A/N:
Hello everyone, and happy holidays! I know, I know, I know, it's been forever since I've updated and I'm sorry, I truly am : 3 All I can say is that working and going to grad school at the same time is not an easy thing XD But I appreciate all of your patience and continued reviews very much :) And please just bear with me with slow updates through the spring until I graduate in May-then I will have much more time on my hands for a while ;)
Alright, some quick things about this chapter because I know you all want to get right to reading. First, let me be clear that although this chapter kind of ends on a 'closing note' this is NOT THE LAST CHAPTER OF THE STORY! I absolutely promise you that! This isn't even the last chapter before the epilogue actually XD What's to come after this is one or two more 'courtship' type adventures and then sort of a montage chapter...you'll see what I mean ^_^ Following that there will be the epilogue and that will be the end of this story :)
Also, I know this chapter is a little shorter than ones I usually do (only 15,000 words! O.O XD ) but that's because it covers only one moment really between Arnold and Helga and to stretch it out just...wouldn't have been right. It's better this way, I promise :) And also the chapters to come will probably be my usual lengths so I hope you enjoy those even if reading this one is brief for you guys :)
Thank you, I hope you all really enjoy this. I tried to make it as special and real as I could because I love you guys and I love this show of course :)
Alright, without further ado, grab some eggnog and get to reading already while I kick back with a soy chai latte and curse the fact that the internet in my house is currently down XD (Otherwise this chapter would have been up last night!)
Oh and also I tried to put a cover on this story but they make the covers go more vertical than horizontal so I'm not sure if you can see it too well but it's by KasuKAPL :D Thank you, sissy!
LEARNING TO BE HELGA
Chapter 26:
The Rain
(aka "Arnold and Helga")
The rain was such a funny thing. It could be there during some of the worst, some of the best, some of the most terrifying, and some of the loveliest moments in your life…and yet somehow every time it managed to fit perfectly. Somehow it complimented the emotions of that given moment so well that it made you forget about all of the other emotions and experiences the rain could easily be a part of too. What it was that was so universal about beads of water falling to earth all around you, grey skies like cream and dark embers swirling overhead, cool air filling the spaces in between the drops and a new way of being suddenly becoming part of your world, it might be hard to say. But maybe that was part of what made the rain perfect, just perfect—its transcendent beauty needed no words at all.
It was raining this morning, this Sunday morning after Arnold and Helga's one month anniversary weekend. The water fell on Arnold's glass roof, the clouds filled the canvas of skylight panels overhead, and though inside it was warm and dry there was a touch of new coolness brought about by this early morning rain hovering over this sweet, colorful little space of human life.
FLASH. CRACK.
A bolt of lightning and a boom of thunder (a louder one than there had been so far) came onto the scene and its effect was to make the heart of a certain ten-year-old young lady miss a beat. "Ah…!" she gave a small squeak of a gasp.
Helga G. Pataki caught her breath and opened her eyes. Not that she had ever been afraid of a storm but she had certainly never liked being startled out of a sound sleep. Besides which, throughout her life the rain had had more bad connotations than good. It had been raining the day in preschool when her parents had made her walk by herself…it had been raining that time she had lost her Arnold locket to Abner…it had been raining that time there was the flood and she had fallen out of the school's window and nearly drowned without ever telling her beloved how she felt about him…it had been raining when she had later gone out of her ever-loving mind and finally confessed to Arnold…All very nerve-wracking memories to say the least.
Even if a wonderful good had come from them all in the end.
The relief of this wonderful good, now as much a part of Helga's young life experience as anything else, put her internal reaction to the thunder at ease now and she let out a breath, feeling okay again. Actually, come to think of it, she felt better than okay. And…why the heck was her room so green and blue and… "Oh!" A little squeak left her. Yes…she was in Arnold's bed. She had slept in Arnold's room in Arnold's bed last night. These were his blankets around her body, this was his pillow beneath her head, these were his adorable yet very random knickknacks on the shelves just above her, there was the picture of his parents (now in its new picture frame) just near the head of the bed…Yes, all of it was Arnold's and she was reposing in it.
Honestly, prior to her confession and the events it had set into motion, if Helga had ever woken up in a position like this one she was fairly certain she would have gasped, screamed, beamed, swooned and then passed out in paralyzing bliss, and done that repeatedly until whenever it had been time to leave this ideal little heaven of hers.
Helga now though smiled. She had outgrown all of those over-the-top antics just a little to say the least. Oh, don't get her wrong, waking up in Arnold's bed—definitely the best way to start a morning ('Wouldn't hurt if he was in here with me but…yeah, I get it, we're still only ten and honestly I'm impressed enough with what I've gotten already…'). But there was no need for the dramatics, for the theatrics, for the overly-romanticized freaking out: she liked being here in Arnold's place and space, and it was a tender, sweet, warm, passionate feeling that she held within her…and one she felt she could even have forever if she wanted. She felt safe and content here in this room and in this feeling. And she could just enjoy that contentment without having to behave like it was the be-all-end-all of her young existence.
Helga smiled and glanced up, noticing the rain for the first time and the dim, grey, barely glowing sky from which it fell. 'It must be very early…' She stretched a little and yawned.
"Helga…are you alright?"
The softly asked question from across the room made Helga's heart skip a beat, made her just a little happier. She smiled more, not glancing over her shoulder across the room just yet at her sudden little inquirer. "Who wants to know?" she asked back with just a touch of sarcasm (underlied by an obviously suppressed laugh).
She heard a familiar patient sigh come to her in reply at first (though it too seemed underlied with a suppressed laugh) and then Arnold's voice added, "Just that do-gooder little Football Headed kid you insist on picking on in particular all the time. You know, the one who always has to have his nose in everyone's business."
Helga's smile was nearly a full blown smirk now. "Oh, that guy. Ugh, what a pest. Doesn't he have some woman twice his age or at least a girl twice as sickeningly sweet as he can be to bother? I'm busy spitting in dumpsters and throwing rocks in the river—a real class act, I am."
A little laugh from the other side of the room from her beloved. "Oh please, like he was going to fall for that act…for more than six years…" Arnold added the last part sheepishly, then cleared his throat and went on in an innocently suggestive tone. "To be honest, I think he's got a little crush on you."
"Ha!" Helga faked a scoff, grinning entirely now, still just gazing up at the sky. "Oh well now I know he's out of his Football Headed little mind. What guy with any sense picks Helga G. Pataki to fall in love with?"
A good-humored sigh met her ears along with the reply of, "A question I now ask myself every single day of my life…" Arnold finally couldn't help it and laughed a little at their cute conversation.
Helga's eyes brightened at his quip and laugh, and she finally turned around in the bed to face him. "Oh yeah, Football Face, well? Well, you'd better be prepared to ask it for quite a lot more days because not only am I and my burning passion for you not going anywhere but if you think I'm ever going to stop doing and saying all of that random stuff that for some weird reason manages to charm the heck out of you then you've got another thing coming, bucko!"
Across the room, resting on one of his arms but otherwise just lying on his couch under a blanket, Arnold Shortman gave a loving smirk right back to Helga G. Pataki, and added a little extra enamored look as he cooed in a touch of a sarcastic reply, "Oh, you are always prettiest when you're yelling at me and threatening me and finally angrily admitting that you like me. It reminds me of when you confessed your love to me." He laughed more and winked at her.
Helga just blushed and rolled her eyes, unable to help laughing a little more too. "Ugh, and darn it you always are cutest when you're seeing right through my blustery exterior and finding my insanity attractive and giving me that 'I'm Arnold—take me, I'm yours' look you always get with women." She sighed and shook her head at him with a grin. "Well, that's it, I just give up, Football Head—come on, let's go get married and get it over with already. There's gotta be some country on this planet that'll hitch two ten-year-olds legally, and if anyone can find it, it's you and I." She winked at him and then burst into giggles.
Arnold blushed rather rosy…and then broke into chuckles along with her at the 'suggestion'. "Okay, and then what? I guess since we'll be married you'll want to move in here with me… I mean, we could move into your room instead but…honestly, I'm pretty sure your Dad would kill me." He shrugged and sighed with a smile and went on with, "So we'll just move all of your stuff over here—blankets, clothes, Arnold shrine, Arnold poems, purple pens, sewing machine, chain saw, burnt cork, black ski masks—" He was counting them all off on his fingers, his smile growing wider and wider as he went on.
"Yes, yes, all of the Helga G. Pataki essentials…" Helga chimed in with a pretty big smile herself and another roll of her eyes at how cute he could be when he would do witty banter with her.
Arnold smiled more, ending his counting and continuing on with his imagining of the situation. "And then you'll live up here in the attic with me. Well, with me and Abner. We'll just have to make some extra room."
"I call the closet. All of it." Helga announced with a smirk, and then she shrugged innocently and added, "Sorry, Football Head. I need a space for all of those pink outfits you like, a place for my shrine materials, and a private area I can slip into just to muse over our happy love on occasion…oh and a place for changing clothes, you know, just so we can avoid any more awkwardness about that right off the bat." She blushed thoroughly but still managed to maintain her smile and eye contact with her beloved as she looked over at him in full expectation of a cute little reaction of fluster on his part.
