A/N: So, bad news. This is the last written prompt I've actually got done and I really don't see myself being able to finish the others on time. I'm a little stuck on the next one actually. However, I'm still planning to try and finish all the writing portions of the prompts, just for completions sake. They'll just be posted long after Shortaki Week is done. Sorry about that . I'll still be posting the art on my tumblr (mikosartshouse) on time though as I've got those all done.

Major thanks once again to K (FFN: theps118confessional tumblr: ps118daily) for betaing!

No matter how long she spent in this stupid jungle she'd never stop hating the annoying bugs that wouldn't leave her alone no matter how much she swatted at them. Or the uncomfortable itchiness from the debris her shoes kept kicking up and making home to. The constant humidity leaving her skin sticky and gross? Also could do without. And no matter her affections, she also hated the football headed little twerp currently pulling her along further into this hellish experience.

Especially when the branches he tried to move for the both of them didn't quite miss her face.

Thwap.

"Hey! Will you watch it?!"

He glanced back at her looking mildly guilty but continued forward. Mind obviously occupied, he distractedly said, "Sorry," before focusing ahead of him once again.

Oh yeah.

Hate.

The night wasn't too dark at least. The moon giving off plenty of light for them. She glanced back, the glow from the campfire the rest of their class was enjoying was getting dimmer as they walked on. Dread filled her belly as she looked forward and continued to follow along, mostly silent. Nerves kept her from saying much besides the occasional chastising to slow down a bit or be more careful with her person.

Her eyes gravitated to the side of his face. She noted his eyebrows were slightly scrunched up, and he'd occasionally bite his lip and squint his eyes as he made his way forward. He looked like he was on another mission, honestly. Face set in a determination she knew all too well from years of studying him. His hand held on to her wrist, the stickiness from both their sweat making it feel mildly uncomfortable. His grip firm as if to make sure she wouldn't get lost.

Or run, she thought wryly.

When asked earlier why he needed to drag her away from the rest of their class, he refused to say anything other than, "We need to talk." Already a bad sign. Even worse was the fact that she was exhausted from everything they had accomplished in the past few days; she was in no condition to scheme her way out of anything right now.

One would think that after defeating an evil mastermind and finally getting his parents back, he'd want to spend every second with them. Apparently not. Well, alright, he had spent as much time as possible with them since the moment they found them, but she still couldn't see why whatever this was was so urgent.

For once in her life she wasn't about to put up a fight though. If she was honest with herself, she knew what this was about. It was a long time coming, honestly, and she'd be a pathetic fool to think she could keep running from it.

Helga G. Pataki was anything but pathetic. It was time to finally square up and accept the rejection that was coming.

As much as he wanted to continue celebrating with his friends and parents, his parents, the buzzing happiness from those words alone was enough to cut through the butterflies currently fluttering inside his stomach, there was something that still needed to be settled.

It had to be now, while everyone else was distracted and wouldn't miss them. And before the craziness of having to pack up and get ready to board a plane back home took over. He was afraid if he didn't say it now, Helga would likely try to go back to the way things usually were. With an added element of her avoiding him like the plague, he was sure. That was definitely not something he was going to allow, no matter how nervous he was right now.

He wasn't particularly scared of her reaction or rejection. Unless something seriously changed in the year since FTI that he hadn't picked up on, he was sure she still felt something for him. What else could explain everything she'd done since they landed in San Lorenzo? No, his anxiety about the situation rested solely on how he was going to tell her. He knew, knowing Helga's personality, that this wasn't going to be as easy as it would be had it been anyone else. And he already knew from experience that confessing to someone wasn't easy to begin with. However, as he'd come to learn over the past year, and their entire lives really, it being difficult or complicated wasn't discouraging to him. In fact, along with the nerves currently being plucked by anxiety, he could feel a rush of excitement as well for whatever could come after. If there's anything Helga had never been, after all, it's boring.

Once they reached a clearing that was far enough away from outside eyes and ears he stopped, and immediately felt Helga snatch her hand back.

Before he could even take a deep breath to steady himself, she started talking. "Alright Football Head, why the heck did you insist on dragging me out here?". She put her hands on her hips and stared him down. He couldn't help but take her in at that moment. Her hair was clean from any little sticks or leaves that had accumulated on their trek there, and her lips were chapped, just a little bit, but still a nice pink color.

He blinked and remembered she had just asked him a question. He made to give her an answer but she continued speaking instead.

