Chapter Text
Isabella’s POV
Isabella stared at her phone, rereading the text for the tenth time.
Can’t wait for tonight! Just you and me! 😊
She’d sent it an hour ago. No reply.
She already knew what that meant.
The theater lobby smelled like popcorn and soda. Neon lights buzzed overhead. Isabella smoothed her skirt and tried to calm her nerves. This wasn’t just a hangout. She had made that clear. She had practiced the words in the mirror, practiced smiling without looking desperate.
Then she saw them.
Phineas waved enthusiastically, Ferb standing beside him with his usual polite half-smile.
“Isabella! There you are!” Phineas said. “Ferb and I got the tickets early so we could get the good seats!”
Her heart dropped.
“Hi,” she said, her voice coming out thinner
than she wanted.
Ferb gave a small nod, like he knew something Phineas didn’t.
Isabella sat in the dark theater, hands folded in her lap, eyes on the screen—but her mind was miles away. Phineas sat to her left, Ferb to his left. Again.
She’d been clear this time. Just you. She’d even said it slowly, carefully, hoping he’d understand what she meant. And Phineas smiled, nodded, and said, “That sounds fun!”
And then he showed up with Ferb. Again.
The movie played on the screen—some sci-fi adventure they both loved—but she barely registered it. Phineas leaned forward, whispering excitedly about ideas, already inventing half a dozen projects inspired by the film. Ferb listened with quiet focus, occasionally murmuring something insightful that Phineas eagerly expanded on.
They were a perfect team.
While she was just… there.
She laughed when they laughed. She commented when they asked her something. But every time she turned her head toward Phineas, Ferb was there too. Sitting between them in spirit, even if physically he was just on the other side.
He did it again, she thought.
He always does.
When the movie ended, they walked her home like always. Phineas was still talking, hands moving as he explained an idea about building a propulsion-based virtual reality system inspired by the movie.
“Imagine if we could replicate the gravitational shifts—oh, Ferb, that would be perfect for—”
Ferb nodded thoughtfully.
Isabella walked slightly behind them, her hands tucked into her jacket sleeves, listening but not really hearing. She’d heard this before. Every date ended with inventions, plans, and Ferb being there.
She stopped at the edge of her driveway.
Phineas smiled brightly. “Thanks for coming out, Isabella! That was fun. We should do it again sometime.”
“Yeah,” she said softly.
Right before Isabella crossed the street to her house, Ferb lightly touched her shoulder.
She looked back.
His expression was calm, but there was something kind in his eyes.
“I know this was meant to be different,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry.”
Isabella blinked. “You… noticed?”
Ferb nodded once. “Phineas means well. He just doesn’t always… understand things that aren’t engineering problems.”
She laughed softly, though her chest hurt. “Yeah. I guess.”
He gave her a small reassuring smile and walked back to Phineas.
Phineas just waved. “Goodnight, Isabella! See you tomorrow!”
She waved back and walked into her house.
In her room she changed into pajamas, then opened her desk drawer. Her fingers brushed past pens and notebooks until they found what she was looking for.
A photograph.
It was from one of their “dates.” A group picture. Phineas and Ferb stood in the center, smiling brightly, looking happy and oblivious. She stood beside them, smiling too—but she knew it was fake. Forced.
That was supposed to be her and Phineas. Just the two of them.
She sat on her bed and stared at the picture for a long time, realizing something heavy and simple:
She couldn’t keep waiting.
She slid the photo back into the drawer and turned off the lights.