Chapter 26
An Important Question
Diana laid sprawled out on the couch, a glass of wine on the coffee table next to her and a little black velvety box in her hand. She opened the box and snapped it shut over and over again, frustrated and a bit tipsy. She really thought tonight would be the night, but her plans were foiled yet again. It had been about a month since she had asked Akko's parents for their blessing to marry their daughter and she had been so close to asking multiple times. She would summon her courage to ask, but something always seemed to happen before she could. The universe seemed to be against her, or she just had very bad luck, either way it was starting to frustrate her to no end. Diana wanted it to be special, wanted her proposal to be memorable, but at this rate, she'd be lucky to get it out at all.
So here she was, laying on the couch, alone in her apartment with a cold and forgotten meal she had made still sitting on the elegantly set kitchen table. The candles had been long snuffed out after learning that Akko's arrival from her field hockey camp had been delayed by a few hours. Now she was immersed in her own mind, thoughts of the past month's failures swimming through her head as she tried to stay conscious, though the complete silence of the apartment and the wine were not helping. The memory of the weekend after the dinner with Akko's parents began to replay in her mind as her eyes drooped slightly.
Three weeks ago…
"Diana! I'm so excited!" Akko nearly vibrated in her seat as the car neared the large fair that was in town that weekend. "I can't wait for the food!"
Diana chuckled and smiled lovingly at the childish wonder and excitement on the brunette's face. Although this fair happened every year, and she was invited to go by her two closest friends, the blonde had never attended. She always had more important things to do, which meant she had anything else to do because fairs were really not her thing. And due to conflicting schedules the last few years, Akko and Diana had not been able to go together. Or more accurate, the brunette hadn't had the chance to drag the blonde along until now. But this year Diana didn't mind at all because there was a fireworks show scheduled at the end of the night, and she had a very important question she needed to ask her girlfriend. Tonight would be perfect.
"If it was the food you were after, I should have taken you to a nice restaurant instead." Diana smirked as she pulled into an empty spot and turned off the car.
"Oh come on! Eating food at the fair is so much better than eating in some stuffy restaurant." Akko crossed her arms in a faux pout, but her excitement wouldn't allow her to keep the expression for long. "And there are rides and games! Oh! Maybe I'll win a big teddy bear for you to cuddle when I'm away with the team. Because I know you'll miss me." The brunette smiled mischievously and reached over to run her fingers down the side of Diana's face, making the blonde shiver slightly before she grabbed Akko's hand and pulled it away.
"You are unbelievable." Diana stated with an arched eyebrow. "We are not playing this game tonight."
"What is this game you speak of my love?" The brunette feigned innocence as her hand moved to the blonde's thigh before it was slapped away almost immediately.
"Akko." The blonde warned in a low, dangerous voice.
"Diana." Akko imitated her girlfriend's tone but a twitch of her lips gave away her amusement.
The brunette leaned over and found the switch on the side of the driver's seat before pressing it, causing Diana to slowly move farther away from the steering wheel. And although the blonde glared at Akko as she moved backward, she never made an attempt to stop her. Once the seat was as far back as it could go, the brunette climbed over and straddled her girlfriend's thighs.
"Need I remind you, Akko, that we are in public and people can see through these windows." Diana chastised, though her shallow breathing and her racing heart diminished the weight of the scolding.
Akko giggled and just smiled adoringly at the blonde for a long moment as she watched her easily flustered girlfriend's complexion darken with a slight blush.
"Have I ever told you how adorable you are when you're blushing?" The brunette tilted her head and grinned as Diana looked away quickly. Akko reached out and gently took hold of the blonde's chin and brought blue eyes back to meet crimson before she leaned in and captured Diana's lips for a soft, chaste kiss. The brunette smiled into the kiss when she felt the blonde's grip tighten on her t-shirt.
Knock Knock
Akko immediately broke the kiss at the knocking coming from the car window. She had forgotten exactly where she was and hit her head hard on the roof of the car in her surprise of getting caught in this compromising position on top of Diana.
"AH! Owowowow." The brunette rubbed her head vigorously, her eyes closed tightly in pain.
"Akko! Are you-" The blonde started as she held both sides of Akko's face in concern before being cut off by loud laughter just outside the window. The pair finally turned to see who had interrupted them so rudely and weren't surprised at who they found there.
"O'Neill." Diana growled as she sent the iciest glare she could muster at the redhead. Amanda had seemed to grow immune to the blonde's glares over the years, the effectiveness all but nonexistent now. So the only thing she was met with was more laughter.
This is when Hannah popped out from behind her girlfriend with a look of fear on her face before stepping closer to the window and yelling.
