A/N 1: So this is inspired by the song All Your Life by The Band Perry. The first time I heard this song, I immediately thought of Phinabella and loved the imagery of Phineas standing in Isabella's yard dressed in a tux with a jar of fireflies under his arm. I know that if I were Isabella, I would take this song and put it on repeat, just listening to it and pining away for my guy. I never had this kind of chance with a guy I used to like, but that doesn't mean Isabella can't have her chance.
A/N 2: So while this story isn't 100% focused on fireflies like the other two are, fireflies do play a part. Hope you like it!

Would you catch a couple thousand fireflies
put 'em in a lamp to light my world
all dressed up in a tux and bowtie
hand delivered to a lonely girl
-All Your Life. The Band Perry

"Hey Isabella!" Phineas bounded up to the front stoop of the house, stopping in front of his friend, the usual smile on his face.

"Hey Phineas."

He frowned. "What's wrong? That isn't how you usually greet me; you usually sound more cheerful than that."

She shrugged. "Don't know. Guess I just feel kind of blah today. You know how you just have those days when you're down and don't know why?"

The red head blinked. "No." He studied her a moment. "Can I do something to cheer you up? I have to leave for my cousin's wedding in five, but I'm sure I can think of something that would cheer you up. It's no fun being down."

"Phineas, don't take this the wrong way, but…" she trailed off, noticing something. "Why are you in a tux?" Her cheeks pinked.

My cousin's wedding. I just told you that." He sat down on the stoop next to her. "Come on Isabella, what's wrong? You know you can always talk to me right?"

She nodded.

"Well—"

A horn honked and Phineas looked up, finding his father pulling up to the front of the house. "Come on son! Time to go!"

"Uh..." he quickly looked from the car to Isabella, holding a finger towards her. "Just a sec." He stood up, brushing the dust off his tux before jogging over to the car. "Five more minutes?"

"I'm afraid not son. Your Mother is already running late; we shouldn't be much later."

"But—" Lawrence shot his son a look and the red head held up a finger. "Hang on. I'll be right back." Without waiting for another response, he jogged back to his friend.

"Isabella, I gotta go, but I'll be back later this afternoon. I'll come over and check on you when I get home." He tugged at his shirt collar. "Dressing up stinks; I miss my shorts and t-shirt. At least I don't have to worry about getting them dirty."

"Phin!"

"Gotta go! Bye!"

Isabella gave a wry smile as Phineas ran back to the car, climbing inside. She sighed as the car pulled away. "You can always change my down mood into an up one." She stood up, trudging sadly to the front door, glancing over her shoulder before stepping inside. "But that doesn't change the fact that you don't appreciate me."

"Phin, I told you we were running late." Lawrence glanced in the rearview mirror at him.

He cringed. "Sorry Dad. I went over to see Isabella."

"Well yes, that's where I found you."

"I didn't mean to be that long. It's just…well…Isabella looked really down about something and I was trying to think of a way to cheer her up. I don't like seeing her sad. It makes me feel…I dunno, funny I guess."

Lawrence smiled. "Oh, I'm sure you'll come up with something to do for her son."

"Yeah, but what?" He turned to his brother. "What do you think Bro? What's something I could do to cheer up Isabella?" His brother went to say something, only for the red head to start again. "Wait. Where's Mom?"

"Oh, I told her we'd meet her over there. She was taking much to long to get ready; seems to have lost her earrings again."

"The smoky topaz ones or the hoops?"

"Smoky topaz."

"That's a bummer."

"Yes. I told her she looked fine without them, but she didn't seem to believe me. You know how your Mother is."

Phineas shrugged, turning back to his brother. "So Ferb, what's something I could do that would cheer up Isabella? Because seriously, I got nothing." Ferb did a facepalm. "What?" No response. "Oh come on!" He slouched in his seat, staring out the window. "I'm sure I can come up with something to cheer her up; I just need to think about it more."

"Wasn't that a lovely ceremony? Shaundra looked gorgeous." The Flynn-Fletcher family walked out of the church, stepping into the warm sunlight.

"Oh yes darling; it was a lovely ceremony." Lawrence turned to his sons. "Wasn't it a lovely ceremony lads?"

"Yeah Dad." Phineas stretched, stifling a yawn.

"Don't tell me you're tired already Phin; we're just getting to the fun part of the wedding."

"Fun part?"

"Oh yes. The wedding reception is the most fun you can have at a wedding. There's dancing, speeches by the wedding party and lots of food."

"Good, cause I'm kinda hungry."

"Well not to worry; we'll be eating soon enough."

He leaned over to his brother. "You know, there's gotta be a way to make wedding services more exciting; the last two we attended were really boring. We should—"

"Darling, where did you say the wedding reception was?"

"Down at the beach," Linda answered absently, digging around in her purse.

