Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“So. A karaoke night huh?” Phineas drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he pulled up to Isabella’s house. He put the truck in park, looking over at his friend. He smirked. “I dunno Izzy; doesn’t sound like much of a friend date to me.”

“It’s a great friend date!” She returned the smirk. “Unless of course you don’t think it’s a great friend date because you’re scared I’ll out karaoke you.”

He snorted. “Oh come on Isabella.” He pointed to himself. “We both know who the real karaoke champ is.”

“We’ll see. There’s a first time for everything, remember?”

“We’re talking about your plans here, not mine.”

Isabella reached across the front seat, gently shoving him. “Very funny. See, my plans are the ones that never fail.”

“Technically, it didn’t fail; we still got into the yacht club that night.”

“Whatever.”

The red head chuckled. “Okay Izzy. Karaoke night. What do I have to do?”

“Pick me up in an hour.”

“Fair enough. Anything else?”

“One more thing…” her eyes trailed upwards to the mud stained backwards baseball cap. “We dress up. Slacks and tie for you, dress for me.”

“Ugh. Izzy, why? Can’t I just wear what I’m wearing?” He motioned to the jeans and orange and white striped hoodie.

“No. My terms this time, remember?”

He sighed. “Fine.” He went to say something else, only to start as his best friend reached across the front seat again, plucking the baseball cap off his head. “Hey!”

“I’m also holding this hostage until after tonight. No hats allowed.”

Phineas gave an exaggerated groan, staring at her. He chuckled. “Wow Izzy; when you plan a friend date, you plan a friend date. I tend to just wing it.”

“I’ve noticed. Which is surprising for you.” She twirled the hat on her finger, unbuckling before opening the door and hopping out. “See you in an hour?”

“See you in an hou—wait a second.”

“What?”

“What are we going to sing? I mean, we should at least sing one duet tonight right? You know, after I beat you.”

“A duet?” Isabella blinked at him, her cheeks pinking.

“Izzy? You alright?”

She shook herself. “Yeah. F-fine. Duet song. Uh…”

“Here.” The red head turned on the radio. “First song that comes on, we sing as a duet. How’s that?” She nodded wordlessly, ears perking up as a song came over the speakers.

Every night I walked the streets
never dreaming what could happen…

“Huh. Dress and Tie.”

“You know that song?”

“Kinda. I hear it on the radio a lot.” Phineas motioned to the speakers. “Will that work?”

Sad and so lonely
I saw in the mirror my reflection…

“Y-yeah. That should work.” The teenager shook herself again. “Yeah. That’ll definitely work.”

“Cool.” He smiled as Isabella shut the passenger door and he rolled down the window, slowly pulling away from the curb. “Bye Izzy; see you in an hour.”

“Bye Phin.” She smirked as he drove down to the end of the street, making a U-turn in the middle before driving back up, pulling into his driveway. Isabella waited until he was inside the house before turning on her heel, running up the front walk and into the house.

“Isa? Is that you?”

She paused, one foot on the staircase. “Yeah Mom!”

“How was Phineas?”

“Good!”

“How was school—“

“Sorry Mom! Phin and I have a friend date tonight; I have to get ready!”

Vivian smiled, shaking her head as her daughter ran upstairs. “Ah friend dates. Hopefully they will turn into more soon.”

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“What to wear, what to wear, what to wear…” Isabella rummaged around in her closet, throwing various outfits onto the bed. She pulled a pink dress from a hanger, studying it. “Ugh. So six years ago.” She dove back in, tossing out several more outfits. “It has to be perfect; I can’t just wear anything.” She plucked another dress from a hanger, holding it up. “Hmmm…”

She stood up, pulling on a green summer dress. She studied herself in the mirror, singing. “I’ll wear that dress if you wear that tie and Phinny we’ll dance through the night—“ she giggled, pulling the dress over her head and tossing it to the side. “Nope. I need something else.”

Isabella stepped back over to the closet, pulling aside several different outfits before her eyes landed on something in the very back. “What’s this?” She reached a hand back, grabbing the piece of clothing and bringing it out to the light. “Oh yeah; I forgot about this dress!” She grinned, holding it to her before twirling back to the mirror.

