A/N: Holy crap, how did this chapter get so long? Geez. Well, in any case, hi everybody, I'm back! Hope y'all are doing well! A quick warning from here on out. This story is going to start talking about depression and thoughts of suicide. I PROMISE YOU there is a happy ending and everything works out, but, just be warned. Take care of yourselves people. People care about you.

In any case, I hope you enjoy and hopefully the next update won't take three months.

Phineas was a wreck. What Buford said was tearing him up inside. If he wasn't the cool inventor guy, then who was he? What was the point of him?

So he worked overtime, practicing, studying, worrying, trying to find himself while accidentally losing himself in his work.

Whenever he saw Buford, it felt like a punch to the gut. He started to overanalyze what his friends said, their reasons for not being able to hang out, or even when they did hang out, he wondered if they really were enjoying themselves.

More often than not, Phineas found himself skipping lunch and spending that time in the musical practice rooms jamming out on his guitar, taking his own advice he had given Baljeet over the summer.

And of course, the bullying didn't let up. Snide comments in the hall, a shove here, a push there, obnoxious jokes during class, and it didn't seem like it was letting up anytime soon. Mr. Roberts had moved Marcus, Cooper, and Bryant after Grace had showed him the video she had taken, so Robotics was at least a little bit better. Band was good too. It was the one consistent time during the day that Phineas felt happy.

That Phineas felt… anything.

That realization startled him. He sat up from where he had been bending over his rig in the garage. He'd figured out how to work on the next part of his chair while Ferb worked quietly beside him.

Ferb glanced up at his brother's sudden pause and quirked an eyebrow.

"It-it's nothing Ferb."

Ferb looked very doubtful.

"Really. I just realized- nothing, nothing, it's fine."

Ferb shoved aside his homework and looked hard at Phineas, concern evident in his gaze.

"Phineas. You've seemed really… off recently. Are you okay?"

Phineas chuckled nervously.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know! That's why I need you to tell me," Ferb insisted.

"Really Ferb. I'm fine."

"You'd tell me if something was wrong, right?" Ferb asked.

"Definitely. I think I'm just tired."

Ferb didn't look like he quite believed him, but decided to give his brother the benefit of the doubt. He nodded and went back to his homework.

::::

That night as Phineas lay in bed, head swirling with equations and soldering techniques and that stupid voice that told him he'd never be good enough, his phone buzzed. He picked it up, not having to worry about the glare bothering Ferb since he'd changed rooms and found a text from Grace.

Hey. I don't know what's going on with you right now, but you've seemed a little down and… I'm worried about you. I just want you to know that I'm here for you and I know your friends and family are too. If you ever need to talk, I'm here.

His phone buzzed again as another text came in.

I don't know what your views on religion are, but I felt like I should share this scripture with you: D&C 121:7 My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; 8 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes. 9 Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands.

You're not alone Phineas. You got this.

Phineas didn't notice when he started to cry, but soon enough the tears were flowing. Why did he feel so terrible recently? And why did that text from Grace make him feel so loved? He flung an arm over his eyes and ended up crying himself to sleep.

::::

Phineas sat down next to Grace in robotics. "Hey."

"Hey. How are you?"

"Better. Thanks for your texts last night. They really helped." She smiled.

"I'm glad. Let me know if you ever want to talk, okay?"

"'Kay," he smiled back.

The class actually went pretty well. Their robot was coming along really well and it could now stand and move on it's own.

"Great work guys. This looks really good," Mr. Roberts complimented.

The two basked in the praise and left class in high spirits.

"Hey," Grace said. "Do you wanna hang out this weekend?"

"Sure!"

"Great! I'll text you and we can make plans."

"Sounds good. See you Grace!"

After school, Phineas and Ferb worked on his chair for a while and Ferb was happy to see his brother looking up. He really hoped it would last.

::::

Phineas couldn't wait for the weekend. He wondered what Grace's house would like. Did she have any siblings? Pets? Were her parents nice?

"Here we are," his mom said as they pulled up to the curb. She opened the door for Phineas and got his chair ready. He slid into it easily and gave her a hug.

"Thanks Mom."

"You're welcome sweetie. I'm glad to see you making new friends. Call me when you need me to pick you up, alright?"

"Alright. Bye Mom!"

His mom drove off and he wheeled his way up the driveway. The front door was located up a couple steps he knew he couldn't negotiate on his own. He was just starting to worry what he would do when the garage door opened and Grace came bounding out.

"Hi! Sorry! I was watching for you from the window. Come on in!"

He smiled at Grace's excitement and followed her through the garage and into the house. The walls were a pretty blue and her home felt warm and welcoming.

"Thanks for letting me come over," he said.

"Oh, no problem," she said and paused in the kitchen. "So… whaddya wanna do?" she asked.

"I don't know. What can we do?"

"Well… we have board games, video games, um… I have a basketball?" She laughed a bit shyly and Phineas joined her.

"Video games sound fun."

"Cool! The Wii is set up downstairs." She glanced from Phineas to the stairs, trying to figure out what to do.

"Don't worry about it," Phineas said. "If you could carry my chair down, I can just slide down the stairs."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, no worries."

In no time, the two of them were downstairs, the Wii was set up, and they were in a fierce Super Smash Bros. match.

"Come on Link, come on!" Grace cried.

"Pikachu! I choose you!"

