[Prologue]

One sunny afternoon, late in the summer...

"But..."

At the Flynn-Fletcher house in the suburbs of Danville...

"But..."

Inside Candace's room, where the redhead was talking on her cell phone. Or, rather, begging for forgiveness. But from whom?

"But..."

"I'm TIRED of you blowing me off, Candace!"

"But Stacy..."

"Stop with the 'buts!' You sound like a broken record! Whatever a record is..."

"You HAVE to let me make it up to you!" Candace pleaded to her best friend. "Please!"

"That's what you told me yesterday! And the day before that AND the day before that!"

Stacy took a deep breath, as she fought within herself to keep her composure and avoid saying something she would regret later.

"Look. I understand that you want to bust your brothers - kinda - and I understand that you want some alone time with Jeremy! But you want both of that to happen 24-7-365! Where's my time, Candace? As your best friend, shouldn't I get as much as attention as them?"

"Well, yeah..."

"Good. Then tomorrow, you and me! My house! No cell phones, no busting your brothers, no Jeremy! Just you and me! That's it! Promise?"

Candace breathed a sigh of relief. Despite how riled up Stacy had sounded, she had gotten off rather easy.

"Promise. Cross my heart and hope to... well, you know the rest!"

The next day, at the Hirano house, a cell phone could be heard ringing. Stacy had a scowl on her face as she reached down onto her desk and checked the caller ID to see who it was. It was Candace. She answered it and immediately heard her friend's voice.

"Stacy! I really, really, really, REALLY..."

"That's it, Candace! I won't stand for this! Our friendship is OVER! AGAIN!"

With that, Stacy pressed the 'End Call' button on her keypad.

"Stacy? STACY!"

Candace began to worry. Her best friend had surely not just broken up with her. Again! Right?

"WOO HOO!" yelled Phineas, as he, riding an actual cow, rode in front of and past Candace.

"What the..." she gasped, noticing that her brother was wearing a maid uniform - as was the cow he was the riding. "Stacy can wait... PHINEAS! YOU'RE SO BUSTED!"

With that, Candace ran off after Phineas.

You're Dating Her?, Part 1 (09.26.11)
Story Written by Freedom Fighter

So here's a new three-part "Phineas and Ferb" mini-series. And finally, I get around to doing one starring Candace! As well as Jeremy and Stacy, both of whom have not appeared that much in my stories. This is a fun little tale I hope you'll all really enjoy!

This story is also written in the three-plot format of the show, but it's more like two-and-a-half. Phineas and Ferb themselves do appear, but not much and have very little bearing on the plot. So it's mostly Candace antics crossed with some Perry-Doofenshmirtz fun.

Here's part one! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: The characters of 'Phineas and Ferb' belong to Disney.

Recommended, But Not Required, Before Reading This (This story takes place after these events):
- Watch the following episodes: "The Lizard Whisperer," "The Lemonade Stand," "Canderemy," and "My Fair Goalie."
- Read the three stories in my 'Vanessa's Moral Wars' trilogy.

Two days later, at the Googolplex Mall...

Candace and Stacy were walking towards the Food Court. The latter was leading the way, with a displeased frown on her face, while the former walked right behind her, again reduced to begging in order to save their friendship.

"C'mon, Stacy! The least you could do is hear me out!"

"I haven't stomped off in anger yet. Isn't that enough?"

Candace reached forward and grabbed Stacy's left arm with both of her hands. That act had forced the black-haired girl to stop where she was, unable to continue on until Candace had released her.

"I wanna spend time with you, Stace, I really do! What's it gonna take to get you to forgive me?"

"Well," Stacy thought out loud, "there is this pair of Johnny Koos that I saw the other day..."

"FIVE HUNDRED DOLLAR SHOES? That's, like, five hundred dollars more than I have!"

"Okay, okay," Stacy gestured that she had been kidding. "I'll settle for giving you one last chance. Provided you spend as much time each day with me as you do your brothers or Jeremy!"

"Deal!" Candace hastily agreed, as she shook Stacy's arm up and down.

Candace let go of Stacy, and she responded by wrapping her arms around the redhead and embracing her in a hug.

"I'm glad we're friends again! And we get to spend time together! Just you and me, me and you..."

"Hey, girls!" exclaimed Jeremy, who walked up behind Stacy.

"And... Jeremy," deadpanned Stacy.

Stacy had just realized that Candace had stopped her in front of Mr. Slushy Dawg - whether by accident or by design, she did not know. That was until Candace broke out of the hug, sprinted over to the counter, and leaned over it, her eyes already lost in Jeremy's as he eyed her boyfriend, dressed in his uniform.

