Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.

They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.

Title: "Leave the lights on"

In the last chapter: Autumn had come and that meant it was a month ago since Helga and Arnold moved into the same house. That meant Miriam planned a special dinner, but Helga didn't know that even as she pretended she did to get Arnold out of going out with Lila who seemed to have changed her mind yet again about him.

Lila didn't give up so easily though and went to hang out with Arnold at his house to Helga's anger when he couldn't bring himself to throw her out in kindness. Helga left though and that caused Arnold to finally tell Lila to leave and to go and get Helga.

After a tender moment between the two, Arnold was in complete denial about his stepsister was making him feel, even as he watched her sleeping he denied his urge to kiss her. He did though which caused her to wake up. To his shock, surprise and any other synonyms you can think of, Helga wasn't angry with him and even told him to do the same thing if he caught her sleeping again.

Author's 1st note: There's a guest reviewer called Kinkalink who asked me to help her/him with their story. I would like to point out to you, Kinkinalink, that I can't answer a guest reviewer here on FanFiction since you don't have a profile so that's why I have to write to you here. You can contact me on DeviantArt or YouTube and we can discuss it further there :3 There are links for both DeviantArt and YouTube on my profile here on .

[Please notify me if you notice any grammar mistakes. This isn't my first language, so there's bound to be mistakes.]

Chapter 7: "Unpolluted and untainted truth"

Have I not… experienced this before? Arnold wondered as he felt the slightly familiar feeling of a pair of warm, moist lips against his own. He tried to open his eyes, but he realized they were already open. Why did they feel closed?

The person kissing him leaned back and smiled at him. Her long blonde hair fell over her shoulders, tickling his face in the process; the tickle even went all the way down his spine. Her hands were on his chest, caressing the skin he now realized was bare. He looked up at her again, noticing her chest was just as naked as his was; how had he missed that? She was only wearing a pair of tight, light blue jeans, which matched her eye color. Now this he had most definitely not experienced before.

The feeling of the girl, whom he knew was Helga, grinding on top of him caused him to moan. The feeling was so intense he had to look between them and noticed he wasn't wearing any pants. He looked up at her questioningly, silently wondering if they had never been there or if they had disappeared. She smirked at him and put her hands on her thighs. As he watched her move her hands from her thighs to her knees, her jeans disappeared slowly as if by magic until they were completely gone.

Helga leaned down to kiss him and he sighed through his nose. He wanted to move his hands into her hair, on her shoulders, anywhere, but his body felt frozen beneath her. He was sure he could feel her lips on his, but it was a ghostly feeling despite her being so close. He felt frustrated; why couldn't he feel her pressed against him when she was obviously so close? Then he realized why… he was dreaming.

Arnold sat up in his bed, gasping in the process. He was panting as he looked around, recognizing the room he was in; of course he did, it was his room after all. He looked at his clock and slammed on it to stop the annoying sound of a mechanical voice calling his name. He put his hands to his face and sighed. Not again.

A knock on his door caused Arnold to jolt and even fall out of his bed. "Ow!" he exclaimed and put his hands on his oblong-shaped head. "Y-Yeah?"

"You ok, Football Head?" Helga asked from the other side of the door.

Arnold flinched again and put his thighs together, hoping to hid his growing problem in case his stepsister planned to walk in. "Yeah, you just surprised me so I fell out of my bed." He explained shyly.

He could hear Helga snicker. "Well, I hope your big head cushioned your fall."

"Ha-ha." Arnold said sarcastically with very little amusement in his voice. He was smiling though.

"Anyways, Miriam and Miles wants us to join them for the cake tasting. We're going as soon as we've all eaten breakfast. Sounds good?"

"Oh, s-sure! I'll be down in a moment." Arnold replied and stood up. He could hear Helga walk away outside and he sighed in relief. He grabbed some fresh clothes and looked at himself in the mirror as he did so. He had no idea if there was a dress code for cake tasting, but he hoped a simple shirt and jeans were good enough.

He looked down towards his crotch and growled. Don't you dare! He warned when he saw his body had finally calmed down. With a sigh, he walked out of his room and went to join them all for breakfast. He sat down next to Helga, as usual, ignoring how good she looked when her hair was down and all messy.

