Work Text:
Isabella wrote the final “A”, finishing the letter with a flourish, and gathered their now-labeled answer cards to neatly stack them on the corner of the table. She then laid the dull, stubby pencil on top of the pile, and turned her attention to her dinner.
Across from her was her dear friend Ferb, who did a silent eye roll at her choice of team name this week. ‘Cosmo and Wanda’.
He gave her a look, and she read it instantly: A bit on the nose, don’t you think?
She took a pointed bite of her shepherd’s pie. “People will instantly know which team we are, so they’ll know exactly who’s beating them for the third week in a row. They just have to look for pink and green. Besides, it’s better than ‘The Jammy Dodgers’.”
His fork reached across the table and stole a bite of her pie.
“Okay, first of all, we literally ordered the same thing, so…” She did the same to his plate to prove her point. With her mouth half-full, she added, “Second of all, it’s not my fault you suck at team names.”
There it was: the ever-elusive Ferb Fletcher smile. While small, close-lipped, and reserved, his loved ones knew it was an expression of genuine joy.
Isabella was no stranger to it. She had known him for most of her life, and besides, she witnessed this smile a bare minimum of once every thirty days at their scheduled outing for trivia night at O’Malley’s Alley.
Answering trivia at a pub would have been right up their friends’ alleys (no pun intended), but Isabella and Ferb always reserved this activity for just the two of them. They enjoyed the laid-back atmosphere; they were both competitive enough to want to keep up a winning streak, but they weren’t so gung-ho that they’d be upset if they didn’t place first.
This monthly tradition had been going on for well over a decade now, and it was something they both looked forward to. It was a chance to gossip, flex their cerebral cortexes, and throw back a glass or two of Guinness.
The Proclaimers began playing on the radio, and Isabella took a sip from her own glass. “You visited Candace and Jeremy earlier, right? How are our niece and nephews?”
Ferb softly shut his eyes in a confirmation of their well-being.
“I haven't seen them in a couple weeks. I should stop by soon.”
Visiting her ex-husband’s relatives had never been a chore, since most of them still lived in town. There were also teleporters fitted in the homes of everyone they remotely cared about so they could easily visit each other, even if they lived outside of Danville.
The Flynn-Fletcher boys had started working on the teleporters when Ferb decided to attend Camford on Oxbury. There was no way he was attending college in England without being able to see his brother every day. As the years went by, the machines eventually spread to the whole family (except for Linda and Lawrence, naturally).
The last time she visited Candace’s house was the previous month on Halloween night. She and Phineas had taken all the kids out to trick or treat.
A memory popped into her mind. Phineas holding their son Daniel’s hand, leading him away from a house with decorations that would have kept him awake that night. They were both dressed as superheroes, masks over their eyes and polyester capes flowing behind them in the October breeze.
Exactly five years had passed since she and Phineas had signed their divorce papers. The fifteenth of November. She hadn't brought it up to Ferb; she didn't want to make their routine about her personal life. But she was sure he knew.
And sure enough, as if he could read her mind, Ferb tapped her hand, bringing her back down to Earth. She had been staring at the wooden block calendar behind the bar. Very covert, Isabella, she told herself.
His eyes, a dark, subtle blue, glanced over at the date she had been fixated on.
“Yeah, it is the friendiversary, isn't it?”
He looked at her. As if you didn't remember.
“Of course I didn't forget. I sent him several cute dog pictures this morning, and he sent me as many cat pictures.”
He blinked.
She smiled. “Yes, I'm fine. I've told you before, that double decker yacht has sailed. We're both much happier this way.”
And they were . She wasn't lying. She truly believed that.
When she was in love with Phineas, their relationship never felt the way it should have. Kisses were mere routine. Hugs weren't as natural as they used to be. Time spent with him was weighed down by the conventions and expectations of romance. He had loved her, and she had loved him (good grief, she had loved him), but they were never on the same page. It never felt easy.
