1. AVOIDANCE

"Phoebe Nicholson, will you marry me?"

Those had been the words that Kyle Braxton had said to his girlfriend and the love of his life, Phoebe Nicholson, just a little too confidently and a little too publicly.

Whether it was Kyle's fault for putting her on the spot in front of half of Summer Bay or whether it was Phoebe's fault for her failure to commit comes down to personal opinion. Perhaps it was no-one's fault; a mixture of the wrong place at the wrong time.

Most of the Bay has only just stopped talking about the flop of a proposal, with every resident having their own say and their own opinion on whose side they are on. However, there is one thing that can be said regardless of who you are backing. The proposal had changed everything for Kyle and Phoebe, beginning with their relationship.

Since Phoebe's gave her answer of 'not yet, but not never', Kyle has been avoiding her like the plague, while the same can be said for Phoebe towards him.

The two have found each other working very different shifts at Angelo's -which is not such a coincidence-, while Phoebe has also found herself staying in a caravan at the caravan park nearby.

The couple that used to be so completely on the same page as one another are now passing ships that have barely said 'boo' since the talk that was supposed to sort out all of the mess from the aftermath of the proposal.

#

The avoidance between the couple works well until the Friday morning comes, when a overlooked rostering issue comes to fruition.

"Oh, hi" Phoebe greets as she walks into Angelo's Restaurant while she is busy with tying her high up out of her face; having sacrificed ten minutes of preparation time for ten more minutes of sleep.

"Hey" Kyle replies in a soft voice with a small smile, appreciating the fact that it is good to see her before the situation has any chance to become awkward.

The two fall into step and find a comfortable rhythm with each other's company while carrying out the tasks needed for the restaurants opening procedure. This is going well and all is remaining civil until Kyle notices something unusual upon sneaking a look in Phoebe's direction.

"Phoebs, are you feeling alright? You look really pale" Kyle comments with concern. He raises the question gently, knowing that he is still walking on eggshells.

Phoebe just nods despite the ill feeling that she cannot mistake from within her.

"Yeah, of course I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

Phoebe's response creates a rhetorical question, which Kyle just shrugs off and gets back into his work to avoid answering, knowing that there is nothing else that he can say to that.

After the slight distraction, the two continue working silently which in itself is a very different pattern to the usual opening of the restaurant. However, the silence is not uncalled for, nor is it hard to understand. Really, neither Kyle nor Phoebe is really certain of their relationship and neither of them is sure if they're really together or not...

As the first customers of the day begin to show up, Matt Page -the missing employee who is supposed to working with the awkward couple- does too.

"Sorry I'm late. You wouldn't believe what happened to me this morning. I was about 10, 20 minutes early, then, out of nowhere, this dinosaur –a brontosaurus- just started walking beside me, looking for a chat. The poor thing was going through some rough stuff and I couldn't leave him without talking it out."

While the bad cop of Kyle and Phoebe just rolls his eyes at Matt's usual far-out story as another excuse for being frequently late, the good cop just snickers with a slightly amused smile.

"Whatever Matt, just get started. You know what you have to do" Kyle grumbles while Matt just grins widely at the fact that he has managed to keep his job for another day.

The three of them continue working with the third person making it easier on Kyle and Phoebe's awkwardness. This works well until about an hour or so into the shift, Phoebe's lie that she is feeling fine becomes harder to hide as the room begins to spin while she's carrying drinks out to customers.

"Matt!" Phoebe hisses to the teenager as soon as she places an order of drinks on the table. "Cover me? I just need some air for a minute."

Matt doesn't have a chance to argue or disagree before Phoebe has fled, heading for the open-air balcony overlooking Summer Bay's beautiful beach.

"Matt said you came out here. Are you sure you're okay? Do you need the rest of the day off?" Kyle questions as he approaches Phoebe who's seated with her face in her hands on the balcony a few minutes after she has come out.

Unhappily, Phoebe just sighs, standing up and attempting to walk back into the restaurant until her own body spoils that plan, making it hard to hide her footing that slips up as she nearly trips from the faint and dizzy feeling in her head.

"That's it. You can't even walk. As your employer I won't let you stay at work for the rest of the day. Go home or go to the doctors, just take it easy" Kyle says firmly, slotting into boss-of-the-establishment-mode.

"I'm fine! Just a little lightheaded, it's probably just a mild hangover" Phoebe insists, lying through her teeth to prove her point; knowing all too well that she didn't touch a drop of alcohol last night.

Kyle just examines Phoebe, closely, with his boss-mode disintegrating while he blurs the lines a little more by taking a hand of hers into his.

"Phoebe. I'm serious. I'm worried about you. If there's something going on, you'd tell me, wouldn't you?"

Instead of replying to Kyle's earnest concern, she just removes their hands from one another, taking the high road as convincingly as she can despite the fact that she's struggling with walking and she's struggling with the nausea for the second week in a row.

"Fine... I'll go. Bye, Kyle."

#

Upon leaving Angelo's, Phoebe's phone begins to ring within the pockets of her pants. She doesn't hesitate to pull it out and she doesn't hesitate to answer it when she sees the phone call is coming from Nate; both her friend and doctor, although she can guess what his call is regarding.

"Doctor Sexy! Hey! How's it going?"

Phoebe's answer on the phone is over-confident to conceal the fact that she is feeling anything but confident on the inside.

"Hi Phoebe. I'm just calling to let you know that the results from your blood test are in, you might-" Nate begins to explain over the phone, trying to urge her to make an appointment and come into the hospital before he is cut off.

"So I've just got low iron, yeah? Kill a couple of cows and cook them up and I'm all good, right? Thanks Nate-o, I'll see you around."

Phoebe is quick to try and give herself the answer that she wants to hear before trying to end the phone call, but Nate quickly speaks before she can hang up.

"Hold on Phoebe. Yes you're iron levels are low, but I think you should make an appointment and come in."

"I can't really be bothered with going back there in a hurry. I'd prefer if you just told me over the phone, Nate."

Nate sighs. It's probably recognized as protocol to meet with the patient to discuss a matter like this, but Phoebe is different. If Phoebe didn't want to come in, then Phoebe wouldn't be paying the hospital a visit anytime soon. Plus, he sees her out and about enough to be able to discuss it more with her when he has a chance to catch her alone.

"Something else showed up on the blood test. Congratulations Phoebe, you're pregnant."

Phoebe just sighs. Nate is telling her nothing that the two home pregnancy tests haven't already told her. However, he is still telling her something that she doesn't want to tell Kyle...

Chapter 1! As an absolutely massive Kyle/Phoebe fan, I have wanted to write a Koebe story for the longest time. I nearly wrote something like this around the time of the proposal before the show sort of followed my idea.

Anyway, this is just some of the Kyle & Phoebe storyline's from last year that are far more favourable to the fans of this couple.

Let me know what you thought and if you would like more!

Next chapter: Phoebe's secret doesn't stay a secret for much longer when 2 people are on her case. Is one of those people Kyle, or will she tell him upfront?