HEADCANON THAT TONY DIDN'T PROPOSE TO PEPPER, BUT SHE PROPOSED TO HIM.
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*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
Tony didn't propose at the end of homecoming, he thought it wasn't right, too invasive, too public, especially after all that had happened.
For weeks on end he was tormented by planning it properly, not as over-the-top as he would in any other time, but he wanted it to be done to make Pepper feel so special. No giant bunny this time. He's messed up so many times in the past, this has to be perfect.
If he screws it up, she might leave for good. And he can't live without her now.
In the end, she proposes to him. They're at his house, they've had a meal and Pepper walks out to see him on the balcony. She knows what he's been doing, and how stressed he's been.
As he's looking out she comes up behind him and rests her head on his shoulder. He keeps his eyes focused out, but all she sees is him.
"So," She muses into his ear with a smirk. "Are you going to marry me or what?"
He lets out a laugh, but he knows that he hasn't slept in weeks trying to plan a proposal. But his mind was so consumed that he never realised just a few words, in their home would work perfectly. But he didn't know if she was joking or not.
"Are you sure about this? Because I've got lots of baggage, a side gig that drives me crazy, a best friend that isn't going anywhere, ever, and then there's that kid that seriously needs some support... you really want to cash all your chips in on me?" By this point he turned to her, his back against the view and his hands on her hips, smiling at how beautiful she looked that day.
"I'm pretty sure I cashed all my chips in 10 years ago." This time she laughed, but the sparkle in his eyes made her stare.
It only took a second, but the gravity of the situation soon sets in. Neither of them were commitment people.
"We're really going to do this, huh? God, there's so much to do. Rhodey will kill me if he's not my best man, of course, but that's fine because I'm sure Happy would love nothing more than to terrorize potential wedding crashers. I guess it'd have to be a quiet ceremony after everything that's happened, but we can make it work-"
This time she quiets him, stopping his mouth with her own. When she pulls away she meets his gaze, still as intense as it has always been but this time full of love. Because some people wear their heart on their sleeve, but his had always been in his eyes.
"Your a hopeless romantic, you know. A balcony, really? Don't think I didn't catch that reference." She wraps her arms around him, the stubble on his chin bristles against her neck.
"I barely remember that night." She whispered quietly into him. Even though he can't see her face he knows she's blushing.
"You don't remember almost kissing me on that balcony? And then trying to drink away the tension with a vodka martini, extra dry, extra olives? I don't think I'll ever not remember the sight of you in that ridiculous black dress with no back." He laughed, his mind flashing back to the first time he saw her in that dress.
She stays quiet for a moment, but then lets out a quiet "My dress was blue.".
He moves backwards, and as he looks into her eyes his lips tug into a smile. "I know. I just needed you to admit that you are disgustingly sentimental."
Pepper moves to hit him on the arm, but he quickly catches her and kisses her quickly. Her arm moves down to his chest, meeting the scar from his arc reactor.
The thing that proved he had a heart. He didn't need it anymore, though, cause all the proof was stood opposite him. And he knew that this time, he would do right by her.
And he stayed on the balcony as long as she did, not daring to leave her there once again.
