A/N:

Hi everyone! Wow, an HA! update from me finally—I know right, lol? Anyway, thank you all for your patience and as always your readership. I've finished the outline for this fic and it should have two more chapters after this one followed by a brief epilogue. I hope you all like how it turns out : ) Please review if you can and thank you again for reading (and waiting)!

Also, just a quick note, if you're a guest reviewer and want me to respond to you, please go to my profile page and email me directly (my email address is right at the top of the page). I've gotten a few guest reviews lately where people have asked me questions/given suggestions, but if you don't have an account here then I can't reply to you unless you send me an email. Thanks ^^

Okay, let's get going then!

April 2nd

Chapter 8:

One (Dance) Step Forward, Two (Dance) Steps Back


"So…you're really sure you're okay with us doing this right now, Helga?" Arnold smiled over at Helga, his arms crossed over his chest and an eyebrow raised.

Sitting right beside him on this park bench they were sharing on this lovely late spring day (alone…out in the open…in a popular place frequented by their friends), Helga just smiled and shrugged. "Oh, it doesn't matter. We're just two people sitting on a bench. If any of those dolts we know see us and really want to bother us, let them. I'm too tired to care." Helga yawned and rested against the back of the bench to look up at the blue sky and various white clouds overhead.

Arnold's smile couldn't help but grow. Slowly, with little things like the park bench today, he could see she was getting better about the two of them having some sort of relationship in public (even if that relationship couldn't get too affectionate). They could walk around the neighborhood together (without holding hands), talk over strategy during baseball practice (without smiling and joking too much), and sit together on the bus (as long as it was at the back). Maybe all of that didn't speak to the truly complex and close nature of their relationship, but it was progress. And Arnold was just grateful that so far no one had said a single word to them about the change in their dynamic. He had a feeling that even the littlest negative comment might set Helga off and push her away from learning to feel comfortable about liking him (let alone loving him) in front of others…though, again, he really didn't think their friends would react that badly even if he and Helga just dropped the act entirely and walked to school teasing each other and blushing a little one day or something.

But for now, with some real progress happening with this outing at the park, Arnold was content and could wait. He sighed and gazed up at the clouds too. "Whatever you say, Helga," he replied simply to her comment about not caring who might see them.

Helga smiled a little. "I love when you say that, you know. I always have. I'm always looking for a fight half the time whenever I say anything to anybody, and when you say that back to me somehow it just relaxes me. Who can feel like fighting when someone just genuinely, sincerely says 'okay, let's try it your way' ?" She almost laughed. "Of course, about half the time it turns out your way was better, but I appreciate you letting me figure that out for myself. It helps keep my ego in tact."

"I don't like fighting either." Arnold sighed, imagining shapes in the clouds (and wondering if she was doing the same thing). "And I like that you've always had your own way of doing things. So saying that seems like the right thing a lot of the time."

The pair just smiled a little more, still relaxing on the park bench and looking up at the sky.

"Helga…speaking of fighting…please don't be mad…" Arnold started a little nervously.

"Oh for Pete's sake, what did you do?" Helga asked with a sigh and a grin, closing her eyes and shaking her head.

Arnold smiled a little and replied, barely glancing over at her. "The other day, some of the guys brought up the FTi thing, and they remembered how you were a part of it and asked me why you were there at the end with Gerald and me. So I told them the truth…sort of." He quickly explained. "I said you were on the bus with us at the end because you'd helped us stop Scheck because you wanted to save the neighborhood too. They asked me why, and I just told them that all of us loved the neighborhood—why shouldn't you? And I told them that you wanted to help your dad too. They understood." Arnold was looking down from the clouds now and trying to take this moment very seriously, unsure of how she might respond. "I just didn't want to make up anymore lies, Helga. You know how bad I am at those. And like I said, if anything, the guys were impressed that you went through so much to help save our home. I asked them to leave you alone about it, but just in case anyone brings it up, I just wanted you to know what I'd said." Arnold waited.

Helga was just quiet for a moment, looking forward, her eyes a little wide. But then finally she just sighed, cleared her throat, and spoke again, her voice still calm and normal. She even smiled. "Well, I kind of wish we'd discussed this a little bit before you went and released an official story for us, but I'm guessing that you didn't exactly bring up the topic of FTi yourself and that you just found yourself in a pinch with the guys. And you're right, you are horrible at lying…so, fair enough. You told them I cared about something, and something I had a personal stake in. I can deal with that." She glanced at him. "Nice job though telling them not to bring it up to me too much. Who knows, time's starting to pass—maybe this'll be the last time anyone brings up the whole thing ever again." She shrugged, smiling a little more.

Arnold smiled back at her. "Maybe… But even if they do, like you said, all they know for sure is that you cared about something, Helga. And that's not really so bad, is it?" His smile picked up on one side and he raised an eyebrow.

Helga chuckled a little. "As long as they don't know that along the way I gave you the most traumatic first kiss ever suffered by a pre-teen boy, sure, why not, Football Head?" She reached over to give him a little nudge in the shoulder and then laughed.

Arnold winced but then had to laugh (and blush) a little too.

For a moment they just sat there smiling at each other. If they had been alone in Arnold's room, they might have even leaned in given each other a brief kiss. But for now smiles in the sunshine and free air were just as good.

Arnold sighed. 'Now's as perfect a moment as any.' He cleared his throat. "Helga? Remember how I told you that there was something I wanted to ask you? Well…I'd kind of like to ask you now."

Helga nodded. "Sure, Arnold. I've been bracing myself for anything ever since yesterday—fire away."

Arnold smiled more. "Okay then. Well…" He took a breath, smiling optimistically, "There's one more dance coming up at the end of the year—you know, in just a few weeks. And since we went to the April Fool's Dance together I thought maybe we could go to this dance together too. It doesn't have to be like a real date, we can just go as friends and then be whatever we want to be afterwards." He blushed a little. "So, what do you say, Helga—will you go with me? After all, it, um…it might be nice to try a dance together where no one's pretending to be blind and we're not trying to prank each other the whole night long." He finished with a smile equal parts sheepishness and hope.

Helga just looked back at him with eyes wide in surprise. "I, uh…" she blinked a few times, glanced around, then blushed distinctly, "Arnold, that's a big…I, um…I mean, we can pretend it's not a date all we want, but no matter how you slice it, it would be. And I…" she could see the slight disappointment coming to his features—it made her frown. 'We did already go to one dance and managed to play if off as a joke…and he clearly really wants to go…and I really have been feeling more comfortable about doing stuff together sort of…in a way. I don't know.' She sighed. 'But still, I know something has to change. Could I handle this? I-I could handle this. I could at least fake my way through handling this.' Helga took a deep breath and put a smile on her face. "Oh who am I kidding. I'd love to go with you, Arnold. You know, as friends or whatever."

Arnold practically beamed. "Really? That's…That's great!" He cleared his throat. "I-I mean, thanks, Helga. I promise, nothing bad or awkward will happen. We'll just get to spend time together. And you'll see, no one'll bother us about it at all."

Helga sighed, her smile growing. "Fine, but if they do, I reserve the right to send everyone into the pool. I still think that's the only reason you and I got away with the last dance without arousing suspicion."

The two kids shared a laugh.

Helga rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, letting humor distract her from her worries about this plan. "But hey, don't go thinking that just because this is a legitimate mutual outing between us in a formal public setting that I'm going to go all out with a new dress and shoes and getting my hair done and all of that froofy stuff. Half the reason I used to try so hard with stuff like that in the past was just to get your attention." She grinned. "Now that I've got it, you're going to be dealing a lot less frequently with the Helga who puts on airs and a lot more frequently with the Helga who really needs you to like her as she is no matter what the circumstances."

"Good." Arnold grinned a little too. "I like that, Helga. She's…interesting."

Helga just smirked and gave him another nudge in the arm. "Yeah, well, you're just lucky she thinks you're interesting too."

The two kids shared a laugh again.

Then Arnold sighed. "Do you want to stay out here to watch the sunset and then maybe get some ice cream from the Jollie Ollie Man before I walk you home?"

Helga smiled…but then the smile faltered a little and she shook her head. "No, um…actually, I-I think I'd just better get home now. And I should probably just go by myself. I've got a lot to think about, and I really am a little tired, Football Head, and…well, people might believe we're just going to this dance as friends, but they probably won't entirely buy that if they see us strolling along together and paling around too much in the weeks leading up until then, right?"

