Learning to be Helga

by Azure129

What could be more amusing than taking two hundred thousand words to make Arnold realize he loves Helga? Taking EIGHT hundred thousand words to explore in detail how this newfound relationship is working out! Sequel to Tutoring Arnold! Let's do this! FINISHED!

8. PhoneBased Shenanigans

A/N:

HEY HA FANDOM! :) Okay, so, WOW, I think this is getting up in a week instead of two which is crazy for me because this is like one of the longest chapters of this whole fic! Over twenty thousand words, lol ;) Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this little conclusion to Arnold and Helga's Saturday night (Meanwhile I CANNOT believe it took me 8 CHAPTERS to get there but you know me—I love getting carried away with writing, especially about HA! ;) ). Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this because you might have to give me two to three weeks for the next update—I'm starting a new job tomorrow and I'm almost blown out on AXH considering how much editing this chapter took, and I'm in the middle of a few other fic related things that I want to dabble with so I just need a mini break but I'll try and get up the first chapter dealing with Sunday asap ;) Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing! You're all so wonderful!

Oh, random suggestion—I feel like the song "Calling You" by Blue October goes well with this chapter in case you're looking for a little background music :)

Okay, here we go!

LEARNING TO BE HELGA

Chapter 8:

Phone-Based Shenanigans

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RING RING

"Ugh…" Helga moaned quietly to herself with a sigh. She was currently relaxing in her bed with the phone receiver pressed to her ear and her bedside lamp now off, leaving her with just the faint glow of the moon entering through her window to see by. "I know I should be getting some sleep while I finally have the chance," she began to mumble to herself, "And that I should probably NOT be calling when she's in the middle of an international trip, but…" a few more rings passed and Helga double-checked the math in her head, '…With the time difference it shouldn't be too bad…And her flight did leave around 8 so I'll probably just be able to catch her on her cell phone at her first layover…' Helga smiled to herself with confidence at this plan.

Suddenly the receiver clicked.

"Hello? Award winning student teacher Olga Pataki speaking! May I ask who's calling?"

Helga just rolled her eyes. 'So very typical…' "Sheesh, Olga," she began more humorously than sarcastically, "I told you to quit answering the phone like that when you're twenty-one-years-old and it's a CELL PHONE—you sound like a complete moron or the worlds most self-gratifying voice mail or something…"

"HELGA!"

The sound of her big sister happily squealing her name made Helga pull the phone away from her ear for a second. With a scowl she rubbed her ear and tentatively put the receiver back near her head. "Crimeny, Olga, lower the volume—I'd like to AVOID finishing up my Saturday night with a blown ear drum if you know what I mean!"

Olga just laughed on the other end of the line. "Oh I'm sorry, baby sister…I was just so excited that you called! Oh I know it's only been a few hours but I miss you so much already! How's everything at the house—are Mummy and Daddy doing alright?"

Helga rolled her eyes again but smiled, sitting up a little more in her bed. "Yes, Olga—in the last three hours since you saw them they're both still as hearty and healthy as ever…" Olga laughed a bit and Helga couldn't help but chuckle herself… Then she cleared her throat and continued in a quieter voice, "Actually…they're kind of part of the reason I called, Olga…"

There was a pause. "Is…is everything okay, baby sister?" Olga then asked with genuine concern in her voice…

Helga took another breath at the question, and then replied, almost disbelieving her own words, "Actually…everything's really…really good here, Olga." She swallowed and rubbed the back of her neck. "They, uh…they said that you…talked to them about me…and then we were talking just now and we're going to have breakfast and spend the day together tomorrow talking, and I…" Helga paused for a second, surprised by the smile that had formed on her face as she'd given this explanation. She cleared her throat and decided to do her best to move on from the mushy stuff a little, knowing full well how emotional Olga could get about things like that. "Well, anyway…let's just say that I think for once you did something behind my back that DIDN'T make my life completely miserable…so I just…I just wanted to say…well, thanks, Olga…You're a…you're a really good big sister…" She laughed to herself and added to lighten the mood a little more, "I mean, you're really good at everything, though, so I'm not sure how much it matters but…"

Helga was interrupted by what sounded like a very large and muffled horn blowing from the other end of the phone line. Olga's overly emotional and obviously tearful voice coming on next made Helga smile just a bit more as she realized that the 'horn' had been the sound of her older sister blowing her nose into a tissue as she had started to cry. "Oh…oh Helga…" she began in that tearful, dramatic, high-pitched tone of hers.

'I knew this was gonna happen…' "Olga…" Helga began patiently, used to her sister's capacity to burst into tears at even the smallest sentimental moment, "Just turn off the water works and quit getting all mushy on me for a minute—Besides, you don't want to freak the Canadians out about Americans do you?" she added with a chuckle.

She heard a laugh actually escape Olga at the joke. Then the older girl sniffled a few times and finally when she spoke again it sounded like she was a bit more in control of herself. "Oh but Helga, they really took my advice? Oh I'm so glad, baby sister! You deserve to have them treat you just as nice as they treated me when I was growing up!"

Helga laughed warmly, switching the phone to her opposite ear. "Hey, I'm game—especially if it gets Bob apologizing to me and Miriam actually speaking a coherent sentence for once."

Olga sighed in just a bit of distress in response to the joke. "Now Helga, really—if they start slipping again you just give me a call and I'll be down there on the first flight to give them a good firm talking to!" Her voice gained even more firmness as she added in finish, "I don't care how things have been in the past—they're going to change and that's that!"

"Hey, hey, don't worry…" An impressed smile came to Helga's face at the sudden and unusual sound of determination in her sister's voice, "We already had a talk about that and if they start going back to how things were even a little, I already told Miriam they're both going to get a firm talking to in the trophy room from us for once!"

There was a second of silence and then both girls burst into laughter.

Getting her chuckles under control after a few seconds, Helga finally heard Olga ask just a little hesitantly and yet with a ton of apparent anticipation, "So…Mummy and Daddy and you are doing good… Anything new with Arnold, lately, baby sister?" It was obvious she was trying to hold back a ton of giggles.

Helga rolled her eyes and her voice suddenly sounded a bit more scolding as she spoke, though playfully so, "Yes, actually…" 'Okay, I'm not going to kill her but we are still going to talk about this…' "I recently found out that you might have spilled the beans all over the place to our mother in the middle of the airport a few hours ago…" Her scowl firmed up a bit. "And don't deny it because I knew the second she walked in and started wanting to talk to me about my new special 'friend' Arnold that you'd sung like a canary!" She let out an exasperated sigh and crossed her legs. "Seriously Olga, what happened to that whole 'we're sisters—they don't have to know everything that goes on between us' thing from the time I switched your college poetry class grade? Crimeny, I don't know what you told her but even if it was just hinting she basically put the whole thing together!" 'And yeah okay my locket didn't help…' Helga had to add mentally to herself, 'But that's not the point right now!' And she went back to waiting for a response from Olga.

"Oh…well…uh…" She heard Olga swallow nervously on the other end of the line. Finally the older girl let out a sigh and began apologetically, "Oh, I'm sorry, Helga, but I just…you're so closed mouth about things sometimes, baby sister, and I thought if I brought it up that it could help bring you and Mummy together just like it helped bring you and me together, so I might have just hinted…" The teary, high-pitched voice was coming back. "Oh Helga, please don't be angry with me, baby sister, I—"

"Yikes, take it easy, Olga!" Helga blinked, surprised at how upset her sister was getting at the mere idea that she'd done something wrong again in regards to her baby sister. She threw in a slight laugh, really trying to show that there were no hard feelings. "No more waterworks, okay? I'm not angry…" She sighed, a bit of the exasperation returning to her tone. "I am a little peeved…but I'm not angry. So we're still 'okay', so wipe the mascara tear trail off of your face and just take a deep breath, alright?"

Helga heard her sister inhale and exhale deeply once on the other end of the line, calming herself down.

"Okay…" 'Crimeny, how does she stand changing between euphoria and total melodrama like that?' Shaking her head in amusement at the thought, Helga continued, smiling to herself and stretching back in her bed, trying to stifle a yawn. "So, like I just assured you, I'm not angry…And, even though I wish you'd maybe talked with me about it first, I do understand why you did it—you just wanted to get the ball rolling with me and Miriam…" She rubbed the back of her neck and admitted with a chuckle, "Heck, believe me, if anyone needs a good 'push out of the plane' in terms of admitting certain secrets, it's me… But in the future can we keep anything I might say just between us…about Arnold, I mean?" She felt herself blush slightly at the mention of her beloved's name.

She heard another one of Olga's squeal/giggles and then her ears were met by the cheery reply of, "Oh of course Baby sister! Absolutely! My lips are sealed—it'll all just be between us sisters!"

Helga let out a breath and smiled gratefully to herself. "Thank you, Olga."

"You're welcome, Helga…" Olga replied warmly and happily.

A few seconds of content silence passed between the two sisters.

"So…" Olga finally broke in, and actually sounded like she was trying to keep back giggles again, strangely enough.

Helga blinked at the word, raising part of her brow. "So…what?" 'Am I missing something? We're good now…right?'

She heard an exasperated sigh from Olga. "SO…what's new with Arnold?"

Helga blinked once more, a bit taken aback by the question though she now recalled that she had never given her sister an answer the first time it had been asked during this conversation. "Well…" she hesitated for a single second, but then just smiled and rolled her eyes at her own ridiculousness. 'Aw, what the heck—why not? Even if Olga blabs, Miriam already knows about the anniversary thing…and it's not like I'm going to fill Ms. Mary Sunshine in on EVERY intimate detail about what happened, anyway…' She almost chuckled. 'Besides, I could use someone to gush to a little…' Memories of her evening washed over her... 'It HAS been a pretty full night, after all…"

Having made her decision about how to respond to her sister's question, Helga now cleared her throat and tried to sound as casual as possible as she spoke. "Well…you know, just the usual stuff…" she began a bit coyly. "I mean…I saw him in school all this week, of course, like I told you yesterday…"

"Uh-huh? Yes?"

Olga's eagerness was more than apparent. In fact the degree to which she seemed to be hanging on her every word actually made Helga laugh just a little to herself, though she was still trying to sound casual as she went on. "And then, I mean…we spent the afternoon together yesterday, like I already mentioned to you last night…"

"Yes, baby sister? Go on!"

Helga had to blink at the amount of enthusiasm behind her tone. 'Sheesh, if you could bottle that pep you could light half the city! Although…I guess I am kind of teasing her a little with all of this build-up…' "Yeah…" she went on, still just smiling to herself and trying to seem like her words were no big deal though Helga knew that Olga was probably as aware as she was that she was building to something…And indeed, Helga finally decided to drop the big one… "And, well…I guess I might have seen him tonight for a little while too…when you and Bob and Miriam were out…" She ignored the blushing mounting in her face and finished, "He, uh…he stopped by to wish me a happy…happy one week Anniversary…"

The sound of Olga's squeal of delight at finally learning this piece of information actually left Helga with a ringing in her ears for a couple of seconds.

Indeed, the ten-year-old blonde had to put down the phone briefly and rub the sides of her head to make the slight pain go away. Finally she picked up the receiver once again with a scowl and spoke into it (from a safe distance of course). "Hey, Olga, for Pete's sake, I think you seriously just damaged something in my ear canal and I wouldn't be surprised if everything made of glass around you has a crack in it! Try to keep the girlish squeals of delight under control, okay? Crimeny!"

She heard Olga break just into happy giggles at her exclamation. "Oh, but baby sister, that's just so adorable! Your one week anniversary…OH—did he kiss you again?"

Helga felt her scowl leave and her blush return in full force…and then a dreamy smile come to her face as she couldn't help the thought entering her head, 'Better question is when didn't he kiss me…again and again and then again tonight…' She cleared her throat, putting aside the memories of Arnold's kisses for now, and went back to the conversation with her sister. "Well…I…" she let out a breath, hesitating for just a second once again before finally giving into her desire to share all of the wonderful things that had happened between her and her beloved with someone tonight before she exploded from happiness…And besides…talking to her big sister really had been starting to grow on her. "Now, Olga, if I tell you the truth…" 'Sort of' Helga added mentally, 'I think I can leave out all the seduction and the shrine stuff and the discovery and exploration of Arnold's dark side that almost gave him a heart attack and then practically gave me one…' "Do you promise not to freaking lose it?" she continued, "And to keep any obviously intimate details just between us unless I give the go ahead to say anything to Mom?"

Helga heard Olga take a deep breath and then reply enthusiastically, "Oh yes, Helga, I promise! Cross my heart!"

Helga rolled her eyes. 'Cross my heart—what are we, seven?' She shook her head, a smile coming to her face as she came back to the question at hand about whether or not she and her beloved had kissed at all this evening. "Okay well…" she began slowly and shyly, "I guess we did…maybe…once or twice…or three times…"

There was only silence on the end of the phone line.