"So, you two ready for some cake tasting?" Miles asked as he put a bowl of fruit salad on the table.

Helga looked around. "That's a very light breakfast." She observed since there was nothing else on the table besides the medium-sized fruit bowl.

"Well, we are going to be eating a lot of cake, Helga, so we can't have our stomachs full, can we?" Miriam asked teasingly and went to grab some fruit salad. Helga shrugged; she figured she was right. She was never all that hungry in the morning anyways, thanks to Miriam lack of skills in cooking.

She sent the bowl to Arnold once she had grabbed what she wanted and noticed he was looking at her. "What?" she questioned as she put her spoon into her mouth.

"Uh, n-nothing." He replied and scooped some fruit salad onto his plate. Helga looked at him curiously, but then gave up and shrugged.

Arnold finally felt normal once they had reached the bakery. He was going to give it all in the cake tasting, even if only to distract himself from this morning's dream.

They went inside and it was obvious the staff was expecting them since there was a table for four all ready for them with a bunch of platters, all with four small pieces of cakes on each platter.

"Oh, this is perfect. Thank you." Miriam said happily and sat down next to Miles. While her daughter and stepson sat down in front of them, Miriam eyed the cakes. She frowned considerably when she noticed one with pink cream in it. "This one is out of the question." She said and gave the platter to one of the bakers who scurried away with it.

Miles didn't question Miriam's reaction at all, but Arnold looked confused at Helga who he noticed was buck-eyed. "What was wrong with the pink one?" he asked in a whisper.

Helga leaned closer. "There was strawberries in it."

"So?"

"I'm allergic… I just didn't think Miriam knew that."

"She's your mom; of course she knows."

"Bob's my dad and he sure as hell didn't." Helga retorted, but smiled at her mom thankfully.

"So," Miles said and smacked his hands together, rubbing them in excitement. "which would you like to try first?"

"That depends what's in them." Arnold said as he looked at the different platters, trying to decipher the recipes.

"That's what I'm here for." A female pâtissier said with a wide grin. She gestured to each of the cake samples, naming them and telling what was in them in details.

Once the cake tasting had begun, they all started enjoying themselves immensely. Some cakes made them cringe their noses and others made them swoon. Arnold caught himself observing Helga's reaction to each one of the cakes and made mental notes of which she liked and disliked; she seemed to be fond of chocolate.

When the recipe was chosen, Miriam and Miles went to discuss the design of the cake with the pâtissier, leaving Arnold and Helga alone at the table.

"You like chocolate, don't you?" Arnold asked a little teasingly.

"Hey, anyone who claims they don't are either liars, health-maniacs or insane." She insisted. "Don't tell me you don't like chocolate?"

"I do, but you seem to love it a tad more."

"It's just been a while since I had any!" Helga insisted while pouting. Arnold didn't have it in him to apologize for teasing her because he was enjoying her sudden shyness too much; it didn't happen too often after all.

Once Miriam and Miles had finished with the pâtissier, they told their children to grab the remains of the samples to bring home. To no one's surprise, Helga grabbed the chocolate ones.

Despite feeling quite full already, Arnold and Helga still grabbed some of the cake samples and ran into Arnold's room to eat them.

"I'm going to gain five pounds from eating all this cake." Helga declared as she sat crisscross on the carpet-clad floor. She didn't seem to care though as she scooped up some Marcel Gateau on her fork and practically shoved it into her mouth.

Arnold sat down next to her. "Knowing you, you'll probably lose them within a week." He said in humor.

"You telling me I work out too much?"

"Oh, no. No." Arnold insisted, remembering the first time he had seen Helga work out in the garden. It was the first time he had seen her out of her usual hoodies and baggy pants. It was before the incident where he saw her in her bra; he had realized she was actually quite slender. She had what you'd call an athletic body, her muscles were toned when she flexed, but they were almost invisible if she relaxed. He always thought that if a guy decided to attack her, he was in for one hell of a surprise. He wouldn't get out of that without a broken bone… or a concussion.

