Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.

They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.

Title: "Blackmail toy"

In the last chapter of "Blackmail toy": When the whole gang went to buy dresses and tuxedos at Nancy Spumoni's, Arnold verbally declared war against Aaron, who accepted their new rivalry with ease. Gerald turned out not to be much of a wingman though, when his own girlfriend stopped Arnold from telling Helga about his feelings – Yet again.

Helga refused to show the boys' the dress she decided to buy – not even Aaron, who was paying for the very expensive dress got to see it – but Phoebe confirmed that Helga looked just gorgeous in it. Everyone seemed to be looking forward to the party, even Helga, after having a small revenge on Aaron by getting him buy her a dress with the price of five digits.

Author's 1st note: You can still contact me on deviantArt or YouTube if you want to see the dresses, I used for Phoebe and Helga. Oh, and Arnold may seem a little out of character here and there, but let's face it: Wouldn't competing for the girl of your dreams make you willing to stretch your morals a bit? xD

Chapter 12: "You're a bold kid"

The Friday after shopping at Nancy Spumoni's went by in a flash and as Helga feared, when she was finally supposed to get ready for Rhonda's party, she was panicking. She was sitting in front of her one mirror in the entire room and was staring at her face. She turned around to look at her dress, which she had laid gently on her bed. She turned around to her reflection again. Then the dress. Reflection – Dress – Reflection – Dress. Until she finally screamed, while clutching her head and then ran over to her phone that was on the nightstand.

"Oh, hi, Helga, how - "

"I can't do this!"

"Ow! Helga, please, don't scream into my ear."

"Sorry, Phoebs, but I'm really freaking out here. I don't know what to do. I-I'm not a girly girl and I don't know what to do about the makeup or my hair or my… my… my personality! Yes, that's right! My personality is a big problem! Rhonda will kick me out of this party immediately."

"Well, you don't really want to be there to begin with, so would that be such a huge problem?"

"Yes! Because then Aaron would be unsatisfied and he will… he will… Ugh, Phoebs, just… just trust me when I say that I need to go to this party. There simply isn't an option here."

"… Ok, I'll just trust you, though I don't like how much influence Aaron has on your choice."

"Me neither, but I can't tell you about it until he goes home to New York. For now, let's take it one step at the time. Firstly: My hair and my makeup. What do I do?!"

Phoebe sighed on the other end. "Ok, Helga, how about I tell Gerald to pick me up at your house and then I'll come over now and we can get ready together. Sounds good?"

"Sounds wonderful, Phoebe, thank you so much. Really."

"You're welcome. See you in a few."

"Yeah, see ya'." Helga said and hung up. She sighed in relief and let herself fall backwards onto her bed. "Whatever would I do without that girl…?" she wondered aloud with a big smile. "I would walk around like a headless chicken, that's what."

Some hours later, Arnold and Aaron started to get themselves ready. Arnold had been the one to think the most about what to buy the other day, when they went to Nancy Spumoni's, out of the boys. In the end, he didn't just want a regular tuxedo. He didn't like to admit it, but the reason for that was that he wanted Helga to be surprised by his appearance: She'd already seen him in a tuxedo a million times.

Arnold ended up buying a pair of black jeans, a black belt, a black vest with two pockets in it, a black tie and a white dress shirt to go beneath the vest. Not much different from a tuxedo, except for the lack of sleeves, but it still gave a rather nice look on him. Besides, there was a small part of him that wanted to show off his arms. Playing baseball for so many years did good to him, and he didn't want to cover his toned arms and torso up with a black jacket. As a finished touch, he replaced his usual blue had with a Charles Chaplin hat.

"You look like something taken out from a silent movie." Aaron said behind him, as Arnold tied his tie with a Windsor knot. Arnold just smirked and turned around. "And you look like something taken out from a bad boy band music video."

Aaron was dressed in a pair of white jeans, black shiny shoes, a vest much like Arnold's just in white and a golden necklace hanging around his neck. He tucked at the collar of his vest. "At least boy bands are popular with girls." He said as he skimmed Arnold's outfit again. "Can't say that about silent movies."

Arnold just decided to roll his eyes and turn around. He finished tying his tie and then shook his body a little. He felt nervous. A Rhonda-party wasn't anything new, but Helga was coming along this time, and that was something new and something to be nervous about.