Helga raised part of her brow. "Olga?" 'Sheesh, I don't care what she promised—I expected the squeal of delight from heck after that one… Did we get disconnected?'

"Mmm hmm?" Helga was surprised to suddenly hear in muffled reply to her question.

The ten-year-old blonde scratched her head at this strange response…and then her eyes went wide and she had to do her very best not to smirk as what the sound reminded her of came to mind. "Olga, are you…are you holding your breath…so you don't squeal?"

"Mmm hmm!" She heard again, in a bit of a higher pitch.

Then Helga heard what sounded like a big exhale. Finally Olga spoke once more. "Sorry, baby sister—I couldn't keep quiet unless I held it in while you were talking and then just let it out after I'd had a second to calm down..." She took another deep breath and then exhaled slowly once more. "Okay, okay…I'm fine now, Helga…" A slight giggle escaped her. "Oh but you kissed, baby sister! How precious! Oh…" Olga was silent for a second and then added with anticipation, and in a loud whisper despite the fact that they were on a private phone conversation, "Was it…was it a real kiss this time, Helga…like both of you…you know…?"

Helga just raised part of her brow in confusion for a second…but then felt a blush instantly come to her face as it processed what Olga probably meant by a 'real kiss'…as opposed to that peck on the cheek Arnold had given her on her stoop last Saturday night, for example. She quickly bit her bottom lip and carefully considered how truthfully or not to answer this particular inquiry from her sister. 'Still, she said she wouldn't tell Miriam…she promised. And even if she let it slip by accident…' Helga couldn't help but recall her own little slip this evening with letting her mother know that she and Arnold had indeed kissed at least once. 'Well…even if she let it slip…I don't know…Miriam sounded pretty cool with the whole 'me and Arnold' thing… And, of course, it'd be nice to maybe try telling someone the juicier details besides Phoebe…just this once at least…It is my Anniversary after all…' And then she almost chuckled as she had to add, 'And besides, apparently I stink at keeping this whole Arnold thing a secret in any way now so…what the heck?'

"Olga…" Helga finally started slowly, the blush still in her face and a small smile still on her mouth… "If you're asking me if Arnold and I finally kissed on the lips for the first time—and I mean a real, honest, genuine, romantic kiss…" she qualified, recalling the circumstances of the Romeo & Juliet and Babewatch kisses… "Then…" Helga took a deep breath and finally just said it, "Then you're going to have to go back about six weeks to a whole different incident between me and Football Head…And on a rooftop of all places!" She finally had to let out a small laugh as the memory of FTi fully came back to her.

Helga awaited her sister's reply…but for several seconds (much like before when she'd admitted that her and Arnold had indeed kissed this evening) she heard only silence… So Helga, not having anything else to do, decided to continue (a bit.) 'Heck, if I'm going to embarrass myself might as well make a good show of it and go all the way…' "I…" she began shyly once again, "…That might have been when I told him that I, uh…didn't exactly hate his guts…and then to kind of show him that I didn't, I might have…you know… 'kiss' kissed him there. On the lips. Heh, heh…"

Silence again for a few more seconds.

"Olga…?" Now Helga was starting to be a little concerned. She raised part of her brow as she asked, "Are you doing that holding your breath thing again or—"

She stopped talking as she heard the sound of one of Olga's giggles/squeals, though it sounded muffled and far away.

Finally after a few seconds of Helga continuing to have her eyebrow raised in utter confusion about what the heck was going on with her older sister at that airport, Olga's voice came back on the line and she was breathing rather heavily. "Oh I'm sorry for keeping you waiting, Helga, but when you told me all of that I just…I just couldn't hold it in that time so I ran and finally found an empty bathroom and pressed my backpack to my face so I didn't frighten anyone like you said and just let it out!" She took several more breaths and then cleared her throat and it seemed she must have composed herself now.

"Uh…that's…good…" was all Helga could think to say at this strange story. 'And I'M the child they send to the shrink on a regular basis?'

One more moment of silence passed during which the older Pataki daughter fully regained her composure, and then Olga spoke up once again (in a voice the calmness of which she was obviously fighting to maintain). "Okay, Helga…now before I explode and while I still have a half an hour left before I board my flight to Alaska you really need to tell me all the juicy details about whatever kissing incident you're talking about!" Helga almost blinked—Olga's love of gossip and girly romantic stories was certainly in full swing and it was more than showing in her tone of voice. "Please, spill, baby sister! When did it happen and where did it happen and what did you say and what did he say and when did he tell you he liked you back and WHY didn't you tell me any of this sooner?"

Helga just collapsed back against her pillows in laughter, holding her stomach with her free hand. She switched the phone to the other ear again. "Whoa, whoa, easy, Olga—one question at a time! And could we maybe talk about this tomorrow—it's already eleven o'clock here."

She heard her sister scoff slightly and reply in a patient though just slightly sarcastic voice to this request considering how much Helga had just teased her with the information, "Yes, and tomorrow's Sunday so there's no school and you don't have me 'getting you up at the crack of dawn' like you always say I do, Helga, and you don't sound all that tired to me right now, and anyway I NEED to know all about this otherwise I won't be able to sleep a wink so please tell me! Please, please, please, please!" she begged eagerly.

"Okay, okay!" Helga finally caved, trying not to laugh at her sister's extreme desperation to have her baby sister share with her now that Helga was starting to actually seem willing to do so. 'Well, I guess I did kind of shut her out for quite a few years…makes sense she's a little starved for bonding.' Helga almost chuckled. 'I don't know, maybe the whole reason I'm even bringing up this 'technical first kiss' story right now is because I wouldn't mind getting a little caught up on some more bonding myself…' She sighed and patiently continued. "Just go find a seat out in the terminal, Olga, and get cozy and keep that backpack handy to squeal into because this could take a while depending on how detailed my normal defensiveness and my annoyance at the fact that you keep trying to break my ears will let me get with it…"

Olga just laughed in reply. "Okay, Baby sister…hold on!"

Olga went away from the line for a minute or two, only to then come back on sounding as cheerful and happy as ever. "Okay, I've got a cozy spot and I grabbed cup of hot chocolate from the vending machine and now I'm all comfy and ready to hear about this first real kiss, Helga. Oh, I'm so HAPPY we can finally talk about boys together!" She sipped her drink.

Helga's smile turned just a bit smug at this observation…and her memory of the FTi confession took a brief backseat as some of the other things besides Arnold that she'd talked about with Miriam tonight suddenly returned to her mind. "Yeah, and speaking of boys, Olga, I was having an interesting chat with Miriam before, and after I finish this story about me and Arnold I'd like to hear a little bit about how yo—"

Suddenly, though, Helga was cut short as she heard the familiar intermittent buzz on her end of the call that meant that someone was on the call waiting for the Pataki house. She blinked. "Uh, Olga, can you hold on just one second? Someone else is trying to get through."

To her initial confusion she heard Olga giggle in response to this information. "Oh, let's see…" the older girl began coyly, "I wonder who would be calling our house at this hour on your one week Anniversary after he just left you a little while ago to maybe say goodnight…"

Helga blushed and rolled her eyes, and did her best to respond without sounding too embarrassed by the comment, "Very funny, Olga—let me just ditch this salesman or whoever this is and I'll be right back."

Helga removed the phone from her face to press the call-waiting button. Before she managed to switch lines, though, she heard Olga laugh once more and say before being put on hold. "Whatever you say, baby sister—oh and say hi to Arnold for me!"

Helga rolled her eyes and sighed. 'Yeah right—even Arnold's not that lovesick… Heck, even I'M not that lovesick…' She pressed the button and brought the receiver to her ear, and spoke in a very frank tone. "This better be some long distance service you're trying to peddle, buddy, because it is eleven o'clock at night and I've got a very important client on the other line!"

In response to her threatening tone, to her total shock, Helga heard...laughter?

Familiar, lovely, heavenly, warm laughter.

"Hello, Eleanor."

She blinked, her jaw dropping in surprise. "ARNOLD!"

Instantly, at the sound of her own flabbergasted voice, Helga slapped her hand over her mouth and looked to her bedroom door, realizing how loud she'd exclaimed her beloved's name. She waited to hear the sound of footsteps across the wooden floorboards or a faint rap at her door from either one of her parents. Yet (and thankfully) the seconds passed and…nothing.

"Helga? Helga!" She heard Arnold's faint voice coming from the phone receiver in her hand.

Helga, still wide eyed, picked up the receiver and put it to her ear, whispering quietly. "Arnold, shh! My parents just went to bed and if they hear me talking to you…" Helga shuddered at the thought—Miriam coming in and stumbling upon a whole fresh batch of 'Helga's in love' ammunition to make little side comments with for the rest of the weekend, or Bob strolling in only to hear she was talking to Arnold this late in her room in secret and banning her from any more little late night chats with her beloved…or worse—possibly trying to listen in! Helga shook her head to clear it of these very not good thoughts and finally finished quickly, "Just…keep your voice low and I'll keep my voice low so no one else can hear us. Now, what do you want?" Despite her panic and surprise, the last question came out quite playfully…and indeed, having not expected her beloved to telephone her at all after the already very full night they'd spent together, she was pretty intrigued about his motivations right now to say the least.

Arnold, however, seemed in no hurry for explanations. "Who's the important client on the other line, anyway?" he asked with some amusement, ignoring her request for him to be direct for once.

Helga sighed at the question and rolled her eyes. "My sister, paste for brains." 'Clueless…'

"I thought she was going back to Alaska tonight, though…." he continued casually. "Did she get there already?"

Helga sighed again with some impatience, rubbing between her eyes with her thumb and forefinger. 'Why does he love tangents so much?' Still, his innocent questions despite her panic about her parents couldn't help but make a serious smile threaten to come to Helga's face as she replied with just a touch of that amusement that was in Arnold's tone. "No, Football Head. She's on a layover in Toronto right now but I felt like talking to someone and I knew she'd be up and lately we don't exactly hate each other anymore, so I gave her a ring." She chuckled to herself and finally just shook her head as she added, "You get interested in the most random things about me, you know that, Arnoldo?"

"Are you talking to her about us?" he then asked with happy anticipation, still intent on keeping to his own, random, agenda apparently.

Helga felt herself blush and she tried to keep up the sarcasm in her voice though it was hard as all she wanted to do was smile dreamily at this point and maybe write some more Arnold odes in a new pink book. "No genius—it was our anniversary and we both had major emotional break-throughs and we kissed about a million times and then after that last one you basically had to peel me off the ceiling, but I was just calling up one of the few people who knows about us and who I trust to ask her if Canadian culture really IS all that different from American culture."

Arnold started to laugh again. "Helga…"

She rolled her eyes, sitting up a bit more in her bed. "Hey, I can't help myself, Football Head—you leave yourself wide open for sarcastic comments with half the stuff that comes out of your mouth!"

Both kids shared a warm laugh at this observation, and then let out happy sighs and took a few seconds to just enjoy and savor each other's presences on their opposite ends of the phone lines.

"So…" Helga finally broke the silence, doing her best to fight back a yawn, "Phil catch you walking in late, Football Head, or were you smart enough to use the fire escape to get back into your room?"

There was a second of silence on the other end of the line followed by Arnold letting out a very frustrated sigh, and then what sounded like him hitting his hand against his forehead (probably to drag it down his face).

"I'll take that as a no…" Helga continued with a smirk. "How bad…the punishment, I mean?"

Arnold took a breath and replied in a once again warm and happy tone, "Actually, like I said back at your house, he was kind of expecting me to be back a bit late, so…I have to be home by eight all next weekend and I have to help him with some extra chores for a few days but otherwise…he was actually really nice about it…" Another chuckle escaped the football headed blonde. "He…he even added an hour to my regular curfew and gave me a raise in my allowance so that we could try going out on more official dates…If you want to, Helga…"

Helga smiled at this news, her eyes lighting up. 'Finally! An irony in our lives that's actually really good and convenient!' "Really? That's great, Football head! Oh and hey, good news—I just got mine extended to ten o'clock too, Football Head! No allowance raise, though…" she added with a small laugh of her own, "So it looks like you'll be bearing the brunt of any extra financial needs for now… But somehow I ended up with a cell phone tonight…"

She heard a sound come out of Arnold's mouth like he was about to ask her the whole story, but she cut him off, shutting her eyes and rubbing them with the thumb and forefinger of her free hand. "I'll tell you about it later, Football Head—it's a long story and I'm pretty tired, and like I said Olga's on the other line and I don't want to keep her waiting too long."

She heard an accepting sigh come from Arnold. "Whatever you say, Helga."

She smirked and couldn't help herself. "Oh come on, Arnoldo—give me 'yes mam' just one more time!"

There was a second of silence and then both of them burst into laughter again.

