All right, I couldn't leave you guys hanging for too long. So here you are, finally...the last chapter of Double It Up.
Of course, I couldn't let you have your happy ending immediately, but I gave it to you easy. I could have made them fight, but I love you guys too much for that. And you're lucky, too! ;)
Anyway, reviews…
AmyNChan: Haha, yep. Don't worry, I made it better ^.^
gamelover41592: You remind me of Doofenshmirtz, haha.
AnonymousRainbow: Well, here you are. The very last-est chapter of the story, with a fix-it for that awful cliffhanger.
See you guys next story!
You know you love me, IzzytheGreat14
/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0
Isabella stirred, nestling her head into her folded arms. She was asleep on some sort of desk, and she winced as she moved her neck too far to the right and found out that she had a crick in it.
Phineas's voice sounded from next to her
"Izzy! Izzy, are you okay? Izzy, Isabella, please, talk to me."
"Go 'way," she muttered, "'m sleeping."
To her surprise, she felt Phineas draw her into a huge hug.
"Ah, Phineas, this is nice," she said, "but what are you doing? We're in the middle of class and I musta fallen asleep again."
He released her and she opened her eyes, staring back into extremely confused blue eyes hovering only a few inches away from her own.
"You mean you don't remember...what happened?"
Isabella laughed. "Phineas, what on earth are you talking about? Nothing happened. We were in class, and the teacher was boring, so I fell asleep. Not a big deal."
Phineas tilted his head to the side, attempting to process the information Isabella had just given him. She glanced at the clock and grinned, stuffing her books into her bag.
"Three...two...one," she whispered, and the lunch bell rang on cue. Isabella grinned and grabbed Phineas's hand.
"Come on, Phineas! They've got chicken alfredo in the lunchroom today," she cried, and tugged him out of his seat.
They met up with Ferb in the hallway, and Phineas raised his eyebrows at his brother, asking if he remembered what happened. He was half convinced it was just a fevered dream.
But then Ferb nodded, ever so slightly, and gestured with his eyebrows to a small alcove the inventors had taken advantage of many times.
"Hey, Isabella," Phineas said, "I'll meet you in the lunchroom. I gotta go to the bathroom."
"Oh," Isabella said. "Okay."
It didn't even register until she walked away, shoulders slumped and head bowed, that she had been saying something, and Phineas closed his eyes and sighed.
"Let's make this quick, Ferb, I gotta go apologize to Isabella."
\/0\/0\/0\/0\/0\/
Ferb explained everything; how Evil Ferb had easily fallen for the decoy Merge Ray Ferb had whipped up and hadn't even come close to actual one, how the ray had fired precisely how it should have, how he'd thought at the last minute to alter it so nobody remembered anything except the two brothers.
"So...Isabella doesn't remember a thing?" Phineas confirmed, and Ferb nodded.
"It's for her own safety. However, it's not foolproof on her. She has all our knowledge, remember? For most, the mind wipe is an impenetrable wall in their minds. But Isabella, if she sees something that might trigger it, has approximately an eighty-nine percent chance of remembering-"
"Everything," Phineas said. "So sooner or later she'll remember. I gotta go, Ferb, I gotta make sure it doesn't overwhelm her."
He raced to the lunchroom, but he couldn't see Isabella anywhere. The students were buzzing with excitement, and as Phineas half-listened to the random chatter, he caught Isabella's name.
"What happened to Isabella?" he asked the student who had mentioned her. She giggled and wrapped a strand of hair around her fingers.
"Well, we were all just standing in line, when suddenly, Isabella gasped really loud, went really pale, and collapsed."
"What? Where is she?" Phineas demanded. The girl shrugged.
"Probably the nurse's office. She didn't hit her head or anything but she's probably pretty shaken up to have passed out. I could take you there."
"That's all right," Phineas said even as he backed away towards the nurse's office. "I know the way myself."
And with that, Phineas turned and ran.
/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\
Isabella woke up with the nurse checking her temperature.
"Ah, Miss Garcia-Shapiro. You gave us all quite a scare," the nurse clucked. "Your vital signs seem fine. How are you feeling?"
How was she feeling? Betrayed, certainly. She'd remembered everything, and she was hurt that the boys had tried to erase it from her memory.
Dejected, too. If Phineas had actually loved her, wouldn't he have made some sort of indication that he did once they'd left? Instead, he'd ignored her for his brother, interrupting her in the middle of finally asking him to the upcoming girls-choice dance. It was senior year, and this dance was the last dance of the year Isabella planned to go to, as prom had never really been her scene. But he'd ignored her, and brushed her aside just like he had done since they were ten.
And even worse, for once, Ferb hadn't noticed what she was doing and tried to help. Ferb was her best friend and she couldn't remember a time when he hadn't helped her try to get Phineas to notice her. If Ferb had decided it wasn't worth the effort...if he had decided she wasn't worth the effort...
"I feel fine now," Isabella said. "I just got a little dizzy. Can I go home for the day?"
"Of course," the nurse said. "I'll call your mom."
The nurse bustled away, and Isabella drew in a deep, shuddering breath, rubbing a hand over her eyes in a weary gesture as she tried valiantly not to cry. She squeezed her eyes shut and sighed, letting her breath out with a sigh and a strangled sob.
She sat up, ignoring the sense of vertigo, and swung her feet off the bed. She looked at herself in the mirror over the sink, sighed, and grabbed her backpack from where it rested in the corner.
Her mother was just pulling up when Isabella walked outside. The restaurant she owned and operated, Nosh Ole, was only a few blocks away from the high school.
