(A/N: Thanks again everyone! I always get super excited to read all the reviews! I'm so glad you're all enjoying it just as much as I am. So sorry if updating is a little slow... I work a lot and end up putting it off but rest assured, I will not leave ya hanging~)

Helga sat in Arnold's room, clicking on the push end of a pen repeatedly with frustration. She had been recalling all the moments prior to this, struggling to accept where she was now and why. Arnold had one of his "Brilliant save everyone" schemes in the works and, although if it were to pan out like he wanted it would be in her favor, and although she was able to not only be close with him at this moment but also alone, it didn't stop the frustration from rearing its ugly head and for good reason.

"It's not going to work, Arnold" Helga sighed as she narrowed her eyes at him. "There is no possible way you could get a bunch of yuppies to buy my Dad's crappy beepers."

Arnold understood her disbelief but it didn't matter. "We have to at least try, Helga!" He tried his best to convince her. "Sometimes you have to just try and look at the bright side, right?"

"Bright side?" She scoffed, as she let go of his hands and placed them on her hips in defiance. "Where is the bright side in us planning all this stuff, probably getting a bunch of people involved, and everyone...?" Helga prettied up her face and made quotation marks with her fingers, "Try their best..." then went back to her original scowl, "Just to end up failing?! Just face it, Football head. My Dad's business is done, finished, kaput, dead and buried ten feet under."

Arnold shook his head and continued on his adamant smile despite it all. Someone always had to look on the bright side and it might as well be him. "It can't be completely hopeless! Let's go to my house and plan. We could even call up a few people who could help out with a few things. Gerald is a great salesman and could probably push the product like he did with his Wacko Watches, Rhonda obviously knows what audience to attract, and Phoebe is great at managing things... We could totally do this!"

Despite the young girls complete and absolute disbelieve in the idea, she felt she had no choice but to agree. "Fine, whatever Arnoldo, but if and when we fail, I'll be the first to say I told you so."

Arnold nodded and they both went on their way to his house.

"I'm home everyone!" Arnold called out as he opened the old door to the boarding house, causing a few heads to peep from around the corner to greet him.

"Welcome home Shortman!" His grandpa called back as the elderly man slowly approached him. Once clasping his grandson in a big warm hug, he noticed Helga standing awkwardly behind him. "Ohhhh and I see you brought a little friend with you, how nice?" he chuckled before stepping aside to let her in. "Got a little project or something to do today?"

Helga scoffed and crossed her arms. "Sure, if you call Arnold butting into my family's private business a project then you could totally say that." She snidely replied.

Arnold shook his head and looked up at his grandfather who had clearly paid no mind to her attitude. "We are gonna do some research in my room on how to revive failing businesses for class. The mayor sent a request into the school to have students plan ideas to uplift the city a little and we decided to pick Big Bob's Beepers."

"We?!" Helga stomped, "You mean YOU decided that's what we would do. Don't put us failing on me, Mr. Know-it-all"

Phil groaned and scratched his head. "And you picked Big Bob's Beepers, huh? Well you got your work cut out for you, Arnold. I agree with your little angry friend here but if anyone can make something out of that blowhard jerk's business, it's you." He then turned to Helga, "No offence."

"None taken." She nodded "Now let's just get this over with, I'm practically as old as him." She said pointing to Phil who just laughed. "No offence."

"None Taken!" The old man laughed as he waved his arms in surrender before nudging his grandson in the shoulder "I see you like em feisty, eh Shortman?" He said, causing his grandson to blush and him to only laugh harder before disappearing into the living room.

Helga eyed Arnold suspiciously, causing him to feel shy and awkward. Unable to give her any sort of response, he headed up the stairs and she followed. "My parents are probably in their bedroom, I better say Hi to them before we start since we don't know how long this will take us. You can head up to my room, if you'd like."

Helga snorted, "Whatever but you better not take too long or I'm outta here, you got that?"

Arnold smiled and nodded, knowing full well that she wouldn't actually leave. "Whatever you say, Helga." He said as they reached his parents' bedroom. He looked at the old door and hesitated. For some reason, approaching his parents like this almost felt like he was collecting rent from the boarders. Was it really okay to disturb them? What if they needed private time and he was interrupting? Arnold could feel the awkwardness grow inside him and he shuttered. Remembering Helga was still behind him, he coughed and turned to her. "You can go on up, this will only take a minute."