A few seconds passed and then finally Helga managed to get herself under control enough to speak. "I mean, crimeny, Arnold, I meant to prove a point with that kiss, not to take away your free will and make you my 'love slave!' Not that it wasn't an added bonus for a few seconds, but you were just plain gone, weren't you?" She was blushing considerably right now and figured Arnold must be doing the same, but she didn't care—she was having a good time talking to him and it seemed like the feeling was mutual. 'Oh man, I don't want to get all mushy but I'm having a late night romantic phone conversation with my boyfriend about our anniversary—and the boyfriend's Arnold! I think I'm gonna die!' She did her best to fight back a girlish sigh.

"Hey!" Arnold countered, getting his laughter under control and bringing her out of her musings, "You're the one who admitted that 'the student had surpassed the teacher' back in your room after I did it to you!" His voice became a little slyer. "And wasn't that only AFTER you had a few seconds to take it all in—I think the first thing out of your mouth was something like 'Uh…you…wow.'" He chuckled once again and finished proudly, "At least I came up with a complete sentence!"

Helga was seriously blushing now but also seriously smiling. "Hey, don't challenge me, Football Head! I can out kiss you anytime anywhere! You're talking to Helga G. Pataki! I was practicing on you when you were still chasing after random crushes and giving me confused looks every time I went out of my way to drive you nuts in particular—or do you not recall Babewatch and the school play?"

"Mmm hmm…" Arnold replied with a definite bit of skepticism in his tone, "Well, then, since we can't agree I guess the only fair and right thing to do would be to settle things about this during our next date on Friday…"

It took Helga a second to process what he had just suggested. When she did, though, her jaw dropped and she felt her heart skip a beat. 'Did he just suggest…what I think he just suggested? This is still Arnold we're talking to, right? Arnold…who a few hours ago felt bad about even holding my hand…' She recalled all the efforts she had put in mere hours ago to correct such fears on his part. 'Wow, I am good!' "You…you are seriously into this kissing thing…aren't you, Football Head?" Her smile grew. "Don't tell me I created a monster with that little talk before or anything?" she added playfully.

Arnold, to her surprise, rather than getting all flustered again, just laughed in response to the question and replied warmly, "Just trying to take your advice, Helga: explore it and work with it and have fun with it. Besides…" he let out a happy sigh and managed to continue not too obviously nervously, "Like you said, I am…attracted to you…and I DO have a dark side…and it's going to be hard enough to ignore that five days a week at school…I've got to have something to look forward to for Friday unless I really do want to find myself randomly pulling you into closets or empty classrooms the rest of the week just to talk to you and watch you blush and smile at me…" His voice actually sounded like he was smiling more and more as he spoke…getting more and more lost in his thoughts and feelings about Helga "…And maybe to see if we could sneak in a little poetry 'inspiration'…just in case you needed any help with writing for English class that day, of course."

Helga knew he was grinning a lot now. A lot. Because so was she…and blushing like crazy…her heart pounding wildly at the reminder of this apparent little fantasy of her beloved's of suddenly pulling her by the collar into a room to suddenly smile at her and say sweet things to her and then maybe spontaneously kiss her because he couldn't wait anymore…

Lost in her daydreams, she girlishly sighed.

"Helga…?" came Arnold's amused voice to her at the sound he'd just heard.

Helga blinked at the sound of being addressed by her beloved and did her best to take a breath and regain herself before resuming her phone call. She cleared her throat and responded as causally as possible. "H-hey, Football Head—seriously, it is eleven o'clock and you already spent almost three hours with me today and my sister's waiting and we're both obviously on this phone call in necessary secrecy right now so that we don't get grounded for a month. So, is there any actual particular reason you phoned, Arnoldo…?" She smirked, adding necessarily as she lay back in her bed once more and grabbed up her Arnold locket from her covers, gazing at its face, "I mean OTHER than to flirt with me a whole heck of a lot more than you would be doing if we hadn't just kissed like crazy and if you weren't completely tired…"

She heard him laugh a little at the comment. "Yeah, I am probably going to be pretty embarrassed about this when I wake up in the morning. Sorry in advance, Helga."

She rolled her eyes. 'Only Arnold would apologize for flirting too much with someone who's in love with him…' She shook her head in amusement. "Don't apologize—just get to the point, paste for brains!"

Arnold chuckled at another one of her familiar names for him. "Okay…well…actually I was calling because I was talking to my Grandpa while we were both heading upstairs for bed a little while ago, and he told me the second part of a story he started telling me a few months ago…and it was kind of funny and I just thought you might like to hear it." He hesitated and she heard him (interestingly enough) swallow nervously, "I…think you'd really appreciate it, Helga."

She smiled at bit more at a touch of familiar shyness returning to his voice. "Well…" her eyes fell to her locket again and her smile grew just a bit more, "Normally, I'd tell you to quit being so random and to save something like this for small talk over ice cream next Friday afternoon but…what the heck? I'm awake, I'm happy you called, so I'm game—shoot, Football Head. Amuse me."

"Okay…" he replied warmly…and then a little bit of slyness returned to his tone as he added, "But if I tell you this story now then next week I expect to hear from you the story behind another interesting thing my Grandpa mentioned…" He was obviously trying to hold back a bit of laughter as he finished, "Something about you crashing through my kitchen ceiling one day just after I left for school a few months ago?"

Helga's face was blank for a second and part of her brow was raised…but then a touch of realization came over her and her eyes went wide as she recalled a certain incident with a loud mouthed parrot and a desperate last ditch escape from Arnold's vents to stop the thing from 'squawking' at all costs. She smiled nervously and cleared her throat, feeling warmth flood her face. "He, uh…he mentioned that finally, huh?"

"Mmm Hmm…" Arnold replied with a sigh, "And I can't wait to hear all about it…every single detail…" he added playfully.

Helga couldn't help a laugh coming to the back of her throat at his desire for yet another recounting of one of her wacky adventures from the past. "Hey, I'll tell you everything about that AND exactly how I got the other girls besides Lila to quit the school play so I could kiss you as Juliet if you'll just get on with your freaking story already so that I can get to bed!"

"Really, Helga?" So much anticipation was suddenly in his voice. "Okay!"

Helga had to laugh as she settled back, putting her locket aside for now, and prepared to hear his story. "Alright—start the storytelling, Football Head!"

Arnold cleared his throat, fighting back a laugh, and then began. "Well, I should probably start by saying that my Grandpa and my Grandma actually had a bet going about how late I would be back tonight…"

"Seriously?" Helga had to raise part of her brow and try very hard not to chuckle. 'Wow—that was probably fun for the little Football Head to walk into.'

Arnold sighed and she heard him shift on his bed again on the other end of the line. "Yup…"

Helga turned on her side to get more comfortable and switched the phone to her opposite ear. "So…who won?"

Arnold laughed. "Grandma… She bet eleven and Grandpa bet midnight, and the winner was whoever got closest …" He let out a sigh.

Helga sat up and nearly scoffed. "Your Grandpa thought you wouldn't he home until midnight after you'd been at my house since seven?"

She heard him clear his throat and knew he was blushing... The nervous tone returning to his voice confirmed her suspicions. "Well…uh, yeah… And that's where the funny story starts, actually…" He swallowed again before going on. "You see, a couple of months ago…that day we made the dioramas in class and you poured glue on my chair and threw feathers on me, actually…"

Helga cleared her throat to sheepishly interject. "Uh, yeah…sorry about that, Arnold. I mean, it was either do that to you or use the paste to find a way to glue our lips together for the rest of my life, and I figured you'd take the 'Arnold's a bird' thing better and that it would be a heck of a lot less suspicious all around…heh, heh…" She swallowed hard. "Uh…anyway, continue…"

She heard Arnold chuckle and then take a breath, continuing his story. "Anyway, he started telling me this story that afternoon after school when I told him about the prank and how you were always picking on me, and then he finished telling me the rest of it tonight…"

"And I know you enjoy dramatic build up more than anyone else on the planet, Arnoldo…" Helga suddenly interrupted again with a touch of sarcasm, "But it's late so can I get the abridged version? Your Grandpa finished telling you the rest of the story about 'what', again, exactly…?"

Arnold sighed…paused for another second…and then went on a bit shyly once more (a fact, once again, not lost on Helga). "…About…about how when he was our age there was this girl who treated him like she couldn't stand him—you know calling him names and picking on him and getting him in trouble…"

Helga rolled her eyes and couldn't help smiling. "Yeah, I get it—the situation sounds 'vaguely' familiar. Get to the point, Football Head!" She chuckled.

Arnold cleared his throat nervously yet again…. "Well…anyway…like I said, tonight he told me the rest of the story…" He let out a breath and finally went on as casually as he could manage. "So…this girl was always picking on him, and he said that one day out of the blue she suddenly told him that the reason she did all that stuff was because she, uh…" She could tell he must be blushing again as he finally finished quickly, "Because she loved him…"

"Really?" 'Wow—talk about déjà vous…' Helga's interest was definitely peaked now. "What happened?" she asked eagerly.

"Well..." Arnold continued slowly, and yet with an obvious touch of happiness in his voice now that she seemed so interested, "Anyway…so she told him she loved him and he said that he thought about it for a while and was really confused, but then he started spending time with her and getting to know her and suddenly one day he realized he was falling in love with her and—"

"Arnold?"

"Yes, Helga?"

Helga sighed in just a touch of obvious exasperation and crossed her arms over her chest, part of her brow raised. "Is this some kind of weird attempt at one of those 'I have this friend who…' stories because this is sounding SCARILY like it's about us…I mean, you're noticing this, right?"

Arnold chuckled at the question. "I know, Helga, but, no—it really did happen and yes it really is just…well…uncanny."

She scoffed, crossing her legs. "Yeah—in spades."

Arnold laughed once more, and then continued. "So…then he told her he loved her too and then they started going out together and…anyway… the point is I guess he thought I'd be back so late tonight because he told me he remembered how long his dates could take with Gertie…" He paused for a moment and then added in explanation, "Oh, uh, that was the girl's name. Gertie."

Helga continued to blush a bit as this cute little parallel story finished, a small smile on her face. "Huh? Well…wonders never cease…" She reclined back, putting her free arm behind her head, and then mused out loud, "You know, I almost wish I could have met this chick, Football Head. Sounds like a girl after my own heart…"

There was a definite pause of considerable length on the other end of the line.

Helga raised part of her brow. "Football Head…what's the deal? You still there?"

Finally, she heard Arnold take a deep breath. "Well, actually, Helga…" she heard him laugh faintly to himself, "You already did."

Helga's face continued to bear a puzzled look. "I 'already did' what?"

"Meet her..." Arnold supplied. "A few times now…" He chuckled. "Probably even more than that that I don't know about, but…definitely a few times at least..."

Helga had to scratch her head, seriously confused at this point. "Arnold, what the heck are you talking about? Your Grandpa's like in his 80s, so this girl was around here almost seven decades ago! How could I have met her? My parents couldn't even have met her…heck, I'm not even sure if my grandparents could have met her…"

"That's what you think…" he just replied playfully, obviously enjoying whatever little secret he still seemed to be hiding, "But that's just because you don't know who she is yet, Helga…" He laughed warmly. "Or should I say 'Eleanor'…"

Helga processed the name…the name Arnold's Grandma liked to call her…but she still just couldn't wrap her head around the connection.

Her silence continued for a few seconds until Arnold, with a sigh, finally spoke up once again. "Helga, if you haven't figured out who she is yet then I think you might need to rethink who the dense one in this relationship is…" He laughed to himself again, then took a deep breath and said in a very casual voice, "She's my Grandma, Helga… that was the end of the story. Pretty funny, huh?"

The phone instantly dropped from Helga's hand. Her breathing had stopped but her heart was racing a mile a minute. 'She was Arnold's Grandma…the girl who told Arnold's Grandpa she loved him when they were kids…and they stayed together…they got married…they had kids…they had GRANDkids…specifically the most perfect grandchild in the world…and they got to live happily ever after in the boarding house…and Arnold specifically TOLD me the story…'

As this last thought washed over her, Helga felt an Olga-like squeal of delight come over herself. She quickly pushed her pillow over her face and let out the sound of delight, actually kicking under her sheets as she did so, the amount of ecstasy flowing through her was so great.

"Helga? Helga?" She could hear Arnold's faint voice coming through the receiver, but she really did just need a minute to get all of this out of her system so she could respond to him coherently.

The sound of a quick knock at her door and the knob turning as said door suddenly opened, however, sobered her up pretty quickly. Indeed, Helga felt all color drain from her face and she quickly turned to look across the room only to observe, with wide eyes, her father suddenly appearing before her, looking very groggy like he'd just been woken up.

"Ol—uh, Helga…" Big Bob Pataki began with a yawn, "What's going on in here? I keep hearing voices and whispering and then it almost sounded like you screamed…" Suddenly he blinked and his eyes focused on the phone receiver currently off the hook and on her bed (Helga had dropped it to her covers in surprise). "And who the heck are you talking to at this hour, anyway?" He scowled…with just a faint touch of suspicion…

Helga swallowed hard, feeling a little frozen to say the least.

