Disclaimer- My agent told my people to tell your people that I don't own Phineas and Ferb. Or an agent.

Chapter 13 – Time to End This

Isabella woke up the next morning refreshed and ready. She was going to put all of this mess behind her; after today, she would be happily dating Phineas and the past week would be a distant memory.

She hurried through her morning routine and wolfed down some breakfast before dashing out the door. She didn't even notice Phineas and Ferb tinkering with something in their garage.

Isabella reached the museum in record time, and allowed herself to rest and compose herself before going inside. She knew exactly where she was going; the time machine hadn't moved since she had last seen it. Why should it? The only ones who knew it worked were herself and the Flynn-Fletchers.

She climbed in and cracked her knuckles. Now the only thing she needed was a where, no, a when, to go.

"The day it all started; the first day of school," she said to herself, and pulled the lever.

When Isabella landed, things didn't look too much different, thankfully. She hopped out of the machine and started to head toward the school. "Ugh, I should've brought my bike, too."

She arrived earlier than she expected; the first morning bell had just finished ringing, and the horde of students outside the front doors made its way inside. Isabella joined the crowd, hoping not to attract too much attention. She just needed a few minutes with Phineas…

"Hey, chief, I thought you were up with Phineas?"

Isabella started at the sudden interruption. She turned to see Katie, another one of her Fireside friends, beside her.

"Oh, uh, hi, Katie. Actually, I just got here," she said, not completely lying.

"What? But I thought I saw you-"

"Nope!" Isabella interrupted quickly. "Just got here!" She insisted.

"Okay then, why aren't you catching up with Phineas?"

Isabella mentally stumbled. If she caught up with Phineas in homeroom, there would be two of her in the same place. While not a cosmic problem, the scenario would certainly raise suspicion. She needed to get Phineas alone, or at least away from herself, so she could talk to him.

She tried to think of a time that day where she had been away from Phineas for any period, and drew a blank. Five minutes hadn't passed that she was apart from Phineas that day. Did she really feel for him that strongly?

'Never mind that now! What are you gonna do?' The voices were right. She couldn't go into the school today; She couldn't hide out in the halls all day and she couldn't talk to Phineas without herself or Trevor being present as well. She needed to rethink this entire operation.

"Uhh, hello? Earth to Isabella!"

Isabella snapped back to Katie's hand in her face. "What? Oh, sorry Katie gotta go bye!" With that she dashed off back to the Danville museum, leaving a very confused Katie in her wake.

Isabella arrived back at the museum out of breath. Did she really need to run everywhere today? She wasn't saving any time by doing so, she reasoned.

In any case, an entirely new plan was required. She thought back carefully to those first few days of school. What had she done?

That first day, Trevor had shown up, and Isabella had eaten lunch with him before going to Phineas' house to distort reality where Trevor had asked her out. Maybe she could talk to Phineas then? What would she say? 'Trevor asked me out and since you haven't noticed me I'm going to say yes?' Yeah, that didn't even sound good in her head.

At this rate, she might as well just tell Phineas she was dating Trevor already. God, what had she gotten herself into?

Isabella put her head in her hands and thought hard. If she told Phineas that evening that she would say no to Trevor, and her doppelganger said yes the following morning, not only would Phineas be devastated, but his trust in her would also virtually disappear. Maybe she could just say she hadn't decided yet. That was true, right? That would work.

She cranked the lever.

Isabella arrived at Phineas and Ferb's house just as Irving finished shouting something and turned to leave. She strode to the door quickly and knocked three times. Ferb answered within seconds.

"Hi Ferb, is Phineas home?" Isabella knew the answer, of course.

Ferb tilted his head. By his reckoning, Isabella had just left his house. What reason could she have for coming back? Well, she was here now; there was no use in being rude to her. He ushered her inside.

"Thanks. Is he in his room?"

Ferb nodded slowly. He was fully aware that Phineas might actually have a panic attack upon seeing Isabella in his current state, and therefore reluctant to let Isabella pass.

