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": Helga finally admitted that she didn't feel worthy of Arnold to Aaron, when he interrogated her. As they talked, the sadness in her almost made her cry, until she felt his hand upon her head. It resulted in a refreshing laughter between the both of them, with Helga feeling just a little better.

To no one's, except Gerald's, knowledge, Arnold saw Aaron patting Helga's head and her laughing with him. Seeing that made him sprint down the hall, and even hurt himself in the process. He couldn't but feel a little happy though, when it was obvious how concerned Helga had been for him, ever since being told about that accident by the teacher.

When Arnold tried explaining his opinion about the poem to Helga, it ended up in a huge misunderstanding for the both of them. Helga thinking he didn't care about her feelings, and him still thinking she felt beneath the girl who had confessed to him. In anger, Helga slapped Arnold, to everyone's and her own utter shock.

Author's 1st note: First time I don't know what to say in the first author's note! xD Uh… enjoy? xP

Chapter 23: "I kinda like him a little?"

"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…" a very small, fragile, shaky voice muttered behind a pair of pale hands. Arnold's eyes just kept watching Helga, down on her knees in front of him, bended forward in pain, keeping on muttering these words, as if a windup doll breaking. "I'm sorry…"

Arnold finally took a shaky breath and held out his hands towards Helga's head. "Hel…" was all he managed to squeak out, before his hand just froze. He was still in pure shock at the slap. He'd never been slapped before, and he'd never imagined Helga actually hitting him. She had threatened him with it through the years countless times, but had never actually done it.

Looking down at the girl in front of him, Arnold knew Helga hadn't meant for it to happen. Or at least regretted it deeply now. She was shaking, and he wanted to say something, anything, to make all this better. He didn't know how it ended up like this, why she was this mad at him? It didn't make any sense.

Arnold finally looked away from Helga, noticing the crowd around them. All looking at him with sympathy, and at her with disgust. He turned his head completely, hoping to find the face he was looking for. He did. Gerald was standing next to Phoebe towards the corner of the next hallway, both with big and shocked eyes.

When Gerald and Arnold made eye contact, Arnold gave a silent request, which Gerald understood right away. "All right, everybody, show's over! Move on! There's lunch!" Gerald called, while clapping a bit for the attention. He started shooing people away. Some people complied, but most stood still, obviously interested in the drama going on.

Phoebe also started shooing people away, though with a kinder approach, which agreed more with some people. "Get the fuck out!" Aaron suddenly yelled, grabbing the collar of one of the students in a small group of boys. They quickly complied and scurried away.

Gerald and Aaron made eye contact, Gerald's eyes narrowed. "I still don't get your intentions, man." He muttered under his breath. "You don't need to get my intentions to appreciate my help." He simply answered and went around the corner to join the other students in leaving. Gerald and Phoebe turned to look at Arnold and Helga one last time, before they did so too.

Finally alone in the hallway, Arnold crouched in front of Helga, who was oblivious to what had just happened. The same thought went on a repeat inside her head, while she held her hands in front of her face, doing her best to hide it from the outside world. I slapped him… I slapped Arnold…

"Helga…?" Arnold asked carefully, putting one of his hands on her shoulder gently. Helga shook violently for a second, before calming down. "I'm so sorry…" she whispered yet again with a muffled voice. "It's ok." He answered.

"… Huh…?" Helga mumbled very quietly, still not looking at Arnold. "It's ok. I'm… sorry too…" he said quietly, before pulling her into his arms. Her eyes went big, tears flowing down on his white shirts. He's… apologizing…? For not loving me….? She wondered in his head, before shutting her eyes tight.

"What are you… apologizing for…?" Helga asked with her mouth against Arnold's shoulder. He smiled a bit. Finally, she said something else… "For everything. I'm sorry I hurt you. I didn't mean for that to happen, I swear." He answered in a low voice.

"Idiot!" Helga exclaimed in a sad voice, before she started sobbing. Arnold could hear her crying now, contradictory to before when her tears were silent. And after I promised myself to never see her cry… then I'm the one making her cry.

This idiot… This stupid, stupid idiot…! Helga thought, feeling her heart sink down to her stomach. Not meaning to hurt me…? How could he not hurt me! Telling me my feelings doesn't matter, say that he wants to be friends again. My worst nightmares has come true… I hate him! I hate him, and yet… she lifted her arms to wrap them tightly around his waist, digging her fingernails into his flesh. I love him… I still love him, damn it!

