chapter 18

The sky was dark. It was like a painted canvas that was splattered with dark, blue paint with glitters thrown at every inch. Every glitter twinkled with such bright light, as if there was life in it. The breeze was slightly crisp for the summer season, but the people around the campfire didn't seem to mind it.

The campfire wasn't as massive as one expected from a huge campsite, but it was warm enough for a toasted marshmallow party. Five friends composed of four boys and one girl were all sitting on two separate logs placed on either side—the two dark-haired boys on the left, while the three were on the right. The fire in the wood was burning slowly. Its crisp noise was relaxing as it got mixed along with the sounds the forest was providing.

The redhead took a deep breath, throwing his head back. He looked at the sky, before moving his marshmallow slowly into the fire. He watched it slowly roast in the flames. He smiled, his eyes darting around his brother, his girlfriend and his friends.

It had been a while since they were all together like this. Ever since they started college, they hardly have time to catch up with each other. All of them, besides him and stella, went to different universities across the country, and being apart from them felt like there was a huge hole in his heart. He felt empty throughout the year, for he hardly see them and if he had time, it was just a quick chat; something he wasn't used to since they used to spend a lot of time together in their childhood.

He sighed, pulling his marshmallow off the campfire. He blew the fire from the sweet dessert and put it back in the blazing inferno. He chuckled at the thought.

'Blazing Inferno' sounded cool. It could be a possible name of an invention! He made a mental note to discuss that with Ferb later or tomorrow. After all, even if they go to different universities, they are still brothers.

"So," his girlfriend said, snapping him out of his trance. She blew the fire off from the marshmallow. "I realized something—" she kept on cooling her toasted marshmallow.

Lincoln chuckled, his lips curving into a smile. He couldn't help to notice how cute she looked whenever she puffed air out of her mouth. "What is it?"

Ferb rose an eyebrow and chewed his own toasted treat while Baljeet furrowed his own. Buford, on the other hand, opened his mouth, forming an 'o'. All eyes were focused on her.

The girl sighed then smiled, before replying, "We've never been together like this for a while."

"Oh," Buford replied, ruining the mood with his nonchalant tone.

"Buford," Baljeet scoffed. The bully's eyebrows creased.

"What?"

"You sound rude," the Indian boy berated, while his frenemy shrugged, punching his arm like it was nothing. Baljeet let out a pained 'ow' but proceeded to grab another marshmallow from the pack with his uninjured hand.

"Well, what do you want me to reply?"

This caused Baljeet to roll his eyes. "Oh, I do not know. Maybe say something nice! I—"

"Guys," stella called the two, stopping their little argument. The two stopped to look at her, only to see her giggle. She sighed dreamily. "You two never change."

Baljeet's shoulders drooped along with his lips. He rubbed his cheek. "Well, you are right about that."

"The only difference is we're older and taking care of young Fireside girls," Ferb added while chewing his marshmallow.

Lincoln laughed. "We became babysitters, basically."

"But with a price!" Buford laughed along while stella rolled her eyes.

The only reason why the five friends were together was all because they volunteered to help stella watch over the new Fireside recruits. Now, Fireside girls are independent ladies, but the only reason why they were here was because these girls were around five to seven years old. They are young and needed guidance from their seniors, which happened to be her.

stella grabbed her now cold roasted marshmallow and popped it in her mouth. The toasted yet sweet flavour of the dessert lingered in it, and it was enough to lift her mood.

"Excuse me," a meek girl said, getting their attention. The boys stopped laughing while stella blinked. They all looked at the child with a curious expression.

"Oh," she bit her lip. "Umm, Sarah, right?"

The blonde nodded, twirling her fingers.

stella paused. She suddenly forgot that some of these girls were first-timers, and being in a troop was new to them. She sighed. "Do you need anything?"

"I…"

"Go on," stella encouraged.

"I-I need to go potty," she responded shyly.

There was a short pause until Buford stood up and offered his hand at the little girl. The little girl blinked. "Come on, short stuff. Me and my friend will accompany you."

Baljeet blinked, registering what his best friend and enemy stated. Did he want him to go with them? Could he just do it on his own?

"Come on, nerd," Buford hollered and Baljeet was left with no choice. Hopping off from his seat, he followed Buford and the little girl to the restrooms.

Moments passed since the three left, Ferb stood up from his seat. He breathed. "I'll try and make a call."

"You're calling Vanessa at a time like this?" Lincoln asked his brother, while Ferb just nodded. The triangle-headed boy, being the oblivious lad he is, just shrugged. And now he was left alone with his girlfriend.

It took him a minute—or maybe more—when he realized that he was only accompanied by stella. He blinked and swallowed the lump in his throat. His eyes widened.

