A/N: Hey everybody! Sorry it took a while. And also sorry this chapter is a little scrappy. I didn't want to keep you waiting but I have an exam and I had to study... Ugh. Anyway, here is the next chapter, and I apologise, it isn't as juicy as I thought it would be. Juice will come soon, promise.

I mean, this is juicy, but so much more juice to come. OH THE JUICE.

Disclaimer: I do not own HA!

Arnold woke up in a haze, lazily pulling his arm in front of his face to read the time. It was still early, only just after six. The sunlight streamed through the window above his head, however, forcing him to pull himself upright to escape the harsh rays. His head felt a little slow, and his stomach a little queasy, but otherwise he felt fine. From what he had heard of hangovers, this seemed like a pretty good one, he thought.

As Arnold began to silently make his way around the house, past all the sleeping bodies that lay askew around the home, more and more memories came back to him. Everyone making fun of him for liking Helga, him dancing like an idiot in front of Helga, him staying up late with Helga and having one of the best conversations he'd ever had, and then, of course, kissing Helga.

As Arnold reached the stairway he placed a hand to his forehead. He kissed Helga. Why on earth did he kiss Helga? Still in a sleep filled haze, Arnold decided better of walking home just yet, and instead made his way around the back of the house, where Rhonda's parents' bedroom was, along with where he assumed Rhonda has stashed all the more expensive things she didn't want people breaking at the party. Slowly he made his way to the mini-fridge that was kept in the upstairs lounge, grabbed bottled water, and began to make his way to the balcony.

He had been to Rhonda's house a number of times before in his life, from the days at PS118 all through to right now. She held at least one party a year, and as a result he knew his way around easily.

Not bothering to be as quiet as everyone was downstairs/on the other side of the house; he pulled the screen door open and stepped out, opening the water bottle and drinking it gratefully. He turned around, expecting to sit down on the yellow couch he had sat on with Gerald so many times before, when he spotted Helga, at last.

Her face was twisted in what he could only describe as agony, which isn't exactly what people are supposed to look like when they sleep. Her eyes were clenched shut tight, her hands gripped tightly around a poor excuse for a blanket if there ever was one, her lip red and swollen as though she had spent the night chewing on it.

Arnold reached out a hand to her, expecting to wake her, and comfort her, the way he always did whenever he saw someone in trouble. But just before his hand was on her shoulder he felt it twitch and he snatched it back. Did he really want to wake the girl he had kissed and deal with all that right now? He didn't know what he thought about the kiss yet, he had barely given himself time to think about it. He decided better of it, it looked like Helga had only gotten to sleep moments ago, so he left her to sleep. He watched her a while longer, half expecting her to wake up at any moment and catch him watching her (which in itself should have been incentive not to watch her…) when he noticed her backpack on the ground beside her. It looked like she had it with her on the couch when she slept, but now it lay on the ground, contents spilled on the floor. Carefully he began placing the items back inside her pack for her, a toothbrush, hairbrush, make-up, and two books.

Arnold hesitated a moment before placing the books back into her bag. He had seen her write in the pink one a number of times, not so much recently, but a lot overall. She had warned him when he asked about it that if he ever looked in it without her permission she would deny any further friendship then and there. He had asked her, once, if she would ever let him look inside, but she just shrugged and said "I'm thinking it's unlikely, but maybe one day, if the time is right,"

Not wanting to ruin the right time or risk the friendship, Arnold let his curiosity demise as he placed the book back into Helga's bag. But he hesitated a second time on the blue book. He had never seen it before, and he could tell by the crumpling of pages that Helga hadn't written in much of it. He began to open it, letting the pages that had clung to the cover fall back into their resting place as he pulled the cover further and further back. As the pages with writing fell, he got a glimpse of a few words, before quickly shutting it and placing it back in the bag. It wasn't like him at all to read other people's personal things. Why, he had gone to incredible lengths once to protect a parcel from his housemates, why on earth was he giving in now?

Luckily, he hadn't read anything important anyway. Quietly, he placed the bag upright against the couch before making his way back inside, finding an oversized, warm, woolly blanket and taking it back outside. He may not have wanted to wake her, but he didn't want her to be cold, which she clearly was.

As Arnold laid the blanket across Helga, instantly seeing some of the distress diminishes, he couldn't help but stare at her. He knelt by the couch as he pulled the blanket in around her face, before pushing back and looking at her a moment longer.

He had kissed this woman last night.

Carefully, terribly frightened she would wake, Arnold pulled the hair off Helga's face, smiling before leaning in and giving her a soft kiss on the cheek.

It was definitely time to go, Arnold thought as he clambered onto his bike and pedalled fast all the way home, where, thankfully, his Grandma was up and already baking pancakes for a 'day at ranch', which Arnold scoffed before finding his way into his room. Most of the household was up, and they racketed downstairs noisily, but the noise was mostly shut out in the safety of his room. He started contemplating what his kiss to Helga might have meant, but he fell asleep long before he made any progress.

It was a text message that woke him up, from Gerald, asking if he could come over. Arnold agreed, and within moments he and Gerald were on Arnolds couch, a plate of cookies between them and a glass of milk each.

"So Gerald, how'd things go with Phoebe?"

"Oh, you know, not too bad. Damn, boy, that girl is a good kisser! If I had known, I would've kissed her long ago! Anyway, I didn't ask her out, if that's what you're interested in. It just wasn't the right place, you know?" Gerald said, and Arnold nodded, rubbing his forehead slightly.

