A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been pretty busy and I sorta forgot I had a fic to update! But here's chapter four. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: If I've told you people once, I've told you a thousand times I DO NOT OWN HEY ARNOLD! 'Kay?

Chapter 4

Arnold sat at the table in Vincenzo's, eagerly anticipating Helga's arrival. He'd been looking forward to their "date" all day. Well, all afternoon really. He'd just seen her four hours ago. But still, tonight was a big occasion for him. He hadn't been out on a date in a couple of months. Come to think of it, he hadn't been with a woman in quite a few months. Not that he expected that kind of thing to happen between him and Helga tonight. After all, while it was true that he was attracted to her and possibly even harbored feelings for her, it was a pretty safe bet that she harbored no such feelings and/or fancies for him. At least, that's what he told himself. Didn't wanna get too confident in their ever-fragile relationship. It had only been a day.

Ten minutes passed and Arnold ordered himself a drink to keep from getting too antsy over Helga's tardiness. He was just finishing the liquor when he saw Helga walking towards the table. Immediately, his jaw attempted dropping (he restrained it from fully falling so he wouldn't look like an idiot).

Helga looked amazing. She was wearing a sexy black dress that fell a little past mid-thigh, accentuating every curve of her body. The front was low-cut enough to expose cleavage, but not so much that she looked like a tramp. In fact, she looked quite sophisticated. Her long blonde hair, which had been in a somewhat sloppy ponytail earlier, now swept past her shoulders in soft waves. And her face looked absolutely beautiful, even though it sported a very minimal amount of make-up.

"Hey", she said almost breathlessly as she sat down beside him. "Sorry I'm late. I had a hell of a time trying to get here. Would you believe I got pulled over by a cop for speeding? Now I've gotta pay this bogus ticket just because I went three miles over the speed limit. Three miles!"

Arnold wasn't sure exactly how attentive he looked. At the moment, his mind was swept up in about a zillion images of himself and Helga. He and Helga walking through the park on a beautiful spring day, he and Helga sipping champagne while watching the sun set over the ocean, he and Helga walking down the aisle, he and Helga making love—

"Uh, Arnold? Are you okay?" Helga asked, arching one slim eyebrow in his direction. Ever since her freshman year of high school, she'd kept them tweezed. "It's like you haven't heard a word I've said!"

Arnold blinked, clearing the images and jolting his mind back to reality. "Yeah, I'm fine, Helga. Just a little…um…y'know…"

Helga noticed the glass he held in his hand. "Geez, how many of those have you had, Football Head?"

"Only one, thank you very much! I'm just a little…spacey."

"I'll say", she said, this time arching her other eyebrow.

The waiter and they placed their orders. As they waited upon their salad and pasta, they talked a lot about the past and some of the things they'd done together. They revisited every positive memory they could think of; their first kiss, their first date, the prom, the first time they had sex….they touched on every occasion except for their biggest and final fight. For the time being, they wanted to keep the conversation light and happy, rather than touch on some of their darkest hours together in the past.

All in all, they enjoyed the evening. The food was good, the atmosphere friendly, and the wine gave them a pleasant buzz without being overly intoxicating. Since Helga was a little tipsy, Arnold offered to drive her back to his place for a little nightcap (as if she needed one). It was really just an excuse to get Helga alone, but not for the reasons most guys wanted to be alone with their dates for. Mostly, he just wanted to talk to Helga about the past, find out what had really caused their big break-up. After all, the actual causes of the separation were still a bit fuzzy.

So it was with that, that Arnold paid the check and took Helga home, driving her car of course, because Arnold had taken a cab to the restaurant. The night to come was to be one of new revelations and bigger twists of fate than either had expected. Or perhaps it wasn't as dramatic as it seemed to be. They both were a little light-headed.