Helga's giggling caught Arnold's ear. She pointed at him in an oddly cute way. "You've got chocolate on your cheek and your mouth." She stated, trying to stifle her laughter.

Arnold blushed a bit and reached for a tissue, but realized they hadn't brought any. "Oh, uh, I'll go and get some napkins." He said and put his plate down, ready to stand up.

"No, no, hold on. Don't bother." Helga said as if it was a huge bother to go downstairs. "Come here." She made a come-hither gesture before licking her thumb and rubbed Arnold's cheek with it.

He wanted to tell her it was gross, to react how anyone else probably would have reacted in that situation, but he realized he didn't find it gross at all; if anything he felt embarrassed about liking the feeling of her hand on his cheek, saliva on it or not.

Helga snickered. "Criminy, it won't come off!"

"You're kidding!"

"I'm not!" Helga insisted and pulled her hand back. She looked around, thinking, but then she looked at him again. "Stubborn." She told the chocolate before moving promptly towards him.

Arnold inhaled sharply when he felt his stepsister's tongue on his cheek, licking the chocolate off in one swift motion. He felt his knuckles turning white from gripping his pants in nerviness while the rest of his body was frozen in its position. Helga moved to the corner of his mouth, trying to remove the chocolate there as well. Her tongue felt soft and she licked the chocolate off slowly. Arnold couldn't help but let a moan escape.

Once he did, Helga moved back as she gave him a satisfied smile. "I really do like chocolate…" she hummed and leaned back against the bed. She watched him as she scooped up more of the cake and smiled as she left the fork in her mouth.

Arnold blinked in shock. Typical! He thought in the back of his head as she continued eating her cake as if nothing had happened. As soon as I start feeling normal around her, she goes and does something like this! How am I supposed to act around her now?

"Hey, want to play a game?" Helga asked, put her plate down and moved towards his TV on all fours.

Arnold shut his eyes. "Yeah, sure." He said with a bit of a strained voice, happy he reacted quickly before he saw anything he wouldn't be able to tear his eyes off.

Just then Arnold's cell rang and he pulled it out of his pocket. "Hello?" he asked and noticed Helga had sat on her knees and was looking at him curiously. "Oh, hi, Rhonda." He said and Helga stuck her tongue out in displeasure at the name; he had to hold back a snicker at the sight.

Helga kept looking through Arnold's games while she silently listened to his conversation with Rhonda. "A party?" he repeated. "Isn't that kind of short notice?" he asked. Helga couldn't help but look curiously at him again. "Oh, your parents didn't tell you they were leaving until just now…" he said thoughtfully aloud, mostly to tell Helga some details.

That made the blonde girl curious; she knew Rhonda had money, but just how much money did she have to be able to throw a random party out of nowhere? Oh, well. Not that I really care. She decided and looked through the games again.

"Uh… sure, I might go, but, uh… is Helga invited too?" Arnold asked, looking at Helga who stuck her tongue out in disgust once more even without looking at him.

"Of course she is!" Rhonda answered loudly at the other side of the phone and Arnold put the phone away from his ear so Helga could hear her. "I just don't have Helga's number, but you two live together so I figured you'd tell her."

Helga sat next to Arnold and put her ear near the phone. She was in shock; why was Rhonda inviting her? She hated her, didn't she?

"Ok, Rhonda. We'll think about it, ok? Thank you for the invitation." Arnold said and after a short moment, hung up. He looked expectantly at Helga. "Well?"

The blonde crossed her arms and shook her head. "I hate parties. And why would Rhonda want to invite me anyway? It's fishy." She stated.

"Oh, not at all. Rhonda always invites everyone. She cares more about the whole class being at her party than whether she likes people or not. She was fighting with Nadine once and they hadn't talked for a week, but she invited her to her party anyway." Arnold explained.

That made Helga less suspicious and she moved to lean against the bed. "Do you really want to go?" she asked.

