My co-stars, Alexander and Bryan, double over in laughter at one of their bloopers. I can't help but smile as they completely lose it. "You guys have too much energy!" I complain. We've only been shooting for the past twelve hours and it's currently three in the morning. Season two of 'Life's A Mess' just aired its finale last night but we've been shooting season three for the past two weeks. I love my job and I'm happy at the success it's brought me but these long hours make me absolutely exhausted. Especially lately. I've been feeling so lazy that it's hard to get myself out of bed and to work most days.

The boys and I take a small break since we finished filming our scene about thirty minutes ago. Alex and I still have another scene to film before we're finished tonight. Bryan does too but he'll be here longer since he films his final scene with Kahyla until after Alex and I conclude ours.

"What's all this laughter?" Speak of the pretty girl. Kahyla steps into my trailer with a confused look. I roll my eyes. "Don't get them started!" I tell her. "Kay, come here, look at this!" Bryan says, patting on the couch. She smiles and follows to sit in between the boys. Alex smothers a laugh as Bryan hits play on the video. The blooper plays for the millionth time and then they're all laughing again. "Oh, God," I mumble, shaking my head. The sound of their laughter does make me laugh, so I end up joining in the fun. "Wait! Where did you get that?! The bloopers are out already?" Kahyla questions. Bryan shakes his head. "Val emailed it to me."

Val is one of our producers. Alex shoves the phone back into his pocket and Bryan stands up. "I'm gonna go take a nap, kids," he lets out a yawn, "see you later!" We all say bye as he leaves the trailer. I plop down next to Kay and Alex on the couch. Alex wipes the tears that escape his eyes from laughing too much. "Hey, can I talk to Nova alone?" Kahyla asks, turning to face Alex. He furrows his dark brows and looks at me. I shrug. He nods to Kahyla and rises off the couch. "See you later, TV girlfriend and TV girlfriend's sister," he says throwing up a peace sign and exiting my trailer. "Bye!" Kay and I say at the same time.

Kahyla lays down on the couch and puts her feet up on my lap. "I just wanted him gone so I could lay down. I'm so tired," she says, closing her eyes. "How was your scene?" I ask, sipping on my iced coffee. "Amazing, I love kissing scenes," she says, a smirk creeping onto her lips. I gasp and chuck a throw pillow at her. She laughs. "Charlie is going to be jealous," I say in a sing-song voice. Charlie is the name of Bryan's character. He and Kahyla's character, Farrah, are love interests. Originally, I wanted the part of Farrah as I saw myself in her character more. I've been playing Avalon for quite some time now though and I absolutely love her. Never did I ever think I was even going to be working on a show this popular so I'm even more grateful that I have a part in it at all.

"Charlie is a little hoe! Farrah isn't going to wait around for him," Kahyla says. I laugh. "You and Bryan have insane chemistry though," I say truthfully. Both of them are amazing actors and I swear they put their everything into their scenes together. Kahyla won't admit it but she ships her character with him a lot more than the rest of us. "Not anything compared to you and Alex, and you know I'm right!" She fires back, pointing a finger in my direction. "I agree," I say with a shrug. She grins and pulls out her phone to take a video of me for her Instagram story. "Nova, how does it feel having to dye your hair brown again?" she questions as she records me.

I pull my long hair to the front of my shoulders and fix it neatly. I dyed it again only two weeks ago and I really love it. I've never hated brown but red is my unique hair color so I do miss it sometimes. "Amazing," I say dramatically. She laughs and posts the video. While I'm a little more private about my life, Kahyla loves streaming everything about hers on social media. I let my castmates post me on their stories and social media but you'll rarely see me post on mine. I don't think I can handle all the mean comments that come with fame, yet. I've seen a couple throughout the years and even though I try not to take them to heart, I can't help it.

I'm human.

She scrunches her nose and stands up. "I'll be right back. I have to go change my pad. I hate being on my period." She groans as she leaves my trailer. I chuckle as I watch her go. Her words suddenly get me thinking. I furrow my brows and grab my phone from its charger. I open up my period tracking app.

