The Easy Way Out Part 1

The easy way out.

It was exactly as it was proclaimed.

People often took the easy way out as the way to go for any solution. They saw it as the good way. The right way. The easy way.

However, it's not always the best road to take. True happiness, though deserved by all, had to be worked for. But would be rewarding, and well worth the effort. It's not always easy to achieve true happiness and dreams, especially with life like it is. But knowing you stuck it out, and did your best, and worked your way forward, that's truly something to be proud of.

Helga knew from the beginning that she was taking the easy way out in doing all of this. She was giving up, and taking the next best thing. The easy thing. The one thing she would have to do little to no work for. She'd had enough of torturing herself, though admittedly her own fault, and wanted to move forward and have at least some kind of happiness and solace.

It started in Junior year. Brainy had asked her out. He decided to try to fight for his love if he had to. And she accepted it. They had gone out to the movies, and had dated ever since then.

It was the easy way out because Helga didn't have to work to win Brainy's love.

It was the easy way out because Brainy would do anything to make her happy.

It was the easy way out because Brainy promised stability and fidelity.

It was the easy way out because she wanted to escape the undeniable truth.

It was the easy way out because she wanted to try to love him.

Helga knew she would never love Brainy. At least not romantically. At least not the way she loved, and still did love, a certain someone else. She did not feel faint and ready to swoon when she would see him for the first time of the day. She did not write dozens of poems per week in his name. She did not have romantic soliloquies that included dramatic monologues. She did not keep his photo in a certain heart-shaped locket. She did not feel her insides turn to mush when he hugged her. She did not melt immensely from his kisses. She did not feel her heart pound vigorously when he smiled at her.

To her, Brainy was a confidant, a best guy friend. Even the brother that she never had. He was a great listener, and she had no problem talking with him about various things. She enjoyed his company and liked hearing what he had to say. She did like Brainy very much, she really did. She just didn't love him. She wished she did, because he was great. But she didn't. Try as she may, she just couldn't help how she felt.

She knew she could never love him like that. Not in the way she wanted to.

None the less, she stayed with him. He was the easy way out. She didn't have any displeasure being with him. That was what counted, right? She wasn't in love, but she was content, and had no complaints.

Then in college, Brainy invited her to dinner and asked her if he could buy her a small diamond. This of course surprised Helga, and she was unsure of what she should say to that. The choices were simple. Accept and live a one-sided romance life and yet happy and content, but without love on her end. Reject and pin out on the impossible, but still free to be in love with her true love.

The decision seemed easy, but it wasn't. Helga told him she wanted to think about it for a while before giving an answer. Brainy said he was fine with that, and would wait. He would always wait. He always had.

It took a couple of days to figure out her decision. She spent the weekend carefully considering her options, and had even spoken to her best friend about it.

"Well Helga, I can understand how you still feel about it all. But if you are truly happy about being with Brainy, even if you don't love him like you want to, then you should go for it." She had said.

Helga had even done the unthinkable and talked to her beloved about it. They had become friends in 7th grade, and while they got along and had fun together, Arnold was always after other girls, either dating one or pining after one. Helga tried flirting with him a lot, but it never worked, and she gave up. Still, it worked fine to be around him and actually treat him like a friend instead of dirt.

They'd done it over the phone one evening, when Helga just needed to talk to someone about it who would understand.

--

"So, Brainy asked me to marry him. ...Well, not in exact words, he wanted to buy me a small diamond ring." Helga spoke into the receiver as she lay on her bed in her apartment.

"That's pretty much still proposing, Helga." Chuckled the male voice on the other line. That sweet, wondrous voice she still loved... "What did you tell him?"

"I told him I wanted to think about it before giving him an answer." Helga replied with a shrug. "He was fine with it, said I could think about it as long as I needed to. Which works, you know. It's a pretty big step to take in life, ya know?"

"Yeah, it definitely is." Arnold agreed. "You were right to do that, Helga. I guess you do need to think about it. Have you come close to a decision, or are you still on the fence?"

"Eh, I think I'll just accept it. I mean, hey, Brainy's a great guy and all, and we'd be happy together."

"If that's what you want, Helga. Just do what's right for you, whatever will make you happy in the end."

