A/N: I dunno about that last chapter. Ugh. Miriam was probably way out of character fighting with Bob...but I had to keep Helga up to make her so exhausted that she would fall asleep. And the whole thing with Grandpa Phil calling the Pataki's house at Arnold's request...on one hand it made sense because, yeah, Arnold would be concerned about any classmate that was showing signs of possible distress. His first course of action, direct confrontation, hadn't worked at all. So reaching out to her family seemed a logical next step...but maybe he should have made the call himself? He might have been more likely to show up in person, but that wouldn't have fit with the direction I wanted to go with the story. The concern on his part gave Helga another excuse to pull out her poetry book even though her tiredness might limit her ability to concentrate on actually writing anything, so I thought it was a good touch, anyway. The flip side to the results I wrote in about such a call, however, would be Miriam not bothering to be too worried. But even as depressed and possibly drunk as she typically was in the series, I think she would make an effort to help Helga...maybe...especially if more than one source was expressing concern. Ugh, I told you I hadn't seen the show in a while and might be wildly out of character. By the way, the fifth grade teacher had called earlier in the week. The day the commercial aired, to be precise. That was why Miriam seemed to be making an effort to acknowledge Helga at dinner.

Disclaimer: As usual, I don't own Hey Arnold! or it's characters. Also, this chapter will bare the most direct inspiration from dethspicable's fanart, which is why it shares a title with the picture.

Chapter 2: Oops

The students filed into the classroom from the lockers that lined the hall as minutes passed all too quickly. What had begun as a decent amount of free time to kill in the morning was rapidly dwindling into a last minute rush to reach homeroom in time. Sure enough, the starting bell rang just as the last of the students trickled in. The teacher closed the classroom door, giving the class a few moments to settle down of their own accord. Such a tactic rarely worked, but it was worth a shot. After what he considered and appropriate amount of time had gone by without the desired results, the the teacher spoke up at last. Unfortunately for the students that had come from Mr. Simmon's fourth grade class, their new homeroom instructor wasn't nearly as soft spoken and easy going. That's not to say he was quick to flare his temper, but when he spoke, he made certain he was heard. In a deep, booming tone he informed them in no uncertain terms that they were to fall silent and settle into their seats so that attendance could be taken.

Murmuring a few final words against Gerald's attempts to convince him that Helga didn't deserve his concern, Arnold proceeded to his desk in the third row back, near the window, and fell silent. The caring boy vaguely registered as names were called and obligatory responses given. Green eyes lingered on the sky, a certain gray haze hanging in the atmosphere seemed to threaten rain. He should have worn a rain coat, and possibly carried an umbrella. Sure, he rode the bus the majority of the distance, but he still had to walk from the bus stop to the boarding house. Idly he recalled that Helga hadn't seemed prepared for change in weather either. Then again, she hadn't seemed prepared for much at all. Heck, the girl hadn't even noticed him until he'd spoken. Normally she would have made some derogatory remark about him taking her seat or something to try and chase him away instead of sitting with him without comment. It made him all the more certain that something wasn't right.

"Helga Pataki?" Silence filled the room as the teacher called the bully's name and received no reply. The sound of the name had drawn Arnold's attention to the seat where it's owner normally resided, just behind his own, and he knew even as he shifted to look that is was empty. With a sigh, the instructor was not at all surprised to find that the Pataki girl was missing without an excuse. Even when she was genuinely ill, it was usually the more trustworthy Phoebe that let the faculty know what was going on, "Does anyone know why Helga isn't here today?"

"She is," The football headed boy shifted as the room's focus shifted to him, "Uh, she hasn't been feeling well, but she's here. I can check whether she's still in the hall somewhere or on her way to homeroom...but...one of the girl's should check the bathrooms and stuff."

Arnold really hoped he could find her in the halls or one of the less used classrooms. After all, he knew a little bit about her predicament, even if it was only that she wasn't getting enough sleep, and he could talk to her about it and try to find a way to help her. He would do the same for any of his classmates, it didn't matter to him that the girl in question bullied him when she was in need at the moment.

As expected, Phoebe's hand shot up before the teacher could even ask for a female volunteer to check the bathrooms, "I can do it!"

"Alright, then." He gave a nod and sighed once more, irritated at the fact that three of his students would now be missing homeroom, "We're already ten minutes into homeroom. You have ten more to find her and bring her back here. If you aren't back by then, you'll have to go to the principal's office to get passes to your first class, understood?"

Arnold and Phoebe stood in an almost synchronized manner, responding together, "Yes, sir."

"Good. It shouldn't take too long to check the bathrooms, so Phoebe, I expect you back first. Arnold? Did you want someone to help you search?" The educator lifted a brow in question as he waited for the blue capped boy to respond.

Casting a glance at Gerald, the pre-teen in question considered his options. If he were to get anyone to help him, it would be his best friend. Helga's was already enlisted to look in the places he couldn't go himself, and he didn't think anyone else would actually take the time to actually realize something was wrong with the bully. A silent request passed between the boys, and the response was a clear no, though Arnold was certain the other would have put it less politely if able to speak aloud. He was also sure that if he insisted, Gerald would cave and help him anyway. But for some reason this didn't seem like the kind of thing that he should be trying to force someone into. Helga needed someone to show her compassion, and Gerald had made it quite known that he didn't think she deserved any after the way she had treated her peers.

