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: When it was finally time for Miles and Miriam to get married, Arnold was highly affected by the atmosphere in the church and whispered to Helga that he loved her during the ceremony. It was hard to hold back their feelings after that, and especially after singing a love song together for their parents' wedding, and the blondes were busted by the photographer who luckily didn't realize that she had busted anything at all. Once Arnold and Helga were at the hotel they had reserved for the night, Helga told him that she loved him as well.

Author's 1st note: A guest reviewer asked why Arnold and Helga were at a hotel in L.A. The wedding and the reception took place at Bel Air Hotel as mentioned which is in L.A. I figured Arnold and Helga shouldn't travel all the way back to Hillwood through the night xD

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

Chapter 24: "In synch"

"The what festival?"

"The cheese festival!"

"The hell is that?"

"How can you have lived in Hillwood your entire life and not only have never been to, but not even heard of the cheese festival?"

Helga shrugged. "I don't care about cheese."

"It's not about the cheese!" Arnold insisted in frustration, earning a scowl from the abrasive blonde. "Helga, the cheese festival is about fun. It has rides, game booths and - - "

"Cheese?"

"Well, yeah, but the cheese isn't important."

Helga gasped in mock horror. "Cheese isn't important? You're dead to me!" she joked, but couldn't hold her laughter down.

"Helga," Arnold said seriously and sat down next to her. "I would love it if you'd come with me to the festival."

"I don't know…" Helga said, closed her book and put it on her lap. "Wouldn't that be considered a date?"

"We can go as friends."

"Friends?"

"Officially obviously."

"Obviously." Helga agreed with a smile, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Are the others gonna be there?"

"Well… probably. I mean, it is a popular festival… for most people." He quickly added. "But that doesn't mean we'll bump into any of them."

Helga snorted. She didn't believe him; festival or not, there were a lot of people she'd rather not stumble upon at a rather small festival. "I don't know…" she repeated. "Seems suspicious that you and I would go together rather than with our best friends, doesn't it?"

"Good point… Ok, how about we invite them with us?"

"Ugh! A double date? How rom-com!"

"Help me out, will you?!"

"Oh, fine. Fine! Let's go all undercover couple on this and use our friends as cover-ups."

Arnold sighed. "Do you not want to go?"

"It's not that I don't want to go…" Helga replied and crossed her arms. "I'm just…" she sighed. "I hate walking on egg shells and it's just even worse now that I've tried being out in the open with you in our own home. I guess I'm getting greedy."

Arnold sighed, but put a smile on his face. "I am too, but would you rather hide in the house all the time?"

Helga shrugged innocently. "We can do whatever we want in our own personal space…" she pointed out and showed her signature smirk that made Arnold smile as well. He grabbed her book and forced it against her face, earning a chuckle from the blonde girl.

"I'm serious!"

"So am I."

"Didn't you complain that we couldn't ever go on dates at our parents' wedding too? This is a good opportunity. Everyone in our class knows Gerald and Phoebe are dating so if we're seen with them, it's only natural they'd hang out more and we would be stuck with each other."

"Stuck in the middle with you…" Helga sang in an upbeat voice and chuckled at the unamused look on Arnold's face. "Fine, you got me. Let's go to the cheesy festival."

"Cheese festival."

"That too."

Arnold shook his head in amusement. "I'll go call Gerald and ask him." He declared before he got up from the couch. The last thing he saw in the living room was Helga smiling to herself as she continued reading the book he had interrupted her from. He jogged up the stairs and grabbed his phone by his bed. It took Gerald about five seconds before he answered. "Hi, Gerald. Have you invited Phoebe to the cheese festival yet?"

"She invited me actually."

"And you let her?"

"Oh, don't mock me!" Gerald said in slight annoyance. "She was just quicker than me. Why do you ask?"

Arnold chuckled. "Well, I was hoping Helga and I could tag alone with you two."

"I don't mind and I'm sure Phoebe would like that too."

"Thanks a lot, Gerald."

"I'm guessing you two are afraid what others will think if they see you together on your own?"

"Helga is… I guess I am too, but she pointed it out."

"Is the secrecy thing starting to get to you?"

"Yeah… but I'm just happy that Helga and I have the house to ourselves for a long time. It feels like she and I are on a vacation as well."

