There's a funny fact about girls who have divorced parents. In most cases as they grow up, when they meet a new acquaintance, one of the first conversations brought up, especially with teenagers, are their parents. As the friend would complain or praise their own, the daughter would normally mention one of their own and in some cases, the one she despises most. While agreeing with the friend, the daughter would first explain how their parents had been divorced and clear up the friend on her own labels to prepare for future conversations on the topics. "Dad". "Exdad". "Step-dad, though I call him Dad", sometimes moms being the example. This is especially the case if the daughter has friends that are around her visited-parent's neighborhood. So with Vanessa being of divorced parents and visiting her father, while Ferb is being something of a spy in need of information ABOUT her father, as they seated themselves in a comfortable spot at Steam Noir with their drinks in hand, the subject, was all too obvious and easily brought to attention.

"So how's your father been?", Ferb asked as they sat down.

"Oh he's been a bit better since Paris.", Vanessa smiled with a nod. "But... He still works a lot. Y'know?"

"Mm.. Well what does he do?", Ferb asked, though he already knew the answer.

"Um.. He's..", Vanessa quickly became unsure as she knew the exact same man being talked of was listening in on their conversation "He's.. an amateur inventor."

'Lying? Well.. I'm sure she has her reasons...', Ferb thought to himself. 'Maybe if I gained a bit more of her trust, she'd be more open on the subject...'

"If it's anything like Phineas and I, then.. I don't necessarily blame him then.", Ferb shrugged. "It DOES take up a bit of time for one man to build something."

"...Yeah..", Vanessa trailed off, beginning to wonder what exactly was he building anyway?

"I'm sorry. I know, here we are, having coffee, and the only conversation we've really had was your dad.", Ferb chuckled.

"Oh no. No no. It's okay. I normally talk about him anyway.", Vanessa shrugged. "It's not really uncommon."

"Well I mean, it's not like he's here right NOW.", Ferb continued. "WE'RE the ones having fun. WE'RE the only ones in this group. And you've already said it before, you don't like him very much. So instead of talking about what we don't like, why not something else? Tell me a bit about yourself."

The request of a topic, stunned Vanessa. As she had talked about herself before, she hadn't exactly been granted an invitation in such a manner. Normally it was a matter of opinion. Not just entirely for her to go on talking about herself. And it came to dawn on her, that as while she lives with her mother most of the time anyway, her father, really was most of her life to start off with. It was, at least, the most you would get out any conversation. Because she didn't see him all the time and thus making it, somehow, special? Because his inventions were so weird and had so many stories, it made good for talking? Whatever the case was, she sat there for a moment, pondering over these things as well as how to reply to Ferb! Again, the sudden invitation to just blather on about herself, much like her father, was a rather foreign concept to her.

"...That is.. if you're okay with it?", Ferb finally asked, knowing the long period of silence.

"Oh no! I.. Well I don't wanna sound like I just love to talk about myself or anything..", Vanessa quickly said with half a shrug. "I-It's just.. I don't really often talk about myself... Not that I don't mind. No. I..."

Somehow, the words she tried to find, were nonexistent in her mind. But Ferb, being the clever boy that he was, understood perfectly well.

"You don't mind to talk about yourself, since I've offered, but you're just not used to it?", he guessed, earning a nod.

"Yeah. Normally, I just... You know. Talk about my dad or...who's dating who in high-school or.. Any other teenager anxiety."

"Well since I'm not a teenager and we've already cleared the idea of talking about your dad and I've offered a topic that you don't mind engaging us, let's start with the most annoying and common of all. Just to get it off our plates.", Ferb smiled some. "What's your favorite color? Surely not just black."

"Oh? Oh no. No.", Vanessa chuckled, making Ferb's heart flutter a bit. "Well I mean. I like black. Obviously. Even with a white-shirt, you're still seeing me wear a lot of it. But uh.. Purple's nice too."

"Really?", Ferb asked, smiling a bit more. "Can't really say I blame you since.. I tend to wear it most often as well."

"Ha ha ha! Well speaking of, what's with the trench coat and hat?", Vanessa asked, catching Ferb off guard a bit.

"Wh? Oh!", he suddenly noticed he was still dressed as a secret agent and tried to think of a quick excuse. "It's um... W-well see Phineas and I lost our pet platypus recently. So.. You know, I thought I'd look about town and...dress to fit the action."

His date stiffened a bit, hearing a pet platypus being mentioned and upon the subject, Ferb decided to press on a bit.

"Have you...seen him? He goes by the name of Perry.", he asked, curious if she'd give any idea to her knowledge.

The affect was immediate. While it only lasted for a second, the name Perry suddenly made Vanessa's eyes wide as she fit the pieces together. She tried to cover this, but the action wasn't missed by Ferb.

"P-perry? Perry... Perry the...Platypus...", she thought over in her mind, seeming hesitant to say the full name. "Uh.. No. I don't think I've ever seen a platypus named...Perry..."

"Mm. Okay.", Ferb shrugged a bit. "So, back to original topic. Um... Favorite...lunch?"

"Um.. Salad.", she shrugged. "Something simple."

"May I buy you one?", he asked with a smile.

Another giggle and a rain check for a later time. They talked on as they sat there. Enthralled more and more with each topic. Ferb, forgetting everything he was supposed to be working on, and Vanessa, forgetting for a while, that she was being a honeypot for her father. While the question floated through his mind, once or twice, Ferb had tried hard to ignore it. But as they continued their discussion that was quickly ending, the agent couldn't stop thinking it and decided to bring it up.

"You know, I'll.. Be honest. I'm a little surprised you aren't doing this sort of thing with another teenager.", Ferb mentioned, earning a curious look. "I mean.. Isn't it, no offense, a little weird to be dating a ten year-old? Kinda surprised you don't already have a boyfriend that's..a bit older than me."

