A/N: Okay, okay, I'm back, and I'm sorry it took this long to update! There's only one more chapter after this, and it's already written. Thanks to everyone who favorited, followed and reviewed-I do take your comments to heart even when I don't reply, and it means a lot to me that you do that! So I just published the first chapter of my B plot story to this one: "Agent Stacy." Go read that chapter, and then come back to this one. Or don't. Basically I just say that so you'd know that yes, Candace was hit by an inator, one that tempted her to destroy yet another invention that drove her crazy, but she was not in any way forced to do so; she could have made the decision to resist. Now that that's out of the way, here we go!

Part 2

Candace's alarm woke her up the next morning. It was only after she turned it off and dragged herself out of bed that she realized what an unusual occurrence that was. Most days she was awaken by the sound of whatever Phineas and Ferb happened to be building that morning. She went over to the window and looked out. Nothing. They weren't even sitting under that tree. Candace shrugged; if they were doing anything at a different location she'd hear about it sooner or later. She wandered downstairs and got herself a bowl of cereal.

"Good morning, Candace," her mom said, walking in with her purse. "Mrs. Garcia-Shapiro's birthday dinner is tonight, and I'm off to find a gift. Your father is re-painting our bedroom, so I'd stay out of there today. I'll see you later."

"Bye, Mom," Candace said. "Oh, have you seen the boys today?"

"No, I guess they're still in bed," was the answer. "Check on them if they're not up soon, okay? I know it's summer and they can sleep in if they want, but they usually don't."

"Don't worry, they'll be doing something bustable eventually," Candace muttered into her cereal.

But by the time she'd finished, still no noise came from outside. It was late morning now, and Candace wondered if they'd actually decided to sleep in like every normal kid. Too bad she hadn't known that, or she would have done the same. She went back up to her room, but sat by the window as sentry. She tried calling Stacy again, but still no answer. "Hey Stace, it's me," Candace said, when it went to voicemail. "Again. You haven't been picking up your phone, so…if anything's up just let me know. And if you see the boys doing anything, let me know that too, since I'm coming up empty here. K, bye."

Candace tapped her phone against her hand and looked out the window again. Let's see, what else could she do with her time? She'd call Jeremy, but she knew he was at work. Vanessa? No…Vanessa was someone too cool to be bombarding with phone calls all the time. Candace had called her last week, she'd have to wait at least another for it not to be creepy. There was Jenny, of course, but Jenny was so busy that Candace knew it was a long shot to try her. She sighed and pulled up her friend's number anyway.

But before she could dial it, she heard a knock on her door. She slid off her seat and went to open it. "Ferb!" she said. "About time you guys were up, I was so bored I almost called Jenny!" She stared at his big eyes, which were looking back at her, occasionally blinking. "What?" she asked. "What are you waiting for, time's a-wastin', get to building something so I can bust you!"

"Do you know where Phineas is?" Ferb asked.

Candace looked surprised. "Um, no, isn't he with you?"

"He's still in bed," Ferb said.

"Oh, yeah, well I kind of figured that," Candace said. "Mom said you guys were just sleeping in."

"When has he ever done that?" Ferb asked. "He can't build anything while he's sleeping; morning is his favorite time of day! Or it used to be."

"Used to be?"

Ferb stared at her for a moment, with his calm eyes blinking. "You don't get it, do you?" he asked. "He's still in bed, with all the blinds closed, just staring at the wall. He's been laying there for hours, even though he was awake with the sun as usual."

"Why?"

Ferb saw he was going to have to spell it out of her. "Because of what you said to him," he said, wanting to be angry, but restraining himself. "About embarrassing you with our inventions, about hoping he never builds anything again? He took that hard, Candace. He took it seriously."

"Oh!" Candace felt bad for a moment, but then she lightly tossed her hand. "Meh, he'll get over it, he knows I didn't mean it."

"I don't think he does," Ferb said quietly.

"But you clearly do," Candace said, and when Ferb didn't answer she went on impatiently, "Look, Isabella told me that Baljeet made you climb a whole mountain without building anything, and Phineas almost went berserk. Something will drag him out of that bed eventually."

