[A/N: So, I managed to write another 1700 ish words of Arnold and Helga interaction goodness so I figured I'd go ahead and post that now. The next chapters should be (hopefully will be) longer. I've just gotta get through this semester! But we're at the last chunk of the story so a LOT is going to happen and loose ends will be coming together. I just wanted to make sure I gave these two lovely characters the time they deserved :)

I don't own Hey Arnold]

Present Day

Arnold woke up the following morning feeling just as stiff and achey, if not more so, than he had the night before. Helga was already awake, sitting up and watching an old sitcom rerun on the TV in the corner.

Arnold readjusted himself in the chair and yawned. "Good morning,"

Helga turned to him and the smallest of smiles graced her lips. "Morning," And then it was gone.

She wasn't upset or angry or elated or cheerful. She was simply calm. Arnold breathed in deeply, releasing a relaxing exhale as he tried to find a comfortable position in his chair. He was still directly next to Helga's bed and he followed her gaze to the TV. "What are you watching?"

Helga paused for a second and without looking at him, "Arnold, how did you find me? How did you just appear out of nowhere?" She turned to him and gave him a look he'd almost forgotten. A look that said 'Tell me the truth or I'll pound you', even if that was just hyperbole at this point.

Arnold felt his pulse quicken and suddenly he was more embarrassed and ashamed than he'd felt any of the other times he'd confessed his secret 'investigating' to another person. "I, um…"

Helga looked at him quizzically. Sure, it was weird that he appeared in her life again so suddenly and she wanted to know how but it had to be weirder than she thought for him to be acting so uncomfortable.

"I… ugh –" He groaned and ran a hand through his disheveled hair. He was still wiping sleep from his eyes and having this conversation half-asleep might not be the best of ideas but putting it off would probably be worse. "Okay," He sighed. "Helga, can… can you promise not to be mad?"

Helga grinned, crossing her arms in amusement. "Ha! This oughta be good…"

Arnold sighed again. "It's a really long story and I had the best of intentions the whole time, I promise,"

"Okay," Helga nodded, prodding him further. "Go on,"

Arnold nervously tapped a finger against the arm of the chair, his gaze fixated on it and avoiding Helga's. "I-I spent a lot of time feeling guilty for what I put you through… with the accident, you know?" He briefly looked up at her but she didn't say anything. "I didn't know what to do and I… guess I was afraid to try and talk to you. I didn't think you'd give me the time of day. Gerald said you weren't even talking to Phoebe, really. I figured if you weren't talking to your best friend, why would you wanna listen to me?"

Helga bit her lip, her expression softening from amusement to understanding. She had pushed everyone away. Between the time she spent recovering after the coma and her subsequent depression, she'd avoided people as much as she could, especially the people who knew her before the accident.

"Anyway," Arnold continued. "I started working with an old friend and he taught me a lot about computers," He was beginning to feel even more nervous as he danced around the point of his confession. "I couldn't stop thinking about the accident and wondering how you were and what things were like for you… I just wanted to help and be there for you but I didn't know how exactly so… so I…"

He paused and met her gaze but couldn't read it. She was listening, sure, but was she suspicious? Empathetic? Annoyed? Did she already know what he was going to say?

"I um," He sighed, hanging his head. "I hacked into your computer," He finally said, quickly adding, "And I'm so sorry! It was dumb and really foolish and a total violation of your privacy but I just wanted to see if there was anything I could do to help you so I-I started sending you information that I thought could help with some of those articles you were writing –"

"Wait," Helga finally spoke and Arnold startled at her sudden interjection. "You were GOLD?"

Arnold nodded meekly. "I know the whole thing was… completely insane," He said incredulously. "I don't know what I was thinking; I just had to do something and I couldn't figure out what. Nothing else seemed like an option and I just…" He sighed. "There's really no excuse, Helga. I completely understand if you want me to leave," Feeling and appearing deflated, he moved to stand up but Helga's arm flew out, her hand barely catching his.

"Wait, no," Helga commanded. "Don't go anywhere, sit back down,"

Arnold silently obliged, watching and waiting for more of her reaction.

"I…" Helga's face contorted in thought and she shook her head in disbelief. "I know you just explained why but I still don't get it,"

"Well –" Arnold started but Helga cut him off.

