Man, my last few stories in this timeline have been depressing. Cancer and sudden heart failure and unreasonable parental demands - pfui. It's time for some fluff. We've seen Phineas and Isabella progress from friends-with-crushes to boyfriend and girlfriend in 'Back in Time for Dinner', and progression of their relationship through the other stories in this timeline. Ferb and Vanessa haven't gotten as much screen time. Time to fix that.

The intent at this time is to alternate posting days between this and 'Something Special', the story of the summer where Phineas and Isabella first became lovers. However, I don't have either of those stories fully complete yet, so there may be a day or two where the same story gets new chapters two days in a row.

(A note for folks following my timeline: I'm aware that, due to Something Special being M-rated, many people will choose not to read it. Nothing from it will be 'required' for any future stories, and anything from it mentioned in another story will have sufficient background given at that time.)

Rating: T. Mentions of adults having sex off-screen but nothing explicit on-screen.

Time frame: Starts in January of Phineas, Ferb, and Isabella's freshman year at college; all are eighteen. Vanessa is twenty-three.

Phineas closed his chemistry notebook and checked his schedule for his next class. Gates Building, room 213, for Physics 2, a recitation section taught by...ah, good old Professor Staff, the busiest professor on the Quad-State Institute of Technology campus. Ten minutes to get halfway across campus, but after Physics, he was done for the first day of classes of his second semester at Quasi-Tech.

It was a chilly and clear winter day, and he moved easily through the crowds of students passing along the snow-lined paths, waving to people he knew as he passed. He climbed up the hill to the Gates Building, a large brick edifice that was the most recent addition to campus.

He got to class just on time, but the instructor hadn't arrived yet, so he grabbed a seat at the front and got his notebook out, pondering the night's plans as he waited. Isabella should be back late from her last class, and Ferb had a lab session, so Phineas got to cook dinner tonight. Something simple - the leftovers their parents had sent back with them after Christmas break were gone. Maybe pasta and meatballs. Or maybe he'd just pick up a pizza.

The instructor bustling into the classroom interrupted his chain of thought. Wait, he thought. She looks familiar. A blue-eyed brunette woman, dressed in a charcoal blouse, black jeans, and black boots...

"Sorry I'm late, folks. I'm Vanessa Doofenshmirtz, and I'll be teaching Physics 2 recitation this semester. Don't bother trying to spell my last name, just call me Vanessa. Let me hand out the syllabus..." She rifled through her folders and pulled out a sheaf of papers, finally looking up at the class as she handed them to the students at the heads of each row. She reached Phineas and shook her head as she suddenly recognized him. "Phineas? What are you doing here?"

"Taking Physics 2. How'd you end up teaching it this semester?"

She shrugged. "The usual. No professors want to teach it, so they give it to a grad student."

He nodded, and she went on passing out papers.

Class went on with the usual day one rituals - discussion of class policies and grading, an overview of what was being covered, statement of office hours, and finally a little bit of actual material so they had something to do homework on for the next class. Afterwards, Phineas waited for the people requesting add or drop codes to get what they needed, then Vanessa looked at him. "So are you here on early admission? Aren't you a little young to be in college?"

"No, no I'm not. I'm eighteen, Vanessa."

"Wow. How did you grow up when I wasn't looking? Last time I saw you, you and Ferb were...what, fourteen? I suppose, yeah, that was almost four years ago, wasn't it? How's Ferb doing?"

"Okay. He's here getting a dual major in electrical and mechanical engineering. I share an apartment with him and Isabella just off-campus."

"Him and Isabella?" Vanessa raised an eyebrow.

"You remember Isabella, the girl from across the street? She and I started dating...about three and a half years ago now. We've been together since."

"Oh, sorry, the way you said it...nevermind."

"So what are you up to? Physics grad student?"

"Yeah, I figured somebody in the family should get a real doctorate. I'm studying the physics behind miniaturization technology..." She trailed off, momentarily speechless. "You and Ferb invented that. Why are you in college at all?"