"Candace," said Ferb, in a firm voice his sister rarely heard from him, "This is different. He thinks the world of you, don't you get that? Your opinion is the only one that matters to him; if you don't want him building anything, then he doesn't want to build anything."

"Gosh, wish I'd known that a long time ago!" Candace said laughing.

"This is serious, Candace!" Ferb continued. "Look, he and I may be best friends now, but you've still been there for him longer than I have. You two will always have a bond that extends back further than the one with me. You make or break his world, and right now, he's crushed thinking that he's been hurting you all this time."

Candace began to ache at the thought of that, but she tried to ignore it. "I'm—I'm sure he's just being dramatic," she said, swallowing. "I'm going to the mall, okay? You can tell Phineas I'll stay out of his way today, and you can build whatever you want without fear of embarrassing me or getting busted. I know the whole thing will disappear by the time Mom gets back, anyway."

Ferb didn't reply, but watched Candace grab her purse and run down the stairs. "See ya," she said, hastily running out the front door.

Candace tried to banish the nagging worry in her head. Had she really hurt Phineas? Was he really that sensitive? He'd always been such a positive person, she just couldn't believe something like this would throw him down so easily. And what about Ferb? He hadn't seemed to be hurt, but one could never tell with him. He wouldn't waste words complaining about himself, especially not if Phineas was taking it harder. No, no they both just needed to build an amusement park in space or something to get it out of their system, and things would be back to normal.

Still, when Candace arrived at the mall, she found her feet wandering over to Mr. Slushy Burger to see Jeremy. She was so lost in thought that she didn't even notice the debris and chaos surrounding her.

"Hey!" Jeremy called, when he saw her coming. "What's the matter? Brothers getting you down?"

"Worse," she moaned. "I'm getting them down. Do you have time to talk to me?"

"Only if you're a customer," he said, handing her a slushy dawg. "So, here."

"Thanks." Candace took a bite and raised her eyebrows. "Stacy's right, this does taste slushier than normal."

"So what happened?" Jeremy asked.

Candace sighed. "They were growing a plant for Isabella with this super speed potion thing yesterday," she said. "And I was about to call my mom when I suddenly thought I could just destroy the plants myself. And that seemed to make more sense, so I did, and…kinda told Phineas he embarrassed me and I hoped he and Ferb wouldn't build anything again."

"Wow," Jeremy said. "Tough love."

"Exactly!" Candace momentarily brightened up. "That's what it was…tough love! I didn't actually want or expect them to stop, but Phineas didn't get up this morning, and they didn't build anything. Ferb said he was just lying in bed, in a darkened room, because my opinion was the only one that matters and if it isn't good his life has no meaning…or something like that."

"Sounds like he's really upset," Jeremy said.

"Why though? Candace demanded. "I say stuff like that all the time, and this isn't even the first time I've destroyed something of his! It's just…the first time I've intentionally destroyed it without him getting to use it first." She buried her face in her hands. "And now I hear myself saying that."

"How's Ferb doing?" Jeremy asked.

"That's the other thing," said Candace. "I don't know. He came to me this morning and didn't seem upset, but, well, I included him in the attack, and you know how he is when it comes to expression."

"Yeah," Jeremy nodded. "Well, they think the world of you, you know. Especially Phineas. I mean it was pretty much the two of you figuring stuff out on your own before Ferb and your step-dad became part of your family. You've got a special bond, there."

"That's what Ferb said," Candace sighed. "So now what?"

"You go to him and talk it out, of course. The good thing is that someone who loves you to that extreme is going to be anxious to forgive you."

"I guess." Candace swallowed the rest of her slushy dawg in silence, even though she'd stopped tasting it some time ago. She slid off her seat. "Well, thanks, I guess I'd better get going. No, wait, I told Ferb I'd stay out of their hair today, just in case they wanted to build something." She looked around, noticing the mess for the first time. "Woah, what happened here?"

"Dunno," Jeremy said. "There was some pharmacist going around town yesterday blasting people with a ray that made them go nuts. Think that's what happened to you?"

Candace thought about it for a minute, but then sighed and shook her head. "I wish, but no, it was just an ordinary temptation, one that I was stupid enough to give in to." She gave her boyfriend a little wave as she walked away. "See you later, Jeremy."