Trope bingo: postage stamp (virginfic/reunion/holidayfic/futurefic (free space))
Rated T for discussion of young-adult sexuality. (But no more than that. Everyone keeps their clothes on.)
Timeframe: Thanksgiving break, freshman year of college; Phineas and Isabella are both eighteen.
Phineas hurried along the airport concourse, trying to hold back his nervousness. What if she didn't want him anymore? What if she'd found some other guy? They'd gone off to colleges far away from each other; what if three months away from him had made her realize she could do better? She'd given no hint of any problems during their daily video calls - if anything, she seemed more in love with him than ever - but maybe she was just hiding it until she could break it to him in person?
He exited the secure area, and there she was. His mother had brought her along. Isabella flung herself into his arms. "You made it back," she said simply into his shoulder as the couple embraced each other tightly.
"Missed you so much," he whispered into her hair.
From behind Isabella, his mother said, "Aww, that's so sweet. When you two can stand on your own again, we can go pick up Phineas's luggage."
They loosened their grips on each other, their hands falling together automatically as they walked toward baggage claim. "When did you get in?" he asked.
"A couple hours ago. I dropped my stuff off at home and was staring out the window waiting for you to get back. Mom told me to ask if I could come along to pick you up."
They arrived at baggage claim, and Isabella pressed herself up against him again, wordlessly demanding more hugs. He readily obliged, folding her in his arms. She looked up at him with a blissful smile, and he took the opportunity to sneak a kiss. Isabella responded eagerly, and they lost track of time until Phineas's mother said, "Is that your suitcase starting its third trip around, Phineas?"
Phineas reluctantly let go of Isabella and pulled his suitcase off the conveyor belt, then took Isabella's hand as they walked toward the parking garage.
Phineas had helped her mother clean up the dinner dishes; now he was nestled with Isabella on the couch. Three months apart had been agonizing, and she knew they only had three days before they had to go back to college to finish their semesters.
Vivian came out of the kitchen drying her hands and said, "I need to run some errands for a couple hours. I assume you two can keep yourselves entertained while I'm gone?"
Isabella blushed and nodded her head, grinning, while Phineas just blushed.
Vivian headed out, and Isabella took the opportunity to kiss Phineas even more deeply. As their kisses grew more urgent, she found herself straddling his lap, her skirt floating up to mid-thigh as their hands roamed over each other.
"Love you," he murmured between kisses.
"Love you too," she gasped, nibbling his neck as his hands slid up her legs to the edge of her skirt.
His hands on her bare skin were driving her wild, and she felt herself pressing against him, seeking ever-closer contact. They'd previously decided not to push too far, but her time at college had changed her mind. She'd watched the way her roommate and her boyfriend seemed so close after the evenings when Isabella left the two of them alone in the room for a while. Now she was thinking that she was ready to push things a little herself.
"Should we move upstairs?" she asked in a voice she hoped was sultry. "I think I'm ready to go see how far we can go together."
His eyes got wide as she stood up, then pulled him up off the couch by his hands. She started walking him toward the stairs, when he suddenly pulled his hand out of hers.
"I just remembered I have to go help Mom get things ready for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow, I love you, I'll call you later," he said in a panicked voice, and he rushed out the door.
Isabella looked at the door for a long moment, her mouth hanging open in shock.
Phineas ran across the street, his thoughts a jumble. What am I doing? Why am I running?
He didn't have a good answer, he just knew he had to get away. He burst through the door of his house; his parents looked up at him, puzzled. "Are you okay, dear? Everything alright with Isabella?" his mother asked.
He nodded and raced up the stairs, closing his bedroom door behind him and flinging himself onto his bed. Perry nuzzled up to him, and he put his arm around the platypus.
His phone buzzed. He pulled it out, knowing what he'd find. It was, as expected, a message from Isabella.
What's wrong? Are you okay?
Taking a deep breath, he sent back:
I'm okay. I'm sorry. I just flipped out a bit.
