Hello Readers!

I apologize for the long wait. Sadly, time has not been on my side (Nor has inspiration).

I can't say I'm even all that satisifed with how this chapter turned out, but I hope me saying that doesn't discourage you from reading.

I'm hoping I can still make this story work-and it be good too.

--

Arnold shifted in his seat, trying to think of something to say, anything at all to get rid of the heavy silence that had quickly fallen between him and Helga. He stared up at her, but Helga was looking off to the side, gazing down at the edge of the table she was sitting on. He wondered what she was thinking about; if she even remembered that he was still in the room.

After a few tense moments of debating on whether or not he should say her name, Helga sighed, turning her head just enough for Arnold to at least see her expression; a tired frown, and blue eyes that seemed so distant; as if she were miles away. It was strange to see Helga look so….defeated. He wasn't even sure if that was the right word to describe how she looked, but it was the only thing that came close. Whatever it was, Arnold suddenly felt the need to do something -anything- to help make her feel better, even if he wasn't sure what he needed to do, or even if he could do it.

"What are you still doing here, Arnoldo?"

Her voice was thick with exhaustion, almost emotionless in tone, yet it still managed to startle him.

"What do you mean?" He asked, wincing at how nervous he had just sounded, like he had been accused of some kind of wrong doing.

Helga was too tired to notice and only frowned at his question, still refusing to look up at him, or even answer. A part of her was afraid that if she faced him-feeling the way she did now-that he would some how be able to see right through her; see inside her, and discovery all her secrets. It was kind of silly, she realized, but the fear lingered despite reason.

After a few seconds of silence, Arnold spoke.

"I'm just worried about you, Helga." he admitted, in a much calmer voice. "I wanted to make sure you were okay."

Despite the part of Helga that was swooning over Arnold's concern, she managed to shrug and mumble a faint 'whatever' as a reply.

"Did the nurse say what's wrong with you?" Arnold asked, intently.

Helga stiffened a bit, and despite having wanted to avoid eye contact, she couldn't help sending him an annoyed and disbelieving stare.

"You're kiddin' me, right?" Helga asked. "Weren't you listening at all?"

"Um," Arnold nervously rubbed the back of his neck, caught off guard by Helga's sudden change in tone. "Well, I heard her say you had a fever but…"

"Nothing else, huh?" Helga guessed, a dull expression on her face.

Arnold's sheepish smile was all the answer she needed.

"Figures." Helga scoffed, though not entirely surprised.

She had been glancing over at him almost the entire time the nurse had been fussing over her, and it was obvious that he had been in deep thought about…something. She recalled him even smiling at one point, a faint blush coming across his face.

'Probably thinking about Li-la,' Helga thought disdainfully. 'Can't believe him; even when he's with me, he still thinking about her.'

Arnold noticed the growing disapproval on her face and frowned in confusion.

"So..," He began cautiously. "What exactly did she say?"

Helga blinked, but frowned soon after.

"Not much." she replied, starring down at her lap. "She isn't technically a doctor so she can't diagnose me or anything."

Arnold raised an eyebrow, slightly bothered by the fact that Helga still hadn't given him an answer.

"Did she at least say what she thinks might be wrong?"

"Why do you care so much anyway, Football head?" Helga asked a bit harshly, though also very curious as to what his answer might be.

Arnold blinked, sitting up a little straighter in his seat. "Why wouldn't I care?"

For a moment Helga felt the annoyance fade from her face, a warm feeling spreading within her. She managed to push the feeling away, however, but not before Arnold had seen her expression.

"Right. I almost forgot." She scoffed, arms now crossed. "Mr.Goody-two-shoes cares about everyone."

Arnold frowned indignantly, but the moment passed and he sighed.

"You're right, Helga. I do care about everyone." he admitted, with a touch of sincerity. "So why wouldn't I care about you too?"

Although Arnold had meant for his words to be reassuring, Helga mentally sighed, wishing that his concern for her had held more meaning than that.

"Right." She mumbled, unable to keep the disappointment from her voice as she looked away from him again. "Nothing personal."

Arnold stared up at her, frowning in confusion at the words he had just barely heard her say, and wondering what he had done wrong. Was she upset with him…or was she acting that way because she was sick?

The room quickly filled with that uncomfortable silence again, and Helga frowned to herself for having slipped and shown even the slightest bit of disappointment in front of him. Would he start to question her on what she said? How could she possibly answer that? Maybe he would just credit it to her being sick and say nothing at all. Was she that lucky?

