A/N – I had so much fun doing "Vignettes a la Carte" (my random word drabbles), and I keep coming up with these little ideas, and sometimes I just feel the need to doodle a bit of Ferbnessa, so…

Welcome to The Ferbnessa Sketchbook, my open-ended home for random short stories and drabbles. It will probably be mostly F/V stuff, but other characters will likely turn up, as well. Again, my goal is to keep the rating on these to K+.

Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh own the characters and probably a lot of other stuff, too.

This first one came out longer than expected (of course), but I decided to keep it here in the Sketchbook rather than posting it as a separate story.

Dumb Luck

Ferb Fletcher dug in the cooler, hands freezing as he shoved the melting ice cubes in every direction. There had to be something else in here, there simply had to be. Things had started out so promisingly, and now he was about to make an utter fool of himself. Of all the rotten luck!

It was Isabella who had suggested a picnic in the park. Ferb was fairly certain that her original plan had been for some alone time with Phineas, but, as usual, the whole gang had ended up involved. At some point after lunch, Ferb had wandered off on his own for a bit, when he had stumbled upon a wonderful surprise.

She was sitting under a tree, some distance away from him, headphones in her ears, scribbling in a small notebook that was propped on her knees. Ferb had stopped in his tracks, swept up in that same, sweet, scary rush of weakness that hit him every time he saw her. Mere words could not describe her attraction for him, or his reaction to it. Vanessa Doofenshmirtz simply defied explanation.

His feet had regained consciousness before his head and he had found himself walking in her direction. His logical, rational brain, usually the master of his actions, had pointed out that she was busy and probably would not appreciate being interrupted, but his heedless heart had pushed him forward, just a bit closer, until he could see the little furrow in her brow, and the pensive frown that pushed her rosy lips into a pout. With a sigh, she had stopped writing, and tipped her head back – and that was when their eyes had met.

Startled, Ferb had hesitated, shifting on his feet. He could clearly see the sequence of thoughts that shaped her expression: Hm, some kid. With green hair? Hey, I know him! Then, before his eyes, her frown had relaxed into the hint of a smile, and she had plucked the headphone from one ear as she called out, "Hey, Ferb!"

She had laid aside her notebook and patted the grass beside her, removing the other headphone as he approached and sat down. They had talked – well, Vanessa had talked, mostly, which suited Ferb just fine. She had talked about having to spend the morning with her annoying father, about the music she was listening to, about how her mother had suggested she keep a journal to help deal with her 'teenage issues,' but so far it was just making her more irritated with everyone and everything. "Except you, Ferb," she had qualified, to his joy. "I'm glad we ran into each other."

Then, she had reached to take a drink from her water bottle and found it empty. Inspired, Ferb had held up a finger and said, "Wait here." Leaping to his feet, he had dashed back to the remains of the picnic he had left, exhilirated by the prospect of rendering some little service to the girl he adored.

And now, here he was, rummaging in the cooler, heart filling with despair as his hand met one rectangular paper carton after another. Juice boxes, nothing but juice boxes. And all of them apple at that, not even something marginally sophisticated, like mango, or strawberry kiwi. Ferb assessed his dilemma. He refused to go back to Vanessa empty-handed, but – a box of apple juice? It was something a child would drink. Of course, at ten, technically he was a child, but he didn't want to emphasize the point to her. Still, if he didn't get back to her quickly, she might get up and leave, and that was the worst prospect of all. So, with a grumble of resignation, Ferb grabbed a juice box and headed back to the tree.

Vanessa was still there, and she watched him approach. Without a word, he handed her the drink and sat down in the grass again. She looked at the box, and Ferb caught the curious arch of her brow before he lost courage and had to avert his eyes. He didn't want to see the expression of disdain that was certain to follow.

"Apple juice?" said Vanessa. "Are you serious?"

Wrong choice, stupid choice, thought Ferb, still unable to face her. Better to have come back with nothing.

He heard her rip the straw from the box and pop it in, then she said, "Ferb, how on earth did you know?"

Stunned, he cast his gaze on her to discover that she was slurping away, a happy smile blossoming around the straw between her lips. A trace of pink tinted her cheeks as she paused to confess, "My secret vice."

"Juice boxes?" he asked in disbelief. Impossible…

"Apple juice boxes," she clarified. "I know it's kind of a little kid thing – maybe that's why I still like them so much. It's like a comfort food, you know? Mom always keeps some in the fridge for me."

Of course, Ferb realized. The day he and Phineas had tracked down the Little Mary McGuffin doll – they had ended up at Vanessa's house, and her mother had offered them apple juice. At the time, Ferb had thought it odd that she happened to have the juice boxes on hand, although this was only a minor distraction from his overwhelming dread that Phineas was about to order him to "lean on" Vanessa's Mum. He had been so relieved to get out of there with at least some shred of dignity intact, it had never occurred to him that the cool young lady he admired might have a weakness for the sweet drink.

"Don't spread this around, ok?" Vanessa begged now, indicating the little box. "It could ruin my reputation."

She said this with a humorous glint in her eye, and Ferb smiled slightly as he shook his head in response. "Your secret is safe with me."

A rumble and hiss from up the street caught her attention, and she said, "Oh, here's my bus." Gathering her things, she got to her feet, and Ferb rose as well. Vanessa quickly drained the last of her juice and handed the empty box back to him. "Thanks, Ferb." Heading off to catch the bus, she looked back over her shoulder with a bright, lovely smile. "See you around!"

Ferb gave her a wave and watched her go. Apparently, his luck wasn't so bad after all.

THE END

A/N – In "Finding Mary McGuffin," Charlene asks Detectives Phineas & Ferb, "Would you kids like some apple juice?" and gives them juice boxes. It seems like an odd thing for her to have on hand. Unless… Hence, the inspiration! Oh, and watch Ferb during that scene – and notice how fast he moves when Phineas says, "pack it up." I can just imagine him being petrified that he's going to embarrass himself in front of his Future Mother-In-Law.