This time this chapter is dedicated to Lilly-Belle. I got both your reviews, thank you, I read Enough, Knight in Silent Armor, and Something in the Mist, and I loved them all. Thank you very much, I also screamed at your reviews.

"Phineas," Ferb said exasperatedly, not for the first time.

"What? I'm helping you pick out your clothes," Phineas said.

Ferb glared at him, then at the shirt Phineas was holding up.

The shirt with "I'M MADLY IN LOVE WITH ISABELLA GARCIA-SHAPIRO" printed on it in a truly massive font.

Slowly, Ferb began to shake his head.

He had the feeling it would be a long day.

And it was only seven in the morning, because Phineas Flynn was an absolute madman.

"You want to borrow the car?" Linda asked at the breakfast table.

Ferb nodded, while Phineas had the smuggest grin possible as he sang, "Ferb's taking Isabella out today!"

Candace sent Phineas a Look that managed to ask both "why do I have the feeling you have something to do with this" and "what have you done" at the same time.

Phineas, however, missed this, as he was too giddy over his ship finally happening.

"Oh, that's nice," Lawrence said. "Where you off to, sport?"

"The Shooting Star Milkshake Bar," Ferb answered.

"Is it new? I haven't heard of a place like that…" Linda said.

"It's in space," Candace said, a tired expression on her face as she took a sip of coffee.

Linda let out a hearty laugh.

"Good one, Candace!"

Candace just rolled her eyes and grumbled in response, which, somehow, was an improvement over her busting urges.

Breakfast went on in that calm sort of way, until Candace got up to go to work.

The moment she got there, she got roped into making a giant laser thing as Norm the giant robot made them lemonade.

(She didn't understand why her boss had a giant robot, but was not about to ask. She did not want to hear any backstories.)

"So, uh, sir, what exactly is this?" Candace asked as she tried to make sense of the unlabelled blueprint.

"It's the Illiterate-inator!" Doof exclaimed proudly, having already cobbled together a body for the giant laser.

"But why," Candace asked.

"Oh, it all started when-"

Clanking noises drowned out a lot of the words as he added the shooty bit.

"-Vanessa got herself an internship at the-"

Then it was loud blowtorch noises.

"- but she spends so much time on that one weird site! It's worrying me as a father!"

"...okay," Candace said, having no idea what was happening. "But wait, doesn't her internship need her to read files and stuff?"

Doof paused, his hammer stilling over the internal mechanisms.

"Hm. I hadn't thought of that," he said. "Oh well, let's make it so that everyone but Vanessa is illiterate! That way, no one can use the site, and she'll get bored!"

"DR D NO-!" Candace exclaimed.

He lifted his hammer over his head to get back to work, only for Candace to tackle him into stopping.

The hammer fell down to the floor, accidentally bouncing into the activation button, firing a beam off into the distance.

Isabella was kind of nervous as she walked over to the Flynn-Fletcher house, but not enough to keep her from skipping and humming happily.

Like, sure, okay, she was deeply anxious about everything blowing up in her face like her crush on Phineas did, but also, not even the most anxious of people could deny that he had asked her out after the two of them spent a day together in Paris, the city of love.

Yeah, not even teenage Candace in her worst teenage Jeremy-related panic could think that wasn't a sign of interest.

She rang the doorbell, adjusting her bow as she waited.

She had dressed up a bit with a new pleated pink skirt and white shirt, but not too much. Isabella absolutely refused to be obsessed with romancing Ferb like she had been with his brother.

Not that she really needed to try that hard, considering that he was the one to ask her out.

Just before the door opened, a giant laser hit her and the house.

Not that she noticed, because she got distracted by the sight that greeted her.

"Oh. Hi," she said flatly, her eyes going up and down Ferb's body.

"I'm so sorry," were the first words out of Ferb's mouth.

"Eh."

Ferb gestured to his outfit, then jerked his thumb over his shoulder, where Isabella could see someone peeking out from behind a wall. Though she couldn't see who it was, it was 100% Phineas. She just knew.

