"Oh...my...God."
Phineas and Kelly couldn't believe their eyes. They rubbed them in unison, hoping that what lay before them was just a dream too good to be true. In the table were two large pans of baked sushi with extra cheese on top, a pot of pesto, a party-sized chocolate chiffon cake, and a six pack of beer. It looked like someone has a birthday party, even though it was neither Phineas' nor Kelly's birthday. A lot of thoughts ran into the minds of the two roommates; they knew this was their girlfriend's work but why would they do something like this out of nowhere?
Is this because we won? God, I don't deserve my Bella-babes. I neglect her thanks to my work at the garage and this is how she treats me? I'm too lost for words. Phineas thought.
Stacy proved me wrong again when I said I couldn't fall in love with her more than we have. How could I be blessed with such a girl that's essentially what I'm looking for my future wife? From the looks of it, I feel like I'm already married to her. Kelly pondered as well.
After admiring the feast that lay on the table, their eyes turned to the three lovely ladies who prepared the food, all clad in a gold and purple patterned cheerleading outfit – from a distance, one might mistake them as Laker Girls. Apart from Gretchen, the girls had their hair tied in a braided ponytail. The outfits showed off their curves in all the right places and the two lovestruck guys were starting to drool all over the floor. The nerdy short haired brunette waved them both, trying to snap them out of their reveries.
"Hello? Earth to Phineas and Kelly, are they here?" Gretch did her best to get them to respond when Phineas stuttered.
"Uhhh…." Phineas began, trying his best to peel his eyes off his friend's chest. "Wh…what's the occasion? I'm quite sure it ain't my birthday." The girls giggled in reply.
Gretchen rolled her eyes, "It's our little celebration for you guys." She then added, "I just wish I had some hottie to share it with."
"Don't sell yourself out short Gretch," Kelly returned to normal. "I'm pretty sure you're gonna get yourself a keeper."
The five friends helped themselves to the food after a long grueling day, especially for the two young men. The games and the after-party had taken its toll on their bodies, rendering them drained and wanting to sleep already. They shared about the party that happened, where Phineas told that that was the first time he saw all the engineering guys, regardless of year, act like a group of kids in a pool party. They continued to talk for the next couple of hours until Kelly had to take Stacy back to her apartment.
"Night guys!" Kelly and Stacy called out.
"Night to you two!" She closed the door and faced her boyfriend. "So, what'cha wanna do for tonight?"
"I do want to get some sleep, please." Phineas yawned.
"How about I give you a massage?" she offered.
Phineas froze for a moment. The thought of Bella's soft hands running across his body turned him on. Don't you dare go that road, Phineas Flynn!
"Y..yeah...sure thing." he stuttered.
"I'm gonna leave you two to it. Have fun!" Gretch smirked before slipping into her room.
Once Phineas and Bella made it to the latter's bedroom, the redhead took his shirt off in anticipation of a full-body massage. He was hoping that his girlfriend would massage him to sleep, since he only ran on 5 hours of shut-eye for the day. He lay down face first on the bed as Bella grabbed a bottle of coconut-scented oil and lathered her hands on the redhead's back.
"Oh yes, a little more to the left. Ohhh..." He moaned delightfully. As Bella continued her massage on Phineas' back, she noticed that the redhead fell asleep on her as he was already snoring. Looks like he just needed a boost for him to sleep.
She wiped off the oil on his back before scooting over the bed to get some rest. It was hard for Bella, as she couldn't help but overthink about having a fallout with Phineas. Was he too preoccupied with his work? Did he fall out of love for her? Those were some questions lingering in her mind, and although they were on good terms tonight, she tried her best to shut those ideas out and sleep peacefully.
The following morning, Bella woke up to the sound of soft snoring and her alarm going off. She instinctively hit the snooze on her phone before heading back to sleep, cuddling the warm body beside her. Phineas was shirtless and Bella had a habit of going braless in her sleep. Even with the alarm, the redhead didn't even stir one bit.
"Good morning, honey." She whispered seductively while pressing her chest against the redhead's back. This caused him to turn around facing her, and opened his eyes, greeted by a pair of ocean blue eyes of Bella's.
"Morning babe." Phineas smiled, before kissing his girlfriend's forehead. "What time is it?"
"10 minutes to 7." The raven haired girl cooed. Phineas suddenly shot up from the bed, causing Bella to flinch. "What's the rush, hun?"
"I gotta go to work, that's what! I have to take this shift as well as the Valentines day one." He made his way towards the closet, finding a set of uniform he could wear. "Do you have my spare uniform here?"
"Only the polo shirt and a couple of your anniversary shirts. I still haven't washed your spare work shirts." Bella replied in a flat tone.
"That's okay. I'll just take the polo shirt, assuming I'm not removing a transmission or something." Phineas collected his outfit and made a beeline for the bathroom.
Bella could only sigh sadly at him leaving for work - she knew how much her boyfriend loves his work, but sometimes, she wants to cuddle beside him on their bed, not giving a damn about the world for just one full day. Once she fixed herself up, Bella went to the dining room to find her boyfriend and her roommate eating some of their leftover pasta from last night with each having a cup of coffee.
"Thanks for the food, babe." He then kissed Bella on the lips, "Love you!" He placed his plates in the sink then headed towards the front door.
She smiled a fake smile as Phineas left the unit. "Love you too."
