Back in 1996, during a middle school field trip to Washington, D.C., Matt Whitmer and Leigh Lacy snuck away for a brief moment in the National Archives building while their 8th grade classmates clustered around the Bill of Rights.

They grabbed hands and searched for a little privacy.

Leigh Lacy

Matt Whitmer and Leigh Lacy on the 8th grade field trip.

Earl McDonald for the National Archives

And here they are today.

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They found a nook near the original Declaration of Independence. And there, on marble floors, they kissed — ever so quickly — before rejoining the group.

But, of course, the puppy love didn't last. They were fickle, and being in middle school, not quite ready to commit to a lifetime together.

But they both ended up at Miami University of Ohio and as freshmen, they flirted over texts, and then started dating for real.

After college, they moved to Atlanta together. Whitmer got a job with an ad agency. Lacy started teaching 7th grade math Snellville Middle School.

Recently, they returned to the site of that middle school field trip – the National Archives. This time, at the Declaration of Independence, Whitmer got down on one knee.

"It was 12 years ago we had our first kiss. I love you and want 12 million more ... Will you marry me?" he asked.

Lacy said yes, sending hundreds of history buffs and staffers into thunderous applause.

Their proposal is believed to be the first ever at the National Archives building, home to billions of documents including the Apollo 11 Flight Plan and a letter from Elvis to President Nixon. It attracts more than 1 million visitors every year, including historians and genealogists. And in recent years, it's gotten a boost from the 2004 movie, "National Treasure."

Staffers, who learned about the recent proposal ahead of time, enthusiastically gathered in the Rotunda for the big question.

We have some hardened cynical people here, and they dropped everything," said Miriam Kleiman, public affairs specialist for the National Archives.

Even Allen Weinstein, archivist of the United States, cleared his schedule to be there to witness the engagement. Afterward, the presidential appointee invited the couple into his office and recited a Robert Frost poem: "The heart can think of no devotion. Greater than being shore to ocean. Holding the curve of one position. Counting an endless repetition."