Isabella had many good qualities.

For one, she was kind, overall at least. Perhaps it was true that she had her snippy side, but it was fairly rare, and typically only came out as a result of being provoked.

Beyond simply sweet, however, Isabella was known for her courage, her strength, her determination. She was a loyal friend and an admired leader, a tender heart with a flaming touch.

With all of these high quality attributes, it was sometimes easy to forget that there was one virtue that Isabella lacked since her childhood; patience.

Phineas recalled too many times when his friend had glanced up at him with her large, pretty eyes, ever hopeful, whispering a silent pleading, "Now?"

He'd smile and feel his gaze soften, giving her an unspoken refusal, "Not yet."

She'd sigh and direct her eyes away from him, disappointed, but would soon bounce back and allow herself to just enjoy their moment together in the warm embrace of the summer sun, and really, this was all Phineas wanted. He was young boy, and though he was never one for living life inside the coloring lines, he couldn't help but desire the structured plan that had been laid out for him. For young boys were meant to do one thing; have fun. They were meant to play in mud and grin at the reactions of their older sisters, to gorge on sweets and promise their brothers not to tattle to mom, to let their minds soar and expand, going anywhere and everywhere their adventurous spirit may lead them.

Eventually, their adventures would change. Their thoughts would have to begin mulling around ideas that affected more than just their personal pleasures, they would have to step into an area of life where their actions could and would influence the lives of those around them for better or worse. Having fun would someday become secondary, only to be pushed down to third, and continue dwindling down the list of personal responsibilities as young boys grew older and became men with wives and children. For some boys, this change was welcomed and snatched at the earliest opportunity, eager for the benefits that hitch along with the extra weight of maturity, for there were plenty of good things that came from growing up, of which Phineas was well aware.

Even so, he was not going to race towards this change any sooner than he had to. The responsibilities that he would someday take were inevitable, they would be waiting for him whether he sprinted towards them or walked leisurely, and Phineas found that life was much more enjoyable when a person took the time to truly appreciate the path they strolled on. So for now, he walked his way in life, living by each day, enjoying his childhood to the fullest before it was nothing but a memory.

Isabella, on the other hand, did not. She didn't so much run to her future, but more like skipped, dancing and twirling her way into the areas of adulthood that appealed to her, all the while trying to grab Phineas's hand and convince him to take the leap along side her.

He had to admit; sometimes the offer was very tempting.

The young and pretty girl he had come to know didn't necessarily think of their step towards romance as an exit from her childhood, but rather as an extension of it, something that could co-exit along their days of summer frolic and innocent games, and Phineas allowed this to a certain extent. A smile here, a look there, a regulated amount of hand holding; all this was an acceptable amount of romantic involvement that wouldn't disrupt the flow of their childhood.

Isabella, however, wanted more.

She wanted confessions of true love, declarations of commitment, promises to be together forever. Isabella wanted to write an equation to lead specifically to marriage and nothing less, and, in all fairness, Phineas had written it out for her. He was certain that someday, they would experience love together, that she was a person he was likely able to make a commitment to, and would ultimately become her husband until death parted them. The result was not what Phineas and Isabella constantly disagreed on; it was the equation itself, for Isabella could not seem to grasp, did not want to grasp, the idea that such a formula was long and intricate and could not be skipped or skimmed over.

If they were to create a lasting, romantic relationship together, they would need a strong foundation. A person could not expect a building to stand for long if they built it on the soft ground; they first needed to lay out the concrete flooring. Phineas had seen what exactly an unstable base did for a relationship, and with one look into Ferb's sometimes sullen expression, knew how it could spread to affect more than just the two people involved.

So he waited, and would continue to wait for years to come. Love was a process, he'd come to determine, and required certain steps to build endurance. Phineas realized that he would have to create a deep friendship with Isabella; they had accomplished that for the most part. He also knew, with a certain amount of discomfort, they would need to learn how to be part of a romantic relationship, what they wanted out of their partners and how they wanted to be treated.

This was the step Phineas was not looking forward to, as it meant that they would likely have to date other people before finally coming together. Relationships between two people with no prior experience had a statistically lower chance of lasting than those who did, and so Phineas had determined that, someday, he'd get a girlfriend. He would have to push Isabella to get a boyfriend as well, but he preferred not to think about that too often.

Then, when they were both in their prime state of emotional maturity, Phineas would steal his Isabella back. He knew he could, and once he did, they would be able to enjoy each other the way Isabella had always dreamed they would.

For now though, Phineas waited, with all the confidence in the world that it was worth the wait. He'd work the equation step by step, without missing a single calculation, and someday it would finally happen. Isabella would look up at them with those big, pretty eyes, and silently ask the same questions she asked day after day.

'Now?'

He would smile and look down at her, and his answer would be the start of a whole new equation as he would silently answer her most persistent request.

'Yes.'

I'm currently trying to finish up 'Speak Now' and lacking the motivation/inspiration to finish it, so I looked through my old stories that I haven't finished. There are two in particular that I'm really eager to finish, but this one just needed another paragraph and it was really done, so I figured I'd post it up!

Don't worry: I'm forcing myself not to really write anything else until 'Speak Now' is complete! I have a horrible habit of starting stories and never finishing them, so I'm whipping myself out of that! (trying to, at least...)

Enjoy =)