Phineas was secretly relieved that Isabella was tired of dancing. They had been dancing to duranguense, and he wasn't really understanding the concept of how to move with the rhythm. To him, it sounded like circus music. At any rate, he walked her back to the table, taking a seat and watching the crowd. After a while, he suggested, "Izzy, do you want to go outside to the garden? I bet it's lovely now."
Isabella accepted, and they walked hand in hand out the entrance into the night. He checked the time, and was surprised when it was already past 9:00. It was fairly cool in the garden, and they sat on a bench, admiring the bird's eye view of the region. The city was already illuminated, with the street lights stretching into the distance. El Paso's interstate and Border Highway, as well as it's main avenues, were outlined by the passing lights of vehicles, like veins in the midst of all the buildings and lights.
On the Mexican side of the border, El Cerro Bola had it's own lighted decoration; a rendition of Benito Juarez's* face. Alas, some of the lights were not working, and the portrait ended up looking like Bart Simpson. Nonetheless, the sheer size of the city was illuminated, stretching as far as the eye could see, even from Mt. Franklin. Phineas and Isabella were both mesmerized by the view.
They sat in silence, with Phineas grabbing Isabella around the waist. She leaned into him, enjoying the moment, her arms around his neck. She cooed into his ear, "I love you, Phineas."
He guided her chin up to his with his free hand, and pulled her in for a kiss. Their lips met for what seemed like an eternity. When she pulled away, he looked into her eyes and replied, "I love you too, Isabella. More than all the lights in this city."
She blushed at his comment, and nuzzled into his neck. Phineas felt her cheeks, warm and soft, brush against his face. He couldn't help thinking about how much he loved her. He thought about how long it had taken him to figure out that she had a crush on him, and thought about how his feelings for her had developed over the years. At first, he dismissed the feelings as a result of years of knowing her, since his childhood. He reasoned the attraction he felt for her was a byproduct of being best friends with her. Now that they were a couple, he couldn't help thinking, I was so naïve.
Phineas thought about all that happened between him and Isabella since they had become boyfriend and girlfriend. He had lost count of how many times he had hugged and kissed her. To him, kissing Isabella had become a necessity, like the need for oxygen. It was a refreshing thought, since it confirmed that he loved her to death. But the thought also unsettled him.
He said softly, "Izzy?"
She was still nuzzled into his neck. "Hmm?"
"Do you think we're moving too fast?"
She was surprised by the question, "What do you mean?"
"Our relationship. Do you think we're going too fast as a couple?"
"No, I don't think so. What do you think, Phin?"
He took a deep breath, "Like, we've been dating less than a week, and I've already lost count of how many times I've kissed you. Right now we're sitting on the bench like this. You have your arms around my neck and I have my arm around your waist. We're like lovebirds."
He allowed himself a small smile, then continued, "I mean, I really enjoy showing you how much I love you. It feels so good, and so natural - like it's meant to be. But when I used to imagine you and me together, I imagined us taking it slow, enjoying the little things." He paused, "You know me, when it comes to feelings, I'm very casual and slow-moving."
Isabella nodded in agreement, replying, "Yeah, you're very slow when it comes to listening to your feelings."
He gave her a joking dirty look, and continued, " Sometimes I can't help thinking and worrying. What if we end up moving so fast that inevitably there will be nothing new to look forward to? That everything will be so monotone that we won't - see a point in being with each other anymore. I can't even begin to…"
Isabella interrupted him, "Shh…relax." Her arms were still around his neck. She shifted them slightly and started massaging the base of his neck, knowing that this relaxed him. She kissed his cheek and said, "I have very high hopes for our relationship, Phin. I am certain that we will be together, until death do us part. I couldn't bear to be in a world where we aren't together, loving each other."
Isabella looked up into his eyes, concerned. Phineas basked in her gaze, seeing himself reflected in those midnight orbs. Being able to look upon her pretty face with nothing but love was what he lived for everyday. Right now, he returned the gaze, wanting answers to his doubts.
She kissed him on the lips, and continued, "I've loved you for years. How long have you loved me?"
He replied, "I've been crushing on you since last year. But I think I could've been crushing on you for longer. After all, I was quite naïve. I thought that I was attracted to you because we were close friends. As for loving you, I didn't realize how deeply I cared about you until this vacation."
She said, "There you go. You just found the answers to your own question. We've been crushing on each other in some form or another for a long time. We have been best friends since we first met. We know each other as good as we know ourselves. There's no hiding that we love each other very much."
He smiled, adding, "With the intensity of a million burning suns."
She giggled at his corny compliment, "See, we can't help ourselves when it comes to showing our feelings. You said that showing your emotions feels so natural and right. Well, it is natural. After knowing each other for so long, and being totally comfortable around each other, how could it not be natural to show our feelings in a such a short time span?"
He looked at her thoughtfully, "Enlighten me, Izzy."
"Well, if two people are not comfortable around each other in a relationship, they will take things way slower than they would if they already know each other like a book. A simple kiss can't happen until the couple is comfortable around each other. Or if it does happen, it won't feel right."