(The devious cackling was a good indicator though.)

"Are… are you saying that Phineas chose your outfit?" Isabella asked.

Ferb nodded, though his face was pink and he couldn't meet her eyes.

"Oh, well, it's... different!" Isabella said, making Ferb groan. She hurriedly followed up with, "But it's not bad."

Ferb stared at her in confusion.

"I mean, I like the ripped black jeans!" Isabella exclaimed. "Really makes you look like a bad boy rebel type! Suave, you know? And the shirt!"

"Um."

"I like the pattern! It's got an artsy kind of design!"

Ferb looked down at his shirt.

Instead of the giant embarrassing "I'M MADLY IN LOVE WITH ISABELLA GARCIA-SHAPIRO," it just looked like a white t-shirt with a pattern of black lines on it.

Ferb decided not to question this, instead, he was just grateful that he wasn't going around wearing that.

So, Ferb directed her to the red stationwagon in the driveway, spinning the borrowed car keys around on his finger.

Isabella laughed, saying that all it would take for him to complete the bad boy look was a leather jacket and some sunglasses.

Ferb, not one to disappoint, went back inside for a moment, before coming back with a pair of sunglasses and a leather jacket.

Isabella was reduced to a fit of giggles as she got into the car with him, before they blasted off. Literally.

(Yeah, Phineas and Ferb gave their mom's car rocket boosters while fixing it once. She mistook rocket boosting for some sort of new, gas-saving technology and never found out.)

Isabella's laughter quickly gave way to awed cheering as they left orbit.

"Wow… no matter how many times we come up here, this sight never gets old!" she exclaimed, face pressed to the window as stars zoomed past.

Ferb felt happy she was enjoying their trip so far.

So, naturally, he decided to start doing aerial stunts.

The logic was something about making the trip as fun as possible, but it was probably mostly to show off.

Thankfully, Isabella didn't get nauseous easily. So, when the car sped up, corkscrewed around a star, and twisted around Mars, well, it was one big roller coaster to her.

It was a miracle they landed at the Shooting Star Milkshake Bar with not even a scratch on the car's hood, but Isabella knew Ferb had experience pulling off miracles.

Apparently, this applied to vertigo too. When they landed, Isabella was woozy, dizzy, and wasn't sure where her stomach went, but all in a good way. Still, this prevented her from standing up straight without something to hold on to.

Ferb obviously noticed how she was holding onto the dashboard, so he grabbed her a paper bag.

"Oh, no. I'm not gonna throw up, I'm fine!" Isabella said quickly.

Ferb nodded, tossing the paper bag back in the bag. Then he unbuckled himself and got out of the car.

Isabella made to follow him, but she was struggling with locating the buckle and also the weight of her entire body. She managed to escape the seatbelt's grasp just as her door opened.

"Huh?"

Ferb silently offered her a hand, stunning her.

"I, um…"

Nervously, she let him help her up and out of the car, closing the door behind her.

"Thanks," Isabella said, moving to pull her hand back. But Ferb wouldn't let go. "Um?! Ferb?"

Several things happened at once just then.

First, Ferb locked the car with the car keys in one hand. Then, in one fluid motion, he let go of her hand to loop his other arm around her waist, pressing Isabella's body against his.

Isabella let out a squeak of shock as the car locks clicked.

"Just until you regain your balance," Ferb told her.

Isabella was too flustered to protest and enjoyed it too much to push away.

Ferb, however, was mostly focused on helping Isabella walk. It was like a firefighter carrying someone to safety, except with much lower stakes.

The aliens around them, however, immediately assumed they were on a date.

Obviously.

The two of them got to their table without a fuss, a literal four-eyed purple alien handing them the menus.

"Thank you very much, Ggobnorcjih," Ferb said, not even stumbling on the pronounciation. The milkshake bartender replied with a smile, a tip of a hat, and a "no prob, boss!"

There was just one problem, though.

"Ferb? I can't read this," Isabella said sheepishly.

Ferb examined his menu closely, before determining the problem.