"You are so corny, football head." Helga smiled.

"I mean it, Helga. I've always wanted you to be happy, and if marrying Brainy will make you happy, then that's exactly what you need to do. I care about you, and I hope whatever decision you make will be the right thing." Arnold said very seriously.

"S'okay then, you've given me enough to think about it. So say I do accept it. Can I pencil you in to come to the wedding?"

Arnold laughed on the other line. "Of course. I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Helga snickered. "Good. You just saved me the trouble of having to drag you over there myself."

"Glad I could help."

"Ha ha. Well, I'm gonna go, got a lot things and thinking to do, la-dee-da."

"All right then, I'll see you later Helga."

"See ya."

Helga waited for him to hang up, but she heard no click or dial tone to confirm it. She smirked a little, despite that he couldn't see it.

"You didn't hang up, did you?"

"No, I wanted so much to hear your voice again." Arnold joked.

"Oh ha ha. Well, you hang up first."

"No, you can do it."

"I told you first, football head."

"Ladies first."

"That's only appropriate for opening doors! You hang up first."

"No, you hang up first."

"Don't make me come over there!"

"If you're going to threaten me, at least make it less appealing."

"Oh, shut up!" Helga couldn't hold in her laughter.

"Screw you." Arnold chuckled.

"When?"

"Helga!"

"What?"

"Okay, I'm hanging up now."

"Fine by me, hair boy."

"I will."

"Be my guest."

"I'm lowering the phone now."

"No one's stopping you."

Still nothing.

"Arnold.... What are you, fifteen?"

"I don't know, last time I checked, I was twenty-two."

"And so was I. So let's hang up on three."

"All right."

"One..."

"Two..."

"Three."

No click.

"Arnold!"

"Sorry Helga. I'll see you later."

"Smell ya later, alligator."

Click.

Helga smiled and replaced the phone on its cradle, laying back on her bed and staring up at the ceiling, listening to the city noises going on outside her window.

Even now at the tender age of twenty-two, Helga still loved her dear football head. That she knew would never change. She just learned to accept that it could never happen.

After all, she was with Brainy now. And that was the right road to take.

--

Helga had met Brainy the following week and told him that she would be happy to wear a diamond from him. And just so, on their date that night, he presented her with a simple but lovely diamond ring. From then on, they planned to get married six months to that day.

All their school mates were invited, and their families, which was pretty much the plan. Just friends and family, which worked out pretty well. They decided to have the wedding right here in the city at the same church where Coach Wittenburgh and his wife had gotten married for the second time at. Phoebe was to be the Maid of Honour, which she of course was happy to do. Rhonda, Nadine, Sheena, and Lila were bridesmaids. Brainy had Eugene to be his Best Man, along with a couple of his geeky friends to be his groomsmen.

Rhonda had her personal designer come up with some designs for Helga's dress, to which Helga had at first objected against, but finally gave in so she could save money and make Rhonda happy. A lot of the designs were amazing, it was so hard to pick one. So after some very hard decision-making, measures and fittings, Helga finally had her amazing, one-of-a-kind wedding gown designed just for her. Needless to say, she loved it. Really loved it.

Rhonda had also helped in getting some of the city's top designers to come up with some a good dress for the bridesmaids, and of course, one for Phoebe. That too, had been a long and tiring process, but eventually they all settled on exactly what they wanted.

Sheena and Nadine helped in choosing flowers and getting all of that done and arranged, and in the end chose some great flowers to grace the church and reception hall venue, flowers for the bridesmaids, Phoebe's flowers, and of course, Helga's bouquet.

Thanks to Harold's expert catering advice, he had gotten them an excellent place to set up a buffet for the reception, keeping any and all precautions in place, for those with allergies or preferences in case they were vegetarian or even vegan.

As stressful and tiring as it was planning the wedding, it was all going very well, and Helga was even feeling pretty excited. It WAS her wedding, after all. Despite that it wasn't quite what she imagined. She was still happy with it anyway. After all, it was all a matter of attitude. She was going to make the best of it, no matter what.

--

Before long, the big day had finally come. It was going wonderfully, so far.