He was excited to see her in her gown. He'd been wondering the last one and a half day what it would look like. He knew it had a faint shade of pink, a bit like her bow but lighter, and that was about it.

He knew she would look beautiful no matter what she wore, but he still couldn't help feeling giddy inside that she actually liked the dress herself. It would make it ten times more beautiful knowing that.

"So, what's the plan about transportation?" Aaron asked and sat down on the couch. Arnold turned around. "Transportation?"

"Yeah, I mean, Helga's gonna be walking in high-heels I presume, and Rhonda lives kinda far away to be walking in those things."

"Well, I don't know what you're gonna do, but I was planning to pick up Helga in my grandpa's Packard." Arnold asked with a smug smile. He didn't like doing stuff like that, but Aaron had already green lighted dirty tricks. This was definitely one.

Aaron's mouth went wide open and he started laughing. "So, I'm gonna be stuck walking, huh?" he asked and let his chin rest in the palm of his hand. "Whoa, when you declared war you were serious. Way to go."

Arnold couldn't help but smiling a bit proudly. It faded when Aaron pointed out something. "But I wonder if Helga wouldn't find it a bit strange?" he suggested. After thinking for a bit, Arnold just shrugged though. "I'll just tell her that you wanted the fresh air."

"Yeah, she's very likely to believe that. Man, for a guy who's known as a saint around school, you sure are cunning. It's Helga's influence, isn't it?" Aaron asked, when Arnold's landline phone began to ring. "That," Arnold answered and went to answer the call. "and as my grandpa calls it: My bad instincts."

Arnold pushed the speaker button, so that he could put on his black shoes as he talked. "Hello, this is Arnold." He answered and sat down on his bed. "Hey, Arnold!" Gerald's voice spoke on the other end. "Hey, Gerald, what's up?" Arnold asked and started pulling his shoes on his feet.

"Listen, Phoebe just called me. Turns out she's over at Helga's to get ready together, so she asked me if I could pick her up at Helga's."

"Figures. And what does that have to do with us?" Arnold asked and started tying his left shoe. "Well," Gerald started. "I asked Phoebe how Helga was planning on getting to the party, and Helga said she had no clue. So I suggested I'd pick you guys up and then we could pick the girls up together. Sounds cool?"

Arnold's shoelaces suddenly got extremely tight around his foot. "What?!" he exclaimed and then Aaron started laughing. "Oh, this is great! You two are really not in synch! Oh, my god!" he said between his laughter.

"What? What's going on?" Gerald asked on the other end. "Gerald, not only your girlfriend, but now even you're cockblocking me!" Arnold answered with a roll of his eyes and retied his shoelaces.

"Huh? How?"

"I was planning on picking Helga up in grandpa's Packard and leaving Aaron to take care of himself. Now you ruined that."

"… How was I supposed to know that you thought up something that brilliant?! Man, I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you. I'll pick you up in ten, ok? Ok. Bye." And with those words Gerald hung up with shame and embarrassment in his wake.

Aaron finally stopped laughing. "A-All things aside, Arnold…" he started and picked a tear away from his eye. "I do feel a little bad for you. Gerald's not much of a help, is he?"

Arnold sighed and put his chin in his hand. "To be fair, then I didn't really tell him about this plan of mine. I just made it up on the spot, so…" he said with a crooked smile. The two cousins looked at each other for a bit and then started laughing.

"Can I be frank with you, Arnold?"

"I guess."

"I'm glad that this whole… fighting over the same girl isn't affecting our relationship as much, as it usually would. I mean, we still laugh together and can see the fun in things. I appreciate that. For real." Aaron said earnestly.

Arnold pulled his chin away from his hand and gave an unsure smile. He then nodded slowly. "Yeah… I appreciate that too, actually. You still suck for going after Helga out of all the girls at school you could've picked, but you're not a bad guy in general. I hope?"

Aaron shook his head. "I'm not as rotten as I may seem." He put his hand on his chest. "I swear." He pulled his hand away again with a smile. "Not a lot of boys could still consider themselves friends with this going on between them. If we had been girls, we would've killed each other by now."

