A/N: Hellloooooo lovely people :D

Ok, so if anyone has read my other H&A story, Tenuous Fighter, you'll know that I mentioned the possibility of two other fics-a Brax-centric one, and a Kyle-centric one. Well, this is the prologue of the Kyle centric one! I know I'm pretty terrible at updating just lately because I'm almost done with my first month in America, so things have been kind of busy haha but, for the last week or so, I've been writing this quite a lot, so I've managed to write 7 chapters (including this one).

This is set at the time when Kyle was going to go back to Melbourne with Phoebe, but then Brax returns from prison. In this story, Kyle doesn't leave, but Phoebe still does.

I think the summary and title for this fic is pretty revealing over what is going to happen, but bear with me, it might not be so terrible haha

Because I've written a few chapters ahead for this story, the next update shouldn't be too long-unless I don't get any reviews or pms about it, because then I'll just assume that everyone hates it and not bother haha

So, let me know what you think!

Thanks,

xoloveJBox

Prologue

It was eerie inside the Braxton household, and Kyle didn't know what to say. He leaned against the kitchen counter, looking out the window as the dim half light of the moon fell on his face. Phoebe sat on the couch, and he could hear the soft, rhythmic tapping of her foot on the ground as her knee bounced restlessly. His brothers had made themselves scarce for the night so that he and Phoebe could talk, but words escaped him. It was supposed to be easy- all he had to do was explain to Phoebe that he couldn't go to Melbourne with her now that Brax was home. He's fully intended to make the move back to where he's grown up, but Brax being released from prison was something none of them had seen coming, and it had thrown them all off. Now that their family was back together, Kyle didn't want to be the one to break it up again. He needed to make Phoebe understand, but he knew she wouldn't. Most of the time, Kyle didn't even understand, but blood was blood, and he was loyal to his family. He had worked too hard to prove to his brothers that he wanted to be part of their family, and he didn't want to let that go to waste, though if he was going to do it for anyone, it would be Phoebe.

Kyle let out a sigh. He knew they couldn't sit in silence all night, and Phoebe was planning on leaving early the next morning, so whatever he wanted to say, it was now or never. He turned and looked at her for a moment, her hair obscuring her face. She was leaning forward slightly with her elbows on her knees, chewing anxiously on the nail of her thumb. She noticed him move out the corner of her eye, and glanced over, wondering whether she wanted to know what he was going to say. It was clear from a million miles away what he was going to tell her, but she needed to hear him say it. She needed to hear that he was serious about not leaving with her. She thought that if the words specifically came out of his mouth, then maybe it wouldn't hurt her so much.

She wasn't too hopeful.

"Phoebe, look-" Kyle began, but Phoebe stood, holding up a hand to silence him.

She thought she needed to hear him tell her himself, but once he'd started; Phoebe decided that it would be too painful. Besides, his face said more than his mouth ever could, so she didn't see the point in dragging it out more than she needed to.

Phoebe walked over to him, trying to keep her face at least neutral, but she wasn't sure how well it was working.

"Please," she muttered in a low, pleading tone, "not tonight."

Kyle furrowed his brow slightly in confusion, but Phoebe wrapped her arms around him tightly, leaning her head on his chest. Kyle was caught off guard for a second before reciprocating, snaking his arms around her and pulling her closer. He took in a deep breath, inhaling the scent of her shampoo. He'd never really taken much notice of what the smell was, but now he wished he had. There were a lot of things that he was now wishing he'd paid more attention to, and in a few short hours, he was never going to get the chance again. He was under no illusion that Phoebe would return to the bay-not even to visit- and he wasn't sure he could ever go back to Melbourne knowing she was there- close, but so far away from him.

After a few minutes of simply holding each other, Phoebe looked up at him with dewy eyes.

"Will you stay with me tonight Kyle?" she requested sadly. "One more time?"

For a brief moment, Kyle thought about rejecting, wandering if it was a good idea, but he found that he couldn't say no to her. He never really could, so he nodded an acceptance, and for a second he was sure he saw a look of grateful relief pass through her eyes. She unwound herself from him, instead slipping her hand into his, and led him towards the stairs, heading for his bed.

When Kyle woke up, it was still early. The sun was still dragging itself into the sky, streaming meekly through a small gap in his curtains. He reached groggily across the bed, but felt only mattress. He peeled open his eyelids, squinting sleepily, looking around the room until he spotted who he was looking for. Phoebe was tip-toeing around the room, gathering the clothes that had ended up strewn across the floor in their hurry to strip the night before.

"Hey," she greeted quietly when she noticed he was awake, a small, weary smile playing onto her face.

"Hi," Kyle grinned back, pushing himself up onto his elbows "You're up early."

"I need to hit the road," Phoebe shrugged dismissively, feigning nonchalance as she perched on the end of the bed. She fussed with the shirt in her hand before carrying on "I take it you haven't changed your mind about coming with me?"

Kyle sat up fully, leaning against the backboard. He shot her an apologetic look and shook his head.

"Sorry," he replied sincerely "I enjoyed last night though"

"Me too," Phoebe agreed quietly "but it won't happen again Kyle. You know that, right?"

"You could stay," Kyle suggested, suppressing a mischievous grin "Then it could happen whenever we wanted."

Phoebe let out a sigh and raked her fingers through her hair, pushing it messily away from her face. Yesterday's mascara lay in speckles just under her eyes, her eyeliner was smudged and her hair lay haphazardly on her hair, but Kyle still revelled over how perfect she looked. He made sure to commit the image to his brain.

"You know I can't stay Kyle." She muttered, looking down into her lap to avoid his hopeful gaze. She was right; Kyle did know that she couldn't stay. Summer Bay was just too small a place for someone like Phoebe. She needed to be out in the world, spreading her wings, and Kyle knew he couldn't-and wouldn't-be the one to stop her.

"Let me grab my clothes, and I'll help you pack up your car." Kyle offered genuinely, moving to pull back the quilt and slide from the bed.

"It's ok," Phoebe told him quickly "I did it yesterday." She shuffled a little closer to him, and leaned over, pressing a soft, careful kiss to his cheek. "I love you Kyle, please don't forget that."

Before Kyle had chance to respond, Phoebe rose and strode from the room, not daring to look back at him in fear of changing her mind, and with that, she was gone.