Chapter Text
The Flynn-Fletcher brothers, Isabella, Buford and Baljeet were doing what every high school student does on the last period of the last day of school: impatiently wait for the bell to ring so summer can begin.
In their respective classes, they were all on the edge of their seats. They all took note of the summer homework (well, except Buford), but they barely heard what their teachers were saying anymore.
After what felt like an eternity, the bell finally rang.
Naturally, everybody stampeded on the way out, eager to not return to school for a while. The gang met up outside on the bus stop.
“Freedom!” Buford yelled.
“Ah, another fruitful year of education completed,” Baljeet said.
Ferb nodded in agreement.
“Yeah, it was actually pretty fun,” said Phineas.
“Yeah!” cheered Isabella. “I loved all the classes and extracurriculars.”
Buford groaned. “Speak for yourselves. If I had to write one more paper, I would have eaten it.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time you eat paper, Buford,” Baljeet noted.
“Hey! You dared me to. Besides, it’s kinda like eating a tree, isn’t it?”
“No. No, it’s not,” everyone replied in unison.
Their bus arrived, so they took all the ruckus inside.
“So, what do you guys want to do as our first official summer activity?” Isabella asked once they were all seated.
“Hmm, build a new and crazier roller coaster?” Phineas suggested.
“Go on an intergalactic adventure?” Baljeet proposed.
“Burn all our school books!” Buford urged.
“I meant like, tonight. To celebrate the end of freshman year,” Isabella clarified. “I’m gonna need at least one day to rest before we do something big.”
“Fair,” Phineas agreed.
“We could play card games, buy some pizzas and do a movie marathon,” Ferb said.
“See, that’s more like it!” Isabella said with a big smile. “Are we talking sleepover?”
“Obviously,” replied Ferb with a small smile. The others agreed.
The plan was to meet up at seven in the Flynn-Fletcher residence, already in pajamas.
Phineas, Ferb and Isabella got off the bus at the same stop, while Buford and Baljeet got off at the next one.
Isabella quickly hugged Phineas goodbye before crossing the street to her house. “See you guys in a bit!”
“See you, Isabella,” the redhead replied.
Ferb, as always, watched that type of interaction quietly. And it killed him every time. He waved politely.
Inside their house, the boys were greeted by their parents.
“Hello, boys,” Lawrence said. “Did you have a nice last day of school?”
“You bet. But I’m glad we’re finally gonna have a break!” Phineas admitted.
“That’s nice, boys. What are you planning to do this summer?” Linda asked.
“No clue yet. But our first official summer activity is pizza and a movie marathon. Our friends are coming over to sleep, is that okay?” Phineas explained.
“Always. I’ll bake a pie.”
“Thanks, mom,” both boys said, then they headed upstairs to their shared bedroom.
Practically in sync, they threw their backpacks to the floor and their backs fell on their respective beds.
“Ah, summer again,” Phineas said, his arms resting under his head. “Summer seemed eternal back when we were kids, didn’t it? Now I feel like it barely lasts.”
“As we grow older, time appears to move faster. We must cherish all these fleeting moments of youth, tranquility and amusement,” Ferb spoke vehemently.
“You always know what to say, brother.” Phineas sighed. “We’re really lucky. We live very comfortably, we have a wonderful family, we have amazing friends…”
“Yes. Speaking of friends,” Ferb kept his voice completely neutral, “any new developments between you and Isabella?”
Phineas furrowed his eyebrows. “Uh, no. Why would there be any developments? She's my best friend, you know that. Why do you ask?”
“Nothing, I’m just still surprised you didn’t ask her to prom.”
“She wanted to go with her girlfriends.”
“Are you certain?” Ferb asked. “Have you seen the way she looks at you?”
“Yes, I’m sure. Please drop it, I want to take a nap.” Phineas turned around, showing him his back.
As a general rule, the Flynn-Fletcher step-brothers never fought or argued. Never had a reason to. They've been close since they were very small, thinking of the other as a full brother. But the last few years, Isabella had become somewhat of a touchy subject.
Phineas had finally, and very late, caught on that Isabella used to have a crush on him. Used to, as in past tense, a thing the rest of Danville didn’t seem to understand. Isabella got over that crush ages ago, but apparently only Phineas got the memo.
Everyone expected him to ask her out because he was a boy and she was a girl, and clearly that was supposed to mean something he couldn’t wrap his head around. Phineas loves Isabella with all his heart, platonically. As a super best friend, because she’s the best. Yet other people didn’t seem to think that's enough, even though Isabella has reassured him it's more than enough.
Ferb didn’t get it at all. His brother had to be blind to not see what was in front of him, how could Phineas not fall in love with her? It was infuriating. Isabella was the nicest person anyone has ever met. She’s always sweet and kind and upbeat and smart and talented in so many ways. Also, she’s insanely pretty. And damn it, he shouldn’t be thinking about this.
Ferb had some pretty unrealistic crushes in the past, but this one really bummed him out. Better to rest a little as well. This train of thought never leaves anywhere.
A few hours later, Isabella joined Baljeet and Buford in the front steps of the Flynn-Fletcher household. They probably looked a little silly all in their night clothes when it wasn't even dark out, but who cared.
