AN: Time to let the fun begin...

Phineas was downstairs having his ice cream and a cookie. He pulled out his cell phone and texted Isabella. She texted him back and this continued for a few minutes until he finished his dish. "Mom, can Isabella come over for a little bit? She's in a couple of Ferb's classes and can help him out on his assignments." Linda smiled and replied. "Of course, as long as she doesn't stay too late."

A few minutes later there was a knock on the door. Phineas went to answer it and smiled at his friend and neighbour. "Evening Phin, Whatcha' doin'?" His grin widened. I love it when she says that. He thought to himself, Who am I kidding; she's got a thing for Ferb.

Phineas followed Isabella upstairs and into the boys' room. "Ferb, Isabella's here to help you with a couple of your assignments." Phineas said as he entered and sat on his bed. Isabella walked over to Ferb's desk and giggled as she perched herself on the corner. "Hey, Ferb. I see you're feeling better. That's great."

Ferb looked questionably over to his brother then nodded at Isabella. "So, what assignment do you need help on?" She asked. Ferb raised his eyebrow at his brother. With a sigh, Phineas muttered, "He doesn't really need any help with an assignment. I called you over because something's bothering him and he won't tell me... I thought that, maybe he'd talk to you." The youngest brother finished quietly.

Ferb rolled his eyes causing Isabella to giggle again. "Okay Ferb, what's bothering you?" The green-haired teen continued to sit at his desk and shook his head as he looked toward his brother. Phineas shook his head. "Come on Ferb. I know you and Isabella are friends." Isabella then smiled and turned to look at Phineas. "Of course we're friends, we're all friends..." She turned to face Ferb, "aren't we?" She asked and he nodded. Phineas jumped to his feet. "See? I knew it." He said, barely keeping a twinge of disappointment out of his voice.

Ferb raised an eyebrow at his brother and started to chuckle. He thinks I've got a thing for her. Oh, this is rich. He's going to be in for quite the shock when he finds out that the best Iz and I'll ever be are just good friends. I can't even say I'm best friends with her. I can't see myself dating her at all. I don't think we've even got anything in common.

Isabella looked into Ferb's eyes. I never realised how blue his eyes are... Phineas is concerned that Ferb and I aren't friends? Phin's acting as though he thinks that Ferb and I are more than friends... I don't flirt with Ferb, do I? What are his thoughts, I'd like to know. I wonder if he has feelings for me, if he does I'll have to tell him that it just won't work out. I love his brother, his redheaded, adorable, oblivious brother.

Ferb stood up and Isabella flung herself into his arms. "Oh, Ferb." She started, causing him to raise his eyebrows at her, she then continued. "I think we should tell him the truth. The whole truth in its entirety... exactly what we mean to each other." She then kissed him on the cheek, grabbed his hand and turned to face Phineas. "Ferb and I..." She started before Phineas' knees unhinged and he sat heavily onto his bed. "Don't say it. I know all about you two." He said and Isabella walked over to him, leaving Ferb to take a seat at his desk. "Phin, Ferb and I are just friends. That's all, nothing more." She then leaned in and kissed him on the lips.

Ferb snickered and shook his head then got back to work.

"You see Phineas?" Isabella started to explain to him. "Ferb and I are just friends, it's you I..." She paused, looked Phineas in the eye then turned to Ferb who nodded back at her in a 'just tell him already' manner. Isabella turned back to Phineas. "It's you I'm in love with." She finished and Phineas' jaw dropped. "Really? I always thought that you and Ferb... because every time you were upset about something, it was Ferb you turned to."

Ferb coughed and stood up from his desk. "Where are you going?" Phineas asked him and he pointed to the door with one hand while covering his throat with the other, he then left the room.

Ferb was downstairs having a cup of hot water with lemon when Isabella came into the kitchen followed by Phineas. "Thank you Ferb." She said as she smiled at him. He nodded back. Isabella smiled at Phineas. "Uh, Ferb... I really wish you were dating someone, then we could all go out Thursday night. Phineas said he's going to take me to the new romantic comedy, you know, with Friday being a professional day..." She said and again Ferb nodded and smiled slightly in her direction.

I can't tell her, or anyone, that I want to date Gretchen; but Gretchen said that she just wants to be friends. I should be happy for my brother and Isabella. Today's been a long time coming. I am happy for them. I hope that things work out better for them than for me. I guess I'm just destined to sit home and read while everyone else goes out. Ferb thought to himself as he re-boiled the kettle and poured himself another cup.

Although he felt much better than he had all week, Ferb still had to stay home one more day. He had finished off the 'urgent' assignments and sent them back with Phineas. He then spent the day working on the rest of the assignments that Phin had brought home. They were fairly straight forward assignments, just a little research had to be put into them. By early afternoon, Ferb had finished everything.

Ferb picked up his cell phone and composed a text to Gretchen. Moments after he sent the message he received notification "Delivery Failure". She blocked me? I thought that we were friends; guess I was wrong. He then composed a message to Isabella and not a minute later received a response. He shook his head and went to the kitchen for a late lunch.

After school, Isabella met up with Phineas at his locker. "Hi Phineas, whatcha' doin?" Grinning like a fool, Phineas answered "Just talking with the prettiest girl in school." She blushed. "I received a text from Ferb, he said that he'll be back at school tomorrow." Phineas nodded, "Yeah, some rule about having to be away for a whole week. He probably could have come back today or yesterday, he was feeling well enough."

Phineas and Isabella were walking home from school. "Gretchen seemed really unhappy today." Phineas commented. "When I asked her if something was bothering her, she glared at me and shook her head. It looked as though she was going to start crying." He finished. Isabella adjusted her backpack over her coat. "I don't know. Must be the troop she's Jr. Leader of, she's said some of the girls are trouble makers. Last week they cut up her jeans, poured ink on her blouse and put glue in her hair."

We've officially made it to the half-way point. Thank you for reading.