A/n: Thanks for reading and reviewing! Glad you guys like it!

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The day ended and everyone was ecstatic. The kids filtered out of the classroom and through the halls. Like every other school day, they were happy to be headed home, to play outside, to get home cooked meals, and to rest after a tiring day at PS 118.

Arnold walked out of the school with Gerald, where several of their classmates were still hanging out.

"Hey Arnold," Stinky said as the two of them walked by, "Sid just told me that he saw you eating lunch with Helga today. You don't like-her like-her, do you?"

"Aww man, Arnold," Gerald chirped in, "See, this is how stupid rumors get started. That's crazy. How could you ever like-like Helga when she's always shooting spitballs at you all day?"

Arnold was torn. He didn't want to be made fun of for the rest of his days at PS 118, but he that wasn't to say that what Stinky had said wasn't true. At least, he did 'like' Helga, but he didn't know yet if he 'liked-liked' her. Maybe he did…

"So what if I did?" he responded, "There's nothing wrong with Helga."

As he started to walk away, he could see their stunned faces in his peripheral vision.

"Gee wilikers!" Stinky said, his jaw had dropped, "He does like her!"

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Helga's own jaw had dropped as well. She had been sitting along the side of the stairs the whole time, just out of sight. None of them had even known she had been there, but she had heard everything. Arnold had actually stuck up for her! She wondered if he was just being nice or if he did like her like she liked him.

Once the boys had gone (probably to play some baseball or down to the comic store to pick up the newest release), Helga got up from her spot. She headed to the boarding house to find Arnold.

As she was walking up to the door, however, she heard Gerald's voice from inside. Instead of knocking, she ducked beneath the windowsill and waited.

"Look," she heard Arnold say, "There's a lot about Helga that you don't know about."

"Well, tell me then. I just can't understand how you can like-her like-her."

"It's not that simple. It's not something I can just tell everyone. You just have to trust me. There's more to Helga than meets the eye."

Gerald shrugged, "Alright man, I trust you. But seriously, how do you go from liking a girl like Lila to liking a girl like Helga?"

"Like I said, it's complicated. I really can't say anything, that wouldn't be fair to Helga. I don't want to spread any rumors."

Helga sank down against the side of the building. She couldn't believe that Arnold actually did like-her like-her! But he had left it up to her. She could tell he wasn't going to do anything until she was ready to show the real her… to everyone. That was the girl he liked, not the one that shot spitballs at him during class. She got up and snuck around the side of the building to where the fire escape was located. As she stepped onto the first rung the top made a shrieking noise. She stopped and looked around to make sure nobody had heard it before she continued climbing.

She hurried across the top of the building toward Arnold's bedroom window, which he always kept unlocked. As she was climbing down, she turned around and nearly fell off. She was shocked to see Arnold standing there, his arms folded across his chest.

"You could have used the front door," he said.

"Oh" Helga replied, "Right. Well, it sounded like you were busy. So I just let myself in."

Arnold rolled his eyes, but then froze. He had only just realized that Helga must have overheard him and Gerald talking downstairs. Had she overheard him saying that he liked her?

"How did you know I was up here, by the way?"

"Oh," Arnold said, "I heard the ladder. It's all rusted and makes a horrible shrieking sound now if you try to climb it. Grandpa was supposed to replace it but never got around to it."

"So," she started, "Want to go for a walk then?"

"Where are we walking to?" Arnold asked.

Helga sighed. "My house… eventually. I'm in no rush to get there, but hopefully we'll get there before Bob gets home. Maybe he'll forget I was gone and I can just stay in my room all night."

The two of them left Arnold's room and made their way downstairs. They ran into Arnold's Grandpa who told them to "have a good time!" As the door closed behind then, Arnold's grandpa chuckled and smiled. Even he could tell that Arnold and Helga had feelings for each other.

At first they walked along without saying anything. Arnold let Helga lead the way even though it didn't seem like she knew exactly where they were going either. They just walked along. They passed the rest of their classmates who were at the vacant lot playing a game of baseball. Gerald had noticed them and tried to keep everyone distracted so they wouldn't notice Arnold was walking with Helga. He knew Arnold liked Helga, but he still didn't want his friend to get made fun of by everyone else, which was sure to happen if they found out Arnold liking Helga wasn't just some rumor.

Helga was lost in her thoughts. She was trying to figure out what she was going to say to her family if they realized she had "run away." Arnold took notice and bumped into her on purpose. She looked over at him with a mean glare, but then started laughing when she saw he was laughing.

"Helga, you need to be more positive," he said.

"I know," Helga replied, "But you of all people should realize that life isn't always as positive as you'd like to think it should be."

"Still, I wouldn't want to live life worrying about every little thing that's gone wrong. Eve if there are more bad things than good things, at least it's not all bad. And despite all the bad things you've been through, you're still a good person."

The two continued walking and moved on to happier subjects. First they talked about school and the usual subjects you talk about with someone you're not really best friends with yet. Eventually, though, they found that they had a lot in common. Helga kept asking Arnold about the music he listened to. She'd never listened that kind of music before, but she had to admit she kind of fell in love with it the other night in Arnold's room. So Arnold told her about all the big names she would check out and what songs she should definitely listen to.

Arnold asked Helga about her writing. She always got the highest marks on essays or stories they had to write for class. With the way Helga acts, Arnold never really understood Helga's love of writing.

They walked for about an hour, which was a pretty short time. Still, to kids their age, an hour felt like a lifetime, and they really got to know more about each other. Eventually, though, they found themselves in front of Helga's house. It seemed to loom down on them, despite the fact that the day was bright and sunny.

"Time to face reality, I guess," Helga said. She headed up to the front door and pulled out the key from her bag.

"Can I come in?" asked Arnold.

"Sure, but just remember… my mom isn't going to be making us dinner and my dad isn't going to be telling childhood stories. My house is a lot different than yours."

They walked in and found that the house was silent. Well, almost silent; Miriam was asleep on the sofa and every once in a while she let out a low snore. Helga found the phone and dialed the number for the school. She held the phone up to Miriam's face.

Arnold watched as Helga got her mom to tell principal Wartz that Helga was telling the truth and she'd been visiting family. He could tell that Miriam had no idea what she was saying since she was half asleep. He followed Helga up to her room.

"So, you aren't going to confront them?" he asked.

"Like I said," she replied, "It's not as easy as it looks. I know Miriam won't be bothered for long. She'll just be glad I'm safe…. But Bob, we'll I don't want to know how he'll react"

"I have an idea," Arnold said. He paused. "I saw him the afternoon I found you. He seemed really angry. He said you were worrying your mother."

"Well, obviously that's not true; you saw how she acted downstairs," Helga said.

They heard the front door open and someone stomp through the doorway. Helga had been calm, but she immediately got up and shut her door. She looked to Arnold and motioned for him not to make any noise, and then she stuck her ear against the door in order to listen to what was going on.

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