On this first day of 2017, Filled to the Brim is back by popular demand!
Hello everyone! To those who have patiently waited and to those who have spammed me with requests to continue this story... HAPPY NEW YEAR!
You'll notice... rating change. Yup. This story has been bumped to M. I'll let you ponder why ;)
I want to take a moment to thank all the people who followed this story even though I published it so long ago, simply because they liked it so much. I have good news for you! I currently have the next 130 pages of this story written! WHAT?! Yup. Next 130 pages done. For those of you who didn't see my most recent author's note in Something in the Mist, I am currently experiencing some pretty extensive health problems, so I can't promise super speedy updates; but with 130 more pages written, I can definitely promise more chapters to come before too long!
Here's to this year being better than the last! Hell, here's to this year being freaking GREAT! Who's with me?
Disclaimer: I do not own Phineas and Ferb.
CHAPTER TWO:
Spill
PHINEAS
I staggered back into the hall table, colliding with it and filling the dark hallway with the rattle of a decorative teacup by my elbow. My water bottle fell to the floor, where it rolled by my feet. I gaped at Ferb and Isabella. At—what?
As much as I picked around in my brain, my voice had up and disappeared, and neither Ferb nor Isabella had moved. There was only staring. Horrible, awkward staring. It took a minute for me to realize my mouth was hanging open.
"Uh," I said. "I, uh." I went back to blinking. What on earth was going on? Because what I was seeing made no sense. "I, uh."
Hearing me spluttering like a fool prompted my brother to action. Ferb let go of Isabella—and my eyes shot to the ceiling, because I realized my brother had been holding her leg, and had had his hand in her shirt, and gosh, that sort of kissing had been—I had to stop. Nope. I couldn't go there. I turned on my heel, my hand over my eyes.
"Okay," I exhaled. "Okay, okay. Seriously, um…" I took a deep breath, because I really couldn't get to the bottom of this if I couldn't face them. And yet I just found Ferb and Isabella—I could only say it looked they'd been practically devouring each other! I once again covered my eyes. That thought hadn't helped in the slightest.
I licked my lips and tried again. "This party has just gotten a little… I, uh, thought we should…" I swallowed hard. "We—you…"
Crap, now I couldn't handle not being able to see them. I turned around, and was infinitely relieved to see both of them standing completely normally. Their eyes were wide. They were both as red as I felt. But, uh… well, their clothing was all back in place. So that was… good. Definitely an improvement. From before. When they both looked just moments from tackling each other to the ground, and—
Oh god. I really needed to try to censor my thoughts better right now.
"What the heck is going on?" I blurted out. It was a coherent sentence at last, so I thought it was a sign things would start to make sense.
Then out of nowhere, things got so much worse. Isabella started to cry—stunning, heartbroken crying I'd never heard from her before. She hid herself behind Ferb, where she completely fell apart. I was no closer to understanding anything, but if one thing could override my need for answers, it was this. I rushed forward, but as I reached out to Isabella, she backed up.
No, it was more than flinch away violently; she gripped my brother around the waist from behind and practically shoved him between us like a shield. Any effort of mine to get around, and she pushed him in front of her again. I had to stop trying to reach out for her altogether, because from the looks of things, neither of them were bound to be steady on their feet.
I looked up to my brother for an explanation, but was met with something just as bothersome: Ferb was glowering at the floor, his lips pursed like he had something to say but was holding it in. Had I not just walked in on what I did, I would have thought I'd never see something more surprising than that. Ferb never had to try not to say something. Like, ever.
What had I just interrupted, exactly?
"Izzy… are you okay?" Maybe it was a stupid question—I mean, obviously she was not okay—but it was all I had.
She only answered with louder sobs, and my heart went into a dive-bomb in my chest. The only part of her I could see—her hands—tightened their grip on Ferb's shirt, and Ferb staggered a little. She was probably leaning on him, which made me worried about them both. But still… that crying. I had absolutely no idea what was suddenly wrong with her, and I couldn't fix it if I didn't know!
