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

They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.

Title: "Lovely misandry"

In the last chapter: After Helga had officially given up on trying to fall in love with Arnold after Zoe convinced her that she was only hurting Arnold by trying, even Gerald had a hard time comforting the blonde boy. Even Helga seemed to be just as sad as Arnold was to Patty's frustration because what good did it do for both blondes to be so miserable?

Arnold's parents were now given yet another chance to show their disdain towards Helga, but Arnold still stood up for her even though she had hurt him as much as she had. His grandparents stood up for Helga as well and even went to talk with her after school. Phil told Helga the story about how it took him years to fall in love with Gertie, but that her love for him and her patience brought him to love her more than he could ever have imagined. Helga had never believed as much in love as she did after that.

Author's 1st note: Thank you to the random hate anon! You actually inspired some stuff in this chapter ;D

Oh, and to another anonymous reviewer who asked why it takes me years to update: It's called a life, something you should get if you don't have anything better to do than complain why someone providing you free stories isn't working faster on something they aren't getting a paycheck for :P This isn't my job, sweetheart, and I have school and other hobbies to tend to. Don't wanna wait? Then don't and move onto a different author. It's people like you who make fanfic authors not want to write at all.

[Please notify me if you notice any grammar mistakes. This isn't my first language, so there's bound to be mistakes.]

Chapter 11: "Disinfectant"

"If Phil can fall in love with someone who treated him like dirt… I can fall in love with someone who treats me like a treasure." Helga whispered with a loving smile on her face while her forehead rested against Arnold's.

He couldn't believe it. He felt just as relieved and happy than when she had agreed the first time to be friends with him again and try to see if she could feel the same. This time, she said she believed in it. She truly believed it might happen. Arnold didn't care if she was giving him false hope. He didn't care if it would end in heartbreak later. All he cared about was her with him right now, sitting right in front of him and smiling that amazing smile of hers.

The happy image started fading, or rather it started melting right in front of him. Helga's face contorted with the background and he reached out for her in a panic. The sweet smile twisted into a Cheshire-like grin before she, along with everything else around him, faded into the darkness. Arnold called out for Helga, he didn't care about anything else. His entire room had disappeared, but all he cared about was finding Helga in this dark maze. He felt like he was running around, but getting nowhere. He felt exhausted, but hadn't moved an inch.

It was then Arnold woke up with a scream. While struggling to breathe, he looked around. The stars were shining brightly above him and he was lying in his bed as he should be at 3am in the morning. It had been a dream turned into a nightmare, but how much of it was just a dream? Helga's face turning into Play Doh he knew was a dream, but what about the part before? Had he just imagined that? He had to know.

Arnold grabbed his phone and called Helga without a second thought. He was too riled up to remind himself what the time was. It took a couple of rings, but finally a very groggy and annoyed Helga answered the phone.

"Helga, how much of it was a dream?"

"Huh?" Helga asked in confusion as she rubbed her eyes. "What the hell kinda nightmare did you have, Football Head?"

"W—Well, it was a good dream at first a—and then your face turned into, I don't know, something that looked like a model agency's worst nightmare!"

Interesting metaphor. I'll steal that, Helga thought and sighed. "Well, I'm pretty sure no agency would hire me even as my face is, but no, my face looks normal." She explained and quickly touched her face. "Yep, it's normal."

"What about… the first part?"

"The first part?"

"The part where you… um… where you—"

"Arnold, are you asking me if we're back together or not?"

Arnold gulped. "Yes."

"Yes. Yes, we are, bucko." Helga answered as if talking to a child. She heard Arnold sigh in relief, but her tone turned angry. "But if you wake me up in the middle of the night again then we're over again!"

With that, Helga hung up. Arnold looked at his phone in slight surprise, but started chuckling. He whispered a quick sorry to the phone before he put it back on his nightstand. He lied down, sighing happily before he fell back asleep.

"You look happy, boy. Something good happen?" Big Al asked.

Arnold was still whistling while he carried some glasses behind the counter. "Is it that obvious?" he asked before starting to put the glasses in the dishwasher.

"You look happier than a guy who thought a cat has done its business on his pie, but it turned out to be an extra big blackberry."

Arnold's face scrunched; he would never get used to Big Al's weird homebrewed sayings. "I think I might be even happier than that." He answered. He was about to explain why, but saw someone behind big Al's shoulder that made him forget anything but her name. "Helga!"