“Hi again, guys,” Isabella greeted. “All set?”
“Yes, I've already finished my first summer homework assignment,” Baljeet said.
“Ugh,” Buford groaned. “Leave something for the rest of summer.”
“I kinda have to agree with Buford on that. Loosen up, Baljeet. We have a long summer ahead of us!”
Before Baljeet could rant about the importance of homework, Linda opened the door.
“Come on in, kids. The boys are upstairs.”
“Guys, we're here!” Buford yelled once they were in the living room.
“Buford, that’s impolite,” Baljeet reprimanded, to which Isabella chuckled.
“Sorry,” Buford said, in a tone that made it clear that he wasn't really sorry, but still. Progress. “Guys, we're here,” he repeated, at a moderate volume this time.
Baljeet gave him a thumbs up. Isabella thought they were very funny together. They mostly got over that bully-nerd dynamic years ago, and now they actually were close friends. Maybe suspiciously close sometimes, but that's none of her business.
The trio spread their sleeping bags on the floor and put their bags beside the couch, so they wouldn't be in the way.
Phineas and Ferb came down the stairs shortly after, already wearing pajamas as well.
“Hey, we already ordered the pizzas,” Phineas announced. “It should be here in about half an hour.”
“Great. What game should we start with?” Isabella asked.
“I brought Uno,” Buford was quick to say.
“I brought Scrabble,” said Baljeet.
Everyone voted for Uno. Baljeet always won at Scrabble.
They were on the fourth game (Buford 2 – Isabella 1, only because he played dirty) when Candace arrived home.
“Hello, family! No more exams for Candace Flynn!” she announced, basically kicking the door open.
Her parents got up from the kitchen table, going to greet her and congratulate her.
Candace had also ended freshman year today, but of law school. She attended a college in the Tri-state area, and so did her boyfriend Jeremy.
After a lot of 'we're proud of you's, Candace headed to the living room to greet the teenagers.
“Hey, troublemakers.”
Her little brothers got up to hug her.
“Congrats! One year closer to the Art of Busting,” Phineas joked.
“Oh, yes, you're so lucky I chose this career path.”
“So you're liking law school, Candace?” Isabella asked. She also got up to give her a quick hug.
“Love it. And am I tripping or are you guys actually doing normal summer teenage stuff for once?” Candace pointed out, noticing the lack of crazy inventions.
“Technically, summer starts tomorrow,” Phineas clarified.
Ferb shrugged. “Isabella said not yet.”
Isabella laughed. “Crazy stuff can wait one day.”
“Aren't we pulling an all-nighter? Make it a day and a half,” added Buford.
“Well, lucky you, I won't be here around much to bust you! I have big plans this summer.”
Candace almost skipped upstairs in her own little world. Good for her. Then the doorbell rang, so they picked up the cards from the floor.
“Why is your backpack so heavy?” Baljeet asked Buford when he picked up the backpack to put the cards back in.
“I brought all my school books,” he explained.
“You know you can just donate them back to the school, right?” Phineas said and there were a few hums of agreement.
“Nah, I don’t think they’ll be of much use. Look.” Buford took his backpack from Baljeet and opened a random book. There were doodles and scribbles everywhere, some parts violently highlighted or crossed out.
“Yeah, we should burn them,” Baljeet agreed, sounding wounded. “You massacred them.”
“At least we should make a little campfire, then,” Isabella suggested.
“Oh, great idea, Isabella. We can eat around the fire,” said Phineas. Isabella looked pleased with herself.
“Isn't the point of a campfire roasting something?” Baljeet questioned.
“Who cares, we can pretend we made the pizza,” Buford replied.
“Do your thing, Fireside girl,” said Ferb. “Phineas, go help her. We'll bring the food and the chairs. I think there’s marshmallows somewhere. And where is Perry?”
Phineas knew what his brother was doing, but he had no good reason to say no, so he went outside with her.
Phineas sighed. “Why does he keep doing that?”
“I think it’s really sweet that he tries to pair us off, but it bothers me too,” Isabella admitted as she set up the rocks for the fire. “Haven’t you told him to stop it?”
“Only about a hundred times,” Phineas complained. “He never listens. He probably thinks I’m too slow, that I’m gonna figure it out any day now and ask you out. But I’m not ready to explain to him why that’s not happening. I’m sorry, Isabella.”
“It’s okay, I understand. And you don’t ever have to apologize. The Fireside girls don’t believe me either when I tell them I don’t have a crush on you anymore. They say I still look like a fool in love, and I guess that's fair enough.”
“What a bummer.” Phineas thought about her words for a few seconds. “Wait, are you?”
“Am I what?” replied Isabella, distracted while tearing out pages for the fire.
“In love with someone?”
She paused and avoided his gaze. “N—no. Well, wanna do the honors?”
Phineas wasn’t the best at reading people, so he had no idea what to do with that reply. So instead he said, “Yes!”
Phineas lighted a match, grabbed a page, let it burn and set it down. He repeated this process a few more times until the fire reached a considerable size.
The others joined them outside, where they had a pleasant meal between family and friends. Phineas was still processing the conversation with Isabella, which made him unconsciously look at her more and pay less attention to the current talk.
