Settling Down [KJ Apa]

Chapter Seventeen

"You shouldn't be going, Georgie." Lili protests for the umpteenth time.

I roll my eyes as I let Virginia, my hairstylist, work her magic on the bags under my eyes and the grim skin.

"We have 8 nominations on the movie. I'm nominated twice. I can't just skip the Oscars because I lost my baby a week ago." I retort.

"Yes, you can. You can skip whatever you want."

"And I don't want to skip the Academy Awards." I shrug.

"Okay then."

Lili shakes her head as she leaves the room. She's been momming me all week, and I guess I need some time off of her.

"There we go. All done." Virginia tells me.

She starts packing up her makeup while I walk up to the bed to open up the dress cover. Once open, a mountain of burgundy silk spills out of the cover. The off-shoulder number from Oscar de la Renta is a spin on classic Hollywood and exactly what I need to feel pretty, even if it's just for one night.

"Hey, George. The car's--" Keneti walks in, stopping in his tracks at the door, "Damn..."

I turn to him as he's eyeing me from head to toe. I actually forgot for a moment that I'm standing there in my underwear. Complete night and day seeing him in his tuxedo.

"Liking what you see?" I grin, "With my beautiful adult diaper and all?"

"I was mostly looking at your legs, but yes. I'm definitely liking what I'm seeing." He smirks, "You need help with your dress?"

"Definitely."

I grab the body of the dress and pull it on. The designers gladly changed the build of the dress, unhooking the enormous skirt from the body so I can at least be a bit more comfortable.

Keneti holds the waistband of the skirt open for me to step into and I do so. He hoists it up and I grab the snaps on the back, buttoning up the waistband. 

"You need help with your shoes as well?" 

I smile. "Well, aren't you a gentleman?"

I sit down on the edge of the bed and move the mountain of fabric away from my feet. Keneti kneels down in front of me with the golden block heels.

"I'll be by your side at all times, George." He reassures me, "Except when you go up to accept an award."

"My emotional support Kiwi." I laugh, lightly touching his cheek. 

"You're so weird." He laughs. 

"If you haven't noticed, I'm weird. I'm a weirdo." I mimic that infamous speech from the first season of Riverdale. 

He grins at me, helping me up on my feet. 

"Let's go..."

_______

The moment Keneti and I stepped out onto the red carpet, nerves have been through the roof. Apparently we're the surprise hot commodity on the red carpet. But it makes me seen, and not in a good way.

We're somewhere in the middle of the red carpet, posing for another set of pictures. I'm quite certain Keneti's hand is black and blue because of my constant squeezing.

"They want pictures of you alone." Keneti whispers.

I turn my head to him, only then realising how close his face is to mine. I'm not uncomfortable though; we've been closer.

"Okay." I whisper back.

"You gotta let go of my hand, George." He smiles.

"Right."