My eyes widen at the words on my screen. I've been so busy that I hadn't even realized that I haven't gotten my period. I'm also never late. My heart starts pounding. There is no way I'm pregnant. I can't be. It's probably just from all the stress. Filming has been stressful and we only got a two-week break in between filming the finale for season two and starting the first episode of season three. I start pacing in my trailer as I hesitate about what to do. Maybe I should take a test just in case? I very much doubt it, though. I cannot be pregnant. Not now.

I pick up my phone and find my best friends contact. I put the phone to my ear and bite my nails as it starts to ring. Just when I believe the phone is about to go to voicemail, Maddy's groggy voice fills my ear. Crap, I forgot it's almost four in the morning. "Hello?" she says. "Maddy!" I whisper shout. "What, crazy? It's the middle of the night," she replies in the same low voice I do. Xander is probably zonked out next to her. "I need you," is all I manage to say. I hear heavy shuffling from her end before she talks again, her voice clearer this time. "Where are you?" she says. I can hear the panic in her voice. Ugh, I shouldn't make her panic.

"No. It can wait until morning but. . . I think I might be pregnant," I say in a whisper. "WHAT!" she yells through the line. I wince slightly at how loud she sounded in my ear. "I don't know for sure! But I just realized that I haven't gotten my period in seven weeks," I tell her. The line is quiet for a couple of beats. "You have to take a pregnancy test ASAP. I'm on my way to pick you up," she says and the shuffling starts again. "No! I'm at work, I still have a couple of hours to go. I'll call you when I get out and I'll go pick you up. Can we take it at your place since Xander has class tomorrow?" I ramble. "Ugh, okay. Yes. Call me as soon as you finish," she says.

We say our short goodbyes and hang up shortly after. I start focusing on my breathing, making sure to calm myself down so I won't have a panic attack. God knows that would be terrible right now.

It's hard to focus on my breathing when a million thoughts infiltrate my brain. How am I going to tell Chris? How is Chris going to react? Is he going to be okay with me being pregnant when we're across the country from each other at the moment? What are my parents going to say? Is this going to ruin my acting career? I start to panic and my breathing becomes uneven. "Breathe, Nov. Breathe," I whisper to myself. I wish I could call Chris but it's almost one in the morning in Los Angeles. It takes a couple of minutes for my breathing to calm down and I enter my small bedroom, looking at myself in the full-length mirror. I lift the shirt I'm wearing and look at my stomach. I look bloated, I have been looking bloated.

I suck in my stomach and it goes in. I let it fall back to normal and it does. I look down at it and poke it with my index finger. "Is someone in there?" I whisper. Of course, I get no reply. I frown and put my hand on my belly. I begin to pose as if I was pregnant. "Oh God, I'm going to be an ugly pregnant woman," I mutter. I shake all the thoughts about being pregnant out of my head. "For all I know I could just be stressed. It's happened to people before, it's a real thing," I say aloud to myself.

Maybe if I say it out loud, it'll be true. I hope so.

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I picked up Maddy from her and Xander's apartment thirty minutes ago to buy pregnancy tests but now we're back. We bought five different tests. Two Clearblue, and three different cheaper brands. I stare at the boxes that sit on the bathroom sink in horror. Maddy has her hands perched on her hips as she stares at me. "Novalee." I don't look over at my best friend as my eyes stay glued to the pregnancy tests in front of me. "Nova, look at me!" she says a little harder this time. I swallow the lump in my throat and turn to face her. I don't say anything. "Here," she says. She grabs the ClearBlue test and starts to take it out of the box.

When she does, she uncaps the stick and hands it to me. "Pee on this bad boy for ten seconds, that's it," she says, holding it out. I swallow again and shake my head. "Nov-"

"Take one with me!" I cut her off. Her perfect, dark brows furrow. "What?" she questions. "I'm not pregnant." I groan and sigh at the same time. "I know, but just pretend that you think you're pregnant and worry with me! Please, it'll make me feel a lot better," I plead. She looks at me for a long moment and rolls her eyes. She closes the pee stick and places it on the sink before grabbing the other ClearBlue test and unpacking it. I start to smile and clap my hands. She pulls it out of the box and shows it to me. "You first," she says, moving out of the way so that I can use the toilet. I nod and pick up the test. I pull down my tights and hold the test between my legs while I pee. I close it quickly after and place it facing down on the sink.

