Blue Eyes

Blue Eyes

One-Shot

A twenty five year old Arnie sat down on the bench at the bus stop, his bags packed and his eyes bleak. He'd just come from his cousin's wedding, which had been just as pleasant as anticipated. The food was delicious, the music was great, and the guests were... Well, guests. Everyone still didn't talk to him, of course, even all these years later. He just wasn't cut out for city life. That was the only conclusion Arnie could come up with. Nobody liked him out in the city.

But he actually liked the city quite a bit. Though all the cars honking and the police lights flashing at his window had been a little annoying when he was trying to go to sleep at night, in the morning things in the city were pretty interesting. Arnie liked to go for walks through the streets of Hillwood and just look around at the scenery, see all the interesting people, the different eateries and everything. It definitely gave his eyes more to do other than just be there, in his head.

The wedding itself had been really beautiful, much to Arnie's chagrin. Arnold had looked ecstatic, as usual. Arnie just didn't understand how everything could go his way all the time. He'd finished High School, gone to college, gotten a decent job as a teacher over at his old school PS 118, moved in with his dream girl who he'd coincidentally been dating since he was ten, and then married said girl by twenty five and was now on his way to Paris for his Honeymoon with his new wife who, he forgot to mention, grew up to be a freaking super model practically.

Ugh.

Meanwhile, Arnie had dropped out of High School in grade eleven so he could focus on working on the farm with his parents, and that was it. Nothing interesting had happened other than that. He wasn't dating anyone, and hadn't for years, didn't have any friends, and never did, and - Oh yeah, he almost forgot. His pa died a few years ago and his ma had gone shortly after, of course. He pretty much owned the farm now, and he couldn't do anything other than farm. He just wasn't cut out for anything else. He had no aspirations other than 'Don't kill yourself until you can afford an orphan to leave the farm to'.

But Arnold had just been skipping through life as if it was just a bunch of daisies!

On his last visit way back when he was only eleven, he'd come back to the city just to find that everything had changed dramatically since his last visit.

The first thing was, that Arnold's parents were back home. That had been completely random, but not entirely surprising. Arnie knew they'd come home eventually. After all, no one could just leave Arnold for good. He was too perfect. So of course then Arnold's family was complete and he was as ecstatic as ecstatic could be.

The second thing was, that Arnold had his first girlfriend. Awww, how sweet. Not. Like Arnie really wanted to witness any of that lovey-dovey junk. It was disgusting to watch the two of them make goo goo eyes at each other. Though, the fact that Arnold had a girlfriend wasn't surprising, but exactly WHO it was was. It was that Helga girl he'd met on his last visit, of course. Apparently after he'd left they'd gotten back together, and since then, things had gotten pretty intense between them. She was over every other day just so they could make out up on Arnold's couch in his room. Well... Okay, so they watched a movie FIRST, so he'd heard, but he knew it was more making out than anything. He knew because Arnold always had a hazed look in his eyes all during dinner after she left. So gross. But not entirely surprising.

And of course, thanks to all these new additions to his life, Arnold was smiling constantly, whether it was dazed from having his girlfriend over or just genuinely happy from just sitting at the dinner table and listening to his parents talk about their adventures in San Lorenzo, he was always completely and totally content.

Since that visit, Arnie hadn't been back. He didn't want to visit anymore. Not after that. It had only been two years, and already Arnold's life had gone from awesome to perfect. He had no doubt that if he came back the next year Arnold would have already graduated from Harvard, been handed the key to the city, and had a parade dedicated in his honor. Like Arnie wanted to see that.

Over the years after that, Arnie had just gotten short letters from Arnold every several years about how his life was going. His last one had been about eight months ago, announcing his engagement to his long time girlfriend, and the letter before that had told about how he'd just gotten home from some sort of world wide vacation he'd gone on with his parents and how he was graduating High School soon and would be heading off to college. How nice.

Arnie snorted at these thoughts, shifting his eyes slightly to see if he could see the bus coming. He really just wanted to go home, crawl up into a ball, and die. But of course, the bus was still nowhere in sight. Arnie made a bit of an annoyed grunting sound in the back of his throat, and sat back on the bench, his dirty jean clad legs spread apart as he unbuttoned a few buttons on his old plaid shirt and loosened his tie.