Helga sighed and pulled on the chain to his stairway, "Fine." She could see he was having a bit of trouble. Wanting to desperately comfort him in some way, knowing full well the feeling he was experiencing, she ignored her feelings and headed on up to his room.

Once Helga had finally disappeared into his bedroom, Arnold turned once again to the door in front. I can do this! He thought as he reached his hand up to knock, everything will be fine... Arnold inhaled sharply, but as he was about to knock, the door in front of him flew opened to reveal the surprised face of his father. "Uhhh... Hey, Dad!" was all that managed to come out.

Miles smiled at his young son before him. "Hey, Arnold! Is everything okay? I was just about to go downstairs and get something to eat. Did you need something?" He watched as Arnold awkwardly scratched the back of his arm and looked towards his rooms set of stairs.

"I, uhhh, just wanted to let you guys know I was home. I decided to take a walk after school to think about what I was gonna do for this big project and figured maybe I made you guys worry... I hope you didn't worry, did you?" The youth turned to his father and shyly looked up.

Miles heart grew warm as he saw his sons care. "We were a little concerned but we knew you probably had a reason for coming home late, right honey?" He replied, looking behind him.

Just as he queued, Stella got up from a chair she had been sitting on, closed her book and headed towards them both. "Is that Arnold?"

Nodding, Miles opened the door between them to let her get a better view of their son. "Yeah. He took a walk after school but he's home now." He turned back to Arnold "Is this for the same project you told us about before? The public relations one or something?"

Arnold flinched, remembering the lie he had told them but shook his head in recovery. "No, this is a separate one. We were tasked into thinking up ways to revitalize a part of town or business in order to help the city."

"We?" Stella asked as she reached the door and crossed her arms with a smile. "Who's your partner? Can we meet them?"

Feeling another blush mount his cheeks, Arnold looked away and up at his stairs again. Was talking to parents supposed to be this hard? He remembered that they had seen him and Helga together shortly after their many years slumber. He also knew lying to save his own embarrassment wasn't going to work as she was in his room so, with much courage he faced them. "You already have. It's Helga... You remember her, right?"

Both parents noticed his embarrassment and looked at each other before chuckling. "Sure Son, we remember her. She's the one who helped us wake up with her locket, right?" Miles asked while he engraved his son's expression in his mind. It seemed so sudden that one moment this boy was in diapers and the next he was blushing over a girl. "Man, time sure does fly..." He murmured out loud.

"Oh my," Stella looked concernedly at her husband. "It has been quite some time since we've seen her. Maybe we should say hi and thank her again for her help..."

"No!" Arnold suddenly shouted as he put his hands up in a stopping motion, causing his parents to step back a bit in shock. Realizing how aggressive he must have seemed, Arnold took a deep breath and smiled. "I mean, No you don't have to do that... We really gotta start on this project and it's really big, you know? If anything, I've kept her waiting in my room long enough... I probably should go check on her and make sure she's comfortable." Arnold said, nervously pointing his thumb up at his room while slowly walking back.

"Uh huh..." Miles started, raising an eyebrow. "And you two are gonna work on your project alone in your room?"

"Yeah! We'll be up there for a while. It's pretty important..." Arnold said as he reached the foot of his stairway.

"I don't know if that's a-" Miles started before getting cut off by an elbow jab in the side by his wife.

"You two have fun!" She smiled up at Arnold, giving him a nod to go up. "Work hard and tell her we said Hi, okay?" She called up to him as he disappeared into the darkness of the attic.

Miles looked down sternly at his wife. "Do you really think it's a good idea for those two to be alone up there?"

Stella giggled and grabbed her husband's hand. "They'll be fine, honey."

He made a slight grown of displeasure and squeezed her hand. "Yeah but-"

"They'll be fine, Miles." She repeated before tugging on him to follow her. "Arnold seems like a very responsible, level headed boy. I trust our son to make the right decisions, don't you?" She asked softly. Miles responded in yet another groan before accepting that his worries were unfounded.

