"Hmm, just doing my makeup. What about you?" Nora asked, as she leaned more on the mirror, closing her one eye while applying silver shimmery glitter on her pink eyeshadow. The gems on her bodice twinkle with the fluorescent light. A pale pink gown descending down her form in soft waves highlighting her skin. Beside the mirror has a screen opened with Natasha on a video call.

"Cooking breakfast," Natasha said, rolling her eyes while sighing, "who would have thought that I would ever step in a kitchen for something other than eating,"

That elicited a laugh from Nora as she traded her eyeshadow brush for her blush one, dabbing it gently across her cheeks– though knowing Tony, there was not much need for it, he would be making her blush most of the time anyway, "Well, I did told you that your love for our dear captain would make you do weird things,"

"Weird huh?" Natasha said, as she flipped something on the pan, "Coming from a woman who is currently overthinking her makeup for a person who had seen her smeared in mud and dust and still found her most beautiful,"

Nora put the brush down before settling back on her chair properly, smoothening down her hairs the pearls in her french braid, "but seriously I can't believe it you know, you and Steve and just dating for two years and you are already engaged,"

"Hmm. Must be hard for you," Natasha quipped, her smirk sharpening. "Watching all that love and commitment while you're stuck celebrating your third anniversary with Stark, who still hasn't proposed."

Nora sighed while picking up the tab as she held it near her, "Seriously Natasha, you are going to do this today?"

"Oh yes absolutely, Natahsa said leaning closer to the screen, mischief glinting in her eyes, "I mean, you have been together for three years. You have survived near death experiences, him blowing up tech in his lab and that time when he accidently ordered the world's biggest plushie because you were telling him how you find them cute. And still no ring? As your friend, I am obligated to raise concerns on this dire issue,"

"Obligated?" Nora deadpanned, setting her makeup away.

"Of course," Natasha replied, her tone mock-serious as she straightened up. "It's in the Friendship Code. Paragraph four, subsection B: Always give your best friend a hard time when her boyfriend is slacking."

"Tony is not slacking," Nora protested, though her lips twitched into a smile.

"Oh yeah?" Natasha asked sarcastically, "So he is saving up for a diamond ring that would probably come with it's own gravitational pull? Because we both know if it is coming from him it has to be extra,"

"Tony doesn't do normal," Nora said shaking her head, exasperated, "but he also doesn't do predictable, Nat. And beside he loves me, he show me that everyday,"

"Well, that still means 'no ring' look just let me paint you a picture: you're sitting at this anniversary dinner, all dolled up like you are now—gorgeous, by the way—and he pulls out some elaborate gadget and says, 'Look, babe, I designed this bracelet that can turn into a jetpack.'"

"Natasha," Nora groaned, laughing despite herself.

"Meanwhile," Natasha continued, ignoring her, "you're there thinking, 'Oh, great, another genius invention,' while secretly wishing for a tiny velvet box. But nope, just a jetpack."

"You're impossible," Nora said, shaking her head, though her laughter spilled over.

"I'm just saying, if he doesn't propose soon, maybe you should take the reins," Natasha said with a shrug, her smirk returning.

"Oh we are ending this conversation right now, bye-bye,"

Natasha leaned back, clearly satisfied with her teasing. "Alright, fine. But if you come back tonight without a ring, I'm calling Stark myself and asking what the hold-up is."

"Oh, sure," Nora shot back, rolling her eyes. "Like he'd take your proposal advice seriously."

"Excuse me," Natasha said, feigning offense. "I got the Captain to propose, didn't I? I clearly know what I'm doing."

"Yeah, by threatening to beat his ass in hand-to-hand combat until he surrendered," Nora retorted, smirking.

"Worked like a charm," Natasha said proudly.

"Okay okay, nat, but I really got to go now. And Steve would also probably hate me if I keep you newly engaged away for too long, so bye really this time,"

Call ended

Keeping the tab away she gave her appearance one last look, twirling around to see the dress flare just perfectly, her lips adorned with a soft pink lipstick that she knows he loves– then again he loves everything she ever wears from cocktail dresses to her old pajamas. But as she smoothed down her dress one last time, grabbing her purse and heading downstairs she couldn't help but feel the cold railing iron beneath her hand and somehow she wished that there would be a cold ring in her ring finger instead.

