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the sweet smell of freshly brewed coffee awoke you. your boyfriend had convinced you to go on a camping trip with him, after you convinced him to not save the world for a couple days. stubborn as he is, though, the iron suit still came along with him. you could hear a small fire crackling outside your tent, and the sun was just now peeking through the trees. you kind of wanted to get up and start exploring, but you kind of also wanted tony to come back to bed. almost as if he read your mind, you heard the tent zipper quietly being undone. you closed your eyes to soak in the moment. stuff like this doesn’t happen often, and you needed to savor every moment.
“sweetheart,” your brown eyed lover crooned at you, unsure of whether he wanted to wake you or not. you always looked so beautiful when you slept. “I made you coffee.”
and you knew it was just the way you liked it. he had JARVIS memorize it, then when you weren’t bothering him in his lab, he’d ask the AI questions about you, committing every last detail to memory. at first it was the small things, like your favorite type of flower and color, and then it was bigger things, like the pins you’d recently saved to your wedding board on pinterest. he loved you, everything about you, and you knew you loved him more than anything.
“it smells lovely, angel,” you replied groggily. “but I really wish you would come back to bed. ‘s cold out this morning.”
“no can do, miss. I have a special day for us planned.”
you instantly peeked your head out from under your sleeping bag and extra blankets. “oh? care to enlighten me, mr. stark?”
“can’t do that either. captain’s orders.” well, obviously he’d talked to steve about it, whatever it was. you slowly pulled yourself out from your tiny fort of blankets on the air mattress. tony had developed a bed that felt exactly like the one at home in stark tower, but was compact enough to fit in a box. the soft glow of his arc reactor was peeking through his black puffy vest and grey waffle knit thermal. you thanked your lucky stars for that thing every day. it was keeping the man you loved alive.
“ugh, okay, fine.” you threw up your hands in defeat. “you got me, let me get ready and I’ll be right out.” you began stand, expecting tony to turn around, duck down, and exit the tent, but he did no such thing.
“babe? aren’t you going to go back out?” you gave him a quizzical look, trying to figure out what he was even doing.
he smirked, your thermal in hand. “no, not yet. I still have to get something.” you stood, his black sabbath shirt falling off your shoulders. it had been stretched out over all the years. tony being absolutely jacked didn’t help your case, despite the fact your shoulders were just as broad as his.
“well, get what you need, I have to change.” he feigned hurt, jaw dropping in mock disbelief, dramatically placing a hand on his chest.
“I can’t believe you! I’ve seen every inch of you, and I can’t get an early morning show?”
“well, if that’s what you wanted…”
he stepped closer to you, and you grabbed a fistful of his t-shirt, pulling him even closer. you moved to where your lips were touching his, morning breath in full swing.
“you should’ve just said so.” and with that you pushed him away, laughing as he stumbled.
“you little shit!” now tony was cracking up, and you loved listening to his laugh. “no, I just wanted to do this…” he pressed the thermos into your hands, laying a soft kiss on your forehead. “I love you, honey.”
you smiled at him softly. this has been a great morning so far. “I love you, too, tone.” he smiled at you as he’d already done a hundred times in the past fifteen minutes, but this one felt sweeter, more gentle. it was a side of tony you hardly ever saw, but you loved when you did. it meant he felt at home, completely at peace. his demons weren’t bothering him, the battle of new york tucked away in the depths of wherever, nowhere to be found. you liked him like this. he turned to leave the tent as you gathered your things to head to the showerhouse. tony was busy firing up the griddle as you sauntered off down the road a bit. you smiled to yourself, replaying your favorite memories of the past two years with him. from your first date, to him saving you in monaco, to him asking you to move in with him, and recently when you brought home all the cats from the local shelter. he was annoyed at first, but the little bastards grew on him, and eventually had an entire room built for the cats to live in, complete with personalized beds and blankets for all 12 of them. you smiled, knowing that dum-e and JARVIS were taking good care of them. as you changed into an olive green thermal and turquoise puffy vest, your mind went back to this morning. you decided to spritz on your favorite perfume, knowing it was the same one tony loved. it drove him wild every time you wore it, even though it was a simple $15 bottle from bath and body works. to him, he said, it smelled like home. you brushed your teeth and made your way back to the campsite. you'd never get over seeing tony cook instead of having his in-house chef do it. he loved cooking, he just never had the time. you always cooked when you knew he'd be home for a meal.
