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“Alright! The sixth annual gift exchange is officially underway!” Tony slammed his huge bag on the table, already smirking victoriously. “I'll beat you this year, Rogers. Just fucking watch me!”
Steve chuckled, placing his own gifts down on the floor in a much more dignified manner. “Merry Christmas to you too, Tony.”
“This is a competition and you know it,” Tony said with narrowed eyes and Steve laughed, giving him a fond smile that Tony had to fight not to return. The gift exchange was serious business. And Tony was determined to beat Steve this year.
...Well, to be fair, it was a bit of an arbitrary scoring system. And they never actually declared someone the winner. But if Tony had learned anything about them in their many years together it was that healthy competition really got their blood pumping. And getting Steve's blood pumping was Tony's favorite thing to do. One way or the other.
“Alright. Hit me.”
Tony pulled out his starkpad, thumbing through the notes until he got to their list. “Okay. First up, favorite snack.”
“Easy,” Steve hummed, reaching for something under the table as Tony pulled a giant tub of butter pecan ice cream out of his bag. He slid it over the table right as Steve procured a family-sized bag of cool ranch doritos. Tony frowned.
“That's not my –“
“Wait for it.” Steve bent down and emerged from under the table with a bottle of classic catalina dressing the size of Tony's head. Tony broke out laughing.
“Oh, fuck yeah!”
“It's still an abomination,” Steve said sternly but Tony could see the smile tugging at his lips when Tony hugged the chips and dressing to his chest. “But I know you like it, so.”
“Damn straight,” Tony sniffed, pushing his gifts to the side. “Some day you'll see the light too, young grasshopper.”
“Sure.” Steve nodded at the list. “What's next?”
“Okay. Second prompt, 'I saw this and I thought of you'.” Tony grinned, knowing he had this one in the bag. He pulled out his gift, tapping his foot as Steve kept rustling through his bags until he made a victorious noise and straightened up, cocking an eyebrow at Tony.
“Ready?”
“Born ready.”
They put their gifts on the table at the same time – and broke out laughing immediately, their backs bowing under the force of it.
“Holy shit,” Tony gasped, reaching for his Iron Maiden shirt as he pushed the Buck Rogers mug towards Steve. “You went to Hot Topic too?”
“It made me think of you,” Steve got out between chuckles, his eyes glimmering when he looked up at Tony. “Remember that time you ripped your pants and the closest store was Hot Topic, but they only had –“
“Yes, vividly,” Tony said loudly before Steve could go into more detail. “I think everyone there remembers.”
“Probably.” Steve propped his hands up on his mug. “So? What's next?”
“Hm? Oh yeah, let me check.” Tony pulled up the list. “Uh... Our favorite vacation.”
“Easy,” Steve said again and Tony rolled his eyes.
“Why do I get the feeling we picked the same thing again?” he asked and Steve grinned, reaching under the table.
“We'll see.” The challenging glint in his eyes made Tony's heart beat faster. Oh yeah, the blood pumping was definitely happening. Huzzah. “You ready?”
“On three. One, two –” He slammed his gift on the table at the same time as Steve – and frowned. “Wait, what?”
Steve cocked his head, brow furrowing as he looked at Tony's present. “Is that –“
“A penguin. Cause one of them made me fall on my ass.” Tony held up the plushy with a confused smile. “Wasn't it Antarctica? I thought you loved that.”
“Yeah, but I was thinking...” Steve looked down at his own present, a set of beautifully engraved chopsticks. “Japan was your favorite, right? The fireworks and everything?”
“I did love Japan.” Tony shrugged. “I guess they both count, right? In a way?”
Steve pondered that for a moment before he nodded. “Yeah. No need to choose.”
“Who has one favorite vacation anyway? That's stupid.”
They smiled at each other for a moment before Tony cleared his throat, shoving the penguin across the table at Steve. “Okay. Next up, let me check... 'Something you can buy for a dollar that you know I'll enjoy'.” He glared playfully at Steve. “Still needlessly wordy.”
Steve grinned. “What? It's all in the little things.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Tony said, rolling his eyes as he reached for the smallest item in his bag before he slid it across the table. “There you go. I hope it's a good one.”
Steve's eyes actually lit up when he picked up the book-shaped pencil eraser which looked almost ridiculously tiny in his hands. “That's really nice, Tony. Thanks!”
“Yeah, yeah.” Tony waved him off. “Should've seen the face of the cashier. I don't think I've ever been in a Dollar Tree before.”