She paused, allowing time for Phineas to think. "You might ask why we kiss each other so much and always hug. But I think that we're blessed to be loving each other this way, this soon. It just shows that we are already very comfortable around each other and are just as comfortable kissing as anything. I don't see ourselves as going too fast. I see it as making up for lost time."
Phineas smiled and said, "Okay, I guess you're right. But what if we keep moving this fast?"
"We won't, Phin. We might know each other like a book, but there are certain things that we still have to discover about each other. You surely know what I'm referring to."
His face grew hot at the mention, since talking about the more sexual parameters of the relationship wasn't on his agenda. He said, "Whoa, I wasn't really planning on talking about that this soon."
She smiled, "Me neither. But don't worry, our relationship won't go that far yet. I personally want to keep to myself until we get married, if you know what I mean."
He nodded in agreement, "Yes, same here Izzy. I was planning on bringing that topic up sometime in the future, but I guess you beat me to it."
Isabella smiled, and replied, "Well, better to establish it now than later. I like this kind of affection though, personally. Just kissing, holding hands, hugging. I would be perfectly satisfied with this forever."
Phineas gave a toothy grin. He pulled her into a hug, and cooed into her ear, "I love you Isabella. If I could put a number on how large my feeling is, I'd give Avogadro a run for his money."
Isabella giggled, "That's the second corny compliment tonight, Phin. I just love how you can be cute and nerdy sometimes." She giggled some more at his facial reply, and added, rather seductively, "But I get turned on by a smart guy."
"Well, I get turned on by a girl that can be sweet, loving, caring, and pretty darn sexy."
She blushed, "Oh my, Phin. Now that is taking it too fast."
As he pulled her in for a kiss, he replied, "Well, it just comes naturally."
Isabella nuzzled into Phineas, her arms around his neck. He returned the embrace by grabbing her around the waist and kissing her forehead. He stared into the night sky, watching the stars and wishing for the moment not to end. Then, something caught his eye. It seemed like a flick of light, but he knew what was going to happen.
He nudged Isabella, and said eagerly, "Izzy, look. There's going to be a meteor shower."
She sat up and looked into the sky, her head leaning on Phineas'. They stared as more streaks of light, barely visible, passed over them. When the last shooting star faded into the darkness, she asked him, "Did you make a wish?"
"Yes, yes I did. What about you?"
"Of course I did. I think you can figure out what I wished for."
He grinned and replied softly, "I think I know. If we were of the age and in the place, my answer would be 'I do'."
The time flew by as they cuddled together under the night sky, talking and enjoying each other's presence. Even when the air was filled with laughter, jokes, and conversations about the most mundane things, there was an undercurrent that wasn't heard, but rather felt. It was an undercurrent of emotion that indicated that the couple really cared for each other, that each person was totally devoted to their other half, and that they would do anything to make them happy. At that instant, they were the happiest people on the face of the Earth.
Phineas checked his phone clock and let out a small gasp. "Holy crap, it's already past eleven." He couldn't believe that they had just spent more than two hours together in the garden.
Isabella was cuddled into Phineas' embrace, almost dozing asleep. She just replied a soft, "Mmm." She came back into reality from Phineas-Land, and regretted that the moment of magic ended.
He kissed her, and suggested, "Come on, Izzy. Let's go inside. I know you're just dying to dance some more."
She would have rather spent more time in the garden, but she accepted. He stretched out a hand to help her up off the bench, and they walked back inside the party hall, hand in hand.
Needless to say, they danced the rest of the night away. Fast songs, slow songs, close songs, they enjoyed it all. The party ended at 1 in the morning, with the last song being a close norteño song. As the last song ended, Phineas gave Isabella a close hug, saying almost apologetically, "It must be the millionth time I've said this, but I love you."
She smiled and kissed him, "I love you too, Phineas. I've thought that for at least a billion times today."
They helped with the cleanup of the hall, and rode home with Juan and Rosa. They arrived at the house at around 3 in the morning, and sleepily changed into their night clothes. Phineas went to give Isabella a goodnight hug and kiss, but she had already fallen asleep by then. He kissed her sleeping lips, and whispered, "Goodnight, Izzy."
He walked back to his bed, looked at her one last time, and turned off the lights, falling asleep shortly after.
In the darkness, a sleeping Isabella smiled with a world's worth of happiness.
I was kind of proud of these two chapters. What I was aiming to do is to portray the give-and-take nature of Phineas' and Isabella's relationship. Just like Phineas can comfort and reassure Isabella when she is concerned, she can do the same to him when he's in the need for reassurance. I hope that they were decently in character. At any rate, there are two chapters left in the story. I'll publish one tomorrow.
As for the "epilogue" of sorts, it won't really spoil anything important. It will just recap on what happened to Ivan (the kid from Juarez). I think I have a pretty solid idea for my next story, and hope that it turns out as cute as this one. It will be another Phinbella story, and probably my last story about the couple for a while. When that is done, I'll aim to write about the other characters, like Ferb.
Enough rambling. Reviews are appreciated, but not expected. Hang in for the ending :)