Hi. I just want to tell you guys a story that I created when I can't sleep on a work day. So expect a lot of typos and grammar errors
Disclaimer, Phineas and Ferb didn't belong to me, this is a fanfic.
Okay, here it goes
Some Part Crushed, Some Part Grew
"If you and your family can't find funds for your college, you can always tell me…" The greyish-orange haired man said while looking at his son who sat on the passenger seat of the sedan. But he knew that the answer would be muted, just like these past fifteen minutes.
The duo just arrived at a bus depot on the outskirts of Chicago, which has a daily route to Danville. Ferb suggested that Phineas took the plane to save some time but the boy argued that a fifteen minutes ride to a bus stop, followed by a three hours bus ride is more bearable than an hour ride to the airport followed by a thirty minutes flight.
He knew he was wrong with his math, that is because he really didn't want to spend any more time alone with his dad.
His biological dad.
Yes, the dad that left him.
"Yes, I knew this was a bad idea," The dad groaned honestly and slouched on the car seat.
"No Doink," Phineas said to himself as he rolled his eyes. He didn't remember how he agreed to this motion. All he can remember is that two months ago, Linda was reached by Frank on the phone over dinner. He recalled that he wondered why Lawrence asked the kids to go straight to their room, before catching the mother sobbing while his dad comforted her while going upstairs.
He just thought that her friend died of Leukemia or something, and shrugged it off.
Nothing happened for the next two weeks until his mother and father asked him to talk in the living room, and for the first time, without Ferb. The green haired step brother just ignored Phineas when the redhead asked if he knew something about this and then left him to see a movie with Baljeet and Buford.
Without any fanfare, Linda and Lawrence sat the boy down and told about Frank, a scoundrel of a husband, and a bad example of a dad. The man left Phineas, Candance, and Linda when Phineas was three, for the reason that he hadn't come clean, even until now. He reached Linda after 15 years of silence to tell her he was sorry for his action.
Phineas never really remembered Frank. He had glimpses of the man in his memory, giving him milk bottles and piggy back rides, but other than that, most of the story he knew was from Candace that held a really big grudge for him, and from Linda that really didn't want to talk about him. All the photos and memories of him are taken down from the house on the day he left and replaced with Lawrence and Ferb the next year.
But surprisingly one picture was kept.
Linda gave Phineas an old polaroid photo of Frank and a really young Phineas. Just a simple picture of Frank holding Phineas with a muted background. The red-haired boy just shrugged and returned the photo to his mother. He then specifically said that he didn't want to have anything to do with this man.
"He asked if you wanted to visit him in Chicago and see the city," Lawrence said.
Phineas just blinked for a second, a man he knew nothing about wanted to meet him.
"No, what the eff, dad?" Phineas shouted to Lawrence, who was not surprised with the redhead reaction. It is not the first time Phineas had cursed at his parents, but he knew that in this particular situation, the act won't result in a month grounding.
"No, Phineas, you don't have to go if you don't want," Lawrence said, trying to calm the boy.
"We just thought that you are old enough to know your biological father and we want you to have the option." Linda added fluently. It seemed like she had practiced this response a few times before this family meeting. "No string attached, we are not forcing you, Frank doesn't force you, it's all up to you. If you don't want to meet him, that's okay…"
"What about Candace?" Phineas asked, crossing his arm and leaning into the couch even more.
"We have called Candace about this, she refused to meet him." Linda answered.
"Then I guess I refuse also." Phineas muttered softly and stood up from his seat, leaving his parents to his room.
He didn't change his attire for that night, he just went to his raft bed, facing the wall, and just thinking silently, in the dark.
Phineas heard an Uber just rolled into their driveway to drop Ferb, and not long after that the Green haired boy opened the door to the room and untied his shoes.
"You're finally home" Phineas mumbled, without facing Ferb. The green-haired boy acknowledged, but didn't reply. If this happens any other day, he already expected Ferb to not answer him, but for now, Phineas really wanted to know what Ferb thought about his conundrum. Unbeknownst to Phineas, the green haired boy seemed really eager to just slide into his purple bed and rest his head.
"Mom and Dad told me a story about my dad, not Lawrence, Frank." Phineas mumbled a little bit louder right now, hoping that Ferb would be engaged in his conversation after hearing the father's name.
"Good for you." Ferb replied, without any engagement, and this pissed Phineas a bit, but he knew better not to fight with his brother tonight.
