What if Isabella never turned back to say goodbye to Phineas? And through what lengths will he go through to be with her?
Phineas stood at the stairs of his house.
He didn't get the chance to tell Isabella that he likes her.
Would he ever get the chance to? That was the question running through his mind.
He felt as though his body had just given up on him, his mind had given up on him, everything within him had given up on him. All he wanted was this one chance to tell Isabella he liked her, and it hadn't even worked out. He needed to get his mind off of this situation. He'd decided it was best to build an invention - that always takes his mind off of practically everything he's going through.
As Phineas came around his house to pull open the door to the backyard, he heard a car pull up. As quickly as he could, he turned around on his heel and began running to the front of the house to see who it was. He saw the objects in front of him begin to blur. His eyes were filling up with tears; he was so overwhelmed, because for goodness sake! He needed to immediately hold her hand just like how he wanted to do so badly. He needed to give her a hug and just hold her in his arms. He needed to tell her how he felt.
As soon as he got to the front of the house, he was already out of breath. Adrenaline was rushing through him. He stood with his hands on his knees, his head bent forward to heave in some air. Phineas could only hear the sound of ringing throughout his ears; he couldn't exactly hear anything. He threw his head up. His tears already began to filter his surroundings, making seeing what was in front of him difficult to pinpoint exactly what was there.
"Hey, Phineas!"
Phineas straightened himself out and rubbed the tears away from his eyes. The adrenaline turned into excitement, because he could finally, after so long, tell her how he felt.
"Phineas?"
"Isabella, I-"
He blinked a few times before seeing a figure with long hair in front of him. His vision was still blurry; he couldn't make out if it was Isabella or not. He rubbed his eyes again.
Phineas saw the girl in front of him. "Oh," he began to breathe heavily. He felt the tears coming upon his eyes. It wasn't Isabella. "Hey, Vanessa." His heart slowed down, and the ringing stopped in his ears.
"Hey, Phineas," Vanessa sighed, putting a hand on Phineas's shoulder, "You alright? I have water in the back of my car if you need it."
He shook his head. "I'm good. Thought you were someone else and got excited."
"Well, I came to get Ferb for our date, but we can make a stop at Tri-State State if you'd like," Vanessa offered, "For Isabella."
Phineas opened his mouth to speak, but then considered it for a few moments. Tri-State State is about one hour away from Danville if taking the freeway. With side streets, it's almost three hours at best - and Vanessa cannot drive the freeway after her father built the Go-Away-inator 15000 to be installed on the freeways to push anyone out of the way, therefore making traffic all clear for her. It's still installed to this very day; the only place where it's not installed are the side streets. Despite the fact that her father feels proud, she, at most, feels embarrassed.
"I'm okay," Phineas said, shrugging it off.
"Are you sure? I don't wanna make you regret anything."
Silence for a few seconds.
"I...yeah, I am."
"Oh, okay. Is it alright if you get Ferb, then?"
Phineas nodded. He slipped his hands into his pockets. He began to sludge on over to the front door. Disappointment had gotten the best of him; it affected him all over. All that he wanted and needed was to see Isabella - and he didn't get that.
He walked into the house and saw Ferb brushing himself off in the mirror. Phineas smiled at him once he turned around, patting him on the back afterwards. Ferb gave a thumbs up, but quickly noticed that this right now - it wasn't him. The way he presented himself wasn't Phineas.
Ferb looked outside the window to see if Vanessa was there, and she was. She didn't seem like she was in a rush or anything; she seemed pretty relaxed just up against her car, just as how she always is. A few seconds won't hurt, it's his brother after all that needs some comfort.
"Phineas?" Ferb asked, "Are you okay?"
"Ferb, Vanessa is out there waiting for -"
"No, it's okay. She'll understand you needed someone."
Phineas chuckled, "Well, she pretty much saw me think she was Isabella there for a few seconds, so you don't have to explain, I guess."
"Isabella, huh?"
"Yeah, I didn't get to tell her how I felt before she left for college."
"I'm sorry, Phineas," Ferb said, pulling him into a hug.
"It's okay." Tears began to stream down Phineas's face. No matter how hard he tried to hide the fact that he was crying, he began to sniffle.
"We would usually offer you a ride, but it's too far for Vanessa."
Phineas nodded. "I know."
"Do you wanna build something when I get home?"