He waved Ggobnorcjih over, this time specifying the English menus.

Fortunately, just before Ggobnorcjih came back, Ferb and Isabella got hit by another laser that let them read.

The explanation why, well. Five minutes ago, Candace managed to win the struggle for the Inator, forcing Doof to acquiesce to her demands. And she demanded that he undo whatever the heck he did.

"Dr. D, you seriously didn't have to make a whole new Inator," Candace said as she overlooked Doof's creation of a reversal switch. "There is a much easier way of keeping Vanessa away from that weird site or whatever."

"There is?" Doof asked.

"Yeah, you could just-" and Candace paused, because wait, no, Vanessa was her friend. She couldn't just give Vanessa's dad this info. "Hey, focus on undoing what you did! I want to see those hands moving! Chop chop, Dr. D!"

"Yes ma'am!" Doof answered, speeding up his progress.

He cobbled together a massive undo button just in time for Ferb and Isabella to read their new menus.

Of course, this meant that Isabella was now capable of perceiving Ferb's shirt as words, rather than a series of random lines. With his leather jacket draped over the back of his chair, it was the perfect opportunity to see the wording-

Had Ferb, quintessential gentleman that he was, not placed his napkin at his shirt collar to prevent stains, blocking out just enough letters to avoid the message being legible.

"You know, it's kinda funny," Isabella said as she looked through the menu. "You've got this dapper neckerchief thing paired with a t-shirt."

"Actually, I think it's more similar to a jabot," Ferb replied.

Isabella burst into laughter again, because the word jabot was incredibly funny to her.

(Had Ginger been there, she would have elbowed Isabella with a "it's not that funny." But, of course, Ginger was not there. That was the entire point of a date.)

Ferb didn't mind that Isabella was just laughing. In fact, he had the slightest hint of a smile on his face as he picked out a milkshake.

By the time Isabella calmed down, Ggobnorcjih was back to take their order.

Ferb was ready to order, but, of course, Isabella had been too distracted by jabots to choose. So, she asked what Ggobnorcjih thought.

His answer?

"Our Couple's Choco Bananza is half off today!"

Ferb was completely stunned and confused by this suggestion, because as far as he knew, this was a platonic outing with a friend for pragmatic reasons, plus, there was no way Isabella liked him.

However, his way of expressing this was a slight crease in his brow, which neither Ggobnorcjih nor Isabella noticed.

Instead, Isabella looked over at Ferb with a pleading expression and went, "um, do you… want that?"

At Ferb's continued confused stare, Isabella nervously added, "well, um, it sounds kinda good but it's not like we have to or, um, you know…"

Isabella meant this as, well, "this might be too much for a first (second?) date so like it's your call."

Ferb, however, interpreted this as "listen, I'm just as confused as you are, but this sounds like it tastes good and no one we know is around to misunderstand and think we're dating so there's no harm in it, right?"

So, Ferb ordered the couple's milkshake.

Isabella was delighted, thinking that this was Ferb going, "it is not too much for a first/second date, my sweet."

"Thanks," Isabella said as Ggobnorcjih went to make their order, an incurable grin on her face. Ferb replied with a smile and a shrug to say "no problem."

That made Ferb think that the embarrassment was worth it, though he quickly recanted that thought. Why?

Well, it turned out that the Choco Bananza included more than chocolate and bananas, it also came with a set of straws, intertwined and twisted into a heart shape.

"Oh. Um. Okay!" Isabella said, because she didn't expect that either.

Ferb shrugged, before deciding he couldn't be embarrassed if he embraced whatever was happening shamelessly. He just went ahead and started sipping.

Isabella waited, mostly because she would just explode if she sipped from a heart-shaped straw at the same time as Ferb. Ferb took this as platonic politeness, an acknowledgement that, while they were alone, together, in a date-like environment, drinking a milkshake marketed as for couple's with heart straws, that didn't mean there was romance between them. They were just trying to stop Phineas.

Ferb then realized that he never informed Isabella that he had asked her to go with him entirely to stop Phineas.

