Sorry for a longish wait for this chapter. I'm writing another story for the Suite Life (which you are welcome to read!) and this at the same time. Enjoy.
Hearts, Silver
Isabella sat, curled up on her couch. She was staring blankly at the TV. It was flashing colors and releasing sounds, but she couldn't focus. Something was wrong. She had already deduced a little while ago that something between her and Phineas was off, and she had chosen to ignore it. But this time the problem wasn't Phineas. Something was wrong with her.
Of course, the problem still involved Phineas, and Ferb. Isabella could no longer bear to be in their house. The thought of it made her want to squirm. When she was in the same room as both of them, she felt awkward, and guilty, and sick. Extremely sick. And why was she like that? You'd think she would want to be with her dear friends, and future family. But the problem was that she didn't think of "friend" when she saw Ferb anymore. Or at least that wasn't the only thing she thought of.
Isabella felt a little sick already. She didn't know why but, Isabella was starting to feel extremely… attracted… to Ferb. And she just couldn't figure it out.
She had jumped back into his life with the initiative to be friends. But ever since she had played blackjack with him, Isabella felt as though she had a crush on him. Well, that wasn't quite the right word for it. She had a crush on Phineas. She had wanted them to do things like hold hands. But Isabella didn't just want to hold hands with Ferb. Let's just say her fantasies of Ferb were more "mature". The kind that would make her mother faint.
And honestly, it was kind of freaking her out. She felt awkward around Ferb, guilty around Phineas, and she was making herself nauseous. A couple of days ago, she had been going out of her way to avoid Phineas, but right now, she'd take him over Ferb any day. At least Phineas wasn't insightful enough to notice her real feelings.
As if on cue her phone began ringing. And look who was on the other line.
"Hi Phineas."
"Hey, Isabella. I have some wedding stuff to show you, at my house."
Isabella groaned. "Can you come over here?" She did not want to be in their house.
"No, it's a lot of stuff to bring. It's not like you live on the street, or something."
Isabella groaned again. "I'll be there in a few."
X
Phineas strolled down the line of napkins he was choosing from. "Ferb, which one do you like?"
Ferb shrugged. The house was a little messy right now. Wedding selections were everywhere, and Mom was going nuts. She wanted the house clean for when people started coming to stay there. The boys had apologized multiple times. They hadn't realized how messy their creations could get. When they built stuff in the backyard, it all went away like magic.
The doorbell rang, so Ferb went up to get it. He opened the door and saw Isabella standing there. He gave her a fairly bright smile. Ferb was becoming more and more confident around Isabella. Now that Phineas and Isabella were getting married, Ferb could just put aside all those kooky feelings, and just be a good friend to her.
But Isabella didn't look like she was happy to see a friend in the doorway. In fact she looked ill.
"H...he...hey Ferb." She said in a shaky voice.
Ferb stretched out an arm, welcoming her into the house. She attempted to walk by him, but the doorway was too small to fit two people, side by side. They ended up squished against each other, chest to chest.
Ferb couldn't help but smile again. He couldn't help but appreciate these little moments. It was God giving him just enough Isabella to help him get through this ordeal.
Isabella looked up at Ferb. He was smiling at her. And her entire chest was pushed against him and… oh god! A beet red Isabella scrambled her way into the house. Ferb closed the door.
"I'm here Phineas." Isabella said quietly. "Phineas?" She turned to look at Ferb. "Where is he?"
Ferb shrugged, but then they both heard Phineas from another room. He dashed in, excited.
"Guess what guys! I won that essay contest!" Phineas said.
They both moved to congratulate him. "That's so great Phineas." Isabella said. "What did you win?"
"I'm going to receive a check in Marshfield."
"Isn't that kind of far away from here?" Isabella asked.
"Yeah, I'm going to have to go there and stay for tonight." Phineas said.
"But what about all the wedding stuff?" Isabella asked very quietly. In the bottom of her heart, she really wanted it postponed until she could figure out her mess of feelings.
"Well, what I have left, I can do while I'm there. You only have to pick out your wedding dress." Phineas said.
"Oh my, I completely forgot about that! And I have to get it before all the guests start coming!" Isabella said.
"Why don't you bring someone to help you pick it? I know, take Ferb!" Phineas said.
Ferb pointed at himself, surprised. Meanwhile, Isabella was panicking a little. "Ferb, oh no, he doesn't have to do anything!"
"Why not? No one knows you better than Ferb." Phineas said, winking at Ferb.
"Yeah, I guess it's cool with me." Ferb said very casually.
Isabella took a big breath. "Ok Ferb."
X
"I'll never find the right one!" Isabella moaned, as she came out from behind the changing cloth yet again. She handed the dress she had been wearing to the bridal shop lady. She was quite little and old, but sweet.
"Oh dearie, we'll find one. I'm going to go find more in the back." And she trotted off.
Isabella turned towards Ferb, who was slowly looking through racks of dresses. She walked over to him. "Find anything nice?" she asked.
He smiled and turned to her. "It's your dress. You have to find it."
"No Ferb, these all either look awful on me, or they're just awful."
"Why don't you close your eyes, spin around, and find a dress?" He suggested.
Isabella scrunched up her eyes really tight, and spun in a circle. She kept her eyes shut as she wandered the store. She felt some fabric in her hands and opened her eyes.
"Oh Ferb, this isn't working, this dress isn't that pretty." She complained.
"How do you know? It could be perfect." He took it from her, and brought it to the changing room.
"No, I bet I can find something in this room more perfect for me than that dress. I'm trying again!" She giggled.
The dizzy, blind Isabella wandered again, hoping she wouldn't trip over anything. She suddenly felt some fabric. It had a nice comfortable touch.
"Wait, Isabel…" she heard Ferb say, and she felt herself trip and fall over, on to the ground. "Congratulations." Ferb said.
Isabella groaned from the ground. She opened her eyes and found she was staring into Ferb's. "You found me."
They both got up, brushing themselves off. "Okay, that was embarrassing." Said Isabella. "What did I do?"
"You grabbed my shirt instead of a dress, tripped, and dragged us both to the ground." Ferb chuckled. "Now will you try on what you picked before?"
She sighed and went to try it on. "I don't know Ferb."
"Just let me see it."
Isabella came out. It wasn't amazing or the greatest thing he had ever seen, but something about it suited her.
"The sleeves are too long and hot for summer, and it's really boring." She complained.
"So let's fix it." Ferb said. "If you liked my Summer All The Time design, maybe I can spruce this one up."
He examined the dress, and began muttering to himself. He traced patterns using his finger like a pencil on Isabella's arms, sides, and collarbone. Isabella couldn't help it. She let out a little breathy moan. Ferb stopped what he was doing and stared at her.
"Aww!" The bridal shop lady suddenly said, appearing from nowhere. "You two will probably have the perfect marriage."
Isabella and Ferb sprung away from each other. "Oh he's not… I mean we're not… I mean I am… but not with him…" Isabella sputtered.
Ferb was looking just as nervous. "Um, she'll get this one."
They paid and scampered out of the shop as fast as possible.
"So… what about my dress?" Isabella awkwardly asked.
"How about I take it, mess with it a little, and then you come to our house to pick it up?"
"Ok."
"Ok."
2 things: tell me if I have any typos so I can fix them, and please review!