When they decided to break up and platonically co-parent Daniel, Isabella had expected to go through a deep grieving process for their failed relationship, but to her surprise, as soon as the ink was dry, she felt… relieved.
To be frank, her infatuation with her dream-come-true had faded more and more the longer they were a couple, as reality sank in and she realized they wanted very different things out of their marriage. And she had loved Phineas as her husband, but she loved him as her friend tenfold. They lived in different houses now, but they were closer than they'd ever been.
Ferb knew all this. It was just in his nature to make sure his friends and family were at ease. Usually, he was quieter and subtler about it than most other people.
Evidently appeased by her reply for the time being, he picked up his own glass and held it out to Isabella.
With an easy grin, she lifted her beer. “Cheers to life being unpredictable.”
The cups made a pleasing chime when the two companions clinked them together.
The regular trivia emcee approached the karaoke stage, and Isabella sat up straight. “Alright, Fletcher. Time to put on your game face.”
He put on his game face, but the minute nuances of this particular expression wouldn’t have been perceptible to the viewer.
“Have you ever considered taking up competitive poker?”
Their win that night hadn't been an easy one, but they'd managed to eke out first place.
Only two points behind them was a team consisting of an older British gentleman wearing a top hat, and his partner, a man with a track suit and curly, auburn hair. Their team name had been “We’re Going To The Zoo”, which Isabella thought was even worse than “The Jammy Dodgers”. It wasn't even a noun, proper or common. It was just a sentence.
She and Ferb ended up staying at their table until the pub closed at midnight, alternating between conversing and sitting in comfortable silence. It was relaxing, despite the loud music and the bar chatter.
Being a mom, taking freelance journalism jobs, and running a chihuahua rescue out of her house kept her life chaotic enough, on top of juggling her numerous responsibilities as the sponsor of the local Fireside troop.
Her friends were just as high energy. Phineas always went a mile a minute, no matter what he was doing. Candace was the most high-strung person she knew, and while Jeremy was a soothing presence to everyone he met, he and Isabella were never particularly close. Buford and Baljeet came as a set, and they were prone to arguing with each other (it was never a true argument – verbal sparring seemed to be a form of enrichment for the couple. it was how they loved). And the member of her childhood troop she kept in most regular contact with was Gretchen, who was such a workaholic it sometimes stressed Isabella out.
In contrast, Ferb was the only person she knew who she could rely on for a quiet hangout. Having someone like him in her life kept her sane.
He was just as busy as her, if not more so (being an ambassador and a full-time engineer were time-consuming professions), but like her, he regularly needed time to slow down. And slow down they did.
After they left O’Malley's, it had started to snow – it wasn't heavy enough to be concerned about walking home yet, only falling as a light flurry. It was just enough to dust their hair and jackets.
Isabella loved the aesthetic it gave off. The snowflakes made her pink fleece jacket sparkle, and she could see individual fractals in the ones that landed in Ferb’s hair.
She pulled out her holophone to check her feeds as they meandered down the sidewalk, her side pressed against her companion’s for both warmth and affection.
The first snap that popped up was from her mom, who had taken a selfie with a filter that gave her cartoonish hearts for eyes. The caption said “LOVE YOU MIJA”, and it was framed by six or seven hearts and goofy smileys. Vivian Garcia-Shapiro considered emojis one of the greatest accomplishments of mankind. Isabella took a quick picture with the same filter and sent it back as a reply.
The next snap was from Phineas, sent a few hours ago: a shot of Daniel asleep on the couch, lit by the glow of the television and snuggled under a Space Adventures throw blanket. She felt a wave of cuteness aggression hit, and she nudged Ferb as she angled her screen towards him. “Look!”
His eyes lit up, and the corners of his mouth turned up again. Two smiles in one day was impressive. He must have been in a really good mood.
“Here, let's take a picture together so Phineas can see it when he wakes up. We are two of his favorite people, after all.”
