Hey, props to Goody-II-Shoes on Deviantart (a.k.a. Magical Blazze on FF) for following through on my request for String Theory art. I should give rewards out.

He's changed me. Inside and out. That fluffy little girl waiting on the world was gone. I finally found my soul mate, and he was disguised as my best friend all this time. What happened last night… it was everything. The flowers, the dinner, the dessert, the skyline, the rain; everything a girl could ever dream of. He completely surprised me and swept me off my feet. He kept doing that. And after… we didn't just sleep together, or have sex, or any other terms. For the first time in my life, I could only describe it as one thing. We made love.

I wrapped myself tightly in my soft yellow quilt and rested on my couch. The sunlight shining on me from the window made it look even more golden. I snuggled down on the couch. He said he's mine. I'm his everything. The thought left me with a funny, bubbly feeling. I completely belong to Ferb Fletcher now.

I was supposed to go to Ginger's now. I broke out of my stoic little pose. I opened the door gently and stared across the hall. Was he in there? I shook my head and left without even checking. It's okay. I didn't need to see him. He woke up in the morning, kissed my cheek, he even rubbed my shoulders. He made me coffee and he knew exactly how I wanted it. He wouldn't even leave until I urged him to. When he said he wasn't running, he meant it.

"Hi Isabella!" Ginger said, as she let me in. I heard a few rounds of "Hi Izzy!". I sat down on the couch happily. The dark-colored walls felt a little too dark after seeing all that sunlight.

"Ginger, don't you wish this place was brighter? Sunnier? The sunrise is so beautiful. Even though the rain was beautiful too." I said.

Milly practically jumped on me. "It's happening again!"

"What?" I asked.

"Hey, I called you last night, and you didn't answer, Chief." Gretchen commented.

"She was with Ferb!" Milly cawed.

"What?" I exclaimed again. "How…?"

"You're doing that whole super happy, lovey-dovey, glowing like an angel, thing again!" She said.

I blushed very violently. "Aww!" The girls exclaimed.

"Just when we were getting over them!" Ginger giggled.

Adyson looked up from her phone, which she had been on the whole time. "Who? What?"

"Who are you texting?" I asked curiously. She muttered something under her breath. I just barely caught the syllables. "Buford!" I said incredulously. She seemed a little embarrassed. Time to start another pool.

"What were you guys talking about?" She said, changing the subject.

"Isabella screwing Ferb, same old same old." Holly said simply.

I scowled. "Why does everybody always say it like that?" I asked furiously. "Like I'm some kind of…" I curled up into relatively the same pose I had been in at home. "He's… he's my everything." I said happily, to myself.

"We say it like you're some kind of slut because you are." Adyson said.

"Addy…" I growled.

"I'm not the only one who thinks it." She said. I stared around at the girls in dismay. I couldn't tell if they agreed. "Buford definitely does. And… I kind of think Phineas does too. He did say you two do it A LOT. Like, he's trapped in a porno in his own house."

"He did not say that!" Gretchen said.

"He might as well have."

"But it's only Ferb! It's not like I…" There was no point arguing with these people. I grimaced. So all my childhood friends thought I was a slut? This was awful.

"Iz, that isn't true." Ginger said, as if she was reading my thoughts.

"Whatever." I sighed.

"Guys! She looked so happy when she came in." Milly pouted.

"We wouldn't think she was a slut if she was just dating the boy." Adyson said.

"We all know Ferb is off-limits to everyone, ADYSON," Gretchen said pointedly. "And Isabella is his." She said. "So they might as well be dating."

"Yeah, but they're NOT." Adyson said.

"Guys…" I sighed.

"Don't you want to be his girlfriend?" She asked interestedly.

"N-no. No!" I said, a little firmer. "He's my friend. We have a deal. We broke up with our significant others, so the deal is back on, and-"

Katie interrupted. "Yeah, except you're so in love with him."

