"One more week!" said Phineas excitedly, waving a flyer in his hand.
"One more week until you finally catch up and become a T-Devil?" joked his cousin.
"Yep!" exclaimed the redhead. Nothing could break his streak of excitement for college at Tri-State State.
TJ smiled. Sure, Phineas was always the happy-go-lucky of the group, but this was an exception. He was more excited than he'd been in a long time. One week, and him and Ferb would join her in college. As she was a year older than them, she naturally had gone to college first. And as a college student, she was excited that her cousin and his girlfriend would be joining her there.
Phineas, of course, was excited as well. Soon, Ferb would ship off to Camford on Oxbury, and he and Isabella would meet up at Tri-State State. TJ had come to pick him up and visit with the family and her friends before they all left for college. Isabella had already left for the college a week ago, so that left Phineas, Ferb, and Buford, as Baljeet had already graduated and was his school's youngest math professor. So they only had a week left before the semester started, and Phineas was ready. Almost.
"So, me and Ferb here better finish packing," he said. "Only got so many days..."
"Okay. Well, I'm gonna be down here with Candy. And take it easy, Phin, you still have a week." said TJ. With that she left for the living room.
Phineas folded a t-shirt and gently set it in his suitcase. He sat down on his bed.
Ferb glanced at his stepbrother. He could tell something was up; since beginning to pack, Phineas' cheerful demeanor had died down slightly.
Knowing what to do, he went over and sat next to him. "What's wrong, Phineas?"
Phineas sighed. He grabbed another shirt and began to fold it.
"It's...well, we'll be leaving home here in a week. I-I don't know if I'll be ready for that. That, and you're gonna be all the way in England. Inventions aren't gonna be the same, you know." He finished folding and put the article of clothing in his case, and then picked up another.
"I know. But you know, there is such a thing as cellphones and webcams. And you're going to be two hours away from home. TJ can drive you over to the house for visits." Ferb said.
"Yeah-hey, what do you mean, TJ can drive me? I am completely capable of driving places," said Phineas.
Ferb rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but can you do so without crashing?"
Phineas gave Ferb a withering glare. "Yes. Yes I can."
Ferb laughed. "You swerve at every turn. The rollercoaster had less turbulence than your driving."
"That was the instructor's fault! HE MADE ME ANSWER THE PHONE!" said Phineas.
"Denial," said Ferb in sing-song.
Phineas glared again, then laughed. "All right, so I'm not the most 'reliable' driver," he said, making a hand gesture for quotation marks. "But I've seen worse."
"Really? When?"
Phineas was silent for a minute. "Uh..."
"That's what I thought."
Phineas rolled his eyes and grinned. He put the clothes in his suitcase and attempted to shut it. "Oh, okay, Irving Du Bois. Have you ever ridden with him?" he asked, finally sitting on the suitcase in an attempt to close it.
"No." answered Ferb, amused at his brother's fruitless endeavor.
"I'm-sure-you-have," grunted Phineas, finally getting the overstuffed case to close.
"And I'm sure he can't be as bad a driver as you."
"Uh huh." said the distracted Phineas.
Ferb looked over at him and cocked his head to the side. "You got enough stuff in there?"
"Yeah." he said, trying to stuff more items into the pocket in the front of the suitcase.
Ferb rolled his eyes.
Finally Phineas gave up and sat back down. He rested his chin on his hands on his knees. "Well, Ferb, I'm gonna miss this place."
Ferb nodded.
"All the adventures, the fun, the family-everything happened here. It's gonna be a little different moving out for a few years." said Phineas. "This house is where everything took place."
Ferb agreed. "At least you won't be lonely in college," he joked. "You'll always have Isabella."
Phineas blushed. He gave Ferb a rather annoyed look.
Ferb grinned deviously. "And TJ."
"Yes. And TJ," he said.
"I mean, this is the heart of the invention, where the ideas grew, where we grew, where ideas became reality."
"Where our hearts are."
"Yeah." said Phineas.
"Listen, Phineas. I know we're both going to miss it here. Trust me, it's only for a few years! I may not be able to visit as often, but you will. And we'll both have family with us. My cousins Pele, Pele, and Beckham are all going to the same school with me. And you'll have your cousin and your girlfriend."
Phineas blushed hard.
Ferb continued. "But no matter what, we'll always be able to come back. Always."
Phineas nodded. He was silent for a few minutes.
Suddenly he grinned and laughed. "That's gotta be your longest line since the Steve thing, bro," he said.
Ferb smiled. He knew his work here was done.
"Now let's finish packing. Or at least I have to."