Author's Note: Y'all I'm on fire right now I just wrote two chapters in one morning and we're starting a third.
Alright here's a disclaimer: THIS CHAPTER IS ENTIRELY PROMPOSALS! Strap in because there's gonna be a LOT XD
(And let me know your favorite in the review box :D)
Mon-El took a deep breath and straightened his shoulders. He had just spent a few moments in the boy's bathroom warming up his voice (complete with some awkward intrusions from people actually wanting to use the bathroom), and was all set up with his portable bluetooth speaker and the Tale as Old as Time karaoke youtube video up on his phone. His rectangular piece of poster board was leaning against his locker.
All that he needed now was Kara Danvers.
Thea, Iris and Sara came walking down the hall and caught sight of him. It wasn't hard; he was attracting stares from people who didn't even know what he was planning.
"Ooooh," Iris gushed, hurrying over. "How do you feel?"
"I don't wanna talk about it," Mon-El replied stiffly, eyes rapidly scanning the crowd for Kara's familiar blond head.
"You're gonna do great," Sara told him. "Unless you're terrible."
Iris and Thea shook their heads at her disapprovingly and she shrugged. "Am I wrong? No."
"Go, go, go away," Mon-El said abruptly, shooing them off. "Here she comes. Ohhhh boy here she comes." He took a rapid breath through his nose and out through his mouth. "No going back now."
Kara was about two feet away when the music started. Eyebrows leaping in surprise, she glanced up to find her boyfriend standing in front of his locker with a sign that read, 'You're the only Belle in my eyes. Go to Prom with me?" in swooping font, complete with a graphic of a rose and a silhouette of Belle and the Beast in their iconic dancing position.
Kara's mouth fell open.
And then Mon-El started singing. "Tale as old as time," he began in a very quiet, low voice. "True as it can be/ barely even friends/ then somebody bends/ unexpectedly."
To his surprise, Kara jumped in almost immediately. "Just a little change/small to say the least/ both a little scared/ neither one prepared-"
"Beauty and the Beast," Mon-El sang, and Kara executed a perfect harmony that actually raised goosebumps on Thea's arms.
Mon-El had been planning to sing the whole song but he realized now that that might be a bit much. Everyone in the hallway burst into applause and Kara broke into a grin. "Yes," she said. "I'll go to prom with you."
Mon-El beamed happily and pulled her in for a kiss.
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News spread quickly of Mon-El's incredibly creative, incredibly romantic promposal. Julian was a little disgruntled, having hoped that Caitlin wouldn't have anything to compare her promposal to, just in case it was awful.
It wasn't awful. Right?
Well, either way, there was no turning back now. Julian knew that most promposal signs were cardboard or poster board, but he'd wanted his to be portable so he just did some stiff paper. He, Cisco and Caitlin were all in chemistry together and they were breaking into groups to start their labs. Julian made sure he was with Caitlin and let her get started on their experiment.
He glanced towards the front of the room. Caitlin didn't like very showy things, so he didn't want to do this in the hallway and besides, it pertained so much to their favorite science class that he felt he should actually prompose in class. That being said, Dr. Wells, their teacher, could be pretty strict, and he didn't want to get either of them in trouble. He'd have to be discreet.
When Harrison was busy looking over some homework, Julian carefully pulled his mini-poster from his bag and slid it across the table towards Caitlin. She glanced over at him without looking at it and raised her eyebrows in question.
"Just look," Julian urged in a low voice.
Dubious, Caitlin read the paper.
'Cesium, Praseodymium-Oxygen-Magnesium?'
Caitlin blinked a few times. "What is-?"
Julian's face fell, but then Caitlin stopped talking and squinted at the paper. "Cs..." she muttered. "Pr-O-M...g? Promg?"
"There was no M element," Julian blurted. "But magnesium is-"
"Chemically active," Caitlin interrupted. "You picked chemistry because it's the only science that has anything to do with romance- Julian, this is brilliant!"
His face flushed with pleasure and he stuffed his hands in his pockets. "You really think so, mate?"
"I absolutely love it," Caitlin said, beaming, shooting a quick glance towards Dr. Wells before leaning in and kissing him quickly on the lips. "And I love you. Yes, I'll go to prom with you."
When Julian stopped inwardly celebrating, he felt the need to admit a certain tidbit of information. "In all honesty, I can't take all the credit," he said with an embarrassed smile. "Thea, Iris and Sara helped me out a bit to come up with the idea."