"Yeah… so… I… Um…"

"You…?"

"I… I kissed Helga last night,"

"You did what!" Gerald exclaimed, jumping up from his seat a little.

"I didn't mean to do it. At least… I don't think I meant too…"

"Alright, let's back up a step. Tell me everything that happened,"

"Uh… well, I drank too much, and Helga helped me to bed, and we stayed up and talked for hours, Gerald, hours! About everything! It was really nice. Then, when we decided it was time for bed, I just… I kissed her, Gerald. It only lasted a second," Arnold said, and Gerald slumped back on the couch.

"What did she say?"

"She kissed me,"

"She what?"

"No, not like that, on the cheek. To let me know it was okay and she wasn't angry, I think," Arnold said, trying to remember every detail. Gerald pulled himself upright and placed a hand on Arnold's shoulder.

"Well, Arnold, there's only one thing to do. And that's talk to Helga about it," he said, and Arnold sighed, slumping his shoulders.

"Yeah, I guess, but… I don't even know what it means! Why did I kiss her Gerald?"

"Because… maybe you like her?"

Arnold sighed, sliding down the couch. "Maybe,"

"Maybe?"

"Maybe,"

"Well, that's farther than we've gotten before," Gerald said, and Arnold looked around at him.

"What am I supposed to say to Helga?"

"I dunno man, just ask her how she feels about it, and be honest with her. She's a good gal these days, she'll probably help you out herself," Gerald joked, leaning over and passing Arnold's brick of a phone to him.

"Invite her around,"

"Now?"

"YES, NOW!" Gerald basically yelled, and Arnold quickly sent Helga a text.

"There, I sent her a text to come over,"

"Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off home. I don't want to be interfering with you love birds,"

"Gerald…"

"Alright, fine. Good luck man,"

"Thanks," Arnold said, staring at his hands. Within a couple of minutes Helga texted back telling him she would be there soon, on her way home, and Arnold started pacing.

What was he going to say to her? That he maybe liked her? That he did like her? That he didn't like her?

Maybe inviting her over was a bad idea. He decided, only moments before he heard her familiar footsteps on the stairs to his room, that he was simply going to apologise for his behaviour last night and see what happened.

"Hey, Football head," Helga greeted as she walked into the room. She looked a little tired, and her hair was pulled back into a messy pony tail as she walked in, dropping her bag on the floor and sitting down. "What's up?"

"Well… I guess I just wanted to apologise. For everything I did last night," he mumbled, and Helga raised an eyebrow that sent Arnolds stomach into a mess of butterflies. How could one woman make him feel so nervous?

It wasn't because he was expecting her to start yelling at him sometime soon, was it?

"Oh, don't worry about it Arnoldo. I've seen worse," she said kindly, and Arnold forced a smile at her.

"Yeah, heh, I guess I just had a bit too much to drink,"

"Way too much," Helga corrected when Arnold's phone vibrated. He pulled it out and looked at the message from Gerald.

Ask her about the kiss! How did he know?

"So, uh, Helga…"

"Yeah?"

"About… last night… when I kissed you," he started, and Helga's face flushed red.

"Oh… you remember that, huh?"

"Yeah, I remember basically everything." Arnold started, sighing. "And, I just wanted to explain what I was doing. I… I guess I… I wanted… I…"

"Arnold, it's okay," Helga said gently. Her eyes looked sadder than ever, and Arnold could swear he felt his heart tear up at the mere sight. "You're a guy. Guys just do stuff like that. You don't have to explain, you were drunk. It's easy to make mistakes. Anyway, maybe I should go home. I need to get some more sleep…" Helga said, moving to stand up, when Arnold felt something inside him snap.

"But it wasn't a mistake," he blurted out, and Helga stared at him. Quickly, Arnold tried to find a way to recover. "I mean, that is… well, Gerald thinks you and I… well, what I'm trying to say is…" he muttered as he tried to find the words.

"Arnold!" Grandpa's voice interrupted from downstairs. "You're little friend with the pigtails is here!" he called, and Arnold frowned. What friend with pigtails?

"Oh, Arnold, it's ever so nice to see you again. And Helga! What a delight!" Lila said as she stepped through the door, and Arnold gaped.

Lila had moved away a couple of years ago. She had grown up a lot in those two years. Her hair was longer, her eyes sweeter…

After a long pause, Helga coughed.

"Right, well, I'm off. See you, football head," she muttered, turning to leave. For a moment, she hesitated in the doorway, as though expecting Arnold to say something to stop her, but he couldn't say anything, or do anything. His feet were glued to the floor.

What was Lila doing in his room? The woman he had practically been in love with once upon a time?

The front door slammed loudly as Helga exited, snapping Arnold back to reality.

"Lila, what are you doing here?"

"Father has come to town for a month or so for business, and I thought I'd come see you, and admit to you, that, well, gosh it's ever so embarrassing… I wanted to tell you that I regret never going out with you," Lila mumbled, and Arnold gaped as Lila moved forward and pushed herself into his arms.

Over Lila's shoulder he stared at the door Helga had exited only a moment ago. He had almost told Helga he liked her, completely spontaneously. And, to be truthful, he still wasn't sure how he felt. But Lila was in his arms, the woman he longed to hold for so long, and he wasn't going to let what he might feel for Helga step in the way as he hugged Lila tightly back.

A/N: See? Juice. But more juice to come, just as soon as I finish my exams I'll be able to write way more often, that is, assuming I'm not forever at the beach. I hope you enjoyed it, Review for me! ;D