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": Though Helga had never really seen herself as a 'party girl' whatsoever, then she didn't really mind Aaron's next blackmail: Throwing a party at her house the following Saturday.

Sending Miriam to hang out with Susie, Helga stole all of the alcohol in her cabinet to use for the party, figuring it would be like killing two birds with a stone. Of course her peers didn't mind all of the free alcohol and neither did she a few hours after the party had begun.

Arnold, doing his best to give Helga some space all things considered, didn't expect Aaron to try to help her. He suggested a drink for him and, without anyone else's knowledge, he slipped a pill into Arnold's drink. It was an accident though, since he had changed his mind in the last second, but before he could change the drink, Helga had already taken it to give it to Arnold.

Author's 1st note: Oh, do me a small favor, please? I'm soooo tired, so I didn't read this through before uploading… Please mention ANY typos you may see. Consider it a game! xD Who can find the most typos? There's bound to be some xD

Chapter 30: "I'm at your mercy"

Helga walked her way to Arnold, utterly oblivious to the panicky state, which she had left Aaron in. "Here you go, football head, bottoms up." She said and forced the drink into Arnold's hand. He sighed a bit, before he started sipping from it.

"In what world is that 'bottoms up'?" Helga asked with a pout. Arnold felt his heart skip a beat at seeing her lips like that, but did his best to make his heart beat regularly again. "It is in my world." He answered, before sipping a little again.

"Come on, Arnold." Helga said as she laid hair upper body down on the counter in front of him and turned to glance at him with a cat like look in her eyes. He felt his entire body stiffen at that pose – every part of his body. "Dance with me."

Arnold felt like jumping out of the chair, just grabbing Helga and dancing with her for the rest of the night, if she would just keep looking at him like that. No! I need to… to hold back. It's just her eyes! I've seen them before! And it's just that smile, which I've also seen before! Not like this but… Ugh. He thought before giving her a small smile. "I-I'll dance with you when I'm done drinking this, ok?" he suggested.

Helga looked mockingly pensive for a second, almost as if Arnold would lose his chance if he didn't just dance with her now. He was about to change his mind, until she gave him a toothy grin. "All right, but I want to see you within the next half hour, Arnoldo!" she answered before bouncing off into the living room.

As soon as Helga was out of hearing range, Arnold sighed in defeat. "She got me." He declared and took a gulp of the glass. "Yup, she got you all right." Gerald agreed with a sigh as well. "What happened to 'staying away from her for now'?"

"Uh… her eyes and smile happened." Arnold answered with a shy chuckle. Gerald rolled his eyes and shook his head in amusement. "You are such a sap! You're whipped by a girl you're not even dating."

"Ugh, don't remind me of the last part."

"I'll keep reminding you until you change that fact! Go for it. Fetch!" Gerald said. Arnold cocked an eyebrow at him. "Fetch?" he repeated. "Really?"

"Ok, that was weird, I admit that, but you get my point. Why are you being such a wuss?"

"Because… Just because, ok? I can't say."

"Can't or won't?"

"Can't. It's… private."

"To whom?"

"Me, Helga and Aaron."

"Something happened?"

"You can say that…"

"… Well, if it's something you promised not to tell, I guess I won't force you, but I'm telling you: just because Aaron has real feelings for Helga, that doesn't mean you have to hold back. You've been in love with that girl for years, and he's only around for another two weeks or so and then his ass is back in New York. It'd be a long distance relationship and those don't usually work out so well."

"I guess I didn't really think about it that way." Arnold said before starting to drink from his glass. Wait. Real feelings?! He repeated in his head, his eyes going wide and stopped drinking. He started coughing in shock. "Are you ok?" Gerald asked as he patted Arnold's back. Arnold turned to look at him. "What do you mean 'real feelings'?!"

"… Oh, that's not what you meant? Huh… then what the hell did happen, man?"

"Never mind that! 'Real feelings', what?"

"Oh, uh, it's just that… I've been suspecting it for a while, but that day Helga fainted and you walked her home after school, he was looking at you with real sadness. I think he's got real feelings towards her."

Arnold felt like puking for some reason, he didn't know which one though. If it was the simply thought of another guy really liking Helga, if it was because it must have been fake, since Aaron was blackmailing her, or if Aaron had fallen in love with her amidst the whole blackmail thing.