Possibly the worst aspect of all of this was that Arnold was never stuck up about any of it. He was always very humble and modest and kind. He treated his girlfriend with respect and love and did all his chores around the Boarding house, even helped out with stuff he wasn't asked to. He never threw any of it in Arnie's face. It all just kind of happened. Like with his girlfriend coming over, that really couldn't be helped. His girlfriend was one of those 'I'm here!' type of people, so of course she was consistently shoved in his face. The first thing she'd do when Arnold opened the door was bombard him with kisses, whether Arnie was in the room or not. Heck, she even kissed him around his parents and grandparents. That girl didn't mess around. If she wanted to kiss her boyfriend, then she was going to kiss her boyfriend.

On his visit, though, of course, he'd tried to will her out of Arnold's arms and into his, like on his last visit, but it didn't exactly work out that way. He'd announced to her he loved her again, and Arnold had practically thrown him out of the window. Apparently Arnold had gotten more of a backbone since his last visit, because he was having none of that. And since his announcement, Helga had kept her distance from him, and Arnold had pretty much set down the rules that following night after he'd cooled down. He could still remember what he'd said...

One - You can no longer sleep in my room. Sleep in one of the guest rooms instead. Stay away.

And two - You can no longer be anywhere around Helga. Talk to her or touch her again and I will be forced to let her kill you.

He'd decided to just go home early after that experience, which no one complained about, of course.

Arnie groaned slightly in the back of his throat, just letting his head fall back on the bench and allowing his body to slide down the bench a little.

Arnold had gotten pretty handsome with the years, too. But that was no surprise. He wasn't underwear model material or anything, but anyone could see that he definitely wasn't ugly. Though Helga looked at him as if he were the sexiest man alive. He was tall, slightly muscular, with bright blonde cowlicks cut only a little shorter from back when he was nine and lightly tanned skin with warm green eyes.

Arnie of course wasn't much to look at, though he did get a little better looking from back when he was younger. The change itself was a little dramatic, but the overall effect wasn't much. He cut his hair a little shorter just as his cousin did, but it was still that pale blonde, bleached from the sun. He was amazingly tall, and very muscular, if you could believe that. Thankfully, he wasn't as pale as he used to be. He had a decent enough tan, from many hours working in the sun, and his once beady little eyes had gotten wider, and he'd grown more into his nose. Overall, he was a tall, tan, pale blonde haired person. Though there was one thing about his outer appearance no one ever really noticed.

He had blue eyes.

No one ever noticed them, though, because they were always so fogged with depression and disinterest. They appeared gray to everyone. But Arnie had been born with blue. He knew because his ma used to talk about how bright and cute his eyes were when he was a toddler. He often wondered what happened, even though he knew very well what had. Life happened. And life just wasn't kind to everyone.

So he actually had gray eyes. He only technically had blue.

He stared dully up at the sky, seeing all the storm clouds drifting in. He blinked one eye at a time, before rolling his eyes at his thoughts and closing them, trying to claim sleep. He didn't care if it rained. Let it rain. He'd just sleep through it.

Slowly, his steady train of thought drifted away, and sleep claimed him as he relaxed against the bench.

The rain began to pour.

Lila walked gracefully down the sidewalk, just coming from the Chapel, and her pastel, knee-length pink dress swishing back and forth with each step and her heels clacking as she went. Her auburn hair was up in it's usual French braid, with a white flower positioned over her ear for the occasion. Her face was made up very delicately, with hardly any make up on as she preferred not to wear make up. Just a little blush, some light pink lip stick, and a little eyeliner to help make her deep green eyes really pop.

Since Arnold had finally gotten over her and began dating Helga, Lila had managed to befriend Helga, which had been quite an amazing feat. But she'd been determined. She had always thought Helga was a very interesting person to be around, so she'd always hated how their relationship had been blown to bits all because of a silly little crush Arnold had back in fourth grade. His crush on her had only lasted for a few months anyway, so why Helga had gotten so worked up about it was a little confusing to Lila. She knew she'd led him on a little, but she was young, and really didn't know any better at the time. And she had made it pretty clear that she didn't like him back and never would, regardless of her slight flirting with the poor boy.

And she had apologized afterward, as did Arnold for persisting a relationship with her even though she told him repeatedly she didn't like him like that.