Arnold shrugged. "I'm not going if you're not." He said with a loyal smile. Truth be told, he was never extremely fond of Rhonda's parties; they usually turned out to be these parties that would start out innocently enough, but all of a sudden everyone was so drunk they couldn't stand and these awkward party games would begin and he didn't care much for either of that. Though he did think it might be fun to actually party with Helga.

"Oh, that's just cruel; a really low way of guilt tripping me into doing this." Helga said and stuck her tongue out at him, but then smiled. "Fine. I'll go. Who knows? It might be fun… but I'm not getting all dressed up."

"No one expects you to. It's only Rhonda who does and she likes it like that."

Helga snorted before moving towards Arnold's games again. "I can imagine."

Arnold and Helga spent most of their day playing video games until it was time to go to Rhonda's party. Helga had stood by her word and not dressed up, but she wasn't wearing one of her hoodies either. She was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans and a loose white top with black and pink graffiti on it, which was loose enough to hang down one of her shoulders. Arnold was wearing one of his blue jeans as well along with a black dress shirt. He usually didn't like dark colors, but Helga had insisted it looked good because it was different and had even tied his hair into a ponytail.

Arnold kept touching the ponytail as he sat next to Helga in the car. He was feeling extremely self-conscious because of it. "Are you sure I don't look stupid?" he asked and looked at himself in the rearview mirror.

Helga chuckled. "I swear. You should be happy you can pull it off; most guys can't… and they do it anyway. Besides," she answered and flipped her own ponytail. "now we match."

Arnold snickered at her comment, feeling less conscious already. "Oh, turn left here." He said.

Helga did and saw Rhonda's mansion up on the hill. "Whoa. Who are her parents anyway?"

"Her dad Buckley is a stockbroker and I'm not sure what her mom Brooke does exactly… maybe she assists him?" Arnold suggested with a shrug.

"Sheesh. And my dad is just the Beeper King." Helga joked before parking outside the mansion.

"Beeper King?" Arnold repeated in confusion, the name ringing a bell. "Wait. You mean the Beeper King?"

"The Beeper King? My dad has competition?" Helga asked as she unlocked her belt and stepped out of the car.

"The one who is in all those commercials?" Arnold asked as he joined her outside. "That's your dad?"

"You just realized? How many people are called Big Bob?" she asked jokingly.

"Well, I-I know, but… you never told me directly so…" he insisted, but that just caused Helga to laugh.

"I knew it! You really are dense!" she stated before looking towards the front door and quirking a curious eyebrow at the sight of a butler standing stiff near it. "Who's that?"

"Her butler." Arnold replied just as uncomfortably before waving at the man. "Arnold Shortman and Helga Pataki."

The man nodded and opened the door for them. Helga looked at him over her shoulder as they walked in. "Who does Rhonda think she is? The queen of Hillwood?" she asked semi-jokingly and looked around. The mansion looked like… well, however you'd think a mansion would look like; except it was filled with teenagers.

"Helga!" a happy female voice said.

Helga smiled when she recognized the girl. "Phoebe! You're here!" she said in surprise and noticed Gerald following her behind her. She quickly hugged the girl. "You two are here together?" she asked curiously while Gerald said hello to Arnold.

"Oh, well, um…" Phoebe muttered shyly and looked at Gerald for help.

The tall, African-American boy looked guilty and uneasy as Helga stared him down. "Um… please don't kill me." He pleaded.

Helga laughed loudly. "I won't… as long as you behave that is." She said and put her arm over Phoebe. "Think of me as Phoebe's big brother. If you hurt her, I will hurt you."

"Helga!" Phoebe scolded in embarrassment, but she couldn't help but smile as well; it was nice to know Helga cared that much. "W-We'll go and get some drinks." She said and pulled her taller friend with her.

"Be careful. I think Helga's serious." Arnold said with a smile.

"She doesn't have to worry; I like Phoebe." Gerald said in a grin and pushed at Arnold's shoulder. "By the way, I didn't think this would be Helga's scene."

"It's not, but I convinced her." Arnold explained, earning a proud pat on his back from his taller friend.

"Nice. By the way, Lila's been asking for you." Gerald said, but noticed Arnold's grimace. "What's wrong? I figured that would make you happy."

"Actually, no… I've given up on her."