Arnold sighed with a growl and took a big gulp from the glass. "So… you didn't realize?" Gerald asked gently, knowing that he was currently very close to a landmine. Arnold opened his mouth as if about to answer, but then he just shook his head in relinquishment. "I'm going dancing with Helga." He announced before gulping the rest of the glass' content down and stood up from his chair.

Arnold walked into the living room and had absolutely no trouble finding Helga. It was never a problem for him to notice her. He stood in the door frame for a bit, gazing at her as she twirled her head around in a circle to the beat of the music. She wasn't dancing with anyone in particular it seemed, so he saw his chance to move in.

Helga lifted her arms high up into the air, until she felt a presence behind her. She was about to turn around to observe the person, until she felt a pair of very familiar hands hold her own. She smiled lovingly as Arnold slowly turned her around to face him.

"So you didn't chicken out." Helga observed as she laid her arms on his shoulders. "No, why would I do that? I don't have to be scared of you, do I, Helga?" Arnold asked with a smirk as he snuck his arms around her waist.

Helga looked pensive for a couple of seconds, but when Arnold gave her a warning look, she simply giggled. "Naw, you're off the hook tonight." She answered. "Oh, really? How come?" he asked with a bit of surprise. "Because tonight's special." She answered seriously.

"Yeah?"

"Uh-huh. It is my first teen party after all." Helga explained with a chuckle. Arnold chuckled along with her, before taking a couple of steps back. He took her hands in his own and lifted them up a bit, signaling for them to start dancing. With a coy smile, she followed his lead perfectly.

It shouldn't have surprised Arnold that he'd start feeling a little weird after dancing with Helga for this long. Yet, he hadn't expected to feel weird to this extent! The feeling had grown slowly for the last ten minutes, but he didn't truly notice until she had turned her back to him and started grinding her bum against his crotch.

Arnold gasped and pulled back instantly, scared that Helga might notice. She turned around to glance at him over her shoulder. "Something wrong?" she asked, since he had completely let go off her for the first time since they had first started dancing.

"Uh, no… I-I, uh, just need to… go to the bathroom for second, ok?" Arnold answered with an awkward smile before turning around. "Arnold, are you… and you're gone." Helga declared as she watched him walk out of the hallway. Wait. No way! She thought in a slurry voice and started walking after him. "Arnold! Arnold, are you sure you're - - "

"Helga!" a male voice called behind her, before she felt a hand on her shoulder. Helga turned around to face Aaron. "Aaron? What now? What's the matter?" she asked as she forced her head to think normally.

"Uh… can I talk with you for a second?" Aaron asked with an uncomfortable smile. "Uh…" Helga muttered before tuning to look towards the hallway where Arnold had already disappeared. As she sighed she turned to face Aaron again. "Sure. What's up?"

"Uh… I guess you've noticed that Arnold's behaving… oddly?" Aaron asked and gave a nervous chuckle, which made Helga cross her arms in suspicion. "Yeah…?" she answered, inquiring him to continue. "Um… I may or may not know why." He explained, followed by another nervous chuckle.

Helga blinked a couple of times, letting that information sink in. Oh, no, you didn't. She thought as she grabbed Aaron's arm and pulled him with her. He followed her obediently, hoping she would be too drunk to properly hit him when he told her the truth.

"All right, bucko, what's going on?" Helga asked when she and Aaron was out in the hallway, out of hearing range from everyone. He gulped nervously and gave yet another nervous chuckle. "Uh… b-before I answer that, then I need you to know that it was an accident, I swear."

Helga simply crossed her arms. "What's going on?" she asked again. Aaron took a deep breath, knowing that testing her patience wouldn't do him any good. "Ok, uh… r-remember how I made Arnold a drink earlier?"

"… Uh-huh."

"I may have accidentally, purely coincidentally - - "

"Get to it!"

"I dropped a pill into his glass!" Aaron exclaimed quickly, already regretting his words. He dared to open his eyes, but Helga was just frowning at him. "A pill? What kind of pill?" she asked, seemingly calm.

"Uh… a blue one." Aaron said, hoping Helga would realize what kind of pill it was simply from that. She just kept looking at him with furrowed eyebrows. "Gotta need more than that, bucko. What kinda pill is blue?" she asked.

