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: Even though Miles and Miriam asked Helga what was wrong, the blonde girl still refused to tell them that Bob had come to visit and had threatened to take her away from them. She insisted she didn't take him seriously though when Arnold voiced his concerns.

Later that evening, a boy from Helga's past called her and told her he would be picking her up from school the next day. She told Arnold that this guy had tried hitting on her and when she had punched him, she had gotten more than a little unpopular with the rest of the school due to his status.

True to his words, Wolfgang did indeed try to give Helga a ride home, but she continuously told him no. On their way home, both blondes hoped that would be the last they'd see of both Wolfgang and Bob.

Author's 1st note: I am so, so sorry this one took so long! I blame school! I'm so tired now that I've started again Dx Anyways! Look forward to reading this chapter ~ We have some development coming up! xD It's a little sad at first, but then it gets happy, I promise! Cx

And super many thanks to 106Eli who has once again made an amazing cover for this story! :D

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

Chapter 10: "A voice so loud"

Bob hadn't showed his face since Sunday nor had Wolfgang showed up at their school. It almost seemed too good to be true, but the blondes didn't feel quite safe yet. They refused to put a welcome mat for the devil before he even showed up though, so they continued their days like nothing had happened.

Autumn had also truly come to Hillwood and it was now so cold that Helga had finally caved in and started wearing the pink, knitted scarf Olga had made her just before their parents got divorced. She hated the scarf with a burning passion though and after being forced to wear it for one day, she had gone and bought one herself, throwing Olga's one out later. It was perhaps a childish action, but no one dared scolding her for it.

Helga was in fact playing with her new scarf during recess when she overheard Arnold talking with the boys in their class. Most, but not all of them had seen his new house, but they were planning to change that.

"Oh, come on, Arnold. A slumber party would be awesome! Just like when we were children." Sid bellowed.

"I don't know, Sid. It's kinda short notice. I need to ask my parents first too and - - "

"Then do it." Harold said as he pushed at Arnold's shoulder. "Like Sid says, this could be fun. Nothing but video games and pizza through the whole night!"

"I don't know…" Arnold said unsurely and looked at Helga over his shoulder. "What do you think, Helga?"

The blonde looked at her stepbrother in surprise. "What are you asking me for?"

Arnold wasn't sure; perhaps he truly was following her like a lost puppy? "You… live there. I figured I should ask for your permission too." He decided. If he had been honest though, he would have added that he wanted her to join them. It was supposed to be a boys' night, but it was hard imagining spending even an hour away from her; she was around him 24/7 after all.

"Be my guest." Helga declared and started playing with her scarf again, clearly lacking interest in the subject. Arnold was almost disappointed; it wasn't like he didn't want to hang out with his friends, frankly he could use something to take his minds off his horrible situation with his stepsister, but the thought of having Helga in the same house, but in a different room, sounded so foreign.

Basically, what happened through the rest of the recess, was that the boys invited themselves to Arnold's house this night and they all promised to bring snacks, games and drinks with them. Miriam and Miles even insisted on sleeping at Sunset Arms so the teenagers could have the house to themselves. Arnold had a feeling they just didn't want to listen to them all night though and he couldn't blame them.

When the blonde stepsiblings got home, the male one started preparing for the guests; he made a space in the living where they all could play video games. The living room was bigger than his room after all. He made a bit of a pillow fort in front of the TV to make it cozier.

When he was finished, Helga walked down the stairs. "Whoa. Place looks ready for some serious male bonding." She teased and continued towards the kitchen.

Arnold took one last look at his work before following her. "Hey, Helga?" he said and watched as she opened the refrigerator.

"Yup?" she inquired before grabbing a Yahoo soda. "Mind if I steal this?"

"No, no. Go ahead. I was actually going to ask you if you wanted to join us."

Helga opened the can and the familiar sizzle of carbonic acid rose from inside the can. "Me?" she questioned and took a sip. "I thought it was a boys' night?"

"Well, you are kinda one of the boys."