"I told her to leave you alone! I promise! I'm sorry!"
"She laughed!" Amanda added, pointing traitorously at the other girl.
"I did not!"
"Yes you did!"
While the pair bickered outside of the car, Diana sighed deeply and turned back to Akko, who still sat on top of her. The brunette was watching Amanda and Hannah in amusement before meeting the blonde's gaze once more.
"Are you okay, Akko?" Diana asked, relaxing a bit as her girlfriend smiled warmly back at her.
"Yeah. We should probably go huh? I don't think Amanda is going to leave now."
A feeling of disappointed crept it's way into the blonde at the thought of not being able to spend this night alone with Akko. While she didn't think it was necessarily selfish to want to spend the evening alone with her girlfriend, she would feel guilty if she kept the brunette away from her best friend. So with a sigh and a reluctant smile, Diana nodded.
"I have a nagging feeling she'll stay out there all night and torment us if we don't." The blonde rolled her eyes playfully and grinned as Akko giggled.
The four girls made their way into fair after paying for tickets and an absurd amount of tokens to play the games, well, for Akko to play the games. But unsurprisingly to Diana, the first booths they visited were for food and desserts. After the brunette had her taste of every sugar filled thing the fair had to offer, they moved to the rides. The blonde wasn't a fan of most of them, but an impromptu make out session at the top of the farris wheel made her want to ride that particular ride again and again. Unfortunately they couldn't because Diana was literally dragged to the games immediately after stepping off. Akko found a game she wanted to play and dug her heels in for the challenge. An hour later and about thirty exclamations of 'one more time' from the brunette, Diana finally had her teddy bear. It wasn't as large as Akko had wanted, but she was very proud of herself anyway.
"Thank you, Akko. I love it." The blonde smiled and hugged the bear.
"Anything for you m'lady." The brunette playfully stated before a long yawn escaped her mouth. "Wow...I'm exhausted."
"Finally coming down from that sugar high? Didn't I tell you this would happen?" Diana smirked and arched her brow.
"...I have no regrets." Akko stuck her tongue and grabbed her girlfriend's hand, leading them toward the exit until the brunette suddenly stopped. "Hey, where did Amanda and Hannah run off to?"
"I'm not sure. They must have disappeared while you were playing the game." The blonde mumbled as she searched the crowds for their friends. Until she remembered that this is exactly what she had wanted to happen at some point that evening. She wanted to get her girlfriend alone to… "I'm...sure they'll catch up with us at some point. Why don't we go find a spot to sit for the fireworks."
"Oh! Right! Let's do that."
Akko and Diana walked hand in hand out of the fair grounds and along the dark pathway through the city park, the moon shown bright in the sky and the stars twinkled like the finest of jewels. It made for a very romantic mood as they made their way to the viewing spot for the firework show that would begin at any moment. The night was ending just how the blonde had wanted it to, but her nerves began coursing through her body and butterflies flapped relentlessly in her stomach as she began to go over how she was going to propose.
"Hey, are you okay, Diana? Your hand is shaking."
Diana looked over at her concerned girlfriend in surprise and then down to their interlocked fingers where she noticed she had a rather tight grip on Akko's hand.
"My apologies, Akko. I was just lost in thought for a moment." The blonde looked around them to make sure they were still far away from the crowded area as she slid her free hand into her jacket pocket and wrapped her fingers around the small box. She raised her girlfriend's hand and kissed her knuckles before continuing. "I'm fine."
They stood silently gazing into each other's eyes for a moment before a loud boom sounded out and the first fireworks of the night lit up the sky. Both girls turned to watch as one firework after another was set off, various colored sparks dancing around one another in the air. Diana took a deep breath and decided this was the moment. She turned back to her girlfriend with determination and was about to speak but paused at the rather odd expression on Akko's face.
"Akko?"
"Diana, I don't feel very good."
And with that, the perfect moment ended as the sick brunette sprinted to the nearest garbage can and emptied the contents of her stomach.
Present...
The blonde rubbed her eyes before she narrowed them at the offending box in her hand as if her bad luck was this object's fault. If she was being honest though, her life with Akko was always chaotic. These things happened all the time and she could count on one hand how many times things played out as she had planned since they started dating, but she wished for once that this one thing would go her way. Just this one thing.
Suddenly Diana's phone buzzed, the tone letting her know that she had a message. She quickly pulled it out and swiped the screen to reveal that Akko had texted her.
Hey babe. We just got into the city. See you in about 20 minutes.
