The next couple of weeks passed. Isabella came over to play with Phineas almost every day. "Hey Phineas, whatcha' doin'?" The little boy in question ran up to her and hugged her with all his might. Ferb waved. Phineas and Isabella went, hand-in-hand, into the playroom. After a couple of minutes of being ignored, Ferb went upstairs to play, by himself.

The four-year-old was in the upstairs hallway playing with a couple of cars and a train piece. He was quite engrossed in what he was doing that he didn't notice Candace standing there until he drove a car into her foot. He quickly sat up, and with eyes wide, looked up at her. "Why aren't you playing with Phineas and Isabella?" She asked him. He shrugged his shoulders and started picking up his toys. "Are you going downstairs to play with them?" Candace inquired and Ferb shook his head, picked up the toys and went into the shared bedroom; closing the door behind him.

Two days later Ferb and Lawrence packed their suitcases. Phineas was across the street playing with Isabella and Candace was at school. Linda drove them to the airport. "Lawrence, why must you do this?" She inquired. Lawrence looked over at her. "Linda, darling; we've been over this. Ferb's not spoken for two weeks."

Linda glanced in the rear view mirror. "Isabella's come over every day to play with you two. I think she's going to miss you while you're away." She said and Ferb snorted.

Linda parked the car in the parkade and tried once again to convince Lawrence to stay. "Have you ever forgotten Phineas' birthday?" He asked as he brought the suitcase out of the car. Linda held Ferb's hand. "No, Phineas won't..." She started and Ferb pulled his hand away and crossed his arms over his chest. "...let anyone forget." She finished.

Linda watched as the pair left for their gate. She went to the small restaurant and watched as the plane took off.

Linda drove home and stopped by Vivian's place. "Good afternoon Linda." Vivian greeted, as she opened the door. "Hi Viv. Thanks for watching Phineas, I hope he wasn't any trouble." The two women went into the house and sat down to talk.

Phineas and Isabella came tearing through the living room. "Mom?" Phineas called. "Where's Ferb?" Linda looked sadly toward him. "Lawrence and Ferb left today, remember?" Phineas looked to the ground. "Oh, right. I forgot. I never said goodbye." Isabella looked between mother and son. "Who's Ferb?"

Two weeks later, Linda and Phineas were back at the airport to pick up Lawrence and Ferb. "Hey, Ferb, you won't believe what I did with Isabella. We taught her puppy a trick. Pinky will now stand on his hind legs. Isn't that cool?" Ferb nodded, then climbed into his car seat. On the drive home, Phineas continued talking about everything that happened. Ferb fell asleep; his head lolling to the side.

"Ferb!" Phineas loudly called out poking the other boy in the shoulder. Ferb shifted a little but remained asleep. "Phineas." Lawrence said as he turned around and looked to the backseat. "Let him sleep. There's a six hour time difference from England to here." Phineas looked sadly out the window. "I've not seen him in two weeks and now I can't talk to him."

Linda pulled into the driveway. Lawrence got out of the car and pulled the bags out of the back. Phineas undid his harness and helped the sleeping Ferb with his. "Come on, wake up. Mom said we're getting spaghetti for dinner tonight." Phineas said to the comatose boy. Lawrence came back to the car, opened the door and picked Ferb up and carried him into the house.

Phineas followed. "He's going to wake up, isn't he?" He asked as he followed Lawrence up the stairs. Lawrence put Ferb down on his bed. "Of course he'll wake up." Lawrence replied, as he turned and took the little boy by the hand.


It was dark when Ferb opened his eyes. He heard Phineas' breathing across the room. He glanced out the window, all was still and quiet. Ferb let a small smile play upon his lips as he snuggled under the covers a bit more, before drifting back to sleep.

The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon when Ferb's eyes opened again. He crept out of bed and went to sit on the windowsill; hugging his little stuffed bear. "Morning Ferb!" Phineas greeted as he threw the covers off himself and stood beside Ferb. "I missed you. It just wasn't the same waking up and not finding you in the next bed. Can you tell me all about your trip? Did you have fun? What did you do? Did you get to eat dinner in a fancy restaurant? Did you go swimming? Did you..." Phineas' rapid-fire questioning was interrupted by Lawrence opening the bedroom door. "Keep it down, Ferb's... Oh, you're awake. Would you like some breakfast?"

Phineas ran from the room listing off everything he wanted for breakfast. Ferb slid off the windowsill and offered his father a smile. Lawrence ruffled his son's hair. "It's good to be home isn't it?" Ferb nodded.

Lawrence and Ferb went downstairs for breakfast. Linda was pouring a bowl of cereal for Phineas. "Would you like one dear?" She asked. "Thank you love, that sounds wonderful." Lawrence replied as he put his hand on Ferb's head; Ferb glanced up to his father. Linda placed the bowl on the table. "Here you go, Ferb." She said indicating the cereal. Ferb blinked, took a seat and started eating.

"You have to tell me everything Ferb. What's it like being on an airplane? Is it fun to look out the window and see people the size of ants?" Phineas' chatter started up again. Ferb's spoon was dripping milk and cereal back into the bowl as he looked, stunned, at the boy.


A few months later Candace was excited for Easter. She was telling the boys about how the Easter Bunny was going to hide all sorts of chocolate eggs and stuff for them to find. "You'll get a chocolate bunny just as tall as you." She told Phineas, who was getting excited and started bouncing where he sat. Ferb just sat and blinked before he slipped off the couch and headed to the kitchen.

