A Christmas story based on the Jamie/Aurelia plot from the movie Love Actually. Phineas is Jamie in this and Isabella is Aurelia, only instead of being Portuguese she's Spanish. Ferb is also Daniel in this, and I will be continuing the Daniel/Sam/Joanna plot with him in another story.
"This" is regular speech. "This" is translated speech.
Please note that I don't actually speak French or Spanish, I'm relying completely on Google Translate and I know it can sometimes be wrong so if it is, please let me know so I can fix it.
Thank you for reading this, and I really hope that you enjoy it. And Happy Holidays!
Love Actually
"She cheated on me, Ferb! She cheated on me! I can't believe it!"
The red-head sat down at the table, his head in his hands and his elbows on the table. His blue eyes had bags under them, and his mouth was drown in a tight frown that did not suit him. But this wasn't a situation that he could allow himself to smile about.
A couple of days ago, Phineas Flynn had found out that Adyson, his girlfriend of two years, had been cheating on him for the last month. He had come home from a wedding to find her in bed with another man. He had thrown her out soon after, since the apartment was in his name, but it didn't make him feel any better. In fact, he had barely been able to sleep since.
His green-haired step-brother put his hand on Phineas' shoulder, giving him a sympathetic look. "She didn't deserve you, Phin," Ferb told the red-head, his British accent coming through.
"I know, but...I don't want to go back to that apartment," the young man moaned, gripping his red hair in his fingers. "It makes me think of her, and I really don't want to think about her any more..."
Ferb scratched his chin, a thoughtful look on his face. "You know, I think I can help you out there. Emily..." His voice broke a little on the name, and tears began to build up in his eyes. He blinked rapidly to make them go away, taking in a few deep breath. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Emily and I have a little cabin up in Nova . It's not much, but it might help get your mind off of Adyson."
"Really?" Phineas lifted his head, blinking at his step-brother. "You'd really do that for me?"
"Of course," Ferb nodded, patting Phineas' shoulder. "You were there for me when Emily died, and I'm going to be here for you during this rough patch in your life."
"The funeral is soon, isn't it?" the red-head asked gently.
Ferb nodded, his whole stature shrinking down a bit. "Yes. In just a few days, actually." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "It's been hard on me, but I think it's been even harder on Matthew. She was his mum."
"But at least he has you, his step-dad," Phineas offered, patting his brother's back. "And I won't leave until after the funeral, I promise. And...thanks."
Ferb lifted his head to smile at the red-head. "Not a problem. That's what brothers are for."
A few days later Phineas was a plane to Nova Scotia. He arrived and took a taxi to the cabin. It was away from any kind of civilization, but not so far that he wouldn't be able to drive somewhere if he needed something.
He set up in the main room, spreading out some blueprints on the table and taking out some pencils and other things he would need. He sat down and looked around, letting out a sigh. "Alone again. Naturally."
The red-head picked up a pencil and started to work on some blueprints when he heard a knock on the door. He blinked. "Who could that be?" He got up and made his way over to the door. He opened it to reveal a short, stout woman. "Ah...hello."
The woman smiled at him. "Bonjour,monsieur Flynn. Comment allez-vous?"
"Bonjour, Madame," Phineas greeted her. "Ah, je suis bien, merci."
"Ah, your French is so good!" she exclaimed happily, clasping her hands together. "My name is Aurelie and I am your head of housekeeping. Monsieur Fletcher called me and said that you would be staying until Christmas?"
"Oui, I am. Pleased to meet you, Madame," he told her, taking her hand in his and giving it a soft squeeze before letting it go. "I can tell that I'm going to be in good hands."
The woman chuckled and shook her head. "Oh, non, monsieur, I will not be the one taking care of the house." She turned around and gestured at the car parked not too far from the house. "I came to tell you that I have found a suitable house keeper for you."
The passenger's door of the car opened and a young woman stepped out. She looked to be about Phineas' age, with long black hair tied back in a low ponytail and brilliant blue eyes. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and smiled shyly at the red-headed young man.
Phineas felt his heartbeat pick up, and he gulped silently. Uh oh, he thought.
"This is Isabella," Aurelia told Phineas as the young woman came up to stand beside her. "She will be your housekeeper while you are here. Do you think you could drive her home each night?"
"Of course!" Phineas agreed, smiling at the young woman. "Bonjour, Isabella."
"Bonjour," the young lady replied softly, glancing up at him and giving him the briefest of smiles.
Phineas felt his heart skip a beat. Gosh, she's cute... "Et comment allez-vous aujourd'hui?"