"Are you… gonna be all right?" Arnold asked gently, while rubbing Helga's back a bit. The hell I will… she thought with a sigh and pulled away. "I will be… at some point." She answered, hoping for it to be the truth. It just didn't feel like the truth right then.

Arnold smiled in relief. "So… we're ok?" he asked carefully, letting his fingers touch Helga's cheek gently. She looked at him, her eyes still brimming with tears. Don't do that… Please don't… Don't be this kind to me, when you don't really love me… she thought and pulled her face away from his hand. "We will be… at some point." She answered and stood up.

"Huh?" Arnold mumbled with big eyes and stood up himself. "W… What do you… mean? I… Please, forgive me, Helga."

"There's nothing to forgive. It's not like it's your fault or anything. You can't help the way you feel."

"But, Helga, that's the thing. I don't feel any - "

"I get it!" Helga interrupted with a loud voice and let her shoulders drop. She looked away from Arnold, doing her best to try to compose herself. "I just… I just wanna go home. I… don't wanna be here right now."

"A-All right… Let me at least follow you home, ok?" Arnold asked, but Helga shook her head instantly. "No, please… I need to… I need you to keep your distance for a while, ok?" she asked pleadingly. His eyes went big. "But… But why?!"

"Oh, come on! You can't be that dense!"

"Apparently, I am! Helga, tell me, why do you want to avoid me?" Arnold asked in distress. Helga shook her head in disbelief and looked away. Is he that stupid…? How can he not know how much this hurts? She put her hands up to her arms, covering herself, in a way trying to hide her feelings. He noticed the pained look in her body language though. "Please, just… do this for me, ok? I just need… to be alone."

Without waiting for Arnold to answer, Helga ran past him. It felt like everything went into slow-motion, as he felt her blonde her brush against him as they always did when she walked beside him, but this time they felt cold and were sending an uncomfortable shiver through him.

"Hel - " Arnold turned to call for her, but as he did, he remembered her words about wanting to be alone. He tried to stop every fiber in his being which wanted to call out for her, hug her, comfort her… because he knew it wouldn't help right now. "What have I done…?" he muttered and used his hand to rub his eyes with his palm. "Don't cry… Don't cry…"

When the bell rang, signaling the lunch period's ending, Arnold trudged towards his classroom. When he got inside, even in his current dazed state, he noticed everyone going quiet. He looked up and was met with mostly familiar faces. They all know… They all saw what happened… He thought as he walked to his seat and slumped down.

"Hey, Arnold how are you feeling?" Sid asked carefully. "Shitty." Arnold simply answered, hoping for his classmates to leave him alone. It didn't work. "Yeah, no wonder!" Nadine chimed in with a frown. "I can't believe Helga would slap you!"

Arnold flinched at the reminder and just let himself sink back in his seat a little bit. He could still feel the sting on his cheek, but he didn't notice it as much as the pain soaring in his heart. He felt miserable, and he wondered if he should just have gone home like Helga had. It wasn't like he'd gain anything from this particular lesson at the moment.

"What the dang happened anyway?" Stinky asked. Arnold felt everyone's eyes on him, all eager to hear the juicy gossip. He scowled at them, which made them flinch a little, since he didn't usually scowl at anyone. "I don't wanna talk about it…" he answered and looked away.

"Anyway… Seriously, I can't believe the nerve of that girl." Rhonda stated. That caught Arnold's attention, and he frowned a tiny bit. "Why would she slap you?" Stinky wondered aloud. "Dumb question. Why does Helga punch anyone who stands in her way?" Nadine asked.

Arnold felt his eyebrows furrow at the way they were talking. What the hell… They just asked me what is going on, but they're assuming it's Helga fault despite me not answering? He felt his hands curl into fists on the desk.

"It shouldn't really be so surprising, you guys." Harold chimed in with a pensive look on his face. "I mean, Helga has always been a violent girl. She's pushed us, punched us, even kicked us. Why wouldn't she slap someone too?"

Arnold's eyes switched between getting bigger and narrowing. He didn't know whether to be mostly surprised or mostly angry. I can't believe it! After all these years, after all the changes she's been through, she's still the same vicious girl to them? You've gotta be kidding me!

