Disclaimer: 1.) If there is one author's note you have to read, it's the one following this chapter. Please take the time to do so when you get finished with this chapter.

2.) As a note, this time period I'm writing about in the story is a year later than the holidays of the in-show continuity. So everyone is a year older (11 to 12-ish for the kids). Sorry for any confusion; it's something that I should have said straight away.

3.) Oh yeah, and I still don't own anything.

Chapter 6 – The Thought

Phineas sat in the backseat, his gaze out the window and his mind not in the car with his body. The gift that he had spent the better part of the day working on was safely in his jacket pocket. Thank goodness it was in his right one, because the person he was planning on giving it to was sitting to his left.

The entire Flynn-Fletcher family (plus Isabella) had piled into the car, making their way downtown to the park and the subsequent party. Phineas knew that everyone in town would be there, but the final part of his plan was going to make sure he and Isabella were alone. Sneaking away from his friends was almost impossible; sneaking away from his parents was going to be an entirely different matter.

Linda parked the car, and turned to the backseat. "All right, are you four ready to have a good time?"

"Don't you mean three, Mom?"

She looked behind her seat to see Candace had already exited the vehicle, making a beeline toward the form of her boyfriend, Jeremy. "I would think that she would've at least waited for her family. How silly of me."

"Well, you know her, dear," Lawrence said, getting out of his side, "She's been worried about today for a while now. We can only hope she will still be sane in the new year."

"Sane? Our daughter?" Linda chuckled softly. "You must be talking about someone else's daughter."

They caught up to Candace, who was busy holding hands with Jeremy.

"Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Flynn, how are you guys doing?" Jeremy said with a wave of his other hand.

"Fine, fine," Linda replied. "How about yourself? Are your parents around?"

"Good. They're right over there." He pointed over his shoulder, where his parents and sister were mingling with a few of the other adults. "I didn't happen to see Mrs. Garcia-Shapiro. Is she not coming?"

"Unfortunately, no. Vivian broke her leg a couple of days ago tripping over a rampart dreidel at her company's Hanukkah party, so she's staying home tonight. I did bring Isabella with us, though. Wouldn't want to miss this, would you, Isabella?"

"Not in the world, Mrs. Flynn," the Mexican-Jewish girl answered.

"Well, Candace and I are going to walk around for a little bit. If I don't see you guys in a few, Happy New Year!" He walked off with his girlfriend, being waved off by Linda and Lawrence.

The group made their way to the center of activity, the parents waving to their friends as they passed. Phineas saw people he had only recognized in passing: fans who had shown up to see the many events he and Ferb had made to pass the time. His parents certainly seemed to know them, but the formal greetings were starting to bore him.

That's when he knew he had to act.

Phineas tugged on his mother's jacket. "Hey, Mom, is it all right if we go hang out with our friends?"

Linda looked down at her son. "That's fine, Phineas; just don't go wandering off too far. We only have about an hour left until the New Year."

He nodded his assent, grabbing Isabella's hand as he led her away from the group, Ferb following closely behind.

"Phineas, what is going on?" the girl asked. "You've been quiet ever since we left the house. Is everything OK?"

He did not immediately respond to her question, instead turning toward his brother. "Ferb, I really hate to ask you this, but can you make sure that Mom and Dad don't come looking for us?"

Ferb wordlessly nodded, giving him one of his signature thumbs-up.

"Thanks, Bro." Phineas set off through the clearing, almost dragging a baffled Isabella behind her. Ferb did not have time to think about what exactly Phineas was planning, because a shout came from his left.

"Yo, Ferbo!"

Ferb turned to see the rest of his friends walking toward him, dressed in their winter attire. Baljeet stared at the green-haired boy, while simultaneously avoiding a headlock attempt by Buford.

"Ferb, you seemed to be a little distracted this evening. Is everything all right?"

"I really wish people would stop asking that question," Ferb retorted. "It makes me feel like I should be worrying about something."

"Well, are you?"

"I'm fine, Baljeet."

Irving looked up from his notebook, missing the exchange between the Indian boy and British kid. "Have you seen Phineas and Isabella?"

"Yeah," Adyson said, "We haven't seen Isabella since earlier in the afternoon."

"They, uh..." Now it was Ferb's turn to try to think of something believable. "They went to check the display one last time. Just to makes sure that the launch didn't damage anything. But they wanted to tell you guys not to worry about it. Just relax and enjoy the last few moments of the year."

"Can't complain against that," Holly replied, stretching her arms out. "C'mon, guys, that snack bar's catching my eye."

The rest of the group followed in line towards the long table, leaving Ferb by himself for the moment. It was a good thing that everyone had believed him; he wasn't sure if some of them were going to question his alibi.

"Ahem."

Oh yeah. It looked like someone was going to do just that.

Ferb peered to his left, where Gretchen had her hand on his arm, her earmuffs entirely way too large, but only exacerbating the stern, non-believing look that she was giving him.

He sighed loudly. He hated talking this much; he found it much more sufficient to let Phineas do all of the discussion on a daily basis. Today had tired him out, that was for sure. And it didn't help that Gretchen was giving him the silent treatment, something that he was abnormally good at. "You know, I'm usually the quiet one of the group."

"Ferb," Gretchen said quietly, "Is everything all right? Really?"

He looked back over his shoulder, to the place where Phineas and Isabella had departed. It had not taken a rocket scientist to figure out a basic idea of what his brother had been planning. The secrecy, the lying, the work that Phineas had to do alone. The biggest hint had been the way he was acting around Isabella. He was more nervous, more hesitant. Perhaps he had finally seen the light about how the girl had thought about him.