"Uh… a blue pill… with a V on it." Aaron answered in a whisper. Helga's frown got deeper. "A blue pill with a V on it? What does the V stand for? Vitamin?" she asked, which made him lean back and give her a look of annoyance and disbelief. "Yes, Helga, I slipped Arnold a vitamin pill because I was concerned for his health. No!" he answered and smacked the back of her head. "Get out of this drunken haze you're in and use that brain of yours!"

"Ow! I am not drunk! At least not a lot. All right, all right. A blue pill with a V on it… Something tells me I should know."

"Yeah, you should! Then again; maybe not. Ok, fine." Aaron moved closer to Helga's ear, begging her closer. She rolled her eyes and leaned her ear against his mouth, listening to his whispered words. Her eyes went wide, as one of her eyebrows quirked. They moved away to look at each other.

Aaron just stood there, waiting for Helga's reaction. He didn't have a clue to what she'd do, and yet he was surprised. For what seemed like forever, she just kept looking at him with a somehow nonchalant stare. Then her eyes narrowed a bit and she opened her mouth to speak. Then she closed and looked away thoughtfully. She repeated this action, while lifting her hand, which she then ran through her hair.

Helga's movements mostly resembled a robot breaking. Her hand twitched in her hair, and her head cocked to the side a couple of times. Did I break her or something? Aaron wondered and lifted his hand to touch her. "Helga, are you - - "

Aaron was silenced by Helga's hand though. She had lifted it to stop him from speaking, while she breathed out heavily. Then she gave a small, almost apologetic smile and walked away from him. He watched her, as she walked through the hallway towards the laundry room. She closed the door behind her and after a few seconds, a muffled scream could be heard.

Despite it being a very Helga like reaction, Aaron couldn't help but roll his eyes. The door opened and she stomped towards him, holding a pillow in her hand – one she had formerly used to cover her scream in frustration.

Aaron didn't realize what Helga was planning to do, until she was only a few feet away from him. She lifted the pillow up in both her hands and then covered his face with it. Not completely though, since she wasn't truly trying to kill him or anything.

"What… is… wrong… with… you?!" Helga shouted in a complete frenzy as she smothered Aaron with the pillow. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" he answered and tried to push the pillow away from his face. "To be fair, it was an accident!"

"Accident?! You bought that pill, took it with you here and dropped it into Arnold's glass by accident?! I may be blonde, but I'm not that stupid!"

"All right, all right! I did plan to do it, but in the last second I changed my mind!"

Helga groaned as she removed the pillow from Aaron and pointed at him with an accusing finger. "As if that fucking matters! Intentional or not, Arnold's now under the influence of a drug like that, and it's your fault!" she shouted as she panted a bit.

Aaron sighed. "I'm sorry! Honestly, I really am! But that doesn't matter right now! The question is: what do we do now?" he asked with a pant. "We are not doing anything! You've done plenty!" she answered before she threw the pillow into his arms. "I am gonna go find him!"

"And what are you gonna do when you find him?" Aaron asked, as he cradled the pillow in his arms. "I don't know! But… I can't just leave him." Helga answered. "I don't know anything about this kind of thing though, but isn't there something about that it'll hurt after a while if… you know, it's not taken care of?"

Aaron was slightly surprised at Helga's random knowledge of that fact – and that she asked about it like it was no big deal. Yeah, she's special all right. He thought as he nodded. "Yeah, that's true." He answered. She sighed. "And this is Arnold we're taking about. He's too polite to do anything about it here in someone else's house."

"Then I guess the hostess has to help him?" Aaron suggested, doing his best not to chuckle. Helga frowned for a second, spending two seconds until she realized what he meant. Her eyes went wide and her lips curled into a big smile. "Aaron!" she chastised and punched his shoulder in embarrassment. My God! Yeah, big brother is right! She thought with her cheeks blushing.

"What? It's a pretty good opportunity, isn't it?" Aaron asked with a smirk. Helga lifted her hands as if about to strangle him, but then she simply held them between them. She looked thoughtful for a second, but then shook her head and let her hands drop. "No way! That'd… That's just wrong! That's…" she wanted to keep argue against it, but it was hard since she could definitely imagine herself taking advantage of this situation.

