A/N: I'm a little past the deadline I set for myself but I'm still pleased with myself for being close!

Ok, I need to make it clear that I'm not going to tolerate any comment fights on here. I hate to have to say this but I sense one beginning so please take that somewhere else, or better yet, let's not do that at all! We're all entitled to have an opinion so please no hating on anybody's respective ships! Ok, glad that's settled! :) Alrighty…chapter 4 here we go!

We're now back to Arnold's point of view but with Gerald and Phoebe playing an important part in this chapter. And yes, they are a couple in this story!

"Hey Arnold" is not mine. It's not mine. And oh yeah, it's not mine.

Chapter 4: What He Found

"Phoebe says that she's not answering her phone," Gerald says suddenly after several seconds of silence, his tone neutral. He and I are currently at his house, in the middle of defeating a very difficult boss on the newest video game that Gerald recently got for his birthday.

I don't answer Gerald but that doesn't seem to stop him from continuing.

"Phoebe tried to talk to Helga at her house yesterday but nobody was home…" Gerald responds, trailing off but I'm not sure if he did that because of hesitation over something else he wanted to say or that he's getting too engrossed in the game again. Either one seems possible. I get what he's trying to tell me but I'm not having it. I'm not letting anyone make me feel guilty about what I did. I say that but deep down, the knot in my stomach keeps getting worse. I can still ignore it though and that's exactly what I have been doing since yesterday.

Suddenly, Gerald's phone starts going off. I recognize the ringtone as the one he set for Phoebe. Pausing the game, Gerald answers it.

"Hey, babe!" Gerald greets then waits for Phoebe's reply from the other end.

"Huh? Ok, sure, but why? What's wrong? Is everything ok?" Gerald asks in response. Whatever Phoebe said, it definitely seems to be making Gerald kind of worried for some reason.

"Oh, ok then. Yeah, see you soon," Gerald answers then ends the phone conversation. He then lets out a sigh then turns to look at me.

"So…that was Phoebe," Gerald says jokingly.

"Yeah, no kidding," I respond with a dry chuckle, "What was that about?" I ask curiously.

"I really don't know, man. All I know is that she needs me to pick her up at her house now but she won't tell me where she needs to go…" Gerald answers and sounds confused. He scratches his head in thought before continuing, "Oh well, I guess I'll find out soon enough," he reasons as he begins to get up from the couch to grab his car keys. I decide that this is my cue to leave, not that I mind. Phoebe obviously needs Gerald for something. Besides, Gerald and I can continue the game another time. No big deal.

"Ok, well I'll see you later, Gerald," I say as I get up and start to head out the door.

"Wait a minute, Arnold," Gerald answers, his tone kind of neutral.

"What?" I ask as I turn around to face him.

"Phoebe knew you were here and wanted me to make sure you came with us," Gerald states simply.

"What? Why?" I ask in confusion. I look into Gerald's eyes and he seems about as confused by all this as I am. But then again, it seems like he's holding something back though maybe I'm imagining that.

"Honestly, man, I have no idea. But let's just go and see for ourselves what's going on," Gerald answers, to which I just shrug in reply. I guess he has a point. We'll know soon enough.

Grabbing his keys, Gerald heads out the door and I follow. We get in his car, with me in the backseat so Phoebe can sit in the passenger side with Gerald. Then we drive the short distance to Phoebe's house. She is standing on her stoop waiting for us as we pull up.

"Hey, babe," Gerald greets her as she climbs in the passenger side. He leans in and kisses her cheek, causing Phoebe to blush a little.

"Hello, Gerald," she greets back with a small giggle, "Hello, Arnold!" Phoebe calls out a bit in my direction.

"Hey, Phoebe," I say, returning her greeting with a wave and a smile.

"So, are we ready?" Gerald asks, mainly to Phoebe.

"Yes, I believe we are," Phoebe responds. Her voice is more serious-sounding now.

"So, Phoebe where are we going anyways?" I ask suddenly after riding in silence for a few minutes. The curiosity is starting to get to me.

"We're…going to see Helga," Phoebe finally answers with some hesitation.

"What?! And why do you think I wanna do that?" I ask angrily, though I feel more betrayed than angry right now. I guess I was right and Gerald was holding something back.

"Arnold, she's in the hospital…" Phoebe explains quietly, her voice breaking a bit as she trails off.

"Wait, what?" I ask in shock, the anger I recently felt about being tricked like that begins to wash away and gets replaced with concern.