"This is it, isn't it?" Helga nodded to herself quietly, stepping back from him as she reasoned to herself.

For a moment, Arnold thought she might know what he was going to say, that maybe things would go easier than expected after all. "Honestly, Arnold." She shut her eyes, he watched her chest rise and fall with a deep breath, "you don't have to say it. I know you know, so you don't have to let me down easy. I got it." He tilted his head slightly to the side, now he was confused. "Us?" She said, as she gestured between them. "Not a possibility." Now the worry was starting to set in. Had he read her wrong after all? It's not that Arnold had ever felt he had a particular talent for girls, but he did wonder for a moment how he had managed to mess this up this badly already. "Message is loud and clear."

"Helga, I-"

"Arnold, you don't have to worry about it, alright." She looked at him plainly, cupping her upper arm with her hand. "I've known this day would come for a very long time. And it's here now, so" she shrugged. "I've survived worse. Especially in this jungle." The smallest of smiles cracked on her face. Another deep breath. Arnold felt his mouth drying out. This was not going according to plan. "So we can skip whatever little exposé that I'm sure you had beautifully planned. We both know I'm out of excuses, anyway."

"But I-"

"Nothing else needs to be said, it's fine." She interrupted him again. Arnold made a mental note that they'd have to work on that later.

His heart fluttered a little bit at the thought of a "they".

"And, thanks," she turned away from him, "I guess. For keeping this between us, I mean. If Lloyd ever found out, I'd have no choice but to kill her. Keep it from spreading, y'know." He could tell she was trying to lighten the mood, but the fact that she didn't seem to be able to make eye contact with him again made his heart sink and had him scrambling for his words.

A small part of him was sort of amused really, that she has no idea what's about to hit her. The fact that she didn't pick up on his growing feelings throughout their days working together in this jungle had a bit of irony to it.

She was starting to walk away, and he was almost grateful for it. He doubted he could mess things up any worse. He turned his back to her and his eyes locked onto a beetle currently making its way up the tree trunk in front of him. Making sure his voice would carry he said loudly, "Actually Helga, I wasn't planning on exposing anything about you, despite what you might think." He heard her stop and he breathed in, noticing the pretty kaleidoscope on his new friend's back. The little beetle trying it's best to reach the top giving him that needed boost to get past the nerves, "If anyone's feelings should be exposed right now, it's mine."

"Huh?!" The absolute incredulity in her voice was almost funny, honestly.

He shrugged and continued, "A part of me knew that it was wrong to just, agree that it never happened. FTI." He could hear her suck in her breath at the mention of that summer. "But I had a lot to think about, a lot to process. Every part of me knew you meant it, so it didn't take long to accept that."

He turned around, braced himself, and looked her in the eyes. He knew he had to make it perfectly clear. There couldn't be any misunderstandings or half answered questions, not this time. "What did take me a while was how I felt. I wanted to be 100% sure about this, and it honestly probably would have taken me even longer had all of this not happened. It's pretty hard to make up my mind about how I feel when you're so difficult to figure out or even get to know better on a normal basis." She was just standing there wide eyed, a look of utter disbelief on her face. It's not like he was expecting her to answer-or wanted her to-until he'd finished though.

He placed his right hand to his heart and continued, "But after getting this opportunity to know you better and seeing all the things you've done in this jungle, after seeing the sides of yourself you hardly let anyone see, it reminded me of what I've always admired and liked about you". He took a step towards her, reaching out for her hand. "And after getting closer I realized just how much I really, really like you, Helga. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I want to be with you," his hand tightened around her own a bit out of anxiousness, the important question he was about to ask her dancing on the tip of his tongue, "do you still want to be with me?"

Arnold watched her face go from bewildered shock, to emanating waves of exhaustion as she squinted at him. The little insecurities from before were starting to come back to him. This type of reaction also wasn't exactly what he was expecting.

"… Right. Quick question: Did you hit your head?" Wait. What.

"What? No…?" The feeling of being utterly baffled by this girl was nothing new, but still effective apparently.

She didn't even let him think of a reason for this kind of reaction before she continued in a manner that seemed increasingly delirious. "Did I hit my head? Pass out? Am I dreaming? Yeah. Yeah, that's gotta be it!" Oh, now he got it. He let out an amused sigh and couldn't help but give her an endearing half-lidded look as she rambled on. "I'm definitely having one of those wish fulfillment dreams. I mean, there's no way this is rea-meemph?!" Well, if words wouldn't do the trick maybe pulling her towards him by the hand he was still holding and landing a small kiss on her lips would.