"Yeah, I saw they're doing those promposal consultants," Caitlin said with a laugh.
"Actually," Julian countered. "I inspired those. I was at lunch and overheard them talking about prom, and begged them for help in how to prompose to you. They were so proud of how well they'd assisted me that they decided to turn it into a... job, I suppose."
Caitlin laughed again. "Then don't feel too bad about not doing it yourself," she said, giving Julian a nudge with her elbow. "You might have very well saved quite a few people's promposals this year."
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"Hey man, you got this," Mon-El said as he sat with his girlfriend on either side of Brainy at Tuesday lunch. "I mean, what? You think she's going to say no?"
"I think that she may be disappointed with how I chose to prompose," Brainy countered, fidgeting anxiously and trying not to glance over his shoulder at Nia, who was still in the lunch line.
"Hey." Kara reached over and put her hand firmly on his arm. "I swear to you- she is going to love it. You got that? Confidence is the key, Brainy. If you're all awkward it'll make things awkward but if you just give in to the idea that you'll be a little embarrassed holding a sign in the middle of the lunch room, then I think you'll be okay."
"Okay," Brainy echoed. He got to his feet and pulled his small promposal sign out of his backpack. "I will be back. Hopefully with a date."
"Good luck man," Mon-El called after him as he walked quickly towards the salad bar.
Nia was just getting a good tong's-worth of croutons when Brainy reached her. She looked up and smiled. "Hey Wildcat. How's it going?"
"It is going good," Brainy replied with an answering smile, feeling his stomach flop with butterflies. "Nia... this was the place where we had our first conversation, after you saved me from the lunch line."
Nia looked like she was trying not to laugh. "Uhh, yeah, it is. Pretty romantic, huh? The salad bar?"
"Yes," Brainy agreed automatically, too nervous to register the joke. "Which is why I wanted to be here to ask you...irás al prom conmigo?"
He held up his homemade poster, which had the words he'd just spoke in Spanish in large font and then the English translation along the bottom. Nia positively melted. "Awwww," she crooned, smiling. "Yes, Brainy, I'll go to prom with you."
Brainy beamed at her and she put down her tray so she could hug him. Then the two of them moseyed back over to where Mon-El and Kara were sitting, the former having switched seats so the couples could sit next to each other.
"So?" Mon-El prompted. "How did it go...?"
"She said yes," Brainy announced.
"To prom," Nia amended. "Not to marriage."
Kara laughed, but Brainy looked thoughtful. "Maybe someday..." he murmured.
Nia choked on her crouton.
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The next day at school, it was Barry's turn to get revved up for his promposal.
"You are so much braver than I will ever be," Cisco told him, already preparing himself to try to get Barry out of detention.
"She's obsessed with High School Musical, man," Barry replied, doing a few jumping jacks and eyeing the distance between himself and the stairs. "I swear she always has been. This is our first prom and I want it to be really special."
Cisco patted his back. "She's lucky to have you," he said with a wry smile. "Now you better get up there if you want to be able to wave from the roof before she extracts herself from talking with Sara and Iris."
Barry nodded and jogged towards the roof-access staircase at the end of the hallway. He managed not to run into any teachers or staff all the way up the stairs, and grinned to find the door to the roof unlocked. Barry took a few seconds to get his bearings, then ran across the roof and stopped at the front-facing wall.
Iris was just walking out of AV High, reaching for her phone to see where Barry was and when he'd be ready to go home, when her device rang. She picked it up. "Hey babe, I was just gonna ask where you-"
"I need you right away," Barry said, launching into an immediate quote of Iris' favorite movie.
Iris smiled bemusedly. "What?" Then something caught her eye and she glanced upward to see her boyfriend standing on the roof, his arms spread wide.
Thea, who had just come out of school herself, followed Iris' gaze and let out a laugh. "Oh he isn't," she said.
"Oh he is," Iris countered, before speaking into the phone again. "I'm on my way."
After a little giddy freakout with Thea, Iris raced back inside the building and ran up the stairs to the roof.
"I really need your help," Barry said the moment Iris got to the roof. He reached behind him and held up two suit jackets, one black and one white. In the movie there were three but his finances were a little limited at the moment. "Which one do you think I should wear?"
