Phineas was bored out of his mind. Twisting around in his seat, he glanced towards the door. He could probably leave without them noticing.

After a few drinks, for them at least, he was still nursing his first, some song had started playing that had Ferbs dragging Vanessa from her seat for an impromptu dance.

There had been several songs since then, all fast-pace things Phineas had never heard before and couldn't be bothered to try making out the lyrics of. And they were still jumping and swinging in the empty floor space in some dance that Phineas was positive they were making up as they went along despite how in sync their moves were.

Phineas tossed back the rest of his drink before getting up. They were having fun. He wouldn't be missed. He wasn't sure they even remembered he was there. Besides, if it wasn't for the flash drive, he wouldn't have been invited anyway. Speaking of, he pulled the flash drive from his jean pocket. He glanced between it and them then he shoved it back in.

If she wanted it that badly, she'd contact him.

He stood up, ready to walk away when he stopped. Was he supposed to bring the glass to the bar or leave it at the table? He tried to remember the protocol from last time he'd been here.

"Phineas?"

Really? Just really? What did he do to make the universe conspire against his every move?

Except the whole denying his soulmate thing.

But that wasn't a big enough thing for this kind of punishment, was it? Other people turned down their soulmates.

Occasionally.

He looked up from the glass.

Ferbs held out a hand to him. "Would you like to dance?"

Not unless he was dancing out of here. Instead of voicing that, Phineas forced a weak smile. "That's alright. You and Vanessa should keep doing what you're doing."

Ferbs tilted his head. "I may have come here to spend time with her, but that doesn't excuse me ignoring you. I think I need to rectify that."

"Uh..." Phineas blinked. Was he serious right now? "I'm–I'm not a great dancer?" His hand twitched, and he curled it into a fist.

"I doubt anyone here is sober enough to notice."

"You are."

"Yes, but I'll hardly mind the lack of skill." A slow smile spread across his face. "One dance. If you don't enjoy it, I shalt speak another word to you tonight, if you so wish."

With any luck, this night wouldn't go on much longer, but the offer interested him. Shouldn't Ferbs have just given up by now? He seemed to know Phineas didn't like him.

Phineas stared at the hand. "Why don't you give up?" He flinched, eyes widening. He'd said it. He'd asked it. He shouldn't have, right? But he wanted to know.

Ferbs dropped his hand to his side and shrugged. "How can I explain something I don't understand?"

"What?" The idea that Ferbs meant the whole soulmate thing entered his mind, but that seemed too simple. Most people didn't put much thought into it. It just was. Like it always had been.

"I feel like I know you." Ferbs' brow furrowed, eyebrows disappearing below his sunglasses. "Knew you?" He shook his head slightly. "There's something... " Raising a hand, he rubbed his forehead. "Never mind it. It's a foolish notion." He moved his fingers to his temples. "Gives me an odd migraine when I attempt to think on it anyway."

"I don't think that's normal." Phineas was guessing. He'd never heard of that happening before. "Maybe you should talk to someone about that. Might be like a tumor or something."

Ferbs snorted.

"What?" he snapped the word. Here he was, trying to show some concern and he was getting laughed at for it.

"An answer like would make things easier for you, wouldn't it?" Ferbs' voice lacked bite.

And Phineas found himself not wanting to think about it. Death was not the way he wanted out of this relationship.

He'd seen what a dead soulmate did to people.

It wasn't pretty.

A little voice pointed out that he'd only seen the extreme, but he didn't pay attention to it.

They might have only met a few times, but each time Ferbs had stood up straight with a confidence Phineas almost envied. Right now, with his shoulders slumped and his palm pressed against his forehead that confidence was missing.

Had he hurt him? Phineas dropped his head. He kept screwing up. Even when he was trying not to. It made his stomach twist. Django had been right, Ferb should be pitied for getting stuck with someone like him. "I'm sorry."

"Not your fault," Ferbs muttered.

The dismissal made Phineas feel worse. "Did you still wanna dance?" He didn't even know why he was asking. Maybe some part of him thought it would ease the guilt of how he'd been treating Ferbs.

Ferbs nodded, giving his forehead one last rub before taking Phineas' hand.

They were halfway to the little area Ferbs and Vanessa had been using as a dance floor when the music cut out mid-song. A slower song taking the place of the previous hard rock.

Phineas shot Ferbs a look.

He sighed. "Vanessa."

Letting himself be led the rest of the way, he glanced around for the woman. She was leaning against the bar and raised a glass to him with a grin.

Lovely. Was this set up by both of them or her idea? He'd hoped the fast-paced music would give him an excuse to have as little physical contact with Ferbs as possible during the song.

Ferbs turned to face him, placing the hand he was holding on his waist before placing his hand on Phineas' shoulder and clasping their other hands together.

Phineas frowned at the positions. "I think you got it backwards."

"I don't believe so."

"No, my hand should be on your shoulder and yours should be at my waist." He started to move his hand.

"You're assuming I'm leading."

He stopped. "Well, yeah?" That seemed the obvious way to do it. Ferbs was taller, so he would lead. "Why wouldn't you?"

"Why would I?" One eyebrow crept up. "We are both males. There's no social code here that says I need to lead."

That was a point. "Yeah, but this was your idea."

Ferbs didn't answer right away. "Perhaps I don't want to lead."

"Oh." What could he say to that? He didn't want to lead either, but he was more used to that than he was to being lead.

"You do know how to...?"

"Huh, uh, yeah." Phineas started the dance.

While he had to admit Ferbs was a good dancer, easily covering any of Phineas' missteps, it didn't remove the awkwardness he felt. His eyes kept moving away from his soulmate.

In the past, he'd slow danced with Isabella. They'd always paired up for school dances and stuff. But she was his best friend. They'd chat and banter as they danced, and it would be fun.

He didn't think his definition of fun was the same as Ferbs'.

Still, should he try it? He didn't know what he could even talk to Ferbs about.

But he had to do something.

He said the first thing to come to mind, "Did you and Vanessa have a thing?"

Ferbs misstepped. "Beg your pardon?"

Shouldn't have said that. He really shouldn't have. Phineas ducked his head best he could, cheeks burning. "Sorry, I just–You seem close."

"No. We never had a thing."

"Yeah, I was, I thought..." He didn't know what he thought. Vanessa was married, and she'd met her soulmate when she was still a teenager. Ferbs probably hadn't even met her yet, and if he had, he didn't seem old enough to have had dated her back then.

Ferbs shrugged. "It's alright. It's true that we're close." He paused, letting them dance a few moments without speaking. "Perhaps there would have been something there under different circumstances. Some other world or universe where things are different, but not in this one."

"A world without soulmates," Phineas mused.

"Possibly."

Phineas envied that hypothetical world.