Arnold started laughing at the sheer image of two girls living under the same roof and fighting over the same guy. "I wouldn't want to fight Helga over another guy, I can tell you that." He said with something that looked like fear in his eyes.

Aaron laughed at that. Not only because it was true, but also because a girl actually had fought with Helga over a guy. He chuckled a bit the story of Helga even sabotaging Arnold's date with Lila at the cheese festival. "Yeah… I think it would take a really dense girl to try and fight Helga."

About 15 minutes later, Gerald pulled up in front of Helga's house and parked. The boys stepped out of the car and went up to the front door. "I gotta say, Arnold, I was a little skeptical when I saw you buy that outfit at Nancy Spumoni's, but you look real smart in it." Gerald said with a big smile. "Thanks, Gerald." Arnold answered and gestured towards him. "You look good in your tuxedo too."

"How about ringing the bell, girls?" Aaron asked, as he was currently behind the two boys, not able to reach the bell himself. Gerald rolled his eyes as Arnold rang the bell. "Coming!" Phoebe's voice cheered from inside.

It took about five seconds before the door was opened, revealing Phoebe in her blue dress with her hair tied in a ponytail and her glasses changed into contacts. Her eye shadow was mostly blue, but had a green tint to it and her lips had a bit of glitter on them.

"Babe, you've never looked more stunning." Gerald greeted and kissed her cheek, avoiding smearing her makeup. She blushed a bit. "Thank you, Gerald, you look really handsome tonight yourself."

Arnold peered inside. "Where's Helga?" he asked curiously. "Yeah, not desperate sounding at all." Aaron mumbled behind him, only loud enough for Arnold to hear. He was about to scowl at him, when Phoebe answered his question. "She's putting on shoes upstairs. I'll go get her."

Phoebe went over to the stairs and started walking up. When she reached Helga's door, she had only just gotten to the last step, so the boys could see her clearly. She opened the door. "You ready, Helga?" she asked.

All the boys felt an eager feeling dwell inside of them for different reasons. Gerald, because he was just looking forward to see Helga all dolled up, while Aaron and Arnold were excited to see how more obvious her beauty could be with a gown like that.

"Uh, Ph-Phoebs, are you sure about this… get-up?" Helga asked uncertainly from inside her room. Gerald rolled his eyes. "Damn, that girl's stubborn." He whispered into Arnold's ear. He nodded. For once, he felt rather impatient with her. He was not in the mood for her to be shy or whatever about this. He was far too excited to see her!

"You look beautiful, Helga, I promised not to go overboard with the makeup and the hair, didn't I?" Phoebe asked and crossed her arms. "Wait, Helga's…" Gerald started. "Helga's wearing…" Arnold continued. "wearing makeup?" Aaron finished.

Helga was in theory known for being able to pull off the natural look, so imagining her with makeup on was hard. "Well, y-you didn't, I guess. It's just so weird to see myself like this." Helga answered and an obvious gulp could be heard.

Phoebe looked down at the boys. "Two seconds." She said with a smile and went inside Helga's room. "Is she gonna force her out?" Aaron asked as he pointed lazily upstairs towards the girls. "Oh, yeah. Phoebe can be forceful if she wants to." Gerald answered.

"Ph-Phoebe! Don't pull me when I'm dressed like this and even wearing high heels! I'll trip!" Helga shouted from inside her room. "Then use your own two feet!" Phoebe answered and pulled a little harder.

The boys finally saw Phoebe's blue dress, as she kept pulling at Helga's hand. It looked like a big struggle, but both girls were quite careful with their own and each other's clothes as they did this. It was something only girls were capable of, the boys figured.

When the pink fabric finally could be seen next to the opened door, to Arnold, it felt like time froze still. As Phoebe was still pulling at Helga, her arm was stretched as her other one was curled into a small fist laid between her breasts, and she wore a worried expression on her face.

"Wow." Helga could hear Arnold's voice exclaim and she stopped resisting Phoebe immediately. She turned to glance down the stairs to look at the boys who was standing with big eyes and open mouths at the end of it. Phoebe let go of her hand and Helga let it fall down to the fabric of her dress. Her fists clenched a tiny bit around it, as it the gown itself could protect her from being seen with it on.

