Arnold has a light bulb moment and suddenly he starts running with her still on his back after a few moments of him running and laughing she gets down he starts pulling her with him as he starts jogging. "Uh Arnold what's up?" She questions him in an out of breath voice.
"You'll see. It's what I said I wanted to show you earlier.
"I don't like surprises football head."
He looks over his shoulder at her for a second. "Tough." He says in mocking way.
Helga taps him on the back of his neck. "Not cool Arnoldo, I might have to lay hands on you."
Arnold laughs and squeezes her hand. "Lay hands on me huh ... Is that suppose to be a threat? ... Because it sounds very appealing."
Helga rolls her eyes but she also blushes. "Are we almost wherever you wanted to take me because I'm getting tired of being male handled."
"I'm hardly male handling you Helga and besides." He gently moves her in front of him and places his hands on her shoulders. "We're here."
Helga looks ahead to see a garden that was shaped like a tunnel full of the greenest leaves and prettiest flowers.
"My grandpa called it the tunnel of love ... like at the cheese festival."
Helga is smiling with both her mouth and her eyes and then begins to walk inside. She was thinking this feels like a dream and she couldn't believe she finally got to in some way go through the 'tunnel love' finally with Arnold. She wonders if he knows how much that means to her. Hr nine year old self was doing cartwheels.
Helga bumps into him lightly and he holds her hand. She stops to eye the tunnel dreamily. Arnold stops to admire how her eyes are full of life and beauty.
She looks at him and starts giggling; he smiles at how cute she is when she does that. "What?" He asks.
Helga shifts in her stance nervously. "This entire park or whatever just makes me think of something." She shyly looks away which sparks Arnold's interest more.
"Tell me ... What does this remind you of?"
"You'll laugh."
Arnold grins. "No I won't ... Please tell me." He makes a pouty face.
Helga giggles. "Okay quit begging... It makes me think of one of my favorite poems."
He smiles. "A poem?" He thinks about the pink book that he discovered was hers back in 8th grade but never mentioned it to her. His eyes light up even though it seems she's not referring to one of her own. "Can I hear it?"
She blushes. "No it's might sound lame and you'll laugh."
He has a small smile on his face. "Helga I won't laugh... I promise. I would love to hear it really."
She sighs. "Okay." He smiles widely. "It's by Joyce Kilmer called 'Trees'";
She looks up away from him to ease her nerves and then begins to recite it.
"I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree. A tree whose hungry mouth is prest against the earth's sweet flowing breast. A tree that looks at God all day and lifts her leafy arms to pray. A tree that may in summer wear a nest of robins in her hair upon whose bosom snow has lain; who intimately lives with rain. Poems are made by fools like me, but only God can make a tree."
She makes eye contact with him and he's gazing at her dreamily. "I loved that Helga."
She blushes. "Well don't be too impressed it's not like I wrote it or anything."
He picks out a flower twirls it and then hands it to her. "I know, but you brought meaning into every word; your voice was so pure, soothing and has such warmth. I mean I wish I had the gift to convey a poem in such a way ... You're really talented."
She brings the flower to her nose and smiles at him in such a sweet sincerely happy way that nearly makes his knees buckle. He could no longer resist so he cups her face, leans in and immediately presses his lips on hers to kiss her. He wraps his arms around her; pulling her into him. Helga is in shock initially, but instinct kicks in and so she does kiss him back. When she does Arnold feels the sweetest sensation run through his body that he'd never felt before from girls in the past. The warmth of his mouth and the soften of his kiss sends a current through her body that she never experience before. Arnold slows his lip and tongue movements almost like he is cherishing and savoring every soft touch.
Eventually they end the kiss simultaneously; both realize how out of breath they are. Helga is totally love struck and in a haze. Arnold is too but he blinks and shakes his head to come out of it. He stares intently at the girl before him. He places his hand on her face and then gently circles her lips with his finger. "You are so beautiful." His voice is gentle and earnest.
Helga sighs happily. "So are you." She felt like she was caught in a dream or in a movie. She literally pitched herself hard.
"Are you okay?" He asks.