She was bummed at how all of a sudden, Phineas' life went back to reality after winning the title. Even though she also had afternoon classes that day, Bella felt insecure about the status of her relationship with the man she knew for more than half her life. They still have intimate moments together, however, she can already feel the strain their respective activities take its toll on their love life, for Bella at least.
"Bummed out again, aren't you?" Gretch spoke up. Her roommate nodded meekly before slipping in the bathroom for a nice warm shower.
*later that morning*
"Any plans this coming Valentines, girls?" Stacy asked the two roommates as they walked their way to the park.
After the intramurals, it was only 10 days til the day of hearts and at the mention of the word Valentines, Bella groaned loudly, making everyone know she's not in the mood. Supposedly, this would be her and Phineas' first Valentines together as a couple, and it just so happened that the redhead has a change in shift for that day after having someone else take his shift during his games.
"What's the point of that damned day if my man's gonna spend it working?!" she ranted.
"Oh great, here we go again." Gretch sighed.
"That's probably the package when you're dating a man who's passionate about his line of work. He tries his best to make time for babe time at the same time, he's also aware of his duties." The raven-haired Latina was still not convinced, so Stacy decided to share her exact same experience.
"You know Bella, I've never told anyone this, but when I started having my ER duty, Kelly was in the exact same predicament as you. He was upset at first, saying that we don't have time for each other but eventually, we adjusted our schedules so that every Friday after my morning shift, he'd take me out somewhere. Phineas is basically in my shoes – I was the mature one, but it takes two to tango. Kelly's a stubborn guy but he's a smart one nonetheless."
"I gave him a massage last night but he slept in on me! Then this morning, I was in the cuddle mood when he took off from the bed and didn't even talk to me at breakfast." Bella vented out her frustrations from earlier that day, fighting back the tears welling in her blue eyes.
The brunette shook her head, "Girl, Phineas was tired as hell, of course he's gonna sleep in! As for the morning, did he kiss you before he left?"
"Yes."
"You see Bella, what you don't realize is that Phineas knows how to manage his time well. Kelly told me that its a miracle Phineas still finds time to see you, despite their increased schoolworks."
Bella bowed her head in shame. She let her overthinking cloud her judgment, thinking that Phineas was flat out ignoring her.
"He really is the matured one in our relationship. Hell, I'm older than him!"
"By only a couple of months, girl!" Stacy riposted, stifling her laughter. The raven haired teen gave her the 'are you serious' face, to which the former shrugged it off.
"But seriously, I feel bad for Phineas whenever you give him that verbal abuse he didn't even deserve. You're busy yourself with all them extracurriculars yet for some reason, you blame him when he goes OT. But you don't see him get mad at you when you're busy in soccer practice or SG stuff. Just because he's a laid-back guy, doesn't mean he's chill all the time. He's only better at masking his emotions because that's what men typically do to not show weakness." she continued.
"I guess that makes me a hypocrite, huh."
"Pretty much." the brunette shrugged, not sugarcoating anything for her friend. "Listen, you have to show him that you're not just an overthinking jealous girl who assumes that Phineas might be cheating behind your back. Trust is something essential in a relationship; if you don't trust each other, you'll burn out to the point where you're dating just because of the label. Based on prior experience, it's not a pleasant thing."
Bella took Stacy's advice to heart and felt guilty about her childish behavior whenever Phineas failed to fulfill his promises of taking her out either due to academics or work. She was unknowingly lowering his self-esteem every time she gets mad at him and realized that the only reason he's happy the two weeks of sportsfest up to this point is because she hasn't snapped at him yet. We've got to have a long talk about this. She made a mental note to herself.
"So..." Stacy asked, "What are you gonna do about it?"
Bella paused for a moment, before answering. "I'm gonna apologize to him about my childish antics, he deserves so much better and I'm gonna step up in being his girlfriend."
"If I remember correctly, you don't have classes this morning. Why don't you pay him a visit in the garage?" Stacy suggested.
Bella grabbed her phone, but instead of calling her boyfriend directly, she decided to call one of her friends who works with him. "Hello? Hey Holly! Is Phineas there?"
"Yup. He's busy doing electrical work at the moment, want me to call him?" Holly answered.
"Oh no thanks girl, just wondering if he's there." Bella paused, "Listen, can I come and visit?"
"Sure. Just tell the guard at the gate that you're here to see me." the black woman said.
"Alright. See you in the hour, bye!" Once Bella ended the call, she noticed the smirk Stacy has on her face. "What?"
"What are you waiting for, go out there and tell him all about what you just told me." she replied. Gretch nodded in agreement.
A half hour later, Bella pulled into the bus garage where Phineas works. It's her first time seeing the inside of the compound and to put it simply, she was astounded by the size of it. After telling the guard she was to meet Holly, she parked in the staff parking area, right beside her boyfriend's truck. When she finally met her friend, they decided to approach Phineas once the lunch time horn sounded in about 10 minutes.
"Thanks for having me here, girl."
"You're lucky I'm not as jampacked as your man over there." Holly chuckled, "Once he finishes the work on 622, he's basically free for the rest of the day." Just then, the horn sounded, signaling lunch time. "And that's our cue. Come on Izzy, let's grab a bite."
"Always with the Izzy." Bella laughed.
As Bella and Holly made their way to the cafeteria, a certain redhead mechanic called them out. "Babe? What are you doing here?"
A/N: In the upcoming chapters, I'm focusing on how Bella adjusts to having Phineas being out all the time. I think it's good to see how she would mature in their relationship, since she's still new to this whole 'being taken' thing. Please leave a review if you enjoyed!