Before It's Over

I weaved my way through the mass of young people, hoping I was going in the right direction. I stopped walking when my phone buzzed in my back pocket. I swept a strand of hair away from my eyes before pulling the blue device from it's place in my jeans.

New TXT Message
from
Kentendo
Recived:
Aug 13 2:32 PM
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I opened the TXT, hoping Kent knew where Kyle was. I didn't want to prolong this anymore than I had to.

Im pretty sure kyles by MS eating a corn dog. thts where jonathan said he left him

I let out a relived breath knowing that I hadn't been walking in the opposite direction of Kyle. Once again, I started my trek through the venue, in the direction of the main stage. When I reached it, the crowd was screaming lyrics back to William. I smiled despite my rotten mood and scanned the areas around the stage. Fortunately, I spotted Kyle easily.

He was surrounded by a group of four or five girls, who all seemed to content to stand around and watch him eat the greasy treat on a stick. I rolled my eyes at how predictable he was and quickly made my way over to him. When I reached the group Kyle was speaking into the only red head's camera, saying he loved this person and that.

"I'm sorry for interrupting," I said, gaining the attention of all four girls and Kyle. "I really need to talk to you when you're finished."

Despite the protest that was written across the ginger's face, Kyle smiled and shook his head. "No, I think I'm done. Sorry, girls. Nice meeting you!"

Kyle then laced his fingers with mine and started to lead me away from the gathering of girls. I could feel the grimace creep onto my face at the thought of this being the last time we might do this. I squeezed Kyle's hand to make myself feel better.

"So what's up?" Kyle asked as he slowed his pace to walk beside me.

I kept my head low, not having the guts to look him in the eyes. I'm such a coward. I could feel the nervousness inside me grow. I quickened my steps, hoping to get this over with.

"We need to go somewhere private." The words came from my mouth as quick as my pace. I think Kyle sensed my anxiousness because he too fastened his pace and looked at me with worrying eyes. "Do you know the fastest way out of here?"

Kyle had no time to answer, because he was cut off by the sound of his own name. Without stopping, we both turned to see a girl of about 15 running to catch up with us. We slowed but did not stop and the girl eventually reached us.

I was far too anxious to take in her appearance, but I heard her and Kyle's conversation quite clearly.

"Could you sign this and take a picture with me?"

"Um, I'm kinda busy and in a hurry right now, but we have a signing in like 20 minutes at the modlife bus. What's your name? I'll hook you up."

"Jamie."

"Alright. I'll tell them you’re with me. So just go get in line."

"Thanks, Kyle!"

"No problem. I'll see ya!"

"Bye!"

Our pace quickened again and Kyle turned his attention back to me.

"There's a fence over there," he said pointing to my left. "You wanna hop it?"

"Nah," I said, shaking my head. "Oh! Look!" I pointed to a point farther down than Kyle had. "There's a break in the fence."

As we made our way to the break in the fence, Kyle maneuvered his head so it was in front of mine, forcing me to look him in the eye. Once he held my stare he pulled his head up to its original position, pulling my eyes with it.

"What's up, Ave? Is everything okay? You're doing that thing you do when you're worried."

When I got over my feeling of de ja vous, I gave Kyle a disbelieving look. "You notice that too?"

Kyle smiled and stepped through the break in the fence pulling me through after him. He held both my hands in his and said, "I love you. I notice everything about you."

When Kyle turned to walk forward again, I had to recompose myself. I was sure if he kept looking at me I would burst. I wiped at tears before they fell and followed after Kyle.

"So what's up, boo?" Kyle asked again.

"Let's just walk for a bit."

Kyle nodded and we walked in silence. He held my left hand in his right and the summer heat added to the warmth his skin was already giving. The fiery feeling I always got when I touched Kyle was still there. I willed for it to stop, it was just making everything harder.

"Actually," I said after only a few yards. "This is fine."

I stepped in front of Kyle so that we were facing each other. At first I only looked straight ahead, at Kyle's chest, but I soon let my eyes travel up to his face. He wasn't smiling, but the happy glint in his eyes was still there.

"Kyle, do you remember how much I tried to ignore you those first few weeks of tour. Ya know? How long it took for me to let you be my friend. You remember that, right?"

Kyle's eyes squinted in confusion and his head turned slightly to the side. "Yeah. I mean it only happened a month and a half ago."

"And you remember how hard it was for me to let you in all the way. You remember how hard it was for me to let you care, to let myself care. How long it took me to agree to be your girlfriend."

"Oh yeah. I definitely remember that." Kyle's face lit up in a smile and I had to look down.

"Kyle," I started, but paused to let out a sigh. I look up into Kyle's face to see hurt written all over it. He knew what was coming. "Tour's gonna be over soon and-"

"Don't you start, Ave. I know what you're doing and it's stupid! Don't do it Avery. We can- we can make it through this, whatever it is. Okay? I love you."

"Kyle, that's the problem." I could already feel the saltwater building along my lower lids. I looked up to try and force them back into my tear ducts, only to be blinded by the sun which forced the tears to spill. I let out frustrated sound and wiped the moisture from my cheeks.

"How is that a problem, Ave?"

"Because I don't love you back yet."

"Yeah, yet. I told you. I'm okay with waiting, Avery. Really. You don't have to say it back."

"But Kyle I feel like I have to. Just hear me out okay? No interruptions."

"No interruptions." Kyle repeated.

"Everything happened really fast. Us, this whole relationship. Tour's gonna be over soon Kyle and feel like I need to say it before it's over! After tour we're going to opposite sides of the country to record. Then we'll both go on promotional tours. How much time is that Kyle?"

"Just a few months."

"Enough time for people to grow apart, Kyle. That's like nine months. Almost a year. So I feel like if I don’t say it now, I won't ever say it. I don't want to be rushed into this Kyle. I don't! Everything has already gone so quickly. I'm not a rash person, Kyle. You know that. And I hate how everything about us is rash. I hate having to scramble to have time for us, because I know we'll go from being together everyday to not seeing each other for a year. I can't take that Kyle. I just can't."

"Please, AB, don't do this. Those nine months will be nothing. We can iChat all the time and call each other everyday and text 24/7. We could do it Ave."

"I'm sure you could do it, Ky, but not me."

I released Kyle's hands. He went to grab for mine again but I shoved them in the safety of my front pockets. Kyle took a step closer to me, but I didn't back up. I merely closed my eyes and took a quick breath in. I then felt Kyle's warm hand on my cheek. Slowly, Kyle moved the calloused flesh up and into my hair, twirling the lose strands of my ponytail around his finger. I heard him let out a sigh, and then felt his breath on the skin below my eyes.

I bit my lip as he spoke into my ear. "I want you to know this: no matter how long it takes you to love me, I'll always be waiting for you. Oh, and you keep my heart. It couldn't be in better hands."

With my eyes still closed, I felt Kyle's cool, thin lips on my cheek, lingering longer than they ever had. Then, in a moment, they were gone and his hand was untangled from my strands. I didn't dare open my eyes, because I feared that his pale blue orbs would be staring back at me, hurt filling every corner of them. When I did part my eyelids, I was met with an empty sidewalk and Kyle Burns' heart in pieces on the pavement in front of me.