Arnold frowned a little at this logic but then did his best to smile and nod. "Oh, okay, Helga. I understand. Well, um…have a good day." He waved to her. "And thanks again for saying yes. I promise it'll be a really fun night. And then after that it'll be summer and we can spend a lot more time together if you want." A touch of hope came to his gaze and smile.

Helga faltered a little in the middle of taking her first step away from the bench and blushed just slightly. Her eyes a bit wide, she swallowed and shrugged. "Er…yeah, yeah, good point, Football Head. Well, um, I'll just be heading off, and you have a good night too. See ya." She gave him a little wave and then turned and dashed off at a brisk walk.

Arnold just watched her go, an eyebrow raised in concern. "I guess she's just a little nervous about finally spending a whole night together around all of our friends." He probably could have pondered her response a little more thoroughly, but a small dreamy smile couldn't help but come to his face as he added with a little sigh. "She's really cute when she gets shy like that. And it's nice I finally get to see it now." He sighed with a sheepish grin at the silly thought. Then Arnold looked back up to the sky to admire the clouds for a little longer before finally leaving the bench and heading home as well.


Meanwhile, as Helga left Arnold behind, her thoughts raced a little and she could feel the light flush in her features growing stronger. She mumbled to herself as she went along. "Summer? Summer! I never even thought about summer! Nothing to keep us apart and no school stuff to use as an excuse to be around each other. If we're together during the summer, everyone's going to see and know it's because we want to be together. And I know he's going to want to spend time together—he just said so! And I-I want to spend time with him too, but…." She let out a deep sigh, her eyes going a little wider. "This is happening, isn't it? This is really happening? Oh just brilliant, Helga—Arnold finds out about your feelings and you take that in stride no problem, then Arnold actually ends up being really cool about your feelings and wanting to return them in a way and that's still no problem. But everyone finding out you and Arnold 'like' each other—oh no, that just freaking sends you reeling! Okay, okay…relax, it's fine, it's…Just let it happen."

Helga tried to smile. She had just stopped in an alleyway at this point to catch her breath and finish her monologueing. "Just let these things play out naturally, no dramatic responses or announcements. Just let everyone know your feelings by not hiding it anymore—you don't have to make a full confession like you did with Arnold, you just have to relax and be yourself. Okay, fine…fine I can manage that. Really." Despite her words, the forced smile on her features and slight panic underlying her tone clearly suggested that whether or not she was up for this task was questionable to say the least.

Helga took in and let out one more very deep breath, her voice finally returning to something a bit more level. "This is going to work out fine…even if I do have a nauseating feeling about it in the pit of my stomach…and even if my breathing is starting to sound a little—" Helga blinked…and then she rolled her eyes. Her ears finally picked up the distinct wheezing sound going on behind her.

Wheeze. Wheeze.

Helga took in and let out another deep breath, mumbling to herself. "Control your temper…Control it. If you can't control it with him, how are you going to control it with the rest of those dolts you have to see on a regular basis when they start reacting to you and Arnold." Helga nodded to herself and turned around.

…And sure enough there was Brainy popping up out of a trashcan, wheezing and smiling at her…and holding a flower in one of his hands? He gave a little wave with his free hand. "Uh…hi…"

Helga clenched her fists and rolled her eyes but kept it together. "Brainy, now is really not the best time."

He just continued to look back at her and to wheeze in his usual way.

Helga sighed. "I'm kind of in the middle of a personal crisis—a much larger one than usual."

He still just continued to look back at her and to wheeze in his usual way.

Helga scowled. "So that means I'd like to be left alone, Brainy! I have a lot on my mind, and you stalking me isn't exactly helping me be able to concentrate. And what's with the stupid flower anyway?"

Brainy hesitated but then held forth the flower to her. "Wanna go…to the…dance?"

Helga hesitated, and then her eyes went distinctly wide and she raised part of her brow. "Uh…sorry, um…someone already asked me."

Brainy frowned a little among his wheezes but nodded and put away his flower.

Helga glanced around very awkwardly. "Uh, but, um…you know, it was nice of you to ask me, I guess…even though I punch you a lot?" She scratched her head and couldn't help phrasing the response in the form of a confused question—fielding this one was just plain weird.

Brainy nodded, still just wheezing away.

There was a really awkward few seconds of silence, and then Helga started to back out of the alley. "Well, uh…this has been sufficiently weird. Have a good day I guess, Brainy. Bye for now." And with that and a wave Helga quickly turned and started to briskly walk the rest of the way back to her house. "Sheesh, and I thought I was a fruitcake. What is with our class? I swear, there's something in the water supply or some big citywide gas leak that none of us know about." She shook her head, rounding a corner and seeing her stoop come in sight. "Forget about Brainy though, Helga, you've got enough to think about for tonight. You've got to plan for the most stressful date of your life…and considering your track record, that's saying something."

Helga shook her head to herself as she headed inside to commence her long evening of deep thought about her latest (and potentially greatest) Arnold predicament.


When school started up again for the week, Arnold was already so used to things between himself and Helga becoming more relaxed around others that naturally he expected even more of an open friendship to keep developing. However, he was surprised to find things between himself and Helga backtracking just slightly…which apparently meant that she really was taking seriously the idea that they had to lay low a bit more now in order to make their appearance at the dance in a few weeks as unsuspicious as possible.

Oh, sure, Helga wasn't bullying him and yelling at him again in that way she had done all those years between them that now felt like ages ago even though only a month or so had gone by since she had stopped. And she wasn't quite ignoring him entirely again as had been her strategy right after the FTi incident and the April Fools dance. But she was withdrawing slightly again, and, no matter her reasons for it, Arnold couldn't help but feel a little frustrated.

He went to walk with her to their lockers before the first bell rang one morning, only to have her insist on having Phoebe accompany them. He smiled when Mr. Simmons partnered himself and Helga up in class and he got to sit beside her, only to see her let out a breath, smile a little, and then focus mostly on their work instead of taking advantage the small bit of personal time to be herself around him. He started to notice that her antagonistic remarks as catcher toward him during baseball and kickball games were generic instead of clever or non-existent. And during lunch and recess and any other time when they might be able to see each other and say a few words or even just say hi, she didn't address him unless he addressed her, and then she kept the conversation bland to say the least.

By Friday, Arnold wasn't sure what to do. He didn't feel like there was anything specific about her behavior that he could complain over. But that being said, something about their friendship was starting to leave him feeling more and more dissatisfied again. And while the last several weekends they had at least spent some time together here and there, Helga hadn't brought up wanting to make any plans for the upcoming weekend, and Arnold honestly hadn't gotten enough of a chance to be alone with her to suggest any plans himself. Besides, he had a bad feeling that any plans she did agree to would suddenly go from being semi-public—walks in the park, visits to the pier, ice cream together at Slausens—to perfectly private again (in one of their rooms, and only if they walked separately to the house they were planning to visit.)

And so now at recess Arnold found himself sitting on a bench on the playground next to Gerald with a forlorn look on his face to say the least.

Arnold not looking cheerful and optimistic was a hard thing to miss, and Gerald, being his best friend, of course picked up on the new change.

"You're upset with something about Helga, aren't you, man?"

"It's not really 'upset'," Arnold explained with a shrug. "It's just…our 'relationship' is really confusing sometimes. I mean, it's confusing enough on its own with her, you know…loving me, and me sort of more than liking her. But as soon as anything involving anyone else but us gets brought up, it gets even worse."

"Okay…" Gerald raised an eyebrow. "But she's not acting angry with you, right?"

"No…"

"And you didn't have a fight, right?"

"No…"

"And she said yes to going to the dance with you, right?"

"Yes…"

"And she hasn't gone back to calling you names and squirting you with water fountains and throwing spitballs at you all day, right?"

"No, but…" Arnold sighed. "Gerald it's more complicated than that." He crossed his arms over his chest. "She can't handle the idea of anyone knowing that she even just likes me or that I like her, and I'm trying really hard to be patient and understanding about it but it's…it's starting to bother me a little…or a lot." He glanced down awkwardly.

Gerald took in this perspective, tried to be supportive, but couldn't help but ask, "Okay, well…then what do you want her to do differently exactly? Confess to everyone that she loves you?"

"No, I'd never ask her to do that." Arnold shook his head. "I just want her to…not act like there's something wrong with liking me, that's all." He blushed a little, lowering his hands to his sides. "I mean, am I really such a terrible person to like or 'like' like? I know that Ruth just saw me as a kid and that Lila just decided after a week that she didn't feel that way about me but…I always just figured that had to do with their feelings, not with anything that was wrong with me." He tried not to frown too much, but the frown was still there and clear nonetheless. "It makes me feel like she's embarrassed of me. She said she wasn't, but still..."