Isabella had other ideas. She pushed past the green-haired man of action and made her way up the stairs. She knocked on the boy's bedroom door.

"Ferb? That you?" said a voice from the other side.

"I need to talk to you, Phineas," Isabella replied. She heard a series of strange noises that sounded like a bellows being misused before the door actually opened and Phineas poked his nose out.

"W-what do you need to talk about?" Phineas caught Ferb's eye over Isabella's shoulder, and the British boy shook his head slightly, indicating that he didn't know.

"Can I come in?"

Phineas opened the door fully, allowing access to both his brother and best friend. Isabella sat herself on Phineas' bed while Ferb stood by the door like a sentry. Phineas himself shifted awkwardly in front of Isabella, waiting for her to speak.

She took a breath and paused. She knew now what this information might do to him, and judging by the way he was moving, he was already unstable. She had made a decision, though, and was not about to go back on it. "Phineas, Trevor sort of… um, asked me out." She glanced up to gauge his reaction.

Phineas had frozen, his hands and neck tensed. He looked like he was trying to swallow but couldn't. Behind her, Ferb's eyes had widened just a smidge. She gulped and spat the rest of it out. "I haven't quite decided yet if I'm going, but I think I might."

Phineas blinked twice, and tried to remember how to breathe. 'Stupid,' he told himself. 'You knew this was going to happen.' He did his best to keep a straight face, and wondered if he succeeded. "Oka- ahem, okay." He said shakily, aware of his brother's stare.

"You alright?" Isabella asked, concerned. She knew how she would feel if Phineas had agreed to a date with another girl; she could only assume he was going through something similar.

He put on a smile though, and stood up a little straighter. "Why wouldn't I be? I'm happy for you, Isabella."

"You are?" Isabella was taken aback. This was not the reaction she had expected.

"Sure: you haven't had a boyfriend in what? A few years?" He thought about that for a moment. "Have you ever had a boyfriend?" Isabella's averted eyes answered him plainly enough. "Well, I think he'll be good for you. I hope he makes you happy."

Isabella's mouth fell slightly open. "Umm, thanks? But Phineas, aren't you, I dunno, like, disappointed or something?"

Phineas gave a nervous laugh that he tried to cover up with a cough. "Why, uh… would you think that?" He ignored Ferb's glare.

Isabella was confused. Phineas should be heartbroken, or depressed, or something. He loved her, didn't he? He was going to tell her in a few days. Why was he acting like this didn't affect him?

'He can't tell you now; you just agreed to date another guy!' Oh, great, the voices again. Still, they might be right. Phineas was almost too polite for his own good; if Isabella chose to date someone else, he would probably support her, even if it crushed him.

No matter which way she looked at it, Isabella only saw one outcome: she would have to date Trevor.

The walk back to the time machine was not one Isabella ever wanted to repeat. Her thoughts about the situation felt like a sickness in her brain, not to mention what she would be going forward to. There was no way she could be happy with this, knowing Phineas' feelings and still not being able to do anything about them.

She sat in the machine for a while, wondering what in her future, or present rather, had changed. "Only one way to find out, I guess," she said and pulled the lever.

Well, nothing was on fire. That was a good sign, right? Isabella strode down her street until she reached the house she was so familiar with. Nothing seemed to have changed. There was Ferb, outside reading his book. There was no sign of Phineas.

Isabella opened the worn gate with a creak. "Hey, Ferb!" she called cheerfully. "Where's Phineas?"

Ferb stared at her for a long time, and did not say anything. He was thinking about the best way to say where exactly Phineas was and what he was doing. Finally he gave in and gestured to the house.

"Okay, thanks!" Isabella hesitated just a little bit. Ferb had been just a bit more disconcerting than usual. Maybe something had changed with Phineas? She shook off her doubts and opened the sliding door to the house.

There were many things happening in the living room; the TV was on, Phineas was talking, and Perry was snoring. The only thing Isabella could focus on, though, was the blonde girl sitting next to Phineas on the couch.

Isabella slammed the door and put on her best fake sweet smile and voice. "I don't mean to interrupt, but what exactly is going on here?"