To say Helga looked beautiful was an understatement. Her arms and shoulders were bear as the dress was waving in two big circles over each of her breasts, much like Phoebe's dress also did. However, unlike Phoebe's dress, the chest piece wasn't cut in two different halves, but was in a slightly ruffled fabric, compared to the skirt of the dress. Small silver diamonds created a small belt-looking area beneath her chest and went up halfway through the chest-part, as if rays drawn like a typical painting of a sun. The skirt of the dress swayed out in an elegant wave, flowing down her long legs in the silky fabric, but was cut open mid-thigh revealing a decent amount of her left leg. On her feet, she was wearing silver stilettos, matching the diamonds on her gown flawlessly.

Helga's hair was slightly curled and looked like a waterfall falling down all the way to beneath her chest even. Her eyes were popping out with black mascara and a bit of black eyeliner, with some silver eye shadow making her eyes seem even more sparkly. Her lips were slightly rosy and glittered in the light. As a finishing touch, Phoebe had put a silver bracelet around Helga's right wrist and put long silver earrings in her ears.

"You… You can all put your eyes back into your eye sockets now!" Helga said, doing her very best to pull on her usual scowl and angry tone of voice, but found it very hard when she knew she looked as intimidating as a kitten playing with a ball of yarn.

When the boys just kept ogling her, Helga groaned. "Phoebe…" she snarled annoyed and without any confidence in her voice or body language. Phoebe put her hands on her shoulders. "They're speechless because you're beautiful, Helga."

Helga glanced towards the boys, as if expecting them to either agree or disagree. When they kept gawking, she snarled and went towards the door to her room. "I can't do this." She declared. She felt beyond vulnerable. This was completely out of her comfort zone and she felt like passing out on the spot.

"Wait!"

A way too familiar voice stopped Helga and she glanced down. In two strides, Arnold already had one foot on the first step of the stairs. He was looking up at her with wonder in his eyes, while her body just shook a little.

There was something oddly familiar about this scene to the both of them. It was as if they were 9 years old again, playing Romeo and Juliet in their school play. This was just like the balcony scene, where Helga had recited her lines so beautifully that Arnold had been surprised enough to forget his own lines.

Arnold started smiling in that lovesick way, Helga had always imagined he'd look at her with, but never thought possible. "Helga, have you…" he started and gave a nervous chuckle. "Have you seen yourself in the mirror?"

"I… I've been doing nothing but look at myself in the mirror, Arnoldo! Why are you asking me such a stupid - "

"No." Arnold interrupted and walked up the stairs. He was walking in a perfectly regular pace, but both he and Helga felt like it was taking him forever before he reached her and took her hand. "I mean, have you really looked at yourself?"

Helga's heart was beating so fast that she couldn't answer. "Come with me." Arnold requested and pulled her gently with him into her room. While still walking with her, he took his hand out of hers. She didn't get to miss the warmth of his hand for long though, because he simply put that hand on the side of her waist and took her hand again with his other one, so he could stand a little behind her.

"Look." Arnold asked of Helga, and she looked forward into her mirror. As if seeing herself for the first time, her eyes went wide. She'd done nothing but look at herself all day in this gown, in this makeup and with this hair, but with Arnold smiling so honestly next to her, it was like she could truly believe she was beautiful.

"Can't you see just how gorgeous you look right now?" Arnold asked and then chuckled a bit. "I mean… I've always told everyone that you're beautiful, but this gown makes it so much more apparent."

Helga felt her heart stop and she glanced over her shoulder to look at Arnold. "What…? You think I'm… E-Even when I wear my regular clothes?" she asked with big, deer-like eyes. He nodded. "You've always been beautiful, Helga, you're just a little too good at hiding it behind a scowl and your iron fists." He answered, and she turned around to look at herself in the mirror again.

"If you didn't do that, then guys would flock around you all the time." Arnold said with a small chuckle. Helga giggled a bit at the thought, but then wrinkled her nose. "Yuck, no thanks. I think Ol' Betsy and The Five Avengers wouldn't like to work overtime like that. I don't want a bunch of guys hovering around me all the time."

Arnold smiled as he looked into Helga's big, blue eyes in the mirror. "Yeah, I wouldn't want that either." He said so honestly that her eyes went bigger. She felt her heart beat at her ribcage 'till it hurt and felt a rather lovesick giggle forcing its way out of her pink mouth.

