When Helga closed the door behind her, she was immediately met with her starry-eyed coworker. "So?! How was it?! Did you two reunite and —" She went on and on, rambling about some quasi-romantic young-adult-novel material.

"Criminy, Connie! I cannot believe you let me just…make a fool out of myself out there! I'm a mess! Besides, I did no such thing, especially not at work on a ten-minute break, with frosting residue all over me." She huffed, and crossed her arms again. "And I don't even know if he feels the same way anymore…and I'm kinda, you know, I have that thing… with Mabel's brother right now. I have a multitude of reasons why it didn't work out." She waved Connie off, as an attempt to stop the conversation.

Connie giggled. "Two boys? My my, Miss Pataki! Scandalous, very scandalous indeed!" Helga, still blushing, gently nudged Connie with her elbow but laughed along with her. "Shut up, Con, you know it isn't like that."

Connie calmed down and re-adjusted her glasses. "I know, I know. But it's still exciting, and very romantic. It's like a young adult novel!" She grinned. Man, she loved those young adult novels. They both headed back into the decorating area. "Just…don't forget about Mason, you know."

Helga looked at Connie with surprise. "I didn't forget. Did you?" she asked, scoffing.

Both girls headed back to their respective stations. They still needed to be there for the guests, and actually, you know, make stuff, despite the teenage drama.

"Sooooo? How did it go with your oooold booooyfriendddd?" Mabel asked, a curious but nosey look on her face. Helga guessed they wouldn't be churning out a lot of finished product today. Thanks, Arnoldo.

Helga rolled her eyes. "As well as you'd expect, Shooting Star. I was already a nervous wreck just looking at the guy. I wasn't even planning on going out there, and no thanks to you two meddling kids, I totally freakin' embarrassed myself in front him. And, newsflash, I just went on a date with your twin brother - why do guys you care so much about an ex boyfriend?" Criminy, she was already getting the third degree after talking to the guy for five minutes. She started gathering more color mixing supplies to remake that frosting - thank goodness she wrote that recipe down, it really did take her all day yesterday to find the right stupid color.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that…" Mabel drifted off.

"What?!" Both Connie and Helga exclaimed. "How could you just forget that your favorite coworker and your twin brother were—"

"Your story is just sooooo romantic!" Mabel gushed. "Two star-crossed lovers, separated by thousands of miles, who've known each other since they were in diapers, a mysterious jungle adventure to find his lost explorer parents, and he has a magical destiny?! Besides, you've been in love with him since you were three. Years. OLD!" She yelled, clearly investing a lot of her emotional energy into this situation. "It's like an anime movie!" Mabel sighed. Helga groaned, and started regretted telling her coworkers her entire life story. But hey, it was nice to tell someone about everything that happened to her throughout her years, and these girls had the benefit of not knowing who she was, not knowing her reputation when she started working here. These girls were nice, they were her friends, they were supportive…almost too supportive.

"Yeah, well, don't get any ideas, ladies. I don't exactly have any wild plans to seduce Arnold. Not like he'd want that, but…" she sighed. "Whatever. Plus, hell-ooo, don't forget about your brother, Mabes. We just went on a date, for cripe's sake."

"Well, YOU better not forget either, missy! Because if you break any hearts, or bones, of Dipper's….you'll have to answer to me." Mabel said, glaring at Helga and pointing at her eyes and then pointing at Helga's.

She raised an eyebrow, but then burst out in laughter. "I know, Mabes! I know."

They all worked in silence for a few minutes before Connie broke it and asked another question about Arnold.

—

"And like, I'm just standin' there, you know, like a heckin idiot,—"

"Hello everyone, good afternoon!" Lila chimed as she walked in. The three girls looked up at her and said their greetings.

"Oh, Helga, I have some wonderful news for you!" Lila clapped her hands together as she clocked in for the day and started gathering her uniform and supplies.

Helga sighed. as she looked up from her frosting. "Yeah yeah, Arnold's back, I know. I've already alerted the media and scheduled a press conference." She went back to work.

Lila's eyes went wide. "Does that mean you saw him?" Lila went over to her, momentarily forgetting to, you know, get ready for the day and actually work.