The feeling was amazing. It wasn't as intense as the one on that balcony but it still made him feel light and tingly down to his toes. He could feel her shock give way and start to relax into it too. They still had things to talk about, but at that moment he didn't mind the kiss continuing for just a little bit long-

Suddenly a yell rang out that was abruptly cut off by a loud thud that made Arnold involuntarily jump. His eyes shot open as he quickly turned around to see his best friend picking himself up while continuing to yell and point in their direction.

Arnold started to panic and could feel the heat start to spread across his cheeks at being unexpectedly caught while in the middle of a kiss. A kiss with Helga G. Pataki, specifically. The one girl Gerald had always butted heads with in the past. He had hoped to let him know about the situation later in a more gentle and cautious way to avoid any possible hysterics, definitely not like this.

"GERALD?!"

He quickly tried to think of some sort of excuse for the scene Gerald had just witnessed but was quickly distracted by the loud and very sudden thud that rang behind him.

Looking back, he found the very girl he'd just been kissing not 5 seconds ago on the ground and out cold.

"HELGA?!" Panic set in quickly at the sight. He rushed to her side to make sure she hadn't seriously harmed herself with the fall. He supported her upper body in his arms, head elevated just in case.

A sigh of relief was released when he saw she was alright. She even had a really goofy smile on her face despite being out cold. He couldn't help the one that appeared on his own face at the sight. "Helga," he shook her gently, "are you okay?". She released a soft sigh and the smile on her face remained but didn't wake. Overcome with warm affection, he brushed some strands of hair away from her face. He noted how soft it felt against his fingers, how her pink lips were parted in her unconscious state, how cute her button nose was, and how pretty she looked all relaxed like this. He could feel himself getting lost in all the little things he liked about her as his smile grew wider. The feelings he had for this girl were just so amazing, made his heart flutter with so much happiness and-

"ACH, GOD-", Oh. He had temporarily forgotten they weren't alone anymore. He turned towards his best friend, who was sweating more than Arnold thought he had all trip. And that was saying something, considering he had stubbornly worn his thick sweatshirt the whole journey.

Gerald smacked his hands over his eyes and continued with his exclamation, "WARN A BROTHA', WOULD YA?! A guy can only be scarred so many times, Arnold!"

Arnold gave him the flattest look he could muster, "Gerald." He then blinked, a thought hitting him. He looked around at the clearing incredulously, "Wait a minute, did you FOLLOW us here?!"

"DETAILS." He shouted back. "Either way, I don't deserve to have that image imprinted into my eyelids, ok?!"

"I'D BEG TO DIFFER-" Arnold began to argue back.

Gerald ignored him, looking towards the sky and lifting his hands dramatically, voice filled with an exaggerated agony, "How am I going to sleep?!"

"Gerald. You're starting to bug me." That got his attention.

"Alright, fine." Gerald dropped his act and his hands. He shoved them into his pockets, scuffing his sneakers on the ground. He looked up, and caught Arnold's eye. "You're gonna explain everything to me later. And I mean, everything." He pointed a finger towards him, "Because I know there's a lot you haven't been telling me. You must have had your reasons but it's still kind of cold, man." The truth of that stung, the light guilt still there. He didn't regret not telling him explicitly though, it was something he really needed to think on by himself. Plus, knowing Gerald's feelings towards Helga, especially before this whole adventure, Arnold doubted he would have been very… helpful.

But the crumpled look in his best friend's eye gave him the smallest punch in the stomach anyway. That feeling of guilt shot through Arnold again for not having confided any of this to Gerald before then. He knew he deserved some sort of explanation, even if not the complete story just at that moment.

"You're right, Gerald." He told him honestly. "I'm sorry. I promise, I'll fill you in later. On everything." Now that he'd finally come to a conclusion there was no reason to keep things a secret anymore, at least from Gerald. He was very glad, honestly. Arnold had no idea how Helga kept so many secrets for so long, it was pretty exhausting. "But..." his hands slid protectively over Helga's shoulders. "I don't know, I kind of thought you already kn-"

"I still woulda liked to hear it from you." He replied before he could even finish his sentence. He was right, just because Gerald was able to figure it out on his own didn't mean it absolved Arnold of keeping things to himself. Arnold knew he wasn't mad, that it was just something that needed to be pointed out. He always liked Gerald's forwardness. He nodded, letting him know he understood.

