Rocket to the Moon

Chapter Twenty-Two

Spoiled Kiss

. . .

Helga entered her apartment and tossed her keys to the bowl. God, her feet ached! When she passed by the kitchen se let out a long grunt. Even when the guys had helped her doing some cleaning before leaving she knew there still were a few things to do; taking the trash out was one of them. Exhaling loudly, she took the garbage bag out through the service door, and then came back to check that everything was in order before going to bed. No more empty bottles or garbage in here. Good! She hated the smell of the garbage in the morning.

She turned around when a cold gust of wind came through the open window.

"Are you here, honey?"

A meow responded her.

"So you're thinking in spending the night out, huh?" there was a second meow; longer this one. "Alright then, I'll leave the window open for you." Before she turned around Smoking appeared on the sill and mewed again. "Kiss-kiss?" she leaned in so the cat got close; his nose was wet and cold; his fur was cold too. Helga held him tight, but then let go and exhaled. What was the point in scolding him if he loved in there, having the city at his paws. She scratched behind his ears before giving him a last kiss. "See you tomorrow, love." She said. His answer was a soft purr. The cat waited until she left the room before going back to his watching.

. . .

The blonde girl entered into her bedroom. She left her cell phone on the bedside table and walked to her closet. There, she took her clothes off and put on some lounge pants and a cotton blouse, then walked to the washbasin to get her face washed and her teeth brushed. She observed her face on the mirror as she removed the mascara from her eyelashes and put on her night cream.

"You know?" she said when she was back in her room. Walking to the bed she turned off the bedside lamp. "I think it was a great night; it was nice to see the guys together. I really enjoyed myself. I'm sure Rhonda and Arnold also enjoyed catching up and remembering the old…" she paused as she pressed the home button of her cellphone and saw the long list of unread messages. A feeling of dread rose from her chest to her throat. She left the phone on the table, untouched. Then exhaled long and got in the bed. "But what is the point in telling you if you wouldn't understand." She went on gloomily "Such a shame!" she was too tired to get angry. She pulled the covers until her chin and looked at the ceiling. "God! This is heaven," she hummed to herself. Still looking at the ceiling she breathed in and out several times until she cleared up her mind and felt more at ease. Then she turned to the side, watching as the light of her cellphone began to fade. She sighed long again.

"You know, my sweet boy, that you're such a killjoy?" she snorted softly as the light finally turned off "What would you say if I tell you that you spoiled my kiss?" she laughed "Yeah, you heard right. You ruined my kiss. The kiss I spent all of my childhood and half of my teens yearning for…. The kiss I deserved because it was long overdue! - For God' sake, life owed me!" she almost cried "You know I was willing to kiss Arnold back, but then… - Guess what? – Exactly! It had to be you. You came into the picture to spoil everything! Sheesh!"

Feeling a tad better she raised her sight to the ceiling again and memories of Arnold Shortman filled her mind. He was handsome in his own way; and his arms felt good around her. She smiled. Her old self would be dancing all around the place... but those were old wishes of dead feelings... she sighed. She couldn't help but feel that right at that moment she was strangely upset because of his eyes; they were green, not blue. He wasn't him; her secret lover. She sighed deeply again. Then she wondered briefly what would happen if they'd actually kissed. What would Arnold do next? What would it mean for him? Was he looking for something else? Was it his only intention? She actually thought that it was it. That as same as her, it was an indulgence; the satisfaction of an old wish fulfilled. The intention? To enjoy the moment; something that maybe was meant to be at some point in their lives. A kiss was just a kiss. She wasn't the kind of person who clung to things; she lived intensely the present.

Her present...

She reached for her bedside table and took the photography hidden in the top drawer.

"Idiot," she said to the image that looked at her with hard eyes. "Who do you think I am? Do you think I'm so dumb that I didn't realize Arnold forced it in the first opportunity he had? That I didn't suspect from the beginning that he would be looking for a chance…. Alright… but have you ever thought that maybe I also was? I mean, it was just a kiss… it had nothing to do with you. It was not as if we were having sex…" she grumbled "and speaking about having sex – Really! - You don't know me at all, do you? - Do you seriously think I have someone on the side? You must be more idiot than I thought if you can't see that I'm faithful to you since the day we started seeing each other more…. You son of a bitch! I just hope you're aware than when you ask for something is because you have the intention to give it in return too. I know what you said. I only hope you were true…

"Because if you're not, I swear to God…"

She inhaled deeply, and looked into his eyes again, and just like that, his lips curved into a smirk. It was not just a smirk, but his smirk.

. . . .

She woke up to find his eyes fixed on her.

"Good morning…" he'd said with mock intonation.

"Morning?!" Her mind shouted. She turned to the window and could see it was daylight already. "Damn! Why you didn't wake me up?!" she cried out. She heard his laugh as she jumped from the bed and picked up her underwear in her way to the bathroom.