Helga quirked an eyebrow at his comment before she approached him and gave him a sudden and deep kiss. He inhaled sharply through his nose; it had been a while since they had kissed and it came out of nowhere. He barely got to respond before her lips were gone.

"That makes you kinda gay, doesn't it?" she joked.

At first, he had no idea what the blonde was referring to, but when he remembered, he rolled his eyes. "You know what I meant."

She hummed. "Well, I don't exactly have any plans, but I don't think your homeboys would be very keen on letting me join you."

"Why not? They like you."

"Not since I slapped Mary Sunshine, they don't."

"Mary…? Oh, Lila. Well… I'm sure they're over that."

"Doubt it. Stinky was so furious, I almost thought he'd eat my brain like a lemon pudding."

"Stinky likes Lila, that doesn't count."

"The other boys aren't fond of me either."

"Gerald still likes you."

"He's obligated to; I'm his best friend's stepsister!"

"No, it's because he knows the full story."

Helga blinked. "Oh, yeah! Pray tell, how come he is in fact the only one who knows the full story? I mean, I don't give two shits what they think of me, but don't you want people to take your side in this?"

Arnold shrugged. "Once the boys have an idea in their heads, they usually stick to it."

"They wouldn't believe you?"

"I've liked Lila for such a long time that her kissing me should be something I would have liked; there's no way they'd believe she had to force herself on me."

"They're your friends; shouldn't they listen to what you're saying now rather than what you said before?"

Arnold didn't have a retort to that since it was the truth. They should believe him and perhaps some of them would if he gave them the chance, but experiences from the past made him doubtful. Sid was for example a very distrustful person. Arnold thought he wouldn't believe him by a long shot. After the money incident in fourth grade, he had a hard time trusting Sid himself. Sid had basically turned every fourth grader against him that day all because of a misunderstanding. It wasn't something even a kind and naïve boy like Arnold could forget so easily.

"Yoo-hoo?" Helga said as she waved her hand in front of Arnold's face.

The boy shook his head, slowly coming back from his reverie. "Oh, uh. Sorry… Anyways, I'll try to tell them I guess, but I just don't think it's going to help…" he admitted. I think they are angrier with Helga too than they are with me… which is exactly why I should've corrected this misunderstand right away. Everyone else but our class has forgotten already; why can't they?

"Whoa, that's a quick change of heart. What caused that?"

"You did." Arnold replied nonchalantly without thinking about his answer beforehand. When he realized though and looked at Helga to observe her reaction, he hadn't expected the very distinct blush on her cheeks. It made him blush as well because the sight was just so cute and so unexpected at the same time.

Before Arnold knew what he was doing, he had grabbed his stepsister's cheeks and was kissing her. He couldn't resist her; she looked so kissable right then with reddened cheeks and eyes wide in wonder. This time, it was she who gasped in slight surprise. Her grip on her soda tightened so she wouldn't drop it out of shock, but she quickly decided to put it down on the kitchen desk instead. Once she had, her hands went into his hair and she kissed him with so much fervor that it left him breathless.

Once more Arnold wasn't sure who had made the motion, but Helga was suddenly sitting on the counter, her head now higher than Arnold's than usual, but not by much. Her fingers caressed his cheeks and his neck as her tongue stroked his lips. Everything about her was just intoxicating and he wanted to taste more of her. Since she was at the perfect height, he decided to try and kiss her collarbone as he had done once before. She kissed the top of his head encouragingly and let go of his face so he would have room without feeling pressure.

Helga was wearing one of her more casual tank tops as she usually did when she just at home, which made this a lot easier than if she had been wearing one of her many hoodies. He made a trail of his tongue print from her throat and ended the path with a kiss on her chin. She made a quivering moan and it was still such a foreign sound that he had to strain his ears to make sure he had actually heard it. The lower he kissed, the heavier her breath became and the braver her got. He was at the edge of her tank top when they heard the doorbell ring.

Arnold froze. "You've gotta be kidding me…" he whispered.

