Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.

They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.

Title: "Blackmail toy"

In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": Arnold couldn't believe his own ears, when he overheard Helga say to Aaron, that she'd rather go shopping with him than ever telling Arnold about her feelings. Thinking she's talking about her feelings for his cousin, he runs home, crushed.

With some help from both his grandpa and grandma, he started to feel a little better. Much better really. He realized there was no reason to worry about it for the time being, when he wasn't even sure what was going on.

Arnold doesn't have a plan for what to do next though.

Author's 1st note: Woohoo! First chapter with two digits xD Why does that thrill me? *-* I don't know! Because I'm weird, I guess :P Let's go!

Chapter 10: "What's the plan?"

"No! I've changed my mind!"

"You can't change your mind! It's not up for debate, Helga!"

"The Hell it isn't, Phoebe! The solution to my problem is simple! Don't go to school! Don't make me go in there!"

If one had been there this Thursday morning, one would have seen Helga Pataki stand with her feet firmly planted to the ground and her hands clutching desperate to a lamp pole, as her best friend, Phoebe Heyerdahl, tried to pull her away from it.

"Come on, Helga!"

"No!"

"What if Arnold comes and sees you like this?" Phoebe wondered aloud. Helga's grip on the lamp pole went weak at the mere idea of Arnold seeing her behave like the ten-year-old girl, she could still be on the outside rather than just the inside. When her grip got week though, that meant Phoebe's grip on her got stronger and they both tumbled backwards on the concrete.

"Ow!"

"Ow!"

"Oh, god, Phoebe! For one with a black belt in karate, you should have been able to dodge me better." Helga exclaimed and immediately rolled off Phoebe to lay down next to her. Phoebe sat up with a smile. "For one with a black belt in karate, it is my duty to make sure that you didn't get hurt because of my mistake."

"Your mistake? I was the one letting go of that fucking lamp pole."

"And I was the one to pull you down with me."

"… You know what? Since getting together with Gerald, you're a lot more argumentative." Helga said with such a monotone voice, that Phoebe wasn't sure how Helga felt about that fact. She smiled though. "I like it. Way to go, Phoebs. Kudos!"

Phoebe gave a big smile. "Arigatō, Helga-san." She said. Helga cocked an eyebrow. "That means 'thank you', right?"

"Hai!"

"And that means 'yes', right?"

"Yeah, it does."

"Hey! I do know a little Japanese after all." Helga said proudly and sat up. "Though, I never did understand why you put 'san' at the end of my name?"

"Oh, that's just a proper way to- "

"What in the world are you two doing?"

Phoebe and Helga forgot their conversation and looked up to see no one else but Arnold and Aaron hovering above them, both with an amused smile. "What?" Helga asked, crossed her arms behind her back and laid back down. "It's a free country, isn't it? We can lay wherever we want! Isn't that right, Phoebs?"

Phoebe giggled, crossed her arms and laid down next Helga. "Yes, we are free spirits." She answered. "Don't gay it up." Helga reprimanded with a smile. The small group laughed for a moment.

"It's time for class now, girls. How about we get you standing up like normal people?" Aaron suggested and was obviously about to try and help Helga up in particular. Arnold was quicker though and reached his hand down to her first. "Let me help you up, Helga."

Helga's smile spread across her face and she took Arnold's hand without hesitating. Even if Aaron had been quicker, she'd naturally chosen Arnold's hand. She swung her legs up a bit, so that she could make an elegant jump while getting onto her feet.

"How come you always seem to be here, when I'm on the ground, Arnoldo?" Helga wonder aloud and gave his hand a small, involuntarily squeeze. Arnold shrugged and squeezed back, very voluntarily. "Don't know. Maybe it's faith?"

"Oh, brother, does that mean you'll always be here to help me get back on my feet?" Helga asked and took her hand back to use it to dust off the back of her clothes. Arnold gulped inaudibly. "Y-Yes, I am." He said as certainly as he could.

Arnold had decided that morning that it was time to turn it up a notch. No matter whether Helga and Aaron were together or not, until Helga said to him face-to-face that she wasn't in love with him or that she was in love with Aaron, he'd use any trick in the book to get Aaron out of the picture. Even dirty ones. As far as he was concerned, when it came to Helga, it was almost a given that dirty tricks should have to be involved.