He pulled away from the milkshake to address her, but just then, Isabella spoke up.

"I'm glad I'm here with you," Isabella said, cheeks rosy as she smiled at him.

Suddenly, Ferb's voice died in his throat.

Isabella leaned forward and, without thinking, Ferb mirrored the action. She lifted one hand up to the side of her mouth as she whispered, "don't tell the others I said this, but, well, sometimes all of us can be a bit hectic, you know? But… if we're doing one-on-one, I'd choose you. A lot."

Ferb blushed, before forcibly reminding himself that this just meant Isabella thought he was a good friend. A confiant who didn't force her at Phineas.

Which sucked, because Isabella was trying (and failing) to flirt.

Ferb replied by miming zipping his own mouth shut, locking it, and throwing away the key, making Isabella laugh again.

He was beginning to think that maybe Isabella's laugh was messing with his brain, what with how his stomach was doing loop-de-loops and all.

"Thanks Ferb," Isabella said. "You're reliable. Really reliable."

She took a sip from the milkshake, before exclaiming, "wow! This tastes great!"

Ferb let out a sigh of relief, glad that the topic was changed away from things that were greatly confusing him-

"Haha, it's kind of embarrassing, sharing this milkshake with you..." Isabella admitted, diverting her eyes away shyly. "I don't know how you drank from this heart straw without getting flustered."

For whatever reason, Ferb gulped, adjusting his shirt collar, causing his napkin to fall to the floor.

Panicking, Ferb dove for it, resulting in him smacking his head into the table and landing on the floor. The jolt caused the milkshake to fall over, spilling all over Ferb.

"Are you okay?!" Isabella asked hurriedly.

'This can't get worse,' Ferb thought, before the table fell over with a huge crash, causing everyone's eyes to be drawn towards them. Even some eyeless aliens were paying attention.

'Great. Just great. Why.'

The ride back was awkward, but mostly because Isabella could tell Ferb was embarrassed about what had happened and she wasn't sure if starting a conversation would help or not.

Regardless, around the time they started re-entering earth's atmosphere, Isabella spoke up.

"Oh… if… if we went to the washroom earlier, we might have been able to save your shirt…" Isabella said blandly.

"It's fine. I hated it anyways," Ferb said honestly.

"Is your head okay?"

Ferb nodded.

"Don't be afraid to ask for help! If you're hurt we should go to the-"

Without looking away from where he was driving, Ferb took off a head-shaped safety helmet with one hand and showed it to her.

"Ah. Of course you guys are always thinking of safety first," Isabella said.

Ferb nodded once again.

There was a stretch of silence as Ferb handled, well, the car hurtling towards the ground surrounded by flames with the same exasperation one felt towards accidentally hitting the curb while parking, but he handled it as well as you'd expect.

He managed to park safely and effectively in the driveway, the two of them exiting the car without any trouble.

Ferb was willing to say goodbye and just part ways then and there, but then Isabella surprised him.

"I… I had fun! Thank you for inviting me out!" Isabella exclaimed, before grabbing the lapels of Ferb's jacket. She yanked him down roughly and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"G-guh-?!"

"See you!"

The kiss ended as quickly as it started, and before Ferb could make sense of what was happening, Isabella had already turned on her heel and ran for her house.

Ferb was left alone in the driveway, his sunglasses slipping off his face. He was blushing and incredibly confused as he gingerly touched the cheek she had kissed.

It was a soft, tender moment...

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHA I KNEW IT I KNEW IT YES I KNEW IT!"

...that was ruined by Phineas cackling behind the fence.

With a sigh, Ferb went to go burn his shirt.

"Hm," Vanessa looked upon the forums and grinned.

'My crush asked me out! And I think it went well!' posted by bow-buff

'THEY'RE DATING THEy'RE DATING THEY'RE DATING THEY'RE DATING' posted by flyfletchboy1

"My work here is done," Vanessa said proudly, completely unaware that she would be proven wrong in less than twenty-four hours.