Helga groaned, not wanting to put up with another coworker who was enamored with Arnold's recent arrival. "Did you?"

"No, Helga. Gerald just sent me a text…I'm certain it was a group text." Lila said, a puzzling look on her face.

"Well, WE saw him!" Connie exclaimed, stars in her eyes and excitement on her face. "He wanted to come here first to see Helga!" Sometimes, when Connie got too excited, she couldn't read the atmosphere. And Helga really didn't want to talk to Lila about Arnold right now, so it was definitely one of those times.

Helga glared at Connie and sighed. "Yeah, football head came here…" She gestured to her dirty apron and shoes. "And he surprised the heck out of me. What kind of guy just shows up at your freakin' place of employment after being gone for five years? Without even telling you?!" Her blush started to return. "Who…who even does that…"

"Gosh, Helga, I just think it's ever so romantic that he wanted to come see you as soon as possible…" she giggled. "He cares about you an awful lot."

"Yeah, lucky me." Her eyes narrowed as she returned to her color mixing. "How are the designs going for the summer line of cookies, Li?" she asked, pretty desperate to change the subject.

"Oh! I got to work on the designs today at the library, I think they're just so gosh darn cute…" Helga was relieved that Lila was so into her summer project that she forgot all about the A-word, at least for now.

The rest of the day played off normal, for the most part. Helga looked at the designs for the summer cookies, and they were actually pretty cute.

There was the occasional question about Arnold that either Helga tried to reflect or Lila answered honestly. After about two hours, it was almost time for Helga to get off work. She started to clean up her area while she waited for Mabel and Connie to go wash their dishes. When they finally left, she called out to get Lila's attention.

"You, uh…you still wrote to him, Li?" Helga asked, making Lila's head pop up.

She nodded as she continued to pipe some macarons onto a cookie sheet. "Oh, of course. He was always so nice in his letters…we weren't ever so close when he, um…when he…left, but I don't think many of our classmates wrote to him regularly after the first year. I can only imagine how lonely he got—"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it Lila! The poor boy who abandoned all his friends—" she stopped herself. "Ugh, sorry. I don't mean that…" Helga started to get flustered. "Criminyl! I don't know what's wrong with me! I just…wanna act like I'm 12 years old again or something whenever he gets brought up…" she rubbed her eyes, almost acting like a reset button for her. "I just…want to know what you, uh, w-wrote about, I guess. He knew I worked here…" she trailed off quietly.

"Oh! I, um, pardon me, I know you really didn't want Gerald and Phoebe to mention you in their letters very often, but, well, you see—"

Helga sighed and a small smile appeared on her lips. "Let me guess, I never specifically asked you not to talk about me, right?"

Lila was fidgeting with her piping bag as she spoke. "W-well, yeah! A-and, gosh, I'm ever so sorry Helga, but I was just so gosh darn excited for you to work at the bakery with me, especially since I know how hard you worked a-and how proud Olga and I were of your cakes, you know, gosh, you- you worked so hard and for so long I just felt like, you know, I should tell someone how proud I was…y-you know, and I really thought that he'd be proud of you too—"

Interrupting her rambling, Helga let out a small laugh. "It's okay, Li. I woulda used the same loophole, too." She shot Lila one of her wide, sarcastic smiles. "He better not be expecting a world-class cake form yours truly," she resumed cleaning up her area, her time almost up for the day. "Because he won't be getting one any time soon. He's gotta pay for that stunt he pulled, making me spill frosting all over this gorgeous uniform."

Lila gave a small huff. "You just hold the bag so gosh-darn tight, Helga. You know, I'm not a gambling man, but I'm willing to bet that the reason you spilled frosting all over yourself is—"

"Can it, Sawyer! Yeah I know I might hold the bag a little tight but it wasn't my fault this time, I swear!"

Holding up a hand to cover her mouth as she laughed, Lila giggled. "Maybe so. But I, um…I never really gave him any photos of your cakes, or anything. I described some of them to him, like the one you made for my birthday last year…but I felt like they should be seen in person."

