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 felt the relief rush through him, when Aaron came home to tell him that Helga felt better. He was so relieved he fell asleep immediately. The next morning Aaron gave Helga her next blackmail mission: To wear a pink, plaid skirt, which she to her utter frustration, actually liked quite a bit.

Not to Helga's surprise, boys noticed the change in her appearance right away, and that was the one part about the skirt she hated: The sudden male ogling. Running from the boys around her, she ran upstairs and bumped right into Arnold, as they often also did as children. He didn't get much time to question her outfit, because suddenly she ran off with him, holding his hand.

Author's 1st note: The reason for this chapter to have taken longer, is because I have just written my very first Hey Arnold! One-shot! It's already uploaded, please do check out the summary and see if it's something you'd like to read ;)

Chapter 25: "There's no old Helga or new Helga"

"Wait, Helga! What's going on? And why are you…" Arnold's eyes went down and he noticed the pink, plaid skirt, which Helga was wearing. His eyes went wide and he felt some heat rise in his lower abdomen. "Why are you wearing that thing?!"

As Helga could practically feel herself bounce through the hallway, she remembered the skirt and felt heat rise in her heat. Oh, crap! Arnold's right behind me! Arnold! No! Never mind! Get your priorities straight, girl!

"Get your priorities straight, bucko! We need to get the hell away from those boys!" Helga simply answered and turned a corner. "But- whoa! Why are we running?" Arnold asked, still not capable of taking his eyes away from that skirt. It was just the weirdest thing ever! He hadn't seen her in something like that since they were 12, and now all of a sudden at the age of 16, she decides to throw on something like that, even after telling him to stay away from her? What, was this her new way to torment him or something?

"We can play 20 questions later, Arnoldo!" Helga answered and started to look around. She looked at the row of lockers, noticing one of them open. What kinda idiot leaves their locker open? Maybe no one's using it. She was about to run past it, when reality dawned on her.

"I'm an idiot!" Helga announced and stopped. Arnold had been just about to stumble into her, but she ran around him and pulled him to the locker. "Get in there!" she ordered and pushed him into the locker. "What?" was all he managed to squeak out, before she went inside too and closed the door behind her.

Arnold's eyes went wide, as he could feel Helga standing very close to him in this small locker. She had both her hands planted on the wall behind him, while her head was turned completely to try to look outside.

"H-Helga, what's going on?" Arnold asked, doing his best to think about something else than three very annoying facts. One, he was a boy. Two, she was a girl (his dream girl, might he add). And three, they were standing so very, very close together!

"Shhh!" Helga begged and used her hand to cover Arnold's mouth. He gasped, when he felt her warm hand against him. He already felt heat rising within him; her touching him didn't exactly help. When they heard the boys' voices outside, she even snuck closer to him, doing her best to not accidentally push the door open, since it wasn't locked.

This is bad! So very, very bad! Arnold thought inside his head and tried to say something behind Helga's hand. "I'm sorry," she said and a low, feathery voice. "I know this position is uncomfortable, but please tolerate it for a bit."

Uh, no… tolerating is not really the issue here… Arnold thought and closed his eyes. He could feel Helga's slim body pressed firmly up against him, her breasts comfortably pushed against his chest, one of her legs in-between his own, her thigh even brushing him a little too close to his manhood.

Outside, Helga could hear the two boys from before talking. "But isn't Helga Pataki usually really tomboyish?" one of them asked, which made her roll her eyes. "Yeah, but today, she's wearing a skirt. What kinda tomboy would wear a skirt?" the other one answered.

"Naw, I guess you're right. But still, why deciding to go girly all of a sudden?"

"Who knows? All I know is that the skirt is the only difference. She's still scowling. She even gave the eyes of death to Damien during math."

"So, she's still as scary as ever?"

"She's actually scarier now, because she looks like a girl, but hits like a boy. It's this whole 'don't judge a book by its cover'-thing."

