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"Hold onto this for me, would you, Hap?"
Happy didn't expect Tony to hand him an engagement ring of all things. It was a golden band with a diamond, lavish yet simple, weighted with something he couldn't name.
He held the ring in his palm, looking between Tony and it, trying to figure out what was going through his friend's head. Tony had gone through so much with Afghanistan, his godfather trying to kill him, and becoming Ironman - he was different now. A good different, but different, and Happy was having trouble reading him. "Is this a prank?"
Tony chuckled, tucking his hands into his pockets. He was rarely nervous, yet here he was, rocking on his feet with a half smile. "No, it's not. Just hold onto it for me, okay? Keep it with you. Don't tell anyone about it."
The bodyguard studied him an extra second before putting the ring in his jacket pocket. "Alright, bossman."
"Thank you."
He couldn't stop himself from asking his next question. "Who do you think it's going to be for?"
"Don't know yet."
Happy didn't need to be able to read Tony to know that was a big fat lie. If he was handing him a ring, then there was only one person on his mind-
The door to the office opened and Pepper stepped inside. "Tony, the reporters are waiting."
"If they want to see me so bad, they can wait another few minutes."
Pepper rolled her eyes yet there was an unmistakably fond look under her exasperation. She left, the door shutting softly, and there was this smile on Tony's face that answered all of Happy's questions.
"You better get out there, Tony," he said, clapping him on the shoulder. "They might tear the building apart otherwise and that is a security headache."
"Okay, okay, but you remember what I said, right?"
"I remember. Now, let's go."
They headed out, Tony talking a mile a minute about anything except the ring weighing in Happy's pocket, and Happy couldn't stop his soft smile.
He had no doubt those two were meant for each other - and it would be entertaining to watch them dance around it until they fully realized it for themselves. Until then, no matter how many years it would be, Happy swore to himself that he would keep the ring safe.
Many years later, he would fulfill that promise with a room full of reporters waiting for news and Tony turning to him, asking for the ring with Pepper standing there, and all Happy can say as he pulls it out of his pocket is, "Are you kidding? I've been carrying this since 2008."
Every bit of anxiety, every panicked moment he thought he lost the ring, every single day he put it in his pocket - it was all worth it to see Tony slip that ring onto Pepper's finger.