Gerald blinked and smiled a little. "Aw, hey man, come on, there's nothing embarrassing or bad about liking or 'like' liking you. You're a great guy. And I mean especially in comparison to what the rest of the fourth grade has to offer." He grinned. "There's me of course—I'm the coolest guy around. But then you've got Curly's insanity, Eugene's jinx-ness, Sid had that phase of thinking Stinky was a vampire, Stinky only wants to talk about lemon pudding half the time…. In comparison to all of that, you're great!"

Arnold gave him a bit of a dry look.

Gerald grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Look, my point is, it's not you. Helga's just…well, like you said, she's complicated. Why don't you just talk to her about how you're feeling though?" He shrugged. "That's what you're always telling everyone else to do about their problems, after all."

Arnold smiled a little at his friend's encouragement but had to shrug, looking down hesitantly. "I don't know, Gerald. I try talking to her, but it's hard to get any real answers. And I don't want to push her too much. And like I said she's really not doing anything wrong. I just wish I could know why other people knowing that we get along bothers her this much, then maybe I'd know what to bring up to her to start trying to talk about it." He rolled his eyes. "I mean, her only problem seriously can't be that she's afraid of what everyone'll say. They're our friends, Gerald—it might take everyone some time to get used to Helga and I being close, but I'm sure it'll work out and then everyone'll be okay with it. It's like when I was humoring Lila's crush on me or when Harold started spending time with Patty—there was some teasing, but then everyone just let it go. Helga's life isn't going to end or something just because people know she's capable of caring about another person or even 'like' liking another person and that the person she chose is me."

Gerald sighed. "Well, it is going to be a particularly big transition for people, Arnold—you two are the last people anyone would expect to end up together, after all. But I know what you mean, I think people would get over it pretty quickly too. I mean, there's a new epic dilemma for our grade at least each week or so. Something's bound to come along and distract everyone away from you and Helga, especially with summer break almost here." Gerald considered for a moment, then smiled. "Want me to ask Phoebe to talk to Helga so you can figure out what her problem is?"

Arnold bit his lip but then glanced over to Gerald. "She would do that? I don't want to put her in the middle of anything or to make her keep anything from Helga."

Gerald just waved him off with a confident grin though. "Arnold, Phoebe knows Helga's having a lot of trouble with this whole 'Arnold knows I don't hate him and kind of likes me—now what?' thing. And she knows Helga and you might need some help. I think she'd be willing to talk to her and to give you a general idea if there's any problem."

Arnold considered for a moment longer and then nodded. "Okay. But only if she really doesn't mind doing it, Gerald."

Gerald smiled and nodded. "I'll talk to her about it after school."

Arnold smiled in return. "Thanks Gerald." The two did their secret handshake. Then Arnold sighed, raising an eyebrow and looking down again. "You know, Helga and I don't even have any plans for this weekend…and I'm not sure if we're going to."

Gerald raised an eyebrow, trying not to grin too much. "And…are you two supposed to have plans each weekend?"

Arnold rolled his eyes to the side, blushing a little and shrugging. "Well…no, but…it was sort of becoming a regular thing."

"Like dating?" Gerald couldn't control his grin anymore.

"It…" Arnold blushed more and looked down, "Well…I don't know, maybe." He glanced at his friend. "Is that really what we're doing? Dating?"

Gerald chuckled. "Let's see—regular private outings that probably sometimes involve kissing while you're trying to figure out what you're feelings are for each other? No, man, no, that's not dating—it sounds like a completely normal friendship."

Arnold shook his head, though he also had to try not to smile. "But still it's more complicated than that. I mean, we're just…I don't know. We just like being together…getting closer. I guess it's dating, but thinking about it that way feels kind of pressured." He looked to his friend again. "Gerald, for the first time with a girl I don't feel nervous every time I'm around her, I don't feel worried about always impressing her, I don't feel like I'm so caught up in my feelings that I don't even know her." He sighed. "We don't have to spend so much time together. But I feel like I've missed out on getting to know her all these years, and I want to make up for it. And like I said, I like when we're together—it feels good…right. And I want us to keep getting closer…" He frowned. "I just don't want to have to lie to people and feel like I'm her big, deep, dark secret while we're doing it."

Gerald nodded to his best friend. He put a hand on his shoulder and smiled. "It's okay, Arnold. This'll all work out. Don't stress out about it so much. You might not be making the other mistakes you usually make with girls with Helga, but you are making the mistake of letting yourself get so worked up about the relationship that it takes all the fun out of it. You're practically dating someone, Arnold—congratulations! Enjoy it a little instead of analyzing it to death—okay?"

Arnold smiled and chuckled a little. "Okay. I'll try, Gerald."

"Glad to hear it." Gerald removed his hand from his friend's shoulder. "I'm gonna go talk to Phoebe. You stay here and try not to look so mopey, man. Go play some kickball or something."

Arnold nodded. "Yeah, maybe you're right. Thanks, Gerald."

"No problem, man." Gerald stood up and winked and pointed at him. "You know I'm there for you, even with this insanity. See you in class." And with that Gerald headed across the playground to find Phoebe.

Arnold just rested on the bench for a moment, looking up at the clouds. And he wondered something. 'When are Helga and I supposed to let everyone know that we're going to the dance together? I don't really think we should 'announce' it—that'll get us way too much attention. But I think we should at least say something before that night so that people don't spend the whole dance acting surprised by us and asking us why we're there together.' He sighed. 'Well…I told everyone about Helga helping us with FTi…. I guess I can wait and let Helga mention the dance to everyone when she's ready.' Arnold knew the logic of this proposal sounded fair, and he really was planning to act on it for reasons of being fair—he had already potentially put Helga in an awkward enough position by revealing some of the details of FTi to others for her, so it seemed only right that she should be able to talk about their upcoming 'date' with the people they knew whenever she felt ready.

Yet at the same time Arnold couldn't deny a certain selfish motivation to his reasoning. He wanted her to admit their closeness to people—it was a desire of his that had been growing for a while now. And even if it was just her admitting they were going to a dance together, he would take what he could get.

Arnold let out a deep breath and used the rest of the recess period to play some kickball with the guys, trying to take Gerald's advice and relax and little and enjoy this new 'dating' thing he had come into in his life. And he just hoped that Phoebe would be able and willing to shed some light on the Helga situation for him.


Phoebe had indeed been open to Gerald's suggestion. She knew Arnold had the potential to be too polite and Helga had the potential to be too stubborn for the two of them to able to communicate in an effective manner—and since they were at a crucial stage in the development of their budding relationship, any lags in communication could lead to misunderstandings and the two of them losing out on the chance to really build their time together into something wonderful. So Phoebe had spoken with Helga a little, subtly, privately, without pressure, and though she wouldn't share everything about her friend's personal responses with Gerald (and thus Arnold) she was willing to share a few insights to help Arnold along (much as, every now and again, she shared a few potential insights about Arnold with Helga to help her along as well).

Now it was Sunday morning, and Gerald and Phoebe were walking through the park together, discussing their days and some common interests (as usual) but very specifically Arnold and Helga at the moment.

"Gerald, while it wouldn't be fair of me to detail all of Helga's feelings regarding Arnold to you, I can safely assure you that she is not embarrassed of loving Arnold. And that is something I could have told you without even talking to her about the subject," Phoebe remarked as they strolled along side by side (both secretly considering holding hands but neither one feeling brave enough to initiate the gesture).

"Well, that's good." Gerald smiled a little. "Babe, I really appreciate you helping Arnold like this. Helga's really important to him. And even though I still don't understand why he can't talk to her himself when he's always telling all of us to talk to each other about our problems," he rolled his eyes, "I figure this is the next best thing." He shrugged.

Phoebe smiled a little more and supplied an answer to Gerald's indirect inquiry. "He likes her too much."

"Huh?" Gerald raised an eyebrow.

Phoebe explained. "He likes her too much, Gerald, that's why Arnold can't just talk to Helga directly. The intensity of his feelings is distorting his perspective on how to handle the situation. Arnold is usually very good at viewing problems objectively and handling them maturely and logically even if doing so might be awkward or difficult. But he's too close to Helga now to be able to do that. Helga's always been too close to him to do that well, but it's very interesting that now Arnold is in the same emotional state. It gives me a lot of hope for the success of their relationship."

"That they can't talk to each other about their problems?" Gerald's eyebrow went up a little more.