"Your parents are at a honeymoon; don't change the word just because it's embarrassing." Gerald teased and laughed loudly at his own words.

Arnold huffed in embarrassment, but sighed in content. "I really hope Helga will enjoy herself at the cheese festival. She's never been to one before."

"Then you better make it special!" Gerald insisted. "Nothing brings people closer together than cheese."

Arnold laughed shyly. "I don't think Helga and I could get much closer at this point…"

"I'm not sure I need to hear such graphic details about my lady's best friend."

"Not that kind of close! Well, yes, that too, but that's not what I meant…" Arnold said and blushed when he turned his head and saw the goofy smile on his face in the mirror. "I told Helga I love her." he explained, suddenly nervous about his best friend's reaction. He had on purpose not told Gerald that his feelings for Helga had grown this strong, but since she had told him she loved him too, he couldn't care less about Gerald's reaction.

"Why? Did you want her to do something kinky?"

"No!"

"To let you do something kinky?"

"Gerald!"

The darker boy laughed loudly on the other side of the phone. "I'm just kidding, man! I'm happy for you. What did she say though? I mean… it took her a long time just to admit she was in love with you, I could imagine this might have been a big pill to swallow."

"She… actually told me she loved me too."

"Really?" Gerald asked in obvious surprise. "Whoa… well, congratulations! I'm surprised, but that's really good news." He said and heard Arnold sigh in relief. "What the hell does that mean?"

"I was just a little nervous. I mean… I know you still have some issues with Helga - - "

"Aw, that was just because I thought she'd end up breaking your heart, man! You do have an impressive list of girls who have done that and I thought Helga would just be the next addition. You've always been a rotten picker with girls."

"Gee, thanks."

"But I guess Helga's the exception." Gerald stated. Arnold chuckled before he started humming a melody. Gerald frowned though Arnold couldn't possibly know that. "Are you singing Paramore?"

Arnold went silent instantly. "Uh… no?" he offered lamely.

"Man, Arnold! You've finally got yourself a girl so don't start going gay on her, ok?"

"Is liking Paramore gay?"

"No, singing Paramore while thinking of your girlfriend is gay."

"… You do realize if I were really gay I'd be thinking of my boyfriend while singing Paramore?"

"Technicalities." Gerald insisted and Arnold rolled his eyes. Seemed to him like there were two different ways of being gay today; gay as in being homosexual and gay as in being overly girly which was apparently a thing only men could be and was almost never socially allowed for whatever stupid reason. "Well, I'm gonna go back to Phoebe."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize I was interrupting you."

"Trust me, if you had really been interrupting us, I wouldn't have answered the phone."

Arnold's face cringed. "I don't need such graphic details either."

"I'm not like you; you fucking answered when I called!"

"That was Helga!"

"With your phone!"

Arnold growled. "Go back to your girlfriend and I'll go back to mine!" he said and hung up on him. He chuckled as he imagined the pseudo-offended expression he was sure Gerald had on his face right now.

"It is about cheese." Helga stated unimpressed as she looked at the big purple banner above their heads with lightbulbs surrounding it, saying: "Cheese fair."

"There's so many types of cheese though!" Phoebe said excitedly. "I'm so happy you decided to join us, Helga. I've been wanting to go with you to the cheese festival since we were children."

"Why did you never invite me?"

"I did… once."

"Oh, yeah…" Helga said and coughed awkwardly when she remembered the rant she had gotten into about how cheese was overrated. Phoebe had caught her on a day when she had been in an exceptionally bad mood and she had apparently scared Phoebe away from ever asking her again. Helga wasn't sure if she would ever have said yes, but now she felt bad about it. "I'm sorry."

Phoebe flinched; she wasn't used to an apologetic Helga, but she had been more disapproving of her own behavior lately. Phoebe wondered if that was thanks to Arnold. "It's ok, Helga. I just hope you'll enjoy yourself tonight."

"Me too." Arnold interfered with his hands in his pockets. He was itching to put his arm around Helga and lead her around so he figured the safest way to avoid that was prisoning his hands.

"Me three." Helga muttered, sighed and started walking with the others following her. It is kinda pretty though. The blonde girl observed as she looked at all the gleaming lights that were illuminating up the place in the dark evening.