However, instead Arnold just smiled more, though he did blush even more thoroughly than she was doing at the moment. "Oh no, no, no…" he shook his head at her in reply to her suggestion, still managing eye contact as he explained with a grin, "If you think that I am ever changing clothes in this room again at all after you move in, I'm sorry, my Helga, but you're wrong. You know how to hide in this room and I know I'm bad at finding you…and I also know how you've acted in the past under those circumstances. Forget it—the whole room is yours for changing." He sighed with a grin and laid his head back down on the pillow for a moment. "Oh and before you say anything again, yes, I will always be knocking before I come in here." He rolled his eyes with a little laugh.
It was taking Helga all she had not to burst into a full on uncontrollable giggle fit. "O-Oh why don't we just solve everything by getting a house of our own, Football Head?" She got herself under control and was just smiling away now, eyes bright at her latest plan for them. "I was thinking some sort of palatial mansion in the country—enough room for you, me, all of our stuff, the kids later on." She laid down on her own pillow too, yawning in perfect contentment and stretching up her arms. "Oh and let's build a replica of Dino Land in the backyard—you know, just so we and the kids have something to do."
A smiling Arnold just shook his head though and let out a sigh, yawning a little himself before replying to her. "Helga, we have to live at the boarding house. I mean, not just because we're ten and don't have enough money for a mansion…and because we really, really don't have money for our own Dino Land…a-and because we really, really, really can't have any kids since we are kids…" His rosiness returned for a moment but then softened as he finished sweetly, "We have to live here because it's…home." Arnold looked over to Helga with a touch of something genuine and sincere in his eyes. "That's the only real request I have, Helga. We can sleep in any room here, you can have all the closets you like, we can even paint the building pink if you want…but we have to live at the boarding house, Helga. We just have to."
The sweet conviction in his words made Helga smile, and made her turn on his pillow and look over to him again. It was cute, hearing him express such a lovely preference as that…even if they were just kind of joking around at the moment. And so she sighed and smiled and nodded and replied back just as sincerely, "Alright, Arnold. Yes, we can live in the boarding house. I promise you."
Something very happy came into Arnold's eyes and they glowed with a warm, emerald fire. "Thank you, Helga."
Helga's sapphire eyes took on a warmth and peace all their own. "You're welcome, Arnold."
For a moment the two kids just gazed at each other from across the room.
Arnold spoke next, words and eyes still full of tender, soft love. "Helga…you never answered me before. Are you okay? I heard you give one of those little yells of yours before and that's what woke me up. I…was a little distracted at first by how cute it sounded, but then I realized something must have startled you. Did you have a bad dream?"
Helga blinked then smiled (and blushed a little) and shook her head. "Oh, nah, nothing like that. Just a…loud crack of thunder. Wasn't used to hearing something like that happen so close to me because of the glass roof. It surprised me but I'm fine…Just don't tell anyone that thunder scared me for a second or I'll sock you one." She held up a fist playfully.
Arnold's smile picked up on one side. "Oh, yes, Helga—I was just going to run out after this and tell all of the guys that you got scared of thunder when you woke up in my room after another late night of kissing on the lips. Now would that be before or after I went and told them all about your confession videotape and the fact that I like to cuddle with your poetry books at night? By the way, just to be clear since I know I'm not as good at sarcasm as you are, if I ever told anyone any of those things except maybe my Grandpa or Gerald I wouldn't be able to face them ever again." He blushed cutely and added sheepishly and with a touch of embarrassment, "I don't think I'll ever master…how did you put it last night… 'bragging with the boys'?" He sighed and shook his head with a grin at the very notion.
Helga had just been letting out little giggles and scoffs the entire time he had been talking. "Eh, don't worry about it." She waved him off good-naturedly now. "Besides, as long as you're willing to cut loose with the edgy, daring, 'bad boy' side of yourself every so often when you're alone with me, I'm happy…" She blushed a little more and added, "And I'm actually very, very happy to know that the more adorable and awkward parts of our intimacy won't be getting bandied about by those chuckleheads we call friends the next time you guys are scarfing down pizzas and having Yahoo soda belching contests and all of those other boyish activities it's actually kind of cute to watch you all do…and that it's actually kind of fun to join in with sometimes for me."
Arnold smiled, cheeks rosy. "I-I'm happy I still get to have the most fiery parts of you and me and 'us' all to ourselves too…" He then nodded and turned onto his stomach a little, getting his blushing under control and adding, "And y-yeah, I think they like when you join in a little bit too. Actually…I think they find you kind of fascinating right now." His grin picked up on one side.
Helga blinked, raising part of her brow and moving some of her hair that had fallen forward away from her eye. "Fascinating? Uh…what are you talking about, Football Head?"
Arnold just shrugged a little. "Well, for starters, I don't think all of them ever really started processing you as a…girl. It wasn't fair of them not to do that but I guess it was just easier before to see you as 'one of the guys.' But now they're really aware that you're a girl…and also still one of the guys…and I think they just…find it very interesting. And also all of them have been becoming kind of less close with the girls now that we're a little older and I think they like that they found out that they do actually still have a close girl friend—you. Oh and also along with 'you' they're fascinated about 'us' a little bit too of course." He smiled more, turning on his back again and gazing up at the rain. "After all, they can all talk about girls and boys and going out as much as they want but we're the only ones actually really doing it…i-in a grown up way."
Helga smiled, understanding. "Ah, I see." She sighed and turned on her back again in the bed and stretched up a little. "Well, whatever then. As long as I don't catch them all curiously staring at me and as long as no one ends up pulling any chivalrous crap (besides you, Arnold, besides you) and as long as we really can all stay friends like they said last night, I'm good, paste for brains, I'm good…" She smiled in contentment to herself and gazed up peacefully at the sky above her.
"The view in here is really beautiful, Arnold…" she spoke softly then all of a sudden... "It's almost poetic…like everyone else hides away in their houses under a bunch of plaster and bricks but you're resting just underneath the whole universe…the sun and the clouds and the heavens…the entire natural order watching over you…"
"Promise me you'll write books with beautiful words in them like that…" came the soft reply to her words from across the room.
"Hmm…I can only promise I'll try at that, Arnold love…But I will try," she gently added in return. Then she put her arms behind her head and closed her eyes for a moment in peace.
As Helga rested, Arnold (who had much…much…much…on his mind) watched her. Besides the fact that she was very cute-looking in the mornings (a new fun fact that he would secretly treasure forever), he liked just looking at her right now, here, this morning. He felt like both of them had been through a lot and had finally reached a point of calmness and peace and security. This was a good morning.
And he was pretty sure he had just decided to make it the 'best' morning. The best that he could conceive of for them anyway.
He was just thinking of a way to break the ice so to speak…when…
"So…Arnold…are you gonna be the one to come over here or are you waiting for me to break and come over there? Bed or couch, Football Head…we're going to end up together on one of them right now. Which one would you prefer?"
The question was both carefully and lightly tossed out by Helga as she continued to rest on her back with her eyes closed and her arms behind her head…Of all the moves to make out of nowhere she had certainly made quite a one.
Arnold blinked and his eyes went very wide. Not that he hadn't been almost half expecting…not that the concept hadn't naturally suggested itself right now under these circumstances…and not that it wasn't a thought constantly present at the back of his mind anyway, but…he… "Helga, I don't think that…I…" Arnold bit his lip and thought very carefully and considered…considered…considered...trying to listen to both his head and his heart. Then again though, this was a special morning, and he did have her permission (not like when she had been asleep that one time in her room or last night), and it was already morning anyway… "Well…m-maybe we could…together…j-just for a little while…j-just until we head downstairs to breakfast, heh…" He tried to swallow but he was rather thoroughly nervous at this point and instead just bit his lip and felt his heart pound and wished it would stop doing that because it was very hard to be calm and make a rational decision with blood rushing in your ears.
From across the room Helga's eyes lit up and she sat up in bed and turned to face him excitedly. "Hey, really?! Aw, sheesh, I thought you'd 'Helga…' me or something but, alright, if you're seriously up for some morning cuddling time then so am I!" She giggled and then reiterated, "So, like I said, bed or couch, Football Head...?" She grinned a little more and fluttered her eyelashes. "And may I add that from a practical standpoint, Arnold love, your bed's better designed to hold two people." She was practically smirking as she giggled now.
Arnold was sitting up now too and looking away from her a little. "U-Um...yes, but, you know, f-from a romantic standpoint the couch is, uh…designed to hold people more closely, heh…" A blushing Arnold gave a small smile and then pulled back the top of his blanket a little and patted a touch of extra space alongside him. Not that he was specifically trying to up the romantic tension right now—he was already nervous enough—but he really could not handle the bed with her and he did not want to handle the bed with her. The very notion of it made his prudent little heart almost blanch. But lying down on a couch…not such a big deal really…sort of a stepping stone to lying down in a bed…and they had cuddled on this couch dozens of times before anyway right? In addition, Arnold knew, right or wrong, that he would just be too nervous in the bed under such short notice: he knew if he got in there with her the rest of the morning would be spent with her just giggling and hugging him and him just blushing and looking away and not knowing a single thing to say. And he really needed to be able to say words to her on this particular morning…
His eyes shyly went toward Helga and he saw that she was looking at him with her eyes lit up and an impressed smile on her face. "Now that is a very excellent point, Football Head." She smirked a little as she removed the covers from her body and swung her legs over the edge of his bed and stood up. "Just so we're clear though I am definitely going to get you in the bed with me one of these days, my little love god…One year anniversary, perhaps?" She approached the couch with a little smirk and a giggle.