"Isabella?" I tried again, but Ferb blew out a frustrated breath and covered his eyes with one hand. I blinked at him in surprise before he took both my shoulders and pushed me back a step. His expression was clear: give her space.
Give her space? "What did I do?"
Perhaps most perplexing of all, Ferb cringed, like he knew the answer and didn't want to share it. I knew my brother well enough to tell, and it did nothing to ease my confusion.
"Bro?"
Instead of answering, Ferb took Isabella's hands and gently tugged them loose so he could turn around. He didn't say anything, just brushed stray hair from her face, and she responded immediately, lunging forward to bury her face in his chest.
This was probably the strangest thing all night—and that was saying something considering I'd walked in on them… yeah… But this was even stranger than that, seeing her crying into Ferb's chest. I couldn't quite decide why it was so strange. Maybe it was… the familiarity of it. Like they both seemed used to this, like she cried while he comforted her all the time.
No. No, that didn't make any sense. Isabella was fine. She never had any reason to be upset, and if Ferb spent any time comforting her, there was no reason why he wouldn't tell me about it.
I reached out for her again, but decided to stop last moment. I couldn't deny the absolutely preposterous fact that something was going on between her and my brother, and my brain was still trying to recover. I didn't know what do with such overwhelming levels of weird.
I shook my head; whatever the problem was, distance on my end was not the solution. I gently took Isabella's wrist, trying to coax her into looking at me as I said, "Izzy, what's up? What's going on?"
Her head lashed back and forth manically, and that was when I decided a number of things: a) if she weren't careful, she'd knock my clearly tipsy brother over, too; b) the party had already gotten a little too rowdy for my tastes, and I wanted to get them both out of here before they made a scene; and c) if Isabella was going to fall apart like this, she should probably do it in a safer place.
This wasn't going to be pretty.
"Alright," I declared, tightening my hold on her. I heaved her back from my brother like I was pulling off a band-aid and spun her around so we were face to face. She was so stunned, her sobs faltered, and she stared at me. She almost looked… scared. Scared, like I would hurt her. That was crazy, though; I'd never done anything to hurt Isabella before in my life.
"Deep breaths," I suggested. "We're leaving, okay?"
I studied my brother for a moment. Yeah, he should be fine to follow on his own without too much trouble. Poor Isabella was another story; I'd never seen her like this. She was completely silent now, staring at her feet. I realized she was leaning away from me, and I was struck with a thought.
"Are you mad at me?"
Isabel shoved me away so quickly I could only blink as she ran off. I was still comprehending that fact: she ran off. Then Ferb sighed in exasperation, like I had done something wrong, and took off after her.
Okay. Seriously, what exactly had I interrupted?
It was too late not to make a scene; everyone in the room beyond was staring at our hall—or at the door, through which Isabella had just fled, shortly followed by Ferb. Had anyone else seen what the two of them had been up to? I didn't know, but it wasn't like that was the most pressing issue right now anyway.
As I quickly made to follow my brother, I tried to process everything. I'd never seen Isabella drunk before. I knew she would drink socially, maybe a wine cooler or two throughout an evening. It was perfectly fine, and by no means unhealthy or habitual. I was the designated driver, and there had never been anything close to a problem before now.
And Ferb, well I knew he drank at his twenty-first birthday and a few times since then when we were at our apartment, but he never really did at parties. If he did, it was maybe one and then he was done, not… however many he'd clearly had tonight. That made two marks in the Out-of-the-Ordinary category.
I had to think back through the night. If they both were acting strangely, maybe something triggered it? Admittedly, I hadn't been paying the closest attention to what Isabella and Ferb had been doing. They'd never needed me to. I had been sitting at a table watching an interesting card game. Some girl had sat on my lap when we ran out of chairs. I hadn't minded, but it did make my visibility of the rest of the party somewhat skewed.