Helga froze mid-movement and glanced towards Arnold again. For what seemed like forever, but really only lasted a few seconds, they just gazed into each other's eyes. Wh-What is this? Helga wondered nervously. What is this odd vibe I get from him? As if he's made this big decision after having an epiphany or something.

Helga didn't know what else to do, so she revolved back to her comfort zone: Teasing. "Oh, man!" she exclaimed and started bumping her elbow at Arnold's arm. "Does that mean I have to look at that wide head of yours for the rest of my life, football head?"

Arnold just gave a big smile. "Yeah," he answered and swung his arm around Helga's neck in a crushing, sideways hug. "you're stuck with me forever!"

Helga and Arnold started laughing hysterically, as she tried to get out of his grip. While those two walked away in their struggle, Phoebe and Aaron were staring at them with smiles on their faces. "Is it just me," Aaron whispered into Phoebe's ear. "or do those two look awfully chummy?"

When Phoebe turned to look at him, Aaron's smile had faded away completely. He seemed very unsatisfied with his own statement. She didn't care though. He was right: Helga and Arnold had become great friends lately and hopefully, that would soon lead to something more.

Phoebe nodded. "They really do. It's also been a long time coming." She answered. It usually wasn't in her nature to say the things, she wished to say at this moment, but what was in her nature, was to help Helga in any way she could. And she still wasn't sure what Aaron's intentions were. "They're meant for each other."

Aaron cocked an eyebrow at Phoebe's statement. "Meant for each other? I don't know about you, Phoebe, but I don't exactly believe in destiny." He answered. Her eyes narrowed. "What do you believe in?"

"Good old-fashioned falling in love, falling out of love, and falling in love with someone new. No one loves the same person for the rest of their lives."

"Maybe not most people, but some do."

"And is Helga one of them?" Aaron asked. Phoebe had been about to practically scream 'yes' in his face, but reminded herself that she still didn't know if Aaron knew about Ice Cream. She ended up shrugging.

"If not even her best friend is sure, then- " Aaron was about to start walking towards Arnold and Helga, when Phoebe grabbed his sleeve. "Wait." She asked of him and he turned around with an intrigued smile. "What?"

"… I don't know what your intentions are with Helga, but let me tell you one thing: You're wasting your time. Whether Helga's interested in anyone else doesn't matter. She's still not interested in you."

Aaron gave an amused chuckle. "Look who's got claws all of a sudden." He observed. Phoebe's eyes narrowed a bit. "I mean it, Aaron," she said and let go of his sleeve. "I don't know what you want from Helga, but whatever it is she has already made it quite clear that she's not interested. Besides, as her best friend I would know something as simple as that."

Aaron just chuckled a bit again and bend down a bit to Phoebe's eyelevel. "People have the right to change their minds," He said in a quiet voice and glanced a bit in Arnold and Helga's direction. "and so do I."

"Huh?" Phoebe mumbled, as Aaron straightened his back again. "Wait… What do you mean by that? What are you changing your mind- "

"Hey, guys! Arnold just had a brilliant idea!" Helga interrupted and started running towards them with Arnold behind her. "Another one?" Aaron asked with a regular smile. "Boy, you're just full of them, aren't you?"

Arnold shrugged. "I do aim to please." He said as he made an obvious glance towards Helga. She rolled her eyes for about a second as she giggled. "Looks to me like you aim to please some people more than others?" Aaron wondered aloud and made eye contact with him. He could see Helga frowning at him in the corner of his eyes though.

Arnold, in the meantime, still didn't know what to think about this obvious hint from Aaron. Is this his way of saying that he's seen right through me? That he knows I'm in love with Helga? He thought with a small frown. Then what does that mean? Is he declaring war or something against me?

"What is this brilliant idea of yours, Arnold?" Phoebe asked as she felt the tension rise. "Oh," Arnold said as if coming out of his stupor. "I just suggested that since I know that Gerald needs a new tuxedo and I do too, and I think that being a girl you would probably want a new dress anyhow, Phoebe, and then I got the logical conclusion: How about all five of us go out shopping together?"

Whether Aaron realized it or not, this was Arnold's personal declaration of war. There was no way he'd give him and Helga a chance to be alone together if he could manage to sneak himself or maybe even someone else in.

