A/N: I am incredibly sorry for not updating in forever. Thank you for all the new reviews, alerts, and favorites! I would like to say a special thank you to 'guest' since I couldn't PM you. They really do inspire me and I will work harder to get chapters out faster! I hope you enjoy this one, it delves into Clef's background a bit and then friendly interactions.

I put up pictures of Clef on Deviant Art. fezeth13crazy. /#/ d5i32aj

fezeth13crazy. /#/ d5i330p

Just take out the spaces! A little spoiler is in one of the pictures for the future.

Paint and Stars

"You've been in space? Met aliens? Found Atlantis? Went to Africa? Traveled through time, got sucked into a video game, and made yourselves into superheroes for the tv? Phineas and Ferb were the Beak?" Clef rapidly questioned trying to take it all in. "That's incredible," she trembles.

"What's wrong Clef?" Isabella asks concerned. Clef shuts her eyes tightly against the tears pricking her eyes.

"I'm trying very hard not to be incredibly jealous," Clef says tensely as she sees the latest pictures. Phineas and Ferb are fused into one body and she grimaces at this, jerking away. 'That is weird.' A haunted house appears and Isabella seems to be having a fun time with Phineas instead of being scared.

"Oh, I can't help it! This stuff is so cool! I wish I could have shared all the adventures with you guys."

"You'll be here for the new ones Clef. You were there for the Carousel and our 'we're as small as bugs' adventure," Isabella tries to encourage her.

"Yeah. This is so cool. Phineas and Ferb are real geniuses," Clef smiles brightly at Isabella, all negative feelings leaving. She had just been sad that they all had so many great memories with each other, but was happy now that she would be sharing new ones with them.

"Yeah, he's amazing…" Isabella drifts off in a dreamy wonderland and Clef looks at her from the corner of her eye, confused.

"Who?"

"We'll be together, forever, Isabella," a patched video of Phineas plays through on the screen and Clef jumps up surprised, looking from the screen to Isabella and back again. Isabella was blushing.

"Oh… him," Clef says with a small smirk on her lips.

"Who else?" Isabella asks like it was obvious.

"Well, uh, I did mention Ferb as well," Clef replies confused. Did Isabella really not hear or did she think it so obvious that Phineas is better than Ferb? That would be rude.

"Oh sorry. When I hear Phineas' name I blank everything else out sometimes."

Ok then, she just had a really bad crush and she just didn't hear. Good.

Clef smiles at her friend, "So you really like Phineas?"

"Yeah, but he doesn't get it. He's so oblivious and he just doesn't understand! It makes me really frustrated! That time we went around the world, in Paris, and that other time he made romance for Baljeet and Mishti, and he… doesn't see it. He doesn't feel that same way," Isabella seemed ready to cry and Clef felt bad for her. She scooted closer and wrapped her arm around her shoulder.

"Well… maybe that is a good thing in the long run."

"WHAT?" Isabella shrieks and Clef jumps away, hands in the air in surrender.

"I'm just saying, friendships are very important before starting a relationship. Especially at our age. Your friendship is special Isabella. I've seen that and I've only known the two of you for two days," Clef tries to explain, but she's never been very good at it. Isabella seems to have calmed down though.

"I'm not saying it's easy now. I can see how it would be frustrating, even heart breaking. But I think where your friendship is and how it's going, if you get into a deeper relationship later, it will be even more special and meaningful."

"You said 'if', not 'when'," Isabella seems devastated.

"I don't want to say anything irresponsible," Clef replies. "Treasure you friendship now, and if something more happens later, treasure that."

"Wow Clef, you're really mature."

"Eh? Not really. My mom told me something like that a couple months ago, after I decided to move here. I believe her and I thought it would help you."

"Well it did. Thanks. Where is your mom Clef? If you don't mind my asking," Isabella quickly adds upon seeing Clefs surprised face.

"No, I don't mind. My mom is still up in Seattle with my little brother Jazz, and my dad. Though I think my dad is in London right now," Clef ponders after she answers and Isabella's mouth drops open.

"Why is he in London?"

"Huh?" Clef looks back over and blushes. "He's a world famous pianist and composer. Luther Macintosh is my dad."

"Luther Macintosh?! That's so cool, I love his music! Have you traveled with him?"

"Once to Italy - my family had so much fun there, and it was really pretty!" Clef answers with a giant grin on her face.

"How come you moved down here by yourself?" Isabella asks carefully. Clefs smile is replaced by a sad frown.

"I… I didn't see any other option. I couldn't take it anymore," she whispers and clutches her pajama shirt over her breast pocket, hiding her face behind her hair.

"You couldn't take what anymore Clef?" Isabella asks just as quietly.

"The bullying. The abandonment. The trickery. Everything was fine until I became the target of bullying. All my friends got scared and ran away, pretending I didn't exist. They didn't want to be bullied too."

"That's awful! Why were you bullied?"

"Because my dad is famous, I liked the same boy as her, and mostly because she thought I was stupid and childlike because of my imagination. It's way overactive and I am always daydreaming."

