CHPT 10: I'm High On Believing.

Isabella thought bonding with the Flynn-Fletcher brothers would be hard, but it wasn't. She had let go of her expectations and desires. And she now finally was able to see the boys beneath. It didnt surprise her how simple it was to fall into their lives. Their friendship was like putting a comfy hoodie on a snowy day. Warm and unquestioned. Although in most cases it was if the hoodie was made of reflective tape and the snow was falling back into the sky.

She really should have expected how weird it would be.

She is walking downtown with Ferb when she is pushed into a bush. It should probably be worry her that this didn't even rank as an unusual event for her. She slowly stands and brushes the twigs and dust off her person. She glares at her friend where he's crouching, he is wistfully (as wistful as Ferb can be) peering through the branches as a gothic woman walks by.

"Ferb."

He looks up at her crossed arms and had the decency to look sheepish.

"You said you had spoken to her!"

He shrugs and stands with a crack from his knees.

She follows his head with a glare as he towers over her. When did he get so lanky? "You can't get out of this by being silent!"

He grimaces, "You're right Isabella, I'm going to sort this out right now!"

She smiles as he runs off.

She frowns when he returns not a minute later.

"So, guess you just declared their sincerist apologies to a 50 year old magician."

From the way Ferb pushes her back into the bush, she really shouldn't have started laughing again.

"Seriously Isabella. It should wear off in 2-4 hours." Phineas speaks from high above her.

"If I didn't like you so much, you would be dead." She growls. Literally. She's a dog.

"I don't know what she just said, but I claim plausible deniability for any of her actions." Buford says sitting on the porch.

"Granted." Ferb replies as he scratches her behind the ears.

She winced as her leg broke, "Oh! Come on!"

Ferb smirks down at her and she squints as the sun glares at her from high above him.

"You shouldn't have questioned me Isabella." He says as he punches her in the face.

She was still stunned, and couldn't block his attack, so she is sent flying. She watches in despair as he follows her across the alley. He raised his leg before bringing it down on her head.

"FATALITY!" Blasts the TV.

"Well I didn't think you were going to push me to the floor!" She exclaims at him from the carpet where she lay. She couldn't believe the genius boy had to resort to cheating to win at a video game!

"Don't be bitter just because I'm better than you at fighting games!" He challenges as he stretches out over the couch he so fairly pushed her off.

"Are you sure about that?" Isabella raises her eyebrows in a challenge.

"Positive." He pulls his arms up to rest them behind his head.

"Oh really?" She says before launching at him.

In a matter of seconds, he is face down on the carpet with her sitting on his back, twisting his arm.

"Isabella, I'm sorry!"

"Ha, say you'll be his partner for the next Home Ec assignment!"

"NO! I won the game! You lost the bet. Ow ow ow OW! Okay FINE!"

She lets him go before victoriously taking her place on the couch.

She hears a chuckle from the hallway and turns to see Phineas watching. "Have you guys decided who Im working with yet?"

"Yes!"

"No!" Ferb calls from the floor as he rubs his shoulder.

"Awww, Ferb don't be bitter just because I'm better at fighting than you are!" She throws his words back in his face.

"Double or nothing on Rainbow Road."

"Oh, you are so on!"

Why anyone thought pairing up with Phineas in Home Economics would be a good idea, she does not know. You would think someone with his wide skill set would be able to crush this course in a blink of an eye.

So, she really doesn't understand how these situations kept happening.

"Phineas." She says in disbelief at the state of their workbench.

She watches his shoulders come up as he guiltily looks over at her. "Isabella! Hi…"

"We are supposed to be making vanilla pudding."

"We are!"

"Why are your hands purple?"

"That's a very good question."

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but we need to practice how to make scrambled eggs."

"That would probably be a good idea."

"We should make plans." She looks at the perfectly round black ball of eggs and...something. "I just…its perfectly spherical...I mean, how?"

"I think its best not to question it. Are you free tomorrow?"

"No Phineas… I'm actually pretty expensive."

"…. Was that a pun?"

"No."

"…"

"Seems with have a misPUNderstanding."

"Isabella!"

"Phineas."

"Isabella."

"We are meant to be having a quiet barbeque." She looks at the event planning worksheet they had been given.

"Yes, I'm pretty excited."

"So, what is that?" She points outside with her pencil.

"You told me to make a fire."

"Small fire! I said to set a small fire! This is not small!" She looks at the skyscraper bonfire outside and wonders how she didn't see this coming.

