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"It has to be perfect," Tony mumbled under his breath as his paced back and forth, scratching his chin with his hand. He had been trying to plan this for months, and here they were three days from Christmas Eve, and the only thing he had was a beautiful ring in his pocket.
Leaving it in their flat was dangerous. When Pansy got into a cleaning mood, she cleaned every visible surface of their flat that she could find. That meant she would surely be able to find the jewelry box, regardless of where he tried to hide it.
"Why does it have to be perfect?" Rhodey asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back in the chair he was seated in. "Perfect is boring, and besides, if things were a little crazy, she'll be sure to remember it forever."
"Perfect isn't boring," Tony scoffed, stopping his pacing to turn and look at his less than helpful friend. "Pansy deserves perfect."
"Isn't Pansy the same woman who was ready to let your sorry ass freeze on Christmas Eve last year because you weren't the pizza guy?" Rhodey replied, snickering under his breath.
"That's why this Christmas Eve has to be perfect," Tony insisted, crossing the room to sit on the table beside Rhodey. "Last Christmas, we got back together and to commemorate that I want to ask her to be with me for the rest of our lives."
"So because she hated you last year, you want to marry her this year?" he replied.
Placing his hands on Rhodey's shoulders, Tony pushed him across the room in the chair. "She didn't hate me. We just had a slight misunderstanding."
Rhodey rolled his eyes as he stood up from the chair to push it back to the table. Once the chair was back in place, he placed a gentle hand on Tony's shoulder. "Look, Tony. No matter what you do, that girl will think that it is the perfect proposal. She's crazy in love with you for some asinine reason."
Exhaling sharply, Tony nodded his head. "I know you're right, but I have to make sure this is perfect. I won't have it any other way. You'll help me, right?"
Rhodey smiled and nodded his head. "You know, I will."
. . . . . . . . .
"He's been acting weird," Pansy mumbled as she picked at the skin peeling away from her nail bed. She was so focused on her nails that it didn't register that Natasha was speaking to her until she felt someone smack her arm. Looking up from her nails with a cross look on her face, Pansy shook her head. "What?"
"You weren't listening to me," Natasha replied, shaking her head as she crossed her arms over her chest. "You need to stop picking at the skin. Mainly if you get it started to bleed, you won't get it to stop. Not to mention, it's your tell when you get anxious about something."
"It is not," Pansy said.
Natasha rolled her eyes. "Yes, it is. How would you know your own tell?"
Pansy opened and closed her mouth a few times before deciding that arguing was useless. Pressing her lips into a firm line, she crossed her arms over her chest. "You were saying?"
"It's Tony. He's always acting weird," Natasha laughed. "So, you'll need to be more specific as to how he is acting weird."
"I don't know how to explain it," Pansy sighed, hanging her head. "It just feels like he's acting weird, and it's creeping me out. Like last night, we were lying in bed, and he was asking me all these questions about my favorite kind of flowers, my favorite color. Things that we talked about when we first started dating."
"Maybe he's not done with his Christmas shopping, and he needed some ideas," Natasha replied with a shrug, walking across the kitchen to get something out of the refrigerator. As she turned back around, she opened the water bottle and took a sip. "You know he likes to do everything at the last minute."
"You might be right," Pansy mused, taking a seat at the kitchen table. "I don't know; it just seemed weird."
"You never know with Tony," she said, taking a seat across from Pansy. "You'll just have to wait and find out."
"Or…" Pansy said as a wicked smile pulled at the corner of her lips.
Natasha started to shake her head before the request could even escape Pansy's lips. "There's no way. It will feel so much better if you just wait and find out when he tells you."
"But what if my present doesn't match up with the gift he got for me?" Pansy asked, fluttering her eyelashes at her best friend. "Like if I just got him a stupid tie and he bought me a super expensive necklace or something. That would just be embarrassing for me."
"Did you buy him a stupid tie?" Natasha questioned as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"Of course not," Pansy snapped back. "I'm not that stupid. The only time Tony even bothers with a tie is when he's using it to tie me to the bed."
"Too much information!"
The expression on Natasha's face caused Pansy to burst out laughing to the point where she almost fell out of her chair. That caused Natasha to burst into a fit of laughter. The pair were struggling to catch their breath when another person joined them in the kitchen.
"Who let the hyenas in here?"
The new voice caused both of them to turn their heads toward the door frame and noticed Tony leaning up against the door frame with his arms crossed over his chest. Each of them took a deep breath, in attempts to calm down, but just burst out laughing once more.
After a few minutes, both Pansy and Natasha were able to calm down, and Tony had made his way into the kitchen, leaving his leaning post behind. Making his way over to Pansy, he leaned down and kissed the top of her head, resting a hand on her shoulder.
"What's so funny, love?" he asked, nodding hello to Natasha across the table.
"Your girlfriend shared more information about your relationship than I needed to know and then tried to fall out of her chair," Natasha said, crossing her arms over her chest as she leaned back in her chair.
Pansy leaned back, pushing the top of her head into Tony's stomach and shrugged her shoulders. "That's exactly what happened."
"I guess I'll have to believe you then," Tony replied, leaning down to kiss her lips softly. "I was thinking that we should celebrate Christmas at Stark Industries."
"You were thinking?" Pansy laughed, gently smacking the side of his leg. "That's a first."
"Rude," Tony replied, sticking his tongue out at his loving girlfriend.
"What are you planning, Stark?" Natasha asked, furrowing her brow with a puzzled look on her face.