The blonde quickly texted back a reply, telling Akko to drive safe before she set the phone on the table and closed her eyes. Maybe she was over thinking this. Did she really need a grand gesture to propose? She had thought so. Like the week after the fair when she had the great idea of stargazing. A romantic proposal beneath the stars. Well, it was a great idea until…
Two weeks ago…
"Wow, Diana. My favorite homemade tarts and a bottle of expensive wine? What's the occasion?" Akko turned to Diana who turned the car onto the winding road that led to their favorite spot for stargazing overlooking the city. "You do know my birthday isn't for another couple weeks right?" She asked playfully, poking the blonde in the side for good measure and earning a shove to the shoulder in return.
"Hush you." Diana chuckled. "I figured we could use a nice relaxing night in the mountains together. It was a rather busy week."
"Well, I appreciate the gesture. But just so you know, a long as I'm with you, I'm happy. No matter what we're doing." The brunette leaned over and rested her head on the blonde's shoulder with a content sigh.
Diana leaned her head on her girlfriend's as she smiled widely at Akko's statement. She was reminded yet again at how lucky she was to have the brunette in her life. Without even trying, Akko filled her with so much warmth every day, making her feel loved with every glance and touch. She was lucky indeed.
Of course, while Diana felt lucky in one regard, she seemed to be very unlucky in another, again. The car suddenly made a loud noise and jolted slightly, making the girls jump in surprise.
"What the..." Akko questioned, looking at the blonde with her eyebrows raised.
"I don't know." Diana replied as she slowed the car and stopped on the side of the road.
They both quickly got out of the car and circled it until they found the problem. A flat tire. The blonde rubbed her forehead in frustration as they stood there in silence, staring at the flat tire like it would magically repair itself.
"Uh...Diana?"
"Yes, Akko?" The blonde answered in annoyance.
"Do you know how to change a tire?"
"..."
"I take that glare as a no."
"...I'll call someone."
"Hey, Diana?"
"What, Akko?"
"Can I eat the tarts."
"...If you wish."
Present…
Akko stepped off the elevator and tiredly made her way towards their apartment door. She yawned as she unlocked the door and opened it before entering. After she closed the door, she took off her backpack with a satisfied sigh, happy to get the heavy thing off. The brunette turned to walk toward the kitchen and stopped in her tracks when she saw the table that was no doubt set for a romantic meal. There was one lonely plate of a half eaten meal still sitting on the table along with an opened bottle of wine. A wave a guilt flowed through Akko as she stared brokenhearted at the scene. She had planned on being home two hours ago but didn't inform her girlfriend soon enough apparently. Why had she waited so long? The brunette rubbed the back of her neck and growled at herself in frustration as she tried to figure out what she was going to say to Diana now. It was late though, and there was a good chance that the blonde was already asleep as most of the lights had been turned off, so she began walking toward the hallway where their bedroom resided. Before she made it there, however, she noticed the glass of wine on the coffee table in the living room and peeked over the back of the couch. The blonde lay on the couch fast asleep, one arm and one leg hung off the side. Akko shook a bit in silent laughter at the utterly adorable sight. She would be happier to see Diana if she hadn't just put the blonde through a no doubt terrible couple hours. The brunette walked around the couch and knelt down beside the sleeping blonde before gently shaking her shoulder.
"Dianaaa." Akko called out softly, but was only met with a quiet groan, Diana only shifting a bit before she became still once more. The brunette chewed on her lip as she tried shaking the blonde once more. "Hey, babe. I'm home." Nothing happened. Thinking that her efforts had no effect, Akko made to stand up but was stopped with a hand grasping her shirt and pulling weakly. The brunette smiled adoringly as she let Diana pull her down until she lay on top of the blonde, who wrapped her arms tightly around the brunette's waist. Akko nuzzled into the crook of Diana's neck before placing a kiss on her jawline.
"Welcome home." The blonde mumbled before kissing the top of the brunette's head in return.
"I'm sorry I was late for dinner." Akko whispered sadly.
"What din..." Diana's eyes shot open immediately as she remembered why she had made dinner, and what she had been looking at before she fell asleep. 'THE RING!' She screamed internally. "Oh my god." The blonde panicked, rolling herself and Akko off of the couch and onto the floor.
"Wha...oof!" The brunette let out a guttural noise as she hit the floor and her girlfriend fell on top of her. "Hey! Wha-"
"Where is it?" Diana whispered to herself as she searched frantically for the box, digging her hands in between the couch cushions.
"Where is what?" Akko stood up slowly and watched her girlfriend in confusion.
