not to burst into giggles as she recalled that telephone conversation they'd had that Saturday a million years ago when she was still just his poetry tutor and not his girlfriend.

---

In the kitchen, Helga approached her mother and began grabbing some napkins from the counter.

Not much to her surprise, she noticed out of the corner of her eye a small, all-knowing smile came to Miriam's face as she spoke while grabbing the ice cream from the fridge and the pie from near the oven. "Well, I'll say this for you, Helga…you certainly picked a very smart and very interesting boy for your first crush." The older woman did her best not to laugh to herself, bumping the fridge door shut with her hip.

Helga just rolled her eyes, now grabbing the silverware from a drawer and the plates from the cupboard, though she was obviously grinning just a little. 'Yeah, I was expecting a comment or two when she asked me to come in here and help her…' "Thank you, Miriam…" Helga began with a sigh, "But as I already explained to you I'm not Olga and he's not just my 'first cru—' "

Miriam instantly corrected herself, speaking sincerely. "Right, of course—he's your Arnold and you're 'practically in love' with him. I'm sorry Helga, I'll try not to forget."

Helga felt her smiling face blush as she headed for the door back to the dining room with the plates, cutlery and napkins, but she tried to manage to hold her head high and to maintain a note of pride and dignity in her voice as she replied, "Good. Thank you, Miri—Mom."

"Oh…and Helga…" Miriam suddenly called out to her daughter (still in that all-knowing voice), turning toward her.

Helga paused in the middle of being about to push the door open with her elbow and glanced back over her shoulder at her mother, part of her brow raised. "Yeah, Miriam?"

Miriam just smiled…and actually did her best not to laugh as she asked with an eyebrow raised, pie and ice cream in hand. "Was he really holding your hand the whole time we've been eating? I mean, I saw him grab it when you both sat down and I saw you let his go just now when you sat up but I wasn't sure if you two kept it up for the entire forty five minutes…"

Helga instantly felt herself blush very warmly. Her eyes went wide and she glanced away nervously, not having expected AT ALL that her and Arnold had actually been made ('Oh well—better by Miriam than by Bob!'). She swallowed and did her best to play it off, pushing the door open slightly. "Oh, well, that's just…uh…what can I say?" She shrugged and grinned. "Whenever old Football Head thinks I'm getting nervous about something he grabs my hand or my shoulder or whatever—some screwy idea of his that his touch calms me down. Heh, heh..." she finished with a nervous chuckle.

Miriam just giggled to herself at this admission, walking forward toward Helga and the door with the dessert. "Well, it's very sweet, Helga. He really is a wonderful person and he really does care about you."

Helga just smiled to herself happily as she exited to the hallway with her mother behind her. "Yeah…I know."

Miriam smiled warmly to herself once more and then suddenly mumbled under her breath, "Even I can't work B that well…" as she walked past her daughter and across the hall toward the dining room entrance.

Helga remained frozen and wide eyed for a second at this comment of her mother's… but then blinked and shook her head a few times to clear it with an amused smile. She raced after Miriam, catching up with her before she entered the dining room. "Okay, okay, I get it…" she whispered with a slight blush at her mother's acknowledgment of her beloved's skills at proving himself to her father. "We're just precious and he's just perfect." She couldn't help but smile a bit more though she tried to sound sarcastic as she finished with, "Now, can we just get to dessert so that Arnold and I can finally get to our movie? I think after all of this tonight (despite how UNBELIEVABLY well it's gone) I deserve at least a little alone time with the little shrimp."

Miriam just chuckled warmly in affirmation as she and Helga finally entered the dining room. She then turned to her husband and her daughter's boyfriend, holding up the two items in her hands. "Dessert is served, boys!" she announced brightly.

"Thanks, Mrs. Pataki!" Arnold replied with an appreciative smile as she placed the pie and gallon of ice cream upon the table…and he did his best not to blush at the word 'dessert' considering what 'someone' had said to him involving that word not too long ago…

"Yeah," Bob took a big inhale through his nose and smiled, "It smells great Miriam. Better than Olga's even!" He quickly turned from the pie back to Arnold, though...as though continuing a conversation with him…? "So, wait, you actually met Mickey Kaline—and you've got his rookie card."

Arnold nodded, looking back at him now as well. "Yup. He's…kind of a friend of mine. And he's got a great hot dog restaurant only a few blocks away now that he's retired."

Huh…well apparently Arnold and Bob had chosen to fill the time alone with…even more mutual conversation…and mutual conversation that had nothing to do with Arnold trying to make Bob feel more comfortable about him and Helga spending so much time together.