Phoebe smiled more and shook her head. "That they mutually care so much about each other that formerly simple acts of intimacy have become difficult because of their newfound bond."

"Oh…" Gerald blinked, seemed a little confused and a little overwhelmed for a moment, but then just shook it off and smiled. "Well, the point is there's hope. That's good."

Phoebe smiled more, looking at him in interest and laughing softly.

Gerald smiled. "What?"

"Did you ever think you would be so happy about the idea of Arnold and Helga successfully romantically pursuing each other, Gerald?" Phoebe asked with just a small smirk.

Gerald blinked and then couldn't help laughing. "Honestly, considering Arnold's uncanny ability to do whatever he sets his mind to and Helga's stubbornness that lets her do whatever she wants pretty much all of the time, I kind of just decided to get out of the way and let things play out with them at first. But now…yeah, it might seem a little weird, but I do kind of support them." He shrugged. "Which is my point exactly about what everyone else might say about them—it might seem weird to people that Arnold and Helga dig each other, but they'll all get used to it eventually. Helga might not be most people's favorite person—no offense—and that might make people more likely to tease her, but everyone likes Arnold and for his sake at least I think they'd lay off pretty quickly."

Phoebe smiled but sighed. "But it's not quite that simple, Gerald. At least not for Helga." She looked forward. "Her feelings for Arnold are a very sensitive subject to her. Little things people might say that anyone else would think easy to disregard will actually wound her quite greatly. She is a very private person and likes to keep herself and her emotions safe. The suggestion that she cares for Arnold would make her feel very exposed and vulnerable, and I'm sure it's an overwhelming prospect for her. But I can tell you this much more, Gerald." She looked to him. "Helga does want other people to know. She wants this last hurdle behind her. It's just the actual act of completing the hurdle that she fears. Think of it like going to a doctor for a shot. You'd rather avoid the whole situation, yet you realize that you have to get through it so that you don't get ill. So you go and just want the experience to be over with, which implies you want to go through it so that it can successfully pass by…yet still there's the actual moment of the shot itself to get through. And the pain of that actual moment coupled with all of your anxiety right before it happens can be overwhelming."

Gerald nodded, understanding more (and secretly grateful that she had given him the shot metaphor to work with). "Okay, okay, I'm with you babe. So…Helga wants the 'shot' over with which is part of why she agreed to do the dance with Arnold. But she's anxious about the actual moment passing…which is why she's been avoiding him a bit again lately?"

Phoebe smiled and nodded. "Precisely, Gerald. In her own way right now, Helga's slowly passing into full acceptance of her new relationship with Arnold. She just needs a chance to process all of these changes going on in her life, but she does want them to happen otherwise she never would have agreed to go to the dance with Arnold—in fact she never would have confessed to him in the first place. But just because she wants the changes to happen does not mean they will be easy for her to bear."

Gerald nodded. "Okay, that's understandable. And I guess she has been through a lot lately in terms of the emotional stuff. And this really has all been happening pretty quickly come to think of it. And it's going to seem even quicker to other people when they start hearing about it."

Phoebe nodded and smiled more. "It helps that Arnold is there to go through these changes with her, yet at the same time it makes them that much more difficult." She frowned a little. "Gerald, Helga isn't just afraid of what people will say for her own sake—she also doesn't want Arnold to get teased or hurt."

Gerald smiled. "But Phoebe, like I said, the teasing can't be that bad, and especially not against Arnold."

"Gerald," Phoebe sighed, "It's admirable to give our classmates a good deal of credit—they are all very good people despite any mistakes or flaws. And they all are getting much more mature considering our ages now. But at the same time…you can't give them too much credit. I don't believe the reaction will be as bad as Helga believes it will be of course, but at the same time I can't say for sure how extreme or casual it will be and especially at first. Helga and Arnold are very prominent figures in our class, after all. And…children can be cruel at times." She glanced forward. "My point is, however good they may be for you in the long run, shots do hurt, Gerald. Helga and Arnold don't have an easy revelation ahead of them."

Gerald nodded and let out a sigh. "Okay. So basically, it seems like it should be a simple situation, but we're all getting older and part of that is that situations like this get more complicated for everyone involved."

"Precisely." Phoebe smiled, glancing at him again.

"So…" Gerald glanced at her, an eyebrow raised. "What should Arnold do?"

Phoebe sighed. "He needs to be very patient, I'm afraid, and just give Helga a little bit of time. Pushing her will only make this more difficult. I understand that he's frustrated, but…Helga will do the right thing in her own time. She always does. And I think if she's allowed to do that in this circumstance, it'll be the best thing for her. It was the best thing for her that she confessed on her own, after all."

Gerald couldn't help but give Phoebe a bit of a dry look. "Yeah, but that took seven years."

"But the dance is only a few of weeks away," Phoebe countered. "And Helga hasn't shown any sign of preparing to back out of that engagement, which means she'll have to deal with the situation on her own in some way before then. And she will, Gerald. I can tell that she's almost ready to. Trust me."

Gerald considered her words and finally smiled and nodded. "I do babe. Honestly, I don't know what I'd do without you helping me through all this Arnold and Helga stuff. Especially the Helga stuff." He raised an eyebrow to himself. "Girls are a lot more complicated than I realized."

Phoebe giggled. "You're doing fine, Gerald. I promise. I only know so much regarding relationships because I've been Helga's best friend for so long. And, as I said, Helga's just a very complicated person in general. But either way I'm sure we'll be through the worst of Arnold and Helga's problems by the time summer starts. Then we can all just enjoy our time together."

"Yeah," Gerald smiled more and tried not to blush too much. "Maybe we could even double date?"

Phoebe smiled more and blushed just slightly as well. "It's a distinct possibility. I for one would enjoy that very much, Gerald."

Gerald's smile grew and then he finally went for what they had both silently been thinking about—he reached over and took Phoebe's hand in his as they walked. "Great. I'm looking forward to it already." He swallowed, trying to seem 'cool' as he went on. "And we can still have some private, um…times together too, right?"

"I'd like that most of all, Gerald," Phoebe replied softly, giving his hand a little squeeze.

All of Gerald's suaveness melted into a dreamy grin. He sighed, swinging their hands just a bit. "I do not think I have ever looked forward to a summer break more."

The remark made Phoebe giggle softly. "I'm looking forward to it as well, Gerald."

Gerald chuckled softly in return.

The subject of Arnold and Helga behind them now, the happy couple continued along on their afternoon stroll focusing on more personal matters, confident and content in the idea that their friends (and their friends' relationship) would turn out well in the end.


As per Gerald's advice, Arnold had decided to give Helga the time she needed to sort things out and to come to terms with how their relationship was changing on her own (and he was grateful now to have a much more considerate and a much less selfish reason for wanting her to be the one to take the next step in things…though some of his more selfish motivations still lingered in him a little at the back of his mind). As such, besides not bothering her at all during the rest of the weekend because of his uncertainty about their situation, now that they were back at school again for another week, Arnold also didn't make a point of getting himself too close to Helga or trying to engage her in too much conversation or acting very obviously happy around her and expecting her to do the same. He waved, he smiled, he asked her how her day was going if no one was around—he was kind and polite. But he didn't push. And he really did just hope it was for the best.

And in all honesty, it was. Trying to wrangle both Arnold's friendly advances and her current thoughts on their relationship all at once had only been stressing Helga out all the more at school. But now he wasn't putting her in awkward positions or overwhelming her or speeding things up in how public their relationship was as the dance neared, and she appreciated his restraint. She knew he still liked her, he just wasn't throwing a parade about it (a breather which she needed). And they could always privately talk about things between them more soon.

But for now, Helga was just trying not to let herself be overwhelmed by daydream after daydream of their dance together becoming a disaster. She also had to wonder how to spring this new development on people. 'I'll never make it through the gym door that night if I know it's going to be a surprise to everyone when Arnold and I walk in together.' She would feel everyone's eyes on them and imagine them all whispering and spend the whole night feeling completely self-conscious. It just wouldn't work. But of course, she wasn't too keen on making the announcement too soon before the dance—she wanted as small a gap for teasing and awful reactions at school as possible. Yet at the same time she wanted the moment of 'confession' over with already. Regardless of any preferences though, she knew the most important thing would be to make sure to wait for just the right moment to come clean, and then to do it quickly and neatly, come what may afterwards.