pancakes and bacon were sizzling to perfection on the griddle when you came back. your thermos sat in the cup holder on your camping chair, with some theology book you were halfway through sitting on top. huh, that wasn't there when you left. but tony knew you loved starting your mornings with coffee and reading. this set up he had going was perfect. he was being so unusually domestic this morning, and you loved it. the world renowned genius, billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist had a soft spot for his girlfriend, and the whole world knew. he loved spoiling her and buying anything she wanted. you loved going to his expensive parties and coming home together afterwards, but you'd never have the white picket fence you'd always dreamed of. and that was okay. tony would find a way to lasso the moon and bring it to you if it meant it would make you happy. you loved him either way, and knew his playboy days were long over. yes, it was true he went twelve for twelve with the maxim cover girls, but he told you every time he had his wrists tied to a headboard and you hovering over him in hot rod red lingerie that you were better than all his ex-lovers combined. he wouldn't be committed if it wasn't true. tony was many things in the tabloids. a liar, a cheat, a womanizer, sexist, war profiteer. but he was the most honest and loyal man you knew. once he had his own weapons used against him, he stopped producing them. he saw the very people he tried to protect be killed, and it ate at him for months. not even obadiah could stop him. after he came back, he made you CEO, to show that he really was serious about you. you tried to talk him out of it, but he had none of it. he loved you. and if that meant giving you the company, then it's what he would do.
you were drawn out of your thoughts by a warm, familiar voice. "hey, sweetheart, breakfast is ready!"
you finished the sentence you were reading in your book, placing your well worn and loved bookmark in its place. you finally noticed the classic rock tony had playing from his bluetooth speaker. the morning was brisk, but there was an air of adventure that just made your surroundings feel so lovely. after all, you were both convinced the stark campsite at lake tahoe was magical. there were new things to discover each time you came, and you always left with more lakeside rocks than necessary. the fall colors contrasted your handsome boyfriend's dark features. tony was the embodiment of tall, dark, and handsome. you often wondered how you got so lucky.
he handed you a plate stacked with chocolate chip pancakes and bacon, the camp morning classic. the fire crackled on, offering a soothing smell to the other naturally occurring aromas of nature. tony was sat beside you, wolfing down his bacon as always. sometimes he'd go days barely eating enough to keep himself alive, but with enough pleading and threats, he'd eat a full meal. you always felt better when he took care of himself, and he tried, but some days were too hard. on those days, you held him, never letting go, running your fingers through his hair and reminding him he's alive.
"what trail do you wanna hike after breakfast?" he was already munching on a pancake as if he'd never asked a thing. the only indication being he was looking at you expectantly.
"hmm… what about the one that leads to the dock? I feel like going on a boat ride once it warms up a bit."
"sounds perfect, honey. think we'll see any bears?"
"well, if we do, it better be at a distance or I will be eaten alive."
"now, you know I wouldn't let that happen."