Isabella was clearly hiding something, but he doubted that it was any feelings towards him. She said that she’d been over it ages ago, and he believed her. So who could she like? And why didn’t she share that information with him? Isn’t that the sort of thing best friends do? Or she felt awkward talking about those things with him? He didn’t want Isabella to feel uncomfortable about anything.
Then Phineas noticed something. Isabella kept looking his way trying to hide a dopey smile and heart eyes, except she wasn’t exactly looking at him, but beside him. Right at Ferb. And it hit him. Now it made sense why she wouldn’t tell him.
A lot of past interactions made more sense now. Like when Ferb would try to find an excuse to leave Phineas and Isabella alone, but Isabella would often try to find a way to keep Ferb there anyway. Or how Isabella never missed any of Ferb’s soccer games, despite her tight schedule. Everyone assumed she attended the games to be with Phineas in the bleachers, but she was there for Ferb.
Now that he thought about it, Ferb always paid special attention to her. Wasn’t he a little too interested in Isabella’s potential love life? Ferb was always asking if there’s anything between him and Isabella. And a few months ago, when one of Ferb’s soccer teammates asked Isabella out—twice, and she turned him down twice—he was the one who told the guy politely to back off.
Phineas’ triangular head spun with this revelation. He would’ve felt too slow at figuring this out if he weren’t sure he was the first one to connect the dots. Well, he was only about 90% sure. Turns out, he should’ve been the one to attempt the matchmaking.
When his head came back down to earth, the meal was over.
Candace eyed Phineas suspiciously as she chewed on her marshmallow. “Hey, Phineas, you’ve been awfully quiet.”
“Uh, I was doing my Ferb impersonation,” Phineas replied, which got some laughs in reply.
“In my defense,” Ferb started, “I do speak more now.”
“It’s okay, British guy,” Isabella said. “We love your one to three lines per day.”
Had they been lowkey flirting in front of everyone this whole time and no one noticed? Wild revelations tonight.
After helping with cleanup, they took the little party back to the floor of the living room, where they played some more games until they decided it was time for movie-watching.
“Hey, Isabella,” Phineas called. “Help me with the popcorn?”
“Sure.”
Phineas waited until the corn was popping to ask in a whisper, “Do you like my brother?”
Isabella squealed and mumbled something intelligible.
Meanwhile, in the living room, Ferb said, “Do you guys think it’s finally happening?”
“Nah,” Buford replied, uninterested. “You’ve asked that like fifty times this year, every time they go alone into a room actually, and it never happens.”
“Poor Isabella. Unrequited love can be so rough on the heart,” Baljeet added wistfully. Buford lightly kicked him under the table. Whatever that was about, Ferb wasn't sure if he wanted to know or not.
Back in the kitchen, Isabella finally found her words. “How did you find out? I’ve been hiding it so well!”
Phineas celebrated the confirmation of half of his theory. “I knew it!”
Isabella blushed and shushed him. “How did you know? Does everyone know?” She gasped, freaking out. “Does he know?”
“No, no. Calm down. I’m pretty sure I’m the only one who has found out.”
“Oh, thank God,” she breathed out.
“You should totally tell him,” Phineas encouraged.
“No way.”
“Why not?”
“It’s… weird.”
“How so?”
“It just is!” Isabella raised her voice a bit, then covered her mouth.
The first bag of popcorn was done. Phineas put the second bag in the microwave and they waited until it was popping so it could quiet the sound of their voices.
“Elaborate,” Phineas asked.
“I don’t know, it’s weird liking one brother and then liking the other. It’s so Wattpad-novel-cliché. I hate those stupid love triangles.”
Phineas pointed at his own head. “What, you don’t like triangles?”
Isabella chuckled. “Your head is fine. In pizza too. Just not in the love department.”
“Okay, but we never dated or anything.”
“Yeah, I know, but still. Everybody in Danville knows I liked you. It’s awkward.”
“It’s not anyone’s business,” Phineas argued.
“I know, but I just don’t have the guts to tell him.”
He nodded. “We need a plan.”
“No!” Isabella refused. “No plans, please. Those never work out.”
“Look, we just need to find a way so that you and Ferb can hang out more. Then it can happen organically.”
With a ping, the second bag was done.
“Let’s just talk about this tomorrow, okay?” Isabella said, to which he agreed.
Isabella and Phineas put the popcorn in bowls and took them to the living room. They watched a superhero movie, then a rom-com, then a Space Adventure movie (it’s an adventure in space!), and somehow they were hungry for apple pie at midnight. Then came the mandatory scary movie of any movie marathon that lasts until dawn. Ironically, that’s the movie they all fell asleep to. But what is summer for if not for ruining your sleep schedule?
Around eight in the morning, Phineas was woken up by some licks to the palm of his hand. “Oh, there you are, Perry.”
Perry chirped in response.
“Happy first official day of summer, guys!” Isabella said, getting up. “I’m gonna go help my mom with breakfast. Let me know when to come back.”
Since everyone lived so close, it was easier to eat and shower from their own houses, then later regroup.
Until then, summer would officially begin.