Hey guys! See, I told you I'd get the fifth chapter up today! And, it's the one you've been waiting for! Yep, Helga's going to Arnold's house! But I'm not going to say any more, so read on! Hope you like it! :)

Disclaimer: By now I think we know that I do not own Hey Arnold. Thanks for creating it, though, Craig!

Chapter 5

Helga arrived at the boarding house at exactly 4:55 pm. She was technically five minutes early, and she wasn't quite sure what to do. Just when she was deciding to just sit on the steps for the remainder of the time, the door opened.

"Hi Helga," Arnold said with his trademark smile, "How are you?"

"Uh, good. How about you? Sorry I'm early by the way." Helga said, mildly blushing but trying to hide it.

"I'm good, thanks. Don't worry about being early, Helga. Dinner's actually running a little late, but we can go listen to some music or something if you want." He waited to see how she would react to his suggestion, expecting her to make a sarcastic remark.

Helga, however, took a moment to respond, making sure her response was one that was genuine, not one based on impulse,

"That sounds nice, Arnold. What kind of music do you have?"

"Um, mostly Dino Spumoni, but I could probably find something else if you would prefer." Arnold said, slightly amazed that she responded directly to the suggestion.

"No, that's fine, Arnold."

"Alright."

The two made their way inside and, after saying hello to Phil and Gertie, headed up to Arnold's room. Arnold opened the door to his room and gestured that Helga should enter, then followed her in. Helga took a moment once she was inside just to revel in the fact that she was in Arnold's room, and with his knowledge and permission! Sure, she had been in here several times before, but those times generally involved ropes, air vents, and on one occasion behind Arnold's couch.

Arnold picked up the remote from his side table and pushed a few buttons. Seconds later the couch flipped out, the lights turned on, and Dino Spumoni began playing from the sound system on the self across the room. Helga couldn't help but be impressed at just how much that little remote could do,

"Wow, I didn't know you had your whole room rigged to that little remote, Arnold. How'd you do that?"

"Oh, well Grandpa helped me with most of it. I just came up with the idea...and I wired the sound system." Arnold said, blushing.

"Good grief, Arnold, this is amazing!" Helga exclaimed.

"Uh, thanks Helga." Arnold mumbled, "So, um, do you want to sit?"

"Sure."

The two sat down on the couch together, but soon a somewhat awkward silence descended on them.

"You, uh, you look really nice, Helga," Arnold said tentatively, "Is that a new outfit?"

'He noticed!' Helga thought excitedly 'He noticed my outfit! Oh happy day!' However, to Arnold she said "Yep, I bought a whole new outfit, just for you Hair Boy! You're just that special! No, it's not new. Well, kind of; I had the skirt, and I borrowed the top from Olga."

"Well it looks great. You look great." He said sincerely. Not accustom to receiving compliments, Helga could do nothing in response but sit there blushing, though she desperately hope Arnold couldn't tell. Arnold as well was blushing, but for a different reason. 'I can't believe I just said that!' He thought 'And what's more, she didn't get defensive about it! Oh, but now she's blushing. Great, I made her uncomfortable! Now she's going to hate me even more than she already does! She's never going to agree to hang out with me again, and things were going so well! That is, until I had to go and mess things up.'

They sat in silence again, still just as awkward as before if not more so. Just as Helga was thinking that if Arnold didn't say something soon, herself having no idea what to say, she was going to scream, he did just that.

"So, uh, I'm really glad you agreed to come over for dinner, Helga. Honestly I sort of thought you would...well, that you would laugh at me when I asked." ' Please don't let me mess this up any more than I already have!' Arnold silently pleaded.

Helga hadn't been expecting that; it took her a moment to form a decent response,

"Uh, yeah, well...like you said, at the beach we had fun. And I'm not totally heartless! I wouldn't have laughed."

"Really?" Arnold asked, truly wondering if she would have.

"Of course not. Any other day I might have asked if you had a head injury, but what can I say? I was having a good day." she responded. After a moment Helga screwed up her courage and asked the question that had been nagging at her for a while now,

"So...you're really happy that you invited me over, Arnold? Even though at this point we have pretty much nothing to talk about?" she tried to make it sound like casual question, but her voice could not quite mask how much she really needed to know that he didn't regret this.

"Of course I am, Helga', Arnold said. He fought the urge to put an arm around her for comfort, but he knew she needed more than just that small affirmation,

"It doesn't matter that we haven't had much to talk about; it actually makes sense since we haven't had much chance to hang out and get to know each other. And, um, well to tell you the truth..." he couldn't believe he was about to tell her this, "I was a little nervous about today."

Helga was stunned; mister always positive and sunny had been nervous? About her coming over for dinner? 'Well at least I know I wasn't being a total basket case about this. If Arnold was nervous just like me, then I can't be too messed up, right?'