"Helg—" However, she did at least have the much-needed capacity to snatch up the phone and clasp her hand over the end of the receiver to keep Arnold's voice safely out of her room. Thinking once again on her feet, she then brought the object to her mouth and replied shakily into it, "Uh, j-just a second, OLGA!"

She brought the phone away from her face again (still muffling it with her hand, of course) and then turned back to he father, smiling innocently. "Uh…" Helga began with a casual smile, "Sorry, Bob…Just figured I'd call Olga…since she's on her layover in Canada now and everything. You know—see how the trip's going, tell her I miss her, junk like that…Heh, heh…" Helga cleared her throat and continued. "I…I mean, I just figured after traveling all night she'd be too tired to talk in the morning and then I'd have school all week and she'd have work all week so we'd have no time to talk then, so, you know…just getting it in now!" She quickly put her mouth back to the receiver for another second, feigning genuine sincerity in her voice and expression as she said into it, "Really, Olga? They've got money with hockey players on it up there in our 'neighbor to the north'? Huh—no kidding! Boy, you have to bring me some of that back the next time you come visit!"

Before any reply could come she pulled the phone away once more, once again clasping it between both of her hands, and smiled in her father's direction again. "Anyway, Bo—uh, Dad…sorry about all the noise and about the screaming sound. Uh…" She made a gesture like cleaning out one of her ears, and chuckled nervously. "Would you believe that was Olga! Sheesh, you tell her you miss her and she has a meltdown of delight! Whoo boy—I told her to cool it in the airport or they're going to arrest her for disturbing the peace but, hey, Olga never was good at not being an emotional wreck waiting to happen right? Heh, heh…" 'Oh good thinking to explain that squeal! Looks like I've got a second wind tonight! YES!' Helga couldn't help but mentally congratulate herself.

His daughter now just looking to him with a smile, Bob, in his still half sleep, just observed her for a second more… and then blinked and just yawned once again. "Oh…okay… Well, tell her I said hi and to have a safe flight… And don't stay up too late, okay?"

"Uh, sure thing, Bob…" Helga felt immense relief wash over her at this confirmation that he was buying it. "Her flight leaves pretty soon, anyway, so I was just getting ready to say goodbye."

Bob finished another yawn and then shuffled out Helga's door. "Okay. See you in the morning, Ol—Helga..."

"G'nite, Dad!" she called with a wave as he closed the door behind him.

Helga listened for a few seconds to the sounds of his footsteps heading down the hallway and the light creak that came from him opening and closing his and Miriam's bedroom door.

Letting a few more seconds pass just for good measure (and to make sure he didn't want to come back to mention or ask about something else—'It figures Bob and Miriam pick tonight of all nights to want to talk my ear off!' Helga couldn't help but note with amused irony), Helga then finally let out a breath and brought the receiver back to her mouth, talking in a much more hushed whisper than before. "Uh, sorry about that, Football Head—my Dad came in and I think he'd be a little ticked off if he knew I was talking to you about getting married at nearly midnight."

Arnold just laughed on the other end. "No problem, Helga…" He then cleared his throat and added, getting back to the Gertie story, "Well, anyway, like I said, I just thought it was a funny story about my grandparents, and that if you were still up you might like to hear it."

"Football Head," trying not to laugh, Helga brought her free hand up to her head and began to rub one of her temples, "This isn't some corny way of getting me prepped for you showing up at my door on our one month anniversary or something and popping the question so we can start some kind of ten year engagement, is it?"

"Helga!" There was embarrassment in the way he said her name but it was outweighed by amusement.

"Well, sheesh, Arnoldo!" She rolled her eyes. "You just told me a story that started out with two people eerily similar to us falling in love and ended by telling me that you're they're grandchild! What the heck else am I supposed to think?" She smiled a bit more as another thought then occurred to her. "By the way, if you're getting a raise in your allowance, like you said, then I better get the most stunning ring imaginable. Seriously—nothing from that machine with the rings in the plastic eggs that costs a quarter. I expect you to head to the fifty cent one! Repeatedly until you get me just the right rock, Football Head!"

She heard Arnold sigh and reply playfully, "Now Helga, don't you think that would be doing things a little out of order—shouldn't it be the Helga locket first and then the Helga shrine and then an engagement ring?"

Helga chuckled, still trying to keep her voice low but kind of wishing that they were alone and with each other again so that she could just laugh out loud at her beloved and all of his adorableness. "Hey, the order's not important to me so long as it all gets done eventually, Arnoldo!" She heard Arnold's chuckling pick up a little, and her own couldn't help escalating just slighting in turn. "Crimeny, though, Football Head…" she couldn't help but add, "On a side note, if I ever do catch you with a Helga locket or shrine I will never let you hear the end of it! I don't care if I have an Arnold locket and you're cool with it—just the idea of you keeping a picture of me around your neck in a heart-shaped frame or something is possibly the most humorous image I've ever had in my head…Even better than Gerald practically passing out in Phoebe's arms before..." She almost snorted, recalling that little incident from not too long ago.

"Yeah…" she heard Arnold respond with a sigh after getting his chuckles under control a few seconds later, "I think Gerald would have plenty to say about it if he ever found me with something like that either…" He laughed once more to himself. "For now, though, I'm already getting ready to hear it about 'the shrine' from him on Monday…"

Despite the fact that it was a reminder that another huge part of her Arnold obsession had accidentally been blown to a less-than-ideal person this evening, Helga couldn't help but just smile even more at the memory of the (retrospectively) amusing incident.

"Meanwhile, though…" Arnold continued, letting out a breath, "You're focusing on a locket when the bigger picture is it looks like we're supposed to date for ten or fifteen years and then get married and have a family or something…" He laughed warmly to himself as he added almost casually, "How weird would that be if we really were just like my grandparents…?"

Helga felt a pleasant twist in her stomach and a flutter in her heart. She did her best to maintain her composure, though, recalling how letting herself go into that girlish sigh before after her beloved had finished telling his story had been one of the key things to bring a tired Bob knocking on her door with questions. "You know, Football Head…" she began in reply, her eyes dreamy and still half lidded, though she'd at least managed to make her voice not quite as airy as usual during her monologuing states, "If you're trying to make the sweet Helga come out you're getting really close with all this marriage talk and acting like you'd be happy about it or something…" She almost giggled. "I mean, crimeny, it's a good thing you had the sense to hold this little 'story telling session' over the phone or I think I'd be about one more flirtatious remark away from losing it and jumping right on top of you again..."

"Oh. Hmm…" He almost sounded…disappointed? Helga had to raise part of her brow at the unexpected reaction…but then suddenly found herself blushing furiously with understanding as Arnold then finished by saying, "Well, I guess I should have waited then… I mean, the you who throws herself at me and jumps on top of me is a little scary but she's also a lot of fun as long as we're being honest…" He laughed. "She's fun on rooftops and in closets and on your coffee table and in your room and maybe even in my room one of these days if I ever get the timing right—"

"ARNOLD!" Helga couldn't help but exclaiming in a louder whisper, feeling her heart pound at the memories and at how much he sounded like he wanted more of them…and as soon as possible, maybe...

Her beloved just laughed a bit more loudly on the other end of the line. "Sorry, Helga…I really don't know why I'm saying things like that and acting a little strange right now…I guess it's just how late it is and all that stuff you said to me and all the stuff we did and then that story…" He let out a happy sigh. "I just feel like I could sit here and talk to you all night and it'd make me…happy." From the way he had said it, it sounded like the word had just occurred to him to describe his feelings…but also like he couldn't help but be, well, 'happy' with how appropriate it was. "Really, really happy…" he added with another warm laugh. "I mean, until I needed to kiss you again, of course…" came the playful finish.

"Arnold!" Helga exclaimed more firmly, though trying to keep her volume down again…it wasn't helping her be any more in control of her responses to him, though, that she could feel her face growing hotter and hotter… Still, she wouldn't have traded this little spontaneous phone-based addition to their evening together for anything, as the embarrassed though proud smirk now upon her face attested to.

Arnold just let out a happy (if not slightly embarrassed, himself) sounding sigh, and laughed a little to himself at yet another surprised exclamation of his name from her at everything he was saying. "Right, right—bad 'dark Arnold,' very bad. Sorry, Helga…" She heard him take a second to shift on his bed, and a touch of that familiar shyness returned to his voice. "I mean also want to talk to you and do things together and read more poems and hear you tell me more fun stories about trying to keep your secret from me…" He swallowed hard, and then added with that streak of slyness returning, "I just really want to do other things with you now too, I guess…" He took a second to reflect. "Hmm…this whole other part of my personality is going to take some time to get used to, isn't it, Helga?"

Helga just chuckled and shook her head at her silly little lovesick beloved's question. "Ah, don't worry about it, Football Head. I think I can keep you in check!" She began to absentmindedly twirl the phone cord around one of her fingers.

Arnold just chuckled and added, the amusement and daring returning to his tone a bit more strongly, "And yet I have the strange feeling that you're not going to want to keep me in check too often… But maybe I'm just focusing too much on the image of you with your hair down sitting on your bed and swinging that rope and saying 'come get it…'. What do you think Helga?"

Ignoring the strong blushing she could feel going on in her face once again, Helga just reached up with her free hand and rubbed her tired eyes, the happy grin still more than on her face, though. "I think, Football Head, that I need to let Olga know that I'm still alive and that you need to get back to bed until you've had a sufficient amount of sleep to NOT sound like a lovesick idiot. Believe me, if anyone knows what that sounds like, it's me, Arnoldo—I invented it!"

He laughed warmly and was about to respond to the joke with another cleverly flirtatious remark when Helga's eyes went wide and she instantly buried the phone in her hands and under her blankets once more…the result of suddenly hearing footsteps creaking across the dark hall beyond her door once more. She swallowed hard and quickly said aloud in an audible voice, "Yeah, well, gotta go now, Olga—it's getting pretty late here and I don't want to keep everyone up. Have a safe plane ride and call tomorrow after you finally get back to Alaska!"

With this cover, Helga then tried to audibly make it sound like she was burying herself in her blankets before going into total silence for several seconds, hoping that whoever was out there would assume she was indeed asleep now. In the darkness of her room, Helga, whose eyes were still quite wide and whose heart was still pounding in just a bit of panic, could see a faint light in the hallway under the crack of her door and then heard a few more floor creaks…and then, to her great relief, she heard the sound of a sink running and the sound of someone gargling. 'Whew—he just forgot to brush his teeth! Yes!' She sat up, a smile on her face.

Helga's smile instantly fell, though, at the creaking sound of her door suddenly opening…revealing (thankfully) her mother this time, in a bathrobe rubbing one of her eyes in sleepiness.

"Helga…" Miriam yawned, speaking in a loud whisper with a half smile, "I hear from your father that you're on the phone with 'Olga'…" The emphasis on her older daughter's name and the disbelief implied by it were obvious. "But it really is getting late and you really are up way past your bedtime even for a weekend so please try to wrap things up soon…" She yawned once more. "Okay, sweetie?" Her smile grew just a bit. "You can talk to your 'sister' in the morning…" She winked at the word 'sister' (of course.)

Helga swallowed, feeling a blush creeping up into her cheeks, but tried her best to maintain some dignity. "Hey…" she began weakly, trying to keep her whisper a bit low since she was about to go a bit outside of the cover of 'talking with Olga,' "You know, I might actually be on the phone with Olga…" 'Technically…' she couldn't help but note mentally, 'I mean, she's on hold and Arnold's also on the phone so…that kind of counts…sort of…'

Without missing a beat, Miriam stepped inside and gently closed the door behind her, effectively insuring her and her daughter just a bit more privacy, and then with a smirk instantly responded, "So…If I go downstairs and push the call button on the cordless phone in the kitchen, and say 'hello'…" she tried not to laugh at the sight of how pale her daughter had grown at this challenge, "…I'll hear Olga saying 'hello' back and no one else…?"

"Uh…" Helga swallowed and glanced around nervously. "Y-yeah…" she tried to reply with confidence, calling her mother's bluff, though her voice was obviously shaky… A second didn't pass though before, under Miriam's all knowing gaze, she let out a breath and collapsed back on her pillows in defeat, and continued with, "…As soon as I take her off hold because Arnold called ten minutes ago to say goodnight and we're still talking…"

Miriam did her best not to laugh at the admission. "Hmm…well, it's good you at least have her on the other line as a back-up if you needed it…" She let out a sigh, still smiling as she just shook her head in amusement at her youngest daughter. "Anyway, I know you and you-know-who have a lot to discuss since you're just starting out but there's always tomorrow morning, Helga…and that dinner you got your father to agree to…and your 'date' afterwards." She had to chuckle slightly. "Oh, I know it probably bothers you, Helga, but it's so cute that you two have little dates!"