Helga groaned as she let her head fall back. "Criminy, this is going to be a running joke, isn't it?"

"It's not funny…" Arnold muttered with a pout and leaned back.

Helga cooed sympathetically and kissed him once before jumping off the counter. "You invited them."

"The hell I did; they invited themselves!"

"Arnold, you're starting to sound like me."

"What do you mean?"

"You just said hell. I think that's the first time I ever heard you curse." Helga said in proud awe. Arnold's hand went to his mouth in shock. Not only was he in love with his stepsister, now he was talking like her too? He hoped no one would notice if he made another slip-up like that. "Go and let them in, Football Head."

Helga started pushing gently at Arnold's back and she followed him into the living room, but went to sit on the pillow fort before they reached the doorway. He smirked at the way she had jumped into the pillows as if it was a bouncy castle. She stuck her tongue out at him, well aware he found her childish action amusing. He chuckled before heading towards the door and opened it.

"Hi, buddy." Gerald greeted before walking inside. Arnold looked behind him for a moment, but he was the only one there. "I noticed Stinky, Sid and Harold in the convenience store a second ago. They should be here soon."

Arnold nodded and looked at Gerald nervously. "I think I'm gonna try to tell them what happened at Rhonda's party."

Gerald blinked in surprise. "Finally growing some backbone, huh? Is that thanks to that stepsister of yours?"

"I'm afraid so!" Helga yelled from the living room. "He said hell earlier too!"

Gerald quirked an eyebrow in Arnold's direction who simply shrugged innocently. The boys went into the living room and Gerald laughed at the sight of the pillow fort. "Nice." He observed and noticed Helga amongst the pillows. "What's she doing here though?"

"What? You have something against me being in my own house?"

"No, but you're clearly joining us, aren't you? I don't mind; I still think you're cool, but the boys might not agree with me."

"Which is also why I'm going to tell them what happened." Arnold interfered. He caught Helga's eyes and smiled back at her.

Gerald looked between them for a moment, but then shook his head. "I'll try and help you, dude, but it might be harder than you think. Helga's basically the evil witch in their eyes now. No offense."

"None taken since I'm guessing that makes Lila the useless princess in that scenario."

Gerald rolled his eyes at Helga's comment. "Except for the obvious nastiness behind your words, that looking at the bright side attitude might be something you have picked up from Arnold."

Helga snickered, but did nothing else. Arnold almost went shy; he hadn't thought he would have rubbed off on Helga too, but he was glad he did. It meant she liked him if even just a little bit.

"Anyways," Gerald interfered. "how are you planning to go about this?"

"Well, I - - " Arnold started, but was interrupted by the doorbell. "I don't have a plan, Gerald. I'm just going to tell them and trust them to believe me." He answered as he walked out of the room.

"This isn't going to go as well as you two think." Gerald said before sitting next to Helga, though he sat on the couch behind her.

"Arnold doesn't think this is going to be easy at all." She answered and looked at him. "Care to tell me why such a naïve and trustful guy has so little belief in his friends? What's wrong with them?"

Gerald scowled at her; he liked Helga, but sometimes he didn't like her I-know-better attitude. "It's not that he can't trust them, but boys are stubborn."

"So are girls, that's no excuse. If they were real friends, they'd trust him."

"Hey, I trust him!"

"I wasn't talking about you, I was talking about the others! Sheesh, why are you getting so defensive?" Helga asked with her eyebrows knitted together. Gerald didn't know how to answer that; he just did. Maybe he was embarrassed on the boys' behalf or maybe he didn't really trust them either? He wasn't sure and he didn't get much time to think about it.

"Are you ready to have some fun!" Sid's voice bellowed before he appeared in the living room. He noticed Gerald and Helga sitting amongst the pillows and looked at her. He frowned. "What's she doing here?"

"She lives here." Arnold retorted, already growing slightly angry with Sid's attitude.

"But she doesn't live in this room. I can't believe you're still talking to her after what she did to Lila; why aren't you angry with her?"