'Hmm…maybe I really should have just taken up Brainy on his offer to take me to the dance instead—it would really save me a lot of trouble,' Helga thought to herself with a half grin as she sat at a lunch table Friday afternoon, picking at her food with her fork, and listening to the other girls in the class (who happened to be her tablemates at the moment) going on about summer plans and vacation plans and now (thanks to Rhonda) dance plans. (Sitting with the other girls had mostly been Phoebe's idea—she had figured that encouraging Helga to spend time around others instead of just lost in her own imaginative and dramatic thoughts would be helpful for her best friend).

Rhonda smiled proudly at Nadine. "…After all, it's the final social event of the school year, Nadine—of course I had Mummy fly in a new dress for me straight from Milan. This will be the last impression I make at this school as a fourth grader, and I want it to be memorable."

Nadine sighed but did her best to keep up a smile as her friend continued announcing her big plans for the evening. "That's great, Rhonda, really. I don't think I'm going to get a new dress though—I'll just wear the same one I wore to the April Fool's dance. It's nice enough."

Rhonda smiled and shook her head. "Oh Nadine, if you really insist, but I hope you'll at least consider getting some new shoes or something—it really is a special occasion." Rhonda then crossed her arms over her chest and shrugged. "Besides, I couldn't wear my April Fool's dance dress again even if I wanted to. It was silk, and when it hit the pool water, the whole ensemble was utterly ruined. I still can't believe some of the boys pulled such a stupid prank—I'd love to know who." She rolled her eyes at the lack of maturity of the whole thing.

"Oh Rhonda, I'm ever so sure it doesn't matter who was responsible," Lila chimed in with a smile. "I'm oh too sure the point is that the night turned out to be a lot of fun for everyone, especially the dancing part. Right, Helga?"

Helga blinked and froze for a moment. Her eyes went to Lila who smiled at her 'innocently'. Lila had a habit of doing this whenever they hung out—making some innocent comment very, very, very lightly implying a reference to Helga's love for Arnold in front of others out of the blue. Helga was sure Lila just meant it in a friendly way—a little nod to the secret they shared about Helga's feelings. But frankly Helga hated the whole cutesy thing. She took a deep breath, keeping herself under control, and replied back levelly. "It was all right…I guess."

"Well, at least you got Arnold to go with you—as far as date's go, he's certainly not the worst choice." Rhonda shrugged, picking at her food a little. "Of course, he took you because of that ridiculous prank war you two were having, but still a date's a date." She smiled, musing to herself. "I was actually thinking of making a splash and taking a date myself, though I'm not sure who yet."

"What about Curly?" Sheena shrugged and smiled. "He'd go with you in a heartbeat."

Rhonda's eyes went wide and instantly found Curly across the cafeteria. He was gazing over at her of course, and when she made eye contact he beamed and blew her a kiss.

Rhonda shuddered. "Pass. Let's see…" she started counting off boys on her fingers, "Provided I stick with the fourth grade, Curly is definitely out…Eugene's no good—too klutzy, and my dress can't get spilled on or scuffed or destroyed in any way that night…Harold is just not happening anymore." She blushed a little, cleared her throat, and went on. "Sid is out for…various reasons…" Rhonda glanced at Nadine out of the corner of her eye, who blushed and glanced away, then she looked forward again and went on. "Stinky's an option, but he's so un-fashion forward…Park's too quiet…Peapod kid is too smug and stuck up…" All of the girls rolled their eyes and tried not to smile too much. "Gerald is…probably already taking someone else, I assume." She smiled at Phoebe in an all-knowing way, who blushed and glanced down shyly at her food. "Let's see…then there's Arnold. He's a little passive, but he is pretty nice. And he can dance surprisingly well—I still couldn't believe how he was at the April Fool's dance." She laughed.

"I know." Nadine grinned. "It was really cool watching him. And you too, Helga." Her gaze went to Helga. "Did you two plan that tango or something?"

Helga, eyes wide, shrugged and swallowed, glancing away and tugging at her collar. "Oh, uh…well…in a way you could say that. We, uh…I think we both knew it was bound to happen at some point. It was a little complicated, heh."

"Hmm," Rhonda considered, "Well, his dancing a good point. And he's really not the worst guy in class overall."

Nadine and Sheena nodded, Phoebe looked a little uneasy, Lila's eyes went wide in a touch of panic, and Helga just took a very long, deep sip of her chocolate milk.

"I'll have to keep thinking over all the boys to figure out who would be most suitable for me to take," Rhonda went on. "But I guess there's nothing stopping me from asking Arnold. Unless it bothers you at all, Lila?" She glanced at the red head.

Lila looked very uneasy, and she just glanced from Helga to Rhonda. "Oh, I…well…I'm ever so certain it doesn't bother me." She tried to smile.

"Good." Rhonda smiled and then went back to her food.

"Suppose he's already going with someone though."

Every single person at the table stopped eating, blinked, and looked at Helga with surprise (for various reasons).

Helga just sat there casually picking at her food and not looking up, a very dull look on her face.

Rhonda raised an eyebrow. "Well…it is getting close to the dance, so I guess he might have already found someone to go with. But we're all here and none of us are going with him, and I think the fifth grade boys would pound him if he asked a fifth grade girl, and no sixth grade girl would be caught dead at the end of the year dance with a fourth grader, and the third graders are too young for the school dances. So unless he's going with someone from another school…."

Helga mumbled something.

Rhonda blinked, her eyebrow arching even higher. "I'm sorry, Helga, what was that?"

"Helga?" Phoebe looked to her best friend in concern.

Helga just kept looking downward though. And she mumbled something (slightly louder this time) again.

Lila brought a hand to her mouth, smiling a little in pleasant surprise. She had a very good feeling she knew what Helga was trying to say.

Sheena and Nadine raised eyebrows now too. "Helga, what's up?" Nadine asked, and Sheena nodded.

Helga was silent. Then she took in a very deep breath and brought her dull gaze up to meet everyone at the table, Rhonda especially. "I'm going to the dance with him. He asked me, I accepted. Case closed." And then Helga went back to eating her food like nothing had happened, though she felt herself starting to shake a little inside and had to fight desperately to hold back a blush as best as possible.

Rhonda's fork dropped down onto her plate. "You and Arnold are going together?" She blinked. "Helga, I know you like pranking him, but if this has been going on for the full month ever since April Fools day, I really think you need to give him a break already. We get it, you're the superior prankster, but enough is really enough. No more prank wars until next year, please."

"It's not…" Helga almost raised her voice, but caught herself before she could do so. "It's not part of that stupid prank war. Arnold and I just…seem to be getting along better now that we're both mature ten-year-old people. And we thought it might be nice to go to a dance where we weren't spending the night trying to give each other as hard a time as possible. We can do that you know, i-it's a free country." Helga kept playing with the food but couldn't bring herself to take and swallow any bites anymore.

"Well, I for one am ever so certain that your dance plans sound just delightful, Helga, and I hope you and Arnold enjoy yourselves very much," Lila announced, beaming a little.

"Yes, I think it'll be nice to see you two go somewhere together to get closer as friends," Sheena announced with a smile. "Eugene told me how you helped Arnold and Gerald save the neighborhood so that your Dad wouldn't lose his business and you wouldn't have to move along with the rest of us—I'm not surprised you and Arnold might feel more comfortable around each other after something like that."

Nadine chuckled. "Just make sure if you go out to dinner afterwards that you bring your own cockroaches though."

Phoebe cleared her throat. "Erm…Nadine? Perhaps we could avoid discussing that particular memory at the moment." She eyed Helga—she knew her friend could go either way right now in terms of keeping her cool or blowing her top, and she figured the less deeply the table went into this topic and the fewer random Arnold topics that go brought up after it, the better.

And meanwhile Rhonda just sat there looking so intrigued. And then the end of her smile couldn't help but rise up a little as her eyes twinkled with a sudden notion. "Helga…did something happen between you and Arnold after the April Fool's dance?"

Helga had been in the middle of attempting another bite of food. At this question she nearly choked on it, blushed, and her eyes went wide. "What?" She blinked several times. "No, it just…no!" She looked away, feeling temper and panic flare in her all at once.

Rhonda's jaw fell and she smiled. "Oh my gosh…Oh my gosh, something happened. Oh my—is this dance going to be like a first date for you and Arnold?"

"Aw…" Sheena couldn't help cooing with a smile.

"No!" Helga blushed more and shook her head and scowled (now that the blushing had started, she couldn't stop it). "I-I wouldn't…and he's just a…I-I don't even…I…No, it's not, but even if it was, what would it matter! I'm allowed to date any of these idiots we call friends just as much as you are RhondaLloyd."

