Ferb climbed down from the lighting rig he, his brother and Isabella and the fireside girls had built to project Love Handel out for his parents to see, to help his dad out with the wedding anniversary. He shook his head at the thought of his father forgetting something again, it wasn't the first time he'd forgotten some important day and he knew it wouldn't be the last. It's what made his father, his father.

Once back on the floor, Ferb glanced around to find his brother who, strangely, was nowhere to be found. It wasn't like the red-headed boy to be scarce at such an event; he loved them almost as much as the people they set them up for.

Although there seemed to be hundreds of people in the street, rocking out to Love Handel with his parents at the front, there were only four places Phineas would be; with Candace with the camera, with Isabella helping out with confetti and the dancing, congratulating their parents or with him and he was none of any.

Ferb sighed to himself trying to wrack his brain for some idea of where he could have gotten too. He'd ask Isabella but if she thought he was missing she'd throw a fit and a search party. Yes the party would help find him but it could also make things worse if Phineas didn't want to be found. There was no point asking his mother or father because they actually wouldn't have seen him, being wrapped up in each other.

He smiled at his parents and waved up at Isabella and the fireside girls as he walked towards Candace. Even though she and the boys didn't always see eye to eye, he would have told her where he was going so someone knew where to find him in case of emergency, he wasn't daft.

Ferb reached out and tapped his sister who turned around to find her quiet green haired brother looking up at her, slightly confused and lost; after all the boys where rarely seen apart so it was no wonder he felt a little lost what with the crowd and all.

'Looking for Phineas?' Candace called out.

Ferb simply nodded; there was no way he was shouting over the noise and music.

'He said he was off inside for a new battery or something.' She replied to his gesture.

Ferb nodded at her, his way of thanking without words, and walked back through the crowd towards the house.

The house was literally a few feet away but it was going to take him a few minutes to get there tonight. Ferb was confused, to say the least, which he always did, as to why Phineas had said he was going to collect a new battery for the camera; they had been charging that one all afternoon and it had at least four hours life on it and they'd only been using it for about 30 minutes.

Plus he should have know that Ferb would know it was a lie and Isabella, hell even Candace should have realized however she was a little distracted. Maybe he wanted Ferb to find him, or even Isabella but like Candace she was busy so it was up to Ferb.

Now the house wasn't big, but Phineas was a small boy and if he didn't want to be found he had the capability of hiding from people. Ferb felt his face drop slightly at the idea of not being able to find Phineas, he never hid from him.

Ferb looked the house up and down before reaching the front door and noticed a peculiar triangular shaped shadow in the front room window. The corners of Ferbs' mouth tugged knowing he had found his brother even as the shadow recoiled from sight knowing he'd been seen.

The green haired boy ran inside to catch sight of where the red-head was heading next and to his luck he just managed to, seeing the smaller child on the stairs as he burst into the house. Usually Phineas would run away from Ferb like this if it was a game but that was the only time, except when he was upset and Ferb had a funny feeling it wasn't a game Phineas was playing.

Ferb hated it when Phineas tried to hide his sadness from his brother saying it'll put a downer on things but Ferb had told him time and time again that it only made him human. Running up the stairs after him, Phineas had started down the hallway towards their room and Ferb wasted no time in pursuing the chase.

Phineas could hear Ferb closing in on him and knew he wasn't going to make it to their room before Ferb grabbed him or pounced to stop him from running. With this knowledge Phineas daringly made a sudden turn and ran towards Ferb confusing him, trying to hide his face.

Ferb didn't understand what the boy was doing with his sudden change in direction until he grabbed a door frame and swung himself in to the bathroom locking the door behind him.

There was defiantly something wrong. Phineas may have hid when he was upset but he never locked himself in a room especially with Ferb on the other side of the door. Ferb frowned and knocked on the door to hear nothing, not even a shuffle. Ferb sighed loudly and knocked again.

On the other side of the wooden fixture, Phineas was holding the door shut although that was pointless since he'd locked it when he ran in, he'd checked about a million times in the last 15 seconds. Phineas' heart was racing.

