Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold!

The Day You Will

By Moonlight

Wait For Me

He couldn't believe it. It definitely wasn't like him, that he knew for sure. He wasn't the type of person to jump head on into something so delicate, like someone's personal space, let alone what he was doing now. His hands had found their way around her waist, and hers slid up his torso to rest on his chest. His fingers drew small circles against the soft fabric of her dress. His head felt as if it were spinning, as he took in the feel of her lips on his.

It felt like time had stopped.

Or, at least, it had until he felt Helga push strongly against his chest in order to back away from him. She gasped sharply and tried to regain her breath and steady her heartbeat.

Arnold watched her, confused and utterly surprised. Had he misread her? Had he completely imagined her confession from those years ago? Imagined his own confession from just that summer? It couldn't have all just been a dream, right? The thought ran in circles through his mind as Helga regained some of her composure.

"Helga, I…"

The girl stared down at her feet. He hands gripped at her dress as she shook her head rapidly, "W-what are you Th-THINKING?!" her words came out hesitantly, "Did...did I SAY y-you co-!"

"I'm sorry. I just thought-"

"Thought WHAT?"

Arnold took a deep breath, trying hard to make sense of everything, "What happened before… In San Lorenzo… I thought that you loved me." His eyes looked her over. She still kept her head down, avoiding his gaze. "Was I wrong…?"

There was a long moment of silence between them. The ambient sounds around them seemed to fade out as he watched her hands tremble.

Finally, she spoke, though her words were definitely not what he was expecting to hear. "You're wrong." She shook her head, still keeping it low. "I don't...feel that way…" she seemed to be choking on her words.

"You don't…?" his eyes, which were full of determination, softened.

"Nope!" Helga tried her best to sound composed, but her posture gave her away. "I HATE you. I've always hated you."

"That's not true…" Arnold reached out to her, but she backed away.

"You better BELIEVE it, BUCKO. It was just… some prank. Just a looooong, well thought out prank…" she lifted her head to finally meet his eyes, "I can't believe you ACTUALLY fell for it… You really ARE a stupid football head…" Her face dawned the most forced scowl he had ever seen. She tried so hard to hide her despair, that her body shook. Her heart was pounding louder than a taiko drum, and she feared her could hear it.

Arnold shook his head and narrowed his eyes. His heart felt heavy and overbearing. "I don't believe you, Helga." he took a step towards her as he began to feel tiny droplets of water sprinkle over them. "You wouldn't be crying if it were true…"

Surprised, Helga moved to rub her eyes with her sleeve, but was stopped by his hand cupping her cheek. His thumb moved gently to wipe away the tears that had escaped her eye. The look in his eyes, soft and concerned, left her breathless. A tiny whimper escaped her lips before she placed her hand over his. "Arnold…" she closed her eyes, feeling the warmth he provided her as the rain picked up, bringing a cold wind with it. "You're right… I don't hate you…" she sniffled, "I don't know why I lied like that…"

He let out a sigh of relief before letting a soft smile spread across his face.

"But I can't." she slid away from him and began to back towards the entrance to his room.

"What do you mean?" he followed her slowly.

As she turned to get away, her locket slid from its home in her jacket, falling with a small clang onto the cement below. They both stopped to look at it for a moment before Arnold moved to pick it up. As he stood back up, he noticed Helga had escaped through his skylight, back into his room. Glancing down at the object in his hand, he decided to leave her be for now. He wanted answers. She was confusing him even more with every passing minute, but he didn't want to suffocate her when she didn't want his affection. The thought hit him like a ton of bricks.

"Augh! Why did I even do that..?" he questioned himself quietly, as he ran his hand through his hair. Taking a good look at the image in the locket, he realized it had been torn to pieces. He'd noticed the tears before, back when she handed it to him in order to use it for the machine in the GreenEyes village, but he didn't realize it had been completely torn apart and put back together. What had caused her to do this? Something must have made her extremely angry. And it was his doing, right? It could only have been his doing, anyway. The picture, however torn, was very old. She must have had it for a while, as it was a school photo from a couple of years ago. "I should get her a new one…" He said to himself. Pacing around the rooftop, he fumbled with the locket, determined to open it. He struggled for a while before finally managing to pry it open with his fingernail

"There!" he exclaimed as the pieces of the photo scattered about the cement below. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, thumbing through it to find a small copy of his new school photo, which he stored away in order to give to his grandfather. He gently tore bits off of the photo, in order to make it fit into the locket. It wasn't perfect. He really wanted to take it downstairs to cut it out properly.

Sliding back in through the skylight, he noticed Helga sifting through her suitcase. Her body was hunched over her belongings, and he could hear her sniffle quietly. Resigned to leaving her be, Arnold started for the door.