"Well, yeah, but why Arnold? What did he ever do to her? Arnold's been nothing but nice to her eve since preschool, and this is the way she thanks him?" Rhonda asked and shook her head disapprovingly. "That girl has no manners. It's not like she deserved someone like Arnold to care for her, and yet she - "

A deafening bang with Arnold's fists against the desk made everyone flinch. "Shut up!" he yelled loudly. "Just shut up! Would everyone just please shut up?!" he yelled, while he covered his ears and shook his head like a man going mad.

Arnold removed his hands from his head and turned to glare at the people around him. Everyone winced at the raging fury in his eyes. "What is the matter with you?! Didn't you all just ask what was going on, and yet you've already decided it's all on Helga? What the fuck is wrong with you, you hypocrites!" he shouted, and started panting.

Everyone were staring at Arnold with big eyes. The preaching was nothing new, but the cursing and the anger was. "Uh… s-so… it wasn't Helga's fault?" Rhonda dared to ask. He threw his hands up in the air in exaggerated disbelief. "Did you not hear me? You guys don't know what's going on, and don't try asking me or Helga, because it's none of your business what's going on! And if there's anyone… anyone talking shit about Helga again, I'll… I'll… go all Helga on you!" he yelled, knowing very well his threat didn't make much sense.

"Gee, we're sorry, Arnold. We're just worried, that's all." Stinky said and shrugged. "You're not worried. You want a scapegoat, and that always seems to be Helga!" Arnold disagreed and crossed his arms.

"Well, Arnold, that's kinda her own fault with that behavior." Rhonda answered. Arnold narrowed his eyes at her. "Did you guys sleep all through the last couple of years? Did you guys miss the huge change in her, since we came back from San Lorenzo?" he asked, honestly now concerned about the truth on that matter. "Rhonda! Did Helga, or did she not, behave at your party like she promised? She even impressed your mother!"

"That… That doesn't change how she behaved as a child!" Rhonda said, trying to defend herself. "When she was a child! We're sixteen now! Can you all claim that you haven't changed since then?" Arnold asked. "All right, Arnold, then tell us, why did Helga slap you if she has changed?!" Rhonda asked angrily. He gripped his hair in frustration. "Helga slapped me because I - "

Arnold's eyes went big, when he realized what he'd almost been tricked into doing. He let his arms fall down to his desk and narrowed his eyes at Rhonda. "Low blow, Rhonda. Really low, even for you." He muttered angrily. She wrinkled her nose, disappointed that her plan hadn't worked.

"Well, if you won't tell us why she slapped you, then we kinda have to try and guess for ourselves who is to blame, and with Helga's past, the logical choice would be her." Rhonda explained and crossed her arms in triumph. Arnold growled at the back of his throat and leaned a little towards her, making her lean back in slight fear. "You listen to me, you…"

"skinny, stuck-up, arrogant, self-centered, wannabe French, poodle walking, Barbie clothes wearing, 'look at me, I'm pretty', daughter of a - "

Arnold had to laugh, when that particular memory decided to appear in his mind, causing everyone to frown in confusion. To go from anger to laughter like that, almost made them think Helga might've slapped him a little too hard. That, plus his hit to the head earlier, made them all silently agree that was the reason for his sudden insanity and outburst.

"What are you laughing at?" Rhonda asked, only making Arnold smile at her. "Look, you guys, just… please leave this with Helga and me alone, all right? It would mean a lot to me, since it's kinda… personal and sensitive, so… please?" he pleaded. They only hesitated for a second, before they all nodded in agreement. Arnold had after all done a lot for them over the years. Leaving this one juicy subject on the shelf was the least they could do.

Arnold smiled thankfully and turned to look towards the clack board. Can't believe that all I had to do to calm dawn, was to think of Helga… He thought with a slight smile and leaned on his cheek. I'm… never gonna stop loving her… am I? He wondered with slight worry.

As soon as the bell rang, Arnold collected his books lazily. He wanted to get home and just… be in his room. Hopefully, Aaron wouldn't want to accompany him. He didn't want to talk with anyone right now. I'm right back to when Aaron first arrived… No, not true… This is worse, because I hurt Helga this time around.

Arnold dared to turn and look at Aaron who, opposite himself, seemed to be rather quick in packing his bag. Arnold frowned. Why is he in such a hurry? He started packing faster and followed Aaron outside the classroom.

"Hey, Aaron, where are you going?" Arnold asked, trying to sound casual. It didn't work. Aaron turned, not smiling nor frowning. "I'm going to Helga's house." He answered indifferently and readjusted the bag on his shoulder.