Cause no one’s got what we’ve got going

“Happiness never held onto me until you helped me see, that together we’re just better off.” She grinned, throwing the blue dress over her head, studying herself once more. Her grinned widened. “Perfect.”

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“Oh my heart’s been tried time and again, I always thought that it was me but—“ Phineas paused, placing a tie, slacks, and dress shirt on his bed. “Why am I singing that?” He shrugged. “Oh well; must be stuck in my head from earlier.” He unbuttoned his jeans, stepping out of them as he grabbed the slacks from the bed, pulling them on.

“I’ve never been more sure that you’re for me. Izzy please don’t—“ he laughed. “Wow; that’s really stuck.” He walked back over to his bed, grabbing the dress shirt and buttoning it up as he looked in the mirror. He removed the tie from over his shoulder, making sure it was tied properly. “I’ll wear that dress if you wear that tie and baby we’ll dance through the night, cause no one’s got what we’ve got going—“ he pulled down on the knot, making sure it was tight. He grinned. “There. Perfect.”

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Don’t be cruel to me

oh I’ve wanted more

but I’ve been wrong before—

Phineas cut the engine as he pulled to a stop in front of Isabella’s house, making sure the truck was in park before climbing out. He walked up the front walk, doing a quick dance step before ringing the doorbell. “So much learning to lose—“

Isabella opened the door a second later. She grinned up at him. “But you’re not a day to soon.”

“So say you feel the same and we’ll never be lonely anymore.” The two sang the line in unison.

He laughed out loud. “You too huh?”

“Yeah. Catchy song.” She stepped out onto the front porch, closing the door behind her before digging around in her purse. “Now where did I put my keys?”

“Catchy song, or were you just practicing for later?”

She smirked. “Who says you weren’t practicing? Even though I’m definitely going to beat you. Oh, here they are.”

“You clean up nice Izzy.”

Isabella locked the front door, turning around to face him. “So do you.” Phineas stared at her a moment. “Ph-Phineas?” He grinned, grabbing her hand and practically hauling her down the front walk towards the truck. “Phin, what are you doing?!”

“I wanna see what you have planned for tonight.” He stopped outside the truck, opening the passenger side door. “After you.”

“Thank you very much.” She climbed inside, buckling in as he closed the door, coming around to the other side and jumping in. “Why do you always do that?”

“Do what?”

“Jump inside.”

He shrugged. “Why not jump inside? It’s more fun that way.” He turned on the engine, slapping the radio off before pulling onto the road. “Okay Izzy, where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise.”

“Well I know that.” The red head blew a raspberry as he pulled onto the main road. “But I need to know where I’m driving in order for us to get there.”

“Don’t ask questions.” She reached over, gently shoving him. “Keep driving and I’ll give you directions. You’ll see when we get there.”

Chapter Text

“An actual Karaoke Bar?” The red head’s eyes widened as they stepped through the front door. “Izzy, are we supposed to be here? I thought the sign outside said twenty one and over; what if we get caught?”

She quirked an amused brow at him. “This from the guy who snuck us into a yacht club party we technically weren’t invited to.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “What’s the matter Phin? Didn’t think I could pull off something like this?”

“No no. It’s not that; it’s just—“

“What? You think you’re the only one who can sneak us into places?”

Phineas stared at her a moment, a wry smile creeping across his face. He chuckled. “Nice going Izzy.”

“Thanks.” She nudged him in the shoulder. “I learned from the great one.”

“Think I might be to good a teacher.”

Isabella laughed out loud, taking his hand and leading him toward the front of the bar. “Come on; let’s go sing Dress and Tie.”

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I’ll wear that dress if you wear that tie

and baby we’ll dance through the night

cause no one’s got what we got going

happiness never held onto me

until you helped me see

that together we’re just better off

Phineas and Isabella danced around onstage, the red head taking a step toward her, singing into the microphone. He grinned. “We’re just better off.”

“I’ll wear that dress.”

“And I’ll wear that tie.”

“And we’ll just dance through the night.”

The two sang in unison, Isabella singing the final word as the song wound to a close.

