You lay on your bed staring down at the ring she gave you clasped between your fingers.
She said that it's a replica of green lanterns, and that made you smile because it reminded you of the night you got together.
She'd worn her green lantern t-shirt that night; though it had soon ended up on the floor.
You remember the night like it was yesterday, it was one of those cliché high school parties that happen every week and you were dancing with some random jock because you were a bit tipsy and you had already slept with all the popular girls in the room.
He was starting to get handsy and when you finally pushed him away by the look on his face he was about to call you a slut and walk away, which you would of accepted like every night.
But before he could you saw a flash of blonde hair and he fell to the floor like a sack of shit, clutching his quickly bruising eye and the room fell silent.
She quickly asked if you were okay, as soon as you nodded, with wide eyes, she bolted through the front door; the jock and his friends quick on her trail.
It took you awhile to find the friend she snuck in with. He said his name was Mike and when you asked what her name was; he said her name was Brittany.
You instantly took a liking to the name.
You asked where she lived to say thank you and he told you the address that has now become like a second home to you.
You got to her house before she did and her mom let you wait in her room. You took in the room that soon became familiar to you; the posters of zombies, superheroes and Star Wars taped to the walls, the stack of old comics to one side and a small single bed in the corner with a creased superman duvet on top.
Brittany was classed as a geek and it was kinda what you expected her room to look like.
You were inspecting a worn out copy of The Evil Dead- you remember because you watched it together a week later- when she walked in, out of breath and shaking her hand, not in pain but more like irritation.
Her eyes went wide when she saw you, so you stood up from her bed to look less threatening but it only resulted in her seeing the state of her room and looking down at the floor embarrassed.
She quietly asked what you were doing there without a trace of menace in her voice and you had said that you wanted to say thank you.
She then asked why you would come all the way across town to say thank you to someone, and you countered with why she would knock out a guy over a girl you didn't even know, which made her smile before she looked back down, her bottom lip between her teeth.
She had said she knew exactly who you were; Santana Lopez ruler of the school and it made you laugh, it's what you want people to think, though you would have liked BAMF at the end but you have to live with what you've got.
You'd gone over to her and looked at her bruising hand and told her she shouldn't have done what she did. And when she told you no one should ever treat someone as great as you like that no matter who they were, staring into your eyes, you met her half way and were soon kissing with no sudden urge for air.
Things had escalated from there and you woke naked and wrapped protectively in her arms, wondering how in a room with an overbearing aroma of model glue, which you soon learnt to love, the sex was really that good, like really, really good.
The next day at school you pulled her into a corner and quietly told her that that night was a one off and that things should stay as they were. You pretended the shattered look on her face didn't break your heart and carried on with your day. In this school you could have sex with either gender but go outside the norm of popular with popular and nerd with nerd, you get a slushy facial every day.
But you soon changed your mind when she showed up at your doorstep holding a rose and asking for a chance to bring back the happiness she knew had gone from your eyes. The fact that someone had actually noticed how unhappy you were without having to tell them and that someone was knelt at your doorstep, asking for a chance to change that, it knocked you for six.
You gave her a chance that day and it was the best decision of your life so far.
Two months later you're still a secret to everyone at school. Brittany says she doesn't mind and that she'd rather pretend than have to see you get slushied because of her but you can see the pain in her eyes when she wants to hold your hand or to talk to you in public but has to stop herself.
You see that every time you look down at the green ring. And you love it for that reason.
You love how she trusted you with something so dear to her.
You love how it's like nerdy bling.
You love how Brittany. is carved on it by a blonde six year old with an old compass.
You love how it reminds you of every little sweat and caring thing Brittany has done to make you happy.
And most of all, you love how it fits on your ring finger so perfectly.
Which is what you're doing when you hear the tree rustling outside you window, it's what you've been waiting for.
You take the ring off, putting it back in your bedside draw and go over to lean out the window. As soon as she looks up and sees you, huge smiles adorn both your faces.
"I told you, you can use the back door" you say once she's in earshot and you can tell she's trying not to make that into an innuendo because you said you hated it when she does.
"I was going too but I kind of like the romantic side of climbing up to you" she says, kissing you quickly before climbing fully inside, when you notice the CD player under her arm.
"What's that?"
"A boom box" she replies simply.
"I know what it is, why'd you bring it?"
She shrugs placing it down on the side "I was thinking about you last night-"
"You were thinking about me?" you ask a weird warm feeling settling in your chest.
"Uh huh, I think about you all the time, usually in the shower or in bed but-"
"Alright you think about me a lot back to the point" you say, choosing not to hear the end of that sentence, as she smiles down at you.
"Right so I was thinking about you and I realised we've never danced together so…"
"I have an iPod you know"
"Yes but I doubt you have the mystical god that is Lionel Richie" she says banging the machine so it starts playing Truly and the utter cheesiness makes you laugh, especially when she wiggles her eyebrows.
She extends a hand and asks you to dance which you accept. Your arms settle around her neck as hers go to your waste as you sway together, Lionel singing softly in the background.
After a few beats she takes your hand twirling you once and you do the same for her.
You fall back flush together your head resting on her shoulder, arms wrapped fully around her neck.
"You know I wanted to be a dancer… but they made me stop because I was so good" she says, kissing the top of your head, and you almost believe her until you look up to see the smirk on her face making you chuckle.
Your laugh stops dead when she whispers the words you've waited your whole life to hear and before it even registers in your brain you say it back.
"I love you too"