This was a perfect excuse, and when he thought about the way Helga's face brightened up at his suggestion, then it was pretty obvious she didn't mind him interfering with her alone time together with Aaron at all.

Aaron gave a smile no one could really identify. "And Helga said yes?" he asked. Helga crossed her arms in a challenging way. "As Arnold said, it was a logical conclusion. We'd might as well all go together, since, as you said yourself, Nancy Spumoni's is the only shop in town that sells clothes fancy enough to satisfy Rhonda." She answered with a proud smile. "Those three are gonna go to the same store anyhow, so why not just go together?"

If Helga wasn't already in love with Arnold - and it therefore was obvious she would want to do this to him anyway - when he had suggested all five of them shopping together, she could've kissed him in pure joy. She almost did really.

Aaron gave a pensive look. In reality he was thinking about something else. Very impressive, Arnold, looks like you've got your game on all of a sudden. I'm intrigued. This could turn out to be the absolute most interesting shopping spree in my life.

"Sure. I don't see a problem with that. The more the merrier." Aaron finally answered. Both Helga and Arnold had to contain their happiness as smiles spread across their faces. For once Helga felt so happy that she could kiss… no, touch Aaron, without feeling sick. Maybe.

"Great. So we'll meet here after school, right?" Helga asked while looking mostly at Arnold. "Of course we will. I'll tell Gerald about our plans before school's over." He answered and turned around to look at the big school clock. "Speaking of school…" he mumbled and took Helga's hand in his. "We're gonna be late!"

Helga had been ready to go into an internal monologue as soon as she felt Arnold's hand wrap around her own - not to pull her off the ground for once - but when he announced they would be late, she quickly caught up with his pace and was running next to him. She turned her head over her shoulder. "Come on, you two!"

Aaron and Phoebe looked at each other for a second, shrugged and then started running behind Helga and Arnold. Helga could feel a giggle escaping her throat. There was something oddly thrilling about running for what felt like dear life with her hand in Arnold's. He turned around to glance at her as they ran, and his smile indicated he felt the same way.

When Helga and Arnold - with Phoebe and Aaron a few feet behind them – reached the door for their classroom, Arnold ripped it open with an almost loud crash. Both teens were panting while smiling, as they scanned the class. Everyone was sitting in their seats, gawking at them, including the teacher.

"Uh, s-sorry we're, uh…" Arnold started as he tried to steady his breath. "Late. Sorry we're late." Helga announced, equally with her breath hitching in her throat for both giggling and running like that at the same time. Arnold turned to look at her and smiled appreciatively. "Yeah, that's the word I was looking for."

Helga looked back and smacked him gently on the chest with her free hand. "It's not such a complicated word, football head." As she said that, Phoebe and Aaron appeared behind them. "Hey, how about going in, you guys?" Aaron suggested and started pushing their backs gently.

As Arnold and Helga came in more and more view of the rest of the class, the class' eyes dilated. All four of them noticed immediately. "What?" Helga and Arnold asked. "You guys look like you've seen a ghost." Helga declared.

"A ghost would make more sense…" Sid observed with big eyes. "Yeah, I reckon you two holdin' hands is the weirdest thing I've ever seen." Stinky chimed in.

"Huh?" Helga and Arnold said at the same time and turned to look at each other, then down to their hands. They had both known all along that they were holding hands, but it was almost as if they didn't realize it truly until this very moment. They both felt similar butterflies soar through their stomachs, and pulled their hands away from each other's and hid them behind their backs.

"D-Don't get the wrong idea, you nimrods!" Helga exclaimed and crossed her arms in the typical Helga-like manner. "We realized we were gonna be late and since Arnold's legs are way too short, I just pulled him along, so we wouldn't be late! Hmph."

Arnold rolled his eyes. Typical. He thought and was about to say something, when he noticed she was slowly walking in front of him to get to her seat. When no one could see her face from that angle, she flashed him a smile and a wink, and then went to sit down.

Arnold just stared into the classroom where Helga had been standing a minute ago, when she haf winked at him. Did she just…? He thought to himself and felt an almost familiar smile at this point creep up on him.