'This is getting creepier and creepier…' Helga couldn't help but think to herself, setting plates before her father and mother and then herself and Arnold. 'I mean there's trying to impress my Dad but he doesn't have to go overboard. Maybe I should say something to him…'

Bob, meanwhile, actually laughed warmly at hearing about Arnold's close relationship with Mickey Kaline. "Well, I'll be—you know I saw him play in his first game back in the 70s…" He looked off nostalgically.

"Wow, Mr. Pataki," Arnold replied, sounding even more genuinely interested now, and Helga just had to raise part of her brow at this fact. Indeed, her beloved's eyes actually seemed to light up at hearing about someone else who was familiar with one of his personal sports heroes. "I'd like to hear about that!" Arnold then announced as he went for a scoop of ice cream…making Helga's jaw actually drop slightly.

Bob smiled and took a piece of pie and then some ice cream for himself. "Well, let's see…I was about twenty back then and dating your mother, Helga…" He glanced at his daughter for a second but then went back to his food…and Arnold… "…And we had no money and nosebleed seats like you wouldn't believe…" He chuckled to himself. "Anyway…" Bob continued on with the recounting of his memory.

Helga rolled her eyes to herself and gave a very rapt Arnold a slight nudge before whispering very quietly into his ear (now that her father was distracted with one of his 'sports stories'), "Now you've done it, Football Head—he'll be off on 'tales of his great days as an athlete' all night. I know you're trying to get on his good side, Arnold, but there's a lim—"

"Helga, shh, I really want to hear this!" Arnold said quietly back to her, still listening to Bob, and still looking more at him than at Helga. "I'm a really big fan of Mickey Kaline…" He smiled a bit more and mumbled to himself. "Wow, I never met anyone who had been there the first time he played…I have to ask Mickey about that game the next time I go to the Dog Pound…"

Helga just blinked and looked from Arnold to her Dad, to Arnold to her Dad and then blinked again. And then realized something she'd never thought she'd realize in her entire life. 'This…this isn't part of some loopy plan anymore, is it? Arnold…Arnold actually likes talking to my Dad!' And then finally she just sat back with an amused smile and took a bite of her pie. 'Well what do you know…my dad…and ARNOLD…actually have something in…COMMON. And he's got stuff in common with Miriam too of all things…' She couldn't help but laugh to herself slightly, recalling the synchronized swimming thing. 'Heh…Only Arnold could manage to fit in both at the Boarding House and here, and still be the most wonderful and unique person I've ever met. Only my Arnold…'

…And it was then that Helga got a very fun idea indeed. 'I mean, as long as things are going so well…guess I could through a little caution to the wind… Besides, come on…I never could pass up a prime chance to mess with Arnold!'

"Hey, Football Head…" she suddenly glanced to Arnold and spoke in a low voice as he took a small break from being fixated on her Dad to snag a piece of pie for himself, "Just remember not to fill up too much on pie and ice cream considering we're still going to be getting plenty of snacks at the movies after this…remember?" She asked the question with a smirk and suddenly grabbed his hand under the table again, lacing their fingers. "Yes sir…plenty of 'sugar' to be had at the movies…" she finished almost in a whisper.

'Sugar…?' Arnold paused for a second at the strange way she'd emphasized the word, an eyebrow raised…and then he felt his eyes go wide as realization set in coupled with the jolt of heat that suddenly surged through him at the feeling of her so intimately intertwining their hands once more. He swallowed and turned back in her direction for just a moment, trying to play off her sudden advances as best he could…especially since Bob was looking right in their direction as he continued reminiscing. He swallowed and smiled sheepishly. "Oh, uh…right. Th-thanks for reminding me, Helga…" he whispered to her, trying to sound casual.

She just let out a slight giggle, her eyes just a little half lidded as she glanced at him out of the corner of them. "No problem, Football Head…" she whispered back. "That's what I'm here for—to keep you on your toes and make sure you don't forget about what's really important." She winked in his direction.

Arnold did his best to glance away from her without blushing and to resume fully listening to Bob talk.

'Oh yeah—this is fun…' Helga felt her smile grow just a bit more…and then continued with her entertainment.

"You're cute when you're torn between being a boy and being a boyfriend, you know that, Arnold?" she managed to whisper under her breath then as she leaned near him with the pretext of grabbing one of the napkins currently in front of him. She squeezed his hand just a little harder, caressing his fingers mixed with her own just slightly, and smiled to herself as she sat back in her seat and finally saw that familiar slight blush she had been going for creep fully into his cheeks (not as prominently as when she'd made the 'dessert' comment, but it was still there if you looked for it, nonetheless).