This is not happening! This is not happening! This should not happen! She wasn't supposed to spend the night. Ugly things happened when she slept at his side. Alright, it'd been only once, but the experience had been bad enough to swear to God she never again.

She got cleaned and put the clothes on; then washed her face and combed her hair with the fingers. For a second she was tempted to use his shower but decided against it. It'd be inappropriate and it'd be risky. She shouldn't stay in here any longer; the risk grew by the minute. Just by thinking she'd have to sneak out of the building got her a headache.

She went back to the bedroom and picked up her dress. She put it on knowing she was being observed with interest. Raising her sight she saw him still in bed.

"What is it with you? What are you waiting for?" she demanded as she got the zipper. "I don't believe for a second that you're not even a little bit upset about this."

"Well," he said leisurely "This is my home… and I just realized you look delicious in the morning."

"Idiot!" she grumbled. So it was entirely on her. "Alright…" She straightened after she flattened her clothes. "I better get going."

"I'm not saying anything." There was impatience in his voice and she shook her head "Come on Helga, don't be like that."

The subtle change in his voice made her angry.

"Don't be like that?!" she turned around to see him lying in bed as if nothing "Like what exactly? Excuse me but as far as I remember it is you who uses to be 'like that'. We have our tacit agreement. Fuck and run. And that's what I'm doing." She walked over to his side of the bed to get her shoes.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked, pulling from her hand in a swift movement that got her seated next to him. She groaned. He let out a smile that made visible the lines around his mouth, then lowered his sight to her lips and exhaled. "You know me. I can't help it." He reached out to brush strand of hair from her face. She exhaled through her mouth; and then reached out to caress his chin. "Don't do that." A warning. He pulled his head back. She got angry again.

"Really? You can't help it? You're sure you just 'can't help it'?" she got up "That's it."

"Wait!" he took her hand again, stopping her from leaving.

"What now?" she grumbled "I don't want to be late for work."

"I want to talk to you," he smiled awkwardly "but… I don't know how to start…"

"Why don't just try speaking?" she forced herself to control her growing irritation. He already knew of her weakness for those smiles, for what they meant, and used them in his favor.

"It's just that… you know?… I've been thinking…" he took an intake "We should stop seeing other people."

"Huh?" it was all she could articulate. She looked at him in awe; but then, struggling to hide her shock since she had to pretend that his words didn't mean the world to her, she snorted and teased him instead "Why? Are we 'going public'?"

He shrugged his shoulders and his self-conscious smile changed a bit.

"Maybe…" his blue eyes were fixed on hers "Do you want it?"

A poker face was the only answer to that. He was right; it was kind of hard. Their eyes kept glued together. Helga didn't know how long they stayed like that; looking into each other. They both were trained to let go nothing; to show nothing; to feel nothing. Heck! She was sure that even their hearts and lungs would restrain their beats and breaths if they needed to.

But there was not use for them to communicate other way because when they reached that point and she looked into his eyes like this she'd swear she knew everything about him. There was nothing that remained hidden. In moments like this he exposed everything of him, his vulnerability included, and it was such a precious gift that she knew he shared with no one. It was her privilege only.

Finally she released the air of her lungs and her eyes descended to the tip of his nose, to his lips. She leaned forward to give him a peck.

"I got to go."

"Helga…" he stopped her from leaving again "It's okay if you're not ready. I'm not ready myself… but we are together." She swallowed hard. It was the first time it was said aloud. "You know it, I know it… and everybody else is going to know it…"

"… eventually…" she said without thinking; finishing for him.

"Soon." He nodded "But for now this is a start, don't you think?" she let out a hesitant nod "Is it alright?" She felt suddenly dazed. She nodded again and turned to leave. "Hey," he pulled again. Before she could react she was lying on the sheets and he was leaning all over her "Are you alright?"

"Why in the hell…?" she shook her head and closed her eyes. There was no point in complaining. It seemed that he was not aware of his strenght and she didn't want to give out she found it excessive. She wasn't a weak flower who complained at everything. And he never listened anyway. He'd started kissing her without hurry, with a leisureliness that broke the tension that had been building inside her, and melted away all her fears and vacillations.

"Better now?" she didn't answer. His soft, placid kisses would be the death of her. She had no will; burning, her body reacted on its own "¿Not yet?" his low and sexy laugh feathered over her ear. She opened her eyes to look at him. He was smiling and his smile was infectious. She threw her arms around his neck and started kissing him.

. . .

Gee! Rhonda was right. She was crazy about him; it couldn't be otherwise.

. . .

. . .

Here you are! The chapter that wasn't meant to be. Twenty one bis now better known as Twenty Two.

See you soon. Thanks to you all for reading. Double Thanks to those who review: Jose Ramiro, Nep2uune, Carlin, PresleyRox. Your words mean the world. :)

About halfway done with next chapter. Hope don't keep you guys waiting long.

I don't own Hey Arnold!

August 17th, 2015.