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

They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.

Title: "Smoke on the water"

Summary:Trouble always seemed to find Arnold, especially if that trouble was Helga Pataki. After a fierce mud fight at a school trip, Arnold was forced to head back to shower. Helga was also left behind in order to change so when the rusty pipes gave out and left Arnold blind with his own shampoo who else could save him than the girl who had put him in this predicament to begin with?

Author's 1st note: I've been writing on and off on this story for more than a year xD After getting the idea, I wrote for a long time before realizing that it wasn't going in the direction I had initially planned. It was supposed to have been a steamy shower sex story, but it ended up becoming way longer and more detailed than that. So this is fluff and shenanigans galore and I'm not at all sure about the rating for this xD

Also, NO LEMONS in this one! There was supposed to be, much earlier in this story even, but it ended up becoming much longer than I had planned and more fluffy, so in a way I didn't want to "taint" it by making them have sex… does that make sense? xD But there's still adult situations in there :P

This is also my first upload to since my HUGE writer's block… and my gallstone attack xD I can't say whether the writer's block is over or not, but the last 1,000 words were written within an hour or so, so maybe it is? I really can't promise that I'm getting back on track, but at least I have something new to give you guys. And I still continuously get new ideas for fanfics so it's not like my brain has shut down completely xD

Oh, and the title is mostly just because I couldn't think of another song reference with the word "water" in it xD

[Please notify me if you notice any grammar mistakes. This isn't my first language, so there's bound to be mistakes.]

Typical. Just typical. Arnold thought as his hand rubbed his arm in order to get the mud off. He and his classmates had, along with their teacher, gone out to explore Hillwood forest. It would be a three-day trip, a trip Arnold himself had been looking forward to in weeks. He had been having fun with Gerald while recognizing different plants and talking about back when his grandpa had taken them out in the forest as well. Arnold's mood had quickly gone down when he felt something hit his head though, which was unmistakably mud. He had turned around to find the culprit and as he had figured, Helga had been whistling innocently.

Arnold had considered to let it go, that's what he usually would have done, but lately he had felt more revengeful towards the blonde girl, so he had picked up some mud himself and thrown it at her. She had looked at him in shock, but then an almost proud grin had spread on her face and the mud fight had begun. Since Helga had a much better aim than Arnold had, he was the one who was the dirtiest once the teacher caught onto what was going on. The teacher had then send Arnold back to the shack to get cleaned up and the soiled boy had walked off before hearing what the teacher said to Helga, fuming since he would miss the rest of the first exploration.

That's why Arnold was currently standing inside a cubicle in a run-down old shack in the middle of the forest. He was just happy that they at least had water there though the teacher had warned him that it may not be warm for long. Arnold looked down at himself and frowned when he noticed that he was still muddy. Hoping that the mud would eventually disappear on its own in the water, he started to spread his shampoo on his head instead. Just as he did though, he heard a crack.

He looked around in confusion and followed the sound into the wall. "What the…?" he muttered before the water suddenly turned freezing cold and he shouted. He moved to the side to get away from the water and his hand, in the panic, went down his face.

Arnold hissed at the feeling of shampoo in his eyes despite having closed them reflexively almost instantly. What do I do now? He questioned and tried to feel around though he didn't know what he was searching for.

"Hello?" he asked, but sighed right after. "Who's supposed to hear me?" he asked himself and groaned loudly when his hands hit the cold water again. For a moment, he considered dealing with the pain and just stand under the freezing water for long enough to get the shampoo out of his eyes. Moreover, probably winding up with a cold.

Before he could make a decision, he heard a knock on the door. He whipped around instinctively wanting to cover himself and almost slipped in the process. He barely managed to get ahold of something made out of metal before he would fall.

"What the heck is going on in here?" a female voice asked as soon as the door opened. There was a few seconds of silence before Arnold heard a loud laugh. "What the fuck happened to you?" she asked and he realized who it was who was now in the room with him.

"Helga!"—Arnold almost slipped on the wet tiles—"What are you doing here?!"

"I got mud on me too, you dork, so I needed to change." She answered and closed the door behind her even though she wasn't sure what she was doing in there to begin with. She had just heard a yell and figured it was her human duty to see if she could help whoever the pathetic creature was. She just hadn't figured it would be the most pathetic creature she had ever known.

"Th-The pipes broke and the water is f-freezing!" Arnold explained even though Helga hadn't asked.

"What do you want me to do, Football Head?" she asked in incredulity.

Arnold opened his mouth to respond, but then remembered that he was completely naked and, did in fact, just want her to get out of there before he would start blushing. "J-Just get out, Helga, please! I-I'll deal with this myself!" he begged even though the shampoo in his eyes was starting to sting.

"Yeah, right. How? You're just standing there like some idiot." Helga replied and then he heard the sound of footsteps.

"Wait. What are you doing?" he asked.

