The party's been going on for roughly half an hour by the time Tony comes strolling in, his beautiful girlfriend on his arm. They'd taken a day to go dress shopping in Malibu earlier in the week and she looked stunning in every single gown she tried on, but this beautiful deep blue satin gown she chose certainly stole the show. He can hardly keep his eyes off of her long enough to walk in.

He already knows the whole room is going to be jealous of him when they see her – and once the pictures make their way online, the whole world will be jealous. And, really, they should be, in ways they don't even know. She's so much more than just a pretty face. She's everything to him. And though she may think she knows it already, she may think she's known it for years, the truth is that she will never – can never – grasp just how true it is.

"You know," Pepper murmurs in his head, "showing up late to your own party? Probably not the best look."

Tony waves that off. "I'm retired," he reminds her. "I'm not supposed to have to follow schedules anymore."

"Did you ever even follow schedules to begin with?"

Tony huffs a laugh. "That must be why retirement feels so familiar."

Pepper shakes her head to herself, and Tony just smiles. He loves their playful banter. He loves all of their conversations. He just loves her.

"Are we looking for anyone?" Pepper asks. "Or just going to mix and mingle?"

"Well, I'll tell you who we're not looking for," Tony says.

Pepper huffs. She knows exactly who he's talking about – and of course she does. His anger has begun to calm over the week they've been away, but he's made it pretty damn clear that he's in no rush to see Steve or Bucky again.

"But yeah, no, we'll definitely mix and mingle," Tony says. "There's just something I have to do first."

Though the way he says it gives no indication of what he plans to do or how he plans to do it, Pepper grimaces at his words regardless. He'd be offended if he didn't have such a strong history of doing things that she disagrees with. "Don't make a scene, Tony."

"How can I not make a scene?" Tony asks. "It's my party – and you only retire once, you know."

"Tony..."

"Come on." He gestures for her to follow him as he pushes his way through the crowd, and, though she obviously doesn't want to, she follows him anyway.

On some level, Tony's aware that he knows just about everyone at this party. Whether they're former business partners or long-lost friends or girls he probably slept with a decade ago, he knows that he knows them. That's how they got the invite. He just has no idea who most of them are.

He does his best to hide it when they greet him as he passes, and he'd like to think it works. He's always been good at that. He's always been a "fake it 'til you make it" kind of person. For someone who sucks at keeping up appearances, he's damn good at keeping up appearances.

"Where are we going?" Pepper asks him. She sounds a little worried. It's not entirely unfounded.

"To make a scene," Tony says simply.

Pepper scoffs. "Tony!"

"Oh, you're gonna love it," Tony says.

"No, I really don't think–"

"Trust me."

Pepper sighs. "If you're gonna make a scene, you have to tell me what scene you're making before you do it."

Tony shakes his head. "No can do, Pep."

"Tony–"

Tony just jumps right up on the mini stage with the DJ. The DJ gives him a questioning look, and Tony nods once. It's time.

Some soothing classical music begins to play, a sharp change in tune from the pop music that had filled the room before, and that alone is enough to get everybody looking around, and then, of course, looking at him. He just grins. That was easy.

"Thank you all for coming," Tony says, speaking loudly so that everybody can hear. He'd thought about using a microphone, but he's going to need both hands pretty soon, so he'll make do without one.

Pepper looks around nervously. He can see Rhodey squeezing his way up from the back of the room. He wonders what they think he's about to do. They're wrong, he's sure, but he'd love to know their theories.

"You know," Tony continues, spouting off this pre-planned speech like it's nothing, "it was a difficult choice, hanging up the suit. I became a new man when I became Iron Man. I became a better man. I became the type of man I would have hated a decade ago, and I've spent the last eight years trying to right the wrongs I used to make on a damn near daily basis.

