I would just like to say that I hope you guys like this as it is not only my first fanfiction but also my first story period. Enjoy! =)

Disclaimer: I do not own Phineas and Ferb or their characters. They belong to Dan Povenmire, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh and Walt Disney Animation Studios.

Chapter 1 ~ A Cut Rose

It was a sunny morning in Danville. Although most of the city wasn't quiet yet active, down in the suburbs, in a small house on Red Oak Rd., 19-year-old inventor Phineas Flynn was wide awake and running through his house like a madman. But for once, it wasn't because of another "Big Idea". No, on this particular morning, he was desperately trying to get ready for the romantic picnic lunch he had planned with Isabella, his girlfriend of 6 years. Now in all those, Phineas had certainly taken Isabella out on plenty of dates, but this one was extra special. That was because today was the day that after months of planning and talking things over with Isabella's mother, Phineas was going to finally pop the big question to her. "Ferb, have you seen the ring?", Phineas asked his brother from the top of the stairs. He watched as his brother pointed to his socks. "Oh yea. Thanks bro!" Phineas went back to his room and retrieved the engagement ring from his sock drawer, then gave their pet platypus a pat on the head. "See ya later Perry!", Phineas said with a smile on his face. "Wish me luck!" "Krkrkrkrkr," Perry responded with his signature chatter. "Thanks buddy!" With that, Phineas grabbed his keys and slid down the banister. With his hand on the door knob, he suddenly stopped and turned to look at his brother.

Him and Ferb had moved out of their parents home earlier that summer when they found this house a couple blocks away. It was only for rent, but the price was reasonable and it gave them the space they wanted, while not being too far from the nest. In the time since they had been on their own, the brothers had made it a priority to keep up their inventing streak, making modifications to the house as well as continuing to help out their friends and family not to mention a few paid jobs for the city and even Mayor Doofenshmirtz himself. By the time the mayor asked for their help adding a new wing to the Danville Museum of Natural History and thus invited them and their family to it's Grand Opening upon completion, their mother Linda finally had to admit to both herself and her daughter that Candace was in fact, not crazy. Not that she was still trying to bust her brothers. No, a month after graduating college, Candace and Jeremy had finally tied the knot after a three year engagement. Now, a year later, they were finally settled into their new life when they discovered that their first child was on it's way, which definitely kept them both occupied.

Suddenly, Phineas was brought out of his musings and back to them present. As he looked at Ferb sitting on the couch channel surfing, he suddenly felt bad that he was leaving his brother all alone for the day. Phineas knew that before too long, Perry would disappear for the day which would leave Ferb in an empty house. Phineas thought for a moment before an idea came to his mind. "Hey Ferb, I'm getting ready to head out now. Why don't you go visit Vanessa. After all, she's only a couple blocks away now." Sure enough, Ferb suddenly remembered his sister telling them that Vanessa had moved into the neighborhood a couple of years ago. Ferb had at one time wanted to visit her since she had long since broken up with the guy she had been dating. Monty, he thought was the name. But before he got a chance to go over, he heard that Vanessa had hooked back up with her high school boyfriend, Johnny. "I don't think I should go Phineas. After all, three's kind of a crowd, you know." Phineas looked at his brother for a moment with confused expression before saying, "I thought Candace told you. Vanessa broke up with Johnny a few months ago. This could be your chance to finally tell her how you feel." At that statement, Ferb instantly perked up and gave a nod of his head and a thumbs up to show his agreement. With that, Phineas gave a farewell to his brother and went out the door. After a few moments of thinking, Ferb decided to take a quick shower. After he got out and dried off, he grabbed a pen and piece of stationery paper from his desk drawer, sat down and wrote a short yet sweet note explaining the reason for his visit, along with his phone number, just in case Vanessa wasn't home. When he finished, he gave a quick check over his work and, deciding he was satisfied with it, placed the note neatly in an envelope and wrote her name on the front in beautiful, scrolled handwriting. Once he was finished, Ferb continued to get ready; brushing his hair and teeth, putting on a plain black t-shirt and a pair of dark purple jeans and spraying on some cologne. When he was ready, Ferb went to his closet and opened a small vault that was hidden in the closets back wall. This vault, like the one his brother had in his own room, was where Ferb kept his most treasured items. After searching the vault for a few moments, Ferb found the item he was looking for. A single, red rose. At first appearance, it wouldn't seem that unique to anyone who didn't know the story behind it.

