-Chapter 1-

Phineas' Musings

The tree. At first glance, nothing but an ordinary tree, but to those who had spent time under those branches, it was so much more. The tree where dreams were realized, imagination took flight, and the impossible was made possible. The tree where two certain young inventors, one with bright red hair, the other green, related only by law, and yet brothers as truly as any blood siblings there had ever been, began every summer day, along with their closest friends. The tree where currently, that same red-headed inventor was sitting, on the lowest branch, trying to puzzle out his very confusing feelings.

I have to figure it out tonight,he thought to himself. I need to know… how I, Phineas Flynn, truly feel about her. Do I truly consider her as my best friend, and nothing more? Or does what I feel now go beyond friendship? Ugh… I'm not getting out of this tree until I figure it out. I suppose the first thing to do would be to pinpoint exactly when I first started feeling this way. When was it?... Ah, that's it! Yes, thinking back, that must have been the first time I felt this way towards her…

(The first day of 8th grade, almost 1 year ago)

(Phineas' POV)

It had been an amazing day. Although I have some problems with school, namely that it takes time away from our projects like the ones we do every day in the summer, it was still a great experience. And the feeling of the first day of school, the feeling of embarking on a new adventure, was a great thing. We were done with class for the day, just one more trip to the locker to get homework out and store anything that I couldn't risk forgetting to bring to school the next day.

Then, I glanced over and noticed my neighbor and best friend, Isabella Garcia Shapiro. I found myself thinking about how blessed I am to have her as a best friend. She's loyal, smart, creative, brave, tough, cute,- wait, where did that come from? I mean, she is cute, but why was I thinking about that? Looking at her,I started to feel this warm feeling in my chest. It's such a new feeling, yet it feels a little familiar, as if I've felt it before, just not as strongly. Or maybe I felt it once and forgot about it somehow. Either way, this feeling is strange, but I think that… I like it. I'm going to have to figure out exactly what's going on here.

I was so deep in thought that I barely registered Isabella turning to look over at me. I then realized that I'd been staring at her this whole time, and my face heated up with embarrassment. She smiled and blushed slightly. "Hey, Phineas. Whatcha doin'?" I felt my face heat up a little more.

"Umm, j-just thinking," I replied. Well, that is true.

"Hmm," She said, thoughtfully. Then she smiled again. "Whatcha thinkin'?"

I felt my face turn redder still. "I was thinking about how great it is having you as a best friend, Izzie," I replied, smiling. I could've sworn I saw a quick flash of disappointment in her eyes. But why would that be? I thought. Then it was gone, as quick as it came, and she was smiling again, as brightly as ever. That was weird. Maybe I was imagining it.

"Aww, thanks Phineas! That's so sweet!" she said. Then her eyes narrowed a little, like she was suspicious or confused. "Is that all you were thinking about?" She asked in a slightly-too-innocent voice.

My face turned red yet again. Does she know I was thinking about something else? I can't just tell her, I mean, I'm not even sure what I was feeling, so I sure don't know what to say! "Umm, y-yeah, why?" I said, unconsciously scratching my ear.

She walked a few steps closer and smirked, looking amused, and crossed her arms. "Phineas Flynn, I have known you for how many years, and you think I can't tell when you're lying or hiding something? Spit it out, what's on your mind?" She said.

Crud, of course she knows something's up! "Well, I-I, um," I began, then stopped as I noticed that someone had walked up on the other side of Isabella's open locker door.

"You what?" she said, and then yelped in surprise as the person I had just noticed slammed her locker door noisily.

He looked like a stereotypical jock, short brown hair, tall and muscular, having a general air of arrogance about him. Right off the bat, he rubbed me the wrong way, which is odd, because I generally try to get along with everyone if I can, it's strange for me to dislike someone right away like this. The jock spoke, addressing Isabella.

"Hey Izzie, how's about you and me go out and do somethin' together, just the two of us, get this school year started out right?" he said, grinning smugly. What's this guy's deal? Scaring Isabella, and then just asking her on a date out of the blue like that? Not to mention calling her by her nickname. I mean sure, I don't know all of her friends, but I don't think she even knows this guy! As I was thinking all this, I began to feel this inexplicable cold feeling in the pit of my stomach. I didn't know what it was, but I sure didn't like it. It was like it was the opposite of the warm feeling I had earlier. I found myself holding my breath waiting for her to answer, even though I was almost completely certain of what her answer would be.

She started to answer him, and I immediately perked up and listened to her. "First of all," she began, looking irritated at the boy, "only my best friends can call me Izzie, and I don't even know you. Second of all, how about not? Like I said, I don't even know you, so I'm certainly not going to go out with you! On top of that, I can already tell that you're so not my type. So the answer is no!" As soon as she turned the guy down, I felt that cold sensation just wash away, replaced by intense relief. Why am I so concerned with whether or not she goes out with someone, anyway? Am I just being protective of my best friend? That would be my first thought, but really, that's not what this feels like. I've protected her before, been afraid for her before, but it didn't feel like this. What could it be, though?

I snapped out of my reverie, as the boy was talking again. "C'mon, I insist. It'll be a good time. I'm not gonna just take no for an answer." What a jerk! As if he wasn't being a pain already, he has the nerve to ignore Isabella telling him no?! Seriously?