"See lads? The wedding reception is down at the beach, so that's even more—"

"Wait. Beach?" Phineas stopped walking, a smile creeping across his face. "That's it!"

"What's it honey?" Linda asked.

"I know how to cheer up Isabella!"

"By doing what?"

"Sorry Mom, but that's between Isabella and I. But trust me, she's going to like this." He looked around. "How far away is the beach?"

Lawrence laughed. "Haven't you been paying attention son?" He pointed to something off in the distance. "It's right down that way; we're within walking distance." He knelt down, putting his arm around the red head's shoulders. "See those white tables? They're setting up right now. See—"

"Sorry Dad; Ferb and I gotta go!" Without another word, Phineas grabbed his brother's hand, hauling him down to the beach. "Come on Bro; I'm gonna need help with this one."

"Okay, what we need is something big enough to carry a lot of sand. Something that's big, but not to heavy. Like…a bucket, or a pail…actually, a bucket and a pail are kinda the same thing, but still. Or we could—"

Ferb grabbed a jar off a nearby table, holding it up.

"No, to small. Good idea, but if we could get one that's just a little bigger…"

"How big?"

"Big enough for Isabella to stick her hand inside." He held up his hand, studying it. "Soo…something that would fit my hand, but maybe..slightly smaller? I dunno. Maybe one that fits both our hands. Something like…" he looked around, eyes lighting up. "That." He pointed across the way, motioning his brother to follow him to where the DJ was setting up. He casually leaned against a pole. "Nice jar you have there. Do you use it for anything?"

The DJ looked at him. "It's for tips."

"It's big; does it hold a lot?"

"Quite a few dollars usually." He mumbled something about under tipping before turning to his laptop. "Aren't you a little young to be wondering about a tip jar?"

"Yes, yes I am. But, I was wondering if maybe you had an extra one? Because you get a lot of tips, you probably have a backup. Or one you're not currently using."

"What's it to you?"

"It's for my friend Isabella. She's really down about something right now and I want to cheer her up. I thought filling a jar with sand so she could play with it might make her happy. But, if you don't have one to spare, that's okay; I can always find something else to hold the sand." He went to walk away, only to pause as the DJ placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Here." He held a jar out to the red head, eyes filling with tears. "You go down to that beach, get that sand and you make that girl of yours happy. Because if you don't, you'll lose her forever and one day, you'll wake up regretting the day she got on that bus."

He raised a brow. "Uh…thanks?" Phineas studied the man. "Seriously though, if you need it, it's really no trouble—"

"No, go. Go before I change my mind." He got down on his knees, weeping. "Emily…"

The red head slowly backed up, looking behind him at his brother before motioning back to the DJ. "What do you think that's about?"

Ferb shrugged.

"You're right; it probably doesn't matter anyway." He shifted the jar under his arm, making sure he had a firm grip on it before heading down toward the beach. "Come on Bro; let's go fill this thing."

Later that afternoon…

"Okay Dad, stop right here." Phineas bounced up and down in his seat, looking out the window of the car as it stopped in front of Isabella's house. "Thanks!" He climbed out, shutting the door behind him. "I'll be home later."

"Bye Phin. Have fun."

He waited until his Dad had pulled away from the curb before turning around, finding Isabella in the same place he'd left her. "You've been out here this whole time?"

She looked up at him, the faintest of smiles on her lips. "You said you'd be back this afternoon." She noticed something. "What's with the jar?"

"Oh yeah! I thought of something to cheer you up." Phineas set the jar down in front of her, unscrewing the lid. "Sand!"

"Sand?"

"Yeah! Everybody loves sand! You can shape it, mold it, let it run through your fingers..." he reached out, grabbing her hand and dipping it into the jar. He grinned. "It's warm too!"

Isabella's gaze fell to their hands. After awhile, she slowly pulled her hand out and he let go. "Thanks Phineas."

"You're not happy."

"It's very nice and the sand does feel warm but...I'm still kinda down."

"Aww..." the red head furrowed his brow in thought. "Hmm..."

"You don't have to cheer me up Phineas."

"But I want to! Seeing you sad makes me sad!" He looked helplessly at her. "I wanna make you happy. I wanna-wait." His eyes sparked with an idea. "Stay right there Isabella; I'll be back later tonight." He went to walk across the street, only to pause, looking over his shoulder at her. "I mean, you can go back inside your house if you want to. Just...don't go anywhere."

She giggled and his face lit up.

"You giggled. That's a great sign." He turned around, running across the street, calling over his shoulder. "Don't give up on me Isabella! I'll figure out some way to cheer you up!"

She waited until he was across the street before picking the jar up, screwing on the lid and walking into the house.

"Come on, just one. All I need is one and then I can catch the rest." Phineas peered into the jar in his hands, hoping to see something. "Dang." He looked up as the sliding door to the back yard opened and Ferb walked out.

