unsteady // g.d. // completed

twenty three.

"Breathe. You look beautiful, babe."
I try to steady my breaths while I smooth out my black dress as George hangs up our coats within the front hallway of the grand house. He takes my hand, placing a small kiss on the back of it, then leads me down the hallway and into a large dining area with a long table where an older lady in red lipstick is sat with Matty who's sipping on a glass of wine.
"Oh, Georgie! You look so fancy."
George chuckles as she makes her way over to hug him while I feel incredibly out of place.
"And this must be your girlfriend, Gia, yes?"
I nod while smiling politely, hoping my nervousness doesn't show.
"I'm Denise, it's nice to finally meet you."
She pulls me into a hug that I reciprocate, then compliments my outfit.
"Don't support their relationship, you should be supporting mine and George's instead," Matty calls from the table.
"Shut up, Matthew," Denise scoffs, returning to her chair where she sat before.
"Listen to your mum, Matthew," George laughs as he now pulls a chair out for me to sit in.
"We're over," Matty glares before pouring himself more wine. I tune out the playful exchange between the three, nervously playing with the end of my dress. In all honesty I wasn't too keen on coming, but I knew it was important that George reconnect with his mother. I always hated being someone "new" in a social situation where everyone else knew each other; the pressure of not being good enough was on and that was enough for me to want to puke.
"You okay?"
I look up a George who is sitting next to me, plastering a smile and nodding.
"Good. I'm going to help Denise in the kitchen for a second, I'll be back okay?"
All I can stutter out is a 'yeah' before realizing I should've asked to help as well. Now I'm stuck in the room with Matty, who's glued to his phone.
"It's not polite to stare, Gia."
"I wasn't staring," I roll my eyes as he smirks, standing up and pushing in my chair.
"So rude," Matty mumbles before I walk out of the dining area. As I do so, the front door swings open to reveal George's mom holding a pot of something with Adam in tow with an even bigger one.
"Hey Gia," Adam calls from behind, which I'm thankful for because I would've awkwardly stood there while they walked in.
"Hey Adam," I smile then make eye contact with Georges mom, which I'm still unsure what to call her at this point.
"Oh, I can grab that for you," I offer, referring to the pot she seems to be struggling a bit with.
"I can handle it," she states back bitterly before disappearing through a different archway which I was assuming was the kitchen.
"Don't worry about her," Adam mumbles, "She still doesn't like me much either."
"No one can possible not like you. You're Adam," I tease which makes him chuckle. He tells me he'll meet me in the dining room after he sets down the food, which leaves me trapped in the hallway, feeling like total shit. I was just trying to help the lady. As I'm leaning against the wall next to the doorway of the dining room, Matty walks out glaring at me before walking into the kitchen where there was an eruption of laughter. Now here I was, by myself in a hallway debating if I should walk out the front door. It'd be rude of me to just leave, but I slide on my coat anyway, then reach into Georges to pull out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter that I cling onto as I walk into the crisp cold air. I set on walking to the side of the house to avoid the wind where there was a tall set of bushes that were easy to walk behind and hide there, which is what I did. As I'm taking another drag of nicotine, I freeze at the sound of a car pulling up to the house. I exhale before peeking through the leaves to see who's arrived now. My stomach instantly turns and that feeling of wanting to puke comes back as Ross and Liz walk hand in hand to the front door. I quickly flick my cigarette then step on it, before taking a moment to make sure they were inside. Walking back in that house was something I had forced myself to do, and luckily I walked into an empty hallway.
"Gia." I jump at the voice only to realize it was George. I continue to hang up my coat then hesitantly walk over to him.
"You okay? You went missing for a bit."
I nod as he takes my hand, linking our fingers together.
"I didn't know Ross was bringing Liz," he mumbles lowly as the chatter from the dining room grows a bit quieter.
"Are they a thing now?"
"I guess so."
I sigh as Denise calls George and I to come eat. He squeezes my hand reassuringly before leading me back into the room I had left before. I feel sick again as almost everyone turns to look at who's just entered the room, including Liz. George settles in between Matty and I while Denise and Adam take the ends of the table, then Ross across from me, Liz to his right, and Georges mom to her right. Georges hand grips my thigh momentarily which calms me a bit. After Denise makes a toast to the guys success, the food is passed around and everyone seems to be talking to someone except for me.
"Gia, you don't want any steak?" Denise asks after Adam immediately passes the plate of steak to George instead of me.
"She's vegetarian, mum. Like Morrissey," Matty calls through a mouth full of mashed potatoes as I blush.
"What a waste of good meat," Georges mum mumbles.
"I would've made you something else if George would've told me," Denise apologizes, completely ignoring the woman next to her.
"It's fine, thank you though."
George sighs audibly as he passes the plate to Matty, earning him a glare from his mother. There's a silence filled with only the clanking of silverware from various places around the table. I poke at my carrots, trying not to make eye contact with Ross who's sitting directly across from me, whispering something to Liz.
"So, how did you two meet?" Denise nods towards Ross as she takes a sip of wine.
"Um, mutual friends," Ross speaks up.
I tense up, taking a small bite of carrot to distract myself.
"Mutual friends alright," Matty snorts while Ross glares at him.
The tension at this table was getting stronger within each minute it seemed.
"And you two, G?" Denise turns to us.
"A party," George smiles sheepishly.
"You're still partying?" His mum raises an eyebrow while he shakes his head. There's another pause in conversation.
"How's Anna, George?"
My heart drops and I can feel my face growing red as Adam, Ross and Liz glance at me. At this point I really didn't like Georges mom.
"Not sure," he replies back shortly, not bothering to look up from his plate.
"She was supposed to be the one George was going to marry. Her father is very wealthy."
Silence.
"Annie, your mashed potatoes are wonderful," Denise speaks up.
I'm refusing to let the tears building up make an appearance.
"Fucks sake," Matty sighs.
"Language," Denise warns.
Another silence.
"You enjoying your food, Liz?"
I tune out the exchange between Denise and Liz, poking at the food on my plate until my name is mentioned.
"Have you and Gia met before?"
"Without Gia, she wouldn't be here right now," Matty snorts.
"Matty," George reprimands.
"Not how I see it," Ross mumbles.
"How're my leftovers, anyway?" Matty smirks.
"Excuse me," Adam quickly stands, knocking my own glass of wine into me in the process.
"I knew this was a bad idea," George groans, quickly picking up my glass as I grab my napkin to clean up myself. Matty is now going back and forth with Ross while Liz tries to calm Ross down, Denise trying to calm Matty down. Adam is grabbing more napkins for me and Annie is putting her two cents in about how we all need to grow up.
"Without you two, none of this would've happened, you fucking home wreckers," Matty shouts at Liz and I over the rest of the racket. It grows quiet quickly, and I'm fed up, storming out of the dining room. Maybe for once he's right.
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[shitty chapter but I needed to get over this hill of writers block I was stuck on lol but thank you to everyone who commented and are still reading, and if this ever happens again bug the shit out of me to update pls cause it helps lol]