Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold!
"Where are you going?" Gerald asks when Arnold makes a sudden turn towards the exit instead of the counter.
"I'm getting some air, this place is making me feel claustrophobic." Arnold leaves the café without another word.
"Wait—" Gerald pauses, looking back and forth between the door and the direction of their table. Should I go after him? We can't just leave them here without saying goodbye. Making a decision, he pushes open the door and steps out into the cool night air. He sees Arnold walking down the sidewalk with his hands in his pockets.
"Hey Arnold!" Gerald catches up and puts his hand on Arnold's shoulder to stop him. "What's going on, man?"
"Nothing." Arnold keeps a straight face, not showing any hint of emotion, when deep inside it's like a whirlpool.
"Nothing, my foot." Gerald looks at him squarely in the eyes, concern and worry in his expression. "We've been best buds for how long now? I can tell when something's not right. Why are you acting like this?" he asks, though he knows reason already.
"I think the question should start with a 'who'," he says sullenly, averting his gaze to the road.
"Come on, Arnold. That Alex dude had got nothing on you," Gerald tries to say comfortingly. "All of that stuff you went through with her? Can Alex say he did all sorts of stuff or have crazy adventures with Helga? No, he can't. So what if he likes poetry? It sucks anyway. Okay, so maybe they can bond over that and maybe they're both true poets at heart or whatever. You've still got the edge here, Arnold. You… you've known her for a lot longer."
"You're not helping, Gerald."
"I know."
Arnold cracks a tiny smile; only Gerald could find a way to make the worst day of your life seem just a bit funnier.
"How about we get back in there before the girls realize we're gone and go all psycho on us? I don't want tomorrow's front page news to be 'Two Male Teens Killed in a Freak Accident near the Coffee Bean'. And by 'freak accident' I mean Helga's scheme to get back at us."
"Please, she's not that bad," Arnold tries to defend her.
"Maybe so, but I still wouldn't put it past her. You know what they say, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." Gerald tries to open the door, but he can't. "What the?" He knocks and the tall lanky man opens the door for them.
"Tickets?"
Arnold reaches into his back pocket, but doesn't feel anything in it. His eyes widen as he remembers. "I left it on the table inside."
The man smiles – but not in a nice way – and says, "Too bad. No ticket, no entry."
"But you know we have them, it's just inside! You let us in the first time." Gerald protests, appalled that they're not being let in.
The man shrugs. "Just doing my job. Sorry kids," he says and shuts the door in their faces. They look at each other, stunned.
"So what do we do now?" Gerald asks. "Should we just go?"
"No, I think we should stay here and wait for them to come out," Arnold suggests. "I mean, if we leave, then they'll think we ditched them. If we wait out here, then we can explain what happened when they come out."
"Sure we will, when they come out. The question is, how long do we have to wait until they do?"
Arnold shrugs and sits at the edge of the sidewalk. "Guess we'll have to wait and see."
Gerald, seeing that Arnold is intent on sitting there for who-knows-how-long, sighs in defeat and joins him. "So, how'd you find the show just now? I've got a whole new perspective on things…"
Helga, Phoebe and Alex stick together closely on their way out of the café. Before moving though, Phoebe spots something on the table. She takes a closer look and sees that it's a couple of tickets. She pockets them, thinking she might have left them there by mistake. The trio step outside and start walking down the sidewalk, while Helga and Alex talk about the show. Phoebe notices two people sitting by the road. They look familiar. Is that…
"Gerald?" she says and four heads turn towards her. "Arnold," she says again, recognizing the person beside him. "Why are you two out here?"
Helga turns toward the two boys on the street and a part of her feels a burst of happiness. So he didn't just leave. Then she remembers why she's upset in the first place. "Yeah, why didn't you buckos stay inside? I was thinking of punching you guys out for ditching us."
"Told you I wouldn't put it past her," Gerald mutters just loud enough for Arnold to hear. "Oh, we have a good reason, alright."
"The guy watching the door wouldn't let us back in because I accidentally left the tickets inside," Arnold explains.
"You mean these?" Phoebe pulls out the tickets she took earlier. "I found them on the table and thought it was ours."
"No, I'm holding them," Alex jumps in. He looks at Gerald and Arnold. "What were you guys doing out here in the first place?"
