Chapter Text
Tony adjusted and readjusted his suit about a thousand times in the locker room before swiping the lint roller over it one last time and nodding.
This is it. It’s time. The twelve or so years of growing up with his childhood crush had led up to this very moment of asking Steve to prom. It had taken months for Tony to admit that he wanted to be Steve’s boy— well, to be Steve’s. Not just arm candy, not just the fleeting high school sweethearts that the whole school and even their parents thought them to be, not a couple doomed to never see each other again after they’d obtained their diplomas and turned the tassels on their caps. No, Tony wanted a future beyond that. It had taken months of hesitating and waiting and second-guessing himself before Tony finally said Fuck it, I want this.
This was his chance to prove it.
His fingers traced the belt that squeezed around his middle, holding up slacks that barely fit; they were his father’s before the accident. In fact, the whole suit was. The same one his father wore when he took his mother to prom, looking lean and muscular in their photos. The crooked, scratched mirror didn’t do Tony any favors, however, making the suit seem unflattering and unattractive around his frame. Maybe I oughta go home and change , he thought.
“You know what — no — it’s fine. I look fine . Steve’s gonna go nuts and everything’s gonna be okay.” Still, his stomach gave an unhappy lurch. “Jesus, I hope I don’t puke.”
If you’d x-rayed Tony’s stomach, you’d probably find hundreds of butterflies fluttering around in there. No matter how many times his mother tried to downplay the anxiety that always gnawed at his gut, his nervous stomach did not go away as he got older. It was just part of who he was: Tony Stark, hyperactive child prodigy, anxious mess, and die-hard perfectionist. Strong emphasis on perfectionist.
If this didn’t go right and Steve turned him down in front of everyone, well, Tony would probably drop out of school and never show his face to Steve again. In fact, Tony wouldn’t blame the guy. Everybody knew Tony was a bit possessive, a bit eccentric, a bit too hard to get rid of if only because he always kept coming back, promising to be better. Hell, Tony always wondered why Steve hadn’t gotten rid of him yet. Because of the money? His family’s connections?
No, Tony wanted to believe this wasn’t a lie. That they weren’t a lie.
He didn’t want to imagine being turned down in front of all their friends and losing something good in his life again . God knew Tony had enough loss for one lifetime.
So yeah. Maybe this was the last straw, or maybe this was the beginning. Sure, there was a slight chance that Steve would say yes out of pity (and come to think of it, maybe he had gone a little bit overboard with booking fireworks. It was a bit presumptuous) but there was also a chance Steve would say yes out of lo — because he liked Tony. A 50/50 chance. Maybe more like 60/40.
“Shit, ok, let’s not continue that train of thought,” Tony muttered, patting his cheeks and standing up taller. “Rhodey said it’d be fine. So it will be .” He grabbed the bouquet (some wildflowers he had picked from a community garden Steve volunteered at) off the bench, followed by the box of chocolates which he tucked in his left arm. Well, it’s now or never , he thought.
The moment Tony felt the glare of the stadium lights beaming on his face and smelled the plastic, chemical-scented grass, his heart began to pound.
The gym’s double doors whooshed closed behind him.
Steve, who was standing with Rhodey and Bucky by the bleachers, looked beautiful . Even more than usual. He wasn’t wearing his usual hairstyle; it was slicked back like he was expected at a fancy dinner. And he wasn’t wearing his JROTC uniform. No, today he wore black slacks and a dark blue button down. His eyes were crinkled in a smile in pure, total happiness.
Fuck. Shit. I can’t do this.
But he took one step forward anyway.
And another.
And another.
Until finally, with his heartbeat thundering in his ears and what felt like the heat of a thousand suns bearing down on him, Tony had completed the longest walk of his life, Steve standing just a hair’s breadth away. Time seemed to slow down. If it wasn’t for the timer on his watch signaling the countdown to the fireworks, Tony would have forgotten it was about to happen. He took a deep breath.
And smiled.
Didn’t falter at the gobsmacked expression on Steve’s face.
Didn’t back down in the face of this nerve-wracking challenge.
“Steven Grant Rogers,” Tony announced. Heads turned in his peripheral vision. The whole JROTC was watching them now. “Will you go to prom with me?”
It felt like it took a million years before Steve finally said “ Yes! ”
Tony’s knees suddenly went weak, but Steve caught him, held him close and safe in his arms. “Thank God. Oh, thank God. Thank God.”
“But only on one condition,” Steve said.
Tony’s heart seized in his chest. “What?”
That was when Steve removed a flat, wide, black velvet box from his pocket and opened it to reveal a silver pendant. Tony saw it and was instantly transported to that day when he had given Steve a piece of his heart.
“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?” Tony said, placing a shaky, bandaged palm in Steve’s and squeezing it. “Keep it as ‘Evidence of Tony’s immortality’, ‘kay?”
It was the metal from Tony’s heart surgery all those years ago, when he got into that car accident as a kid. Steve had taken it without question and Tony had pretended it didn’t mean anything to trust Steve with something so close to his heart. It was just a scrap of metal until now...until Steve had gone and made it into something beautiful.
“Holy shit ,” Tony and Rhodey gasped simultaneously.
Steve beamed at him like he was the sun. “Will you, Anthony Edward Stark, be my boyfriend?”
“Are you kidding me?! YES!”
Just then, the sky lit in a blaze of reds, blues, and gold, booming and fizzing above their heads. Bucky popped confetti in their faces while Rhodey queued the music on the loudspeakers.
Feel like sun on my skin
So this is love, I know it is
I know I sound super cliché
But you make me feel some type of way
This is falling, falling in love
The two embraced, preening under their friends’ congratulations and laughing at Bucky’s ‘about time.’ Yeah, it’s about damn time , Tony thought, How could I ever doubt this? Us? He pulled back. “Just so you know,” he smiled, looking at Steve (his boyfriend , holy shit), “I had nothing to do with the song choice. It was all Rhodey’s idea. Told him it was redundant, but whatever.”
“I actually think it’s kinda cute,” Steve said, matching Tony’s smile. “But fireworks, Tony?” he laughed, “Really?”
Steve + Tony , the sky spelled.
“What, you thought I’d just show up with some cardboard sign saying ‘Will you go to prom with me’? Yeah, I don’t think so. You know me better than that,” Tony snorted.
“True, but still. I’m sorry I couldn’t get you anything as fancy.”
Tony shook his head. “Are you kidding me? The necklace is beautiful . You’re beautiful. And I—” Shit, was he allowed to say it now? That he loved Steve? Sure, they were technically boyfriends now and sure, this could all be for nothing when they graduate and possibly go their separate ways, but… Tony didn’t want to be anywhere else but here. Wherever Steve went, Tony had followed, ever since kindergarten. Was it stupid to hope it was like this when they were older?
Fuck it. I’m just gonna say it .
“I love you.”
Steve placed the pendant around Tony’s neck before leaning down to kiss him. “I love you too.”
Some time later…
Bucky handed Rhodey a broom and began sweeping up the confetti. “I can’t believe they managed to propose at the same time. Dorks.”
Rhodey sighed. “Why are we even surprised? They were made for each other. Now shut up and help me clean this mess. I wanna go home.”