Phineas pulled himself away from Ferb's hug. "Yeah, I already know what we're gonna do today." He smiled at his brother. Before Ferb left out the door, he gave him a pat on the back. Then came the usual thumbs up before Ferb goes on a date with Vanessa. He watched as Ferb gave Vanessa a kiss and hopped into the car, both waving bye at Phineas before they came racing alongside the streets. He wanted something like that with Isabella, but he just wasn't sure if it could ever be.
Footsteps came around the corner of the house. A light in the living room came on, and the sounds of the TV were at the highest volume. Phineas walked over to the living room, peeking his head around the corner. It was his mother who was casually drinking a cup of coffee, leisurely relaxed on the couch.
Phineas walked into the room. His mom turned around, "Hi, Phineas."
"Hi, mom," He sat down, his position almost stiff and squeezed up. The ache of disappointment was still prominent throughout his entire body. It wasn't comfortable at all.
They sat together, just watching the television as they normally do whensoever Ferb isn't home. Normally, the atmosphere for Phineas is calm and welcoming; but Phineas just felt so tense, whereas his mother did not seem to know what was going on.
Promptly, he turned to his mom. He spoke, almost already on the verge of tears, "Mom, can I tell you something?"
His mom sensed the worry throughout his face. She took the remote and turned the volume on the television down. Her sons always came before everything else that had been pushed in her path; she was always there for the kids to count on.
"Of course, Phineas."
The words practically couldn't come out of his mouth. Maybe she knew, maybe she didn't. He wasn't feeling so good at the moment, and at best, he wanted his mom to know. This was probably the first step to feeling okay.
"I like Isabella."
"Oh, I knew Isabella liked you, but I didn't know you liked her, too!" His mom almost jumped off the couch in excitement.
Phineas became even less tense, but that didn't mean this hindering disappointment would have sent itself away at this point. He laughed, "Everyone kept saying that, but no, I don't think so."
His mom clapped her hands together. "Well, have you told her?"
"Well, that's the thing," Phineas said as his face fell, "she left for college before I could even tell her."
And with that, his mother's face fell as well. She wasn't sad at the fact that him and Isabella weren't together, she was feeling more for her son. Just from that, he saw how much he wanted it, and how he was unable to get it.
Phineas began to tear up again, but this time, he felt as though he could burst into tears. All that his mother could have done in this moment was cradle him gently as he cried in his arms. This was unlike him, for all that his mom saw him was this boy who was often happy-go-lucky within his actions. But all she could do in this moment was make sure he's okay.
After a few moments, they pulled apart and his mom wiped his tears. "You know, you can always call her."
"I'd rather face the rejection up front than have the memory be through the phone."
"I'm very sure she does like you. It probably wouldn't hurt to try. If not, then you know I'm here."
Phineas sat alone in his room. It was near midnight; he was hoping Ferb would at least be with him whilst he calls Isabella.
His mind was scattered. He decided to pull out his blueprints and map out everything he was thinking, from "Hey, I like you," to "Sorry, I thought you felt the same way." If he can even pull through with, "Hey, I like you," then he can most likely pull through with everything else.
At least he hoped he could.
He pulled out his phone. Isabella's number sat at the very bottom of his "Most Recent" list; he stared at it for a few seconds, contemplating as to whether or not he should call her.
Plentiful of questions rummaged throughout Phineas's mind. Would this mess up everything? Would this ruin their friendship? Would this begin a relationship? He was hesitant; the only person he had ever been with was Natalia Anders. They lasted a good eight months sophomore year, her reasoning for breaking up with him being that he was too involved with his inventions.
But this was Isabella. She had been with him through everything, from the day he moved across from her house to the day he got his first college acceptance letter. She'll still be involved in his life no matter what, even if she doesn't reciprocate his feelings.
So he tapped on her number, and from there, out came three buzzes. The fourth buzz came, and then was cut off. Phineas's eyes widened. His breath became quick, sharp out of his mouth. Out from the phone came that voice he had already been missing.
"Hello?"
aaaaa i haven't written fanfiction in so long! the last time i probably wrote fanfiction was in 6th grade! it's so weird to think i'm returning back to this, especially with phineas and ferb!
this is based off of the first draft of a script that i had loved so dearly but had to be scrapped :(
i promise this will get better as i go along, this is the best i could do!