But regardless of Helga's immense hatred of her being a little confusing, Lila did understand it. Helga HAD been madly in love with Arnold at the time, so of course she was going to be jealous. Lila just didn't think it would affect their relationship that MUCH. Helga had actually liked her very much before Arnold suddenly began having a crush on her, but after that she'd started hating Lila with a burning passion. Even after Lila had made it clear she would have nothing to do with Arnold if it meant they had to be a couple. Yes, she'd led him on, but she had told him countless times she didn't like him like him.

But after everything had blown over and Arnold was hopelessly in love with Helga finally, Helga had started treating Lila somewhat decently.

At that point, Lila had gone to Arnold and told him of how she really wanted to make solace with Helga. Arnold had thought that would be a nice idea, since he hated for Helga to have more enemies than friends. So he'd started pushing Helga toward Lila, and assuring her he didn't like her like that anymore and that it had all just been a silly crush, and Lila had started trying to hang around Helga more and get her to warm up to her.

Before anyone knew it, Helga and Lila were practically best friends. Helga taught Lila to have a little more of a back bone, and Lila... Well, Lila really couldn't change Helga in any way. The only person who was ever able to help Helga be a better person was Arnold, which he definitely did, because Helga had turned into a much more agreeable, openly friendly person, much to the delight of all their friends (Arnold especially).

So Helga pretty much hung out with Lila quite a bit after that, along with Phoebe of course, that would never change, but since Phoebe was always with Gerald after they'd started dating, Helga had started leaning on Lila more. Especially after Arnold moved away with his parents. Lila was actually the one to have Helga cry on her shoulder, along with Phoebe close by and rubbing her back in comfort. Gerald would have been there too, but he'd had to comfort Arnold after he'd found out he'd be moving. From what the girls heard from him, Helga wasn't the only one who cried.

Lila sighed a bit sadly at these thoughts, remembering that rough patch Helga had gone through when Arnold had moved away. She'd locked herself in her room for months. Not even Phoebe or her could get her to come out. It wasn't before she received her first letter from Arnold that she finally came out.

But, Lila perked up, it had all turned out wonderfully in the end. Arnold had moved back for their Senior year of High School and got back together with Helga almost immediately after returning and the two had already agreed to move in together after they graduated High School, so they could attend college together. Lila giggled slightly as she remembered how both of them had practically disappeared for about a week in Arnold's room after getting back together. She remembered all the gagging noises Gerald had made whenever they'd show up at school with their tongues shoved down each other's throats, and how Phoebe and her had just giggled and walked away.

They'd all been so close to eachother back then, the best of friends. Though, admittedly, Lila had felt a little weird around the four. Before Arnold left and after Arnold returned, Helga and him had always been kissing eachother and flirting all the time, and it was pretty much the same with Gerald and Phoebe, except the kisses were more short and sweet and the flirting was more intense. Lila had always kind of just... been there. Yes, she'd achieved her goal of becoming friends with Helga, but soon after making friends with her, she'd become friends with Phoebe, then Arnold, and then even Gerald. It was always just the five of them. Lila always liked to think of them all as just five best friends, but it was really two couples crazy in love, and then Lila. She knew they went on double dates a lot, but Lila never really had anyone to go with. Gerald was always trying to set her up with people, though, along with Arnold and Helga too. Phoebe had even set her up with her cousin once. But they were all duds. Her longest relationship was with Stinky Peterson, who she'd dated for about a month before breaking up with him because he was always busier pulling pranks and joking around with Sid and Harold than being a boyfriend to her.

But her four best friends had always tried to include her when they went out on their little dates, but she often felt like a third wheel.

But that was a quite a few years ago, and Lila was not a lonely little teenager anymore. She was a grown woman. And besides, everything had worked out just fine in the end.

She'd been separated from her four friends when they all went off to college and left her in Hillwood (Since she really couldn't afford to go to college), and she hadn't seen them all since then. Yes, they all agreed to write to each other, and they had, but the letters had become far and few between, and before any of them knew it, they'd ceased all together.