Bob had walked Helga down the aisle to the altar, where Brainy was waiting. She, once more, did not feel an immense rush of excitement, love, melting inside, jumpy, the urge to squeal, none of the sort. She felt content, warm, a little giddy, and above all, very happy. Brainy on the other hand, was beaming and breathing really hard, still an asthmatic to this very day, but he kept his inhaler around a lot more in order to be understood. He was obviously excited, so very excited at the wondrous prospect of marrying his long-time love. Helga for a moment, felt her heart sink in her chest as she realized that he was feeling exactly how she would feel if her beloved was the one at the altar.

The one-sided romance.

It was only the beginning. She would grow to love him. After all, she was more than happy to marry him, right? That was a good sign. A good nudge in the right direction.

But she knew that would never happen. Brainy would always hold a platonic kind of love from her, no matter how much she wanted to be in love with him. The world just didn't work that way. Maybe, maybe in another universe parallel to this one, there was another Helga who DID love Brainy. But not her. She could never love him like he loved her, no matter how much she wished to.

None the less, she had no regrets, no complaints, nothing at all against marrying him. They would have a very happy, content life together. It would work. Maybe it wouldn't be like he wanted. Maybe it wouldn't be like she imagined it. But they would get by. They would get by.

She stood there now, listening to him recite his vows to her. His promises, his love, everything. All that he felt toward her. It saddened her once more that she couldn't say it the same way he did.

But bravely, once it was her turn, she recited the best written vows she could come up with at the time she had written them. It moved everyone, and Brainy looked ready to cry, even if he didn't.

The rest of the ceremony went by beautifully. And before long, they were pronounced husband and wife. Brainy kissed Helga tenderly, and for a moment, she stiffened in his embrace. For one fleeting moment, it didn't feel right. She wanted to back out. She didn't want to be married to him anymore. She wanted-

The feeling was gone as quick as it came, as if it had never happened. Helga attributed it as the wedding day jitters, brushing it off like it was nothing. It didn't matter, because she was married to Brainy now, and that was what she wanted.

Even if it was obviously the easy way out.

Brainy had gotten what he truly wanted.

Helga had gotten what she truly needed.

--

The reception had gone wonderfully. With Bob making a very nice toast to his youngest daughter and her new husband, with Miriam and Olga crying throughout the speech. Phoebe also spoke a few words, as did Gerald, their classmates, and some other family members from both the bride and groom.

Arnold was last to make a toast, and his words touched Helga's heart so much, and yet saddened her immensely.

"I just want to extend my congratulations to Brainy and Helga for uniting together as a couple once and for all. With all of my heart, I wish you both great happiness and joy, and it won't always be easy, but I know you two will make it. And Helga, I want to tell you personally that it makes me happier than I've felt in a long time to see you happy like this, considering the hardships you've faced in your life. I'm happy that you're happy, and well, I wish you the best. Both of you."

The crowd all cheered for the happy couple, and the festivities of the evening began.

The DJ soon kicked in the music, with Brainy and Helga having the first dance of the evening. It was a very nice dance, that's all she could say about it. She didn't have butterflies in her stomach, she didn't feel like melting in a puddle, she didn't feel like they were the only two people in the world, she didn't feel the immense love and passion that she wanted to feel. She didn't feel any of it. She just felt happy, happy to have a bright future with someone she cared about, happy to be here, just plain happy. She was very happy. Not in the way she wanted, but it was enough.

Dinner and dancing went on at the same time. People were either eating some food from the buffet spread, or dancing on the dance floor. Very informal, but Helga insisted they all have fun and do what they pleased, to break the rules for a change. In turn, everyone did. The evening was going beautifully.

Sad to say, the most magical moment of the evening didn't occur with her husband.

It was at the moment that Arnold came and asked Helga if he could dance with her during a slow song that had come on. She of course accepted, unable to resist throwing in a silly jab, making him laugh.

They danced together, ballroom style, talking all the while as they swayed slowly to the music. There was nothing lewd or ungentlemanly about his closeness to her, and she too resisted the urge to get too close to him. It was fine though, the fact she was dancing with him like this was more than enough for her. This was when she felt it, feeling as if she were floating on a cloud. This was when she felt the love, the tingles, the excitement, the warmth, all of the feelings she should have felt when dancing with her husband. But she knew better, she knew better to think that would happen.

