A/N: And here we veer off the main plot for a bit. Stick with me, ladies and gents-I promise everything is going as planned. Also, minor warning: a bit of language, but nothing serious.

When first we laid eyes,

I swore to no compromise

Till I felt my caress on your skin...

.*.

Vanessa took another drag on the cigarette and exhaled slowly. "So, graduated, huh?"

Ferb gave her a half-smile and returned to his book.

"Big plans for next year?"

He shrugged.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Vanessa adjusted herself on the arm of the park bench. She stretched her black-booted legs over Ferb's and crossed one foot over the other. She ruffled his hair with one hand and gave him a coquettish wink. "Look at me: twenty-four, out of college for two years, and still no job worth talking about. I tried to get in with this call center place, you know, just to tide me over for a while, but some bitch with a super-sunny, kiss-ass sort of personality got the job instead. Go figure. She probably slept with the interviewer."

She finished the cigarette and flicked it off to the side. She noticed Ferb's eyes following its course. "Oh, right, forgot you didn't like littering." She stood, stretched, and stomped the still-lit cigarette with her heel. She then plucked it up and chucked it into a garbage bin nearby. "Happy?"

Ferb shrugged again. "The smoking's worse, really," he muttered, still absorbed in his book.

Vanessa scoffed. "All right, you goody-little-two-shoes. I'll try not to smoke around you either. Sheesh, hanging around with you should come with a rulebook."

Ferb only looked at her and smiled. Despite herself, Vanessa had to return the grin. She liked the kid. He was nice, albeit clean-cut to the point of stiffness. She had a feeling that he liked her too, though maybe not in the same way. There had to be a reason that he put up with her constant teasing. It was a shame that he was so young—and so...good. Her typical selection of men was a tad more roughed-up and edgy.

"Kid," she said with a laugh, "you are possibly the oddest person I've ever met. In a good way, you know."

"Meeting Johnny later?" he asked, ignoring her comment and looking back to his book.

"Eh, probably not." She sat back down upon the armrest of the bench and scowled. "He's been getting weird lately, you know? Drugs and stuff. Like, the bad stuff. He acts like an idiot all the time. I think I'll split with him soon if he doesn't stop, which he probably won't, from what I hear about drugs like that. It just sucks, you know? I really liked him for a while, then he has to go all stupid, as if I need more problems on top of my dad, who's just been getting weirder everyday..." She paused in her rambling, realizing that she was pouring out all of her problems to the kid.

Ferb had marked the page of the book and set it aside. He was observing her and listening carefully. His expression told her that he would continue to listen should she choose to go on.

And why not? Vanessa could trust the kid, and who else was there to talk to about all of this stuff anyway? All of her other friends would go blabbing to Johnny about anything she said, and none of them really cared about her dad. She knew that Ferb would listen, and he had no obligation to tell Johnny anything. She doubted that he had even met Johnny. Making her decision, she slipped down onto the bench beside him and propped her chin up on the heels of her hands.

"It's just been getting tough, you know? I don't have a job, I'm miles in debt, my boyfriend is a drugged-out jerk and my dad's going crazy. The job thing—well, I guess I could probably find some stupid minimum wage job deep-frying hot dogs at Mr. Slushy Dawg, but I think I could do better, you know?"

Ferb nodded.

"And I can't fix the debt thing until I get a job, so I've gotta worry about that too. As for Dad...he keeps rambling on about this whole 'taking over the Tri-State Area' thing, which he's always done, I guess, but even that's not the same! He doesn't actually build anything anymore, just sits there and yells to his nemesis, Perry or whatever, even though his 'nemesis' hasn't been around for years. I'm kind of worried about him, like he might hurt himself or something."

Ferb looked away for a moment at the mention of the name Perry, hurt in his eyes. He blinked whatever it was away and returned his attention to Vanessa. He placed a comforting hand on her arm.

"Thanks," she said, smiling at him. It was nice to know that, in all of the mess, there was at least one person she could count on not to change in some horrible way. She kissed his temple. "You're a pretty cool kid, Ferb."

Though she could detect a faint blush on his face, Ferb was no longer paying attention to Vanessa; rather, he was looking at something behind her. She turned around to see Johnny storming up to them, looking livid.

"Who the hell is this?" he demanded, pointing at Ferb, who had hastily grabbed his book and promptly disappeared behind it again.