And then I remembered the one thing of significance I had seen: Vanessa Doofenshmirtz. Vanessa, for whom my brother had nursed a soft spot for over ten years. And she'd been making out with some guy in the corner—an acrobat, from what I heard, though I didn't understand why that got so many snickers.
It was seeing Vanessa like that that prompted me to find Ferb in the first place; I knew he would probably be upset if he saw it, and I figured he wouldn't want to stick around. I certainly hadn't expected to find him making out with a girl himself in the dark recess of a hallway.
And it was Isabella. Isabella. My feet nearly faltered as my brain put it together.
Clearly my brother had been upset, but that really didn't make it okay for him to try to manage it by jumping on the nearest girl—and of course that nearest girl would be Isabella, because all three of us were best friends. She probably knew he'd been upset, and was trying to comfort him.
If my brother had been rebounding, he couldn't have made a more stupid choice! Isabella didn't date anyone. As far as I could remember, she'd never had a long-term boyfriend or anything. She'd told me about an outing or two, a potential date, like my option on it mattered to her, but her heart had never seemed in it. I couldn't exactly blame her for that; I wasn't much different.
Isabella most certainly didn't make out with boys at parties, I was certain of that. That could only mean my brother had started it. She was drunk and didn't stop him? Heck I didn't know! But it wasn't like Isabella had any reason to kiss Ferb.
Unless… she did?
I burst through the door, and was immensely thankful to find the other two. Isabella had sunken on the porch step, and Ferb sat next to her, his hand on her knee. She was, simply put, a wreck as she sobbed into her knees.
What reason could she probably have to be this upset? It was hard to believe my brother had anything to do with it. Ferb wouldn't hurt her like this. I couldn't imagine anyone hurting Isabella; she was really likable and just about the best friend you want in your corner. She was always the emotional rock when her troop was upset, and I'd never seen her upset like this before.
If Ferb had hurt her… well, I didn't see how that was possible. It was Isabella. I'd never known her to be anything but strong and determined. This? This was just…
Ugh. This was not the time to start overthinking. It was cold out here and what Isabella probably needed was a good night of sleep. Clearly she and Ferb had drunk way too much. Why that happened, I didn't know. But they had.
"Isabella, come on," I told her. "You'll just come back to our place, alright?" But when I took her hand, she pulled it out of my grip like I'd burned her.
"No, no I don't want you to—to help me!" she sniffed.
I crouched down in front of her, hoping meeting her eyes would start giving me answers. She'd never been such a mess before.
"Why don't you want my help?"
She shook her head. "Not your help. Not from you."
"Izzy, what does that even—"
"You'll just hurt me again!" she wailed, and my heart jumped right up to my throat. I'd hurt her again? What did that even mean? I'd never hurt her! I would never do anything like that!
"I've never hurt you," I blurted out. Then I amended, "I mean, I never meant to hurt you about anything. What's going on? I don't even know what you're talking about."
"Phineas," Ferb said in warning, and his tone said it all: I had to stop. Now.
The wind started picking up, and for the first time I noticed a couple of people peeking out the front windows. I was all for being curious, but this was something else altogether. I didn't want my brother and my best friend to be a drunken spectacle for the others to just stand by and enjoy.
I turned my attention on Ferb.
"Well, if she won't let me help her, then you help her and I'll help you," I said, rubbing my hand across my forehead. It seemed so silly and unnecessary, but if she had some problem with me, I didn't want to make this whole thing worse.
Ferb nodded, signaling he thought this was a good idea, and pulled Isabella to her feet. She buried her face in his chest again, wrapping her arms around him, and I thought… well, did she have a reason to be kissing Ferb tonight? Could she have possibly…?
"Isabella, come on," Ferb told her quietly, gently pulling her off, and this time she nodded. She listened to him! Why did she have such a problem with me?
