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“Happy and I are getting married,” Pepper told him, voice gentle but unflinching. He could see the fear in her eyes and it made his heart ache all the more. “We wanted you to hear it from us first.”
Tony had known that they’d started dating after things hadn’t worked out between him and Pepper. It hurt, but he also knew that there was no one in the world who would treat her better than Happy and Happy deserved someone as kind and beautiful as Pepper. They deserved each other. They were a great match. He’d even been dimly aware, somewhere in the back of his mind, that marriage was a probability, not just a possibility. That didn’t mean he was prepared for the news, though. It had only been two years since he and Pepper had broken up.
“Oh,” he knew his voice sounded flat and he struggled to compensate for it, forcing a broad grin across his face even as the corners of Pepper’s lips dipped down. “Wow! That’s great! Congratulations!”
He pulled her into a hug so she wouldn’t be able to see the look on his face. There was a moment of hesitation that he tried valiantly to ignore before her arms wrapped around him in turn.
“Thank you,” she said, but Tony could tell she still wasn’t completely convinced. “Happy’s brother is going to be his Best Man, but we both want you to be involved, if you’d like to be. You could be my Maid of Honor.”
Tony gave a brief, genuine bark of laughter as he pulled away that momentarily overshadowed the thought of how painful it would be to have to stand up there in front of their friends and family and smile like he wasn’t watching his heart being carved out of his chest.
“And have to fight Natasha for the spot? I think not. I like my kidneys where they are, thank you very much. I warn you, though, if I’m not your flower girl, I’m suing.”
Pepper laughed then, the last of the tension draining from her, and Tony knew he’d managed to pull the wool over her eyes.
“Alright, then,” she agreed. “It’s settled. You’re sure you’re okay with this?”
“Pep,” he said seriously, “nothing has ever made me happier. You two are perfect together.”
And that last bit, at least, he meant.