"Because - - "

"I'd think you of all people would take Lila's side on this." Stinky said as he crossed his arms, scowling in Helga's direction.

"Yes, but - - "

"Don't but us! She slapped Lila! Who slaps a girl like that?" Harold interfered.

"Would you shut up!" Arnold yelled, which finally caused them all to be quiet, mostly out of shock. He went towards Helga and pointed at her. "The only reason she slapped Lila was because Lila forced herself on me."

The boys stared at him for what felt like a long time before they started laughing. "Oh, that's rich!" Sid said and the others agreed. "As if Lila would force herself on anyone!"

"Well, she did." Arnold insisted and crossed his arms.

"What?" Harold questioned, still laughing. "And why did you mind? Shouldn't you be happy?"

"I stopped liking Lila at the beginning of fall so no."

The boys went quiet and looked at each other questioningly. "Wait…" Stinky said and started scratching his head. "I'm confused."

"Yeah, me too!" Harold said in a loud voice. "If you don't like Lila anymore, why did she kiss you?"

"She claimed she had made up her mind, but so had I. I thought I had already made that clear to her when I chose Helga over her, but - - "

"Whoa, whoa, whoa – wait." Gerald interjected. "Chose Helga over Lila?"

Arnold blushed. "N-Not like that!" he lied. "When Lila came over here to hang out, I told her to leave. Helga helped me realize I'm not getting anywhere with Lila so I've given up and she… didn't take it too well."

Stinky kept scratching his head in confusion while Harold and Sid crossed their arms. Harold seemed to think it through while Sid seemed suspicious. "I don't get it." He said. "You've liked Lila for so long. What happened?"

Arnold couldn't tell the truth; not the whole truth at least, but he looked at Helga anyway. "She knocked some sense into me." He said and looked back at the boys. "Lila's been stringing me along all this time. Stinky, did you know that I called Lila when you were at the Kiska with her?"

"What?" Stinky said in surprise. "I… I didn't know."

"I didn't want you to either, but I think she might be stringing you along too so I thought I should tell you. I don't want her to hurt you too." Arnold said sensibly and Stinky went quiet, looking away as he did so.

The whole room was in general quiet until Helga stood up. "Well, I can see I'm still not welcome here. Thanks for trying, bro." she said, patted Arnold's shoulder once and headed towards the doorframe.

"Hold on." Sid said reluctantly and she stopped to look at him. They stared each other down for a moment. "Was that really the only reason you slapped her?"

"Well, that and I don't like her, but that's also because of the way she treated Arnold."

The boys went quiet at that. They were clearly having an internal battle. On one side was a girl they've known for years; a girl they had consider sweeter than sugar whom they were now questioning was as kind as they had thought. On the other side was a girl they had known for a few months, a cool girl who was definitely lacking in moral for having slapped formerly mentioned girl. Helga and Arnold, a boy they knew wouldn't hurt a fly, were claiming one thing while Lila had said nothing at all. The boys were thinking hard.

"Look," Arnold said. "I'm not saying I agree with Helga when she slapped Lila." Helga stuck her tongue out at him at the comment, but he ignored it. "But Helga really isn't a bad person. I'm not saying Lila is, but… let's just say I've seen a side of her I don't like."

The boys visibly relaxed. "So," Harold started and looked at Helga. "Lila was jerking Arnold around and that's why you slapped her?" he asked. The blonde girl shrugged casually, but then nodded.

The boys were quiet for a while, but then started laughing hysterically. Helga, Arnold and Gerald all stared at the three friends in disbelief, unsure how to react to the sudden change in mood.

"Boy howdy, Arnold! What a change of the girl in your life!" Stinky bellowed, his shoulder shaking with laughter.

"Yeah, from sweet to violent!" Sid added.

"Ch-Change of girl? What exactly do you think is going on between Helga and me?" Arnold asked in fear.

"N-Nothing." Harold answered as they continued laughing. "I-It's just… you used to like Lila so much and in no time at all Helga has changed your mind."