Arnold felt like an anvil had just dropped onto his head. "You're what? W-Why?" he asked. Aaron shrugged. "Simple. I wanna talk to her. Since she obviously don't wanna talk to you right now, I figured now would be a good time." He answered.

"To talk… about what?" Arnold asked darkly. Aaron started smirking. "You know what." He answered and turned on his heels. "Aaron!" Arnold said threateningly and grabbed his arm to stop him. He turned around. "I swear…" Arnold started. "I still don't know what you want from Helga exactly… but I swear to God, if you hurt her in any way, I'll - "

"Hurt her like… you did today?" Aaron asked seething. Arnold felt his heart stop. Aaron pulled his arm free of his grasp and took a few steps backwards. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm actually going to her place to comfort her, not to make my move on her."

That doesn't make me feel any better… Arnold thought, but didn't say anything. "What, not gonna stop me? Even just comforting her might just make her like me, you know?" Aaron pointed out. Arnold clenched his fists and shut his eyes. "I know that… I just… I can't do anything for her right now, since she doesn't want to talk to me… so if you can help her more than I can, then…" he stopped talking.

Arnold wanted Helga to feel better, and if Aaron was the one who could do that, then he wanted to let him go, but he also didn't like the thought of Aaron alone with Helga in her house… in her room.

"So, you'd be willing to let the guy, who says he has a thing for the girl you're in love with, go into her room and comfort her, simply because… you think I can make her feel better?" Aaron asked. Arnold had determination in his eyes, as he nodded. That made Aaron's eyes go big. "That's a big risk to take, you know." He pointed out.

Arnold didn't waver though. "I just want her to feel better. When I talked with her earlier, she looked so miserable… I don't want to see her like that, so I want to help her. She doesn't want my help, but maybe… maybe she wants yours." He said with a sad smile. I really don't want to see Helga fall in love with Aaron or anyone else… but I just want her to be happy, and if that's impossible with me then… then…

Aaron gave an impatient snort, earning Arnold's attention again. "You know, Arnold, I still can't figure out if… you love Helga too much or not enough." He said pensively. Arnold frowned. "Not enough…?" he repeated, but then Aaron turned around to walk his way to Helga's house.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid football head!" Helga repeated and finally threw the pillow, in her hands, down on the bed and collapsed on top of it with her head down. "Why? I was actually starting to believe that he'd just might… just maybe… No, don't cry… Don't cry!" she begged, despite her eyes already being red and puffy from crying.

Why did this have to happen…? Why a poem…? Why a poem?! No… it's not even the poem's fault… Arnold just doesn't like me. I'll love him forever, and he'll always see me as a friend. I was stupid to think anything else…

"Honey?" Miriam's tired voice called out to her from outside her room. Helga sighed and sat up. She quickly looked at herself in the mirror, and tried to whip the tears away from her face. "What do you want, Miriam?" she asked as she tried straightening her hair.

"There's a boy here asking for you." Miriam answered. Helga stopped her movements immediately and whipped her head around to look at the door. "W-Who?" she asked nervously. "I think it's this Arnold guy… Want me to let him in?" Miriam answered.

Arnold…? None of my parents ever get Arnold's name right. They always call him either Arnie or Alfred or… Oh, no. Calling him Arnold probably means it's… Helga sighed deeply. "Yeah, let him in." she answered. He'd probably just blackmail me into letting him in anyway.

A few seconds after, Aaron walked into Helga's room, seeing her sit on her bed with her back turned at him, clutching her pillow in her arms. He was quiet for about a half minute, before she heard the door close behind him. "Well, that was quite a scene you caused at school today. Everyone's buzzing about it."

"Fantastic. I'm guessing everyone's calling me a bitch, not that's anything new…"

"They did…" Aaron corrected, still standing leaned up against the door. "Did?" Helga turned around to look at him over her shoulder. "Why are you saying it in past tense?" she asked. His eyes widened for a second, seeing how puffy her eyes were. She must have been crying really hard…

"Because Arnold snapped at them in class today, when they were talking badly about you. Sure shocked them all, he was furious at them for blaming you without knowing the whole story." Aaron answered. Helga felt her heart pop in both pain and happiness. She put her face down into her pillow. Stupid football head… Why does he have to do that…? Make me love him even more, even after all this…

"What do you want, Aaron?" Helga asked, wanting desperately to change the subject, and honestly getting him out as soon as possible. "Believe it or not, I'm here to comfort you." Aaron answered. She whipped her head up, lifted the pillow in her hand and threw it at him violently. "Well, you're off to a horrible start!"

