Page 63 of Bonding with the Beta

We slowly walk towards a bench in the walkway of the shopping centre. Ava bends over before we reach it, pressing a hand on her lower back and releasing a strained sound like she’s in pain.

“What’s wrong?” I grab her arm to stabilise her.

“Nothing,” she heaves. “Just a sharp pain.”

“You sure?” I ask wearily.

Ava nods, but her eyes glass over with discomfort. “Yeah, I think—” She pauses briefly. “Oh, no.”

“What?” I cry out, feeling completely useless.

She pulls up her dress slightly, and my eyes move down to her legs, now dripping with fluid. I gulp at the sight, frozen in place. Her worried eyes look up at me as she shakes my arm.

“D-did your water just break?” I ask breathlessly.

“Yeah,” she whimpers.

Then she clamps down onto my arm again and releases a low groan.

“What is happening?” I murmur pathetically. “Ava, I don–”

Is she going into labour now?

What does broken water mean?

Does she need to start pushing?

Hell, I knownothingabout pregnancy.

“Oh my God,” I say, although I’m panicking.

“I need to go h-home,” she huffs.

“Oh my God,” I blubber again.

A group of people begin to crowd round and ask if everything is okay. We somehow move her to the bench as I stare between all of them with an open mouth.

“I got it,” a middle-aged woman tells me as she raises her phone to her ear. “Just be there for her.”

“No ambulance.” Ava waves a hand. “I-I need to go home.”

“You’re about to give birth. Of course you need an ambulance.”

“Oh my God,” I exhale for the third time.

“I’m the one having a baby, Kayleigh,” Ava says through gritted teeth. “Pull yourself together.”

I suck in a deep breath and nod. “Got it.”

Ava cries out again and squeezes my hand. “Ah, fuck,” she hisses.

“It’s okay. It’s okay,” I whisper. “The ambulance will be here soon.”

My voice is shaky despite trying my hardest to keep calm, which I am not even a fraction of. My best friend is about to have a baby. Holy shit. This is happening.

“Do you feel like you need to push?” the same woman asks.

Ava shakes her head. “It hurts so much,” she strains.