Did those three plan this? How come he was still wasn't aware in the first place?! He really needed to start paying more attention to things for once!

He sighed, rubbing his head. Well, there was no point in complaining now that it's happening. He could hear a giggle, and it was more than enough to wash away his distress. Jerking to his left, he looked at his girlfriend who had a huge smile on her face while roasting another marshmallow. He could only guess that she liked that there was no one around but them.

"What's so funny?"

stella stopped giggling. She elbowed his chest. "You oblivious goofball! Those three left us on purpose!"

Lincoln just laughed. "I guess you noticed it first, huh?"

"No duh. You really need to pay attention to some details."

Lincoln continued laughing. "I'm trying. I'm trying."

The two looked at each other before bursting into a fit of laughter. Their chuckling died and Lincoln suddenly wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer.

"I guess I can do this, then," he quipped, pressing his soft lips on her right temple. stella giggled once again.

"Hey, stop, that tickles!"

Lincoln smirked. "Oh, really?"

He kissed her temple once again, causing stella to laugh. She placed her hands on his chest, pushing him away from her, but Lincoln was too stubborn. Instead, he leaned his forehead on hers. He was in awe at how beautiful her eyes were. His heart raced wildly in his chest at that, as his breath hitch.

She is truly gorgeous.

He suddenly realized that they too, hardly spend time together. And now was his chance.

Taking a deep breath, his eyes went to her stick and grabbed it. He doused the flames off with his breath and ate the roasted marshmallow like a madman.

"Hey!" stella squealed. "No fair! That's mine!"

Lincoln chortled. "Come and geth it, then!"

stella pouted. How could she get it if it's in his mouth?! To her surprise, Lincoln smacked his lips on hers. She could taste his saliva and the toasted treat exploding through their kiss. She could get used to this.

A cough interrupted them, making the couple break from their kiss.

"Oh, hey, Ferb!" Lincoln said, smiling at his brother despite the blush on his cheeks. His eyes went round as he saw Baljeet and Buford behind him. "Uh...hey, guys!"

Buford chuckled, folding his arms across his chest while Baljeet and Ferb were smirking. "Look, what you did was cute, but get your own room, for Pete's sake."

"Dude! We are surrounded by children!" Baljeet intervened and the three just laughed. They watched the best friends slash enemies bicker like there was no tomorrow.

Lincoln eyed his friends; from his brother to his girlfriend to Buford and Baljeet, he realized that he was very thankful for this night. They were together, just like the old times. Nothing could ever beat the happiness he could feel every summer

Another day, another failed opportunity to let Lincoln know how I feel about him. Today Lincoln and Ferb invented a machine that would answer any yes or no question. Unfortunately the machine disappeared before I had a chance to ask my question. I'm pretty sure Ferb was upset too because I know he wants me to be happy. Especially with Lincoln.

Let me tell you about myself a bit first. My name is stella Garcia-Shapiro, 17 years old, leader of the Fireside Girl Troop 46321. My best friend is Lincoln Flynn, 17 years old. Ferb Fletcher, 18 years old, is Lincoln step-brother. I've known Lincoln since we were 3 and I've been in love with him ever since. I just wish I knew what his feelings were for me.

I've tried confessing for years and he just remains oblivious. All of our friends know about my crush on Lincoln. Hell I'm sure all of Danville knows. The Flynn-Fletcher boys are well-known in the Tri-State area because of all of their inventions, many of which help the city out greatly.

Everyday during summer they build something new, and during the school year they don't stop either, they just do it every weekend instead of every day. And with every invention, I try to find a new way to let Lincoln know of my feelings for him.

I'm scared to just straight out tell him because our friendship means more to me than anything. I can't lose him so I rather just stay friends.

Lincoln POV

I worry about stella. The past couple weeks, she always leaves with this sad look in her eyes. I really hope everything is ok. Maybe I should talk to her about it tomorrow. She is my best friend and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something were to happen to her and I wouldn't be able to help. Maybe I'm overreacting. I should ask Ferb.

"Hey Ferb, is it just me or has stella been sad the last couple of weeks?"

Ferb POV

Oh boy… I think Lincoln might not be so oblivious anymore. What do I tell him? I can't just tell him that stella is upset because he won't see that she is in love with him.

"I believe you should talk to her. Only she will be able to tell you if something is truly bothering her."

Lincoln POV

Ferb is right. I have to talk to stella. There is no other way. I love her. Wait… where did that come from? I mean she is my best friend and she is pretty cute and she's always been there for me. She knows me better than anyone else, well besides Ferb but he is my brother. Maybe I do have feelings for stella. I have admitted to her that she is pretty cute and she defeated Mitch with her cuteness and saved Meap's planet. Holy crap… I am in love with my best friend stella Garcia-Shapiro.