"I know, I know." Aaron said, letting the pillow bounce off him. He sighed and took a couple of steps closer to her bed. "Look, I… seriously didn't mean for this to happen. I didn't think it'd end up like this."

"What do you care how it ended up? You got what you wanted, right? Amusement. Could you please find that somewhere else now?" Helga asked, took one of her other pillows and buried her face in it. She could feel her bed moving next to her. That son of a bitch just sat down on my bed…!

"Sure. I'm doing this for my own amusement, not to bring you in pain. I'm not evil."

"Could've fooled me…" Helga answered with a muffled voice thanks to the pillow. Aaron sighed and scratched his head. "Hey, uh… I'm not good at stuff like this. I don't know what to do with a girl, when she's… I've never even seen my own mom cry before, but I guess she probably hides when she does that…"

Helga uncovered one of her eyes to look at Aaron. He was looking ridiculously uncomfortable as he talked about his mother. Serves him right… Wait, what does he mean she hides…? She thought curiously. "What do you mean, she hides?"

Aaron turned his head to look at Helga, surprised that she'd wonder about that in this situation. "Oh, well, uh… my mom and dad aren't on best terms, honestly. That's why she cares so much about her dance studio, it's kinda the place she can escape to."

"Is… your dad cruel to her?"

"Oh, God, no, it's nothing that serious. They just don't agree on much… It's the usual stuff they fight about. Money, work… mostly who's gonna have me living with them, you know, after the divorce." Aaron answered. Helga's chin landed on her pillow. "Divorce? Arnold never mentioned a divorce. Not that it's any of my business, of course."

"No, it's ok. No one knows. Dad and mom's been keeping it really quiet, they haven't even told me yet."

"Then how you do - "

"Because I've got ears on my head. I can hear them fight almost every night, so they're naïve to think that I don't know. I'm also 16 years old, for crying out loud, I know they're not happy."

"… I'm sorry about that." Helga whispered. Aaron looked at her in disbelief. "You feel sorry for me?" he asked. She shrugged. "Well, that very, very small part of me which does not resent you for blackmailing me does feel sorry for you… a little. Maybe because… that part of me can… relate a little."

"You… can?"

"Uh-huh. My parents never considered divorce though; they wouldn't do that to my big sister Olga."

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Don't they care about if you'll get sad if they got a divorce?" Aaron asked carefully. Helga snorted. "Yeah, right. That'd be the day… them caring about me. Ha!" she answered with a seething smile. "So, yeah, I understand that parents can suck."

Aaron turned to look at the door, as if he could see through it down into the living room. "Your mom did seem rather… tired." He observed. Helga's eyes narrowed a tiny bit and she put her chin on her pillow again. "Can I… ask why?" he asked.

Helga scowled and turned to look at Aaron. "Hell no! I'm not giving you more blackmail material!" she shouted. His eyes went big, but then narrowed in anger and offense. "I would never blackmail anyone about something like that!" he shouted right back, taking her by surprise. "You wouldn't?"

"No! Never about something like that." Aaron answered, his eyebrows furrowed in obvious resentment of the mere thought. Helga blinked in wonder. "Huh…" she mumbled and put her chin back on the pillow. "I guess there's at least a little bit of decency in you."

"There is, I swear, though I guess I could have fooled you, right?" Aaron asked with a slight smirk. Helga gave a very short smile back. "That's also why…" he started scratching his head, and she couldn't help but cock an eyebrow at his odd behavior. "That's why I, uh… want to apologize about the whole poem thing. I guess I didn't realize how personal those were… I'm sorry."

Helga's eyes went bigger than teacups, as she lifted her head very slowly from the pillow. "You're… sorry?" she asked in amazement. "I-I know it seems halfheartedly, but, yeah… seriously." Aaron asked, not daring to look at her.

"Uh, no, that's not why I… I'm just surprised you even know that word." Helga answered. Aaron rolled his eyes and looked at her. "Come on, Helga, that's not funny. I'm honestly trying to say sorry here, and I just said that I'm not good at - "

"I know." Helga interrupted. "Sorry. I'm just… I'm not used to being the one apologized to, so… I kinda start joking, when I don't know what else to do. Either that or I get angry. And I don't have it in me to be angry right now… not even at you."