Before he could fully indulge in that smile, the teacher addressed him. "Please sit down, all three of you. Don't be late again." She asked of them and turned around to the blackboard again. Phoebe and Aaron hastily snuck in, while Arnold had to force his legs to move again. He sat behind Helga and took a deep breath. Suggesting to go shopping together may just be my best idea yet.

While Arnold was as peachy as could be, Helga felt a form of panic dwell inside of her. Oh… my… God! Why did I do that?! What could have possessed me to wink at him? Winking at Arnold – Am I insane or something? She rolled her eyes in a dramatic way.

Oh, wait, yes, I am! That's why I monologue about him, and that's why I'm being blackmailed rather than just telling him my feelings! There's no way even Arnold is dense enough to believe that was friendly! Is there even such a thing as a friendly wink? She ranted in her head and felt like slamming it repeatedly into a wall. Criminy, I'm a basket case!

When the first recess started, the bell barely started ringing before Gerald was already crouching next to Arnold's desk. "Jesus, Gerald! You scared me." He exclaimed when he turned around and saw him.

"Time to come clean, Arnold: What's going on?"

"Huh? What's going on with what?"

"With you and Helga!" Gerald answered and smacked the back of Arnold's head in frustration. "Ow! What was that for?" Arnold asked and started to rub the sore spot.

"For keeping me in the dark for this long, man, now tell me: What's going on with you and Helga G. Pataki?!"

"Could you say that a little louder, Gerald, I think some of the seniors upstairs didn't quite hear that." A female voice said. The two boys glanced towards Helga's desk, which was right in front of Arnold's.

"I wasn't talking to you, Pataki." Gerald said with a snarl. "You were talking about me and not exactly in a whisper, tall hair boy. Want your conversation to be private?" she asked, snapped her fingers and pointed towards the door. "Go and have it in a private place!"

Gerald groaned and wrapped his arm around Arnold's. "Come on! Let's follow Mrs. Grumpy's advice." He declared and pulled him up from his chair. "Am I supposed to be insulted at being called 'Mrs. Grumpy' despite you guys following my advice? Do you even know me?" Helga asked as the guys left the room. Arnold did turn around for a second though, she noticed, and smiled at her joke.

Almost as soon as Gerald and Arnold came out into the hallway, Gerald started talking. He didn't stop walking though. "I can't believe you still put up with that girl!"

"What about you? You usually put up with her too."

"Because she's my girlfriend's best friend! Which I, still to this day, don't get!"

"That's only because you insist on not seeing her good sides."

"That's because they're hidden beneath all the nasty ones!" Gerald answered. Arnold started scowling and pulled his arm back. Gerald almost stumbled at the force. "What the hell- "

"Would you stop talking about Helga like that already?!" Arnold shouted with so much anger in his voice that Gerald got scared for a second. "Listen, I know she's not ever-so sweet like Lila and she's not gentle like Phoebe, but she's still a really kind-hearted person! That's why Phoebe and I put up with her! And if you got your head out of your ass, you'd realize that!"

Gerald was beyond stunned. He kept staring at Arnold, as he panted. Yelling like that was not something he usually did, so he could already feel his throat sting a bit. When his own words repeated themselves in his head, his eyes went wide and he unclenched his fists. "Uh, s-sorry, Gerald… I didn't mean to sound so mad. I just- "¨

"N-No, I get it… Phoebe once yelled at me too for the same reason, so… I guess maybe I do have my head in my ass." Gerald observed and straightened his back a little. Arnold could feel his shame spread in the pit of his stomach. When did I become this protective of her?

"Nevertheless, Arnold, since Aaron arrived… is it just me or did something change between you two?"

"Huh?" Arnold mumbled and looked into the eyes of his friend. "Uh… w-well, does it look like that? Really?" he asked with a bit of hope in his voice. Gerald saw that and nodded. "And… you seem awfully happy about that fact?"

"Oh! Uh, well, I, uh…" Arnold started but then decided to give up and sighed. He started rubbing his neck, as he always did when he got shy. "I guess… it's time to admit this. Just… don't freak out, ok?"

Gerald quickly put up his hand in defense. "Wait!" he exclaimed and looked around. When he noticed an open door into the janitor's closet, he went inside. "Come on."