The silent exchange and contemplation took only moments before Arnold was able to shake his head with a small smile, "I think I can handle it. There aren't many places she could be, right?"

At that, the teacher gave another nod, and dismissed the micro search party. Once Arnold and Phoebe had stepped into the hallway and closed the door behind them, he continued with attendance.

No sooner had they exited the room than the classmates who had been dispatched to look for the missing Helga turned to one another. They knew they had limited time, but they both felt the need to speak, and they started talking at the same time, though saying totally different things. Each was curious, but both for their own reasons.

Ever polite, Arnold gestured that Phoebe should proceed first. Giving a small dip of her head in thanks, the latter obliged, "How did you know Helga hadn't been feeling well? She won't even admit it to me!"

The boy frowned slightly as her words answered the question he had been intending to ask, "She looks like she hasn't been sleeping...I kinda guessed, but she hasn't actually admitted anything. She's denied it every time I asked. You don't know what's been going on at all, then?"

"Not a clue." Phoebe confirmed, sighing softly and shaking her head, "Though it's been obvious something's been bothering her enough to keep her from sleeping."

"Right." He agreed, scratching the back of his oblong head, and turning toward his first destination, "I guess we should start looking, then."

"Yes. Hopefully she didn't do anything foolish like deciding to play hookie." The intelligent asian girl doubted that Helga would skip school without telling her, though. After all, it would fall to Phoebe to make up an excuse. Without giving it any more thought, the dark haired female moved quickly to the nearest girl's bathroom.

Arnold moved just as hastily. He had a list of top possible places to check. There were only a few vacant classrooms in the morning, and they were near enough to the rooms in use she would probably have been caught sneaking in even if they had been left unlocked. The cafeteria was a high possibility, though not the best one since she would probably have taken to a more isolated place to try to catch a quick nap. At least, that was what he would have done if he was as tired as she must be. But, since when did Helga think like him? Even as he wondered if he was going about things the wrong way, his feet were taking him to the number one place that he would seek refuge if he were in her current state: the library. It was toward the middle of the school, away from the homeroom classes that tend to be in the rooms that lined the ends of the hall, so she wasn't as likely to be caught. And it was definitely more quiet than the cafeteria was during the fifteen minutes between when the bus had dropped them off and first bell.

The door was closed when he reached the large chamber full of books, but it wasn't locked. It probably should have been considering the school's librarian was currently monitoring one of the homeroom sessions, but it worked to his advantage for now. Gently opening the door he stepped into the room, and looked around. It didn't take long to spot the line of tables nearest the door, or the tell tale blonde and pink that marked the girl he was searching for. As he'd suspected, she had fallen asleep, and not even the school bell had caused her to wake. He moved closer, hoping to wake her gently instead of by shouting across the room in an obnoxious manner. She would be even less pleasant to deal with than usual if he wasn't careful in how he handled the situation.

As he drew near, though, he was surprised to find that everything was not as he had thought it would be. She hadn't come to this quiet retreat in simple search of rest. Just in front of where her face was smooshed upon the table's smooth surface, her arm was draped over a pink journal-like book. It was the book that drew his focus then as he crept still closer, leaning in over her shoulder to get a better look at the familiar seeming object. His hand hovered millimeters from her shoulder, having intended to rest there in order to carefully shake her awake, but for now the journal caused him to forget his main objective.

A small pink notebook that looked so very familiar, laying open on the table so that just the edges of it's colored cover showed. The writing inside, though he didn't take the time to read it, also struck a chord in combination with the pages it was written on. He'd seen a book like this before. Suddenly he caught something even more familiar than the book, a single set of letters etched into the paper that spelled his name, plain as day: Arnold.

Green eyes snapped wide as sudden realization dawned on him. Last year, what seemed like forever ago, there had been an incident where Gerald had found a strange pink notebook among his things. When they looked inside, there had been a definite theme to the things written in the book. The book had been full of love poems about him...about Arnold! They'd tried all sorts of things to figure out who had written it, science, guess work, handwriting analysis, and even the use of a scent tracking pig, but they hadn't been able to come up with a single solid lead. In the end he hadn't even been able to read all the poems because Helga had torn the last page out and used it as a spitball…

Helga! Helga? Helga! His mind repeated the name in alternating shock and horror. The poetry had been written by Helga? The girl who served as the bully of his class, choosing him as her favorite target, was somehow secretly in love with him? It was so impossible! Although, when he took the time to actually think about it, there was the time last year they put on Romeo and Juliet...the kiss went just a bit too long. The same thing when she had to pretend to give him CPR the time they were on Babewatch. He was beginning to blush frantically now, staring at the poems, but focusing only on the numerous times his name made an appearance. He couldn't bring himself to read any more than that as the memories kept flying back to him. The parrot that had recited poetry only to meet its demise at the jaws of the monitor lizard Helga had brought to school. More and more coincidences that couldn't be dismissed as mere coincidences anymore were accumulating in the backdrop of his mind. Suddenly he froze as the granddaddy of all those memories hit him. It wasn't some misunderstood coincidence, oh no. This memory was more like something he had somehow suppressed that could no longer hide.

