Wow, it feels like I've been gone forever! But I'm back, and with me I bring a super cute little chapter ;) Get you squeals and "awwww"'s ready, cuz you're gonna need 'em! (At least I hope it's that good!) Thank you to everyone who keeps reviewing! I love reading your thoughts...that sounded weird, didn't it? Haha, well you know what I mean! Now, before you get to the story I have an important announcement!

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: I have a poll on my profile that concerns an idea I had for the near future. If you're interested please go check it out so you can get in on the fun (if enough people like my idea, that is.) Ok, ok, enough of my talking, right? ON TO THE CHAPTER!

Disclaimer: Hey Arnold is not mine, because if it was than we would have had TJM years ago!

Chapter 15

Tuesday afternoon the bell rang, signaling the end of the second day of school. As everyone packed up their things, Helga felt something land in her lap. She looked down to see a small folded piece of paper. Careful not to let anyone see it, Helga unfolded the note and read its contents.

Helga,

Will you go to the Cheese Festival with me this weekend?

Arnold

'That Football Head!' Helga thought in amusement, 'He could just ask me, since it is the end of the day, but no. He has to go and do something cute just because he knows it'll make me smile!' Helga looked around for Arnold, and upon not seeing him figured he was at his locker. Quickly she scribbled her own note, then ran off to find Arnold.

Indeed, Arnold was getting books from his locker, and Helga had a perfect plan to give him the note. Walking casually past him, in one quick motion Helga slipped the note under his little blue hat.

Arnold felt his hat shift slightly and reached up to adjust it. That's when he realized there was something tucked under it. Looking around in confusion he pulled out the small note and read it.

Arnold,

Did you really think I would say no? Honestly, Hair Boy! But yes, I would love to

go to the Cheese Festival with you. There's a certain ride I've been wanting to go on

for a while with you...

Helga

'A certain ride, what could that be?' Arnold wondered. He looked around once more for Helga, and finally spotted her a little ways down the hall. She was looking at him, as though watching for his reaction to the note. He smiled at her and, after making sure no one was looking, blew her a kiss. Helga turned bright red and looked away, then looked back at Arnold. With a quick glance around, she mimed catching his kiss and tucking it in the same pocket he now knew held her locket. They both smiled and went their separate ways for the day.

"I'm telling you, Pheebs, just ask him! He's not going to say no!"

"I know you think so, Helga, but I just can't do it. I can't even imagine...if I actually...no, I can't, I just can't!" Helga and Phoebe were sitting in Phoebe's room talking about the Cheese Festival. For the past ten minutes Helga had been trying to convince Phoebe to ask Gerald to go with her, and Phoebe had been denying her ability to do so.

"Phoebe, if I can show up at school with my hair down, a blue backpack, and holding Arnold's hand, you can at least put a note in his locker or something!"

"But Helga, you're so much braver than me! I could never do that!"

"Sure you could, Pheebs! Here, what if you write a note, and I'll put it in Tall Hair Boy's locker for you?"

"I wouldn't even know what to say." Phoebe sighed. She really would like to go to the Cheese Festival with Gerald, but she was much too shy to even ask him.

"Criminy, do I have to do everything?" Helga smiled at Phoebe to let her know she was joking, then grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, "Okay, Phoebe, I'll dictate, you write."

"Helga..."

"No, really, Phoebe, this'll work! Just trust me. Okay, so...how about 'Gerald, would you like to join me at the Cheese Festival this Friday?' Do you think you could do that?"

"Perhaps..." Phoebe said slowly. She signed the note, folded it, and wrote 'To: Gerald From: Phoebe' on the front.

"So you'll really put it in Gerald's locker for me?" she asked.

"Of course, Pheebs! After all, how many times have you helped me out with 'ice cream'?"

"Thank you so much, Helga. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Eh, don't worry about it. Anything to help get you and Geraldo in the tunnel of love, right?" Helga joked.