"Hi, Jeremy!" cheerfully greeted Candace.

"Candace! Just the girl I wanted to see!"

"Shhh!" Candace shushed him, putting a finger over his mouth. "Just one sec."

Candace started marching through the Food Court area, searching for any teenage girl whom she thought was more attractive than she was, with the intention of chasing them away. She quickly found a group of three girls, all blondes, sitting at the same table.

"This table's taken!" Candace shouted at them, as she slammed her hands down on the table, palms first.

"Huh?" one of the girls looked quizzically at her.

"You're not wanted here! Or there! Or... anywhere in the Food Court! ESPECIALLY WHEN MY JEREMY'S HERE!"

The girls looked at each other, then back at Candace. The same girl who spoke a few second again did so again.

"Who's Jeremy?"

It sounded like an innocent question. But Candace perceived it as a threat against her. She picked up the girl's drink, removed the lid, and then dumped it over said blonde's head. Candace then roared as loud as a tyrannosaurus rex, and that was more than enough to get the three teenagers to jump out of their seats and run for their lives, leaving what was left of their lunch spread out on the table. As Candace chased after them to make sure they did not have any thoughts about coming back, Jeremy and Stacy just stood there, confused and upset, respectively, over Candace's behavior.

"Am I missing something?" Jeremy asked Stacy, as he scratched the top of his diamond-shaped hat.

"You tell me," grumbled Stacy. "She spends more time with you."

"Yeah, but... lately, I only see her in person when I'm working. And all she does while she's here is... well, this."

They observed as Candace ran from their right to their left, to the other side of the Food Court, where there was a fourth blonde teenage girl enjoying lunch.

"Another blonde bombshell?" she screeched. "NOT IN MY BOYFRIEND'S FOOD COURT!"

"Y'know," Jeremy continued, as Stacy listened, "at first I thought it was... girl stuff, if you know what I mean. But this has been going on for almost three weeks now."

"Wow," gasped Stacy in shock. "That's one more than two. Something must be troubling her."

"I'll say. It's like she won't let any girl within 500 feet of me! Well, except you."

Stacy rolled her eyes, then laughed.

"You and me? Boyfriend and girlfriend? Ha!"

Jeremy also laughed.

"Yeah. Sounds like one of those in-a-million-years deals."

"Try one-in-a-billion! Besides, I'd never, EVER, come between you and Candace. You two are made for each other."

"That's true, but..."

"CANDACE! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?"

Jeremy and Stacy watched in stunned silence as Candace pushed her own mother, of all people, out of the Food Court.

"March!" ordered Candace.

"We're gonna have a serious talk when I get home, young lady!" Linda exclaimed.

"Lately," Jeremy resumed, albeit hesitantly, "she's spending too much time shooing people away rather than spending time watching me. I can't believe I'm saying this... but I liked it better when she spent all day hiding in the bushes and watching me from afar!"

"If Candace asks," Stacy interrupted, "I was not the one who told you that."

"We need to find a way to get Candace to stop worrying about other girls trying to whisk me away from her AND show her she can be just as effective by just being around me as much as possible."

"And maybe if she's back to her normal self, she'll remember to spend some time hanging out with me without me having to threaten to end our friendship every other week."

Both Jeremy and Stacy began to think, rubbing their respective chins in unison as they attempted to come up with a solution to their common problem. Suddenly, they got an idea, and they looked at each other and shouted...

"I know what we're gonna do today!"

They looked at each other, wondering if they had come up with the same idea. Stacy then said out loud...

"You think I could borrow 500 bucks?"

Jeremy blinked, not knowing why Stacy would ask that. The Japanese girl seemed stumped by Jeremy's odd reaction.

"What? You can say I'd look good in Johnny Koos. I won't tell."

Jeremy shook his head, then leaned over the counter and whispered the idea he had come up into Stacy's ear. He was barely a sentence into his explanation when Stacy's facial expression changed to one signifying an 'Oh!' look.

Three days later...

Candace was sitting at her desk in her room. It was just after ten on a Saturday morning, and she had already freshened up and gotten into her day clothes. She had not had breakfast yet, but that was only because she was waiting for Stacy to call.

"Hmmmm..."

But Stacy was supposed to call half an hour ago. The plan was for Stacy to come over and eat breakfast at Candace's house before the two teens would head out for a day of fun.

"It's not like Stacy to sleep in."

Candace pulled out her cell and dialed Stacy's number. To her surprise, she got a busy signal.

"That's odd. Stacy NEVER has a busy signal! Whom else does she talk to on the phone other than me?"