Helga's eyebrows lifted. Huh? I'm still intimidating even in this thing? More intimidating even? Because they're not expecting me to be strong? You're kidding! This is brilliant! Why have I never thought of it like that? It's sneaky as hell! Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee! I'm an idiot – Aaron, I could almost kiss you for this epiphany! No, wait, yuck! Never mind. Perhaps I'll pat your head or something… Yeah, that seems fair.

When Helga could hear the boys' voices fading, she sighed in relief. "All right. I think we're in the clear, head boy." She whispered and turned to look at Arnold. He had his eyes firmly shut. "Arnold?" Are you ok? Hey!"

Arnold's eyes popped open instantly. "Are you all right?" Helga asked again, but he just looked down. She looked in the same direction and noticed her hand. "Oh, sorry." She said while she removed it. He sighed in relief. It wasn't like he couldn't breathe or anything, but having at least a little part of her body away from him helped his growing problem.

Speaking of this growing problem, then Helga had been so occupied trying to make sure that the boys wouldn't notice them, that she hadn't noticed. Now that the boys were gone, she did. Oh… whoops. Poor guy. I guess… I'm being kinda cruel to him in a different way this time. Hey… this could be fun actually.

Feeling a bit of her sadistic side come out, Helga pressed herself a little more firmly up against Arnold. His eyes went wide and he gasped a bit. "Are you all right, Arnold? You seem a little… tense." She pointed out. His eyes went wider and he tried to press himself closer against the wall to get away from her. "Uh, y-yeah, I'm all right. It's just a little cramped in here."

"Cramped? I think it's kinda… snug." Helga pointed out with a smirk. Arnold gulped and pulled his head back without removing his eyes from hers. W-What is she doing…? What's going on? Is it just me or is it really warm in here?

"But, uh… d-didn't you just want to hide until those guys were gone…?" Arnold asked, followed by a small gulp. "Th-They're gone, so… d-don't you wanna get out of here? T-Th-The bell will probably ring soon too."

"Well, can we be entirely sure that they're gone? Maybe it'd be better if we stayed in here until the bell rings. Unless… you're uncomfortable with it?" Helga asked as she bit on her lower lip. The last question was actually more serious than she had meant for it to be.

"Uncomfortable…?" Arnold repeated with a dazed look in his eyes. "Uh… no… Uh, no… Definitely no! Th-That is not it at all. I, uh…" he continued to speak, but lost the ability to do so, when Helga's thigh shifted up in-between his legs. "Is it only me who's having a deja-vu?" she asked with a gleeful gleam in her eyes.

Arnold gulped yet again and looked away. "I-I can't help it. It's… It's not a choice. It's a… n-no-normal biological reaction." He answered. "So, you'd react the same way if it was any other girl in here with you?" Helga asked with a small frown.

"No!" Arnold answered a little loudly. Helga's eyes went a little bigger in shock and the two teens just looked at each other in silence for a couple of seconds. "Um, what I mean is… I-I'm not sure, since… since, uh…" he was desperately trying to find the right words. "I-I've never… never tried… around another girl, so I… I've never experienced something like… this… with a… Uh…"

Helga smiled in confusion. "You're making no sense, football head." She observed, followed by a small snicker. Arnold closed his eyes and groaned a bit. When he opened his eyes again, he noticed that she was still smiling like that. Something about that smile… mixed with the current situation… he could almost feel the strings connecting his brain to his heart snapping.

Arnold shut eyes tight and started shaking a little in frustration. "Arnold…? Are you all right?" Helga asked with honest concern. He didn't answer. Instead, he put his hands on her shoulders, involuntarily pushing at her a little. "Helga! I want you to know that I - "

"Arnold!" Helga shrieked, when she felt herself losing her footing because of the force in his hands. She stumbled backwards, pulling him with her. Without even thinking about it, Arnold moved his right hand up to the back of her head, and his left one forward like a buffer to protect them from the fall.

The two teens landed on the floor with a loud thud, both gasping in shock. Arnold wheezed in pain, when Helga's head smashed his hand between herself and the floor, but he also noticed how her arms had automatically wrapped themselves around him in panic.