They stopped, and Ferb knelt down a bit so his face was at the same height as Isabella’s. She began cycling through different filters, trying to find one that suited her mood, and he reached over to scroll back to the default option.
“Hey!” She playfully swatted at his hand. “Don't you want us to look whimsical?”
“Not really.”
“Boooo.”
She switched to a simple one that did nothing but give them party hats, and Ferb conceded. She quickly typed “First place AGAIN! Tell kiddo we love him!” over the selfie and sent it on its way.
They began walking again as she flipped through some more snaps. A picture of the ceiling from Candace, just to maintain their streak. Questions about their Thanksgiving plans from Baljeet. Red ink marking a score of one hundred on Amanda’s math test. Vacation selfies from Meap. A pie Linda had baked that evening.
The face of a man she went on a date with the week prior was next, and the mood shift almost startled her. She frowned. It was best for her to leave that one alone until tomorrow. There would not be a second date, and she didn't feel like rejecting another guy when the rest of her night had been so pleasant.
Still, the sight of him left a decidedly un pleasant feeling in the back of her mind.
Ferb’s arm wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her slightly to the right of her current course. She blinked up at him. “Hey, Ferb.”
He glanced at the ground, and she followed his eyes. There was a frosty puddle of water on the pavement, and she would have either slipped or gotten her boots wet if she stepped on it.
“Oh, thanks.” She locked her holophone and slipped it into her purse. “Sorry. I just got distracted.”
Without missing a beat, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a coin, offering it to her with a raised eyebrow.
She examined it and laughed. “A tuppence for my thoughts, huh? You've still got it.”
He placed a hand on her back and began to lead her to a nearby bench, obviously intent on making her talk. He was a very persistent man, despite barely ever speaking out loud.
Isabella grabbed his arm. “I told you, I'm fine. I just got in my own head for a second there.”
He brushed some snow off of the seat and tugged on her hand, pulling her down to sit with him.
She crossed her arms and glared at him with a pout. He stared back with a look that conveyed: You're obviously not fine. You're very attentive, and you would have noticed that puddle in any other circumstance. Something is bothering you, and while it may not be your divorce with Phineas, it's still significant enough to cause you to ignore your surroundings and lose your focus. You are one of my closest friends, I care about you and your feelings a great deal, and you can tell me anything. I am here to listen.
Ferb could say a lot with a single look.
Isabella sighed and propped her head up in her hand. “Forget poker. You'd make good money as a human lie detector.”
He mirrored her, sitting in the same position she had shifted to, and waited for her to speak.
“Okay, do you remember that thing Phineas posted a week ago?”
A nod. The picture in question was one he'd taken with Django, with whom he had recently reconnected after the artist’s decade-long absence. They'd gone on several dates now, and had recently become official.
“It's about that, but it's also not. ”
Blink.
She groaned. “See, Phineas and Django are so good together. I've watched them talk, and they really click. There's a great foundation there.”
A blank look. And…?
“That's not what I'm upset about. I just wanted to lay the groundwork so you don't think I want Phineas back, because some of my other friends would think that, and it's really annoying.”
A shrug. Fair enough.
Leaning back, she drew her coat closer to her. “But when I saw that post, I was on a date with a guy, and it was going badly. Like, really badly. As in ‘he pulled out nail clippers during dinner’ bad.”
Ferb winced.
“Yeah, I know.” She rubbed her eyes. “I was playing on my phone to keep myself from bolting, and that's when I saw the picture. And… I don't know, it just got me thinking about my own love life.”
A couple in their mid-twenties approached, and the conversation paused long enough to let them pass.
Isabella watched them as they continued on. “I mean, I'm in my thirties, and I've yet to have a single relationship that I'd call successful. I spent decades hung up on the wrong person, and even though I've been back in the dating pool for years now, nothing has stuck.” She huffed. “No princes. Just toads.”
Ferb simply looked at her.