Because if there is one thing she was sure of– had been sure of since starting, since the moment Tony had lured her in his traps of words and taken her into that gala as his date, or the time he had spent with her in Vegas, all the moments he had loved her, shown her how much he love her– her soul and body both, hell, even at the time when she thought they might never come back from the broken pieces they were, it was the fact, the subconscious desire, that she would like to spend all her life with him.

With him.

Forever.

He loved her, too—of that, she had no doubt. Tony's love wasn't always conventional, but it was undeniable, consuming, and all-encompassing. He adored her in ways big and small, through grand gestures and the simplest acts. If anything, she sometimes thought he loved her more than she loved him, which only made the absence of a ring on her finger sting a little more.

It wasn't like she was not content with what they were now, but somewhere deep down she wanted to make it permanent to not just look at him and think how she can have a person, a boyfriend, who could love and cherish her so much, but to look at him and think, yes this man right here, is mine. Completely in all senses. My husband.

Alright, maybe she was selfish.

So what? Can you blame her when has the epitome of 'husband material' as her boyfriend?

Well, she could always propose first if the situation arises.

"Sweetheart, sweetheart – back to earth," Tony called out, his voice snapping her out of her thoughts.

Nora blinked, realizing she'd been standing still for too long. He was already dressed, his suit impeccably tailored and his tie just slightly loosened in that classic Tony Stark way. He looked devastatingly handsome, and by the look of his smug smile he knew it.

"You're staring," Tony teased, his grin widening.

"And maybe I'm wondering how someone so infuriating manages to look so good all the time." Nora said, as she descended the stairs finally reaching to him, as he pulled her against him pressing his lips to hers for a sweet, gentle kiss before pulling back. Not wanting to ruin her lipstick..just yet.

"Genetics, baby, But if we're throwing compliments around, you're making it really hard for me to focus on anything other than getting through dinner as fast as possible so I can have you all to myself."

Nora shook her head with a blush– she was right afterall, she didn't needed to apply that– before linking her hand with his, "Just lead the way, stark,"

Dinner was every bit as enchanting as Nora had thought, if not more. Tony had booked the entire top floor of a private restaurant, the space transformed into a sea of candles and roses and white flowers. The floor to ceiling windows provided a calming background. While their conversation flawed flawlessly equipped both by his heart warming laugh and her melodious laugh. The food was also exquisite, made with the finest ingredients and mabe by the finest chefs, though none of them took too much notice of it.

"You know with all these candles and roses and my favourite flowers, ot feel like I have walked in someone's fairytale,"

"Someone's?" Tony frowned as he reached across the table giving her cheek a soft carcass, "The fairytale is all your's, for you, by me,"

***

Soon when the dinner was over, Tony led her to the rooftop, his eyes holding both nervousness and excitement. "Where are we going?" Nora asked, her curiosity piqued.

"You will see and hopefully love it too," he said, with a grin as the elevator door opened.

The rooftop held a breathtaking view of the skyline but that was not what stole Nora's breath. The space was adorned with fairy lights and delicate lanterns, their warm glow reflecting off the champagne flutes waiting for them. The scent of flowers mingle in the air and she could see various enormous bouquets of flowers sitting on one of the table, a small fountain going beside it, its water twinkling in the fairy lights that had illuminated the whole rooftop– not brightly, but enough for her to see everything– creating a perfect intimate moment, where they were the only one's present there. In the whole world, in the whole universe.

"Tony," Nora started, turning toward him, her eyes wide with wonder and slightly misty.

"Shh," Tony pressed a finger on her lips silencing her as he forwarded his hand, "Dance with me,"

Nora gulped the lump in her throat, grasping his hand wordlessly. His other hand slipped around her waist, pulling her flush against him while in the background from the nearby speakers a familiar melody began playing.

'Perfect' by Ed Sheeren.

"You are quiet," Tony said after some moments of looking into her eyes, "Not like you,"

"I am just overwhelmed," she said softly, "This all...you didn't needed to,"

"You deserve beautiful things, Nora," he said shaking his head, a small genuine smile on his lips, "so yes, I had to,"

For a moment, he stilled.