The two laughed and bounced around the couches, getting really into the game. They played a couple rounds against each other, then on teams, and finally took a break when her dad came down the stairs.

"Grace? Oh, you must be Phineas!" he said pleasantly and shook his hand. Phineas smiled back.

"Nice to meet you," Phineas said.

"What do you kids want for lunch?" he asked. "We could order pizza."

"That sounds good," Grace said, looking to Phineas who nodded.

"Alright, will do. Have fun kids!"

The two continued playing, but at a lower intensity to allow for conversation.

"So do you have any siblings?" he asked.

"Yeah, a little sister, but she's at a friend's house today. I know you and Ferb are brothers, but do you have any other siblings?"

"Yeah, my older sister Candace. She's really cool."

"I bet."

"Any pets?"

"I wish," she sighed. "But my mom's allergic. You?"

"We have a pet platypus named Perry and he's the greatest pet ever!"

"A platypus? How did that happen?"

The two swapped stories and jokes until the pizza arrived and they continued to goof off through lunch. Before they knew it, the clock struck five o'clock and Phineas had to go home.

"Do you need to call your parents?" Grace's dad asked. "Or we can give you a ride?"

"Nah, it's fine. I think I'll go to the library for a while actually. There were some books I wanted to get."

"I can walk you there," Grace offered. "If you don't mind," she added as an afterthought.

"That sounds great," Phineas replied.

"Okay. Be safe kids," her dad said.

The air was chilly with the promise of the oncoming winter. Their breath hung in the air accompanied by their laughter.

They hung around the library for a bit before Grace had to leave.

"Thanks again for having me over," Phineas said. "I had a lot of fun."

"You're welcome. And me too. We should do it again sometime."

"Yeah! See you on Monday!"

Grace waved as she left and Phineas finished checking out his books before heading outside. The crisp air was nice and refreshing and he smiled. He'd had a lot of fun with Grace.

There was a park down the street that would make a good reading place while he waited for his mom, so Phineas headed that way-

And pulled up short when he saw who was there.

Phineas frantically tried to turn around and wheel away, but dropped half his books in the process. He scrambled to pick them up before he was noticed, but it was too late.

"Well would you look at who it is," Marcus crowed. "What brings you out here Wheels?"

Phineas finally managed to pick up his books and tried to start heading back to the library, only to be pulled to a stop.

"Not so fast there. What've you got?" Cooper snagged one of the books and read the cover. "Calculus for Dummies? Advanced Electronics?"

"Man, you're dreaming if you think you can understand those when you can't even pass basic robotics," Bryant said and the others laughed with him. Phineas snatched the book back from him.

"Look, I don't have a problem with you guys," Phineas said, ever the pacifist. "So can you please stop the bullying?"

"But why?" Marcus asked. "You can't do anything about it and it's fun, so…" He smacked Phineas across the back of the head and one of the others kicked his chair. Moving quickly, Phineas backpedaled, managing to get clear of them, and turn around, facing home. He hadn't tested these before, but now was as good of time as ever.

He pressed a button on the armrest and two small rocket boosters popped up and fired, sending him zooming down the sidewalk.

Yes! Yes! It was actually working!

One of the rockets started to sputter and then blew with enough force to throw him from his chair and send him rolling into the grass. He heard shouts and footsteps behind him.

"See what we meant?" Bryant asked. "You'll never be good enough."

The three bullies laughed and scattered his books before, mercifully, leaving him alone.

With a groan, Phineas forced himself to sit up and take stock. Besides some scraped knees and palms, he was fine. His chair was another story. One of the wheels was bent severely out of shape and the back had been twisted and burned. Mom wasn't gonna be happy about that.

It took Phineas a while to collect his books, some of which had been damaged enough that he'd have to pay for them, and by the end he was frustrated and tired and the high he had felt from being at Grace's was long gone. He dragged his chair over to him and thankfully, he had kept a spare tool kit handy.

He was working on straightening out the wheel when Jeremy drove by. He did a double take when he saw the redheaded boy sitting in the middle of the park by himself, but sure enough, it was Phineas. Wondering what was going on, he pulled over and rolled down the window.

"Hey! Phineas!" he called. The boy looked up and waved when he saw who it was. "Need a lift?"

"Actually, that'd be great," Phineas admitted.

Jeremy put the car in park and popped the trunk before heading over to help Phineas with his stuff.

"Geez, what happened?" he asked, noting the scorch marks.

"One of the rockets on my chair blew," Phineas admitted.

"Dang. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He didn't sound fine.

Jeremy put his chair and books in the trunk and gave him a piggy-back ride to the passenger seat.

"Thanks Jeremy."

"No problem. Headed home?"

"Yeah."

They drove in silence and when Jeremy glanced over as they neared Candace's house, he saw that Phineas was passed out cold. Whatever stress he was feeling when he was awake seemed to melt from his face in his sleep. Jeremy smiled fondly at his girlfriend's younger brother. He had noticed Phineas seemed down lately, a stark contrast to his normal optimism. Jeremy remembered his own middle school years and grimaced; they were definitely the toughest. He hoped they weren't too rough on his friend.

A/N: And there we have it! If you've been on my profile, you've seen that I'm a Mormon or, more particularly, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The scripture that I used in here comes from one of our books of scripture called the Doctrine and Covenants and it's one of my favorites. I really wanted to use it because I think it applies well to the situation that Phineas is in. If you're interested in learning more, feel free to PM me or check out ! Thanks for reading!