I clean myself and flush. "Your turn, bestie," I say. Maddy passes by me and does the same routine as me, setting her test face down. I wash my hands while she does. She puts down the seat to the toilet and motions me to sit on it, so I do. She washes her hands next. My leg starts bouncing up and down nervously as I stare off into the distance while we wait five gruesome minutes. "Did you tell Valdez?" she interrupts the silence. I shake my head as I look at her. "No! Please don't say anything, not even to Xan," I beg. "Nova, I would never. I promise," she says and I nod. "Thank you," I mumble.

She nods, bending over to be the same height as me. "And if you are, whatever you want to do, I'm here for you. Always." She smiles and then leans in, kissing my cheek. A small blush creeps onto my face as I nod. I rather not think about being pregnant so I try and think of the possibility that I am not. The rest of the time, we don't say a single word. "I think they're ready," she says, motioning her head towards the tests. I chew on my bottom lip as I nod. I stand up and walk toward the sink. I stare at the tests anxiously. "You check yours first!" I say, panicked. "Nov-"

"I want to know if you're pregnant!" I interrupt. I know she's not, I'm not stupid. I just. . . I'm less panicked if I believe my best friend is going through this same journey as me. Maddy sighs and nods. She must understand. She picks up the test and flips it over. Her eyes widen and she drops it to the ground. My heart skips a beat in panic. "I picked up your test by accident!" The color from her face drains. "You're pregnant, by the way," she adds. My heart drops to my butt as I shake my head. I look at the counter and see. . . wait. "Maddy," I say, picking up the other test, "this is my test!" I turn it over and the words slap me in the face. I yelp and drop the test to the ground just like my best friend did with hers.

Then, realization slaps me. "What!" Maddy says. I don't say anything as she bends over and picks up both tests. She looks at both of them and starts shaking her head. She's realizing what I just did. She looks up at me slowly. Her face paler than usual, her hands now shaking. "No," she mutters. "We're both pregnant," I whisper. She drops both tests to the ground and makes way for the other boxes of unused tests. "That's wrong! I'm not pregnant," she says angrily as she starts unboxing another test. "But. . ." I start. She pulls out another one and slaps it against my chest. "We're not pregnant. Here take that one," she says.

She gets another one and makes a beeline for the toilet. She sits down again and pees on the pink stick. My head is all over the place. False negatives are common. False positives. . . are rare. She flushes and gets up. "Go, Nov." I don't bother arguing with her. Maybe she's right. I pee on the second stick and we wait the same amount of minutes. "You look at them," Maddy tells me. I nod slowly and pick up both of our tests.

Two lines. Two lines equal pregnant.

I look up slowly. "Pregnant again," I whisper. She snatches the tests from me, her eyes flitting from one to the other. She walks backward, still looking at the tests. She lowers herself onto the toilet where I once sat. She's upset. Maddy doesn't want kids. She never has. Her parents weren't great to her and I think she fears she'll be just like them. I know she wouldn't be but I can't change her mind. If she doesn't want kids, she won't have them. The thought of being pregnant at the same time as my best friend excites me, but I don't show it. Although I am scared shitless — excuse my language — having my best friend going through the same thing, right by my side, makes me feel at ease. But she doesn't want this.

A tear falls down her cheek. "Madd-" She puts her hand up as telling me to stop. She doesn't want my pity. She wipes the tear quickly. Be a good friend, Novalee. Who cares if she'll get mad? I bend over in front of her just like she did a couple of minutes before for me. She looks up at me from her lap. Her green eyes are glossy and her nose is red. She's holding back tears. "Maddy, we don't have to tell Xander. This can stay between us forever if you decide to do that." I don't say the word out loud, but she knows what I'm talking about. Another tear slides down her face, her lip trembling. She looks down at my stomach. "Are you keeping yours?" she asks, voice shaky.