Isabella blinked and looked over at the other woman, her hands held up in a sign of confusion.
"Ah, Je suis désolé, Monsieur, but she doesn't speak French, unlike you and I," Aurelie told Phineas. "She's Spanish."
And for the first time in his life, Phineas regretted taking French instead of Spanish in high school. "Right..."
During the next few days, Phineas and Isabella were able to come to an understanding of sorts. She would work around the house during the day and at night he would drive her home. And even though she couldn't talk to him, the red-head found himself growing very fond of the Spanish girl. She was sweet to him, always smiling at him and doing her work quietly so that she wouldn't disturb him.
One day, about two weeks into his stay, Phineas was doing some work outside. It was relatively nice out for a day during the Canadian winter and he wanted to take advantage of it while he could. He heard footsteps behind him and turned his head to see Isabella walking towards him, a sweet smile on her face.
He couldn't help but let out a little sigh when he saw her. He didn't know her very well, since there was an obvious language barrier between them, but he really liked her. He just wished he could tell her.
Isabella walked down to the dock where he was walking, a mug of fresh coffee in her hand. "Ah, merci," Phineas told her, reaching up to take it from her.
She waved him away and picked up the old mug from the desk-
Only to send the blueprints under the mug flying off the desk, into the lake.
She gasped and set the new mug down before taking off down the dock after the papers. "Lo siento mucho! Voy a conseguir de nuevo para usted! (I'm so sorry! I'll get them back for you!)"
"Shoot, no, wait!" Phineas hopped to his feet and took off after her. "Just leave them!"
Isabella made it all the way to the end of the dock, stopping just at the edge. Phineas could see her back stiffen in indecision before she squared her shoulders and started to take off the dress she was wearing.
The red-head stopped running, a few yards away from her only able to stare. He managed to stutter out, "J-just, just leave them! Th-they aren't...worth it."
She threw her dress to the dock and proceeded to take off her shoes and socks, and her tank top that she had been wearing under her dress.
"J-just...oh gosh..."
The Spanish girl was down to just her plain white bra and panties, and Phineas could honestly say that he had never seen anything more lovely. Her skin was just slightly tanned and flawless, and her body was curvy in all the right places. He felt horrible for it, but he just couldn't stop staring at her.
She then reached her hands above her head and dove into the lake.
"Oh geez!" Phineas exclaimed, taking off down the dock once more.
Isabella surfaced with a loud gasp. "Mierda, hace mucho frío! (Holy crap, it's freezing!)"
Phineas threw his coat off and dove in after her, clothes in all. He gasped when he hit the water. "Oh my gosh, it's freezing!"
Isabella swam over to grab some of the soggy blueprints, shivering violently. "Estas cosas mejor que sea bueno ... (This stuff better be good...)"
Phineas could barely move in the water, he was shivering too hard. "I-it's really not worth it, y-you know. I-it's not like it's d-da Vinci."
She grabbed some of the blue prints up, making her way back over to him. "Preferiría no ahogarse por algo mi primita podría haber dibujado. (I would rather not drown for something my little cousin could have drawn.)"
"J-just stop!" he told her, trying to make his way over to her with his shaking limbs.
She managed to let out a laugh through all of her shivering, paddling over to grab more of the papers. "¿Por qué no hacer copias? (Why didn't you make copies?)
"I really need to start making copies," Phineas muttered to himself, giving up on trying to move and just wading around as he watched her. He shivered once more and commented, "I really hope there aren't snakes in here, I really don't like snakes."
Isabella looked over her shoulder at him, gesturing at him to be still. "Tenga cuidado de no agitar las serpientes. (Be careful not to stir up the snakes.)"
The red-head thought he felt something around his legs and yelped. "Oh geez, what is that?!" He quickly swam over to the dock and pulled himself back onto it, his hands shaking. "Nope nope, I'm done."
The Spanish girl just giggled at his antics and swam over to the dock. She set the soggy papers on it before trying to pull herself up. He reached down his hand and she took it, and he helped to pull her back onto the dock. They just stared at each other for a few moments, taking in their soaked appearances and wide eyes. Then they quickly let go of each other's hands, coughing and looking away as both of them turned red.
"C-come on, let's go back inside," Phineas muttered, gesturing to the house.
Isabella nodded, gathering her clothes and following him.
Phineas but their clothes in the dryer when they got to the house, giving Isabella a warm blanket to cover herself in. He slipped on some sweat pants and a warm sweater and made them both cups of hot chocolate. He went into the main room where the Spanish girl was sitting and handed the cup to her. "Here you go."