As if in an internal battle. Before taking a deep breath, and guiding her across the rooftop their steps in a perfect harmony under the glow of fairy lights and the vast night sky.

"I found a love for me..."

The song began, and Tony's lips curled into a soft smile.

"You know," he started, his voice low and warm, and containing a hint of nervousness that he tried to hide and at the same time filled with so much love that it clenched her heart with pure joy, "I've spent so much of my life chasing things that never mattered. Fame, power, validation... I thought that was what I needed, what I needed to escape my past. I thought I didn't care what others thought about me– well it didn't mean that what they said didn't sting... but then you came along."

Nora blinked, her breath hitching slightly as her heart pounded in her chest. He continued, his thumb brushing gently over her hand.

"You changed everything, Nora. You made me want to be better—not for anyone else, not for the world—but for you. You showed me what it feels like to be loved, truly loved, for who I am and not what I can give. But as someone who could show his weaknesses, who can lean on someone else, who someone can– you had defended against even our teammates even when I didn't deserved it,"

Nora wanted to say, to cup his face and tell him that he was wrong and he deserved all of that but her words fell short when the music swelled, and Tony twirled her gently before pulling her back against him. Her dress swirled like a soft blush of petals around her.

"Darling, just dive right in and follow my lead..."

Tony's voice dropped, his voice rich with emotions, slightly cracking, "You've been my strength when I didn't think I had any left. My peace in the chaos. Nora, you are the reason my world makes sense, you are the only anchor who keep my world in its place, who pull me back from every abyss I had been drowning in,"

She felt her throat tighten, tears welling in her eyes. "Tony..."

"Wait," he interrupted gently, his smile soft.

Hesitant.

Unsure.

And yet, determined. "Let me finish."

He pulled her closer, their foreheads almost touching as the song continued to envelop them:
"We were just kids when we fell in love, not knowing what it was..."

"That's how I feel," Tony whispered, his voice catching as if revealing a big secret, "Like a kid. Every time I see you, it's like the first time all over again. And when I think about the future, Nora, you're all I see. You're everything I want, everything I need. The one who had not only healed the broken parts of me, but the inner child too who had thought he could never be enough, never be loved,"

As the music played on, Tony's steps faltered slightly. He stopped, holding her gaze, and took a deep breath.

And then, to Nora's shock, he let go of her hand and dropped down on one knee.

And for that moment everything silenced, the melody of the song, the sound of her breathing and heartbeat. Everything. Because he was the only one who was making sense at that time.

He was the only one that had ever made sense in her life.

Only one.

Her hands flew to her mouth, her eyes widening, feeling the strength in her legs, trying her hardest to stand still when she could feel her eyes blurred with tears which she wiped away furiously to clear her vision– to miss not any part of this, to drink it all in, to remember this moment because this might just be the most beautiful and perfect moment of all.

Tony opened a velvet box to reveal a breathtaking tanzanite ring with small emeralds decorating its gold frame. The firework display began behind them, lighting up the sky in bursts of radiant color, but all she could see was him.

"Nora," Tony began, his voice steady but full of emotion. "I've made mistakes, more than my fair share. But loving you? That's the one thing I got absolutely right. You are my everything—my partner, my anchor, my heart. I don't want to spend another second without knowing you'll be with me forever,"

The song swelled again, the words drifting around them:
"Baby, I'm dancing in the dark, with you between my arms..."

Tony smiled softly, his eyes shimmering under the starlight. "So, will you do me the honor of making this stubborn genius the happiest man alive? Ms. Reyes, will you do me the honor of becoming Mrs. Stark?"

Nora's vision blurred with tears as she looked at him, her heart full to bursting. She nodded, her voice trembling. "Oh god, Yes, Tony. A thousand times, yes!"

He slid the ring onto her finger, and as he stood, she threw her arms around him, their lips meeting in a kiss full of love and promise. The fireworks exploded above them in a symphony of color, but neither noticed. They were lost in their own universe, swaying together as the music played on.

"You look perfect tonight..."