This is a little one-shot I did a while back. It's not much, but it's something. I figured I should probably post something here since I've kind of abandoned poor FanFiction for the past, I don't know... has it been more than a month? ^^; Sorry you guys. I've been creeping around behind the scenes for a while, and I guess it's time to come back out of the shadows. Pretty soon I'm going to go ahead and upload my big giant forty chapter fic, but until then... have a fluffy Phinbella one-shot. :) Please R & R!

Isabella sat in the light of the moon, her chin rested on her hands and the loose strands of her dark hair blowing lightly in the warm Atlantic breeze. She stared out into the ocean and listened to the water come up on the sand. She dug her toes into the sand and wiggled them until the white powder grains fell off. Today was the third day of her vacation with her best friends, and it had gone horribly wrong.

She watched the water wash a sea shell into the waves. The night was still, and the only lights came from her nearby condo where she and her four best friends were staying, and the moon. Only the five teenagers were there. They were all eighteen or older now, and this was the groups' first vacation together alone. Since they had been friends their whole lives, the parents knew they didn't need to worry about Isabella being the only girl among four boys. She was a smart girl, and she knew the boundaries. Of course, they wouldn't have to worry about Phineas either. The boy was still his old oblivious self. He wasn't as bad as he used to be; At least he had shown interest in the girl now. But he was unsure about the feeling and denied it every time his brother brought it up.

A silent ghost crab scuttled across the sand in front of her, and she looked at the tracks it made as it went by. She reached her hand out and made a barrier, and the animal crawled into her grasp. She picked it up and held the tiny crustacean, and soon it gave up its effort to get away and stopped, looking at her with its tiny black beady eyes that stuck out of its head.

"You're just living your life singing Hakuna Matata, aren't you?" The girl muttered. "Nobody's going to hurt your feelings. Your life is simple… just eat and don't get eaten." She paused. "Well, it's probably harder than it looks, but… at least you would have a good attitude as you died."

The crab's eyes moved around. Isabella blinked.

"Look at me, I'm so beat up that my last resort is to talk to a crab."

Phineas looked out the window of the condo, out into the darkness of the night. He barely could make out Isabella's silhouette down by the water, the soft white light of the moon accenting her figure.

The red-headed eighteen year-old sighed and set his phone down, his mind racing to try to find what he should do.

"You regret what you said, don't you?"

Phineas looked behind him and saw his stepbrother standing confidently with his hands on his waist. He still had his swim shorts on from that day, out in the ocean on a boat they had rented. He leaned on the table by the red-head.

"Of course I do!" Phineas said. He stuck his fingers in his hair and pulled. "I didn't think she would take it this hard. All I wanted was for her to lift that freaking lever."

"You didn't have to yell at her though." Buford said gruffly.

Phineas covered his face. "I know, I know, I just… I wanted it to work perfectly the first time. Then we would've won the whole tournament."

"But it was not worth her getting upset." Baljeet stated.

Phineas groaned. "I promised her mom that I wouldn't let anything happen to her! And now look, she's out there…" He paused and gestured towards her while turning in his spinning stool to see Baljeet. "Talking to crabs!"

"I really doubt she would be talking to crabs, Phin." Ferb exclaimed.

Phineas face-palmed and put his head down on the table. "It was just an example, I don't really think she'd be talking to crabs either."

"Well, if you're so mad at yourself, then why don't you go out there and talk to her?" Buford suggested, spinning around in circles in his own stool. Baljeet was nearby, watching him with a raised eyebrow.

Phineas blinked and looked at the girl again. She was crouched up in a fetal position in the sand, looking out at the water with her chin rested on her knees. "I don't think she wants to talk to me after what I did."

"That is so seventies sit-com of you! Who cares if she is mad, just go and talk to her. I doubt she can hold a grudge against you for more than one day." Baljeet said, leaning against the kitchen counter.

"Seventies sit-com clichés are very reliable." Phineas murmured.

Ferb rolled his eyes.

"Maybe you should watch one that relates to your problem, and see how it turns out in the end." The bully suggested. He took a sip of cola from a can he got from the freezer. "That's what my mom does when she gets ticked at me for not getting a job."

"I thought you were working at the flap jack house." Baljeet questioned.

"I said that to calm her down. It lasted for about a week."

"Oh."

Phineas sighed again and continued staring at the girl out the window.

