This had to be perfect.
It had to be. There was no way he could fail.
Tony started to put on his coat, gloves, and hat. Then, he started shaking his head and laughing in disbelief. He was fucking Iron Man! He fought terrorists, a crazy angered fan/nemesis that had almost killed Pepper and him (yes you, Killian), and he had survived shrapnel shards that had almost killed him more times than he could count. Hell, he had survive meeting two Norse Gods of legend for heaven's sake!
But this… this he couldn't fail at. And he was fearing the worst (because, let's face it, there was great chance that this could go wrong).
Tony was freaking out. If the slightest thing went wrong, his happiness was at stake. And potentially his life. He swore he was going to throw himself out a window if this didn't go right.
"This has to be perfect! Come on Tony, man up. It'll be fine. Loom at yourself in the mirror and see the self-confidence." He looked at himself in the mirror and, unfortunately, did not see his famous billionaire-playboy-philanthropist-superhero self-confidence.
"Oh shit, it's not going to work. Fucking damnit... Why are you doing this Tony? What if she says no. What if she laughs? What if fucking Killian come back from the dead and fucks shit up?! What if she-"
Steve popped his head in Tony's room. "Hey, are you ready? It's almost time to go, and Pepper really wants to go ice skating like right now."
Tony ran to dresser and grabbed something. "Yeah, sure, hold on…"
"Tony." Steve came over and put his hand on the billionaire's shoulder. "Relax. It'll be fine. Pepper will love it. Trust me."
Tony raised an eyebrow. "How do you know, Spangles?"
Steve, ignoring his urge to punch him, replied, "Because Abby, Darcy, Jane, and Sigyn told me that they have total faith that Pepper will say yes."
"So, according to a magic-wielding teen, a taser-happy college intern, a super-smart scientist who bitched-slapped a god, and a goddess who married said god said that it'll be fine. I feel so much better…" Tony muttered. Then, he opened his mouth to proceed the sassy talking and worrying.
Steve just rolled his eyes and interrupted Tony's words with, "Son, just don't."
There were so many people at Rockefeller Center today. Most likely because it was Christmas and lots of people wanted to ice skate. Pepper especially. It was one of her favourite things to do. Tony, on the other hand hated it. He couldn't ice skate if his life depended on it.
At least Pepper seemed to be having fun.
She skated over to Tony and started grinning like an idiot. "Tony, this is so fun! This is so nice of you, which is kind of weird, but still pretty nice. You even brought Abby and Zach!"
Tony and Pepper looked over at Abby and Zach. She was swinging the three-year-old around while slipping all over the ice. The siblings were laughing and screaming as they kept almost-falling.
Tony laughed and looked back at Pepper. "Don't forget I brought Reindeer Games, too."
The couple looked over at where Loki and Sigyn were ice skating; unfortunately, there was no sense of romance coming from the god (only extreme snarkiness) and Sigyn looked slightly irritated.
Pepper started giggling and said, "Yeah, but unless you do something about the lack of romance between them, Sigyn just might end up killing her husband."
Tony raised and eyebrow and grinned. "Is that a challenge, Miss Potts?" She wouldn't be called that for long. Tony thought.
Pepper started laughing. "Sure, just don't do anything stupid."
"Stupid ideas are the only good ideas- AGH!"
Pepper completely lost it as Tony slipped and nearly fell over. Again. Pepper shook her head, still laughing. This must have been the fourth(?) time that Tony had almost fallen.
"Nice job, Tony." Bruce called from the other side of the rink, where he was skating with Betty.
Thor proceeded to bellow with laughter while Jane and Darcy started giggling, and even Loki started to chuckle (under his breath of course).
"Looks like the mighty Iron Man can't even ice skate!" Natasha sassed as she skated by, twirling and jumping as though she was mocking his (non-existent) skills.
Clint skated over and patted Tony on the back. "Thank god we're on an ice rink. You might need some ice to heal that burn there."
"Clint, you can't skate either." Natasha called out.
"Hey, the only reason you can ice skate is because you grew up in Russia, where it's icy. Like your soul." Clint sassed.
Natasha raised and eyebrow. "You really want to go there, Barton?"
"What do I get out of it if I live?"
"Obviously not 'kisses'." Abby called out. Everyone knew that she obviously meant sex, but because Zach was there, she couldn't call it out. Next to her, Zach was laughing (unaware of what 'kisses' actually meant) as he called out, "Oh! Buuuurn!"
"Haha, very funny guys." Tony replied sarcastically, eyes rolling.
"Alright, ladies and gents! It's time to grab that special someone of yours and start a couple's skate!" an announcer called.
"Huh, that's new." Tony muttered.
Pepper grabbed Tony's arm and started to skate with him around the rink. She was smiling and laughing the whole time while attempting to help Tony with his balance (which was getting worse by the moment).
Then, Tony realized that all of the other skaters were off of the rink.