"Mija, are you okay?" Vivian asked. "The school said you had an accident, that you passed out?"
"I'm fine, Mama," Isabella sighed. "I just...got dizzy. Can we go home? I need to lay down for a while."
"Are you sure you're okay, Isa?" Vivian said as she pulled out of the parking lot.
"I don't really wanna talk about it," Isabella groaned.
"Oh, honey, is this about Phineas?"
"Mom! Please don't, not right now," Isabella cried. "I just want to go home."
"Okay, mija," Vivian said, and allowed Isabella to lapse into silence and rest her head against the passenger window.
/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\
Phineas raced to the nurse's office.
"Isabella. Is she here?" he gasped to the nurse. "Is she okay? Can I see her?"
"Miss Garcia-Shapiro went home with her mother," the nurse said, and shooed a dejected Phineas out of the office.
Ferb was waiting outside the door as Phineas slunk out of the office.
"She went home. Ferb, she probably thinks I hate her or something! She's gonna hate me after this. I probably just broke her heart again. I don't deserve a girl like Isabella," Phineas sighed.
Ferb narrowed his eyes at the redhead.
"If you don't get off your arse and go apologize to her and tell her how you feel, Phineas Vincent Flynn, then no, you don't deserve her. I'll excuse you for the rest of the day. Go."
Phineas grinned.
"My middle name, too? Ooh, I'm in trouble. See you later, Ferb."
He hugged his brother before turning to race out the doors.
"And Phineas?"
Phineas turned back to the green-haired boy.
"She loves you, and you love her. You just need to convince her of that. She's been wanting this even longer than you have. You've got this."
And Phineas Flynn raced out the doors of the school to find Isabella and finally tell her how he felt.
/\0/\0/\0/\0/\
As soon as Isabella got home, she went to the freezer and pulled out a pint of triple-dark chocolate fudge ice cream. Vivian didn't comment, just grabbed a box of tissues and tucked Isabella onto the couch in a nest of blankets and starting her favorite romantic movie.
"Thanks, Mama," Isabella smiled, and Vivian smiled back, leaning down to kiss her daughter's forehead.
"You know the number for the restaurant if you need me," she said. "I've got to go back to work. Call me if you need anything."
"I will," Isabella said. "See you later, Mama."
Vivian left, and Isabella settled in to watch the movie.
Halfway through the movie and the ice cream, there was a knock on the door. Isabella sighed, but got up off the couch and opened the door.
Phineas stood there with a huge bouquet of dark red roses, Isabella's favorite flower. She stared in confusion until Phineas cleared his throat.
"Isabella, can I come in?" he asked. She nodded numbly, opening the door wider. He walked in and dropped the roses in a vase. Then he took her hand and settled onto the couch with her, wrapping her in a blanket.
"Isabella, I don't even know where to start," Phineas said. "I guess I should start with an apology. I didn't mean to hurt you today. I just thought I had dreamed up the whole Evil school thing, and I wanted Ferb to confirm that I wasn't completely crazy. I wanted to hear what you had to say. I always do, Isabella. You are so smart, and you come up with some of the best ideas I have ever heard. And even before today… I want to apologize again for hurting you at all. I should have seen the signs. I hope you don't...hate me…"
"Phineas, you are so stupid," Isabella groaned. "How could I hate you? I mean, come on, really? I don't know of anyone with a bigger heart than you. Even when you hurt me, you always had my best interests in mind. I'm sure that's why you told me you loved me in that Evil school, to save me from...well, myself. I just-"
Phineas interrupted her with a vaguely irritated look.
"Isabella, I meant what I said in that school. When I said I love you, I meant it. How could I not love you, Isabella? I really didn't see the signs. I can't believe it. Isabella, I love you. I love you so much. I wanted to kiss you in that room with the cots. I really did, but we got interrupted. So, if you don't mind…"
Isabella's eyebrows furrowed as Phineas began to lean closer. Then her eyelids fluttered shut, and finally, the moment she had waited for since she had first met Phineas happened.
He kissed her, and she kissed him right back. He pulled her closer, and she smiled against his mouth before sinking deeper into the heady, passionate kiss.
After a moment, he pulled back. She kept her eyes closed, and drew in a deep breath.
Phineas waited anxiously for her response. Eventually, her eyes opened slowly, and she grinned at him.
"Wow. That was worth the wait."
"Yes," Phineas said in relief. "Yes, it was."
/\0/\0/\0/\0
Before long, it had spread around the entire school that Phineas and Isabella were no longer Phineas and Isabella, but Phineas-and-Isabella. Several people lost ten or twenty dollars to friends they had made a bet with.
Phineas and Isabella went to that dance together, and they went to prom too. That's not to say that they didn't change it up a bit. Phineas could never resist a bit of fun.
It came as a shock to them when they were voted prom king and queen, but Ferb just rolled his eyes at them and told them that literally everyone but them knew they were going to win, even his new girlfriend Vanessa, who didn't even go to that school.
At graduation, Phineas (as valedictorian), Ferb (as salutatorian), and Isabella (as student body president) all gave speeches and threw their caps into the air. Linda, Lawrence, and Vivian cheered the loudest of any of the parents there. Phineas dipped Isabella into a kiss as the caps floated down around them, and both of them swore later that the resultant cheer from the entire student body rendered them half-deaf for hours.
As they walked away from the arena where graduation had been held, Phineas took Isabella's hand, and she beamed up at him.
And hand in hand, they began the best summer of their lives.