Winona had insisted on holding your hand the entire time. Not in a statement way — just enough that her thumb brushed against yours when she got nervous. The 2025 Choice Awards were loud and crowded, and she’d been nominated for Favorite Movie Actress after Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, which only added to the pressure.

She’d never brought a girlfriend to something like this before. You could tell. She kept leaning in to say small things to you — comments about the lights, the carpet being annoying, how her shoe strap felt loose.

People noticed eventually. A few double takes. Then more. Cameras lingered longer than they needed to.

Winona let out a quiet breath, rolling her shoulders like she was shaking it off. She leaned closer to you, her voice low. “If this gets weird, we can just bail early,” she said, lips barely curving.

Her hand slipped into yours again, a little firmer this time. She squeezed once, grounding.

“You’re doing great,” she added, almost to herself, before guiding you forward through the crowd.