Still trying his best to keep his attention on Bob, an only slightly smiling Arnold managed to whisper to Helga under his breath in response under the pretext of taking a sip of his water, "I'm going to find a way to get you back for this, Helga… Making me blush like this right now really isn't funny…It was bad enough before with that dessert thing you said but now your Dad's specifically looking over here…"

"Yeah, well…" she began with a shrug under her breath, knowing full well that now that Bob liked Arnold there was almost nothing he could do to get on his bad side, "You just don't think it's funny because you're not watching you right now…it's actually hysterical by the way… And as for getting me back…bring it on…!" 'What's he going to do—make me get all giddy at the movies? Please—I HOPE he makes me get all giddy at the movies! Just for STARTERS!'

"Oh, sorry, Mr. Pataki but…" Arnold suddenly interrupted Big Bob to turn to Miriam for just a second with a smile and say politely. "I just wanted to say again that this really is great apple pie, Mrs. Pataki. Some of the best I've had in a while."

"Why thank you, Arnold!" She smiled back at him (which meant that her gaze was now on the two children…which meant that there was now an audience to see Helga blush if Arnold chose to make her do so). 'Oh well…' he half smiled to himself in nostalgia, considering the interesting and amusing idea that had suddenly popped into his head, 'Technically it's not something I haven't done before…' His thoughts drifted back a couple of weeks for just a moment.

And then Helga found out exactly what Arnold meant by 'getting her back' when she suddenly felt his hand release hers and suddenly proceed to latch onto one of her knees underneath the table, giving it a very firm squeeze. She blushed furiously at the unexpected sensation, though she tried to hide it from her parents by drinking more water. (The small giggle she heard Miriam give, though, told her that the older woman was more than aware of the sudden burst of scarlet upon her daughter's features. 'Oh well…I might be hearing some good-natured ribbing from her for a few days but at least since Football did that little trick under the table she won't know exactly what's making me blush like crazy right now... Still, I'm going to have fun trying to come up with a believable excuse about this one for her…')

At the same time that these thoughts about how to deal with this situation later were going through her head, it was also taking everything Helga had not to just plain sigh girlishly and melt under the touch of her beloved's hand upon her like that…giving in to her natural compulsion to cuddle in so closely to him like she'd spent the better part of last night dreaming about doing…

The feeling of Arnold then (with a small half smirk as he continued looking to her parents more than her, trying to act like nothing out of the ordinary was happening with him and Helga) wrapping one of his feet around one of her ankles didn't help much.

'Wow, he's good…' she had to admit with a small, lovesick (and quite impressed) smile at this sudden secondary bold move of her beloved's for 'getting her back'…her heart fluttering madly and ceaselessly.

---

A few minutes later Miriam stood up and began clearing the table. Bob offered to help.

Left alone with Arnold for a little while now in the dining room, Helga smirked and said in a low voice, trying to keep her face looking casual in case either of the two adults walked back in. "Oh yeah…you really are hooked on me, Football Head…literally AND figuratively!" She giggled, securing her foot a little more around his. Yes, at first this action on his part had been a little surprising and quite a bit much for her to take in…but eventually she'd 'gotten used to it' to say the least. She let out a sigh, her gaze growing even more lovesick if that was possible, and rested her head in her hand. "So, what daydreams are those dazed eyes of yours hiding inside of that wide and wonderfully shaped head of yours, Arnoldo? Moving that hand on my knee around my waist, using your other hand to play with my hair …and to top it all off just plain kissing me again especially since you're finally not terrified of our lips touching anymore…and since you finally know that your kisses really are just 'terrific'…?"

She watched a touch of redness build in Arnold's face as he responded, trying to look casual as well for cover. "Helga…!"

"… 'Innocently' exclaimed the guy who still has his hand on my knee and his leg wrapped around mine…" She did her best not to giggle again. "Come on, you know this is going somewhere later, Arnold…" She let out the happiest sigh imaginable. "Or sooner…" She winked.

Arnold glanced down with a small smile, still blushing (he didn't make a move to stop any of their contact though). "Well, after everything you put me through at the end there, you had to know it'd get to me a little… And also, it was fun watching you trying to cover up blushing from your parents for a change." He almost chuckled and then looked into her eyes. "Remember Helga, the Arnold who lets you do whatever you want to him and doesn't do anything back checked out a long time ago…" He rested his head upon his unoccupied hand, his elbow on the table, mimicking what she was doing. "On a rooftop, if I remember right…"

She just let out a sigh, allowing herself to get fully lost in his eyes for a moment before finally saying in a playfully sarcastic tone, "Oh just shut up and help me help Bob and Miriam get the last of these plates to the kitchen so that we can get out of here and finally quit acting like we're just really REALLY good friends…" Reluctantly Helga unwound her leg from Arnold's and stood, causing his hand to drop from her knee. She grabbed a plate or two.

