Phineas awoke.
Bright sunshine came through the window.
It was morning.
Then he realized something.
The body next to him was cold.
"Perry! No! No! Perry!" he cried.
The dead platypus gave no response.
He cried out.
Linda rushed over to the room.
When she saw the dead platypus in her son's arms, she gasped.
"Phineas, come with me," Linda instructed. "And bring Perry."
Phineas did as he was told like a robot.
Linda grabbed two shovels and led Phineas out to the backyard.
Phineas was the only one who still loved Perry when Perry died.
He was in tears.
When Ferb saw Perry, he quickly turned around and walked the other way.
Phineas was in despair; he was seeing the tail end of the platypus.
Isabella walked up just as they were finishing.
"What happened?" Isabella asked.
"Perry died today. We all knew it was going to happen..."
...except for Phineas.
That was what Linda didn't say.
Phineas was too grieved to speak.
"Oh," Isabella responded.
"So, no invention?" she asked Phineas.
He just ran up to her and embraced her.
His tears got all over her shoulder.
Usually she would love this, but she didn't really like Phineas anymore.
Any good feeling that came from being with Phineas was crushed by the knowledge that he would never be anything more than a friend.
"Just for the rest of the summer," she told herself. "Just for the rest of the summer, then I will happily cut my ties with him."
She didn't know why part of her still liked Phineas.
It was dying, but for the moment being, it was still there.
It was too weak to stand up to Buford, but it wasn't dead yet.
"What if we made a giant pillow?" Phineas bursted randomly.
"Grow up!" Isabella exclaimed.
Phineas seemed taken aback and hurt.
Not that Isabella really cared.
She just walked out the gate.
"Isabella, wait!" Phineas exclaimed.
"Why do you even try?" Isabella asked.
"Because, because, because I want to spend time with you guys," Phineas explained.
Isabella thought the last word was completely unnecessary.
She scoffed.
He called her again.
"Isabella!" he beckoned.
"Why? Why do you even bother? What do your inventions even accomplish? Nothing! That's what!" she bellowed.
"Isabella, wait!" Phineas screamed.
"For what? A recreation of the world's largest diaper?" she retorted.
"Please!" he cried quietly.
"No, Phineas, I am sick of your childlike attitude! You are such a baby!" Isabella condemned.
He was crying heavily now.
"Well, you're, you're, you're not important anyway!" he countered haphazardly.
That hurt Isabella so much.
She ran away crying.
This only made Phineas' anguish increase tenfold.
He ran into his room.
He buried his face in his pillow, but this time it didn't work.
He shouldn't have said that.
He really shouldn't have said that.
His wailing was loud and obnoxious.
His whining was deafening.
He really was a baby sometimes, and no one accepted that anymore, except for Perry.
And Perry was buried in the backyard.
No one loved Phineas Flynn, Phineas thought.
At least him parents didn't hate him.
Candace hated him, she always had, Ferb didn't like him anymore, he pushed Isabella away, and he was only just beginning to realize just how much he cared about her, Buford hated him, Baljeet was with Buford, so there was really no one who loved him.
He here had found a tireless grief, one that would never go away until he knew someone loved him.
So he wailed on.
Then the sun had set.
The next morning Isabella came over to Phineas' house.
She would not have, but her mother would have known something was wrong if she hadn't.
"Hi, Phineas," Isabella greeted dully.
"I'm sorry, Isabella; I didn't mean what I said. You are very important to me!"
Isabella's inner pain wained slightly.
She had grown distant from Phineas, and she hated it, but her cup that was once half empty and half full was almost empty now.
She was almost fully and emptily numb.
But she could still feel a little, and she wanted that.
She want him more than everything and... oop, she just let her feelings come out.
Go back into the deserted hole where you live, emotional Isabella.
She took a deep breath.
She almost told him that she was not going to come over anymore, but her will was weaker than ever, and she didn't have it in her.
She learned to take the path of least resistance.
That was and is a bad policy.
Truth be told, if she just walked up to Phineas and kissed him passionately, her troubles would be over.
But she didn't think it was that easy.
If she looked at things differently, she would be able to enjoy her everyday life.
But she never released her hurt, and it was never quelled.
"Isabella, am I important to you?" Phineas asked.
"Yes," she blurted. If she had given it any thought, she would have lied to him.
"Then, I want to strengthen our relationship however I can. You're my best friend. I..." Phineas started.
He almost blurted two more words.
"...really care about you. It is like, I dunno, I just feel so much better when you're near. Please, don't leave this relationship behind."
Isabella was shocked.
What he said could be interpreted as that he wanted to be Isabella's boyfriend because he was in love with her.
Isabella felt that the second might be true.
A spark of hope flew through her eyes.
Then she reminded herself how childish Phineas was.
Why did she have to fall in love with Phineas?
Why not Ferb, or Baljeet, or even Buford?
What did Phineas have that the others didn't?
Then Isabella remembered.
It was the glint in his eyes, the way he beamed every day, except as of late.
He was such a mixed bag to her.
On one hand, he was handsome, handy, and had a vigorous personality.
On the other hand, he was extremely childish and thick as a brick when it came to realizing unsaid things, like crushes.
Her heart rate got a boost.
Phineas was hugging her.
Why did Phineas always disturb her stomach, making it all jittery, like butterflies?
There's a funny backstory to that one.
She sighed.
Now she was reminded that Phineas probably wouldn't ever be her girlfriend.
She imagined her and Phineas in their old age, with Phineas still not getting how Isabella felt about him.
The idea stuck in her mind like a thorn in her side.
That was her ultimate fear.
It was even worse to her than if Phineas rejected her.
Actually, she didn't care about rejection as much as she used to, but her will also got weaker by the same quantity.
That was why she was giving Phineas this one last summer.
If he didn't grow up, she would move on.
Then Isabella noticed how close their lips were.
Isabella leaned in as much as her weak will would allow.
Phineas leaned backwards by the same quantity.
His blush complimented his overall appearance.
"Whoa, I'm sorry!" Phineas apologized, as if he was the one who tried to close the distance.
She knew he was feeling something new, but that he was confused more than anything.
So she embraced him.
He became immovable, like a statue.
Phineas suddenly showed confusion and a certain kind of squirmishness, that meant he felt that his personal bubble had burst.
Isabella backed away as soon as he started squirming.
Then Phineas had a sudden urge to hug her.
He scolded himself and tried to dismiss it.
It would not go away.
And so Romantic Phineas was reborn.
He was no longer just the small part of Phineas that tried to go against reason.
This would cause problems for Phineas in the future.
But for now, Phineas was still his old, oblivious, childish self.
Isabella looked very hurt.
Then Phineas went to hug her.
He felt really nervous.
Not a good kind of nervous; he was feeling a bad kind of nervous.
"I'm sorry," Phineas apologized.
"It is okay," Isabella responded duly.
"You want to build something?" Phineas asked.
"Not if it's your idea!" Isabella struck.
"Ok, then. What would you want to build?" Phineas asked with a frown on his face.
Isabella didn't answer.
She just went out the door before Phineas could say a word.
"Just for the rest of the summer," she promised herself.
But everyone knows that promises that are repeated in nervousness are not going to be kept.
Isabella had a will to leave Phineas now, however, and that will was drawing a line.
If Phineas did not realize his love for her by the end of the summer, Isabella would cut her ties, she said to herself.
She didn't even recall that Perry had died.
Such is the heartbreaking nonchalance of this restraining culture.
I don't know what my comment would be for this chapter. I think I will just write on!