She looked over at him from the corner of her eyes, but he was no longer staring at her. Instead he was leaning back in his seat against the wall, head down, looking more than a little defeated.

'Oh for Pete's sake,' Helga thought, guiltily. 'I wasn't trying to burst his bubble or anything. Is he really that upset with me?'

Helga frowned, biting her bottom lip for a moment apprehensively.

'criminey!' she thought, glaring down at her hands. 'I can never win with him.'

"She said it's probably a really bad cold, or the flu or something."

She favored Arnold with a quick glance to see if he had heard her, and hoped he was at least satisfied that she had answered his question. What she didn't expect to see, after his initial surprise, was the complete look of relief on his face.

He leaned back in his seat, and sighed. "That's good."

Helga stiffened at the comment, offended.

"Excuse me?" she asked, glaring over at him.

"Huh?!" Arnold looked up startled.

"Did you stay in here just make sure I was sick?" she asked, anger apparent in her voice.

"What?-No!" he shook his head. "Helga I'd never-I thought that-I mean…"

"So glad I didn't disappoint you, Arnoldo," Helga replied with bitter sarcasm.

"Helga, it's not like that. Really!"

Helga raised one side of her eyebrow up in question and he sighed.

"I'm just glad it's nothing serious." he admitted almost tiredly.

"Of course it's not serious. What, did you think I was..." Helga's annoyance vanished, realization hitting her. "You mean you thought..." She blinked, a bit stunned. "Oh."

Arnold looked down, seeming embarrassed.

Helga tried desperately to think of something, anything, to say back to him. Something sarcastic, something mean,...to at least roll her eyes at him, glare at him, disregard his words...ANYTHING!

Criminey, why did Arnold have to be so wonderful? He was only making it even harder for Helga to act like her usual self; and now he was staring at her again, with those gorgeous green eyes that made her feel all goofy inside..

"I..uh,"

'Keep it together, Helga.' she told herself, yet despite this she felt her resolve weaken.

"Arnold, I.."

The sound of the lunch bell ringing caused both of them to jump, Helga letting out a small yelp of surprise followed by a few dry coughs-which she quickly covered up by clearing her throat.

Arnold placed a hand over his racing heart, and laughed quietly to himself at both his and Helga's fright.

Still, a part of him couldn't help but wonder what she was about to say to him; especially after seeing the look on her face- a mix of shock and…possibly gratitude? Was she going to thank him?

"So...I guess you can leave then" Helga announced.

"Huh?" Arnold looked up, startled from his thoughts.

"Now that you know I'm going to live and all." she added at his expense.

Arnold blushed at the reminder. "Oh, um..right."

He stood up, hesitantly, and suddenly felt very out of place.

"So..I guess I'll see you later then." Arnold said a bit reluctant to leave, even though he knew Helga would be okay; it just didn't feel right to him.

Helga eyed him suspiciously, but shrugged.

"Right…," he paused, still standing there. "I, uh..hope you feel better soon."

She continued to stare at him, silently asking him what he was waiting for. He obviously wasn't going to leave without her saying something back, so she swallowed against her slightly swollen throat, and looked him in the eye.

"Yeah." She replied, speaking somewhat softly. "Me too."

Arnold smiled some, admitting to himself that he kinda liked seeing the less intimidating side to Helga.

Still, there was no more reason for him to stay, so he gave her a reassuring smile and turned toward the door, pausing with his hand on the knob when he heard the nurse walk back into the room.

"Sorry for the wait deary," She apologized, a bottle of children's Tylenol in her hand. "I'm afraid I wasn't able to reach your parents."

Helga blinked, almost forgetting that the nurse had said she would call them to come get her. She then inwardly frowned at how stupid she was; Of course no one answered at home; her dad was at work, and Miriam was either engrossed in her morning soap operas or in another smoothie induced sleep.

"Is there perhaps another number I can reach them at?" the nurse asked

Helga knew her fathers work number, but she also knew what calling him would mean. He would no doubt take his time in coming to get her, then complain the entire way home about how inconvenient it was, saying he was missing his important work because of her, reminding her half-a-dozen times that Olga never got sick. She felt like groaning just thinking about it.

"My dad has a cell phone, but he's out of town," She lied, "On business."

"Oh." the nurse replied. "What about your sister? I noticed she's the only other person listed under your emergency contacts."

"She's away at college." Helga answered, this time truthfully and with a twinge of bitterness.

"I see." the nurse replied. "And your mother; is she also not home?"

Helga frowned, thinking of the best way to answer.