The bar erupted into cheers and applause and the teenagers laughed.

“Oh my gosh; that was amazing!” Isabella gushed.

“Yeah it was!” Phineas paused a moment. “You know Izzy, instead of just competing against each other, what if we sang another duet instead? I mean, that sounds a lot more fun.” He smiled. “We make a great team.”

“We sure do and, to answer your question, absolutely!”

“Great! You look through the songbook and I’ll—hang on.” He held up a finger, signaling his friend to wait as he answered his cell phone. “Hey Buford.” He groaned. “You got your truck stuck again?”

Isabella stifled a giggle, the two walking offstage and down to the main floor.

“Did you call Ferb and Django?” A pause. “What about Jeet?” Another pause. “But you do have Ferb and Django coming to help you right?” The red head watched as his best friend sat down at a table, thumbing through the karaoke songbook. He pointed to a song and Isabella shook her head. “I’m at a karaoke bar with Izzy. It’s our Friend Date Night.”

The young woman momentarily looked up at him. She smiled.

“I…am…not…” Phineas trailed off, grumbling something under his breath.

Isabella flipped to another page in the songbook. She reached up, tapping him on the shoulder and pointing to a song.

“Hey Bufe, I hate to do this to you, but…I gotta go.”

She started as the sound of loud protests came over the line as the red head hung up. “What was that about?”

“Oh, Buford’s mad at me because I won’t drop everything and help him get the truck out of the mud.” He snorted. “You think he’d learn by now.”

“It’s Buford.”

“Yeah…”

Isabella studied him a moment. “Shouldn’t we go help him? Who else is there?”

“Django and Ferb. I guess Baljeet’s at some study group thing.” He waved the comment away. “They’ll be fine.”

“Phineas, they’re your friends. We should go help them.”

“But what about our Friend Date Night?”

She shrugged. “It’s not like it hasn’t been interrupted before. Besides, we can come back here afterwards. It shouldn’t take that long to get him unstuck, right?”

“Well…” he hedged. “I don’t know Izzy. We—“

“Hey! What are you kids doing in here?” A large bouncer walked over, glaring down at them. “Twenty one and over only; get out.”

“You know what? Let’s go help Buford.” Phineas grabbed his friend’s hand, the two running out of the bar.

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"Man, I can't believe Dinnerbell sold us out to hang with Isabella." Buford grunted as he shoved his shoulder against the front of the truck.

"I informed you he was busy," Ferb stated, pushing on the other side.

"They ain’t even real dates!" He turned around, attempting to push with his back as the wheels spun in the mud. "Floor it Django!"

The engine revved, causing the wheels to spin faster. After several seconds, the engine stopped and Django climbed out of the cab.

"Hey! I told ya ta floor it!"

"It's no use man; I don't have enough horsepower. We need Phin's truck." Django leaned against the truck, crossing his arms. "I can't believe Phin tricked out his truck and not mine. Where is he anyway?"

"He ain't comin." Buford scowled. "He's on a friend date with Isabella." He put air quotes around the phrase friend date.

The other teen chuckled. "You know what this means right?"

"What?"

Django stepped forward, singing loudly off key. "That if he falls in love with her, it can be assumed..."

Buford smirked, joining in. "His carefree days with us are history..."

"In short our pal…is doomed." The teens threw their arms around each other in an overdramatic hug, fake crying.

Ferb rolled his eyes. "Please." He walked over to the cab of Django's truck, pulling another rope from it and tossing it to the others. "Come on gents; we have a truck to move. Let's not take all night."

"Yeah, alright." Buford grabbed the rope, tying it around Django's trailer hitch. "Ya know, if Dinnerbell did manage ta show up, I'd give him a piece a my mind--"

"Hey guys!" Phineas waved as he pulled the truck to a stop, backing in behind Buford. He cut the engine and climbed out. "Need help?"

"Dinnerbell, if ya give me the excuse that you were hangin out with girlie, I’ll--"

"You'll what Buford?" Isabella appeared around the front of the red head's truck. She glared at him.

"Heh heh. Nuthin. I was just...uh, hookin up the second rope. Yeah, that's it."

