A/N: Woo, chapter 18. As I said, I'm really sad that soon this story will be ending, but hopefully once it's over I'll still have time to write some more. But until then, I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

By this point, the sky was pitch dark, and the only sources of light that were surrounding the two were the streetlights and the stars. Regardless, the night was by far the best time Helga had ever experienced, though she was left pondering whether or not she should even bring up the question she was thinking about since Arnold kissed her. Actually, she had a lot of questions, but her main one was the most important to her. 'I just don't want him to avoid the question again…' she thought to herself, 'but why did he take it back?' The whole moment was too much for her to handle: the kiss, lying under the stars with him…but she wasn't just lying next to him. He was holding her firmly, but not unbearably tight, against him, as if he was afraid of letting her go.

Unknowingly, Helga let out a small sigh, causing Arnold to pull away from her just a little bit to look at her. "You okay, Helga?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine…"

He studied her eyes, which seemed to be refusing to make any contact with his, and he had found the same mix of emotions in them as he had seen before. "Helga…if you need to say or ask me something, don't be afraid to."

She sighed once again, biting down on her lower lip lightly out of nervousness. "It's just…I don't understand why…" Her voice trailed off, and Arnold waited patiently for her to continue, "why did you take back what you said before?"

'I should have known that was coming…' "What do you mean?"

"You know…the whole heat of the moment thing. You said you wanted to take it back…"

Arnold continued looking at her, becoming lost in his own thoughts. All of the memories he had of her from pre-school until this very moment came rushing back to him as if on cue. He remembered telling her how he liked her bow while holding his umbrella over her head, the school play where she had kissed him for the first time, the Babewatch kiss, the whole scenario on top of the FTI building, the confession at Chez Paris, the kiss at the park, and of course, all of the time he had spent with her tonight. He couldn't help but remember all of the times he saw her smile, laugh, cry… 'Oh no…I couldn't be…'

"Arnold?" Helga's voice cut through, immediately bringing Arnold out of his trance. He hadn't realized that he had taken such a long time to say even one word.

"Helga…I…" His voice trailed off as they finally made eye contact, causing his heart to skip a beat and his face to flush. He gazed into her sapphire eyes, gaining very little composure. "I…I think I…"

His voice was cut off by the sudden sound of vibration, and he groaned out loud quietly when he realized it was his phone. He contemplated ignoring it, but when he saw that it was his Grandpa he didn't want to take the risk of getting into trouble, or worse, something bad going on back at the Boardinghouse. He sighed, pressing the accept button. "Hello? Yeah I'm fine. …It is? Oh…okay…y-yeah, I'll be home soon. I know it is…okay, bye." Arnold hung up, and looked at Helga sympathetically. "Um…my Grandparents want me home…it's almost nine-thirty…"

"Oh…" 'Curse having school in the morning. Crimeny, can't tomorrow be Saturday?' "O-okay…"

"I'm really sorry. Um…come on, I'll walk you home." He stood up from the grass, extending his hand out to Helga who quickly accepted it. 'A far walk would be perfect. Ugh, it's only about a minute though…' The two blondes began walking in the direction of Helga's home, not letting go of each other's hands even for a second.

They walked up Helga's front steps together, and Arnold let out a sigh. "I'm sorry…that was um…really bad timing."

"It's okay…"

'No, it's not,' he felt like saying, but he kept it to himself. "Helga, listen…I-if you want, we can meet up at the park tomorrow at around five…to you know…finish what we were talking about…"

A blush came across Helga's cheeks, and she found herself being grateful that it was so dark outside. "S-sure, Arnold."

"Great." Arnold smiled, and leaned forward, placing a light kiss on Helga's cheek. "Goodnight, Helga."

Now blushing furiously and trying her best to keep herself steady, Helga smiled back. "'Night, Football Head…er…Arnold." She turned the doorknob, allowing herself to enter her house, and turned her heard around to see Arnold still standing there, smiling and watching her. Smiling once more, she walked in and closed the door behind her, only to sigh happily and collapse onto the carpet.

Bob looked down at his daughter, eyebrows raised, completely oblivious to what had just gone on. "I'm not even gonna ask…"

"Man, oh man, Arnold…when are you gonna just admit it!" Gerald exclaimed to his next friend the following day while walking down the hallway at school.

"Admit what?"

"Your feelings for Helga, man! I mean seriously, if your phone didn't go off last night, what would you have told her?"

"I…I don't know. I was just lying there looking at her…thinking about how pretty she is….and smart, and funny, and sweet…and all those great memories we've had together…"

"Arnold, do you have a spoon?"

"…No, why?"

"'Cause you saying all this lovey-dovey things about Helga is making me wanna gag!"

"Gerald, that's not funny. Helga's a great person."

"Of course she is, Arnold. So, did you think about her anymore when you got home last night?"

"I thought about her all night! It was like she was permanently stuck in my brain or something."

There was a little bit of silence until Gerald finally broke it. "So…what will you tell her at the park today?"

"…I have pretty much all day to think about exactly how I feel once more. But Gerald…I think you were right. I…I think I might be falling for Helga."

Placing a hand on Arnold's shoulder, Gerald sighed. "That's your prerogative, my brother." He chuckled lightly and added, "but was I right or what?"

"I-I, I think you were…but…let me just think some more, okay? My head was spinning last night."

"No problem. But, if you don't mind me asking, how was the kiss?"

A smirk came across Arnold's lips as he started to remember exactly how the kiss went that previous night. "Incredible."

"…Okay, now I really need a spoon. I better get to class. See ya, man."

"See ya." Arnold waved, and headed in the opposite direction, only to become face to face with the last two people he wanted to see at that moment (or ever.)

"Why Arnold, how lovely it is to see you. I think you have ever-so much explaining to do."

'Oh, boy.'

A/N: So, the ever-so definitely gave away who the two people are, haha. But Arnold's now finally beginning to realize his true feelings for Helga. Took him long enough. I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, and remember there's only one more left to go. I plan on having it posted sometime before the end of next week, before I really have to start working on my 10 poems that I have to write for my history class. Joy. Please leave any comments you may have, I value all of them.