Siblings' Quest |Phineas and Ferb Story|

Part Seven: Broken Trust, Broken Hearts

Candace stormed down the stairs, feeling nothing but rage and frustration. She didn't pay attention to Lawrence sitting in the living room when he greeted her, she didn't notice the aroma of the lasagne being cooked, she didn't even look out a window to see it was dark outside now.

She and Ferb talked for almost two hours. Most of the passing seconds were silence, mainly due to the shock. Ferb told her everything—well, almost everything. He told her what happened to her dad, and how he knew. It was the most Candace had ever heard him speak at once.

Needless to say, she was furious.

"Why did you do it?" She asked firmly to her mother, slamming her hands on the countertop.

Linda just looked at her daughter surprised but confused. "Excuse me?"

Ferb quickly ran in the kitchen after her, a little out of breath. He put a hand to her shoulder and gave a worried, warning look to his stepsister. "Candace, don't."

"No, Ferb!" She said, not even looking at him. "I've been living 17 years without my real dad, and I'd like to know why my own mother would push him away!"

Linda gapped, her expression dropping completely. She looked up at Ferb, "What did you say?"

"He told me everything, you fucking liar!" Candace hissed, staring daggers at the woman.

"Don't speak to me like that." Linda warned, then sighed and rubbed her nose, "Look, I swear I was gonna tell you—"

"When?!" Her daughter asked, "17 years not enough time for that conversation?" Linda shot her a scowl, but it wasn't intimidating enough to the orange-haired girl.

"What's going on?" Lawrence asked, remaining in the living room, but was close enough to hear the conversation.

"Nothing, honey." Linda answered.

Candace scoffed, "Bullshit."

"You've got some nerve, young lady." Her mother said while pointing a finger at her, then aimed it at Ferb, "And you, I told you never to tell her or Phineas. I said I'd handle it."

"He was twelve, Mom! Twelve!" Candace exclaimed, "You told him my entire life story the day I left for college when he was twelve! What's it been now? Five years? And you still haven't gotten around to 'handling it', have you?"

Phineas carefully walked down the stairs, being as discrete as he could. He was hungry and thought that dinner would've been done by now, but after hearing faint yelling, he grew concerned and decided to enter with caution. He looked over at his stepdad, who seemed just as wary as him.

"What's going on?" He asked quietly.

Lawrence shook his head as his stepson approached him, "I haven't the slightest idea."

The two stood in between the kitchen and the living room, their presence going unnoticed by the arguing mother and daughter.

"I only told him because he was thanking me." Linda said.

"For what?!" Candace asked, still pissed off.

Ferb quickly shook his head at his stepmom, silently begging her not to reveal what his thanks were for. Linda stared at him solemnly, nodding. She then looked at Candace, "That's none of your business."

Phineas tilted his head, raising a brow suspiciously, while Lawrence merely frowned at his son.

"You're unbelievable." Candace grumbled. She rolled her eyes and turned around, making her way into the living room. She was done with her mom. Done with a Ferb. She was just done.

Linda scoffed and quickly followed her daughter, "Don't you walk away from me. You can't just come to my house and yell at me like this."

"It was my house, too!" Candace retorted, stopping in her tracks and turning around again to face her mother. "It was also Dad's, but you just kicked him out like he meant nothing to you, or to me! You saw the way he treated me, like I was his favorite thing in the world, and yet you just tossed him aside! You made me forget who he even was!"

Candace's heart was shattering in her chest as she spoke with a breaking voice. She gestured over at Phineas, who was watching with a fearful frown, "And him, he didn't even get to meet Dad! You kicked him out before Phineas was even born! He's gone his entire life not even knowing he had another father! What do you have to say to that?!"

Linda put her hands to her hips, "I understand, I've made mistakes. But you don't know the whole story, Candace."

"Right, but Ferb does." Candace nodded. "He gets to know everything because he 'thanked' you for whatever goddamn reason."

"Candace." Her mother said warningly. "That's enough. I had my reasons for divorcing your father, but I'd rather not discuss it."

"Why not?" She asked, feeling her eyes dwell with tears. "What do you have to hide after 17 years?!"

Phineas took a step closer, daring to even put himself in this situation. He noticed his sister on the verge of crying, and he needed to calm her down somehow. "Candace," He spoke cautiously, "Don't get mad at Mom. Maybe she's just trying to protect you."

Candace looked at him, sniffling, then back at her mother. "I don't need protecting! I'm an adult, I'm sure I can handle whatever bullshit went down between you and Dad. The least you can do is tell me his name!"

Linda crossed her arms over her chest, staring at floor. It wasn't that she didn't want to tell her his name, she just didn't want her daughter going out to look for him. She wanted nothing to do with the man she divorced almost 18 years ago, and she didn't need him being brought back into her life.

Candace scoffed at her mother's silence. "Tell me his name, Mom." She demanded, "Tell me his name!"

The woman finally spoke, but not the words Candace was hoping to hear. "You will not put me in this situation, young lady. You're making everyone else uncomfortable right now. We will discuss this later."

"NO!" Candace shouted, giving an infuriated look to her mother. "Tell me his name right now! Tell me why you kicked him out and why you lied to me all these years! Or I will walk out that door and I swear to God I will not come back!"

Silence fell in the room. No one said anything, not even a sound except the clock ticking. Phineas blinked away tears as he glanced over at his stepbrother. Ferb's face was emotionless, but deep down, he felt sorry. He really wished he hadn't said anything to Candace now. But he just felt that she had to know. It wasn't right to keep her in the dark. But if he had known it would've started a fight, he would've just kept his mouth shut—like he was always expected to do.

Linda didn't say anything. She just stared at her daughter with an unreadable expression. There was so much to tell her, to explain her reasonings behind it all, and yet not a word could be mustered about it. She kept it all cooped up in a shoebox for seventeen years.

Candace stared at her mother in disbelief, a tear falling onto her cheek. So that was it, then. Linda wasn't going to tell her anything. She was just going to let her leave and never return. "Fine..." She said weakly, shaking her head.

She walked over to grab her purse and keys, then walked out the front door, slamming it behind her, not saying another word.

Nothing but anger on her mind, and sadness in her broken heart.