"You'll see," he said with a smirk beaming proudly from his face.
. . . . . . . .
Glancing around the community room of the warehouse, Tony had a broad smile beaming proudly from his face. Everything was coming together just as he had imagined, and one of the most important moments of his life was just hours away. As the thought crossed his mind, his heart began to race.
What was he going to do if she said no? He had put his heart and soul into this big romantic gesture, and it could all fall apart with just one simple word. He loved that woman more than anyone in the world, and he was almost sure that she felt the same about him. She was going to say yes. He needed that thought to keep him going.
"You ready for tonight?" Rhodey said, patting Tony on the back as he rounded the corner into the room.
Startled by the contact, Tony turned and took a deep breath. "Damn it, Rhodey. You scared me."
"Well, aren't we a jittery bunch of nerves?" Rhodey said with a laugh. "What's the matter, Stark?"
"Just thinking about all the ways tonight can go wrong," Tony replied, looking at the flower arrangements on the couch. "What if she doesn't like this and thinks it was just a waste of time?"
Rhodey sighed and shook his head as he squeezed Tony's shoulder. "Look around this room. You created the perfect Christmas masterpiece. You bought all of her favorites, and you did this all out of the goodness of your heart. She's going to say yes, Tony. All you need to do is ask her."
Taking a deep breath, Tony nodded his head. "You're right. Now I just need to keep her out of here until it's time. Do you know where she's at?"
"Ask Jarvis," Rhodey replied.
"Right. Jarvis?" Tony called out.
"Yes, Mr. Stark?" Jarvis replied.
"Can you locate Ms. Parkinson for me?"
"She's in the kitchen, Mr. Stark."
"Thank you, Jarvis."
"You're welcome, sir."
Nodding his head, Tony turned to Rhodey and motioned for him to lead the way. Rhodey rolled his eyes but started off toward the kitchen with a smirk on his face. This was bound to be an exciting evening for everyone.
. . . . . . . . .
As they made their way back down the driveway of Stark Industries, Tony wrapped an arm around Pansy's shoulders and pulled her close to him. Wrapping an arm around her waist, he leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek.
Pansy smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder as they continue on their way. "This is my favorite time of year," she hummed.
"Mine too," Tony replied.
Pansy lifted her head off his shoulder and turned to look at him, stopping in her tracks. "Since when? I thought you hated the snow and the cold."
"Since this time last year," he said, interlacing his fingers with hers and pulled her closer to the building.
His heartbeat quickened with anticipation as they approached. Everyone else was already inside, waiting for the two of them and the grand performance to get started. His only two thoughts were the hope that he could pull this off and that Pansy said that magical word.
When they reached the door, Tony stopped and leaned up against the door, blocking her way inside. Pansy looked at him with a puzzled look upon her face and tilted her head to the side.
"What are you doing, Stark?" she asked, stepping up to him and wrapping her arms around his neck and smiling as she felt his hands at her waist. "It's cold out here, let's go inside and warm up by the fire."
Tony leaned forward and brushed his lips against her softly. "I just wanted a Christmas kiss just between us before we head inside, and all the craziness with the others begins."
He pushed himself off the door and reached behind him, turning the doorknob and ushering her inside. He smirked when he saw the look of confusion on her face as he motioned her on in. It was almost time.
Cautiously, Pansy made her way towards the community room. If she listened closely, she was certain she could hear a pin drop, which was odd because everyone else had gone in before the two of them. She slowly rounded the corner, and the sight in front of her caused her jaw to drop.
The entire room had been redecorated from what she, Natasha, and Wanda had left it last night. There were candles on every available surface, and the tree was donned in white lights. Standing in front of the couch were all of her friends, each one holding a white rose.
Glancing back over her shoulder, she furrowed her brow at Tony and was met with a wink and a grin. She stuck her tongue out at him, turning around quickly when she felt a tap on her shoulder.
It was Vision, offering her the rose he had been holding. Wanda and Natasha quickly followed him. Every one of the Avengers followed suit and stepped away from the couch, handing her a rose, and standing off to the side until all the was left in front of her was the couch. However, it wasn't covered in pillows like normal. There was something else in their place.
"Tony?" Pansy questioned as she slowly turned around, however, instead of being met with his face, she watched as he lowered himself to one knee and slowly pulled a box out of his pocket. She could feel the tears starting to well up in the corners of her eyes as she covered her mouth with her hands.
"Pansy Parkinson, a year ago, we were estranged before this night after a fight that left me broken-hearted, but I found myself face down in the snow near your cottage. You let me into your home even though you were cross with me, and you gave me a second chance," Tony began, smiling nervously as he continued his speech.
"You've made me a better man and given me far too many chances. The only thing I can hope is that you would allow me the chance to continue getting better with you by my side."
He paused to open the box in his hand, displaying the most beautiful diamond ring she had ever seen. A gasp escaped her lips as she took in its beauty, and a tear rolled down her cheek.
Looking up at her and noticing the tear and what he believed to be a smile tugging at the corners of her lips, Tony could only think of wrapping her up in his arms and kissing all the tears away. But he had something to ask her first.
"Pansy Parkinson, will you marry me?"
She could only nod her head as tears began to stream down her face, and Tony jumped up off his knee and wrapped her in a hug. He kissed her passionately as he spun her in the air before placing her back on the ground.
Carefully he slid the ring onto her finger and sighed at just how perfect it looked against her alabaster skin. "The perfect night," he mumbled as he crashed his lips into hers for one more kiss.