The crowd was insane. It was a cross-town rivalry decades in the making: The Bruins of UCLA and the Trojans of USC. Danielle stood on the sidelines with the rest of the cheer team in their glittering red, white, and gold uniforms. And it finally dawned on her that this would be one of the last times she would be wearing it. Her Senior season was coming to an end and in a few weeks, she would no longer be standing on the grass at the L.A. Coliseum as a Trojan cheerleader. She got close with her stunt group, and counted off, clapping her hands when they reached '7'. In the next count, they lifted Alyssa into the air and held her steady as she lifted her leg into a Lib.
"Cradling. Ready? One, two," She said, switching her hands and catching her flyer perfectly. They set her on the ground and ended clean, the audience in front of them cheering for them. She smiles and waves her hand, trying to fire up the already excited crowd. It made her feel like she was glowing, like it always did; ever since she put on a cheer uniform at the age of four.
They watched as the opposing team ran out, their band, cheerleaders, and fans going crazy as they entered the stadium and began warm-ups on the clapped politely, all the while thinking 'yeah, yeah, but we're better.'
Coach Nelson gathers them together, telling them to get ready as their team was next.
The announcer came over the loudspeaker and introduced their team. And as they ran out through the tunnel, Dani clapped and danced and sang along to their fight song, just as she had done a million times before. But this time felt better; more energy, more love.
As the game got going, their team scored a touchdown pretty quickly, which grew the energy in the stadium even more. But by halftime, they were down by twelve, and the football coach led his team off the field angry and spewing obscenities, some of which Danielle had never even heard before.
While the band performed Dani took a minute to scan the crowd to look for her, not that she was expecting her to be there. Football wasn't really Ashley's thing, so she didn't go to many games. But since they started dating, Ashley did attend more games just to see her girlfriend on the field performing; doing what she loved. And after graduating, though she was busy with internships and work, Ashley still made an effort to go to as many games as she could
"Dani. Danielle! Come on!" Jenna got her attention and after getting a quick drink from her water bottle, she followed the rest of her team onto the field.
As they struck their opening poses, Dani looked at the crowd again, absorbing their energy and using that to be in the moment and enjoy one of her last halftime performances. It was two minutes and thirty seconds that passed by in a blur, but she came off smiling and breathing heavy and energized, so it must have gone well.
Dani was too absorbed in catching her breath and guzzling down water to notice the person, who technically wasn't allowed down there, waking up to them. She turns at Jenna tapping her shoulder and drops her water bottle, her jaw dropping in disbelief.
"How did you-" but before she can finish her question, Ashley is grabbing her face, pulling her close and kissing her. Hard.
Ashley breaks the seal of Dani's mouth and pushes her tongue inside the warm and wet cavern of her girlfriend's mouth. They kiss a few more times, just as equally passionate, before one of them, though they don't know who, ends it.
Ashley rests her forehead against Dani's, waiting for her heart and breath to slow down before she can speak.
"How did you get down here? I thought you had work?" Danielle asks. Not even bothering to ask how she got onto the field, which is heavily secured to discourage things like this from happening; though knowing her girlfriend, Ashley found a way.
"I did," she confesses. "But I couldn't concentrate, and I knew that if I didn't say what I needed to say to you, I was going to explode."
"What do you mean?" Dani asks, confused.
"I love you." Ashley laughs, kissing her again, taking Dani's hands in hers. "I love you. I've been in love with you since you held my sister's hand when she walked through that 'Walking Dead' thing at Universal the first time. Since I saw how you assimilated yourself into my family with ease the first time you met them." At that, Danielle lets out a watery laugh at the memory. "No one could handle my Aunt Anna the first time they met her, but you did. I love you." Ashley's eyes are full of tears and love and both girls are gripping each other's hands, their fingers laced together.
"I love you, too," Dani smiles. And in the next second, Ashley lets go, steps back and gets down on one knee in front of her girlfriend.
"I love you and I wanted to know, Danielle Castle, if you will marry me." She's crying, eyes upturned to the blonde before her, the dimples in her cheeks on full display.
Danielle feels the pressure in her ears from the crowd cheering (and in the moment she thinks it's for the game still being played, not from the proposal happening on the sidelines). She sobs, every emotion flooding her; tears are streaming down her face. "Yes," she finally says. "Yes."
They are both crying now. And laughing, and hugging and kissing each other. And when Ashley slides the ring she didn't realize she had onto her finger, Danielle cries again. It was beautiful: a simple silver band weaved together with a strand of tiny diamonds.
"Oh my god," Dani gasps when it's on her finger and glittering in the fall sunlight.
"Do you like it?" Ashley asks, nervous of her fiance's reaction.
"I love it," Danielle says, nodding her head.
"Good," Ashley smiles, grabbing Dani's face and kissing her again.
Their moment is broken when a security officer comes over and tells Ashley that she shouldn't be down there and she had to leave.
"Just a second," Ashley tells him, holding up a finger to the burly cop. She whips around and kisses Danielle one last time. And walks away with the cop to the sounds of her fiance hysterically laughing, and the crowd behind them, who had seen the entire thing projected on the big screen, cheering.