"She got in a car accident and that's all I know. There was some kind of emergency at the hospital before her nurse could say more," Phoebe explains as she's fighting the urge to burst into tears. I notice Gerald taking one hand off the steering wheel to grab Phoebe's hand to comfort her. She gives a sad smile in his direction as thanks.

Maybe Phoebe needs a ride to the hospital. It's not like I'm going with them or anything. I mean, I hope Helga's ok but I still don't want to see her. I know I'm wrong about Phoebe just needing a ride. If that were the case, why did she want me to tag along? I'm not so dense that I don't realize that she wants me to come with them.

Without warning, Phoebe suddenly turns around in her seat and stares me down as soon as we pull up in the hospital parking lot.

"You're coming too, Arnold," Phoebe tells me point-blank like it's non-negotiable but that does not stop me from trying to get out of this.

"I don't remember agreeing to that," I argue while crossing my arms, my expression stoic. I knew that this was going to happen but Phoebe can ask me to come with them all she wants. I have no intentions of leaving this car.

"You didn't but you are," Phoebe counters back. Her own hardened gaze doesn't falter one bit during any of my attempts to fight this.

"There's nothing you can say that'll get me to go see her. Nothing," I argue right back. Normally, I don't like to get into arguments with close friends because usually we all get along well enough. However, this is a different matter altogether. Despite the knot in my stomach getting even worse, my mind is made up. I am determined to stay right here.

"Arnold, knock it off. I know that you're not really mad at her," Gerald suddenly intervenes, obviously getting annoyed. That gets to me and I finally feel all that wrongly placed anger subside.

"Yeah…you're right," I concede with a sigh, finally welcoming the guilt that I have been completely ignoring since I stormed out of that school yesterday. I realize now that all my anger and ill-feelings were wrongly placed. Of course, I am still a little upset with Helga but I have mostly been upset with myself. "Gerald, I screwed up. I mean, Helga gets under my skin sure, but I think I went too far. But I still don't want to see her right now, ok? I feel so ashamed over what I said to her. And besides, I think she hates me. Not that I blame her. I mean, her behavior is not anything new, yet it still gets to me. I just have to accept that this is the way things are going to be between us because…well maybe Helga does kind of hate me already," I explain, feeling rather dejected now but also still utterly confused about the enigma that is Helga G. Pataki. I doubt I will ever figure that one out.

"Arnold, Helga loves you!" Phoebe suddenly exclaims in exasperation. I have to take a second to allow the shock of Phoebe's words to fully consume me.

"She what?!" I exclaim, feeling my eyes practically enlarge to the size of dinner plates.

"Wow, you really are dense…," Phoebe shakes her head in disbelief before continuing, "Yes, Arnold. Helga has loved you for fourteen years now. Yes, that confession on the roof," Phoebe pauses to take in my shocked face at the mentioning of FTi, "Yes, Arnold, I know about it. Anyways, everything she said was completely true. She only took it back because she knew you were so uncomfortable with knowing her true feelings. That really hurt her to take it back but she felt your feelings meant more than hers. Arnold, she's done so much for you that you don't even know or else you keep forgetting about them. She helped you save the neighborhood. She sacrificed her pair of Nancy Spumoni snow boots and then stayed up helping Mr. Bailey track Mr. Hyunh's daughter in time for Christmas. Yes, Arnold, she was your Christmas Angel. And do you know what else? Helga will kill me for telling you this but remember when you won that essay contest?" I nod in a daze, already dreading this little revelation because I have a feeling I know what it is already.

"Well, the truth is that you came in second place. Helga's essay was the original winner but she turned it down. She could've selected San Lorenzo as her prize trip but she believed that if she did that then she would have to explain herself to you and she wasn't comfortable with that considering what happened the last time you demanded an answer from her. Anyways, before she won, she overheard you tell Gerald about how much you wanted to win and what you would do if you did win. When she heard that she won, she convinced the contest people that you deserved to win and not her. She even got them to swear they wouldn't mention anything about this to you. Luckily, that was one of those competitions where the first place winner always got notified first. She also had them destroy your second place letter and make a new first place one in your name so you would never know the truth. I think that's proof enough that she loves you, right?" Phoebe asks me. The question is more rhetorical than anything else, but I still shake my head.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean she still-" I start to argue but Phoebe cuts me off.

"Her feelings haven't changed. In fact, they may be stronger," Phoebe counters confidently.

"Well then why didn't she tell me or at least stop acting so awful to me?" I argue, feeling like I now have logic on my side.

"Because you never gave her a chance," Phoebe says simply without missing a beat.