"Oh well.. I had boyfriends..", Vanessa shrugged. "But... Why are you surprised I don't have one now? Just because I'm a teenager?"

"Oh no! No. It's just that...", all of a sudden Ferb's face became very surprised as a bright red blush sprawled about. He quickly hung his head and became very quiet as he sipped his water. Trying to derail himself from the subject. "Um... Right. So... Homework?"

"...Ferb? What? What were going to say?", Vanessa asked, curious of the blushing.

"N-noth-... I... It's nothing.", the boy said quickly, trying to stop himself.

"WHAT?", she asked, now completely clueless.

"I was just going to say...", Ferb took a breath before his entire face grew red and he quickly went on to say, "I'm just surprised you don't already have a boyfriend because you're a very wonderful and beautiful girl. Wh-who wouldn't want to go out with you?"

He looked away uncomfortably, knowing it probably sounded absolutely absurd for all this to be coming from a ten year-old boy. He drummed his fingers on the table impatiently as he waited for her response. The statement surprised the girl it was aimed at and as she saw his face become red and this sudden display of embarrassment from such a smart and normally calm boy, it couldn't help but make her smile.

'Is he...crushing on me?', she thought to herself, giggling some. 'Cute. I have to admit. That's kinda cute!'

Upon hearing her laughter, the red turned a few shades darker and Ferb felt even more embarrassed than before.

"...Y-yes.. It does sound rather silly for a ten year-old boy huh?", he asked quietly, his hopes for a relationship with the girl he loved so amorously, quickly being crushed. "Part of the reason why I don't talk much."

"What? No! No no.", Vanessa said quickly, making him look over a bit more. "No. Ferb! I like to hear you talk! I'm sorry. I was giggling because it... Well it sounded kinda cute. That's all. I'm really kinda flattered you would think that of me."

Ferb turned back to her more, smiling a bit himself. Was she really meaning this? He wasn't about to question it as it was obvious she did and almost instantly, Ferb felt more light hearted than he's been since they were at the mall together.

The date was very well spent but as Lunch time came, Ferb was forced to leave, knowing he had promised Phineas. Explaining to Vanessa, she nodded in understanding and they began to stand up.

"This was really fun, Ferb.", she said. "Had an awesome time."

"Me too.", Ferb said. "Same thing tomorrow?"

"Maybe not the exact same thing, but I'm perfectly free.", she chuckled.

"Excellent.", Ferb smiled.

He quickly reached up, stole a kiss, and walked out, leaving the teenager speechless for a moment. Did he actually just kiss her?

'...Oh my gosh. That was about the smoothest thing a ten year-old could EVER do.', Vanessa thought, unable to smile as her heart began to pound. '...And he wasn't that bad either. WHAT AM I THINKING? Wait wait wait! Vanessa! He's TEN YEARS OLD! He's six years younger than you are! He kissed you only because you kissed him, and you only kissed him because of your freaking dad! If your dad DIDN'T put you up to this, you wouldn't kiss him! You wouldn't date a TEN YEAR-OLD! What on earth am I thinking? Okay, that was incredibly smooth. I'll admit it. Ferb was incredibly smooth with that. Why on earth am I still smiling?'

She quickly went out and began to head back home, her face a bright shade of red. But not quite as bright as Ferb's was while his heart pounded wildly. He had the idea to do so since she kissed HIM. But he was nervous about actually DOING it. And finally KISSING the girl he's always loved, he allowed himself to feel nervous and everything now that he was away. Now that she won't see it. It was like shutting your eyes tight, holding your breath, and finally diving into a pool or bungee-jumping off a cliff. Once it was actually done, you still have that moment afterwards where you need to fall apart at the fact that you actually DID it until you have regained your senses. And once Ferb's were regained, he smiled. Not widely like he just conquered the world. Smile. Quiet. That was him. But it was more internally than externally. He had kissed the girl he loved. He had kissed Vanessa Doofenshmirtz and was looking forward to tomorrow, more than he ever had before.

Girls are not easy to calm down. When they're left on a cliffhanger, they will demand an answer as soon as it's found. Some girls liked cliffhangers, but no girl liked cliffhangers with boys. He says he'll call soon and it's a maddening question when you ask, "how soon IS soon?" Or worse. He breaks up, saying he doesn't think it's working and leaves. And you're left to ask only yourself what you did wrong, what was said to him, was it how you dressed, did he think you were cheating on him, is there another girl, and was it because no one will ever like you? As Vanessa stormed into her room, a thousand questions flying around her head, she knew there was only one she had to ask herself, given the circumstance. It was the same one she asked about Johnny and the same one she vowed to ask about every boy she would date and had since she was 15.

'Since he kissed you..and you kissed him..and you were on a date... Do you love him?', she thought.
In a world of mayhem, especially as psychotic as Vanessa's, there's often a small voice that would talk to you. It was yours, but it would normally pipe up at the smallest of question or statement. It would say a smart-aleck remark, or a reminder to something you despised. As much as anyone would try to dismiss it, try to deny one ever to exist. It does. And it's what any given person actually thinks.
And the first thing this small voice said was, 'Yes!'
Vanessa had known this voice for so long. The best thing she could do with it, she felt, was to approach it logically.
'Alright... Yes... WHY do I love him?', she pondered. 'Cause he's funny. He's nice. Cute. And extraordinarily polite. He's not like other boys. He actually seems interested in ME. Not in me as another ordinary girl. Not me as in my father's daughter. Me. He likes- LOVE, I think. He loves me. He's not like Johnny who just wanted to talk about his band he's been trying to start up or like Monty that just rambled on about our dads. Ferb... Ferb cares. But if Ferb loves me, and I love him... Should I tell him the truth about my dad?'