A/N: This story is based on a conversation I heard my mother have with my older brother when he was a teenager. My brother started dating a girl he was fond of almost right out of middle school. They were still dating in their senior year of high school and my mother made a comment that they had wasted their high school years by only dating the same person. The comment never sat well with me.

But regardless of my mother's insecure comment... my brother is happily married to that girl and they are expecting their first child soon. So this is dedicated to them ^^

Love Shopping

"I don't have TIME today, Phineas!"

"But you said-"

"I can't always clear my schedule to be your personal gear monkey!"

"Hold up, wait, I NEVER asked you to do that!"

"No, but you expect it! You've always expected it! I'm supposed to drop everything when you have a big idea you just HAVE to do right away! And then what about when I need help with something?"

"Then TELL me you need my help! I'm not a mind reader, Isabella!"

"I don't want you to read my mind, but brushing up on body language might be a good idea! You're so one track minded that you can't see past whatever you've gotten yourself obsessed with!" Isabella slammed her locker, making the entire row rattle. The levels of frustrated this boy could make her were dangerously high. And she wasn't exactly surprised. Phineas Flynn had been frustrating her since they were children.

And it hurt sometimes… that she felt as if she were the one always following him. Always chasing after him. Even though they had been dating for years now, she was still the one that felt like she had to win him over. It was an insecurity she had felt back when they had first started going out. That Phineas would eventually see something shiny and she would be just another idea that had been fun for the moment, but mysteriously vanished the next without any explanation.

Of course she knew that was just an irrational fear, he'd proven to her that she was more than just another way to seize that particular day. But it was times like this, when he ignored how much was going on in her life because he had a new invention or idea he wanted her to help with. She knew he didn't mean to do it on purpose, to make it seem like his schedule was more important than her's. But that's how it came off at times and it drove her crazy. Heck, he hadn't even known she had feelings for him for years because he was so consumed with his and Ferb's to-do list.

Phineas winced, suddenly any anger that his girlfriend's sudden outburst stirred up in him evaporated as he watched her lean back against the locker and cover her eyes with her hand. He didn't mean to upset her. He never meant to upset anyone even though he had been made aware a few times that his enthusiasm could be a tad… annoying. And he would admit to getting a little... passionate about some of his ideas for new inventions. But he definitely didn't do it intentionally. Isabella was right. He was just very focused on whatever was going on in his brain. He lived in the moment.

Isabella's long hair fell down in front of her face, hiding her peeved expression, but Phineas could hear her exasperated sigh behind the veil of black. Contrary to what she thought, he was getting better with reading people. Her especially. The outburst had made him retrace what would be putting her on edge. With graduation a few months off, stress levels were rising throughout their core group of friends. And over achieving Isabella would mostly likely be among the most stressed.

The two rarely fought. But almost four years of dating had them slipping into what they assumed was a comfortable pattern, but Phineas thought that perhaps they had unwittingly straddled the line of casual complacency. Even the strongest of couples slacked on communication once and a while.

But their spats never lasted long, mostly due to their personality types. Both teenagers were non-confrontational people with a strong urge to be friendly with everyone they knew. That counted double with their significant other. And Phineas was determined to keep it that way.

He was already leaning toward her, buttering up after the outburst. "Hey…" he said softly, leaning down to touch his forehead to hers in an attempt to get her to look up at him. "I don't want to fight."

Isabella's moody sneer softened at his touch. It was so hard to stay mad at him. He wasn't a stubborn boy in the least; he knew when to admit he was wrong and did his best to atone for mistakes. You wouldn't see her gossiping to her friends like a lot of the girls their age, complaining about bullheaded boyfriends who always think they were right. Not her Phineas. She removed her hand from her eyes, meeting his contrite blue ones.

He coaxed a smile out of her with one of his own, his thumb tilting her chin up. "C'mere," he muttered, leaning in to kiss the corner of her mouth. She relaxed more, letting him kiss her before just settling into his arms, her head on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry I'm distracted. Tell me what you need from me," he spoke into her hair, content to hold her after their slight blow up. Any conflict rattled the red head and he just couldn't handle anyone being mad at him. Especially Isabella.

