Big Red's pov:

Today was a day I will never forget, and not for good reasons either

It was tech week for the fall semester show at East High as a senior which marks a full year since Ashlyn and I pretty much became a thing. Ok, maybe we weren't officially a thing until after our opening night kiss, but this was the first week we really became close and the first week we had a pretty good incling that we liked each other (thanks to a few compliments that turned into accidental flirting). This is the week we consider to be our anniversary

I ran up to my girlfriend once everyone was in costume for our first dress rehearsal with full tech

"Happy anniversary! You know I'm a sucker for flowers sooo"

I pulled the pot of pink roses out from behind my back and watched her face light up with that charming sparkle in her eyes.

"Awe Biggie! They're beautiful!"

She fawned squeezing the pot with a pink ribbon circling the outside of it.

"And you know I'm a sucker for crystals and homemade crafty things sooo"

She set the flowers on the table next to the vanity mirror she was at and pulled out two small jewelry bags handing one to me.

I pulled out a shinny bracelet with blue crystals beaded together

"You made this? I mean why am I surprised because what can't you do but wow- This looks professionally made!"

"Thank you! I have a matching one!"

She pulled out a bracelet from the other bag that looked the same but with deep purple crystals

"They're some of my lucky crystals formed into a bracelet, too bad we're not allowed to wear them with our costumes. I could use a bit of extra luck out there with me this weekend"

"Oh please, if anyone doesn't need luck it's you. You're a whole powerhouse and then some"

She looked down at her character boots with a stupid grin on her face for a moment seeming touched

"You don't need it either, you're the cutest and most talented tap dancing snowman ever!"

She gave me a playful rub on the shoulder

"Not as talented as our gorgeous princess Anna over here"

"Stooppp!"

She giggled as Natalie came in announcing that they were lining everyone up for a mic check

We pecked each other on the lips quickly and headed off to the bomb shelter together

I didn't go on until late in Act 1 and Ashlyn had quite a few early scenes off as well so we found ourselves watching my little sister Hannah who is a freshman this year and Gina kill young Anna and Elsa from the wings

"I feel like such a proud mom"

Ashlyn said smiling as the two pranced around the stage. Over the past few months, Hannah had become a sister to Ashlyn, they were constantly hanging out with Gina and bonding over hair and nail dates. They instantly got along when I first introduced them after Beauty and the Beast and they became close pretty quickly (which I'm super happy about considering they're (fingers crossed) future sister in laws)

"Same but a dad or whatever"

I said smiling as well

"You inherently just called yourself a dad to your sister"

She pointed out

"Yeah that sounded a little weird but I'm so proud of her. She picked up all these skills in two in a half months"

"So did you last year, don't sell yourself short. Lefou was your first ever role and you were amazing"

I grinned as we watched the two waltz into a series of intricate ballet moves around a stuffed Olaf

"Their competive dance backgrounds definitely help"

Ashlyn stated as the two rose on their tip- toes in pointe shoes and Gina spinned young Anna around, all while keeping up with the lyrics of "A little bit of you"

"Can you believe that girl tried to rope me into taking a ballet class with her?"

I laughed as Gina picked Hannah up and spinned her around and Hannah suddenly collapsed in character as Nina playing Queen Iduna and Carlos playing King Aggnar came running onstage aside young Anna

"I bet you'd be really good at it, I mean look at the way you tap dance"

"No way, they're completely different. And I'm not graceful"

"Naww, that's not true"

"Have you met me Ash? The first time we interacted was when I tripped up the steps and dropped everything in my hands my Sophmore year and you helped me pick all my crap up. I was intimidated that a Caswell had to witness me in that embarrassing state"

I blabbed dramatically

"Meh, happens to the best of us. I've tripped up the stairs on numerous occasions"

She replied

"Gracefully though, besides I think I'd stick with tap even if I wasn't clumsy, it's way more lowkey. Ballet instructors scare me, especially the tall Russian ones."

"Vaild, they seem intense"

Ashlyn nodded

"Besides, Hannah only managed to get me to join her tap class because there was another boy in her group and I was bored, you know that"

I continued

"Hey but you ended up hooked. I could watch you tap all day"

"And I could listen to you sing all day, call it even?"

The curtains closed as the King and Queen excited the stage and the crew set up for "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?"

"That's my cue! Gotta go!"

She kissed me on the forehead

"Break a leg, but not another wrist please?"

I quietly shouted after her

"I'll try!"