Helga just rolled her eyes and scowled slightly at Miriam's slightly patronizing tone, though a half smirk was still on her face. "Oh, ha-ha, Mom… You should talk to Olga!" She crossed her arms over her chest. "She'd be dressing us up in little matching blue and pink sailor suits if she had her way…"

Miriam chuckled once more, still doing her best to keep her voice down. "Yes, that does sound like your sister…" She seemed reflective for a second, and then her eyes fell to Helga's again. "And as for Arnold…well, I guess since it is your 'anniversary' and not a school night that it wouldn't be the worst thing if you talked for just a few minutes longer…But make sure you get to bed in time to get up for our family breakfast tomorrow!" She walked back to Helga's door and opened it up again. "Well, goodnight, Sweetie…" she whispered over her shoulder. "See you in the morning!"

Helga's face lost all scowl and now she just smiled appreciatively over at her mother. "Yeah, yeah…Goodnight, Miriam…"

Miriam returned the smile and was about to turn around and head to bed for good…when…

"Um…Miriam?"

She paused at this hesitant address from her younger daughter. "Yes, Helga?"

She watched with interest as Helga glanced down, twiddling her thumbs, looking a little nervous. "Um…thanks…and um…" Helga smiled just a bit more to herself. "You're…you're pretty okay…" Feeling the mushy moment overwhelm things just slightly the young girl rolled her eyes and added playfully, "You know, for a 'Mom'…"

Something in Miriam's eyes seemed to brighten at these words. "Thank you, Helga…"

A second or two of tender silence passed.

And then finally Helga couldn't take it anymore, and scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Okay, okay…" she whispered back playfully to her mother, "Crimeny Miriam, I've got a drama queen sister and a dazed and confused boyfriend both on hold—let's finish the mushy stuff during 'Pataki bonding day' tomorrow and let me get back to dealing with their shenanigans now!"

Miriam put her hand to her mouth and chuckled, really doing her best not to be too loud but finding it very hard to succeed. "Of course…Goodnight!"

And with that and another smile she left her daughter, closing the door gently behind her.

Helga let out a breath at her departure and just shook her head in amusement as she heard Miriam's footsteps continue up the hall to her and Bob's room, leaving her in silence again. The ten-year-old blond then picked up the receiver in her hand once more and went back to the phone conversation she had been interrupted from…though this time talking in the faintest whisper possible (she really didn't want to take any chances after all…) 'Heck, if we were loud enough for Miriam to hear us after all the precautions after Bob came in here, these walls must be thinner than a I thought!'

Helga cleared her throat and spoke in a very, very faint voice. "Football Head…listen I seriously have to go. My Mom just caught us and she's giving us a few minutes but I don't want to take the chance of waking up my Dad again for anything…!"

"Aw, but Helga, I—" came his disappointed and just slightly desperate voice in reply.

"SHHH!" she had to whisper into the receiver at how loud the sound of his voice suddenly seemed in the still quiet of her dark room after getting caught on this call for a second time that night. "They're both light sleepers and right next door since not all of us have the privilege of living in our own private attic room…" She couldn't help but add the last part just a bit smugly. "And when you talk normally, it sounds pretty loud in a quite house," she finished in explanation, "So just whisper, okay, Arnoldo?"

In her peaceful, dim room, Helga heard him laugh once more on the other end of the line and then she heard his faint whisper of acknowledgement to her request.

She couldn't help but smile in reply. "Good. Okay so, like I said it's late and I'm tired and I've still got Olga to deal with so goodnight, Football Head."

More whispering from Arnold's end.

Helga just rolled her eyes. "Arnold, please!" she whispered, turning toward her wall and window, "Don't start trying to turn me into one of those girls who plays games like 'you hang up first, no YOU hang up first' with guys they like!" She almost had to laugh at the very idea. "I mean, the next thing you know you'll be slipping into the 'I love YOU more, no I love YOU more' shtick and if that happens I'll have to personally come over and deprogram you from becoming the romantic sap you keep threatening to slip into tonight, Arnoldo."

More whispering from her beloved.

Helga scoffed as lightly as she could. "Oh yeah, you ARE just desperate enough to actually be opening your window right now in anticipation of my visit!" She almost shook her head in amusement. "Like I'm actually going to sneak out with my house full of adults and then sneak into your house full of adults on some pretext of making you act normal for once just so you can squeeze in one more good night kiss courtesy of this new little flirting streak of yours…" She laughed to herself. "You really do have an addiction to me, don't you Football Head?" She raised part of her brow. "You know, obsession is a dangerous thing, Arnold...One minute you're just writing the occasional poem and the next minute you're crawling through air vents with the object of your affections trying to stop the entire established social order of the fourth grade from collapsing! It's a slippery slope!"

Some obviously very amused whispering and laughing from the boarding house telephone in Arnold's room sounded in Helga's ear.

Helga did her best not to burst into laughter at sound of his happy chuckles. "Okay, Football Head, stop cracking up—I'm pretty sure you're supposed to be asleep by now and I don't need someone going to get a drink of water accidentally hearing you and grounding you tomorrow…" She swallowed. "Especially since I was kind of hoping you'd come over to dinner at my house… " she slipped in casually…

A few more choice whispers from Arnold.

"NO!" Helga began just a bit indignantly, feeling warmth flood her cheeks uncontrollably, "NOT just the two of us and some French food and candles like that one time at Chez Paris!" She swallowed and had to glance down in embarrassment, even though she was technically alone. "You really are gone about this whole in love thing aren't you Arnoldo?" And then she had to take a deep breath before finally admitting, once again as casually as possible, "Anyway…I meant with me and my parents…"

Some significantly more hesitant whispers came from Arnold's end of the call sounded in her ear this time.

Helga just rolled her eyes and shifted onto her back, putting her free hand behind her head. "And I promise you'll be safe, Football Head…They're actually…" Helga felt the smile on her face grow quite a bit, "They're acting kind of cool right now…I don't know—it's a long story...Olga was talking to them and then they were talking to each other and then they talked to me…" She shook her head to clear it, recalling the late hour. "I'll fill you in tomorrow…after the little date I decided we're going on after dinner at my place!" she added with a giggle.

"Really?" Forgetting for a moment, in his enthusiasm, about the need to whisper, Arnold couldn't help this quite happy and quite eager exclamation from escaping his mouth.

Helga had to chuckle just slightly aloud at this unexpected little outburst. After a few seconds, though, she finally managed to clear her throat and return to her whisper. "Yikes, cool it, Football Head! All I did was ask you out on a date—at this point it shouldn't be THAT surprising…" She managed to lower her voice even more…in a manner more sultry than secretive though, "Yes…it shouldn't be all that surprising that I'm thinking just once a week on Friday afternoons isn't going to be nearly enough to get my fill of you, my adorable little Football Head, especially after a surprise evening like this one…and so I'm asking for a little more one-on-one time…" She giggled. "Oh just think about it, Arnold—after dinner you and me all alone on a lovely moonlit night…" Helga felt herself blushing and yet had already decided in advance that all of these little suggestive comments would be well worth hearing Arnold shift uncomfortably and say her name in that shy, slightly embarrassed way of his…

Which was why she was surprised to instead hear instead a few more low, enthusiastic whisperings from the phone line of the Boarding House a few blocks away.

Smiling like crazy, Helga suddenly felt her breath catch in her throat and the heat in her face reach its peak at how he'd chosen to respond. "Y-yes, I-I know, Arnold!" came her nervous voice with the only thing she could think to his sudden retort, "If I snuck out and came to your house right now like you said before we would indeed be alone again, but it's not happening…" She glanced down shyly. "Heh, heh…You crazy Football Head…"

A few more quiet words from Arnold…and some somewhat loud laughter considering he was supposed to be trying to keep quiet.

At this point Helga was over the embarrassment considering how tired she was and how used she was slowly starting to get to Arnold's flirting, and so she just scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Oh ha-ha, yes, Arnold—I'm sure that you are indeed just going to be so on my mind again after everything tonight that I'll sleepwalk to your house no matter what I'm saying right now." She raised part of her brow and crossed an arm over her chest. "You know, thinking about you wasn't the only factor in that whole fiasco—otherwise it would have been happening for the last seven years straight!" The two kids shared a laugh, and then Helga admitted sheepishly and with a swallow, "I…might have started snacking on pork rinds at the time, and apparently they don't sit too well with me…Heh, heh…"

Another quick whisper or two courtesy of Arnold and his newfound sense of adventure sounded from the receiver.

"Oh my…Football Head! Seriously, what is with these lame lines of yours?" Helga was stammering and blushing once more. 'He is just…I…Arnold!' she couldn't help but mentally squeal in delighted surprise at this new romantic streak of her beloved's. "I-I mean…" she finally managed to get out in a more than flustered voice, "Just how tired are you anyway, paste for brains?" She swallowed hard and found the courage to repeat the exact words he had just said to her in response to her confession about her particular problems with said particular snack food. " 'I should eat them a bit more often'? Please!" she tried to laugh and resume a more casual tone, though it wasn't easy. "I am cut off from those things for life! I already woke up at your door once and then on your fire escape and even in your shower—" She played with a bit of the phone cord in her free hand. "Next step was probably waking up curled in a ball at the end of your bed or something… " she added absentmindedly.

A pause from the other end of the line. And then finally a whisper from Arnold…and another pause…and then another whisper…

Helga, who had already been put through serious heart flutters a couple of times just now by her beloved, instantly felt her jaw drop and her heart start pounding and was thankful for being alone and in the dark so that no one could see the distinct ruby shade her face must be at this point. 'This is the most adorable, romantic, flirtatious conversation he has ever…He just better never do this in public…Oh but I wish he was with me doing it right now! He's so cute! Crimeny, I need to flirt him out of his modesty streak more often!' "Oh I-I just bet you 'wouldn't really mind if that happened' Mr. Not So Goodie Two Shoes…" she managed to reply much more assertively. "I have half a mind to do it one day and see just how freaked out it actually makes you…"

Another whisper and a small laugh.

And now Helga, still grinning and blushing, had to just sigh and put her hand to her head, shaking it wonder. 'You know what—scratch what I said before…' she thought to herself, recalling the closet shrine earlier, 'I actually did break Arnold—before he was just a nice quiet normal ten-year-old boy who barely had enough courage to ask Lila to the cheese festival and now I've got him flirting near midnight with his girlfriend about ending up on his bed!' She had to let out a small chuckle. 'Oh well—at least it's a good kind of broken!' "Uh, T-Touché, F-Football Head…" Helga finally managed to stammer, unable to remove all the shyness from her voice just yet. "If I did wake up there only to find you curled next to me, I'd probably be the one to spazz and fall on the floor." She half laughed as a memory came to mind, and gazed up at her ceiling. "But I guess I would be asking for it considering that whole 'I need to lie down, wonderful I'll go with you' thing…"

There was a second of silence and then her and Arnold shared a hearty (though still whispered) laugh together at the reminder of her confession.

Finally, though, Helga found one of her chuckles turning into a yawn, and so took a deep breath and recalled that even after getting done with him she still had her sister to finish up with. "Okay, okay, seriously, Arnold—once again, real name so I'm not kidding—I have to get back to Olga because she's already been on call waiting for twenty minutes and I'm pretty sure at this point she's figured out that I'm talking to you and the longer I'm gone the more I'm never going to hear the end of it from her…" Then Helga's eyes went wide for a second as she recalled one more phone conversation that she'd promised to have this evening. "Oh, and also, I forgot, but I promised to call up Phoebe (Hmph—lucky girl has a private line in her room and parents who DON'T sleep practically within twenty feet of her) and fill her in on the shrines thing after I found out how you were gonna take it." She put her free hand to her head. "Crimeny, she's probably sitting worried out of her mind by the phone or someth—"

Helga was cut off by several seconds of whispers from Arnold, who ended with a slight chuckle once again.

As he continued and then finished with what he'd had to say that was so important that he had to interrupt her recollection to phone her best friend, Helga's eyes had slowly widened considerably and finally it basically took all she had to keep from screaming Olga style. "Oh…OH…Oh no she didn't! Oh no they didn't! You are kidding me, Arnold!"

Some whispers of assurance.

"Oh…!" Helga finally fell back onto her pillows and kicked under her blankets a few times in total elation at the news about Gerald and Phoebe. "Oh, forget calling her then, Football Head!" She chuckled. "If your best friend's anything like you when you're head over heels for someone and they finally make a move, I wouldn't interrupt her tonight for the rest of the world!" She smirked a bit as she added, now also very happy that she had a bit more leverage considering certain events and certain blown secrets from this night, "Gerald is definitely getting a few choice jabs from me about this at school on Monday, though…"

A sigh a some more whispered words from Arnold.