"Hey, Arnold." Helga greeted. "And Big Al."

"Hi, kiddo. You here to get something to eat?"

"Yeah, Miriam and I would like some BLT sandwiches." She answered.

"Coming right up." Big Al replied before going out in the back to make the sandwiches.

Arnold snuck over to the counter and leaned over towards Helga. "Hi."

Helga quirked an eyebrow at the sight of Arnold's dimwitted smile. "Hi, you big dope." She replied. "You look happy. Something good happen?"

"Naw, nothing special.

"Nothing special, huh? Yeah, I'll believe it when you wipe that grin off!"

"You wipe it off." Arnold challenged. Helga instantly started rubbing his face with both of her hands. Arnold grabbed them and pouted at her. "Not what I had in mind."

"Control yourself. We're in public." Helga joked.

"Public?" Arnold repeated and looked around the empty café. "Whatever you say, Helga."

Helga shook her head in amusement. "Hey, wanna come with me to the pet store tomorrow after school?"

"You finally getting your bird?"

"Yep, just so I can flip people off with it." Helga joked. "I think I'm gonna get a green parrot."

"You sure you want something that'll talk back at you?"

"I'll teach it not to."

"Good luck." Arnold laughed. "Hopefully it will have your charm."

"Oh, shut up."

Arnold chuckled for a moment. "Of course I'll come with you."

"I wasn't really asking, you know."

"Because you knew I'd say yes?"

"Exactly!" Helga replied and laughed with Arnold. Big Al came back into the café, carrying two wrapped up sandwiches. He grinned at the two teenagers. "Quick worker as always, Al."

"I aim to please." Big Al replied and gave Helga the sandwiches in a paper bag. "And I'm pleasing the environment too!"

"And we all appreciate it." Helga answered while taking the bag. "Thanks, Al. See you tomorrow, Football Head."

"See you." Arnold replied and waved at Helga while she walked away. Once she was outside, he could feel Big Al smiling at him. He looked up at the big man and tried to wipe his grin off. "What?"

"I do wonder if the boy is in love." Big Al said sarcastically in a saccharine voice.

Arnold could feel a blush creep up on his cheeks. "Guilty." He said without a care.

"Congratulations!" Big Al said and gave Arnold a sideways hug. "You look more twitter pated than a doe in spring."

"Can't disagree with that."

"Works out for me too, actually." Big Al said. "You know if Helga's looking for a job?"

"Uh… I—I don't know, actually. She hasn't mentioned it…" Arnold confessed and then looked at Big Al with big eyes. "You want to hire her?"

"Yes. She knows the place, I've known her for years and you two are dating. It seems like she would be a good first choice. Also, she seems happier lately. Like she doesn't want to tear me a new one."

"I guess… It would be pretty cool to work with her too." Arnold admitted, but he wasn't sure how good of a first choice Helga would be. "But, you know, Helga doesn't really have any working experience and I don't know how she'd be with customers."

"You can teach her." Big Al said and wiggled his eyebrows. "Wouldn't that be fun?"

Arnold blushed again and shrugged. "It would… I just wanted to warn you first. She might not want the job either."

"That's why I'm counting on you to convince her, little buddy." Big Al said, patted Arnold's back and went in the back.

Convincing Helga to do something? Arnold thought and chuckled. Maybe I should get grandpa and grandma on the job.

"It's good to have you back, Arnold." Nadine said while smiling at the blondes. "And to see you two together again."

"Thanks." Arnold said a bit awkwardly as he scratched his neck. He peeked at Helga who seemed a bit awkward as well, but not nearly as much. "It's good to be back."

"And have Helga back I imagine." Sid joked and nudged his elbow at Helga's arm. "What made you change your mind?"

"Yeah, I'd like to know that too." Zoe said bitterly though she was sitting a bit further away from the blondes than the others were.

"I got a reality check." Helga answered. "I thought I was protecting Arnold by staying away, but I realized I was hurting him by giving up already. Besides, I don't like doing things halfheartedly. And Phil kinda told me some things that made me realize that I'm not a lost cause after all."

"So, you got manipulated into going back to Arnold by his grandpa?" Zoe asked.

Helga sneered. "With that logic then you're the one who manipulated me into leaving him to begin with, wasn't it?" she asked seethingly, and Zoe huffed and looked away.