She called after me as she and Kourtney ran to their places behind a prop to wait for their appearances in the next scene.

I watched as Hannah and Gina started the song and it soon switched over to Ashlyn and Kourtney as the adult version of their respective characters. I gave my little sis a quick hug as she excited the stage and turned my attention back to Ashlyn

That same amazed smile that I get everytime I listen to her grew across my face as Ashlyn's lovely voice filled up the auditorium

The smile didn't fade until the very end of "For the First Time in Forever" when she suddenly stopped singing and gripped her waist with both hands

"I know it all ends tomorrow
So it has to be today
'Cause- hold on"

I watched as her face turned to a pained scowl, my heart dropping as she pressed her lips together and squeezed her eyes shut, dropping onto her knees and hunching her body over to lay her head on the stage

I rather aggressively shoved a few ensemble members out of the way in panic as I ran to her, being the first one (besides Kourtney who was already on stage) to be by her side followed by Gina, Hannah and Nina who sat beside Kourtney on the otherside of me, and everyone else just scattered off in a circle around her looking stunned and concerned

"Ash? Baby? What's going on?"

I gently stroked the top of her spine waiting for a reply that didn't come, instead she just squeezed her eyes even harder and shook her head slightly making me fill with even more worry as my heart was already beating out of my chest

All in that sudden moment, the lighting crew turned on the mainlights and turned off any spotlights that were on, the pit orchestra musicians stopped playing and were all starring at the scene. The only noise in the room was from Ashlyn who started crying and Seb who followed suit crying with her while being comforted by an equally frightened looking Carlos

"Honey, you need to speak to me so we can help you. What's hurting?"

An alarmed Miss Jenn asked as she was kneeling in front of her while on the phone with the school nurse

"Garbage"

Ashlyn croaked, ignoring her question as she started gagging and a startled Miss Jenn jumped back, looked away and left the stage still on the phone, clearly not a fan of throw up

"On it!"

Ricky immediately shouted as he ran backstage as did Nina and Kourtney. The three of them came back in less than 10 seconds tops. Ricky shoved the smallest trash can he could find in front of her as Nina and Kourtney waited until she was done puking with her teal hydroflask that Nina had just fully filled for her, and a bottle of ibuprofen that Kourtney dug out of her back pack

Most people took a few steps back or at least closed their eyes at the sight. It was just the five of us (Hannah, Gina, Kourtney, Nina and I) that stayed by her side seemingly unphased while my poor girlfriend spilled her guts out. I held her double braids and curled front strands of her hair back with my left hand while my other hand rested on her shoulder

"Sorry"

She whispered as she pushed the garbage can out of the way when finished and curled up next to me on the floor, burying her head in my lap and bringing her knees to her chest in a sidelying position. Ashlyn remained crying and clutching around her stomach with one hand and the other grasping mine for dear life

"No worries"

I whispered back sliding the back of my hand down her face. She felt fine temperature wise but something was definitely majorly wrong. That girl has a crazy high pain tolerance and a stubborn attitude when it comes to breaking character on stage and not finishing a scene. Even just allowing herself to take a day off outside of theater is something I don't think I've ever seen her do despite my attempts to convince her to. We're talking about the girl who went through tech week and three shows as the lead last year on two broken bones and never complained once, to say seeing her like this is terrifying is an understatement

She forced herself to sit up slightly as Nina unscrewed the lid to her waterbottle for her and Kourtney shook a few pills into the bottle's cap and helped her pop them into her mouth with her shaking hands

Moments later, Miss Jenn reappeared looking even more stressed than before as she kneeled back down to where Ashlyn was curled up against me

"I called 911 and help is on its way, hang in there"

Ashlyn only managed a nod as Miss Jenn rubbed her shoulder. Her cries soon turned into full blown sobs as I sat there messaging her back in circles, trying to provide as much comfort as physically possible given the obvious distress she was in

Suddenly it got quiet, too quiet

Ashlyn was no longer crying, or speaking for that matter. I shook her and got no response, my heart racing way faster than I thought it ever could

"Ash?"

...

"Ashlyn can you hear me?"

...

"ASHLYN!"

...

I ran my fingers over her chest, sure enough there was a steady heartbeat. I let out a major sigh of relief

Everyone in the auditorium was holding their breath with their eyes fixated on me, as if waiting for me to deliver the verdict

"Um guys, she's unconscious"

I told them brinking on tears of my own