It wasn't cold a cold evening, but it wasn't warm either so she was wearing her coat, but had it open so her pink dress was uncovered. She had been nervous about wearing this old dress of hers, it wasn't what she wore at school or at the parties her classmates had seen her at by now. The dress stopped above her knees and had strings for her shoulders. In front of her chest were strings as well which were holding the separated parts of the torso together. It was tied securely around her so she wasn't showing much skin, but it was a little more than she would have allowed herself at a regular school day. She had figured she could dress up a little for the cheese festival and the coat did help her feel less exposed so she was in general very comfortable.

Arnold, on the other hand, was deeply distracted by that supposedly old dress of Helga's. She usually never showed skin when they were outside the house so it felt strange. He, of course, had seen her naked countless times, but he still felt almost protective of her due to a few boys' stares. He knew if he told her that others were admiring her she wouldn't believe him so he kept his mouth shut and just enjoyed watching her completely unaware of how beautiful she looked with no effort at all.

Helga cringed at the sight of the names of the food stands. "What the fuck is cotton cheese?"

"Like cotton candy."

"Yeah, thanks, Gerald. Very astute." Helga growled and kept cringing at the food stands. "Ice cheese… Pickled cheese… Cheese juice - - oh, what the hell?!"

"Come on, Helga. Don't be so picky." Arnold teased and nudged his elbow against her. "How about a cheese kebab to begin with?"

"That does sound like the safest." Helga answered and followed the blonde boy towards the food stand. While she looked at the guy as he made the cheese kebabs, Arnold's eyes caught sight of a couple sitting at a table close to them. They had a roll of Wheelio cheese on the middle of the table and the guy took a string of the cheese in his hand and started eating from the roll. The girl did the same and they ended up with their lips against the other's by accident. They chuckled awkwardly before kissing again.

Arnold smiled fondly as he imagined himself and Helga in the same situation. He could feel a pair of blue eyes on him and he looked innocently at her even though she flicked at his forehead playfully, telling him his secret stare hadn't been so secret after all. He quickly paid for their cheese kebabs and gave Helga hers while Gerald and Phoebe bought some of their own.

Helga sighed. "Hakuna Matata." She teased before she pulled the first cheese off the stick with her teeth.

Arnold decided that had not looked so sexy that he'd almost kissed her in front of God and everyone. "Well?" he questioned with a small cough.

Helga hummed thoughtfully. "Slimy, yet satisfying." She joked and Arnold rolled his eyes, pleading with her to answer him again. "It's good." She replied in a laughing voice and let the stick rest on her lower lip. "I'm wondering why you aren't eating though?"

Arnold watched as Helga pulled another cheese off the stick, this time very much on purpose seductively. He shut his eyes tight. "I'm eating." He insisted and took a cheese off with his hand, munching on it awkwardly.

"Ooh, sexy." Helga teased and Arnold shot her a slanted look. The blonde girl chuckled before Phoebe came up to her and pulled her towards something she wanted her to try.

"She's in a playful mood." Gerald observed as he was chewing on some cheese.

"Yeah, she didn't even want to come to begin with." Arnold agreed with a smirk on his face.

Gerald's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "What? Phoebe's been talking about nothing else the whole week."

"Oh, I thought you were talking about Helga." Arnold explained and started walking.

"Everything's about Helga with you, isn't it?" Gerald teased as he followed him.

Arnold didn't get to respond though before he noticed that Helga had just bought something at a stand called Cheese dip. "What's she doing?"

"I guess she wants to give that guy a bath." Gerald answered as he pointed with his stick at the guy sitting above a tank filled with water.

"These balls are actually made of cheese." Helga stated and turned to look at Arnold. "How much do you wanna bet that I can actually knock him off?"

"Nothing. I know you can so that would be a bad bet for me." Arnold replied without a doubt in his mind. He had played enough sports with Helga to know that she had a strong arm and a good aim.

The guy over the tank whistled. "Sure of yourself, eh? You sure you shouldn't give your boyfriend the balls instead? You wouldn't wanna embarrass yourself, would you?" he asked mockingly. Helga lifted an eyebrow before she threw her arm back and threw the ball at the goal. She hit it with ease and he fell into the water with a scream.

When his head reappeared above the surface, she was holding another ball in her hand, superiorly throwing it up and catching it again. "You were saying?" she asked before she dropped the cheeseball on his head and he frowned at her.