His phone buzzed again.
I'm sorry too. Too much?
For now. Can we talk about it tomorrow?
Absolutely. I love you.
Calmed a little, he replied.
I love you too. Always.
There was a knock on his door. "Phineas, can I come in?" his father asked.
"Yeah, Dad," he said, and the door opened. His father came in, closing the door behind him, and sat on the foot of the bed.
"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that something's up," his father said. "Probably with Isabella. Problems with the long-distance relationship?"
Phineas sat up, still holding on to Perry, and looked at his father. "No, not at all. It's just...well, we really love each other."
"Yes, I'd gathered that."
"Really, really, love each other."
His father's eyebrows went up. "Oh, I see. And...are not seeing eye-to-eye on how to express that love? Sometimes it takes a young woman a little longer and she needs more reassurance..."
Phineas shook his head. "She offered. I panicked."
"Oh, my. And?"
"We're going to talk about it tomorrow." He held up his phone by way of explanation.
"Communication is always good in a relationship. Do you want my advice, or should I butt out and leave you to your own devices?"
"What do I do, Dad?"
Lawrence smiled and put his hand on his son's shoulder. "You talk to her about what you both want. If you don't feel you're ready, and she truly loves you, she'll respect that choice just as you'd respect it if you were ready and she wasn't."
"And if I am ready?"
"I...don't have my notes for that talk, I think they got put away after I gave it to Ferb the second time. I can go find them if you need a refresher."
Phineas grinned. "That's okay. I remember. I suppose I need to talk to her about that when the time comes, too."
"Indeed, communication is the key. But if you are ready, why did you panic?"
"That's what I'm trying to figure out. I'm not sure yet."
"Can you take it from here?"
"I can," Phineas said, taking a deep breath. "Thanks, Dad."
Isabella was unexpectedly nervous as she knocked on the Flynn-Fletcher front door the next day. Her mother said, "It'll be fine, Isa," as she brought along a tray of her peppery corn casserole. For many years, they'd joined their neighbors across the street for Thanksgiving, as cooking a full Thanksgiving dinner for just the two of them felt excessive.
Phineas greeted them at the door, giving her an embarrassed - and more chaste than usual - hug and a kiss as she entered. "I need to go help Mom and Dad with dinner; can we talk after?" he asked quietly as Vivian carried the cornbread into the kitchen.
She nodded, and with her heart in her eyes, said, "I just want you to know I love you, no matter what, okay?"
He gave her a relieved smile and said, "I love you too. Very, very much." He hugged her quickly before following Vivian into the kitchen.
From the couch, Candace set her fifteen-month-old daughter down and said, "Why don't you go give Aunt Isabella a hug?" The child toddled over to her, and Isabella picked her up and hugged her.
"And how are you doing, Amanda?" Isabella asked, taking a seat while still holding the little girl. "You've gotten so big in the last three months."
The little girl grinned at her, looking like a smaller version of her mother, and gave her another hug before wiggling and saying something that sounded like, "Down."
Isabella put the little girl down, and she toddled over to her father, just coming into the room. "Jeremy, can you take her for a couple minutes? I need some girl talk with Isabella," Candace said.
"Sure, honey," Jeremy said, picking up Amanda and carrying her into the kitchen.
Candace looked across at Isabella. "What's eating you and Phineas?"
"What do you mean?"
"You two are normally all over each other. We'd need a crowbar to get you apart. Today...I've gotten more passionate kisses from him than the one he gave you at the door. He's been moping around all morning like a dog expecting to get kicked. So, what's up?"
"We're...working through some issues on where we're going with this. It's not a problem, it's just...we need to talk, and haven't had a chance to."
"Long distance relationship issues? I remember how hard it was making things work with Jeremy the year he was off at college, and then when we were both at colleges away from each other. Only seeing each other for holidays and over the summer."
Isabella nodded. "I kind of want to get...a more concentrated dosage of time with him while we can, but we need to figure out just what we want there."