Despite how happy Arnold was with Helga's reply, he couldn't help but wonder if it wasn't a little bit true. Helga had always admired Phil and Gertie. Perhaps that admiration had overshadowed her own feelings a bit? He didn't like that thought, but he didn't get much time to dwell on it.

"So, can we get a smooch then?" Harold joked and started making kissing sounds.

"Don't push it, Pig Boy." Helga warned.

Harold huffed. "Madam Fortress Mommy…"

"How is it going anyway, Helga?" Sid asked.

"What are you getting at?"

"No, I mean, with the whole… hating and beating on boys thing?"

"Subtle." Rhonda whispered while rolling her eyes.

"Well… um… that one's a little harder. I—I mean, I can't exactly work on it unless I'm put in a situation where I want to beat someone." Helga answered.

"I can be your test dummy." Zac offered and went as close to Helga as physically possible. "On a scale from 1-10, how much do you wanna punch me right now?"

"100." Helga answered while clenching her fist. "Get outta my face."

"She's got a long way to go." Zac stated with a smirk.

"But she can do it." Arnold insisted and smiled at Helga. "You can talk your way out of more situations than you can with a fist."

"Spoken like a true pacifist." Zac said and rolled his eyes.

"Like I always say." Helga agreed with a grin. "But Arnold's right, I have to learn to use my words instead. It's a pretty important step."

"I'd say!" Rhonda agreed. "I have to say, Helga, you scared me to death when you beat up Wolfgang and the others. You looked like a tank."

"It was awesome." Zac laughed. The others gawked at him in shock. "What? As long as we're not the ones she's beating up, who cares? I think it's cool that a girl can stand up for herself."

"There's a difference between standing up for yourself and going too far." Arnold interjected. "And that's the line Helga needs to learn."

"Could we change the subject?" Helga asked in slight annoyance. She was getting sick of the conversation. She knew Arnold was right, but they didn't have to keep reminding her. She knew what she had to do; it was the actual act of doing it that might be difficult.

"Sure." Arnold agreed. "Actually, I've been wondering, Helga, um… do you want to get a job?"

Helga looked at Arnold suspiciously. "What are you getting at, Short Man?"

"Nothing! Just, uh… Big Al kinda wants to know if you want to work at his café." Arnold explained.

The whole classroom was quiet for a moment before everyone, except the blondes, started laughing.

"You've gotta be kidding!" Sid bellowed, his eyes tearing up from laughing.

"Helga as a waitress!" Stinky agreed.

Harold was holding his stomach while laughing. "I'd pay to see that!"

"I guess you will if you go to Big Al's Café!" Sheena said, trying to keep her laughter down.

"Why is this so funny?" Helga asked, clearly offended. She had a feeling she knew what was so funny though.

"Well, you do know that Big Al runs the customer is always right rule, right?" Rhonda asked, her laughter dying down. "You'd have to smile and be polite no matter what people do or say."

"I know. When Arnold first started working there, I did my best to piss him off."

"I remember." Arnold said sourly. "But Big Al really wants to hire you, Helga. He said you're his first choice."

"You're kidding?" everyone asked in unison, including Helga.

"No! He said that since you already know the place you have an advantage. He also liked that we already knew each other so… you know, I could teach you."

Lila cooed. "I know why you want to work with Helga!" she sang in a sing-song voice. "It's so you can be even closer to her! That's adorable, Arnold, just ever so adorable."

Helga glared jokingly at Arnold. "Figures you would have some ulterior motive." She said and smirked. "I don't know… Big Al knows what I'm like, right?"

"He still insisted." Arnold answered. "But if you don't want to then that's that."

"I just don't get it. Why not Gerald? He knows the place and you've been best friends for years too." Helga pointed out. Arnold was about to answer before Helga gave an I'm-about-to-make-an-inappropriate-joke smile. "Let me guess; it's because he's black?"

Gerald promptly smacked the back of Helga's head, but the blonde girl just laughed. "Funny, Pataki." He said sourly, but chuckled for a moment when he saw that Phoebe couldn't help but giggle as well. They knew Helga' humor was crude and horrible, but she didn't mean anything by it and that's why they could laugh too.

"He asked for you." Arnold said, skipping smoothly past the joke. "Maybe he wants a girl?"

"He shouldn't hire Helga then." Gerald said and was instantly rewarded with an elbow to his stomach. "Karma is a bitch, Helga."

"Indeed." She agreed with a wide grin before she looked back at Arnold. "I'll think about it."

"I already regret this."