Arnold smirked back, feeling much calmer now that she was tabling the bed for the moment. "We'll see, love goddess, we'll see."
She giggled again and then it was only another moment before she stood before him…and then hesitated. She tried not to seem as terrified as she currently felt (Helga, bed or couch, was absolutely just as nervous at the idea of crawling into a sleeping space with Arnold as Arnold was at the idea of her crawling into a sleeping space with him). She glanced down with a dark pink blush, her arms behind her back. "S-So, uh…scooch over, lover boy. Gotta give a girl some room…" 'Oh boy I'm going to be lying with Arnold in pajamas underneath covers in his room! Oh boy, oh boy, ooookay, calm down…Oh!' Yeah, she figured a little internal squealing wasn't entirely uncalled for at the moment.
Arnold swallowed and nodded and then laid down and pressed himself as far against the back of his couch as he could. He looked away from the now larger open space beside him, clinging to his pillow and the couch cushion beneath him a little.
Helga swallowed. She wasn't sure how to go about this for a moment, but she felt like no matter how she did it, it would be awkward. And so she just sighed and went for it and as quickly as possible managed to slip herself in beside Arnold on the couch underneath the blanket.
Helga blinked at her own action, feeling a tinge of a rosiness rising to her features. She was really right next to him like this really was their own little bed or something. Helga turned her head and her eyes instantly sought her beloved's…
She was surprised and interested to find him squinting hard, almost in fear, and turned a bit away from her.
She couldn't help but question him softly about it. "Arnold…? You okay?" She swallowed and then added, very sincerely, "If this is too much, Arnold, really please just tell me and I'll go back over to the bed. It's okay. I promise."
Arnold swallowed and let out a breath, and then managed to open his eyes, blinking a few times. "Um…sorry, Helga. N-No, it's okay…" he played with the fringe of the blanket a little in his small fingers, "I'm just nervous. Y-You know me and…l-lying down with you." He chuckled, and then managed to look to her with his wide, green, unsure young eyes.
Helga looked back to him with her own wide blue eyes. They really were so close together in the small space of that couch that it was actually hard for her to look at anything but his eyes. She swallowed. "I-It's okay, Arnold…" she replied back in that normal, gentle tone she could use, "I know. I'm nervous too. But I'm happy you let us try this. Thanks, Arnold." She gave his nose a little kiss and then glanced down with a little extra smile, pushing a curl of hair behind her ear.
"Y-You're, um…welcome, Helga," Arnold said back. He looked down too. He wanted to talk to her about…to ask her…to see if…He sighed. This was very hard. 'Maybe now's not the right time after all…' Perhaps he could do it after breakfast? Or some other night or morning? He blushed a little at the idea. 'N-not that we'll be having many, um…m-mornings together in the future…yet. But maybe someday…' Still though this was a predicament, wasn't it? What to do, what to do…
Meanwhile, Helga had managed to look back to Arnold's face and she could see, with curiosity, his look of distress and hesitation as he gazed downward. She frowned, feeling a little bad. She didn't mean to overwhelm him…though of course she didn't want to leave or to make him feel like he was making her so uncomfortable that her only option would feel like leaving. An idea occurred to her then and she smiled. "Hey Arnold…would it help make things a little less 'tense' if I lost the 'mysterious Cecile' look and went back to the pigtails and threw in a few extra 'Football Heads', Football Head?" She grinned a little, hoping to lighten the mood further.
Arnold blinked at being addressed, then processed her offer and looked back to her eyes and smiled. "Oh, I…well…" he gave a small nod, "I guess it might help a little. I mean, I like when your hair's down of course but with it up…well, it's more familiar I guess…so I wouldn't feel as nervous. Thanks Helga." A touch of something grateful was in his look.
Helga smiled more and then sat up a little in the bed, taking out her ribbon to fix her hair into pigtails as best she could, and then tying the ribbon on the top to finish up. "No problem, paste for brains." All finished, she laid back down again…and then felt she had earned the right to a little something for helping alleviate some of the tension and so she moved forward a little, cuddling near him under the blankets. A girlish sigh escaped her. "Arnold…" she giggled. "Sorry, I hope this isn't too much but…I've never felt happier than when I'm with you…and I love being so close to you…"
Arnold, meanwhile, after a sudden deep breath through his nose, just blinked a few times and then his eyes lit up and then went half lidded, he smiled…He even managed to cuddle closer to her too, just a little. It felt very nice, very warm, and it made his heart race a bit. He shook his head at her expression of her concern. "No, it's alright. It feels….it feels really nice to be lying next to you…I'm…I'm still a little scared but it's worth it." He cuddled just a tiny bit closer. 'We can't ever tell anyone about this ever…' he thought to himself shyly before adding aloud, "It's worth anything I'm afraid of or worried about to be close to each other and happy with each other and open with each other. I love you…a lot." He finished with that and then managed to let his green eyes come directly to her blue ones. They were very close. It was nice. Like being secretly tucked away together in their own little world.
Helga sighed very softly, starting to feel quite beautifully overwhelmed now herself. Something inside of her trembled a little but she did her best to keep it under control as she spoke back to her beloved. "I know, Football Head. I love you too my worrywart little love god. And I'm…" her smile quirked a little as she admitted, "I'm acting a lot more confident about this than I really am. Actually I'm mostly trying to keep my heart from flying out of my chest at the feeling of being so close to you, my sweet prince…" Something of the poet was taking over her again as her voice lightened to a velvet coo and she went on. "You feel good and smell good and sound good and look good…and if I remember right from last night those lips of yours always taste good." She giggled, unable to help it, and then shrugged and added in a more normal sounding tone and with a wink, "Just so you know you're not alone…"
Arnold laughed, warmly and quietly. "Thanks, Helga…You're not alone too."
There were a few moments of tender silence between them, cushioned by the faint plops of raindrops falling overhead.
Arnold's mouth twitched and he felt on the precipice of asking her but then… "Hey…Helga?"
"Mmm hmm?" she asked back softly.
He swallowed and spoke in a very quiet voice. "One day we'll try this in the bed…I promise…just, not yet. But…one day…soon…" He smiled sheepishly at her and shrugged.
Helga just giggled, looking at him with a mixture of playfulness and love. "I'll be counting the minutes." She winked and then burst into a fit of giggles. "Remember, Arnold? During that whole 'tutoring' thing? Sunday morning I think it was—I called you to tell you Olga had 'kidnapped' me for shopping so I'd probably be late and then you said 'I'll be counting the minutes.' I had no idea what to make of that! It was the most confusing thing I'd ever heard you say to me!" She laughed more to herself, warmly and happily. "I-I'm sorry, Football Head, it's just—I didn't realize it, but back then the idea of you being nervous around me, of saying something probably flirtatious to me was so…foreign! I can't even imagine the confusion you must have been going through about it all!" She got her laughs under control, though there were nearly tears in her eyes at this point. It was just such a funny thing…a funny, silly, ridiculous, incredibly sweet thing. A nice memory.
Arnold was finding it hard not to laugh right along with her now. He sighed and closed his eyes and shook his head. "I remember that." A little laugh did escapee him and he opened his eyes again. "I had just woken up from dreaming about you and I felt good and I had no idea why but it made me nervous and then you called and that made me really nervous and it was the only thing I could think of to say. After I hung up though I felt so embarrassed." He laughed more at the whole thing.
Helga laughed more too. "We were a little ridiculous weren't we? Oh well…more fun stories to tell the kids one day, right?" She rolled her eyes with a little smirk.
Her beloved predictably blushed just a little and gave a small nod. "Sure, Helga. Whatever you say."
She just rolled her eyes again and gave him a little elbow nudge under the covers. "Typical safe, wet blanket 'Arnold' answer." She sighed dramatically but then added with a little smile, "Eh, but it's pretty early and you did technically let me crawl into 'bed' with you so I guess it's acceptable." She watched her beloved blush and smile more and it made her smile more, and then she blinked and a thought occurred to her causing her eyes to brighten. "Oh I almost forgot—speaking of the morning…what, no good morning kiss, Football Head? Sheesh it's the least you could do for a lady who agrees to spend the whole night with you." Despite how confident her words might have seemed she was blushing just a little and glancing away with a touch of shyness. 'A good morning kiss from Arnold…A good morning kiss from Arnold!' The stuff that romantic, girlish dreams were made of!
Arnold looked at her with a touch of surprise at the request and yet there was something intrigued in his gaze as well. He smiled. No harm in a kiss and, well…it was another slight distraction from the big thing he wanted to do. He merely leaned in closer to her and cooed gently, "Oh of course, Helga. Where are my manners?"
Helga perked up a little, and looked to his eyes and how much closer they were and she moved closer too. "I…I don't know…b-beats the heck out of me…Arnold…" By now both children's eyes had shut and now they drifted together for a brief, tender good morning kiss.
It only lasted a few moments before they gently pulled apart but it was a wonderful few moments—sweet, simple, perfect.