"Uh, thanks…" Aaron mumbled and scratched the back of his head again. "I'm too angry at myself…" Helga added and put her face down in her pillow. "I did the one thing I swore to never ever do… I assaulted Arnold."

"Now, I don't think a slap counts as an assault - "

"I don't care what the technical term would be! I just know I hit Arnold, and that's…" Helga stopped talking after hearing herself say those words aloud. "Oh, God… I hit him… I hit Arnold! What's wrong with me?! No matter what he'd might feel or not feel, I'd never want to hurt him! How could I hurt him like that…?"

Aaron saw how Helga started to shake, as she hid her face in the pillow. She was crying. Hard. He didn't really know what to do, so he just kept looking at her. At least for about a minute, until he decided he had to do something. It was too painful to look at.

Well, it worked last time… Aaron thought, already embarrassed at his future actions. He lifted his hand and laid it gently on the back of Helga's head. Her shivering stopped slowly, and he dared to, instead of a typical pat, use his thumb to caress her hair a bit. He heard her sniff and she pulled her face away from the pillow. "Learned a new patting technique? Last time you literally clapped my head."

"I… Uh… Sorry." Aaron said, about to remove his hand. "No, it's ok. It's… oddly comforting." Helga said and closed her eyes with a sigh. He wasn't sure if her saying that meant that she wanted him to continue, but he did so anyway. He continued caressing her head with his thumb, slowly starting to mess with a lock of her hair. His other fingers started to massage her scalp. This is… weird. Why do I like doing this so much…? It's almost as if I…

Not able to finish that thought, Aaron removed his hand roughly. "Ow!" Helga exclaimed and put her hand on the spot, he had been caressing a second ago. "Oh, sorry, didn't mean to scratch you." He said, but didn't really feel all that sorry. She's making me feel strange. What the hell?

"Naw, it's ok." Helga answered and let her hand fall to her pillow. She gave an earnest smile to Aaron. "Thank you." She added. His eyes went wide, as he felt an unusual, warm feeling roam around in his chest. He shook his head, as if that could make it go away. "Uh, you're welcome, but, uh… do you actually feel any better?"

Helga sighed and rocked her head from side to side, as she thought about it. "Both yes and no… I feel more cheered up, but… that doesn't change the fact that I… did that… to Arnold." She answered and started biting at her lower lip. "You did catch on to the fact that he forgave you, right?" Aaron asked.

"Yeah, but that's just Arnold being Arnold! He'd forgive anyone, even if they don't deserve it, and I don't deserve it. Sometimes I wish he'd stand up for himself a little more." Helga answered, looking away from Aaron. He kept looking at her, as an idea crossed his mind. She'd might just get pissed at me… but, seriously, better that she's pissed at me than herself. He thought.

"Helga… correct me if I'm wrong, but… more than anything else right now… then you feel mostly bad about slapping Arnold, right?" Aaron asked. Helga sighed and nodded. "Then… could you turn around to face me?" he asked.

Helga's eyebrow quirked and she turned to him. "Huh? Why? How is that gonna help?" she asked. "I'm sorry." Aaron said with a serious voice. She just frowned confused. "Sorry? You already said you were sorry. What are you - "

Then a slight smack stopped Helga from talking. She didn't gasp, she didn't make a squeak, as she felt a very faint sting to her cheek, way smaller than Arnold had felt. She kept staring at the bed, at the angle she had been slapped to.

"I'm Arnold's cousin, me slapping you would be like revenge on his behalf, right? Now you've both been slapped, and you can start forgiving yourself for something, you didn't even mean to do." Aaron explained and let his hand fall down to his thigh.

Helga turned slowly to look at Aaron with huge eyes. She didn't know what to feel. No one, no one had dared slapping her before – her mom being an exception, but that had been so lazy and an obvious accident, that she didn't really count that as a proper whack. She felt the angry part of her boil up, but something made her not punch him into a pulp. Instead, she smiled gratefully. "Again: Your methods of comforting are disturbing."

"But they seem to work, so tell me, if my crazy way of comforting is working on you, what does that make you?"

"Crazy, but we already knew that." Helga answered. A few seconds of silence passed and then they both started laughing a little. "So, feel a little better this time?" Aaron asked, smiling. She sighed a bit, but then nodded. "Yeah… I think I might just be able to sleep tonight." She answered. He chuckled. "Well, that's a good thing."

