V: Playing the Game
Arnold caught up with Helga during lunch. She was sitting at the table by herself reading when he placed his tray on the table, sitting in the chair next to her. She glanced up briefly noticing who it was, then closed her book.
"Sorry about this morning." He said, holding out a can of soda as an apology. She looked at him for a moment, then took the soda.
"It's okay. Phoebe wants to kiss you though. I don't know what he said about her but it was all over Chemistry that you punch him then you and Shayla double teamed him about her."
Arnold shrugged. "Just because I don't talk to her that much anymore, doesn't mean I'm going to stand by and let anyone trash talk her."
Helga smiled at him. "Still, thank you."
Arnold bit down on a french fry, then leaned towards her.
"Tonight, I have to help my grandparents with the monthly repairs, but what are you doing tomorrow night?"
She shrugged. "The usual. Heading over to Slaussen's with Tad for our weekly ice cream bitch session. Phoebe will join us about 45 minutes into it after finishing her science club meeting. Then hanging out at the park until five. Typical Wednesday."
"Well, after you're finished with that, how about stopping by my house for a bit? I figured we could watch some movies, talk." He grinned. "I'll ask you some more embarrassing questions."
She shrugged. "Sure. It's not like I have anything pressing to do at home."
He smiled, popping another French fry in his mouth. "Great. Now what are you reading?"
That afternoon, he was in the basement, working on the washing machines when he heard his grandfather yell down to him. He put the screwdriver down and walked to the bottom of the stairs.
"Did you say something Grandpa?" he yelled up. He heard footsteps, then Phoebe stepped into the light. He blinked, not expecting her to be here.
"Hi." He said, confused. "Um, what are you…"
Before he could finish, she stepped to him, planting a small kiss on his lips. He blinked twice, Helga's words from lunch coming back to him.
"Thank you Arnold." She said, giving him a quick hug. "I don't know what was said, and I may not be able to thank Shayla, but I can thank you."
He hugged her back. "You don't have to thank me." He told her. "I don't care who it was, nobody talks about you like that."
"Well, you have my eternal gratitude." She told him. Then she noticed the pieces of the washing machine lying around the floor. "Oh, I'm sorry. You're in the middle of something. I'll leave you to it."
"No. I need to take a break anyway." He grabbed one of the old plastic chairs they kept down there for her, then jumped up on one of the working machines. "What's up?"
She sat down in the chair, her hands folded in front of her. "I know this thing started as a proposition, but you changed the rules." She fidgeted nervously for a moment.
"Helga told us about last night."
He stared at her for a moment until he realized what she was talking about. "You mean…the parking lot?"
She nodded. " What you three walked up on this morning was moments after she'd just told us. She was on cloud nine and Tad, in his usual way, started dancing with her. Before you guys came, she couldn't stop smiling."
Arnold smiled, remembering the laughter he'd heard, and the vision of Tad and Helga dancing in the hall this morning.
"You're giving her hope, Arnold. For something that was supposed to have been a one night stand. Truthfully, I'm scared about what's going to happen next week when we all come back to school and everything returns back to normal."
He frowned, not understanding. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, Arnold, what's going to happen after you two have sex this weekend, and come Monday, when everything goes back to normal? You aren't going to be there to pick up the pieces."
"You don't think I should do this anymore?"
"I'm not saying that. What I'm saying…" Phoebe sighed. "I'm just scared, Helga doesn't remember what this started out as; a way to lose her virginity to someone she trusts, rather than at some drunken frat party. I'm afraid she might think it's more than that and come Monday, she's going to get hurt."
"Have you talked to Helga about this?" he asked. Phoebe shook her head.
"Can't today, she's walking on cloud nine. I was going to talk to her tomorrow after school."
"At Slaussen's."
She looked up to him. "You know about that?"
"She told me today, when I asked her what her plans were tomorrow. She's suppose to come by here after she's done hanging out with you guys." He hopped off of the machine and walked over to her. "Look, Phoebe, I don't know how to say this. Yeah, it started as me agreeing to her proposal. But it's more than that now. I'm not sure what, but I'll make you a promise. I promise not to pressure her into anything. I promise to make sure she knows what's going on before anything happens. And I promise not to blow her off or act weird around her on Monday. Deal?"
Phoebe relaxed, nodding. "That's all I can ask. God, knows she won't listen to anyone anyway. Especially when it comes to you. Just try not to hurt her too much, okay?"
He grinned, nodding. "I don't want to hurt her, Phoebe. I fear her too much to do that."
Wednesday afternoon came and Arnold was sitting in his room, trying to figure out what he was going to do tonight. Phoebe's words ran through his brain, and he wasn't sure if he should just call this off or not. He know he didn't want to call it off, but in the end, it wasn't his choice.
His phone rang and he picked it up, thinking she was calling to cancel.