I broke. "I am so in love with him. I am so SO in love with him. I've already told you. He's all I think about. I want him to be mine and only mine." I declared.

"So what's the problem? He doesn't want the same thing?" Holly asked.

Well, actually, he's coming on really strong to me and I'm too afraid to take the leap. "He only said he wanted to be friends-with-benefits again." I responded.

"I'll tell you what the problem is, Iz." Adyson said, in that know-it-all way. "Boys, especially boys like Ferb, they want a challenge. You are not a challenge. You're always desperate to please. You two always hang out, plus, he's got you fucking him all the time. Why would he want things to change?"

"Ferb is not like that." I said defensively.

"I know what you need to do. Deny him. Make him work for it." Adyson said.

That's stupid. Or is it? Of course, I am so much weaker than Ferb when it comes down to it. If he could resist all my stupid seduction techniques and I can't even get him out of my brain, how could this work? Then again, everything she said makes sense. I was too easy. And that was why I was a "slut".

I hated that. I hated it so much. I was supposed to be innocent little Isabella. Gah, it was the only thing I could think about as I went home. I was not a slut! I was sleeping with one guy. That's what a lot of people do, hello! So much for loyalty from my best friends.

I paused in the hall again. I sighed and opened my door. I guess there was no more afterglow. Stress was just taking it away. Suddenly, the elevator was opening, and I heard voices. It was Phineas and Ferb. For almost no reason, I hid. Maybe I was just curious.

"No matter what, Ferb, summer is always going to be my favorite season." Ferb wordlessly responded with a nod. "Hey," Phineas' voice dropped lower. "So about Isabella…"

"I… I can't do it." My heart sank. "She gazes at me with her sapphire eyes, and I know what she wants me to say. I love you. And, I can't say it." He said sadly.

Mi corazón está roto. Ferb was not mine. He was trying his best to be, but he couldn't do it. I wasn't enough. I was no Vanessa. I was too easy. I was so much less than what he deserved.

"Isabella?"

I had forgotten the door was cracked open. I hoped he didn't realize I had been spying. I desperately tried to blink away my tears.

Ferb gently pulled the door open. Phineas had gone inside. "I didn't know you were back." He said. He brushed some hair off my face.

"I need to talk to you." I said.

He followed me inside. Suddenly, I felt his arms wrapping around me from the back. He slowly floated his lips across my neck, where he left an open kiss right under my ear, knowing it would leave a small mark, showing the world I was his… whoa!

"Ferb!" I escaped his grasp.

"What's wrong, love?" He asked.

"I can't do this anymore." I said.

"What?" He said, stunned.

"I can't be friends-with-benefits anymore. I just can't."

"What?" He repeated.

I started crying. I knew I would. "I'm tired of everybody wanting to know every detail of my life, and thinking I'm a slut." I'm tired of being in love with you.

"Isabella," He seemed horrified.

"Ferb, we only started this because we were in love with the wrong people, desperate, lonely, and frankly, we really needed to get laid. But, none of that is the case anymore. Just because we had this set up once doesn't mean it's our default." I wiped hot tears from my eyes. "We were crazy to have done any of this in the first place! We have to go back to just friends. Please!"

"No. No, no, no!" Ferb paced around like his whole world was falling apart. But he doesn't love me the way I love him. He clutched my shoulders. "Bella, please!"

I grasped the hair at the back of his head and kissed him. It was angry and passionate and messy. And I ended it as soon as I started it. "Get out, Ferb." I said darkly.

"Bella…"

"GET OUT!"

He fled. I kept crying. I kept crying until there were no more tears, until my head throbbed, and until the sobbing had reduced my breathing to painful broken gasps. If I've lost Ferb… I've lost everything. Everything.

Heavy stuff. This is what happens when I'm moving, school re-starts soon, the end of Act Your Age is leaked, and I haven't eaten all day. I did leave a message about being busy at the end of the last update and on my profile. If it takes a long time, please keep reading and reviewing.

Lots of love, Silver