The Words to Define These Feelings

Phoebe's POV

I skipped into the venue, my mood considerably lighter now that I wasn’t worrying about Kyle all the time. Avoiding him had only been made easier by his decision to avoid me. This way, we could both just forget about each other and move on with our lives.

Kent and Jonathan were on the stage, helping A Rocket to the Moon get their stuff set up for the show in half an hour. “Hey guys, don’t mind me” I said, smiling and snapping a few pictures of them. I wandered over to the merch tables, where Travis and Kennedy were looking at something in Kyle’s arms.

“Phoebe!” Kennedy exclaimed, grabbing my arm and dragging me over to where Kyle stood. “Look, Kyle has a little rabbit.” And indeed, nestled in Kyle’s arms was a small grey rabbit, nibbling on a piece of lettuce.

“Oh my gosh it’s adorable” I gushed, reaching out to touch the tiny thing.

“No” Kyle protested, turning sideways and holding his rabbit away from me. “It’s my rabbit, you can’t touch him.”

“Kyle, she’s not gonna hurt it” Travis reasoned, eying Kyle skeptically.

“Well you can just get your own rabbit” Kyle said stubbornly. I rolled my eyes and mumbled my apologies to Travis and Kennedy before shoving Kyle into an empty dressing room.

“Okay, I give in. What the hell is this all about Kyle.”

“Well…” he bit his lip hesitantly, looking away from me nervously. “I can’t tell you. You’ll laugh at me.”

“Probably.” Kyle smirked and played with the rabbit’s ears, it seemed to have fallen asleep on him.

“I got lonely. I’m so used to having people to talk to, someone to listen to my crap. And I missed having someone to worry about, even if she didn’t care about me.” Kyle moved closer to me, a small smile on his face. “Hold out your arms.” I held out my arms to Kyle, and he transferred the small rabbit from his arms to mine.

“This is one cute rabbit Kyle” I said, cradling it close to my chest and grinning.

“I know. I figure that if I want to be able to take care of a person, I should learn to care for my own rabbit first. He’s been living at my house for a few months and I just picked him up last week. He likes tour so far.” I nodded and sat down in a chair, setting the rabbit in my lap.

“His name is William, cause that’s my middle name” Kyle said proudly, squeezing next to me in the chair so that we both were sitting quite awkwardly.

“You know Kyle, caring for a person and caring for a rabbit are two entirely different things.”

“Oh, I know that. But I think both like to be held.” Kyle slid underneath me in the chair, wrapping his long arms around my waist and resting his chin on my shoulder.

“Well you would be right in thinking that” I said, allowing Kyle to pull me closer to his chest. I removed little William from my lap and kissed his nose, giggling when his tiny whiskers brushed my face.

“Oh yeah!” Kyle yelled, right in my ear, causing me to wince “I’m sorry” he murmured, kissing my cheek tenderly. “I think both people and rabbits enjoy being loved too.”

“You know you can’t just expect me to like you because you have a cute rabbit” I said, frowning at Kyle when he turned me around in his lap to face him.

“Right, but it worked this time didn’t it?” I scowled and Kyle grinned triumphantly, bouncing a little bit. “Didn’t it?”

“Yeah, this time it worked.” Kyle hugged me tightly, then withdrew immediately.

“WILLIAM” he cried, plucking the tiny rabbit from my arms and inspecting him closely. “He’s fine” Kyle breathed, placing William on a nearby couch. He then cleared his throat and smiled like a two year old, which he sort of was. “I’m sorry; I didn’t want to squish him.”

“Oh, and I’m okay to squish?” I said with a pout.

“Obviously. You’re fun to squish.” And with that, Kyle pressed his lips to mine, drawing me closer to him and squeezing me tightly. “See” he said matter-of-factly before he eagerly connected our lips again, minus the tight squeezing.

“Yes, but I feel like I’m squishing you too” I said, pulling away from Kyle and standing up to leave. Kyle looked positively crushed, I laughed at his expression before taking his hand and pulling him up with me. “There see, now I’m not squishing you and you’re not squishing me.” Kyle nodded and leaned in to kiss me again, only for me to dodge him and go over to William.

“You’re ditching me for a RABBIT” Kyle whined, still firmly grasping my hand.

“Oh calm down you baby, it’s not my fault William is cuter than you.”

“BUTBUTBUT” Kyle stuttered, snatching William from me. “I am SO much cuter than William.”

“Nope, sorry Kyle” I said, going for the door. “William is exponentially cuter than you.” Kyle grumbled and set William down again before blocking the door with his body.

“But William can’t care for you like a person” Kyle protested, moving with me every time I tried to get by him. I gave up and folded my arms over my chest.

“But can you, Kyle?” I asked seriously.

“Obviously” Kyle said with a grin, moving away from the door to kiss me. He stopped, an inch away from me. “Do you believe me?” he asked, waiting for my confirmation.

I sighed and nodded my head; this was probably my last chance to fix things with Kyle. And if I ever wanted to be with him, or see him at all after this tour, then I had to do this. Not that I didn’t want to or anything. “Of course I believe you Kyle” I replied, smiling softly when he closed the small space between us with a kiss.

“ARE YOU GUYS DONE TALKING YET?!” Travis yelled, banging on the door to the dressing room. “Kyle we go onstage in five minutes!” Austin’s voice chimed in.

“Aw maaaaaaaaaaan” Kyle moaned, hugging me close to his chest. “You’ll still want to kiss me after the show right?”

I laughed and Kyle released me, allowing me to retrieve William. “That all depends on how sweaty you are.” Kyle frowned and kissed me again, resting one hand on my waist and letting the other roam wildly through my hair. I nearly dropped poor William. “Fine. Go play your stupid drums.”