Hello. How is your day going?

As of now, this is the only 'project' that will not be based off of two songs and not just one. Unsteady by X Ambassadors and Stand By You by Marlisa Punzalan (I hope I'm spelling her name right).

Disclaimer: I do not own Phineas And Ferb or any of its characters.

WARNINGS: MENTIONS OF CHILD ABUSE AND IMPLIED SUICIDE (but it's very brief)

Chapter 1: Phineas and Ferb (Phineas And Ferb)

Hold. Hold on. Hold on to me 'cause I'm a little unsteady. A little unsteady. –"Unsteady" by X Ambassadors

"Ferb?" Phineas's voice broke the silence in the room the step brothers shared.

Phineas's mother had married Ferb's father many years ago, and Phineas and Ferb were the best of friends. They never fought; they were never jealous of each other; they were always there for one another. But there was one question Phineas had wanted to know the answer to since the almost silent boy moved into his house when him and Ferb were barely five.

Ferb glanced up, not saying a word as usual.

"Why don't you speak?" Phineas questioned.

Ferb tilted his head in curiosity, and Phineas sighed. They never needed words to communicate.

"Fine. Why do you hardly speak?" Phineas rephrased.

Ferb shrugged.

"You know why," Phineas insisted. "Ferb, I'm your best friend. You can tell me."

Ferb pursed his lips, unsure of whether or not to answer Phineas's question. He never told anyone why he spoke so little, some people almost considered him mute. His father knew, but the man had enough respect for his son to not tell anyone unless Ferb gave him permission. Ferb's father had even remained tight lipped about it around his own wife, Ferb's stepmother, until Ferb had given him permission to tell her a few years ago. Still, telling his step mother and telling his step brother were two entirely different things.

Ferb was unresponsive for so long, Phineas wondered if he would reply at all… that was, until Ferb stood and crossed the room to his own desk, where he withdraw a lock box from inside of a drawer. Phineas had respected Ferb's privacy, unlike most siblings, so if Ferb didn't show him something, Phineas accepted that, knowing Ferb must have a good reason. Still, Phineas's curiosity was piqued by the mysterious box Ferb had never opened, at least when Phineas was around.

Ferb sat on Phineas's bed and unlocked the box with a key on a string around his neck before withdrawing a handful of photographs.

One side of Phineas wanted to start sifting through the pictures, excited to finally get some answers about Ferb's mysterious back story, but the other side paused.

"Are you sure?" he asked Ferb.

Ferb nodded. "I want you to know," he said, simply.

Phineas nodded before looking at the first picture to see a woman with bright green hair, much like Ferb's, and blue eyes lying in a hospital bed with a small bundle in her arms. A baby, wrapped in blue, with a thin tuft of green hair on top of his head.

Ferb.

Phineas glanced at the next picture and saw the same woman- if possible, she was even happier than in the first photo- with a one year old Ferb, who was laughing in excitement, on her lap.

Phineas smiled at his brother looking so happy before moving on to the next photo.

For some reason, the woman didn't look as happy in this one. She had a permanent frown on her lips and a deep sadness in her eyes, and Phineas saw two year old Ferb tugging on her dress with an oblivious smile. Her eyes weren't focused on the camera, but they weren't focused on Ferb either. She looked like she was a million miles away from where and when this photo was taken. She looked… detached.

Phineas's smile turned into a confused frown as he moved onto the next photo.

The woman looked completely indifferent as she sat on the couch in this picture. Ferb was sitting on the floor, and he was glancing at the camera. He didn't look happy, and he had a gigantic bruise on his cheek as he shyly played with his blocks. Phineas could tell this was when Ferb began to slip into the beginning of a quiet place, where he only spoke when he needed to, but he wasn't at nearly mute quite yet.

Phineas moved onto the next picture, and his eyes widened when he saw it was of Ferb with Phineas's step dad. Ferb was sleeping, and although the man didn't seem to notice at the time when this photo was taken- if his grin was any indication- Phineas did notice. To be more precise, Phineas noticed the painful bruises all over Ferb's legs, mostly hidden by his pajamas pants, and the cut on his chin and the bruise on his forehead.