I saw Isabella clench her fists and open her mouth to reply, but before I even realized what I was doing, I beat her to it, surprising myself as much as Isabella. "She already said no. And I'm pretty sure she meant it, so you should just leave her be," I said. I was surprised by the tone of my voice, as well as the negative feelings inside me, as I'm really not used to either. Isabella gave me a surprised look, which was quickly replaced by a big smile and a look that I couldn't quite read.

The jock looked at me with surprise as well, then sneered at me. "Stay outta this, shrimp. Nobody asked your opinion."

Isabella glared at the boy, then turned to me and smiled sweetly. "Oh Phineas, would you please share with us your opinion on this matter?" She said.

I replied, having a hard time at first not chuckling at Isabella's slightly sarcastic response, but then quickly becoming serious. "Well Isabella, now that someone has asked my opinion on this, I think that since you have already clearly refused his request, he should respect your answer and leave well enough alone," I said, sounding almost cheerful at first, but with my tone quickly growing serious as I directed my words to the other boy.

The boy glared at me. "Look, I'm warning you, stay outta this, or I'll soon fix your wagon!"

"You try to fix his wagon, and I'll break yours," said a rough voice behind me. I turned to see Buford, Baljeet, and Ferb standing behind me. It was Buford who had spoken. (I have no idea when they arrived, it could've been anytime from when I started thinking about Isabella up till now. I really haven't been paying attention to my surroundings since then.)

"That doesn't even make sense!" the other boy retorted.

"It doesn't have to, I've got a monster truck!" Buford replied, grinning evilly. Buford's confidence caused a bit of nervousness to become evident in the boy, as his arrogant attitude faltered for the first time since he arrived.

"And the advantage of numbers," added a calm British voice. Anyone who didn't know Ferb well might have thought he sounded and looked very nearly as emotionless as usual, but my friends and I all knew him well enough to hear and see the small differences in his voice and face, and knew that he was none too happy towards the person pestering his friend and threatening me, his brother. The other boy didn't fully realize the emotion Ferb was showing, but the threatening undercurrent of his statement communicated itself, and, despite the British boy's less obviously muscular build (Ferb is actually quite strong, but it's more of a lean strength, one that comes with speed and agility to boot, and less of an "Angry wall of meat" type of strength.), Ferb's demeanor worried the other boy quite a bit more than Buford's statement, as it rightly should have.

"W-Whatever, you're not worth my time anyway, girl. I'm outta here," the boy said, turning and leaving hastily.

I saw Isabella clench her fists, and I saw anger in her eyes, mixed with a bit of hurt. I put my hand on her shoulder to stop her from making an angry retort. "Isabella, forget about him. He's the one who's not worth your time."

Isabella sighed, and I could feel her tension draining away. "I know, Phineas, it's just, that whole thing was so frustrating, and then he goes and makes a remark like that. Even if he was just being a jerk, it still hurts a little, y'know?" She said.

"Yeah, I know," I replied. "But don't let it get you down. Just keep moving on and Carpe Diem!" I say, pumping a fist in the air.

She giggled, the intended reaction to my antics. "Thanks Phineas, I needed that." Then she smiled shyly and blushed. "Thanks for standing up for me, Phineas. It was really sweet of you," She said, and then hugged me.

My face turned red again, and that warm feeling came back, along with an accelerated heartrate. What is this feeling? It's definitely caused by Isabella, but I already figured that out. It's happened both when we were talking and when we were in physical contact, and even when I was just around her, so it's not caused by one specific thing. I sighed. I need to ask Ferb about this. I can completely trust him, and I think he'll have some idea what's going on. At least I hope so. Isabella seemed like she needed a little more comforting after the encounter we just went through, so I hugged her a little longer than I normally would, and she didn't seem to mind at all.

"You'll notice, no credit for the ones who kept Dinnerbell from gettin' clobbered," I heard Buford mutter. "Oof!"

Ferb elbowed him and replied, "Shut up, Buford. Not a good time." Isabella let me go, almost seeming reluctant to do so.

I turned to Buford and Ferb. "Thanks for helping me out guys, that was great!" I said.

"Anytime, Pointy," Buford replied, grinning. Ferb just gave me his signature thumbs-up.

"Okay, let's get home and get to havin' fun before dinnertime! Not a minute to waste!" I shouted, and then ran off, hoping to get everyone back into our usual carefree mood.

"Phineas, wait up!" Isabella called after me, giggling and running to catch up.

"Alright, Buford's in!"

"Not without me you don't, Phin!"

"Wait for me, my companions!" called Buford, Ferb, and Baljeet in turn, quickly following after Isabella and me. Well, that worked like a charm, I thought to myself, smiling.

(Back in present time)

Yep, that was definitely the first time I noticed those feelings towards Isabella. I kinda shrugged them off then, trying to get everyone cheered up, and I got so caught up in our project that day, I totally forgot to talk to Ferb then. But then I woke up in the middle of the night, remembering. I almost went back to sleep then, but I didn't want to forget, and I knew that Ferb, even though he would probably be cranky about being woken up at first, wouldn't mind terribly. He's always willing to help out his little bro. So that night I talked with Ferb about my feelings…