Helga glanced over her shoulder towards the staircase, where she guessed Arnold had gone up and into the bathroom. She bit at her lower lip a bit. I really shouldn't… she thought in an attempt at convincing herself, but with a gentle push from Aaron, she felt herself walk toward the stairs.

"A hostess has to take care of her guests, right?" Aaron asked with a snicker. Helga cocked her head to the side thoughtfully. "That… is true…" she answered, but then frowned and turned her head around to look at him. "If I didn't know any better, I'd start thinking this whole blackmail thing is just to throw me right into Arnold's arms."

Aaron shook his head and rolled his eyes in amusement. "Go get him, toots." He simply answered. Helga had been about to walk up the stairs, but after that sentence she turned to scowl at him. "Don't call me 'toots'." She said with slight anger and then continued her way upstairs.

Helga went straight to the bathroom. "Arnold?" she asked in a whisper and knocked on the door. When no one answered, she tried asking a little louder. With still no answer, she took that as an ok to walk in. She opened the door, having already figured out the room would be empty, since it hadn't been locked. Huh, then where did he go?

Helga closed the bathroom door and looked pensively towards her own room. That'd make sense… I warned everyone about going into my room, so he knew no one would be in there, since no one would be dumb enough to go against me. She thought as she went to her own room.

Helga opened the door slowly and peeked in, not sure if she would see something scandalous, like when she had been trapped behind Arnold's couch like at the whole parrot incident. She didn't though. All she could see was Arnold sitting on her bed, obviously trying to breathe his way out of his problem.

Helga couldn't help but roll her eyes. I may not know a lot about boys, but I doubt that just sitting there will help you, Arnold. She thought as she was about to walk inside, but then she lost her nerve. She gently closed the door and kept look at the handle.

Helga took a deep breath, nodded with determination and then ran down the stairs. She went into the kitchen instantly, pushing away some people around her. "Hey, Helga, how… You ok?" Phoebe asked, as her blonde friend reached them. "Yeah, I just need a drink." She answered and grabbed the bottle with rum.

"What are you doing here?" Aaron asked, suddenly appearing next to Helga. "How rude. It's her house." Gerald pointed out with a frown. "Ignore him, Gerald." Helga answered and opened the bottle. "I just need one drink." She replied to Aaron's question and poured it into a glass.

Aaron rolled his eyes as he watched Helga gulp the whole drink down in one go. "You can't drink your problems away, you know." He pointed out, before she banged the glass down on the table. "Why not? It works for my mom, and it is her alcohol." She answered and let out a huge sigh. "See ya later." She said before she walked towards the hallway. "Much later."

As Helga found herself in front of the door to her own room again, she felt courage roam through her body – or maybe it was the rum, who cared? All she knew is that she was ready to jump into the deepest ocean with no safety equipment whatsoever. She was vulnerable, but ready.

Helga slowly opened the door and peeked her head inside. "Arnold?" she asked gently, knowing very well that he was still in there. "Helga?!" Arnold shouted when he saw her at the door. He lifted one of his legs, laid his ankle on his thigh and even laid his arms over his lap to cover himself up as much as possible. "Uh, sorry that I'm so slow at getting downstairs again. I suddenly felt a little… sick."

"Yeah… I know." Helga answered and closed the door behind her. Arnold gave her a confused look. "You know?" he repeated, but then his eyes went wide. Oh, fantastic, she could feel it… Great! This isn't even the first time! "Oh… I guess you… noticed, huh?"

"Not really…" Helga admitted, deciding to stay leaned up against the door for now. She didn't want to risk Arnold feeling attacked or such. "You didn't? Then how did you know?" he asked, wondering if he even wanted to know the answer to begin with.

"Uh… Arnold, I have to admit something to you."

"Oh… ok?"

"… Aaron knows that you know."

"… About the - - "

"Yeah."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was trying to compose myself, but I guess I failed, huh?"

"Actually, no. He figured it out on his own, then he tricked me and I admitted it without realizing. I'm the one who failed." Helga explained with a giggle. Arnold chuckled a bit too, hoping it'd lift the tension in the room. "But, uh… what does that have to do with… you know?"

"Aaron slipped you… a blue one with a V on it."

