The Huddle

Django hadn't thought it possible to feel like a third wheel among a group of guys, and yet here he was feeling completely out of place sitting with his friends in a booth at a pizzeria of all places. To his right, Phineas sat scribbling away in a notebook; no doubt writing down potential big ideas to try to sketch out further with Ferb later. Immediately across from him, Baljeet was reading a rather worn copy of Stephen Hawking's "A Brief History of Time" for what he claimed was the tenth time. Finally, next to Baljeet sat Ferb reading an extremely worn copy of "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card. Django didn't bother asking how many times Ferb had read the book, as it was clearly a favorite of his.

"Does a day go by when you three don't get your nerd on," Django asked, leaning his face onto his left hand as he looked at them.

"We actually don't get many chances these days," Baljeet replied without looking up from his book. "It's hard to get any reading done when our girlfriends are around."

"Or brainstorming," Phineas added as he turned to a fresh page in his notebook. "Anymore, every time I pick up a pencil when Isabella's around I get dirty looks from her."

"You're getting one from me right now," Django told him, narrowing his eyes at his red-haired friend.

Phineas didn't even register him as he continued writing. "No offense, dude, but you've got nothing on Izzie there."

"The truth of it is, we're all quite enamored of our girlfriends," Ferb said, briefly putting his book down to actually look at Django as he spoke. "But on such an occasion as a summer day when we don't get to spend time with them, we do like to fill the time with some old pastimes. It's nothing against you, mate, really."

Just then there was a chorus of growling stomachs from all four of them at the table.

"Plus, doing these things helps keep our minds off the fact that we're all positively starving," Ferb added.

"There are other ways we could accomplish that, you know," Django said, folding his arms as he sat up now. "I gotta say, since I got back and got up to speed on things I've been more than a little curious about how things are going for you guys."

"What do you mean by that," Baljeet asked, now putting his book down as well.

"Well, like what base you guys are all on," Django told him.

"Base," Phineas repeated questioningly, having tucked away his notebook finally.

Django nodded to him. "Yeah, y'know, first base, second base, and so on."

The gallery of blank stares he was getting told Django clear as day that none of them had any idea what he was talking about. He sighed heavily and re-thought his approach.

"They're metaphors for how far you've gotten with a girl," he told them directly.

"Ohhhh," all three of them said in unison. They then all stopped as they also simultaneously realized what Django was asking them. "WHAT?"

Django almost fell out of the booth from their combined shout at him. He hushed them all again and ushered them to lean in towards the table together.

"Guys, seriously," he told them in a slightly quieter tone. "There's no need to overreact. I'm just honestly curious is all."

"It's not something we exactly talk about amongst ourselves, dude," Phineas told him.

"All the more reason to do so now since we're in the huddle," Django replied.

"The huddle," Baljeet asked. "Is this another of your metaphors?"

Django shook his head at him. "Look, 'Jeet, we're all huddled up together now, right? Like in football, only without the overrated macho game. When we're in the huddle, it's private talk time. What gets said in the huddle stays in the huddle. Okay?"

"Well…I guess," Baljeet said, tentatively.

"That's all well and good, but do you mind explaining all this base talk now," Ferb asked. "For the life of me, despite having lived in this country most of my life I've never heard of it."

"It's really simple," Django said as he set to explaining it all. "The higher the base means the further you've gotten. First base is just straight-up kissing. Second base is…well, let's just say it's a little more touchy-feely if you get me."

"What about third base," Baljeet asked.

"I think we'll leave that one out for now," Django said after a moment of thought. "If you guys are having to ask me what this stuff means, then I seriously doubt any of you are that far along."

"Okay, so who's going first," Phineas asked.

"You asked, so you go man," Django told him. "Honestly, you and Isabella are the ones I'm keenly curious about."

"Sorry to disappoint, then, but we're very much on first base," Phineas told him quietly.

"Aw you're kidding!"

"Nope. Isabella's pretty conscious about that kind of stuff. As much as she wants to have kids someday, she definitely doesn't want it to happen as long as she's got the word 'teen' somewhere in her age. And I'm cool with that. It's not like kissing isn't fun by itself anyway."

"Color me surprised. I would've guessed she'd be all over you."

Phineas stopped himself short of talking about his experiences with Isabella's reaction to him speaking Spanish, as well as withholding the details of the encounter at the pool the day they'd met up with Django again. Some things were better kept private no matter how close he was to him as a friend.