Arnold just continued gazing at her with a smile for a moment longer, but then let out a sigh, realizing she was right. His natural sense of responsibility slowly returning to him, he reached forward and pulled a plate or two in front of him at the table. "Whatever you say, Helga."

"Oh I don't plan to have my mouth available to 'say' much of anything pretty soon, Arnold. Looks like you'll have to think for yourself for once… You're a creative kid though—you'll come up with something, I'm sure…" Helga felt her heart skip wildly as she then, without turning to face him and still with that small smile on her face, approached the dining room exit with her small stack of dirty dishes, just hoping that the scarlet searing her cheeks would clear up a little by the time she got to the kitchen so that Bob and Miriam wouldn't notice too much.

Arnold's head picked up and his eyes went a little wide at yet another highly suggestive comment from her this evening… But then his shock quickly ebbed and a grin returned to his face. For a moment, though, he had to just rest his head with his half lidded eyes upon one of his hands again and let out a sigh as he watched her go, entering the hallway and then the kitchen. "Gerald and Grandpa are right…" he said quietly to himself, "I'm a goner for her, aren't I?" He remained lost in his lovesickness for a few more seconds…

"Hey, Football Head, you getting in here or what? Come on—you're the one who's all anxious to go to the movies! Besides, we don't want to have to get seats in the back in the dark or anything!" Helga suddenly called from the kitchen in a scolding yet playful (and secretly suggestive) tone.

At the sound of her voice his eyes lit up just a bit and he stood, snatching up the few plates in front of him… He paused once more, though, looking off into the direction he'd just watched Helga go and from where her voice had just come…and thinking once more about that last little private joke of hers she'd just thrown in about the movies…

Then his eyes went just a bit narrow and his grin picked up just a bit on one side as he added to himself with interest before finally leaving the dining room behind, "…But what a woman to be gone about!"

---

Not too much time later, Arnold and Helga were finally out on Helga's front stoop in the cool spring evening air, ready to be on their way to the movies…and finally some time alone together.

Arnold leaned down a little and gestured forward to the sidewalk with his arm, smiling at the girl alongside him. "After you, Helga…"

Helga smirked and sighed. She grabbed the hand of his extended arm. "Why don't we just go at the same time Mr. Chivalry, okay?" And then she pulled a happy Arnold down the few steps to the sidewalk with her.

Now finally not in sight of her door (and her parents, if either one of them chose to look out and check on things) Helga looked at Arnold with a bit of a coy smile and said with a giggle underlying her voice, "Well, well, well…looks like it's finally Arnold and Helga time again. Crimeny, after all of that I almost can't remember the last time we had some privacy…in person, at least…" she added jokingly, referring to their phone calls over the last twenty-four hours (and also kind of circling in to talk about certain things from said phone calls…).

Arnold's smile picked up on one side and to her pleasant surprise rather than just agreeing with her he sighed and responded simply in a quiet voice, "…I…can remember, Helga…" A tinge of a blush crept into his features.

She had to laugh at the sight, but then just let out a sigh and grabbed his hand again, and finally started strolling up the street. With a look of confusion at first Arnold followed just behind her.

"Come on, Arnold…" Helga quickly explained, still smiling but not looking at him as she continued keeping him in tow, "If we start something here and now one of us will just end up pressed against the side of my house all night while the other one presses themselves against them. And I think the last thing either of us want is my parents coming out to take out the trash and seeing us playing 'FTi confession' together."

Arnold's look of confusion left his face instantly and then he, with a small smile, swallowed and had to agree with a nod. "You're probably right, Helga…" He considered for a second, and then glanced up at her (now having matched her stride so that he was alongside her, and holding her hand just as much as she was holding his). "Besides, I think it really is important for us to keep doing things together besides kissing. I mean…the kissing….it's…"

"Amazing?" she supplied, raising part of her brow in amusement at him.