"A blue one?"

"A blue pill."

"A blue pill with a V on it?"

"Yep."

"… What?!" Arnold shrieked in pure terror. His eyes were wide, his face flushed and his heart was beating in his throat at this point. "I'm so sorry, Arnold, it's all my fault." Helga said, half being serious half acting a bit. She did feel bad for him though. She had felt the same thing a few days ago, so she knew of the frustration. Yet again, she wasn't really sorry, since… well, it was to her advantage after all. I am so bad… she thought jokingly.

"Uh, no. It's… It's not your fault. I shouldn't have let Aaron give me a drink to begin with." Arnold answered, honestly not even meaning his own words. How could he have known that Aaron knew and that he would actually… what would it even be called, take revenge on him?

"It is my fault. I should have been more cautious. I should have watched him a little more carefully." Helga corrected and then tried to run different ways of proposing her 'help' inside her head. I gotta be careful about how I convey this… "Uh, Arnold?"

"Uh… uh-huh. Yeah?"

"Uh… I don't know if… Do you know much about how those… things works?" Helga asked, doing her best not to blush at the somewhat blunt question. Why was it so much different talking about this with Arnold than it was with Aaron? Oh, right, she wasn't in love with Aaron that was why!

Arnold felt like choking on his own breath. "W-Wh… W-Why would you ask me that? N-No, not really, except… their purpose, of course." He answered with an obvious stutter and his cheeks reddening more and more at the minute.

"Uh, I-I'm asking because… because, you know, these things… they can work up till four hours, you know." Helga pointed out, knowing that she was telling a small lie by doing so. If a pill worked for more than four hours, you were supposed to go see a doctor, but if Arnold didn't know that then… that was his own fault, right?

Arnold's eyes went wide. "Four hours?!" he repeated in shock. Helga nodded shyly. He sighed in slight terror and gulped. "Then… I guess I should just go home." He declared, though he wasn't about to stand up or anything. Why aren't I getting up? What's holding me back? He wondered in his head, having a small clue to why.

"You're gonna walk home like that?" Helga asked with a quirked eyebrow. Arnold glanced down towards his growing member and pulled his legs together a little. "I guess not, but… what else am I supposed to do?" he asked.

Helga took a deep breath and lifted her hand to turn the key. She turned it slowly to make as little noise as possible, but Arnold noticed anyhow. "Helga?" he asked with wonder in his voice. He had absolutely no clue to why she had locked the door.

"Uh… you know…" Helga started and lifted her hand to scratch her head in a nervous manner. "This is technically my fault… I-I mean, I kinda feel bad about the whole thing, since… if I had just kept my mouth shut the other day, then this wouldn't have happened… a-and also, I know how you're feeling. I mean, I went through it the other day with the aphrodisiac, right? And, uh… s-so I guess… what I'm trying to say is, uh… um…"

"Helga, you're not making any sense." Arnold interrupted, starting to feel the embarrassment and anticipation to take over. What was Helga trying to say anyway, and why was she being so shy about it? What could possibly make this situation any more embarrassing?

"I… wanna help you." Helga then admitted and shut her eyes tight. That. That could make it a million times more embarrassing! Arnold felt his heart bang against his ribcage, as if trying to escape his body. He felt heat flowing through him at the mere thought of Helga helping him in this way, and the heat seemed to mostly surface around his member. That was definitely not the drug's fault!

"No, wait. That… didn't sound right." Helga said as she lifted her hand to pull up at her hair, in an attempt at doing something to distract her from the situation. Arnold watched her in amusement – despite embarrassment and arousal being the two much bigger feelings – as she shifted on her feet. "Uh… wh-what I meant was… This is all my fault, so… I wanna take responsibility."

Helga felt like banging her head against the wall. Way to make it sound like a business deal, you moron! She chastised and shook her head to show Arnold that wasn't what she meant either. "No, that's not right either. I, uh… I wanna… I, uh, just… Oh, criminy, you know what I mean, don't you?!"

"I'm not sure! I mean… I don't wanna be presumptuous, Helga, but… i-it seriously sounds like you're volunteering to… to…" Arnold couldn't even bring himself to finish the thought without making his heart beat even faster, as if that was even possible at this point. "Are… Are you?"

