TW!: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS REFERENCES TO THE TERMINATION OF PREGNANCIES AND I UNDERSTAND THAT COULD BE TRIGGERING FOR SOME AND A CONTROVERSIAL SUBJECT. I MYSELF AM PRO-CHOICE FOR MY OWN REASONS AND BELIEFS BUT I AM NOT WISHING TO EXPOUND MY OWN BELIEFS ONTO OTHERS OR FORCE OTHERS TO BELIVE IN THEM, AND I AM NOT TRYING TO OFFEND ANYONE. PLEASE DON'T READ IF THIS IS TRIGGERING TO YOU, LOOK AFTER YOURSELF FIRST, BECAUSE YOU ARE IMPORTANT AND ALL OF YOUR FEELINGS ARE VALID.

Love The Apple Woman x

Two days later- the day before the wedding.

Miniminter7:

Miniminter7: Just booked into our Hotel room for the wedding. Still can't believe she's leaving me to sleep with Freya for the night. I don't know what I'll do without having you as my pillow @SweetOlive 😢

Username1: so cute ❤️

Username2: couple goals 😻

Username3: have fun!

Username4: can't wait to see all the wedding posts!!!

SweetOlive: you actually posted this?

FreyaNightingale: just call me, Mrs Steal yo girl 😎

^Zerkaa: should I be worried?

^FreyaNightingale: yes 🤫

Tobjzl: can yall get off your phones and come help me greet YOUR guests smh 🤦🏿‍♂️@Zerkaa @FreyaNightingale

-.-.-.-.-

"Why did you post that?" Was the first words Liv had spoken to Simon since they arrived that afternoon.

She was stood, her tall figure in the doorway to their en-suite, her face full of fury and her phone clutched in her hand.

She was dressed for a party with a simple, yet elegant black and white maxi skirt, and a black high neck long sleeved top with a leather jacket and heeled ankle boots.

To the untrained eye it wouldn't seem like Liv hadn't gained any weight, but to Simon, the slight bump at her centre and the lift in her chest was enough to notice she had gained some baby weight over the last few days since he had found out. It was like he was studying her every time she entered a room. He was both mortified by and in awe of the woman in front of him. He always thought she looked gorgeous and full of poise but here he was distracted by her angry yet still glowing  face.

"You want our friends....or worse the fans to know somethings up?" He snapped back, spinning around from where he had been stood staring out of their second floor hotel room window.

"God forbid our friends find out Simon." She retorted with a bitter edge of sarcasm that was welded to her words. "Well it wouldn't take fucking Sherlock bloody Homes to come in and figure out there was something wrong- especially with how you've been acting in front of people!" He yelled back at her. The tension in the room growing by the second.

"How I've been acting?......how is it that you expect me to be acting Simon?!.....go on! Let's pretend for a moment that it's still the fucking 1950s and you as a man get to dictate exactly how I act and what I do with my body!" She screamed back at him her voice cracking and giving out over her last few words as she stood glowering at him. He could feel all of her anger and contempt seeping out of her and into the thick air between them. He hated seeing her like this.

But over the last few days they had both said things they'd regretted, and now it had gotten to far to go back.

"I'm not trying to tell you what to do Liv! I'm just worried that you're gonna-."
"I'm gonna what? Huh? Ruin your perfect image?.....or ruin your life? Because the way you were acting the other night, you were perfectly happy telling me what you thought I should do, with my body and the life of our child!"

There were tears in her eyes now as she held her stomach in emotional agony and his heart broke, not knowing how to stop this and comfort her. He needed her and here he was, actively letting her down.

But that couldn't stop him.

"Child? Liv it's barely a clump of cells!" He yelled and her face fell even further. She took a breath, stood up straighter, then she spoke..... "You want, so badly, for your life not to be 'ruined' by being a father....that you want me.....the girl you supposedly 'love' to either deal with parenthood completely alone....Or go through one of the most harrowing things a woman can to save you the trouble?" She spat at him, a harsh calmness to her voice now, that struck fear into his heart.

"Well you Simon Minter are a bastard." She snapped at him after he couldn't speak a verbal answer.
"It's my body and my choice, so if you want to be a part of my child's life.....then I won't stop you......but don't you dare.....ever......try and tell me what to do with my body.....mad never tell me you love me again.....after the wedding, this." She referenced between them, "is over.....because I'm not ruining this weekend for Freya and Josh......because unlike you, family means something to me."

And with that, she left him there alone, with his crushing guilt.

-.-.-.-.-.-

Freya's POV

Josh and I didn't think we needed a rehearsal dinner and seen as most of our friends and family were not at the hotel yet, it was mainly just those who had far to travel and decided to come for an extra night, we decided to have a small, intimate dinner with just our parents and the rest of our wedding party and their dates.

After getting dressed in my bridal suite room and meeting Josh in the lobby, we met up with our parents in the Hotel's tea room and waited for the others. Toby and his girlfriend were first down, prompt as usual and they were soon followed by Ethan and Emily, Gee and Chip, Will and his date Mia a girl he'd been seeing and Harry and Katie. JJ and Vik followed by their dates then Monica and her new fellow Jasper were next and then finally came my maid of honour, and Simon.