Isabella gasps, "Your imagination is a great thing Clef! I can't believe they would do that! It's cool that your dad is famous, he is talented and he worked hard to get there right?" Clef nodded, a little wide eyed in surprise. "Liking the same boy would be awkward and hard, I can't imagine how I would act if one of the girls in my troop suddenly like Phineas, but I wouldn't bully them! I wouldn't bully anybody!" Isabella was beside herself in anger because of the rudeness and terrible aspect of people.

Clef hadn't meant for this to happen. She didn't want pity or anything either. It was just nice to talk to someone about what happened. 'Just please don't ask me what they did to me,' Clef thought. She wouldn't tell.

"Is that why you ran from Irving this morning?"

Clef nodded, "Last time someone hollered out to me and said they just wanted to talk, it was the bully's cousin. They didn't want to talk, well except to yell at me."

"Did they just yell at you?" Isabella asks, worried.

"No," Clef turned her face away, "but I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay."

"Thanks Isabella. Most people would have pushed until I gave in or left," she smiled. "I am glad that I ran to Phineas and Ferb's backyard. You all are the first people I trust- well except my family. I guess I felt safe with you guys since I ran to you. Thanks Isabella."

"I am glad you're my friend Clef." The girls share a smile and then Clefs turns devious.

"So, tell me all about your crush on Phineas."

Clef laughed when Isabella blushed.

Clef stood in her room, in her smock, and squealed in excitement. It was time to paint her room! The only problem was, she didn't know what to do.

"A forest mural? Space? Desert? Underwater?" she muttered to herself and then stomped her foot. She wanted them all!

First though, she had to clear her room and cover the big things and carpet in plastic. Her Aunt and Uncle had done most of this, but she had to finish because they were at work.

A knock on the front door jostled her out of her thoughts and she ran downstairs.

"Hi Clef!" Phineas excitedly greets her when she opens the door. Clef is really surprised to see Isabella, Ferb, Buford, Baljeet, and another boy she hasn't met yet standing on her doorstep.

"Hey, what are you all doing here?" she asks as she lets them in. The boy she doesn't know sticks his hand out and she takes it, shaking it in greeting.

"Hi, I'm Django," he introduces himself.

"I'm Clef, nice to meet you."

"Isabella told us you were going to paint your room today so we thought we would help out. You wanted a mural right? Django is really good at painting and well, we wanted to help where we could," Phineas explains and Clef can see all the tools and brushes they brought with them.

"Oh, thanks. Right now I am only moving everything out of my room into the guest room and covering the rest in plastic," Clef says. "This may take all day."

"Sounds like my kind of work." Buford says and Clef giggles as she leads them upstairs.

"Ok, this is my room and that is the guest bedroom," Clef shows them.

"Let's get to work everyone!" Phineas says and Buford goes for the heavy stuff.

"Have you decided what you are going to paint it?" Isabella asks as she gathers nick-nacks off of Clefs dresser.

"Um, I did," Clef answers from where she and Ferb were collecting all her books. She has a lot. "I am going to paint this wall with the symbol of the Guardian Fairy realm and then the rest with like, vines, bamboo, and flowers." Clef noticed Ferb looking at her Lord of the Rings collection. 'I wonder if he likes those books too.'

"Guardian Fairy realm?" Baljeet asks and Clef turns to where he and Django are taking her stereo, computer, and CD's. Phineas was in the guest room organizing where they put everything.

"It's from that game I play."

"The one you were playing when we met you?" Buford asks, coming back from lifting her nightstand. Clef blushes and nods.

"What do we do about the bed?" Isabella asks after they put everything else out.

"And the dresser." Baljeet adds.

"I guess we put them in the center of the room and cover them with plastic," Clef says. There is no way they are getting that out of there.

They quickly moved the heavy bulky items to the center of the room with their combined strength.

"This is the base color, and then I have stencils for the vines and bamboo. Oh and the flowers. I also have lots of paint. I want to do the symbol," Clef said and Phineas looked excited.

"We invented these this morning!" he whips out something that looks like hair dryers. "They dry the paint really fast so we can move onto the next project!"

"And so we don't have to watch paint dry," Buford smirks. "Boooring." Clef was inclined to agree.

Everyone put on their smocks and started painting the room a pretty, light, green. Phineas and Ferb also built a pulley system so the kids could paint the high points in the room without having to climb up and down ladders. And you know, to make it more fun.

Clef bounced up and her pulley settled above the door so she could paint the crown molding connecting the wall to the ceiling and Ferb was passing her the dark blue paint they were painting the molding when suddenly the door opened forcefully.

"Watch out!" Phineas yelled at the person opening the door and Isabella gasps.

"EYAAH!" Clef flipped over in midair, the paint bucket and paintbrush going with her.

"What are you guys –eyaagh!" the person yells until the paint bucket falls on their head and coats them from head to toe.

"Candace, what are you doing here?" Phineas asks and moves his pulley down so he can go help Ferb and Clef right themselves up. Ferb had flipped too since his rope attached to Clefs.

"What are you doing barging into my house?!" Clef yells at her as she slowly is flipped back over.