"What?" I ask in shock. Now that definitely stops me in my tracks and forces me to think it over, but I got nothing.

"Think about this, you get along together fine when alone, right?" Phoebe asks suddenly. I wonder where she's going with this but whatever it is that she's getting at, I doubt I'm going to like it.

"Yeah, but-"

"And yet, it's like that never happened the next day at school?" Phoebe questions, interrupting me.

"Yes, but I still don't understand why that-"

"Then tell me, is there something different between those two moments, and by that I mean, who's not around when it's just you two and yet is there at school and is all that seems to occupy your mind?" Phoebe asks me quite directly, interrupting me again. I'm more preoccupied by what Phoebe's asking me, as well as the speed that she's asking me in, that I don't have a chance to get annoyed by the fact that she keeps interrupting me.

"Lila?" I guess out loud. Laughter soon follows my response.

"Wow, you actually got it on the first try. I'm impressed," Gerald pipes up with a laugh as he turns around to join the conversation, his tone is full of amusement.

"Gerald, shut up. And I know you're in on this. How could you?" I tell him, shooting an annoyed look in his direction.

"Sorry. Ya know I love ya, man. But you sure are the densest person I have ever met," Gerald explains while holding back more laughter. My glare grows, which he notices and soon clears his throat, finally putting his little laughing fit to a halt.

"Ok, ok. I'm done. I swear!" Gerald holds up his hands in mock surrender which he stops that with a sigh soon after he sees that I do not find that amusing at all, "Well, maybe I wouldn't have to be a part of this if you weren't so stubborn…," Gerald starts to argue then shakes himself out of it before starting over, "Look man, I know it sounds crazy but she loves you and you know that what she told you seven years ago on that rooftop was true and still is. You just haven't gotten around to admitting that to yourself because for some reason you're still hung up over the same girl who won't give you the time of day. And I thought you were over her in fourth grade, man! What happened? It's like you picked up where you left off with your fourth grade crush on her the minute you came back from San Lorenzo. It's like you forgot everything that happened right before you decided you were done liking her in fourth grade…" Gerald starts to trail off when he suddenly looks like he is realizing something else, "Wow, man, I think you even forgot about that moment in the jungle when I caught you and Helga making ou-"

"Gerald!" I exclaim, interrupting his little rant. I'm definitely regretting the fact that I told him what happened on the roof of the FTi building.

"Well, it's true man! You and Helga were sucking face! Happily, might I add!" Gerald accuses me while grinning madly in amusement.

"Ok, I'm not denying it but it was six years ago, Gerald! It didn't mean anything," I counter quickly.

"It may not have meant anything to you, Arnold but there's a second party you're ignoring in all of this," Phoebe points out with a hint of annoyance in her voice, obviously trying to defend her best friend.

"Well if it meant so much to her then why didn't she say anything to me before I left? Why didn't she beg me not to stay in San Lorenzo? Why didn't she write to me?" I ask mainly in Phoebe's direction. My tone is probably confused and annoyed because that is what I feel right now.

"Now, Arnold," Gerald responds first instead of Phoebe, "You know Helga is not really mean enough to ask you to choose her over your parents," Gerald concludes, his tone almost scolding-sounding.

"No, she's not. But she's not really that bad at all, Gerald. It's mostly an act," Phoebe points out then turns to me, "And Arnold, to answer your other question, Helga wanted to write to you. In fact, she wrote you several letters but she never sent them. Now, I'm not condoning that. I think she should've sent them but she's more sensitive than you think, well at least wherever you're concerned. Besides, she didn't feel like she belonged in your world anymore, or that you even wanted to hear from her. I know you tried to contact her for a while after we all went home but she still thought that the kiss meant nothing to you, though it meant everything to her," Phoebe adds as she sends an accusatory look in my direction. She's really in full protector mode for Helga's sake, that's for sure.

"Hey, that's a good point, babe," Gerald states before turning his gaze back to me, "Arnold, just what was your opinion about that kiss, hmm?" he asks me, that suspiciously wide grin of his returning. He's definitely up to something.

"Gerald, what's the point in asking that? It obviously didn't mean anything to him," Phoebe asks, sounding exasperated and a little puzzled, like she just wants to drop this subject already.

"Are you sure about that, Phoebe? Because by the way Arnold's blushing, I think it did mean something," Gerald explains, sending a knowing smirk in my direction.

"Gerald, cut it out…" I order, turning my head away, though all that seems to do is make me blush even more. I did not even realize I have been blushing until Gerald pointed it out a second ago.