There he was, on the rooftop of FTi. He and Gerald were the only things standing between the neighborhood and destruction, with help from a mysterious person known as Deepvoice. But here on the roof, it was only Arnold and Deepvoice at the moment, except Deepvoice turned out to be Helga. The words she spoke were a blur...love...stalking...shrines...poetry….and then she kissed him. Helga was babbling nonsense as he tried to worm his way out of having to say something in reply, only finally able to snap her out of her crazy confession mode by reminding her that they had twenty minutes remaining to save the neighborhood.

In the end they saved the day. Arnold and Helga came to an understanding that what had happened on that rooftop would be regarded as something that had occurred while caught in the heat of the moment, a mutual agreement that things should go back to the way they always had been.

And they had. At first it had been pretending, Arnold couldn't so easily forget the passionate confession that he had been given. But as time passed and Helga seemed to so comfortably resume her bully role, he gradually was able to slip back into his usual niche as well. At some point the memory of that rooftop moment had just been pushed to the back of his mind, never truly forgotten, but never really thought about either. Helga probably thought about it constantly though. She probably wondered if he remembered...she was probably waiting for him to take some step to change things, and he never had.

Letting his hand move from where it hovered near her shoulder without ever touching it, the fifth grade boy began to slowly move back toward the door. He couldn't help but wonder if somehow this lack of sleep was partly his fault, if she was staying up nights worrying about what he felt for her. The problem was, even after all this time, he'd never really settled on just what he actually felt for the girl. He couldn't be put on the spot again now, though. So he couldn't let her know he had suddenly discovered her secret...again. That meant the gentle wake up was a no go, being so close she was sure to panic and think, not incorrectly, that he had seen her book. He wasn't sure he could bring himself to flat out lie, but he definitely didn't want her to know that he had seen. But, if she didn't realize he had gotten that close, she wouldn't ask to begin with. Therefore, calling to her from the door was the best solution.

He froze suddenly after only a few steps when he heard her stir, glancing over his shoulder at her. Fortunately, it seemed like she was just getting snuggled more comfortably into the crook of her arm. With renewed quickness, and an increased effort to be silent, he continued until he reached a spot just inside the door. From there, she would naturally be able to believe that he had seen her without actually seeing the book. It wasn't really lying, so he wouldn't have to feel too guilty about it.

Taking a slow, steadying breath to calm his racing heart, the football head prepared to speak. If the words just happened to make it sound like he had only recently entered and stumbled upon her, then it wasn't really his fault if she misinterpreted them. Although, when she had slept through the bell, was there any way his voice alone would be enough to wake her? When he had calmed enough to be sure his voice wouldn't betray him, he called out, "Helga! There you are!"

She could feel him. She wasn't awake enough to know for certain whether she was dreaming or not, but he was there, his warmth lingering just above her shoulder. It lasted for quite awhile, and she was beginning to grow accustomed to it when it slowly seemed to withdraw. Helga squirmed in protest, but quickly stilled as she nestled back into a comfortable position, willing herself to fall far enough back into her dreams that he would return.

Then she heard his voice, and she sat up like a bolt, whipping around in her seat to face him. There he was in the doorway! Arnold, as though her dreams had summoned him to her! Her look of wonder was quickly schooled into her usual scowl, "What do you want, Football Head?"

"You weren't in homeroom," He made a show of rolling his eyes in irritation as he replied, "At this rate we'll be late for first period too, so we'll have to go to the Principal for a note. I hope you had a nice nap, though."

He'd come looking for her because she hadn't shown up in homeroom? Had that been his idea, or the teacher's? Wait, she'd missed homeroom? Suddenly she realized she'd actually fallen asleep, and in a very dangerous position, nonetheless! She turned back the table and slammed her small notebook shut, stuffing it and the pen back into her backpack as she turned to reply to Arnold. He was gone though, already having left ahead of her.

Helga felt distinctly disappointed. He would have stayed and walked along with any of their other classmates. After all, they were going the same place, so it made sense, right? And even if she'd always bullied him publicly, he'd usually treated her with at least some amount of kindness, maybe not as much as he showed the other students, but he was never exactly cruel in return. So what was with the sudden disappearing act? Actually, he'd been a bit abrasive when she asked what he wanted too. The only conclusion she could draw from his exceptionally harsh treatment was that she had done something to offend him more than usual. That posed two problems. The first was that she had no idea what she had done and no way to find out. The second was that even if she had some clue she couldn't make it up to him properly without seeming extremely out of character.

"Criminy...what am I supposed to do now?" She muttered as she grabbed her backpack and stormed out the door toward the Principals office. Arnold was no where to be seen in the hall as she made her way to her destination. He must have gone directly to first period, because the bell had only just sounded when she finally arrived to get her note permitting her slightly late arrival to that class. After some awkward explanation as to the reason for her tardiness, she was granted her pass, and was able to go.