She smiled, nestling against his shirt collar and breathing in his scent. This was why she couldn't stay mad at him. "I'm sorry I got overwhelmed. I just have all those scholarship essays that need to be completed."

"Then we'll go to that internet café you like tonight," he insisted, his hand petting down the back of her long pony tail.

She beamed with delight. That sounded much more preferable than his parents' drafty garage. "And we'll work on the modifications to the car over the weekend," she compromised.

"Perfect," he agreed, placing an exaggerated kiss on the side of her head to make her giggle. "I'll see you in Physics."

She watched him head off to his class, feeling better despite how stressed she had been moments ago. Phineas' need to be doing something every second of the day got on her nerves from time to time. But he was so good to her. And besides… that was one of the reasons she had fallen so hard for him when they were kids.

"Whoa, trouble in paradise?" Gretchen hurried up beside her friend as soon as Phineas had left, having seen the locker slam from down the hall. Their mutual friend Stephanie from P.E. followed her over as well.

"Crisis averted," Isabella waved her childhood friend off. "Nothing to see here folks, move along."

Gretchen smirked. "Do the two of you ever fight for longer than five minutes?"

"Hey," Isabella grinned in a mock warning tone. "This one was a serious seven minutes."

Stephanie rolled her eyes at the snickering pair of former Fireside Girls. "Just you wait until the honeymoon period is over. You'll be just like every other couple that fights all the time."

Gretchen snorted out a laugh. She forgave their friends' naivety. Stephanie had only lived in Danville for a year. "Are you kidding me? They've had dibs on one another since freshman year."

"Excuse you, I called dibs back in second grade," Isabella stated matter-of-factly as they walked down the hall to the gym.

"You've been dating that long?" Stephanie raised an eyebrow. Isabella looked proud of that fact, but wavered when the blonde's expression didn't look impressed. "So you guys have like… never dated anyone else?"

Isabella and Gretchen shared a confused look. "Yeah? So?" she shrugged.

"Well I mean isn't this the time in our lives where we're supposed to be shopping around? All you know is Phineas. How do you know there isn't someone better out there?"

"Because there isn't," Isabella bristled, her tone taking on a distinct defensive edge.

"But you don't know that because you've only dated one guy," Stephanie explained. "Are you going to marry him?"

"That's been the plan since second grade," Gretchen teased, but shut up when she caught a glance of Isabella's less than joking glare.

"So you marry him and then what? You've missed out on an entire part of your life because you 'settled' in high school!" Stephanie chuckled. "You'll get married early. Have kids early-"

"That's not true, we want to travel!" Isabella cut her off, determined to get her say in.

Stephanie rolled her eyes with a smirk. "Yeah that's what they all say. And that still means you'll have never had time to enjoy being young and single! No flings, no steamy one night stands, no hunky college frat boys. You're stuck with dweeby Phineas Flynn and planning a wedding while still in a dorm roo-"

Stephanie's teasing was cut short when Isabella grabbed the sleeve of her blouse, shoving her roughly against the gym door. "Call my boyfriend a dweeb one more time and I'll make sure you don't experience any of those things either," she hissed, narrowing her eyes.

"Back off, you're just pissed cause you know I'm right," Stephanie shrugged herself out of Isabella's grip, brushing off the threat with a glare of her own.

Isabella's hackles were still raised as the girl walked past her and into the locker room. Gretchen gave her friend a sympathetic look. "Don't listen to her Izzie."

"I'm not," Isabella growled, fists still clenched. With a moody huff, she followed Gretchen into the locker room to get changed for P.E.

But the teasing stayed with her throughout the class. And she hated that Stephanie's words were burrowing their way through her thoughts. It didn't help that the small clash with Phineas earlier was still fresh in her brain.

She wasn't settling, right? Of course not. Phineas had been all she'd ever wanted when she was younger. And she had him now. She'd had him for almost four years. And her relationship was perfect.