"Congratulations." The guy next to the tank said, obviously holding back his laughter. "You can choose whatever you see here."

Helga stepped up to the stand, ignoring the profanities she could hear from the guy she had just dunked behind her. "Hmm…" she hummed and looked the many different, colorful things over. She hadn't even seen anything that she wanted; she just wanted to dunk the guy in the water. That was prize enough for her.

"Oh, you should go with the Silly Earringz, Helga." Phoebe suggested and showed Helga a bag of different earrings made out of silicone and shaped into different things. "The hearts are pink like your dress."

"So you want me to wear the hearts I assume?" Helga asked and took the bag, waving it at the merchant to tell him she was getting this. "Why not? Might as well go all out."

Phoebe smiled as Helga gave her the bag back, silently offering her to wear some as well. The boys watched the girls as they put the earrings on and Gerald snickered when he saw the shoes hanging form Phoebe's ears. "Oh, man. These are so stupid."

Phoebe cooed sadly. "So they don't suit me?" she asked.

"Oh, no, no, babe. They suit you." Gerald insisted and kissed her cheek. She smiled happily at the compliment.

"Oh, brother. She's got him wrapped around her little finger." Helga whispered to Arnold, her earrings tickling his face when she get close to him. He looked at them curiously and touched it to get a closer look. She looked at him in her peripheral vision and then giggled. "That tickles!"

"Sorry." Arnold said and pulled his hand back with a chuckle. "They suit you."

Helga rolled her eyes, but smiled at him. Her eyes caught sight of something behind him though and he didn't get to turn around before she was already heading towards it. He looked at the ride she was heading for and waved at Gerald and Phoebe to follow them.

"Built-to-hurt." Helga read aloud and crossed her arms. "Challenge accepted. You guys wanna go?"

While Arnold nodded eagerly, Phoebe looked a little unsure as she watched the ride lift into the air and spin around in circles. "I think we'll stay back." Gerald said and put his arm over the short girl's shoulders.

Points for observation skills. Helga thought and nodded before she and Arnold headed towards the line for the ride. She leaned against the fence casually, eating the next cheese on the kebab. "How many times have you been here?" she asked curiously.

Arnold shrugged. "Every year for as far as I can remember."

Helga nodded and followed the line of people. She then frowned and looked back at Arnold. "Have you ever been here with a girl?"

Arnold blinked in surprise. "Uh… I've technically been here with Lila, but… just as friends."

"But you were trying to impress her?" Helga asked and Arnold nodded. "And how did that go?"

Arnold snickered. "Horribly, of course." He replied and she smirked gleefully. "I should have realized back then that we were too different even though we were also similar."

"What do you mean?"

"Well… first of all, she asked me to drive around, nice and calm, in the bumper cars."

Helga arched an eyebrow. "But the point is to ram into each other."

"That's what I told her!" Arnold said with a laugh. "But she was so impressed that I didn't give into the violence so I didn't care that we were sitting ducks through the whole thing."

Helga rolled her eyes. "What else did you do? Let me guess; try to win her something?"

"Yep."

"And?"

"I ended up with a sympathy prize…" Arnold admitted and Helga laughed loudly. "But she liked that small turtle more than the teddy bear she had wanted before. Apparently, it's her favorite animal."

"Turtles? Not surprising; they are just as dull as her."

"Turtles can be cute."

"Sure, but are they exciting?"

"No."

"Entertaining?"

"I get it."

"Do they appreciate your loving them for years or love you back?"

"Enough!" Arnold said with a frown, but he couldn't help but chuckle with the blonde girl. They threw their sticks away in the trash can before they got on the ride. Arnold looked around and heard his name being called. "Oh, h-hi, Sid!"

Arnold could feel Helga flinch next to him, but her face was an ocean of calmness. "Hey, boys."

"Good evening, miss Helga." Stinky greeted while Sid waved at them. "What are you two doing here together?"

"We're actually here with Gerald and Phoebe." Arnold explained casually.

"Yeah, but they didn't wanna go on this ride." Helga continued.

"Oh, please. You can't fool me." Sid said with a knowing smirk and that made the blondes nervous… for a short moment. "You two are only on this ride so the turtledoves could be alone."