"What I do best; helping you." she answered and he could hear that her voice was now closer.

"When have you ever helped me?"

"You're kidding! I guided you through the whole FTI thing. I won that essay competition that got our whole class to San Lorenzo and I was the one who got El Corazon from La Sombra and saved the entire Green Eye village!"

Arnold couldn't argue against Helga since all she had said was true. She had actually always come to his rescue when it counted, but right now, all he wanted was for her to get out of here.

"W-Well, that doesn't change the fact that I'm naked here!" he reminded her.

The blonde girl snickered. "What an astute observation, Arnold-o, especially since your eyes are closed. Why are they anyway? You think that because you can't see me, I can't see you, like an ostrich?"

"What I'm saying is: get out of here, please!" he begged but then felt a warm presence in front of him.

"Just let go of the nobs already so we can turn this piece of shit off!"

Arnold tried to follow Helga's instruction, but as soon as he let go of the instruments, he lost his balance. "I'm slipping!" he announced just before he stumbled into her. Helga had tried to hold onto one of the nobs, but all that had done was to turn the nob and successfully turn the water off, but not save them from the fall.

They both fell to the floor and when she felt pain shoot through her head, Helga's scream echoed in the room. She had pillowed Arnold's fall and so he easily managed to use his palms to sit up.

"I'm so sorry, Helga! Are you ok?"

"You moron!" Helga groaned in anger and he felt her hands wipe his eyes clean. "Now I'm all wet and not in the fun way!"

Arnold opened his eyes slowly and saw Helga's scowl in front of him along with her white and very wet t-shirt. He gulped at the sight of her nipples poking at the t-shirt due to the cold water. For some reason, his body then decided to notice that Helga's legs were just as naked as his were, leaning closely against his own after the fall.

"W-Why aren't you wearing any pants?" he asked and she looked at him in disbelief.

"I could ask you the same thing." She retorted and he gulped before covering himself with his hands. "And for your information, Arnold-o, I never got to put any pants on before you shouted for help so if you've got a problem with it; deal!" she told him before pushing him away, not caring that he had to move his hands away from his crotch to avoid crashing against the floor.

Helga turned her back to Arnold who had luckily crashed against the wall of the cubicle and could now cover himself and sit up at the same time. His eyes couldn't help but travel to her rear since she was basically sticking it in his face in an attempt to get ahold of the nobs and get herself standing up.

Pink. His brain observed before he turned his eyes away. Why did she remove the shampoo?!

"Maybe another cubicle works." Helga pointed out and offered him her hand. He looked at it in incredulity. "Well, let me help you stand up, for fuck's sake!"

Part of the embarrassed boy wanted to reprimand her for her language, but he figured he was in no position to deny her help or chastise her. He took her hand, but did his best to continue covering himself with the other.

"You're gonna have to use your other hand to hoist yourself up. The floor's too slippery." Helga said, her grip on the nobs going tighter.

"B-But if I do that then…" he argued, but then noticed that she had closed her eyes.

"I won't see a thing. I promise."

Arnold blushed at the sight of Helga standing above him, wearing only a white t-shirt and pink panties, her eyes closed as if she was waiting for him to kiss her. With a gulp, he let go of his crotch and used the now free hand to hoist himself up. A sudden and mischievous smile spread on her face.

"A little late to be modest though."

"H-Helga!" Arnold scolded, but she just laughed as she led him out of the cubicle and into the next one.

"Maybe one of the other cubicles won't be such a bitch." she stated and let go of his hand. He saw her starting to mess with the nobs and surely enough, water started to spray on him.

"Cold!" he shrieked and tried to cover himself.

"Criminy, don't whine so much!" she scolded before turning the nob and the water turned warmer.

Arnold practically purred at the feeling of his goose bumps disappearing. Upon hearing Helga snickering though he opened his eyes and looked at her. She held her hand in front of her eyes, but with clear space between her fingers.

"Not so cold anymore, huh?"

He felt confused for only a second before he whipped his hands back to his crotch. "Helga!" he scolded again, but she just laughed and waved her hands in mock surrender.

"I got it, I got it... but good for you, not-so-short-man." she teased before leaving the cubicle. He blushed again at the compliment and turned his head to watch her leave. The walls of the cubicle only covered him up to his shoulders so it was easy to see when Helga started pulling her t-shirt off.

"W-Wh-What are you doing?!"

"Well, since I have to change again anyway, I figured I'd might as well shower. I wasn't planning to since you were in here, but things have changed."

"How so?!"

"Show me yours, I'll show you mine." Helga sang in a melody Arnold didn't know. He turned his head away in embarrassment before she threw her t-shirt away. After a few seconds of shutting his eyes so tightly that it almost hurt, he heard the sound of more fabric falling on the wet tiles.

"Wait… A-Are you seriously going to shower next to me?"