"What the hell- Oh shit!" Tony yelled as he and Pepper fell in front of the crowd.
"Oh my god! Tony are you- Tony, what's this?" Pepper asked as she held up a small black box.
"Shitshitshit you were not suppose to see that!" Tony grabbed the box from Pepper's hands and attempted to stick it back in his pocket, but to no avail.
"Tony, is that another necklace? Please tell me that is not another necklace. I still haven't worn half of the ones you have already gotten me."
"I, uh, well, you see…" Tony looked up the rest of the superheroes for help. Steve nodded, Natasha smiled, Clint started snickering, Thor started laughing, Abby mouthed the words "Get on with it!", and Bruce and Betty were both turned around so they could conceal some laughter. Sigyn was practically about to burst (she was the Goddess of Fidelity, after all) and Zach just looked confused and kept tugging Abby's jacket, asking her what was happening. Darcy and Jane were jumping up and down while holding each other, just knowing what was about to happen. Loki just rolled his eyes and started to mutter things under his breath.
Tony decided to improvise the whole day's schedule and sip right to the end of the whole plan. "Alright, Pepper, you stand up and I'll just kneel right here- ah shit! Okay then, I'll just sit."
Tony took a deep breath and looked up at Pepper, who looked genuinely confused.
"Pepper, I love you. I always have. You are the most amazing woman in the world, and mostly likely the universe. You are the one thing that I need to protect most, which might be a little hard if you aren't with me anymore. As in 'in a relationship' kind of way. So," Tony opened the box, revealing a sparkling, gold, diamond encrusted ring, and said, "Virginia Pepper Potts, will you be insane enough to marry me and become Mrs. Stark?"
Pepper's mouth dropped and her hands went to cover it. Then, her eyes started to water and she started to sound like she had hiccups.
"Pepper, no. Pep, don't do this." Tony tried to stand up in order to calm her down, but just slipped and fell again. "Okay, here. Come down here. Alright, that's it. Let it out."
Pepper started crying. "Tony…"
His eyes widened. Oh shit. Here it comes. He braced himself for the decline.
"You went through all this trouble to propose to me?" she cried.
"Well, you see, I was going to propose later tonight when I took you to that little diner you like so much, but you found the ring, so I improvised a bit."
Pepper looked up at Tony, still sniffling. "Why do you look so scared?"
"Uh, the impending decline of this proposal?"
"Tony-"
"Yeah, I know: 'It's too dangerous! I can't handle this! The stress is too much for me!' I know. I get it-"
"Why would I decline-"
"I know Pep. But I want to do this. I want to try-"
"Tony, it's fine. I know that-"
"I know that things won't be normal, Pepper. But I want to marry you so bad-"
"Yes, Tony."
"I'll make things right I swear- wait, what?"
Pepper smiled and repeated, "Yes."
"Yes I hate you? Yes I decline? Yes you are kind of stupid for a billionaire genius? I need help here, Pep."
"Yes I'll marry you. Though the genius part is true."
Tony mouth hung wide open. He couldn't believe what he just heard.
"Yes?"
"Yes."
"Can I kiss you out of happiness then? Or just take you home and we can-"
"Tony!"
"What? I was just saying that maybe we could-"
"Tony, stop."
"Also, am I really that stupid? I like to think-"
"Tony."
"What?"
On the side of the rink, Tony and Pepper heard the crowd cheering. They looked over and saw the Avengers smiling, laughing, and screaming things such as "GET SOME TONY!" (Clint…). Abby was practically spazzing out of happiness with Sigyn, Jane, and Darcy (oh dear lord, they want to plan the wedding…), and Zach was jumping up and down while yelling "Hooray for Tony and Pepper! They're getting married!". Even Loki was smiling and clapping, congratulating the two.
Tony looked at Pepper and grinned. Pepper started laughing, then stopped and looked concern.
"What?" Tony asked his new fiancé. Something was wrong...
"Oh my god, I probably look like a mess! I was crying and now my makeup is probably smeared everywhere and now I-" Pepper's worried rant was cut off by Tony kissing her.
When he pulled back, he smiled and looked Pepper in the eye.
"Merry Christmas, Mrs. Stark."
Pepper smiled back and replied:
"Merry Christmas, Mr. Stark."
AWWWWW LOOK AT THAT! THEY'RE GETTING MARRIED! Everyone totally called it, though. Even Pepper and Tony. THAT'S how obvious it was.
So, this was suppose to be written after "Better Days", but I then thought, "What the hell? It's Christmas!". So, here you guys are; Tony's proposal to Pepper. FLUFFINESS FOR EVERYONE!
Maybe I will make another mini-story about Abby's first Christmas with the Avengers later this week... hmmmmm...
Anyway, all Marvel characters belong to Marvel, and Abby and Zach belong to me.
Also, Merry Christmas to all of you guys! :)