Arnold and Helga laughed in relief. "You got us."

"Ha! I knew it!" Sid said with pride in his voice before the ride started.

Helga leaned forward in excitement. "I swear, I can see our house!" she yelled over the noise when it lifted into the air. Arnold tried to lean forward to see, but he fell back when the ride turned its direction. Helga screamed in exhilaration and it was infectious.

Once the ride was over, Helga was still chuckling from the adrenaline. "That was fun, huh?" Arnold asked teasingly.

"Oh, don't mock me." Helga ordered. "I think of rides as I think of sex: it's no fun if I don't scream."

Arnold barely had the time to start blushing before he heard Sid's laughter behind him. "I agree." He said. Helga coughed awkwardly; like Arnold, she hadn't noticed Sid and Stinky approaching them. "Of course you won't ever know how much I could make you scream, Helga."

Helga smirked back at Sid. "Sid, darling, the only scream you could ever make me do is one in terror." She said and Sid scowled. Arnold and Stinky chortled though, albeit quietly.

"We should go find Gerald and Phoebe. They might be at the bumper cars." Arnold suggested. Helga nodded in agreement and after saying goodbye to the boys, they headed towards the bumper cars. Gerald and Phoebe noticed them instantly and waved them over.

"I'm gonna crush you." Helga said superiorly.

Gerald shivered in mock fear. "You don't scare me, Pataki. I fear Phoebe more."

"Don't go there." Phoebe warned.

"She's Asian!" Gerald explained and started laughing.

Phoebe huffed unamused. "That's awfully racist."

"But factually correct." Gerald pointed out and put his arm over her shoulders. "Don't worry, babe. You're the exception."

"Oh, I'm sure she is." Helga said with a smirk and winked at Phoebe.

"Oh… yeah." Phoebe said thoughtfully and then grinned. "Of course I am. I'll make sure to prove that."

Gerald blinked. "Fuck you, Pataki." He muttered when he understood what Helga had just suggested Phoebe.

"Serves you right." Helga said unsympathetically and walked into the bumper cars' area. She hopped into a pink one and watched Arnold get into a blue one nearby. When he looked at her, she stuck her tongue out and gave him the Shaka sign.

Oh, crap. Arnold thought just before the bell rang.

The music was so loud that Arnold could feel the little hairs in his ears dying, but he didn't care; Helga's evil laugh behind him had his full attention and he was desperately trying to get away from her. He was reaching the end of the metal floor and wondered which way he should turn. He looked over his shoulder at Helga who was grinning maliciously and automatically turned to his left. Just when he did so did she and she successfully rammed into him.

Arnold shouted at the feeling of his hip smashing into the side of the car. "Damn it!"

"1-0, Football Head!" Helga laughed with glee and turned her car around.

"Ok. Wanna play?" Arnold asked sarcastically with an excited smile on his face and started his car again. "Let's play."

"I won!" Helga declared happily when she and Arnold left the bumper cars.

"Yeah, 3-2." Arnold pointed out with a small pout and cracked his shoulder. "You really did a number on me."

"If you're dissatisfied you can just go back to Lila." Helga suggested mockingly and drawled Lila's name.

"No thanks. I'd rather get beaten up and have fun with you than be bored with Lila." Arnold answered honestly. Helga cooed happily and looked around for a moment. Then she kissed two of her fingers and placed them on his cheek in a way that seemed nonchalant and without meaning, but he could feel the love from the indirect kiss.

Gerald appeared, wobbling on his legs. "I'll never make a racist joke around Phoebe again." He announced.

"How about not making racist jokes at all?"

"Oh, shut up, Arnold." Gerald ordered sourly.

"Well, that was fun." Phoebe said as she approached and Gerald stood up straight. "You ok, Gerald?"

"I'm just fine, babe." The tall boy insisted even though his legs were shaking with pain.

Phoebe obviously didn't believe him, but she didn't care. She had just seen something interesting and was pulling Helga excitedly towards it.

"We're dating dangerous girls, Arnold." Gerald observed.

"Yeah… but let's be honest." He replied. "We wouldn't want it any other way."

Gerald nodded reluctantly and they headed towards the girls who were at a game booth called Cheese ball toss. Helga gave the merchant some money and lifted the toy rifle up. She was holding it as if it was second nature and it was undeniably sexy in Arnold's opinion. After three shots, Helga won with bravour. She pointed at a panda and gave it to Phoebe.