Iris had watched her favorite High School Musical movie enough times that she knew this scene by heart by now. "Because...?" she asked, walking towards her boyfriend.
" 'Cause you're gonna have a pretty dress," Barry quoted in reply, grinning. "So I wanna look right."
"Well," Iris answered. "I've never been asked to a prom... but this sounds like an invitation." She peered between the two jackets Barry was holding and selected the darker one. "This one."
She helped Barry into it and he dropped the act. "It is an invitation," he said, reaching forward and grabbing hold of her hands. "Iris West... go to prom with me?"
Iris smiled brightly and wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning up to kiss him. "Yes," she agreed vehemently. "Also, that was officially the best promposal any guy has ever done ever."
"Oh, I'm not quite done," Barry replied with a grin, and fumbled with his phone for a second.
Music started, the 'Can I Have This Dance' song from High School Musical 3. Iris laughed in amazement as Barry grabbed her hands and pulled her into a waltz on top of the roof of AV High.
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When Thea and Sara heard the story of Iris' promposal, they were in raptures. "Why is Barry Allen literally the most romantic guy in the universe?" Thea asked rhetorically. "Like, he must have put in some serious preparation to remember all those lines."
"He's an actor," Iris said with a shrug. "And we've watched that movie like 13 times. But still- yes. He is literally the greatest and I love him and I'm so excited for prom."
Sara glanced over at Thea. "Has Roy-?"
"Nope," Thea replied, letting out a sigh and shooting a glance at her boyfriend, who still hadn't started sitting with them at lunch. "I'm, like, this close to just doing it myself. Can't you see me standing up on at table and yelling across the lunch room - ROY! GO TO PROM WITH ME?!"
The girls burst into giggles. "He would murder you," Sara laughed. "Like, actually murder you. And then he'd say yes."
When they'd calmed down a little, Thea stole another look across the lunch room. "Seriously though," she said. "Do you think I should do it? I mean, almost all the girls at our school have their dates set up, and if we want to do this whole group-dress-shopping thing then I'm going to need to get on getting one myself. So should I just ask him? And no, I won't yell it across the cafeteria. I'll just... ask. Because I think he'd like that more."
Iris looked at her thoughtfully. "You know, sometimes I feel like you're settling with Roy Harper. I mean, you want that extreme display of romance, right? Why aren't you expecting that from your relationship?"
Thea shrugged. "Sure, maybe I want it. But I don't need it. And when it comes down to it, I'd rather him be comfortable than me get this big showy promposal that the entire school talks about. And yeah, maybe last year, I would have broken up with a guy because he wasn't 'trying' hard enough. But I know Roy is trying. It's hard for him to be in a relationship at all, and that means I have to make some allowances for the crazy rom-com stuff I like to watch in movies."
"Ah!" Sara cried, slinging her arm around Thea's shoulders. "Our girl is getting so growed up. Watch out world- Thea Queen is a new and improved lady who knows what she wants and knows how to respect what other people want, too."
Thea smiled. "That may be the nicest thing you've ever said to me, Sara," she said.
"No it's not," Sara groaned, rolling her eyes.
"You know Thea..." Iris said slowly, her gaze no longer on her two best friends. "I don't think you're gonna have to worry about that promposal any longer."
Frowning confusedly, Thea followed her gaze to see Roy Harper striding towards them with a look of almost alarmingly fierce determination on his face. He almost plowed down someone carrying their lunch tray to a table but managed to reach the girls without actually hurting anyone.
"Thea," he began, clearing his throat and pulling his hand from behind his back to reveal a single white carnation. "I, um... for whatever reason, I feel like some of our biggest moments have happened in the lunch room, with these weirdos staring at us."
"Hey!" Sara cried, mock-offended.
Roy made a face at her. "Anyway," he went on. "I'm- I'm not artistically talented. At all. So I figured the, um... the flower was better than a sign that would look like a kindergartener drew it in his sleep."
Thea laughed.
"Anyway," Roy repeated. "Do you want to go to prom? With me? Do you want to go to prom with me?"
Iris started clapping as Thea got to her feet and kissed him. "Yes," she said, beaming brilliantly. "I would love to."
Roy smiled and took a step back, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. "Was that... okay?" he asked awkwardly. "I know you probably wanted a sign. Should I have done a sign? I guess I could have printed it-"
"Roy," Thea interrupted, laying a hand on his arm. "It was perfect."