“Not that there's anything wrong with toads!” Her hands shot up defensively. “I love toads. Frogs, too. Most amphibians and reptiles, actually. I just don't wanna date one, you know? It's a metaphor. I guess it is kind of mean to actual toads, though. They don't deserve to get compared with guys who clip their fingernails on dinner dates. They're way cuter and much more polite.”
His eyes narrowed. I completely agree, but don't try to change the subject.
She shut her eyes. “Right, right. My problems, not toads’ problems. Anyway… I want Phineas to be happy. He's one of my best friends, he's the father of my child, and he's a wonderful person.”
I know.
“And Django is a great guy. I love him, too.”
An eye roll. You're still dodging the question.
“Fine, fine! I'm upset because Phineas ended up in a serious relationship before I did.” Her eyes shot open. “That came out wrong. That's not what I meant.”
Isabella leaned forward and massaged her temples as Ferb waited for her to gather her thoughts. He laid a hand on her shoulder, and she took a deep breath in and out.
In. Out. “It's not the relationship I'm upset about. We've established that. And I'm not gonna repeat myself about Phineas. I just…”
A beat.
“...I care a lot about romance. I want to be with someone who cares about romance as much as I do. It's really important to me. I wouldn't say it's the most important thing, but I do value it really highly, you know?”
He gave her a nod. He did know. He'd seen her weep while watching romantic dramas, act as a wingwoman more times than he could count, and throw annual parties every Valentine's Day (her favorite holiday). Anyone who had known Isabella for more than five minutes knew she was a romantic.
“And I don't think it's un important to Phineas, necessarily, but I also think it's way further down on his list than it is on mine. I'd say it's the main reason why we broke up.”
A window across the street dimmed as whoever was inside switched the lights off. It was almost half past midnight. Neither Ferb nor Isabella typically stayed up this late.
She sniffed nonchalantly. “And you know Phineas. Good things just kind of happen to him. The positive ions, right? You have them, too.”
He looked a little sheepish as he confirmed her observation.
“And I don't resent that or anything. I really don't. I kind of love it. It usually works out in everyone's favor, anyway. It's just that… specifically… he's not even trying , and he still ended up with the perfect boyfriend.”
Ferb’s eyes flickered over to her, a slight frown on his face, distinct from his resting expression.
Her deep breaths became a little more shallow. “I’m happy for him. I am. But everything I have, I've worked my butt off for, just like everyone else. Just like Phineas. It's not just the ions. But I'm the one who's been trying to find my soulmate, not him.”
He pointed at her purse, referencing the photo that started the conversation.
“Right!” She shifted herself so she was facing Ferb more. “Do you know how many awful dates I've been on since I got divorced?”
He raised a finger and opened his mouth.
She continued before he could reply. “Twenty-eight. And there's been just as many mediocre ones, if not more. It just makes me wonder why I'm not in a relationship yet, because I'm trying so hard to put myself out there. I'm trying, Ferb.”
Both of his hands found her shoulders in an attempt to steady and ground her. There was a strange look on his face she only saw when he was laser focused.
In spite of herself, she felt her eyes begin to water. It made her angry. “God, I promised myself years ago I would never cry over love ever again. It’s just so frustrating to keep trying when I can't make anything work. It's not that I'm not confident, but I have to be doing something wrong, right?”
“Isabella, there’s nothing the matter with you. You’re an intelligent, charismatic, lovely woman, someone who I'm honored and privileged to call my friend.”
“Aww, Ferb…”
He then pulled her into a hug, cozy and soft in the chilled air. The gesture made her even more teary, but she didn't let herself fully slip into crying. She bit her bottom lip and squeezed her eyes closed as his hair tickled her ear. He smelled like woody cologne, but not overwhelmingly so – he was just as understated with his fragrances as she was with her perfume.
After a moment, he leaned back and reached into his chest pocket, procuring a white handkerchief.
He took her chin between his thumb and pointer finger, and she froze. With a delicate hand, he began dabbing the corners of her eyes, drying her tears before they fell.