When Ferb knocked on the door it was like someone was swinging an ice pick in a glass store; loud and painful.

Phineas hated to run from his brother, and he would usually have been caught by now, but he hated it more to have to hide from him. It may have been childish and the solution was simple, having to just open the door but it wasn't that easy; not when you were Phineas.

The small red-head had a bad habit of bottling things up so when he became upset everything just seemed to hit him at once and he became a wreck. He let it pass over him quickly once he'd exploded, believing that if he clung to the past it could jeopardise his future but something was going to change tonight, and both boys could feel it.

Phineas had another bad habit of hiding from everyone when he was upset; it was something he had done since he was very young with his biological father. It had made his father laugh whether it took two minutes to find his son or two hours, either way he was convinced Phineas would grow out of it.

However, on the night his father passed away, it took up to six hours to find the youngster tucked away, fast asleep, in a cupboard in the garage where his father would keep all his tools. When Lawrence and Ferb had first started living with the Flynns, they were a little confused as to why Phineas did was he did but Linda explained it was something he'd always done and told Lawrence not to worry, Phineas knew where was safe to sit and hide and where wasn't.

Ferb had overheard the conversation, not that he had a choice being sat at the table when Linda told his father, and had always held a cause for concern when Phineas disappeared. He knew it was probably a mechanism for him to remember his father by and it wasn't something he'd let go of any time soon and he couldn't blame him but what if one day Phineas was feeling particularly down and in the spur of the moment had a seriously depressing thought? What if he hid and was never found?

Ferb knocked on the door for the third time and with still having no answer he spoke gently.

'Phin.'

Phineas, who had been staring at his shoes, flicked his eyes up, glancing at the door when he heard his brothers' voice. He stood still for a few moments longer and just as Ferb began to sound his name again, Phineas flipped around, pressing his back to the door yelling, 'Go away! Ju-just go away!'

Ferb frowned sadly at the ground, placing his hand flat against the door, sighing quietly. Without a word Phineas slid his back down the door, wrapping his arms around his legs trying his best not to cry and ignoring the few tears that would escape and roll down his cheeks.

'Phin, please.' Ferb spoke.

Phineas said nothing and place his head on his hands staring at the floor. Ferb knew this was going to be tough to get Phineas to speak tonight but he never thought it would end up like this; with them either side of a door, two separate rooms, Ferb trying to get Phineas to come out and tell him what was wrong while worrying the entire time.

A couple of minutes passed and nothing had changed so Ferb spoke again.

'Phineas, open the door please.'

'N-no' was the response mumbled back.

'Why not? And don't you dare tell me you might put a downer on things because you know it only makes you human to feel sad or upset. I only want to know what's wrong and what I can do to make you happy again.'

For a boy that didn't speak very much, Ferb knew what he was saying. He spoke more to Phineas than to anyone else, not even his father. Phineas knew Ferb was only trying to help and wanted to get Phineas back into the state he wanted to be in but he couldn't bring himself to move and instead felt more tears leak out of the corners of his eyes.

'I-I can't. I-I won't.'

'Why?'

'I-I-I...No. I-I you...just leave me alone!' Phineas called back his voice cracking as he begun crying having to sniffle and suck back breathe.

Ferb imitated Phineas' earlier movement and slid down the door, sitting on the floor with his legs outstretched. Ferb rested his head against the door wondering what had gotten Phineas into such a mess.

'Phin please.' Ferb pleaded gently

On the reverse of the door Ferb could hear Phineas crying properly trying to be as quiet as he could and failing. Ferb wanted nothing more than to hug his brother close and tell him things are ok and they'll be alright but instead he had to battle his way through the barrier.

'Phin...'

Phineas whimpered lightly to show he was listening.

'I know you hate people seeing you upset and more so when it's me but you know I don't care how you act or look I'm not going to think or treat you any different to the way I aways have. You don't have to hide your face from me Phineas, when you cry. I love you for you, exactly who you are, Phineas Flynn one of the youngest inventors Danville has ever seen, the boy that is practically a walking sunshine and has a positive spin on practically everything. The same boy that can also feel sad and upset and cry and should know that his family will never love him any different.'