You see, back about 7 years ago, during the summer when Ferb and his brother started their inventing streak to make every day count, they had taken a trip around the world with their friends in an attempt to make the longest day of the year even longer. While the trip should have been amazing all on it's own, it became even more so for Ferb. As they were leaving Tokyo after refueling their homemade jet plane, The Sun-Beater 3000, they were passing by the Tokyo Tower when suddenly, Vanessa came falling out of the sky and luckily landed right on the canopy of their cockpit. After opening the canopy so Vanessa could climb in, she had agreed to join them for the rest of their trip. From that moment on, the trip seemed to go pretty smoothly, minus a few technical bumps here and there. Eventually, they made their way to Paris. At that point, the Sun-Beater was coming apart so they decided to split up into groups to find the parts necessary to fix the plane just long enough to make it back to Danville safely. Just as Ferb had noticed that Vanessa had disappeared, she suddenly showed up riding a scooter. To his delight, she handed him a helmet and told him to hop on. Eventually, the pair had found themselves at the Eiffel Tower. This had thrilled Vanessa, since after all, that was where she had really wanted to go from the get go. But her happiness was short lived as it reminded her why she had to hitch a ride with a group of kids to get there. As they made their way to the top of the tower, Ferb noticed that change in Vanessa's mood and asked her what was wrong. "It's nothing," Vanessa had said. But when Ferb gave her a look that clearly said, "I'm listening," she hesitantly started. "Well." That was all it took. Before long Vanessa was pouring her heart out about how the day had started with her and her dad flying to Tokyo for what she had thought was going to be a happy vacation just the two of them so they could really do some father/daughter bonding, since he was always working. But that had come to a screeching halt at the top of the Tokyo Tower when she had discovered why her dad had chosen Tokyo instead of Paris, since that's where she really wanted to go. Work. Once again, her father was putting his work before her. And if that wasn't bad enough, his work was what had accidentally caused her to go flying off of the Tokyo Tower, which, had it not been for Ferb and his brother, she probably wouldn't have lived to tell about it. "I don't know, Ferb. I know he's my dad and I shouldn't blame him for being busy. It's just that...he always seems to put his work ahead of me. I just don't know what to do." Ferb thoughtfully replied, "Well sometimes if you love somebody, you have to meet them halfway." As Vanessa was thinking about what Ferb had just said, he noticed a small flower shop just a short distance off. As his own words came ringing back in his ears, Ferb knew what he was going to do. So without a word, he walked over and bought a single, perfect, red rose for Vanessa. But as fate would have it, just as he was returning, blossom in hand, Vanessa jumped off the railing and into a hover car with some guy Ferb didn't recognize. As the pair flew away, Ferb could hear Vanessa's sweet voice calling back, "Bye Ferb. Thanks for everything!"