"Regret this! Regret this!"

Helga groaned loudly and put her pillow over her ears. "How do you make a parrot shut up?"

"Stop talking yourself I guess?" Arnold suggested and chuckled with the parrot. "I think it's incredible that it's already copying you."

"I didn't think it would talk so much." Helga admitted and threw her pillow back on the bed. "Maybe some treats will make it shut up."

Arnold watched while Helga gave the parrot a stick filled with fruits and nuts. It squawked and started munching on it instantly. Helga sighed in relief when it stopped talking and only the sound of it pecking on the treat filled the room. She went straight back to her bed and lied down.

"That thing already has me tired. Maybe this was a mistake."

"You just need to get used to him." Arnold said and looked around, wondering where he should sit. He decided to stay where he was. "What are you gonna call him?"

"Hmm, let's see… he's obnoxious, won't stop talking and I'm stuck with him. How about Arnold?" Helga suggested with a cheeky smile on her face.

Arnold couldn't help but frown. "You're not stuck with me…"

"Oh, but you admit the other things?" Helga asked jokingly, but she could see something was bothering him. "Ok, Football Head, spit it out."

Arnold was almost surprised that Helga had seen right through him, but she had always been observant and he was always see-through. "It's just… You don't feel forced, do you?"

Helga quirked an eyebrow. "To get a pet?"

"No." Arnold said with a small chuckle. "I mean… to be with me. I don't know what grandpa said, but he didn't say anything that made you feel, I don't know, obligated, right?"

"Arnold, we're talking about Phil and Gertie here. As convincing as they can be, they're not cruel or particularly clever. Also, when have I ever done anything people wanted me to do?"

"Well…" Arnold said, unsure if he wanted to answer that question or not. "Zoe wanted you to leave me."

Helga scowled. "True, but she caught me at a bad moment. I was already afraid of myself and the thought of me hurting you scared the shit outta me. Her timing was rotten! Or perfect, I guess." She explained. "Also, and I'll deny it if you tell anyone else, I did talk to Dr. Bliss about this."

"You did?"

"Doi." Helga scoffed. "I talked about everything; the fight, our talk, my talk with Zoe, that I broke up with you because I was afraid of hurting you even more… Now, Dr. Bliss isn't allowed to tell me what to do and she never would even if she was allowed… but she also said some things that made me reconsider my decision. That was the day before Phil and Gertie kidnapped me."

"What did Dr. Bliss say?"

"Nothing specific… she just spoke to my brain instead of my heart and made me do the same. People say to follow your heart, but your heart isn't always that smart. Thing is, Arnold, I'm following both my heart and brain this time by trying again. Before the whole Gerald field thing I was only trying to be with you because I felt like I owed it to you and to myself so I could get better… but now I'm doing it for another reason as well."

Arnold could feel his heart get stuck in his throat, but he managed to force some words out of him anyway. "And what's that?"

Helga looked at the floor, her feet kicking the air in a shy manner. "I don't wanna answer that."

Arnold looked at her in surprise and disappointment. "Oh, come on, Helga." He begged, but when he saw the mischievous look on her face, he laughed. "That's not fair!"

"Well, life sucks, darling." Helga argued snootily.

Arnold could feel his heartbeat quicken at the nickname. "It would give me some peace."

Helga cooed. "But I like you when you're all nervous!" she said and giggled.

"Helga, are you flirting?" Arnold asked before he could stop himself. He was just so amazed by her words. She had always been playful, but there was something in the way she was looking at him, the tone in her voice… something oddly sweet was there he hadn't seen before.

Helga's blue eyes widened. "Am I?" she asked. "Was that flirting?"

"Feels like it…" Arnold confessed, his cheeks reddening at the thought.

Helga scratched her neck nervously. "Maybe? I mean, it wasn't something I was doing on purpose or anything, but maybe?" she suggested shyly.

Helga looked up when she heard Arnold coming closer to her. He had a look in her eyes that made her feel nervous, but not afraid. Once he was right in front of her, he leaned down to her level and placed his hands on her bed. She swallowed the lump in her throat and closed her eyes, expecting him to kiss her. When it didn't happen, she opened her eyes again.

"Sorry…" Arnold whispered. "I forgot… only one kiss a day."

Helga looked at Arnold's shy smile. "Well… there can be exceptions." She heard herself say. Did I really just say that? She wondered. Do I want to kiss him? Well, I did close my eyes when he got close, but… oh, I don't know! I'm such a basket case!