"No time at all? That's not how it felt." Helga interfered, which caused the boys to laugh even louder. "I had to leave my own fucking house before I convinced him."

"Ok, that's enough." Arnold begged with reddened cheeks, but Helga just joined the laughter and Gerald did as well. The blonde boy huffed in embarrassment before his eyes locked with a pair of blue ones and he smiled. This is really bad. He thought despite his happy face. I am really in love with Helga…

After the mood had been lifted Helga joined the boys without any questions asked. They played video games for many hours before the pizza arrived and they started eating. They were all laughing and having fun and the whole Lila incident was forgotten.

Once the pizza was gone, Sid declared he wanted to do something else.

"Like what?" Gerald asked.

"I don't know! Just something random and weird."

Helga snorted. "We could play dress-up." She joked, which earned a few laughs.

"Yes!" Sid bellowed happily though. "Let's play dress-up!"

Helga was gawking at him. "I was joking, you know."

"I'm not. Come on! I want to do something weird!"

"You are weird." Gerald contorted, but started smiling. "It could be fun though."

"Gerald?" Arnold questioned, surprised how they all seemed so onboard with it.

"I do have this really ugly gown Olga gave me." Helga muttered. Arnold couldn't help but laugh; it was all so strange. "I'm not wearing it though. I think one of you boys should."

"No way!" most of the boys exclaimed. "You're the only girl here; you wear it."

Helga huffed, but stood up anyway. "I might be the only girl, but I'm not the most girly one here." She insisted, shooting a deliberate gaze in Arnold's direction as she started walking.

"Excuse me!" Arnold cried, sounding like Henry the Lizard from Amazing Animals. The others laughed though and soon, their creativity was put to the test.

While Helga was changing, the boys had to figure something out on their own. They used pillow cases, blankets and basically anything they could get their hands on. Soon they all looked like something belonging in a low-budget children's movie.

"You look ridiculous." Gerald stated as he eyed the handle-less strainer on Arnold's head and the platter tied around his chest. "What are you; the tin man?"

"What are you?" Arnold retorted, eyeing the black cloth wrapped around Gerald's body. "A bad excuse for a ninja?"

"I at least look like what I'm supposed to be."

"I do too! I'm a knight!"

"… You look like the tin man."

"The things I do for others' amusement." Helga could be heard saying out in the hallway. Arnold signaled for them all to be quiet and moved to hide near the doorway. "I look like Ariel from The little mermaid!"

And Helga did indeed look like Ariel in that pink dress; the sleeves were tight around her arms, but had short puff sleeves on the shoulders. Like the sleeves, the dress was tight around her chest and abdomen, but went big and wide from her waist and down to the floor; she looked prettily silly.

"Don't worry, princess." Arnold bellowed and surprised Helga so much she almost jumped into his arms, which made it easier for him to lift her into his embrace.

"Princess?!" Helga repeated in disbelief and laughed at his costume. "Does that make you my knight in shining armor?"

Arnold almost blushed at her joke, but continued his acting. "I will protect thee from those evil, uh…" he continued and eyed his friends' costumes. "Ninjas, pirates, aliens and… robots?" he questioned.

"Robot-mode activated. Beep." Stinky joked and moved like a robot.

Sid made a hoarse sound with his throat. "We do not come in peace."

"That'd be right, me lass." Harold said in a sneer.

"Arnold's a lad, I'm a lass." Helga corrected.

"I was talking to you!" Harold insisted.

"The hell you were."

"Madame Fortress Princess…"

"Get them!" Gerald shouted and ran towards Arnold and Helga with the others right behind them. Arnold and Helga shrieked artificially and the game began.

Once they were done playing, they decided to end the night with a horror movie. Despite Arnold's best attempt, there wasn't room enough for them all on the pillow fort so he had to bring the armchair to the pillow fort so he could sit there rather than on the bare wooden floor. Once he sat down on it, Helga sat on the armrest next to him, claiming she would fall asleep if she was lying on the pillows. They accepted her explanation since they were all rather tired at this point.