"I had to see what my brothers were doing before I went on my date with Jeremy," Candace explains while she tries to wipe the paint off of her. Clef is a little angry at the whole situation and snorts from her nose.

"You could have asked. We're just painting my room," Clef explains and she decides to just keep painting the crown molding to keep her temper in check.

"Now you're covered in paint," Buford points out.

"Didn't you say you had a date with Jeremy?" Isabella asks

"Oh, my gosh how am I going to get ready? He'll be at my house to pick me up in ten minutes!" Candace cries out. Clef rolls her eyes and pulls herself down.

"Come on, I'll show you to the bathroom," she says and takes Candace by the hand, "then just run home and change into another outfit."

"Thanks," Candace says, "and sorry for barging into your house and for scaring you. And almost hurting you."

Clef sighs, "It's ok. Do you always bust Phineas and Ferb?"

"I always try, but it has never worked. It's weird that they are doing something normal today," Candace admits while Clef hand her the shampoo and conditioner.

"You can use this comb too, it should help."

"Thanks." Candace quickly starts washing her hair in the sink.

"Why do you want to bust them?"

"They do dangerous stuff all the time. They have been lucky so far, or maybe it is just because it is them, they haven't been hurt yet. And it's just the principal of the matter now too. I just gotta bust them one day!"

"Maybe one day Candace," Clef says but secretly hopes not, and Candace sighs into the sink, now scrubbing in the shampoo. "I'll leave you to this. Here is a towel when you are done and I hope your date goes well." Clef leaves the teenager in the bathroom and goes back to her room.

"Oh, you all finished the walls!"

"Yeah! How did you want the paint decorations to go?" Django asks, holding up a paint set and ready to go.

Clef showed everyone where she wanted the vines, flowers, and bamboo. She showed them her collection of paint that they could use and then she went over to her big wall and started sketching her Symbol.

Clef stuck the tip of her tongue out as she slowly painted. The symbol was a mix of purple, pink, yellow, and red. It was complicated but most things she created were. Everyone else was singing while they worked and it brought a smile to her face. She didn't sing though. She was an artist with a not too good singing voice. So she listened.

"Oh! I'm done!" she cried out happily as soon as the song ended. 'How do they always do that?' she wondered. She quickly got out of Buford's way as he came to dry it (that had been his job, and playing instruments while the group sang). She was looking around and saw that everyone was putting finishing touches on their pieces when a pair of hands covered her eyes. She squeaked in surprise.

"We have a surprise for you!" Phineas says from behind her and Clef realizes it is him who has blinded her. She secretly hopes that Isabella doesn't kill her.

"You have to stand over here Clef," Isabella says and takes her hands, leading her away, Phineas following.

'It's ok then, she's not going to kill me.'

"Hit the lights Ferb!" Phineas yelled and Clef heard a click.

'What in the world?' Clef realized Phineas was taking his hands off her eyes so she quickly looked around the pitch dark room.

Except it wasn't pitch dark. There was a glow coming from above and she slowly looked up. She gasped at what she saw.

"What? It looks just like outer space!" Clef exclaimed, excited and reached to grab the shoulder of the person nearest her so she could keep her balance as she looked up.

"You told me last night that you loved the stars and outer space!" Isabella gushed, happily bouncing.

Clef pointed on her tiptoes and reached to touch it. "How did you make it look 3D and like they are twinkling?" she asked, awed.

"Ferb and Baljeet worked their magic on it," Phineas said and Clef giggled.

The light turned back on and Clef looked for Baljeet and Ferb. Apparently, Baljeet is the one helping her keep her balance so she turns fully to him and gives him a hug, which makes him cry out in surprise. She then runs to Ferb and gives him a big hug. He has a surprised look on his face, but accepts the gesture.

"You are brilliant!" She ran to Phineas and Isabella, hugging them together. "You are amazing!" She turns around and hugs a paint covered Django. "Thank you!" She turns to Buford.

"OH NO! I'm not doing the hugging- hey I said… fine," Buford growls out and lets her hug him.

"Sorry," she says as she lets go, "I like to hug! And really, thank you a million times over!" She beams at all her friends again.

"You're welcome Clef!" Phineas replies and Isabella gives her another hug. Clef is feeling a little bashful and silly now, but she tries not to show it.

"I think the paint is dry, if we want to move stuff back in," Django says and everyone quickly gets everything back in place.

The gang gets their parents agreement to allow them to stay for dinner and they all eat pizza and watch a Stumbleberry Finkbat movie. The kids all agree to hang out at Phineas and Ferb's backyard tomorrow and Clef goes to say goodbye to everyone at the door. Ferb is the last to leave.

"You shouldn't be embarrassed about hugging us. It's who you are, and we all like you," he says as they leave and Clef gives him a relieved smile, and a small blush.

"Thanks Ferb. And thanks again for the stars. Have a good night."

"You too," he joins his brother who waves again and they walk Isabella home. Clef closes the door and wonders if Isabella told them about her reasons for moving here. Though, they are all smart and may have figured it out themselves. She doesn't mind. They are her friends and she is grateful for them.

Clef quickly runs to the kitchen and makes everybody cupcakes for tomorrow.