"Sorry I took so long," Arnold said the moment he opened his bedroom door. "I really wanted to make sure that they weren't worried about me since I told them I'd come home straight after school and I-" He immediately stopped talking the moment he looked around and noticed Helga laying on his bed, her head shoved in his pillow. "What are you doing?"

After Arnold had sent Helga up to his room, alone, she found it her right to twirl and prance around, and look at all his things (some she had seen before, some she hadn't) before promptly flopping down on his bed and wallowing in the scent of her beloved. Of course she had no intention of letting him know she did all that, however she had been caught red handed doing that final thing. Sitting up almost on queue of his question, Helga cleared her throat before responding. "N-nothing! Nothing at all! In fact, I was doing so much of nothing that I collapsed from boredom and fell right on your bed." she stuttered.

Arnold crossed his arms and smirked with amusement. "Uh huh."

Feeling her embarrassment heighten, Helga jumped off the bed and headed straight to his computer where she had set down her things. "W-Well what are you standing around for, Bucko?! We have work to do! You already wasted a decade talking to your parents down there that I nearly died so hurry up and let's get started! Geez!" She yelled as she organized the desk; papers stacked, pens collected, and computer turned on.

Arnold slowly walked over to the workstation and sat down in his computer chair, before looking up at her. "You ready?"

Helga, still red with embarrassment, crossed her arms before slouching on his small flip out sofa. "Been ready for years, Football head! Take it away!"

"UGH!" Helga groaned, after the last click of her pen top. "We've been at it for hours! I'm tired of this stupid plan." She looked over at the clock. 6:14pm. "and I'm starving..."

At this point in time, Arnold had already called Gerald, Phoebe and Rhonda to schedule a meeting for them after school tomorrow, wrote down a list of people to see and talk to, as well as a possible spreadsheet to manage their time effectively. He turned his computer chair towards Helga and sighed in annoyance.

"You know, maybe if you would have helped a little this would have gotten done sooner..." He grumbled at her, only causing her to straighten up and scowl back.

"Yeah well, maybe if you'd have quit while you're ahead I'd had already eaten dinner and been watching tonight watching Wrestle Mania, but I'm not!" Helga stood up and pointed her fingers in his face. "Instead I'm stuck in this stupid room with this stupid, nosy Football Head."

Arnold could feel anger rising in his chest but did his best to fight the urge to fight back. He knew very well fighting with her would only waste time and make their situation worse. After thinking about it for a second, it made Arnold wonder. Why is she still acting like she hates me? He could see that it was always a front now; a guise to distract everyone from who she really was but... why bother putting on an act when they were alone?

Arnold sighed and figured now would be as good as any time to have a heart to heart. He pulled his tired body out of the chair and walked over to his bed. Helga followed him with her eyes but remained in her position, although curious. "Helga..." He started before sitting down. "What's wrong?"

Raising her eyebrow, she decided to continue on with her act. "What do you mean? Nothing's wrong. I'm just peachy."

Arnold crossed his arms and gave her a stern look, causing her to fidget with her pen again. "Look, I understand that talking about your personal life is hard for you but it's just me." Arnold began, feeling a little awkward and twiddling his thumbs. "I thought maybe if we worked on this project together, it could really help you out so why fight with me about it?"

Helga closed her eyes and tightened her grip on her pen, before slamming it down on his computer desk. She knew he was right but the act was hard to shut off. It was who she was, or rather, who she had forced herself to be for so long that it was just another entity of her. Helga willed her body to walk to him calmly but couldn't let herself sit down like she knew he wanted.

"Because..." Helga waned, unable to look at him. "Because I don't want to believe it's possible... that's why."

Arnold reached his hand out for her, but got ignored. "But why? Don't you want to fix your family business?"

"Of course I do, Arnold!" She yelled, looking out his football shaped window. "It's just; I don't want to get my hopes shattered when it doesn't work out!" Her heart began to pound and she could feel herself becoming unstable; unable to control her emotions. "Not everything works out all happy, sunshine and rainbows!"

"I know that but-" He started but was quickly cut off.

