Scorpio Household-

Georgie was looking online at all the wonderful choices that she had to wear for the big day. It wasn't the biggest day, far from it, they still had prom, but, for Georgie, it was important nonetheless, because it was her last winter formal as a high school student. She remembered the first one that she ever had, before Dillon had returned to Port Charles, while he was still with his mother in Europe, before she knew that there was a person in the world for her, someone who just clicked with her, when she was so busy thinking that she would never have anyone that would understand her, would accept her for who she was. That dance seemed like magic. Georgie saw all the people who were kind of her friends as they were paired off and happily chatting about their first big dance as high school students, but Georgie… Georgie didn't have anyone that she could go with. Maxie tried to help, knowing that on some level the lack of a date hurt her little sister more than Georgie would ever let on, but Georgie did not want a pity date, she wanted someone that she could spend time with, someone who wanted to be with her. With each dress, Georgie looked and saw the color and how it would look if Dillon chose to go with the matching sash. She thought him to be more traditional. He even looked good in that not-quite-a-suit that he wore the first time that they went to a formal together. The time where she thought that he was trying to hurt her when all he wanted to do was keep her from being hurt. She realized just how much Dillon meant to her each time she thought about the mistakes that she had made before she realized that she cared about him… and how much she needed to apologize for it.

So enthralled by the quest for the perfect dress was the young valedictorian, something that everyone tried to tell her she would be even if she tried to be humble and say that there were other people who deserved it more than she, that Georgie hadn't even thought of the biggest hurdle that she would have to overcome: her father. Mac was the type of person who said one thing but rarely, if ever, meant it. He was being nice about her relationship with Dillon, nicer than he had ever been before, but Georgie knew good and well that her father still didn't quite trust Dillon and the sincerity of their relationship. Though it was a horrible thing to think about, Georgie placed some of the burden of Mac's opinion on Maxie's boyfriend. The minute that Dillon started hanging around Damian it seemed, to Mac at least, that Dillon was going down the path that he should have never gone down, that he was starting to become more and more like Jason. Mac didn't enjoy Dillon Quartermaine acting like a Quartermaine, but to think of him as a Quartermaine acting like a Morgan? That sent up so many red flags inside of Mac's subconscious that she knew it would be impossible to count. But, if there was one thing that Georgie knew above all else it was that Mac wanted her to be happy, because he loved his daughter dearly, and, it was her last winter dance. She could use that against Mac, get him to bend to her will, and she would. She was Maxie's little sister, throughout all the years of watching Maxie, even protecting her from herself, Georgie had picked up a few tricks of the trade.

Maxie needed to talk with someone, and, as soon as her shift, a shorter shift than usual, ended at the hospital she was well on her way home to talk with the best person that she knew that she could bring her problems to: her little sister. Maxie was also fully aware of the fact that Georgie did not deserve to be burdened with her many plights, but Maxie needed someone, and since it was directly involving her boyfriend, she couldn't confide in him, and Dillon… Dillon would probably tell Damian anything that she told him, because their relationship was extremely strong, a fact of life that was at times more a burden on Maxie than a blessing. She appreciated Dillon so much for everything that he was, both to her sister and to Maxie herself. A lone voice, unencumbered by the familial ties that she had to Georgie, a person that Maxie could look to for advice when she didn't think she could talk with anyone else. A part of that mystique had faded over time, through no fault of either party.

Georgie was too quiet in her room, doing nothing but looking at the keys as she typed in various specifics that she was looking for, moved her optical mouse on her desk, and sighed wistfully when she saw dresses that she believed to be beautiful. Despite the common believe that all dresses were beautiful, sans the horrid beasts known as bridesmaids dresses, Georgie knew better. She'd seen some ugly dresses in her time, and had even come across a few during her latest search. Of course, even if Georgie did find the perfect dress, she would not act upon it immediately. Logic would dictate that she did, but Georgie would instead spend days pining over the decision, changing her mind back and forth, getting Dillon's opinion and never believing it, surely angering him, all in the end to look 'perfect' for one night in the eyes of a boy that always thought she looked lovely. Who said it was easy being a woman?