We had to walk entirely too far to get to my car; but when I'd parked down the street earlier, I hadn't expected to have to corral a drunk Ferb and Isabella all the way there! Ferb swayed on his feet a few times, but caught his arm.
Well. At least my brother didn't flinch away or fight me. Really, I couldn't believe any of this was happening.
Ferb helped Isabella into the front seat, before he climbed into the back. Neither of them had said anything since we left, but I thought perhaps that wasn't the worst problem to have. I crossed to the driver's seat, and when I realized Isabella hadn't done anything but sink depressingly into her seat, I reached across her to get her buckled.
And the thing was… she made the most wounded whimpering noise. I pulled back and got her buckled like nothing had happened, but I couldn't deny what I'd heard. It was like my proximity alone had punched her right in the gut.
That was it. I had reached my weirdness max. That was hard for me to reach, I'd be the first one to admit; but I was used to the spectacular, not the emotionally stressed. I had no clue how to deal with this sort of stuff.
Isabella was so tired by the time we made it back to Ferb and I's place that she didn't fight me so much anymore. I led her from the car to the door, and I couldn't help stealing glances at her. She looked like she'd just watched someone kick a puppy. Or, even worse, like she was the puppy that had been kicked.
As a stuck my keys in the door, I felt her head drop against my arm. It was such a dejected posture, but I was at least glad she wasn't violently flinching away from me anymore. This was a definite improvement. I checked to make sure Ferb was still with us before taking her shoulders and leading her inside.
"Does this mean you're not mad at me?" I decided to venture as I dropped my keys on the counter. Isabella was a sad, solemn mess beside me, but—thankfully—she shook her head this time instead of bursting into sobs.
"I could never—never be mad at you, Phineas," she sniffed. "That's the problem."
She looked up at me through tear-soaked lashes and it suddenly felt like my heart was getting stabbed with a stick.
"The problem?" I stuttered. "We don't have—what's the problem?"
Oh no, she was crying again! Silent tears this time. She was staring at me, staring through me, and I realized she was more than just upset. She was heartbroken, and I couldn't even fathom why!
"Isabella," I began, reaching out to her, but then Ferb took my shoulder and pulled me back again.
When I looked at my brother, he frowned and shook his head; leave it alone.
"And what's with you?" I asked, stepping free from his grasp. "Why don't you want me talking about this?"
"Oh, don't get mad at him!" Isabella wailed, running her palms over her eyes. "He's not—he's not—oh god, I can't even talk about this!"
She broke down, and Ferb sighed. He shot me a look that seemed to say, see? before turning his tired gaze back on her.
"Go to sleep," he told her, rubbing at his own eyes now, too. "Phineas… just let her sleep."
Before I could voice my own opinion on the matter, Isabella took off. She rushed into Ferb's room and slammed the door behind her, and that was when I realized something: Isabella was keeping something from me, specifically. Something about me? Something that Ferb knew. And now she was running away from this conversation. She was afraid I would find out.
I turned on my heel.
"Okay Ferb, I seriously need to know what's going on."
Ferb looked away and shook his head. I'd never had to try to coax information out of him, and frustration bubbled in my gut, unfamiliar and unwelcome.
"Did you say something bad?" I asked hesitantly.
Ferb's scowl was incredulous, and this time when he shook his head, the movement was sharp and defined: no.
"Well you must have done something," I muttered more to myself than anyone, and Ferb raised his eyebrow. I clarified, "I mean, come on, bro! Finding you two like I did? Talk about a shock! That's the only thing I can come up with to make her this upset."
Ferb turned away, rocking on his feet as he steepled his fingers and breathed into his hands. He looked like he was refraining from saying something for the second time tonight. At least, that was what I thought this was; I couldn't be sure because I'd never seen Ferb struggle like this over anything!
You know what? I just had to say it. I had to swallow the muck and state it outright.
"How much alcohol does it take to convince you that kissing Isabella Garcia-Shapiro was a good idea?"