Arnold heard a door opening and closing next to him. He opened one eye in curiosity and saw that Helga had stepped into the cubicle next to his. He did his best to look away, which was simple enough since he couldn't see anything else other than her bare shoulders due to the screens.

"What does it look like I'm doing, yutz?"

"And you're just going to be all natural about it?"

"You've seen a girl's body before, haven't you?"

Not like this! Arnold's mind screamed, but he shoved the voice away. "So, you're saying it doesn't matter because we aren't twelve?"

"Something like that."

"Then you'd do this too if it was Gerald and not me here?" Arnold asked, feeling a pang of jealousy at the thought.

Helga snickered. "Yeah, I'm sure Phoebe would be a-ok with her best friend showering with her boyfriend. Hell no." she replied.

"Then... how about Harold?" Arnold asked, feeling an odd sense of curiosity flowing through him and he couldn't help but snicker when he saw the disgusted look on Helga's face.

"And fear the walls falling down due to his weight when he'd try to catch a look at me? No thanks." she answered.

Arnold thought for a moment. "Sid?"

If Helga's expression before had been one of disgust, this one was one of mortification. "Oh, for fuck's sake! Harold may be a pervert, but Sid's at level 100. Fuck no!" she replied, the frown still apparent on her face.

"Eugene?"

"And risk having to give him CPR because he slips on his own soap and cracks his head against the wall? I'll pass."

"Stinky?"

"I oughta say I'd take the darndest quickest shower my entire life if I had to shower with that country bumpkin."

"Curly?"—Helga shot Arnold a slanted look at that suggestion—"Point taken..." he said and looked at the wall, trying to think of the rest of the boys in the gang, but he couldn't think of anymore. "It almost sounds like I'm the only one you'd be willing to shower with like this." he observed with an inward chuckle at how stupid that sounded. He and Helga weren't exactly friends. Never had been, never would be.

"Well, yeah." she replied nonchalantly.

He whipped his head to the side to stare at her. "What?"

"What do you mean what? We just went through the entire list of boys in our class and I said no to all of them. What more do you need?"

"What more do I need for what?" Arnold asked in confusion.

Helga looked at him with a bored expression. "The level of denseness in this boy..." she muttered to herself and closed her eyes to feel the water trickle down her body.

Arnold wanted to keep questioning her, but at the sight of her, he froze. She was just standing there, her eyes closed as if the water was the greatest pleasure she had ever come across. Her blonde hair was clinging to her shoulders and back, hanging onto her lathered body. He gulped, which she must have heard because she opened her eyes and looked at him. He looked back at the wall, trying to pretend he had done that this whole time. He wasn't looking at her, but he could hear her open the door in her cubicle and step outside.

Arnold sighed in relief, believing Helga was about to leave until he saw her step into the cubicle they had been in before. "You're not gonna get much cleaned without your villainous shampoo." she observed with an eyebrow quirked.

"Oh. U-Uh, thanks." Arnold said and was about to lean over the wall to grab it from her, but it went out of his reach when she walked out of the cubicle again. He gasped in shock when she put her hand on his door and he turned his back to her. "What are you doing?!" he asked in a panic, barely remembering her words from earlier about how it was too late to feel modest.

"I figured you must have hurt your arms before when we fell because all you've been doing since getting in that cubicle is standing." Helga replied and Arnold heard the squishy sound of shampoo pouring out of the bottle. She crouched and put the bottle on the tiles before spreading the shampoo in her hands and putting her fingers in his hair. He tensed instantly, his throat croaking in shock.

"W-What are you doing?" he asked, feeling his spine freeze.

"I'm not sure. I guess…"—Helga massaged Arnold's scalp in a way that made him whimper a bit—"I guess I'm doing this because it's my fault that your corn flour hair is all muddy now."

He frowned in confusion. "Corn flour?"

"Yeah. You have corn flour hair."

"Wouldn't most people call it blonde?"

"When have I ever been like most people?" Helga questioned and Arnold couldn't argue against that. Her fingers started combing his hair gently, spreading the shampoo around every lock he had. He was surprised that it felt so good. His cheeks were flaring red, but it felt good.

"You have blonde hair too." he pointed out though he wasn't sure why he felt the need to.

"Well, yeah, but mine's more like mustard-colored." she replied and he couldn't help but chuckle.

"Mustard? I'd say it looks more like the sun." he observed and felt her hands stop their movement for a few seconds before they started again.

"The sun? You're calling my hair blinding?" she asked, but he shook his head.

"No, it was a compliment. Your hair has a warm color and it's…" he replied, but then went quiet. He felt her hands fall to the nape of his neck, almost as if she was in just as deep thought as he was.

"It's... what?"

He shrugged gently. "P-Pretty… I guess."

For a long time, they were quiet. Helga was the one to cut through the silence by putting her hands in Arnold's hair again and thanking him. He almost turned around to look at her in surprise; Helga Pataki wasn't known for saying thank you too often. Then again, she wasn't known for being complimented on a daily basis or washing other people's hair either. He felt the blush return to his face at the reminder and felt a shiver going down his back when she massaged his scalp. She laughed breathlessly.