Phineas hesitantly found the next photo.

Ferb was sitting in a doctor's office with a cast on his leg and bruises all over his face and body. He looked like he'd gotten in a fight, but judging from the distant expression on the doctor's face, it was an accident and not something dramatic or worthy of the doctor's concern, like the doctor believed he'd accidentally tripped and fallen down the stairs. Painful, but it was just that. An accident. The doctor probably didn't see any reason to look any further into it.

It appeared to be an accident, but Phineas could see it in Ferb's facial expression: whatever happened was not an accident.

Phineas moved onto the next photo, and he nearly broke down into tears when he saw his brother, his best friend, lying in a hospital bed with more injuries than Phineas could count. Bruises, broken bones, cuts, scratches, bandages, casts, and… a heart broken look in his eyes. No one- no child- should ever have that look in their eyes. Ferb couldn't have been more than four and a half when this photo was taken.

"What happened?" Phineas murmured.

Ferb took a few of the photos until the second photo was revealed- the one where the woman looked detached and far away- and he tapped on the woman in the photograph. Phineas knew who she was and what Ferb meant, and it physically pained him to say it aloud.

"Your mother did that to you?" Phineas realized.

Ferb nodded.

"And that's why you don't speak. You thought by being quiet, she wouldn't notice you, and you wouldn't get hurt," Phineas read the words Ferb couldn't speak. Like I said, they never needed words to communicate.

Ferb nodded.

Phineas flipped over the photo of Ferb in the hospital and read the date, July 17.

"That's today," Phineas murmured. "That's why you've been acting different. Today was the day your mother put you in the hospital and got arrested for it."

Ferb nodded, and he hurried to wipe away the tears pooling in his eyes.

Phineas caught Ferb's hand before he could wipe away his tears.

"Ferb, when was the last time you just let yourself cry?" Phineas asked. "Your mother betrayed you by beating you. She could've killed you, and then, she got arrested, and you never saw her again. You never got the chance to ask why or how she could do something like that. You've never told anyone, and I've never seen you cry. Ever. When was the last time you just let yourself cry?"

Ferb didn't answer, but Phineas knew the truth.

"Never," Phineas answered his own question. "Ferb, we all need to cry once in a while. You just need to let yourself fall apart; sometimes you need to fall apart to put yourself back together. That's what my mom said after my dad… you know. She told me that he never let himself fall apart; he never felt that pain, so he bottled it up. He never let himself hurt to heal, I guess, and by the time he did, there was too much pain for him to handle. I don't want to see that happen to you. You're my best friend in the entire world. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you."

Ferb sat there, unsure of how to respond, before he finally crumbled under the weight of all his sorrow and pain and trauma. Tears fell down his face in a waterfall, and even if he wanted to, he couldn't have stopped the flow of tears.

Phineas wrapped his arms around his brother. Phineas couldn't comfort Ferb with words; nothing Phineas could build or say would fix everything that had gone wrong in Ferb's life. All Phineas could do was be there for his brother and that had to be enough.

And for Ferb, just the fact that Phineas was there with him, even though Ferb was so broken, was enough. It reminded Ferb that even if his mother made him feel like it, even after she was arrested and out of his life, he wasn't alone. He had people that cared about him, loved him.

Ferb was fighting a huge battle that no one except for him could see, and he knew that he was losing. How can you fight the past? You can't change it, and for years, Ferb felt like he couldn't even overcome all the hurt and pain in his past.

But that's the thing about fighting a battle. It's never easy, but when two people are fighting it together, it gets a little easier.

Ferb didn't think he could stand on his own anymore. He was walking around on shaky, newborn legs, and he felt ready to collapse under the exhaustion that came with the battle he was fighting.

But now, he finally had something to hold onto. He didn't have to fight this battle alone. He had Phineas, and Phineas would hold onto his broken, unsteady brother through the entire battle until that battle was won.

This is one of my favorite works, honestly. Also, what happened to Phineas's birth father will be revealed in a later chapter.

I love feedback (but keep it kind or constructive criticism because any flames will be ignored and reported if necessary), so please tell me what you thought in the form of a review or a PM!

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a great day! Goodbye, everyone!