It was Isabella’s turn to stare now. There wasn't an ounce of frustration, confusion, or exasperation on Ferb’s face. Just concern.
She felt her cheeks warm up under his scrutiny. His eyes were so soft, yet intense. All because of her.
He tucked the hanky back in his pocket without looking away, patting her cheek comfortingly with his other hand. There, there.
Before she could stop herself, she impulsively leaned forward, pressing her lips to his instead of hugging him.
The kiss only lasted for a second, but during that second, it felt like Isabella was shot by lightning. A strange cocktail of emotions electrified her and nearly knocked her off the bench.
Shock? Regret? Embarrassment?
Affection? Butterflies? Vindication?
She pulled back immediately. If her face was warm after he consoled her, it was boiling now. She had never seen Ferb so taken aback – his mouth was agape, his eyes were wide, and his breath had stopped, no longer exhaling swirls of fog.
Her hands covered her face and she began to curl in on herself. “Oh my God, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I don't know why I did that. That was weird.”
She groaned into her lap in embarrassment. If he reacted, she couldn't see it. Instead, she focused on the phosphenes that danced behind her eyelids. Maybe they could distract her for a moment.
Ferb pushed Isabella upright, and she parted her fingers just a crack, one brown iris peeking between them.
Her voice came out muffled. “I'm sorry. That was weird, right? That was out of line.”
He shook his head no in two firm movements.
She found herself rendered motionless again as he pried her hands away, holding them in his and resting the joined digits on his knees.
There was a moment where they did nothing but eye each other, both a little hesitant in their actions.
He then reached for her cheek again, cupping it this time, and his eyes flashed a question: May I?
She blinked back, hoping she was as expressive as he was without words. You may.
And, just like that, Isabella and Ferb were experiencing their second kiss.
As she squeezed his hand, Isabella pondered the situation. It wasn't as if she had never thought about this before. Sure, it wasn't at the forefront of her mind, but Ferb was handsome and very likable. There was a reason he’d seen a lot of admirers over the years.
It had been several years since she'd thought about Candace's vaguely cryptic words at the end of their second time travel fracas. Because of her marriage with Phineas, she had been Aunt Isabella to Candace's children for well over a decade now.
(To tell the truth, she’d probably still be called Aunt Isabella even if she had no legal ties to the Flynn-Fletchers – Buford and Baljeet were uncles by virtue of friendship, after all.)
Once in a blue moon, she mused about Ferb and his kindness, how he'd always been there for her, and felt a distant sense of melancholy.
What if it had been him? Would he have gotten distracted on their first anniversary? Would he need to be reminded about their date nights? Would he have matched her efforts in romance? Had she fallen for the wrong brother in the first place?
The thought always passed, because if he was interested in her, he surely would have shown it by now. And if they were a case of ‘right person, wrong time’, she could live with that. She might have loved him another lifetime, perhaps. It wasn’t something she lingered on.
But now? Kissing him under a streetlight, her heart skipping a beat as he ran his fingers through her dark curls, the shapes she saw when she closed her eyes turning into warm, twinkling stars? She was suddenly very interested in that notion.
She couldn't yet say if she was in love with him, not right that second, but this was making her wonder if she could be.
Wouldn't that be funny? Maybe she was in love with Ferb, and didn't even realize it. Maybe she had been for years. Maybe it started that evening. She'd have to get to the bottom of it.
After the kiss had run its course, she took no small pride in seeing how flushed he had become. Did he always get this red when he kissed a cute girl?
A car drove by, and the noisy hum of its engine brought Isabella back down to Earth. It was an older model, from 2027.
Her hands rested on the curves between his neck and shoulders. “Um… wow.”
Ferb gulped. Wow.
“Have you thought about doing that before?”
He shrugged. “Once or twice. It comes and goes, though I hadn't really considered it as an option until tonight. I always thought it was more of an ‘in another life’ situation.”
