Helga's POV

But then the shower turned off. Helga looked over her shoulder at her bedroom door.

Helga turned and walked to her room. "That better be freaking Batman in there or they're going to get a meeting with old betsy here!" Helga said.

"But Helga, what about Arnold?" Phoebe asked, walking behind Helga.

"I'll catch up to him. I need to find out who's making our water bill so high," Helga said, her hand on the bathroom doorknob.

"But we don't pay for utilities," Phoebe said, but Helga just waved her hand at Phoebe.

Helga slowly turned the door knob. She pushed the door open and behind it was...

Gerald.

"Gerald?! What are you doing in here?" Phoebe and Helga both yelled, glaring at the boy standing in front of them.

Gerald looked miserable. His eyes had dark circles under them, and though he was fully clothed he was completely soaked from head to toe. He looked at them at a loss for words.

Helga grabbed his arm and pulled him into the living room and sat him down on the couch. Phoebe went to her room and returned with a blanket that she wrapped around her boyfriends shoulders.

"Explain, hair boy," Helga said flatly, standing in front of him.

"Yes, I too desire an explanation as to why you were in my best friends shower," Phoebe said, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Its not what you think babe!" Gerald finally said, "I wouldn't do that to you."

Helga rolled her eyes, "Then tell us what we should think," Helga said.

Gerald sighed. "Fine, but you're not going to like it," He said, looking at Helga.

Gerald's POV

Gerald was walking down the sidewalk staring at my phone. "La Covacha, straight ahead," It said.

Gerald looked up and didn't see it. He groaned. This is the third time I walked by this area and I still haven't found the club, Gerald thought. I was supposed to meet Arnold here 2 hours ago.

Suddenly He saw Arnold walk out of a small building and onto the sidewalk. He smiled with relief, and walked to approach him, when he saw Helga and some other guy walk out behind him. He quickly hid in an alleyway and watched.

He watched the stranger go off and take a phone call. Helga and Arnold stood their awkwardly looking in opposite directions. Helga took a step towards the street and stumbled over a crack in the sidewalk and Arnold quickly caught hold of her arms and steadied her. Helga blushed and looked up at him. Arnold looked at her with a half-lidded gaze and a smirk.

Oh no, Gerald thought, I know that look. Gerald quickly pulled out his phone and sent a text to Arnold apologizing for how late he was, hoping to distract Arnold. Arnold didn't even make a move to get his phone, only moving his hands down Helga's arms to lace his fingers with hers instead.

I can't let this happen again to him, Gerald thought. What am I going to do? He's been hurting over her for over a year. But if I go up to him now he'll never listen to me. Gerald sighed and sent Arnold another text saying that something came up and he couldn't make it.

Gerald watched as the group walked of down the sidewalk, Arnold and Helga walking in hand and hand. Gerald thought back to how he promised Phoebe he wouldn't interfere with Helga and Arnold's...relationship or whatever it was. Gerald knew exactly why Helga was avoiding Arnold, but when he pushed her to be with Arnold, she would just ignore his advice. Gerald grew to respect Helga and even become friends with her, but Arnold was his best friend. And when your best friend feels terrible because of someone, its hard not to feel a small dislike for someone, no matter who it is.

Gerald contemplated calling Phoebe, but he knew she would just say to leave it alone. He wanted Helga and Arnold to be together, but he knew Helga would end up hurting Arnold again and again until she confronted her issues with him, and she definitely wasn't in the state of mind to do that tonight. So until that happened, Gerald decided he would try and stop them...as soon as he figured out where they went.

Hours passed and Gerald still didn't find them. He heard them say they were going to Gillette Stadium, but he had no clue where that was, and apparently neither did his phone because it was leading him in circles. Gerald sighed and wondered if he would ever get used to this city. The only reason he took the job offer was to be closer to Phoebe, and though he didn't regret that decision at all, it had taken him a while to adjust. He also hated the Patriots, so he had no reason to go to the stadium. He was more of a Steelers fan.

Gerald sighed and sat down on a nearby bench. This is definitely not how I thought this night would turn out, he thought. Maybe I should just give up. Maybe Helga will confront Arnold and everything will turn out ok. He remembered the night he found out what happened.

Gerald knocked on the door to Phoebe and Helga's apartment. He had a bottle of wine in one hand and chocolate donuts in the other. Helga opened the door an smiled at him.

"Hey Gerald-o," Helga said, leading him inside. "How's Phoebe holding up?" Gearld said. "Not so great," Helga said, pointing at the small girl on the couch.

Phoebe just groaned and turned over. Gerald sat down next to her and put his hand on her shoulder. "Come on babe, its not the end of the world," Gerald said.

"Yeah Phoebs, your still the smartest person I know," Helga chimed in. Phoebe sat up suddenly and glared at the two of them.

"You two don't understand. I got a C. I've never gotten a C. EVER," Phoebe said.

"Well, to be fair it was a C+," Helga said. Phoebe shot Helga a look. Helga sighed. "How about this, I'll tell you a story to help distract you from being so upset."