"Wow…" Nadine looked down, an eyebrow raised, "I really didn't see anything like this coming, Helga. But…I guess you have been yelling at him a lot less lately. And if it makes the both of you happy…"

"We're just going as friends." Helga tried one more time, glancing away, the scowl gone and her eyes a little wide now. She still blushed.

Rhonda chuckled. "Well, Helga, I didn't think you'd have it in you. I'd still love to know what happened at the end of that April Fool's dance, but if you're insisting on kissing and not telling..." She eyed Helga very closely (Helga didn't move and prayed Rhonda wouldn't look in to the turn of phrase more). "I guess I'll have to live in suspense for now. But really, not a bad job at all snagging Arnold for the dance—he really is one of the top picks from the class." Her eyes lit up. "Ooo you should let me help you pick out a new dress."

"Oh I'm ever so certain I'd love to help with that too, Helga," Lila supplied, beaming.

Nadine rolled her eyes. "Rhonda, come on, don't—the next thing you'll want to do is give her a full makeover like you always want to do to me."

Rhonda beamed. "Oh my gosh, we should totally do that! We'll all come over to my house and give each other makeovers but especially Helga!"

"That could be fun if Helga wants to," Sheena supplied, looking to Helga. "Either way though I'm sure you and Arnold will both look cute together, Helga."

"Erm…" Phoebe cleared her throat, trying to fix things again, "Girls, I-I don't…"

"We are not TOGETHER!" Helga announced (probably a little too loudly…and also after slamming her hands onto the table). "W-We just…he and I are…it's complicated and…oh…oh who asked you! And Rhonda, stop giving me that smug look! I'm going to the dance with him, and we're not going to read too much into this, we're not going to start giggling and gossiping about how cute we look together, we're not going to start breaking into choruses of Arnold and Helga sitting in a tree, and we're not having a 'new dress buying' slash 'makeover giving' girly bonding event about it! I'm just going out that night, I'm wearing a dress I already have, and I'm not changing anything about myself, and this conversation is over, so everybody just shut up about it!" And with that she stood, shoved her chair into the table and started briskly walking toward the cafeteria exit.

She made sure to walk right past Arnold's table on her way (he was sitting with all of the guys in class), where she paused and out of the blue grabbed him by his collar and lifted him right up out of his seat.

Arnold's eyes went wide, to say the least. "Helga?! What…"

Helga took a deep breath, scowling and still blushing. She spoke in a low tone. "I just informed the female half of our class that you and I are going to a certain dance together." She looked to the guys table, glaring a little, her tone growing firmer. "And I'm letting you all know too provided Football Head hasn't spilled the beans already—we're going to another dance together. No prank war, no lost bet, no one has amnesia or any other sort of mentally incapacitating injury. Football Head asked me. I accepted Apparently, we're just that good of friends now." She looked back to Arnold, her tone lowering a little. "And speaking of that, you're still a bit new to our new little relationship so I'll explain how this moment is going to work—I am not very happy right now but I'm too stubborn to ask someone (like you, for instance) for help with the problem, so I'm storming out to my office to deal with my unhappiness. So this is the part of our 'friendship' where you come after me to comfort me and make sure everything's okay—and if you don't, there's a distinct chance I'll verbally bite your head off the next time we speak. Get it?"

Arnold took all of that in and nodded. "Uh…Uh yeah, yeah, I…yeah. Got it."

"Good. Now follow through." And with that Helga released him and swiftly stormed out of the cafeteria to the her office (aka the janitor's closet).

Arnold just watched her go in a touch of shock.

There was silence at the table.

Then Sid snickered. "You…You and Helga are going to the dance? Seriously? And…not as part of a prank war or a bet…"

"Or one of you bein' completely loco?" Stinky added, looking confused but grinning a little.

Gerald sighed and rolled his eyes. "Guys, seriously, give it a rest. Arnold's chasing after a new girl every other week—it's old news."

"Is that why you did that really passionate tango at the April Fools Dance? Because you're dating?" Harold asked, an eyebrow raised. "Because Patty and I were wondering…"

"Oo, Arnold, want to double date to the dance with me and Rhonda?" Curly asked eagerly.

"Aww, this is so sweet!" Eugene chimed in.

Gerald rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, it's just adorable." Arnold looked at him and Gerald shrugged. "What, I'm trying to get them to STOP making a big deal out of it. I'm on your side."

Arnold rolled his eyes then cleared his throat and addressed the guys. "Helga and I are friends—I told you how helpful she was with the FTi thing. We just…started talking a lot more afterwards and…" he sighed, blushing a little, "It's complicated. But yes, we're…going out for a night. And I'd appreciate if you wouldn't say anything to her about it just like you didn't say anything to her about FTi. And now I think I really need to go talk to her." And with that he left the table.

All the guys looked at each other in a touch of confusion, and then they grinned, preparing for the snickering to start.

Gerald just sighed deeply, rubbing one of his temples before they could even begin. "Guys, seriously, I've been in the loop about this for a month and it's been stressful and weird enough to deal with. Can we not make this a thing?"

"If they kiss at that dance, I'm making no promises" Sid just couldn't help himself.

At that remark, the whole table burst into laughter.

Gerald just shook his head. "Hey at least Arnold taking a date means he gets the company of a girl to talk to instead of listening to all of you. If anything I'd say he's got the right idea." He raised an eyebrow at them. "Seriously, fellas, we're growing up—dances can't just be for eating free food and goofing on people forever. Dating is going to happen. Even dating between Arnold and Helga, if that's what they want."

"Does that mean you're going to ask Phoebe, Gerald?" Harold suddenly piped up.

Gerald blinked and blushed but then he grinned. "Maybe—right after you ask Patty again like you did to the April Fools dance."

Harold blinked and blushed and looked down, playing with his food as the other guys had a chuckle at his expense. "Well, th-that was different. We were just friends."

"And so are Arnold and Helga." Gerald smiled. "So lighten up."

The guys finally went back to eating, though a few more little snickers and laughs and quick jokes couldn't help but be shared (though at least they were directed at multiple members of the table instead of just at Arnold.)

Gerald smiled more to himself. 'See, this'll all be fine…for the most part.' He sighed. 'I just hope Arnold can get Helga to stop freaking out and that Helga can help him deal with whatever's going to happen now.' He blushed a little and added to himself, 'And I should probably think about asking Phoebe to the dance too.' He smiled to himself at the idea as he went on with his lunch.


Out in the hallway, Arnold glanced around. Not seeing Helga, he remembered what she had said about her office and headed in that direction. He went up to the janitor's closet door and knocked. "Helga…um…are you in there?"

A deep sigh from within met his ears. "No, I told you I was coming here, and then I went someplace else entirely different—silly me, I just can't help playing hard to get."

Arnold rolled his eyes but he did have to smile a little—she didn't sound too upset, and if she could crack a joke it was a good sign. And not to mention she'd clearly just found the courage to tell everybody all on her own about their plans to spend time together somewhere as formal as another dance. He smiled a little more. "Helga, I promise this isn't going to be as bad as you think. I'm sure everyone's got their own plans for the dance—they'll probably forget all about us going together before it even happens. And…they won't suspect it's a date as long as we save acting like it's a date for when we're alone." He blushed a little and shrugged.

A scoff met his ears. "Oh yeah, you really think so? Well, newsflash—Rhonda already decided as soon as I told her about us going together that it's clearly going to be a 'date' and that we're going out now because 'something happened' between us after the last dance. And as soon as she said that, every girl at the table started giggling and talking about makeovers and deciding how cute we would be together. As soon as word of all that hits the guys, have fun Football Head."

Arnold blushed more but still smiled. "Helga, that's not so bad…and it's getting close to the truth. You love me and I do have sort of a crush on you. And we're getting used to the idea of being together like that, and if other people can get used to it too then maybe this is a good thing. It'll be okay, Helga." Arnold sighed, figuring he'd given her enough time to herself to ask, "Can I come in?"

There was silence and then Helga sighed. "Fine."

Arnold opened the door.

Helga sat on an overturned mop bucket underneath the closet light, arms crossed over her chest, blushing quite a bit and looking away with a stubborn pout and scowl.

Arnold knew it was strange, but he sort of found her expression cute. He put aside the little attraction though and sat down on a cardboard box across from her after closing the door. He was quiet for a moment, then asked, "So…why did you decide to tell everyone our plans now?"

Helga almost laughed and shook her head. "Well, it wasn't because I wanted to end up dramatically storming out of the cafeteria in front of everyone we know and into a freaking janitor's closet just for kicks."

