Hey guys! It's me (duh), back again, with a Phineas and Ferb adaptation of a musical called Next to Normal. It's an amazing show, 10/10 would recommend. It's set about twenty years into the future for Phineas and Isabella.

However, there are a few trigger warnings for later chapters to PAY ATTENTION TO. I will remind you of each trigger warning at the beginning of said chapter.

!Trigger Warnings!

-Self-harm

-Suicidal thoughts/suicide attempt (though not at all detailed in the execution thereof, just mentioned as an important part of the story)

-Character Death

I think that's all of them...if you guys do spot one that I missed, please, let me know! My first priority as a writer is to take care of my readers, and I need your help for some of that.

Now, the disclaimers, haha.

I do not own Phineas and Ferb, Next to Normal, or the OCs Marie Flynn and Thomas Fletcher. I do not make any money off of this, it is done for pure enjoyment and entertainment.

Now, on to the story!

You know you love me, IzzytheGreat14

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Isabella Flynn heard her son shut the front door as quietly as he could, then turn to sneak through the dining room up the back stairs.

He jumped when he saw her, sighing and turning on the charm he'd inherited from his father.

"What are you doing up? It's three thirty," he teased, shifting nervously.

"This is the seventh night this week I've had to wait up for you. You could have died," Isabella scolded. "Do you know how many ways I've imagined, just in the last hour?"

"Ah," he grinned. "And your favorite way tonight?"

"A freak September ice storm, with no warning-"

"Because those happen-"

"Or a gang war, or a bird flu, or a train accident…"

He chuckled.

"What did we say about watching the news?"

"Are you snorting coke?" Isabella demanded shrilly. Her son scoffed.

"Not at the moment," he said innocently.

"Who's up at this hour?" Phineas's voice drifted down the front stairs. Isabella and her son grimaced.

"Your father," Isabella sighed. "Go, up the back way. Hurry."

"Why does he hate me?" the boy groaned, already making his escape.

"Because you're a little twat," Isabella called after him.

"You can't call me a twat," her son protested, but as he was already retreating out of earshot, Isabella felt no need to retort.

Phineas walked into the kitchen as Isabella stood. He walked over and hugged her.

"Everything okay? I heard voices," he mumbled, and she chuckled.

"Oh, it's just me, talking to myself, you know," she teased. "Now you head on upstairs. I'll be up for sex in a minute."

Phineas drew back, resting his hands on her hips.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he said.

"Go," she replied, pushing at his chest. He grinned and dashed off to the bedroom.

"I don't know how our family would work without my help," Isabella muttered to herself. "But somehow, despite the fact that my son's a little shit, my husband has fallen into a boring routine, and my daughter, though a genius, is a freak...we manage to make it perfect."

She turned to go upstairs and almost ran into her daughter, who was carrying an armful of textbooks and worksheets.

"Marie! It's...four in the morning, is everything okay?"

"Oh, yeah," Marie cried. " I just have three more chapters of calculus, two physics worksheets, a history test, and two pages on floral imagery in Flowers for Algernon, which is, like, duh! Everything's so under control, it's like….calm."

"Honey, you need to slow down. Take some time for yourself. I'm going to have sex with your father," Isabella stated, shedding the robe she was wearing over her nightgown and hurrying up the stairs.

"Great!" Marie called after her. "Thanks! I'm...so glad I know that."

She dumped her books on the table and sighed, going to the fridge for an energy drink.

"How do I manage this?" she groaned. "Is every family as screwed up as ours is? I can't wait to get out of here. I feel like I'm dying sometimes."

/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\

Isabella tied the sash on her red dress as Phineas did up the buttons on his dress shirt.

"That was great. Wasn't it great? Christ, I'm late," he sighed.

"That'll teach you to take a whole ten minutes," Isabella muttered, pulling her hair into a bun.

"What?" Phineas frowned.

"I said, isn't it a beautiful day?" Isabella chimed cheerfully, putting her customary bow in her hair.

"Yeah!" Phineas agreed. "I mean, it's cloudy and rainy and really cold for September, but...beautiful."

"Really makes you wanna dive in with both feet, doesn't it?" Isabella smiled serenely, heading downstairs.

"Absolutely," Phineas called after her, then sighed as he readjusted his blue tie.

"I never know what's she talking about," he murmured.

/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\

"You're going to be late," Isabella admonished her son as he walked into the kitchen. "You have a huge day."

The boy just laughed and took the freshly-made sandwich she offered him.

"You have no idea what I do all day," he challenged.

"Jazz band before school. Class. Inventor's club, then football," she told him, making a sandwich for Marie.

"Not bad," he laughed.

"Now get out of here," she said affectionately, making another sandwich as Marie entered the kitchen.

"Good morning, sunshine," her brother teased, but she ignored him in favor of talking to her mother, and he left.

"So, I got the date for my winter recital," she said, grabbing a sandwich from the counter. "Do you think you guys can come?"

"We'll put it on the calendar," Isabella chirped, making yet another sandwich.

"Mom, the calendar is still on April. Of last year," Marie pointed out, and Isabella frowned.

"Oh. Well, happy Easter," she said, continuing to make sandwiches.
"Happy Easter, Mom," Marie sighed as Phineas entered the kitchen.

"Hi, sweetheart," Phineas greeted his daughter.

"She is on fire this morning," Marie informed him, and Phineas nodded.

"Oh, I know," he hummed. Marie scrunched up her face.

"Eww," she complained, leaving the room.

Phineas opened the fridge and sighed.

"Honey, will you do the shopping today? I'm slammed at work and we're out of everything."

Isabella nodded, halfway through another sandwich.

"I keep cave clean. You go out, get fire," she said.

"Absolutely," Phineas smiled, and sighed.

"Again, no clue," he muttered, and left the kitchen.

"We're the perfect loving family," she reassured herself as she ran out of room for the sandwiches that she was frantically making on the table and moved to the chair, then the floor."

"Just another day," she muttered. "Hold it all together. We're the perfect loving family."

Phineas walked back into the kitchen.

"Isabella?" he said, but she didn't seem to hear.

"I will keep it all together. The world just keeps on spinning.," she said, still rapidly making sandwich after sandwich.

She ran out of bread and reached for more, settling back onto her heels when she couldn't reach it.

"I think the house is spinning," she said, almost pleadingly, looking up at Phineas.

"Isabella, honey," he said, and Marie entered the kitchen.

"Dad?" Marie said, looking at the scene in front of her.

"Don't worry about it," Phineas said. "Go on ahead. You'll miss the bus."

"Mom?" Isabella heard her son say, and she raised her head to smile shakily at him.

"Everything's fine. I'm just making sandwiches. On the floor," Isabella said. "Go on ahead, you'll miss the bus."

"Go," said Phineas, and both siblings left.

"Sweetie, everything okay?" Phineas said, and Isabella furrowed her brow, gesturing to the sandwiches.

"I wanted to get ahead on lunches," she explained feebly.

"Sure," Phineas agreed. "Let me help you up."

Isabella accepted his help, leaning on him once she was up.

"Guess I got carried away," she said ruefully.

"Maybe a little," Phineas reassured her. "Let's go see Doctor DuBois. This is just a blip, okay? Nothing to worry about."

Isabella nodded shakily, releasing her husband and making sure her bow was still in place.

"I'll wrap up the, uh, sandwiches," Phineas continued, "and then we'll go."