That is until, she received an invitation for Helga and Arnold's wedding. She'd been so ecstatic to go, especially since the letter enclosed with the invite had asked her to be one of Helga's bridesmaids. Phoebe was the maid of honor, of course, and Gerald was the best man, so she'd gotten to be reunited with all of them. Admittedly, her, Arnold, and Gerald had never been all that close, she was mostly just giggling at Helga's sarcasm or chatting pleasantly with Phoebe. Gerald and Arnold had always just kind of been the add ons. They were friends, and called each other best friends, but they never had much to actually talk to each other about. Gerald was always raving about sports, and Lila was never all that big into sports, and Arnold was always talking about how they needed to save the rain forest or something and Lila was never all that interested in getting too involved. Helga was the one who loved helping Arnold out in his crazy 'Save the world' endeavors and Phoebe found Gerald's fascination with sports charming. Overall, Lila just joked around with them, but they never really talked unless it was over stuff that was going on in school or something. But Lila had never been all that into hanging with guys anyway. She just hung around Helga and Phoebe, and Arnold and Gerald always had to be there too since they just couldn't go even twenty minutes without having their girlfriends by their sides. But they were all on very friendly terms with each other, and all four of them saw her like a sister, and she saw all of them as kind of siblings too. If a boy ever tried to hurt her, Helga would threaten to kill them, Arnold would try and find a grown up of some sort to tell about it, Gerald encouraged Helga to go beat the snot out of them while also offering to accompany her, and Phoebe would comfort Lila when it was all over.

So yes, it was very nice to see all of them again. And Lila had always loved weddings. She actually cried a little when the two exchanged their vows. It was all so beautiful!

Lila sighed happily, feeling herself tear up again, but she wiped them away before they could fall out of habit. Helga had scolded her at the wedding when she saw her tears, even though she was crying too. But all through the wedding Lila had problems keeping the happy tears at bay. Romance was always her weakness. And the fact that Olga was practically bawling hadn't helped either.

Lila giggled, but her happy reminiscing was cut short when she felt a few raindrops hit her nose. She blinked a few times, observing the rain clouds she hadn't noticed up in the sky, before opening up her umbrella and shielding herself from the rain. She mentally thanked Helga for giving her the umbrella before she left on her honeymoon. She'd said to expect rain and to just take her umbrella, but with all her thoughts of the past Lila had completely forgotten about it.

As the rain began picking up, Lila spotted the bus stop not too far away and she smiled, knowing that soon she'd be home and be able to relax. She'd agreed to have dinner with Gerald and Phoebe the next night, so she wanted to just rest some when she got home and maybe have a nice relaxing bubble bath. Her smile widened at these thoughts, as she came closer and closer to the bus stop.

Lila herself hadn't changed much from her elementary days. She was still considered attractive, and after puberty had blessed her with a very petite, yet slightly curvy body, she was considered even more attractive. She had caught a fair amount of men ogling her in the super market before, not that she cared. She just did what she always did - Ignored them. Though she was considered attractive, she was more of a subtle, simple beauty, never having to try too hard to look nice. She often wore floral dresses and skirts, but always dressed very modestly, never showing too much skin, and her hair was always up in a nice, French braid that stopped at about the middle of her back. She always liked to think of herself as a Southern bell, though she hadn't been out on a farm since childhood and she still didn't have much of an accent of any kind. She had a very slight accent, if you listened close enough, but she was no Stinky or anything.

In the years of her friends absence in her life, Lila managed to get a nice little job as a librarian. Not exactly the job she had expected to have when she grew up, but it kept things running smoothly enough in her little apartment. It seemed all her friends had gotten very good jobs, though. Phoebe was currently studying to be a doctor, and Gerald was a police officer. Arnold had become a teacher, while Helga had already published her first book (Which everyone loved), and was already working on her second. Yes, they weren't the most glamorous of jobs (Except for Phoebe's, of course), but it was what they all wanted to do and they loved their jobs.

Lila couldn't say she disliked her job or anything, but it just wasn't what she'd exactly been expecting. When she was younger, she'd wanted to be a ballerina when she grew up, but what little nine year old girl didn't? She'd abandoned that whole idea when she got a little older, but since then she hadn't really known what she wanted to do with her life. She loved kids and all, but teaching really wasn't her thing, and she just didn't have Helga's talent in writing so she couldn't be an author, and doctor was definitely out since she got woozy at the sight of blood, and last... Police officer? Lila? No.

But librarian?

Lila shrugged, figuring she was still young and she'd figure it out in time. For the moment, though, she had just come back from seeing all her old friends again, and didn't want to dwell on anything even slightly negative. Her two good friends had just been married! If there was ever a time to be happy, it was now. Almost immediately after having these thoughts, Lila's smile perked back up, and she practically began skipping over to the bus stop.

That is until, she froze.