"Well, did it?" Gerald asks, his smirk growing like he already knows the answer. I bet he does. That's what I'm afraid of.

"Did what?" I ask, feigning confusion but it feels like a lost cause. I can tell Gerald is on to me. Denseness won't save me now, whether it's real or fake.

"You know what I'm talking about, man! Now tell me!" Gerald orders, obviously not falling for my lame attempt to avoid the subject.

"What do you want me to say? That that kiss in the jungle was the best kiss of my life and that I'm sad we just acted like it didn't happen afterwards?!" I exclaim defensively and it's all practically on the same breath, since I'm almost panting a little when I finish. I guess that has been waiting to be said for some time, though I didn't even know I still thought that way, or maybe I have always known but it's been in hiding for reasons I clearly don't remember.

"Wow, how long were you holding that in for?" Gerald questions me. At first he looks taken aback but a few seconds later the shock wears off and his smirk returns.

"Umm…a little while…" I say sheepishly while keeping my head down, my cheeks becoming even hotter. I wish we would stop talking about this already.

"Well, if you sort of knew you felt something for Helga, then why in the world do you still like Lila?" Gerald asks suddenly, though I kind of expected him to ask me that.

"Why not? She's thoughtful and sweet and has done plenty of nice things for me and unlike Helga, she doesn't hide them like she's ashamed or concerned about keeping her reputation," I explain. I'm a little surprised at the fact that my explanation sounded more like a 'Lila versus Helga' comparison, like that could even be done! The two were complete opposites.

"Wait, what has Lila done for you lately? I must've missed that one," Gerald asks for clarification, both his face and expression are puzzled.

"Well…umm…she helped plan my welcome home party," I reply, finally coming up with a decent example. I dare them to convince that that is not a good enough reason to still like Lila. In the back of my mind though, I'm wondering why it took me a while to think of something. And not to mention, while the example I thought of was the most recent one I have, it actually happened two years ago. I think that's kind of strange, though I do not have time to analyze it further because I can see Phoebe is getting ready to say something.

"What? Arnold, that wasn't Lila who planned it…" Phoebe begins to explain but trails off, like she's trying to find the right words or something. It could be my imagination but she almost sounds impatient.

"Wait, that wasn't Lila. Then…wait, you don't mean-?" I begin to ask, though I already know the answer. I get interrupted anyways.

"Yep, all this time you've been thanking the wrong girl. Helga planned and organized the whole thing," Gerald ends up answering instead.

"Well, then why didn't Helga say anything?" I wonder out loud, the frustration I feel about Helga's secretiveness during all these years is probably written all over my face. I have never been one for hiding my emotions, unless I'm doing it to protect someone's feelings. But other than that, I have a terrible poker face in normal circumstances.

"Arnold, you should know by now that Helga doesn't like to take acknowledgment for her good deeds because she feels like if she did then she'd be doing them for all the wrong reasons. Besides, you shouldn't be asking why Helga didn't say anything. The better question should be, 'Why didn't Lila correct you?' From what Helga told me, Lila tried to explain to you for a while but then let it go," Phoebe explains.

My eyebrows furrow at that as I take a moment to think this over. Ok, so it wasn't Lila who helped with my party two years ago. How did I feel about that? Did I feel upset that it was Helga and not Lila? The answer to my own question ends up shocking me. I don't feel upset by this news. I am disappointed, yes but not because I wish it was Lila. Ok, maybe I am a little disappointed in Lila for just giving up and basically owning up to something she didn't do. Though she never did that in words, but she let me think that so that's almost bad enough. Then again, I can't really blame her since my mind was made up and I can be quite stubborn and stuck in my ways. Deep down, I knew we would never work but still I kept chasing the fantasy of us that I had in my head. After all, it was far better than anything that could result of us actually trying to be a couple in real life. It was better because it wasn't real.

The person I am more disappointed in was Helga. I am disappointed in her hiding behind her toughness and doing this all the time, well when we are not alone that is. On the one hand, I now see why Helga resorts to those old tendencies, especially regarding all those times I've been blindly chasing after Lila. Wow, no wonder she tripped me…I remember now. She was right there and instead of walking to her, I pass her and walk to Lila. I guess it wasn't just Helga pretending the good times we had didn't happen. I mean, she started that but I guess I got so used to her doing that that it became a routine thing to me. And I guess I have been playing along ever since, even a little too well at times.