"Really?" Arnold asked a bit hopefully and moved so close to Helga that she could feel his breath on her face.

The blonde girl nodded eagerly, but her heart was beating so harshly against her ribcage that it made her jumpy and she flinched when his hand touched her cheek. He was taking his time, caressing her cheek and looking deeply into her eyes.

"Arnold, why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?"

"Being so slow… you're just making me more nervous."

Arnold chuckled. "Sorry." He said and placed his lips against hers.

Helga gasped silently. She could feel her legs trembling and she was struggling to breathe through her nose while Arnold kissed her. It wasn't a particularly deep kiss, but it felt so emotional because of the whole atmosphere in her room. Not to mention that it was her room; they had never kissed in her personal space like this and it made her feel strange. She didn't know what kind of strange though.

Arnold's hand, which had been resting on the bed a moment ago, went to Helga's hip. She instantly squirmed, pulled away and gave a giggle. Arnold looked at her in surprise.

"That tickles, you moron!" Helga reminded him and scratched the place he had tickled.

Arnold started laughing instantly. "That's right! You've always been ticklish."

"Yeah, and you always took advantage of it!" Helga argued and then thought about it for a moment. "Which seems oddly mean for you now that I think about it… Why did you always tickle me so much?"

Arnold blushed bright red and looked away. "Um… I like your laugh?"

Helga gave him a slanted look. "Arnold."

"I'm secretly mean?"

"Arnold!"

"It was an excuse to touch you."

"Arnold—wait, what?" Helga said, realizing Arnold's tone had changed. Arnold kept looking away from her, completely mortified by what he had just confessed. Helga felt a jumble of emotions before she settled on one; amusement. "You know, you're more cunning than I thought."

Arnold looked at Helga's smiling face in surprise. "You're not angry?"

Helga gave a thoughtful hum. "I probably would have some months ago… but not now." She answered, the smile staying on her face. "Things are different now."

Those words filled Arnold with so much joy that he couldn't help but jump into Helga's arms. She gave a high-pitched shriek when she landed on her back, but caught him easily. She was about to scold him for scaring her, but he silenced her with a kiss. She gasped again, the jumble of feelings beginning all over. The adrenaline from being surprised mixed with curiosity and anxiety. The feeling of Arnold's weight on her made her feel overpowered and she didn't like that. Subconsciously, she started shivering and put her hands on his arms. She wasn't sure if he had noticed her discomfort or not, but he stopped the kiss and removed himself from her, but he stayed above her.

Arnold gave a mischievous smirk before he started tickling Helga. "No!" she screamed in shock before she started laughing uncontrollably. "Stop, Arnold! I'm serious! You asshole! Arnold!"

Arnold stopped after a few seconds, laughing from the adrenaline himself. Helga was panting heavily, a chuckle still escaping from her lips every once in a while she regained her composure.

"Jerk…" Helga whispered with a smile. "I think I'll take the job at Al's café."

Arnold looked at her in surprise. "You call me a jerk and then decide to be my colleague?"

"You've always been a jerk." Helga said sarcastically and stretched on the bed. "I just figured that getting a job would be a good opportunity. I need the money so I don't have to sponge off Miriam and it might be a good idea to be forced to be kind to people even when I want to punch them. I'll look at it as practice."

"It's also a perk that we get to spend more time together, isn't it?" Arnold asked with a playful smile.

Helga hummed thoughtfully. "I think that's more a perk for you." She replied cheekily.

Arnold shook his head in amusement. "Oh, you really shouldn't have said that." He warned and wiggled his fingers at her before he started tickling her again.

"Well, Helga, you picked up on everything even quicker than I expected. You think you're ready to be on your own?"

"On my own?"

"Well, Arnold will be here, but I meant for you to actually ring up customers."

"Uh… sure." Helga answered, but looked nervously at Arnold. She wasn't afraid of forgetting anything. She had memorized the whole thing quickly, years of ordering from this café helped with that and Arnold was a good teacher. It was the being polite to customers thing she was nervous about. "As long as no jerks come by."

"There'll always be jerks, Helga." Big Al warned. "The other day, some guy came in here and made some cruel joke about me."

"About you? What do you mean?' Helga asked. Al quirked an eyebrow at her. "Oh… I would have kicked his homophobic balls into his stomach."

