The Daily Routine

Every day was the same. Around morning, or possibly early noon, she would enter their backyard. In an instant her eyes would scout for and usually find him, his joyously red hair, his enthusiastic smile, his sparkling eyes, his… everything about him. She'd try to fight the urge of jumping at him, throwing her arms around him, telling him how she felt about him. And when she'd managed to suppress that desire, she said those words. Those words she always said, partially to get noticed, but also because she wanted him to know those words were hers, that without her, those words would be gone as well, and he'd miss them, just as he would miss her, she hoped.

"What'cha doin'?"

And then he'd look up at her, noticing her, and his eyes would shine, just as they always did. For a moment she would hope, but-

"Me and Ferb are building a flying castle, just like in that movie! It will be awesome!"

- in a matter of seconds her hope would be crushed into tiny little pieces. Somehow, she always had this dream of him finally loving her, telling her, kissing her, holding her in his arms, and transforming into a beautiful centaur, and- and that's where she had to stop herself, mid-thought. She always wondered what would happen if she stayed in that day-dreaming state, but she never dared to do so. If her dreams became too real, too beautiful, she wouldn't be able to hold herself back any longer.

"Sounds fun, you need any help?"

"Sure, we could use a hand, why don't you help Ferb out with the engine?"

And she was all about holding back, all about holding back from jumping him and forcing him to give her his first kiss, as well as to take hers. All about holding back from allowing her day-dreams to become too real, all about holding back from knocking him out and bringing him to her room in which she could tie him up in the wardrobe until he- no, that last part was a bit too much, she'd never do that. Ever.

She would, however, do anything Phineas asked of her, be it mountain-climbing to find a rare, near-extinct plant, or spending a whole lot of time with Ferb, her brightly shining love-interest's silent brother.

"Hi Ferb, Phineas told me you would need some help, what do you want me to do?"

Ferb rarely used anything other than wordless communication around her. She was used to it. A nod here, a comforting hand on her shoulder there, he was still quite capable of communication. And he was a good friend, as long as you could stand doing most of the talking on your own. Totally different from Phineas, that boy always seemed to have something to say, be it clever, supporting, friendly, or just pure facts. And that's how things would be for the rest of the day, they would be working, Phineas saying something, her listening to his every word, important or not, and Ferb observing.

Eventually they would be done, possibly after a few mishaps with neurotic big sisters and children from around the block, possibly from the entire city. And at the end of the day, she would have to go home. Go to sleep. Waiting for the following day, in which it all would repeat itself, only with new incidents, new inventions and projects. But it would still, on some level, all be the same. Sometimes she even wondered if it really was worth it.

"Well, I'd better go now, see you tomorrow guys."

"Oh, okay Isabella, thanks for your help!"

And then again, sometimes, she knew with every fiber of her body that it was worth every second.