I'm dedicating this chapter to Spazzumtard, author of lots of Ferbella and the amazing Man of Action fic. I'm a huge fan who screamed upon seeing your reviews. Thanks.

"Ferb," Isabella said slowly, head craned up at the structure towering above them. "Please tell me that that is not the Eiffel Tower. Please tell me we're not in Paris."

"It bears an uncanny resemblance to a monochrome Tokyo Tower," Ferb said.

"Really?!" Isabella exclaimed hopefully, only for a pair of people in berets eating baguettes to pass by, remarking on the awed teenage tourists dismissively.

In French.

Isabella let out a strangled scream of despair.

She did not agree to this, and frankly, Ferb didn't either.

They did, however, agree to enter a pod being launched by a catapult controlled by Phineas, though.

See, a few minutes earlier, Phineas proclaimed that their big fun activity for the day would be a massive scavenger hunt. Their means of transportation would be rocket-pods that would bring them back to Danville when enough time had elapsed.

Phineas launched Buford and Baljeet all the way to Germany, then Katie and Ginger to Egypt, and so on, and so forth, until the only ones left were himself, Ferb, and Isabella.

Ferb had been completely ready to step back and let the other two be the last pair. Barring that, he supposed the three of them could find some way to fit in the two-seat rocket pod.

But then Phineas declared that he would stay in the backyard, with the super-computer that controlled all the pods, to ensure that everyone made it back okay. Smiling, he sent Isabella and Ferb off to search for the items on their list.

And then they landed in Paris, France, right under the Eiffel Tower.

Phineas tricked them.

Isabella didn't even know Phineas was sneaky enough to pull that off!

(He wasn't. Credit for the plan could be attributed solely to Vanessa.)

Ferb, however, just shrugged and pulled out their list of items, handing them to her to read.

It took about two seconds for Isabella to start mentally screaming.

"A crêpe sucrée, crème brûlé, flowers from under the Eiffel Tower, fancy cheese, wear a beret, peruse the galleries…!" Isabella read, before screaming out loud. "HE HEARD ME SINGING?! AND STILL DIDN'T GET THAT I WANTED TO DATE HIM!?"

Ferb gave her a confused look.

"These are, uh, all things I said I wanted to do with him, that time we went around the world. You know, with the baguette boat?" she paused, continuing only when Ferb nodded. "Things I wanted to do with him, romantically, that he apparently overheard."

She could suddenly feel herself start dying inside.

"Oh goodness, he heard me."

Isabella wasn't sure whether she wanted to throttle little ten year old Phineas or bury herself in the ground, but she sure felt like screaming. Again.

The only thing that prevented her from doing so (again) was the sudden sound of machinery tinkering she knew so well.

Looking over, she saw that Ferb had started messing with the rocket pod that sent them there in the first place.

"Ferb?"

He lifted his pointer finger in response, a silent request for her to be patient. So, she waited, and before she knew it, he had managed to get the engine running and the controls going.

"Let's go," Ferb said, offering his hand to her so she could climb in.

Isabella blushed as she took his hand without thinking, buckling up in the seat next to him.

It was only after they managed to get airborne and moving that Isabella recovered enough to ask, "...Ferb, where are we going?"

Ferb, having to keep his focus on navigating the sky, pointed at a GPS embedded in the control panel. When Isabella looked closer, he was pointing very specifically at Danville.

"Huh? W-we're...leaving?" Isabella asked, before panicking. Did Ferb hate the idea of dating her so much that he was basically insta-leaving to avoid it?!

But, thankfully for her anxiety, Ferb just said, "Paris seems to be filled with bad memories."

Isabella blinked once. Then twice.

Then something seemed to click in her head.

"Wait. Is it because of… me screaming about my experience here with Phineas?"

It was only thanks to Isabella staring incessantly at him that she caught his short nod.

"W-well, it's, um, thanks!" Isabella said, a shy smile appearing on her face. "But, well… it's not like I hate Paris."

Ferb didn't answer, but Isabella could tell he was listening intently.

"It's not like we have the chance to visit Paris every day! We should sit back and enjoy it!" Isabella exclaimed, before reeling herself back in, because oh goodness, trying to tour Paris with her crush again could end so badly. "And besides! We can't just give up on the scavenger hunt, even if it is an embarrassing reminder of my dark past! Imagine what the others would say!"

Ferb paused to consider this, probably, before swerving the rocket pod around.

"So, what should we go first?" Ferb asked, making Isabella grin.

"Definitely the snacks," Isabella answered.

One stop at a cafe later, and Isabella was holding a bag full of baked delicacies, the mouthwatering scent filling the vehicle.

"Oh, this is so good!" Isabella exclaimed, stuffing her face with item one on their list. "Ferb, you need to try some!"

Ferb agreed, but also, he needed to keep his focus on steering, lest they crash into the art gallery they were going to next.