Someone was asleep on the bench, from what she could see through the rain, but their head looked a bit odd... kind of like a... football? But that was impossible. She'd seen Arnold get into the limo with Helga not too long ago. But the only other person she knew who had a football shaped head was-

Lila turned around swiftly, just about to run away as fast as she possibly could in four inch heels.

But she stopped herself, just realizing how ridiculous she was being. The last time she'd even seen Arnie had been when she was nine. So what if she had been hopelessly in love with him and he broke up with her for no good reason other than to have Helga ignore him and she was absolutely heart broken and even cried some in her room when she got home? That was years ago!

But still, she wondered, why was he in Hillwood? Did he come for the wedding? That had to be it. But she hadn't seen him there... But what other possible reason could there be for Arnie to suddenly show up out of nowhere at the bus stop?

Lila sighed, her smile faltering for the first time since she'd woken up this morning.

She stood there another moment longer, before turning around ever so slightly to look back at him. She had no doubt in her mind. That was definitely Arnie, asleep on the bus bench, getting drenched in the rain. After another moment of hesitation, she finally turned around, and finished her small trek over to the bench. She brought the umbrella over his head out of instinct, ceasing the rain drops from dropping so harshly on him. She tilted her head at his face, having not seen him since she was a little girl. He'd definitely grown up. His skin tanned and his body tall and muscular. Lila had to repress a shudder at the sight of him, having just felt both an eery chill run through her along with a surprisingly pleasant shock through her spine.

She brought her slightly shaking hand down to his face, hesitating, before running her hand along his cheek very softly, hardly believing he was here. The only response she got out of him was a snore. She had to hide a giggle behind her hand at the sound, not wanting to wake him just yet. It was so weird seeing him like this after so long. She still remembered him being that very pale, short little nine year old boy from so long ago. Her youthful green eyes skimmed down his body once again. He definitely wasn't a little boy anymore.

She wiped most of the water off of the seat beside him, before sitting down very slowly, unable to keep her eyes off of him.

After a few more minutes of just staring at him, half of her still in disbelief of his presence, she sucked in all her courage and began trying to wake him up by calling his name, and shaking him slightly with her hand that wasn't holding up the umbrella.

Arnie groaned slightly, feeling someone shaking him by his shoulder. Couldn't he get a moments peace?

"Arnie! Arnie! Wake up! It's raining!"

Arnie narrowed his eyes slightly in confusion. He was sure whoever this was would be a stranger. But how would a stranger know his name? He stirred slightly, waving his hand to try and get whoever it was to leave him be.

It didn't work, though, of course. "Arnie! Please, Arnie! Wake up! You'll catch a cold in this weather!"

Why did that voice sound familiar?

"Arnie! Please wake up!"

He blinked a few times, groggily, looking around in a slight daze to see it was raining. He blinked his eyes one at a time, before turning his head in the direction he'd heard that voice, his eyes still half-open and a bit fogged up from just being asleep.

What he saw was a beautiful woman with a slightly shocked, but overall concerned look on her lovely face. He rubbed his eyes, looking at her again. No, she was there.

Did he die?

"Oh, thank Heaven's, Arnie. You fell asleep on the bench." The angel coughed slightly, looking almost afraid of him.

Now, Arnie couldn't exactly classify himself as a very nice man, but he'd never want an angel to be afraid of him. What did he do wrong? He blinked at her, both eyes really quickly, one at a time, before sitting up, suddenly a bit more alert. He cleared his throat, opening his eyes all the way to fully take in this beauty who'd suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

He reached his hand out slightly, his hand just grazing her cheek. Yup, she was definitely there. She flinched away at his touch, her eyes looking slightly distressed. He wondered why. Finally, he managed to speak, his voice rough and deep, "How do you know my name?"

She blinked at him, twitching slightly at the sound of his voice. "Why, Arnie... don't you know who I am?" She questioned, looking almost hurt.

Oh, great. What did he do now? "Uh..." He squinted his eyes at her, trying to remember who she was. She did look awfully familiar, but for some reason he just couldn't remember why. "No." He said bluntly, already dreading the awkwardness that was sure to be following his admission.

"Oh." Her sweet voice sounded... disappointed? Hurt? Ugh. "Well, um... That's alright. It has been years since we've seen each other." He could tell her smile was forced. Oh, why couldn't she just tell him who she was already and quit keeping him in the dark? "It's me... Lila? Lila Sawyer?" Her green eyes looked hopeful that he'd remember.