"I'm…starting to go more with magical, to be honest…especially after last night…" Arnold had to admit with a blush, glancing forward (part of his poetry writing today had been trying out a few other adjectives besides amazing to describe what Helga's kisses felt like…and magical was the closest to the truth by far, so far). He continued, shifting his gaze back to her face once more. "But I think it's only so good because we work so good together even without it, if that makes any sense." He smiled sincerely at her. "We get along and enjoy things that complement each other really well, and we help each other…and so when we kiss…all that stuff makes it that much better…" He let out an involuntary sigh. "Of course it does help that when we do it together it's…it really is kind of magical…" His smile picked up just a bit more…and he added shyly, glancing down once again, "You know… I don't think I could ever find anyone else in the whole world quite like you, even if I tried, Helga G. Pataki… I think you're the only person I could ever have such a good time with…and also the only one who can really give one of those kisses you give…"

He heard Helga chuckle warmly to herself, and then watched out of the corner of his eye as she just stared lovingly at him as they walked on for a few more seconds. Finally she let out a breath…and spoke in a surprisingly impressed tone. "You know, you are one smooth talker, Arnold… Really, it's almost a gift… You could charm practically any girl into a lip lock with you if you tried hard enough, couldn't you?" Her smile picked up just a bit more. "Even one who doesn't need all that much charming to go for it…"

Arnold blinked, his eyes going instantly wide, and the full force blush returning completely to his face once again that evening. "Helga, I…I'm not trying to…" he started desperately. After all, this was what he had been afraid of…what he'd been trying to express to her last night when he'd confessed his fears about the kissing…that somehow he'd like it so much that he might start doing or saying things to get her to do it, without even realizing it. 'What if I really have started doing that and didn't even realize it?' "I-I mean," he stuttered, trying his best to reassure the girl before him that at least he hadn't been intentionally trying to 'charm a kiss out of her' by just…saying nice things! "I really meant everything I said—everything I say! I wouldn't just say things to get you to—…to get you to kis—"

Helga, however, instantly held up her free hand, suddenly cutting him off. "Hey, hey, relax, Arnold, I didn't mean that I think you're just trying to butter me up or something just so you can score some 'magical kisses.'" She smirked at him a bit. "By the way, 'magical'? Crimeny, either I'm really really good, or that little football headed heart of yours is just overcompensating for having been starved the attention of a superior girlfriend like me for so many years." She chuckled to herself, then let out a sigh and continued, dropping her hand. "But anyway, my point is that I didn't mean that you're flirting with me with some ulterior motive in mind." Her smile was sincere. "I believe everything that comes out of your mouth, Arnold, because I love you and because I know you and it's all always been the truth unless you've had a really good reason for it not to be. I just meant that…well…" she glanced down and felt her stomach do a flip, "You really know how to make a girl feel special with all those wonderful things you say and don't even realize…And if just how wonderful and understanding and caring and kind you are ever wasn't enough for someone to want to kiss you...at the very least that lovely way you have of talking would do the trick…"

Arnold's confused and worried look remained for a second longer…but then eventually melted into an understanding smile. "Oh…well…thanks, Helga… Um…" He swallowed in a touch of shyness. "Just…trying to be 'romantic' …" He shrugged.

She giggled just a little at the ironic phrase...the one that had started this whole interesting and unexpected weekend. "Yeah, I gathered…" Her smile picked up on one side. "Actually," she continued sincerely, "as long as we've got this little walk to the movies to go with just talking, along with how impressive all that stuff you said was tonight in terms of winning over my parents, I kind of did want the chance to point out that natural little gift you seem to have for making a girl's heart pound, my angel…and to let you know how much I like it…"

She watched that embarrassed little wide-eyed look come to his face for just a moment at yet another pet name, and did her best not to giggle again.

Arnold, meanwhile, was doing his best to deal with how much his own heart was pounding considering the fact that not only had Helga G. Pataki just called him her 'angel' (which she hadn't done since she'd thrown him on the floor in that monologuing state last night) but…she had just said that he was so good at flirting with her that he could make her heart pound. That he had a gift for it. And that she liked it…

"You who, earth to Arnold?" Arnold blinked several times at the sight of Helga's free hand suddenly being waved in front of his face. "Come on, where's that suave little king of charisma who's suddenly blossomed over the last twenty four hours?" She smirked at him, more than just a little this time.

Now that question (and the nickname that had accompanied it) made Arnold's breathing pick up a little and the blush fully form in his face again. "Helga…please…" he managed a little desperately…though the traces of a smile were still more than present. "I…I told you, I understand everything you said last night about being comfortable with…with how being around you makes me feel, but it might just take a little while for it to completely sink in and…and besides…." Even more of a shy smile blossomed upon his face. "I don't even know where all those things last night on the phone came from, to be honest… They just felt right so I said them… And they made you happy so I said more of them…."