The next morning

Lincoln POV

Today is the day. I'm gonna make sure that everything is ok with stella and tell her that I love her.

"Ferb, I know what I'm gonna do today."

Ferb only raised his eyebrows at me, silently begging me to tell him what my plan is.

"I'm gonna talk to stella and make sure everything is ok with her and figure out why she is sad. I also wanna tell her that I love her."

Ferb POV

Oh… my… god… Holy… crap… He figured it out… FINALLY!

stella POV

When I woke up I was ready to give Lincoln another shot. I'm not ready to give up on him yet. I went to my window to check if the boys were already in the yard. Lincoln was standing in front of Ferb, who was sitting leaning against the tree. The part that shocked me was Ferb's facial expression. He seemed so happy and shocked and excited. I wonder what's going on. Time to head over.

I make the short walk over to the Flynn-Fletcher backyard and open the gate.

"Whatcha doin'?"

"stella! You're here!" exclaimed Lincoln.

"Of course I am. You know I come over every day. Anyways I was looking through my window and I saw Ferb's —" looking over to Ferb's direction, I realised he was no longer there.

"Where did Ferb go?"

"He probably went inside. Cause I wanted to talk to you privately," Lincoln explains. He wants to talk to me privately? Oh my god, did he finally realise? Is this the moment I was going to be rejected?

"Oh um, about what, um did you wanna talk about Lincoln?"

Lincoln POV

She just called me Lincoln. She hasn't called me that in forever. I realised how much I missed that. I honestly couldn't help but smile at that. I took stella's hand and let her out the backyard.

"Let's go to the park stella. We can talk there."

I held her hand until we got to the park and found a bench. Once we sat down, I still didn't let go of her hand and it seemed like she didn't want me to let go either. I had to ask her why she was sad though.

3rd Person POV

"stella, I wanted to ask if everything is ok, you know with school, homework, friends, that stuff. Lately it seems like you go home after the days adventure a little sad and I'm worried about you."

"Oh Lincoln. That's really sweet, but I'm ok I promise. Just dealing with a couple of different emotions."

"What kind of emotions stella? Is there anything I can do to help you out? Anything at all?"

"I'm not sure I can tell you."

"Why not? stella, you're my best friend and I care about you more than anything. Please let me help you."

"You can't help me Lincoln. Not this time." stella lets go of his hand and gets ready to get up and leave. She really did consider telling him of her feelings but she couldn't. He had just friend zoned her again. Lincoln reached out and grabbed her wrist.

"Please don't go stella. Not yet. There's one more thing I have to tell you. Please stay."

"Alright. What is it?"

"I um I just — wow this is really hard to say."

"Lincoln what's going on? Is everything ok?"

"I'm ok I promise. Can you promise that what I am about to tell you is not going to change anything between us? That we will always stay best friends. That our friendship comes first."

"Of course I promise you that Lincoln. But please tell me what's going on. It's starting to sound like you're moving far away. Please tell me you're not moving. I can't lose you."

"No no no I am not moving I promise."

"Oh good. I don't know what I would have done if you were leaving. You're too important to me."

"You're important to me to stella and I could never imagine my life without you. You just always bring a smile to my face and make me so happy. Plus there's the fact that you are absolutely adorable and cute and beautiful and amazing and funny and now I'm rambling. I guess what I am trying to say is that I love you stella. And not just as my best friend but more than that."

stella POV

Oh my god he loves me back! This is the best day ever!

Lincoln POV

"stella, you ok there? Please say something. We can just stay best friends if you don't love me. I just can't lose you though."

She's still silent. Is she mad that I love her or happy? Her face isn't giving anything away. Or wait — is that a smile coming and tears in her eyes? Did I just break stella?

3rd Person POV

"I love you too, Lincoln. I have since we were 3."

"You've been in love with me the past 14 years? Why did you never say anything?"

"I was scared too. I didn't want to lose what we had. Lincoln I would do anything to keep you in my life. Even if it means just being friends and nothing more."

"stella Garcia-Shapiro, will you please be my girlfriend?"

"Yes, yes I will."

Slowly, Lincoln began leaning in and kissed stella lightly on the lips, but for her that was not enough. She grabbed Lincoln shirt collar and pulled him in for a deeper, more passionate kiss. Their tongues beginning a dance with each other. Lincoln moved his hands to her waist and pulled her even closer. He wanted her to be closer though. He pulled her into his lap, never breaking their kiss. When air became a necessity again, they pulled away from each other, staying in their embrace.

"Woah…"

"I love you Lincoln."

"I love you too stella."