A light sigh escaped Helga, her eyes fluttered open. "You…just gave me our first good morning kiss…" left her softly and dreamily.
Arnold smiled goofily and almost chuckled as he asked quietly, "Our first one? So…there are definitely going to be others then? Okay, I'll keep that in mind. Thanks, Helga." He winked at her.
Helga giggled, unable to help herself. "Oh…just shut up, you little shrimp! Ugh there's that ego again, always reading way too much into everything I say and do." She smirked a little.
Arnold smirked right back at her. "Oh so are you saying that we won't have any more good morning kisses ever then?" He awaited her reply, displaying full confidence in his look that it would be in the negative, of course.
Helga just blushed and sighed, shaking her head. "What I'm saying, Football Head, is that you've got a flirtatious streak…and also that if you think that on a regular basis I'm getting up when the sun's barely up and it's a Sunday morning and it's summer vacation, you've got another thing coming, pal. Unless we have sleepovers on school nights when we have to be up by a certain time, the only things you'll be getting from me for quite a while are 'good early-afternoon-kisses', got it, Arnoldo?" She grinned at him.
Arnold just grinned back, laughing a little to himself again. "Alright, alright, I've got it, Helga Geraldine. You get to get your beauty sleep in the mornings and I'll just have to wait for kisses. I'll manage somehow." He sighed dramatically but playfully and then added with a little extra grin, "Of course, though, by the time we'd be having mornings together regularly we'd probably be married so I'm sure I'd be able to manage just fine just by getting to think about that and how wonderful it would be."
Helga's eyelids lowered and something a touch extra sweet came to her tone and she placed a fingertip on his nose, "Very true, I suppose…still though I hope that we'll at least have a few more mornings together before we get married, since that's so far away and all…"
A giddy looking Arnold just blushed and nodded. "O-Oh, um…of course, Helga. We could do that…sometimes…maybe…on special occasions." He laughed a little goofily.
Helga laughed a little too. "Good. Thank you for the indulgence, my love."
Crack!
Suddenly another littler rumble of thunder sounded overhead and the two kids blinked and looked up at the clear roof again. The dark, grey, glowing clouds still moved a little in the sky above them and still coated the roof with a steady, streaming rain that made little beads and threads as it gathered and moved upon the glass ceiling. It was nice to watch.
Helga blinked a couple of times, feeling her eyelids growing a little hazy for a moment and a yawn almost coming forth. The rain was so relaxing, she couldn't help it. But then a thought occurred to her and she smiled and spoke again, quietly, reviving a little. "We met in the rain…"
Beside her, Arnold, likewise feeling something sleep-like wanting to come over him (though he resisted) smiled. Then a thought occurred to him as well. "You confessed in the rain..."
Helga smiled a little more then added with a grin, "I…think I heard it was overcast the night you confessed."
The two kids laughed warmly together.
Then the two kids yawned finally. "Hey…Arnold?" Helga started again, snuggling just a touch closer, "I…I like this…this talking thing we're doing now together…but maybe we could just listen to the rain and rest a little…together? I told you, I'm not much of an early riser. And this is so nice and peaceful. Please, Arnold." She didn't want to pressure him into staying in this position for too long but she had never felt more comfortable, more at ease, more happy in her entire life. It would be so nice to repose in all of this calmness and gentle comfort, in the shared warmth of herself and her beloved, and to savor it all as a memory to be cherished forever.
Arnold, meanwhile, did indeed feel a little nervous about staying like this and 'resting' together but breakfast would probably be in an hour or so. They had taken little naps together before too…usually above the covers but still… And besides, maybe in an hour after they woke up he would have the courage to do what he wanted to do.
"Arnold?" left Helga with another little yawn. "It's alright if you don't want to." She looked to him, eyelids a little droopy but still with a smile on her face. "I don't want you to be uncomfortable, Arnold. I can go back to the bed." She sat up a little, even starting to put her hair back down again. It was just easier to sleep like that either way.
Arnold shook his head though, sitting up a little too. "No, it's alright, Helga. Sorry, I'm just a little sleepy. We can rest…together…" He blushed a little and smiled at her.
Helga pushed some of her now loose hair behind one of her ears and smiled more too. "Thanks, Arnold." She laid back down. She realized though, now that they were settling in, that sleeping together here really could not be done comfortably if they were both lying on their backs. And so, preferring her side anyway, she turned over a little towards Arnold's bed (not wanting to overwhelm the boy by making him sleep face to face with her or inconveniencing him by making him sleep with his face crammed against the back of the couch).
Arnold lay down too, copying her motion of turning on her side towards his bed. Yes, this was much more doable and roomy. On their backs or stomachs would never have worked at all. Arnold sighed and yawned softly, eyes closing.
And then absentmindedly his arm drifted around Helga's waist under the covers.
Naturally, Helga G. Pataki blinked, her heart stopped and then sped up like crazy, and the whole length of her body where his arm rested went on tingly fire. She got all of the giddy-girlish stuff under control for a moment though and smiled and managed to ask without sounding completely lovesick, "A-Arnold? Where, uh…where did this friendly arm of yours come from?" She really did her best to sound casual and amused even though she was just brimming with passion and emotions and an unquenchable desire to hear his answer.
Arnold Phillip Shortman froze entirely. His little green eyes were popped open wide. He remembered…from that time trying to lie down with her in her room…he remembered the instinct to hold them gently together and now he had let it out, hadn't he? Yes, now he had let out that instinct… His heart raced and he blushed a lot and for a moment all thoughts of proposing or anything else left him entirely. He moved his arm away with a cringe. "O-Oh, sorry, I—I didn't even realize I… I yawned and started to fall back asleep and then I just…I guess it just felt right…I'm sorry." He began to shift away from her entirely, trying to press himself as much as he could against the back of his couch, feeling quite humiliated to say the least.
He was stopped though of course by Helga piping up in an eager and yet gentle and understanding voice, "Hey, hey, hey, you don't need to move your arm, Arnold. I…I wasn't complaining…" Her hand found his under the blanket and she gently guided his arm back near her.
Arnold let her, listening with interest and blushing considerably…though he liked it.
Soon his arm was back near her waist and he thought she would stop but then Helga went on a little bit. He was more near her ribs after all than her actual waist so she slid his arm down just a little (despite how tense she could feel it was). "Shh, just relax Arnold…just…here…First uncurl your fist—it's not THAT terrifying having your arm over me…There…now just…don't resist…just let your hand sit against my stomach or something. There. And now just relax your arm…let it fall into the curve of my hip. Because you know despite the fact that I'm no Ruth or Summer I do indeed have at least a slight figure Arnoldo…" Helga laughed, hoping to lighten the mood for him and also to really get him to relax. There was nothing wrong with being together, holding each other, liking being near each other. It was a small, good expression of a great and good love.
Beside her Arnold just swallowed and then added quietly, "Yeah, I've…um…n-noticed."
Helga was the one to freeze now. Then she turned quite scarlet (was grateful she was still facing away from her beloved so that he wouldn't get nervous from seeing her color change…and so she wouldn't get more nervous from seeing his probable color change too), and then swallowed and let his arm alone and felt her heart flutter as it stayed in the position she had left it.
"Helga?" came to her ears softly, hesitantly.
She swallowed, realizing she had to say something back to that. "O-Oh, um…okay…g-good to know. Um…a-anyway, uh…about that arm of yours. Yeah just let it rest there…and be calm…let your stomach rest against my back…" She let out a deep breath, trying to relax.
Behind her Arnold did his best to relax a bit more as well, though he couldn't help smiling. Awkward but always wonderful—the only way to describe their relationship. "Thanks, Helga. I feel better now…" And he did feel much better now. And what more wonderful thing to add to this precious Sunday morning moment together than to be hugging her while it was happening.
They could have just fallen asleep like this.
They did drift off for a few minutes at least.
But something was nagging at Arnold's mind again and he sort of knew what it was.
Arnold opened his eyes and swallowed. He hoped Helga was still mostly awake.
"Helga?" He did his best to sound okay.
She sighed through her nose. "Mmm hmm?" she asked sleepily, though she still sounded awake enough.
Arnold let out a little sigh of his own. He reached under his pillow with his arm that wasn't around her and grabbed something, clenching it tightly in his fist. "Um…I'm sorry. I don't want to wake you up again, I know you wanted to rest some more and that you're not a morning person but it's just…there's been something that I've been meaning to ask you for a little bit…especially for the last few days. And I think I want to ask you now. Now feels…um…good." He swallowed, pulling the little velvet box out from under the pillow though he kept it hidden against himself and under the covers.
Helga sighed and spoke coherently again. "Okay, okay, you have my attention…" she replied patiently but with amusement. She opened her eyes and turned over a little onto her back so that she could look at him. "If you're interrupting my beauty sleep and trying to sound as calm as you're trying to sound, it must be an important one. Let's have it. Better be good news though or you'll wake up bound and gagged and on a train to wherever I think is funniest." She smiled at him smugly yet playfully.
Arnold smiled. Whenever she smiled it had always made him smile. He un-hid the box a little bit. "I wanted to…Helga, will you marry me…someday?" he asked, hoping he sounded like something more than a nervous ten-year-old boy in way over his head.