"Just getting some air," Arnold replies with a slight edge to his voice. He tries his best not to lose his composure when he sees how close Helga and Alex are standing next to each other. Helga, suddenly noticing her close proximity to Alex, takes a step away from him and looks at Arnold. "Well, uh…"
"So, what's the plan now?" Gerald tries to break the awkward silence that fell upon them. "I know I haven't eaten anything. How about we go to Chez Pierre?"
"Sure, as long as we don't mix it up with Chez Paris again," Arnold says, giving a meaningful look to Helga and cracking a smile.
Helga groans. "Don't remind me," she says, remembering the time in fourth grade she took them out for dinner after she won the coupon from Mr. Simmons. She could hear Phoebe giggling in the background. "You gotta admit though, that was a fun night. The food was delicious."
"Yeah, but we had to wash the dishes afterwards because we couldn't pay for it." Gerald says. "Even until now, I can't stand looking at a cleaning brush."
"Aww that's too bad, Gerald," Helga says innocently. "I was so hoping you'd take up that empty position at the cinema."
"As what?" he asks, the idea of a paying job catching his interest.
"The janitor."
Arnold and Alex burst out laughing. "Good one, Helga," Arnold says, but stops laughing when he sees Gerald staring daggers at him. "What?" he asks, shrugging. "It was funny."
"Mmhmm. Now, if we're done cracking jokes about my future job as a janitor, could we please go eat something? I'm starving here."
"I'm pretty hungry too," Alex says, putting a hand over his stomach. "I would've eaten earlier, but your mom's ravioli didn't look… that appetizing."
"Don't try to be polite, she's not here to hear you," Helga says with a wave of her hand.
"Okay then," he says, dropping the act. "It looked disgusting. Did she make that herself?"
"She tried. Guess she thought a normal dinner wouldn't be fit for the occasion, not with your family around. That's when the idea of making an Italian-themed dinner came up."
"That explains all the pasta dishes."
"We're still not going anywhere," Gerald says, crossing his arms. "What part of 'I'm starving' don't you people get?"
"Take a chill pill, man, we're going already," Helga says and leads the way. "Oh, and just in case, make sure we walk into the right restaurant this time. My French is a little rusty now so we'd look like idiots in Chez Paris," she says over her shoulder and sneaks a smile at Arnold. He stifles a laugh, memories of that night coming back to him.
Helga remembers the two experiences she's had in that restaurant and feels a stab when she realizes that Arnold still doesn't know that she was the one pretending to be Cecille. I wonder if I'll ever tell him. She tries not to think about that now. Tonight's the night I'm going to make new memories, in Chez Pierre this time. I hope they're gonna be good ones.
Phoebe lags behind, her short legs not able to catch up to them so quickly. Gerald notices and falls in step with her. The walk next to each other at their own pace, while the other three start getting farther away in front of them. I've been trying to help Arnold with Helga for the whole day and most of the night; it's time I did something for myself.
"Beautiful night, isn't it?" Gerald says and looks up to the sky. "You can see stars everywhere." Phoebe blushes slightly, realizing that she and Gerald are practically alone now.
"It's a bit chilly but yes, I suppose it is nice night," she says and rubs her bare arms, the shawl she brought along not fully covering her. "I expected it to be a bit warmer, it is late spring."
"Just because the days are getting warmer, that doesn't mean the nights will too." Gerald takes off his jacket and puts it around her. She smiles in appreciation and nods her head. "You're the super smart one and I have to figure that out for you?" he says jokingly.
"You're street smart, Gerald. That's a different kind, but just as important."
"Looks like we should stick together more often, you know, so we can look after each other," he says and shrugs. Was that too obvious?
"I suppose so," Phoebe says and tries not to smile so widely. They keep walking when Gerald suddenly sighs. "What's wrong?"
"Don't tell me you couldn't feel the awkwardness between those three."
Phoebe nods in understanding. "You could slice through that atmosphere like butter. What are we going to do?"
"I don't know," he says honestly, seeing the restaurant's signboard in the distance. A thought suddenly strikes him. "Who are you rooting for?"
The question catches Phoebe off guard and she doesn't know what to say for a moment. "Well…" she pauses, thinking carefully. "I don't know either. It's not really up to me, is it? It's Helga's choice, not mine nor yours."
"I know that, but still. If she asked you to make a choice for her, what would you say?"
"It's highly unlikely for that to happen," she says immediately. When Gerald still expects her to give an answer, she says, "I don't know that, myself."