Candace chuckled knowingly. "I can understand that. As you can tell from the timing on the little hugmonster in the other room, who was conceived over Thanksgiving break my junior year. Be careful, okay? I don't want to be an aunt yet."
Fortunately, further discussion was interrupted by the doorbell as Linda's parents arrived. Isabella and Candace chatted with them for a little while until Phineas appeared in the door from the kitchen to report that dinner was served.
Isabella grabbed a seat next to Phineas; with Ferb in England and unable to take the time to come home, Amanda's high chair had taken the tenth spot around the table.
"Phineas, would you care to give the blessing?" his father asked. Phineas nodded and took a deep breath.
Everyone around the table clasped hands, Amanda looking around puzzled as to why her parents were holding her hands suddenly. Phineas took a quick look at Isabella, squeezing her hand.
"Dear Lord," he began, "Thank you for all these gifts that you have given to us: Your love and the people whom we love, whether here or absent; this wonderful meal that awaits us; the leisure to be able to relax and enjoy this day. For all these things we are truly grateful, and on this day of giving thanks, it is to You that we show our gratitude."
The conversation began after a ragged chorus of 'Amen', with Phineas and Isabella being asked about their college experiences, and what she thought about Georgetown and D.C. as he was asked about Stanford and Palo Alto. They answered, and replied with questions about Amanda's first birthday and Candace's new job in the mayor's office.
Finally, the meal finished, Phineas and Isabella helped clean things up as Candace and her family headed out to visit his parents as well. Once the cleanup was in hand and Phineas's father and grandfather had taken over the living room to watch the obligatory American football game, Phineas took her hand and led her upstairs.
Phineas looked over at the woman he loved as he sat across the bed from her. He wanted to take her in his arms and hold her so much, but they really needed to talk about this first, and holding her would be far too distracting for this talk.
"So, what's up, Phineas?" she asked with a look of concern on her face.
"I'm sorry I flipped out last night. It took me a while to figure out just what happened to my head."
"I'm sorry too. I should have let you know, instead of surprising you like that. Do you...not want to do things like that?"
"I've been thinking about doing things like that with you for a while. But I didn't think you wanted to yet, so I've been working really hard at not pushing on that at all. When your mother left last night, I knew it would be tempting, so I clamped down on the idea really hard...and then you suggested doing more, and my brain got caught in a paradox, stuck between two conflicting ideas. Kind of like Robot XJ-47L in Space Adventure 11."
"Only instead of trying to blow up the ship, you panicked and ran away."
He nodded. "Exactly. I don't think it will happen again, now that I've had a chance to get used to the idea that you might want to...do that with me."
She slid up the bed until they were next to each other, and gently took his face in her hands to give him a kiss. "I would very much like to do that with you, Phineas. You aren't the only one who's been thinking about it for a while."
He lay back, pulling her with him, and they entangled themselves on the bed. "Not right now, though," she added, rolling herself on top of him. "Not with all your family downstairs."
"No, of course not. But we've got two more days this week. I'm sure we can find some time alone."
"Mm. Mom always loves the sales tomorrow morning. I'll talk to her about how long she'll be gone."
She ran her hand down his side, and he fought back the temptation to ignore the fact that his family would come looking for them soon. He kissed her, and said, "Sounds like something to be thankful for to me. How do we...make sure we don't end up with an Amanda of our own?"
"I started taking pills for that over a month ago. We're covered."
"You really have been planning this for a while. Maybe I should make some plans too. I know we can't do it quite yet, but I'd really like spend the night with you. To not have to feel rushed or worried about interruptions. To go to sleep holding you, and then wake up with you in the morning."
Isabella's eyes were wide as she looked at him, and a sultry smile crossed her face. "I like the way you think. How do we make it happen?"
"Do you have any plans for spring break?"
She shook her head.
"Okay, then. Let's find somewhere to meet and spend the week together. Just the two of us."
"Mm. A long wait, but I think it'd be worth it. You've always been worth the wait, Phineas."