Ferb's movements froze altogether as he went rigid. When he didn't turn around again, I swallowed hard.
"And you weren't just kissing. I mean, you were…" I made vague hand gestures, because I really couldn't find the words or will to say it.
Ferb raised his eyebrow at me over his shoulder, telling me he didn't fully understand my gestures, and I could feel my face heating to the color of a brick. For the love of Perry!
"She was—you were—gees, Ferb, your hand was up her shirt! You were all over each other! You were—"
"So?" he cut me off. It was a single syllable, so quietly spoken, but still it made my mind screech to a halt.
So… what? So Ferb kissed Isabella. So they got drunk together and I found them making out in the hallway. So they were really going at each other. Why did it matter? I could see all of this in Ferb's eyes, all these questions, unspoken.
And there was an answer for them, I knew it! Even if I'd been through so much crazy tonight that it was slow to come. It wasn't just that I'd caught Ferb and my best friend making out. Heck, if that made them both happy, then fine! More power to them!
But… I knew Ferb. Even though he was quiet, even though he didn't talk about it much, I knew how he felt. He was completely and totally infatuated—and the person he was infatuated with wasn't our old neighbor from across the way. I took a deep breath, because I knew this was a statement I would just have to make, too.
"Ferb… listen. It's just—I know you love someone else, and I don't want you accidentally hurting Isabella because of that. That's all I'm saying."
Ferb spun around on his heel wielding the most startled expression I had ever seen. His jaw dropped and for a moment he looked as if he were debating if he'd misheard me. Then he snorted, the sound almost derisive. Like what I'd said was completely preposterous, but it wasn't.
Clearly Isabella was unstable tonight. She'd taken on some emotional wound, and the only logical answer was literally staring right back at me; Isabella had never flipped out like this before and she'd never made out with Ferb at a party before. They had to be related, right?
Isabella wasn't the type of person to get drunk and make out with anyone, I believed that with all my heart. She'd been asked out plenty of times—she'd told me about them, asked what I thought—but she'd never seriously dated anyone, never gave them more than a measly outing or two.
And maybe… maybe this was why.
Maybe Isabella had a reason to make out with Ferb after all.
"Is it you?" I gasped, and when Ferb didn't respond beyond that same startled look, I said, "It's you, isn't it? Why she never dated and why she always went to dances with us and why she turned down full scholarships to other places just to go to the same college as us! It's you!"
I could see the shift immediately as soon as Ferb processed my words; he went from shocked and confused to the closest I had ever seen him to mad.
He said one word: "What?"
"Well think about it," I told him. "She'd never consent to… to engage in the activities you did if she didn't feel something for you. Isabella's never really been too involved with anyone! Did it ever occur to you that maybe this could have been the reason why? Because she's been harboring secret feelings for you the whole time? You can't toy with—"
"Wait—" Ferb cut me off, before taking off in a quick pace. I watched as he patrolled the length of our kitchen island, back and forth, back and forth, all the while muttering, "Wait, wait, wait."
"No, we need to talk about this," I insisted. "This doesn't have to be a bad thing! I'm just saying, did it ever occur to you that she could—"
"Did it ever occur to me?" he snapped, slamming his hands down on the table, and my mouth filled with wet cement. For the first time during this conversation I remembered Ferb was actually drunk, and in the wake of this mess, I had no idea what that would mean.
"Yeah?" I stammered before clearing my throat. "Look, I'm just saying—"
"You think Isabella has always loved me?" he said, his voice lilting almost to a laugh as he shook his head, and I threw my hands out to the sides. The confusion inside of me finally boiled over into irritation.
"You act like that's ridiculous, but come on, bro! It makes complete sense. I can't possibly believed you never noticed—"
He stormed away from me, and for one mental second, I thought he was charging out the door, but he stopped short. His breaths were heavy, his hands manic as they moved up through his hair.