And she looked like she'd been crying. Which had me worried.

She was walking ahead of him by a good few paces, her face stony and her posture hunched unusually.

None of the others seemed to notice the lack of unity between the usually nauseatingly loved up couple we were used to but I noticed.

I watched as Liv masked her clear sadness with a fake smile and I smiled back so as not to alert her to my suspicions. Then she met me into a small hug and I squeezed her shoulders to tell her 'I'm here'.

But she just pulled away and continued on to hug Josh.

As I watched her my eyes caught Will's across the room and he indignity darted his between liv and I. He knew too.

Something was wrong.

-.-.-.-.-

After we ate, everyone was mingling with drinks in hand and easy conversation flowing amongst us. I was with my mum and the girls when I noticed the boys all looking at Simon in their little huddle and him shaking his head with a slightly odd look on his face.

This time JJ met my eye and motioned between liv and Simon with his head making me shrug at him in a 'I don't have a clue what's going on' motion. He shuck his head back in disappointment and I sighed heavily into my wine glass.

Liv was busy talking to Mia about Will and meeting her family which Mia was doing at Christmas just like when Simon had earlier that year. Yet when Mia mentioned Liv going with Simon to see his family, she seemed to clam up and go quiet.

It was weird. And I knew something had happened between my best friend and her boyfriend, I just didn't know what.

That was when Monica joined my side and she spoke up, "Big day tomorrow Freyzy (pronounced like crazy.)"
"It sure is Insainica." I joked back with our old nicknames and she giggled into her fruit cocktail. "I'm so happy for you Frey.....though I'm still kinda mad that you didn't make me your maid of honour." She said 'jokingly'.

"Yeah, I know......but Livy is my.....my-."
"Sister?....yeah, she seems to be." She said, but this time it seemed sort of bitter. I shrugged it off though.

"Yeah, well it's still gonna be an amazing day." I sighed and she nodded, "oh off course....and Josh is so great.....you're a lucky girl Freya."
"I know I am."

Simon's POV

"So I was asking Freya about the next steps and apparently, they aren't even thinking about kids yet.....I mean it's mad to me." Freya's mum spoke making me choke slightly on my drink from across the table. Both women snapped their heads to look at me concernedly and Josh's mum spoke "you alright Simon? Something wrong with your drink."

"N.....no I'm fine thanks, Mrs Bradley. I was just a little....s....surprised is all......maybe Josh and Freya just aren't ready yet." I stumbled through a reply. "Well off course dear, but I just don't see why not. They've both got good jobs, families behind them to support them, a good flat- granted a house would be better......but I don't see why they aren't ready." She reasoned back to me.

I could see JJ, Toby and Harry watching me talk to Josh's mum with quizzical faces as Josh and Freya joined the table slowly followed by Liv who I noticed taking a hesitant seat beside me, her body twisted uncomfortably far away from me. I guess I deserved that distance.

"Is mum still harping on about kids?" Josh asked and even from so far away I could feel Liv stiffen beside me, her face falling slack. "She's obsessed with the idea of us having babies and we aren't even married yet." He joked and the others all laughed and smiled.

But I watched Liv just grow paler and paler. She was shaking slightly, her ringed right hand clutching the table cloth with knuckles turned white.

"We're just not ready Tracy (idk what Josh's mum is called so I made up the name.)." Freya sighed, "plus.....we've got these lot to look after anyway." She jokingly motioned to all of us, her second family.

"Honestly I could see Simon being a dad before Josh.....I know Josh is the group dad, but Simon just seems so ready for it." Harry spoke up making my own face fall and my eye catch Liv's as she turned her head down and broken-heartedly stared into the bottom of the Virgin-mojito I had ordered her.

"Nah lad, Simon would be shit.....all he'd do is teach the kid to do kick ups....my man knows fuck all about being a dad." Thanks JJ. Great thing for my 'best mate' to say. Especially in front of Liv.

Even if she'd probably agree by now.

"I.....I think I......I need to use the loo." Liv whimpered from beside me and she clattered to her feet, shaking as she stood and swiftly kicking her chair away before, basically running out of the now-empty hotel tea room.

"What was that about?" Monica sneered making all of us give her dodgy looks, no one worse then Freya or I. "She's been acting weird all day.....what the fuck did you do Minter?" Freya snapped her head to glare at me now. "What?! Why'd you think I did something?" I defensively replied, as a reflex. A net felt like it was descending upon me.

"She's not knocked up or something is she?" Harry joked.

But I remained silent as I could do no more but stare down at the bottom of my hollow, empty glass.

"Oh my god." Gee breathed out for the group who all looked collectively baffled.

"L.....Liv's pregnant." I finally admitted after a beat of silence that deafened me from every angle.

"Christ mate.......what the fuck did you do?"

And Harry was right to ask......what the fuck did I do?