He'd gone off into another one of his little tangents again. It wasn't like she usually minded, not at all; she had actually grown to love his long-winded explanations.

But today she was feeling a bit miffed at the red-headed inventor. Earlier, she had tried yet again to drop a hint about her affections for him. But, as always, it had been deflected by his impervious Firewall of Obliviousness.

Oh, how she longed to break that terrible wall. Tear it down brick by brick so that her heart could reach his without any hindrance.

She blinked, and focused back into reality, watching him. She still wasn't really listening very well to what he was saying (in fact, not really listening at all); something about wind velocity? She didn't really care, though...but only because it wasn't what she wanted to hear.

She just desperately wanted, maybe needed, to hear him say...

I love you.

But, of course, that isn't what she was getting, nor had she ever gotten it. She shouldn't even expect it anymore.

Suddenly, a crazy idea came into her mind. It felt crazy, utterly crazy, possibly terrible...and definitely dangerous...but yet it was exciting. Too exciting for her to ignore. She and him were standing alone in the backyard, and a soft Summer breeze was the only thing that accompanied them.

If she wanted to do it, then now was a good time as ever, especially while she was here alone with him.

A spark of warm excitement ran through her veins, and reached her heart, causing it to beat quickly. She suddenly felt like it was a good day to do something crazy.

Leaning forward, she quickly pressed her lips against his. It interrupted his flow of speech entirely, and caused to go completely silent.

Then she pulled back, her cheeks hot and flushed red. But a grin spread across her face.

She'd finally done it.

She hadn't chickened out this time.

He only stared at her with wide, shining blue eyes. His eyes were wide, as wide as they could possibly be, and his face had grown white. The poor inventor looked as if he'd seen a ghost.

Then he blinked his eyes, and his cheeks started to redden, too. "I-Isabella...!"

The girl only laughed in reply. She felt euphoric. She felt as though she were on top of the world, and nothing could bring her down.

"Oh, Phineas. You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that," she burst excitedly. "So I'll tell you! It was Summer, all Summer, and even longer! I've been wanting to kiss you all Summer! And I finally did it! I finally did it!"

The inventor gave her a confused look as she grabbed his hands and began to twirl him around, still laughing.

"You...you've been...wanting to..." he stuttered dumbly, his eyes still as wide. He felt his face grow hot, and he was sure that his cheeks were an embarrassingly deep crimson by now. "K-kiss...m-me...a-all S-Summer?!"

The girl suddenly stopped. An unsure, terrified look came onto her expression, as if she had finally grasped the magnitude of what was now happening. That this wasn't one of her fantasies, in which none of her actions had any real consequence.

This was reality. This was real life.

She looked away, suddenly feeling overwhelmingly shy. She let go of his hands, stumbling backwards.

"Um...yes..." she admitted in a whisper, putting her head down. "Yes...I have..."

There was a long silence. The girl didn't dare to raise her head, to look into his eyes. Fear had suddenly filled her heart, and she felt so afraid. What if she'd just ruined everything? What if the inventor would never love her now, because he thought she was too brash in love or too over-excitable in her approach?

Even worse, what if he didn't feel the same way she did? This was terrifyingly likely. Perhaps he wasn't oblivious. What if he was just really uninterested?

She gulped, and stumbled backwards a few more steps before turning away. "I-I'm sorry, I need to go!" she squeaked, and made a dash for the yard gate.

But, before she could reach it, she felt someone grab her gently by the wrist. She stopped, feeling her heart pound.

"D-don't go..." a familiar voice replied shyly.

"Why?" she whispered back, and dared one peek back at the boy she knew was holding her by the wrist.

To her surprise, she saw tears sparkling in his watery blue eyes. "I...I need to apologize," he said softly.

The girl blinked. "For what?" she asked, although multiple occasions where he'd unwittingly brushed her off flitted through her mind's eye.

"For being a coward," he muttered, and leaned forward, gingerly taking his hands into her own. He gulped, making himself look straight into her eyes without faltering. "I need to apologize for being a coward."

A coward? She knew that this boy was many things, but a coward was not among them. He was the bravest person she knew. How could he be calling himself a coward?!"

"You're not a coward!" she burst.

He shrunk back a little, his face flushing even deeper. "Yes, yes I am," he mumbled back. "I was too afraid to..."

He leaned forward. "Do this..."

Isabella's eyes grew wide as she found herself in a kiss finally initiated by Phineas.