"You were nervous? I was nervous!" 'Did I just say that out loud?' Helga thought the moment the words left her mouth. 'Great. Just great. Nice Helga, prove to him you're out of your mind!' But what Arnold said next surprised her,

"Why were you nervous, Helga? I don't see why you would have any reason to be worried."

"Well...just...and I...I...I was worried I would say or do something embarrassing and act like a spazz, and then you'd think I was crazy or something." 'I CAN'T BELIEVE I JUST ADMITTED THAT!' Helga thought, panicked.

"Helga..." she braced herself for whatever he was about to say, "I can't believe you would be worried about something like that. I would never think you're crazy. I'd just tell you that everyone makes mistakes, and then we could just move past it."

"Really?" She asked.

"Really" He said, giving her a warm smile.

'He smile at me! Oh how long I've dreamed of...no, no Helga! Focus on the moment!' She stopped herself mid monologue. Then something else drifted into her mind.

"Hey, why were you worried, Arnoldo? You never do anything embarrassing!" Arnold blushed lightly before replying,

"Well...I was actually worried about the borders. They can be a little...eccentric, and I don't want them to make you uncomfortable. In fact, I apologize in advance if any of them does something to make tonight anything less than perfect." Helga was shocked; she wasn't sure what to say, even think! 'He was worried that...and he said...perfect...oh my wonderful little Football Head! You want tonight to go well just as much as I do, yet you have nothing to worry about. I, however, have everything...'

"Arnold, I...thank you." she finally said.

"Sure Helga, no problem. Oh, and try not to worry too much about dinner; the borders really aren't that bad. Everything will be fine." Arnold assured her. Just then there was a knock at the door, and Grandpa Phil appeared from behind it.

"Hey Short Man! Just letting you know supper's ready, and the borders are mighty excited to meet your girlfriend" he chuckled at the last part.

"Grandpa! Do you have to keep saying that? Helga's not my girlfriend. But thanks for letting us know about dinner; we'll be there in a minute, ok?" Arnold asked.

"Sure Short Man, you two take all the time you need. But don't take too long, or that rat Kokoschka will eat everything in the house. Speaking of which..." and with that, Phil turned around and ran back downstairs to make sure Oskar wasn't eating more than his share. Arnold turned from the door and looked at Helga apologetically,

"Sorry about my Grandpa, Helga. He's been teasing me about having my "girlfriend" over for dinner since I invited you".

"It's alright, Arnold" Helga said, "Besides, I like your Grandpa. Your Grandma, too."

"Ok, thanks Helga. So, shall we go to dinner then?"

"Lead the way, Hair B-...um, Arnold" Helga said, mentally smacking herself when she almost used one of her ever popular nicknames for him.

Walking into the dining room, Arnold introduced Helga to all of the borders. Just as he was finishing, his grandma walking in carrying a big bowl of mashed potatoes and singing when she spotted Helga,

"Oh hello, Eleanor! I haven't seen you since you had to rush out the window on White House business. How are you?" Helga froze; Eleanor was what Arnold's grandma had called her when she had sleepwalked into Arnold's kitchen. Arnold pulled out her chair, seemingly oblivious to what his grandmother said,

"Don't worry, Helga" he said quietly as she sat down, "She says weird stuff like that sometimes. Just play along." 'Whew, thank goodness Arnold didn't remember that his grandma mentioned "Eleanor" before' Helga thought.

The rest of the meal went smoothly, save for an incident when Arnold and Helga both reached for the lemonade pitcher at the same time, which resulted in a brief moment where it looked like they were holding hands (the borders, namely Oscar, Ernie, and Mr. Huynh, just couldn't pass up the chance to tease the two kids); other than that, everything went well. That is, until Helga offered to help clear the table,

"Helga, you really don't have to help. Grandpa and I can get it" Arnold said as he, grandpa, and Helga carried dishes out to the kitchen.

"Arnold" Helga said in an overly patient voice, "I was part of the meal, just like you. Therefore, if you help clear the table afterward, then so do I."

"But Helga, you're the guest!"

"Arnold, guest or not I'm going to help!"

"Ok, whatever you say, Helga." Arnold sighed.

"That's right Arnoldo, whatever I say!" Helga smiled as she placed the dishes in the sink, "So, you wanna wash or dry Hair Boy?"

"Helga, you don't have to-" he was cut off by the look Helga gave him that clearly stated that she was not going to put up with his insistence that she was the "guest" much longer.

"Ah, don't worry about the dishes Short Man!" Phil said with a chuckle, "You go have fun with your friend."

"Ok, thanks Grandpa!" and with that, the two headed back up to Arnold's room.