A/N: Phineas and Ferb © Dan Povenmire and Swampy Marsh


People around me usually identified me as "quiet". And they were right. I was always aware of my surroundings, and the audience of the people I was talking to. I wouldn't talk if the person didn't care about what I was saying. And because the number of people who actually cared about what I said was none, I usually remained quiet.

But not with Perry. With him, I knew that he paid extra special attention to every single word I said, even if it was the stupidest thing in the world. I was allowed to just talk, and that freedom meant the world to me.

Perry was the first person to conquer the word barrier that I had unknowingly put up against the world. And because of this, we became better friends than I could have ever hoped for. We talked to each other about everything - school, families, movies - you name it. He knew everything about my life and I knew everything about his. And it felt amazing.

We hung out so much after that. I still helped him with his Chemistry (and some of his other subjects), but I didn't go over his house only for tutoring anymore. I went over there because I wanted to be there, and because ihe/i wanted me to be there. He'd sometimes invite me to dinner with his family, or we'd go to the movies (as friends, of course), or we'd just sit up in his bedroom and talk.

And, of course, people started to notice. At first, it was just glances in the lunch room - people wondering why in the world we were hanging out together. Then, the glances turned into hushed whispers, and then writings on the bathroom wall - the normal progress of these sorts of things in high school.

But nobody had outright teased us yet. Sure, we heard the rumors they were spreading about us, and we received an occasional shoulder-bump in the hallway, but nobody had outright called us on it. I assumed it was because everybody still wanted to be friends with Perry, and they just thought I had done something to Perry to make him hang out with me. It didn't seem to bother Perry though, and his confidence spilled over onto me. It was like it was just us against the world.

My father also took notice. I would sometimes come home super late after spending time at Perry's, and my father would get up out of his chair and ask me where I'd been. I'd tell him that I was with a girl working on our science project. I'd become a lot better at lying to him about Perry, because now Perry was far too valuable to lose. He'd eye me suspiciously, decide I wasn't worth the trouble, then sit back down in his chair, telling me to get out of his sight.

The routine worked well enough for me. Perry kept telling me that I should stand up to my dad, that I should educate him. But I decided he wasn't worth the trouble. This way of going about things was working perfectly well, and the less confrontation I had with my father, the better.

But, unfortunately, through all this, I was finding it harder and harder to keep the fact that I loved Perry a secret. Every single day, he would make me feel like I was the most amazing person in the world. And every single day I would want to just drop it all and shout, "I LOVE YOU, PERRY!". But I couldn't. I didn't want to lose Perry's friendship, and everything he meant to me. So I would wait.

But a couple of weeks later found me and Perry in the Chemistry lab. I had told my science teacher that I was tutoring Perry, and he simply loved the idea. I had asked to borrow the lab for after school, as I felt that Perry had finally graduated to the fun stuff - mixing real chemicals. He quickly said it was fine, as long as he didn't blow anything up. I smiled and told him we wouldn't.

After Perry got all his materials set up, I wrote an equation on the board. "You know what all these chemicals are, now it's time to try mixing them." I told Perry. He smiled wide, his excitement showing on his face as he already started reaching for the designated chemicals.

I watched him, smiling slightly. I then snapped out of it, walking over to his station and sitting next to him. He worked the entire time without looking up, his focus and concentration showing clearly on his features. While it was quiet, I sort of zoned out, and stared off into space. I was only brought back to reality when he slapped the table, shouting, "Done!"

I smiled at him, laughing slightly at his child-like enthusiasm for something so small. He smiled back at me, obviously very proud of his work. But then I glanced down at the work in question, and I did not like what I saw.

It was turning a purplish color, a color that it definitely was not supposed to turn. In fact, it wasn't supposed to turn any color - it was supposed to be clear. My worry must've shown on my face because Perry's smile instantly faded, and he asked me, "Did I do something wrong?"

I nodded slightly, trying not to hurt his feelings. "Umm... It's not supposed to be turning purple. It's supposed to be clear. Show me exactly which chemicals you used."

As he went through every single chemical he had used, we eventually found the one that didn't belong. He had accidently switched the correct chemical with one that was similar in name.

