Phineas would never admit it, but it scared him. It was something he felt only around it, and he had never told anyone. Not even his brother knew. It would seize his body, making him shake uncontrollably. It had been that way since he was young. He didn't know why it was only that. Sometimes, Phineas would question why he wasn't like other kids, with a fear of heights or snakes. Most people had been afraid of it at one point, but they'd grown out of it. He never had, and he frequently questioned why. He had never shown anyone his fear. He fought to break his fear, but nothing helped. That night, it was particularly hard on him. He had been resting peacefully, when the thunder from the storm had sent him sitting bolt upright. He panted, looking around. Fear overtook him and he glanced at his brother. Ferb had not been woken up by the sound. Light flickered on as lightning flashed down from the sky. Phineas bolted to the window, opened the curtains, and sighed in relief as light flooded in. Looking for the source, he saw a flickering light post. "Please don't go out. Please don't go out," he prayed under his breath. Luck was not with him, for the light soon flickered out. There was a small glow that come from the clouds, but fear still seized Phineas. He leaped into bed. He closed his eyes tight, but his breathing still came in huffs. A sudden vibration reached his ears, which he opened. Grabbing the phone, he crept across the hall to the bathroom. Flicking on the light, he answered. "Hello?" he asked. "Phineas? I'm sorry did I wake you up?" asked the caller, who he recognized as Isabella. "Actually, I was already awake," Phineas said, "do you need something?" "I was calling to see how you're doing," Isabella lied. "You can't fool me," Phineas grinned, "What's wrong?" "I had a really bad nightmare," Isabella sighed. "What about?" "You don't want to know..." "Yes I do." "It's just, complicated." "Tell me, tell me now." "Well, I had a crush on this boy, and I told him, and he totally rejected me, and I was really sad, and I bought ten cats, and died alone, and my cats were at my funeral, and Mr. Fluffykins was talking to Mrs. Lillybit, and then they started kissing, and then Mr. Lillybit, Mrs. Lillybit's husband, saw them, and he was like, 'Get away from my wife!', and Mr. Fluffykins was like, 'No way!', and they started fighting, and Mrs. Lillybit went over to Dr. Medico, and they kissed, and they got married, and Mr. Fluffykins and Mr. Lillybit started crying, and then a meteor came out of nowhere, and all my cats died, and they were buried with me, and then my crush came, and he laughed at my grave, and it was all really depressing for me." Phineas was silent. He had no idea how to respond to that. "Phineas?" "Well," Phineas began, "you have a very good imagination. I mean, no one would reject someone like you." Isabella blushed. "Wh-what do you mean?" "Well, you're a nice person, and you're pretty, and yeah." "You think I'm pretty?" Phineas blushed. Had he said that? He hadn't meant to say that... "So, Phineas, why are you up?" Isabella asked. Phineas paled. "No reason," he lied. "Come on, you have to tell me!" "No I don't." "Well, I told you my dream." "It's not the same." "Come on, please?" "No." "Yes." "No." "Yes." "No." "No." "Yes." "Ha!" "No fair." "Now you HAVE to tell me." Phineas closed his eyes. He bit his lip to keep from cracking. A tear slid down his cheek. He didn't want to tell her, or anyone. "Phineas?" "I'm afraid of the dark, okay!" he snapped. On the other end of the line, Isabella recoiled. Afraid? Phineas? Those words didn't belong together. "Phin-" "Leave me alone!" He hung up with a snap. The next day, Isabella stood in front of her mirror. She brushed her hair slowly, wondering what to do about last night. Phineas had confessed a fear to her. She didn't know he was afraid of anything. She knew about his love of Bulgarian Folk dancing, adventure, and excitement, but he wasn't supposed to be afraid of anything. He was Phineas. Putting down her brush, Isabella slowly walked downstairs and out the door. Her mom always knew where she went. She walked across the street, worriedly. Peeking over the fence, she saw her friends sitting at the base of their tree. They weren't talking, or doing anything, really. She walked through the fence. "Hey Phineas," she greeted, "What'cha dooin'?" "Nothing," he replied. Isabella and Ferb glanced at each other. "Nothing?" she asked. "Nothing." "Another, 'Do nothing day'?" she asked, hopefully. "No, I'm just not going to do anything. Ferb can go do anything he wants," Phineas said. Silence followed. Isabella had to get him out of his bad mood. But, how?