"Thanks a lot, Helga." Phoebe said as she hugged the stuffed bear.

"Isn't it my job to win you prizes?" Gerald asked with a pout and then gasped. "Does that mean Helga gets my victory kiss?" he joked and laughed at the ridiculous scenario. Phoebe giggled shyly and kissed Helga's cheek. They all looked at her in surprise, especially Gerald. "Uh… wanna win her another prize?"

Helga snatched the stuffed panda from Phoebe and bobbed it on Gerald's head. "Criminy, I'm surrounded." She joked and gave the giggling Phoebe her panda back before she went to walk with Gerald again and the two blondes walked behind them.

"Is Phoebe my rival?" Arnold joked.

"Maybe. She has known my for my entire life and been loyal to me even when I treated her badly. She's honest, smart, kind and - - oh, I'm kidding, Arnold!" Helga snickered when she saw the extremely sour expression on Arnold's face. "Also, if you think about it, everything I just said, excluding the entire life part, counts for you too."

Arnold smiled. "Tell me if I ever need to get nervous."

"That's gonna be a long wait, Shortman." Helga answered and halted when she saw something to her right. "Hall of mirrors?"

"Oh, yes. We should go in there, Helga!" Phoebe said and walked back to her to explain what the rooms were about.

"Hey, Arnold." Gerald said a little secretly and handed him a big, flat piece of cheese with several holes in it. "You remember this?"

"No…" Arnold admitted and looked through one of the holes.

"According to festival traditions, this cheese is a window to the soul. If you spin around three times, hold your breath and look through the hole, it will guide you to your true love." Gerald explained with humor in his voice.

Arnold snickered. "Oh, what baloney…" he insisted, but hummed curiously. He spun around three times, held his breath and opened his eyes. He felt groggy from the spinning and blinked several times before his vision returned to normal. The first thing he saw was Helga's long hair, swaying in the wind as she and Phoebe were heading towards the Hall of mirrors. Arnold shot Gerald an imbalanced look and handed the cheese to him. "It works."

Gerald chuckled gleefully and followed the blonde boy towards the girls. They had already headed inside and the first thing Arnold noticed was that they were completely out of sight already. He looked around in confusion, trying to decipher what was mirror and was what real. With every year, it seemed that the person who was responsible for this particular attraction was making it better and better. It was hard to see what was real at this point.

"Gerald, we need to stick together so that we don't… and he's gone." Arnold told himself when he turned around and saw that his taller friend was nowhere to be seen. "Helga?" he tried and touched the mirrors as he walked so that he wouldn't walk around a mirror, mistaking it for a corner.

"Arnold?" Helga's voice asked in confusion and he looked towards his voice.

"Helga, where are you?"

"How the hell am I supposed to answer that?!"

Arnold realized she was right. "Just… stay where you are then." He said. He didn't get a response so he assumed that meant she was staying where she was. "Uh, keep talking so I can follow your voice."

"You sound like a blind man on a minefield."

"Hopefully nothing will blow up here."

"If it did we'd spend the rest of the night picking pieces of glass out of each other's skin."

"Wouldn't we go to a hospital to do that?"

"As if I'm gonna let some bimbo nurse get her hands on you." Helga said with amusement in her voice and both blondes laughed. Arnold knew he should probably think of Helga as more than a little possessive, but it actually made him happy to hear that she didn't like the thought of another girl touching him even for professional reasons. Also, he had to admit he didn't like the thought of a male nurse touching her either.

"Helga!" Arnold said happily when he saw her, but she looked away from him. "Uh, Helga?"

"Where are you?"

"To your left!"

"No, you're not."

"What…?" Arnold mumbled when he realized he was looking at one of her reflections. He looked around in confusion at the dozens of Helgas surrounding him. "Where the hell are you?"

"You must really be frustrated; I don't hear you curse that often." Helga teased and then her reflection disappeared.

"No, wait. Where are you going?"

"To you, I hope."

"But you just disappeared."

"I can see you though." Helga insisted. Arnold frowned in confusion and looked around, seeing Helga's pink dress near one mirror. He walked backwards, attempting to widen his sight and then hit something. He grabbed at it and turned around when he realized he was touching some skin. "Oh, I'm - - Helga!"