"Feel good?" she asked almost sarcastically. She was sure he wasn't aware of it, but he actually moaned a little from time to time.

"U-Uh-huh…" Arnold replied shyly. "You're, uh… good at that." he continued, hoping to get his thoughts somewhere else than on this cubicle and the fact that a naked girl was standing behind him and Helga being that girl.

"I've done it a few times to my niece." Helga explained and he felt confused for a moment.

"Oh, right, you're an aunt!" he remembered and heard her groan.

"Please don't call me that. It makes me feel so old. Why, oh why, did Olga have to be born twelve years before me?" she questioned sarcastically and Arnold laughed again.

"How old is her daughter by now?" he asked and heard her groan again.

"Five, and she's getting real chatty. Olga adores her like she's the sun of the earth."

"Don't most mothers do that?"

"I wouldn't know. I'm nobody's mother and Miriam sure as hell didn't think of anyone else as her personal sun other than Olga."

Arnold sighed. Why did I ask that? He thought and was about to apologize when he felt Helga's hand travel to his shoulders. He flinched. "W-What now?"

"What? Don't tell me you only wash your hair and not your body?" she asked as her hands went down his back and he shivered.

"Well, o-of course I do, but I think I can do this by myself!" he insisted.

"You can wash your own back? I'd like to see that." she said sarcastically and moved her hands. He didn't need to turn around and see her face to figure out that she was waiting for him to prove what he had just stated. With a sigh, his wrapped his arms around his back, attempting to touch places on his back which were humanly impossible.

"Pathetic."—she snorted—"You're less than average flexible." she said, flicked his hands away and continued washing him.

"D-Don't you think this is going too far?"

"What is?"

"I-I mean, if... if the others came back and saw this, they-they'd be thinking we were... you know."

"Came back? Arnold, they're a million miles away into the forest. I'm sorry to tell you, but"—she leaned so close to him that he could feel her skin touch his back—"we're alone." She whispered.

Arnold was practically frozen to the spot. He felt very much like a deer in the headlights and it wouldn't surprise him if Helga felt like a hunter right then.

"Why? Am I making you nervous?"

He rolled his eyes in incredulity. "Well, y-yeah!"

"Why?"

"What?"

"Because I'm your bully?"

"N-No!"

"Because we're alone here?"

"No!"

"Then, is it because there's a naked girl behind you?"

"No!" Arnold insisted yet again, but frowned at his automatic answer. Wait. Isn't that why I'm feeling nervous? He thought, but realized that wasn't quite it. It was partially the reason for his nervousness, but there was something missing.

"Then is it because it's me who's naked?" Helga suggested with a cocky grin on her face, a grin the blonde boy knew and didn't have to turn around to figure out was on her face.

Arnold's eyes widened at her suggestion. Because it's… her? He repeated and blushed heavily in realization. Oh, no. This can't be happening... Me and my amazing sense of timing! He thought as he heard Helga hum thoughtfully.

"A little masochistic, aren't we?" she asked. "Falling for your bully?"

"N-No, you're wrong!"

"You didn't deny it right before though."

"Th-That's because your question shocked me! Th-The mere thought is…" Arnold said, felt Helga shift behind him and turned his head to look at her. She was resting her chin on his shoulder, her blue eyes sparkling close to his. He was speechless, just waiting like a duck to get shot as she inched closer to him. "W-Wait. Helga, what are you—" he asked, but didn't get to finish his question before her lips touched his. It was gentle, almost tender, but it had so much emotion in it that Arnold almost stumbled. Helga was quick to steady him though and her thigh touched his hand, causing it to flinch near her leg.

Not for the smallest second was Arnold capable of closing his eyes during the kiss. He didn't blink until Helga let go of him and disappeared out of his view. He stared at the spot where she had just been, the wheels in his head turning on full speed, trying to explain to him what on earth had just happened. When he came to himself and turned to look towards Helga, he saw that she was gone and so were her few items of clothing.

. Me and my sense of timing… I'm not just alone in a cabin in the middle of a forest with my bully… He thought as his fingers went to his mouth, which could still feel the presence of her lips upon them. I'm alone in a cabin in the middle of the forest with… the girl I have a crush on.

Arnold had deliberately been taking his time with finishing his shower. He feared meeting Helga outside the door, but when the warm water started to fade like the teacher had warned him about, he figured it was time to face the object of his emotions. Once he was dressed, he placed a towel over his shoulders and went outside. He dried his hair absentmindedly as he walked towards the sorry excuse for a bedroom all the students were sharing, girls and boys alike. He took a deep breath and walked inside, trying to seem cool about this very odd situation he was in.