I don't have to think about it. I know it's not the most perfect time to be having a baby, but Chris and I do want kids. We've talked about it before more than once. I know it'll be difficult, but I'm sure he will want to keep this baby. I want to keep it too. So, I nod. "I am," I say, my voice cracking as reality sets in. I'm having a baby. Tears brim in my eyes and I hold my best friends hand in comfort. "Hey, if you decide to keep yours, our babies can be best friends. Just like me and you and just like Valdez and Xan," I say with a smile. She chokes out a laugh and nods.

"I know this isn't what you had in mind for your life, but this is a sign, I think. You'll be a kickass mommy," I say, meaning it wholeheartedly. Tears fall quickly from her eyes. "I'm scared. I don't think I can do this, Nov," she cries. "Hey! Don't say that Maddy. You can do anything! Plus you have an amazing man who's going to be one hundred percent supportive. Also, a best friend who's going to be going through the same thing as you, so you'll never be alone." I squeeze her hand in comfort. She doesn't say anything and falls forward wrapping her arms around my neck. Tears fall from my eyes as I hold my best friend and let her cry on my shoulder.

I rub her back in comfort. I wish there was more I can do to cheer my girl up.

"Mads, I love you, okay? Don't forget that your support system doesn't stop at me and Xan. You have Valdez and Max. Also Monet and Rhys, and Cgc and Brynn! The four of them know about kids more than us, they'll be great help," I remind her. Our friends have own kids and we'll be the last of the eight of us to have kids. Maddy calms down a bit and pulls away. She wipes her nose with her sleeve. "I forgot about them," she whispers. I nod, holding onto one of her hands. "We have the best support group backing us up. I'm as scared as you are, babe. But we're in this together, me and you," I promise. She looks at me for a long moment before touching her stomach. She flinches lightly like she just touched a warm stove.

"Do you think Xan will be happy?" she asks me. I can't help the smile that tugs onto my lips. "He'll be ecstatic," I assure her. I'm certain Xan wants kids with Maddy. She smiles weakly and nods. "I hate to be that person, but. . ." she pauses, "I'm scared. To tell Xander. Do you think we can tell them together? Xan and C?" My smile only grows. "I would freaking love that," I tell her. "Really?" she questions. I nod swiftly. "It's going to be amazing," I say truthfully. Her first smile flashes through and she nods. "I hope so."

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Christian kisses my cheek as we walk down the hall to our best friends apartment. It's Monday. He played in Buffalo yesterday and came right down to New York City to see us. I missed him so much. It's been a little over a month since the last time I saw him. "You're so pretty." He stops me in the middle of the hallway and grabs both sides of my face. He places a quick kiss on my lips and then another and another. I smile, my cheeks blushing from his compliment. I'm dreading tonight since I have to drive him to the airport. I don't want him to go. I wrap my arms around his neck. "I don't want you to leave," I say. His hands find my waist and they slide down to my butt as he pinches it. "It's barely ten, love. I'm yours until twelve." His flight leaves at midnight.

I nod and kiss him. It's been hard not telling him that I'm pregnant. It was much easier when I was lying to him through a screen but now that he's here in person, it's a lot harder. He landed in NYC from Buffalo last night and I have no idea how I haven't blurted the words I'm pregnant out. I'm bad under pressure usually, and I've been under pressure. At least that's what it feels like. I promised Maddy that we would tell Xander and Valdez together, so my mouth will stay shut. Well, not for long since we're telling them today. It's why we're all having brunch together at Maddy and Xan's place.

Christian kisses me back quickly and pulls my arm towards their apartment. "C'mon, love! We need to see my love!" he says. I chuckle and follow behind my boyfriend. Once we reach the door, Valdez rings the doorbell. He starts bouncing on his feet as he waits for someone to open the door. Once the door swings open, Valdez almost pushes Maddy out of the way as he zooms inside. Maddy rolls her green eyes heavily. "Love!" my boyfriend shouts inside. I laugh as I enter the apartment and Maddy closes the door behind me.

Xander and Chris haven't seen each other since May and it's October now. "Babe!" Xander's distant voice sounds throughout the apartment. His heavy footsteps sound against the hardwood floor and then he appears, immediately jumping on Chris. They hug for the longest time, patting each other's backs quickly as they talk. Maddy takes this opportunity to pull me into the kitchen. She drags me to the stove and opens the white box that sits atop it.