Hello everyone! Thank you SO much for all of the wonderful reviews! I love reading them, and they always brighten my day. Sorry I took so long uploading this chapter, but I ha a busy weekend :) Anyway, this chapter was one of my favorite to write so far because it has a cute little scene right in the beginning. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold, as I'm sure we know by now. If I owned this wonderful show, we would have TJM and a high school-age spin-off where our OTPs could be real ;)

Chapter 6

Back up in Arnold's room things were much more calm than they had been before dinner. Arnold was in the middle of telling a story about the time his grandma tried to teach him to dance when the song they had used happened to come on his sound system,

"Hey Helga, this is the song Grandma used when she was teaching me! How about that?" At this an idea popped into Helga's mind, but she wasn't sure she had the guts to act on it; on the one hand it could make one of her dreams come true, but on the other hand it could lead to the most humiliating moment of her life. Although she would probably regret it for the rest of her life, she heard herself say the most bold thing she had ever said in front of Arnold:

"Hey, Arnold? Will you dance with me?" 'I should have said that differently! Who am I kidding, I shouldn't have said it AT ALL! Way to blow the secret, Helga! You could have just kept quiet like a smart person, but NO. You had to go and ACT on your fantasies! Now what? He's going to figure out that you like him! Stupid, Helga, stupid!'

"What?" Arnold asked, surprise by her request.

"Um, hehe, what I mean is..." 'Think, think!' "...um, well you did all that practicing. Show me your skills, Hair Boy!" Helga said.

Arnold froze for a minute; it was true that his grandma had taught him to dance, but he didn't think he would need to know how until at least middle school. Being put on the spot like this made him nervous. But he knew Helga wanted proof that he could dance (why else would she ask?), so he didn't have a choice.

"Um, sure, Helga. I mean, if you want to." With that Arnold stood and offered his hand to Helga. Wordlessly she took it, inwardly trembling like a leaf though she kept her cool on the outside. 'Arnold is going to dance with me. ARNOLD is going to DANCE with ME! Ok, Helga, stay calm. Whatever you do, do not mess this up!'

Arnold pulled her to the middle of the room and restarted the song so that they could dance to all of it. He shyly guided Helga's hands to his shoulders while mumbling "Put your hands here", then hesitantly placed his arms around her. Slowly, awkwardly, the two began dancing around Arnold's room. After a few minutes, however, they fell into sync; they connected in a way that they hadn't before, just for a moment, through the music. As Arnold twirled Helga around the room, something in the back of his mind didn't say "I'm dancing with Helga G. Pataki, the girl who picks on me day and night", but instead "I'm dancing with Helga Pataki, and I'm having a lot of fun."

The song ended, and as the last strains of music floated through the room the two kids just stood there, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the song had ended. Seconds turned into minutes, and slowly they remembered where they were. Still they just stood there, enjoying each other. Both were happy, but Arnold wasn't quite sure why he was so happy. Helga on the other hand knew darn well why she was so happy! In fact, it took everything she had not to pass out in Arnold's arms right then and there. 'Arnold and I just danced! Arnold danced with me! I danced with Arnold! Oh my gosh, I can't believe I even had the guts to ask him, but I really can't believe he said yes! And it was wonderful, too! Oh, wow, I can barely breathe, especially with his arms still around me!'

Arnold wasn't quite aware that his arms were still around Helga, but slowly the feeling of magic wore off for both of them, and he dropped his arms to his sides while Helga clasped hers behind her back. They sat again on the couch, but a bit closer to each other than before, however neither noticed.

"Helga," Arnold said quietly, as if not wanting to disturb the atmosphere of wonder, "You, um, you're a really good dancer." Helga blinked in surprise, processing this.

"Oh, uh, thanks, Arnold. You, uh, you're really good, too."

Suddenly Arnold chuckled,

"You know, this kind of reminds me of April Fools. Remember? We ended up dancing then, too." Helga blushed; of course she remembered that! It had been one of the best days of her life! But at the mention of it, from Arnold no less, brought back memories of that look that he had given her. That look that...she couldn't even describe.

"Uh, yeah. Hehe, that was pretty crazy" she said softly.

"We've had a lot of crazy times, haven't we Helga?" Arnold said. He dared to place his hand on hers, which was now resting on the couch between them. 'Please don't let this end' Arnold thought.

'PLEASE DON'T LET THIS EVER END!" Helga thought as every single nerve in her hand lit up at Arnold's touch.

"Um, y-yeah, we've had some...crazy ad-adventures..." Helga said slowly.

"But it's always been fun, huh?" Arnold smiled.

"Yeah..." Helga mumbled. 'Pinch me, I MUST be dreaming!'

They sat in silence again, but a comfortable one as each thought about their past adventures. After a moment Arnold turned to look at Helga, which caused her to snap out of her thoughts in anticipation of what he might say. But at first he said nothing, and just sat there looking at her. Just as Helga was wondering if she should say something, Arnold said "You know, you really do look pretty, Helga."

"Oh, um...th-thanks Arnold..." she mumbled. 'Wow, I wasn't expecting that! Holy cow Phoebe's going to have quite a bit to hear about later! This is going to feed my poetry for months!'