"He's just a friend of mine," Vanessa growled. She was too fed up to try to placate him, something she had been required to do far too often as of late. "Calm down."

"Calm down? You were just all over this guy, and you want me to calm down?" Johnny's eyes were wide and frantic. A vein was bulging on his forehead, which was covered with a thin sheen of sweat. He was coming down from something, she knew, and that could mean that the situation would get ugly very quickly.

"Johnny, you're overreacting—it's not what you think—hey!" Vanessa stumbled slightly as Johnny gripped her wrist and yanked her to her feet. "Let me go, you bastard!"

In the space of a heartbeat, Ferb had flown to his feet and over to Johnny. Johnny, who was still glowering at Vanessa, did not notice the kid's movement. Vanessa, whose hand was steadily going numb, had no idea what Ferb was going to do, but hoped that Johnny would not turn on him next.

With her free hand, she beat at Johnny's arm. "Let me go!" she repeated furiously.

"Not until you tell this green-haired little jerk to get the hell outta here and never talk to you again, you got it? He's gonna leave you alone, and he's never even gonna look—" Johnny's speech was suddenly cut off as he gave a groan and collapsed to the pavement walkway.

Ferb glared at the figure passed out on the ground. The cool expression on his face belied the storm of emotion in his eyes—an ugly mix of hatred, anger and condescension.

From what Vanessa could tell, Ferb had just incapacitated Johnny somehow, though she was not sure how he had done it. She rubbed her tender wrist and stared at Ferb with mingled shock and wonder. "How did you...?" was all she could manage.

"Finding the correct pressure point will drop anyone," Ferb told her calmly, as if they were discussing nothing more interesting than the weather. His glare, however, was unrelenting. "He won't be down for long, though, so I would recommend that you get away and report him as soon as possible."

"Ferb...thank you." Vanessa tried to let Ferb know how much she appreciated what he had done, but she could not find anything better than those two words. "Thank you."

He looked up at her and gave a small shrug, as if it was nothing, something he did every day.

Vanessa took off then, heading for the police station. Perhaps it was time for a restraining order. She had been feeling uneasy about Johnny's behaviour lately, but never had she felt scared of him. It was unfortunate that it had come to this, but she knew that she had to do what was necessary to keep her safe. She did not have anyone else to do it for her anymore.

With the exception of Ferb, of course. Having him there had been a stroke of luck—although, she admitted that Johnny would not have been worked into a rage if she had been alone...or would he? If Ferb had not angered him, then something else very well could have. The drugs had addled Johnny's mind. She was not always going to have a protector nearby when Johnny went into his drug crazes, and so she would have to become more vigilant.

Vanessa only glanced back once. Ferb was walking away in the opposite direction, the book under his arm, as collected and unemotional as ever. He really was an odd kid, but Vanessa was glad to know him all the same. She would have to find a proper way to thank him at some point. For now, though, there were more pressing matters at hand.

However, once outside the police station, Vanessa changed her mind. She had a feeling that Johnny would not be coming around anymore, restraining order or not. He was not the type to hold interest with something that was too difficult for him to attain—unless it was some sort of addiction, of course. And Vanessa had never meant that much to him. Years of dating on and off had done no more for them than forge a weak, fickle connection...on his part, anyway. Somehow, he always had her coming back.

Vanessa had always had fun with Johnny, but it was no longer worth it. She discovered that it was easier for her to just break it off entirely than what she had imagined. She found herself feeling a profound sense of relief that all of the nonsense was going to be over and done with—the drama, the fighting, the drugs...it was going to be nothing more than an unpleasant memory. She hoped to never have to revisit it.

As she headed for home, Vanessa found herself thinking of the young British boy who had selflessly come to her rescue. She could still see the loathing in his eyes as he looked upon Johnny's prone form. It was a look that bordered on protectiveness. Images ran through her mind of how she had run her hand through his hair and pressed her lips to his temple, flirting so carelessly. She wondered if it meant what she thought it did, or if her imagination was running away with her again.

Fiddling idly with a lock of her dark hair, Vanessa forced herself to focus as the looming shape of DEI hovered before her. It did not really matter, anyway. She had more important matters to deal with, such as her father. Thoughts of Ferb could wait.

A/N: The lyrics preceding this chapter are from O Valencia by The Decemberists. Reviews, as always, are greatly appreciated~