She moved herself closer beside him as they walked. "Well, I've gotta say enough cute little things managed to come out of your mouth over the last hour too that I don't think that was just a fluke, Football Head. And outside of romance, like I said, you managed to win my dad over pretty quickly with the way you handled those conversations with him." She raised part of her brow at him, half smiling. "And I must say it's a little surprising Football head—I don't remember you being nearly so verbally adept before…especially when it came to any of the other girls…" She did her best not to laugh. "Actually mostly I just remember you barely having it in you to talk to them, and if you did it was usually you stuttering like crazy and fumbling all over yourself." She raised part of her brow. "What button did I press exactly to make you suddenly have such a way with spontaneous words?" And to be honest she wasn't just teasing him right now—she was a little curious. Indeed, Helga could still recall Arnold never having talked to Ruth except for that Valentine's day, and then there was that one time he had crashed into Helga in the cafeteria because he'd been so nervous about just asking Lila to the cheese festival…

Arnold took a second to absorb her question and then had to smile as certain memories and feelings came to mind. "Well…I guess it's because no one else ever made me feel even half the things you make me feel, Helga. I tried to explain it to my Grandpa once… It's like…" he considered his words, "It's like…" Then suddenly he let out a sigh and looked to her with just a touch of hesitation. "Helga, are you sure you're, um…comfortable with me talking about, um…liking other people…?" He couldn't help but recall the fact that, except for that brief comparison of appearances last night, Helga seemed to have omitted the topic of former crushes from their conversations.

Helga, meanwhile blinked at his random question, raising part of her brow even higher…but a second later she just glanced forward and down slightly as though in thought for a moment, and then she glanced back at him with a half smile. "Hey, the end of the story is that you're mine now, right?"

He smiled and almost laughed at the question. "Of course…But…" He glanced down again. "I just wanted to make sure…I mean, I feel like…like it must have been really hard for you seeing me caring about other people when you cared about me so much."

He continued walking, just looking forward and down, until he felt the warm hand in his own give a firm squeeze.

He glanced up to see Helga smiling warmly at him, her blue eyes looking lovely as always. "Arnold…it's really sweet of you to care so much about my feelings but…crimeny, the past is the past. If it has to get brought up in the context of something then just bring it up!" She chuckled. "Especially if it's to compare how those other girls couldn't hold a candle to the apparent amazing/magical/wonderfulness that is me!" She winked at him…and then gave him a bit of a smirk. "Are you sure you aren't projecting a bit, Football Head… Maybe you're the one not comfortable mentioning it…?"

Arnold swallowed his eyes going a little wide. "Well…I…" And, yes, quite possibly he was the one with the problem…the idea of bringing up his past romantic escapades feeling a little awkward to say the least. "Maybe…" he finally admitted with a swallow, "But I…I guess it's just because… Well, I don't want to ever make it seem like I consider you on the same level as them…because you're really, really special to me, Helga…" He had to smile at her. "And I guess that actually takes us back to your question of why I act differently around you than I did around them…" He glanced forward with that small smile as he talked. "With Ruth or Lila or that Summer girl…they made me feel kind of nervous and goofy around them all the time, and I'd kind of build up only the good parts of them until I barely felt like it was okay for me to say anything around them because somehow it wouldn't be good enough for them… But…but with you…" He let out a happy sigh, and his smile picked up on one side and he glanced to her again. "With you… I feel happy and excited and I guess a little nervous too, and then it alternates with me being curious and having fun with you and finding it interesting that you get nervous around me. And just like how you know I'm a real person with real flaws like you said last night, I know and accept that about you too…"

He stopped walking and she stopped too, a very intrigued look upon her face. They still held each other's hands. Arnold considered for just a second, and then continued… "And so, I guess what I'm saying is I see you as a whole person, Helga…and I like you for everything about you and for who you really are, not just as some ideal girl." He paused and then added, his ideas continuing. "And so… I think that's why I can talk around you different from how I talked around other people, Helga...heck, why I can even write poetry about you." His smile grew again and he gazed into her eyes. "Because I love you for you…and also…like I said, I love how saying nice things to you makes you sigh and smile and say nice things back, and especially how you laugh…how you…well, it actually…" He then swallowed and had to break away from her wide blue eyes again as he admitted with a slight blush, "It actually makes you giggle, of all things, Helga…when I say all of that stuff… And it's the…cutest sound I've every heard." He laughed to himself once again and had to try and not chuckle more as he added, really savoring the feeling of her hand still in his, "You know, after Gerald and Phoebe left before and we were finally alone outside your house, I was thinking a little after one of the times when I looked at you and you were blushing and kind of looking at my shyly…and I decided that if you had looked at me even once just like that over the last seven years that it wouldn't have taken until after your confession to make my heart skip a beat around you for the first time… and I think the same thing goes for if you'd ever giggled around me…"

He just glanced up at her shyly now, hoping he'd explained his feelings well…and also smiling quite dreamily into her blushing, blinking, mouth half agape face.