She thought about it for a minute. Jenny was a possibility, but she and Stacy hardly ever talked to each other over the phone unless they were in a three-way conversation with Candace. There was also a chance she could be chatting with Coltrane, but it had been awhile since the couple were 'in to each other.' Naturally, there was no way it could be Jeremy. They rarely talk with one another at all.

Candace was stumped, and she was not willing to sit around and wait for the answer to hit her in the head. Or anything...

It was then that she realized that things were quiet. Too suspiciously quiet.

"MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!"

Candace ran out of her room, down the stairs, and to the kitchen. She found her mom currently rummaging through the cabinets as she was in the process of making a shopping list for a supermarket trip.

"MOM! Do you know where Phineas and Ferb are?"

"Don't you remember?" Linda replied, continuing what she was doing and not looking at her daughter as she talked. "They're getting a check-up!"

Phineas was sitting on the grass while Isabella knelt before him, her legs straddling his left leg. She was dressed in an all-white nurses' uniform, complete with a skirt long enough to touch Phineas' leg. She also had a stethoscope in hand, of which she currently had the chest piece firmly pressed over Phineas' heart.

"So," Isabella smirked, "how you feelin'?"

Isabella gasped immediately afterwards, as she was slightly startled upon hearing the sound of Phineas' heart beating in her ears. While all this was going on, Ferb was squatting down on the other side of Phineas, because he was simultaneously measuring his brother's blood pressure - which he was doing by wrapping an inflatable cuff around Phineas' right arm, which was attached to an electric sphygmomanometer. He had a surprised look when he saw that the blood pressure numbers were abnormally high. Ferb thought about taking into account how Phineas was feeling with Isabella so close to him.

But he thought better of suspecting that, and banged his right fist on the top of the machine. Instantly, it reset, and suddenly was displaying relatively normal, healthy numbers.

"That's a relief," he commented, before adding. "I think."

"No," Linda quickly corrected Candace. "I mean a check-up with an ACTUAL doctor!"

Candace was mystified. "How did you..."

"That reminds me. I need to schedule one for you, too. You are at THAT age, you know."

"MOM!"

"Well, you are!"

"Whatever. I'm heading out for my girls' day with Stace! Later!"

Candace did an about face and walked out of the kitchen.

"Hmmmm..." Linda thought out loud. "Speaking of family members who need check-ups, where's Perry? The vet doesn't have any openings for another month."

Where was Perry? Already sitting in his chair in his lair, ready to get his briefing from Major Monogram.

"Good morning, Agent P!" the Major greeted. "As usual, Doofenshmirtz is up to no good! Through the magic of wire-tapping, we intercepted a phone call from him a few minutes ago!"

Perry listened as Monogram played back the recording. The first voice he heard was not his nemesis, but a woman's voice instead.

"Thanks for calling The Dan Marsh, this is Stella. How may I help you?"

Then Doofenshmirtz spoke next.

"Ah, yes, Stella. My name is Heinz Doofenshmirtz, and I would like to cancel my reservation for tonight."

"You DO realize that you are still responsible for paying the full meal. Our cancellation policy, as specified in the contract you signed when making the reservation, that anyone cancelling within 24 hours of their scheduled seating must pay the full price, except for any type of emergency that would prevent you from keeping it."

"But, I do! Wait, hold on..."

Some weird noises could be heard in the background. A few seconds later, Doofenshmirtz started talking again.

"There! I have a broken leg!"

The line was silent for a few seconds. Then...

"I don't believe you," deadpanned Stella.

"But it IS! You want me to walk down there and show you it?"

"How can you walk 12 blocks if your leg is broken?"

"People do that! People... do... that."

"Your card's going to be charged full price, whether you show or not, sir!"

"Yeah? We'll just see about that!"

The recording ended at that point. Perry was rolling his eyes, wondering how this qualified as an evil act.

"I know it sounds like a idle threat," Monogram assured Perry, "but Doofenshmirtz is always a threat to peace and stability!"

"But," Carl spoke up from off-screen, "he's never idle!"

"Carl, that's not the point! Look, Agent P. The Dan Marsh is the trendiest restaurant in the Tri-State Area right now, and its presence is doing wonders for the local economy! If Doofenshmirtz does what we think he might do, the financial stability of that entire neighborhood could be in jeopardy! Put a stop to his latest scheme, and if you can, try to bargain the maitre'd to bump my reservation there up a week! I forgot the misses' birthday is next week, and I wanna treat her with something special!"

"Left the seat up again, sir?" joked Carl.

"WHAT?" Monogram shouted, genuinely surprised. "Who told you that?"

"No one did, sir!"

"Was it Agent A? He's such a tattletale!"

As Monogram tried to pry an answer from his intern that did not exist, Agent P took this opportunity to sneak out and head out on his mission.

