Helga grabbed her bag and stomped towards the changing room. She opened the door and slammed it behind her. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply through her nose. She held it for a few seconds, basking in the silence around her. She exhaled and slowly lowered to the floor. She glared at the floor for a few moments, replaying the last few moments in her head. She slapped the floor with both of her hands angrily. "Damnit!" She yelled.

She had kept that moment hidden for so long. It was hard enough to tell Gerald and Phoebe, let alone confront Arnold about it. She thought it would feel good when she finally confronted Arnold. She thought the pressure would go away and that she would finally be able to clear the air. And yet she felt terrible. And she didn't know what to do. What she did know was that she didn't want to face Arnold. So she stood up and took her time changing back into her clothes.

When she was finished, she let her hand hover over the door knob. It sounded quiet on the other side of the door, so Arnold could have left. Or he could be waiting for her to come out. She hoped it wasn't the latter. She finally placed her hand on the doorknob and twisted it opened. She inhaled sharply, expecting to see Arnold on the other side of the door.

But he wasn't. She exhaled happily and began to walk out of the auditorium. She opened the door and let the cool night air hit her face. She turned and walked down the street light illuminated side walk. She felt her feet moving faster and faster until she was sprinting. She stopped at a busy intersection and hailed a cab. She blurted out the first address she could think of and then rested back into the seat.

Helga watched as buildings went by, the street lights becoming a blur. After a while, the cab stopped. Helga paid the driver and stepped out. The sign in front of her read "Tina Park." She sighed and kept walking, until she came to a small bridge. She walked to the middle of the bridge and leaned on the railing, staring at the water. This was the bridge where she told Arnold that she missed her mother while she was working. She chuckled as she remembered that she had been so caught up in her rant that she had covered him with the ice cream she was holding.

"You know, you have a bad habit of disappearing." Helga jumped slightly at the voice but then turned and glared at the person it came from. "The point of disappearing is to not be found, football-head."

Arnold walked and stood next to her and looked down at the water. She turned away from him and mimicked his actions. "What are you doing here?" She asked, anger still clear in her voice. Arnold looked at her, but Helga kept her gaze on the water. "I came to talk to you," he said.

Helga scoffed. "Yeah, well, you could have saved yourself a trip. I have nothing to say to you." She watched as Arnold fidgeted with his hands. "Why did you become friends with me senior year of undergrad after what I did to you?" He asked.

Helga's eyes widened slightly. "You remember what happened?" She asked. Arnold nodded. "It took me a little while, but yes, I remember. So why did you do that?" He asked again.

Helga sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Uh..I don't know. I guess you were so open and friendly to me I decided I would forgive you. But the night you took me up to that tree and held my hand everything kind of came crashing back down. I think it was because it reminded me of when you grabbed my hand when I was showing you my poetry. I realized I was still angry at you so I distanced myself from you," Helga said, brushing a stray piece of hair behind her ear nervously.

Arnold turned Helga so she was facing him. "Helga, I am so sorry. I never should have done that to you. You are a remarkable person and you shouldn't have been treated that way. It was a pretty shitty thing to do, and I'm sorry," He said.

Helga's eyes widened a bit at Arnold cursing. "Thanks for apologizing," she said, removing his hands from her arms. Arnold stared at her uneasily, like he could somehow see she wasn't convinced.

"If it's any consolation, I think the punch I drank last night was drugged," he said. Helga snorted, "Yeah, that must have been why Irina was acting so crazy," she said, rolling her eyes. Arnold blushed slightly and rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"What is it?" she asked. "I..uh.." he said. He took a deep breath and then blurted," when you left the room to go to the bathroom I read your poem, which was beautiful, but when I went to read it again everything became blurry. I felt really weird. But I had this warm feeling in my chest so when I saw someone enter the room I went to kiss them so I could keep that feeling. I guess the person was Irina, but I...uh...thought it was you," he said, coughing awkwardly.

"You what?!" Helga shrieked. Arnold stepped backwards from the volume of her voice. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to kiss her and I probably shouldn't have wanted to kiss you either, but you were being so open with me and you never are and I felt so happy. And then the punch kicked in and it made my feelings intensify and I just couldn't help it!" Arnold said.

"So let me get this straight. You kissed my roommate, who you thought was me, because you were happy I let you read one of my poems?" Helga asked, placing her hands on her hips. "Um..yeah that sounds about right," Arnold said quietly.

Helga rolled her eyes and turned around in anger, but really it was to hide the smile that was forming on her face. Arnold had wanted to kiss me! She thought happily. She felt butterflies fluttering around her stomach. She was brought out of her gleeful thoughts by Arnold's voice.

"Helga please don't be mad at me again! I am so, so sorry! I know what I did was awful, and what I told you was awful, but what I want more than anything is for you to forgive me," Arnold said. Helga chewed on the inside of her cheek and turned around to face Arnold again. She smirked at him. "Oh fine foot-ball head, if it will make you happy, I forgive you," Helga said.

Arnold's face lit up. "Really?" He asked. Helga chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Yes, really." Arnold wrapped his hands around her in a hug. Helga felt herself melt into the warmth of the hug, enjoying the feeling of his arms around her, before pushing him off. "Alright, thats enough of the mushy stuff," she said.

Arnold smiled down at her. "Thanks Helga," he said. Helga looked up at him. "Yeah, don't mention it football-head," She said.

"So..." Arnold said, "friends?"

Helga felt her heart sink into her stomach.

"Uh...yeah. Friends."

A/N: Sorry for dragging this out, but things will get better between them, I promise! I have some fun things planned. Anyway, thanks for reading! And thanks to everyone leaving reviews, I really appreciate them and enjoy reading them. As always please notify me if you notice any mistakes.