Arnold couldn't focus on the movie at all with Helga so close to him though, not that it wasn't an interesting movie and it was even a scary moment. He looked at Helga who was watching the screen with half-lidded eyes; she was exhausted.

The sound from the movie was mostly silent except for the sound of the girl walking on the creaking floor. She was reaching for the door handle when an axe clawed right through it with impossible ease while dramatic music played.

Helga, who had been on the brink at falling asleep, woke up in a start and fell to her left and down on Arnold's lap. "Jesus, Mary and Joseph!" she cursed and breathed heavily. The boys laughed at her reaction, but all Arnold did was blushing. The room was dark so no one could see it so he didn't bother forcing it away.

"You ok?" Arnold asked and gestured to help her sit up.

"Yeah, I was just startled." She said and let him hoist her up until she was sitting rather than lying on his lap. "I think I'll stay here though; I don't want to fall down again." She stated and frowned at Arnold's chest. She quickly pulled off the platter around his torso and the strainer from his head and put it on the floor so they wouldn't hurt her.

Arnold simply looked back at the screen, ignoring the pleasurable feeling of Helga on his lap. Gerald shot him a teasing look, but the blonde just shrugged, pretending he had no idea why it was funny or even remotely interesting that his stepsister was sitting on his lap.

As they continued watching the movie, Arnold noticed that Helga was nodding off. She only woke up whenever a jumpscare would appear on the screen only to doze off again right after. By the time the movie was done, she was in deep sleep.

"Well, I'm as dead as a zombie." Harold declared, his eyes clamping down.

"So, you're living dead." Gerald joked.

"Oh, shut up." Harold retorted and stood wobbly up from the pillow fort. "I'm going to bed."

"Me too." Stinky approved.

"Me three." Sid agreed.

"Arnold, you coming?" Gerald asked and eyed Helga on his lap. "Do you need some help with getting her to bed or something?" he asked while the other boys simply walked out of the room, leaving Gerald with Arnold and Helga.

"Oh, uh. No." Arnold answered and looked at his stepsister. "I don't want to risk waking her up and her getting angry with me; she's cranky when she's tired." He lied. In reality, he just wanted to enjoy this odd, tender moment; if she woke up and realized how loving rather than passionately he was holding her, he feared she would pull away and never come back in his arms. The mere thought was devastating.

Gerald cooed playfully. "Such a good brother." He teased, earning a scowl from Arnold.

The comment hurt because he was everything but a good brother. A good brother wouldn't lust after his own sister, step or not and a good brother would definitely not fall in love with her either and not risk just his own relationship with her, but his dad's relationship with her mom. Everything was a mess and it was the first time in Arnold's life, he couldn't find a bright side.

"Want a blanket?" Gerald asked, but didn't wait for an answer. He walked towards the couch and grabbed the blanket over the backrest.

"Thanks." Arnold said as Gerald put the blanket over Helga and Arnold.

"It's a bit of a shame though." The taller boy said thoughtfully and headed towards the doorframe. Arnold looked at him over his shoulder. "You two would probably have made a cute couple." The African boy finished and shot Arnold a look that told him he was deadly serious. Arnold flinched at the brown eyes looking at him; they told him Gerald either knew about his feelings or was starting to figure them out.

"D-Don't be disgusting, Gerald." Arnold insisted and huffed as if that was the dumbest suggestion he had ever heard. Gerald didn't say anything though; he obviously wasn't buying it. If I can't even hide it from Gerald, what are the chances Helga won't realize it too? He thought and looked away from his friend. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Gerald answered and left Arnold and Helga alone in the living room. The boy looked at his stepsister whom he considered nothing like a sister. She was moving in her sleep now and her head ended on his shoulder. Her soft breath tickled his neck and he bit on his lips before tightening his grip around her.