“Me, too.” She grinned. “But what about your wayward love life, Mr. Ladies’ Man? You know I want a guy that’ll settle down, right? To an extent.”
“The older I get, the more appealing a committed relationship becomes.”
“I guess it's never too late, is it?”
The third smile of the night graced Ferb’s visage.
Isabella looked at her shoes, suddenly feeling very bashful. “What about Phineas? What should we tell him?”
He bumped her knee with his. Phineas loves both of us dearly, and I don't think he'll take any issue with us pursuing a possible romantic relationship. We shouldn't hide it from him. However, before we give him the news, I do think we should be absolutely positive that this is something we want to try. It would be a big change for both of us. We don't have to decide all at once.
Ferb could also say a lot with a single knee bump.
She agreed. “You're right. We should go on a real date first. Trivia night doesn't count as a date.”
He placed a hand over his heart, feigning hurt.
“Oh, hush, you big baby. Tonight was a friend date. We need a date date. That way, we can see if what just happened was a fluke or not.”
One of his eyebrows raised, half flirtatious and half teasing.
“I mean, you're a great kisser, but we gotta make sure it's more than just a great kiss, you know?”
Ferb nodded in affirmation, pulling out his holophone and opening its calendar to look at his schedule. Isabella did the same. Once they had both opened the same app, they clinked the phones together like wine glasses, and the data synced. Their closest shared free time was on a Sunday two weeks from that day.
She tapped a green check mark on her readout to fill the time slot. “It's a date. Wait til I tell Pinky!”
He gave her a disapproving look.
“Oh, you're right. Pinky's such a gossip. He'll probably tell Perry, and then Perry might tell Phineas. Pretty soon, it'd be all over the place.” She sat up straighter. “Alright, then. For the next couple weeks, it'll be our secret. No pressure. No hard feelings. If one of us starts feeling weird, we call the whole thing off. Deal?”
She offered her hand for him to shake, and he did so with his silent, reserved eagerness.
Still clasping hands, he stood up, helping her stand in turn. He gave her hand a squeeze before letting go.
“Okay, let's get you back to London. You're gonna be exhausted at the luncheon tomorrow.” She pursed her lips. “Or is it today for you?”
He shook his head. Who knows? Time zones had lost all meaning for their circle since the teleporters came into play. Between America, England, Mexico, India, Uruguay, Drusselstein, and countless other locales, everyone had bizarre sleep schedules and full passports. And that was only after taking Earth into account.
Isabella linked her arm through Ferb’s, he placed his hand over where hers rested, and they made their way to her house in comfortable silence. Danville was surprisingly calm late at night. Big ideas, evil schemes, and other such activities usually waited until daytime.
It occurred to Isabella that there was nobody she would rather spend this time with than Ferb, date or no date. She couldn't stop herself from grinning ear to ear as the light layer of snow crunched under their feet.
The days between their friend date and their date-date crept by, seemingly slower each time.
Isabella was antsy. She was excited . She hadn't looked forward to a date this much in years. She felt like a teenager again.
Ferb seemed excited, too. He was snapping her a bit more than normal. Every selfie he sent made her stomach do a backflip. It was strange how a single interaction had changed how she viewed him in general; sure, she thought he was objectively charming before, but she'd never really connected the dots. It was like always skipping a particular song on an album, and not being able to stop listening to it once you finally let it play.
They saw each other in person a few different times during that interim, but it was always amongst their loved ones. They tried to be inconspicuous on those occasions, but it was hard to hide their happiness to see each other, and they earned a few suspicious looks from Candace.
On that Sunday, two weeks after trivia night, the teleporter in the corner of Isabella’s living room began vibrating, the chihuahuas began yipping, and right on schedule, her best friend materialized with a bouquet of pink roses and a smile.
She stood up from her velvet couch, smoothing out her lilac dress, and stepped forward to meet him. They had a reservation at a gourmet restaurant in Barcelona, and his hand fit perfectly in hers. She had a feeling this was the start of something wonderful.