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“Your brothers are kinda…weird.”
“Weird how?” Candace swallows as she says it. She knows how. They invent weird things in their spare time, they’re total nerds in class, and outside of class, they mostly keep to themselves.
Candace loves her brothers, but she knows how “weird” they seem to other kids at school. As much as she hates to admit it, Phineas and Ferb are prime targets for bullies.
It wouldn’t be so hard for them if their friends went to the same school, but they don’t, so it’s just Phineas and Ferb and, of course, Candace, who has always stepped aside. She acknowledges her brothers when they pass each other in the hallways, but she doesn’t get involved with their school lives as much as she should.
And now, as Candace stands next to someone she thought was her friend, blood boiling, she realizes what a mistake she’s made by not stepping up sooner.
“You know what I mean,” says the girl, rolling her eyes. “They’re not like us. They’re not normal. I honestly can’t believe you’re related to those freaks. I mean, not Ferb. He’s not really your brother, but you get what I’m say—“
Candace’s fist flies towards the girl’s face and she already knows that she’s going to regret it later.
Except she doesn’t.
That night, her mom yells at her for starting a fight and her dad solemnly shakes his head before sending their daughter to her room. On her way up the stairs, Candace hears her mom call her a bad person.
Biting back tears, she crawls into bed, left eye stinging something awful and her arms covered in bruises.
But she hears a knock at the door, and she crawls out of bed again, and she opens it.
And her brothers are on the other side, ice packs in each hand.
Phineas is crying.
“I’m sorry,” Phineas sobs, “I’m sorry I can’t be normal.”
“We’re trying,” Ferb says. He’s not crying, but Candace knows he’s just as sad as Phineas—he just shows it differently. “We both are.”
Candace kneels down and pulls them both into a hug, trying to ignore her sore arms.
“I love you guys just the way you are.”
“R-Really?” Phineas sniffles.
“Really.”
"We didn't mean for you to get hurt," Phineas says.
"What, these little scratches? I barely felt a thing." Candace strikes an overdramatic hero pose, hands on her hips, and Phineas laughs. Ferb smiles a thankful smile and Candace returns it, her heart warming at the sight of her brothers happy and safe. That's all that matters to her, anyway.
And okay, maybe picking a fight wasn’t the best solution to this problem. Maybe her mom's right. Candace doesn't know. She doesn't really care. She'll do whatever it takes to keep smiles on her brothers faces. And if she has to throw a few punches to do that?
Well then, that's just what she'll do.