"No! You don't!" Helga shouted, finally looking at him. Her face had become flushed and he could see she was on the verge of some sort of emotional rage, similar to what she looked like the other morning. "Thing's always just work out for you, don't they?! You try and try and try, and even when it looks like things are hopeless, they suddenly just go your way, right? You found your parents, you got that stupid document stating your house was a landmark, you brought your boarder together with his daughter for Christmas-" She listed.

Arnold's eyes widened. "Helga, how did you know about that?"

She stopped herself and forgot her place. "Huh? Know what?"

"About Mr. Hyunh's daughter Mai coming to see him on Christmas, how did you know that happened?" Arnold looked at her, puzzled. As far as he knew, only Gerald knew about the secret Santa and his present to the Vietnamese man.

Realizing she had said too much, Helga fought her mind for excuses. "I... uh...-" but nothing came of use.

Neither of them spoke for what seemed like eternity and all that was heard was Gerty howling and laughing while other loud bangs followed below them. Helga's rage had subsided into what had become this jumble of mixed feelings. Should she tell him the truth? Should she make something up like, she happened to be passing by in the middle of night, by his house which was way out of her way, and saw? No... She knew he wouldn't buy it.

Meanwhile, Arnold just sat in a state of dumbfoundment. Going over the events in his head, over and over, he couldn't quite figure out where within that day she might have known about it. Or even if he had shared it in class the day after. "How did you know?" He repeated, mostly to himself but out loud nonetheless.

"Because... I just did?" Helga suggested, shrugging innocently.

Arnold shook his head, convinced there was no possible way for her to know something so personal, something that had went on within his own household. "No. That's not possible, Helga." He looked at her with desperate eyes. "Please tell me how you knew about that."

Helga reached within herself and knew that there was no way of escaping his question. "Guess the jig is up." She started, finally giving up and plopping down on the bed beside him. Kicking her feet back and forth like a carefree child, she glanced over at Arnold, preparing her next words. "I gave that guy my Nancy Spumoni snow boots so he would find her for you..." Again, another silenced washed over them as Arnold digested the information. "I had seen you and Gerald darting around all over town that day, and decided to find out why, overheard that he wouldn't do it without those stupid yet really boss boots, and gave him mine since Miriam miraculously got them for me for Christmas and the sizes happened to be right." She explained before he was able to even ask. "Like I said, things just happen in your favor, Football Head. Not mine."

Without a single thought, Arnold's body moved on its own and wrapped his arms around her into a giant hug. Helga's body began to tingle from her head to toe as she could feel his warmth suddenly colliding with her own. Sighing in happiness, she shakily placed a lone hand on his back in a half attempt in a normal act of affection. "Thank you!" He gasped. "I had no idea!"

Yeah if you only knew half the stuff I've done, you dolt... She snickered to herself in silence. Within all of the years that she had known him, he had thrown himself into solving others problems without asking anything in return. It was one of the many traits she loved about him. If ever there was a chance for her to swoop in and help her beloved save the day, Helga always took it, even if it meant rummaging through garbage or sacrificing herself. Her only prized treasure was knowing Arnold was happy. "Yeah, yeah... It wasn't a big deal really."

Letting her go, Arnold looked her in the eyes with the most heartwarming smile the girl could only ever dream of receiving. "See, this is what I mean..." His eyes began to search hers for some unknown answer, "You're heart is more pure than you know, Helga. You have gone out of your way to help me so many times, even times I didn't know about! You don't even ask for credit... If only you'd be open like this instead of putting on your tough act." His words were soft and penetrating, like butter melting on a hot dinner roll; slowly seeping into her with all its gentle warmth. She could feel herself becoming weak to his sultry voice as it spoke words she had prayed to hear one day.

"Arnold..." she let his name escape her mouth but it didn't stop him from continuing.

"Helga, why must you hide who you really are from everyone?" He asked as he adjusted himself on the bed to face her clearly.

She could feel his gaze reaching deep within her soul; those beautiful, yet curious green orbs chiseling away at her inner structure and shaking every fiber of her being. Unable to do anything to stop herself, she decided to let him in. "Because if they found out that I'm actually soft and squishy on the inside, they would ridicule me and I get enough of that from my own home that I don't need it everywhere else."

Hearing her honest answer surprised him. "Why do you think they'd ridicule you?" He asked.

"They already have once before..." Helga broke away from his hypnotic gaze. "Back a really really really long time ago when we were in preschool."

