Hey! This is my submission for the Ferbella Valentine's Gift Exchange 2017 and so this story is for mollymoonfan510. I'm your secret (belated, sorry) Valentine and I hope you enjoy the story :) Special thanks to Spazzumtard for betaing the story once for me and making sure I kept in character. I did change it around after your suggestions so any mistakes I've made are my own. Thanks again for organising everything!

Prompt: Isabella goes to a bar after an awful blind date and sees Ferb there. Witty banter?

Chatting with Vanessa over drinks, it was strange to remember how things used to be. Once upon a time I would have bent over backwards to be out on Valentine's Day night with her. It didn't seem important in the same way that it did years before, particularly as I got along famously with her currently absent fiancée.

Despite training my eyes on Vanessa, I recognised a familiar face entering the restaurant in my peripheral vision. Isabella glided into the room after a guy strides in wearing clothes far too casual for a blind date in this high-end restaurant and bar.

I was distracted enough by them being seated by the corner window that I lost track of the conversation I was meant to be part of. "Is everything alright, Ferb?"

I nodded as I returned my focus to her. It was strange being out with Vanessa like this again. We hadn't really done hung out alone since before I left for college, back before she was officially engaged to Monty Monogram. "I know how much Monty loves his jobs but I just wish he didn't put so little care into his wellbeing while he's away, you know? He might be a great agent but he'll become so focused on work that he'll forget to eat if no one reminds him."

I shot her a look and she understood instantly. "Look, I don't know how he looks no worse for wear after going away for three weeks. It's a miracle he didn't come back in the body bag!"

"You're overreacting," I murmured. In their corner, Isabella was looked indignant as her partner flirtatiously handed both menus to the waitress. The waitress then coquettishly touched his arm before retreating. Whatever the guy said to attempt to mollify Isabella only seemed to aggravate her further, tallying his first strike for the evening.

Vanessa slumped forward into her chair and sipped her scotch on the rocks. "I know," she admitted. "It's just hard when he has to leave for so long. Today's date doesn't make it much better."

Smiling at my success, I raised my glass. "To Monty's quick and safe return."

The woman sitting beside me was quick to voice her support, downing the rest of her drink and indicating for another. "You didn't come here to just hear about Monty. So how's your love life doing, Ferb? And how's the love of your life doing?"

What was she talking about? Vanessa was the only person I'd ever called that, before she became one of my closest friends instead. "Who?"

To the side, Isabella's date told a story and I could tell from halfway across the room that she wasn't a fan while he chuckled at his own hilarity. Checking her phone, she placed it beside her and shifted her arms into a defensive stance. That was the second strike. One more and she would soon be making an exit.

"What's got you so distracted, Ferb?"

My head nod in the pair's direction was all I needed to respond.

"I should have guessed. It's been three years since she broke up with Phineas, Ferb; you should go for it. Phineas has moved on and would support you. Candace and I always thought you two would be cute together."

In my intention of sending Vanessa a quizzical look, I almost missed Isabella's date lunging for her face over the tabletop. Echoes of the slap, however, would have reached my ears regardless, even if I had not been watching the scene unfold before me. Clutching his face, he spoke to her briefly before she walked in controlled steps towards the nearest restroom.

"Get out your phone," Vanessa instructed with a slight slur. "I give it ten seconds before your girl calls you."

I was in the middle of shaking my head about how many levels of wrong Vanessa was when my ringtone erupted from my jacket pocket. I answered quickly and shot daggers at Vanessa's smug expression.

"Hello?"

"Hey Ferb," Isabella breathed, barely audible. Her date remained at the table, searching his pockets. "Sorry to interrupt your Valentine's Day evening."

I couldn't help it that a smile stretched over my face. "You can call anytime. You know that."

Something between a sob and a giggle burst through the phone. "I'm asking a little more than that tonight. If you're not too busy, can you come pick me up?"

"As you wish," I said for some reason I couldn't understand. "Meet me at the bar when you're ready." Curiously, the lecherous man dropped a tablet in one of the glasses and gestured to the waitress.

"Thanks, Ferb." If Isabella wondered how I knew where she was, she didn't ask and the conversation ended. The waitress was now seated in Isabella's place, twirling an escaped hair.

My eyes widened as I realised what the creepy date wanted to do. As my gaze met with Vanessa's, I asked with my eyes if she saw it too. "Ferb," she said, swaying slightly as her new drink threatened to spill from her hand, "you have to stop him from giving that to her."

Leaving a spinning chair behind me, I reached their table just as the waitress began to lift the glass Isabella had left untouched. Placing my hand over her own, I gently guided it back to the table before removing my hand. "Sir," said the befuddled waitress, "what do you think you're doing?"

"Your drink was spiked," I explained as I stared into the man's eyes. He cowered for a moment before high-tailing it out of the establishment, taking down an approaching Isabella and some guests in his path.

The waitress sat as immovable as a boulder at the base of a cliff. "I almost drank that glass," she whispered, shock shattering into despair.

Pressing a clean handkerchief into the girl's open palm, I indicated to her manager before turning to help Isabella. I stretched my hand towards Isabella and helped her to her feet but she immediately careened into my side.

"I think I twisted my ankle in the fall," she winced, using my body to lower herself to the ground. A quick assessment of the injury informed me it wasn't broken but she would need a professional opinion tomorrow.

Raising her into standing position, my arm curled under hers to take the strain off her healthy leg. "I'm not sure how well I can walk."

I carefully walked her back to Vanessa at the bar. Passing the older woman my wallet, I gestured for her to pay for the evening as I held my neighbour upright.

"Ferb?" Isabella breathed my name into my chest as she blinked at me through heavy lashes. "Can we go home?"

"As you wish," I replied and carried her to my car.

Vanessa took this as her cue to enter the conversation with nonsense, staggering after us. "You're like a green-haired Cary Elwes!"

What? My head snapped back to her as my eyebrows drew together.

"She's your Buttercup," Vanessa elaborated, as if that explained everything. I handed Isabella my handkerchief before closing the door for her.

I moved towards Vanessa's door. "You just want to shield her from every creep like that. Don't you, Ferb?" she asked quietly, waiting for me to respond. "Monty does that for me. I miss him so much."

She sniffled as I drew her into a hug. "He makes me feel like myself when I'm with him and I know he feels the same." She paused, holding me at arm's length and locking my gaze. "Doesn't it feel like that with Isabella?"

Glancing at the curled up figure in the passenger seat, I nodded. "Does she make you happy?"

My goodness, just the thought of Isabella did. Being reminded of her made my day. My incredulity at Vanessa's observation must have shown so she saved me from asking. "I can see the expression in your eyes when you look at her. You might be a reserved person, Ferb, and a pretty good actor but even your face can't hide that you're very much in love," she said, slipping into the backseat.

In love? That afternoon I hadn't thought I'd even had a crush but Vanessa made more sense than I cared to admit so I shut her door and walked to the driver's side. However, I knew I'd be pondering what she'd said for weeks to come.

Going out for drinks with Vanessa was dangerous.

The sound of Isabella's even sleepy breathing greeted me as I climbed into my seat.

"Wait, you can't drive tonight," Vanessa slurred, her moment of clarity clearly over. "You haven't been drinking?"

I shook my head and my lips curled into a smile. "I didn't have any alcohol tonight. Someone had to take you both home."