Helga scowled in a bit of frustration and responded playfully, "Oh come on, you wet blanket! Crimeny, in case you don't remember, your best friend practically had a field day with me when he came into the loop about MY love life, so…" She continued, feigning as much innocence as possible in her tone, "You HAVE to at least give me a few fun little side comments to him when Phoebe's not around, like 'Hey, so, heard after two weeks of solid flirting that you finally got up the courage to do more than hold my best friend's hand…I mean, Arnold and I are already up to kiss number four thousand seven hundred and twelve, but keep trying to catch up!'" She chuckled just as Arnold laughed warmly at her joke, much to her delight. "Besides…" she stretched up, "You know he's going to be laying into me about the shrine the second he sees me in the halls… Heck, like you just said, tall hair boy even confirmed when you saw him that he's just waiting for the chance to get at me, and that just proves my point about why I should get to give him a hard time too—I need some kind of retaliation, after all!" Her grin picked up on one side and she added as an amusing afterthought. "Besides, that's the only way me and Geraldo really relate outside of caring about you and Phoebe, Football Head—he mildly insults me, I mildly insult him, rinse and repeat. It's cathartic or something…"

A confused whisper or two courtesy of Arnold.

Helga just rolled her eyes and responded patiently but humorously, "I don't know, Arnoldo, it means it makes you feel better!" She chuckled. "Believe me, when you hang out with Phoebe your vocabulary skyrockets without you even realizing it! Heh—by the end of the month I'm sure Gerald will be throwing 'antidisestablishmentarianism' around on a regular basis…"

A bit of laugher and a small whisper.

"Okay, but seriously this time, goodnight, Football Head— Gotta get back to Olga and then to bed!"

A quick whisper.

Helga rolled her eyes. "Yes, I love you too…" 'I am never going to let him forget this phone call—darn it, where is a tape recorder when you need one?'

Another quick whisper from her one and only beloved.

"No, Arnold…" Helga began, turning on her stomach and resting her head in one of her hands, the smile now all but permanently etched on her face. "My comment before was not a hint for you to actually start the 'I love you more, no I love you more' game." She giggled. "Just cuddle up with one of my pink books to soothe your lonely self and I'll see you tomorrow night around six on my front stoop for dinner here… And afterwards we'll catch a flick or something. I was thinking about ice cream again but I thought it might be nice to try a new approach. Besides I feel like that should be special for Friday's, don't you?"

Some more whispering and laughter from Arnold.

She giggled once again. "As always, I'm glad you see it my way Football Head…but if you were even remotely serious when you just suggested it, ixnai on seeing a romantic comedy." She let out a breath and couldn't help the urge to snuggle herself more under her warm, pink blankets. "I told you, I prefer a good monster or action movie, and besides I think it's safe to say that both of our lives have more than enough random romance-based misadventures in them already!"

Both of them shared a laugh at this more than accurate observation.

Helga took a breath and smiled as her giggles finally subsided. "Oh and Arnold…?" she asked in that delicate, light voice she knew intrigued him so much…

The whisper of a single word.

Helga let out a breath of pure contentment...before mustering the last bit of her sarcasm before the lovesickness practically overtook her to announce to her beloved, "I may be 'hanging up' first but…I love you more, Arnold! Ha!" And with that Helga clicked down the button ending her phone call with Arnold and resuming her phone call with Olga. 'If she's still there of course, after all that…' Helga couldn't help but think to herself with a blush at just how carried away she'd allowed herself to get with talking to him and… 'Aw let's just admit it—outrageously being flirted with by that lovely little Football Head!'

Putting aside, for now, the thoughts of her beloved that she was more than certain would serve to inspire several more volumes of pink books in the coming days, Helga let out a deep breath and brought the receiver to her ear once more. "Hello…Olga?"

Silence.

"Olga, you still there?" Helga tried to talk a bit louder. After all, even if she did wake one of her parents up again, at least this time she genuinely was talking to her sister and not her boyfriend.

Finally, Helga let out a sigh. 'Crimeny, I didn't mean to ditch her like that…Oh well, I guess I can call her in the morning…'

"Helga?"

The sound of Olga's voice actually suddenly coming on again caused Helga to pause in the middle of being about to hang up the phone!

"Oh Helga, I almost thought I'd lost you!" Olga suddenly announced in utter delight. "My flight's boarding in a few minutes—is everything okay, baby sister?"

Helga smiled and turned on her back, putting her hand without the phone behind her head. "Yeah, everything's fine, Olga…" She let out a breath and then cleared her throat and began sheepishly, hoping that she could maybe possibly get out of having both Miriam AND Olga kidding her for the rest of the weekend about her late night, First 'Anniversary' phone call with Arnold (though she was more than aware that it was pretty futile). "Sorry…those, uh…those pesky phone salesmen just won't take no for an answer sometimes…Heh, heh…"

"Helga, what did Arnold want?" Olga asked, not even buying it for a second.

Helga sighed and rubbed her eyes. 'Knew that wouldn't work. Darn it—now I've gotta tell the truth again. Arnold's conscience really is contagious.' Still, she didn't exactly mind telling this truth, all things considered. She let out a sigh. "Oh…To drive me nuts by calling about the most random things imaginable but making it so I couldn't hang up because every once in a while he'd throw in something about how much he likes me…" She shook her head in amusement and then opened her eyes as she realized with interest, "That seems to be pretty much standard for him, actually—A pointless point to start the conversation followed by random tangents until somehow we inevitably learn 'great truths' about each other..."

Olga giggled. "Ooo, and what did you learn about each other tonight, baby sister?" she asked with genuine interest.

Helga considered for a second, finding the sudden question and its many potential answers rather amusing. 'Eh, why not—damage control for tonight has all but been blown to shreds. Might as well get some fun out of it at least…and a load off my shoulders.' "Well…I think Arnold learned that near midnight is the perfect time to call with a bunch of out of character randomness because in the morning he can always just say it was the lack of sleep talking…" She had to laugh, knowing full well Mr. Modest Arnold would indeed probably be back by morning with a dozen little unnecessary apologies for all of his cuteness this evening.

Olga laughed along with her. "Okay, you're definitely going to have to explain more about this 'randomness' of his when we have more time to talk, baby sister, because I'm just bursting with curiosity at this point but there's so little time before I get on my plane!"

Helga finished her laugh and stretched her free arm up high, doing her best to fight a yawn. "You got it, Olga…I promise, explanations will abound tomorrow." And then Helga's grin returned in full force as she recalled that she'd only answered half of Olga's question. "Anyway, that's what he learned tonight…and I learned that…well…" she felt the familiar blush creeping up into her cheeks, but at this point not only was she not really all that concerned with her sister finding out what she was about to tell her but she was busting to reveal a certain piece of information to someone and Phoebe was unfortunately currently 'indisposed'. So Helga took a deep breath and finally finished, "I learned that apparently he thinks a lot like you do, Olga..."

"How so…?" Olga asked her baby sister with genuine confusion.

Helga inhaled, considered once more the potential squealing consequences of saying what she was going to say next…but then just said it anyway (and hey, on top of these other good excuses, she was entitled to randomly spill some things just because she was sleepy just as much as Arnold was). "Let's just say I think he's having some fun with the crazy idea that we should get married in the distant future, too…"

Silence.

Finally Olga spoke in a voice that sounded like she was obviously trying to control herself and probably pouting severely if Helga knew her older sister. "Baby Sister, do you have any idea how unfair it was of you to tell me that just now when I'm getting on the plane? If I scream they'll kick me off or something, Helga!"

Helga had to let a serious laugh escape her at this response, actually holding her sides for several seconds until she could get herself under control. "S-sorry Olga…I promise I'll call you in Alaska tomorrow and you can scream and squeal and giggle all you want…and I'll fill you in with more details then too about that first real kiss I mentioned earlier… But right now…" She finally couldn't fight it anymore and had to yawn, "I'm bushed, Olga, so I think I'll hit the hay…"

Olga just sighed in disappointment on the other end of the line. "Oh okay, baby sister, but I really do expect a phone call the first chance you get tomorrow! And if you don't call me you know for certain that I'll call you!" The sunshine returned to her voice in full force. "You liking a boy like this is practically the biggest thing that could ever happen to us as sisters! Oh, it's such a bonding experience!" She giggled.

And then all this talk of bonding and boys and sisters suddenly reminded Helga of something and made her eyes light up quite a bit as an interesting point of conversation entered her head for the second time during this phone call. 'This should be fun…' "Oh yeah!" she began in an overly innocent and eager voice, "I'll definitely put gushing to you at the top of my to do list tomorrow!" 'Just under calling up Phoebe and getting all the juicy details about this hand holding and flirting and near kiss and walk home with tall hair boy!' Helga had to add mentally. She then cleared her throat…and dropped the bomb with a very satisfied smirk on her face that she only wished her big sister could see. "And then maybe we can talk about some things Miriam might have mentioned about your own little adolescent exploits when she cornered me before about the whole Arnold thing… Something about Bob finding guys hiding in your closet…TWICE?"

Much to Helga's entertainment, as she finished delivering this information she heard Olga cough and then practically sound like she was choking.

"Excuse me, miss…would you care for some water?" Helga heard a flight attendant say faintly, which only made her snort with laughter and have to bring a hand up to her mouth to control it.

"Um…" Olga coughed a bit more, "Oh, uh, yes—th-thank you. Sorry, something caught in my throat."

There was silence for a few seconds during which Helga assumed Olga must be drinking. 'And now we're even for her telling our mother that I've got a boyfriend…' she thought to herself with satisfaction.

Finally, her sister's voice returned to the phone once again. Olga cleared her throat before speaking and feigned innocence in her tone as she started. "He-Helga…I don't know what, um…what Mummy told you but uh…heh, heh…I, uh…"

Helga just smirked, not even beginning to buy Olga's lame attempt to try and explain away this juicy story. "Oh, save it sister!" She scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "And you were giving me grief about going off to study in Arnold's room alone for a couple of hours a few weeks ago! Puh-lease!"

She heard Olga laugh nervously and clear her throat once more. "Well…I…that is to say…" But then, obviously quite tired herself and quite aware that her baby sister was far too astute to be tricked into letting this go, Olga just sighed in exasperation. "I'm going to have such a talk with Mummy later…" She mumbled to herself on the plane. "A very, very long talk…"

Helga chuckled. "Hey, do whatever you have to but first you're going to have a long talk with me—If I've got to spill about all this Arnold stuff then you're giving something up too. Besides," she was doing her very best not to burst into laughter again as she finished humorously, playing with the phone cord in the fingers of her free hand, "I think it's good for my morale to hear about some of Ms. Perfect's less than perfect moments. A little self esteem boost, you know?"

A second of silence passed again and then finally Helga heard Olga sigh in defeat…and actually sound like she was trying to hold back a little bit of a laugh herself. "Okay, baby sister, you win—if you'll keep letting me know how things are going with Arnold then we'll talk about some of the things I might have done when I was younger…keeping in mind that I was fifteen when I did most of them and not ten of course!" she added a bit reproachfully. "Honestly Helga, if Daddy finds Arnold in your closet now he'll never let you out of the house again!"

Helga felt herself blush rather quickly and had to glance down with a swallow. 'Oh Olga…if only you knew half the places Arnold's been lately…my closet, the couch, my floor, against my door, on my bed, in my tree…' She felt a shiver come over her at the thoughts, but then did her best to shake it off for now and respond to her sister in the casual, one-up tone she'd been assuming for the end of their conversation. "Don't worry, Olga, I've got Arnold covered. I just go over to his house Friday afternoons and we talk and then we get ice cream and I'm home in time for dinner. Not exactly the scandal of the decade." She had to smile a bit more as she then added proudly, "And if we want to try anything a bit more frequent, I fixed it so Arnold's coming over here for dinner tomorrow night so Bob can get used to him, you know? And then I told the overprotective Beeper King that me and the little shrimp are going out afterwards… Of course I worked it so that I got my curfew extended before I made that announcement—let's see, I don't think yours was ten o'clock until at least junior high, right?" Helga wasn't exactly trying to sound smug but in her defense it was rare that she ever truly excelled in anything more than her sister…and it was a little fun milking it just a bit.

There was a pause on the other end of the line. "Wait…really, Baby sister?" Olga finally asked in a perplexed voice.

Helga had to raise an eyebrow at just how disbelieving her sister's tone was, but otherwise continued smiling and just responded with a casual and happy, "Yup!"

"Well…now how in the world did you manage all of that?" Helga blinked at the sound of Olga actually chuckling, and then adding in a nostalgic tone, "I mean, I know you're very good at standing up for yourself and doing things your own way, baby sister, especially when it comes to Mummy and Daddy, but I could barely get away with getting a Valentine card from a boy when I was already in high school without some big scene! I remember once when I was fifteen and a boy gave me a card that said he loved me, Daddy practically…"

Helga cut her off with a yawn, knowing the story far too well. "Yeah, yeah, I remember—card with the word love, Valentine's Day about, oh…six or seven years ago, the first memory I have of Bob actually not being pleased as punch with you…" Helga rolled her eyes and finished with a chuckle and a shrug, "What can I say—I know how to work 'em!"