None of them noticed how everyone around them were staring at them; they didn't even notice that there were other people. Why… did this not hurt as much as it should? Helga thought and opened her eyes. Without thinking about it, she started to move her attention to her head, trying to feel if she had knocked herself unconscious or something. No, but there was something weird holding her head up from the cold floor.

"I'm sorry, Helga. You ok?" Arnold asked with big, worried eyes. Helga blinked a couple of times; still trying to figure out why she wasn't in much pain. "Uh, yeah… sorry that I pulled you along with me. Is your hand… beneath my head or something?" she asked, when she was sure she could recognize the feel of his hand there.

"Oh! Uh… y-yeah. Must have… done that subconsciously." Arnold answered with a shy smile. So… he subconsciously… tried to protect me from the fall? Helga looked to her right side. He's even used his hand as a buffer! She would have started squealing on the inside, if it wasn't because she noticed the crowd of students around them.

Arnold frowned when he noticed the scared look on Helga's face, and he turned around to look in the same direction as her. His eyes dilated and he lost the ability to speak. Everyone around them were snickering, hollering or just staring blankly at them.

"Way to go, Arnold!"

"So, you guys are in a SM relationship or something?"

"Yeah! Since Helga slapped him yesterday!"

"What is with this weird locker fetish?"

"And is Helga wearing a skirt?" a male student suddenly noticed. Helga and Arnold both looked down towards her hips, suddenly reminded of the skirt. She felt like shrieking, since during the fall, the skirt had crumbled up quite a bit until it revealed a little bit of her black panties.

Arnold, without thinking beforehand, lifted his hips from Helga's, moved his left hand to her skirt, pulled it down and then let his pelvis touch hers again to cover her as much as possible. "D-Don't worry. Y-Yo-You're d-decent now." He said with a small gulp. "Th-Thanks." She answered.

Oh, how so very much like you, my prince! To think about my honor while we're in this situation! He really should get his priorities straight though. We kinda have a huge problem here! Helga thought inside her head.

"Wait, what were you guys doing in a locker anyway?" Nadine asked, appearing in the front of crowd with Rhonda next to her. "They must have been fooling around. What else could it possibly have been?" Rhonda asked and she started laughing with Nadine. Both Arnold and Helga whimpered in embarrassment, before they shouted in unison. "This is not what it looks like!"

Gerald was laughing hysterically. "I can't believe it! You two… You two are like the gossip of this school now! You should hear some of the rumors about you! How Arnold is a masochist, but took revenge on Helga by making her wear a skirt, and then you guys went to fuck inside a locker! Man, my belly hurts from laughing so much!"

Both Helga and Arnold groaned at the reminder. It was lunch period by now, but the two blondes had been having quite the adventure in trying to explain to people what had happened. They had given up by now though, since they really couldn't explain what had happened. Not without it sounding sleazier at least.

Helga swung her head around before she made it fall down to the cafeteria table in front of her. "This whole day is a fucking nightmare!" she declared in a loud voice. "Hey, Helga. Looking good." A random boy passing by said. She whipped her head up. "Shut up!" she answered with a scowl and he sprinted away.

Arnold couldn't help but look towards Helga's half naked legs, while she desperately tried to pull down on her skirt. "Helga… why are you wearing that?" he asked curiously. She glanced at him and then sighed. "Miriam went to wash all of my freaking clothes, so I had to steal something from Olga's room. Believe it or not, this was the least girly thing I could find." She answered and put her chin on her palm. "Ever since this morning boys have been ogling me and it's driving me crazy!"

Arnold didn't know how to feel about this situation. It didn't matter how good Helga looked in that skirt, he hated to see every single boy in the room gawking at her, practically ripping her clothes to sheds in their minds. He looked to his right and even noticed a couple of freshmen whispering, while glancing in her direction.

Arnold growled. "Your big sister don't own a pair of pants?" he asked, almost with a tone indicating that Helga hadn't been looking hard enough. She noticed his grumpy voice immediately, so she just turned to scowl at him. "If she did, then did you think I'd wear this monstrosity?"

"I don't know. Would you?"