"Sorry, Helga" Arnold said, "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I just noticed how nice you looked, and I guess I just couldn't help telling you."

"N-no, it's ok. I mean, I don't get compliments often, so I'm just not real great at accepting them."

"Oh" was all Arnold could think to say.

A while later Helga decided that, much as she didn't want to, she should head home. As Arnold walked her to the door, all she could think was how much she wanted to stay with Arnold all night, content in his arms.

"I'm really glad you came tonight, Helga" Arnold said as he opened the door that let to the front stoop.

"I am, too. What do you know? I actually had fun!" Helga laughed.

"You didn't think you'd have fun?" Arnold asked, genuinely worried.

"Doi! Of course I-" Helga stopped when she realized Arnold really believed her. He didn't usually listed to her sarcasm and teasing, but clearly this time he was serious. And speaking of serious, this situation just became very much so as Arnold, believing Helga's answer to mean she hadn't thought she would have fun tonight, was trying to hide his disappointment.

"Arnold, I didn't mean it like that. Heck, I didn't mean it at all!" She said quickly.

"It's ok, Helga. You don't have to-" Arnold started, but Helga cut him off before he could finish.

"Arnold, stop. Listen to me. I was joking, and I thought you were, too. That's why I said what I said. I didn't mean it! Sheesh, Football Head, don't take everything so seriously!" she paused to breathe, which gave Arnold a chance to speak,

"Helga...the reason I thought you were serious was because you've been that way since you got here. I wasn't expecting it, so I thought you meant it."

"The only reason I haven't been making sarcastic comments all day is because I promised myself I wouldn't!" as soon as she said those words, Helga knew it was a mistake. He was going to ask why now, because she never tried to control her sarcasm around anyone. It was part of who she was.

"Why's that?" Arnold asked, just as she predicted.

"Um, because...because...because I...wanted to...try and...not be so horrible to you since you invite me over! Yeah, that's it! I mean, you didn't have to invite me, but you did. What, you think it would have killed me to be nice for one evening?" She rolled her eyes.

"Well, no, but...I guess I was just expecting it, since it's just how you are. To be honest, I kind of like that about you." Arnold said the last part more softly, but Helga still heard it.

"You like my sarcasm? What on Earth for?" she asked.

"Well, sometimes it makes you a little hard to talk to" Helga scowled, but Arnold seemed not to notice, "But it also makes you who you are. Besides, you say some pretty funny things sometimes!"

Helga was speechless. Arnold thought she was funny? Even when she was being sarcastic in an attempt to hide her deepest secret from him and everyone else? 'Ok, either I'm the luckiest girl on the planet, or Arnold's just as crazy as me!' she thought.

"Wow, Arnold, um, thanks." She scuffed her toe in the imaginary dirt on the stoop, "Well, I uh, I guess I should go home."

"It's starting to get pretty dark out, do you want me to walk you home?" Arnold asked.

"Well, there's certainly no need for you to, but if you want to then be my guest. It is a free country after all!" She smirked.

"Ok, let me just let Grandma and Grandpa know." Arnold went inside, and returned a moment later with a small paper bag.

"Grandma made cookies, and she said we could have some to eat while we walk" he explained. He opened the bag as they started walking and offered it to Helga, who happily retrieved a chocolate chip cookie from within.

"Wow, Arnold, your grandma make great cookies!" She exclaimed around a mouthful of melting chocolate.

"Thanks, Helga. I'll tell her you said so! Although it might lead to her baking a dozen or two for me to bring over." He grinned.

"That's fine with me!" Helga replied, taking a second cookie from the bag. Soon they arrived Helga's front door, and Arnold closed the bag of cookies and handed it to Helga.

"Here, Helga, you can keep the rest" he offered.

"You don't want them?"

"No, Grandma probably has at least two more batches at the house."

"Alright, if you're sure. Don't have to tell me twice!" Helga said, taking the cookies.

"Actually, I did, remember?" Arnold chuckled.

"Yeah, I guess you did! Well, you don't have to tell me three times!" Helga joined in his laughter. Just as Arnold's laughter began to fade, he looked at Helga and started laughing again.

"What's so funny now, Hair Boy?" Helga asked, aware that she had been the cause of his new round of laughter. Arnold took a deep breath, then said,

"Sorry, Helga, I didn't mean to laugh. It's just, you've got chocolate on your face, and it looks a little like a mustache." Arnold leaned forward and reached up to gently wipe the chocolate off of her lip. Helga blushed a brilliant shade of pink, and started playing with the hem of her shirt.

"Um, thanks, Arnold. Well, I guess I should go, huh? Thanks for inviting me to dinner. I had a great time!"

"Sure, Helga, I'm glad you had fun! We should hang out again sometime. I mean, if you want to."

"Yeah, that'd be fun." Helga said. Before she could even react, Arnold gave Helga a hug, then turned and started walking down the street waving. Helga wave back, then turned and floated up to her room where she spent the rest of the night writing.

A/N

I'm kinda stuck for the next chapter, so if you could review with an idea it would be greatly appreciated! Also, I promise if I do use an idea suggested by a reader, I'll give you a shout out in the chapter. If you would like to be referred to as something other than your username, please tell me in your review, or you can PM me. Please nothing inappropriate or rude. Thanks!