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Lena caught up with James in the hallway a couple days after Roy's promposal. "Just the man I wanted to see," she said with a smile that made James feel a bit funny. "I have an assignment for you."
"Uh, okay," he replied, sticking his hands in his pockets. It had been over a week since his talk with Winn and he still hadn't told Lena how he felt. He had tried a few times, but the moment never seemed quite... right.
Granted, this wasn't a fanfiction. Who knew if the right moment ever actually happened in real life?
"I want to do a special feature about promposals in the newspaper," Lena went on. "I don't suppose you've happened to catch any on camera yet? I thought it could be fun to highlight the most creative and/or showy and/or romantic promposals. Prom only happens once a year, you know. We should take advantage of it and do something fun in the newspaper."
"I have, as a matter of fact, taken a few shots," James replied. "And I know some people who could get me more. But I'll keep my camera out during periods now, just in case I'm around when a promposal happens."
"Wonderful," Lena beamed. "I'll expect what you have on my desk by Friday afternoon."
She turned and walked off but James stayed where he was, staring thoughtfully after her. An idea had just occurred to him, one that might just mean he'd found his 'right moment' after all.
On Friday afternoon, James went to the newspaper room to deliver his pictures to Lena. She was at her desk, like usual, and he hung around at the side of the room while she glanced through his photographs.
"There are perfect, James," Lena told him as she slowly flipped through the stack. "This will be great."
James nodded, not trusting his voice, and fiddled anxiously with the strap of his camera.
Lena reached the bottom of the stack and paused, her eyes catching on a picture that was just a poster, with no people in sight. The poster read, 'Lena Luthor: Go to Prom with me? - James Olsen'
When Lena looked up, James was watching her with an anxiously expectant look on his face. Lena was so surprised she couldn't even speak for a moment. "I- Uh- I-"
"You don't have to say yes," James blurted, unable to wait for her to get herself together. "And I'm sorry if you don't feel that way about me and I just made everything really awkward, but I really like you, Lena, and I'd like to go to prom with you. I mean, I'd like to try going on other dates, too. But if you just want to go to prom that's fine. And if you don't want to go at all, that's fine too."
"I do," Lena said, a little breathlessly. "I mean- Yeah. I, yeah. I would love to go to prom with you, James."
He blinked at her, shocked. "Wait... seriously?"
"Yes, seriously," Lena replied with a laugh. "No need to sound so shocked. If anything, I should be shocked that you're interested in me."
James scoffed. "You're selling yourself short," he said, smiling at her. "I will be incredibly honored to walk into school with you in a prom dress and know that the most beautiful girl at prom is my date."
Lena turned pink and didn't seem to know how to reply to that.
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Sara caught sight of her boyfriend across the blacktop and broke away from Laurel to go walk with him into school. "Wussah dude?" she asked, reaching over to take his hand.
"Morning Sara," Leonard replied with a smile. "Hey, I had something to ask you."
Sara glanced up, already knowing what it was but playing along for the sake of it. "Hm?"
"Do you want to go to prom with me?" Leonard asked her, stopping them both in their tracks so he could look her in the eyes. "I know I screwed up homecoming but there will be no leaving you hanging this year. I promise."
"Sounds like fun," Sara declared, swinging their hands back and forth. "As long as you don't mind triple-couple-ing with Iris and Barry and Thea and Roy."
"Eh I'm used to it by now," Leonard replied with a smirk and a shrug, giving her arm a tug so they started making their way into school again. In truth, he didn't actually mind hanging out with Iris and Thea, and Roy and Barry weren't the worst company in the world either. Besides, he knew Sara wasn't the type to leave him abandoned and go hang out with her friends, so there wasn't much to worry about there.
Iris and Thea met them in the hallway. "Hey cuties," Thea greeted with a grin.
"Still haven't found a ship name yet?" Sara asked with a sympathetic smile.
"No..." Thea sighed, downcast. "Snara is the best I've got. Or Lenara."
Leonard looked a little disgusted. "No," he said flatly. "Please never call us that. At least not in my presence."
"Some names just aren't shippable," Sara said with a sigh. "Oh, by the way, Leonard asked me to prom."
"Aww, you did?" Iris piped up. "I thought Sara was going to ask you?"
"He beat me to it," Sara shrugged.
"I have to get to class," Leonard said, and leaned down to kiss her cheek. "See you later?"