"You're not going to chicken out on me, are you?"
"What am I chickening out of?" Gerald asked on the other end. Arnold threw his dirty clothes in the hamper, mentally berating himself that he just didn't say hello first.
"Nothing," he amended. "What's up?"
"Well I was going to ask if you wanted to hang, but it sounds like you have plans. Anything I should know about?"
Nothing major. Just hanging out with a friend."
"Dude, you replacing me? After your heartfelt plea at school yesterday?"
Arnold rolled his eyes. "With who? You've been my best friend since pre-school."
"Just checking. Would these plans be female?"
There was a knock on his bedroom door and he walked over to open it. Helga stood there, looking at him questioningly. He waved her in, then turned back to his conversation.
"Maybe." Helga stepped into his room, looking like she was going to bolt any moment. He grabbed her book bag, and tossed it on his couch.
"Would she be there now?"
"Maybe."
"You getting some tonight?" Gerald teased.
"I really hadn't planned that far."
"See, this is why you're dry so often." Gerald said. "You don't plan these things. The potential of getting laid should always be in the realm of possibility."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"Does she look ready to party?"
Arnold glanced at Helga's jeans and button down tee shirt. "If you call a tube top and daisy dukes party wear, then yeah." He grinned at Helga's look.
"Well then what are you talking to me for?"
"Not quite sure." He said, still grinning at her expression.
"Talk to you tomorrow dude."
Arnold hung up the phone and tossed it on his desk. Helga cocked her head at him.
"What was that about?"
"Nothing."
She nodded slowly, glancing around the room. "Um, your grandpa told me to come on up."
"I know. I asked him to. It isn't going to be quiet down there today. Ernie's birthday is today and Grandma's decided it should be a huge party."
"Oh, um, I can come back tomorrow if you're busy."
"No. I'm not involved." He eyed her. "You scared to be up here with me?"
She snorted. "No. What gave you that idea?"
"The way you're edging to the door."
She stopped moving, folding her arms. "I just…didn't want you to get into trouble for having girls up here."
He shrugged. "My grandparents know you. And they trust me. Besides, we're just watching movies anyway, right?"
"Uh…right." She said, carefully walking back to the room. He smiled at her.
"Right. So, what do you want to watch?"
They sat side by side on the couch, watching an action movie on the TV. She was lounging on the couch, munching on popcorn, eyes glued to the screen. His attention kept moving from the movie to her. The way she sat, the button down jersey she wore, her hair up in a ponytail, her bare feet, one tucked under her as she unconsciously moved to get comfortable.
Suddenly the movie wasn't as interesting anymore.
"What do you usually do at home?"
"Huh?" she asked, scooping up more popcorn.
"At home. What do you do?"
"Stay in my room and as far away from Bob and Miriam as possible." She answered, eyes not leaving the screen.
"Okay. When you aren't at home. What do you do for fun?"
"Hang out at the library, or with Tad. That's my life. Not very exciting." She scooped up more popcorn, then looked over at him. "I'm just not that thrill filled. I gave up thrill seeking when I left grade school."
"Come on." He prodded her shoulder. "There has to be one dangerous thing you've done recently."
She smirked at him. "Well, there was this time when I was in this guys room alone while the adults were downstairs."
"God, you're boring Pataki." He told her, grinning. She shrugged, her eyes going briefly to the screen before returning to him.
"What can tell you? I stopped living on the edge when we all stopped hanging around after grade school. The most exciting thing I've done recently is kill Orgh members on UOW at Tad's house."
He gave her a look. "So what would Tad say if he knew you were in some guys' room without parental supervision?"
"He'd say, it's about time bitch." She retorted, popping a piece of popcorn into her mouth.
He moved the popcorn bowl and leaned towards her, watching her from half lidded eyes. Her eyes widened as he leaned in.
"Helga," he said when he was close enough to her, but not touching. "I don't want you to regret this come Monday. I don't want to say hi and you suddenly become uncomfortable around me."
She swallowed hard, fighting to stay still. "I asked you, remember? Even though Phoebe swears I'm gonna get all weird on Monday, I still remember what this is."
"What is this?"
"You helping me out with a problem. Because you want to."
He reached up pulling the clip out, running his fingers through her hair. "I don't know what Monday's going to bring. Hell, I'm not sure what Saturday's going to bring. I just want to make sure you don't think I'm pressuring you into anything you may be having second thoughts on."
She surprised him by leaning forward a bit, just enough so they were almost touching.
"Arnold?"
"Yeah?"
"You going to teach me something, or are we just going to sit this close and talk?"
He grinned, then moved the rest of the way, his mouth meeting her already inviting one. Her arm came up, wrapping around his neck as she kissed him back, the other arm still bracing herself against the edge of the couch.