"Can I ask you to be chatty for the night Ferb? Please?" Phineas asked.
"Sorry Phin I am tired right now. I'll talk to you first thing in the morning."
"Please?" Phineas croaked, his step brother didn't answer.
Then there was silence for a few seconds that led Phineas to the point of breaking into tears.
That is until Phineas felt that Ferb threw his pillow near his head and felt a mass shift in the mattress.
"Scoot," Ferb asked Phineas as he plopped into Phineas's bed. Phineas made room for his stepbrother who laid down back-facing him.
"Dude, you don't have to sleep on my bed," Phineas complained with a little smirk.
Ferb smirked. "You want this or not? I could always sleep in Candace's room"
"No, no, no, stay," Phineas said. "I really need your advice".
Ferb just smiled, he knew that Phineas didn't really need advice from him, he just needed to talk.
And so, Phineas talked about his childhood, and the hazy memory of his father Frank. Ferb somehow already knew half of this story, maybe because the redhead already told this story before. But Ferb just pretended like everything was new and just said 'uh huh' to every plot point. The hardest part was keeping himself from falling asleep.
"So Frank, he asked me to come visit him in Chicago." Phineas finally reached the question that their parents asked this evening. "I mean, what kind of balls did he have asking a son that he never even called once to come and visit him? Maybe he was dying and needed a kidney transplant. So, I said no."
"To be honest Phin," Ferb finally chattered. "I think you should meet him..."
"Why did you say that?" The boy inquired.
"You don't want to meet your dad? At least to know him a little?" The stepbrother added. "What's going on with his lives? What hereditary diseases do he have?"
"No thanks, Lawrence is my father, and I don't need another one, ever."
"Well, as you wish." Ferb commented. "I guess that you already said no to mum and dad?"
"Duh."
"Yeah, mum also expected you to say no to the offer"
"You knew about this?"
"Yeah, I know it from last week, I think. Dad asked me to discuss this with him and mum, they explained the situation. I suggested to give you the option to meet Frank." Ferb explained. "At first, they objected, but I argued that you're mature enough to make the right decision. You just need to say no or yes based on your thought process. Say yes, you go to Chicago for two days and then we continue our normal lives. Say no, we pretend this never happened and we continue with our normal lives."
"Best brother in the world, keeping a big secret like this for a week" Phineas sounded a little bit mad, and he made sure that Ferb noticed it.
"I don't have the right to tell you, mum will kill me if I did..."
"So?" Phineas shouted quietly. "At least you can brief me a little bit right be i might‒"
"I don't really want to argue with you Phin, please calm down." Ferb cut Phineas off. The green haired boy knew he wasn't at fault here, but he wanted to stop Phineas from screaming and waking everyone in the house up.
So, Phineas decided to give Ferb just that. If Ferb wanted him to shut up he would do just that. The step brother was kind of surprised that he was not immediately kicked out and forced to sleep outside.
"I really expected you to say yes." Ferb finally talked after an hour of full silence.
Phineas heard that, he was still wide awake "Why did you think of that?"
Ferb sighed. "Cause, I really wanted to meet my Mum, and I thought you also wanted to do that too"
"Your mom is forever my mum, but, there's a twitchy feeling that accompanied me on my train of thoughts. What she sounded like, how her hugs felt, what kind of food she liked"
"Yeah, but my case is different bro..."
"I'm not going to force you to change your mind. I can't force you to change your mind." Ferb said. If you didn't want to meet him then stay, if you want to meet, then go. It's just nice that you have the choice to do so..."
Choice huh...
"I guess…" Phineas smiled for the first time that night. Ferb felt that it was a sign that his problems were somewhat resolved
Ferb reached Phineas's shoulder from his back and gave him an assuring pat. "Okay then, Good night Phin, it's two and I really want to be up early in the morning."
Phineas didn't answer, and Ferb just pretended that he was already asleep, so he quickly followed.
But again, the redhead was always wide awake that night
Phineas waited as his dad fumbled with his keycard to open the door. He never expected his dad to be strapped for cash as he insisted on wiring a lot of money to cover the bus trip and everything. But he never expected him to be owning a two-story apartment in the middle of downtown kind of rich.
Frank was surprisingly nice. Even more than Phineas liked to admit. When he came to pick him up. He respected Phineas' space, and by that, he didn't ask for a big hug or something. He told his story on the journey ride home. He was really lucky with real estate investments. And his current wife was working in an oil company in Dubai. That explained the apartment he lived in and the vintage pimped out sedan that he rode. Phineas couldn't help but to chime in a little bit about his life, about Ferb, and about Linda, Lawrence, and about him going to College in Fall.