She rolled her eyes.

"Wow." Django stepped forward. "You look good Isabella." He went to say something else, only to shut his mouth as Phineas shot him a death glare. "Hey Buford, need help with that rope?" He scurried off.

Ferb smirked at the pair of them. "You look nice. Have a fun friend date?"

"We were until Buford called us," said Phineas. "I actually would have stayed at the karaoke bar, but Izzy said we should come help out." He paused. "We also got caught, so going back isn't a viable option."

The other teen smiled, slinging an arm around Isabella's shoulders. "I'm so very glad you did." He looked down at her dress. "Is that proper attire for this?"

"For a friend date, yes. For pushing a truck out of the mud? Not really." Isabella smiled at him. "I can make it work though. I just need to take these off." She grabbed onto Phineas shoulder for support, leaning over and taking off her heels. "Ahh...much better."

The red head chuckled. "Wow Izzy; I forgot how much shorter you are than me."

She shrugged. "Eh."

"Think you can help us?"

The teen smiled, slinging her arms around the guy's shoulders, pulling them into a huddle. "Boys, I have an idea."

Chapter Text

"Come on guys; push!"

"We're pushin, we're pushin."

"Izzy, I hate to tell you this, but I don't think pushing the truck is working. We've been at this for several minutes and it still won't budge."

"We just need a different approach." Isabella walked over to the cab of the red head's truck, peering inside. "Put it in park and turn the engine off Ferb; I have a better idea." She gingerly walked back over to the others as Ferb climbed out of the cab. "The problem is, there's no traction."

"Well duh. If we had traction, I wouldn't be stuck," Buford griped.

"If you listened to your boyfriend, you wouldn't be in this mess." The teenager studied him. "Seriously, how does Baljeet put up with you?"

"Ya got me. Must be somethin about me he likes."

"We need traction under the tires. Phin, you and Django take care of the tires on the left side of the truck; see how much mud you can scoop away from them. The less mud, the easier it'll be to pull him out. Ferb, you go see if you can find any sticks or twigs; once we get some mud cleared away, we'll put the twigs and sticks underneath the tires. That should give us enough traction."

Ferb saluted as he walked off, heading into the woods.

"Buford, you and I will scoop mud away from the tires on the right side of the truck."

The former bully glared at her a moment before shrugging. "Yeah, alright." He got down on his knees next to the front right tire. "Ya really think this is gonna work Bella?"

"It should. You guys have tried everything else right?"

"Pretty much," Diango answered from the other side.

"Okay Izzy, I think we're good on this side." Phineas stood up, coming around to the back of the truck. "Can't say the same for my slacks though."

Isabella giggled at the mud stained pants. "I'm sorry Phin."

He shrugged. "Hey, it'll wash out." He studied her. "Looks your dress didn't escape the mud either."

She frowned, looking down at the hem of her dress. "Darn. I really liked this dress too."

"Alright, I think most of the mud's cleared on the back left tire." Django came around to the back of the truck. He smirked. "Phin, there appears to be something wrong with your pants."

"Yeah yeah." The red head waved the comment away.

"Mud's all cleared on the right," Buford added, walking over. "Now what?"

"We wait for Ferb." Isabella looked between the three guys. "Do either of you have boards in the back of your trucks or chain link? Or floor mats? Anything else we could use to help gain more traction would be great."

"Hey Buford, didn't you just buy new floor mats for the truck?" Django asked.

"Yup. Shock absorbin and everythin. They...hey." He started. "Uh no. We are not usin my brand new floor mats for traction."

"Come on Bufe; do you want your truck unstuck or not?" The red head asked. "Anything we could use would be helpful."

"I paid good money for those mats! That was five allowances!"

Django and Phineas snickered.

"You still get an allowance?" Django asked. "Man, my parents quit doing that when I got old enough to hold a summer job."

Phineas went to say something, only to close his mouth as Isabella shot him a look.

Buford nudged him in the ribs, whispering. "Told ya you were whipped."