Ferb, Baljeet, and Buford all exchanged disappointed glares.

The green-haired man leaned over his brother. Phineas glanced at him for a half-second but then went back to the window.

"Do you remember when you told me you wanted to do that thing but you didn't know why, so you didn't do it and you never did?" The British boy said softly.

Phineas furrowed his brow in aggravation and continued to stare out the window. "Nooooo…" He muttered.

"Yes you do."

"I don't."

"Pretty sure you do."

"-Not."

"Not know what it is."

Phineas nudged him in the stomach with his elbow just enough to make him step back. "Stop using double negatives against me, Ferb, it's confusing."

"You don't not know what that thing is that I'm talking about, do you Phin?" Ferb said with a smirk.

"No!"

Ferb smiled. "See, I was right."

Phineas groaned. "No, no I mean I don't know what it is."

"Sure you don't." Buford played along.

Phineas flung his arms in the air. "Stop, ya'll are stressing me out."

"Then why don't you go have a nice calm talk with Izzy by the soothing ocean?" Ferb suggested.

Phineas stood there and looked at them with his arms still high up in the air above his head. "Again, what if she doesn't want to talk to me?"

The boys stood there in silence until Phineas put his arms down. The red-head could not argue any longer, mainly because he wasn't good at arguing, and secondly because he simply didn't want to. He stormed towards the door and turned the knob dramatically, looking at Ferb as he did so with round exaggerated eyes. Ferb waved him bye and Phineas rolled his eyes, hiding a smile that he couldn't help. When he got out the door, Ferb laughed out loud.

However, Phineas on the other hand, leaned against the door with a broken heart. How was he going to do this?

Hey Isabella, sorry about what happened today…

No, stupid, stupid, stupid! That one was way too overused.

Hey, I'm so, so sorry Izzy, I really didn't mean to-

No. Way too sorry.

Everything he could think of was either dumb or used so many times it made him want to barf just thinking about the words coming out of his mouth. Although, he knew what he had to do, he just didn't want to attempt it. That was to go and speak his mind, totally unrehearsed and originally. But how?

He clenched his fists together nervously behind his back and stepped off the back porch into the white sand. His toes sank into it as he walked ever so slowly, sand flying up behind him with every step, coating his shins in the gritty substance. He could already hear the call of the salt water, and it made him feel small being next to such a gigantic mass. He felt like it would engulf him at any second.

Isabella played with the sand in front of her, and didn't hear her lifetime crush approaching her from behind. She let the grains seep through her fingers.

Phineas stopped ten feet away from the girl and stuck his hands in his pockets nervously. He watched her let the sand fall through her fingers as she sat hunched over, her hair falling down around her. Phineas got his courage up a few notches, and erased five feet from between them.

He reached up and scratched the back of his ear. "Hey."

Isabella jumped about two inches back and sat straight up, practically frightened to death. She whipped her head around and looked at him. He grew an awkward smile, showing his pearly whites.

"Sorry… I d-didn't mean to scare you." He apologized.

Isabella blinked and turned back around. She gazed out at the blackness of the sea. "What are you doing out here?"

Phineas tapped the tips of his fingers together and erased another three feet of space between them, and then he sat down Indian style behind her. The back of her head didn't seem as welcoming as it usually did, and it made him uneasy. Long hours playing with his best-friend's thick hair had gotten him used to telling what her feelings were just by seeing the back of her head, and he could tell when she was angry with him. It wasn't often that she did, but she certainly had something going on in her mind that was making her frustrated.

He still hadn't answered her question. Why was he out here? Otherwise translated into… What in his right mind does he think he's trying to do? Or… Go away.

"I-I…" He stammered and then paused. "To be honest, I don't know. My plan was to apologize but… it doesn't seem anything will work at the moment."

Isabella looked at him through the corner of her eye. "You didn't even try."

Phineas looked up at her for a moment, registering what she said. She was right. He hadn't tried. But what could he possibly say to make a girl, especially Isabella, happy again? What words in what particular order would suffice?

He buried his face in his hands hopelessly. "I feel like a jerk." He said loudly.

Isabella looked back at him in surprise. She blinked.

"I wish I never yelled at you." He continued. "I bet I sounded like some mean old tired man with anger issues. Why did I have to yell at you, why couldn't it have been one of the guys? I don't… I don't want you to be angry with me." His smacked himself in the forehead about five times.