"No, I wouldn't! Did you miss the part of me calling this day a nightmare because of this skirt? You think I'm enjoying the attention of every single douchebag in the school?" Helga asked. Arnold simply shrugged and kept looking at her with big, mockingly curious eyes.

Helga's mouth opened in shock. "Excuse me? What exactly are you saying here, Arnold?" she asked in an angry voice. That was the thing; Arnold had no clue at what he was saying. It was like someone or something else entirely had taken control of him. "Just that… I don't know- That maybe you do enjoy the attention a little bit!"

"What?! No way! Why do you even… Where's this… I don't know what to…" Helga gave up talking and just stood up in frustration. "All right, Mr. High and Mighty., since you obviously hate this skirt so freaking much, then tell me why it didn't seem to bother you when we were in that freaking locker?!"

Arnold stood up himself. "That was different!"

"What?! How is it different?"

"Because… Because that was me!" Arnold answered. Helga's head jerked back in surprise. She narrowed her eyes, trying to make sense of that sentence. She even started to shake her head a little. "W… What? That doesn't even… I mean… How is it different just because it's you?"

Arnold rolled his eyes dramatically. "It's different because I'm not just looking at you like a piece of meat! I look at you because I'm in - "

"Arnold!" Gerald interrupted, feeling the bad kind of tension rising in the room. Both Helga and Arnold turned to look at him. Gerald shook his head rapidly at Arnold, trying to send him a message. Not now, you idiot! Not when you're both angry! He tried to mouth at him. Arnold just frowned in confusion.

Helga rolled her eyes at the odd display between the boys. She lifted her eyes and started to look around. Most of the students were looking at them with amusement and wonder. She scowled at them. "What? Why is it that this is so fucking exciting for you, huh? Are your own lives so boring that you need to look at others' lives to feel entertained enough to manage through your own? Forget it. I'm so fucking done!" she said and started walking away, while scowling at Arnold. "I don't get any of you."

Arnold kept looking at Helga as she walked out of the cafeteria. He slumped right back to his seat and let his wide head bang down to the table. "I'm an idiot… I don't know what came over me…" he muttered with a sigh.

"Jealousy is what came over you, you idiot." Gerald answered. Arnold lifted his head in annoyance. "Be happy that Phoebe's not here to hear you." he pointed out. Yeah, as if she wouldn't say the same thing… Gerald thought, being the only one of the two knowing that she knew about Arnold's feelings for Helga.

Arnold lifted his head lazily from the table and started rubbing his eyes with his hands. "I fucked up again, Gerald… I keep doing that this week." He mumbled. "It's only Tuesday." Gerald pointed out. "Oh, yay, more chances of fucking things even more up… I don't get it. Sunday was perfect. What went wrong?" Arnold asked with another sigh. "What am I supposed to do? She even told me to stay away from her, so… is there anything I can do really?"

"I don't know. I guess you… have to wait and see what she'll do… or wait and see if you snap again."

"Thanks for the great advice." Arnold answered sarcastically and banged his head on the table again.

"So, you're just gonna hide here all day?" Phoebe asked, when she found Helga sitting outside in the schoolyard, hidden behind a dumpster. "No, not all day. Only until lunch period is over. Then I'll go to my last lesson, try to avoid getting picked by the teacher and then run my way home as if Jeff the Killer was after me." She answered.

Phoebe laughed for a bit at Helga's dramatic solution to her situation. "Well, I guess that's all right, but if you don't mind my asking, Helga… then what happened between you and Arnold?" she probed. Helga looked up at her. "How do you know about that?"

"When I went to join you guys, I overheard Gerald and Arnold talking. Arnold seemed pretty upset and you were gone, so I expected those two things to have something to do with each other?"

"Thanks, captain Obvious." Helga answered with a smirk and sighed. "Well, this time it was actually Arnold being the jerk and not me… I wonder if I've rubbed off on him?"

"I doubt that, Helga. What happened?"