'He…he said…the way I lau—giggle…he said it's the cutest sound he's ever…and that it would have made him…and that how I blush would have made him…even before I….' And then in her total elation she had to just grin and let out one of those giggles he liked so much.

Arnold shut his eyes for a moment at the response, the pleasant smile still on his face. He let out a satisfied sigh. "Yeah, that was it…that sound." He opened his eyes and smiled at her. "That alone's enough to let me always find something new and interesting and nice to say about you, Helga…"

And then he blinked and smiled at the feeling of her suddenly separating their hands, moving forward and hugging him tightly and happily. "…Kind of like you just did, my articulate little angel?"

He was about to open his mouth and say something when she suddenly pulled away only to gaze into his eyes with hers half lidded…and the look couldn't help but make him recall how she'd acted last night after he'd confessed his problem with the kissing and she'd suddenly lost it a little. "Now…" she took his hand once more and began…in a lower voice, of course (which of course, in turn, couldn't help but make Arnold swallow hard)… "Why don't you move onto saying a few more daring things just like last night, my Arnold…about a dinner for two with a little French food…me sneaking over to your house well after we're both supposed to be asleep…how I should eat pork rinds more often…"

Arnold instantly felt his heart rate pick up at these specific reminders of some of the more…intense things she'd liked so much from last night. Blood rushed into his face. "He-Helga…" He tried to lean a bit away from her but she was all but leaning over him…fluttering her eyes…smiling as nicely as she could…obviously waiting for something from him…

…Which he was still just a little too new at this whole thing to give just yet… "Helga…" he had to repeat in just a bit of a distressed voice, looking at her nervously. "Please…" 'It's just…a little too much…for just now… I… I think I kind of need to absorb that side of her in small doses… It'd actually help if it was more preplanned too…' And yet he couldn't deny at the back of his mind, 'Although…there is something to be said for having her surprise me like she does…every once in a while…'

Coming out of his thoughts, Arnold watched a small look of disappointment come to Helga's eyes for just a moment as she finally absorbed his small plea (and then that way she had of pouting he'd been noticing came…that lower lip of hers pushing out just slightly…that lower lip that he actually couldn't help but find progressively distracting every time he noticed it…)

…But then before he could think more about these things she took a deep breath and let out a sigh and closed her eyes for a moment…and then finally pulled back a bit. She got her eyes open and looked to Arnold with a bit of a sheepish smile. "Okay, you're right, you're right, Football Head…We already agreed we shouldn't start anything in the middle of a street and besides, I know, you still need time to get used to things…" She gave him a half smile. "But you know, that way with words of yours I mentioned…and what it does to me…it's nothing to be embarrassed about…" She almost laughed. "I mean, I have my poetry that makes you happy and smile…and now it looks like you have that silver tongue of yours to make me happy and smile…" She then rolled her eyes and added with a blush, "Besides if I can handle you reading about my musings about you as the most intoxicating, attractive, incredible, undeniable person on the planet, then I think we can eventually get you able to handle me bringing up you more or less encouraging me to sleepwalk right into your warm, sleeping arms…"

Arnold blushed even more at her sudden recalling again of possibly the most daring thing he'd suggested last night on the phone in his daze after their anniversary, and instantly avoided all eye contact with Helga... though his small smile was there. "Helga, please…not…not just yet, okay? I…" He let out a sigh. "I…Can we just take this slowly…and maybe have a change of topic for now? Especially since I already explained to you more than I thought I could have done tonight…about how you make me feel and stuff." He managed to glance back up at her, hoping for her sympathy…though doubting he'd get it. 'She's probably loving every minute of this conversation too much to just let me—'

"Okay, Football Head. Topic change it is." And with this more than agreeable reply, Helga began walking forward once more.

Arnold was rather surprised to say the least at the sight of her shrugging and saying those words, and at the feeling of her pulling him slightly along again. "Really?" he had to raise an eyebrow, finally matching stride with her once more that evening.

Helga just nodded at him, an average sort of smile on her face. "Yup."

Arnold felt a touch of relief wash over him and the pounding of his heart start to ebb. "Okay, Helga…thanks." He looked to her with a grateful smile. "So… what do you want to talk about?"

She just looked forward, the smile on her face unchanging, and replied simply, "You doing something as hysterical and yet unbelievably cute as synchronized swimming that one time…and, speaking of which, where I can get a videotape of that little escapade."