"Seeya," Sara replied, waving him away.
"So...?" Thea prompted. "How'd he do it?"
"Do what?"
"Prompose!"
"Oh." Sara wrinkled her nose. "He just... asked me? Like outside? On the way up here? He said, 'Do you want to go to prom with me'? And I said, 'sounds like fun', and that was that."
The two girls blinked at her. "I will never understand you," Iris sighed. "Let's go to class."
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It was two in the morning when Alex Danvers heard the sound of rocks hitting her window.
She rolled over blearily in bed, rubbing her eyes and frowning. This was... incredibly familiar, and part of her wondered if she was dreaming. Maggie wouldn't seriously show up at her place at two am again, right?
Not right, apparently. When Alex made it to the window, she saw a familiar shadowed figure on the lawn, holding a large piece of cardboard. Starting to grin, Alex shook her head, grabbed a sweatshirt, and crept downstairs.
"You can't make this a habit, you know," Alex said to Maggie as she shut her front door behind her. "If my neighbors see you they'll probably call the cops. If my mom sees you she'll probably call the cops."
Maggie laughed. "I'll take my chances," she replied with a shrug, and held out the poster. "Sorry it's so dark. Though maybe that's a good thing, considering it's not the most... sightly piece of artwork in the world."
Alex turned on the flashlight on her phone and waved it over the poster.
'Didn't want this to be too little too late because I'm falling for the first time; Please see the humor in the situation and don't tell me to go home because I want to ask you... Prom?'
Alex let out a laugh and Maggie winced. "Too many song titles?"
"These are all from 'Maroon'," Alex said, still laughing a little as she carefully took the poster from her girlfriend. "That's my-"
"Favorite album," Maggie finished, stepping forward to cup her face. "I know."
"Of course you know," Alex murmured, leaning in and brushing their lips together.
"So?" Maggie prompted after she was done being distracted.
Alex raised her eyebrows questioningly.
"Prom?"
"Oh!" Alex let out another laugh. "Yes, of course. The music there isn't nearly Bare Naked Ladies caliber, though."
"Of course it isn't," Maggie said with a sigh. "Nothing is Bare Naked Ladies caliber. Except maybe you."
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"Lots of promposals lately, huh?" Felicity asked casually to Oliver as he walked her to the bus at the end of the day. "I swear every time I step in the hallway someone is holding a sign and someone else is glowing with happiness." She rolled her eyes. "Bit much, if you ask me."
Oliver looked at her, surprise. "Wait, you don't- you think promposals are stupid?"
"Not... stupid, exactly..." Felicity hedged. "I just think that they're a bit overdone. Like seriously- it's a dance that you're going to spend wayyyy too much money on just to go and listen to bad music and eat mediocre food in a dress you'll only wear once. I mean, obviously I want to go to prom, still; it's a part of the high school experience. I just don't get why everyone makes it out to be, like, the best night of a girl's life."
Oliver was still shell-shocked. "I was- I was going to ask you," he said, floundering. "I was going to prompose but I couldn't think of how."
"Oh." Felicity shot him a glance. "Well then... Oliver Queen, do you want to go to prom with me?"
Oliver felt a gigantic weight lift of his chest. "Yes," he said seriously, pulling up to stand facing her. "I want to go to prom with you, Felicity. But are you sure that this is okay? That you didn't want something... a little more romantic?"
"I don't want something showy," Felicity said. "I want you. I want you to show at my door in a suit that makes you look so good I nearly die. I want- I want to get a pretty dress, and take some nice pictures. I want to maybe even go with John and Liyla because it's always more fun to dance it up as a group. That's what I want."
Oliver reached up and grasped her biceps, stepping in a little closer so that he could press his lips to her forehead. "You amaze me," he said honestly. "You utterly bewilder and astound and amaze me. There is no one like you in the world, Felicity."
Felicity blushed. "Aw stahhp," she protested, waving him away bashfully. "There's no one like anyone in the world; scientifically, everyone is genetically unique."
Oliver laughed and put his arm around her, pulling her into a hug. "That's exactly what I mean."
Author's Note: OOOOKAY that was a LOT of promposals in one day LOLOLOL XD (ok it was one day for me. Not for them. This was like... a few weeks for the AV High students)
Missed opportunity- I coulda posted this one on Valentine's Day if I had thought about it! Ah well.