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Please Helga, i'm not a child," she said.

"I know that Phoebe, but I've never told anyone this, not even you," Helga said. This seemed to intrigue Phoebe, so Helga continued, "Hand me one of those donuts Gerald-O and listen up."

Gerald slid the box across the coffee table towards her and she took one out of the box. "It was my freshman year of college and I was at some lame party," She began.

Helga stood in a corner, holding a beer. She loved watching people when they were drunk, it was hilarious. She had a feeling someone was going to spike the punch with something, so she grabbed an beer from the fridge, making sure it was sealed first.

Her roommate, some girl from Russia named Irina, suddenly approached her, swaying back and forth with her long blonde hair half in her face. "I'm going to go throw up in the back yard, do you want to join?" She said, dry-heaving at the end of her sentence.

"We just got here Irina, how are you already drunk?" Helga asked, rolling her eyes.

"I swear its that punch. I have never thrown up from alcohol before," Irina said, straightening up a little. "I go now."

"Do you want me to hold your hair?" Helga asked, but Irina was already out the door. "I'll be fine!" She called behind her shoulder. Helga sighed. She and Irina weren't that close, seeing as it was only the 3rd week, but Helga felt a small bond or whatever to the girl. She was loud and pushy, like Helga, although when she yelled it was in Russian. She was beautiful and many guys tripped over themselves to get the chance to talk to her. But she always stood by Helga and told guys to "buzz off." Helga appreciated that Irina had a backbone and left her alone when she wanted to be.

Helga took one last sip of her beer, and then headed to the kitchen to grab another one. Helga wasn't a big partier, but Irina dragged her out and said it would be "fun." So far Helga was having a nice time, but she didn't think she would make a habit of coming to parties.

She felt someone tap on her shoulder. Helga turned around and was met with a pair of green eyes. Arnold. She melted a little bit inside.

He smiled down at her. "Hey Helga," He said. Helga noticed him swaying back and forth.

"Arnold are you drunk?" Helga asked. Arnold raised an eyebrow at her. "You called me Arnold," he said.

Helga rolled her eyes, and Arnold smiled at her. "No, i've only had one drink. I'm OK," He said.

Helga glanced at her watch. It read 2am. "Well its been nice chit-chatting with you, but I think i'm going to head back to my dorm," Helga said. Normally she would be overjoyed to be talking with him, but she was exhausted and just wanted to go to bed.

Helga started to walk towards the door, but Arnold grabbed her wrist. "Wait, Let me walk you home," He said.

Helga studied his face for a little bit, but then agreed. The walked towards the door together, and Helga stopped to check on Irina. "I will be okay, devushka. See you later!" Irina called, then pirouetted inside.

Helga watched her go back inside, and then returned to where Arnold was waiting by the street. He smiled at her. "Ready to go?" He asked.

They both walked down the street towards her dorm in silence. Though the thoughts in Helga's head were anything but.

I can't believe Arnold's walking me to my dorm! She thought. Be still my beating heart, hush my distempered breath! Oh Arnold, you always seem to be so kind to me, even if I don't deserve it. Tonight I will be civil with you and show you how deeply I love you. This is my solemn vow!

Arnold cleared his throat. "So what dorm do you live in?" Arnold asked.

"Melvin Hall," Helga said, staring at the ground as she walked.

"Oh, I live in Kerr Hall," Arnold said. Helga nodded and they continued to walk in silence. Arnold rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"So what brought you to that terrible party?"Helga joked. Arnold laughed.

"Well my roommate said I should go, but as soon as we got there he 's kind of a huge partier. I only see him about twice a week," Arnold said. "What about you? Why were you at the party? I didn't peg you as the 'party girl' type."

Helga rolled her eyes. "I'm not. This guy in my introduction to narrative class invited me. Said it was the "party of the year" or something. So Irina and I decided to go," Helga said.

"Irina is your roommate?" Arnold asked.

"Yeah. Tall, blonde, angry Russian chick," Helga said.

Arnold laughed. "Sounds familiar," He said, smirking at Helga.

"Oh ha-ha, very funny football-head. Yeah i'm angry and tall and blonde. Good observation," Helga said, rolling her eyes.

"Well I mean its true. Remember when I found that parrot that recited poetry?" Arnold asked.

Helga grimaced at the memory from her childhood. The parrot heard her reciting a poem about Arnold and then flew into his house. She spent her whole day and night in his house trying to catch the damn thing. "Yeah I remember. That thing was annoying," Helga said. And he deserved what he got.

"Well I remember seeing you buying that monitor lizard in the pet shop, and then again when it ate my parrot. I felt pretty bad," Arnold said.

"Yeah well, I can't help that he chewed through his leash," Helga said, smirking. "That thing does what it wants, when it wants."

"I know its not you're fault. Though I liked that bird, some weird things kept happening while I was around. Like someone flicked my ear and pulled Lila's hair. And then when I got home there was a huge hole in the ceiling in the kitchen that my grandpa said appeared as soon as I left. Weird right?"