"He… You know what; I can't even explain it! He just suddenly… snapped! He started suggesting that I put on this skirt on purpose to get attention or something! And then he said something about him gawking at me was different or… whatever." As soon as the words came out of Helga's mouth, she furrowed her eyebrows. She looked up at Phoebe, who was just waiting for Helga's words to sink into her own head. "… Oh… you think that… he might… just maybe…"

"Yeah, Arnold's jealous." Phoebe answered. Helga just blinked at first, trying to wrap her head around that possibility. Phoebe watched her, as she slowly started to smile, but then that smile turned into a frown again. "I don't know, Phoebs. He… seemed ridiculously jealous in that case."

"Imagine if it was the other way around."

"Huh?"

"If Arnold was forced to wear… uh, some really tight, white t-shirt or something and all the girls were staring at him because of it… what would you do?" Phoebe asked. Helga frowned and started talking in a childish and whimpering voice. "I'd probably use forks to remove the girls' eyeballs" she answered.

"See?"

"But that's me, Phoebs! We both know I'm ridiculously jealous. Arnold's just… not."

"He was jealous at Arnie and Lila."

"Not this much. He was mostly just sulking in a corner through the whole thing. He didn't attack Arnie or Lila."

"Maybe it's because he had a crush on Lila and maybe is in love with you?" Phoebe suggested, knowing the truth behind her words. Helga sighed and put her chin on her arms, which were holding her knees close to her chest. I want to believe that… It's just… after everything that's happened yesterday, then… Oh, God! Her eyes went wide.

"Phoebe!" Helga shrieked, scaring the Asian girl next to her. "W-What?" Phoebe asked. "I know why Arnold thought I'm wearing this skirt on purpose! When we were in that locker together, I kinda… sorta… uh… flirted with him a little heavier than I usually would." She explained with a shy chuckle. "I think this skirt is making braver or something. Anyways, he might have started thinking that I just did it to him because he just happened to be there. What if he thinks I'll pull more guys into the lockers?!"

"I really don't think Arnold looks at you that way."

"Looked, Phoebe. After what I just did, who knows what he thinks of me?!"

"I still think he's just jealous." Phoebe observed with a sad smile. Helga sighed yet again and put her chin on her arms. "No matter what, then he's mad at me… I also slapped him yesterday. This isn't something I can just apologize and explain my way out of."

Phoebe and Helga were silent in a couple of seconds, before Helga let her forehead fall lazily down on her arms. "What am I supposed to do…? Everything was going so well… Then all of this happened. Oh, God… what if I've missed my chance with him?"

When Helga heard the bell rang, she trudged her way to her next class. She managed to drown out the voices and whistles of the male students around her without getting angry and simply went inside the classroom.

There, she saw Arnold sitting at the very front, next to where she was supposed to be sitting. Shit. I forgot about the seats… He noticed Helga almost instantly and glanced at her, while she sat down. She's not even looking at me… He thought and sighed a bit.

"Hey, Helga. When did you become a girl?" a random boy asked a few rows behind them. Arnold glanced at Helga to look for a reaction. She furrowed her eyebrows, but didn't seem to lose her mind. He, on the other hand, already had the urge to smack him. Why isn't she saying anything? He wondered with a frown.

"What? Cat got your tongue? Did you trade that big mouth of yours for the skirt or something?"

"Yeah, yeah! Like in 'The little mermaid'! She traded her voice for a pair of legs!" another boy chimed in. Arnold snickered at the reference, when he saw Helga do the same. It was ironic after all.

"Nice one, bucko, points for the clever reference." Helga said and clapped sarcastically. She noticed Arnold smiling at her, but didn't react to it. "Oh, too bad! She can still talk. You know, Helga, you'd probably be the most wanted girl in school if you were mute." One of the boys pointed out.

Helga still didn't turn in her seat, but Arnold could clearly see the annoyed smile on her face. "Then it's a good thing I don't want any of you." she answered, obviously trying to compose herself. "Oh, come on, baby girl." Another boy said in a sing-song voice. "Let me be your Ken!"

That made Helga frown in confusion though. Ken? She repeated inside her head. Despite Helga being a bit confused about that odd name, Arnold already knew what was coming. Oh, boy, this guy is gonna lose his teeth for this…

"Oh, yeah! That's right, Damien. The way she looks now, then if Helga just changed her name, then with the pink skirt, the blonde hair and the blue eyes, she'd totally be like a Barbie doll!" one of the guys said and started laughing.