"You serious?"

"Yeah… though I guess I haven't been clear about it since she's asking for me."

Gerald groaned in relief. "Finally! I was just waiting for this dance of death to stop." He said.

Arnold was obviously confused. "What? Really? I-I thought everyone in the class was kinda cheering for us to get together or something." He admitted.

Gerald tilted his head from side to side. "That's how it started, man, but soon everyone got tired of you two. I can't speak for everyone, but I think Lila's been really annoying through this whole thing between you two. Besides, you look like a kicked puppy whenever she hurts you."

Arnold looked at the floor. "Helga said the same thing."

"See? She hasn't even known you for that long and even she can see you should be with someone else." Gerald said in a grin. Arnold smiled at him; he knew that too now. The problem was he was starting to wonder if he should be with someone else or not. Particularly because he had a candidate in mind which was completely off limits. And yet he had started entertaining hope lately.

"Oh, good evening, Arnold."

Arnold flinched at the sweet voice and gulped as he turned to look at Lila. "Oh, hi, Lila…"

Lila seemed about to say something, but then frowned when she saw him. She put a hand to her mouth and giggled. "Why are you wearing your hair like that?" she asked, her shoulders shaking form her laughter.

Arnold frowned. "Helga's idea; she said it looked good."

"It looks rather girly, Arnold." Lila insisted.

"Naw, I actually think Helga's right." Gerald said and played with Arnold's ponytail teasingly. "Looks good on you, buddy." He added. Arnold waved his hand off, but smiled thankfully at him. He decided not to care that Lila was shaking her head in disbelief.

"I was hoping you'd come tonight. Actually, I want to talk to you about something… Do you mind?" she asked as she pointed towards the stairs, indicating she wanted to be alone for this conversation.

Arnold sighed and followed her. He figured it was a good idea to talk to Lila and make it official that he had given up on her. The more he thought about it, the more he wondered if he even had any romantic feelings towards her at all. And if he didn't, when did they disappear?

"Arnold." Lila said and said boy noticed they were now alone in a room. A bedroom he realized when he noticed the bed. That made him feel queasy; one thing was to be alone with Lila, but did it have to be in a bedroom? "I want to apologize to you." She said softly to Arnold's surprise. "I know I've been ever so indecisive and that I haven't been very kind to you through all this. I've been going back and forth, unsure of what I want… but I swear that's over now. I've made my decision and I'm sticking to it this time. I like you, Arnold. And I want to try and date you." She said in a smile that clearly indicated she thought Arnold would be ecstatic to hear this.

Problem was it was at least a month too late for Arnold to hear this. He bit his lower lip and sighed. He didn't like hurting people, but he knew he had to this time unless he wanted to fool both himself and her in the long run.

"Lila… I'm happy to hear that, but… I don't want to reconcile." he said gently, noticing the shocked look on the redhead's face. "You've told me this before; that you've finally made your decision, but you always go back on your word and I can't do this anymore."

"B-But I mean it this time, I swear. Arnold, please…" Lila said and approached Arnold. He could smell her perfume now, it was something inanely sweet like strawberries mixed with sugar and honey. He felt like he was in a candy store, but not in a good way. Before he could pull away, she had kissed his cheek.

Arnold flinched and glared at her. "I believe you, Lila, like I've done the other times… The problem is I've given up now… and I think I don't have any romantic feelings towards you at all." He said with what he hoped sounded as determination. He didn't want to risk her trying to kiss him again.

"… None?" Lila inquired in a hurt voice.

"None… I'm actually quite sure now because… all I really feel after hearing you say this is guilt because I don't feel that way towards you anymore." Arnold said and put his hand on the door handle. "I'm really sorry."

"Arnold, wait." Lila said and put her hand over his before he could open the door. "Please give me one last chance. Just one last chance."

"I can't, Lila. This isn't about trusting you anymore, it's about me not having feelings for you. I can't change how I feel." Arnold insisted, staring straight into her eyes; hoping she would understand. Her lips were quivering and he imagined she was holding back tears. He was about to look away, he couldn't handle seeing someone cry because of him, but Lila stopped him from turning away.

