10. Shaken.
Phineas told me something today.
We were lying on the floor of our room, surrounded by books and half-resolved, pages-long algebra equations shoddily written in loose leaf paper, not really in the mood for homework. Of course we knew the value of x. We knew it ever since we were ten and maybe before that.
Phineas had been very silent all day, and it was puzzling. Until he told me something.
He speaks to me every day, of course. Today, though, he said something meaningful, not just the usual chatting or the extrapolation of everything that comes to his mind and not even one of those rare rants of his, but something.
Something heartbreaking.
He said, "How do you…" And here he took a deep breath and rolled over himself, so he was supporting himself on his elbows, looking at me but not really looking at me and he fixed a strand of hair that was falling over his eyes and put it behind his ear and he bit the tip of his propelling pencil before he proceeded. Phineas had to work hard, because talking about a problem makes it hard for him to breath but he said, "How do you keep pushing forward… Even when the world is against you?"
It was the first time I had seen him upset since… A very long time ago.
I blinked at him several times from my spot on the floor, hands behind my head, and told him, "The world can go to hell," (Too long ago, and Phineas gets upset at least four times a day and then why won't he just show it?) "If you are sure that what you feel is right."
It does not matter if Phineas is like a shaken can of soda, just waiting to be opened to explode.
If I am here with him when it happens, it will be okay.
It will be okay.
I believe Phineas and Ferb are actually both a bit insecure about themselves. Ferb showing it in the way he always puts himself in the background, Phineas in the way he has to prove a point ten times a day. The only difference is that Ferb tries to affront it positively, while Phineas just bottles it all up inside and ends up getting really hurt.
…Or something. Two kids that cheerful have to have some sort of intern debate/trauma. Idk. It may be just my vein for angst/hurt/comfort. What do you think?