Helga blinked.
Then she looked at him with a half grin and part of her brow raised.
Then she sighed and rolled her eyes. "Very funny, Football head." She yawned and started to turn away a little to get comfortable again. "Come on, Arnold, seriously, can we save more cute marriage jokes until after breakfast or something?"
Arnold sighed a little, deflating a touch. He had been afraid this would happen. Still though, he had been anticipating disbelief on her part a little and so his natural optimism quickly brightened him up once more. He tried again. "Helga…I'm asking you if you will marry me someday. For real." He sat up a little more on the couch.
He watched as Helga remained still for a moment where she was.
Then she blinked several times and sighed again and sat up as well, turning to him once more. "Arnold, darling, I'm serious." She gave him a bit of a dry look. "I am really, really, really not a morning person. I understand that you're trying to be cute now but I would really appreciate it if you could just save it for later, alright?" She smiled again. There was something impatient about it but it was a genuine and sincere smile nonetheless.
Arnold sighed. Disbelief and denial again. Still, he knew he just had to be persistent. He remembered trying to confess to her a month ago, how she had needed him to repeat his claim of falling in love with her over and over before she had accepted it. So he could do this, he could convince her. He knew it.
Arnold merely pushed the covers away from him a little and spoke clearly again with the same honest smile on his face that there always was ready and waiting inside of him to come out for Helga. "I'm not trying to be cute, Helga. And I don't want to save it for later. I-I mean…one day when we're grown up I'll propose to you officially of course…but for now I…well, that's why I'm asking if you'll marry me someday…So…will you marry me someday, Helga G. Pataki?" He moved the little box with the ring in it into view on the bed, feeling his courage gaining.
Now Helga looked at him with very wide eyes and almost a touch of panic about her. She had caught sight of the ring box. "A-Arnold…I want you to stop this. Now." Her eyes flew back to his eyes, she seemed to be almost holding her breath.
Arnold frowned a tiny bit now, looking at her with concern. She seemed to understand now that he was being serious…yet now she seemed more annoyed than ever. Why? "So you…don't want to marry me?" he asked, but not really seriously, knowing she would never say no to that. He just wanted to understand what she was trying to tell him now.
Helga blinked and shook her head. "No! I-I mean yes! I-I mean…stop it! You're just kidding!" Then she turned away and laid back down again, burying herself under the covers. She was upset or getting there at least.
Arnold moved closer to her. He spoke gently and calmly and patiently as he had always done. "Helga…I'm sorry, I don't mean to spring this on you. I've been planning it for a little bit and wanted to do it sometime this weekend but either the timing wasn't right or we got interrupted and then we fell asleep last night during our date. But I do mean it, Helga…I'm asking…seriously…will you do me the honor of accepting this little ring and giving me your word to marry me…someday? Because I…will never want to marry anyone else but you Helga G. Pataki. I know it in my heart. I want you to be my wife...and I'll be your husband. So, like I said, will you marry me someday?" He had the little ring box open and inside was a little pale pink stone on a silver looking band. "I'm sorry—I wish I could have gotten you a nicer little ring but like I said I'll propose to you again officially one day when we're older and then I'll get you a really nice one, alright? But please just give me an answer for now, Helga, please—it would mean so much to me." A little something twitched in his smile and he looked down and added, "E-Even if you say 'no' right now because I surprised you, that's alright. Maybe then you could just tell me what I should do differently the next time to help make it so that you'll say yes. " He smiled as optimistically and innocently as he ever had in his entire life, still holding out the little box with the little ring and waiting to see what Helga might do.
She was quiet. Then…"Grr…" he heard her growl. And then suddenly she sat up again and looked at him. A familiar (though rarely seen these days) scowl upon her features. "Arnold…" she seemed gearing up to say something but just (in a rare moment) unable to pick the words. She just shook her head, biting her lip. Finally, "A-Arnold…" something was faltering but she didn't want it to. "Arnold, don't…do that…please." She let out a breath and looked down and she looked so angry but he knew it was just frustration.
He was concerned now, to say the least. He put the little ring box aside for a moment and looked carefully at her. "Why?" He had never just left her alone to suffer before, at least not on purpose, and he certainly wasn't going to start now.
"Because…you…!" She looked at him with such annoyance and frustration.
Arnold didn't flinch though. He waited patiently and openly for whatever she might have to say.
And then she couldn't help not saying it anymore. "Because when we joke about it, fine, who cares?! Or even when I ask, heck it's still a joke and either way I'm insane so what does it matter?! But this with the anniversary and the ring and the 'for real', Arnold, you listen to me very carefully, buster—" She grabbed him by the collar and pulled him close, looking into his eyes with a determined scowl, "You do not suddenly spring that question on me for real unless you mean it. And I don't mean that you just mean it now when we're ten and because it's our anniversary and you're a sappy, wishy-washy little hopeless romantic. You have to mean it very seriously and very for real because that is how I'm going to take it and if one day when we're twenty-something I bring it up and you laugh and say 'Helga, come on, we were ten—you can't take that seriously!' so help me I will clock you one right in the nose and go on and be president all by myself and you will never hear from me ever again, you pathetic, ridiculous, sentimental…weird…loopy…you…I…" Somewhere toward the end of all that the tears had started to drop here and there from the scowling eyes and the set jaw had started to tremble and now she just couldn't keep it up and she just let herself collapse forward and hold against him while she rested her face against his shoulder and silently finished her crying that she had been trying so desperately to avoid.
A tear or two couldn't help but leave Arnold's eye as well at this surprising and yet understandable reaction of hers.
He just held her for a little while now, stroked her hair, kept them close. She would let him know when she didn't need all of that anymore.
Finally Arnold heard Helga let out a small breath. He listened. Then she spoke. Her voice was a little hoarse and quiet but she spoke nonetheless. "I know…I'm so attached to you, so focused on you…I already told you I'm not scared that you'll leave me now…and I have…oh Arnold I have wanted to marry….marry…but…Arnold…growing up is a very big thing…and I have no way of knowing if you won't leave me then or if I won't leave you or if we won't leave each other. We'll be the same but different than we are now…we might still be good for each other but too different to make that goodness work like it does now. I just…can't handle agreeing to…being promised that you'll…if it didn't work or we changed too much and you took it away or I had to ask you to take it away I…" She trembled but then sighed again. "I don't know, maybe I would be alright…I know you would…You bounce back from anything. You're better at being happy than I am, Arnold." She trembled a little again and her voice went down to a whisper and he could feel her features cringe a little against his shoulder. "I just don't want to be waking up random nights ten, fifteen, twenty years from now and smiling for a moment because I dreamt about you, only to feel like falling apart when I realize that happy time in my life is gone and I might never find it or anything like it again. Realizing that I don't know you anymore, or even myself maybe, and that it was all perfect once and then it all fell apart." She loosened her grasp on him, though moved closer to him at the same time. "That's why I don't want you to ask me that now, even if you mean it 'for real', unless you really, really, really mean it, Arnold…" She pulled back and looked into his wide green eyes with her wide blue ones, "…because if you ask…and you don't mean it…it'll break my heart. And it's so hard for the rest of you to keep being okay when your heart is broken…"
Arnold felt all of the feeling, all of the concern, and all of the sincerity. He understood. And now that he thought about it, he wouldn't have wanted her to just jump all over him about this with an instant "YES, YES, YES!" This made it more real, this made it matter more…it was scary but beautiful.
He spoke seriously and softly to her, eyes looking into hers, arms around her in another one of the dozens of hugs he had given her throughout their lives.
"I understand, Helga. But…believe me I've thought about this a lot…and I want to do it so much. And I don't…know how we'll be later…or even much later…as people or as a couple. But…" he swallowed, his gaze never once leaving hers, "I do mean it now…and I intend to mean it later too…and if you'll help me we can try together to make it happen in the end. That's what I'm asking you to promise me right now, Helga…to just…try with me very hard. Will you do that, Helga? And it's okay if you can't just yet." He smiled. "I don't mind waiting. I'm very patient." He smiled more. "I mean, never as patient as you were with waiting the seven years but I'm definitely runner up." He laughed a little.
She couldn't help cracking a smile and laughing a little too.
For a few moments the two of them just laughed together a little, holding each other.
Then Arnold smiled a little funny and blushed and piped up. "Um…so…"
Helga looked at him curiously. "Yeah, Football Head?"
He swallowed and shrugged. "Your answer…?"
Helga blinked and smiled. She let out a deep breath and looked to the side. "Hmm…I…yes, Arnold. I'll try with you." She saw his cute little green eyes light up and that he was about to speak but she reached up and placed a finger over his lips. "Upbupbup….one condition please, love."
Arnold blinked, waiting for what that condition might be.
Helga removed her finger and looked to the side at the little box still open and resting near them on the couch. "I'll take the ring, but I'm not going to wear it…for now." She looked up at him. "I-I don't want a ring right now, Arnold, I just want to enjoy being together. But I'll keep it and cherish it and when you propose to me for real later—or even if I propose to you—we can use it then." She grinned a little and added with a little extra grin, "Unless of course you really did want to give me some big fancy rock at that time, in which case," she sighed dramatically, "If you insist." She winked at him.
