"Thanks for letting me stay until my mother gets back, Mrs Flynn-Fletcher," Isabella gleefully said, "it sure beats staying at home alone for a few days."
"Don't mention it. We're glad to have you over, especially since Vivian had that family emergency and rushed back to Mexico. Something about reuniting with an estranged sister." Linda replied while drying off the dishes and placing them back on the dish rack.
"I hope I'm not too much of a burden on your family, considering that today is Christmas Eve. I just don't wish to intrude on your family time..."
"Don't be silly, Isabella!" Phineas interrupted, a cheerful grin plastered on his face, as he walked to the kitchen. "You're always welcomed here, after all, we consider you as part of the family."
Isabella turned around to face him, only to be lost in his glistening eyes. For years she had harbored this intense, manic obsession over him, with the craving, not to mention frustration, only intensifying every single time his obliviousness renders him blind to her blatantly manifest attempts at affection.
On a typical day, Phineas would perhaps be the most oblivious person on the planet. But not today. Recently, he had begun noticing Isabella staring at him, sometimes for hours on end. He would cast back occasional glances at Isabella, who seemed to have a slight reddish hue on her cheeks as she hurriedly turned her head away. However, that is not to say he understood what was going on. On the contrary, he was confused by Isabella's antics. And the more he contemplated about why Isabella might find pleasure in gazing at him, the more puzzled he was.
Maybe I should ask Ferb about it, he knows more about girls than me, so he might be able to... nah, that would definitely sound like a strange question. I'll just think about it later, I'm sure there's a logical explanation behind this.
"So Mom," Phineas continued, "how come you and Dad aren't eating dinner at home?"
"That's because we're going out on a date, Phineas" Lawrence chimed in. "And what better time to spend time alone with each other than on Christmas Eve?"
"That's right, dear." Linda added, "there's this new restaurant that had just opened up on the other side of Danville, and I can't wait to try out their food. I heard that they're already booked for the night, good thing you reserved a table 2 months ago. Oh, and while we're gone, Candace will be in charge..."
"DID YOU HEAR THAT? MOM SAYS I'M IN CHARGE!" a shrill cry resonated from the second floor of the house. "THAT MEANS NO SUPER ELABORATE MACHINERY OR CONTRAPTIONS!"
"Right... Anyway, we'll have to leave now if we don't want to be late. Goodnight boys, don't stay up too late. Isabella, you have fun now." Linda proceeded towards the exit, only to stop for a moment. "Oh, and Candace? No calls, unless it's really, really important, like if a satellite crashes into the house."
"Bye Mom! Bye Dad! Have fun!" Phineas waved goodbye as the door closed.
"So Ferb, any ideas? Candace said no machinery or contraptions, so we'll have to work with simpler things. Besides, we've already built that giant quantum flux energy capacitor earlier this morning to help Baljeet prove Loop Quantum Gravity wrong and win that science fair competition. And honestly, that was one of our more exhausting projects, so I'm fine with taking a break from building anything for the next few hours."
"Well, I was thinking..." Ferb started before being cut off by Phineas.
"How about you, Isabella? Anything you want to do? Any patches that we can accomplish from the comfort of our home?" Phineas then discovered that she was stuck in some sort of trance, her face sporting a lopsided grin as she gazed dreamily at Phineas. There she goes again, I still can't figure out why she's looking at me like that, maybe there's something on my face? Maybe I should just ask her, oh wait, that'll probably be too awkward. Although, she does look kind of cute with that face, but then again, she's always cute.
"Isabella? Can you hear me? Are you there? Isabella?"
Meanwhile, Isabella was still too busy gazing at Phineas to figure out what he was saying. She gave out a barely audible sigh when Phineas had said "our home". He does consider me as part of his family... If only we were more than just 'best friends'; it's better than nothing, I guess. Isabella had spent much effort into resisting drifting off into Phineasland, which could be particularly embarrassing if she had let slip any intimate details about her feelings for the triangular-headed boy. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she wasn't even aware that Phineas was addressing her until she saw his concerned expression and subsequently snapped out of her daze.
"Huh? What? Did you say something Phineas?" Isabella quickly replied, hoping that Phineas hasn't said anything important.
"Isabella, are you okay? You appeared distant, is there something bothering you?" Phineas' facial expression reverted back to its original exuberance, but a slight tone of perturbation was still audible in his voice. "You cheeks are flaring up, is everything okay? Are you falling sick? Do you need medication?"
Isabella was flattered that Phineas was so concerned over her well-being, yet there was a tinge of embarrassment from the fact that she had made him so worried over such a small deal. A blush crept up her cheeks as her mind was, once again, inundated by thoughts about her crush. She looked over his shoulder, only to see Ferb looking nonchalantly at the scene unfolding before him. Ferb then pointed to the television with one hand, and signaled for Isabella to calm Phineas down with his other hand.
"I'm fine, Phineas." Isabella managed to regain her composure and responded to the torrent of questions directed at her. "I'm just ...um, thinking about my mother! Yeah, because she did leave rather hastily and I simply hope that she manages to patch things up with her sister and make sure everything is well again so my family can become bonded again and..." She trailed on with her speech until she realised she was just babbling at this point. "I'm fine, don't worry."
