A/N: Hi, everyone! Thanks for coming back to read this chapter! ^^

As a missing link, I do still come by and read Hey Arnold fanfic when I have the time.

I saw the Jungle Movie and it was really good. A great ending for a finale episode, but it did leave room for more if they ever wanted to return to it.

Basically, it gave me the fuel I needed to know that if I want to be a proper author one day, I have to tie up my loose ends, and I'm going to be starting with working on this story again.

With that said, I hope you all enjoy chapter 6!

As the last bell for school rang, all of the kids at PS 118 raced out of the school building, some slightly more eager than others, to head home for the day.

"I'm free! Free at last!" Curly shouted with a cackle, tearing off his shirt. "I've never felt so alive!"

Helga scoffed, rolling her eyes, as they reached the bottom on the staircase. "Oh man, once a boob always a boob," Helga said, shaking her head. Phoebe shrugged her reply, not wanting to badmouth their friend, but unable to offer a reply suitable to explain his…eccentricities.

"So, Helga," She said instead, as the stopped by the fence. "You never actually told me the specific details over what happened a few nights ago with a certain special…someone."

Helga's eyes widened and she quickly looked around. "W-well, uh…I…that is to say...I-I don't know what you mean." She quickly scowled. "Geez, Phoebs! Stop spouting off nonsense. Sheesh."

"It's okay, Helga," Phoebe said, giggling at the sight of seeing her friend frazzled. "I'm sure you must have had an exceptionally good night. I just really wanted to confirm it with you directly."

"Confirm?" Helga's eyes narrowed. "How much do you know?"

"Simply what Gerald told me," Phoebe said, adjusting her backpack strap.

"Tall Hair Boy?" That seemed to catch Helga off guard. She crossed her arms. "Wait, you two didn't spy on us did you?"

"What? Heavens no!" Phoebe said, stricken. "I deduced that Arnold must have told him about that night, and Gerald relayed what he learned to me."

Helga mulled that over. It made more sense that Arnold had blabbed to his best friend, but at the same time, she couldn't really picture Arnold talking about her positively like that. Not in the same way she had overheard him speak about Ruth or even Lila. She still couldn't believe that he could even see her in that kind of light. It was so…so…surreal.

Especially not with how annoyed he seemed to be with her today.

"Helga," his voice called, sending a chill that vibrated throughout her entire body just thanks to its sudden, unexpected closeness. She spun around quickly, unsure of why the feeling of dread crawled through her as she locked on to his emerald green eyes. She gulped, when his eyes went half lidded taking her in. Run! Her inner voice commanded, but she felt rooted to the spot.

"What do you want, Football Head?" She asked, scowling at him. "And make it snappy. I don't have all day, ya know."

"Of course not. I wouldn't want to take up too much of your time," he said, smiling. Rocking on the back of his heels. "But um, could I walk you home?"

Ah, so that was his angle. "'Fraid not," she said, feeling smug. "Me and Phoebs, have things to discuss today."

"Are you sure about that?" Arnold asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Doi, Arnoldo. I just said so."

He smirked and it nearly made her breath catch. "Then why are Gerald and Phoebe walking away as we speak?"

Huh? Helga spun her head around quick and sure enough, the traitor whom she called her best friend was already on the other block with Geraldo in tow. Grr!

"How about that?" She said, though clenched teeth. "I must have got the schedules mixed up."

"Either way, it seems that you're alone now. So…it shouldn't be a problem, right?" He asked her, looking at her with those stupid football face eyes she loved so much and she knew she had to concede this one as his victory.

"I-I suppose just this once would be fine."

They walked in silence for a bit, both of them lost in a sea of their own thoughts. Helga relaxed the further from school they went. Still she felt on edge. They went on a date for goodness sakes! He kissed her! Willingly! She shouldn't be so wound up, but she continued to play the lunchtime talk she had with him over and over in her mind. Something was up with her beloved. He never told her, but she knew she'd do her best to keep it at the forefront of her mind that he hadn't.

Arnold, on the other hand, marveled at the way she treated him. He snuck peeks at her as they continued walking in mutual silence. His jealousy was more or less in check, but he couldn't help but wonder what he could do to make her trust in him more. He wanted her to confide in him, but she seemed adamant about keeping him at arms length. It was frustrating to him. There had to be some way. If he did nothing, he already knew nothing between them would ever progress. Not when she had some version of him that she didn't mind talking to already.

"Hey, Football Head," Helga's voice startled him out of his thoughts. "Just what do you think you're staring at?"