"yeah, and you know that if you killed a bear, you'd be toast, so don't even try it, mister."
he smiled mischievously. he knew that when he met you, he'd met his match with sarcasm and sass. he loved that about you. your relationship was serious when it needed to be, and fun the rest of the time. somehow, you managed to make him fall deeper in love with you with every minute that he spent with you.
breakfast passed by quickly, the two of you enjoying each other’s presence and the birds chirping on the mid-october morning. “back in black” by ac/dc was playing softly in the background. that kid couldn’t live without his music, but you were always happy to hear it.
once the site was cleaned up, you two laced up your hiking boots, and grabbed your drawstring bags filled with bug spray, a protein bar, and a water bottle. yours also contained a first aid kit, because you never knew when tony would be getting himself into trouble. his also had about three different pairs of sunglasses, because even when he was away from the spotlight, he couldn’t resist a “costume change”. as the gravel changed to dirt and the path narrowed, his hand found yours, loosely lacing his rough, calloused hands with yours. you looked around, admiring the beauty of nature during autumn. you couldn’t tell, but tony was looking at you, completely enchanted with how the sunlight fell through the trees and onto your face, giving you a golden, halo-like glow. he knew you were his guardian angel, protecting him when the days got rough.
his mind flashed back to when he first told you about how he’d been feeling.
“honey, I can’t sleep. you go to bed, I come down here, I do what I know. I tinker. threat is imminent… I have to protect the one thing I can’t live without. that’s you…” he'll never forget the look on your face when he said that. your expression instantly softened and you immediately regretted ever getting on him and raising your voice. you knew how he felt. you knew where he was coming from. and it hurt like hell because you couldn't do a damn thing about it. but this was your area of expertise. after being a licensed therapist for a few years before you met tony, you knew you could help him heal. it would be slow. it would suck. recovery is never linear. but you knew that eventually, he'd make progress. he loved you for that, more than you knew, and it was one of the billion reasons why he knew exactly what he wanted to do today. tony stark was no star-spangled man with a plan, but for once in his life, this wasn’t impulsive. this was relevant and intentional and he prayed you would love it.
he mindlessly felt for the small box he had tucked away in his jeans pocket. he'd decided to carry it with him after the close call he had with you finding it. since then, he's never let it out of his sight. he'd mulled over for weeks on how he would do this. no moment ever felt "perfect." but he realized after nearly losing you to killian that no moment would ever be just right. he still wanted to make it special, though, which is why he didn't do it the morning you woke up after coming home from your business trip to SHIELD. he knew you'd hate it if you didn't have your teeth brushed or at least looked somewhat decent. tony was growing more nervous as you two approached the dock. he considered waiting until sunset because he knew it would be beautiful then, but as tony looked around, he realized no moment would ever be as picture perfect as this one. he knew that you grew up on the water, and you wanted to spend as much time as possible either by it or in it. it's one of the reasons why he had an aquarium built into the renovation of stark tower. he didn't want to admit it but looking at all the beautiful fish calmed his anxiety, too. he finally understood why you loved the ocean so much and how at home you felt near it. now that he thought about it, he was wondering why he didn't take you on a trip to the bahamas and proposed there… but you had been begging to go on a camping trip ever since the battle of new york. you knew it would be healing for him. getting him away from his lab and all the hubbub of manhattan was just what he needed. he'd reluctantly agreed at first, but when it was time to actually take a few days off, he was all too happy to be packing up his jeep with all the camping gear.
as the dock came into view, tony took a deep breath. usually when he did this, it meant an anxiety attack. you snapped your attention towards him.
"tony, baby, what's wrong?" his brows were furrowed and you could tell he was lost in his thoughts.
"huh? oh, nothing, I'm okay." now it was your turn to give him a dirty look. you raised your eyebrow, giving him that "don't lie to me" look.
"babe, I promise, I've never been better." he gave you a genuine stark smile. he slowed as you two reached the end of the dock, the signature iron man red malibu tied off on the cleats to your left. the sun was shining down on you two. your gaze wandered from the shore, to the middle of the lake, and back to your incredible boyfriend. you loved tony. you loved him so much it hurt. and he was about to show how much he loved you, too.
you smiled up at him as his hands fell on your waist. he smiled right back, love and adoration filling his features.