"Helga!" Phoebe blushed brightly; sure, maybe a part of her wished that she and Gerald might end up on that particular ride, but hearing Helga say it aloud was too much.

"I'm sorry, Phoebe, I couldn't resist!" Helga chuckled. Secretly, she herself had her own plans for that ride, as well as the Ferris Wheel. More than anything she had wanted to have a romantic ride on both since she had first gone to the Cheese Festival with Olga when she was five. She had snuck off and found the tunnel of love, and she had seen the Ferris Wheel from the entrance and had decided right then that one day she and Arnold would ride them both together.

Similar to Helga's thoughts, Arnold sat on his bed searching every nook and cranny for every last bit of allowance he had. He wanted to win Helga something at the Cheese Festival. Just as he was reaching up to a top shelf, he slipped and fell to the floor with a thud.

"You okay, Short Man?" his grandpa called from the other side of the door.

"Yeah, I'm alright. Thanks, Grandpa." Arnold called as he righted himself. Phil opened the door and chuckled at Arnold, who was sitting on the floor with his hair messed up and his sweater rather crooked.

"Hehe, well, Short Man, it looks like you had quite the tumble. What happened?"

"Well, I was trying to reach that box up there to see if I had saved any money in it, and I slipped."

"You need money for something, Arnold?"

"Yeah, just the Cheese Festival this weekend. I asked Helga to go with me, and I want to be able to treat her to some ice cream or something."

"Well why didn't you say so? Here," Phil pulled a few bills from his wallet, "There, now you can get sprinkles, too!" he chuckled.

"Grandpa, this is $20! I can't take this much!" Arnold exclaimed.

"Sure you can! You have fun with that girl, okay Short Man? She's a special one."

"Yeah, she sure is." Arnold agreed.

As the weekend drew closer both Helga and Phoebe were becoming more and more nervous. Phoebe, whose invitation was very enthusiastically accepted by Gerald, was sure she was going to say or do something embarrassing, though Helga kept telling her she'd be fine.

On the other hand, Helga was sure Arnold was going to "come to his senses" and decide that going to the Cheese Festival with Helga was crazy and break it off at the last-minute, though Phoebe told her that that wouldn't happen.

Finally it was Friday, and both girls were at Helga's house getting ready.

"Phoebe, do you think..." Helga stopped and looked at the bag of cosmetics in her lap that she had managed to swipe from Olga's room.

"What is it, Helga?"

"Well, I was wondering...do you think I should...you know, paint my nails and actually do my makeup?" Helga had retrieved the makeup mainly for Phoebe, who wanted to look extra special tonight, but in looking at the products before her, Helga was thinking that maybe she should try some too.

"Well, if you want to then I think you should. I could help, if you want" Phoebe offered.

"You'd do that, Pheebs?"

"Of course, Helga!" Phoebe picked up the pale pink eye shadow that Helga had been looking at and began lightly brushing it on her eyes.

After doing Helga's makeup and her own, and painting their nails, both girls changed into their specially chosen outfits. Helga wore the Valentines Day skirt and white shirt that she had worn to Arnold's for dinner, and Phoebe wore a red sweater instead of a blue one.

The doorbell rang, and both girls ran to answer it. Helga opened the door and almost fainted; Arnold was wearing his plaid shirt over his sweater instead of under it, and although it was a small change it had a big impact on Helga. 'He looks...holy cow, he looks amazing!' she thought.

And judging by Phoebe's small squeak, she thought that same about Gerald, who was wearing his normal "33" shirt but had added a black jacket.

"Hi Helga," Arnold smiled and took her hand tentatively, "You, um, you look really nice."

"T-thanks A-Arnold" she stuttered.

Gerald and Phoebe had yet to say anything to each other, but they seemed to be communicating nonetheless. Gerald smiled at Phoebe, making her blush and smile back, which made Gerald blush.

Once they started walking everyone became less nervous, and by the time they got to the festival they were laughing and joking like always. Helga immediately wanted to go on some rides, but Gerald and Phoebe wanted to start with some games, so the two couples agreed to meet at the entrance at 9:00 so the could make it home by curfew.