Helga gave her a smile and rolled her eyes. She was lucky to have Lila as a friend, even if she gushed a bit too much. "If he wants to see them, I guess." she shrugged. "They really aren't that amazing, by the way." she rolled her eyes again. "But whatever. I'll give the public what it wants."

—

Helga was so relieved to leave work when it hit 6:30 PM. She only worked four hour shifts when she worked on school days, and she's usually content with staying longer if she has to—she sometimes even wants to— but tonight she really needed a shower and she really needed time to decompress. As she opened the door, another employee was coming in to help Lila close. She gave him a head nod as he waved and went into the building.

Once she was out, she checked her phone as she was walking towards the employee parking lot. She got a text from Phoebe earlier.

Pheebs: Slausen's at 8:00 p.m?

Oh, right. She totally forgot about her little throwaway jab she took at Gerald and Phoebe. It's not like she wasn't usually up for a late-night outing on a school night, but she was really looking forward to being by herself after the debacle that was today's shift.

Helga: i mean i can't really eat ice cream anymore, but you know, whatever. i'll just deal with the stomachache.

After hitting send, she started checking her social media notifications. She wasn't as big on social media like some people were (Rhonda), but she enjoyed reading funny tweets and watching a few youtubers. As she was scrolling her feed to see what happened while she was at work, she got a reply from her best friend.

Pheebs: My apologies, Helga. Your lactose intolerance completely swept my mind. We can find somewhere else to eat if you'd like.

Okay, Phoebe really didn't deserve her snappy, punctuation-filled lowercase-aesthetic response. In Phoebe's defense, Helga's only been lactose intolerant for the last few months - she unfortunately developed it at a later age. Which really, really bites.

Helga: No I mean, I'll really deal with the stomachache. criminy, I've really missed ice cream

She sent that message before she really read it again, totally not realizing her double meaning until it was too late. It's not like Phoebe would remember a dumb little thing like her Arnold codename from 4th grade, right?

Pheebs: I read you loud and clear ;)

Oh fuck. Uhhh….

Helga: You know what I mean! And I have a boyfriend, you know!

Why does everyone forget that?

Would Dipper and Arnold even get along? Well, even if they didn't, it's not like it was that important. And Dipper wasn't even her official boyfriend or anything - they went on a few dates; he was fun to be around, she liked goofing on him, and she liked being the straight man to his nervous, rambling, cryptic-obsessed self when she accompanied him on a paranormal hunt. They'd just have to learn to deal if they didn't get along…if they ever met.

She was still unsure about Arnold's feelings towards her. There had to be something, right? With their history, with the way he practically begged Gerald to take him to see her at work, how excited he was, his letters, even the way everyone else around them ever acted around them, ever.

She just didn't know the extent of it. And of course she still had some residual feelings for him; but how do you react to your ex-boyfriend coming back to see you after almost five years out of the country? She didn't know him anymore; and he didn't know her. Sure, they exchanged letters for a year or two - but hers were short and almost painfully boring because that's as much as she could manage to get out. Criminy, I couldn't even send them my damn self; they were addendum to Gerald's or Phoebe's letters.

Regardless, she was still coming to her senses. Really; the whole thing was bizarre. She didn't even know—

"Hey, wait a minute." She said to herself out loud, stopping in her tracks in the middle of the employee parking lot. "How did Gerald know Arnold was coming back? And did Phoebe know too? And they didn't tell me?!" She yelled to the sky, or any unfortunate employee who was around, really - she was in a semi-public place. "Who do they think they are?!"

"Oh yeah, you loon." She realized. You told them not to mention you in their letters, and not to mention him to you at all. What a freakin' idiot. Her thoughts brought her back from her seething rage. Well, she was still seething, but she couldn't really be mad at them for doing exactly what she asked them to do. It was her own damn fault for being so neurotic. Her phone buzzing in her tightly-gripped hand brought her back to reality.

Pheebs: I am just engaging in a little juvenile teasing, you know. I am aware the relationship between you and Arnold is complicated, and you are also in a budding relationship with Mason.

