It was the final show. You had done so many, and it felt strange that it was all coming to an end. During some of the shows, you were exhausted and didn't want to perform the same songs over and over again.

But now that it was your last one, you felt like you might burst into tears. You would miss everyone. The cast had become your family. You were going to give this performance 110%.

You had totally forgotten about the weird encounter with Oak, Daveed, and Leslie. You forgot that Lin was most likely a part of it. So what he did caught you by surprise.

Lin had said that he was going to slow down the music in "Helpless" between the lyrics "I'm just saying, if you really loved me, you should share him. Ha!" and "Two weeks later, in the living room stress'n..." for a very vague reason that he wouldn't go into. He just said that it would make the moment more romantic.

Lin looked even more nervous than usual before the show started. Usually, he was pretty chill, and just needed you to calm a few of his nerves, then was good to go. But tonight, he was messing with his fingers, mumbling what sounded like his lines under his breath, and pacing back and forth.

"Hey, Lin, it's going to be okay. You've done this like a hundred times before," you say, setting your hand on his arm gently.

He turns to you, worry still shining in his eyes. "Um, yeah. I guess I'm just nervous since I switched the blocking in 'Helpless' last minute. Was that a dumb thing to do?"

"No, Lin, of course not." You put your hands on the sides on his face. "You made this show. You know what's best for it. If that's what needed to be done, then it's good you did it. Plus, it's the last show. You're finishing off strong."

He smiles, then pulls your hands off his face and holds them in his. "I love you."

You smile back. "I love you too."

Lin kisses you and doesn't stop until he hears Aaron singing his opening lines, then slowly pulls away.

"Break a leg, Lin," you say, still grinning.

Confidence breaks through his anxious exterior. "You too."

The show goes very smoothly. Everyone was putting all their effort into the show, and you could really feel the extra energy onstage.

But you almost started crying during "Schuyler Sisters" when you, Renee, and Jasmine all looked at each other and smiled. You would really miss them. They had started to feel like they were your real sisters.

You smile through "Farmer Refuted" and "You'll Be Back", and lip synch along with "Right Hand Man".

Then, it was time for "Helpless".

Near the end of "A Winter's Ball", Renee and Daveed come over to you while you're waiting off stage.

"Hey, Y/N," Daveed whispers.

"Hey," you reply, going over your lines in your head.

"You know how to go along with things that happen on stage, right?" , Renee asks. "For example, if someone did blocking or something that was off-script?"

"...Yeah?"

"And, sometimes, don't you think people put their real emotions into songs and lines?", Daveed asks.

"I guess? Guys, what's-"

"That's your cue. Go!"

You hurry onstage, still very confused. "Oh, I do I do I do I do! Hey!"

It might've just been the energy from the last show, or it might've been the fact that Anthony and Jasmine finally got together, but during this performance of 'Helpless', everyone seemed a lot more excited and energetic.

They also glanced at you a lot. Were they worried you would mess up? That you would trip over your dress? That you couldn't handle the change Lin made to the blocking? Although you really wanted to figure it out, you just had to go along with it and get through the scene.

Finally, Renee sings, "I'm just saying, if you really loved me, you would share him."

"Ha!", you scoff.

Then, the music slows to this beautiful, romantic song that somehow still fits in with "Helpless".

Lin was so talented.

Suddenly, Lin comes out from offstage, clutching a small square in his hand.

His eyes don't leave yours as he walks over, his stride seeming less confident than usual.

He stops in front of you, and you stare into his chocolate eyes.

Slowly, Lin gets down on one knee.

Your hands immediately fly over your mouth, but then the hard truth hits you. Lin was proposing as Hamilton, not as Lin-Manuel Miranda. Disappointment replaces the excitement you had felt just seconds before.

"Elizabeth Schuyler..." Lin discreetly takes one hand and covers his mic. "Y/N L/N..."

A smile goes wide across your face as the pieces of all the strange things that have happened click into place.

Oak, Daveed, and Leslie made sure you were going to be at the last show.

Renne and David said that sometimes people put how they actually feel into their acting.

Lin changed the blocking to propose to you.

Lin is proposing to you.

Lin is proposing to you!

"I love you, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I don't know how I survived before I knew you, and I never want to go back to that. You balance me out, and I... I just love you." Lin chuckles nervously, then opens the ring box to reveal a silver band with a light blue vine pattern on it. How had he remembered?

The first day of Hamilton rehearsals, one year ago...

"Oh. My. Gosh." You flopped down onto the hard, plastic seat in the break room. "This show is going to be so much work." Realizing that you might've been being mean, you added quickly, "I mean, it's amazing, of course, but the whole show is songs. That's a heck of a lot of work."

Daveed nodded. "I know. I mean, Lin is incredibly talented, but 'Hamilton' is going to need a lot of late nights and early days."

"Yeah. I love Lin just as much as the next person, but-"

You stopped short when Lin walked in.

He raised his eyebrows at you. "Oh, Y/N, gossiping about me?" He gestured toward you. "Go ahead. I can take it."

"No, I wasn't gossiping about you," you scoffed fakely. "I was gossiping about... when you and Vanessa are going to get married! You've been together for what, a couple years now? When are you crazy kids getting hitched?"

Lin kept a straight face as he took a sip of his coffee. "Um, I'm not sure." He eyed you. "I have a much better game than interrogating me on my love life." He made a big gesture with his right hand, the one that wasn't holding his coffee mug. "Dream proposal and ring." Lin nodded his head toward you. "Y/N. Go."

"Oh. Um..." You shrugged. "I don't know. Just some sort of simple proposal that showed that he wouldn't mind spending the whole rest of his life with me. And as for a ring..." You glanced down at your bare finger. "Maybe a silver one with some sort of blue swirly design? I like silver better than gold."

Lin smiled.

"That's cute, Y/N," Jasmine said.

Lin raised his coffee as some sort of toast then took another drink. "Noted. I'll be sure your future husband knows."

Turns out, your future husband already knew.

Present

"It was so incredibly hard to not tell you how I felt. How much I loved you and wanted to be with you, when the whole world thought otherwise, and I couldn't correct them." You realize that he's straying from trying to connect the proposal to "Hamilton", but you were pretty sure everyone thought it was too cute to care. You included. "And now, I can say openly how much I love you- and how I've never been more sure of anything than the fact that I want to spend the rest of my life with you- whether that ends up being only a few years, or a hundred years. There's no one I'd rather go through it with than you." He grins nervously. "So-" He covers his mic again. "Y/N L/N-" He removes his hand. "Will you marry me?"

You think of the way Lin looks at you- like you're everything- and know that was exactly the look that you were giving him now.

You smile wide. "Yes. Of course, yes." Honestly, though- did he think you would say no?

His small grin widens and he slips the ring on your finger. Lin stands, wraps his arms around you, and kisses you, causing cheers to erupt from the audience and from offstage.

After the show, the cast was going crazy. Everyone was congratulating you and Lin, saying how they knew it from the beginning, and looking at the ring. It was a lot of social interaction, and it exhausted you.

"Wanna get out of here?", you whisper to Lin so that no one else could hear.

"Whoa, Y/N, I've never known you to be seductive." Lin raises his eyebrows at you.

You glare and hit him on the arm. "You know that I didn't mean it like that."

His stoic expression breaks and he laughs. "Yeah, yeah, I know." He smiles at you. "Are you ready, future Mrs. Miranda?"

You smile back at him. "I've been ready since I met you, Mr. Miranda."

He intertwines your hand with his, and you walk out, ready for your new life together.