Waving to their friends, Helga turned to Arnold.

"I don't really care what we do first, I just knew if we didn't get them alone now then we never would. What do you want to do first, Arnold?"

"Well, rides sound good if you want. We could go on the rollercoaster!"

"Um, Yeah, that sounds fun" Helga said, though inside she was much less confident; she had a slight fear of rollercoasters, especially big ones like they had here. But she screwed up her courage and got on anyway, blushing when the small seat meant that she and Arnold's legs were right up against each other.

They started the ascent and Helga realized she had made a mistake, but it was too late now. Her hands tightened on the bar in front of them and she shut her eyes. Then she felt something warm on her hand; it was Arnold's hand. He looked at her comfortingly,

"Don't worry, Helga. Everything's okay. Just hold my hand." And so she did; throughout the whole ride Helga held Arnold's hand tightly in her own, and it really did make things better. Maybe even fun.

They got off of the rollercoaster and Helga suggested playing some games while she recovered from the ride. Arnold spotted a ring toss game and decided he was going to win Helga a prize.

He tried twice, but he couldn't even get one ring on a bottle.

"It's ok, Arnold. Maybe you'll have better luck at a different game" Helga said. She didn't know his intention of winning her a prize, and that there was a specific one at this booth he wanted.

"Just one more try, then we can move on, ok?"

"Ok, if you really want to try again."

Arnold's first two rings bounced off of the edges of the bottles, just like before, but he had a good feeling about this last one. He aimed carefully and tossed the ring. It flew through the air and...landed right in the middle of a bottle!

"Congratulations kid! What prize do you want?" the man running the booth asked.

"That one, please." Arnold gestured to a pink and blue patchwork teddy bear. The man handed it to Arnold, who turned to Helga.

"Good choice, Hair Boy! That teddy bear is cute."

"I'm glad you think so, because...he's for you." Arnold smiled and tucked the bear in Helga's arms. She looked at it and blinked a few times, then pulled Arnold around the corner of the booth and gave him a huge hug.

"Arnold, could you be any more wonderful?" she laughed.

"I'm glad you like it, Helga."

"I love it, Arnold!" They emerged from behind the booth a few minutes later and looked around at the other rides and games, deciding that to do next.

"Why don't you pick, Helga?" Arnold offered.

"Oh, um, well there's really only one ride I want to go on, but I think it would be best to save it for last."

"Alright, then...how about the Ferris Wheel?" Arnold suggested.

Helga almost jumped for joy. He wanted to go on the Ferris Wheel with her! This was what she had been dreaming of for years! She nodded, and they walked over to the line.

As the ride began, Arnold put his hand on Helga's like he had done on the rollercoaster.

"Helga, you didn't just agree to go on this ride because I suggested it, like with the rollercoaster, did you?"

"No, Arnold, I can honestly say that I really wanted to go on this ride with you."

"Good. I wouldn't want you to agree to go on a ride you didn't like just for me," Arnold looked out over the fair below, "Wow, the view from up here is great!"

"Yeah, it really is!" Helga agreed, looking at all of the people below. While they were looking down, above them a loud BOOM sounded.

"Look, Helga! They're setting off the fireworks!" Arnold and Helga watched the brightly colored lights explode across the sky. Arnold looked at Helga, who seemed mesmerized by the fireworks, and marveled at the way her eyes sparkled with the reflected lights from above. Helga noticed Arnold looking at her and blushed, suddenly self-conscious.

"Um, Arnold? Is...everything okay?"

"Yeah, sorry, Helga. I was just noticing how pretty your eyes look with the fireworks making them sparkle." 'Did I really just say that?'

'Did he really just say that?!' both kids blushed, but at the same time slid just a little closer together on the seat.

"Um, t-thanks, Arnold" Helga said quietly.

"Helga?" Arnold asked.

"Y-yes, Arnold?"

