"Bobble," Phineas heard Clank's voice in the distance. His lips curled into a smile, the things he'd done returning to his mind. "Bobble!" his voice was louder.

Phineas moaned and turned over in bed. He shivered and groped around for his blanket, having kicked it off in his sleep. A large hand grabbed his shoulder and shook him slightly.

"Bobble, Wake up!" Clank's voice rang in his ears.

Phineas slowly opened his eyes and looked up at Clank standing over the side of his bed. "Clank…?" he started to smile, but it faded almost as fast as it had started. Memories of the previous night invaded his mind. Until now he had been alright with it. Blissful even. But last night he had been alone.

"Clank!" he squeaked and bolted upright. "What are you doing here?"

"You… you weren't in the workshop." Clank said. "I came to find you."

Phineas looked out the window. The sun was already shining brightly outside. He was late. This was the second time he'd been late, but this time he had no excuse. He turned his attention back to Clank who quickly glanced back up at him. Phineas looked down at himself and realized he had never gotten dressed last night.

"Oh no!" he gasped and pulled his pillow into his lap in an attempt to hide his nakedness. His face burned with humiliation. "Clank! You can't just come in here without knocking!" he shouted, refusing to look at him.

"I did knock!" Clank insisted. "You didn't answer. I thought you might already be in the workshop, but when nobody else had seen you I came back here. I knocked then too! You still didn't answer so I figured you might be sleeping. So I came inside to check."

Phineas buried his face in his hands. He didn't want to say anything. He had no clue what to say. How long had Clank been trying to wake him? He wished so hard that he had never woken up. He felt like sobbing, he was so embarrassed. This felt just as awful as the time he'd gotten tangled in that tree so many years ago. No, actually this felt worse. A thousand times worse.

He startled when Clank lay his hand on his back. "Are you okay?" he asked softly. Phineas shook his head, unable to speak. "Bobble, what's wrong?"

He felt like he'd swallowed something burning. His insides all hurt. He hugged his knees to his chest and looked away from Clank. He did his best to hold back the tears that threatened to fall. He tried to think of something to tell Clank, anything. But no words came out. What could he possibly say to explain this?

"I don't understand." Clank said softly, rubbing small circles on Phineas's back. "When I left last night, you seemed okay. Did something happen to you?"

Phineas saw flashes of his activity fly through his head and heard the echo of Clank's voice from last night in his ears. He leaned away from Clank who withdrew his hand.

"I can't tell you." Phineas choked.

"Why not?" Clank pressed "What could possibly be so terrible that you can't tell me?"

"I just…" he choked on his words and the tears rolled down his cheeks. "I can't. Clank, I just can't tell you." He sobbed.

Clank gasped and hugged Phineas. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Bobble! Please don't cry! I didn't mean to make you upset!"

Phineas only sobbed harder. "Don't call me that. Please don't call me that." He couldn't stop hearing how Clank called his name last night.

"Bobble…?"

He tensed up. He felt sick, absolutely disgusted with himself. "Stop. Please" he begged. He wanted to get away from Clank but he didn't want to move. He was so ashamed of his actions and didn't want anyone, especially Clank, to know what he had done.

Clank loosened his hold. "…Phineas?" he said softly. Phineas practically stopped breathing. His name sounded so wrong in Clank's voice. "What's wrong?"

He didn't move. He didn't speak. His wings drooped against his back. He wanted to disappear. He wished he had just gone to sleep last night. He wasn't sure he could ever be rid of this shame he felt.

Clank sat beside him, unsure what to do. He rubbed Phineas's shoulder softly. "Can you please look at me?" he asked, his voice gentle. Slowly, Phineas lifted his head. His eyes were red and puffy, and the tears were still flowing. "Please… say something. Anything. You're scaring me." Clank cupped his cheek and wiped some of the tears away. Phineas looked away and closed in tighter on himself.

"I really don't understand." Clank said. "I've never seen you get this bad… I thought you were getting better."

Phineas took a few shaky breaths "I'm sorry." He whispered.

"Shh, Look at me." Clank said, carefully turning Phineas's face to him again. "You don't need to apologize. You've done nothing wrong. You're okay… right?"

Phineas lowered his gaze again. "Right." He breathed, not believing himself. In his mind he was disgusting, dirty, shameful. He did not deserve Clank's kindness.

"Do you want to work today?" Clank asked. "If you don't feel like you can, I'll tell Fairy Mary."

Phineas stared at his knees. Tinkering always made him feel better. Would it help now too? He really just wanted to stay here and never leave again, but he knew that wouldn't go over well with Fairy Mary. "I want to work." He said, his voice hoarse.

"Okay." Clank said, removing his hand from Phineas's shoulder. "You'd better get dressed then." He took Phineas's shirt from the floor and draped it over his back. Phineas fixed his wings in the shirt and slid his arms into it. He glanced at Clank who smiled at him.

"Could you turn around, Clank?" he asked. His smile faded as he stood up and faced the other way. Phineas pulled his pants on and closed shirt, then wrapped his belt around his waist.

"Are you dressed yet?" Clank asked.

"Aye…" Phineas sighed.

Clank turned to him, holding Phineas's goggles. "You know, you don't have to be nervous around me." Clank said. Phineas froze. Clank pulled the goggles over his head and adjusted them over his eyes. "I mean, I've seen you get stressed before. And you've changed in front of me before. You just seem so worried about me seeing you worked up, and about me seeing you get dressed."

Phineas sighed. "Clank… I… I just…"

Clank handed him his dropper "I'm sorry if I did something to make you not trust me. I want to help you get through this, but it's hard when you won't talk to me. I'm sorry."

Phineas fixed the dew drops in his goggles. "It's okay, Clank. You've done nothing wrong." he mumbled. "I'm ready to go when you are."

Clank pulled him into a hug. "I'm here to listen when you're ready to tell me what's wrong." he let go of Phineas and headed out the door. Phineas still wanted to stay home, but forced himself out the door anyway and followed Clank.

The day that followed was the hardest day of Tinkering he'd ever faced.