"God, you don't even know!" he cried. "You don't get it! You don't get it, Phineas, you don't!"
"Then explain it to me!" I called over him.
"I can't!"
Those two words punched right through me. I didn't believe there was anything my brother couldn't tell me.
"Can't tell me? Or won't?"
"Won't. Can't! Both! I just, gah!" Ferb buried his face in his arms, leaning against the doorframe, and I realized for the first time… well, I had been so caught up on Isabella's anger and tears that I hadn't realized that my brother was kind of seriously jacked up, too.
In fact, he was hurting. He was seriously hurting, just like Isabella was—exactly the same. Only he was so much better at hiding it.
"Ferb," I said, gentler now. There was nothing more frustrating to me than not understanding something, but I knew I had to rein that in. Now that I saw… this. Saw my brother drunk and falling to pieces at our door. Literally! He turned his back to the wood and slid down to the floor.
Oh god. Oh god. What the heck was happening? He wrapped his arms around himself and buried his face in his knees, and I never knew my foot could taste so nasty.
"Oh gosh! Oh—Ferb! Oh gosh, I'm so sorry!" I didn't even know what I was sorry for, but whatever it was, I was pretty sure it just broke my brother.
Unless…
"Wait, do you like her?" It was perhaps the stupidest thing I could ever say, and when Ferb didn't even move, I corrected myself: "You like Vanessa. I know you've always liked her, since we were kids. I may not have always approved, but I've at least always known that."
He still didn't budge an inch from his personal cocoon, and I bit my lip. I needed to do some serious backpedaling, even as I was rushing forward. I knelt down beside him and took his shoulder.
"Are you conflicted?" I asked. "Please, Ferb, I want to help! Is that what this is all about? Not knowing what to do when you've always like Vanessa, only to realize Isabella liked you?"
This time, Ferb let out a breath. There was pain in it, something I didn't understand. Then he destroyed my mind:
"She likes you, Phineas. It hasn't been me. Isabella has always liked you."
What?
What?
There were a lot of things I understood. Quantum mechanics, for example. String theory. Rocket science was child's play and cold fusion was my dessert. But… this? Nope. My brain couldn't handle it. It pretty much said, sorry, Flynn, you're on your own, because I can't process this, before it took a vacation to someplace far, far away. Like. Antarctica.
Because… what?
"Isabella doesn't like me," tumbled out of my mouth with something like a laugh. "That's ridiculous!"
Ferb finally looked up from his arms. He didn't even have to say anything. It was all there, in his gaze: it was true.
It was true?
So… wait.
So all the things I'd said to Ferb, my whole point about how maybe there had been a reason why Isabella sent perfectly nice and charming guys packing without even so much as a glance? I had been right. I had been absolutely right about that. Only I had been drastically, drastically wrong.
It was me Isabella had been pining for. Me she'd been holding out for.
It was because of me that she'd cried such horrible, upset tears.
Oh boy, that was a lot to take in.
I sat down hard next to Ferb, taking up the remainder of the door. Who'd of ever thought we'd end up in this situation, two grown men huddled up like children on the floor together after the adult world broke their brain?
I was a logical person. After I'd built up this whole argument about Isabella liking Ferb, how much that made sense, how much that explained… well, there was no denying the logic in it all. I'd had my evidence and it stacked up so neatly. And just as logically as I put that all together into the theory that Isabella liked Ferb this whole time, I also realized one could easily switch the variables right out. Replace 'Ferb' with 'Phineas' and it all still made sense.
It made sense. And for the life of me, I wasn't prepared for that!
I couldn't argue with my own argument. I was done in by my own genius.
"Karma's a jerk," I muttered to myself as I stared on in shock, just to make sure some part of my body still worked.
All knew at this point was that this was the closest Ferb and I had ever been to a fight, and now everything I thought I knew about my oldest and closest friend just imploded like a dying star. Because Isabella apparently liked me. Liked-me, liked me. Romantically. A crush. Me.