Instead of finishing his question, Arnold gently took her left hand in his right, and leaned forward to kiss her cheek.

Helga melted against him and snuggled into his shoulder as he pulled away.

"Arnold?" she sighed dreamily.

"Yes, Helga?" Arnold replied.

"Thank you for making tonight absolutely perfect."

"Oh, um, you're welcome, Helga. Anything to make you happy."

"Also, I definitely like the "plaid shirt over" look. Very cute...and cuddly!" she finished with a little giggle. Arnold blushed, but he was happy she liked his outfit choice.

By the time the ride ended Helga had started to act a little less dreamy, but while she still had the courage that had come with Arnold's kiss she had a request.

"Arnold? I know we have to go meet Gerald and Phoebe, but do you think we could go on that one ride I mentioned earlier?"

"Sure, Helga. Which one is it?" Helga looked around until she found the ride she was looking for and gestured to it.

"The, um, t-t-tunnel of l-l-love" she stuttered quietly. Arnold blushed, but he smiled, too. He had figured out what Helga might have been referring to in her note when she said there was a "certain ride" she wanted to go on about five minutes before he and Gerald had left his house to pick up Helga and Phoebe.

"Of course we can go on it, Helga" he said as he led her to the line.

Helga's jaw dropped in shock; he was actually going to ride it with her? Arnold was going to go on the tunnel of love with her? She was almost afraid to believe it, because this had to be a dream!

They climbed into a small boat shaped like two swans, and as the ride started Helga gave her arm a pinch.

"Ow! Oh wow..."

"Helga? What's wrong?" Arnold whispered.

"Nothing, I just pinched myself; I had to make sure this was all real!" she replied.

"Yes, Helga," Arnold smiled, "It's real."

They floated along, neither paying attention to the pictures that surrounded them; they were both too nervous. But slowly Helga became more comfortable, and she snuggled up to Arnold like she had on the Ferris Wheel and Arnold rested his head on hers. Just as the end of the ride was coming into view, Arnold gave Helga a quick kiss right on her lips, which left her speechless until the arrived at the entrance.

Gerald and Phoebe both looked like they had had the best night of their lives, and Helga was sure she and Phoebe would be having a long conversation about everything that had happened tonight in the morning. All in high spirits, the group left the festival and walked down the road together until Gerald and Phoebe had to go in the opposite direction as Arnold and Helga. They said their goodbyes and went in their respective directions.

Arnold was lost in thought, already replaying the night in his mind, when he heard Helga give a small cough. He looked at her quizzically.

"A-Arnold? Um, I was just wondering...well, I mean...oh never mind" she sputtered, her face becoming more and more tinged with pink as she spoke.

"Helga, please tell me what's on your mind. Especially after tonight, don't you trust me?"

"More than anyone else in the world, Arnold. Ok, so you really want to know? I was wondering if...maybe we could...you know, hold hands again?" she looked at her shoes and waited for his response.

Arnold chuckled a little and took her hand.

"Of course, Helga. I like holding your hand."

"You do?" she asked.

"I do." Helga smiled and almost started skipping.

They arrived at Helga's front door, much to her dismay; if it were up to her this night would never end.

"Well, I guess I should go in, huh?"

"Yeah. Thank you for coming with me tonight, Helga. It was the best Cheese Festival ever."

"Thank you for inviting me. It was the best."

"...Helga?" Arnold began.

"Yes, Arnold?"

"Could I...could I kiss you goodnight?" Arnold blushed and rubbed his arm nervously; he had no idea how she would respond.

Helga, however, wasn't sure she could respond! 'He...he wants to...he really wants to...'

"Um, y-yeah, o-okay" she said.

Arnold was still blushing, but he stretched up on his toes to match her height again, and kissed Helga gently. She once again seemed to melt into him, wrapping her arms around him to keep herself up.

They broke the kiss after a few seconds, and Arnold pulled Helga into a hug.

"I love you, Helga. Really, I do."

"I love you too, Arnold. More than anything."