All rights go to Disney. I do not own Phineas and Ferb, or any of the characters.
Phineas sat on his sofa, watching but not really paying any attention to the TV. The late afternoon cast a shadow from the tree in the backyard onto him. He sighed. Earlier that day, they had built the coolest air surfboards for a huge anti-gravity hall with multi-directional air currents in their backyard. All the fun of surfing, without having to go to the beach or getting cold from the seawater. But of course, just before Candace could forcibly drag their mom into the backyard to see what was happening, the whole thing was zapped with a green blast of light and it disappeared, much to the consternation of Candace, and Phineas too. He had particularly liked this Big Idea, and had been hoping to air-surf other days in the future, which was why he was mildly disappointed when it went away.
He heard a knock at the front door. Footsteps sent muffled echoes through the hall as Isabella peeked into the living room. "Hey Phineas. What'cha doin?" she asked cutely, blushing slightly.
"Nothing," he said truthfully. "Why'd you come over again? Not that I don't want you here.. but we already did our Big Idea for the day."
"Oh, I forgot my pen," she said, blushing even more. "It's pink and I like it a lot—"
"Here," said Phineas. "Yeah, you left it in the backyard. I picked it up after everyone went home. I installed something so that you won't lose it again."
"Cool! Did you put on a little homing device, or something?" she said, coming over to take it.
"Actually, I just put a clip on it," he said, smiling, handing her the pen.
"Thanks," she said, smiling back. "That was easy."
"'Wish everything was as easy," said Phineas, a little wistfully.
"What's wrong?" Isabella asked, immediately catching on that something was wrong. She sat down next to him on the sofa.
Phineas clicked off the TV. "Nothing," he said, this time less truthfully. "It's just that… I really liked that airsurfing room we built today. Actually, I liked a lot of the stuff we've built. It's a little disappointing when it all just disappears, you know?"
"I see," said Isabella, the two falling into a deep, but not uncomfortable, silence. After some time, she brightened. "What about that flying carpet you built a week or so ago? It's still here, right?" she asked as she patted the floor.
"Hey, yeah!" he realized. "It is! Thanks, Isabella. I almost forgot about that."
He said thanks… He really does appreciate me, Isabella thought dreamily. She mentally slapped herself. C'mon, Isabella. Don't fall into Phineasland right now. Not exactly the best time to do that. She was so caught up in her mental monologue, she didn't hear what Phineas had said afterwards.
"Isabella? Isa-bellaa," Phineas was saying, waving his hand in front of her face. She started. "Sorry Phineas," she hastily apologized, feeling her face growing hot. "I, um.. I was just—"
"Hey, don't worry. I space out all the time," said Phineas, grinning. She smiled back, her knees getting a little wobbly.
"What I said before was, how'd you like to go on another spin with the flying carpet? I bet there are a lot of places we haven't been to before around Danville, and even beyond Danville," he said, getting the gleam in his eye he always got when he became excited about a new, or in this case, old but still cool, project.
"Now?" asked Isabella, a spark of hope shooting inside her. Was it too good to be true?
"Sure! Lemme go upstairs and get the remote," he replied, grinning. Isabella almost squealed in excitement. It was true! She was going to finally spend some time alone with Phineas! After the Stumbleberry Finkbat movie fiasco a few weeks before, she decided not to try to purposefully have some alone time with Phineas. But this – this was a miracle.
"We can ask Ferb too, see if he wants to come," added Phineas, bouncing off the couch and running up the stairs. "I'll call Baljeet and Buford too!" he yelled. Isabella sat back and sighed in disappointment. I guess it was too good to be true, she thought a little sadly.
Upstairs, Phineas opened the door to their bedroom to find Ferb sprawled on his bed, reading Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. "Hey Ferb! Isabella suggested we take the flying carpet on another spin. Whaddaya say we take her for a ride before dinner?" asked Phineas excitedly.
"Isabella?" inquired Ferb, looking up from his book.
"Yeah, she left her pen here by accident today. But anyway, it'll be fun! What do you say?"
"Sure. Let me change out of these home clothes; I'll meet you downstairs," replied Ferb, going to his closet and exchanging his cream colored shirt and purple trousers for another cream colored shirt and pair of purple trousers. He heard clashes of metal as Phineas dug through the old stuff in his desk drawer, the "Aha!" as Phineas found the flying carpet remote, and the quick footsteps as his step-brother rushed down the stairs. He smiled. Sometimes he wondered how his brother was the same age as him.
Ferb quickly (but still in a dignified manner) made his way down the stairs. He walked to the living room, where Phineas was double checking the status on the anti-gravity quantum-state lift discs. Then he noticed Isabella. She was sort of slumped over the armrest of the couch, her eyes downcast and the corners of her mouth slightly turned into a frown. "Hey Isabella, ready to go?" he asked.
"Hey Ferb. Yeah, I'm ready," she said, not looking up at him. He felt a twinge of jealousy as he automatically pinpointed the reason for Isabella's disappointed mood. He didn't want to, but he knew it was better for her – and probably for Phineas too – if he let them go alone.
"Phineas, I'd actually rather stay home and read Great Expectations," said Ferb. Half of his brain was screaming at him not to, to go with the pair and have a good time and maybe even make Isabella realize that he wasn't so bad too, but he pushed the thoughts down and turned around to start back up to his room.
"Ferb, are you sure? It'll be fun. I called Baljeet and Buford, and they both said they're busy too, so it'll just be me and Isabella. Not that I don't mind, Isabella," Phineas quickly amended, catching Isabella's reaction. "It'd be great to spend time with you." Isabella quickly recovered at this statement, smiling at Phineas. With great internal difficulty, Ferb managed, "Yes, I'll stay home."
"But—" Phineas started, but Ferb cut him off with a stare that clearly said don't argue. Please. He didn't want Phineas to protest. It only made it harder. "Sure, if you really want," Phineas said nonchalantly, clicking the button that opened up the second floor of the house. Isabella shot a quick thank-you glance at Ferb, who gave a small smile and half-heartedly saluted Isabella. She giggled. "Mom, Isabella and I are going out for some time," yelled Phineas.
"Just be back before dinner," yelled their mom from the kitchen.
"MOM! Look. UP!" Ferb heard Candace shriek.
"Okay," said Phineas, the carpet rising up and flying away and the second floor of the house slamming back down.
"I feel like this is getting old, Candace, but… what am I supposed to be seeing?" Ferb heard his stepmom say.
"Second floor…house…lifted up…" stuttered Candace.
"Honey. Remember the Bust Accord."