Helga was sitting on her chosen bed, wearing a pair of lace shorts and a puffy t-shirt that was almost so big that it went indecently down her chest. When did I start feeling this way towards Helga of all people? Arnold thought and coughed to make his presence known, thinking that she would change her position if he did. She just looked at him from her phone and kept her knees together though her feet were slightly spread.

"Phoebe texted me. Seems like the class decided to camp out tonight." she told him.

Arnold whipped around, having been about to reach for his bag on his own bed. "So… it's just going to be the two of us tonight?" he asked, which she nodded at and turned her attention back to her cell. The blonde boy turned his head back to his bag, panic starting to spread through him. A-Alone… in a cabin… in the woods… with Helga! His mind could only process that much information at the time before it broke down and he fell onto his bed, not caring that his hair got his pillow wet.

"Tired?" she asked and he sighed his response. "Because of the mud fight or the shower?" she asked with humor in his voice.

Arnold sat up with a grunt, grabbed his pillow and threw it at her. The pillow hit the side of her face so when it fell down to the bed, he could see the look of disbelief in her eyes. "Why do you always have to tease me?" Arnold asked a little angrily, but the sudden playful expression on Helga's face was contagious.

"Because you make it so fucking easy!" she replied before throwing her own pillow at him.

He barely dodged it and grabbed it before it even fell to his bed. "That's no excuse!" he insisted and threw it at her. She stood up, nimbly avoiding the pillow and grabbed the other from her bed.

"Why do I have to explain myself to you?" she asked and threw her pillow at him. He groaned before standing up as well, grabbing a pillow and throwing it at her just before she threw another pillow at him.

"It would be nice to understand you just a little bit for once!"

"Why do you even care?"

"Because I don't get you! And I'm supposed to get everyone!"

"So I don't live in a box! Deal!" Helga said and once she did, she and Arnold were at each other's face, both holding a pillow in one hand.

They were staring into each other's eyes, tension falling and expectation rising. They both kept clutching their pillow in their hand, awaiting the other's move, but Helga knew that the pillow fight was over.

"Are you gonna kiss me or not?" she asked and his eyes widened. He shook his head, forcing himself to ignore his growing need for her and turned around. "I guess that's a not." she stated as he walked away, his fingers clutching tuffs of his hair in frustration.

"What kind of game are you playing?"

"Me? You're the one who threw the first pillow." Helga answered and threw her pillow at Arnold for good measure. He grabbed it with a groan.

"That's not what I mean! That whole thing in the showers. What was that?"

"What do you think?"

"Stop talking in riddles! I - - "

"That was a riddle to you? Boy, your brain is simple."

"Stop that! Stop avoiding the subject! Are we going to talk about this or not?"

"Not unless you want to wave it off as another heat-of-the-moment thing."

"Heat of the...?" Arnold repeated, but then remembered the last time he had ever spoken those words. He frowned deeply at the memory, but then realized what it meant. He lifted his head to look at Helga who was giving him a somewhat cold stare. "Wait… Is this some kind of revenge?"

Helga went bug-eyed at his question. "How petty do you think I am?!" she asked in disbelief.

He threw his arms to the side, gesturing that he didn't know and she just rolled her eyes. "You tell me!" he ordered, but she just crossed her arms stubbornly. He sighed and went towards his bed. "Never mind. I give up. Goodnight." he said before falling onto his bed and pulling the thin sheet over him.

"Arnold, I thought we agreed to never go to bed angry." Helga joked and sat down on her own bed just as Arnold appeared from under the covers again to shoot her a scowl. She stuck her tongue out at him before pulling her own duvet over her. She had brought one from back home, figuring that the sheets in the cabin would be less than ideal. Arnold hadn't thought of the same so when he went under the thin sheet, he felt cold almost instantly.

This is going to be a long night… He thought and closed his eyes.

"Would you stop clattering your teeth." Helga ordered tiredly.

Arnold did his best to stop, but he was too cold. "I-It's not my fault th-the shee-sheets are so thin!" he retorted and she groaned.

"You should have thought of that when you were packing. Cabins like these never provide anything free and with quality." she pointed out and he shook as he rolled his eyes.

"Duly noted." he muttered and continued to clatter his teeth.

After a moment, he heard Helga groan again. "That's it. Get outta that bed!" she ordered as she sat up.

"What? Are you kicking me out?" Arnold asked in disbelief and sat up as well.

"That wasn't the plan, but that could work too!" she retorted.

He frowned. "What was the plan?" he asked just as she lifted her duvet and gestured for him to join her. He went bug-eyed.

"Are you kidding?" he asked in awe. "This seems like an unnaturally kind thing for you to do." he pointed out suspiciously.

"I'm not doing this out of kindness, I just want to get some sleep! While you're clattering your teeth, I won't sleep and you're clattering your teeth because you're cold so get over here!" she ordered again.