Arnie's eyes shut immediately, feeling a rush of pain go throughout him at the name. So it was her... He had to bite his tongue to keep from screaming. How did he not recognize her? Auburn hair in a braid, youthful green eyes, small, slender frame. Of course it was Lila! How did he not know? Her image had been ingrained in his brain since last he saw her. But... He opened his eyes, taking her in again, only this time with a new perspective... The last time he saw her, she was only nine; Still just a little girl. But this lovely creature was a woman... But still, she hadn't changed THAT much. Sure, she was taller and more feminine looking, but the only really dramatic difference was that she was wearing pink instead of green.

He inhaled deeply through his nose, before finally speaking again, "You look better in green." He told her bluntly. Yeah, that pretty much summed up his thoughts.

Lila fluttered her lashes at him a second, innocently, before looking down at herself and remembering she was still wearing her bridesmaids dress. She smiled up at him, slightly nervously. "Yes, well, I was one of the bridesmaids at Helga's wedding. And of course, since it was Helga, the bridesmaids' dresses were pink." She couldn't help but giggle at her joke.

Arnie simply looked away, crossing his arms firmer over his chest. "Funny." He complimented sincerely. He would have laughed, but he wasn't sure if he remembered how to. The last time he'd laughed had been when he was only a baby. His eyes fell depressingly half-lidded at the thought.

Lila smiled gratefully at him, managing to get her giggling under control. "Thank you."

"Your welcome." When was that bus going to get here already? And why was fate always messing with him?

Lila looked around awkwardly, the pitter pattering of the rain getting harder and harder. She began to become a bit concerned, hearing thunder roar loudly from behind them. She frowned, standing up and looking down at Arnie. She spoke hesitantly, almost timidly, "Arnie, I do believe that the storm isn't going to be getting any better, and the bus doesn't come up this route again for another hour... Would you..." She bit her lip a second, before finishing, "...be kind enough to accompany me back to my apartment?" She fluttered her eyelashes at him, hoping it would help persuade him to come with her.

Arnie stared up at her, his eyes wide open. Curse her long, dark eyelashes! Didn't she understand that he wanted to be alone? He didn't care if it was raining, or if it was thundering, or if the wind was picking up! He just wanted to stay there, and either die right there, in the rain or get on the stupid bus to get home so he could die there. He narrowed his eyes slightly, opening his mouth to reply when-

"WOA!" Lila yelped, a gust of wind suddenly blowing right into her and causing her umbrella to nearly lift her off the ground. Though she didn't end up flying, it did manage to yank her so far off her balance that she almost fell on the wet, cold pavement...

...but Arnie had stood up in a flash and grabbed her around her waist to keep her from falling.

So then, Arnie was holding Lila, bent over, with the umbrella long gone and the rain pummeling down harshly on them, not to mention the wind was still going strong, but Arnie was stronger.

They were both breathing hard in shock of what had almost happened, neither realizing that their faces were indeed very close or that Arnie's arms were wrapped tightly around her, or that Lila's hands had gone around his neck after he'd jumped up to catch her.

Arnie realized all this first, and promptly froze in place, his shocked expression now expressing some terror at what was happening.

Ohhhh, crap.

Lila's eyes were closed, her breathing still rushed and panicked. She couldn't quite process anything at the moment except that she had just been saved from what she deemed, in her panicked and terrified state, something that very well could have killed her.

Not necessarily because she was afraid of getting all muddy, wet, and possibly hurting herself, but because the bridesmaids dresses were rentals, and Helga would kill her if she ruined the very expensive dress that she picked out for the occasion. A little damp was one thing, but soaked, muddy, and ripped up was a whole different ball game, and Lila didn't even really like playing ball, especially not in these circumstances.

Finally able to get her frantic breaths under control, Lila relaxed slightly, only to come to the realization that a pair of very strong and surprisingly warm arms were wrapped around her waist, still dipping her back slightly from her near fall. Her green eyes snapped open instantly at the realization, only to meet two wide blue ones. Her eyes widened at seeing his eyes so close up and at just how shockingly blue his eyes were. She had to blink a couple times just to make sure what she was seeing was real.

Since when did Arnie have blue eyes?

More importantly, since when did Arnie have two of the most beautifully blue eyes she'd ever seen...?

His eyes were dark, his pupils taking over most of their blue glory, and his mouth was shut in a thin line, looking quite serious, as if he didn't know what to do and was thinking really hard.