Gerald is dumbfounded. "Really?" Phoebe nods timidly. "Why? What's so great about that guy anyway until even you don't know?"
"This isn't about my preference," she says sternly. "I'm trying to put myself in Helga's shoes. You don't know what the story is behind those two."
Gerald almost says that he does, but remembers that he has to explain how he knows it. That's going to be another problem. "Even if I don't," he says. Though I actually do. "Don't you think Arnold and Helga just sort of… belong together? Don't ask me where, but I've read that sometimes people are like that."
"Like how?"
"Destined for each other or something."
Phoebe's heart flutters when he says that. "Do you actually believe in it?" she asks, almost nervously.
"I'd like to think it might be true," he says and flashes a breathtaking smile. She turns her head away, trying to hide the blush creeping up her neck.
"That's… interesting," she says, her tongue tied in knots.
"Is it?" he says and takes her hand in his. "I'm glad you think that." When she doesn't pull away his smile grows wider and his heart starts beating regularly again. Success! Now, time to plan our first kiss
"It's about time you two got here, we almost ordered for—" Helga stops abruptly when she sees Phoebe and Gerald walking into the restaurant – hand in hand. "Oh…" Helga says lamely, surprised. She shoots Arnold a look. When did that happen? He shrugs, as if he telepathically got her message. She looks from Gerald to Phoebe and smiles at her. Way to go, Pheebs. I knew it would happen eventually.
Alex sits silently at he watches it all unfold, understanding what has just happened. I knew there was something going on between them. He notices the timid, almost embarrassed smile on Phoebe's lips. She looks so happy, and so does he. Alex glances at Gerald, then his gaze moves to Helga and Arnold. Their best friends just got together, I wonder if they're going to follow in their footsteps. For my own sake, I hope not.
Phoebe and Gerald take a seat, each trying to avoid the eyes of their respective best friends. The waitress gives them a menu each and they pretend to be studying it really hard. Arnold rolls his eyes and decides to interrogate Gerald about it later. Helga on the other hand, has no intention of waiting for the night to be over to hear the full story. I'll have to pry it out of them somehow.
"So…" she says, propping her arms on the table and resting her chin on the backs of her hands. "What took you so long to get here? I mean, I know Phoebe isn't the fastest person in the world but still." She gives them a look, a glint in her eye. Phoebe shifts uncomfortably while Gerald pretends he didn't hear anything and keeps reading the menu. Alex tries to stifle a laugh at their attempt to avoid the subject.
Arnold, though enjoying the sight of his best friend being embarrassed about finally putting the moves on Phoebe, thinks he should save them from misery. "Hey Helga, can I talk to you for a minute?" he tilts his head towards the door, indicating he wants a private conversation outside.
She doesn't take her eyes off of Phoebe because she knows Arnold is just trying to save them from embarrassment. Too late for that. "Oh, I don't know, is it really that important? I'd like to sit here and talk to them; it's not as if I talk to Gerald that often now do I?" She turns her head to Gerald, an evil smile appearing on her lips.
"No, talking to me can wait," Gerald says, taking a moment from studying the menu to glance up and answer her. His eyes shift to Arnold, a hint of appreciation showing through. "Besides, Arnold said he wanted to talk to you."
"No, that's the conversation that can wait," Helga insists and looks over to Arnold for conformation. The evil smile disappears when she sees his serious expression. "Or not." She gets up slowly and follows Arnold out of the restaurant. He chooses a spot just outside the door where the three people sitting inside can't see them through the window, much to their dismay. Alex stares at the door, hoping they would come back through it soon.
"Didn't think he'd do that," Gerald mutters.
"Do what?" Phoebe and Alex say in unison.
"Find the only spot we can't see them from here. Though I am grateful he got us out of talking about it."
"Who says you're off the hook?" Alex says expectantly, leaning back in his chair. He tilts his head and smiles at both of them. "I'm listening."
Gerald and Phoebe look at each other, deciding whether they should tell him or not. Phoebe shrugs, showing that she doesn't mind. Gerald sighs and says, "Might as well."
Okaaaaay can I just say I love GeraldXPhoebe? They're so cute together! XD
So now you know what really happened and why they 'left'. First day back at school = reason I updated so fast. When you don't want to do something (like homework), you turn to something more enjoyable (like writing a story).
Thanks soo much for reading and reviewing! :D You guys are awchommm.