And even as my mind was catapulted into a swamp of complete and utter confusion, I could still only think one thing: then why the heck was she making out with my brother? And if Ferb knew all this time that she liked me, then why did he kiss her? Why were they… no. Mental block. I wouldn't revisit the state I'd found them in.
What the heck was I supposed to tell Isabella? That I never thought of her that way? It was the truth…
And it wasn't the truth in a mean way! There was absolutely, positively nothing wrong with her, or anything! Isabella was Isabella, and she was my favorite person on the planet save my brother. It was just… it had never occurred to me. She had never occurred to me, not like that. I felt like a butt, admitting that now that I realized just how blind I'd been.
I didn't know what to tell her. The most fundamental truth was even if I were to give Isabella a chance just for the heck of it, that would be really hard to do now that I'd seen my brother with his hands up her skirt. Not to say any of this was Ferb's fault, or anything. It was just…
Well. Alright. So maybe I thought Isabella was way better for Ferb than Vanessa was. There. That was the most base, ugly truth to it.
Isabella was a way better option than Vanessa because she would actually look after my brother. She would need my brother. I thought Vanessa was awesome and I liked her, but I could never trust her with Ferb's heart because I knew she would inevitably break it just through the honest act of being herself.
Heck, she'd done that already. Over and over and over.
And over… and over…
Oh god.
"I'm Vanessa," I blurted out, and Ferb went stiff beside me.
"What?"
"I'm Vanessa," I repeated as I slapped my hands against my forehead. "I'm Vanessa! It's exactly the same! Oh my god, how did I never see that? I'm the impossible chase, the moony-eyed infatuation that won't go anywhere, and I've been hurting her!"
Ferb frowned down at his feet, and I knew I was being insensitive; even if he knew things would never go anywhere with Vanessa, it didn't mean he wanted me telling that to him.
But… I realized this was a blessing in disguise. If I was Vanessa and this whole thing was exactly the same super freaky parallel, then maybe Ferb could help me figure this out. Because if I was Vanessa, then Ferb was Isabella, and if Ferb was Isabella, then I could figure out what the heck I needed to do!
"What would you want if the roles were reversed?" I asked Ferb, clutching his arm and shaking it. "Like, if you had to have this talk with Vanessa? What would you want me to say?"
Ferb's mouth popped into an alarmed little oh and he stared at me like I'd lost my mind.
"Come on," I begged him. "For Isabella. I don't want to hurt her any more than I already have, you know? So what would you have me say? Please!"
Out of everything, this seemed to sober Ferb up the most. I guessed that kind of made sense in the whole scope of tonight; he'd been the most composed when she was the most hurting, like a watchdog. A green-haired emotional watchdog that barked at anyone who dared to throw hurt in Isabella's direction before curling up on her lap again and nuzzling her hands. Oh my god, that made so much sense!
I kept my eyes on my brother as he studied his hands, deliberating. Then he said, "I can't tell you what to say, Phineas. Just tell her the truth. For the love of god, just… just be honest. Gentle… but honest. Because she can't keep drowning in all this uncertainty."
Oh boy. I knew what that meant, but… how could I tell her? I swallowed hard.
"So tell her I've never liked her like that. That I never realized it, or anything, and that I'm so, so sorry that I've been hurting her. But…" I bit my lip. "But also that it's not like I can just start liking her. I mean, she can't really expect this to go anywhere. She'll have to—I don't know. Get over me, right? She'll have to move on."
"Oh."
It was a little gasp, an intake of breath that was so sharp we could hear it all the way from Ferb's door. Ferb's door, where Isabella stood peeking out. Her eyes were fixed on mine, her face an expression of horror.
Oh. Oh man.
That… hadn't exactly been gentle.
Crap.
Review, please!
And so this crazy tale of love begins anew.
Again, Happy New Year! I'll see you guys soon.
~Lilly-Belle