Arnold was in a complete state of shock. He felt frozen in place and simple body mechanics were failing him. He wanted to run away, but he was just staring at Lila's closed eyelids which he noticed were coated with a blue eye shadow that didn't suit her at all. Her lips tasted of strawberries coated with sugar, it was sickeningly sweet and at the smell of strawberries, he finally pulled away.

"Lila!" he scolded and tried opening the door, but she kissed him again. He told her to stop in a muffled voice and whipped his head away, only for her to start kissing his jaw and throat. It felt disgusting. It was nothing like when Helga kissed him or touched him. He didn't want to harm Lila, but he felt himself push her away by her shoulders. Once she had let go of him, he opened the door and stormed outside.

"Arnold, please!" she begged, but he didn't stop this time. He ran down the stairs, feeling his heart jump into his throat in the form a lump, which made it hard for him to breathe. He felt like throwing up and his hand rubbed roughly against his lips to get the repulsively saccharine taste off.

Arnold heard Gerald asking him what had happened, but he didn't answer as he just headed towards Helga who was talking with Phoebe with a drink in her hand. "Helga." He said in urgency.

The blonde girl looked at him, her eyebrows knitting together when she saw the distressed look on his face. "What's wrong?" she asked as he put a hand on her shoulder.

"I want to go home… please."

Helga stared at him in shock. "We just got here." She reminded him, but patted Phoebe goodbye on her shoulder nevertheless.

"I-I know, but…" Arnold said, trying to figure out a way to convince her, but Helga wasn't hesitating. She took him by his hand and pulled him out of the room and towards the front door. She remembered the drink in her hand and handed it to the butler near the door who frowned at her, but opened the door for them anyhow.

Helga looked at Arnold over her shoulder as they headed towards the car, noticing how he seemed about to either throw up or start sobbing. She stopped near the car and turned to hug him. She had no idea what was going on, but the face he was making made her shiver; it was worse than the kicked puppy look. His arms went around her and he held her tightly, almost desperately.

"We'll talk when we got home." Helga said, caressed the back of his head and leaned back to look at him. He nodded at her and sat in the car once she opened the door. She walked around the car, but noticed someone coming out of the house in her peripheral vision. She halted when she saw it was Lila and that she was heading towards them.

Helga put two and two together and walked towards her. Lila was saying something, but the blonde wasn't listen. When she was close enough, Helga lifted her hand and slapped Lila so hard the sound echoed in the dark night. Lila put her hand on her cheek and looked at Helga in fear and confusion.

Helga pointed warningly at the redhead. "I'm not sure what you did to him… but since karma refused to do it, I slapped you instead." She said and turned her back to her. "Don't say I didn't warn you." She added before walking back to the car. She sat inside and looked at Arnold who seemed oblivious to what had just happened.

Helga looked at Lila in the rearview before starting the car and driving backwards. She couldn't help herself; since Lila didn't move, Helga drove dangerously close to the girl. Lila jumped back in fright even though Helga was nowhere near hitting her, before driving away.

It felt like an eternity before they reached their house, though in reality it had only taken them ten minutes. As soon as Helga stopped the car, Arnold jumped out of it. She called him before jumping out herself, quickly locking the doors before following him. He walked into the house and left the door open, but didn't wait for her. She followed him up the stairs and through the door into his room, which he had also left open for her.

"Ok, all I know is that this is about Lila." Helga said before closing the door behind her. She was grateful that Miles and Miriam had already gone to bed, both believing their children would be out late and didn't want to stay up and wait for them. The blonde crossed her arms, watching as Arnold pulled his hands through his hair. He was breathing hard and he looked around pensively. "Arnold, what happened?"

Arnold looked at Helga. He felt so guilty when he saw the worried expression on her face. He knew that wasn't the only reason though and that was why he was hesitating. He knew he had to tell her, he knew he wanted to tell her, but he felt so guilty for not having pushed Lila away earlier or have been capable of avoiding it.