Arnold laughed and then one of those ear to ear grins came to his face and his green eyes were bright with joy. "O-Okay, it's a deal then, Helga. I…thank you!" He wrapped his arms around her in one of those great big tight hugs he had always given her here and there throughout their lives.
Helga smiled and blushed and laughed and savored being hugged by him. "Okay, okay, sheesh, rope it in, Romeo. Crimeny you get mushy sometimes, Arnold."
He laughed a little too and pulled back to smile at her. "Yeah, well, you'd better get used to it, Helga. You're probably going to be putting up with it for a very long time."
Helga smirked and gave him a playful push in the shoulder. "Ooo, calling the shots now, huh, Mister Push Over?"
Arnold smirked back. "Just reminding you of our deal…my dear." He hesitated for a moment but then managed to give her a playful push in the shoulder too (though he couldn't help but make it as soft as could be and blush a little after it was done).
Helga blinked (blushed from him calling her 'dear' again) and then leaned closer to him, her smirk growing. "Hitting girls now, huh, Football Head? Thought that wasn't allowed under your chivalric code."
Arnold leaned closer too, likewise smiling more. "And I thought ladies weren't supposed to hit anyone at all, especially boys they like."
Helga pushed her forehead against Arnold's. "There's an exception for do-gooder little shrimps."
Arnold pushed his nose against Helga's. "Then there's an exception for pretty girls who I'd like an excuse to touch."
Helga's eyes narrowed playfully. "Oh yeah…?"
Arnold's eyes narrowed playfully. "Yeah…"
"Oh that's it, you're dead, Football Head!" And then she swiped up the ring box, popped it on the end table, and suddenly she pounced him to the couch and was tickling him and laughing.
"H-Helga! Stop!" Arnold barely choked out between laughs! Though it didn't take him long to regain some ground in their little sleeping space and tickle her quite a bit too.
Helga laughed and laughed, giggling like mad. "N-Never! Not in a million years, my little future fiancée!" She hoped that word would get him.
She managed to glance at her beloved and saw him blushing now as he was laughing. "O-Oh, fiancée, huh?" he managed to get out. "Wh-Whatever you say, Helga G. Pataki…Helga, stop it, I can't breathe!" He was laughing away, trying to get her back and they were just dying with laughter together under the blankets on the couch.
"Oh and l-like I can!" Helga managed to choke out between giggles. "A-And you bet, 'whatever I say.' You're the one who wanted to be engaged." She writhed in happiness and pleasure under his touches.
"Engaged?!" Arnold's tickling all but ceased and he blushed immensely now, eyes wide. It wasn't that he didn't have an awareness in his mind in a general way of the fact that when two people were supposed to be married and decided to be each other's fiancées the usual term applied to describe them was 'engaged.' It was just that…well, 'engaged' sounded like such a grown up word! So official! It overwhelmed him for a moment.
Helga let her tickling slow for a moment too, and looked at him with interest, her face flushed with happiness. "Yes, engaged, you silly little proposer. Anything wrong with that, bucko?"
Arnold swallowed and shrugged. "No. Um…it's just…" he looked at her a little sheepishly, "…'engaged' sounds so formal. I mean…I think it's just a word I'd rather use when I actually do propose to you for real and you wear the ring and everything you know? It makes me nervous right now thinking about us like that." He swallowed, hoping she would understand.
And indeed Helga looked at him with a sweet smile. "Oh, alright, Arnold, no more 'engaged.' I'll even cut down on the 'fiancée' stuff." She sighed, a pensive look coming to her features for a moment. "Hmm, still though, I wish we had some kind of word for to express our intended union…" She thought for a moment.
Arnold considered too, but then the word 'union' struck something in his memory and he blinked and smiled and asked innocently, "What about tantric?"
"NO!" Helga blushed completely furiously and even pulled away from him on the couch only to lead to her falling off of it with a plop. "Oof!" She sat up on the floor, half covered in a blanket and rubbing her head.
Arnold leaned over the edge of the couch and looked down at her in concern. "Helga? Are you alright?"
Helga blinked a few times and nodded and then stood up, getting back onto the couch and under the blankets again. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine, just…" she cleared her throat and tried to sound as calm and casual as possible, "…uh, no…not 'tantric.' Let's just keep that term between you and I…alright?" She may have been trying to seem casual but she looked at him in a way seriously begging for an answer. 'Crimeny I should never have mentioned that word to him, he brought it up the other night too…' she thought to herself, recalling a joke of his involving that word on their Friday night date.
Arnold looked at her (and her rose red cheeks) curiously, thought about asking…but then decided to let it go for now. Besides, he knew stuff about the shrines could still embarrass her a little. And either way he did still have that big dictionary around here from that whole spelling bee thing—he could look up that word any time if he wanted so that he could understand it better. "Okay, Helga." He nodded. "We'll think of something else to describe us."
Helga let out a relieved breath and gave a small smile. "Thank you, Arnold." She sighed and then thought for another moment and then suggested, looking at him hopefully, "How about 'betrothed', Football Head?"
Arnold looked at her with interest. "Betrothed?"
Helga nodded. "Yeah. It's sort of an old fashioned word that just means promised to each other. What about that?"
Arnold thought about it and then smiled and nodded. "Okay, Helga. Betrothed it is." He took her hand under the covers, gave it a little squeeze and a shake.
Helga's smile became completely relaxed and happy once more and she squeezed and then shook his hand back. "Agreed, Football Head." A warm chuckle left her. "Alright, good, at least we've got that settled." She swallowed and blushed a little, glancing to the side coyly. "H-Hey, Arnold? Um…so…you really do want to get married…do you really want to, you know…have kids…like we talked about that one time? Y-You remember, you had just had your married dream about us—the good one—and your grandparents had just finished telling us about your Grandma's confession and then we were up here and we were kissing and then you told me about your dream and a daughter and stuff…"
Arnold blinked, the memory coming to him. "Oh, I remember, I…" he blushed rosy, eyes going half lidded, "Of course I want to have children with you, Helga."
Helga giggled. "Good to know." She snuggled closer to him. "I want to have children with you too."
Arnold snuggled closer as well, chuckling a little as he added, "Well, as long as the stork doesn't bring three at once like in my first married dream, I think that'll be fine then and that we'll be able to handle it, Helga. We can have children…live in the boarding house and have children…There are plenty of rooms at least."
Helga nodded, giggling again. "O-Of course. Gotta fill up all of those rooms somehow, heh…" Then she laughed a little more and shook her head a bit. "And 'the stork'—very funny, Football Head."
Arnold blinked, looking at her with curious (though still slightly dazed) interest. "Huh?"
Helga laughed again and was about to make a joke about his joke or something to that effect when she paused and blinked for a moment. Come to think of it…he hadn't laughed or said anything when he had told her about the stork from his first married dream, had he? Then she blinked and it dawned on her. "Arnold…you…seriously think babies come from the stork?"
Arnold blushed more, his eyes now going a little wide. "I…well…" his mouth quirked to the side a little. "I don't know…I mean, I guess that seems kind of stupid—people don't come from birds but I don't really know what else there would be." He looked at her with innocent confusion.
Helga looked back at him with sincere interest. "Oh…" She supposed she couldn't blame him. They were ten, it wasn't entirely unbelievable that Arnold might not have a general idea of the reality of the situation. She had a few options before her now. She rejected entirely the 'tell him the truth' option on two accounts: one, she figured a discussion like that between them at this stage and age would probably be a complete and awkward mistake, two, she didn't exactly have an understanding of every single specific about the whole thing herself. The next option was to more or less let him know that she knew the truth of the matter, and that it involved no stork, but she would not tell him the answer to it all at the moment. That would probably annoy him though, and wouldn't be very fair. A third option was to lie to him and say she had no idea either, though she was fairly sure he would see through that in a second since she had gotten so bad at lying to him and he had gotten so darn perceptive lately
Helga sighed and settled on a light combination of the three. She smiled at her beloved. "I see. Well…I think it's a complicated situation, h-having children, but…we'll just figure it out together whenever we're ready." She let her fingers lace with his underneath the blankets.
Arnold looked at her with interest. He knew that she was more knowledgeable than he was about romantic things and love, he had known that from the start, and he hadn't been able to help an assumption going along with that observation that if he ever had a question about things between them or about love in general she would know the answer or at least know something on the right track of the answer. His assumption extended to this topic too. And he appreciated her response. It didn't make him feel ignorant or immature but it didn't embarrass them at all. He blushed and smiled back and laced their fingers more. "I'd like that, Helga. Let's figure it out together when it's time."
Helga smiled more and nuzzled his forehead a little. "You got it, bucko," she replied softly. Her response made Arnold chuckle and then she yawned and sighed and looked at him. "Alright, alright, this whole 'betrothed/ pre-proposal/ having kids' thing was your one freebie for keeping me awake this early on a summer Sunday. Now I am going to sleep and I don't want to hear any giggling, pet names, cutesy wedding or honeymoon plans, name suggestions for the kids, adorable observations, you get the drift. You're going to have a wife who enjoys sleep, Arnold, better get used to it now." She popped a little kiss onto his nose and then snuggled under the covers and turned toward his bed, closing her eyes and settling in. "Goodnight, Arnold, my love…"
A grinning and blushing Arnold just settled in too, facing in the same direction. "Goodnight, Helga G. Pataki." And then with a little fake yawn and a smirk he put his arm over her again and pulled them a little closer.