"Helga…" Arnold gave her a bit of a dry look, smiling more.

Helga sighed, rolling her eyes again. "Rhonda brought up the dance, suddenly everyone's talking about the dance. Then Rhonda brings up getting a date for the dance and suddenly starts doing a thorough critique all the guys in the class. Then everyone comes to the conclusion that of all the fourth grade boys, you're the most tolerable and eligible if someone wanted a date. And at that point I just figured that I'd never have a better opening for the subject of our new little relationship, and maybe I just wanted to get it over with, so I just informed them that you were already taken for that night, and things spiraled out from there. Okay?" Helga looked to him, and then she raised part of her brow at the sight of him.

Arnold sat across from her blushing, a strange smile quirking on his mouth. He raised an eyebrow as well. "All the girls think I'm…one of the most tolerable and eligible boys in the whole class? Really?"

Helga scowled and gave him a jab in the shoulder.

"Ow!" Arnold winced. He looked back at her with a frown but the glare he received in return made him blink and realize his mistake. He cleared his throat and tried to backpedal a little with a sheepish grin. "N-Not that it matters, heh. I mean, you're the only one I'd want to…you know, date. It's just nice to hear."

Helga just sighed deeply but had to smile too, shaking her head. "I've been telling you you're fantastic for weeks and you still need outside approval to realize it's true. You really are the most modest person on the planet, Football Head." Her smile picked up a little on one side. "Meanwhile, I'm guessing I still don't even process as a girl whenever the guys bring up girls?"

"You process as a girl to me," Arnold looked down, blushing a lot, trying not to smile too much.

Helga blinked and then blushed softly and looked down with a smile of her own. "Well…that's all that really matters then honestly, at least to me." Her eyes went wide as Arnold suddenly leaned close and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

He pulled back with a smile, his gaze a little half lidded. "This really is going to work out, Helga. And I think it'll be kind of nice having everyone know we're close even if they don't know how close just yet. We can do more things together and we won't have to worry about getting seen by people. The worst of anything is almost over, we just have to wait for everyone to get used to the way things are now, that's all."

Helga scoffed, giving him a bit of a dry look. "Oh wait, you're under the impression I'm going to actually leave this closet at some point and go out there where they'll all stare and whisper about us every time they see us? Yeah, uh, no, not happening—just bring me some candy bars from the vending machine and a few sodas, and I'll be fine making a home for myself in here." She crossed her arms over her chest.

Arnold chuckled. "Helga, we're going out there, and it'll be fine. Just…try not to think about it so much. Focus on other things. Think about…summer or ice cream or saving the neighborhood…or if all else fails you can just think of me." He blushed, rolling his eyes to the side. "I know if anything's a distraction for you, it's me, after all."

Helga couldn't help chuckling a little too. "You really are developing such a secret ego from this whole love thing."

Arnold swallowed and shrugged. "Well, I think you're a pretty amazing person, Helga…so, having you have those feelings for me can't help but make me a little less modest."

Helga laughed more, her smile growing and her eyes hazing a little. She sighed, lowering her arms. "You have no idea how much I want to kiss you right now."

Arnold blushed distinctly, but… "Actually….I think I want to kiss you too." And then he came forward and lightly pressed his lips to hers.

Helga's eyes went wide but she quickly melted, sighing deeply through her nose and letting him kiss her and kissing him back.

They pulled apart after a moment, breaths shallow, eyes opening and looking hazed, smiles on their faces.

Helga giggled. "In a closet? I didn't realize you had it in you, Football Head. If we can keep up this dysfunctional relationship of ours into high school, I have this feeling you'll be loads of unexpected fun as a teenager."

"Helga…" Arnold looked down very shyly, blushing quite a bit more.

Helga giggled again. "Just teasing, Football Head." She sighed, glancing at the door. "So I can't really stay in here forever, huh?"

"No, I'm afraid not, Helga." Arnold glanced at the door too. "But I'll be going out there with you, if that'll help."

"We'll see, Arnold," Helga stood up, "We'll see." She swallowed, feeling herself shaking a little inside again. "The bell's going to ring any second—let's just get to class and get the rest of the day over with. And hopefully I'll hold up."

Arnold stood as well. "You'll be fine, Helga. Ladies first." He opened the door for her and gestured out.

Helga smiled more. "Thanks, Arnold." She went out into the hall, Arnold following behind her and shutting the door.

The hall was empty. Then the bell rang and the cafeteria doors started to open. Helga's eyes went wide, and she grabbed Arnold's sleeve. "Uh, let's just…let's just go quickly. Come on." And with that she proceeded to have them all but run to Mr. Simmons' classroom.

Arnold looked at her in a touch of surprise as they went along. 'Wow, she really is nervous, isn't she?' He frowned at first but then smiled again. 'It'll be okay. Everyone'll get used to us being friends and she'll get used to us being close in public. And…maybe all of this openness will give me a better idea of if I could love her or not. I really need to think about that more. I promised myself I'd give her a straight answer about that after the dance.' Arnold looked down as they entered the classroom and took their seat—he was blushing to himself and wondering if…if hoping that he would be able to see himself falling in love with her was any indication of whether or not he actually would be able to do that in the near future.

For now though Arnold just shook his head and did his best to focus on the rest of class and to mentally prepare himself for the rest of the week to come (though really, how awkward or stressful could the week actually turn out to be?)


And queue the montage of awkwardness and stress….

Tuesday:

Arnold entered the classroom and took a seat at his desk. English class was going to start the day. He glanced over at Helga's desk just to check on her. She was just sitting there, looking down a little, clearly avoiding eye contact with everyone though her gaze couldn't help roving nervously every time she caught sight of someone having a whispered conversation. Phoebe tried to talk to her, but it didn't seem to be helping.

Class started soon, and Mr. Simmons presented their creative writing lesson as clearly and caringly as he usually did. And then he announced he would be reading a few choice examples from the poems they had turned in a week ago.

Arnold heard Helga give the lightest gasp. He glanced over his shoulder to see her sitting there, wide eyed, blushing completely. Arnold knew she wrote poems about him sometimes and submitted them for class, she knew she signed her poems anonymous, and he knew he'd been in class while Mr. Simmons had read some of them over the last few weeks—it was an awkward experience but so flattering and sweet that Arnold liked it more than he disliked it (though he did always blush a lot and just hope nobody noticed). Helga, meanwhile, never showed any sign of the poem affecting her in any way…but now she was.

Meanwhile, Helga looked on as Mr. Simmons started to read, and then her whole nervous system basically shut down. He was reading about love, about secret feelings, about liking someone unexpected. 'Oh crimeny, why don't I just go up there and read it myself just to confirm once and for all that it's clearly about me and Arnold! Ugh…' A few lines away from the end she finally just threw her head down to the desk.

Arnold just sighed, looking forward and hoping she'd learn to be more okay with things like this in the future. And no one could really know for sure the poem was by her or about him even despite her reaction (right?). Arnold still had hope that things would turn out okay.

Wednesday:

Baseball practice was this afternoon, and after a particularly skittish day at school Helga was behind home plate as catcher trying to yell at everyone to motivate them as usual, though there was some conviction lacking from her tone. Every time one of the guys came up to bat and snickered a little or she caught sight of one of the girls in the outfield giggling and whispering (probably about herself and Arnold, she guessed), Helga felt herself shaking inside again. It was like she was waiting for some awful blow that would never quite come but still could come any second.

When Arnold got up to bat she was a nervous wreck. She could barely cry out her calls for the pitches. And then of course, unfortunately, Harold threw a wild one that nearly hit Arnold in the head, and on instinct Helga dove at her beloved, pushing him to the ground with herself lying atop him. When she opened her eyes and looked down, she realized what she had done and flushed bright pink. Then, of course, the kids started to chuckle and a few minor jokes were cracked, at which point she just stood up, calmly tossed off her catcher's helmet and left without a word.

Arnold seriously considered going after her, but he worried his going off with her might make things worse. All he could think to do was leave the game, go for a walk and think for a little bit, and then stop by her house to make sure she was okay. When she answered the door, she barely made eye contact with him despite assuring him she was well, and then she left Arnold to return to her room—a quiet place without people where she didn't have to worry about being judged or laughed at or mocked.

Thursday:

Helga was starting to get the internal shaking under control, but she still found herself so hypersensitive to the attentions of her classmates. She walked down the hall side by side with Arnold, and with any little glance or secret whisper from and of the other students she almost jumped. They had to be talking about her, about them, and there were still little jokes getting made—she couldn't even imagine how awful this dance would be for them. 'We might as well spend the entire night walking around with a big heart-shaped spotlight on us.'