Arnold had half the mind to decline; there were so many legitimate reasons why he shouldn't. She was his old bully and the girl he was in love with. Never mind trusting her, could he trust himself? He had barely just realized he had feelings for her and he wasn't sure how he felt about that yet.

"Get over here before I change my mind and throw you out of the house!" Helga ordered and Arnold obediently get out of his bed. He walked towards her as she laid back down on the bed, her back turned to him as her arm held the duvet up for him to climb in. His eyes quickly scanned her body, her big t-shirt all crumbled unceremoniously around her torso before he went under the duvet. She let it fall lazily over his body and kept her back turned to him. "Better?"

"Yeah… Th-Thanks."

Arnold looked at Helga's hair. It was sprawled all over her shoulders, part of the duvet and on the mattress. She really has long hair… He observed and inhaled, noticing the faint scent of vanilla. Huh. I didn't think Helga would use vanilla-scented anything. He thought and couldn't help but smile. He'd always known she had her feminine sides despite being a tomboy. She did love pink after all and he remembered noticing the yellow hearts on her wallpaper back when they were 9-years-old and he had followed her home. There's still so much I don't know about her… He thought sadly. How could he have known her his whole life and yet not be able to tell much about her?

"Helga?"

"What now, Football Head?" Helga said tiredly, having obviously been on the brink of sleep before he spoke.

"We have to talk."

"Oh, good. I was so worried we weren't gonna talk." Helga said sarcastically and turned around to face Arnold. They looked at each other for a moment before he leaned forward and kissed her. She blinked a couple of times, seemingly unfazed by what he was doing. "That's not talking." she stated when he had leaned back.

"I know." he replied.

"Do you now?" she asked rhetorically and tilted her head to the side on the pillow. When he didn't say anything else, she huffed. "You know, if you think your eyes can talk you're wrong."

Arnold still didn't say anything, but he felt his body move towards her and he kissed her again. Inside his mind, he was wondering what he was doing and why; this wasn't going to get him anywhere and it didn't help him understand his own feelings or Helga's for that matter.

"Still not talking." Helga stated after having pulled away from the kiss. He wasn't sure what he had expected her to do, but not that she would shove him off the bed.

"Ow!" Arnold bellowed in pain when he felt the wooden floor hit his head. He started rubbing the back of his head as he heard the bed creak and he opened his eyes. Helga was sitting on all fours, leaning against the inside of her arms, which caused her breasts to push together as she looked down at him. She was smirking.

"Talk." She ordered. "And I just might let you come inside."

Come inside what?! Arnold couldn't help but shriek inside his head before he started shaking from the cold. He put his hands over his arms, looking pleadingly at her, but she simply stayed on all fours on the bed, waiting for him to start talking.

Arnold felt like being stubborn, just like she was being, so he crossed his arms and looked away. "Never mind. I don't feel like talking anymore." He stated childishly. Helga was surprisingly silent after his comment so he turned to look at her only to receive a pillow to his face. He made a muffled groan as he pushed it off his face.

Once he could see again, Helga had sat down on the bed and her bare foot was dangling over his crotch in a way that made him gulp nervously. "You woke me up in order to talk so you better fucking talk." She ordered, waving her foot warningly.

He gulped, but held his ground. "You can't make me." He insisted.

Helga quirked an eyebrow. "That a challenge, Football Head?" she asked and moved her foot dangerously close to his groin. It made him gulp in anticipation, but suddenly she groaned and moved back inside the covers. "If you want to die of hypothermia, be my guest."

She's annoyed, Arnold observed in his head. He couldn't blame her. It was he who was being indecisive for whatever reason. Well, the reason was most likely that he had only just found out he had feelings for his childhood tormentor and wasn't sure whether he wanted to do anything about it or not, despite how much he wanted to kiss her. He crawled back in the bed and under the covers, slightly surprised that Helga didn't kick him out again. After a moment of still shivering from the cold, he moved close enough to her to notice the scent of vanilla in her hair.

"Someone's eager all of a sudden." Helga said in a monotone voice, but Arnold knew she was mocking him for coming crawling back like this.

"Shut up, Helga." Arnold muttered in irritation.

"Tut-tut, your language is atrocious."

"Listen to you!" Arnold said in disbelief. "This is coming from the girl who has been sent to detention on more than one occasion for her language!"

"Well, it's expected from me. You, on the other hand, are held to a higher standard." Helga remarked.

Arnold didn't know what to say to that so he changed the subject to his newest discovery. "You smell like vanilla." He stated lamely.

Helga looked at him over her shoulder. "Excuse me?"

"You-Your hair…" Arnold explained. "It smells like vanilla."

"Oh," Helga said in understanding and lied back down with her back turned to him. "Olga always buys me vanilla-scented things. I figure I might as well use them instead of wasting money on buying these things myself. I have no idea why she'd think that I'd like to reek of vanilla though."

"I kinda like it." Arnold confessed, but got shy the moment he said it. "I-I mean, it could be worse… she could have chosen strawberries."