Lila wounded her arms more firmly around his neck, feeling his arms tightening around her at the same time.

Lila's thoughts were racing a mile a minute, thoughts of fairy tales and princes and love. This was just like in all those stories. The prince dipping her back, her arms wrapped around his neck, both in formal wear, with the rain beating down on them, like the earth was just waiting for the two of them to kiss so that the universe could be set in balance finally.

It was all perfect!

Her breaths became shallow, almost labored, her eyes even tearing up slightly at this ironic turn of events that so greatly resembled how she'd always wanted to be swept off her feet by the man of her dreams.

She wanted this, so badly. She'd searched for this her whole life - All those dreams in kinder garden, the window shopping in elementary, the weekly dates with strangers back in High School, all just to get to this point.

All that they needed to do now was...

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes tight, and pushed her head forward and-

SPLASH!

The next thing she knew was that she was standing up by herself now, soaking wet, and Arnie beside her also soaked, but not really doing anything about it other than standing there with a blank expression while the car that had just splashed them continued to drive away, not once slowing to toss back a "Sorry!"

Lila shivered, her lips trembling at her fantasy just getting ruined, just like that.

She let out a quiet whimper to herself, inwardly asking herself why she always related Arnie with her one true love when it was clear that fate just didn't want them together.

And it wasn't fair! Arnold and Helga got their happily ever after! Gerald and Phoebe both got theirs too! So did Rhonda and Curly, and Harold and Patty, and Nadine and PeaPod Kid, and Brainy and Astrid, and Sid and that girl he met that she couldn't remember the name of, and even her ex-boyfriend Stinky met a girl and was currently living with her!

When did Lila get hers?

It was then that she realized how selfish she was being, thinking of all these silly things that may not even have any basis in reality, while poor Arnie was still standing there, his eyes half-lidded and his body erect.

She bit her lip, taking a small step closer to him with her arms wrapped around herself to try and find warmth from the rain. She coughed a bit, before putting a tentative hand on Arnie's shoulder. "A-Arnie, are you okay?"

He began sniffling, it first starting out with a few small ones before it became more frequent and loud, him practically bouncing with how powerful his sniffles were. Lila was starting to get worried... that is until his sniffles and slight coughs here and there sputtered out into full blown laughter.

Lila's eyes widened considerably, and she had to take a step back in shock. He laughed loudly, having to put a hand on the bench still beside them to support himself so he wouldn't end up falling on the ground. His laugh was rough and deep, coming from somewhere deep inside him.

Lila gaped at him slightly, putting a hand to her chest to try and calm her heart down, as it was beating inside of her chest even louder than the rain, she thought.

Finally, she managed to ask, "W-What's so funny?"

He continued to laugh a few more moments, before he managed to answer through his laughter, "It-It's just..." He chuckled. "...my life sucks so bad! And then there I am, thinking that maybe something might actually go my way for once, and you lean in to kiss me, and then.. and then..." He laughed out loud again, his hands having to grip tight to his stomach as a brand new wave of laughter erupted from inside of him, ending with a few dozen snorts, which had him slapping both hands to his mouth in shock.

At his very unexpected snorts, Lila had laugh too, her own laughter coming out loud, but also very soft and sweet, much like the rest of her.

Arnie stared at her wide-eyed, still shocked and his hands still covering his mouth. He wasn't just shocked about his sudden snort-fest, but also because that had been the first time he'd laughed in years... What on Earth brought that on? His hands dropped to his sides, not sure what had made him want to laugh at his own misfortune.

Lila ended her laughter with a contented sigh, giving Arnie a wide smile, seeing how he still looked shocked. She giggled, leaning over to give him a small peck on the lips, before pulling back and offering her hand to him. "So, do you want to come back to my apartment with me, have some dinner and dry off, or do you want to just stay in the rain and catch pneumonia?" She offered a kind smile.

Arnie stared at her outstretched hand, the only thing running through his mind being that they were going way too fast with all of this...

He took her hand, smiling for the first time since he met the beautiful auburn haired sweetheart back in the fourth grade. "It's a date."

Lila smiled a little wider, savoring the feel of his hand in hers.

Maybe not the happily ever after she had expected, but...

She looked into his electric blue eyes, twinkling with fondness toward her, and even some of that old love they'd had when they first met long ago.

...it was definitely the one she preferred.