"Alright…" Frank cheered as he finally was able to unlock his door. "Make yourself at home, I have some work to do in the den, I'll take you to a cheesesteak place uptown at seven. You like cheesesteak?"
"Okay, Phineas said," as he put his duffel bag near an alcove. "Where should I wait? I think I need to charge my phone."
"Second floor, to the right," Frank pointed, "I already asked Aggy to clean the guest bedroom."
Aggy huh? Frank didn't mention that he had a daughter in the car earlier.
"Where is that kid anyway?" Frank asked himself. "Aggy! Your half-brother is here!"
"I'll go meet Aggy, Frank, don't worry." Phineas said as he signaled that he would be going upstairs. The dad shrugged as he made a call, probably business.
Frank forgot to mention that there are two doors on the right side of the stairs. He just sighed as he opened one of them. But he seemed to have opened the wrong one, as he opened to a boy's bedroom with the aforementioned boy looking into his computer.
"Oh sorry, I thought it was the guest bedroom…" Phineas stammered.
The boy seemed to be in his late teenage years, as Phineas noticed from his unkempt stubble. But what he failed to notice is that the teen looked similar to the young inventor.
"Oh, you must be Phineas!" He said as he put down his headphones aside and stood to greet his half-brother. "I'm Phil, dad told me you're visiting."
Phil? Frank failed to mention again that he had another son?
"Oh yeah, I'm Phineas Flynn…" Phineas introduced himself as he offered a fist bump. Which the other redhead gladfully accepted. "I'm searching for the guest bedroom to put my stuff…"
"Just put it here first," the half-brother offered and pointed to put the duffel bag on his bed. "Dad asked me to change the guest bed sheet earlier but I haven't done it yet, still got some work."
"Wait, I thought your dad asked your sister to clean the room?" Phineas asked.
"Sister?"
"Aggy?"
"Oh no, Aggy is my nickname my friends at school called me. They visit my home ever so often that my Mum and Dad started to call me Aggy too… I guess you can call me Aggy, I won't mind"
"Why? You're probably Phillip, right?" Phineas asked.
Aggy just shrugged. "No Idea…"
"Okay then," Phineas let himself comfortable inside the room. Aggy seemed nice, his room was not as grand as his and Ferb's room. But it got some everything, Space Adventure posters, some Lord of the Rings DVD, a telescope. Aggy seemed to be enjoying his life.
"I'll clean the guest bedroom after I'm done with this work." Aggy said as he returned to his seat
"What are you working on?" Phineas asked, curious.
"Just a little bit of a programming bootcamp" Aggy leaned back so that Phineas could see what he was writing. "I'm currently tasked to create a clothing shop interface. But I encountered a bug that prevents me from filtering for XL size clothes. Filtering small, medium, and large is fine."
"My step brother is the one that is really good at this kind of stuff, I'm more expert in hardware and things that move…" Phineas said. "But, let me look into it…" Phineas looked into the laptop and scrolled the code. And it didn't even take ten seconds, Phineas saw the problem.
"Okay, you define the size filter as a single character. That's why when you filter S, M, and L, there is nothing wrong with it. But XL has two characters, when you filter it will be truncated into X and there are no X sized clothes…" Phineas said, pointing to the error that Aggy made in the code.
"Oh my god, you're right!" Aggy said cheerfully. "Thank you very much. Dad was right, you are really smart."
"Frank said that?" Phineas confusedly asked.
"Yeah, he tells a lot of stories about you, 'look at that kid that built a roller coaster around town, you should be as creative as he is'." Aggy excitedly quoted his dad. "I just shrugged at it was probably some other gifted prodigy that I couldn't care less about. That is until he dropped a bombshell last week and said that me and you were related."
"Huh, Frank knew about my rollercoaster?"
"Yeah, among other things…"
"I'm not as smart as everyone believes, you know," the inventor responded.
"Dude, I don't believe it also until you come to my door and solve a problem that I try to work on for four hours in less than a minute" Aggy said.
"Yeah, that kind of problem frequently popped out during me and my brother's inventions, you see…"
And then Phineas rambled on and on about his stories, on everything he and Ferb had worked on. About the troubles that he had encountered and how they escape that situation. Aggy also pitched him stories about his life, about his mother that he rarely met. How he got into programming, his schools, his friend.