"Uh, Perry..." I started hesitantly. He looked at me quizzically. "I know making mistakes isn't a bad thing, but the chemical you switched in mixed with this one causes the formula to-"

All of a sudden, the formula Perry had mixed was starting to bubble. It wasn't supposed to turn purple and it idefinitely/i wasn't supposed to bubble. It was beginning to bubble so much that the formula was spilling out of the beaker, which was not a good thing.

"Heinz?" Perry asked worriedly. "What do we do about this?"

"Um..." Why now, of all times, did my mind have to completely blank. Ok, Heinz, think. What do we do? "Let's see..." Do we pour it down the drain? No, what if it explodes in the drain, or reacts worse to water... "Unfortunately, I don't think we can do much except let it fizzle out, then wipe it up with a paper towel..."

"Uh, Heinz, I don't think that "fizzle out" plan is going to work. Look." Perry said, pointing to the formula, where the beaker was now shaking violently.

"I don't think this is going to end well..."

"DUCK!" Perry shouted, tackling me to the floor. He landed on top of me, shielding my head with his arms, his head tucked in right next to mine.

As soon as we landed on the floor, the formula exploded, sending shards of glass from the beaker everywhere. Luckily, it was a small explosion, and since there was nothing on the table with the formula except the beaker, there was no major damage.

I could focus on none of this, however, as I was focused on the person that was now situated on top of me.

Even after I was sure that the shards of glass had stopped hitting the floor, Perry was still in the same position, shielding me. But, after a few moments, he started breathing in my ear, and it took me a second to realize that he had started laughing. Eventually, his laughs became louder, and he raised his head to look at me, smiling.

He was so close...

He continued laughing, saying to me, "Only I could be so bad at Chemistry that I would cause an explosion! It's just like in the movies!" I felt his laughs continue to reverberate throughout his body and into mine. I wondered briefly if he knew how much pain this was causing me...

His laughs were beginning to settle down a bit as he said, "Seriously, though, that was the most hilarious thing I've even done!" He then looked down at me, "I guess I need a little more practice before I can be let around the chemicals!" And then, he just smiled.

It was that same 1000-watt smile that he always showed me. The same smile that I had fallen in love with. It was the smile that wasn't judgmental, and it always made me feel better when it was around. It was the smile of Perry, the greatest person I had ever known, and it was the smile of the person I loved.

And goddammit, he was just so close!

I don't know how it happened, but somehow, I lifted my head, and just like that, our lips met. This kiss I had been waiting so long for had finally come. And the great thing was, Perry was actually kissing me back!

Perry seemed a little hesitant at first, but then he just took over, kissing me with so much passion behind it. He lifted his had up to my hair and ran through it, eventually grasping the back of my neck to try and pull me closer. I tried to lift myself up on my elbow, putting my other hand on his back all in an effort to get closer. All I wanted was him.

And then I heard a muffled gasp, and then it was all over.

It took me a second to register what had happened, but within the span of a second, Perry had jumped up, and was standing in front of me while I was still on the floor. He had his hand covering his mouth and a look of horror on his face.

And then I realized what I'd done.

"Oh, no..." I said quietly. "Perry, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to-"

"No... no it's okay" Perry interrupted, his hand still slightly covering his mouth. He refused to look me in the eyes. "I'm just gonna... I'm just gonna go, okay?"

"Perry, I-"

"It's okay," Perry repeated. He then finally looked me in the eye, and that's when he broke down. "I'm sorry..." and with that, he quickly left the room.

My eyes followed him as he left, staying on the door even after he was gone. 'Way to go, Heinz! You may have just jeopardized the only real friend you've ever had!'

Yea, thanks for reminding me...

I stood up slowly, still kind of refusing to believe that everything had actually happened. But as I looked at the lab table, and the mess of purple-bubbly goo that was on it, I knew that it was real. I just had to go and kiss him, and now because of that, I'd probably lost my best friend. I hated myself.

"Way to go, Heinz," I said quietly to myself, a tear rolling down my cheek as I began to clean up the mess we'd made. "Way to go."


A/N: Thanks for reading! Comments and critiques are always appreciated!