"How about you, 'Jeet," Django asked, turning to him next. "Is Ginger secretly a Japanese love goddess?"

"I'm also on this first base, as you call it," Baljeet replied. "But I'm pretty sure Ginger has a schedule somewhere for when she figures we will take things to the next step."

"Dude, you talk like your romantic life for the next couple of months is already planned out."

"More like the next eighteen months. It's quite comforting to know where we're headed and when we'll get there, I can tell you that. She's truly a one-of-a-kind girl."

"Yeah, thank goodness for that," Django said, suddenly horrified by the truth of what Baljeet and Ginger's romantic life was like. "Well, that's two first bases. My guess is you're sitting in the same place, Ferb."

"Er…yes," Ferb said quickly as his eyes wandered over to the window and away from the other guys. "Very boring. Nothing worth talking about here."

All three other boys at the table blinked several times in silence at Ferb's rather blatantly obvious attempt to avoid the topic.

"Okay that didn't sound suspicious at all," Django said, looking more intently at Ferb now. "And by that I mean totally suspicious."

"I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about," Ferb said, still avoiding Django's gaze.

"Dude, Ferb, you're kidding right," Phineas asked, suddenly intensely curious as well about the matter.

"It's only fair to tell us, Ferb," Baljeet added. "Remember, this is the huddle, like Django said."

"Absolutely right," Django said emphatically. "None of us will breathe a word of this to anyone else."

Ferb sighed heavily. "None of you are going to let me get away with not talking are you?"

All three other boys shook their heads at him as they leaned in even closer. Ferb shrunk back a bit and avoided eye contact with them all as he spoke again, quietly.

"Second base. At least I think."

"When did it happen," Phineas asked, unaware of the mad grin on his face now.

"Only just recently," Ferb told him, his face getting redder by the second. "And it was sort of an accident, at least to start."

"Details, man," Django said, egging him on. "Details!"

Ferb sighed again and briefly looked around, wishing their pizza would have arrived by now. With no sign of food on its way he resigned himself to his fate and began to recall the event.

"It was two days ago. I had gone over to Gretchen's house to help her mother with some yard work…"

Two days earlier…

Ferb sat on the front step of the Adler home coated in sweat and dirt. He was leaning back on his arms, which were locked at the elbows to keep him upright. A builder though he may be, a landscaper he was not. Still, when Gretchen had called him the previous day asking on her mother's behalf for his help fixing up their flower beds, he simply could not refuse.

"Here we go," Mrs. Adler said as she emerged from the house with a tall glass of lemonade. Mrs. Adler was quite a bit older than Ferb's mother, but it was clear to tell Gretchen was her daughter as they still looked somewhat similar. She was still a bit taller than her daughter, and her hair was longer and had several gray streaks in it. "Drink up, honey. It's the least I can offer for all your help."

"My pleasure, Mrs. Adler," Ferb said, gratefully taking the drink and immediately guzzling half of it.

"Gretchen is inside making some more up, so don't hesitate to get some more if you want it. I'm going to head to a nursery I'm fond of that's across town to get some more marigolds. I should be back in an hour, give or take."

"I'll be sure to stick around so I can help some more."

"Thank you again so much, Ferb. At least the really hard work is done now, though. Feel free to take a shower too if you like. I know it can go a long way to making you feel human again after doing so much work."

"I think I may do just that if it's alright."

"Of course, dear. You two take it easy, I'll be back in a while."

Ferb finished his lemonade off and waited until he saw Mrs. Adler pull away from the house before he tried standing up. He could already feel where his muscles were beginning to tense and knot up. A hot shower was definitely sounding like a good idea. He left his dirty shoes at the door and made his way through the house slowly, passing by Gretchen who was just about to put the freshly made lemonade in the fridge.

"I never thought I'd see you look this exhausted," she commented as he made his way through. "I thought you and Phineas could do just about anything without breaking a sweat."

"Yes, well, as I have now discovered firsthand building things and landscaping are two completely different beasts," Ferb told her as he put his empty glass down. Gretchen immediately refilled it, adding a couple of ice cubes to it from the freezer.

"There you go. Enjoy."

"You are a life saver," Ferb said, taking another long drink from the glass. "Your mother said I could take a shower, so I think I'll do that if that's alright."

"Fine by me, I'll get you another refill while you clean up. And don't worry; I won't come peeking in on you."