Linda was rummaging in the fridge for something. "How would you like pizza for dinner tonight, sweetheart?" She said, then a soft voice was heard. "Pepperoni?" She turned around. "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were Phineas." Ferb's bottom lip started to quiver. He then turned around and ran from the room.

Candace and Phineas were still on the couch talking about the Easter Bunny.

Linda ran after Ferb. "Ferb, sweety... I'm..." Everyone then heard the bedroom door slam. Linda went upstairs and into the boys' room.

Ferb was huddled in a corner, beside a bookcase, looking at a photograph of himself sitting on his mother's lap; while she read him a story. This photo was taken just two years ago, on his second birthday.

Linda stood between the two beds and looked directly at the little boy. "Ferb, come downstairs." He shook his head. Linda took a seat on Ferb's bed. "Come here, dear." Again the little boy shook his head and tried to concentrate on the photograph in his hands. Linda reached across the bed and grabbed Ferb by the arm. "I'm going to ask you once more... come downstairs." Ferb looked up at her and shook his head again.

Linda grabbed the photograph out of Ferb's hands; it ripped in two. "That's mine!" Ferb yelled. "I want it back." He started crying.

The bedroom door opened and Phineas came in. "I need my crayons." He said as he walked over to a chest of drawers. He then looked at Ferb, standing in the corner between the wall and the bookcase. "Do you want to colour with me?" Phineas asked.

Linda turned to her son. "Just grab your crayons and go back downstairs." She then left the piece of photo on the bed. "You can just stay in here for the rest of the day." She said then left the room, closing the door behind her.

Ferb came out from the corner and went to the craft drawer, where Phineas retrieved his crayons. Ferb pulled out the tape. He then went back to his bed and tried to tape the pieces of photograph back together. His hands were shaking and tears were trailing down his cheeks. My opinions don't matter. Nobody cares. Maybe, I'll just go along with it. If they don't want to listen to what I have to say, maybe I'll never talk again. He thought to himself. Nothing will change, the whole lot of them are just going to continue doing what they do. Phineas will play with Isabella, Candace will go to school and Mrs. Flynn will continue to think that I don't exist. Father might see a difference, though, I doubt it.

Ferb heard his father come home with his usual cheerful greeting. He then heard Linda call everyone to dinner. "Phineas, Candace. Come downstairs for dinner." Linda called from the bottom of the stairs.

Phineas was sitting at the table with a plate full of pizza. "How was your day Phineas?" Lawrence asked, and Phineas answered with his usual enthusiasm. "Candace said that the Easter Bunny's coming soon. He's going to leave lots and lots of chocolate eggs for us to find. Candace said I'm going to get a chocolate bunny just as tall as I am."

Lawrence chuckled. "Well, Phin. You might, you just might."

Ferb sat at the top of the stairs when he heard Phineas complain. "That's not fair! Why does Candace get four pieces of pizza and I only get three?" Ferb shook his head and went into his room and lay down on the floor, on the far side of the bed. He pulled out a folder he kept under the bed; that's where he kept some pages where he'd written his thoughts. He took his pencil and started writing.

Lawrence tossed the boxes onto the counter, and went into the living room. "Ferb?" He called out. "Ferb, where are you?" He looked in the den, the bathroom then upstairs. He opened the boys' bedroom door. "Ferb? Are you in here?"

Ferb heard his father calling. He quickly shuffled his pages together and pushed them under the bed. He then made up his mind; he crawled under the bed as well. Ferb lay on the floor, folded his arms and rested his head. "You're not in trouble." He heard his father call as he left the room, then from the hallway. "Linda, I can't find him anywhere. Did he go outside? Are his shoes still at the door?"

The bedroom door opened again. "Ferb." Lawrence sounded worried. "Please, son. Where are you." He then sat on the bed. Phineas came in. "Why are you looking for Ferb?"

Ferb crept out from under the bed, stood up against his bookcase and looked to the floor. Phineas smiled. "Ferb? What's wrong?" Ferb shook his head and Lawrence reached over for the little boy's hand. "Did you get any dinner tonight?" Lawrence asked and Ferb shook his head. Lawrence was trying desperately to help his son.

Phineas came over and sat on Ferb's bed. "Hey, Ferb. Which pizza did you prefer? The pepperoni or the cheese?" I like the cheese best." Lawrence watched his son who took a shaky breath, before he squared his shoulders and looked up. Ferb looked at his father and Phineas then shrugged his shoulders.

Lawrence then saw something that frightened him. His son's normally bright blue eyes, dulled. Phineas started jumping on the bed. "Hey, Ferb; how many pieces did you get? Mom thinks that someone didn't get enough dinner tonight." Ferb's lip started to quiver, he then shook his head and sat on the floor.

"Phineas, stop jumping on the bed." Lawrence said as he picked the Flynn child up and placed him on the floor. "Ferb, what would you like for dinner?" Lawrence inquired. Ferb looked at the floor then closed his eyes tight. "Come on Ferb, let's get your shoes on." Lawrence said as he grabbed his son's hand trying to get him to stand.

Phineas looked up at Lawrence. "We already had dinner. Why does Ferb get to go out for dinner?" Lawrence reached over and picked up his son. "Ferb didn't get dinner." Lawrence replied, then looked at the little boy in his arms. Ferb buried his face into his father's shoulder.

A few hours later, Lawrence and Ferb returned home. "How was your drive?" Linda asked as Lawrence watched his son make his way upstairs. "He didn't say anything. He didn't even smile." Linda hugged him. "I'm sure he's fine, he's just tired."