It’s Fall in Danville, as the nights grow ever longer and the days ever shorter. Hearing the school bell ring at the end of another long day, young Phineas Flynn quietly packs his books and papers and shuffles them away in his backpack.
“What’d you think of Bio lab today, Phineas?” the ever still spunky Isabella Garcia-Shapiro asks, graciously approaching his desk, presenting a warm and welcoming smile, with an intense glow emanating from her eyes.
“It was alright, Isabella” he replies with a sigh and a rather downcast look, eyes lowered to his belongings.
“What’s wrong?” she empathetically asks, placing a gentle hand of his shoulder. Just the feel of it wanted to make him cry.
“Oh baby…” Izzy goes in to hug him in an effort to soothe his worries.
“You wouldn’t understand, Isabella. I have a lot on my mind right now” he honestly replies.
“You can always tell me, Phineas. Trust me on this one.” Izzy warmly reassures him.
“I know, but…” stopping his sentence short biting his lower lip in agony.
“But?” as she waited for his response. He dared not answer, only look her in the eyes and let them do the talking. She knew he was feeling troubled, but wasn’t sure how to help him this time.
“I’m thinking about going to the school psychologist to talk out my problems, if that’s alright with you” he finishes saying, staring at her firmly in the eyes to reassure her he was being completely honest.
“I trust you. Let me know how your session goes then, huh?” Izzy warmly returns another smile and embraces Phineas in a comforting hug.
“Of course,“ he replies and smiles, enjoying their embrace together.
Twenty minutes later, I hear a soft knock on my door. “Hello? Dr. Chen?” Phineas calls, wondering if I’m still in the office.
“Ah, Phineas. I’ve been expecting you. Come on in!” I reassure him with a large grin across my face.
He gently shuts the door behind him, slowly takes off his backpack hanging off his shoulder, places it on a chair, and pulls up the one next to it.
“What seems to be bothering you today, son?” I start slowly.
“Well, sir…You mind if I call you sir?” he beams the question back at me, only glancing up for a few short seconds.
“You can call me ‘sir’, Josh, it doesn’t matter Phineas,” I gently reply with another smile.
“Well Josh,” this time saying my name emphatically, “I’ve been feeling down lately” eyes lowered to his cupped hands placed between his jeans.
“Is it the girlfriend?” I ask curiously.
“No sir,” he nods his triangle-shaped head sadly.
“Is it Candace?”
Again, another ‘no.’
“She’s gone off to college now, in search of Jeremy,” he softly replies.
“Does it feel different or awkward now that she’s not busting you and Ferb all the time?” I ask professionally.
“Yes, but she’s much more mature now, and has learned to take responsibility for herself,” Phineas spontaneously says with a light grin.
“And what about your pet platypus Perry? Still see him around at home?”
“Well yes, except when he runs off in the middle of the day. Though Ferb and I always love having him around,” this time starting to chuckle at the comforting image he now conjures up in his head.
“And what of your stepbrother Ferb?” I continue asking, seeing if there’s a clue I can begin to pick up in the conversation.
“He’s the man!” comes Phineas’ first reply, followed by, “He’s such a great bro to have” and smiles to himself again, eyes gradually lighting up at the thought of his brother.
Now I think I’m getting somewhere! I scream with utter delight in my head, leaning gently over to Phineas from the other side of the desk.
“I’ll bet,” I say, rubbing him gently on the shoulder. “Anything else you have to say about him?”
“Well…” Phineas hesitates and freezes for a few short seconds.
“I love him. And not just in the normal brotherly way either” he eventually confesses, as if blurting out something so harsh and vindictive, it eats away at the very essence of his soul.
“I can tell” I beam a look back at him. “Judging from your shyness and that look you have that you’re literally sick to your stomach, I can tell,” I finish my sentence and lean back into my comfortable lumbar chair.
“You see, I was experiencing the very feelings you are feeling right now at your age. It was all very confusing. I often just kept my distance from a lot of people” I reassure him.
“But when did you finally… you know?” hesitating to ask.
“When I was 20 and in college,” I slowly answer, filling in his question. “My parents didn’t take it very well at first, even though they know the presence of LGBT people in our society.”
“Right,” Phineas gently nods, allowing me to proceed.
“My confession was just as painful as yours, Phineas. To admit with all my heart and soul that I’m attracted to both men and women. But I indeed still do… and am actually still very single,” I humorously toss the joke at him.