Helga: yeah yeah yeah, it's all good pheeeeebz

Pheebs: I also want to apologize for my role in bringing Arnold to the bakery this afternoon. I thought it would be a good idea, but I now realize I should have taken your feelings into more careful consideration and weighed the pros and cons of my decision—

She didn't read the rest of the reply before she just typed one out and sent her own.

Helga: cRiminy phoebes its okay just stop apologizing criminY! i love you holy crap!

—

Helga got home at about 7:00. Luckily, Slausen's wasn't that far away, so she could skip the shower, and just change out of her uniform and have some time to relax. As soon as she opened the door, though, she was bombarded…as usual.

"Baby sister! How was work today? Did you work on— oh gosh, oh Helga, what happened? Did you have another frosting bag accident? You know, Lila tells me that she thinks that, um, sometimes, you might hold to frosting bag a little too tight—"

Oh yeah. There was still dried frosting in her hair, staining part of her bangs blue. She ran her hand through her bangs and felt the hard frosting chunks—grooooossss.

"I'm fine, Olga. Someone just…gave me an honest spook at work today, that's all." She didn't want to get into the whole 'Arnold's back!' thing with her right now. "And I hold the bag just fine, thank you very much." She started to head upstairs. "I'm going to take a shower, I'm meeting Gerald and Phoebe at Slausen's. I won't be gone long. So don't wait up."

"Oh, wonderful! Is Arnold going too?"

She flinched. "Criminy! Why does everyone keep bugging me about that guy? How do you even know about that anyway?! Are you stalking me or something?!"

"Of course not, baby sister! Lila just told me that he came back today, and I just thought—"

"Yeah well, keep your thoughts to yourself, Ol-ga, I don't wanna talk about him right now, okay? Yes, he's coming to Slausen's too, alright? I don't even want to go but I guess the whole thing was technically my idea. Ugh." She went up a few steps before she realized how her tone sounded, then stepped back down to see Olga again.

"S-sorry…about that… outburst. Y-you know how…weird I get when he's brought up." She said quietly.

Olga just smiled. "It's okay, baby sister. Now get in that shower, silly! You don't want to keep your friends waiting!"

Helga gave her sister a small smile as she climbed the stairs fully and went into the bathroom to prepare her shower. She didn't think it would ever happen in her lifetime, but she had a better relationship with her sister after she had to move back in. It was hell for the first few months, but they both learned to deal with the other's quirks and sensitivities. It wasn't the greatest relationship, or the healthiest - and Olga always got on her nerves - but she was really trying this time around.

It was now 7:10, so she was running on borrowed time. She took her phone out and brought up the group text between her, Phoebe, and Gerald.

Helga: I might be late. Forgot frosting was in my hair lol. I need to take a shower and put laundry on. don't wait up if you guys get there before me.

She started to undress and prepare her shower when she got a reply.

Gerald: Man, hurry up. They couldn't send you home early or some shit?

Helga: RUDE! And no, they couldn't. It's called a job, bucko, they dont really pay you if you leave.

Gerald: take your damn shower already pataki lmao

Pheebs: Thank you for informing us, Helga. Please let us know what we can order for you so it will be ready for you when you get here. [sparkly heart emoji]

Helga: thank u! see gerald, your girlfriend is a saint [sparkle heart emoji]

Pheebs: While I appreciate the sentiment, you should really get in that damn shower already.

Heeding her friend's advice, she jumped in the shower. A few minutes later, she realized that oh, I never really gave them an order. She reached out for her towel, dried her hands, and then reached for her phone, almost blindingly typing a text out to the group chat.

Helga: chocolate shake please…and a double cheeseburger with onion rings. YES my stomach is gonna kill me later but u know idgaf rn…

It wasn't until she started getting dressed after her shower that she realized Arnold was added to the group chat right after Phoebe's message.

Unknown: Can't wait to see you tonight, Helga! [sunglasses emoji face]

"CRIMINY" she yelled as she threw her phone angrily on her bed. "It's the first. day. back! He just won't leave!"

thank you all so much for your review/favs/follows! i really appreciate it! please let me know what you liked about this chapter - i'm trying to stay in character but i know this is quite a different interpretation of helga, and helga and arnold's relationship in general. let my know if my characters are off or on!

thanks guys!