December 24th [COMPLETED]

4. Their Last Hurrah

A/N: for context, George took an internship in Amsterdam after the internship in London, came back to New York, found out her parents were splitting up and that her dad was leaving New York to take the job at Concept in LA.

George could feel the foundation drying on her skin and it made her want to take a paper towel to the make-up artist's last hour of work. But instead, she took a deep breath and unclenched her hands. She hated this part. This was why she had spent the majority of her childhood doing everything she could from attending events like the one she was supposed to attend this event.

At least they let her get away with just chapstick for her lips and a simple braid for her hair. She didn't have any bobby pins sticking into her skullbut the girl who had done her hair was extremely good at her job and George could feel the skin on her face being pulled back with every twist of the braid.

But it was worth it. Of course, it was. This was for Felix. George could get dressed up and dolled up like the best of them and attend an event that she had been to a million times before and never found any of them even remotely interesting. But for Felix she would wear the dress, she would deal with the makeup. She drew the line on shoes and luckily so did the stylist. As Felix's date for his first official foray into the music world, George didn't want to be taller than him and he had half an inch on her when they were both barefoot (they had checked).

But all of it, the dress, the makeup, the hair, everything, was worth it when George descended the stairs of her mom's house and found Felix waiting for her. It was even more worth it when he looked up at her. They stared at each other for a long moment and George had to fight down the feelings that had been bubbling in her stomach all week if she was going to make it through the evening.

"Hi," George said, forcing her feet to move down the stairs, one at a time, holding to the rail to make sure she didn't fall.

Felix looked amazing. George thought he looked good sweaty with a bandanna around his forehead to keep his curls out of his face but he looked even better in a dark green velvet suit, his curls just barely being held into place by what George was sure was a pound of hair gel.

"Wow," Felix finally uttered, his words coming back to him as George approached. "I mean... you look... hi."

George laughed and Felix seemed to remember where he was and who he was. He blushed and looked down at his sneakers. George had made it clear to the stylist that he was to wear his own shoes. She knew all too well the pain of having to spend hours walking around in brand-new dress shoes. It helped that the label agreed with her and thought it gave him a down-to-earth energy.

He'd have people to make these kinds of decisions for him by tomorrow. But George pushed that thought to the side as she stepped close enough to Felix to straighten his bow tie. It didn't need straightening but George couldn't help herself.

"You ready?" she asked.

"Definitely not."

George grabbed hold of his hand and squeezed.

"Follow my lead and try not to pass out."

"Sounds easy enough."

"Just you wait."

Before Felix could break the second rule, George led him out of the house and into the awaiting SUV. She laid out the whole night for him, what he should expect, how he should act, how to avoid getting dizzy from the onslaught of camera flashes waiting for him.

And then she broke the news. The worst news he could have ever gotten.

"I'm going to win? This isn't some kind of publicity thing?"