Olga laughed as well, but then the sound quickly turned into a yawn. "Well," Olga began sleepily, "I'd love to hear more about how you managed to get Mummy and Daddy to be so flexible but I think I'm getting a little tired myself, Helga. Also, we're taking off soon so I'm sorry but I'll have to shut off the phone."

Helga just let out a sigh and turned on her side in the bed, the smile still on her face. "No problem, Olga…thanks for talking to me and for, uh…holding for so long…" She felt herself blush again and did her best to smooth over the slightly embarrassing moment with a joke. "Seriously, Football Head likes to talk way too much sometimes… He's such a chatterbox."

Olga just laughed and yawned once more, and responded almost indifferently, as though she wasn't really thinking about the consequences of the observation, "Well, if you two are kissing already that should stop pretty quickly, baby sister…"

Helga blushed even deeper at this sudden statement, her eyes going wide. "Olga!" 'Crimeny, between the comments randomly coming out of Football Head and now her tonight I feel like my heart's gonna stop or something!'

Olga just chuckled again and the return of her bright tone suggested she'd gotten a temporary second wind of wakefulness at the sound of her sister exclaiming her name. "Just getting you back a little bit for bringing up the boys in the closets, Helga…" she announced playfully, and then let out a tired sigh. "Anyway, I'll talk to you tomorrow….Goodnight my not-so-baby sister."

Helga couldn't help a half smile coming to her face at the little alternation to her sister's usual nickname for her. "Goodnight, Olga. Thanks for everything," She swallowed and her tone took on a bit more sincerity and seriousness as she added, "I…I miss you, you know. And I love you." Her smile grew just slightly.

She heard Olga laugh quietly again…her voice bespeaking more and more tiredness. "I miss you too, Helga…And I always love my baby sister." She laughed again. "I mean my not-so-baby sister." She yawned once more and finished sleepily, "Goodnight."

Olga hung up and Helga hung up.

Her time on the phone finally ending for the evening, Helga took a deep breath and returned the receiver in her hand to her nightstand once more, and then glanced at the alarm clock beside her in the darkness. 'Midnight? Yeesh, what a day… I really do need to get to sleep…especially if I've got a gossipy phone call with Olga, a gossipy phone call with Phoebe, a family breakfast and outing with Bob and Miriam, and a family dinner and then date with Arnold to look forward too...'

She smiled to herself at all of these unusual (for her, at least, considering the last two thirds of her life) and yet very much to-be-looked-forward-to activities to come, and then turned over in her bed so that she could face her window and the dark, swaying familiar form of her tree outside from whose boughs she'd received such a wonderful surprise to start this perfect evening. "Goodnight Arnold." She whispered to herself...so very happily. "I love you."

She glanced out of her window one last time before closing her eyes, and couldn't help thoughts about the third thing she had requested for her birthday coming to her mind. 'Football Head is just going to die when Bob finally gets done with it…and Miriam looked pretty clueless when I brought it up so I think I'm in the clear…' She laughed slightly to herself, snuggling close against her Arnold locket which she had slipped back around her neck where it belonged. 'Oh Arnold…' she thought to herself in regards to her last birthday present, feeling the cool of the locket against her skin under the warm covers, 'It's not too much but until we do get married, my darling, it'll at least suffice to keep making things interesting…and to keep you more than comfortable with coming to my room…' She giggled at the memory of all his little worries upon arriving there that evening, and then sighed to herself. 'I truly am queen of the crazy schemes…and this crazy scheme'll help Arnold actually be able to pull off some of his own without epically failing five minutes in…!'

Helga let out a breath once again, slowly falling more and more into half sleep, and as she did so she began to allow her thoughts to wander a bit…in particular, over some of the most recent and unexpected events in her life. 'First our whole class treating me a little better, then Olga, then my parents… but you complete it, my Arnold…my little love… You make it all whole for me…you make it mean everything…'

Helga sighed contentedly once more to herself and then in the quiet and comfort of the cool spring night she drifted off into her dreams, happily, and full of a much more perfect love than she could have imagined not too long ago…because it was made of many different kinds of love and it was real and for just right now, at least, even if things changed or backtracked or halted or stopped and had to start over again later…it was complete for this piece of the present. Perfect. And there was nothing, for the first time in a very, very long time, to bother the now sleeping and dreaming ten-year-old girl. "Arnold…" the name left her mouth again with a gentle sigh, as it had ever since she'd laid eyes upon its owner seven years ago.

Somewhere several blocks away, Helga, right on the line between consciousness and full sleep, couldn't help the strange feeling that somehow Arnold was saying the same thing to her… her name. Like a whisper that could carry across any distance just to reach her ears. "Arnold…" her lips whispered one more time, in reply to this strange and lovely feeling she had never predicted she'd feel in her entire life… And then she happily drifted into a night of lovely dreams in the darkness.

---

"I may be 'hanging up' first but…I love you more, Arnold! Ha!"

Arnold heard the sound of the phone clicking as Helga suddenly hung up and couldn't help bursting into laughter at her little last exclamation. He placed the phone down on the receiver and lay back down in his bed, staring up at the night sky and stars through his skylight, a very content smile on his face.

He sighed happily, and then not too many seconds later found himself thinking aloud in the late night air about certain recent events in his life… "This really does feel so much better and so much more…more right than before…" Arnold's eyes couldn't help but fall to the small stack of some of Helga's pink books currently resting on a shelf in his wall right near the head of his bed. "We're not angry at each other and we're not avoiding each other and we're not fighting with each other anymore…" The past seven years of bullying and denseness flashed through his mind in an amusing instant…as did, once again, how different things were now. "We're just…happy." His smile grew a bit more as that word came up again, and his gaze turned to the stars above as he put his arms behind his head and added, "And Helga doesn't hide anymore and I…" he had to laugh to himself, "And I finally figured out why my heart kept beating faster every time I was near her since her confession, and why I couldn't not like kissing her, and why even though she always acted so mean to me I always couldn't help but like her…And why I kissed her in her room that first time two weeks ago and why I've blushed about a million times around her ever since that whole confession..."He took a breath, another chuckle escaping him. "I'm in love with Helga…I'm in love with the person who wrote that book of love poems about me that I found one day on the bus, the person who snuck out on a Valentine's Date with me, the person who spent a week straight trying to get a part in the school play just to kiss me, the person who owned that heart-shaped locket that showed up in the boarding house a few weeks ago with my picture in it, the person who made it so I could save the neighborhood…and the person who taught me how to write some of that poetry that she's always thinking up…"

Arnold was about to reach over and shut off his lamp so that he could lay there in the darkness and fall asleep with these happy thoughts when he hesitated at this last observation he had made…and then found himself glancing once more at the small stack of pink books on the shelf… in particular the one on the top—the latest one he'd received from his beloved as a result of this very unexpected and very crazy night together…full of so many unforgettable surprises and confessions.

Suddenly, Arnold's eyes seemed to light up as though he were recalling something and he quickly glanced back at his nightstand, opening his drawer and rummaged for a second…and then his eyes fell on a welcome sight… He lifted up a small pen and then sat up and turned back to the pink books, grabbing the top one and flipping to the end where his eyes rested on the poem using the letters of his name that Helga had written not too long ago. He read it over once more with a smile…and then turned the page…to the start of several blank sheets which he had thought would probably be there as he briefly recalled Helga's remark before about his book being close enough to done for him to take…but not quite yet full.

Arnold clicked the end of the pen in his hand, hesitated, then went forward with the ink-producing item… Yet suddenly…he hesitated (the whole time a smile on his face as he considered the task he was about to try and undertake). And then with a sigh he gently closed the pink book and placed it back on the top of the stack. He glanced over at his desk where a couple of used spiral notebooks now sat…used specifically a couple of weeks ago when this whole wonderful mess had begun. He sighed and smiled, having just made a decision. 'No… When I put it in Helga's book, it should be perfect. But I can't just do it on the spot like her…She's the only person I've ever met who's got a talent like that…' And indeed, Arnold couldn't help but recall how many times he had crossed things out or erased things or switched things when writing his first poem for Helga. He sighed to himself, knowing what he had to do. "I need to get it all worked out first in one of those notebooks or something and then it can go in her book." With these words he then placed the pen down on his nightstand and removed his covers, and was about to get up and go fetch the notebooks across the room so he could actually try and start writing as long as he was still awake and it wasn't a school night, when he suddenly heard creaking on his steps and a couple of soft knocks at his door.

Arnold looked to his door curiously with a raised eyebrow, but at the same time couldn't help a smile coming to his face as he thought to himself for just a second, 'Helga wouldn't really…she wouldn't really come here right now…would she?' Alone, at night, this late, after all the kissing that had already happened? Even Arnold's more 'adventurous' side knew there was something a little extreme about that…though somehow it still sounded a little exciting to him just the same, he had to admit.

Suddenly his door opened halfway and familiar face (though certainly not Helga's) entered his room with a smile and a glass of water in one of her hands. "Kimba? What are you still doing up? Is everything okay?" Arnold's Grandma blinked a few times as her eyes met the lights of Arnold's room in contrast to the dim hallway in which she had just been.

Arnold smiled at the old woman from his bed. "Hi, Grandma. Yeah, everything's fine. Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up…I was just…" he felt a slight blush come to his cheeks and glanced down shyly, "…Just talking to a friend on the phone and…thinking about some things." He looked back up at her sincerely. "I'm going to go to sleep now though—I promise."

To his surprise, his grandmother just smiled at his little 'guilty' admission and apologies. "Oh, don't worry, Kimba—I was just getting a drink from the kitchen and I happened to hear you and I just wanted to make sure you were okay. And as for this phone call you mentioned…" Her grin became just a bit slyer. "It wouldn't have anything to do with that nice young lady you've been spending time with lately, would it? Helga?"

Arnold felt himself blush a bit more and go a little wide eyed in initial response to this question…but then the smile returned to his face and he managed to reply only a little sheepishly (slowly getting more and more used to the inevitable good-natured ribbing to come from all members of his extended family for his 'girlfriend.'), "Yes, Grandma. I… just wanted to give her a quick phone call to say goodnight...since I had to kind of hurry out when I left her house a little while ago…" He put his arms behind his back. "Sorry again about getting in so late …I don't know if Grandpa told you but he said you won the bet." Arnold glanced to the side and almost chuckled as he admitted, "I got in closer to 11 than 12."

Gertie watched him with that smile of hers for just a second longer as he finished this little explanation, and then couldn't help laughing to herself…especially about that last thing her Grandson had just filled her in on. "No, your Grandpa 'fell asleep' before he could mention that to me but thank you for letting me know, Kimba. We'll just bring it up to him in the morning." She winked at Arnold.

Arnold laughed along with her. "Okay, Grandma."

And then our football-headed hero was about to wish his grandmother goodnight once more when suddenly…(and probably courtesy of how much Helga's newfound presence in his life had been chipping away at his usual denseness) a certain fact hit Arnold that caused him to blink and look up at his grandmother in curiosity. "Hey…Grandma?"

"Yes, Kimba?" she had been about to reach for the door, but instead turned back around and smiled warmly at him once more.

The perplexed look continued on Arnold's face as he slowly observed, "You just called Helga 'Helga'…I mean…you didn't call her Eleanor." He half smiled. "Helga said that the last time you spoke to her that was who you decided she was. Like how I'm Kimba."

Gertie glanced up, a smile on her face and a hand to her chin as though recalling something... "Oh yes…I remember now. She stumbled in here one morning before you woke up. Poor dear was mumbling something about you and true love and being a total loon, and then just sat down at the table… Took me a few minutes to realize she must have been sleepwalking." Gertie laughed to herself at the memory. "I tried to tell her where she was but her eyes were completely closed and you know what they say about waking up sleepwalkers, Arnold." She shrugged. "Anyway, I tried to humor her for as long as possible but then I heard you coming downstairs, Kimba, and I figured she probably wouldn't like being caught like that very much so I just started talking to her as much as I could and giving her one of my names and hoping that she'd come out of it before you found her… Luckily the smell of that hot plate of food seemed to do the trick because when you came in I turned around and she was gone." Gertie just smiled at her Grandson, awaiting his reaction to this interesting story.

Arnold just stared at her in a bit of amazement for several seconds before finally blinking and managing to get out in a very surprised voice, "Grandma…you…you planned all that out so she wouldn't get caught? And you knew—actually knew from her—that she…that she…loved me?" Certainly, his grandfather had expressed his opinion that Helga liked-him liked-him more than once…but that had only been a guess. His grandmother, on the other hand, had apparently had confirmed proof that Helga full on loved him! But then just when Arnold was about to question, in his continued perplexity and surprise, this situation once more…something else his grandmother had just said caused his thoughts to halt and his eyes to blink. "And…" Arnold raised an eyebrow at her, "Grandma, what do you mean, one of 'your names'?"