Arnold gulped, as he could almost see the string in Helga's brain snap. With fury in her eyes and even in her movements, she stood up from the chair and stomped towards Damien. Before he could react, she grabbed the collar of his shirt and hoisted him up and away from his seat. "A fucking Barbie can't break you in half!" she shouted in his face and pushed him roughly towards the wall.

Damien's head and back hit the wall with a loud bang, before he stumbled down to the floor. "I am not a fucking Barbie doll just because I'm suddenly wearing a skirt! No matter how I dress, I'm still me on the inside, and I can still beat the living shit out of you!" Helga continued and put her foot on top of his groin.

Damien groaned in agony, though Helga hadn't really put force into it. Yet. "You wanna know what the only freaking difference is between now and yesterday?" she asked him before she put a bit of force into her foot. He gritted his teeth to stop himself from yelping in pain.

"The view!" Helga answered to her own question and then practically stomped into his crotch. Damien had been about to look at 'the view' as she had called it, but feeling the pain spread all the way through his spine, he couldn't help but crying out in agony.

"You should be thankful I'm not wearing stilettoes, or else this would have really hurt." Helga pointed out, removed her foot and went towards her seat. Before sitting down though, she turned around. "Remember this, all of you: Helga Pataki is Helga Pataki, no matter what the fuck she wears!"

Arnold's eyes were wide with wonder and shock, but mostly gleefulness. He dared to look in Damien's direction, as some of the other boys who had been talking about Helga before, tried to help him stand up.

Arnold couldn't help himself; He lifted his hand, curled it into a fist and gave a light tap on Helga's shoulder. She turned to look at her shoulder, but then up at him. "Way to go, Pataki." He said with a proud smile. She smirked back at him, but that smirk quickly turned into one of true bliss.

Oh, my God! Why have I ever been scared of this? I like this skirt, even if it doesn't fit my stupid image. I'm still me, no matter what I'm wearing. Hell, I could be strutting around in a dress designed by Dee Dee from Dexter's lab and still be me! Life is sweet!

When the class dismissed, Helga almost felt like bouncing. She still felt so giddy about what she had just done. It had felt like forever since she had felt like the more rude part of herself and having the chance to go all out had been almost therapeutic.

Though Helga did her best to hide her obvious happiness, Arnold noticed and chuckled at it. "Well, someone's in a better mood." He whispered in her ear. She turned around to face him with a big smile. "I'm sorry to say it, but I've never felt more alive." She answered.

"Why are you sorry?" Arnold asked. Helga had been about to answer, until she noticed Damien limping out of the classroom. "Because in the process I did that." she answered with a small smirk and pointed towards him.

Arnold snickered when he noticed Damien. "Well… that did resemble the old Helga quite a lot." He answered. "Old Helga?" Helga repeated. "Yeah. You know, the Helga from before sixth grade? When we got home from San Lorenzo, you slowly seemed to change into… well, a new Helga." He explained.

Helga smiled a bit, though she didn't agree with him. "Arnold, that's not quite true." She answered. Arnold cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean? What was wrong with my sentence?" he asked. "The new and old part." She answered.

Arnold just frowned. "I'm not following…" he admitted. Helga smiled, while she swung her bag over her shoulder. "There's no old Helga or new Helga; there's just me." She answered. They let the moment linger for a bit, before he started smiling. "Yeah… there's only one Helga Pataki."

"Thank God!" Helga said with a smile and started laughing. Arnold chuckled along with her, while they walked out of the room. While they walked together on the way home, they both decided in their minds, that even if their relationship had taken a few steps back, then that would just mean they had to work extra hard to get it back on track.

Author's 2nd note: Sorry this one took so long! As mentioned: I had been working on my first Hey Arnold! One-shot called "A different kind of Helga." Please do check it out :3 Oh, and, yeah, I haven't re-read this through to check for mistakes… I'm really tired today, but please do tell me if you notice anything and I'll fix it. I just don't have it in me today to check everything xD