She was a fast learner, her tongue matching his, the feeling crashing over him. His head was fuzzy, only feeling her mouth against his, her fingers tentatively moving against him, one leg pressed against his thigh. Then she moaned.
His eyes squeezed tighter, the hand that had been resting on her leg moved suddenly. He had to hear her make that noise again. Pulling his mouth away from hers, he trailed his tongue down her neck, biting and sucking as he slid down. He heard her gasp, her fingers tightening on his arm, her head falling back. His hand slid up, fingers brushing the jersey, to her neck. Moving the material resting between her neck and shoulder out of the way, he kissed her there, nipping at the skin, then running a tongue across it. She gasped again, her hand sliding from his arm to the back of his head, tangling in his hair. He gently pushed her back onto the couch, his body resting lightly on hers. His mouth returned to hers, his hand sliding from the curve of her neck to the buttons on the front of her shirt. His hand brushed her breast and she moaned again. The sound went straight to his groin. He slid his hand back over her breast, feeling the softness under his hand. She moaned under him again, her back arching against his hand, her own hands sliding down his shirt, one hand slipping under his tee shirt to feel skin. He groaned, his hand tightening on her breast momentarily before sliding to the buttons on her jersey. He had to know what she felt like under his hands. He unbuttoned the final button, sliding his hand into her shirt, covering a cloth covered breast. Helga arched against him, one leg raising up and pressing against him. Her hands were pushing up his shirt now. He moved his hand, silently reveling in her moan of protest and pulled away from her mouth long enough to pull off his shirt. He bent back down and stopped, staring for a moment at the girl beneath him. Eyes closed, mouth inviting, her jersey opened revealing the pink colored bra. Her eyes opened and he again was caught up in the blue of her eyes. He leaned back just a bit, pulling her up with him, enough to pull the jersey off. She allowed him, her eyes looking down and catching his naked chest. Her eyes widened, and she bit her bottom lip. That was it. Arnold caught her mouth again, pressing her back down against the couch, his hand sliding up her naked stomach, pushing the cloth of her bra out of the way and cupping a naked breast.
They both gasped at the same time, her body arching against his hand, her hands touching his chest, her fingers raking lightly against a nipple. His mouth pulled away from hers, trailing down her neck again. His lips slid down her shoulders, his hands sliding behind her, undoing her bra. He slid the material off her shoulders, his mouth latching onto a nipple. Helga cried out, her hands digging into his hair, urging him closer.
He couldn't think, the only thing on his mind was how to get even more of her. His mouth switched to the other breast, his hand covering the one his mouth just left. He could hear her gasping above him, but it wasn't enough. He needed to her moan again. His hand left her breast, his fingers trailing down her bare stomach to her jeans. Her body was arching underneath him as his hand slid further down. Over her hip, then her leg, to the front of her jeans. His fingers slid down the path of the zipper to the middle of her thighs.
A loud knock on the door tore them apart.
"Hey short man!" the voice of his grandfather called out. "Pookie's got some cake left if you and your little friend want a piece."
They both froze. Arnold lifted his head to look at the door.
"Okay Grandpa." He called out. "I'll be down in a minute."
"Don't take too long. You know how Kokoschka is around food."
The sound of footsteps trailed off back down the stairs. Arnold watched the door for another moment, then looked back down at Helga. She was frozen in place, her eyes closed. He smiled down at her, bending down to kiss her again.
Her eyes were open when he pulled back.
"I didn't mean for it to get this far out of hand." He told her quietly. She looked down at his chest, then back up at him.
"It's going to have to get out of hand sometime." She answered just as quietly. Her blue eyes bore into his. "Do you regret it?"
He looked down at her, his eyes trailing a path down her body slowly, before raising back up to meet her eyes. He gave her a smile.
"Only that Grandpa came up when he did." He answered. She smiled at him, then frowned.
"What did you do with my bra?"
Biting his lip, he glanced around the room, spotting it on the floor across the room.
"Um, I may have tossed it a bit far." He reached down, picking up her shirt and enjoying the feel of her naked breasts pressed against his chest. Leaning back, he handed her the jersey.
"Here. Let me go get your bra." He climbed off of her, allowing her a bit of privacy to cover herself as she walked across the room and picked up the pink scrap of material. He tossed it back to her and picked up his own shirt, slipping it back on.
"Okay," she said. He turned around to see her dressed, pulling her hair back up in a ponytail. She looked up at him, her gaze questioning.
"I look neat at least?" she asked. He nodded, his gaze going to something out of place. He stepped towards her, pulling the top of her jersey to the side. Then he grinned.
"Um…sorry. You might not want to wear anything v- neck for a day or two."
Her eyes widened as she turned to the small mirror by his closet. Pulling the collar of her jersey to the side, she spotted the dark mark at the curve of her neck.
"Arnold!"