A/N: Guess who's back!

Hey yall, thanks for waiting for me. I had the most stupendous time on my mission in Alabama, but I am happy to be back. Just in time for school! Yay! So, I figured I'd slam yall with some updates before life gets crazy again, but, I love you, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT! You guys are the best!

And without further ado:

"You sure about this?" Ferb asked as they approached the school doors. Phineas nodded, looking determined.

"Yeah. I've got to. Besides, it's a new quarter. Don't want to get behind already," he said, giving a wane smile. "At least we have science together now."

"Yeah. I'll text you throughout the day, kay?"

"Don't worry. I'll keep my phone close by."

The two brothers parted ways to their respective classes. Sure enough, Phineas got a text from Ferb every period, either checking how he was feeling or just sending him a funny picture. He responded to each one in turn, varying between casual inquiries and complaints about class or with a single emoji.

The day seemed long, but eventually lunch rolled around. Phineas dropped a couple of books off at his locker, slammed it shut, and beelined for the music room.

"Phineas!"

He turned around and saw Grace running up to him.

"Hey! You headed to lunch?"

"I'm not really hungry. I was gonna head to the practice rooms. Don't you have first lunch?"

"I did, but it switched at the quarter. Mind if I join you?"

"Oh, yeah! Sure."

"Sweet," she smiled. "I'm gonna grab some lunch really quick, then I'll meet you there."

Phineas waved, then wheeled away with, if you'll pardon the expression, a bit more skip in his step. He got his guitar out and had just finished tuning it when there was a knock on the door and Grace came in carrying not one, but two plates of pizza.

"Here. I got you some too," she said, passing him a plate.

"Wow! Thanks Grace, but you didn't have to," he said, ignoring how his stomach was rumbling and mouth was drooling. Maybe he'd been more hungry than he thought.

"It's no problem," she said around a mouthful of pizza and quickly swallowed. "Whatcha practicing?" she asked.

Lunch passed far too quickly for their liking and before they knew it, they were off to robotics. They got there a bit early, seeing as class hadn't let out for those with first lunch yet, and Phineas noticed that Grace suddenly seemed nervous.

"What's wrong?" he asked as they sat down.

"Phineas, can I tell you something?"

"Sure." He was confused by how serious she sounded all of a sudden. She took a deep breath and said,

"When I was seven, I had this cousin that I was really close to. One day, he and his family were over to visit and- and something was off. He looked so… broken," she finally said. "So sad. It was kind of scary. The next week, we found out that he committed suicide." Phineas' heart dropped to his stomach. "I don't want to assume anything and you don't have to tell me anything, but when you left the other day you had the exact same expression on your face and it terrified me Phineas. So, just know that, whatever you're going through, I'm here and you can talk to me. So, yeah." She nodded, evidently feeling nervous after such an admission, and waited to see Phineas' reaction.

"Thank you Grace," he said quietly. "That means more than you can know." He reached into his backpack and pulled out the note from Friday and passed it to her. He told her what had transpired, but quickly reassured her that he was getting help.

"I'm so glad you're okay Phineas," she said. Her gentle words were at odds with the white knuckled grip she had on the paper. "You need to tell someone about this. This isn't just bullying, this is criminal."

"Really?" She nodded.

"I read about it somewhere. And when those three punks show up they are going to be sorry like you wouldn't believe," she growled.

"Grace-"

"Well look who's still here."

Phineas hated how he immediately shrunk into his seat, but he couldn't help it. Grace turned to look at the three boys walking in and if looks could kill, well, they'd be dead.

"I'm surprised you're still here Wheels. After you left on Friday, man, I thought for sure-" Marcus was closer now and as he reached to place a hand on Phineas' shoulder, Grace was suddenly out of her seat, faster than Phineas expected, there was a sickening crunch, and Marcus screamed.

"That's what you get for bullying my friend!" Grace shouted. Marcus nearly fell over the chair as blood and tears streamed down his face. The other two stared in a mix of horror and awe between their friend and Grace. A group of students entered the room, took one look at the scene, and then ducked back out. Mr. Roberts rushed in, looking worried, right as Marcus cried, "Why you little-" and lunged at Grace.

"Hey! Hey! Break it up!" he yelled, pulling the two apart.

"She started it!"

"You filthy liar!"

"Hey!" They quieted at Mr. Roberts bark. "You two," he said, turning to Marcus' friends. "Escort Marcus to the nurse and then all three of you wait in the principal's office for me." Grudgingly, the three boys left, throwing dirty looks over their shoulders the whole way out. Mr. Roberts sighed.

"Now you two. What happened?"

Grace looked at Phineas; shaking just a little bit, he picked up the note from their desk and handed it to their teacher.

"Marcus gave me that note on Friday. I told Grace about it today-"

"And I punched him."

Mr. Roberts read the note, eyes getting wide, but over all doing a good job of hiding his shock.

"I see. Thank you for telling me." He pulled up a chair and sat down heavily. "Phineas, I'm so sorry this happened. How... are you doing?"

"Well, y'know," Phineas laughed sardonically. "I've been better." Gosh dang it. Why, finally, after this whole disaster of a weekend, did he want to cry now? "I'm getting some help," he said.

"How long has this been going on?" Mr. Roberts asked.

Phineas shrugged. "Since the beginning of the year. That one time you found me outside was when things really started to get bad."

"I'm sorry I haven't done more," he said, and really, truly meant it. But, he could make sure this never happened again. "Thank you for telling me. And I'm assuming," he said, looking at Grace. "That you know that violence is not the answer."

"Yeah..." He nodded, accepting that as that she had learned her lesson.

"Good. Phineas, would you mind staying after school and we can talk more?"

"Sure."

"Thank you. I'll send in someone to cover for me until I get back from the office. If you two want to stay here or want to walk around for a bit or something, feel free."

"Thank you Mr. Roberts."

"No problem." He stood and placed a supportive hand on Phineas's shoulder before leaving.

"Thanks Grace," Phineas said.

"Of course. You're my friend and I care about you. So... do you wanna stay here? Or go for a walk or?" Phineas thought for a moment.

"Let's go to the practice rooms."

A/N: tada! More to come soon! basically I just needed a place to end this so I could get it up haha. Hope you enjoyed! I love you all! And remember, reviews make the world go round!