Helga laughs nervously. "Yeah...yes..."
Arnold bites his bottom lip and takes her hand. "Come on. Are you still up for horseback riding?"
"Yeah." She says with enthusiasm.
()()()()()()()()
They get to the ranch and Arnold goes inside while Helga goes around to wait by the horses. She mentally picks out a particular horse because she thinks it has the most beautiful raven haired. "Now if you make me fall in front of Arnold I will deck you." She says to the horse who makes a noise as if she were agreeing. Helga laughs. " Yeah you're definitely my horse."
Arnold came out with a young woman. She smiles at Helga. "What's your name?"
"Helga."
"Nice to met you, like I was telling Arnold here my name is Meg and I'll be your instructor." She smiles at Helga. "Ladies first." She looks at Arnold with a small frown. "Unless you have a problem with that Arnold."
He raises his brows and waves. "No not at all."
Meg's expression softens. "Well good, Helga lets go pick out your horse."
"I already have." She points to the raven horse. "That one."
Meg makes a face. "Beauty is our strongest horse so." She looks Helga over. "But you seem like a tough athletic girl."
"She is." Arnold states to Meg who looks surprised.
"Well then you can handle it." She walks away to get the horse and brings Beauty out. The horse looks aggressive initially but Helga smiles and begins to run her hands along it's hair. "You are a beauty." She says in a low volume to the horse who seems to soften a bit.
Arnold smiles admirably at how she's interacting with the horse and Meg walks over to instruct her on how to climb on. They each have a brief individual lessons and both love Beauty so much that they agree to share her.
Meg actually suggests that they ride together so they did. Helga wrapped her arms around Arnold's waist causing him to automatically let out a almost unnoticeable sigh. Beauty began jotting faster and after a few minutes pulled back on the reigns to slow her down.
"I'm surprised she's being so submissive with you."
"Why?"
"Because I think Beauty is kind of like Meg..."
"What do you mean?"
"She's not that fond of ... the male species."
"Oh." Arnold laughed a little bit.
Helga rested her head on his back and Arnold slow down the horse naturally at the touch. "You know his is my favorite even being on a horse, I'm surprised I didn't fall on my butt..."
Arnold chuckles. "Nah horseback riding is pretty easy ... "
"Arnoldo if you didn't know I'm kind of a klutz, though I've gotten better at hiding it."
"Oh yeah I remember when you I saw you fall off that pony."
Helga sat up. "You remember that?"
"It just popped in my head when you mentioned being a klutz."
"Well at least you didn't laugh, at least not while you were standing there."
"It look like it hurt."
"No duh football head... to be honest I never really laughed at Eugene too hard because I could kind of relate. I probably hurt myself at least once a day. I was like a cat I had nine lives."
"No one had it worse than Eugene when get came to bad luck.."
"Yeah he doesn't deserve it, why can't ... that big creep Wolfgang have his luck." Helga rested her head his back.
"Uh... I'd say he has pretty bad luck since he is in jail now."
"What?"
"Yep, I never found out for what, but Gerald heard it from fuzzy slippers."
"Ha, the last time I saw that goon he asked me out and when I said no he tried to grope me."
Arnold felt himself getting angry and it showed in his voice. "When was that?"
"Um... like a year ago, thank God my self-esteem was never that low. He reeked of booze... I can just imagine being an abusive pig to a woman, he even was wearing a wife beater." She laughed a little. "But ole Betsy always came in handy when it came to all the pricks I would attract."
"Did you ever have date or have boyfriends?"
"A few dates, but not really."
"How is that possible?"
"I told you I was basically an outcast. The good guys were scared of me or thought I was weird and some of the guys that would approach me could give Wolfgang a run for his money." She tightens her hold on him. "I lucked up when I came back to Hillwood high though."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah, the nicest guy in school asked me out."
Arnold smile widens. "Oh he did, wait til I get my hands on the jerk when I find him."
"And do what lecture him until he runs away crying." Helga jokes.
Arnold chuckles. "Are you doubting me? Don't let the head shape fool you ... I can throw down with the best of them sweetheart."