Or maybe he was just going through an awkward stage.

The only thing that he knew for sure was that Phineas would not have gone through all of the trouble that afternoon for nothing. If this was indeed the night he would say something to Isabella, he was going to make sure that everything in his power would be perfect. He was scrupulous like that, almost to a fault. Too perfect, in fact, for Ferb to figure out what exactly Phineas had been making in the garage; the redhead had done such an excellent job cleaning up that Ferb's inspection before leaving for the park yielded nothing.

"Do you ever get the feeling," Ferb started, looking at Gretchen, "that something big is going to happen, and yet you have no idea what it is?"

"It is New Year's Eve, Ferb. There's probably a lot of things that are going to happen that are deemed 'big'. Even a great mind like yours can't know about all of them."

"...That doesn't necessarily make me feel any better."

Gretchen straightened her glasses and rubbed her hands together. It was clear that she was not a fan of the cold. Ferb made a note to give her some better mittens for her birthday.

"My grandmother always tells me," she said, "that one person can have all of the knowledge in the world and yet still have nothing. I suppose it was her way of saying that having too much of something is a bad thing."

"Your grandmother sounds like a smart person."

"Oh, she is," Gretchen replied, stuffing her hands in her pockets. "With a name like Minerva, I guess you would have to have some sort of sensational brainpower. Otherwise, you would need to be named after another Roman goddess."

Ferb chuckled, not believing a joke had actually been uttered from her mouth.

"The point, Ferb, is that perhaps it's better that you don't know what's about to happen. Just as I probably am not going to know what's happening tonight."

He raised an eyebrow at her, relishing the fact that he wouldn't have to talk for a bit.

Gretchen looked at him, shrugging her shoulders. "I'm worried about Isabella, that's all. She's been somewhat troubled about Phineas all afternoon. She was talking to me during the entire construction. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but I suppose she was guessing that Phineas just wanted to get the display done and over with. It did take a little bit longer than usual, with him not being there and all."

Ferb did not answer, checking around to make sure his parents were still within sight.

"They're not checking the display, are they?"

His eyes whipped back to her, startled. "What makes you say that?"

Gretchen smiled for the first time that night. "Because, Ferb, if there's two things that I know about the Flynn-Fletcher family, is that they don't go back to check things. They accomplish things the first time."

Ferb was impressed. "And the second thing?"

"They're all horrible liars."

"How did you know I was lying?"

"You...uh...sort of shuffle your feet when you're telling a lie. That's something that I...have observed." Her face was growing more pink by the second, and Ferb could tell it had nothing to do with the cold.

"So, Gretchen," he said, feeling his own face heat up, "Since you have such an observant mind, and you have evidence in front of you, what is your conclusion on what Phineas and Isabella are doing?"

Gretchen squinted, thinking hard. "Well, since you clearly stated that they're in each other's company right now, and you're covering for them so no one else would know...I would say they're engaging in some sort of romantic activity." She blew on her hands again. "As to exactly what...I don't know. Then again, I probably shouldn't know. It's their business, right?"

"Yes, that was my observation as well," Ferb agreed. "I hope that it does go well. I would think that you would be happy for her if that was the case."

"Oh, I am, believe you me." Gretchen shook her hands, trying to get some warmth into them. "I'm actually elated; it's just that these gloves are not optimally holding in my body heat right now."

"Take these."

She looked up to see Ferb offering his own gloves to her. "Are...you sure?"

"Trust me," Ferb replied, feeling a smile come across his face, "We may not have had the coldest winters in London, but they're much worse compared to Danville's."

Gretchen took them, slipping them over her hands. The difference was immediate; her fingers were instantly warm. "Thank you, Ferb," she mumbled, her blush deepening even further.

"Not a problem." He looked toward the snack table, which was currently being overrun by Buford, Baljeet and Irving trying to restrain him from eating any more. "Perhaps we should try to get some food before Adyson has to take matters into her own hands."

"Agreed."

Ferb and Gretchen made haste to their friends, but not before he took one final glimpse back toward the clearing. If he was correct (and he usually was), Phineas would need a lot more than secretive plans and lies to get through this night in one piece. Or maybe his brother knew that already. In any case, it certainly wouldn't help to send him some good mojo.

"...Good luck, Phineas," Ferb mumbled to himself. "On whatever you're doing."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Lots and lots of stuff that I want to comment on this chapter, but I won't hog this AN with more of my feelings on the content. I will just say this: Ferb and Gretchen will have their own time in the spotlight. It just won't be this story.

Anyways...slight change of plans.

If you are indeed reading this, it is either very early in the morning or you're just waking up and seeing this and thinking "Hey, that's a early update."

Well, that's because it is. Chapter 6 became so freaking long because of stuff I added in and because of time constraints, so I've decided to split it. This chapter will be the new Chapter 6, and the original second half of Chapter 6 will be Chapter 7.

Which brings up an interesting conundrum.

This is a New Year's Eve fic. Without spoiling too much, there's a point in the fic that falls on the passing on New Year's Eve, and it kind of has to fall on it. However, I'm hampered on writing time. So, it's going to be interesting to see whether I can get the amount of story I want to get done done before the RL New Year's Eve or not.

If I don't comment any further on the subject, then I got everything completed.

If I do...then...you'll know.

Read and review, if you like.