Hello everyone! Ok, before I get to the chapter I have to explain something: I know it's short. It's supposed to be. *ducks flying objects* Let me explain, ok? So, yes this chapter is short, but there are a few reasons why:

1) This poor chapter practically went through a shredder with editing.

2) I felt like ending it where I did was the right place to cut it off, even though it's short. Trust me, ok?

3) I'm going to add another chapter before the weekend is over, so please don't be too annoyed with the short chapter, ok?

Alright, thanks guys! And thanks again (and again and again) for the reviews! They make me smiley! :D see?

Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold.

Chapter 16

Saturday afternoon Arnold and Helga had plans to get ice cream, and then go to the park. Arnold was currently standing outside the to-go window at Slauson's, waiting for Helga. When he saw her running toward him he felt like the sun just got a little brighter.

"Sorry I'm late, Hair Boy, I couldn't get away from Bob going on about this new beeper of some sort."

"That's okay, Helga. I haven't been waiting long."

They ordered their ice cream (chocolate for Helga and mint chip for Arnold), then began their walk to the park.

As they walked and ate their ice cream, Helga noticed something.

"Hey, this isn't chocolate, it's fudge ripple! Awesome!"

"Helga, fudge ripple is three dollars more than chocolate!"

"Yeah, that's why it's awesome!" Helga asked, enjoying her ice cream.

"But you only paid for the chocolate. You should go back and give them the rest of the money."

"What? Why?"

"Because it's the right thing to do."

"Arnold," Helga began, "This isn't a diamond ring. It's ice cream. So what if they gave me the wrong kind? It's not that big a deal."

"It is a big deal, Helga. Not paying the other three dollars is like stealing!"

"Arnold, you're blowing this way out of proportion! It's just ice cream! Let's just go to the park."

"No, Helga. If you won't go back and pay the money then I will." and with that, Arnold turned and started walking back the way they had come.

"Well fine! Who cares?" Helga yelled, and she turned and stomped back to her house.

When she got there she ran inside and flopped on her bed.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why didn't I just go back like he told me to? Now we're...we're in our first fight. Oh what have I done? What if he never wants to see me again? What if this is...the end of our..." she couldn't finish. Just the thought of losing Arnold, especially after knowing what it was like to have him love her back, brought a lump to her throat and tears to her eyes. She lay face down on her bed and cried for a long time.

Arnold, meanwhile, had gone and paid the three dollars and then went home.

"Hey, Short Man! Back so soon?" Phil asked.

"Yeah, things didn't go as well as we planned; I think Helga and I are in a fight."

"Oh, Arnold, that terrible. Is there anything your grandma or I can do to help?"

"No, I think this is something Helga and I need to work out on our own. Thanks for the offer, though, Grandpa."

"Any time, Arnold. You let us know if you change your mind."

"I will, Grandpa." Arnold climbed the stairs to the second floor of the boarding house and up to his room. He flopped on his bed and sighed; how could he fix this? Helga should have paid the extra money, but maybe he did make it a bigger deal than it really was. It was only three dollars, after all. But stealing was stealing, and not paying for the ice cream was wrong.

The more Arnold thought about what happened, the worse he felt. Then, an entirely new thought occurred to him; although she didn't always show it, Helga was very sensitive. After all these years waiting for him, and now them fighting, she must be very upset. Maybe even...even enough to cry.

Arnold could count on one hand the number of times he'd seen Helga G. Pataki cry, and the thought of her that upset now, and he being the cause of it, was more than he could bear.

These thoughts kept playing through his mind for the rest of the day, and by the time he went to bed, he was just as upset about the fight as Helga.

The next day was no better. Arnold laid in bed for hours after he woke up, feeling no desire to get up and face the world. 'I can't believe we're fighting. I should call and apologize. But what if she's too mad at me to listen? What if she just hangs up on me? I don't know what I'd do if...what if she never wants to see me again? I don't know if I could bear that. I've never met a girl like her before...she fills my days with light. She makes every day better, no matter what. And she understands me so well! And I understand her. It's almost like...we have a special connection. Like...fate brought us together. And who knows? Maybe it did. After all, what are the chances that we would meet the way we did? And that what I said would make the impact that it did? Fate had to be part of it!' he thought.

'He still hasn't called. It's...10:00. That means it's been...18 hours, 20 minutes, and 17...18...19 seconds since our fight. Maybe he really isn't going to call. Maybe...maybe I was right. He never wants to see me again, and this is...the end. What am I going to do? I can't believe this might be it. We haven't even been together a month! And already we might be...breaking up...'

At this point on her thoughts Helga had started to cry for the fifth time since the fight. Every time she thought of she and Arnold breaking up, it felt like she was being stabbed in the heart. She lay curled in a ball on her bed, pink book at the foot of her bed. She had tried to use poetry to sort out her feelings like she usually did, but now poetry just reminded her of Arnold, and it just made the hurt worse. 'Even poetry makes me sad. Wow, that's a cruel twist, huh?' she thought sadly.

Helga pulled herself into a tighter ball, but just as she was hiding more under the covers she heard a knock at her door.

"Helga?" her mother called in a slow, dreamy voice, "Is everything okay, honey? You're still in bed, and it's getting late."

"I'm fine, Miriam! I'll be out when I want to!" Helga managed to yell without sobbing. 'Talk about the biggest lie I've ever told. "I'm fine...except for I royally screwed up and completely ruined any chance I had with Arnold, and now my world is coming down around me in a tidal wave of pain and tears, but yeah, I'm fine".' Helga thought.

"Okay, honey, have a good day!" Miriam said as she walked off to the kitchen to make another smoothie.

"Not likely," Helga mumbled. She rolled over and looked around her room for something to distract her from her misery. Her eyes landed on the bear Arnold had won her at the Cheese Festival, who was seated on her nightstand.

In one movement she sat up and grabbed the bear, then threw it against the wall as hard as she could. She sat on her bed for a second, staring at the bear that now lay on the floor, then in a flash she jumped out of bed. She ran over to the bear, cradled it in her arms, and sobbed as hard as she could.