His hand barely made it to the knob before he heard her call out to him softly, "I'm sorry, Arnold." He paused for a bit before turning to face her. Her back still to him, she spoke again. "I just don't..."

Walking over to her, Arnold took her hand from where it rested on her lap. He took in a long breath and gave her a warm smile, though his eyes showed some pain. Placing the locket in her hand, he could feel her shiver as the cold of the metal made contact with her hand. Perfect or not, he felt she needed the item more than ever. "You don't have to explain yourself right now, if you don't want to." his thumb caressed the back of her hand as he held it, "You can take your time." As her eyes fully focused on him, his heart felt as if it would beat out of his chest. "I'll be here. You have your reasons for doing things, and I understand that. It was wrong of me to force it out of you…" Arnold's smile faded as he spoke, "Whatever it is, I'll understand. I just want you to be happy. I-I'll wait for you, Helga."

A warm feeling filled her body as she felt her cheeks redden at his words. She wanted to hold him and thank him, but her body wouldn't move and words escaped her.

Finally, he stood and turned to leave once more.

Helga watched the door close behind him before turning back to her belongings. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the phone Olga had given her. The rose gold glimmered from the sunlight beaming through the skylight. Finally deciding to use it, she turned it on. The logo of the phone company filled the screen for a few seconds before the main screen popped up. The background featured a cute, pink ribbon over a white and pink polka dot base. "Really, Olga?" she smiled softly as she noticed the notifications at the top of the screen.

4 New Messages

She opened up the sms application to read them.

"12:35pm
Baby Sister,

We just passed Tacoma, and daddy is already complaining about the drive down. Do you remember the time we came to the Museum of Glass, here? You were so little, and you wanted to climb one of the sculptures."

Helga tried to remember the event, but could only remember the moment Bob nearly knocked over a piece of artwork. One of the security guards had to reprimand him for getting too close to the display altogether. They even talked about having to put a glass barrier around some of the pieces to prevent them from getting damaged by people like him. Needless to say, it was an embarrassing event for her.

She scrolled down for the rest of the messages.

"1:03pm
I can see the state capitol building behind me as we pass Olympia. It's becoming more real the further we are from Hillwood. Are you doing alright?"

It is becoming all too real. Judging by the time stamp, Helga figured they're much further south by this point.

"2:24pm
Mommy saw this new Casino called Ilani, just north of Vancouver. She wanted to stop here, but I don't think it's such a good idea. You know?"

Helga scoffed. Of course Miriam wanted to stop at a casino. Where there's a casino, there's a bar. Plus, Bob probably wanted to have a little fun while trying to turn the bit of money they still had into more. He was going to ruin them completely.

"3:12pm

We're still at the casino. It's really uncomfortable being here. Daddy has been at the blackjack table the whole time and Mommy is at the bar talking to some men she met. It's totally unlike her. I don't know what to do."

A loud sigh escaped her lips as she read the last message. She felt bad, but there wasn't anything she could do from here. And she didn't want to involve herself anyway. The whole point of leaving them in the first place was so that she wouldn't have to be involved in their terrible decisions.

Moving to put the phone back in her pocket, she heard the sound of a bell twinkle from the device. "Another message?" She opened up the application.

"3:48pm

Finally left the casino, and heading into Portland. Daddy ended up lucky this time, but I'm afraid he's going to lose everything, if he keeps taking risks like this. Helga. If you feel like you need to talk about something-anything-don't be afraid to contact me. I want to help."

She hesitated for a moment before typing a response. Her outburst just now, with Arnold, was not what it should have been. She knew her emotions were getting the better of her the more she was around him. Olga could probably help her calm down...maybe?

"Actually, I do need to talk about something." she started, but stopped to stare intently at her phone before deleting the message and replacing it with "Thanks."

Hitting the send button, she closed her eyes and placed the phone back into her pocket. The small ribbon charm dangling out the side. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to tell her, after all. She didn't want to make anyone worry over her mistakes. And judging by the messages, Olga already worried enough.

No. This was her problem. She wanted to distance herself from the chaos and regain her sanity before fully accepting Arnold into her life. She wanted to give it some time. To let the idea of living a normal life set in. He said he would wait for her. If he was going to be this supportive of her, maybe the wait wouldn't take long. Maybe she'd only need a few weeks? A few days? Whatever the time, she knew that in the end she wanted to be close to him. That's all she's ever wanted.

Sighing to herself, she picked up the locket once more. "Huh?" She questioned quietly as she looked at the picture, which was definitely not the one she had in it before. "Did he…?" Shaking her head, she dismissed it all and pressed the locket tightly to her chest.

"Get a hold of yourself, Helga…"

Moonlight: Ahhh! Short, I know. Please let me know your thoughts!