It wasn't a shock to Phineas how much Ferb had said but it was what he had said. Phineas was one of few who heard Ferb speak this much but he couldn't remember a time when Ferb had said something this deep to him.

Phineas suddenly felt empty and lost sat alone on the bathroom floor, glancing around the empty space. Ferb had started wondering if Phineas was still sat on the bathroom floor against the door or if he had gone and sat in the bath, he hadn't heard him move but it was possible he could have missed the movement while speaking.

'Phineas...Come out...please?' Ferb whispered quietly.

After a small silence, Ferb went to stand up and go to their shared room when the lock flipped and the door slowly creaked open. Ferb shuffled away from the door, not standing, to allow his brother to exit the room although he didn't expect him to crawl out nor did he expect him to pull him into a hug.

Phineas had practically dived on to his brother, hugging him tightly, pressing his head into the Brits chest knocking them off balance and on to the floor properly laid. Ferb went in to seconds of shock before he stroked Phineas' hair, placing a soothing kiss on his forehead.

When done so, Phineas smiled, sitting up against the wall, pulling Ferb up too, apologizing, leaning against his brother.

'There's nothing to apologize for. I'm just curious as to what brought this on.' Ferb retorted.

Phineas smiled sheepishly and the carpet before placing his head on Ferb's shoulder explaining.

'Well, when we found out that dad had forgotten his and moms wedding anniversary, I made me panic a little because mom did seem off this morning then when I saw them tonight in front of Love Handel I was so glad that things worked out then it hit me; what if things hadn't worked out? I wouldn't have a dad anymore...again and I wouldn't have you!'

Ferb was looking down at his brother with a soft expression on his face as he saw his brothers eyes well up again.

'I-I don't know what I'd d-do without you. You've almost always been in my life and I don't remember a day that y-you haven't b-been there for m-me or with me. I didn't and d-don't want to lose you! You're my brother Ferbooch.'

Ferb smirked at his full name, turning Phineas's head, wiping the fallen tears away then hugging his brother close, kissing his head once more. There was nothing between the kisses they shared, although never seen by anyone, they were simply a comfort method between the duo and nothing more than brotherly love.

'You're not going to lose me or dad. Don't think that. Mom would never do that to us or Candace, you know that and even if things had messed up and gone that bad, I would always be your brother.'

Phineas looked up at Ferb questioning 'Forever?'

Ferb nodded in response repeating 'Forever.'

The duo smiled at each other, wiping tears away while sitting on the floor on the landing. Not once had they expected things to go this way or end like this but they were glad it did. It was these moments that they treasured forever, even if they started out sad.

Time passed and the boy were still on the landing laughing about who knows what, planing things to do in the summer.

'I guess we should get back to the party huh?' Phineas stated standing up and helping Ferb to his feet who was nodding in agreement.

The duo made their way downstairs and to the front door with Ferb leading. As they approached they could hear the music playing still. Ferb placed his hand on the handle but paused looking at Phineas.

Phineas stopped and looked confused at Ferb.

'The name stays between us.'

Phineas laughed before Ferb opened the door and they joined the party again.

PFPFPFPFPFPFPFPF

Well there is my first Phineas and Ferb fanfiction. I'm none too sure I've written this right so your feed back would be most helpful and I would be very grateful.

For those of you who don't know me, I am Trixabella and I am a main writer for Rio at the current moment however I do enjoy Phineas and Ferb and this fanfiction was cool to write even if it was very long.

I do write yaio and yuri so do expect that from me I'm funny with certain pairings but I won't eat people for putting them together. I will put Phineas and Ferb together in some fanfictions because a. I can. And b. they're not blood related.

I will also re write some of these fanfictions in to M rating and post them separate because that's what I want to do.

So for now...I hope you enjoyed this sorry for my mistakes if they seriously bug you let me know about them and Ill get them !

Trixabella Pixximist – x

P.S I clearly don't own anything or anyone from Phineas and Ferb.