Helga turned around, feeling the confidence overflowing her and took the hand Arnold was holding her hand with in her other hand. She wrapped her hands around his and smiled gratefully at him. "Thank you so much, Arnold. What you've been saying tonight… means a lot to me." She said honestly and then bend down just a little bit and kissed his cheek.

Arnold felt so many things at this point: Happiness, confusion, bliss, excitement and love. So much love. Helga pulled her lips slowly away from his cheek, but let them linger closely for a second more. Then she straightened her back and smacked his chest just a little bashfully. "W-Well, l-let's go, f-football head." She said and walked past him.

Arnold slowly lifted his hand and touched his cheek right where Helga had kissed it. He could feel a bit of her lip gloss smeared on it. His face light up as he clenched his fists and made a fist pump. Yes! This is already the best night ever!

Arnold then turned around, with cheeks flushed and a big smile on his face, and ran out into the hallway. Phoebe, Gerald and Aaron were standing outside, waiting for Helga as she was walking down the stairs. Arnold, feeling brave and mostly giddy, took a few steps down and then scooped her up in his arms.

"Arnold!" Helga squealed, as she wrapped her arms around Arnold's neck, so she wouldn't fall down. He was carrying her bridal style, as he ran down the stairs with her. She was laughing happily as if she was a child on a roller coaster. He got downstairs and twirled them around for a bit before walking out the open door.

"Put me down, you big goof!" Helga shrieked happily and bumped one of her hands on his shoulder a couple of times. Arnold did as told and put her down to the ground. She bumped her fist against his chest softly. "You scared me! At least warn me before doing something like that!"

"So, it's ok as long as I warn you?" Arnold asked with a rather smug smile. Helga was squealing like a fan girl on the inside, but just shook her head in amusement on the outside. She put her hands on her hips. "You're gonna do it with or without my permission, aren't you?"

"If you're gonna giggle like that every time I do it, then yes. Yes, I will." Arnold answered and closed the door. Helga's smile went up in one side. "You're…" she mumbled but then forced her voice volume up. "You're in a really good mood… aren't you?"

Arnold didn't even looked surprised, he just kept smiling as he nodded. "Why?" Helga asked with wonder in her voice. He shrugged. "I guess because… it's the first time we've been together outside school for a long time."

Helga's eyes went wide and her heart got bigger. "Wait… you're in a good mood…" she lifted her finger and pointed to herself. "… because of me?" she asked. Arnold didn't answer, but just winked briefly at her. Wha… What is this feeling? This… vibe I'm getting from him again? She wondered, when he held his arm out to her. "Shall we?"

Oh, god! Arnold, my sweet angel, the love of my life, I could die happy knowing that you think I'm beautiful, but now I definitely don't want to die! Helga thought as she wrapped her arm around his. If I did, I would never know if your behavior means, what I hope it means.

"My little gentleman." Helga said with a teasing smirk, as she and Arnold descended the stairs to join the others. "Always at your service, my lady." Arnold answered and bowed a little, pulling her down with him since their arms were wrapped around each others.

"My lady?!" Helga repeated in disbelief and snorted. "I guess fine feathers do make fine birds." She observed. Arnold shook his head. "You look beautiful covered in fine feathers or uncovered." He said with a smile. She glanced at him with raised eyebrows. He squeezed his eyes shut and lifted his hand to rub the bridge of his nose. "That sounded really weird, right? Sorry. It sounded better in my head."

"You're right about that."

Helga and Arnold looked ahead and saw the rest of their group looking at them, all in amusement. "My god, Arnold, I love you, but you are not good with words." Gerald said and started laughing. "Oh, I don't know," Helga said and looked at Arnold in the corner of her eyes. "When it counts, he can be quite articulate."

Arnold looked at Helga as she winked a little at him. The goofiness within came back at full volume again and he rubbed his neck in an embarrassed way. "Ok, enough with the flirting." Gerald said and opened the passenger door for Phoebe. "We should seriously get going. I don't think Rhonda believes in being fashionably late."

Phoebe smiled brightly and climbed into the char. Gerald closed it behind her and then turned to walk around the car. "Oh, and by the way, Helga, since you three are going to be sitting in the backseat, it's probably a good idea to sit on the lap of someone." Gerald said, gave a small wink to Arnold and then walked around the car.