"Gotcha." Helga said in a self-satisfied laugh.

Arnold sighed in relief despite realizing that she had been playing with him all this time. "How do we get out?" he asked. "I lost Gerald too."

"Phoebe ran towards him as soon as she heard him. She's probably already outside with him." Helga insisted, took Arnold's hand and started walking through the mirrors. He followed her obediently; there was something in the way she was holding his hand that told him she knew exactly where to go.

Sure enough, they were outside within seconds and were looking around for Phoebe and Gerald. "They're at the Tunnel of love." Arnold stated and pointed towards the line where their friends were.

"Typical." Helga said and rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me you want to go there too?"

"No thanks." Arnold said with widened eyes. "The last time I was in that one, the boat started sinking. There was a hole in the bottom of it and Lila and I ended in the water. We could stand up in it so no worries, but Lila couldn't swim so she was in a total state of panic."

"But she could stand up in it, you say?"

"Yeah."

"What a baby…" Helga hissed in annoyance and noticed the tall Ferris wheel near them. "How about we go on that instead? We can be alone for a few minutes there."

"And the view is good." Arnold said with smile and headed towards the short line with the blonde girl. It didn't take long before they were in one of the passenger cars and were slowly lifted into the air. "Now I see our house." he stated and watched as Helga sat up on her knees childishly with her hands pressed against the window and observing the sudden rain drops that had started pouring. Arnold tilted his head to the side curiously. "Did you have fun tonight, Helga?"

"Yes." Helga answered with a big grin. "Can we come here next year too?"

Arnold felt his pulse rise at that suggestion. It was a year ahead in the future; did she really think that far ahead in their relationship? "Sure…" he said with a fond smile. She kept grinning and looked back through the window. "Helga… I love you."

Helga flinched at the words and when she looked at him, he could see a dark red color spread on her face. "Where… did that come from?"

Arnold shrugged. "I just felt like saying it." He responded earnestly. He wasn't sure where it had come from at all. He had just felt that urge again he had felt back when their Miles and Miriam got married.

Helga sat down on her legs and smiled. She then sighed in pure happiness and stepped down on the floor. She put her hands gently on his cheeks, leaned down as she lifted his face up towards her and kissed him deeply. He was itching to pull her closer, but didn't get to do that before her lips escaped his.

"I love you too…" Helga whispered almost secretly. She then moved to sit next to him and he made room for her. She put her hands over his, tangling their fingers together as she rested her head on his shoulder and looked at the beautiful, rainy scenery in front of them. Arnold knew it was impossible, but he could have sworn in that moment that he could feel a pounding pulse flowing in through their hands into their hearts. And it was in synch.

Arnold and Helga were laughing like children as they ran on the street which were drizzled from the shower of rain that had been pouring since they got on the Ferris wheel. As soon as it had started, people were starting to head home and the blondes had agreed that a quick text to Gerald and Phoebe would count as a proper goodbye in this situation. They had been running hand-in-hand since then to get back to their house. They didn't care that they were getting soaked from the rain; a strange form of adrenaline was rushing through them.

As soon as they were inside the house, they pulled their coats off. Arnold had barely gotten his hands out of his before Helga had grabbed him by the collar and was kissing him ferociously. They kicked their shoes off before they headed up the stairs and went into Helga's room. She pushed him down on the bed and started unbuttoning his shirt.

"Wait, Helga… your bed's gonna get wet." Arnold tried breathlessly, but didn't even try to push her away.

"Don't care." She declared and pulled her own soaked dress off her body, revealing the also wet bra underneath.

"Didn't you tell me that you get sick easily? We should dry off a little first - - "

"What the hell…" Helga said, put her hands near his head and smirked at him. "are you going on about in a situation like this? Idiot…"

Arnold accepted Helga's kiss easily. He had done his duty; he had tried to be considerate and responsible, but she wouldn't have it so he pulled her closer against his damp body. "I'll have to warm you up then." He told her and she smiled naughtily at him.

Author's 2nd note: Points to the people who figures out what the next chapter is gonna be about ;D Hint: There's a clear hint in the last scene of this chapter ;P

By the way, the melody Arnold is humming when he is on the phone with Gerald is "The only exception" by Paramore.