Maxie listened at Georgie's door, looking for any sign that her little sister was inside. Sadly, nothing came to her, and she was about to turn away and leave her thoughts for another time when she heard Georgie groan loudly. Curious, and even a little afraid for her sister's wellbeing, Maxie knocked softly on the door, hoping that there was nothing that was horribly wrong with her sister. "Georgie, is everything all right?"

Georgie was surprised to hear the voice of her big sister, but called out to Maxie anyway, "Yeah, everything's fine."

"Can I come in?"

"Sure… the door's open." It was nice of Maxie to ask. Plenty of times, Maxie just thought that she could barge in to Georgie's room without any warning. There were even a few times when Maxie's assumptions of her free pass into Georgie's room disrupted the tender moments that she was having with Dillon at that time. It was during those moments that Georgie was less than pleased with her sister.

Maxie opened the door and almost immediately found Georgie at the desk, looking at her computer. Despite Georgie's intellect, the girl was not typecast as the 'female computer geek,' which made Maxie feel better about Georgie's potential. Dillon would love her regardless… but, in case something did happen, and there was always a chance that it could, Georgie needed to have as much going for her as she could if she ever needed to recover from losing him. "What are you looking at?"

Georgie moved to the side a little to give her sister a nice view of what she was looking at. "Nothing big, just looking for dresses. Dillon asked me to our last winter formal today. I accepted." Georgie left out the fact that she strong-armed her boyfriend into doing what she wanted, because it just sounded better if she said that he asked her instead of revealing the truth. "I want this one to look special…"

"Georgie, it's just the winter formal. Don't worry about making it special, save all that stress for prom…"

Georgie glared at Maxie, "Thanks for ruining prom for me…"

"What? You saw the way that I stressed out last year right before prom. I was so desperate… I almost called our mother."

"Really?" Georgie didn't know that it had impacted her sister that much, but she knew well and good how it must have felt for Maxie to feel even half that desperate as to call their mother.

"The thought had crossed my mind," Maxie nodded, sitting at the end of Georgie's bed. "I thought dad was just going to say that I couldn't go, because I spent so much time crying about how I was never going to look good enough for Kyle, that my hair was going to be horrible, that he wasn't going to love me…" she sighed. She hated it when she thought about the boy that she was once with, "In the end, none of that mattered. Nothing happened at prom, at least not for me… nothing worth remembering at least."

"Again with the negativity…"

"I don't mean it like that," Maxie corrected herself. "I'm just saying that, for me, I didn't have someone that I really cared about, truly. I thought I loved Kyle, but you know that I didn't, I know that I didn't now. You have Dillon, and you know that you care about him more than you could ever hope to explain. If I had that, maybe I would have done better with my prom day than I did."

"You wish that you had Damian with you, don't you?"

"Of course I do," Maxie smiled, but the smile quickly faded. "Look, I don't mean to come in here and bog you down with my problems, but… I really need someone to listen while I vent."

Georgie closed the window and walked over to the desk, she was done looking for dresses, and, even if she wasn't, she would gladly give it up for a few moments while she listened to her sister. It was part of Georgie's job, after all. "What's the matter?"

"I just… I keep on thinking that everything is going too well, you know? I keep on thinking that all of this is unreal, that I'm just imagining it, that things aren't as good as I want to see them, that there is something that I'm missing." Maxie sighed and threw herself backwards, "I know that he loves me, Georgie. I know it in my heart, but in my mind I keep on thinking that he's going to do something with Brook, because I know that they have so much more in common with each other than Damian and I do. I know that Brook wants him, too…"

Georgie nodded. Brook was her friend, and Georgie thought she was a good person, but there was no denying that Brook had made it part of her mission to attempt to steal Damian away from Maxie. Maybe not so much in words, but the attraction was there. The looks that Brook gave, trying to be discrete, they told everything. She was very expressive with her eyes. But that didn't mean that anything was going to change. "What do you want me to say, Maxie?"