Isabella looked at him through genuinely surprised eyes. "Why are you bashing yourself about it? I was the one who wasn't strong enough to get the lever to move." She shifted in the sand, putting her weight on one hand. "As far as I know, you have every right to be mad."

"But I was wrong to yell at you the way I did." The red-head said, pulling his knees up to his chin. "I didn't have to get that way. I really don't even know what made me think it was okay to do that to you. Because I know you wouldn't ever do it to me, and I should've been smart enough to think about that before I acted." He closed his eyes and hid his face from the girl.

"Well…" the girl began. She turned and sat facing him, causing her hair to fall over her shoulders and a few strands over her right eye. The white moonlight accented everything with bright white lines. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm not mad at you."

Phineas looked up at her and saw that she was closer. His eyes sparkled in awe. "Then why are you out here all by yourself? I thought you were avoiding me."

Isabella rolled her eyes playfully. "You should know by now that I can't just simply avoid you."

The boy sprouted a tiny smile. He wasn't quite sure what she meant, but it made him feel extra giddy inside.

"I'm just thinking, is all. About today." She informed.

"Wait, are you thinking it was your fault? Isabella, the only reason you couldn't pull that lever was because I forgot to grease it and it was as stiff as a rock! Oh God, please don't tell me you were out here putting yourself down because of something I did, that's even worse!"

Isabella only sat there and looked at him with big sad eyes that made him melt like a popsicle in the middle of July.

He shook his head and leaned forward, getting on his knees. "Stop it, stop it right now." He said softly. The boy wrapped his arms around her waist and held her tight. That's when the girl broke. She began to sniffle and her arms slowly snaked their way around him. "I just feel like I can never do anything right. Face it, Phin, I'm no good for you. You need someone who can deal with machinery and know what does what, and can pull levers when needed. I'm just a girl across your street, just another person that gets in your way…"

Phineas pulled away and stared at her, not believing the words that were coming out of her mouth. He shook his head and pulled her close again, holding her tighter than before. "None of that is even remotely true! Where do you get all of these ideas?"

The girl buried her face snuggly into his shoulder.

"Izzy, I don't ever want you to think that again. You are my best friend. The one that stood by my side through the strangest of times, the one that helped me with everything I did and still do! You're the one I think about all the time. I need you in my life and I would never think, for even a tiny millisecond that you weren't good enough. You're the best there is!"

Isabella dug her fingers in his back and cuddled closer to him, feeling that she wasn't close enough. She felt like she needed to be closer even though she was as close as she could be. "Then why did you get so mad on the boat?"

Phineas closed his eyes and lowered his eyebrows, mad at himself even more than he was before. "I got carried away. I was sure we had it, and all we had to do was that simple last task. I wasn't mad at you, really."

"You were yelling at me. You said if we had someone else on the lever, we would've won. And face it, you were right."

"But I was wrong to yell at you. I don't know what I'd do if you were mad at me."

But amongst Phineas' worries, the girl realized something important that they were both missing. Isabella lifted away and slid her hands to his shoulders, staring fixedly at him for a second before smiling and sitting back down in the sand. The boy stayed up on his knees and looked disconcertedly down at the girl, who again brought her knees up to her chest and pulled her arms around them. She tilted her head sweetly and gave him a tiny irresistible smile. "So if you're not mad at me, and I'm not mad at you… then why aren't we enjoying this night together?"

Phineas stood there on his knees for about thirty seconds, thinking about her question. He gazed at her with a perplexed expression for the longest while. But then he smiled a genuine happy smile and planted himself right down next to her. "See, that's what I like about you."

She blushed. "What?"

"Nothing can get you down for long."

She nudged him and leaned on him, giggling as the light of the moon sparkled on the water. "That's because of you."

Phineas raised an eyebrow and leaned back so she could lean on him. "Me?" He giggled.

"Yeah." She said, snuggling up against him and looking up. "You're still that little kid I used to know, but now you have that extra… jump in your step that makes you that much better."

Phineas laughed. "What!?"

Isabella huffed and tried to explain it better. "When you were like… ten, I remember you being this one kid that was always happy and seemed to never run out of imagination. I was…" She stopped and took his free hand in hers, and he let her fiddle with his fingers. He was using the other to prop the two of them up. "…I was fascinated by how optimistic you were. You would always be doing something and always were trying to one-up what you did the day before. It's just so amazing how little you've changed from then and now… practically nothing except that you're a bit less oblivious now and now you're a bit more…" She faded out her sentence.