Helga snorted. "Olga is many things, but she's not forgetful. She wouldn't buy strawberry products for me… though I doubt there's enough real strawberries in stuff like that to give me hives."

Arnold nodded in agreement. "You've been allergic to strawberries your whole life, right?" he asked as he remembered the first time he saw Helga filled with hives. It had happened by accident in 5th grade in the cafeteria. Helga had ordered a cranberry smoothie, but gotten a strawberry one by accident. She had broken out in red spots and Arnold had taken her to the nurse in a complete panic. He had never been so scared just from something as simple as that. When he found out it was just hives and Helga had mocked him for being so scared, he had been so relieved and embarrassed at the same time.

Helga nodded. "Yes, and yet Bob still doesn't remember." She replied. "He still buys strawberries and asks me each time why I haven't eaten them. He forgets it anyways so I've given up on reminding him. I just throw them out now and let him believe I've eaten them."

"I… I'm sorry, Helga." Arnold whispered in slight anger. He knew Bob and Miriam wouldn't win an award for best parents, but he still got shocked whenever he heard about their negligence towards their youngest daughter.

"About my allergy to strawberries?"

"N-No, about your dad."

"I don't need your pity, Arnold." Helga hissed defensively. "It's not like your family life is ideal either and yet you don't have to deal with people's pity so I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't pity me either."

"That's not true." Arnold said tensely. "Ever since we found out my parents died in San Lorenzo, people are looking at me differently. It's like they are afraid of hurting me now so they won't tell me what's on their mind. Even Gerald's stopped asking me for advice with his own troubles as if I can't handle them or something… You're the only one who stayed the same."

Helga snorted. "Well, sheesh. I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Arnold said as a small smile started to adorn his face. "It was nice… that at least one person wasn't affected by it."

Helga was quiet for a moment before she started turning around in the bed. "Who would have known"—Arnold moved backwards to make room for her—"that Arnold of all people would be grateful to my indifference?"

Arnold snickered at the irony. "Most definitely not Arnold."

"Or Helga." The blonde girl agreed and her shoulders shook with silent laughter.

Arnold watched Helga, catching himself thinking she looked undeniably cute right now; under the covers, her hair a complete mess and grinning. He started leaning forward and she noticed instantly and stilled while he kissed her once again. She didn't close her eyes, he could feel that, so he leaned back again.

"You're weird tonight…" Helga declared monotonously. "Don't tell me that peck earlier was enough to get you sexually frustrated?"

Arnold's eyebrows furrowed. "That's not what this is."

"Oh, yeah?" the girl questioned suspiciously. "How long since you got laid?"

Arnold shook his head. "I've never… I mean…" he said, but then changed his mind. He didn't want to talk about this after all, but he had already said enough. Unlike himself, Helga didn't need things spelled out to understand them.

"Hold on,"—Helga used her arm to raise herself up a bit—"Don't tell me you've never…?" she questioned, but let the question hang in the air. When Arnold didn't say anything, it was more than enough of an answer for her. "But I thought you and Lila did."

Arnold shook his head. "She wanted to wait and I respected that."

"You dated for a year!"

"Tell her that." Arnold said sourly.

He had never been sore about Lila's reluctance towards sex, he had been his usual understanding self about it. To his surprise, it hadn't been hard to hold back whatsoever, he never even attempted to get her to change his mind to all the boys' surprise. It wasn't until the neared the end of their relationship that he realized that he just didn't think of the redhead in a sexual way. He had adored her, but it had never grown any stronger than that. They finally parted ways some months ago and it had been so painless that he wondered why he ever thought he had real feelings for her to begin with.

Helga snorted and lied back down, this time on her back so she could stare at the wooden ceiling. "If it had been me, I'd never keep my hands off ya'." She stated simply.

Arnold felt his heart make one big skip before blood rushed to his face. "Y-You mean that in general or…?" he questioned, hoping to will his blush to go down. Helga shrugged as if she didn't know, but Arnold had a feeling that she was teasing him as usual. He didn't have it in him to interrogate her further so he just turned his head away from her and took a couple of deep breaths.

"What would you say if I said it was about you and not just in general?"

Arnold's eyes widened and when he whipped his head around, Helga was looking at him while snickering. "You're a mean one." He stated sullenly, his blush having flared up again from her comment.

"Mr. Grinch…" Helga sang in one final snicker.

"You're a complete sadist."

"Guilty as charged."

"You're just… completely insane."

"Is this going anywhere, Football Head?" Helga asked, the amusement in her voice disappearing and replaced with impatience.

Arnold blinked a couple of times before taking a breath. "So, why do I like you?" he asked with a low voice, but not so low that it was a whisper and nowhere near low enough for Helga not to hear.