Phineas wouldn't expect Aggy to change the sheets in the guest bedroom anytime soon. He probably just going to throw a blanket and a pillow on the floor and sleep in Aggy's bedroom. Aggy excused himself to get some lemon lime bitter soda and then they continued to talk about their life.
"Dad is really proud of you…" Aggy said a weary voice as he lied down on his bed, looking at Phineas who was lying on the carpet. "He was just a real scumbag by leaving you and your mom…"
"But I guess if Frank… if dad didn't leave, you wouldn't exist…" Phineas said solemnly.
"Yeah, if dad hasn't left you wouldn't be able to meet your step dad and your step bro also." Aggy added. "You're not mad at me, right?"
"No, I'm not mad at you. You're never the reason for dad leaving, you're just the outcome."
"Ha-ha, guess you're right…"
"You know, after thinking about this, I'm not sure if I'm ever gonna be mad with him anymore…" Phineas croaked as he started to hold some dampness in his eyes. "I, Candace, and mom lived a really good life because he left, and I really didn't want it any other way…"
Aggy didn't answer, he just gave Phin an assuring nod.
"Well at least he seems to be on the end of the road, no more cheating and stuff..."
"Well not exactly…"
"Aggy told me you're seeing another woman." Phineas muttered, his hand on the door handle, putting a mindset that he could leave anytime if this conversation went awry. "So, I expected that you are going to leave Aggy again very soon…"
"Oh god, here it goes… what did he tell you?" Frank sighed, and when he knew that he wouldn't get a response, he decided to come clean. "My marriage with Lisa was not great, I knew it, she knew it. Same goes with my time with Linda, we both knew it..."
"Why didn't you effing fix it then, instead of, you know, fooling around and hoping that your next woman you find will be always great. Do you ever think about mom's feelings? Mine? Aggy's?"
"Phineas, Phin," Frank tried to reason with the boy. But he guessed that it was already to the point of no return
"No answer that I give you would be satisfying." The dad muttered.
Phineas just closed his eyes and tried to control his breath. He was ready to forgive this douche, he was ready to tell Ferb that he was not that bad of a dad. He was ready to spend tomorrow with him and Aggy going around the city. But he guessed that Frank is not ready for all of this.
"I guess that there's no way of stopping you." Phineas finally left the car, took his duffel bag with him, and made a last look of the triangular face of Frank's head. Muttered silently that this would be the last time he would see him.
"Just don't mess with Aggy," Phineas warned as he softly closed the door on his father's mug and walked to the depot, catching a glimpse of his father's car as it turned around and left.
Ferb parked the family station wagon as he noticed his slouching stepbrother waiting on the sidewalk. Phineas just let himself in as soon as Ferb unlocked the door. Without any voice, no hi, no good evening. The step brother was kind of surprised that he received a text to come pick him up tonight instead of tomorrow. Ferb really thought that he would spend more time with his dad. But he guessed wrong.
"Anything you want to talk about? Didya bring any haht dahg?" Ferb tried to spark a conversation after Phin threw his bag to the back seat and put on his seatbelt.
"No, I'm really tired right now, I'll talk about it tomorrow, or probably never…"
Ferb just replied to him with a no voice 'suit yourself' as they turned the car around and left the bus stop. He just didn't want Phineas to explode.
The ride went silent after that. Ferb was focused on the road and Phineas was texting his mom that they're on their way. He also pinged Aggy to tell him that he had reached Danville. I guess that meeting him was the only good thing about this visit.
Not really, he met his dad, he accepted his dad douchery before, and then found out that he was an even bigger douche that he ever knew. He knew the reason why he went. He was sad when Frank left, but at the same time he was even more glad that he left.
A part of him was crushed that night but another part grew, and it was the best result he could possibly have had given these circumstances.
So, Phineas smiled, while looking into his reflection on the car window, and to outside where it seemed that they already reached their neighborhood.
"So, I have a brother… He's 15 and really into coding…"
"Is he going to replace me soon?" Ferb joked, "I mean, thank God I can finally get you off my back…"
"Nah, he won't. But I think he was alright I guess…"
Ferb just smirked as they reached the house. Ferb pulled up into the driveway of their and signaled Phineas to open the garage.
"Thanks for picking me up in short notice…" Phineas said as he left the car.
"Anytime…"
"And thanks for suggesting that I visit my dad…"
"No Problemo…"
[]