It was magical. While she knew she would only be able to experience it for a few minutes, she made the best of it. It would be, what she felt, the last time they could ever get close like this.

"Been a while since we last danced, eh, football head?" Helga smirked at him.

"Yeah, it really has." Arnold agreed, nodding. "We danced together in 10th grade, didn't we?"

"Yep. You took me to the Halloween Dance that year, since neither of us had a date and we kind of danced a lot. You know, to have something to do. And then before that was the fourth grade. Fraid you ain't got a pool to throw me in this time, hair boy."

Arnold laughed at the memory. "Oh Helga, you know I'd never do that again."

"How can I be so sure?" Helga smiled.

"Because I think I'd have to be quite an idiot to hold a grudge over a bunch of silly childish pranks that you pulled when I was nine." Arnold said, and smiled. "I think I'm kind of over it by now."

"Oh ha ha, Mr. Comedian." Helga playfully rolled her eyes. "You were pretty good at the tango back then. Where'd you learn to dance like that?"

"Grandma." Arnold admitted. "She taught me quite a few dances back then."

"Your Grandma was quite a crazy woman... You still miss her?"

"Yeah I do, I miss them both. But it's okay, though. It's been three years, and I've moved on."

"Figured as much."

Pretty soon, the song ended, all too quickly for Helga's taste. They shook hands and shared a brief hug before Arnold went to go dance with Lila, and Helga went to go sit down and take a break and chat with Phoebe for a bit.

It wasn't long before Brainy came back from the bathroom and took Helga to dance to the next number, which in turn, was very fun.

--

The evening progressed, and soon, at about 3 AM, Brainy and Helga decided to leave and head back to their now shared apartment, since they had to leave the following afternoon for their honeymoon in Italy. So the bride and groom said their goodbyes to their families and friends, who wished them congratulations and a bon voyage.

Amidst the tearful goodbyes, the second most wonderful moment occurred that evening.

Helga had decided to lose herself just one more time by hugging Arnold tightly as he said goodbye to her. No one seemed to really notice them, and if they did, they certainly didn't seem to see the deeper connection.

She hugged him tight, savouring his warmth, and the immense feelings of love coursing through her. Soft tears ran down her cheeks, though she kept smiling in order to keep up the appearance of her being so happy that she was crying. In a way, she was. They embraced for a while, and then parted, with her kissing him on the cheek. To everyone else, it was a friendly peck between friends. To her, it was something more. They bid each other farewell before she climbed into the limo with Brainy, and cuddled against him during the whole ride back.

--

Their two-week vacation in Italy had been great. Helga had enjoyed every minute of it, and took plenty of pictures to keep. On the other hand, she felt as if they were just two best friends going on vacation together, instead of a honeymoon. Sure, there were romantic moments, quite a bit, but it wasn't quite right. Not to her, at least. She didn't feel romantic and passionate with him. She felt excited and glad to be sharing this with him.

On their first night, they had also made love for the first time. Admittedly, it was very nice, pleasant, warm, and comforting. It did lack the passion, fire, and ecstasy that she imagined it to be, but it wasn't a bad thing. She could do just fine with this kind of lovemaking. It wasn't what she'd really wanted, but she enjoyed it, just in a different way. They would be able to get by just fine in the bedroom department as well. It didn't become a weekly or even a daily thing, but when it happened, it was lovely.

So once they were back from their honeymoon, they were more than ready to start their new life together.

--

Their life together was pleasant, content, warm, loving, and comfortable. Helga was an author, wrote poetry books, and had also studied to become an attorney of law. Brainy was in Medical School, studying to become a research developer to cure cancer, and was an intern at the hospital. They were financially comfortable, and weren't quite ready for home ownership or children, but that was fine, they were getting by just fine.

In terms of their love life, they would go on a date somewhere together on Saturday nights, or whenever they saw fit, or would simply stay at home and cuddle while watching TV or movies, chatting while they worked, and making their meals together if they were both home. It was comfortable and pleasant, to say the least.

Helga was happy. She wasn't in love, but she was happy. She'd taken the easy way out, and it was working just fine for her.

She got by just fine.

But after four years of marriage, it happened.