Steve chuckled as he reached under the table and returned with – oh fuck yeah.
“Have I told you recently how much I love you?” Tony asked as he eagerly grabbed the paper bag, opening it up to smell the shitty convenience store hot dog. “Fuck yeah, that's the stuff.”
“You want me to give you two a room?” Steve asked amusedly as Tony bit into it immediately, playing up his pleasured groan.
“Mmh, it's so bad but it's so good,” Tony moaned as he devoured two thirds of the hot dog at record speed, handing the last bit to Steve who finished it in two bites.
“Okay. What's next?”
“Just one more I think.” Tony checked the list and hummed. “Okay. 'Something we can do together'. Go.”
Tony smirked triumphantly as he grabbed the large square package from his bag, knowing that this would be the winning present for sure. He knew how much Steve loved puzzles, the more pieces the better, and between them a 4,000 piece puzzle would probably be enough to fill an evening. Tony had always refused to do a puzzle with Steve before, so he knew Steve would appreciate it, especially since Tony was the one bringing it up.
“Ready?” Tony asked smugly, setting the puzzle down on the table –
And Steve pulled out a jewelry box.
“What?” Tony frowned, unsure of how a watch would fit their gift prompt, when Steve opened the box, his hands clasping the satin case on either side of a... ring.
It still took a moment to click, but when Tony looked up at Steve's face and saw the way his eyes were crinkling at the corners above that nervous but hopeful smile –
Holy fuck.
“Tony,” Steve said, coming around the table to drop to one knee right next to Tony's chair, and Tony could feel his heart pounding against his ribcage as it finally hit him – fuck, what the fuck was happening – “I know I'm kind of dropping this on you out of the blue. And I know we've had our ups and downs, but... you've made me a better man than I ever thought I could be. And if I could spend the rest of my life to give you even a fraction of the happiness you've given me then it would be my privilege.”
Steve held up the ring and Tony had to blink away tears to keep looking at him, at the tremulous smile on his lips that made Tony want to hold him and never let go.
“You're the better part of me, Tony. You gave me a home and to this day I don't know how I can even begin to thank you for that. I want to grow old with you. I want to live every day knowing that I can share my life and love and hardships with you.” Steve's voice was heavy with tears now and Tony reached out to touch his face, so filled with joy that he could barely see. “Tony. Will you marry me?”
“You fucking idiot,” Tony choked out, dropping to his knees to wrap himself around Steve and hold on with white knuckles, feeling his breathing hitch when Steve picked him up and dragged him into his lap. “Oh my fucking god, Steve!”
Steve laughed tearfully, clutching Tony so tightly that it was right on the edge of painful. Fuck, Tony loved him so much. “So your answer is –“
“Yes, you fucking dumbass! Is that even a question?”
When Steve threw his head back and laughed Tony couldn't help but join in, whooping when Steve picked him up and spun him around once before setting him on his feet, brushing his hair behind his ear. Steve's grin was so wide that Tony just had to press a kiss to it, and then another and another until he was kissing Steve within an inch of his life, sloppy and salty with tears. It was absolutely perfect.
“I love you so much,” Tony whispered, tucking his face against Steve's neck when he was pulled into a firm hug, Steve's pulse beating rapidly against his lips. Tony's head was spinning so much that he had to close his eyes and just breathe for a second, only coming back to reality when Steve suddenly shook him.
“Oh my god, Tony. We're gonna get married!”
“And who's fault is that?” Tony laughed, leaning back just enough to grab Steve's face and kiss him again, lingering for so long that he seriously contemplated just staying there forever, wrapped up in warmth and comfort and Steve. Fuck knew what he had done to deserve this, but Tony would take it and hold on to it until his dying breath, this perfect moment of happiness in which all he could feel was love. He'd never take that for granted.
When they finally pulled apart they were both grinning ear to ear and it was so ridiculous that Tony found himself laughing again, his chest lighting up with so much joy that it felt almost overwhelming. Fuck, he couldn't remember ever being this happy.
“Here,” Steve said with a fond smile as he took the ring out of its box and grabbed Tony's hand. Tony felt like crying all over again when he felt the metal slide onto his finger, a promise and a declaration, and he just had to kiss Steve again, tangling their hands together.
“I'll get you a ring too,” Tony said against Steve's lips and Steve smiled, lifting Tony's hand to press a kiss to it, his mouth brushing against the ring. Tony's heart was all but beating out of his chest. He couldn't stop smiling.
“I can't wait.”