"Uh." He blinked and found his eyes locked on her chest. Heat rose to his cheeks before turning his entire face beet red. "Ah, sorry! I'm so sorry! It's not what you're thinking!"

She smirked. "Sure it's not."

"It isn't. I would never." He said, his face still burning. He refused to make eye contact, embarrassed that his thoughts about her locket had brought him down this path.

"Aww, don't say that. I would hope you'd want to. Somewhere down the line that is." All her words did was reignite the flames all over again.

"Geez, Helga," he said, shaking his head, but her teasing him was a good thing…right? He glanced at her and she seemed at ease compared to the snarky side that tended to be more prominent at school. There were so many facets to her that he had a hard time keeping up. It was easy to label her as a bully without getting to know her because she was a master of hiding how she felt.

Unless, that is, you happened to be a football headed picture in a tiny frame that got the chance to stay close to her heart.

"What's eating you all of a sudden?" Helga asked him, sensing his sudden mood swing.

"Nothing," he said, with a sigh. "Forget it."

She glared at him and stayed as she was for a while. "Know what? I can walk the rest of the way home by myself if you're going to be in a foul mood. It's not like I asked to be your charity case."

"What? That has nothing to do with it."

But she started walking again, and he had to jog to catch up. "Helga!"

She ignored him, and he finally caught stride with her again, though she was speed walking. "Um, Helga? Do you think you could slow down a little?"

"Criminy Arnold!" She spun and faced him, her arms in the air. "Maybe, just maybe, I want to get home as fast as possible, and you're doing nothing but slowing me down. Ever thought about that?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Why? Is it so you can speak sweet poetry to your precious locket?"

"Y-you're back on that again?" She said, the anger gone from her voice, but it was still directly in Arnold's.

"Yes, I'm back on that again," he said, breaking into her personal space. "Here I am, right in front of you. The guy you supposedly stalk day and night, but do you actually show me how you truly feel? No! At least not anymore, and the annoying reason for it is because you'd rather voice all the inner workings you feel about me to that picture instead of me!"

"S-so? Is that a crime?" She asked, though she didn't look at him, which only seemed to make him angrier.

"Maybe it is," he said, getting even closer to her, which made her move back involuntarily, her back hitting a wall. She slumped down in slightly, and flinched as his arms trapped her in between the wall. "I-I know it's selfish of me to want more than you're ready to give, but what makes it unbearable is that it's stuff you used to be able to say to me…even though the circumstances may have been a bit out of your control."

Helga worked to catch her breath. He was just so, so darned close to her! She could see tiny brown and gold flecks within his irises as they burned into her eyes. Her hands were flat on the brick wall behind her for support, but still her legs shook due to his very…close proximity. Strands of his hair actually tickled her.

"And what makes me…jealous is that you can take your locket and swoon and sigh all over it, but you don't do that around me anymore."

The more he talked the less angry he sounded. "I'm…real. I'm right here for you. You know that…right?"

To her surprise he moved even closer and she pressed her eyes shut tight waiting for…she wasn't sure, but then she felt two soft lips press again the skin of her forehead. The heat of it seared itself into her skin, and for some odd reason she felt…safe. "Can your picture touch you like this?" He whispered, his breath warming her face, which somehow enveloped her whole body in it, making her feel tingly in ways she had never really experienced before.

All too soon Arnold's warmth disappeared from her and she let out a sigh she didn't realize she was holding.

Helga finally opened her eyes to find him walking down the street, heading in the direction of the boarding house. Her hands eventually gave out from behind her and she found herself completely on the ground a mess of nerves and feelings. Abuzz in a glow that only Arnold could give her.

"What the heck was that?" She asked, nobody in particular, and she could see that she was still so…so effected by it all. His words…his touch.

Oh boy, was it possible to fall in love with someone more than you already were with them in the first place?

As Helga watched his retreating form disappear, she hated to admit it, but this was what was bothering her, the thought that he could have a hold on her that she still couldn't quite control.

And she was scared to find out just what a jealous Arnold could really do to her whirlwind of emotions.

A/N: Thanks again for reading guys!

It would be nice if you could leave a review or send me a comment on the quality of this chapter, especially if you're a new reader up to this point.

I've been gone I know, mostly due to college and work, but I miss writing for this community and I'm soooo sorry I disappeared for as long as I did.

Considering this is the sequel to the first book I ever wrote here, The Other Side of Helga Pataki, and more in line with the television series, I'm going to work hard on giving this story a proper conclusion, but I want to be sure it still sounds as good as it should, and I would appreciate any and all feedback to make it happen. (:

Thanks again and have a good day!