Al gave a hearty laugh. "Hey, that's what you get when you are as fabulous as I am." He jokes and patted her shoulder. "The thing is that I held my head high and ignored him."

"Maybe you shouldn't have… Why do you take it?"

"Good customer service." Big Al replied, patted Helga's shoulder and walked away. "Get to your cute little ass to work, honey!"

Helga shivered. Gay or not, that's still creepy. She thought and quickly went over to Arnold. "What did that customer say about Al?"

"Oh, um… something about him looking like a real, uh… trooper for the soldiers."

"Oh, ugh…" Helga groaned. "And I bet it was a man?"

"Helga…"

Helga threw her hands up. "I'm just saying."

Arnold watched while Helga walked back to the counter. "You're not wrong, but it still hurts to hear that." He whispered before going back to one of the tables to clean it.

Arnold made sure to listen clearly to Helga while she serviced customers. She was doing well, really well actually. Big Al had even flashed Arnold a secret thumbs-up at one point. Arnold had meekly given one back, but only because he knew Helga still hadn't been met with her biggest challenge yet.

As if the universe had a cruel sense of humor, Arnold recognized the next customer walking in, the last customer before they'd close the shop. His name was Mr. Sheck and he wanted everything done fast and perfectly, and he would be sure to tell you if you weren't living up to his standards. Arnold almost considered walking up to Helga and ask her take care of one of the tables instead, but Al had foreseen his intentions and shook his head at him. Arnold sighed, but stayed where he was and started mopping the floor.

Arnold could hear everything being said between Helga and Sheck, and it wasn't pretty. Helga wasn't used to making the sandwiches yet and being yelled at made her angry and mess things up even more. Arnold looked at Al again, but he shook his head. He needed to see if Helga could handle it the way she should. When the sandwich was finally finished and wrapped up, Sheck made sure Helga knew she was making him run late and that he thought she was the most hopeless girl he had ever met. It was the G-word that made Helga lose it.

"You know what, Mr. Sheck? Kiss my—"

Helga stopped herself from finishing the crude comment, but Mr. Sheck's face had turned red. "What were you about to say, little lady?" he asked, clearly ready to throw a complete hissy fit.

Helga looked like a broken record; her eyes were flying around in her head while she was cranking the wheels in her head, desperate to figure out a way to get herself out of this situation in a dignified way that would also satisfy Mr. Sheck. She seemed to skip the part about her own dignity and leaned forward to plan a kiss on Mr. Sheck's cheek. Arnold's jaw dropped to the floor in shock before his face curled in disgust.

"K—Kiss as an apology. I'm very sorry, sir." Helga said with her face contorted into shame and biting on her lip to stop herself from showing her disgust.

Mr. Sheck blinked about a million times before he muttered something about her being the weirdest girl he had ever met. He then took his sandwich and left the shop without another word. Helga stuck out her tongue and gagged visibly while she jogged towards Arnold.

"Were you about to say kiss my ass?" Arnold asked with a chuckle in his voice.

"Yes." Helga answered indifferently before her hands grabbed his cheeks and she pulled him into a kiss. Arnold gasped in surprise and he almost snapped the mop in his hands. The kiss lasted for quite a bit before Helga turned around to head into the dressing room.

"What was that for?" Arnold asked dazedly.

"Disinfectant!"

Arnold couldn't help but rest his forehead against the mop while he laughed. They were about to finish up for the day so there were no one else in the shop, but to be kissed in public by her like that made him feel an odd sense of accomplishment. When he looked up, he could see Big Al smirking at him, his shoulders shaking with silent laughter. Arnold blushed profoundly, having totally forgotten that Al had been watching the entire scene. Al made kissing sounds before he walked out of Arnold's sight. Arnold kept blushing for a moment, but the dreamy smile stayed on for the rest of the day.

Author's 2nd note: How many of you recognized the scene where Arnold calls Helga in the middle of the night? ;D That was 100% inspired from the first episode in the season after Kim and Ron get together. I totally shipped them when I was a kid, still kinda do xD

Oh, and Big Al is the owner of "Bigal's café" in the opening of Hey Arnold! It was supposed to be Big Al, if I have understood correctly, but there wasn't room or something so I made it into Big Al xD Bigal sounds good too, but still :P Yes, he's gay in my story and yes, his homebrewed saying is from Blackadder.

Also, any ideas to what Helga should name the parrot? I don't have any ideas for that really, only that I want the name to give Arnold some love in one way or another xD