Arnold rolled his eyes as he followed him. When they got inside, Gerald closed the door and then sat down on a big chest inside the room. Probably filled with tools of some sort. "Ok, just needed to sit down. What is it?"

"Want me to just spring it at you or want me to ease in on it?"

"… Spring it."

"You, uh , sure? You don't usually handle things like this very- "

"Say it!"

"I'm in love with Helga!" Arnold exclaimed. As soon as the words left his mouth, he could feel the pressure rise in the room. Gerald didn't seem to understand the words that had just been said. "Wait… huh? You… I thought you were just developing a crush!"

"It went way pass a crush years ago!"

"What!? Hold on! Years ago?! Since when did you start liking her?"

"Uh… honestly? I think it may have started when… uh…" Arnold felt like he was gonna be sick with both love and nauseousness. "Perhaps when I was… three?" He gave a nervous chuckle, but went still right after. Gerald's face was a mix of shock and disgust. "For thirteen years?! But… how is that even… I mean… Explain yourself!"

"O-Ok, li-listen. It's not like I've known all this time or anything. Just… hear out my theory, ok?"

"Theory?! You've got a theory?!"

"During the whole San Lorenzo thing I got to know Helga a lot better. I saw some sides in her that I always knew was there, but I'd never seen before. When we came home and things kinda went back to normal… I can't explain it. I just felt this… really huge sadness in my heart, and I couldn't explain it, so… I tried to really sit down and think about it."

"… Uh… huh?"

"So I started to think about not just San Lorenzo, but about a lot of things. Like why do I always put up with her bullying, why do I insist that she's not so bad, etc. etc… Then it hit me: I'm in love with her. At first I was about to go back into denial. I was seriously freaking around. I swear, my parents and my grandparents must have thought I was going insane up in my room, because I just locked myself in there and walked around."

"Sounds… so not like you… Yet, realizing you're in love with Helga would probably do that to any other guy."

"The reason I was freaking out wasn't because of that! It was because it didn't feel as strange as I had thought. Almost like my body was telling me: 'Come on! Your heart's been saying it forever and it took your brain this long to realize?!' or something. So then I tried understand why I had been in such a ridiculous state of denial for so long… Because Helga is Helga!"

"… I'm sorry, Arnold, you lost me. You're saying that as if that means something else?"

"Think about it, Gerald! Helga's been bullying me for as long as I can remember, yet, I've never held a grudge against her. I kept insisting she was good and that I wanted to be her friend. You know why?"

"Because you… were secretly in love with her?"

"Yes! But I didn't know that, and why is that?"

"I don't- "

"Because my subconscious wouldn't let me!"

"… You gotta explain that a little."

"Ok, this is something I actually tried to study. Apparently, when a human develops a feeling that might hurt them in the end, sometimes the subconscious stops the human from feeling this emotion. That's what happened to me: My subconscious denied me to feel I was in love with Helga, because I was sure she hated me. When we got closer in San Lorenzo, I started believing she might love me back and my subconscious let me feel my feelings for her for the first time. Isn't that amazing?"

Gerald blinked a couple of times before answering. "Dude," he said in wonder. "your subconscious is a bitch."

Arnold rolled his eyes. "Yeah, my thoughts were like that too back when I read about that. Then again maybe I should thank my subconscious. It did try to help me, I guess. If not, I would've been hopelessly in love with Helga for much longer. Or rather known for far longer."

"… You sure it just isn't the Stockholm syndrome?"

Arnold turned to scowl at him. "Very funny." He answered. "No, I'm serious." Gerald said and straightened his back. "Gerald…" Arnold scolded him. Gerald lifted his hands in mock defense. "Alright, alright. True love it is."

Arnold felt a tint of a red blush creep around his cheeks. "T-True love? Now, Gerald, do you want my heart to… Wait! You're right!" he exclaimed in shock. "What!? Arnold, have I lost you?" Gerald asked.

"No! That's not what I mean! I haven't told you this yet, but I found out how my grandparents met!" Arnold said with a happy smile and took a step closer to Gerald. "Get this… They were just like me and Helga."

"… Huh?" Gerald asked in incredulity. "I'm serious!" Arnold said, feeling like dancing around. "They went to the same school. To the same class. My grandma picked on grandpa all the time! Calling him names, pranking him, blaming him for stuff. She's a Helga! You know, just, a 1920's version."

