Seriously. What is with me and depressed Ferb?
But hey. FERBEL. It is my new favorite ship, and I can't get enough of how adorable it is. Like seriously.
Okay. College age Mabel and Ferb here. Ferb is going to college in Oregon, and I imply that he used to live there with Lawrence, if that isn't made clear.
I don't own Phineas and Ferb or Gravity Falls. They would have crossed over by now if that were the case….
GENERAL POV
The swings creaked quietly in the gentle, chilly autumn wind. The rust climbing up the swings' chains was prominent enough that one could see it at a distance, but this didn't stop the pale hand from sliding down the chains and disturbing the rust's home.
The swing groaned and complained about the sudden, unexpected weight, but suffered through and stayed up as the young man sank wearily into the old rubber seat.
He leaned his cheek against his hand, grasping the chain firmly, and gave a long sigh, his dark eyes watering slightly as the wind buffered his body.
The swing stopped protesting as he settled, understanding that he needed solitude, that he needed to think.
His feet kicked lightly at the moldy woodchips, pushing his body gently in an almost childlike manner.
The old, forgotten park was quiet and desolate, with more rust than metal, more weeds than flowers, and more emptiness than the teen's heart. He had gone here as a child, while he and his father had lived on their own. It had been his place of release, the place he could scream and cry, yelling to the heavens, wondering how anyone could take his mother the way that they had.
He had felt so much loss at this park and now, as a college student, he was back and feeling lost once more.
It wasn't fair. So far from home, so far from those that he loved and those who loved him. The one person he thought had loved him most, caught in the dead of night in another man's arms, in another man's bed.
He shook his head, tears finally adventuring from his eyelids and forging their way onto his bright red cheeks.
The humiliation he'd felt, standing there in the room, the dim bed light shining and blinding him as she had slipped from the bed in nothing but her lingerie. Her fingers had been soft on his elbow, her voice cracking with sorrow as she tried not to wake the other man in bed.
"I just…didn't feel it anymore," she had whispered, not meeting his broken eyes. "I didn't want to hurt you."
It would have hurt less if she had just told him. But now, his heart had been torn out. He kicked angrily at the ground, sending damp wood flying all around him.
"I'm sorry, Ferb," the dark brown haired girl had murmured, her eyes tearing up. "We can't be together anymore."
It had been a month and a half ago.
He had been so full of hurt, so full of anguish, that he hadn't seen the desperation in her eyes. Hadn't seen the desperate plea she was sending him when he had burst into the room with flowers and a delicate silver necklace he had planned to give her for their one year anniversary. The dim lighting had prevented him from seeing the dark bruises littering her pale, delicate skin.
Two days later, he received news of her death.
How she had been beaten to death by the man he had caught her with, how he had been threatening her if she had stayed with "that Brit."
It was Ferb's fault. And he knew it.
The 18 year old stood and paced the old playground, fuming and clenching and unclenching his fists.
He let out a roar of outrage and swung, connecting his fist with the jungle gym.
His hand seemed stunned for a moment, unsure of how to react. A dull throbbing, as if his knuckles had a headache, lurched through his hand until finally the skin burst, wailing in agony and splitting open, letting it's crimson red tears fall to the earth below it.
He ignored the pain, striking the wood again and again, his hand throbbing, bones cracking, chest heaving as the tears ran down his cheeks, fell from his nose, and mingled with the blood in the dirt.
A soft, delicate hand flashed forward, firm fingers clasping his wrist just before his hand struck the wood again. His knuckles sobbed in relief and he raised his eyes angrily, fighting to keep control.
The brunette standing there looked at him in concern, her cheeks flushed as if she had been running. Her long, light brown hair hung below her hip bones, ever so slightly curling at the bottom.
She wore a dark blue sweater that fit her figure smoothly, outlining her curves as if it had been made to fit her specifically. A peace symbol was stitched into the fabric over her breasts, as if in testimony to keeping him calm.
She wore a skirt despite the cold weather, though her legs were kept warm with leggings and a pair of brown boots. Her dark blue eyes stared into his and she brushed her hair out of her face with a trembling hand. "What were you doing?" she finally whispered, her voice soft and delicate, though Ferb suspected that if she wasn't so concerned, it would be as loud as Phineas'.
Ferb didn't answer, pulling his hand from the teenagers grasp and turning away.
"Hey no! Wait! You're bleeding," the girl pleaded with him, running forward and placing a hand on his shoulder.
He froze, his heart pounding against his chest as the warmth of her skin seeped into his. He glanced back at her and raised an eyebrow. "Why do you care?" he finally questioned her.
The girl looked startled at the hint of an accent in his voice, but she smiled at him gently. "I know I don't know you. But I don't want you to be hurt or…or hurting yourself," she whispered, dropping her gaze to his knuckles.
Ferb grimaced and swung his hand behind his back, ignoring the stinging cuts and broken fingers. "It's nothing," he assured her.
The girl raised an eyebrow and slid out of her sweater, revealing a light blue t-shirt. Before Ferb could stop her, she calmly stripped out of it and slipped her sweater back on before he had caught a glimpse of too much.
Ferb had averted his eyes almost immediately, but now, as the sound of ripping fabric filled the forest and the abandoned playground, he looked up again to find her tearing the shirt. "Give me your hand," she demanded, several strips of shirt already dangling from her fingers.
He could tell she wasn't to be argued with, so he slowly pushed his hand her way. She studied it intently and then gently began wrapping the disfigured phalanges together so well that, had she been older, Ferb would have thought her a doctor.
Pausing only a moment, he lifted his eyes and asked her a question. "What's your name?"