She glanced out of the corner of her eye only to see a very wide-eyed Arnold now staring straight forward, all former color gone from his cheeks and then some.

A second of silence passed.

"So…you like when I find nice ways to tell you how cute you are and flirt with you about romantic stuff we could be doing together, huh? Well, at least that means I've got some natural talent at this boyfriend thing, right, heh, heh…?"

Helga stopped walking again, let go of Arnold's hand to cross her arms over her chest, and just looked at him and his decision to go on with talking about that bold way his dark side had of romancing her over the fact that she now had the image of him synchronized swimming on her mind. "Football Head…" she finally managed, and then had to give into warm laughter, shaking her head, "You crack me up!"

Arnold, paused in his walking now as well, just took a deep breath and let out a sigh and then glanced up at her with a small smile and a blush. 'I can't believe I even reminded her of that synchronized swimming thing in the first place…and of course she knew it'd be the one thing I wouldn't want to talk about more than anything else, even all of this flirting stuff… She knows me better than anyone…doesn't she?' His thoughts finishing, Arnold then shrugged, deciding to just make the best of it…especially if he really did have the ability to make Helga feel as good as she'd said he could if he tried. "Just…trying to the best angel I can be…" Arnold made his eyes a little half lidded, swallowed…and then added, taking her hand shyly in his once more, "…for the most heavenly girl in the world…"

Helga had to blink several times at this response, her heart fluttering and her eyes half lidded. She gave a small giggle. 'Alright, I know him—once I get him started, look out! But first, a little motivation… Don't want to seem like too much of a pushover for that silver tongue…' "Eh, that might have been a little cheesy, Football Head…" Helga tried to say more casually than girlishly, though it was pretty hard considering how adorable that little 'heavenly' comment really had been. "Come on, score another one for the smooth talker, Arnold—I know you've got it in you…"

Arnold raised his arm and gave her a small kiss on the back of the hand, not breaking contact with her eyes. "Well, while you keep score let's keep walking to the movies because we're almost late and I know how much you said you don't want to end up in the back in the dark…" He allowed their clasped hands to lower, and then he turned forward shyly and started to walk again.

Helga followed slightly behind him, a slightly impressed grin upon her lovesick face. "Much better, Football Head…" Any degree of casualness was fading fast, and she knew it…and didn't care one bit. "You got me blushing and everything…"

"…And we haven't even gotten into the theatre yet…" he replied without missing a bit, looking to her happily, "I guess I really am good at being a boyfriend…" 'Wow, she's right…' he couldn't help but observe to himself in amusement, 'I didn't really notice it before but this stuff's kind of just coming to me… I'm just happy it makes her so happy…' He considered for another second. 'Hmm…maybe instead of my writing down stuff for my next poem I should try just saying it out loud first…'

Helga, meanwhile, now grinning ear to ear, finally had to let out the girlish sigh of total elation that had been building up within her. She did manage a scoff though as she added before another giggle, "And now you're just showing off, Arnoldo…"

Both kids shared some warm and well-deserved laughter as they then just continued to make their way through the last few streets to the awaiting theater…

---

A/N:

I know, I know, they didn't kiss and there was all that build up and flirting! But the next chapter's the part of their date that's alone…and something unexpected happens but it leads to fun just the same ;) Also, we get to see how Gerald and Phoebe's date ends! ;)

Okay, now as for when the next update can be… so, as I've mentioned I'm working full time and doing a bunch of things…and I'm taking my graduate school entrance exam in four weeks so even though I really REALLY don't want to (like really REALLY don't want to), I think I'm going to have to wait until after it's over to give you guys what comes next. I'm just really nervous about this test and it's really important to do well on it so I can get into an awesome grad school and finally go after my dream of getting a doctorate in English literature :) I really will try and get it to you guys asap though, but a month's probably going to be the minimum. I've been doing work here and there on the sequel to "A Perfect Ten" (called "April 2nd") and trying to review some stuff with "Dinner AND a Show" so there's a chance something with one of those might get up in the meantime. And of course, me and NintendoGal are still doing "The Elevator" so you can check that out in the meantime as well if you want :)

Anyway, thanks for understanding guys, and please oh please oh please review! ;)

Happy Reading! (and a Happy belated 4th of July to all my readers in the States…although Delaware didn't ratify anything until like August or something so I still don't get why we celebrate the independence of the US in July but…as long as I get fireworks and ice cream I'm basically good ;) ).

~Azure129 aka Jenna :)

AXH FOREVER!