Helga starts laughing hysterically. "Oh man Arnoldo, thanks for that, that was a good laugh ..."
"In all seriousness Helga, I'd do anything to make sure you're safe." That came out without Arnold even thinking and there was a silence, but necessarily an weird one.
They got so into their ride together that they went over the time limit. Arnold speed up the horse to get to the ranch as quick as possible but he really hated when she has to let go of him so they could get down.
"Arnold what were you trying to steal Beauty?" Meg asks.
"No, sorry I just lost track of time."
"Well you're going to pay more for your extra time." She says sternly.
Arnold nods. "Alright." He takes out his wallet to pay her. "How much?"
Helga frowns a little. "Come on Meg he didn't mean to keep Beauty out we just got carried away." Meg is unaffected and Helga glances at him for a second. "Look at the shape of this guy's head, notice how wide it is; he can't help it." Arnold smirks. "He's had a lifelong struggle with fitting through doors and stuff so cut Arnold a break I mean his head is shaped like a football for Christ sake ... please Meg he's suffered enough."
Meg starts laughing and smiles. "Alright you can pay the regular price, but you owe your girl Helga here." Arnold just nods and pays her.
As they are heading to his car he moves close to her and whispers in her ear. He puts his arm around her. "You know you're the only person that can get away with talking about my head like that." He kisses her on the cheek. "Thanks for doing that, you saved my wallet."
"You're welcome." She laughs and then faces him with a slight scowl. "You're right I am the only one that can call you football head. I've been cracking on your odd head since preschool so don't you dare think I'm going to stop now."
He chuckles. "Whatever you say Helga."
()()()()()()()()()()
After that Arnold and Helga left to get food; they were both starving because of doing all of that physical activity. He took her to an Italian restaurant and they chow down on their food quickly without caring about how they appeared. They order dessert and while they are waiting Arnold hears a familiar song playing starts nodding to it. He looks at Helga and raises his eyebrows a few times. He motions with his head. "You want to dance?" There was small dance floor but no one was on it.
Helga shakes her head. "I can't dance."
Arnold smirks. "Ah that's a lame excuse Helga. C'mon." He gets up and stands in front of her with his hand out.
"Arnold I already said I can't dance ... Now can you please-"
"No. You're a dancer, besides there's nothing you can't do."
Helga smiles but still rejects his request. "That was ballet... That doesn't count."
Arnold sighs. "Alright fine you leave me no choice." He walks to the dance floor and begins doing out of style dance moves while staring right at Helga.
"Arnold stop everyone's staring at you!"
He shrugs with a sly smile. "I'll stop when you come out here and join me!."
"Our desserts will be here any minute!"
Arnold starts doing the running man which is the last straw for Helga; who gets up and stomps over to him and pokes him in the arm. "When did you become so obnoxious football head?"
He just begins dancing normally and makes flirtatious faces. "I want to see how Pataki's dance."
She eyes the tables of people nervously. "We don't."
Arnold could see that she is just worried about people watching and so he moves her chin to face him. "Just focus on me." He places his hands on her waist and starts leading her in the dance. He twirls her and then dips her over noticing how flexible she is. His eyebrows raise flirtatiously. "See you're in great hands." He brings her back up and the music switches to a song that a lot of customers are fond of because a few couples make their way out on the dance floor and begin dancing.
Arnold and Helga grin at each other and begin dancing. She got really into it and took her hair down and flips it gracefully. Arnold watches as she moves her waist and hips so effortlessly. He raises his eyebrows completely enjoying what she's doing. "Can't dance huh..." He teases and she rolls her eyes but still smiles.
The waitress comes back with their dessert so they go back to their table. Helga is talking and Arnold is trying to listen but he is distracted by her eating her ice cream so he's busy staring at her lips.
"Arnold ..."
He snaps out of his daydream and his focus moves from her lips to her eyes. "Huh?"
She quirks a brow. "I asked how are your parents?"
"Oh they're great. I spoke with them yesterday they should back soon." He moves to her side of the table to show her a picture on his phone. "Here's a recent picture of them."