"No, don't keep explaining. I understand what you said, it's just… I'm surprised? I guess?" She sighed. "Okay, so let me get something straight," Arnold nodded, his attention focused solely on her. "So you were hacking into my computer," She said the words with emphasis that clearly indicated how stunned she was over this fact. "And knew that I…" Her eyes widened with realization. "You read my letter," She groaned. "Ugh… that's how you knew what was going on," Her voice became quiet as they stepped into this sensitive topic. She still felt fragile but the suicidal ideation had passed. She had been so rocked by the fact that Arnold was even alive, she needed to process what was going on in life. There wasn't any room for those dark thoughts right now.

"I found the address in one of your notes documents," Arnold admitted gently. "And came as soon as I could get here,"

Helga sighed and an air of silence fell over them as they both processed the conversation as well as the past few days.

"I'm really sorry, Helga," Arnold broke the silence with a soft apology.

Helga was quiet for a moment and in that time, Arnold silently begged her not to hate him.

"Okay," She said after what seemed to be forever. "Here's the deal. You completely invaded my privacy. That does not sit well with me. Do you know how many trust issues I have already? Shit, my trust issues have volumes,"

Arnold looked down at his feet. She was right. How could he have been so stupid? Everyone had told him that what he was doing was crazy. Why wouldn't he listen?

"But," Helga said and Arnold's ears perked up. "No one's ever put in that much effort and done something that ridiculous just to try and help me… or even just to know how I'm doing," She said quietly and her hands fidgeted with the end of her hospital blanket. "I mean, I've gotta give Olga credit for everything she did when I was recovering before… I… never expected that from her or anyone, really. And she tried to stay in contact with me after I moved but I just… I dunno, there were so many factors involved. I mean, how are you supposed to behave when you spend your whole life being treated like you're nothing and then all of a sudden one of them realizes, 'Oh hey, we might wanna treat her like a human being since she almost just died and all'…" Helga's eyes began to well up but she fought the tears away. Instead, her emotions manifested in her voice breaking. "I probably sound like the most ungrateful bitch right now," She half-heartedly laughed, mocking herself and trying to deflect from what she knew was obvious vulnerability radiating from her. "But no matter what I did to you, in all the time I've known you, you've always just…" She paused, wary of whether or not she wanted to cross this line but the impulsive side of her told her it was already too late and she might as well go on. "You always gave me a chance… you always had faith in me for some weird reason and… and to think, that while I was convinced you were dead and completely shutting myself from everyone that I could… you were still trying to find a way to break through this hard shell and help me? You just wanted to know how I was doing?" The dams in her tear ducts finally broke and Arnold watched several tears escape down the sides of her cheeks. "I don't want you to go," She said in a voice barely a whisper, her gaze fixated on her lap as she wrung her hands together nervously. "I've never wanted you to go,"

Another tear dripped from Helga's chin onto the hospital blanket and Arnold stood up, leaning over the bed to capture Helga in what felt like their millionth hug. She accepted his embrace easily and he marveled at how different interacting with her was now compared to when they were in school. She never let him hug her for more than two seconds but here she was almost clinging to him for dear life. Never before had he seen her this vulnerable and while some people may have been scared away by such raw emotion, Arnold found himself feeling lucky. He knew, even after so many years apart, that this was not easy for her. How she was able to be so open with him now, he wasn't quite sure, but he had to admit he felt honored that she trusted him this much.

After a few minutes, they finally parted and Helga wiped her face. "I'm getting really fucking sick of crying all the time," She grumbled in a half-hearted attempt at a joke. Arnold simply smirked. "One more thing, though," Helga said once she'd composed herself. "That hacking shit? You forget that right now, bucko,"

Arnold chuckled, relieved that she didn't seem mad about any of it.

"I mean it!" Helga said a little more emphatically. "Criminy, who'd you get to teach you that crap anyway? Brainy?"

Arnold shrugged, grinning and Helga rolled her eyes, only slightly surprised. "Why doesn't that surprise me?" She shook her head. "But seriously, Arnold –"

"I know," Arnold said, putting a hand up. "I promise, that's over. It was weird and dumb at the time and would be totally just – I promise. Your privacy from now on is completely intact," He nodded for effect, then added, "Anything I want to know about you, I guess I'll just ask?" He smiled and Helga bit her lip to control her grin as she looked away, quelling the familiar fluttering in her heart.

[A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review!]