A/N: Thanks for still following this fanfic! It's been two years now and this time, I hope to finish it up for y'all! Also for those wondering why I have a male character named Kelly (tho it's predominantly a female name), I did some prior research on that and I found that Kelly IS a unisex name (just like Sam or Alex etc.) So hopefully, that clears out some redundancy in his naming. :)
This is so unfair, why can't we spend as much time as we did during the holidays at campus? Bella mentally ranted as she drove back to her apartment. It is only two days before the start of the 2nd semester at Tri-State State and she and Gretch wanted to clean up their apartment unit being the new year and all. Phineas left the day before since he had to fetch Kelly and Stacy from the airport and train station, respectively.
Although he promised he'd take her out tonight on a movie date, the raven haired Latina still couldn't help thinking how challenging it is to make time for each other once again. The perks of a relationship where you mostly live out your separate lives. Bella would often say to herself. She even wanted to transfer to the engineering college to get to be with Phineas more often, but he objected, saying that she shouldn't give up on her dream goals just for the sake of their relationship. She wanted to work at a film company that's why she studied mass communication and Phineas respected that, even if that means they'd have trouble matching schedules for their dates.
Bella returned to reality when Gretch suddenly spoke up, "Thinking about your amazing holidays with him huh?" she guessed.
Without facing her friend, Bella nodded. The memories of their wonderful holiday season flashed through her mind in an instant, especially Christmas night. The way she fully exposed herself to him, her soft moans echoing throughout her room and him saying her name in a loving albeit horny manner. She daydreamed every detail of that night as she drove to campus, ignoring her brunette friend's ramblings of her being single still or the fact that her car was running out of gas.
"Uhh Bella, you're running out of gas." Gretch interrupted as the warning light turned into an audible chime.
"Huh?" Bella wondered, then stared at her fuel gauge which was halfway between the red threshold and empty. "Oh shit! We could fill up inside the campus. Phineas said there's a fuel dock in front of the bus terminal." she gasped. They were only 5 minutes from the campus main gate and another 3 minutes to their apartment.
Inside their apartment, Phineas and Kelly had just finished revamping their living room. The latter brought his PS4 from home to replace their damaged Xbox until it was repaired. They also changed the position of the chairs and couch to provide an optimum viewing experience for movie nights, as well as upgrading their internet subscription plan to include their TV. Stacy also helped in cleaning up the roommates' junk stuff that they missed during their last cleanup.
"Alright darling, I will admit, you clean your house better than I expected." the brunette commented at her boyfriend's progress with the unit.
"You know I couldn't have done even half of this crap without my brother's help." Kelly replied, patting his roommate's back. Just then, Phineas' phone sounded a notification, with Bella's name on it.
Bella: Are you at home honey? Like in your apartment.
Phineas: Yeah, we're here. What's up?
Bella: We ran out of fuel. The fuel dock you said only offers diesel, but I need gas!
Phineas: Oh right, I forgot to tell you that, sorry. I'll be there right away; I just hope James left his flatbed in the terminal.
Bella: I'd very much appreciate it if you'd bring some fuel for us too. We stopped right at the terminal and the guys here are wondering if we need some help.
Phineas: Those guys know me babe. Just tell them you're my GF and they'll give in.
The conversation ended with Bella not replying to Phineas' last reply, only a seen. He grabbed the keys to his truck and stormed out of their unit when Kelly blocked the door.
"Woah, easy bro. What's the rush suddenly?" he asked.
"Bella and Gretch are stranded at the bus terminal. She said they ran out of fuel." Phineas retorted.
"Why didn't she refuel at the station there?" Stacy chimed in, "I know there's one."
"From what I can remember, they only offer diesel, love." Kelly said.
Phineas agreed, "He's right Stace. I won't be long." He pushed Kelly out of the way and made it towards the parking lot.
A few minutes later, Phineas arrived at the bus terminal with the sight of Bella's familiar pink Yaris loaded onto a flatbed trailer. Just as he suspected, she was pissed, and he knew nothing is scarier than his raven-haired girlfriend in this mood. He noticed that she was alone; last he recalled, Gretch was travelling with her. I wonder if Gretch left her here?
"So, I assume the boys helped you load her up the trailer?" Phineas started, pertaining to the crew of the auxiliary terminal. Bella nodded, before turning away.
She must be in her red days today. he thought. Once he attached the flatbed to his truck and catching up with some of his colleagues at the terminal, Phineas gave his girlfriend a bear hug in an attempt to cheer her up.
"That won't undo the damage you've done, Flynn." Bella deadpanned. She usually calls Phineas by his last name if he'd done something wrong or when she's in her time of month. Judging by her tone of voice, Phineas concluded that the latter is what Bella may be experiencing.
"I know you're in that day babe. Come on, let's go home." Sighing, Phineas turned back to his truck and waited for Bella to get in.
As expected, the ride home was silent and uncharacteristic for the couple. Whenever Phineas glanced over to the right hand side mirror, he noticed his girlfriend was still fuming, with her head crouched low and arms crossed over her belly; an indicative feature that she was in her time of month and may have been experiencing cramps.