That was 7 years ago. And for 7 years, Ferb had kept that rose with the intent of one day giving it to the woman he loved. He had made sure to preserve it, of course. That night, after the celebration of their success had come to an end and everyone else had gone to bed, Ferb had stayed up, working the whole night to make a solution that, when poured on the rose, would keep it young and in full bloom forever. A 'Fountain of Youth' for plants you could say. Well, now was his chance. His chance to finally give her the rose. His chance to finally confess his undying love to Vanessa Doofenshmirtz. The young woman who had stolen his heart when he was still young enough that people would say he was a little too young to even know what love was. But he wasn't. He hadn't been too young then, at the age of 12, and he was even less so now. With that thought on his mind and in his heart, Ferb took one last look in the mirror, ran a quick hand through his messy green hair, and headed downstairs. As he arrived at the bottom, he paused but a moment to grab his jacket and his keys and with that, he was gone. As he walked to his car, Ferb noted to himself that it was quiet a beautiful September day. Despite the fact that it was the start of jacket weather, the warmth of the sun of his face made him feel as though nothing could go wrong. Little did he know what would be awaiting him. As he drove down the street, Ferb suddenly became a bundle of nerves. Questions began to flood his mind. Will she remember me? Will she want to see me? Will she still like me? One after another, the questions came, turning the usually cool and calm young man into a nervous wreck. Despite this, however, Ferb stayed true to his nature, not letting even the slightest hint that anything was bothering him, show on his features. Following the directions his sister had given him, Ferb was turning onto Chestnut Street within minutes, and a minute later, he arrived in front of Vanessa's house, noting to himself that a sleek, black car and an old motorcycle currently resided in the driveway. After parking and turning off the ignition, Ferb remained seated in his car, going over once again in his mind how he was going to greet Vanessa after all the time that had passed and then find a way to tell her how he felt. Finally, he decided that, though he still didn't know what he was going to say, it would probably be best if he made it to the door before she left. Coming to the conclusion that he would just have to wing it, Ferb got out of his car and casually walked up to the door and rang the bell. Nothing. For several minutes, Ferb stood waiting, absent-mindedly zipping up his jacket some to block the breeze of the now cooler end of summer day. Perhaps she's not home, Ferb thought to himself. Just as he was about to leave the rose and note in the mailbox, he suddenly heard shouting coming from inside. Though normally, Ferb would never even think of eavesdropping, something in the tone of the voices made him stop in his tracks. One voice, he could tell immediately, belonged to Vanessa. The other, a man's, he couldn't recognize. Although he couldn't make out most of what was being said, he caught enough to piece together that whomever Vanessa was shouting at, she was breaking up with. Permanently. Feeling it was not his place to step in, Ferb was about to leave when he heard the sound of glass breaking, followed by a fearful scream from Vanessa. For Ferb, that was it. Realizing he couldn't leave, Ferb carefully tested the front door. Thankfully, it had been left unlocked. Quietly, Ferb entered the home. Once inside, he gave himself a moment to locate the direction the voices were coming from and realizing they were upstairs, placed the note and rose on a small table by the door and quietly climbed up the stairs. By this time, Ferb could hear every word the was being shouted; some in hurt, others in anger. "Johnny, I told you on the phone, we;re through. I took a lot from you that I shouldn't have, but catching you with another woman? That's the one thing I won't put up with. So just leave. I'll send you your things. But I want you out of my house. NOW!" The sound of a smack suddenly echoed through the house. Even after the echo had faded into silence, it's sound continued to ring in Ferb's ears, right before he heard the sound of Vanessa crying. "No! Nobody leaves me! No one! Wait, what do you think you're doing? Gonna go crying to daddy like a little girl? Fine! That idiot father of yours doesn't scare me. No one does." With a shaky voice Vanessa replied, "I'm calling the police you jerk!" "Oh no you don't! Get over here." At that moment, Ferb heard Vanessa scream in terror just as he had finally made his way to the bedroom doorway. He watched in horror as Johnny grabbed Vanessa off the floor, a broken vase by her feet most likely the sound he'd heard earlier, and threw her onto the bed and then reached into his back pocket, drawing out a knife! Suddenly, time seemed to stand still for Ferb. In a split second, he saw only two options. Call the police and watch Vanessa's life end before they even answered. Or risk, possibly even give, his life for the one he loved. Knowing there was really only one option he'd be able to live with, Ferb ran into the room and grabbed Johnny. The sudden introduction of a third person took Johnny's attention off of Vanessa and straight onto Ferb. With a glaring hatred, Johnny lunged at Ferb with his knife. "So, think you're a tough guy, whoever you are?" Ferb kept his cool as he replied, "Ferb Fletcher's the name. And I happen to know there's a lot more to being both tough and a man, than to harm a lady in any way." For a brief moment, Johnny looked as though he'd been smacked in the face as the insult instantly sunk in. However, he quickly shook it off. "You're going to regret those words you little punk," he spat back. With that, Johnny lunged at Ferb, who ducked swiftly out of the way, backing up out of the room and away from Vanessa. As the two fought their way out into the hall, Vanessa regained some of her composure and silently followed. She arrived just in time to see Johnny lunge his knife at Ferb who, being unfamiliar with the home's layout, forgot he was at the edge of the stairs and took a step back to avoid injury. As he lost his balance, he grabbed Johnny's jacket, refusing to give the creep a chance to go back and hurt Vanessa more. With that, the two fell down the stairs, toppling end over end. Ferb landed at the bottom first with Johnny flipping over him, knocking over the small table by the door; rose and note falling to the floor, forgotten. Just as Johnny had gotten back up and was about to finish the job, the sound of police sirens could be heard coming up the street. Thinking it best to escape and avoid going to jail, Johnny looked down at Ferb and said, "I'll be back Fletcher. Just you wait. And next time, I'll finish the job!" With that, Johnny ran out the door, hopped on his motorcycle and sped away. Vanessa ran down the stairs to Ferb's aid. "Ferb!", she cried. "What were you thinking? You could have been killed." "As could you have," he replied. "Yeah well...Good timing you showing up when you did." After a moment of awkward silence between the two, Vanessa looked up. "I wonder what's taking the police so long. It sounds like they're just sitting out there." "Oh right," Ferb said as he reached into his back pocket, pulled out a small remote and pressed a button on it. Suddenly, the sirens stopped. Vanessa looked perplexed. "What was that?", she asked. "My brother and I thought it a good idea to install a siren button in both our cars. One button is in the car. The other, on the key chain. They were meant for an emergency, like if we were getting mugged or something. You know, just to scare the guy off. Never thought I'd actually use it, though." Ferb started to get up but quickly collapsed back onto the floor in pain. It was at that moment that Vanessa saw the deep gash in his jacket, the white fabric quickly being saturated in a warm, red, sticky liquid. "Oh no. Ferb, you're bleeding!" As if one cue, Ferb suddenly began to loose consciousness. Thinking quickly, Vanessa grabbed her cell phone and dialed 911. At the same time, she saw a discarded shirt laying on the floor, no doubt one she'd dropped while bringing the morning's laundry upstairs. She quickly grabbed the shirt and began to apply pressure to Ferb's would in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Within a few minutes, Vanessa had explained to the emergency operator what had happened and had been assured that the police and an ambulance were being sent immediately. She thanked the woman and hung up so that she could devote her full attention to Ferb, knowing that as soon as he was in an ambulance, she would have to make the difficult call to Candace to let her know what had happened. But for now, she had to keep Ferb safe as he had kept her. Don't worry Ferb," she whispered. "Help is coming." As Vanessa said those words, she began to cry as she held Ferb's head in her lap and soon she realized that she was trying to reassure herself more than him. After 10 heart-pounding minutes, Vanessa could finally hear what was so far, the most beautiful sound she had heard all day. The sound of hope. Slowly, Vanessa began to smile as she started to wipe away her tears. "Do you hear that Ferb? They're coming. Ferb?" Vanessa looked down realizing that Ferb hadn't made a sound nor moved a muscle. "Ferb?" Quickly, Vanessa searched desperately for Ferb's wrist. Once she found it, her heart dropped. No pulse. "Ferb!"