Okay it wasn't perfect, but no relationship was. And they were teenagers. They made being moody an art form. So she and Phineas were as close to perfect as one could get. But it bugged her that she had to continue to remind herself of that fact all through gym class.

Was she honestly doubting her relationship? Was she actually contemplating all the things Stephanie had said? That she was missing a part of life that being single offered her? Her thoughts turned to those of just continuing through life chasing Phineas and blindly following his every idea. Possibly giving up things she desired to be just so he could be what he wanted. Would he be that selfish? Would she be that submissive? What if they did start a family early and neither of them were able to do what they wanted to do before having kids? What if he wanted kids, but also have a demanding job? Would be expect her to be a stay at home mother?

Her bad mood had returned with a vengeance by the end of the gym period. So much so that she didn't bother brushing her tangled hair or cleaning off her sweat stained face. Now a quiet evening out with her boyfriend seemed like a chore. Anything other than moping seemed like a chore. She felt herself slowly slip into that stressed pattern of being so overwhelmed with thoughts and things to do, that she didn't want to do any of it. One more class and she could just go home and drown herself in a bag of chips and bad reality TV. Of course, avoiding her stress would in turn make her more stressed out later. It was a vicious cycle.

Isabella slumped down into her desk in Physics, waiting for her lab partners to arrive. This was the only class this year she had with Phineas and Ferb and of course they sat at the same table. She heard him come in through the back of the room, laughing at something his step brother said, but she didn't bother to turn around. She closed her eyes and sighed, resting her chin on her arm and deciding she would blow off Phineas' earlier suggestion of going to the café.

"Someone looks like they had a rough gym class."

His voice was a soft whisper as he leaned down behind her, pressing a kiss to her flushed skin. It wasn't like the teasing tone that Stephanie's had been in the back of her mind. It was understanding. Concerned. Isabella opened her eyes, intending to let him know she just wanted to go home after school. But the words died on her tongue at the sight of the small steamed red rose Phineas held in front of her.

Isabella looked up at him as she took the flower and he sat beside her at the table, his hand moving to hold her free one while he flipped open his text book. Her mind had started to paint him as this person who was just out to drag her along through his life for his own convenience. But as his thumb stroked the back of her hand she was reminded that wasn't the case. It had never been the case.

Ferb made a whip cracking noise in the direction of his sibling. Phineas just chuckled, intertwining his fingers with Isabella's. "Hey, she puts up with me. She gets flowers whenever I'm an idiot, okay?"

"You must be an idiot an awful lot," Ferb rolled his eyes, but smiled at his brother's sincerity. They were siblings, teasing was part of the package. But he knew very well how strong his brother's relationship was with their neighbor.

"Well… that and I know she likes flowers," Phineas turned his smile back to Isabella, bringing her knuckles up to his lips for another kiss.

Isabella still hadn't spoken, just continued to stare at the boy beside her. The boy she had longed for during her childhood days of summer. The boy who eventually realized he thought the same way about her. The boy who was more than just her crush, but her best friend. One she could rely on in any situation. And whose amazing genius had indeed put them in many unique situations. And though there was many times that the boy was distracted, he was never so distracted that he couldn't remember she loved roses.

She wasn't settling with Phineas. She was beyond lucky to have him in her life, sitting beside her, holding her hand and reminding her that he knew he wasn't perfect and he was so thankful she loved him despite that. She too was far from perfect. Especially at that moment with her hair a mess, cheeks still red from gym class, and a ball of emotional stress… And there he was, focused only on holding her hand and doting on her affectionately. He wasn't out to take advantage of her unyielding feelings for him. He was there to share his own with her.

Who wanted to go through all that chaos and heartbreak Stephanie had described anyway? Isabella wasn't the type of girl who was going to sleep around for fun and keep a little black book of lovers. She wanted real love and romance. Someone to share the ups and downs with and figure life out together. And she had it.

She eventually found herself smiling as the teacher started class. Phineas silently mouthed her three favorite words to her with a wink, and she mouthed them back.

Isabella had never needed to shop around for love. She'd found it right across the street sitting under an elm tree, telling her he knew what they were going to do that day. And every day after.