Ferb, while tempted, was too good of a driver to try snacking with one hand. So, instead, he asked Isabella to hand him something.

Isabella was flustered, obviously. His mouth accidentally brushed against her fingers when she held out the crêpe to him. Afterwards, he licked the extra sugar and cream off his lips.

She hadn't quite realized that she was going on a very long date with Ferb yet, but rest assured, she would absolutely freak out when she did.

Phineas kind of felt like a supervillain. He was seated in front of a supercomputer with lots of doodads and buttons, his pet relaxed on his lap as he overlooked the progression of his latest scheme.

Except, of course, that a friend on the internet came up with everything, the plan was romance-related instead of like, blowing up the world or something, and, of course, Perry was not a cat, but a platypus.

"I feel like you've been hanging around more lately," Phineas said to his monotreme friend. "Too bad Candace isn't around to see it."

Perry gurgled in response.

It was a perfect moment of peace and quiet, which was why it promptly shattered when Phineas' phone went off.

Phineas picked up the phone, saying a polite "hello?" when-

"PHINEAS WHERE ARE YOU," Candace screamed.

"Hi Candace! I'm at home with Perry-"

"Okay. Okay," Candace said, sounding frazzled and panicked. "Please explain why the giant magnet thing I made with my boss has Buford and Baljeet in a rocket thing attached to it."

"Oh, we sent them to Germany for a scavenger hunt," Phineas answered. "Why did you make a giant magnet thing?"

"I. I don't know," Candace said. "But Buford and Baljeet are stuck to it."

"Tell them to pull the big red lever in their control panel."

"Okay," and Phineas heard her relay those instructions to the pair, before returning to the phone. "What does that do?"

Phineas could not answer, because then, the sound of super rocket boosters drowned out all other noise. Then he heard Candace go, "HEY!? YOU CAN'T JUST TAKE THE MAGNET WITH YOU?!" and then some pharmacist's voice went "CURSE YOU, RANDOM TEENAGERS!"

"Huh, they must be having fun," Phineas said, before hanging up.

By the way, in the time it took for them to do that, Isabella and Ferb got kicked out of the library.

(Technically, it was just Isabella who got kicked out, but Ferb left in solidarity with his friend.)

See, it took one and a half floors, three exhibits, and four interesting facts from Ferb for Isabella to realize, leaping lizards, the thing she was participating in was exceedingly similar to a date.

Yes, she was aware that Phineas had been attempting to do such a thing, but that didn't mean she thought Ferb would cooperate.

But, well, he got a map of the museum and pointed out certain interesting exhibits to her. He listened to her gush about how pretty the paintings looked, told her some fun facts about artists, and followed after her as she flitted from piece to piece.

Isabella realized it when, in her excitement, she grabbed at his sleeve with one hand, pointing at another painting with the other. With her hand in the crook of his elbow and his soft smile as he prepared to follow her, it began to look as if they were on a date.

Isabella did not take this realization well, by the way. Also, it turned out that museums banning yelling was a worldwide thing, so, again, kicked out.

Afterwards, they just got back in the rocket pod and went to check off the last bits on their list.

Fancy cheese was technically covered by one of the baked goods they had gotten earlier, and for some reason, there was a beret in the glove compartment, so, there was only getting flowers from the Eiffel Tower left.

"We really should have gone after the flowers first, huh…" Isabella said, munching on a cheese croissant.

Ferb shrugged in response, creating a bit of a stretch of silence.

And normally, this would be fine, except Isabella just realized they were kinda maybe sorta-ish on a date.

So, she spoke up.

"Did… did you like being in Paris, Ferb?" she asked shyly.

Another shrug.

"Oh," Isabella said flatly. "...I liked it."

Ferb had to focus on piloting, so he kept his eyes ahead. Isabella didn't even know if he was listening, but she just kinda started rambling.

"I mean, this bakery is really good. And I liked the paintings. I kinda wanted to check out some of Paris' monuments, but they're not on the list. It would be nice to go again, without the… list."

'Good job, that was terrible!' a voice exclaimed in Isabella's mind.

'Shut up, pharmacist!'

"...that's a relief."

"Huh?" Isabella asked, Ferb's quiet voice bringing her back to the present by force.

"I thought that you'd be… sad, remembering your last time here," Ferb admitted.

"Eh?"

Ferb took one hand off the steering wheel to gesture at the interior of the rocket pod, as if saying, 'why else would I fix this up?'

"O-oh! You didn't… you didn't have to!" Isabella exclaimed. "I mean… I lov- liked spending time with you. I didn't even remember that stuff." She took in a deep breath to calm down her fluttering heart. "Thank you."

Ferb paused for a while. Isabella didn't think he was going to respond, but then…

"You're not the only one with bad memories of this place."

"...huh?"