Helga felt sick at the thought. Maybe someone could argue that she was overreacting since the entire fourth grade wasn't 'tearing them to shreds' or anything about being friends and going to a dance together…but in a way Helga would have preferred that scenario since it was the one she had always braced for. But this—feeling them all looking at her, imagining them all whispering things to one another, imagining what they must really be thinking about her and Arnold even if no one had found the time or courage to say those true thoughts much yet, feeling the center of their attention in the worst way possible…It was torture! And Helga really did have strong feelings and an active and creative imagination, so no wonder she was so overwhelmed and on edge and lost in her doubts.

"Helga…Helga?"

Helga blinked and nearly jumped in the air at the sound of Arnold saying her name. She stopped walking and glanced at him. "What?"

Arnold looked confused for a moment but then smiled and gestured forward into the classroom. They were standing by the door now, and Arnold had it held open for her. "Uh…ladies first?"

Helga sighed, blushed, and couldn't decide whether to be annoyed or embarrassed or okay with this. "Fine. Thanks, Arnold." She briskly walked past him, still with so much on her mind. Arnold looked down and followed after her, still wishing her could make her experience better. He managed to do so here and there, but every time he succeeded he felt like another internal crisis just developed inside of her waiting to take the former one's place.

Arnold took his seat and just did his best to focus on class for the rest of the day, though his thoughts naturally kept drifting back to Helga just the same.

Friday:

Helga really just wanted to sit alone with Phoebe at lunchtime, but all the girls came over to sit with them too before she could stop them. Lila started it—she wanted to gush to Helga all about how sweet she thought it was that things were finally working out for her and Arnold in an 'ever so close' friends way. Then Sheena had come over to talk to Lila but also to ask Helga her opinion on choreographing some dancing for the big night since she was thinking about asking Eugene to help her put together something like that tango Helga and Arnold had done last month. Rhonda had quickly followed, seeing so many ladies together and wanting to go on and on all about her new dress and her continuing desire still for some sort of makeover party, and of course she felt the need to comment to Helga all about how 'avant garde' of a couple she and Arnold were making and wanted to know all the juicy details of their new 'friendly' infatuation. Nadine, steering the conversation a little away from Rhonda's tendency to pry (though not enough to dismiss the topic of the dance entirely), came over and started chatting with the other girls but also asking Helga if she and Arnold were excited about the dance itself in general…and then she had to ask Helga if she felt well. At this point, Sheena looked over to Helga with a touch of concern and agreed that she really had been looking a little pale lately and especially now. She offered some kale and carrot juice, which Helga declined.

Phoebe, noticing her friend's distress even more now that someone else had finally brought it up, suggested Helga go to the nurses office, though Helga turned down this course of action too.

Instead, Helga picked up her tray and left the table. She threw away most of her lunch and then spent the remainder of the period in her office, writing to try taking her mind off of things.

Arnold had observed everything in the cafeteria meanwhile, frowning as Helga finally left the room and stormed away from the other girls. He was glad they didn't have to pretend not to like each other anymore, and he was glad that nothing as insurmountable as what Helga had always feared about going public had happened to them. But still she was taking things very hard. He frowned more…but finally decided to leave her alone for now.

Arnold went back to eating, ignoring one or two teasing comments from the guys about him watching her leave and hoping that Helga might feel better if they spent some time together tomorrow, just the two of them. And maybe if they had a chance to talk he'd find out that her unease now was just a temporary setback and she really was getting used to the idea of them having an open and honest relationship, friendly or more than friendly. Maybe with his optimism he could even encourage her in that direction. Arnold did his best to smile at the idea as lunch and the rest of the school day continued.


Saturday morning finally came.

Arnold and Helga were sitting on Arnold's couch in Arnold's room in the boarding house in silence except for the sound of some light jazz music playing in the background. Helga had just been resting with her eyes closed and her head tilted back. And Arnold had been sitting and waiting patiently for her to open her eyes or at least speak.

Finally though he figured maybe he needed to be the one to say something.

"So…" he put on the most optimistic smile he possibly could, "The week hasn't gone too bad at all…really. I-I mean, no one seems to have a huge problem with us getting to know each other better, and you seem…to be handling things all right. You're trying at least, and that's what matters."

Helga sighed so very deeply. "This week was awful. People don't have an outright problem with us, they just have a subtle, catty, behind our backs problem with us being 'good friends' let alone in love. And I am about two seconds away from having a nervous breakdown thinking about it. And considering my capacity to handle emotional turmoil, that's saying something. I've been a complete spazz all week—more of a basketcase than ever before. And as long as I feel like people are looking at me and talking about me and wondering about us 'like' liking each other and making stupid cutesy comments, it's not going to get better no matter how hard I 'try'."

Arnold did his best to keep his optimistic smile going. "No, Helga, come on…no one has that much of a problem with us, and you've been doing really, really well. It's not a big deal that there were some bumps this week—I'm actually flattered that you're putting so much effort into handling this for both of our sakes. I mean, before, you just avoided everything and pretended nothing was different between us at all."

Helga sighed. "Yeah, and that was easier! Any feelings we might have for each other were nobody's business, I was getting a little overwhelmed but managing a double life, and you were completely fine with it. Why did I rock the boat?" She threw her arms up in the air.

Arnold was just quiet and looking down, blushing slightly.

Helga caught on to his silence. She glanced at him…then observed him closely. Then she blinked—she knew that look of his. It was the look Arnold got when he really needed to lie, but he was a horrible liar so he just sat there innocently looking down and hoping the situation would go away.

Helga's eyes went wide—something clicked.

"You…have been completely fine with the way things were going up until now, like you kept promising me…right?" She scowled a little, raising part of her brow.

Arnold cleared his throat, shrugging and glancing away. "Well, I…it was…okay. But…I mean…it's a little complicated, Helga. All of this stuff has been, and I—"

"Arnold, tell me. NOW." Helga's tone was not to be tried with.

Indeed, Arnold sighed and told her everything. "I was trying to be okay with the lying and pretending because it was important to you, but honestly it's been a little weird for me trying to keep how I feel a secret. I'm a really open person, Helga, and I haven't liked hiding about us in that way. It's hard for me to keep things from our friends. And also all of the sneaking around makes me feel like there's something wrong about our relationship even though there's not. So I've just been waiting and hoping things would change. And now they have. And I want us to try being okay with it, okay?" He smiled.

Helga, however, just glared at him in return. She spoke very calmly though, all things considered. "Well, glad to know you felt bad about lying to our friends but didn't feel bad about lying to me about the whole situation."

Arnold blinked. "Helga, that's not what I—"

She held up a hand. "Yeah, you know, I'm sure when I have some time to think about it, I'll realize that your motivations were pure as ever and that you were just trying to help and that maybe humoring me was even the right thing to do in a way, but right now I'm just trying hard not to get angry about you wasting time sparing my feelings when we could have just talked about this." She turned forward, arms crossed over her chest and let out a very deep sig, her glare fading.

Arnold sighed too. He rested back more against the couch, likewise crossing his arms over his chest. There was silence for a moment, and then he asked, barely glancing at her, "So…what do we do now?"

Helga was quiet. Then she took a breath. "Arnold," her tone was calm and sincere. "I just need some time alone…to think about things. This has all been a lot of change for me lately and very overwhelming. I'll…I'll talk to you Monday after school, Football Head. I should have a better idea of what needs to happen by then." She got off the couch and headed for the skylight.

Arnold blinked at first at her going, reached out his hand and opened his mouth as though about to stop her, but then sighed and nodded. "Okay, Helga. If you really want to." He got up and walked over to the bed to see her out. "Have a good day."

Helga paused before climbing up the wall ladder and turned back to him. She gave a very small smile. Then she leaned in and gave him a light kiss on the cheek. "You too, Arnold." She turned away, her smile fading. "Bye for now, Football Head." And then she climbed up to the skylight, pushed herself out onto the fire escape and was gone.

Arnold watched her go with a frown, and he just hoped very much that some time alone would indeed help her process everything so she could get back to enjoying their time together and so he could enjoy time together with her again as well.


A/N:

That's all for now! Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Like I said in the opening A/N, this story will have two more chapters and an epilogue, so I'm hoping to get the fic wrapped in a decent amount of time. I'll do my best!

Have a wonderful day, everyone! Happy Easter/Passover!

And as always, Happy Reading!

~Azure129 aka Jenna