She took it with a smile, making sure the blanket didn't fall off of her. She sipped the warm liquid as Phineas took a seat in the chair across from her.
"Thank you," he said to her, though he knew she wouldn't really understand him. He let a silly grin cross his features. "I know! I'll name one of my projects after you."
"Usted debe nombrar a uno de los edificios después de mí (You should name one of the buildings after me)," she suggested playfully, a small smile on her lips. Then the smile grew bigger and she giggled. "O me dan la mitad de lo que hacen. (Or give me half of what you make.)"
"Or I guess I could give you a cut of the profits," he grinned, taking a sip of his drink. "Maybe like...five percent."
She smiled at him, taking another sip of her drink. He could see the curiosity in her eyes, and not for the first time he wished that they could understand each other better.
She set her mug down and drew the blanket tighter around herself, looking over at some other, not soggy blueprints that were on the table. "Así que ... ¿qué tipo de construcción que es? (So...what kind of building it is?)" She bit her lip and looked around. She spotted a blank piece of paper and grabbed it, along with a pencil.
Phineas leaned over, eager to see what she was going to do.
Isabella drew a tall building and pointed at it. "Como este? O ... (Like this? Or...)" She drew a smaller house and pointed at it, putting the pencil down to shrug.
"Oh!" He realized what she was asking and took the pencil, drawing out a quick sketch of a smaller building, a hospital. He made sure to put medical signs so that she would know what it was. "This."
"Ah!" she nodded, smiling up at him. Her blue eyes were shining, some color finally coming to her cheeks.
He couldn't help but stare at her, so fascinated by this woman he barely knew. And he couldn't help but notice how she was staring back at him. Slowly, they began to lean closer, as if drawn to each other. But Isabella realized what she was doing and quickly pulled away, her face bright red. She looked away, biting her lip. "Yo ... mejor que vuelva al trabajo. (I...better get back to work.)" She slowly stood up.
Phineas stood up with her, opening his mouth to say something then quickly closing it again. There was no point. She wouldn't understand him anyways...
She peeked up at him, her cheeks still tinged pink. "¿Todavía me lleve a casa después? (Will you still drive me home later?)" She made a motion like she was controlling a steering wheel.
He understood what she meant and quickly nodded. "Yeah, of course." He gave her a tiny smile, shoving his hands in the pockets of his sweatpants. "It's ah...it's my favorite part of the day. Driving you."
She looked up at him, giving him a smile that did not reach her eyes. "Es mi parte menos favorita del día, dejándole. (It's my least favorite part of the day, leaving you.)" She nodded at him then turned and left the room, probably to go get her clothes.
Phineas watched her with a heavy heart, his shoulders slumping. If only he had a way to tell her how much she was becoming to mean to him...
Time seemed to go way too quickly to Phineas from that point on, and before he knew it, it was time for him to go back home. Isabella helped him pack up his car and they took their last ride together to the airport. He stopped about half-way between where her house was and where the airport was.
They both got out of the car and stood on the street, facing each other. "Well...I guess this is goodbye," Phineas said, shoving his hands into the pockets of his coat.
Isabella looked up at him, rapidly blinking away tears that were building up in her eyes. "Gracias..."
He bit his lip, trying to think of something...anything to say. But what could he say? She wouldn't even be able to understand him. "I-"
"Te echaré de menos (I'll miss you)," she choked out suddenly, a tear falling down her face.
He couldn't take it anymore, and he reached out to gently wipe away the moisture, his fingers lingering on her face. "Please, don't cry..."
She reached up to press his hand to her cheek, her blue eyes searching his. Then she suddenly leaned up and pressed her lips to his. His eyes went wide, his heart beating more wildly than it ever had before. But before he could respond she pulled away, turning and jogging down the street away from him.
Phineas just stood there, staring at her as she went. Then he came to and slapped himself in the face. "Stupid! What the heck, man?" He groaned loudly in anger, grabbing his hand and pulling on it. Why had he just stood there? Why hadn't he gone after her? He cried out in anger, kicking the tire of his car.
Only to cause the thing to go flat.
He sighed and went to his trunk to get the spare. He could only hope that he wouldn't be late for his flight...
When he got back home, Phineas came up with a plan. He began going to classes to learn how to speak Spanish, and he found that he was able to pick it up very quickly. He found himself muttering Spanish under his breath wherever he went. He always got weird looks when he did it, but he didn't care. Ferb knew of his plan and was completely supportive of it, though he wasn't able to help much since his step-son Matthew was going to be participating in a school function.