"So basically around the time we first met?" He confirmed.

Helga nodded. "Yeah. You were really nice to me, Arnold. Nicer than anyone had ever been to me in my entire existence practically..." She explained, now beginning to feel totally exposed but unable to stop. This was the second time, and hopefully the last time, she would ever have to explain the story of her past. "You held your little umbrella for me in the rain and even complimented me. I had never gotten a compliment before so I got really happy... until everyone started making fun of me for it. Then I decided to unearth my inner Bob and pound them until they stopped, thus being who I am now." Helga finished, taking a deep breath and feeling vulnerable.

"Wow..." Arnold sat amazed at her story. "I had no idea. I mean, that was a really long time ago I honestly don't remember any of that anymore."

"Psh, Well we were like 4, Arnoldo. I don't expect you to remember." Helga snorted in spite of herself for remembering.

"But you remembered, Helga. That's pretty amazing!" Arnold gave a small chuckle, "In fact, there are a lot of things about you that are amazing that I bet you don't give yourself credit for..."

Helga could hardly believe what she was hearing. Is he really saying these things or am I dreaming? If I am dreaming, I better not wake up anytime soon... She thought as she drank his words in.

"L-like what? I mean, Of course I'm amazing but what in particular did you have in mind...?" she urged, feeling herself blush but not minding.

"Like how strong you are, to start! You have a pretty terrible dad who can't even call you by your own name half the time and a mom who barely pays attention, yet you still get some of the best grades in our class! You're pretty exceptional at sports and can even beat Harold to a touchdown. Your writing is probably good enough to be published..." As Arnold continued to list her talents, Helga began to melt in front of him again, feeling all her love and passion for him well up inside her, threatening to explode. "And despite your intentional rough exterior, you have one of the kindest, most outgoing hearts I've ever-" But before he could finish his sentence, Helga grabbed him by his collar and pressed her lips against his in a manner he had now become familiar with.

At first, the initial action had shocked him into becoming stunned, but after a few second had passed, his body slowly un-petrified itself and warmed up to her extreme show of affections.

Surprised that she wasn't immediately pushed away, Helga let the kiss last a little longer before breaking away. Unsure if she should apologize or pretend like it didn't happen, the young girl let her stunned companion be the first one to break the ice.

"Your passion..." Arnold said, finally getting rid of the silence between them.

"H-huh?" Helga stuttered back as she was taken off guard by his response.

Arnold smiled and brought his hand to where her lips had once been; her warmth still lingering. "You're the most passionate person I've ever met, Helga. Even though you say that good things don't happen to you, there are a lot of good things that you make happen... and that's amazing."

Helga genuinely smiled at his words. It wasn't something she did often, especially not in front of people, but considering all that was going on, it deemed acceptable.

"Well not just anyone gets my help, Bucko..." She replied quietly, giving him a playful punch in the arm. "Just you..."

"Because you love me..." Arnold said out loud, feeling his heart beat loudly in his chest at the thought. This was the second time in his life that he had really and truly taken her actions into account.

Helga looked up at him shyly, not knowing how to respond. Of course he was right, but the whole conversation was giving her feelings she had never experienced before. She felt... girly and weird. Embarrassed and shy. She wanted to both hold him in her arms forever but also run far far away all at the same time.

"I'm sorry I never noticed it before, Helga." He said as he gave a small frown, placing his hand on top of one of her own.

"Hah. It's not like I made it easy." Helga laughed, looking down at his hand, trembling on the inside. "I purposely hid it, stupid. I didn't want you to know all the things I did. I'd rather watch you succeed from behind a trash can or something and enjoy your happiness from far away. It was just... easier that way"

Arnold felt a hint of concern, as he listened to her sad words. Even if he understood why she did what she did, it didn't make it anymore okay to him. He wanted to just say sorry over and over again, but he also knew it wouldn't change anything.

"You don't have to anymore though, right?" He shrugged; trying to comfort her in any way possible but Helga just shook her head.

"I... I don't know, Arnold..." She started, sounding helpless. "I...-" but before she could continue, they both heard a knock at the door.

