"And remember when we kept pranking each other with bigfoots at Grandma's and Grandpa's?" Phineas had been going on for two hours, retelling all of the the stories of their summer breaks. "That was great. I sure do miss Grandpa."
Isabella let out an exasperated sigh.
"I'm going to bed. Night, guys." Without another word, she made her way to her tent.
"I believe I will turn in as well," Baljeet continued.
"Me, too. Night, Dinnerbell," Buford continued. Phineas slumped over as he watched them zip the tent.
"But it's only 10..." He sighed. "C'mon, Ferb. We might as well just go sit in the car. You put out the fire, I'll go put the seat back so we have somewhere to sleep." When Ferb got to the car, the back seat was laid out flat. Phineas was standing at the back of the car, rustling through the contents of the trunk. Ferb climbed into the drivers' seat.
Moments later, he heard the trunk slam and his brother joined him. Phineas passed a root beer to his brother and held up his own can of cola.
"To the old days. Cheers." They each took a sip. "Here, want some doughnuts?" Ferb shook his head. "I can't believe everyone's changed so much. Isabella's all girly and stuck up now... I don't get it." He sighed. "At least I still have you, Ferb. Let's listen to some music." Ferb turned the car on. Gitchee Gitchee Goo started playing softly. Phineas started lip synching along with it and didn't notice his brother watching him out of the corner of his eye.
"Carpe diem," Ferb murmured, barely audible over the song.
"What was that, Ferb?"
"Carpe diem," he repeated, slightly louder. "Seize the day. It's Latin."
"Pff. I don't see why you didn't take Spanish with me. Latin won't do you any good."
"You'd be surprised. Anyway, that's not the point, it's a common phrase. Live in the present, don't dwell on the past."
"You're not into this nostalgia thing either," Phineas sighed. Ferb shrugged.
"It's fun. I just don't think you should get so into it. You can't go back." Phineas paused.
"I guess you're right, Ferb. Thanks for being such a great brother." He leaned against his brother. Ferb put his arm around Phineas, thankful that the darkness was covering his slight blush. The feelings felt completely natural; the two had been so close since they'd met that over the years it had just developed. For the most part, he was used to it, and used to hiding it. But despite how natural it felt, he felt so guilty. This was Phineas, his best friend, his brother... a guy. No matter how natural it felt, it was wrong... wasn't it?
"Ferb? Hellooo? Snap out of it. What are you thinking, man?" Ferb blinked.
"Oh - nothing..." Phineas shrugged.
"You sure? I'm here to talk if you need to," he reassured, sitting back up and slugging his brother on the shoulder. Ferb smiled. "Anyway - as I was saying, maybe we could do some fun stuff like we used to. Just the two of us. Who needs them anyway?" Ferb nodded.
"We can do that."
"And summer break is coming up in a couple months. We won't have to balance it with homework or anything. Say, I wonder what Perry's doing," Phineas mused. "I wish we'd brought him. Hey, Ferb - look how clear the sky is. How about we lie out and look at the stars? We have an extra sleeping bag we can lay on." Ferb nodded. Once the sleeping bag was unzipped and spread out, the boys settled down next to each other, laying comfortably on their backs.
"It sure is pretty... I wonder how our milkshake bar is doing. I hope it's doing well. Maybe we could check on it this year. Meap, too. Oh - and remember the day we shrank to play hide and seek? That one creepy guy who had a lock of your hair? I wonder if he still has it."
"I wonder how he got it in the first place." Phineas laughed, a happy sound that made Ferb's stomach flip.
"Good point. Man, that was weird." Phineas inched towards his brother on the sleeping bag, shivering. "It sure is chillier out than I thought it was." Ferb rolled over silently and pulled his brother into him. "Thanks, Ferb," he murmured. Ferb blushed again. "Hey, Ferb - why is your heart beating so fast?"
xxxxx
Ferb was the first one up the next morning. He had Phineas wrapped in his arms, holding him closely to his body. Phineas had buried his face in the crook of Ferb's neck and was snoring softly. Ferb smiled. His lifted his brother and cradled him for a moment before moving him into the back of the car. He shook out the sleeping bag and tucked Phineas in. He kissed his cheek gently and hurried off to start the campfire. 10 minutes later, Buford wandered out of his tent, followed by Baljeet.
"Morning," Buford grunted. Ferb nodded in response. "Got anything for breakfast?" He retrieved the box of donuts that Phineas had been snacking on. "Thanks, man. You hungry?" He shook his head and watched as Isabella stumbled out of her tent, stretched, and made her way towards them. Ferb snuck away unnoticed and left the three to chat. He sat in the back of the car, watching Phineas sleep. He didn't feel like being around people all of a sudden, and Phineas looked so peaceful. He was laying on his side, curled up slightly. Ferb could see his brother's eyes moving; he was dreaming. His hand found its way out of the blanket and to his mouth.
Phineas was sucking his thumb? He hadn't done that in years. Ferb knew his brother. Phineas only sucked his thumb when he had something on his mind. Even so, Ferb had to fight not to smile - Phineas was very cute like this. He watched Phineas's chest rise and fall as he breathed. He looked like an angel.
Phineas's eyes fluttered open and he pushed himself up, yawning.
"Morning, sleepyhead," Ferb teased. Phineas chuckled.
"Oh... shut up. What's going on? Is anyone awake?"
"You're the last one. What's on your mind, Phin?" The question seemed to catch Phineas off-guard.
"Hunh? Uh - nothing, why?"
"You were sucking your thumb."
"Oh... well, it's nothing big. Don't worry." He smiled reassuringly. "I promise." Phineas sat up and crawled toward the door. "Let's get out there."
"When are we leaving?" Isabella asked immediately upon seeing Phineas.
"Uhh... whenever, I guess..." Phineas mumbled. Ferb frowned; he didn't like seeing his brother get hurt.
"Can we go soon?" Baljeet requested. "I have a lot of math." Phineas sighed.
"Sure, Baljeet. Everyone pack up then, let's get going. C'mon, Ferb, let's go put the back seat up."
"Well, this road trip sure has been a dud," he said to his brother once they were out of earshot. "I dunno how. How do you go wrong with a flying car?"
A/n I am so sorry I took so long to upload this I have had this chapter written since before I posted the last one but I am so slow when it comes to typing things up nggghhh. I'll try to get hte next couple chapters up fairly quick to make up for it because errrr I have up to chapter like 5 written already. But I make no guarantees. *facepalm*. Anyone hope you enjoyed please review! :D