She smiles at him. "They still look great, you look so much like your mom and you have beautiful hair like your dad. Are they somewhere out of the country?"
"No they're in New York, they've been doing a lot of work in the U.S. for the past few years."
"I think you're parents are the only people who help people more than you do."
He blushes and she sees a picture of him with his grandparents. "How's your granddad?" She softens her voice a little.
Arnold leans on the table. "He's spends a lot of time at the nursing home, I don't spend as much time with him. When we do he tries to always laugh and joke like he always did, but I can tell he's really hurting. I mean he and my grandmother were like this." He intertwines his middle finger around his index finger. He smiles. "Every time go with my him to visit her, her eyes just light up. She gets excited to see me and my parents and other people, but never like with him. That's the kind love that comes once in a lifetime. The kind that you can only wish on a star for." He sighed. "And when I see my grandfather at home his eyes just ... don't look the same. It's the look of loneliness, heartbreak and I don't know what to do at times I just feel powerless ... like nothing I do could ever be enough."
Helga stares at him sympathetically and then rest her chin slightly on his shoulder. "Arnold you're not powerless, you just being Arnold is helping him so much ... you put the weight of the world on your shoulders." She lifts her head and pokes his shoulder. "They're pretty sturdy." She giggles a little. "But you need to give yourself a break and some credit ... you've been doing this to yourself since we were kids. Phoebe told me in over the years how you were still the same guy going around giving advice, trying to make everyone happy. I'm not saying for you to close yourself off and become a selfish person, but just recognize how much you've done for so many people by simply being you ... What you've done for me ... so the last thing you should ever call yourself is powerless. I'm certain Grandpa Shortman would agree." Arnold turns and made eye contact with her. She looks away and looks at the table. "Look at me running my big mouth ... giving advice never been my forte, I'll step out of your territory." She nudges him.
"Yeah you really suck at giving advice, just horrific." She giggles and he laughs and then kisses her on the check. "Thank you for that."
Helga blushes and starts looking more at his pictures quite a few are of him with his teammates; including Gerald. Helga eyes him up and down. "So Arnoldo, how's it feel to be a basketball star? I bet your parents are proud."
He rubs his neck. "Um ... It's pretty fun and exciting ... Though it's lots of hard work, practices are no joke, but I wouldn't call myself a star or anything though."
"Hair boy you really need to cut down on the modesty or you're going to o.d. on it."
"I will if you do." She gives him a puzzled expression. "You downplay your abilities all the time even though it is blatantly obvious that you're talented and when do nice things for people you act like it's no big deal."
She rolls her eyes. "I'm just not full of myself."
He smirks. "Well neither am I."
She rolls her eyes again. "Just admit that you're popular."
"Okay, but you have to admit that you're multi-talented."
Helga blushes at that. "Alright deal." They shake on it and come up with their own handshake.
()()()()()()()()()
Now it's the end of their date and he walks her to the door and she turns to face him. "You know what Arnold ... Despite what I said I actually really like that you're so modest ...its refreshing. A lot of guys as handsome, popular and just great as you, are complete arrogant bastards and they grow up to be blowhards ... So please stay the same ... you're perfect." He stares at her wide eyed; which makes her a little self conscious so she turns to get her keys to open the door.
He smiles and looks down at his hands knowing something with certainty now. He could kick his younger self for being so dense, but better late than never he thought. lf this was any other girl he would have thought his feelings were rushed, but this Helga; a girl he's had so much history with. He knows without any doubts what he feels for her now. "I love you Helga." He says softly with total honesty in his voice.
She stares straight at her door and then slowly turns around. "What did you say?"
Arnold smiles and places his arms around her waist. He tightens his embrace. "I said I love you Helga."
Her eyes frantically dart around. She sighs and relaxes her gaze on him. "I love you too Arnold."
He runs one finger up and down her back making her feel so at ease in his arms. He kisses her on her forehead. "I know this is only our first official date, but we've known each other so long and I just know... my heart is just telling me to ask this and I've let that fear I once had we came to you fall by the waist side and so ... will you be my girlfriend?"