"A bit more what?" Phineas wondered. He massaged her palm with his thumb without even realizing what he was doing.

Isabella's eyelids were falling as he soothed her. "Now you know how to handle a girl, Phin."

Phineas tilted his brow up in confusion. "I didn't before?"

"No." she said plainly.

Phineas pressed his lips together and decided to just accept it. "Okay… but how do you know I know how now?"

"The way you're holding me." She said, closing her eyes.

Phineas hadn't quite realized it, but he had Isabella leaning up against him in the perfect spot, and his arm fit around her like clay to a mold. Her head was up against him in just the right way, rendering him unable to move. His arm that propped them up was completely asleep and it tingled aggressively, but she looked so beautiful… he didn't want to move it to jeopardize the moment.

"Have you done this before?" The girl whispered accusingly.

"H-no." He breathed. "First time actually." The boy paused and then he suddenly began to grow curious. "What about you? Have you ever done this before?"

"Nope." She said.

"Why not?"

Isabella opened her eyes and felt her cheeks getting hot. "I…I've actually been waiting just for you."

Phineas lay there with his eyes wide open, staring at the girl. His mind raced. "W-Why? Why would you wait for me?"

"Because, Phineas…" She forced out of her mouth. 'Because I knew that one day you wouldn't be a little kid anymore. And that secretly… maybe without even knowing it… you were waiting too."

Phineas' eyes grew wide and he opened and closed his mouth, having no words to say. Isabella giggled.

"But… how long did you wait?"

Isabella sighed. She reached her hand up and put it on the side of his face, running her fingers softly through his fluffy orange hair. His blush was growing. She had never done that to him before.

"It doesn't matter how long it was, it only matters how much longer we're both going to have to wait."

Phineas frowned sadly. "How much longer?"

The girl shrugged lightly. "It depends completely on us."

"I don't want to make you wait on me anymore." The boy stated, looking at her with sorry eyes.

Isabella felt all her desires of him well up in her chest and she felt like a bomb that was about to go off, with all of her feelings for him striking the match to light the fuse. "Then don't." She blurted out, having no control over her words.

Phineas sat up almost immediately, looking at her with confusion staining his eyes. "But I don't know what I have to do. Isabella, y-you're the expert on this kind of thing."

Isabella smiled and tried to keep in her laugh. "I am not an expert, I've never even kissed a guy on the cheek."

Phineas widened his eyes. "Really?"

The girl blinked, unhappy with his statement. She half-lidded her eyes. "Yes, really."

Phineas frowned, feeling guilty having made her feel bad. He immediately looked through his mind for ways to reverse it, and when he came upon one, he bit his lip.

"Maybe…Maybe we should perform an experiment to see if… we're good at cheek kissing…"

Isabella blinked, not believing what he just said. An experiment? Of course he would call it an experiment. The girl smiled in embarrassment. She nodded shyly. Phineas smiled and blushed, taking a few inches off from between them. "Being eighteen and not having kissed a guy on the cheek considering how cute you are is unacceptable."

Isabella giggled.

Phineas leaned towards her, and she relaxed her shoulders. The boy placed his fists down in the sand to hold himself up, and the gritty texture was soothing on his skin. Isabella closed her eyes as he closed in. But when he touched his cheek to hers, she couldn't help but let her heavy head fall down until it filled the gap between his head and his shoulder. Soon, Phineas helped Isabella lift herself up and put her legs around him while he straightened his own legs out in the sand. They hesitated for a moment, just letting the feeling sink in. Isabella let herself turn her head a little, and soon she was looking straight into his eyes. They sparkled like crystals in an uncharted cave. She and the boy's foreheads touched together, and he brought his hands up to the sides of her face with a smile that made her heart beat faster than an unstoppable train.

"What's your hypothesis?" Phineas whispered.

"That…" She laughed. "This is probably going to be the most romantic kiss on the cheek ever performed."

Phineas pulled his legs in, feeling uncomfortable, and sat on them. He put one hand on Isabella's back and pulled her closer, until she was sitting on the ends of his legs. Her own legs were however, still placed on either side of him with her toes digging deep into the sand. "Like I said, I don't know how this works." He said softly, leaning closer with every word.