Helga giggled at the action. "Very funny."
Arnold smiled, closing his eyes. "I thought so."
The gentle rain pattered on.
There were a few final whispers before the sound of that rain was the only thing to fill the room.
"Arnold?"
"I thought you said we were supposed to be sleeping, Helga."
"Cork it. It's just one more thing…" A yawn.
"Yes…?" A smile and a yawn too.
A grin. "Just for fun, when we go to baseball practice tomorrow…do you want to pretend that we hate each other again in front of everyone?"
There was a moment of silence and then Arnold laughed and then Helga laughed.
Soon enough rain and sleep and love over took them.
An hour later it was still a bit too early for breakfast but Arnold and Helga had woken up and were still lying 'in bed' together on Arnold's couch.
Helga was admiring the adorable little ring in the cute little box, girlishly sighing over it now and again. "So, that second married dream you told me about, the part that you left out…it was buying me a ring and proposing now instead of waiting?" She sighed dreamily and looked back to him again. "I'm glad you didn't tell me, Arnold—the surprise was much better. Much more emotionally draining but much better." She laughed.
Arnold laughed too and nodded, looking to the side humbly. "Yeah, I figured you'd like the surprise part of it after you got used to it, that's why I decided to keep that part of the dream to myself. It seemed like a perfect thing to do, asking you now instead of waiting a bunch of years to really bring up the idea of you and me actually g-getting married."
Helga nodded. "Yes, definitely a good call on the part of your subconscious, Arnold." Her eyes went back to the glittery little ring. "And Arnold, I don't mean to go all girly on you but seriously this ring is so boss!" She giggled and looked at him again with a smirk. "I can't believe you went through the trouble…seriously, what is that, a rhinestone?"
Arnold smiled humbly and shrugged. "Um…cubic zirconia, actually."
Helga blinked in surprise. "Arnold, those actually cost money. Like double digits money. Like possibly twenty dollars money. You spent that much on me on top of all the anniversary stuff? And this was only your pre-proposal? Arnold, where did you get the money…or heck, better question, where did you get the ring?" She looked at him in confusion.
Arnold blinked then smiled more and sighed, turning a bit to look toward the ceiling. "If I tell you, I think it's only going to make you more excited. Are you sure you want to know?" He glanced at her with a small grin.
Helga rolled her eyes. "Doi! Of course I want to know!" She moved closer to him, looking eager. "Come on, Arnold, I wanna know how far you went with this whole thing. It'll help me prepare for how insanely over the top you'll probably go for the big official proposal." She smiled and moved so close that their noses touched. "Please, Arnold…my fiancée," she cooed, fluttering her eyelashes and giggling.
A blushing Arnold smiled goofily. "Oh…alright…fiancée." He gave her lips a little kiss, which made her giggle and pull back a little, and then he sighed and looked to her. "Um…first, don't worry about how much I paid for it—you're worth every penny. As for where I got the money, well…ever since we started dating my grandpa raised my allowance a little, remember? So don't worry about it." He winked at her. Then he cleared his throat and finished, "And as for where I got the ring…well, the only place I could think of to get something like that was that jeweler's shop you went to once. You remember, the place you told me you got your locket engraved? That's actually where I got my pocket watch engraved too." He laughed and added, "Oh and by the way, um…I hope you don't mind but I told him I knew you and I paid for your engraving…" He looked at her with a little chastising smile. "No more not paying for things, okay? Just like at the movies when we had our fight… Oh and don't worry about the engraving money—you've been nice enough to wear my picture around your neck for the last seven years, so the least I can do is pay for you putting a little message with that picture about how I'm always in your heart." He chuckled a little and looked at her with a warm and loving smile.
Helga was just blushing and blinking and at a loss for words. "You…I…uh…" she looked to the ring again and back to Arnold, "I…" And then she just smiled, and accepted the generosity, all of it. "Thank you, Arnold." She looked into his eyes. "This has been the best anniversary ever." She snuggled in close to him under the blankets and put an arm over him, pulling him down to the couch with her. "And you are the best guy there ever was—just like I told the boys last night. Kind, caring, supportive, sweet…not to mention a real looker." She giggled. "Yes, sir, an excellent date all around."
Arnold was blushing and smiling goofily, though he managed in a normal enough sounding voice to reply, "You're welcome, Helga…And you're a pretty excellent date yourself. I'm happy that…I'm just happy." He smiled at her.
She smiled back. "I'm happy too."
They were quiet for a moment.
Then she gave Arnold a little flick in the shoulder. "But no more breaking the bank on presents, at least not until we both have jobs, Football Head. Stuff like what we gave each other for our anniversary is fine…Homemade things or little things like my picture frame or that birthday cake you made me or the shrine dolls I gave you or…" She blinked, a thought occurring to her. "Oh that present you gave me the other night, the little pink one, the one that's in my purse…that's homemade too, right?"
Arnold blinked and blushed a rosy scarlet at his cheeks and looked down. "Um…yes…it is…I-I mean, home written is probably the better way to say it. I…I wrote another poem for you." He was suddenly feeling very nervous again about being so close to her.
Helga's eyes widened and she smiled, practically beamed actually. "You did?"
Arnold nodded. "Well…yes. I…I used that pink book that you gave me, the one with that poem in it that you wrote for me the night of our one week anniversary when I snuck into your room. That pink book still had a few blank pages at the back and I never returned that one to you over all of these weeks and so I wrote another poem about you and I put it in the back on those blank pages. I even included a little note to explain it to you for whenever you read it…" Suddenly he wasn't feeling too confident in the idea despite how much work he had put into it. "Helga, you'll probably think it's silly. You know poems aren't really my thing. I-I'm more of a straight talk kind of guy, heh." He hid his face under the blanket a tiny bit.
Helga's eyes brightened. Then her gaze softened and so did her voice. "Oh Arnold, my love, I may be the more experienced writer but you have a little silver tongue of your own when you want to—and I'm sure anything it directed you to put on page must just be heavenly. In fact…I'll think I'll read it right now, my beloved." She winked at him and then slipped out of their little bed and quickly raced over to her purse near Arnold's bed with a giggle.
Arnold just sighed and blushed and turned to face the back of the couch, bringing the blankets up around his head a little. "Mmm…whatever you say, Helga. But I really do hope you like it. I'm not sure when I'll have it in me again to write another one…and I don't think I'll ever write another one quite like that one."
Helga blinked and looked at him with interest. "What do you mean?"
Arnold shrugged, still making sure to face away from her. "Well…you remember how during our one week anniversary you gave me a poem that was more like something I would write—straightforward…So I tried to write something passionate like you would. But I don't think I'll do that again. It took a lot out of me and I felt so embarrassed, and also I'm just better at being straightforward."
Helga just smiled and pulled the little pink package out of her purse, then trotted back over to the couch to recline alongside her beloved. "Oh I'm sure it's wonderful and that I'll love it, just like I'll love any other poem you ever write no matter what the style." She flipped through, found that poem she had written on their one week anniversary, and then flipped past it to the next page where the handwriting and ink color were different from her usual ones.
"O-Okay, Helga…" Arnold finally sighed, his voice sounding accepting. He turned a little to glance at her over his shoulder. "I really do hope you like it. I-I called it 'Arnold and Helga' because, well…I think that our names sound nice together and also until I can find a way to make you a perfume that we can name 'Arnold and Helga' I hope this'll be a close enough substitute." He smiled more at the idea, almost laughing.
Helga looked at him with blushing surprise. What a sweet thought. "Oh Arnold…" she swooned lovingly. Then she giggled and turned back to her poem.
First she looked at his little note. It was a brief, modest few lines explaining everything he had just explained to her about what he meant by giving her one of her own pink books as a present, where to look for the poem, and what he had tried to do while writing it.
Then Helga turned to the poem once more. She read aloud to herself, figuring that for all the times Arnold had wanted to cuddle up with her and hear her recite her poems about him, she was more than entitled to not keep this to herself.
"Arnold and Helga"
There is a glowing girl goddess who I know,
Though I didn't understand her until recently,
Because I am sort of a dense kind of guy,
And she is a ravishing queen like no one's ever seen.
Sometimes I would watch her from afar,
And think I would see a smile or a spark,
But every time I tried to talk to her about it
She would call me a geek and away she'd walk.
Of course I should have known better though,
What enchanting darling was ever easily won?
But it's hard for a guy to sort out his feelings
When he's faced with an angel, with hair like the sun.
And blue eyes like waters a boy could get lost in,
Full of brilliance and charm and a passion so dear,
And she has these soft cheeks that blush sometimes
Bright as the strawberries she's forbidden to be near.
Her giggles are like music for only one boy's ears
And her smiles are a dazzling finish to those songs,
And when she walks I hope the other boys don't notice,
Because there's something just wild in the way she sways along.
But now somehow I've got her here with me,
It turns out she thinks I'm pretty interesting too.
And we hold each other close...and feel our hearts beat together,
And there are so many nice things my goddess lets me do.