Ferb was about to respond in a similarly witty manner when he felt muscles in his back begin to twinge slightly. He winced as he stopped walking momentarily, which caused Gretchen some alarm.

"Hey, you okay sweetie," she asked with concern.

"Just getting a bit stiff and sore," he told her, managing a smile nonetheless. "No good deed goes unpunished, eh?"

Gretchen frowned at the comment as Ferb forced himself to move a little quicker, heading upstairs to the bathroom for his shower. He didn't take a particularly long shower, not wanting to use too much of the family's available hot water, but by the time he finished he did feel significantly better. Cleaned and re-dressed in his work clothes, Ferb returned to the kitchen where he promptly downed the once again refilled icy glass of lemonade that had been waiting for him. He then walked to the living room where Gretchen was watching something on TV, though it was clear she was fairly disinterested in the program. She got up as soon as he entered the room and pointed to the sofa.

"Lay down," she told him. "Face down."

"Okay," he said curiously. "What's this about, then?"

"I'm going to work out some of those sore muscles in your back before they get too bad."

"It's really not all that bad, Gretchen."

"Just humor me, please Ferb? I couldn't stand that look you had on your face earlier when it was bothering you that badly."

Ferb shook his head and conceded, lying face down on the couch with his head turned away from the TV. Moments later he felt Gretchen's hands on his back, at first gently touching and exploring to find the bad spots. He let himself relax as she carefully rubbed and caressed his back with her hands. After several minutes he felt her stop and assumed she was done with her work until he then felt her weight pressing down on him as she hugged him as best she could from where she knelt next to the sofa.

"Gretchen, are you alright," Ferb asked, turning his head to look at her.

"I just feel a little bad that you had to work so hard at all that stuff," she told him as she sat back on her knees. "However bad you might feel now, I know for a fact it's going to get worse tomorrow. Lactic acid is nobody's friend."

Ferb sat up slowly and took her hands in his. "I'm the one who agreed to it, so I can hardly blame you. Besides, your father has back problems doesn't he? He'd be far worse off than I am if he'd been the one to do all of that. I'm happy to have been a help to your family."

"I know my folks appreciate it, and I'm sure they'll tell you themselves too. I appreciate it too; like you said, it would've been even harder on dad. Still, I hate to see you suffering because of something I asked you to do. I just want to do something nice for you in return."

"Well, I wouldn't mind some company here on the sofa. We could just relax until your mother gets back with the flowers. That is, if you don't mind of course."

"Curl up with my boyfriend on the sofa," she asked, smiling through her blushing. "I would like nothing better. Scoot over."

Ferb moved over and Gretchen quickly sat down next to him. She leaned against him as he moved to slide his arm around her midsection, which was something he'd only recently begun doing. Ferb sighed contentedly, closed his eyes, adjusted his hand up to what he thought was her stomach, and pulled her closer as he began to relax. He didn't register the tiny gasp that came from Gretchen as he squeezed her.

"Uh, Ferb honey," Gretchen said, voice trembling slightly.

"Something wrong," he asked. "Are you not comfortable?"

"No I'm fine, it's just…um…where do you think your hand is?"

"On your stomach."

"You might want to check again…"

Ferb opened his eyes, looked down, and panicked. His right hand was curled around her right breast instead of resting on her stomach as he'd intended. He felt both physically and mentally paralyzed by the blunder. As he stammered unintelligibly trying to simultaneously apologize and explain himself, Gretchen merely placed her hand on top of his and squeezed, causing him to squeeze her again as well. She inhaled sharply at the sudden flood of new sensations and sighed happily as she couldn't help but find them entirely enjoyable.

"It's all right," she told him softly. "I really don't mind. It feels pretty nice. Really nice, in fact."

Ferb still fumbled for words. The irony of wanting to be able to say something but being entirely unable was not lost on him. "But I…it wasn't my intention…I really did think…"

Gretchen turned her head to face him and put a finger on his lips, shushing him. "You're a wonderful guy, Ferb. You mean the world to me. I know you respect me, and trust me when I say I will never let anything happen between us that I'm not fully ready for. I'm certainly nowhere near ready for anything more than this, that's for sure. But I'm definitely cool with this."

Ferb slid his hand up to her hair, stroking it gently as he smiled at her. "What did I ever do to deserve such an amazing girl as my girlfriend?"