Helga didn't answer, but simply kept looking at Arnold, hoping for him to catch the message without her having to give her thoughts a voice. She couldn't muster such words, half drunk or not! She could see the wheels in his head turning and finally she could see him realizing the truth behind her words.

"H-Helga, y-y-y-y-you don't have to d-do-do that! I mean… it's not your fault! I'd… feel bad… making you do something… like that." Arnold stuttered, but felt his reluctance waver. Here she was; the girl of his dreams, offering him… help.

Arnold's uncertainty in his own words didn't go unnoticed to Helga. She smiled on the inside, knowing that in one way or another, he'd eventually give in, since… well, since he didn't seem to mind the idea so much, which just made her really, really happy.

All right, Helga, old girl, time to turn it up a notch. You can do this. Helga thought with a pep talky voice and walked slowly towards Arnold, who looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Or perhaps someone fighting his own sinful needs even. "I-I know I don't have to, Arnold, but… come on, I'd still feel bad just leaving you like this. I may do bad things from time to time, but I always take responsibility in the end, right? Isn't that what you taught me?"

"Well… y-yeah, I m-may have said something like that… but…" Arnold answered and was about to continue speaking, until he and Helga caught a glimpse of each other's eyes. He felt his resolve falter… quite a lot even. There was something in her eyes, which he couldn't quite describe… that just made all his doubts go away. They told him it was ok to give in, and so he did. "Are… Are you sure? I mean… I really don't want you to feel forced into doing this…"

Helga felt her inner self bounce up and down in pure happiness. Oh, Arnold, my beloved! You're actually gonna let me touch that wonderful body of yours! This is a dream come true! Well, almost, since it's not exactly the ideal place or ideal time or ideal method… but still!

"It was my suggestion, Arnoldo… I wouldn't suggest something I wasn't comfortable with, right?" Helga asked as she leaned forward, placing her hands on Arnold's thighs, which made him gulp. "Besides… does Helga Pataki ever do anything out of force?"

Arnold chuckled a bit, happy that Helga seemed to be nervous too, yet still try to make the mood less tense. "I guess not… but are you sure?" he asked just once more, in a way only to justify his own eagerness for what was to come.

Helga gave Arnold a loving smile, before she placed her hands on his shoulders. "I'm sure…" She answered as she pushed him gently down onto the bed. She put her left knee next to him and then lifted her other leg to place it on his other side thereby straddling him and making him lose his breath. "Worrywart."

Arnold gulped, as he didn't dare to lose eye contact with Helga's azure blue eyes. His own green ones went half-lidded, and he couldn't help but notice his breath getting heavier… and she hadn't even done anything to him yet!

"Uh, but, uh…" Helga said, starting to seem slightly shy again. "In all seriousness… if you get uncomfortable, just say so, ok? I mean… I haven't exactly tried this before, so… t-tell me if I'm doing something wrong or if it… feels bad or something."

Is it possible to fall in love with the same girl all over again within few seconds? Arnold wondered as he felt his heart leap. There was something undeniably cute about Helga Pataki feeling insecure about something as simple as that. Though he knew, it wasn't simple at all. At least not to a girl it wasn't… It was new and maybe even scary.

Arnold lifted his hands to touch both of Helga's cheeks. She looked back at him, her eyes a little big with wonder. "I have a feeling you're gonna be just fine." He said reassuringly. He knew it was the truth after all. He had imagined this moment – albeit not in this way – for so many years that she couldn't possibly fail.

Helga smiled, filled with confidence from that simple sentence from Arnold. "Thanks…" she said gratefully and wondered for a second if she wanted to kiss him, but thought against it. No… not because of something like this. Not at a party, not half drunk and because of some dumb pill… A kiss is something completely different. A kiss is done with love. "Uh… wish me luck?"

Arnold chuckled along with Helga who giggled. "I'm at your mercy." He then whispered with a smile and gently let go off her cheeks. She felt heat rise in all of her, realizing that it was now or never… and there was no way she'd choose never.

Author's 2nd note: Yes! I'm ending it here! I'm so cruel! xD No, seriously, sorry about the cliffhanger… I hate them myself – When I don't know what will happen that is! xD Sorry! xD I promise the next chapter will be up tomorrow :P No delay!