"Whoa, so your grandpa was under the influence of the Stockholm syndrome too?"

"Gerald!"

"Must run in the family. Tell me, how did your parents meet again?"

"Gerald, I'm serious- "

"Now, wait, hold on! You said you realized your feelings for Helga when we came back from San Lorenzo, yeah?"

"Uh, yes."

"And that was back in fifth grade, right?"

"Again: Yes."

"… We're in high school now, Arnold."

"… Want me to confirm that too?" Arnold asked with a cocked eyebrow. Gerald jumped off the chest with an angry expression. "Why did it take you this long to tell me?!"

Arnold stared at Gerald in shock. "Wh-What?" he mumbled shaken. "Why did it take you almost six years to tell your best friend that, not only you have a crush, but you are in love with a girl? Helga or not: That's not ok! You've always known about my feelings for Phoebe. Why didn't I know the same thing about you?" he asked with a bit of hurt in his eyes.

"Oh…" Arnold mumbled and gulped a little. "Well, to be honest: Through all of sixth grade I was still trying to get used to it myself… A-After that I guess I was just… scared of your reaction. I mean, I know you don't like her- "

"How does my opinion matter?"

"Huh?"

"If you're in love, then you're in love. If you didn't like Phoebe, I would've been like: 'Well, screw you! I do!' Get it? This is why nothing's happened between you and Helga yet! You're too scared of other people's reactions; Including hers."

Arnold could imagine himself standing there dumbstruck, as a huge rock with the words 'epiphany' landed on his head with a huge crack. "Wait," he said and gestured between them. "what's with the sudden words of wisdom?"

Gerald punched Arnold's shoulder lightly. "Being around Phoebe's been rubbing off on me, I guess." He answered with a shrug. "Yeah," Arnold answered and started rubbing a little on his shoulder. "it is."

Gerald started smiling, but then he frowned. "Wait… when did you find out about your grandparents?"

"Oh, grandpa actually told me the story some years back, but I didn't know his bully was my grandma until last night."

"… How could you not know that?"

"Simple: He didn't tell me."

"Then, what? He told you the story calling your grandma: 'My bully'?"

"No! He… called her Gertie."

"… Gertie? As in your grandma's name?"

"I know I should've realized, but back then I had a lot of other stuff on my mind and I- "

"How could you not have realized that?!"

"Gerald! You've been my best friend for years, and yet I apparently need to tell you this: I'm dense!"

Gerald firstly snorted and then broke out in a hysterical laughter. "Arnold, I don't think it was just your subconscious holding you back from knowing you were in love with Helga… I think it was your denseness too!"

Arnold sighed heavily but still smiled nevertheless. "Maybe it was a mix of both?" he suggested with a shrug. "Yeah, maybe." Gerald agreed and nodded. "This doesn't really answer my question though."

"Oh, right. Uh… what was it again?"

Gerald rolled his eyes. "What's going on with you and Helga right now?"

"Oh, uh… I guess what's happening is… Aaron is going after her too, so now that I have a rival, I'm trying to give it my all."

Gerald started nodding. "Yeah, I've been suspecting he has the hots for Helga too." He said thoughtfully. Arnold's face fell. "So you think so too? Damn…"

"Oh, don't worry, my main man," Gerald said and swung his arm over Arnold's shoulders and squeezed him a bit with it. "now that I know, I can help you!"

Arnold felt that he could hug Gerald just at that. He would have, if he wasn't locked in that iron grip of his. He could feel a huge load fall of his shoulders after finally telling his best friend his secret. "So," Gerald started. "what's the plan?"

Author's 2nd note: I don't technically know for sure if the subconscious is THAT strong, but I do know it's very strong! One of my friends wanted to be pregnant so badly, that her pregnancy test was positive. She took like three of them (different brands even) to be sure: All positive. When she went to the doctor with her fiancé, he told her she wasn't pregnant. She was crushed and didn't understand it. When she went to another kind of doctor, he told her that her body even started developing the same hormones as if she was pregnant. Gaining weight, period stopping, everything. It was all because she wished for it so badly that her brain tricked her body. True story! So I figured: If that's possible, how the hell could this not be? xD This seems more likely to me really!