"If you say so..." Phineas was still hesitant, but he trusted her judgment of her own well-being.
"Anyway," Isabella tried changing the subject, "since it's Christmas Eve, why don't we relax and watch some Christmas specials on television? I'm sure we can find something festive to watch."
And so, Phineas, Ferb and Isabella spent the next few hours watching two Christmas specials, 'Christmas Vacation' and 'A Family Christmas'. Throughout the entirety of the two movies, Ferb sat on a recliner, while Isabella and Phineas sat on the couch. However, despite starting on opposite ends of the couch, every few minutes, both parties seemed to be inching closer to each other, until their knees came into contact during the middle of the first movie, eliciting a blush from Isabella. Phineas tensed when his knee bumped into Isabella's, but quickly relaxed after that.
Oh my gosh, was he trying to move closer to me too?! No, that can't be right, he's probably doesn't have any romantic feelings for me, at least, not yet. Maybe it's just a coincidence, yeah, that's it. By some serendipitous occurrence, he just so happen to decide to move towards the centre of the couch. Although, I did feel his knee tense when we physically touched, what if he felt that same spark as me! Maybe I should test the waters a little and see how he reacts.
Isabella let her right hand to drop, allowing it to 'accidentally' land on Phineas' left hand. Again, she felt a surge of electricity rush through her arm as Phineas inwardly jumped at the contact, but this time, instead of ignoring it, Phineas entwining his fingers around hers. Isabella's heart almost stopped, the simple gesture stunning her into a state of catatonia. He... he... he held my hand! This...this is a dream. This has to be a dream! There's no way this is real life.
Isabella continued to convince herself of the near impossibility of the situation, that she would snap out of this dream in a moment's notice, all the while relaxing into his grip and wearing a jubilant smile.
Phineas, on the other hand, was deeply engrossed with the first movie. He was following the elaborate plot closely, when he felt sparks emanating from his left knee. Looking down, he found himself unusually close to Isabella, as well as finding himself near the middle of the couch. Strange, he thought, I could have sworn Isabella and I were on different ends of the couch, how did we both end up next to each other? Oh well, maybe the both of us unconsciously decided that the middle of the couch was more comfortable. Regardless, this is more comfortable than before. Now, back to the movie...
At this point, Isabella had initiated her plan to have her hands conveniently land on his, prompting his breathing to hitch. Okay, now this is an odd phenomenon. Why does my hand feel all tingly now? Does Isabella have some sort of electrostatic charge on her? Should I do something about it? I don't think ignoring it will help alleviate this feeling I'm experiencing. In fact, for some reason, I'm beginning to like this peculiar stimulation of the nerves in my hand. I don't recall feeling like this with other people though. Oddly enough, the only time I've experienced a milder form of such excitement when holding hands with Isabella. So why is the tactile sensation arising from this particular instance so considerably intense? Perhaps I do need to ask Ferb about this. But for now, what's the next appropriate action I should embark upon. Hmm... I know! I'll hold her hands! Maybe that will generate a response from her. Or not. Either way, it'll allow me to further scrutinise the cause of this perplexing circumstance. I wonder if Isabella feels the same thing as me... Wow, her hands are warm. Alright, so holding her hands seemed to have only augmented this feeling. I still can't figure out why I'm feeling this way. I'll ask Isabella if she understands what's going on after we're done watching movies. Huh, seems like Isabella face looks kind of red, but that can't be right. We're in the house, and it's night, so it's not a sunburn. Another thing to ask either Ferb or Isabella, I guess.
Phineas remained confounded for the rest of the two movies. Both Phineas and Isabella did not move from their positions during the screening, in part due to their innate enjoyment of the situation. However, Phineas still could not wrap his head around his experience. He had never felt so lost or confused before in his life, and while it wasn't unpleasant, it was certainly disconcerting. This was one of the few times he had been unable to rationalise an explanation for an issue he had encountered.
Time flew by relatively quickly for the two adolescents, and before either of them knew it, the ending credits for the second movie had begun rolling. Phineas reluctantly released his grip on Isabella and proceeded to stretch.
"Oh wow, it's nine o'clock already. Boy, time sure passes quickly when you're watching Christmas specials. Hey, I've got an idea! Why don't we pretend we're camping and set up a mini-camp in the living room. Are you guys up for it?"
"Yeah sure, that sounds great." Isabella said, with a hint of annoyance brought about by the loss of physical contact with Phineas, but still retaining most of her enthusiasm. Ferb simply gave a thumbs up.
"Alright then. Ferb, grab the sleeping bags from our room. Isabella, would you mind going into the kitchen and getting some snacks? I'll go upstairs and see if Candace wants to join us."
"You think Candace wants to join us?" Isabella inquired with skepticism.
"I don't know. But it can't hurt to ask, right? Well Ferb, I know what we're gonna do tonight. Oh yeah, let's see if Perry wants to join us as well. Hey, where's Perry?"