Helga chuckled nervously. "Yeah..so weird," Helga said. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Call it intuition, but something about the poem he recited sounded familiar. Kind of like the poems you wrote for that creative writing class in high school," Arnold said.

Helga tensed up. She did use some old material from elementary school in that class. She knew being lazy and reusing her poems for assignments would come back to bite her in the ass. What should I do? Helga thought. Just confess. Wait no-deny everything. Say you don't even write poetry. Say Phoebe wrote it for you, she's smart thats believable. Instead, she just said, "Yeah, so?"

"Well I always thought your poems were beautiful, Helga. You certainly have a way with words that I've never seen in any other person. And I was just wondering if that poem my parrot was reciting was written by-"

"Were here," Helga said, desperately trying to change the direction of the conversation.

Arnold looked up at the building. "Yeah, I guess we are," He said.

Helga looked at Arnold. He looked genuinely upset their walk had come to an end. This made her stomach do flips. "Hey Arnold?" She asked.

"Yeah?" He asked looking away from the building and back down at her.

"Do you maybe want to come inside and see some of my poetry? You know, since you liked it so much?" Helga asked.

Arnold's face lit up and as a large smile spread across his face. "I'd like that."

Helga lead Arnold upstairs to her room. She of course wasn't going to show him any of the poems that were inspired by him. And she definitely wasn't going to show him any of the poems she had written about her family.

She unlocked her door and they entered her room. "It isn't much," she said, "But its a freshman dorm so I was expecting nothing less than a tiny shoe box."

"My room actually seems smaller, if thats even possible," Arnold said, sitting on Helga's bed.

"Looks like you go the short end of the stick, Shortman," Helga said, as she looked through her bookshelf for a poem that was presentable to show Arnold. She settled on a poem that was assigned her first week of college. It wasn't her best work, but at least it didn't have any embarrassing content that could reveal her deepest, darkest secret. She tore the poem out of her notebook.

Helga walked over to Arnold and handed him the paper that her poem was on. But instead of reading the poem Arnold continued to look at her.

"Uhhh Arnold I don't know if this is new to you or not, but you usually have to look at the words in order to read them," Helga said.

Arnold just smiled at her and put his hand over hers. "Thank you for letting me read one of your poems Helga. This really means a lot to me that you would share this with me."

Helga felt her face heat up. She suddenly felt very nervous about him reading the poem. What if he thought it was terrible? What if he laughed in her face? Helga knew she was a great poet, but something about Arnold reading her poems made her feel so exposed. "Yeah well uh...you read that and I'm going to go to the bathroom."

Helga got up and walked out of the room and down the hall to the communal bathroom. She went up to the sink and filled her hands with cold water and splashed it on her face. Ok Helga old girl, its just a poem. Not even a good one. Calm down. Its no big deal. Its not like he'll read that one poem and he'll magically figure out I'm in love with him. That could never happen.

Helga smiled at herself in the mirror, her nervousness starting to melt away. She then notices that she got water all over her shirt when she frantically splashed water on her face. Helga groaned and grabbed a few paper towels to try and dry herself off.

Of course, he could figure out your undying lover for him by going through the many volumes of poetry you wrote about him sitting unattended on your bookshelf right now, Helga thought. She immediately threw her paper towel away and rushed back to her room.

Helga opened the door and what she saw made her feel like her stomach fell down to sit at her feet. She felt tears forming in her eyes, but she blinked them back. She didn't know if they were from heart break or just anger. She just knew she wasn't about to let them spill over onto her cheeks.

Helga stood in the doorway, her feet frozen in place, watching Arnold kiss Irina.

"And thats how the tv in the common room 'mysteriously' broke," Helga said.

"What happened to Arnold?" Phoebe asked.

"Well after I broke the tv I went back to my room to confront them, but Arnold was gone and Irina was passed out," Helga said. "When she woke up in the morning she had no recollection of the night before."

"Wait a minute, I've never heard this story. And I think if something like this happened my man Arnold would've told me," Gerald said.

"Well maybe he doesn't remember it. But I do," Helga said, scowling.

"That certainly made me forget my C+," Phoebe said sadly.

"This story cannot leave this room," Helga said.

"But Helga, if you just confront Arnold I'm sure-"

"This story cannot leave this room. That goes for you too, tall hair boy. I mean it," Helga said.

Gerald contemplated just telling Arnold anyway, but he appreciated that Helga trusted him, something she didn't do very often. He didn't want to ruin it. "Ok, I promise I won't tell," Gerald said.

Gerald sighed. No way Helga was going to say anything to Arnold.

Suddenly he heard Helga's voice. "So what do you wanna do now, football-head?"

Gerald jumped off the bench and walked in the direction of the voices. He rounded a corner and saw Arnold and Helga, walking down the sidewalk together.

A/N. I did not proofread this and I am too tired to do so. Sorry for all the mistakes that might be in here. On the upside my constant tiredness seems to be paying off because it looks like I'm going to be on the chancellors list this semester, provided I do well on my finals. Maybe then I can finally get some sleep.