"Shut-up." He took a step back, perking up as Ferb emerged from the woods, his arms laden with thick twigs and tree branches. "Perfect timing Bro." His brother stopped in front of him, quirking a brow. "Buford's killing me," he grumbled under his breath.

Ferb bit back a laugh, walking over to Isabella. He looked down at the mess in his hands. "Will these do?"

"Looks good to me." Isabella returned her attention to the others. "Okay guys; grab a handful of these and stick them as far underneath the tires as you can. We're going to get Buford unstuck if it's the last thing we do."

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"Okay Ferb; when I give the signal, you hit the gas." Isabella paused a moment, thinking. "But don't floor it this time. Flooring it will cause a bigger mess and we might get hit with mud and debris."

"Which would be an upside for Buford," Django cracked.

"Yeah, just insult the guy you're tryin ta help." Buford glared at him. "Some friends you are."

"Hey, we're here, aren't we?"

"Yeah Bufe; we could've left you stranded," Phineas added. The other teen shot him a death glare and the red head cringed. "Not that I would have. I mean, I almost did, but..." he blushed. "Oh nevermind."

Ferb rolled his eyes at the group, saluting Isabella before climbing into the truck.

"Okay, Buford and Django, you two push on the right side of the truck; Phin and I will push on the left side. Line up and get ready. We push on my count."

"Hey, how come you get to be next ta Dinnerbell?"

"Because I said so." Isabella smirked at him, waiting for the guys to line up before waving at the cab of the truck. "Go Ferb!" She turned back to the guys. "Push!"

“Hey, I think the wheels are movin.” Buford grinned, throwing his entire body weight against the truck.

“Keep pushing.”

Django looked down. “Looks like we almost got it.”

“Less talk more push!”

Phineas laughed out loud, glancing to the side. “Wow Izzy, you’re really—“

“Phin, shut-up and keep pushing.”

“Right.” The red head grunted, pushing against the truck with everything he had. “One more push at the same time guys; we should have it out.”

The other three did as they were told, pushing against the truck.

“Floor it Ferb!” Isabella yelled. The engine switched into a higher gear and the truck released from the mud with a loud sucking sound. “Eeee!” The teenager shrieked, flailing for a second before landing face down in the mud.

“Isabella!” Phineas took a step toward her. “Are you-are you—“ he stopped, holding a hand over his mouth. After a second, he took it away. “You’re covered—“ he shook with laughter, pointing at her. “Hey guys; look who the Danville Mud Monster is now.”

“Whoa.” Buford’s eyes widened and he smirked. “Hey Bella, that a new mud mask you’re wearin?”

“Yeah man. I heard they’re all the rage at salons these days. Though this may be taking it to extremes,” Django cracked.

“Ha ha.” She glared at them. “Very funny.”

“We’re sorry Izzy; it’s just, this really is kinda funny.” The red head offered her a hand up…only to have the teenager grab it, pulling him into the mud along with her. Before Phineas could say a word, Isabella grabbed a glob of mud, smushing it into his hair and down his shirt.

She smirked. “See? That’s what you get for making fun of a lady.” The other two stood in stunned silence, watching as Isabella slowly stood up, packing another mud ball in her hand. “Didn’t your mothers tell you how to properly treat a girl?” She smirked, lobbing a mud ball at Django’s head.

The ball hit its mark, oozing down the teenager’s face.

“Hey now, wait a minute.” Buford held up his hands in surrender as Isabella rapidly advanced toward him, scooping up another glob of mud. “Heh heh. Come on Bella; we were just havin a little fun. We—“

“What’d I miss?” Ferb came around to where the others were standing. He stopped dead, eyes sweeping the sight in front of him. He smirked, walking over to Isabella, glancing at the ball of mud in her hand. “May I do the honors?”

She handed the ball over, watching as Ferb walked toward Buford, mashing the mud on top of the teen’s head.

“Hey! Wait a minute!”

“Nice goin Ferb.” She slapped the teenager a high five. “Anyone else wanna go—“ she shrieked as Phineas smeared a glob of mud on her cheek. “Phineas, what—“

“There’s just one thing you forgot Izzy.” She gave him a blank look and the red head leaned down, whispering something in her ear.

She raised a brow. “Mud war?”