"Still in your tux I see."

"Yeah. I was gonna take it off and put on my regular clothes, but I got so busy trying to do something to cheer up Isabella that I kinda forgot." Ferb pointed to the jar in his brother's hands. "Different jar. I left the other one at Isabella's."

He nodded, pointing around the backyard.

"Yeah. I've been trying to catch fireflies for several minutes now." He thrust the jar forward, catching a bug as it flew inside. "Yes!"

"Why?"

"For Isabella. The jar of sand didn't work, so I thought I'd bring her a jar of fireflies instead. Everyone likes fireflies. They're pretty happy, right?"

His brother shrugged.

"Little confirmation would be nice Bro." Phineas held the jar up, catching five fireflies at once. "Otherwise, this whole catching fireflies thing is kind of a waste."

Ferb stepped forward, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe Isabella just wants recognition?"

"Huh?" He blinked at him. "Recognition? What do you mean recognition? I know Isabella exists Bro; I talk to her everyday."

His brother held back an eye roll. "Special notice or attention. Being recognized as a person. Appreciation."

"What?" The red head held the jar up, catching several more fireflies before setting the jar on the grass, screwing the lid on and punching holes in the top. "I appreciate Isabella Ferb. I appreciate everything she does. She's one of my best friends!"

"Does she know that?"

"Of course she knows that!" He paused. "At least, I think she knows that. Doesn't she?" He studied his brother a moment. "She knows I appreciate her. Right?"

"Maybe I'm not the one you should be asking." Ferb gave the red head's shoulder a squeeze before walking back inside the house.

Phineas stared after him a moment before bending over, picking the jar off the grass. "Let's hope this works."

Isabella sat on her bed, the jar of sand in her lap. She unscrewed the lid, dipping a hand in and slowly bringing it up, watching as the grains ran through her fingers. She smiled, only for the smile to be replaced by a frown.

She screwed the lid back on, setting the jar on the night table before reaching over and grabbing her Smart Phone. She stuck the earbuds in her ears, scrolling over to a song in progress as she walked to the window, looking out over the front yard and hitting the play button.

You could be the centerpiece
of my obsession
if you would notice me at all

She laid her head on the sill. "You said it. It's not that I don't want Phineas to notice me; I do. It's just..." she sighed. "A little appreciation or recognition would be nice." She straightened up, glancing at the sky. "Is that so much to ask? I mean-"

The girl stopped, eyes widening as she noticed something towards the front of the house. Phineas stood on the front walk, still dressed in a tux, a large jar of fireflies tucked under an arm.

She yanked the earbuds out of her ears, hastily tossing the phone on the bed before darting out of the room and down the stairs, appearing on the front porch in seconds. "Phineas, what—"

"Isabella, before I go any further..." he slowly walked towards the front porch, stopping when he was a foot from her. He gently set the jar on the ground, sliding it behind him before sitting on it. "Look, I talked to Ferb and he told me-" the red head paused, shaking his head as if to clear it. "Nevermind. That's not important. But what is important is...uh... gee, I'm not sure how to put this..."

"What?"

"I appreciate you Isabella. I appreciate everything you and the Fireside Girls do, everything you guys do to help Ferb and I everyday. But more importantly, I appreciate that you're my friend and I can hang out with you and talk to you about things. You...I dunno. Make me feel special, I guess. Though I'm not entirely sure what that means."

He started, noticing something. "You're smiling." His face lit up and he got to his feet. "Isabella, that's the first time I've seen you smile all day." He grinned. "I did it, didn't I? I made you happy."

"Yes, yes you did."

He looked apologetic. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you how much I appreciated you. I thought you knew. I guess I just took it for granted. I guess-oof!" The red head grunted as Isabella hug-tackled him to the ground.

"I forgive you."

"Really?"

"Yes."

The grin widened and he reached both his arms up, wrapping her in a hug. "Thanks Isabella. Uh...no offense, but would you mind getting off me? I think you're kinda crushing my lungs."

"Oh! Sorry!" Isabella quickly rolled off him, waiting for Phineas to sit up before glancing at the jar. "What's with the fireflies?"

"You looked sad and lonely earlier; I thought they might cheer you up. You know, in case me talking to you didn't work." He pulled his knees to his chest, motioning to the jar. "So did the fireflies work? Or was it just me talking to you? Because if the fireflies didn't work—" he stopped, a slight blush forming as Isabella kissed him on the cheek.

She smiled at him. "They both worked." She laid her head on his shoulder, watching as he unscrewed the lid to the jar, setting the bugs free. "Thanks Phineas."

He didn't respond, just laid his head on top of his hers, the two watching as the fireflies soared into the night sky, dancing through the trees before disappearing on the night air.