She glanced up at him, her tongue poking out from the corner of her lips in the cutest way. Ferb found his heart hammering again, but he tried to push it down. "Mabel," she said shyly, her warm eyes melting him. "And you?"
Ferb bit his lip gently and glanced away. Mabel sat back, watching him carefully. "I just stopped you from hurting yourself and bandaged you up. The least you could do is tell me your name."
"I didn't ask you to do any of that!" Ferb snapped. Mabel shrank back and he instantly felt like kicking himself. "I'm sorry. It's Ferb."
The girl's lips quirked up in a small smile. "That's a cool name," she stated, settling down cross legged on the damp ground and leaning against the slide. "Wanna talk?"
Ferb flinched and glanced away. "About?"
The girl shrugged, her hair rippling over her shoulders and the movement making the luscious locks spill down her chest. Ferb gulped and looked down at his hands to try to rid himself of the anxious feeling in his stomach.
"I um…my girlfriend. Cheated on me," he finally admitted, not sure why he was doing so.
He looked over at the girl, surprised to see her eyes narrowed. "That little-"
Ferb shot her a glare and she shut up, surprised to see that his eyes were filling with tears. "But it…she didn't. The bastard….forced her into a relationship. Beat her. I didn't…I didn't know. He threatened her. Killed her. It…It's my fault. I should have known."
His body shook and he pressed his hands to his eyes, allowing himself to sink backwards into Mabel's arms, which had found their way around him. He buried his head into her soft, vanilla scented sweater and sobbed, clinging to her, something solid that wouldn't collapse under him.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered, rubbing his back and feeling her own eyes prickle with tears. "That's…that's awful. But it's not all your fault, Ferb."
He shook his head. "Please. I don't…I don't want to talk about it."
Mabel pulled away gently, holding his shoulders firmly in her small hands. "Did you love her?" she finally asked, her warm, dark eyes searching his intensely.
Ferb sighed. "I don't…I don't know. I cared for her. I cared for her very much. But she was so much older than me, so much more mature. I was never quite….fitting in around her."
Mabel's grip tightened on his shoulders. "But you cared about her. And she knew that, it seems like. It's not your fault. You were heartbroken when you found out, you wouldn't have been looking for signs of abuse."
Ferb lifted his head to find himself nose to nose with Mabel, startled to see that she was crying as well. "Ferb…you seem like a wonderful gentleman. It is not your fault."
The teen stared at Mabel for a long time, his fingers trembling. "But…"
Mabel shook her head gently, her hair falling into her eyes. "No. It isn't. I know you'll blame yourself. I know that you wish you could have saved her. But it is not your fault. There are people who care about you, who want you here and don't blame you."
Ferb sighed and glanced down at the ground between them, avoiding her eyes. A gentle finger on his chin pulled his face back up and he met Mabel's gaze.
"Listen to me," she murmured. "I barely know you, Ferb. But I already care about you. I care about what happens to you, and I wish I knew you better so that I could help more."
Ferb didn't respond for a while, his heart pounding in his chest. Vanessa had never been so sincere with him, had never looked at him so earnestly. She had never made his heart beat this fast.
"We can fix that," he finally whispered.
Mabel looked slightly confused, pulling away a little. "Fix what?" she asked curiously.
Ferb paused only for a moment before pushing forward and pulling her by the shoulders toward his body. His lips met hers in a sudden shower of sparks and, though Mabel was startled, she relaxed onto him and returned the kiss.
He brushed his good hand through her hair and pulled her closer, losing his balance and tumbling backwards onto the grass so that she was on top of him.
Mabel seemed to realize this immediately and she bolted upright, leaping off of Ferb's body, her eyes wide in shock. "Ferb…Ferb, I..." she stammered, unsure of what to say.
The teen winced at the look on her face and stood, turning towards the parking lot. "I'm sorry," he murmured, starting to jog back towards the vehicle, hardly able to believe that he had just done that, especially to a girl he had quite literally met twenty minutes ago.
The gentle hand stopped him once more and Ferb froze, sliding his eyes back so that he could look at her. "It's not…it's not that I didn't like it," she promised him quietly. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were bright, and that gave Ferb a moment's pause.
She lowered her voice even further, looking at him sadly. "I just don't want you trying to get over your past girl friend with a new girlfriend," she conceded.
Ferb grimaced. "Mabel…I've been over Vanessa," he finally admitted. "I just…I wasn't over her death. I wasn't over how much I could have helped her and it…it haunts me every day," he said softly, his voice cracking at the end. He glanced away. "She…you make me feel something that she never did. And I know I just met you, I know I barely know you but…."
"You feel something too," Mabel murmured, a small smile playing on her lips. Ferb raised a slight eyebrow and gave her a guilty smile.
Mabel stepped over to him, her nose just meeting his chin. She raised her eyes to meet his and he fought the urge to rest his hands on her hips, heat coursing through his veins as she slipped a piece of paper into his shirt pocket. Her eyes hardened ever so slightly. "If you ever don't, tell me. I want to get to know you Ferb. I want to help you erase the past."
She stepped away from him again and began walking back the way she had come, glancing over her shoulder. "You need to write your future," she stated gently.
Ferb gave a small smile, watching her vanish along the trail, and he lifted his fingers to his still tingling lips, slightly ashamed but at the same time, not regretting anything.
He started towards his car and made a firm note to himself, tugging lightly on his makeshift bandages.
Whatever future he wrote, he was writing Mabel into it.
Just da sappy and da awwww.
Sorry I killed Vanessa...I like her, I promise. But my new favorite pairing is Ferbel.
Review!