"yes, she's home." she replied, "But we've been having a lot of trouble with our phone lately. That's probably why you couldn't reach her."

The nurse just nodded, looking a bit thoughtful.

"But she's definitely home. " Helga confirmed. "So, no problem, right? It's not like I live far from here. I could walk home myself."

"I'm afraid not, Helga." the nurse replied.

"Wha- why not?" Helga sputtered.

"I couldn't possible allow you to walk home by yourself, hon." the nurse shook her head. "You've already fainted once, and you still have a fever. It's just not safe."

Helga frowned, annoyed.

"So I just go back to class then?" She asked.

"Oh goodness, no." the nurse replied. "We can't send you back to class with you sick."

"Then..then what am I suppose to do?" Helga asked, surprising herself with how desperate -rather than angry- she sounded.

Arnold frowned at Helga's tone, glancing over his shoulder to look at her. She had no one to come get her, she couldn't go home by herself, and it seemed like she would be stuck there for the rest of the day feeling horrible.

"Well, I suppose I could take you home after my shift." the nurse suggested before smiling. "You wouldn't have to go back to class; you could just hang out here with me. Does that sound alright?"

By the look on Helga's face, Arnold guessed that she was fighting the urge to groan at the suggestion- either that or she was feeling nauseous again.

She didn't seem to notice that he was still standing there, looking back at them. Part of him was saying that he should just leave, get back to class before he was late-or any later- and just find comfort in knowing that Helga would get home-somehow- even if it was the nurse who took her. That part of him, however, was small compared to the other part of him which was telling him to do something, anything to help. He knew he didn't have to, he knew Helga could get by without him, and he knew she probably didn't even want his help, but for some reason -for the second time that day- he found himself volunteering without really thinking.

"I can take her."

The nurse turned toward him a bit surprised, and Helga's eyes grew wide and almost panicky.

"If that's okay." Arnold added, a bit self conscious.

The nurse blinked and then a smile appeared across her face. "Oh that would be wonderful, Arnold." She replied. "I'm sure Helga would appreciate that."

Helga inwardly groaned.

"Now lets see." the nurse said, setting the bottle of Tylenol down and going over to her desk. "You're both in the same class-correct?"

"Yeah." Arnold replied, and after a moments thought he smiled. "Since preschool, actually."

The nurse looked over her shoulder at him and smiled, before grabbing a pen off her desk and scribbling something down on a piece of paper.

"Well then," She replied bringing the piece of paper over to him. "You give this to your teacher, and bring back anything Helga may need. This will excuse the both of you from class."

"Thanks." Arnold replied, accepting the paper from her. "I'll..um, be right back."

He looked over at Helga again and she glared at him in return. Sighing to himself, he gave her a slightly forced smile before turning to leave, a part of him wondering if he would live to regret his decision.

When the door shut behind him, Helga's stomach felt uneasy again. She frowned, folding her arms slowly around her midsection.

"What a nice young man," The nurse said, turning toward her.

Helga scoffed, ignoring the unsettling filling in the pit of her stomach. "Yeah. If ya like stupid football heads who can't mind their own business."

The nurse looked at Helga for a moment and smiled gently.

"I see" She said a bit knowingly as she made her way toward her, picking up the bottle of Tylenol and untwisting the cap.

"Ya know, Helga" she continued, pulling out the syringe from the front pocket of her white coat. "You're very lucky to have someone who cares so much about you."

Helga looked up at the nurse, a blush tinting her cheeks.

"Yeah, whatever." she muttered, looking the other way, and mentally wincing at how obvious she must be.

'Oh, for crying out loud.' Helga thought. 'I can't even stop myself from blushing in front of the stupid nurse. How the heck am I suppose to deal with Arnold; the object of my affections?'

Helga watched from the corner of her eyes as the nurse filled the syringe with thick red liquid. She shuddered at the thought of horribly tasting cheery medicine that was soon to enter her mouth, and subconsciously leaned back, staring up at the ceiling.

'I'll just have to try a little harder' she decided. 'I can't let Arnold find out how I feel about him, no matter how wonderful he is, or how nice he smells, or-Argh! Stop it!'

"Alright, deary." the nurse announced, medicine in hand.

Helga sighed.

This was not going to be easy.

--

Well, there it is.

I kind of feel like I may be letting my readers down with this chapter, but it's necessary in order for the story to progress (into more interesting moments between them!).

I'll try and make the next chapter better, but I can't say for sure how long it will take me.

Please review (no flames though, please).