Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold!

The Day You Will

By Moonlight

Who's Fault Is It Anyway?

Arnold placed two fingers on his temple, and internally groaned as he remembered the conversation with his friend. "I found Gerald."

Helga's eyes went wide, "And?!"

"He's… he's breaking up with Phoebe, and… after what he said I-"

"WHAT?!" Helga stood once more. Her face looking like she was ready to hurt the nearest living thing.

Taking hold of both of her hands, Arnold looked her in the eyes, "Helga, I-I feel like this is all my fault."

Doing her very best to internalize his words, Helga stared him down. The look of disbelief and anger continuing to linger on her countenance. She wanted to speak. In fact, she wanted to scream all of her frustrations at the boy who stood there silently holding both of her hands. 'What do you MEAN break up?! Why would that JERK hurt my best friend?! Why are you even FRIENDS with him?! This is YOUR FAULT?!' However, her heart tightened harder and harder as she stared into his eyes. Those green eyes of his that she had pined over for years. Those eyes that were pleading for her to spare him. For her to listen to him. For her to understand him.

Willing herself to breathe deeply, she squeezed his hands. "Arnold…" She said softly, and picking her words wisely, she continued, "...what...do you mean?"

Leaning into her, he spoke "Gerald told me that… that I… I-"

Ring~ Ding-Ding~ Ring~

Startled by the sudden noise, the two looked over to the pink phone that had fallen out of Helga's pocket, onto the bed. She could only touch a finger to her temple, as she knew it HAD to be Phoebe again.

Ring~ Ding-Ding~ Ring~

They stood there, staring at the device. For a moment, neither of them moved, but the ringing continued.

"Should I answer it for you…?" Arnold asked, almost hesitantly as he walked over to the phone.

"N-no! Don't-"

"Hello?"

Helga froze in her spot, her eyes growing wide. She didn't want to confront her. She didn't want anything to do with her right now. The whole thing...the whole issue was driving her into insanity. And hearing Arnold blame himself for it...no. It wasn't okay. It wasn't right.

Arnold spoke softly, but attentively to the person on the other line. "She's right here. There's just… a lot going on right now, so I don't think she really wants to talk…" he glanced over at the blonde, who was watching him in a state of shock.

'What would I SAY to her?! What would SHE say to ME?! What did she WANT?! ...WHAT am I DOING?!' Feeling as if her head were ready to burst right then and there, Helga all but sprinted to Arnold, taking the phone out of his hand. Pressing it tightly to her ear, she inhaled deeply.

"WHY didn't you LISTEN?! We TOLD you not to go in there, and you DID IT ANYWAY! I can't believe you just WALTZED in and greeted that PRINCESS the way you did! What were you THINKING?! GERALD IS-...I want to say-err...he is-" Helga blurted out her frustrations into the phone in an almost incessant ramble. Yet, her mind instantly shut down as she pulled away from the phone and glanced at the caller ID.

"...I take it...you haven't talked to Phoebe yet…?" a very calm and sweet voice came through the phone.

"O...O-Olga! Wwwwhat a surprise…!" The girl cleared her throat nervously, "...Did you...need something…?"

"I was just calling to check up on you. You hadn't responded to my messages earlier, so I wondered if you were okay…"

Helga scoffed, "Not EVERYONE is that dedicated to their PHONE, Olga."

"I guess not…" she chuckled in response, "About Phoebe, though. Is she alright? Did something happen?"

Nearly dropping the phone, Helga struggled to answer her sister's question. "She- um… Phoebe is… She-"

Arnold, who had been watching Helga fail at properly talking on the phone, decided to take it back from her. "Phoebe will be fine. We were actually JUST on our way to go see her. Don't worry." he said very calmly.

"I see" Olga replied, "Well, then I leave it to you."

"Of course."

"Oh, and Arnold?" Olga paused briefly to see if he was still on the line with her. "Please… take care of Helga. She's needs your support… I feel it."

Thinking briefly to himself, Arnold sighed and almost breathed his response into the phone.

"She's in good hands." he smirked, though he knew Olga couldn't see him.

"Thank you."

Helga watched nervously, her fingers drumming violently into the door behind her. Her back pressed tightly against it and her breathing heavy. He looked up at her and smiled warmly before she began her, very predicted, protest.

"What do you MEAN 'we were actually JUST on our way to see her'?! We're NOT going to see her. Not right now. It's too soon! She'll blame me-" stopping herself in her tracks, she watched as his expression faded into a solemn look. "...Arnold.. I'm so sorry…" She reached a hand out to him, but balled it into a fist before she could even feel his warmth.

"Helga…?"

"Arnold!" her brow tightened into a tight-knit scowl, "We AREN'T going to see Phoebe right now."

"But-"

"We're going to see someone else FIRST."

Staring intently at her, he reached for her fist, which lingered in the air.

"This is NOT your fault, footballhead. Don't even THINK that-"

"Gerald said that I-"

"Don't-"

"He said that I had been ignoring him and that lead to-"

"Arnold STOP."

"-That lead to him feeling awful about his relationship with Phoebe, because-"

"ARNOLD! THIS IS NOT YOUR FAULT!" She tightly took hold of his shoulders, her forehead nearly ramming into his.

"-because I wasn't there to help him deal with their problems. I was a horrible friend… all because I was preoccupied…" he stared into her eyes, almost unblinking as he spoke at a loud enough volume for her to hear over her own yelling, and yet so calm and so clear to not rile her up even more.

Taking slow, deep breaths, she did her best to speak softly, "Arnold, it's not your fault… Listen to me."

His voice has dropped to that of a half-whisper as she regained her composure, "...I was too focused...on you, Helga… I ignored my best friend's distress… because I was thinking about-"

But he couldn't say more, as her lips took over his.

Surprised, his eyes widened and he felt his mind go blank from the sensations. Her breath tickled his face as she exhaled slowly. Her lips pressing firmly on his almost hurt from the tightness, but they were soft. He could feel her frustration in the pressure. He felt as though these were her last attempts to get him to shut up. To get him to stop overthinking. Quickly, he complied and let his body relax.

As if she were waiting for that cue, Helga released some of the pressure on his lips to pull away from him just enough to gaze on his now half-lidded eyes. Feeling her heart racing, she inhaled deeply. 'WHAT am I DOING?!' she thought to herself, but before she could collect her thoughts and regain her composure, Arnold's arms encircled her waist and gently pulled her closer. Closing the gap between their lips once more, Arnold softly and carefully pressed himself onto her. 'H-hey!' She could feel her face burning, and her arms weakened, sliding down his chest.

Before she could get lost in the blissful feeling, he regretfully pulled away from her.

"If…" he began, "if you want to go see Gerald first...that's fine."

She nodded slowly. Still in her trance.

"But… we will go talk to Phoebe afterwards. Okay?"

Again, she nodded. Her eyes filled with a look Arnold had rarely caught glimpses of before.

He took her jacket in one hand, and wrapped his other arm around hers, heading for the door.

Moonlight: Please check out my new story "The Game", for something a bit lighter!