Helga sat up, as if burned, and stared down at Arnold who was looking at her somehow meekly and somehow resolutely. It was an odd expression, one the girl above him hadn't seen before or knew what meant. She blinked a couple of times before the shock left her face and was replaced with nothing in particular. She then grabbed the pillow she had been resting on a second ago and smashed it against Arnold's face. He gasped and grabbed it to shove it away. She let him breathe after struggling for a few seconds.

"What the—"

"How long have you known that?"

Arnold didn't try to finish his exclamation because at the sight of Helga, he realized he had hit a nerve. There was an oddly, uncharacteristically vulnerable look in her eyes and he couldn't bring himself to be angry with her nor tease her about it. Even though the 9-year-old inside him was screaming at the opportunity to finally have the upper hand against Helga G. Pataki. He relaxed his shoulders, his hands still gripping the pillow which she was holding.

"Since today."

Helga's eyes scanned Arnold for a moment. "Today?" she repeated suspiciously.

"When we… were in the shower." Arnold explained, feeling his cheeks heat up just a little bit from the memory. "I had no idea before that… but when you asked me why you made me nervous, I realized… It could have been any other girl and it wouldn't have been was nerve-wrecking. It was because it was you, Helga, and not because you used to bully me as kids and… well, still do. It's just because it's… you."

Helga kept gazing at Arnold for a moment before she threw the pillow at his face again. Rather than halfheartedly strangling him again though, she just turned around and sat on the bed. "Where was this confession 6 years ago?" she asked quietly, pulling her knees up to her chest.

Arnold pulled the pillow down and looked at Helga. All he could see was her back so he put the pillow down and sat up. "I… wish I knew 6 years ago." He confessed. "But I was just a kid, Helga. I wasn't as… grown-up as you were."

Helga snorted. "Didn't stop you from getting one crush after the other, on girls who wanted nothing to do with you to make it worse."

Arnold flinched. "Point taken…"

"I just…" Helga started, sighed and finally looked at him. "Arnold, do you have any idea how much courage it took to tell you about how I felt back at FTI? Then you made me take it back and now you tell me you feel the same? Screw you."

The final words were said with so little emotion that Arnold barely noticed them. "I'm sorry, Helga… I really am. I didn't know that I caused you so much pain. If it… If it makes you feel better, I didn't sleep for a week because I was thinking about it all the time."

Helga stayed quiet before one side of her mouth went up. "It does, thank you."

Arnold rolled his eyes. "Like I said; sadist."

"What does that make you?" Helga questioned and looked at him. "If I'm a mean and insane sadist, what does that make the person who likes that person?"

Arnold blinked a couple of times before groaning. "I should have kept my mouth shut!" he declared in horror.

Helga laughed heartily. "Too late! It's out there and you can never take it back!" she said as she lunged for his hands, trying to pry them away from his face.

"It was in the heat of the moment!" Arnold insisted jokingly even as Helga pinned him to the bed, the duvet falling to the floor in the process.

"Don't you dare, Shortman!" Helga warned, but laughed along with the blonde boy underneath her.

It took a while, but eventually the blondes' laughter settled down and they noticed their position. Arnold was the one to react the strongest though all things considered. The feeling of not just Helga's hands pinning his wrists to the bed, but the pressure of her sitting on his lap sent waves of pleasure down to his crotch and he couldn't help the gulp he made. The former vulnerability on Helga's face seemed gone as she smiled down at him. Not a smirk, not a grin, but a genuine smile and it was the most beautiful thing Arnold had ever seen. She leaned down closer to him and gave him a tender kiss on the lips. He closed his eyes, fully enjoying the way she made his toes curl.

"You know"—Helga dismounted him—"I have half a mind to fulfill very dirty fantasy I've had about you since I knew what sex was." She confessed and made Arnold's blood go straight to both his face and groin at the same time. "But," she continued and grabbed the duvet from the floor. "it's freezing cold!"

Arnold snickered as Helga covered them both in the duvet and pulled her closer to keep her warm. "You know, some people would argue that strenuous activity would keep you warm." He said with a smirk of his own.

"Well, look who's less shy all of a sudden!" Helga giggled. She tapped her finger on his nose. "Don't you worry, Arnold. I'm not going to pull a Lila on you… I'm not gonna last that long."

The kiss they shared then held so much promise and so much love that it was almost hard to let go, but Arnold had to admit that the thought of his first time being in a rundown shack in the middle of the forest while shivering from the cold wasn't appealing. And he knew Helga was speaking the truth when she said she didn't want to wait because every now and then during the night, he noticed her knee on his thigh, her hand on his chest and her breath on his neck. Her administrations were subtle, but unmistakable and they were as arousing as they were relaxing.

The next morning, the rest of the class and the teacher returned to the cabin to see the blondes sleeping peacefully in the same bed, snuggling close together. The blondes would be interrogated for the rest of the trip and no one would believe that nothing more happened between them. But neither cared what the others thought because only they knew what had happened after that steamy shower.

The end