Arnold quickly looked at the door and back at her, before standing up and rushing over to it. Slowly he creaked it open, seeing both his parents smiling faces along with a tray of cookies and 2 tall glasses of milk.

"Hey guys! How goes the work? We brought something for you to nibble on before dinner!" Miles enthusiastically boasted while patiently awaiting Arnold to let them in.

Still thinking that the atmosphere inside his room was too sensitive to let them in, he went against his better judgment to appease them, and opened the door wide. "Thanks, Dad!" Arnold forced out, looking over at Helga on his bed who seemed not too upset by the interruption.

"It would have been done by now but you know your grandma... trying to hunt some boars for the big feast..." Miles continued, setting down the tray of cookies on his red sofa.

Stella walked into the room, following her husband and placed the two glasses of milk on the desk before turning to them both. "Looks like you two got a lot done! Need any help?"

Wanting nothing more than for them both to leave, Arnold's nerves began to go into overdrive. "No, Mom! I think we are pretty good for right now..." He turned to Helga, "Right?" Come on Helga, if I needed you to be you at any point in time, now would be that time... He pleaded in his head, looking desperately at the girl for an answer he could agree with. They had accomplished a lot tonight and he wasn't thinking about the project. They were in the middle of a turning point for their relationship and Arnold had hoped to continue their very important conversation.

However, much to his dismay, Helga got up, brushed herself off and collected her backpack. "Thanks for the food!" She said after snatching one of the cookies and taking a bite. "I gotta be going though... It's pretty late and I don't want to make my parents worry."

Arnold could feel his heart drop. He wanted nothing more than to stop her from leaving but he knew that their moment had passed and she had to make her escape. "Helga, a-are you sure?" He asked, reaching out for her.

Collecting herself, Helga slung her backpack over her shoulder and signaled a goodbye to his parents. "Yeah. God knows I'm going to have to hear Bob yell about me not coming home soon enough to set up some dumb display." She explained, heading to the door and casually making her way out. "See you tomorrow!"

Miles and Stella could feel something was up and looked at each other for an answer neither could give. They watched as their son heaved a heavy sigh and closed the door behind her before slumping back down on his bed and cupping his head with his hands.

Concerned, Stella took it upon herself to walk over and place a hand on the poor boys shoulder. "You wanna talk about it, Arnold?" She coaxed, slowly giving him a soft rub.

Miles took a cookie from the plate and joined them, offering it to Arnold but just got turned away. "You okay, champ? Have a fight or something?"

So much did Arnold want to explain everything to them, but there was just so much and too little time. With many feelings battling it out inside the blonde boy, words just wouldn't be enough.

Feeling as though they were being shut out, Miles collected all the courage he could muster. "Arnold..." He started, sitting down next to the boy. "I know that you haven't really known us very long. I know there are probably a lot of things, important things, that we've missed out on... but I want you to know that we're here now and would really like you to share those things with us."

Stella nodded. "He's right. You told us a lot of fun things and exciting stories when we arrived here and settled down, but I'm sure there is a lot more you could tell us..."

Arnold could hear the love in their voice and knew that this probably wasn't easy for them either. Just as much as he had lived his life without parents there to help him through it, they had also lived their lives without their one and only son.

"I'm sorry..." He said, swallowing his feelings and accepting the cookie from his Dad. "I have a lot I need to tell you but..."

"But maybe now isn't the right time, right?" Stella suggested, smiling and nodding. "We understand honey, just know that whenever you are ready to talk about it, we will be right here."

Miles agreed and patted his son on the back, "That's right, and we'll always be here from now on. So no more missing out on your life. We could even document it as we go! What do you say, Arnold?" He playfully suggested.

The suggestion brought a small smile onto the boys face as he imagined his dad following him around all day with a cam-quarter. "That's okay... I think just being here is enough."

Knowing it would probably be best to leave him alone to think; the couple gave each other a queue and stood up. "Dinner will be done soon... hopefully" Miles called out before exiting the room. Stella lingered a few more seconds, making eye contact with Arnold before giving a smile. "I hope you feel better, honey." She whispered to him before shutting the door and continuing down the stairs.

The night had been both a beginning and an end for the two pre-teens. With the conversation still hot on their mind, they each replayed the scenes over and over to themselves, thinking up ways to confront the other the next day.