"I'm sure this won't explode on us." He says from where he has crouched down behind the counter.

"It's a soufflé!"

"Yeeeaaaahhhh, I may or may not have accidently added nitro-glycerine."

"You did what?!"

"I don't remember! I looked, and I am missing some! But I'm like 75% sure it's not in there." He points across the kitchen.

There is a rattle from the oven.

Isabella sighs as she hunkers down next to Phineas. "Damn you Rainbow Road!"

Isabella is driving them back from the theatre.

"Truth be told, I'm not sure if any of them are actually dead."

"…Phineas."

"Like isn't it a known fact that everyone except Quicksilver…mmmppphhh!"

"Phineas, we do not spoil major movie franchises." Isabella says without looking towards the passenger seat as Ferb covers Phineas' mouth.

She hears more muffled complaints before blissful silence. She hears a questioning tone from Ferb in the back seat and nods in response.

Phineas starts again as soon as Ferb releases him, "Marvel has literally…"

She is proud at how quickly he is silenced with a glare.

Phineas crosses his arms but remains quiet.

She guesses she's not supposed to hear the soft mumble behind her from Baljeet, "Isabella Garcia-Shapiro, she might as well be the Godfather."

She decides to have a bit of harmless fun, in the review mirror she catches Ferb's eye, he notices her grin and he nods back at her.

When they break to drop Baljeet off, Ferb leans over and stops Baljeet from opening the door.

"My friend, what..."

"Remember Baljeet! Revenge is a dish best served cold."

Baljeet stares at the normally silent teen in shock. He looks to the front, but Phineas and Isabella don't react.

"I don't understand…"

Phineas looks at Isabella and says, "I think we should make him an offer he can't refuse."

The Indian boy eeps and scrambles out the car, before he can get to the house she winds down the window and calls out, "You were wrong Baljeet! I am the Godmother!"

She watches Baljeet cease fumbling with his keys and lets out a breath in relief, "That was the scariest reference ever."

They don't stop laughing until they get back home.

She spent the weekend working for her mom, now she just wanted to spend Sunday night in her PJ's. With a massive bowl of popcorn or chocolate, maybe both. What she didn't expect was a ring at the door at 8 pm. Neither did she expect it to be Phineas standing at the door.

From the looks of it Phineas didn't expect her either…which was weird considering.

"Isabella!"

She leans against the door frame, she didn't realise how much work had taken out of her. "Who else were you expecting?"

"You of course! I mean I didn't think you would be here," He started off strong here, but appeared to lose his train of thought when his eyes seemed to wander off towards her flamingo sleep shorts. "I mean I didn't think you wouldn't be here, I think, I mean I didn't not think you wouldn't not be here really, I mean…." He coughs before looking back up at her face. "What do I mean?"

She looks at his vaguely sunburnt face and wonders what work intensive project he took part in this weekend. She smiles, "I don't know Phineas, you're telling the story."

"Exactly." He replies and then proceeds to not say anything. He looks as shattered as she feels and maybe its his sleepy presence or maybe it's the fact that she just really wants to put her feet up, but she doesn't pause before she makes the next action.

"Right," She steps up off the door and gestures inside, "I have the extended Stumbleberry Finkbat trilogy and a bucket of popcorn, do you want to join me?"

"Please?" He stumbles in after and she registers the sound of a door closing. She knows she's tired when she starts contemplating the metaphoric meaning of it.

She flops on the couch and presses play, he crashes down next to her and she offers him some blanket.

...

She blinks, and they are halfway through the first movie, they are a bundle of warmth and comfort and blankets. Their legs pretzelled together underneath the covers. She smiles at Phineas who chuckles at something a character says, he catches her eye and mouths the words from the tv, he knows them off by heart.

...

She next wakes to the noise of the climax of the second movie, as the Darkling Tower falls she notices a head on her shoulder, its red. When she feels the warm breaths brushing against her neck, she vaguely hears a younger version of herself squealing somewhere inside, or it could have been the sound of the Orclings dying on screen. She's not conscious enough to care.

...

She surfaces briefly to the feeling of cold hands on her waist, the music in the background is a crescendo but the voice in her ear is soft. She is weightless, and her bed is a cloud.

Another Chapter!

Enjoy, thanks for the feedback! Love to hear from you guys!

Please let me know if I have made any mistakes.

See Ya Soon... hopefully

THiaH