Gerald, you sneaky thing. Arnold thought and looked at Helga, waiting for her to say whatever she was thinking about this turn of events. She looked baffled to say the least and turned shyly to glance at Arnold, who shrugged, trying his best not to seem too happy about the idea. She sighed a little and smiled. "Well, since I've already been on your lap." She said, as if that would make it less intimate.

Aaron hadn't heard what Gerald said, nor the small plan Helga and Arnold made about having her sit on his lap, since he was already on the other side of the car, ready to get in. He opened the door and hopped in, as Arnold and Helga walked to the car. He opened the door and seated himself inside, doing his best to calm his beating heart.

Helga was biting at her lower lip. She tried to figure out the most elegant and smooth way to get into the car. After thinking hard about it, she gave herself an encouraging nod and bend down to get in. Taking a deep, inaudibly breath, she laid her hand on Arnold's shoulder for leverage and sat down on his lap. She swung her legs neatly into the car and was – much to her happiness and pride – seated without much struggle.

"Smooth, Helga, only a girl could be so elegant about that." Arnold complimented and closed the door. "Oh, yeah, you know me: Mrs. Graceful." Helga answered and snickered. "Excuse me, Mrs. Graceful," Aaron said and gained the attention. "why are you sitting on Arnold's lap anyway?"

"I told her to." Gerald chimed in. "There's not enough room for all three of you to sit, so I suggested Helga sat on Arnold's lap for the ride."

Aaron cocked an eyebrow and turned to look at Helga and Arnold again. "How is this in any way safe?" he wondered aloud. "Oh, please!" Helga said and waved her hand between herself and Arnold. "If we do crash, I'll work as a human shield for him."

Arnold frowned a bit. "And then what about you, Helga?" he asked. She looked down at him. "You want to sit on my lap?" she asked with a cocked eyebrow and a crooked smirk. His frown got deeper and he shook his head slowly and seriously. "No thanks. Very weird image in my head."

"Why, Arnold," Helga said with a bit of a flirtatious tone. "if you're not careful about what you say, I might just start to think that you like having me sit on your lap?" she asked and batted her eyelashes a bit. Arnold smirked and leaned closer while narrowing his eyes. "What would you do if I said you're right?"

Helga, not really expecting such a daring answer, just bit at her lower lip a bit. "Well… then I would quote tall hair boy over there and tell you," she said and leaned a little closer to touch his nose with her own. "you're a bold kid, Arnold."

As Helga said those last words, the sound of the car engine started and filled the silence. Arnold felt like kissing Helga more and more and had been about to, when Gerald shouted in a happy voice: "Alright! Let's go party!"

The gang hollered together and fist-pumped the air, all hurrahing as Gerald started driving the car through the streets. He turned on the radio and quickly found a random channel. The stereo was filled with a song they all recognized immediately.

"Hell yes!" Helga shouted approvingly and started singing along. "Good morning and good night. I wake up at twilight.." Phoebe then turned around and sang along. "It's gonna be alright." Then the whole group shouted ear piercingly: "We don't even have to try: It's always a good time!"

As the song went on, Arnold realized that at this very moment, he didn't have any boy-problems with Helga sitting on his lap and even moving her hips around to the beat. As he sang along, he realized why: The feeling of lust was definitely there… but it was overshadowed with the love for the girl in front of him.

"Doesn't matter when, it's always a good time then." Helga sang while the rest of the group had gone a bit more quiet. "Doesn't matter where, it's always a good time there." Except for Arnold, who didn't want to let go of this lovesick feeling.

"Doesn't matter when, it's always a good time then." Helga sang as she turned around to look at Arnold. They both then shook their heads matching the beat of the song and then shouted in unison: "It's always a good time!"

Author's 2nd note: Since I might just forget to say this when we reach that point, I'll say it now: As I was writing this chapter, I planned to have a friend over who lives in Fyn (a part of Denmark, I live in Sjælland). She's going to be here from Tuesday to Thursday, so naturally, I won't be able to write for those three days. So I'm just warning you guys about that :P

Credits:

Owl City and Carly Rae Jepsen – "Good time"