Sorry for a late update; I had two unofficial family reunions in one weekend. I swear I walked in fine and then left with a Jersey accent from one side and an Indian accent from the other side. Response to the last chapter was pretty good. Thanks!

-Silver

"Ferb! FERB!"

Uggh. I opened one eye slowly. My face was more than half buried in my pillow and I didn't really feel like getting up. But I couldn't sleep with that constant knocking at my door.

"Come on Ferb, time to get up buddy!" Phineas called.

Phineas. Huh, that's funny, for some reason, I was thinking it was… Isabella!

I shot up from my slumber. Isabella. Right, because last night we… I… she… we both… together… oh God.

It feels so distant. As if it never happened. The fact that I snuck back over to my apartment, and woke up in my own bed, makes it feel even more surreal. I could say it was a dream. But it wasn't. I know it wasn't.

"Ferb!" Phineas barged into my room. "Wake up! We're going out for breakfast, so get dressed!"

Why? I gave him a quizzical look.

"Because I feel like it, that's why!" He said. "I felt like a big old breakfast buffet before I do anything today!"

I shook my head as I got out of bed. He's so weird.

"I invited the gang too. Buford, Baljeet, and he's bringing Ginger, and Isabella, of course!"

Shoot, I thought I'd be able to avoid her for a little longer than a couple hours before we saw each other again. I guess not.

"Come on, bro!" Phineas scampered out of the room with a smile on his face. I smiled too. He's still like a little kid, all sweet and innocent.

I went to the bathroom and started brushing my teeth. But if Phin is so innocent and oblivious, why did he have a girl leaving the apartment? And if he isn't innocent and oblivious, then why doesn't he like Isabella the way she likes him? They aren't a lost cause, are they? They can't be; Isabella and Phineas were made for each other.

And in comes the guilt. I can still smell her perfume or something faintly on me. I can't pinpoint what scent it is, but it's extremely tantalizing. Whoa, I can't let this new… thing I have with Isabella mess those two up. And who knows? Maybe Phineas will come to his senses, they'll end up together, Vanessa will realize how deep her feelings for me really are, and Monty will fall off a cliff. Or maybe that's pushing it.

Anyway, I was dressed and so was Phineas, so we headed out of the apartment. He turned to me. "I'm going downstairs to grab the guys. Then we'll go pick up Ginger and go to the restaurant. You two meet us in the lobby."

Two? So that meant… why Phineas, why? He went to the elevators alone, leaving me there, in front of her door. I didn't know what to do, so I just loudly rapped my knuckles on her door.

I just barely heard a loud yawn and someone say "Coming." through the door. I suddenly didn't feel ready to see Isabella again, although it wasn't like I could bolt out of here or anything.

The door opened and there she was. She was back in her pajamas, but the whole outfit looked askew, almost falling off of her slim little figure. And her hair was a wild crazy mess. She told me before that her hair gets very frizzy but I think that I may have helped get it to this stage.

"Ferb!" She gasped. "Umm, hey." She said awkwardly. "What's up?"

"An invitation to breakfast with your close friends." I said. "From Phineas Flynn himself." I winked at her.

"Really?" Her face broke out into a smile. "I'll go get ready." She turned and headed towards her closet without closing the front door, so I followed.

"Isabella, what if Phineas had knocked on the door?" I said quietly. "You don't exactly look like you spent the whole night fast asleep."

"What!" She stuck her head out of the closet. "Are you saying that you think I'm going to blow the secret?" She asked indignantly.

"Well…"

"Ferb! You aren't exactly being subtle either. Did you check your hair?" She asked.

I shook my head no and she held up a hand mirror. Shit! I had the worst case of sex hair meets bed head that had ever existed! How did Phineas not notice this?

Isabella was smirking at me. "See. Although, umm, I guess it's kind of my fault." And we're back in the awkward zone. "I'll change." She muttered. She tossed me a hairbrush and she left the room.

Were Isabella and I going to be like this forever? It didn't matter whether or not we stayed friends with benefits; it was the fact that there was no going back to normal now that we had started.

Isabella reappeared, dressed to go with now sleek hair. We walked to the elevator and rode down, but neither of us said anything. I didn't like it. My friends were very chatty, which helps even out my own silence. I couldn't stop feeling anxiety. Oh no! A thought suddenly occurred to me.

"Isabella, last night," I muttered. "We didn't use any protection."

"Yeah, I, I have it covered, Ferb." She mumbled.

I nodded slowly. I made it even more awkward. Thank goodness the door opened.

"There you guys are!" said Phineas. "Ferb, why are you such a slow poke today?"

"I just took a while Phineas." Isabella muttered. "Anyway," She said, brightening up. "Whatcha' doin'?"