Phineas decided to skip out on his family's Christmas Eve dinner as he caught the earliest flight out to Nova Scotia. Once he was there, he got a cab out to Isabella's house. He knew exactly where it was, since he had driven her home every day.
He knocked on the door, his hands sweating with nerves. The door opened and he opened his mouth to speak, only to shut it again when he realized that it wasn't Isabella, but an older woman who looked exactly like her.
The woman blinked at him. "Hola. Can I help you?"
"Si, senora, you can." He straightened his back and cleared his throat, hoping to convey his wishes in the most sincere way. "I am here to ask for your daughter's hand in marriage."
The woman gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. "Oh! You must be the American man she's been moping over. Mama!" She looked over her shoulder as an even older woman who looked like her and Isabella stepped into the room. "Mama, this gentleman is the one Isa has been moping over!"
"What is he here for?" the elderly woman asked, peering at Phineas through squinted eyes.
"He's here to ask her to marry him!" Isabella's mother squealed, then quickly turned back to the red-head. "My name is Vivian. Come in, you can tell us all about yourself while we wait for Isa!"
Phineas started. "She's not here?"
"No, she's at work," Vivian's mother told him, hobbling over to stand by her daughter.
He grabbed Vivian's hand, his blue eyes pleading with her. "Please, you must take me to her immediately!"
Vivian's eyes filled up with happy tears and she nodded. "Si, of course." She grabbed her coat and shrugged it on, turning to her mother. "Are you coming or staying?"
"Of course I'm coming!" the elderly woman snapped, grabbing her own coat and following Vivian and Phineas out the door. "It's not every day my granddaughter gets proposed to so dramatically."
The three of them quickly made their way to the restaurant where Isabella was working. On their way there, they gathered quite the crowd that came along with them. It seemed that everyone was very interested in seeing the American man who wanted to marry their dear Isabella.
They walked into the restaurant and Phineas looked around eagerly, just wanting to find his love and be able to finally tell her of his feelings. He heard Vivian and the restaurant owner arguing behind him-about how he didn't want Isabella to leave because she was their best waitress and Vivian telling him to shut up-but he didn't care about that right now.
The whole restaurant grew silent, and she appeared. She served a couple their food on the top level of the restaurant when she turned her head and saw the red-headed man. She gasped and ran over to the railing, staring down at him. "Phineas?"
He gulped, wiping his suddenly sweaty hands on his pants. It was now or never. He took in a deep breath and clasped his hands together in front of him, looking up into her eyes. "Beautiful Isabella, I've come here to ask you to marry me. I know I must seem insane since I barely know you, but some times things don't need an explanation or proof. I can stay here with you, or you can come to America with me-"
"Go to America!" her grandmother interrupted him. "You can meet a movie star and marry him instead!"
"Hush, mama!" Vivian scolded her mother, slapping the other woman's arm.
Phineas just chuckled and looked up at Isabella, feeling a little more confident now. "Of course I don't expect you to be as crazy as me, and if you say no I will understand completely, but it's Christmas Eve and if you can't be honest on this day then when can you? So I just...wanted to ask." He shoved his hands in his pockets once more, gulping down the last of his nerves.
Isabella's eyes had filled up with tears during his little speech, and she had one hand pressed to her mouth. When he finished speaking she lowered it, a smile slowly coming to her lips.
"For heaven's sake, say yes, you crazy girl!" her grandmother yelled out, and Vivian had to once again shush her.
Isabella giggled and slowly made her way down the stairs until she was standing in front of him. She reached out and took his hands in hers, looking up into his eyes as happy tears fell down her face. "Thank you," she spoke, her accent showing through but her words confident and strong. "That sounds...very nice. My answer...is yes."
"What did you say?" Vivian asked her daughter, since the rest of them did not speak English.
Isabella looked at her mother and smiled. "I said si."
The crowd around them burst into cheers, along with everyone else in the restaurant. Even the grumpy owner clapped for them, unable to deny to romance of the situation.
Phineas beamed down at Isabella, his eyes shining. "You learned English."
Isabella nodded, her smile seeming to grow bigger by the second. "Yeah. Just in case."
They both laughed at how silly they were, and how the situation had worked out in their favor. He reached up to cup her face in his hands, and she brought her hands up to grip his shoulders. They leaned forward and pressed their lips together, their eyes sliding closed as they shared a perfect first kiss...
It wasn't until about a month later that Phineas came back with his beautiful bride Isabella, and Ferb was there at the airport to greet them-along with Vanessa Doofenshmirtz, Ferb's first love! Phineas knew that he would have to hear that story later, but for now, he was content to know that some times, love actually does exist.
The End