Finally Diana felt the velvety texture of the box in the corner of the couch and sighed in relief. Her relief was quickly washed away, though, when she realized that Akko was watching her intently, waiting for her to pull out whatever she had been looking for like a crazy person. In her mind she had two options. Either she pull it out and try to hide it, try being the keyword as Akko would no doubt try to pry it out of her hand, not thinking it was anything serious. Or she could propose right here and now. She was already on her knees, this could be the moment. It didn't have to be a perfect moment, she now realized, because the moment she proposed, it would turn into that perfect moment she'd been waiting for. If only she had come to the realization sooner.
"Uh...Diana?"
Diana's grip on the box tightened at the sound of her girlfriend's voice. She breathed deeply a few times before pulling the box out, still making sure that Akko couldn't see it for the time being. The blonde turned on her knees to find the brunette looking down at her curiously with an arched brow. Diana's heartbeat pounded loudly in her ears as she swallowed thickly and wet her lips with her tongue.
"Akko," The blonde shifted her weight, bringing one leg up until she was now only kneeling on one knee. Akko's eyes went wide as she brought her hands quickly up to cover her mouth. "you bring me happiness that I never thought was possible, that I never thought I deserved. And the love you show me day in and day out still amazes me. You are my light, Akko. You are my world. I love you more than anything." Diana held out the box and opened it, revealing the beautiful ring in all it's sparkling glory. Akko gasped behind her hands as she glanced down at it before locking eyes with the blonde once more. "All I ask is that you continue to let me love you for the rest of your life...as your wife. Will you marry me?
The brunette stood there, frozen in shock for a long moment. With each passing second of silence, Diana grew more nervous at the lack of an answer. Suddenly Akko's shoulders slumped.
"Shit." The brunette whispered loudly.
"...Pardon?" The blonde was horrified as her stomach dropped at the reaction.
"Oh! No! I mean...yes! I mean...uh.." Akko's waved her hands in front of her frantically after realizing what she'd said.
"I..." Diana had no idea how to process what her girlfriend was saying.
"Just...uh...hold on." The brunette vaulted over the couch and ran down the hallway, leaving a baffled blonde kneeling on the floor with the ring in her hand. Diana blinked a few times before looking worriedly down at the ring until she heard Akko running back to her, vaulting over the couch once more and landing right in front of her. The brunette knelt down, mirroring Diana and cleared her throat. "I...uh...sorry about that. Um..."
Akko pulled her own small box out of her sweatshirt pocket and held it out like her girlfriend had before and opened the box to reveal the ring resting inside. The blonde's jaw dropped at the sight of the shining silver ring with a large, pristine princess cut diamond set at the top. Diana's gaze snapped back to Akko's as she continued to speak.
"You kinda beat me to the punch." The brunette laughed nervously. "But I want to do this before I give you my answer. So...Diana, from the day I met you, you had always held a piece of my heart. And every day you claimed more and more until my whole heart belonged to you. And if I had more to give, I would happily give it to you freely. Because I am SO in love with you, Diana Cavendish. And I know nothing I could say or do could ever express how much I love you, but I plan on trying to show you just how much you mean to me until my last breath. Will you marry me?"
Diana didn't know when the tears began to role down her face, but she wiped them away quickly and smiled warmly at the love of her life.
"You answer first." The blonde's voice cracked slightly as she chuckled at the look Akko gave her, the look that told Diana that her girlfriend was about to protest.
"But-"
"I proposed first. So you answer first."
"Rock, paper, scissors?"
"Akko!"
"YES!" Akko finally exclaimed with a joyous smile after teasing Diana, because she was just so fun to tease. The blonde smiled back brightly and sighed in relief before giggling softly as the brunette wiped away a few of her own stray tears. "Now you."
"A thousand times yes. Nothing would make me happier than to be your wife, Akko."
Akko let out a squeal and shook in place, doing a little dance as Diana watched with a loving smile on her face.
"May I?" Diana asked as she held up the ring after the brunette calmed down. Akko nodded vigorously and held out her left hand. The blonde took the ring out of the box and slid it easily onto the brunette's ring finger before bringing it to her lips and kissing it.
"My turn!" Akko stated excitedly as her shaking hand grasped the ring out of the box, fumbling with it a bit before managing to slide it onto Diana's ring finger.
With another squeal, the brunette lunged forward and all but tackled her fiance to the floor. They laughed out loud as they lay in a crumpled heap, both feeling happier than they had ever imagined they could be. After catching her breath, Akko pushed herself up until she was hovering over Diana, smiling like a fool. The blonde reached up and caressed her fiance's cheek before sliding her hand around to the back of Akko's neck and pulling her down for a passionate kiss. Their lips worked in tandem until both girls needed air, Diana reluctantly pulled away first before inhaling deeply as the brunette rested her forehead against the blonde's. They gazed lovingly into each others eyes for what felt like eternity before either of them spoke.
"I love you, Diana."
"I love you more."