Candace was riding her bike down the street, on her way to Stacy's house. Once she got there, she hopped off her bike right at the mailbox and proceeded up the sidewalk to the front door. She rang the doorbell, and it was answered almost immediately by Dr. Hirano, Stacy's mother.

"Hello, Candace!"

"Hi, Dr. Hirano! Is Stacy around?"

"Ooh, you just missed her! But I swear she said she was leaving to spend the day with you!"

"Do you know where she went?"

"She said something about going to the Art Traders' Fair. It's nice to see her at something so culturally stimulating, for once."

"Thanks!"

Candace ran back to her bicycle and headed off to the Art Traders' Fair.

"That's funny," she thought aloud, "Stacy and I weren't planning to go there. What's going on?"

She pulled out her phone and used speed dial to quickly connect to Stacy's number. This time, Candace heard the phone ringing.

"Yes, YES!"

And then stop without warning after the second ring.

"Huh?"

Candace stopped, then pressed the redial button. She heard the call connect, and the phone ringing. In the midst of the second ring, it stopped. Candace expected to hear Stacy's voice next, but instead, she heard a click, and then the line going dead.

"What? Did... did she just hang up on me?"

Outraged, Candace dialed Stacy a third time. Again, Stacy picked up in the midst of the second ring. But the second that happened, Candace... hung up on Stacy!

"Ha! No one hangs up on Candace Flynn! NO ONE! A-HA HA HA HA!"

She seemed to take much joy in getting revenge, but a few seconds later slapped herself in the forehead as she remembered the reason she was calling Stacy in the first place!

"One more time..."

Candace pressed redial once more. But this time, it just went straight to voicemail...

"Stacy here! If you're hearing this, I either can't come to the phone right now, or I'm trying to ignore you! Wait... did I say that out lou-"

She was then cut off by a loud beep, signifying that Candace could begin leaving her message.

"I know you're there, Stacy! Pick up, pick up, PICK UP!"

When Stacy did not pick up, Candace hung up, then finally resorted to text messaging.

"I am not leaving this spot until you text me back!" Candace read aloud as she typed.

She pressed 'send,' and then the waiting began...

10 minutes later...

"Oh, that is IT!"

Candace started pedaling again, after having not received a reply from Stacy.

"She is NOT allowed to skip out on our girls' day out! Especially after I'm trying to make up for all the times I bailed on her! Oh, she is going to have a LOT to answer for when I find her!"

Candace arrived at the Art' Traders Fair. She parked her bicycle by propping it against a nearby signpost, then began her search for her best friend on foot. It did not take Candace long to spot Stacy's familiar blue hair bow.

"There you are!" Candace growled under her breath.

She took a step forward, and stopped upon being interrupted by the sound of a man shouting through a megaphone nearby.

"THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO SIGN-UP FOR OUR DRAWING! IF YOUR NAME IS PICKED, YOU WILL GET A SELF-PORTRAIT PAINTED BY DANVILLE'S OWN BEPPO BROWN!"

"Wait, who?" asked Candace.

Before she knew it, though, Candace got caught up in a stampede of people running to enter the drawing.

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!"

A few seconds later, Candace came out the other end of the mass of flesh, her auburn hair in disarray and assorted specs of dirt present on her blouse and skirt. She took the time to fix her appearance before glancing over to where she had seen Stacy moments ago.

But she was no longer there.

Determined to get to the bottom of Stacy's odd behavior, Candace took off in that direction. She got to where Stacy had been standing and turned the corner. Once she did, she stopped dead in her tracks once again... but this time, because of what she was seeing.

"O... M... G..."

She saw Stacy sitting on a stool, cross-legged. Sitting next to her, backwards on a wooden chair, was Jeremy, who had his head resting on top of the backrest. They were both staring in the direction of a caricature artist, who happened to be painting them at that moment.

Candace hid around the corner of the stand she was standing next to, sticking her head out just enough to see Jeremy and Stacy, and make some observations about them. First, she glanced towards her best friend...

"Okay, Stacy's bow is lopsided, leaning slightly towards Jeremy..."

She then noted something off about her boyfriend...

"Jeremy's cargo shorts stop at his knees, instead of halfway down to his ankles..."

But the oddest thing of all to her was...

"Are... are they interlocking PINKIES?"

Sure enough, Jeremy's right pinky finger was wrapped around Stacy's left pinky finger.

"Now I know why Stacy's been avoiding me today! She's been with Jeremy all day!"

Candace gasped, grasping the reality of why her boyfriend and her best friend would be together without her.

"She's been with Jeremy all day? That means... JEREMY AND STACY ARE ON A DATE?"

To be continued...