"That's not to say I haven't made mistakes since I picked up the Iron Man mantle," he continues. Ultron, of course, would be the most obvious of them all; obvious enough that it's not worth naming. "I have made mistakes, and I'm man enough to admit it. But, all in all, I'm proud of what I've accomplished as Iron Man, and I'm proud of my friends and my team for what we've accomplished together, and I know that they'll go on to fight the good fight whenever they're needed."

Tony pauses, letting the audience clap and cheer, and he plasters a smile on his face as they do. He means what he said. He really is proud of the good he's done. He's proud of the Avengers for the good they've done. But that doesn't take away from the people they've hurt, and he doesn't understand how nobody else seems to see that. At least Wanda's on his side. At least there's somebody who understands where he's coming from; somebody in his shoes who can assure him that he's not crazy.

Tony accidentally locks eyes with Steve from the back of the room, and the Captain offers him a hesitant smile. Tony lets his gaze pass right on by him. He still doesn't know what he wants to do there. He's spent all week trying to figure out where to take things with him, and he still doesn't have an answer. He'll deal with that whenever he has the misfortune of having to talk to him again.

Down in front of the stage, Pepper's whispering something in a visibly nervous Rhodey's ear. He wonders briefly if he should have told Rhodey what he's about to do. He probably should have – but then, he thinks his friend will enjoy the surprise. He knows that Pepper will.

"Now," Tony continues, "as I enter this new phase of my life, I'm excited to see what the future holds, and I'm excited to share that future with the people I hold dear."

He looks down at Pepper, who smiles softly.

Tony holds a hand out to her. "Come on up, Pep."

Pepper's smile turns into a grimace. "I don't think..."

"It'll be, like, ninety seconds," Tony assures her. "I won't even make you talk."

Still, Pepper hesitates.

"Please?" Manners help sometimes, right?

Pepper's hesitation doesn't change, but, reluctantly, she does agree to join him onstage. The crowd cheers, as they should because she's the most beautiful, amazing woman in the entire world, and Pepper smiles, her cheeks turning a faint shade of red.

Tony puts an arm around her waist. "As I'm sure most of you know," he says, "this is my partner, Pepper Potts. She's pretty much been the only thing keeping me a functioning human being for the last twenty-ish years – and, for the record, she is the only person in the entire world to have put up with me for this long, which is pretty damn impressive."

That gets some chuckles and some cheers from the party guests, and a huff of laughter from Pepper beside him.

"You know," she says quietly, a teasing smile on her lips, "it's moments like this that make it so damn hard."

"Oh, don't I know it," Tony says with a smirk, and he kisses her cheek, earning not only more cheers, but a deeper blush on her face. It makes him want to kiss her again.

But he turns his attention back to the party instead. "Pepper has been with me through high and low, thick and thin, and I am so beyond grateful for her. I consider myself the luckiest person in the world to know that even as I'm moving from one phase of my life to the next, Pep's gonna be by my side through it all, because I know I wouldn't be half the man I am today without her."

He takes his arm from her waist and turns to face her. "Pepper, I owe you the world," he says. "You are my world, really, and I am so lucky to have you. And, really, all of this is to say – or, to ask, I guess..." He reaches into his pocket, and, as he pulls a small box from his jacket, he sinks to one knee. He opens the box, revealing a diamond-encrusted ring custom-crafted just for her. "Will you marry me?"

Pepper slaps her hands over her mouth, but he can still see the smile in her eyes. She nods, so emphatically that he almost fears for her poor neck, and the room erupts into cheers.

Tony takes the ring out, tosses the now-empty box to Rhodey (who catches it despite the complete lack of warning that it's coming his way), and holds it up to her, a silent request. Pepper holds her hand out, and he slips the ring on. It fits perfectly. He knew it would.

"Oh my god," she whispers. He can hardly hear the words over the applause. She grabs him by the arms, and as he stands up, she pulls him into a tight embrace, pressing their lips together in a sweet kiss that ends far too soon for his taste.

"I told you I was gonna get you a ring," he murmurs in her ear, and he can hear the huff of laughter it earns.

"And I love it," she murmurs back. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Pep, more than you'll ever know."