"We can come up with great ideas, but we don't have the knowledge to move them from reality-warping into conventional science so we can turn them into real tools that can help people. We figure that with a good grounding in the fundamentals, we can really make a difference in the world. So he's studying engineering, I'm studying physics and biology, and Isabella is studying business with a plan to go on to law school."

"Huh. Um...would you mind coming over to meet my advisor? I know he'd be thrilled to meet you, and I could use some brownie points with him at the moment."

Vanessa was pleased with herself as she walked back to her apartment. Phineas and Professor Grunwald had gotten along incredibly well, and the young man had agreed to give a talk about his work as soon as the department could get it arranged.

She saw her roommate's boyfriend's car parked outside their apartment building as she turned the corner, and the good mood dissipated. It wasn't that she disliked Jack - he seemed to make Lisa happy, and while she wasn't exactly close to Lisa, she'd had enough unhappy roommates to appreciate the difference - but when he was over, the two of them tended to take over the living room, watch awful TV, and neck, and she really wasn't in the mood to deal with any of that tonight.

When she arrived in the cramped apartment, however, Jack and Lisa were just getting ready to head out. "Jack's taking me out on a date," Lisa said. "Don't wait up!" And with that, she had the apartment to herself.

She cooked a small casserole for herself for dinner, setting half of it aside for tomorrow's lunch, and ate the other half on the battered couch in front of the TV.

So, Ferb's here, she thought. I wonder if he even remembers me? He seemed to have such a crush on me back then.

He always looked like he was going to be a handsome young man when he grew up. And he was certainly good at being helpful when I needed him.

She sighed. Well, maybe I'll run into him around campus. I'd feel awkward asking Phineas to set up a meeting.

Ferb arrived home after his chemistry lab session, finding the flat unexpectedly empty. Phineas was supposed to be working on dinner, since he had gotten out of class earliest; presumably, he'd been distracted by something shiny. Ferb knew what that meant - takeaway from Marshwood House of Pizza again. Phineas had an odd fondness for their greasy pizza; Isabella thought it was okay, but Ferb considered it tolerable at best. He pondered just cooking up something for himself, but decided against it. Maybe he was guessing wrong.

Instead, he decided to work on his calculus homework. He was halfway through when Phineas arrived, carrying one of the dreaded grease bombs from around the corner. Ferb sighed and pondered what he could do as an alternative.

"Hey, Ferb, guess who I ran into today?"

Ferb looked up and raised an eyebrow.

"Remember Vanessa Doofenshmirtz? She's my instructor for Physics recitation."

Ferb dropped his pencil. Memories of the crush he'd had on her jumped through his head, a crush that had only been cured by her vanishing from his life for years on end. She probably doesn't even remember me.

"She said to say 'Hi', and asked how you were doing."

"Did she, now?" Just being friendly, I'm sure. No reason to think there's anything there.

"It was kind of weird. I mentioned we lived with Isabella, and she got real interested in our living arrangements all of a sudden."

Fine, Phineas. Yes, I'm still interested in her. It's not like my dating life has been sunshine and roses like yours has.

Ferb smiled. "Thank you. I think I'll look into this." And I'll even forgive you for the pizza, with that news.

The details of miniaturization technology, and how it made Phineas, Ferb, and Isabella world-famous, are told in 'Founding the Foundation', available at finer fanfic sites. And this one.

I've decided that, in a world with mad scientists, the study of mad science will generally fall under the physics department. I base this on my experience dealing with physics professors.

Marshwood House of Pizza is based on fond memories of several different places in the northeast US (which Marshwood isn't in, but that's beside the point). Greek-owned pizza places called (Town Name) House of Pizza are quite common there, often with one in every town, and they all tend to specialize in deliciously greasy pizza. Suffice it to say I'm on Phineas's side for that one.