"So, about all of this. Are you gonna be ok with it?"Arnold's eyes found Gerald's and he gave him a look that told Gerald he had his permission to say what he thought about the changes that were going to happen between all of them. He tried to silently let him know that he did care what his best friend thought about it all, even if it turned out he didn't agree with him.

Gerald pushed his lips into a flat line, and then so subtly Arnold would have missed it if he blinked, he nodded. Almost as if to say "if you must."

For a moment, nothing happened but the birds chirping in the background as they stared at each other, a moment of understanding breezing through like the wind.

"We should get her back to camp," Gerald ended the silence, stepping forward and reaching down to Helga, grabbing her arm.

That seemed to wake her up, "If you like having fingers, tall hair boy, I'd suggest removing them from my person." Her eyes snapped open, squinting at him as her other hand reached up to gingerly rub the back of her head. By the sound she'd made when she fell, she was bound to get a bump or a bruise at least.

"Uh," Gerald immediately retracted his hands and splayed them defensively in front of him, "considering this is my basketball hand, I'm gonna let you," he pointed at Arnold, "deal with all of this," he waved at Helga noncommittally, "from here on out." Helga let out a small snort and tiredly rolled her eyes.

Remembering what had just happened a few minutes ago, Gerald looked between the two other kids and figured it was probably his cue to leave first. "Well, if you guys are fine, I'm gonna head back to camp. Maybe ask a little lady for a dance."

Helga narrowed her eyes, "You best watch yourself, Johanssen. My increased tolerance for you doesn't mean you'll get away with any funny business".

Gerald snorted, only able to find amusement in her antics now. "I could say the same to you, Pataki. You're a lot cooler than I thought, but don't mess with my best friend, y'hear?"

"Yeah, yeah". She waved him off, not really catching onto what he had just implied. Arnold couldn't help the small smile on his face at their civilness with each other, it even seemed like they respected one another more now. It filled him with happiness to know two of the most important people of his life could get along when before it had seemed nearly impossible.

Gerald turned towards Arnold, "I'll make an excuse for you guys if anyone asks. See ya, man."

"See ya, Gerald. And thanks, really."

"No problem, brotha'". And with that he started his way back.

He could feel Helga start to move and looked down. Her eyes roamed around their surroundings and she slowly began sitting up as he continued to support her. She let out a small groan and muttered to herself, "Augh, how long was I out. Was all of that before just a dream or…?"

Arnold heard it though and had to resist the urge to facepalm and laugh at the outright silliness of her persistent denial. Instead he opted for a cheesy grin. "Guess what Sleeping Beauty," She turned to him, one side of her brow raised and face reading of complete bewilderment at the comment, "you were awake the whole time!" He splayed his hands in front of him and waved them around for dramatic effect. "Plot twist!"

She narrowed her eyes and then rolled them so far Arnold was half convinced he wouldn't see them again. She slowly stood up, Arnold's arms still hovering to make sure she wouldn't fall again. "Augh, are the little quips going to be a thing from now on? I've noticed an increase in boldness coming from you lately." She folded her arms against her chest and looked at him like she wasn't really sure if she was prepared for the changes to come.

"Probably. Occasionally." She narrowed her eyes at him and he grinned at her. "It helps that I know for sure I can get away with it now." She'd have to deal with it, if she knew him half as much as she thought she did, she'd know he would never be one to just take everything lying down. A bit of fun teasing on his end for once could be fun. He was getting more excited by the minute.

Helga put a hand to her face, a muffled "Oh criminy." could be heard which made him grin even more. She slowly peeked her eyes out and he noticed her face was red.

She looked cute when she blushed.

She quickly bent down to tie her shoe, he noticed it wasn't actually untied but kept quiet. "So… all of that was true then?" He could see her hands slightly shake as the weight of everything he'd said dawned on her. "What you said, about l-like-"

"Yup." He could feel the heat on his own cheeks as he held out his hand to her. "I meant every word, Helga"

She swallowed and accepted his hand. He could tell she was still pretty tired out from everything, though he could see a glimmer of excitement and hope in her eyes. "Oh. Ok." He wove his fingers with her own and could feel her grip tighten a bit. And amused grin lit up her eyes even further. "Just don't think I'm suddenly gonna go completely soft on ya, though. I hope you know what you're signing up for, Football Head."

He chuckled and started leading them back towards camp. "Believe me, Helga, I know."