Painful. His mind stated as his shoulders shook. Oh, God. This hurts so much…

Helga hummed lowly. "Arnold…?" she questioned and yawned. "You're squishing me." She told him. Arnold didn't say anything, but simply loosened his grip; he didn't let completely go of her thought. She readjusted herself again to sit up properly and yawned once more. "I guess I fell asleep." She mumbled and noticed the tears in the corner of his eyes. "What's with you?"

Arnold felt a tear rolling down his cheek and quickly swiped it away even though he knew she had already seen it. "N-Nothing. I'm just tired." He lied even though it wasn't a lie. He was tired, just not physically.

Helga eyed him for a long and tense moment. Her hands moved to his cheeks and she kissed him in what he supposed was to be in a soothing manner, but it hurt. It hurt to kiss her so lovingly. It hurt to pretend she was his when she wasn't. And it hurt to love her emotionally when he could only show her physically.

Arnold took Helga's hands in his own, cradling them in his palms. "I can't do this." He declared, almost matter-of-factly, but he shivered from the mere words.

"Can't do what… exactly?" the blonde questioned and tried to capture his eyes. He didn't look at her; he didn't dare. He was afraid he would lose this pseudo-courage he felt boiling inside him.

He put her hands to his mouth and closed his eyes tightly. "I'm in love with you." He sighed and it almost felt liberating to admit it; to confess these forbidden feelings in his heart.

The feeling of relief was short-termed though because reality's cruel face showed itself when Arnold opened his eyes and saw the look of pure shock in Helga's eyes. She didn't look angry nor sad; she was simply stunned.

"I'm sorry." Arnold said, his lips quivering at this point. She still just stared at him though and he shut his eyes tight. "I'm so sorry." He repeated desperately. "I know it's wrong and probably disgusting and I wish I hadn't said anything, but now I have and I can't take it back even though I want to. I… I'm in love with you, Helga and I wish I wasn't because I don't want to mess things up between us or our parents. And I don't want to… oh, God, I won't want to lose you and what we have. Can we… Can we forget I said anything? Can we pretend this never happened?"

Helga's eyes weren't wide anymore, but they were glazed over as if they were made out of glass and she was eerily quiet. She moved away from Arnold, gripping the blanket around her arms before it fell down. He said her name, even tried to grab her arm, but he was so weak against her that she didn't even have to fight against him. She walked slowly, as if minding every step she took.

Arnold watched her for a bit before standing up. "Helga." he called again and she stopped walking. All he could see was her blonde hair cascading over the blanket; she almost looked like a ghost he couldn't reach. He wanted to beg. He wanted to plead. He wanted to go down on his knees and beg her to forget what he had said, but…

"This… isn't something you can ignore… is it?"

Helga turned her head agonizingly slowly and looked at him over her shoulder. She moved her head from one side to the other, shaking her head leisurely. It was perhaps the most excruciatingly painful sight he had ever seen. No, he was sure that it was.

"No… No, of course it isn't. This isn't something you can forget." He whispered to himself and put his hand to his forehead. He chuckled, but he didn't understand why. His teeth bit onto his lower lip, struggling to keep him from crying. He could feel his heart drop to his stomach stay there like an anchor pulling him down in the deep, dark ocean. His vision failed him and he felt like a blind man inside a labyrinth with no way out.

Then, as if by magic, he felt something other than the anchor in his stomach. A familiar, redeemable feeling lifted his heart and settled it in his chest; his vision returned and he could see his savior in front of him. She leaned back from the kiss she had bestowed upon his lips; this life-changing caress.

Arnold didn't know what this meant. The future was unclear and the unsettling feeling in his chest wasn't gone, not by a long shot. But this was the point of no return for him. He was undeniably in love and he had given his feelings a voice. A voice so loud, he wondered if she could hear it calling her.

Author's 2nd note: I am not sure how well that Henry the Lizard reference worked xD How many of you watched "Amazing animals" as kids? I watched it in Danish naturally and in Danish his name is Freddie Firben xD (Firben is Danish for lizard)