At this question, Gertie just chuckled warmly to herself, glanced over her shoulder, shut his door slightly and then lowered her voice to a whisper to explain. "Well…now don't tell your Grandpa, Kimba, but…" She rolled her eyes up coyly and put her hands behind her back. "Most of those things with the names and the outfits and the slightly eccentric cooking that I do are, uh…embellishments, why don't we say?" She winked. "Just having a little fun with the old coot, you know…"

Arnold's jaw actually dropped. 'She's kidding…'. "Grandma?" he exclaimed, "You mean you don't…you mean you're pretending all that stuff with thinking me and Grandpa and the boarders are different people and that the holidays are mixed up and that—"

"Shh, shh…" Gertie shushed her shocked Grandson, still smiling. "Now you can't tell your Grandpa, okay? It'll just be between you and me…" She winked once more. "After all, I have to have some fun around here and besides he likes it more than he lets on…" She chuckled again. "And I'm not pretending everything…Just the more colorful parts." A nostalgic look came into her eye… "Oh when I was a girl I used to imagine like I was going on adventures through the jungle or in different times or in different countries all the time! You know we didn't have all this TV and video games and stuff you kids have now…" She shrugged, looking back to Arnold. "So I had to improvise."

Arnold's now pleasantly surprised smile just kept growing, and that caused his grandmother's smile to grow as well. "Besides, Arnold," she continued, raising an eyebrow at him, "You didn't really think that a woman with a fifth degree black belt and the capacity to cook for a boarding house full of people every day and who could break out of a prison cell three times in a row last month while you were saving the neighborhood without cracking a sweat was really that gone all the time, did you?" She crossed her arms over her chest and smirked at him just a little.

Arnold just continued looking at her for a second and finally felt himself overtaken by warm laughter. 'Just like Helga…now matter how strange all this love stuff makes her act around me, she's always got it in her to do anything.' Arnold felt his laughter subside into a smile again. "I'm sorry, Grandma…I shouldn't have underestimated you."

"Don't worry about it, Kimba." Gertie waved him off. "Just act surprised when you come downstairs tomorrow and find…oh, I don't know…" She put a hand to her chin for a moment like she was thinking, and then a twinkle came into her eyes… "When you find some poi for breakfast and me in a Hawaiian skirt with a lei and calling your grandpa Chief Kahuna, okay?"

Arnold yawned and lay back on his bed. "Sure thing, Grandma…I mean Bwana." He chuckled.

Gertie chuckled once more as well and headed toward her Grandson's door. "Oh Arnold, you really are a pip…" She let out a tired but happy sigh. "Goodnight…and no more calls to Helga until the morning!" she added in a playfully scolding voice. "I'm sure she loves hearing from you but you have to give the poor dear a chance to rest…Besides, it'll make it that much better when you call her first thing in the morning which I'm sure you'll try and do before your Grandpa gets you up for those extra chores." She winked and put a hand on his door handle and turned it, opening the door just slightly. "Don't worry though…I'll try and stall him as much as possible to buy you some extra time…" she got that mischievous look in her eyes again, "Maybe a little ukulele playing…I think that thing's in the closet or maybe the trunk…" She seemed to be genuinely considering the options as she opened the door fully and began to head down the ladder.

Arnold just watched her commence leaving with a smile…but then a curious look came to his face and he called out to her once more, causing her to stop half way down. "Hey…Grandma?"

Gertie, whose head was almost at the height of Arnold's floor at this point, looked up at him from her place on the ladder. "Yes, Arnold?"

"I was just curious…" he sat up a little more in his bead and raised an eyebrow, an intrigued smile on his face, "Why did you decide to call Helga 'Eleanor'?"

His grandmother's grin grew just a bit and she glanced to the side in thought. "Well…sneaking in here like that…not just that time with the sleepwalking but with a couple of other things…" The old woman tried not to laugh at some of the memories her and her husband had of a few of the little blonde girl's antics that had thankfully gone unnoticed by her grandson over the years, "And all because she cares about you?" She looked to Arnold again. "Well…that Helga of yours seems like one of the bravest and most passionate girls around…And when I was growing up I always thought Eleanor Roosevelt was kind of like that with all the stuff she accomplished as the first lady… You know, girls didn't have as equal a chance to make a difference or fight for what they believed in as boys did back then, but that brave woman managed just the same." She shrugged, the warm smile still on her face. "Anyway, that's why I called her Eleanor, Arnold: just a little acknowledgement from one strong willed and slightly eccentric girl to another to keep up the good fight just like good old Eleanor Roosevelt." She finished with a wink.

Arnold was just watching with interest as she made this explanation, and as she finished Gertie watch him glance down and put a hand to his chin in thought for a second or two, and then look up at her and reply slowly, with a smile of understanding. "I think…I think you picked a good name for her, Grandma. Thanks."

"You're welcome…and thank you, Arnold." Gertie replied sincerely, and then chuckled and shook her head in amusement as she added, "Besides I think she actually does have it in her to be a first lady one day…"

Arnold couldn't help but laugh to himself, not just at the comment but at the memory of a certain 'marriage themed' dream Helga had told him about that suddenly entered his mind. "Actually…I think she'd be better as the first woman president." He smiled at his grandmother.

"Now that's an even better idea!" Gertie nodded with approval. Then, considering the hour and how long a day it had been of messing with her husband and the rest of her extended family and helping Arnold through the beginnings (FINALLY) of his romantic relationship with Helga, Gertie found herself yawning once more and so resumed her descent to the hallway once more. "Goodnight, Arnold..." she finished tiredly, "I'll see you in the morning…"

'I know I should probably wait until breakfast but…' Arnold hesitated just for a second as this thought lingered, hating to detain his grandmother any longer, especially when it was so late… but then he finally spoke up once more, very curious (and even slightly…hopeful…maybe…though he wasn't quite ready to completely admit it to himself just now….) about the answer to the question that had suddenly come upon his mind. "Grandma? Sorry but before you go can I ask you one more question?"

Gertie stopped midway down the next step and felt herself yawn once more. "Of course, Kimba. But if it's one with a long answer do you think it could wait until morning? I need my rest if I've got to spend another entire day bugging your Grandpa tomorrow." She grinned.

Arnold laughed at the response, though he did his best to keep it down now that the door was open, so that he wouldn't risk keeping anyone else up. "Sure, Grandma…I was just wondering…" he cleared his throat and glanced away shyly, feeling more than a tinge of a blush come to his cheeks, "Were you and Grandpa really just like me and Helga when you were younger?" He swallowed and clarified quickly, "I mean…with you teasing him all because you liked him and then confessing and him figuring out he loved you too after all that?"

Gertie just chuckled slightly to herself and rested an elbow upon Arnold's carpet and her chin upon her hand, having a 'vague' idea about where her grandson was going with this inquiry. "Want to know if you're somehow destined to marry Helga, huh?"

Arnold blinked and blushed much more strongly, instantly looking up at the old woman at the blunt question. "Grandma!"

She just chuckled even more, ignoring the young boy's embarrassed exclamation. "Well, it is all seeming pretty familiar to me, Arnold…." She replied, and then glanced up as though recalling past times once again. "I mean, I'm sure there were some differences in the situations we went through and the specific experiences we had…but overall it seems like the same story." Her eyes met Arnold's again and she added playfully, "But do me a favor and just try and enjoy right now before you start worrying about your and Helga's 'future lives together'. Okay, Kimba?" She gave him another quick wink!

Arnold rolled his eyes and tried to ignore the slightly suggestive comment...and at the fact that he couldn't help but recall once again that evening that they'd probably keep coming even from his Grandma now as long as he was dating Helga. 'Oh well…' he thought to himself with an accepting sigh about the teasing, 'It's really not so bad…kind of fun sometimes actually…' He almost chuckled. 'And as long as me and Helga get to be together and be happy…I don't care who knows or finds out about us…!' "You know," he then added aloud as an interesting afterthought, the full Gertie story resurfacing in mind again, "I'd like to hear more stories about when you and Grandpa were little, one day, Grandma… It all sounds really…" he smiled to himself, "Really interesting..."

Gertie smiled at the request but then suddenly found the facial expression turning into another yawn. "Well Kimba, I'd love to tell you anything you want to know but I think that it'll have to wait until another day. Right now it's time for bed and we're both more than a few hours overdue." She blinked a few times sleepily.

Arnold smiled at her and nodded, suddenly feeling her yawn cause him to yawn as well. "Okay, Grandma…maybe tomorrow then…" He lay back down upon his pillows. "Or if you're too busy getting the house set up to look like Hawaii," he couldn't help but grin just a bit more, "maybe Grandpa could tell me some stuff again when we're doing chores…"

Gertie laughed to herself at the suggestion suddenly and rolled her eyes. "Well if you're that desperate then by all means ask him in the morning when he wakes you up to work on those window screens…" She smirked slightly. "But promise me that when he's done filling you in on what he 'thinks' happened between us back then, that you'll come to me so I can set you straight. Alright, Arnold?"

Arnold, at this comment, sat his head up a bit and just stared at his grandmother in surprise once more…but then had to try very hard not to burst into laughter. "O-of course, Grandma. I'll double check things with you." He laid his head back down, just shaking it slightly in amusement. 'Come to think of it, I'm sure me and Helga's perspectives on a few things from the past would be pretty different, all things considered…'

Gertie, meanwhile, smiled with satisfaction at his reply. "Good…Oh and bring Helga with you if she's free! I think she'd like to hear some of those stories just as much as you."

Arnold felt himself blush slightly once again, and found his shy eyes falling to the phone receiver by his bed. "Actually, when I called her up just now it might have been to, um…to tell her about you and Grandpa in general." Putting his hands behind his head, he gazed at the starry night through his skylight ceiling once more that night, still grinning.. "I just…thought she'd like to know…"

Arnold felt himself starting to get a little lost in a daydream (or possibly a real dream) or two, until he heard his Grandma's familiar laughter come from his doorway once more. "And what did she say to that?"

Arnold sighed and did his best not to laugh or blush too much as he answered truthfully, "She sighed…and then told me to stop flirting…and then told me that if this was some way of preparing her for a proposal in the near future that I at least better make sure I get her the best ring fourth grade money can buy."

"I wouldn't have said anything less myself…" came Gertie's simple reply.

Arnold's smile grew just a bit and he glanced up once more in his Grandmother's direction. "I know… Goodnight, Grandma."

"Goodnight, Arnold…" she replied warmly. And with that she pulled the door shut behind her by its base before concluding her descent down the ladder, leaving Arnold alone in his room once more.

Finally left to his private thoughts and reflections for the little bit of time left in this insane night, Arnold reclined his head back once more and removed a hand from behind his head to reach over to his nightstand for his remote to turn off his lights. The press of a button now left him in blue darkness except for the moon and stars above him, casting silver shadows randomly around the room.

Letting out a sigh as he let the thoughts not only of his conversations with Helga and then his grandfather, but now with his grandmother too, drift through his head, Arnold then glanced to his left at the shelves near his bed once more that night…specifically at that simple, pink stack of Helga's books of poetry. A smile grew on his face at the now familiar sight of them, still boldly looking pink even despite the dimness of the room…and then he reached up and just traced over their covers with the edge of his fingers, feeling the soft coolness under his touch.

After several SEVERAL seconds (or minutes…), tiredness consuming him as another yawn escaping his mouth attested to, Arnold felt his hand begin to drop away from this small sampling of 'volumes and books of poems about him'… Yet then…hesitated for a moment, his hand in mid air. His eyes opened fully once more and he sat up and, though he knew it was ridiculous, he couldn't help but glance from side to side in his room, almost like he was afraid of getting caught ('I wonder if Helga ever used to do that when she visited the shrine?' he couldn't help but think with interested amusement), and then hesitated just a second longer…before reaching up with a slightly dreamy smile and grabbing the top pink book. He happily and tightly hugged the small, precious item to his chest and as he turned on his side to settle into his covers for the night.

"Goodnight, Helga…" he found himself whispering into the darkness, with a slight chuckle. Halfway between thoughts and dreams, he didn't realize it but he laughed once or twice more and whispered her name into the silver and blue and shadowy room. "Helga…" A light chuckle again. "Helga…"

And he almost felt like, in between dreams, that somehow, somewhere, she was saying his name back to him…and maybe (just maybe, mind you) hearing him mumble her wonderful name that had so very recently become and yet always on some level had been a part of his waking and even sleeping thoughts…

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A/N:

Okay, I hope I didn't get TOO sappy with the ending but sometimes even I've got to succumb fully to the desire for fluff, lol :) Anyway, like I said, we move onto Sunday and I believe Chapter 10 features Arnold's family dinner with the Patakis followed by another AXH date that is plagued by its own fair share of wacky shenanigans, lol! And for anyone who's interested or who thinks the fun could possible be over after Sunday, this fic looks like it's going to be at least 21 or 22 chapters so…there's plenty more to look forward to if you've enjoyed what's happened so far ;) Ha! I KNEW I could make this thing longer than it's original story if I tried hard enough, lol!

Okay, please review, and thanks so much for reading!

Happy Reading!

~Azure129 aka Jenna