They made it back to the apartment complex without further issues and communication, with Phineas carrying most of her stuff. Thankfully, Gretch was already there to help them out; she told the redhead that Bella told her to go on ahead by taking the campus loop bus.. As Phineas dropped off the last of his girlfriend's stuff, he wrapped his arms around her waist, sighing.
"Look Bella, I have a feeling that you're on your time of month and I want you to know that I'm not mad at you lashing out earlier." he admitted. Although Bella didn't say anything, she smiled at his sincerity and understanding.
"I'll pick you up at 6 alright?" Phineas continued, to which Bella murmured a soft "Okay" in reply. He gave her a peck on her forehead before returning home to his unit. Bella watched in guilt as Phineas disappeared through the elevator. I hope I didn't scare him that much. she sighed.
When Phineas returned to his unit, Kelly and Stacy were already setting up the table for lunch. "How'd it go man?" his roommate asked.
"She was pissed off, wouldn't even talk to me on the way back here. But other than that, it's all good." The redhead sighed, now wondering if he should still ask her out tonight.
"Let me guess, she's on her period?" Stacy raised an eyebrow. Phineas nodded.
"I'm not surprised. I also have a bad tendency to lash out whenever something goes awry during my red days. Let me tell you, y'all don't wanna see a grumpy me during those days." she continued. Kelly groaned in agreement.
"Do you think she'd still wanna go out with me tonight? I promised I'd take her to the movies."
"I think she would. Just give her some space for the time being."
The three friends sat together on the table to eat. It was a tiring morning for them because of all the cleaning they did, but was paid off nonetheless when Stacy offered the two male roommates to cook them chicken soup. They talked about the upcoming intramurals and how Phineas and Kelly planned to join the basketball team.
"Mmm. No wonder Kelly loves you so bad, your cooking is phenomenal!" he looked at Stacy, who blushed at his compliment. Although there were times that Bella cooked for him, it's a nice change having your roommate's girlfriend do the cooking occasionally.
"True enough bro." the dark haired man added.
After some more funny exchanges and eating, Stacy left the two roommates as she headed back to her apartment nearby. Since they didn't have anything else to do, besides the occasional video games, Phineas thought of repairing Bella's car, which was still on the flatbed parked beside his truck. With Kelly's help, they were able to roll the car out of the trailer and put the rear on jack stands to have access to the fuel tank.
The young bus mechanic found out that her hatchback had a bad fuel floater, which is a device that calculates how much fuel is in the tank. He replaced the faulty part, as well as the fuel pump, and filled the tank with a gallon of gasoline he's got in his truck in case of emergency. Although his truck runs on diesel, he always keeps a jerry can of gasoline exclusively for Bella's car. Meanwhile, Kelly worked on replacing the fuel filter – it took them a couple more hours of work, but eventually they got the Yaris all fixed up. All that needs to be done is to start it up.
"Alright bro, you wanna do the honors of starting her up?" Phineas eyed Kelly as they finished replacing the rear seats.
"Sure, why not." Kelly nodded as he sat on the driver's seat, ready to see if they've fixed the problem correctly. Shifting the clutch to neutral, he started off the car without any issues and both him and Phineas were equally pleased with the result.
"Looks like you're taking her out tonight after all." the former remarked.
Phineas walked up to her doorway and rang the doorbell. He wasn't nervous in case she were to lash out again but that didn't stop the goosebumps from standing up over his arms. A while later, his girlfriend opened the door greeting him. She's wearing a red blouse and leggings; her hair draped onto her left shoulder. The redhead teen smiled at the sight as he led her out to the car.
"I'm sorry I snapped at you earlier honey. You're right, I am in my day of month today." Bella whispered; her eyes were already starting to well up.
"Oh don't go too hard on yourself, it's not your fault." her boyfriend reassured, stroking her raven locks.
"I don't normally lash out during my time of month. It's just this issue with my car and..." she continued ranting when Phineas placed a finger to her lips, effectively shutting her up.
"You know what, we'll use your car. I'll drive so don't you fret." he said.
"You filled her up?"
"Even better. I replaced the fuel floater and pump since it was shot, and since we were at it, I also replaced the fuel filter and put new gasoline in her."
"Aww you didn't have to."
"Kelly and I had nothing to do, so we tinkered with your car for a while."
"I swear, if you installed a nitrous bottle in here..." Bella said jokingly, before Phineas cut her off.
"Babe, I've been working on cars for 5 years. Of course I know what I'm doing." he smirked then kissed the ravenette Latina's lips.
The couple drove towards a drive in movie theater on the outskirts of Newark for their movie date. After Bella procured a popcorn bucket for her and Phineas to share, they sat back and waited for the movie to start.
The movie played at the drive in theater wasn't as exciting as they'd hoped but that didn't stop them from having make out sessions in between scenes. Even though Bella was on her red days, she wanted, needed the feel of her beau's lips again; like that fateful Christmas night in her bedroom. Just like then, they had their limitations, only this time, they can't afford to strip one another nude being in a public place and all, not to mention the Yaris had light tinting that still made the occupants visible from the outside.
"Mmm," Bella moaned, pulling out from her liplock. "I never gonna get tired of doing that honey."
"Me too, babe. Me too." Phineas wrapped his arms around Bella's as she snuggled towards his chest. Though they were about to live their separate lives again, they both knew that not even that inconvenience would hinder them from having a great time.