Snapshots

32. Looking Back to Move Forward

Takes place a few years after Act Your Age. Ferbnessa.

To anyone else, the dinner would have seemed an odd place to meet up, it was dead smack in the middle of nowhere. The decor made it look like it hadn't been updated since the '60s, despite nothing in the place showing the wear or tear that came with age. Its ownership had changed hands several times since it was built, but the original name remained. Not that No Stop Truck Stop could be called accurate anymore, it hadn't moved in over a decade.

The original owners sat at one of the red booths.

Their waitress placed two plates of food on the table. "Can I get ya anything else?"

Ferb shook his head, giving the woman a quick smile.

"Call me if change your mind." She walked away with a put on sashay in her step, and Ferb tried not to roll his eyes.

Per usual, the interaction went unnoticed by Phineas. Even the food hadn't registered with him as he intensely studied the menu. "The menu hasn't changed."

This time Ferb did roll his eyes. He'd picked up on that thirty seconds after looking at it. What he wanted to know was if it was his imagination or if the cheeseburger he ordered was somehow greasier than when he did the cooking. He rotated the plate as if that would help answer the question.

Phineas finally set down his menu and eyed his own order before folding his arms on the table. "As nice as it is to see what happened to an old project, why did we have to meet here?"

Shrugging, Ferb picked up his burger. "I felt nostalgic." And he wanted to meet somewhere they were unlikely to run into anyone they knew, allowing them to have some one-on-one time.

"Right." Phineas looked like he wanted to comment father on it but didn't. "You said you had something you needed to tell me?"

Ferb nodded, having already taken a bite of his burger. Despite it being so greasy, he found himself enjoying it immensely.

Suddenly, Phineas' eyes widened in alarm. "Bro, please tell me you haven't changed majors again!" Ferb started to shake his head, but Phineas plowed on, "I don't know why you picked this latest one anyway, I mean, political science? I don't get it. I know you found the engineering courses too easy and dropped the film major because of Buford but political science? I just don't see it, dude."

"It's quite interesting." Almost regretfully, Ferb set the remaining half of the burger back on his plate. "The debates often become heated-do you recall when I was in debate club?"

"Yeah."

"It's worse than that." The fistfights had been surprisingly frequent for the first few months. Luckily, the professor had always managed to calm it down before anyone was too badly injured. "And the mathematics used are more advanced than I was expecting." He shrugged again. "It's fun."

"So not changing majors then?" Phineas reached across and snatched a french fry off his brother's plate.

Ferb sent a pointed look at Phineas' own plate, the chicken fried steak completely untouched, before shaking his head.

Grabbing another fry, Phineas stared at him expectantly. "So what are you planning?"

Ferb took a fry himself, buying a few seconds. "I'm going to ask Vanessa to marry me."

That made Phineas grin. "Really? That's awesome, bro!" Another fry disappeared from Ferb's plate. "When? Where? You're coming back to Danville for it, right?"

"For the proposal?" Ferb blinked.

"The wedding, duh."

"She might not say yes." When Phineas reached for Ferb's plate again, Ferb gently smacked his bother's hand away.

"She'll say yes." Phineas pulled his hand back even as his eyes lingered on the French fries. "Why wouldn't she?"

Ferb shrugged.

"Okay." Finally, Phineas picked up his fork to poke at his own food. "If she doesn't say yes, I'll never complain about your major again."

Narrowing his eyes, Ferb waited for him to continue.

"If she does say yes, you have to have the wedding in Danville." His grin grew. "I'm not letting you get married in England, bro. Destination weddings are tacky."

Ferb snorted.

"What?"

He waved it off. "Deal. But I pick where in Danville and when."

"Yeah, of course." Phineas looked generally confused at the add on. "But it's gonna be during summer, right?"