But still, I wish Helga was more true to herself. However, I can see why she doesn't like being noticed for her selfless acts. It's because then they wouldn't be very selfless anymore. I guess she's been doing good things for years and her reasons for hiding that fact went beyond hiding her reputation. It goes deeper than that. She was also hiding her secret since nearly all of her good deeds involved me in some way. I guess it is true. She loves me. Helga G. Pataki loves me and has been in love with me since the day we met, since the day I first laid eyes on that large pink bow…the one that matched her pants. I don't know what I'm more in shock of: the fact that I said that or the fact that that's probably what made Helga fall for me in the first place…well that and the fact that I held my umbrella over her head. She looked so sad and muddy and now I got the gist of what happened. Her parents didn't care to just let her walk to school on her own without anything to protect her from the pouring rain.

Helga's journey in this world did not start out as an easy one, that's for sure. But I guess, neither did mine. I lost my parents before I turned two and I guess Helga's parents chose to be figuratively missing from Helga's life starting on the day she was born. From what I heard, they are better to her now but it took a while for them to finally notice her. She had to toughen up a lot and grow up a lot faster than any kid should be expected to. I wish she didn't have to go through all that. I mean, not that I want her to change. She's rough around the edges but I love her just the way she-wait, what? What?

"What?!" I exclaim. That revelation is enough to abruptly pull me from my thoughts.

"Arnold?" Phoebe asks in concern.

"Hey, man, you ok?" Gerald then asks me right after Phoebe, his concern matching hers. I just blink at them for a second in confusion. Then I realize that that outburst did not just occur in my mind like I thought it did.

"I love her," I say quietly to myself.

"What was that, Arnold?" Phoebe asks as she tilts up her ear a bit to help her hear me better.

"I love her," I mutter, a little more vocal this time but they still don't seem to hear me.

"Hey, you're gonna have to speak up there," Gerald requested. He looks confused, though I swear I can see a smirk beginning to form on his face.

"I said 'I love her', ok?! I love her. I, Arnold Phillip Shortman, love Helga G. Pataki. I love how passionate she is in everything she does. I love how we share similar interests in movies, music, and even video games. Heck, she can kick my butt in every game out there and I'm not ashamed to admit it. I think it was my stubbornness and that false belief I had that made me keep pursuing Lila. I know that it wouldn't work though. We're too alike. But with Helga, I love how we get along so well when it's just us, probably because we have just the right combination of differences between us. I honestly think we'd balance each other out well and we already do. When my head has been in the clouds a bit too long, she can bring me back down to earth. She is an excellent judge of character and she can warn me when I get too trusting of somebody I shouldn't trust. I can talk her down when her passionate feelings become more vengeful when she has been wronged by somebody who's either really brave or just didn't know who they messed with. And I think she looks gorgeous when she dresses up but it's her go-to natural tomboy style that I love the best. I realized my feelings for her in the jungle and I guess they never went away. I regret not getting to tell her back then and clearing any confusion up because it's been way too long. I now dare anyone to try to stop me from telling her, especially after what happened to her yesterday. That has definitely taught me something: that life can change in an instant. It can be fine one minute but then it can all go horribly wrong the next and that's why you need to say what you need to say while you still have the chance. So while I still have the chance, I'm finally telling Helga that I love her," I admit so effortlessly that I shock myself, and yet it's not that surprising to me at all. I know I meant every word. My eyes widen at the sound of cheers nearby. Apparently, Gerald and Phoebe believes my little rant deserves an ovation of sorts.

"Oh my goodness! Arnold, you're going to make her so happy!" Phoebe gushes with glee.

"Well, it's about time!" Gerald exclaims as he bursts into laughter.

"Gerald, give me a break," I groan a bit but then give in and start laughing with Gerald about my own denseness, "Anyways, let's go," I add as I get out of the car. Gerald turns off his car and he and Phoebe follow my lead. We soon approach the front entrance of the building. In no time at all, we enter and I find my pace speed up as I try to seek out somebody who can tell us where Helga is. The hospital atmosphere brings out a strong sense of urgency in the air. I meant what I said, that I need to tell Helga the truth, that we both need to tell the truth to each other if we ever want this to work. I didn't know how close I was to never having the chance to tell Helga. I'm equally glad I realized how I feel and that it happened now because I doubt I'll get many more chances after this. I have to make the most of this, this very moment. It has to happen right now. I just hope it's not too late.

A/N: Writer's block seems to be the gift that keeps on giving because I have it again for chapter 5! Also, I have to catch up on classwork but I still wanted to get this chapter out. Anyways, it's going to be a little while before I finish the next (and final) chapter of this story!