Ferb didn't clarify and didn't seem like he was going to, forcing Isabella to think back on that trip years ago. When they were in Paris, the excitement of being with Phineas and ensuring disappointment took up most of her focus, but she vaguely remembered the group they were in.

Obviously, there was Phineas and Ferb, then her, Candace, Buford, and Baljeet, but… wasn't there someone else?

She suddenly remembered the feeling of snapping a pencil in two.

Phineas had said something to Ferb, something about how he thought a boy, a girl alone in the city of love was bound to make romance happen, infuriating Isabella. That required a girl that wasn't Isabella herself or Ferb's sister. And the more she thought about it, she kinda remembered a girl like that.

"That girl!" Isabella exclaimed with a snap of her fingers, before her voice became doubtful. "Uh, what was her name again? The one that Candace is friends with, um, Valer….ie? Vicky? Vuh…."

"Vanessa."

"Oh," Isabella said, startled by his voice. "Vanessa… um… what happened with her?"

Isabella regretted her question the moment she asked it, not knowing if Ferb was okay with her knowing, or if he would even answer.

She was amazed when she heard Ferb speak up once again.

"Vanessa was talking about her troubles with her father. I gave her advice, so they reconciled and went off," Ferb said.

His voice seemed calm, but…

"That seems like a good thing, right? You helped her."

The Eiffel Tower appeared in their view once again, causing Ferb to sigh.

"I was trying to woo her," he added. "She was… my first crush."

Isabella's eyes widened.

"...oh," she said quietly.

They were silent as they kept going, the Eiffel Tower growing closer by the second.

"So much for the city of love," Isabella said with a bitter laugh. "Seems to me like it was just full of heartbreak for the two of us."

She sighed and nibbled on her croissant half-heartedly.

"No."

Isabella looked to Ferb, but he lifted one finger in response. She waited patiently as he parked the rocket pod, before he turned to her and continued.

"I had fun with you today," Ferb told her with a small smile. "That has to make up for at least some of the pain we felt, right?"

Isabella was a hundred percent staring, still holding her croissant, and still had some crumbs on her face, by the way, so she was totally unprepared for that sort of line with that sort of smile from Ferb.

Blushing bright red, she almost choked and died to a baked good.

Thankfully, she didn't, but that didn't stop Ferb from being concerned for her. So, instead of going to grab the flowers together, Ferb went to get the flowers himself, along with some water for Isabella.

The moment he wasn't looking, Isabella opened the glove compartment and grabbed the beret. She pressed it over her mouth as she screamed, because pining for one of your best friends was terrible and difficult and awful.

Of course, Ferb had no idea, because the moment he approached the rocket pod, she covered up her crime by putting on the hat and pretending she had done absolutely nothing in his absence.

His thumbs-up at her new accessory should not have sent her into a coughing fit, but it did anyways. Thankfully he had the water on-hand.

'It's gonna be a long ride home…' Isabella thought as she drained the contents of the water bottle he gave her.

"Oh, you're back early! How was it?" Phineas asked as Isabella and Ferb exited the rocket pod onto the backyard.

Isabella and Ferb exchanged a glance. Ferb gestured at Phineas, then to Isabella, but Isabella shook her head. Then, she pointed at Ferb insistently.

Phineas had no idea what that meant, but Ferb walked over to him and dragged him to the living room.

"Well? Did your date go well?" Phineas asked.

Ferb gave him an exasperated expression.

"What? She likes you! I know it! Just trust me!"

Ferb took in a deep breath, before saying, in a very, very tired tone, "Phineas…"

"Listen, you just gotta believe me! If you ask her out, then she's obviously gonna say yes!"

"..."

"Don't give me that look! It's not gonna be a platonic thing! She likes you!"

"..."

"I don't understand how you aren't seeing this!" Phineas exclaimed in frustration. "She obviously likes you! Ferb!"

Ferb's expression remained unmovable.

"Just…! Just ask her! Trust me! Please! For my sanity!"

"...if I do, will you stop with these crazy schemes?"

"Yes," Phineas said, completely meaning it. Because, if Ferb asked her out, they would obviously start dating and his assistance would no longer be necessary.

Ferb sighed, before going, "alright."

He then went back into the backyard, where Isabella was still waiting for her turn to go 'Phineas what the heck are you doing.'

"Isabella. Would you like to go grab a smoothie with me tomorrow?"

Isabella's jaw dropped.

Phineas was stunned.

flyfletchboy1: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! HE ASKED HER OUTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!

Vanessa's jaw dropped too.

Bonus:

"Huh, you worked for Dr. D too, Buford?" Candace asked.

"Yeah, it only lasted one day, though," Buford answered.

"WILL EITHER OF YOU TWO HELP?!" Baljeet screamed as he and Doofenshmirtz tried in vain to pry the rocket pod from the magnet, only for the crowbar to get stuck too.