I can't mention them all right here and now
Because I'm modest, and very young and shy,
But she knows just what things I mean,
And I hope she knows by now just what they do to a guy.
The feelings I have for you, Helga, my love,
Make me tremble all over whenever we're close.
I used to want any girl...now I ache for one lady...
And that lady is you...and I just wanted you to know.
For Helga Geraldine, my heart and the love of my life.
"I know, I know, it's silly…I tried but it's silly. I didn't capture any of it right. You really should have decided to marry Brainy—he's a lot more literary than I'll ever…um…oh." Arnold, after waiting what he felt was enough time for Helga to have read everything (and twice if she wanted to), had been delivering this little nervous disclaimer…when he had then suddenly been stopped by the sudden action of Helga putting aside the poetry book on the end table, crawling back under the covers on the couch and crawling on top of him of all things.
Arnold looked up at her with his green eyes wide and little chest rising and falling quickly.
Helga just smiled, her eyes softened with love and tenderness. "Arnold…" she almost laughed, "…just shut up and kiss me."
He blinked, blushing rosy, and then nodded and felt his eyes starting to close. Helga's eyes closed too and they kissed gently.
Eventually Helga sighed softly through her nose and removed her lips from her beloved's. She let out a breath and gently rolled off to the side of him. "Now enough embarrassment…You and I are the only ones who will ever see poems like that about each other anyway (and know that they're about each other)…you and I are the only ones who will see our confession video…you and I are the only ones who will ever know about all of the moments we've had…you and I are the only ones…Now let's finish enjoying our first morning together before we smell breakfast cooking and have to go downstairs for it." She cuddled in close to him under the covers, snuggling up alongside him with a smile.
A likewise smiling Arnold snuggled close to her too, closing his eyes. "I…couldn't have said it better myself."
He laughed a little and so did Helga.
Helga smiled to herself. "Best Sunday morning ever…"
Arnold smiled to himself too. "Best month ever…"
They laughed again…then yawned.
The rain was lightening and now they could be cozy and warm cuddled up together in total silence, happy and ready to face whatever the rest of their lives after this month and after the last seven years might throw at them.
There was nothing but quiet and the faintest patter of rain and the light, slow breaths of Arnold and Helga filling the room.
Then…
KNOCK KNOCK
"AHH! Oof!"
"Ah! Grandpa!"
"Good morning, Shortman and Helga! Hope you slept well! Just wanted to let you know that your Grandma's having a lucid morning and we'll be having piles of flapjacks and fresh squeezed orange juice in half an—HEH, HEH, HEH, HEH, HEH, HEH! Oh Arnold, you really are a chip off the old block, aren't you? Heh, heh, heh, heh!" Phil had just entered the room with a warm smile and every intention of greeting the two sleepy children and letting them know breakfast was almost ready (and would be edible) but now he was just doubled over in laughter at many things including having caught them cuddling on the couch, their yells of surprise, Helga suddenly falling off of the couch onto the floor and finally Arnold just blushing like mad and looking mortified and clinging to the blanket for dear life.
"G-Grandpa, we…it's not what it…Helga and I just…" A thoroughly red all over Arnold just stumbled over his words, looking down with wide eyes. He could hear Helga on the floor panting lightly from the surprise of this sudden interruption as she tried to regain herself a little.
But then a thought occurred to Arnold. 'I'm…I'm going to be a married man. I can't keep acting this embarrassed and nervous every time someone sees me being close with my wife. That's not fair to Helga or to me.' And so he just sighed, tried to get his heart to stop beating so quickly, and then looked up at his grandfather with a smile. "I mean…good morning, Grandpa. Sorry for yelling, you surprised us a little." Arnold moved to the edge of the couch and took (a surprised) Helga's hand to help her up and back onto the couch with him. "We were just spending the morning together. We didn't even think about putting up the 'do not disturb' sign." Helga was all settled next to him and Arnold looked back to Phil now. "Thanks for letting us know about breakfast though, Grandpa. It sounds good—I'll take some clothes and leave Helga to get dressed and we'll be down soon."
"Uh…yeah, what Arnold said," Helga added, "Be down in a sec, heh…" She was blushing too but it was getting under control and she was quite grateful for and impressed with her beloved's calmness. It helped her feel much calmer and much more quickly than she would have on her own. After all no matter who it was, no matter how far along in their relationship they were, Helga did not like third parties walking in on her intimate moments with Arnold, period. She smiled now too though, hiding a bit beneath her hair but otherwise facing Phil right along with Arnold. "Thanks for letting us know, Phil. A-And sorry for the scream—I'm really not a 'surprise' kind of gal." She rolled her eyes at herself, straightening the blankets over her lap.
"Heh, heh…" Phil was done laughing for the most part now and he wiped a tear from his eye and straightened up, "Oh I'm sorry, kids, but you two always make me smile. Remind me so much of me and your Grandma, Arnold…" He sighed with a smile and shook his head at the memories. He turned back toward the door. "Anyway, I'll let Gertie know that you two'll be down soon from your little 'sleepover.'" He made air quotes. "Have a good rest of the morning together, you two! And happy anniversary!" He waved and chuckled to himself a little more as he headed down the attic steps and closed the door behind him.
Arnold and Helga both let out small sighs of relief and looked to each other with smiles.
"Very smooth, Arnoldo. I'm impressed," Helga quipped with a little extra grin.
Arnold shrugged. "Well, I couldn't leave my fiancée in distress, could I? And besides…" he grinned more, something a touch passionate coming to his eyes, and then put an arm around her waist, pulling her close, "…this has been one of the best mornings of my entire life. I'm not going to let anything or anyone scare me out of enjoying every single second of it that's left…my talented, blue-eyed love." His voice had lowered a little.
Helga gulped, her eyes wide, heart pounding a bit. Then she swooned and smiled dreamily. "Oh Arnold…" she cooed. "Arnold…" She dove at him in a kiss, pushing them against the back of the couch. "Mmm…mmm…" She moaned and sighed happily through her nose.
"Mmm…." Arnold moaned and sighed too, his eyes closing as he held around her and relaxed into the back of the couch.
They separated a few moments later and just looked at each other tenderly.
"I love you, Helga…"
"I love you, Arnold…"
They shared a laugh, and then Helga flicked Arnold in the ear. "Now get the heck out so I can change for breakfast, Mr. Curious." She giggled to herself.
"Ow!" Arnold rubbed his head, blushed a tiny bit, then rolled his eyes and stretched and got up. "Alright, alright, I'm going…" He went over to his closet and pulled out a few things for himself. "Women…" he mumbled playfully under his breath.
"Oh please—women?" Of course Helga had heard him as she stood up and stretched a little. "Try men…Whatever am I going to do with you, Arnold my love?" Smiling to herself she picked up the little ring box that had fallen on the floor, admired the ring inside for another second then closed the box and took it and her poetry book and walked them over to her purse for safekeeping.
Arnold had gathered everything he needed and now he walked over to his bedroom door. "You'll marry me and that'll take care of everything, Helga G. Pataki." He looked over his shoulder at her.
"Yeah, that's pretty much what I figured after the first time we met." She was sitting on the edge of his bed and she had just pulled out a change of clothes from her purse.
Arnold raised an eyebrow and looked at the clothes with a questioning smirk.
Helga looked down at them then looked up at him and shrugged with a grin. "What? Arnold, please, I've been planning this accidental sleepover since Friday—of course I brought a spare change of clothes with me."
Arnold just closed his eyes and shook his head. "Of course. I wouldn't have expected anything less." He opened his eyes. "See you at breakfast, Helga." He gave her a little wave.
She laughed and waved back. "See you at breakfast, Arnold." 'Breakfast…with Arnold…YAY!' She could have just burst with happiness!
Arnold laughed and headed out the door, closing it behind him. 'Breakfast with Helga…Breakfast everyday with Helga one day…right here in our home. Yeah, that works…definitely.'
And with that a very happy Arnold headed briskly down the stairs and to the bathroom, about as perfectly content as any man would be after proposing to the girl of his dreams and getting a 'yes' in response.
A/N:
I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and that it was worth the wait :) Thank you all so much for your consistent readership and for your patience with me. As I said in the top A/N I still have a winter/spring of craziness to get through but I will at least try to update here and there if and when I can, if not this story then some of my shorter ones at least to get them all squared away. I'm starting to work on doing a little bit of original writing of my own and I'm trying to give myself a chance to experience and work with that as well, but nothing I have ever started here will be abandoned-if I begin it, I will end it, and I will end it to the best of my ability, guaranteed. Thank you all again for bearing with me :)
As for what's next on deck for an update...I'm considering writing a new (very short) chapter for my annual Christmas fic (I have an idea but I haven't tried to put it on paper yet so I'm not sure if it'll be good enough for me to add as a chapter-I don't want that story to get too drawn out just because I like updating it every Christmas XD) If I do like how it plays out though then it should be up sometime tomorrow probably :) Also, before New Year's I'm hoping to have a new chapter of my fic "Dinner AND a Show!" up for you guys ^_^
Thank you all and have a wonderful Christmas and end of the year! I love you all! Stay strong and be happy, and thank you all for your reviews and comments-you help make me a better writer by giving them and I am very appreciative of that.
Love and Happy Reading!
~Azure129 aka Jenna