"I ask myself the same thing about you all the time," she replied. "Only, swap the 'girl' parts with 'boy' of course."

The two chuckled and then shared a deep and loving kiss. Gretchen broke it off after a few moments. She turned fully towards Ferb and shifted forward, which had the desired effect of slowly pushing him onto his back on the sofa. As he lay down, she guided his hand back to her chest, smiling impishly at him as she did. Ferb still felt incredibly hesitant about it, but as they resumed kissing he ultimately reasoned that if she trusted him that much then he should trust her, as well as himself, an equal amount.

By the time he finished the story, Ferb's face was as red as a stop sign and Django, Baljeet, and Phineas all stared at him with mouths agape in amazement.

"Yup, that's second base alright," Django said as he shook his head still in disbelief.

"I don't know whether to be in awe or utterly jealous," Baljeet said, now staring at the table.

"I'm in awe," Phineas said resolutely. "Definite awe. That's amazing, bro. I'm guessing you guys stopped before her mom got home, huh?"

"Of course we did," Ferb replied flatly. "What kind of question is that, anyway?"

Phineas bowed his head, embarrassed at his overly naïve question. "Heh, sorry. I guess I just can't help but imagine what it'd be like to get walked in on like that."

"Imagine whatever you like. Just please swear to me none of you will mention any of this outside of here," Ferb pleaded. "I'm pretty sure Gretchen would eviscerate me if she found out."

"Dude, you've got my word," Phineas told him.

"I won't talk," Baljeet added.

"My lips are sealed, man," Django assured him.

"Thanks guys," Ferb said, feeling better after their assurances. "Now where's that pizza? I'm positively ravenous now."

As if on cue, their waiter came by and slid their large supreme pizza onto the table. The four teenage boys immediately left the prior conversation behind in favor of satisfying their growling stomachs. As he ate, though, Ferb couldn't help but think about Gretchen and wonder what her take on that encounter was like.

By the time she finished her story about what happened between her and Ferb two days ago, Gretchen's face was as red as a stop sign and Isabella, Ginger, and Milly all stared at her with mouths agape in amazement. They were all in Gretchen's bedroom where they had convened for refreshments after helping her weed the flower beds that Ferb had worked so hard to help set up two days earlier.

"Sugoi…" Ginger said in a voice just above a whisper.

"Yeah, what she said," Milly added in a likewise tone.

"I would never have thought you had it in you, Gretchen," Isabella told her. "You guys didn't get caught, did you?"

"Of course not," Gretchen told her best friend after rolling her eyes. "We stopped a good fifteen minutes before mom got home just to be safe. I'd rather not think about what would've happened to either of us if we had been caught."

"If it were me, I'd have been grounded from here to eternity," Ginger said fearfully.

"Knowing my mom, she'd have probably done cartwheels on the front lawn," Isabella added in embarrassment.

"Just please swear to me none of you will mention any of this outside of here," Gretchen pleaded. "I'm pretty sure Ferb would plotz if he found out."

"Your secret is safe with us, sweetheart," Milly told her. "But truthfully, now, did you enjoy it?"

"Immensely," Gretchen said emphatically, blushing as she recalled the sensations she'd encountered that day. "Not only physically, though it certainly did feel amazing. Emotionally, it was also incredible. I really do feel even closer to Ferb now than ever before."

"Maybe I'll give it a shot with Phineas sometime," Isabella mused. "I do trust him completely after all, not to mention how much I love him."

"I might have to move that point up on the schedule for Baljeet and me," Ginger added as she began flipping through her day planner.

"I definitely need to at least try the backrub thing with Buford," Milly said, looking completely fascinated at the possibilities.

"Oh great, what have I started," Gretchen said, putting her forehead firmly in the palm of her right hand. As she continued to field questions from the other three girls, she couldn't help but think of Ferb and hope that he didn't have to put up with something similar from any of the guys.

Next Episode Preview: It's a perfect day for dating, especially for double dates. As Phineas and Ferb split up for the day, though, a twist of fate may bring them all together again anyway for one heck of a showdown!

Translation Notes for this chapter

Ginger: Amazing...

Author's Note: You have no idea how many times I re-wrote Ferb and Gretchen's little intimate scene there. Expect to see more stuff like this in the future, and featuring other couples as well. They are teenagers after all, and it'd be unrealistic to think this sort of thing wouldn't happen between them.