"(y/n), my little bombshell. my baby who's fiesty as hell. you give me all the sass that I give you and I love you like crazy for it. these past two years have been the worst of my life, but you've made it bearable. our lucky stars blessed me the night bruce showed up to my tower with you, under the guise of you being able to help me. slowly, through our little sessions and as I got to know you, I fell in love. I fell in love with the way you laugh and smile. I fell in love with your soul and the love you have to give away. I fell in love with your enormous heart and the way you never gave up on me, even when I wanted to give up on myself." he paused for a moment to breathe.
"on with it, stark," you joked, knowing he was serious but wanting to see him smile anyways.
"okay, okay. I've wanted to do this for a long time but never felt the perfect moment. after I nearly lost you to killian, I knew it was now or never. that's why I--"
he was getting choked up, tripping over his words, which was unusual. it made you emotional.
as he got down on one knee, he sung to you a song you both loved. "to the world, you may be just another girl. but to me, baby you are the world."
he procured a small velvet box from his pocket, popping it open, shocking you with its size and dazzle.
"(your full name), please marry me."
you dropped to your knees, meeting him at his level.
"a million times yes. in this lifetime and the next. I love you, tony stark."
"I love you too, sweetheart."
he slipped the ring on your finger, and the diamond was huge. it was a princess cut, at least a carat, set in a twisted white gold band with your birthstone and his set in the twists. his emerald stones accentuated yours, along with the crystal clear rock in the center. it was beautiful, and you loved the personal touch he added.
"it's engraved, too, love."
you slipped the ring back off, holding it up to the light to see what he had written. the inside read "proof that tony stark has a heart."
all the tears threatening to spill over let loose. he knew how much his arc reactor meant to you, which is why he embraced you, whispering more big news to you.
"I've decided to get the shrapnel removed. I have a surgery scheduled once we get home. it's in a couple days. I didn't want you to worry so I didn't tell you until now. I want to be by your side as long as you'll let me, and it scares me every day knowing that this shit in my body wants to kill me. I have the best surgeon in the business operating on me, he's done this a million times before so I promise I'll be fine. if I'm not, you have permission to kick my ass before they bury me. I'll have a scar, but I'll be metal-free. how does that sound?"
"shut the fuck up and kiss me."
he did as you wished, lingering on your lips for longer than was necessary. and then, he was picking you up, carrying you to the boat.
"c'mon, I've got a picnic on the boat. let's go on a cruise, look at the scenery. we can anchor down and hang out for a bit, take a nap, I'll let you sleep in my arms like always, except this time you're my fiancé."
you smiled at his wording. fiancé. you were getting married. you'd wanted this for over a year and a half now, but always wondered if he'd ever drop you to go back to his playboy lifestyle. this just proved to you he was no longer interested in that. he just wanted you.
he kissed your forehead as he stepped on to the swim platform, setting you down on the memory foam bench right next to the captain's seat. he was madly in love with you, and he didn't care who knew.
as you got up to undo the ropes from the dock, he put on his playlist of love songs. most of them were either extremely cheesy or straight up raunchy, but there was one on his playlist you loved every time. he was never a fan of Elvis until you came along, and then it was like all of his playlists at least had one or two of the king's songs slipped in. this one was playing on the night of your first date. "have I told you lately that I love you?" was one of the sweetest songs you'd ever heard, and it made you fall in love with him more every time it came on.
the breeze blew the smell of his cologne toward you, and it smelled like everything you loved about him. somehow his huge heart and fun personality was wrapped into a signature scent that smelled like a soft blend of herbs and smoky wood. it was relaxing and subtle, which was the opposite of who tony was to the media but exactly what he was to you. after the huge bunny incident, he decided to tone things down, but still knew just how to spoil you and be extravagant. he found a balance and you were proud of him.
as the engine roared to life, the boat's side exhaust made the deep rev you had grown to love. the red snapper was kept in exquisite shape, and tony knew it was your baby. he wrapped his arm around you as you pulled away from the dock. it was only noon, and somehow, today couldn't be more perfect.