Helga kept nodding as she smiled. Seeing her keep smiling at him like that, make Aaron's peculiar feeling grow. He tried to shake it off, but he couldn't, so instead he heard himself talking without having planned what he'd say ahead. "But, Helga, this doesn't change anything."

Helga just blinked a couple of times, and then her lips turned into two thin lines. "Yeah… I had a feeling it wouldn't." she answered and shook her head in disbelief. "But, I swear to God… I won't ever ask you to do anything like this again. Nothing this personal." Aaron added. "You believe me?"

"Well… you've never lied to me before. The karaoke thing being an exception."

"I didn't know there'd be karaoke, but you handled that pretty damn well! You even seemed like you had fun."

"I did… I just never thought I… would have."

"Then that wasn't such a bad thing now, was it?"

"… I still hate you." Helga answered with a smile. Aaron smirked for a second, but then mentally tore the smile off his face. "But… you believe me anyways?" he asked. She nodded. "Yeah, you've never given me any reason not to. Besides, Arnold already knows I have feelings for him, so I only want to hide it from everyone else… I'm not going to do something insane just to hide it from them, though I'd definitely prefer it if they didn't know."

"Helga… Arnold doesn't know you have feelings for him." Aaron said. Helga turned to look at him. "What? Yes, he does. That's what the whole fight was about, you idiot." She answered casually. He shook his head. "No. Arnold thinks that you got mad because he got a poem from another girl."

"Huh? But… why would he think that? Doesn't that mean he knows I'm in love with him?"

"No, but he's starting to think you might have feelings for him. He thinks you got jealous and therefore talked down about that poem."

"… Great, so to him, I slapped him because I got jealous of someone sending him a poem?"

"Pretty much."

"Amazing… I don't want Arnold to think that I'm that jealous." Helga said with a frown. "You're not?" Aaron asked. She hesitated for a second. "Well… if it had been from another girl… I might have tried to track her down. Not sure what I'd do afterwards though. Depends on the girl, I guess." She answered, and then her frown got deeper. "Oh, my God, I asked him to stay away from me…"

"What? Why would you - "

"Because I thought he knew that poem was from me, and he told me the poem didn't mean anything to him, so I… I was hurt and wanted to not be around him. Can you blame me?"

"I guess not… but he doesn't know, Helga, he's suspicious, but he doesn't know." Aaron explained. Helga took in a deep breath, smiled and let herself fall back on her bed. "Oh, thank goodness… I may still have a chance…" she lifted her hands on put them over her face. "Oh, thank you, God."

Aaron had to smile at Helga's relieved smile. "I even think that maybe the next blackmail mission might just catch his attention." He said thoughtfully, as the idea occurred to him. She removed her arms from her face. "W… What do you mean…?" she asked nervously.

Aaron shrugged and stood up. "You'll see tomorrow. Go to bed early, you'll need the rest." He said teasingly as he went towards her door. Helga sat up, turned around and stared at him. "What are you gonna make me do?" she asked.

Aaron opened the door and turned around with his usual smirk. "I'm gonna make you welcome me into your house tomorrow morning. Be up at 7:30am." He said and slowly started to close the door. "Oh, and don't get dressed before I arrive."

Then Aaron winked and closed the door, leaving Helga with big and scared eyes. "What the hell are you talking about?! What are you gonna make me do?! Creep! Pervert! I almost started not disliking you!" she screamed at the door, grabbed a pillow and threw it at it.

Helga sighed, as she kept glaring at the door. What the actual fuck… One second he wants to comfort me, the next he tells me to not get dressed before he visits me the next morning, tells me the next blackmail might catch Arnold's attention… She smirked a bit. He's insane… complete and utter insane. Maybe that's why… I kinda like him a little? She frowned. Not enough to not hate him too though.

Author's 2nd note: I'm gonna try and ask again, since this chapter also kinda revolved around Aaron a bit more: Has your opinion about him changed through this story? If yes, how so? What do you think his intentions were and what they are now, if you believe they have changed? Oh, and one more thing: Did you realize Aaron would "slap" Helga on Arnold's behalf just before he did it, or were you surprised? :P Oh, and, seriously, it was more like a light clap xD Even Helga's slap wasn't hard or anything :P

By the way, Arnold's comment about going "all Helga" on them, is meant as he'll go crazy on them xD It's based on something I've started saying myself, when I feel like I'm mad at someone or mostly I say it as a joke :P