"Lila kissed me." Arnold said without any warning and as soon as he heard himself saying it, he put his palms against his eyes to stop himself for crying. He hated himself for not having been able to stop her. He hated himself for letting it get this far and he hated himself because all this made him realize all the more how strongly he already felt for Helga. She was his stepsister, someone he couldn't have. It felt like history was repeating itself, but in a different direction.

Arnold removed his hands and noticed Helga had sat down on his bed. His heart was beating, but not with excitement; he was scared. The look she was giving him was one he couldn't decipher, but there was a hint of anger in there.

"Sit." Helga ordered and Arnold felt himself move towards her and sit down in front of her. He was about to look down in shame, but she grabbed his chin and made him look at her. "Explain. How did this happen?"

"Lila said she wanted to talk and I just wanted to tell her I didn't have any interest anymore. Then she started talking about how she was sure this time and she wanted me to give her a chance."

"And you fell for that?"

"No!"

"Then why did you let her kiss you?"

"I didn't let her do anything! She had me trapped against the door, she was holding the doorknob and I couldn't get away before I pushed her!" Arnold insisted, hearing his voice starting to sob. He felt miserable. Helga was clearly angry with him, no matter the reason and he was just as angry with himself.

He felt Helga's hand leave his chin and it felt slightly tender from her hard grip. "Where did she kiss you?" the abrasive blonde asked.

Arnold looked down in shame. "Cheek… f-first." He admitted. He could see her body shift on the bed and then felt her lips against his cheek. He froze, but not the same way he had done when Lila had kissed him. He simply didn't wish to move at all.

"First?" Helga questioned in his ear.

The boy shivered a bit from the tickle of her whisper. "Th-Then…" he hesitated shyly.

"Then?"

Arnold gulped. "M-My mouth…" he said. Her hands went to his cheeks and she kissed him affectionately, her fingertips caressing his cheeks in a slow motion. He was about to close his eyes, but then she moved away, looking at him intensely. "What are you doing…?" he panted, feeling how his heartbeat was speeding up.

"Cleaning you." Helga replied nonchalantly and kissed his nose for effect. He gave her a questioning look, but he showed no sign that he wanted her to stop. "You reek of her… You smell like strawberries, sugar and honey and it's nauseating because it's how she smells." She explained and kissed him again, this time harder. He gasped when he felt her tongue lick his lips, but she pulled away once more before he could close his eyes. "Where else?"

"J… Jaw and throat…" Arnold said and lifted his head the moment Helga dived for his jaw. He moaned at the intense feeling of her lips caressing him from his chin and down to his Adam's apple. She suckled on the bump and she felt it move when he gulped. It took little to no effort on her part to get him to lie down on the bed; his muscles were weakening from her touch. He was looking at her with unadulterated desire, feeling his fingers twitch from wanting to touch her so badly, but fear was holding him back; he didn't want to risk her stopping.

Helga grabbed Arnold's hands and moved them above his head, letting herself lean down until their chests touched and he gulped again, his hips moving upwards inevitably. Her nose nuzzled against his and he couldn't resist her lips being so close to his own. He lifted his head, kissing her fervently, hoping his enthusiasm didn't cause her to turn away, but she didn't. She opened her mouth, coaxing him into opening his as well and when he did, he felt her tongue against his own.

Arnold was shivering at this point, his moans growing more frequent. His tangled fingers tightened around hers desperately and she tightened back, encouraging his action. At this point, she was seated on his hips and was starting to grind against him. He sighed sharply through his nose when he felt heat collect in his lower abdomen and he knew if she kept this up, something very embarrassing would happen.

As if Helga knew what he was thinking, she stopped the kiss and smiled down at him. "Feel better?" she asked, her breath heavy and ragged. Arnold nodded gently, smiling a little sheepishly. She closed her eyes and inhaled his scent. "You definitely smell better…" she stated in a whisper.

Arnold tittered lowly. "I smell like you now…" he whispered self-consciously, his smile twitching timidly.

She giggled in a low voice. "Complaining?" she asked, but Arnold shook his head because that was the unpolluted and untainted truth.

Author's 2nd note: I hope that since I didn't upload a chapter yesterday that this chapter being uploaded early today can make up for it xD