"I don't know… just make me feel better. Please."

Georgie patted her sister's hand softly, "Damian loves you, Maxie, just like you said, you know it, I know it, Dillon knows it, Brook knows it, and he knows it. Nothing is going to change… at least not right now. Even if he does think that Brook is attractive, even if he thinks that he could care about her, he isn't going to throw away anything that you could give him, because you've given him something that he never had before. You're always going to be his first love, Maxie. Nothing is going to change that. Brook will never be able to take that away from you, no matter how hard she tries."

"This would be so much easier if I didn't have to worry about it… I wish Brook would have just stayed wherever the hell that she was. Nobody wanted her to come here, everything would have been just fine without her." Was it horrible to say those things? Yes, but, at that moment, Maxie really didn't care. Everything that she said was the truth. Sitting up again, Maxie hugged her sister, "Thanks, I know I might not sound it, but you really did make me feel better about everything."

"I might ask you to return the favor soon…"

"Huh?"

"I might need your help picking out a dress," Georgie smiled coyly, "and, I'm calling my trump card now. Whenever I need you, you come, no questions asked, no complaints, you just come."

Morgan Household-

The severity of the situation had yet to truly go down, but he could at least function without feeling the choking grip of doubt swirling around his body and threatening to consume him whole. It was at times like that, when everything seemed to be closing in on him, that Damian realized just how fortunate he was to have people like Dillon in his life, people who he could talk with if he needed it, or even if he didn't. Damian didn't much feel like talking to his best friend about his problems, but if there was one thing that he knew it was that Dillon had a way of making him forget about his worries.

Damian walked into the house, having long ago been given the express permission to no longer knock before he entered. Still, there was a small part of him that felt like he was doing something immoral. What if he walked in on a scene that he should not have seen? How would he be able to keep himself from feeling intensely guilty for intruding into an area where he was clearly not welcome. A problem surely worth contemplating another time, but the worry never managed to get too far away from his mind.

Dillon was on the couch in the living room, not looking at the television, not doing his homework, sort of just existing, with little in the way of rhyme or reason. Hearing the door open and close, he turned his head, acknowledging the fact that it was his best friend who entered with a simplistic response. "Hey."

"You know, generally, you don't get in to college just by sitting there and doing nothing. You actually have to open the book, do the reading, and the homework, and pass the tests. I'm sure you might think that the money that your family has managed to amass over the centuries somehow makes you immune to such common practices, but it doesn't…"

"Seriously, you've been to my family's house too many times… even I don't talk like them."

Damian smiled, "Practice, Dillon. Plus, all those movies that you've made me watch with those rich people… they all sound the same. In fact, your mother would be perfect for them, if she were an actress."

"I think she would kill the director in a few seconds if she was cast. Ironic, since I want to be a director, I know…"

"You okay?" It was unusual for Dillon Quartermaine to not be doing something. He was certainly one of the more active people that Damian had ever met, this side of his little brother. Dillon was almost an adult, a grown man in many ways, more mature than people wanted to believe him to be, a fact that was hidden by his eccentric nature, especially his hair.

"I guess," Dillon said with a shrug. "I mean, nothing bad is going on in my life… I'm just… I don't know, Georgie… she wants to go to the winter formal, you know? She's a girl, the minute she gets a chance to dress up she wants to take it…"

"That's stereotypical, don't you think?"

"Well, maybe not all girls are like that, but she is… and, she dragged me into it. I just want to make her happy, but I really don't want to do it. I've done the dress up thing so many times in my life, it's just redundant and stupid."

Redundant though it may have been, there was really only one thing that mattered. He asked the question, "You love her, don't you?"

"Of course."

"Then I'm pretty sure your mind is made up. I'll help you pick out a tux or something… make sure you don't look too much like a Quartermaine." Even when he was on the borders of misery, Dillon found a way to make his friend smile, and that was what made Dillon who he was.