“She called it! She called it!” Buford pointed to her excitedly. “That’s it! It’s on!”

“Everybody scatter!” Django yelled at the top of his lungs, the four guys running in opposite directions, diving behind the various vehicles.

"Uh...guys?" Isabella stood in the middle, looking around. "Can someone loop me in here please?"

Phineas ran up behind her, grabbing her by the shoulders. "You just declared a mud war Izzy. Once it's declared, everybody scatters. We all hide behind something and start making mud balls. After that? Well...let's just say, anything goes." He whispered in her ear. "See Buford over there? He's on the attack. Stay on the alert and get him before he gets you. Make sense?"

She smirked, reaching down and scooping another mud ball into her hand. "Oh, it makes perfect sense.” She looked around the deserted area, tossing the ball in the air as Phineas ran for cover. "Okay guys; bring...it...on."

Chapter Text

The next day

"Man, you should have seen it!" Django looked around the assembled group of students. "Buford and I were crouched down behind his truck. We had a stockpile of mud balls and were all ready to go, when suddenly, Isabella sneak attacks us from behind." He grinned. "We didn't stand a chance."

"Ya shoulda seen the humongous dirt clod she threw at us." Buford held out his hands, forming a large round hole. "It musta been this big! And Girlie'd never played in a mud war before either!"

"It sounds very exciting," said Baljeet.

"It was Jeet! Ya shoulda been there! Dinnerbell and Ferb coulda used some reinforcements; Girlie clobbered them to!"

"We were improperly prepared." Ferb smirked.

"Yeah ya were. Seriously, when Bella made that slingshot, it broke a ton a mud war rules. It was awesome!"

Phineas stood off to the side, arms crossed as he leaned against the lockers, listening to his friends. He chuckled.

"Hey Phin." Isabella walked up and he smiled, pushing the brim of his baseball cap up with a thumb.

"Hey Izzy."

She looked between him and the others. "Why aren't you over there with the guys?" She watched the group a moment. "They seem to really be into something; I don't normally see Buford that excited."

"They're talking about last night."

"The mud war?"

"Yeah."

"Was I that bad?"

He laughed out loud. "No. You were that good."

"Really?"

"Yep. You really impressed them Izzy; I don't think they expected you to take the twigs and sticks from under the tires and make a slingshot." He smirked. "It broke a couple of mud war rules, but...I don't think the others minded."

"Yep, that's me. Always like to keep them on their toes." She leaned against the locker next to him. "So...did last night count as a full Friend Date?"

"The first half did. Not sure about the second half though."

"Are there do overs?"

"You want a do over?"

"Well--"

"Yo Isabella!" Buford and the others walked over to them.

"Hey Buford." The teenager looked around at the others, straightening up. "Hey guys; what's up?"

"We just wanted ta tell ya that you were awesome last night." A rare smile appeared on Buford's face. "That mudslingin was amazin."

"Yeah man. We never saw it coming," Django added.

"We did." Ferb went to stand on the other side of Isabella. He pointed between him and Phineas.

The red head grinned. "Yep. That's our Izzy."

"Aww..." she blushed slightly. "Thanks guys."

"Ya know Bella, for a girl, you're alright." Buford walked over, roughly thumping Isabella on the back, causing her to stumble forward.

"Thanks Buford." She paused. "I think."

The former bully went to say something else, only to be cut off by the warning bell. "Hey, Jeet and I got shop on the other side of the school. See ya all later." He waved, taking Baljeet's hand in his as the pair walked off.

"And I have art. Catch you guys at lunch?" Django asked.

"Definitely." Isabella nodded.

"See you guys then." Django waved before turning around, jogging down the hallway.

"So boys, where you headed?" Isabella asked.

"Dunno." Phineas lazily looked at the clock on the wall. "Where we headed Bro?"

His brother shrugged.

"Want to walk me to class?"

Ferb smiled, holding out his arm. "Shall we?"

"Definitely." Isabella linked her arm through his, looking at the red head. "Phin?"

"I think that's something I can do." He smirked, linking his arm through hers, the three walking down the hallway as the two minute warning bell rang overhead.