Isabella slowly loosened her stiff muscles, leaning into him. "You learn quickly, Phineas." She complemented, putting her hands on his chest. She felt his heartbeat, and it was pumping hard. They came closer, and their cheeks got warmer, and the feeling got stronger. Their lips were only an inch apart. Isabella could feel the salty water of the sea pooling at her toes. Phineas leaned in a little more, and sealed the gap between their lips. Isabella melted into his kiss, rocking back and forth lightly with the motion.

They felt like the whole universe was only them, and the sea seemed to collapse. It was such a strong emotion to feel, one that neither of them had felt before. There was no need to feel embarrassed of anything and nothing bothered them; not even the rushing sound of the water. In fact, it lulled them and made the moment twice as memorable. The couple's lips soon broke apart, and they stared at each other with the most surprised faces. Without words, they could tell what the other was thinking, and knew that in that moment, everything was perfect.

"That wasn't my cheek." Isabella said, her sapphire eyes sparkling.

Phineas smiled brightly, leaned forward and kissed her lightly on the cheek. But he didn't stop after one. He kissed her again and again, and the girl giggled. They were just tiny pecks, one after the other. Isabella laughed so hard she fell back into the sand and screeched playfully. He crawled over her and planted another one right on her forehead, just in the right spot for her to reach up and tickle him on the ribcage. The boy squealed and jumped off of her, landing in the sand on her left.

Isabella took the opportunity to jump up and crawl up over him the same way he did. She gave him another sweet peck on the lips, and it lasted about three seconds before she pulled away.

Phineas looked at her with a playful raised eyebrow. "What is this like a tickle kiss fight or something?"

Isabella shrugged. "I guess."

With that, the boy reached his hands around and tickled her on her neck. Isabella snorted and made a weird noise he'd never heard her make before. She kicked off of him and he began tickling her ribcage, and she laughed hysterically, kicking and snorting.

"I didn't know you snorted!" Phineas said with a laugh.

The girl's face was red with laughter. "STOPPIT STOPPIT STOPPIT!" She spurted. "I swear I will kick you right in the wrong place if you don't stop it!" She laughed.

Phineas giggled and backed off. "Okay-hay, I'll stop." He said, sitting back in the sand.

The girl sat up, and she looked at him with a smile, shook her head, and tried not to laugh.

"You're cute when you snort." He murmured.

"Whatever!" Isabella said with a smile that wasn't supposed to be there according to her. She stood in the sand and started walking away.

"Where are you going?" Phineas got up.

The girl padded through the sand toward the condo. She looked back at him. "Back to the condo."

Phineas caught up to her and walked beside her with a skip in his step that wasn't there before. "What are you gonna do?"

"You know, you could pass up as being a little curious six year-old with growth issues."

Phineas furrowed his brow and pressed his lips together. "What?"

Isabella laughed. "The ocean made me thirsty. I'm gonna get a drink."

"Oh. Come to think of it, I could go for some juice."

Isabella tilted her head back and laughed.

The boy watched her in confusion, and stuck his hands in his pockets. "Why is that so funny?"

"I think you are a six year-old!"

"Juice is good!" The red-head protested.

"Come to think of it, I could go for some JUICE." Isabella copied, trying to mock his tone, but sounding more like a television talk show host.

"I don't sound like that." Phineas said with a smirk.

The girl laughed, and she leaned on him as they walked. "I know, Phin, I'm joking. I love it when you're like that."

Phineas put his arm around her back, pulling her closer by his side. In turn, the girl put both of her arms around him, and they walked. She felt like she was being spoiled rotten. She was glad she didn't have to wait anymore.

"Thanks for waiting on me." The red-head exclaimed, as if on cue.

Isabella looked up at him and their eyes met. "I would never give up on you." She said.

Phineas laid his head against the top of hers with a small grin. What she said had made him feel like he was flying.

They both stepped up onto the back porch and shook the sand off of their shoes and clothes as they made their way to the door. Phineas reached his hand out to open it for the girl, but was stopped by the movement of the knob. It rattled and then turned, and the door opened inward, revealing the three other young men in the group. Ferb stood there with his famous amused grin, looking at his brother.

"Yeah, we were watching through the window." The Brit said matter-of-factly.

Isabella turned red and Phineas stared at him and frowned. "Of course…"