Phineas giggles, staring right back at me in the eyes, with one of the softest expressions I have ever seen emanate from the face of a teenager his age. He was being gravely honest, I could tell.
“So any suggestions you have for me, Doc?”
“Oh, I don’t know…” I slyly say twirling my pen at the moment. “Why don’t I let your brother have a say in this?”
Gesturing a hand towards the door, a now tall and dark green-haired Ferb walks into the room.
“Ferb? You invited Ferb to my counseling session?!” Phineas almost exclaims in a surprised frenzy.
“But of course, my dear boy. I do enjoy group sessions after all!” I humorously chuckle again, holding my hands close to my face.
“You want me to fill in on what’s going on Doc?” Ferb now asks in that suave British accent of his.
“Yes, please Ferb” I gesture towards him and Phineas, now taking a seat next to his stepbrother.
With a slow yet equally painful sigh, Ferb makes his remarks. “Phineas, I’ve known for several months now. The way you’d look at me in the eye the same way you’d look at Isabella, always glowing, always intelligent…always vibrant. Remember when we held hands in that Tower we constructed many summers ago?”
Ferb pauses to let Phineas give an agreeable nod at him.
“Even in those few short seconds, I knew there was something special about you—the way we’d stare into each other’s eyes and see the whole world living in them.”
“Yes,” Phineas bashfully replies, looking away from the two of us in an effort to hide his blushing red cheeks.
“Phineas, Dr. Chen invited me here this afternoon to inform me that everything’s gonna be okay. I’m not gonna hate you if you have feelings for me. Promise,” he finishes placing a hand on Phineas’ shoulder.
Spontaneously, upon meeting Ferb’s lustrous eyes, he lunges at Ferb in a tight embrace, again trying not to cry.
“Thank you bro. That is what I’ve always wanted to hear you say,” he now mumbles through Ferb’s coat.
Ferb calms him by stroking his head and saying, “I love you too Phin. Never forget that” and gently kisses his bright maroon hair.
Through the stream of tears, Phineas goes in for a deep passionate kiss with his stepbrother, eyes sealed shut to amplify the sensation of the kiss, his cheeks still ever glowing as red as his hair.
It was certainly a sight to watch, as my heart melted inside, seeing them so in tune with each other all the time. I was quite overjoyed.
Eventually breaking away, both of their faces now showed a much more solemn and soothed tone, as they would smile back at me and say in unison, “We’re very happy together Doc.” 🙂
“I can certainly see that,” I again chuckle in an uproar, proud for these two boys. They’re the sons I’ve never had, but I am still very assured they are both able to see me as an encouraging and loving father figure.
As they slowly rise to grab their belongings, now hands interlaced with each other, they bid me farewell, Ferb saluting with two fingers in a gentleman’s manner, and Phineas waving me, the proud American he is.
I tightly embrace them and kiss them both on their heads as they proceed to stroll out the door, hand in hand for a long time to come.
The next Spring, Izzy spots the brothers in the hallway.
“So Phineas, you heading on over to the GSA meeting in a little bit?” smiling at him.
“Yes! How about you Izzy?”
“Definitely!” as both she and Ferb take Phineas’ hands, one conveniently for each, laughing and giggling all the way there.
Background: I have decided to not only incorporate myself into the world where Phineas and Ferb live in this time as their high school psychologist, being that I am a long-time fan since the premiere of the show, and now DEVOTEE as well. In addition, to share part of my most recent coming out experience as being openly bisexual, as I realize the P&F fandom is unfortunately split along Phinbella and Phinerb lines.
‘Why not have Phineas express his bisexuality the way I would intend him to, and in a way that could potentially bring together both pairings in one place?’ I would often ask myself. That’s when this story came to mind just now, and it is beautiful. ❤
Inspirations/Closing Acknowledgements: The ending where the brothers hold hands is inspired by this scene from The Closet:
Furthermore, Isabella is a heterosexual LGBT ally in the very last scene, inspired by an extremely awesome and loving Mexican girl friend and UC Riverside classmate of mine in real life, Dulce R. Gomez. YOU GO GIRL! CHEERS! 😀
Relive Another Historic Moment RIGHT HERE:
J Chen the Columnist 
Not bad. I think it’s awesome you’ve come out as bi. Of course, I’m more interested in heterosexual relationships, but this has been a very nice and interesting read. I look forward to reading more fan fics from you. 🙂 I should show you mine in response soon! ^_^
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