"Well, we're going out to breakfast and I can share some of the ideas Ferb and I are planning to do for the next couple of weeks." Phineas suggested. He smiled. "I love it when we all hang out; one big happy gang of friends!"

Isabella seemed to cringe with those words. We were just a mess, both of us, in our own hopeless romances. I hope she doesn't feel too bad.

"Yo dweebs, are we leaving or not?" said Buford.

"Yeah, come on." Said Phineas.

"Just don't stick me with the lovebirds. They sicken me." Buford replied.

I felt my face turning red until I realized that he meant Baljeet and Ginger, who were holding hands and talking not too far away. Ha, it was stupid for me to even think he meant well, Isabella and me.

"But they're such a great couple!" Phineas exclaimed. I swear Isabella looked ready to kill him.

I hurriedly got everyone out of the building and to the restaurant without any conflict. Since it was a buffet, we jumped into line and began filling our plates with various breakfast.

"Phineas, this place is sooo nice!" Isabella cooed, in another attempt to flirt with him.

"Isn't it though?" He said brightly. "It's so simple. I love buffets; they're really quite a masterful thing; combining tasty food with the convenience of getting it yourself. Ferb, make a note of the ingredients and dishes they serve. It'll help if we ever want to do this ourselves. In fact…"

I watched Isabella's face droop as Phineas began rambling. This happens every time, I swear. Poor thing. I can understand her desperation, but at least Vanessa acknowledges my affection. But maybe that's what hurts more; the fact that she knows about it but still doesn't reciprocate it.

Ginger, who had been whispering away to Baljeet this whole time, suddenly stood up. "I'm going to the bathroom. Isabella, do you need to come?"

Buford groaned. "Why is it that girls can never go to the bathroom by themselves?"

"No thanks, Ginger, I'm good." Isabella said glumly.

"Ok." Ginger left.

"Hey, I have to go the can too." Buford said. "Come with me." He grabbed Baljeet's head and pulled him along.

I rolled my eyes. Byoof's such a hypocrite.

"Well, I'm going back for more food." Phineas said. "Might as well go all out and stuff myself!" He said, laughing as he left.

And then there were two. She was sitting there, still upset, when she noticed it was just us. Once she did, it instantly became awkward again. She was playing with her hands, hair, arms, anything to distract herself. Meanwhile, I was whistling to myself. But I felt awful. This couldn't go on. The most important rule was that we stay friends, and we couldn't if it was going to always be this uncomfortable.

"Isabella," I began. "I don't think the deal we made last night is going to work out."

"Why not?" She seemed very surprised, and even very upset.

"Well, it's just been so uneasy between us since last night. Even before and during last night. Just ask yourself, is it worth it?" I said.

"Yes!" I was a little shocked by her sudden outburst. "I mean," she stammered. "It isn't worth losing our friendship. But this was only the first night. I think we're mature enough to handle this without messing up anything important. I mean, I just, Phineas today…" She sounded very flustered and embarrassed.

"But do you even want to?" I asked. "I mean," I gulped. "Was it pleasurable?"

She chuckled nervously. "Was it…" She stammered. "Well, to be perfectly honest, Ferb," she slid down in her chair a little. Oh man. "That was absolutely the best sex I ever had."

Was she joking? Or trying to kiss up to me or something?

Isabella was still talking, but almost to herself. "I never thought that we would ever do something like this. I must be crazy, but I absolutely want to, I have to, do it again. The best. Ever."

She caught me staring at her and blushed tomato red, although I probably looked the same. "How was I?" she asked timidly. I playfully shrugged. Her mouth dropped open, though she was smiling. "FERB!" She said indignantly.

"You were brilliant Isabella." I said. "And it was incredible."

"Thank you." She said sweetly. I turned away from her for a minute to take a bite of food when I saw she was staring at me out of the corner of my eye. She was biting at her lip again, the way she did last night. It was certainly… titillating.

"Umm, so do you know when you want to do it again?" She asked nonchalantly.

I shrugged. "I don't know. How about…"

"Tonight." She said quickly. She shook her head. "Or, umm, any other night, what's good for you?"

"Tonight is fine." I stammered. Isabella seemed very eager, which was surprising. After all, I was no Phineas.

"Ok," She said, smiling. "You can come over and hang out and then we can umm…" She locked her fingers together, and then pulled them apart. "And then you can leave."

I nodded slowly. I'm feeling as though Isabella and I have lost our minds.

"So this is official now, right?" She said. "Being friends with benefits?" She whispered.

"Right." I whispered.

"You guys having fun without me?" Phineas suddenly and loudly said.

Isabella smiled a sneaky little smile. "A lot of fun."

P.S. Check for typos. Also review! And PM if you have any good ideas for this story!