requested by jackskellingtonrulz5
a/n: a bit of context. post endgame & post blip but obviously tony lived. also because i am forever a diehard swiftie, feel free to replace the taylor mentions with your own favorite artist. much love <3
"well I came home like a stone
and I fell heavy into your arms
these days of dust which we've known
will blow away with this new sun"
- i will wait, mumford and sons
Walking up the stone path to your own house had never been more surreal.
Returning from the Blip was wild from the moment you blinked and found yourself standing in a Wakandan field, uniform still tattered and arms smeared with sweat and dirt. However, there was a strong lack of aliens trying to tear you and the others apart. The battle-scorched ground no longer held evidence of soot and fire, what had once been blue and red blood-stained dirt was now full and luscious grass. All you had done was blink and now there you stood, in the exact same spot five years later. It gave you a new sense of empathy for Bucky and Steve, never truly being able to grasp how it must feel to be so out of time. Now you had a small taste, and needless to say, you didn't envy them in the slightest.
You'd expected to either find the house was no longer yours or find the flowers and greenery you'd put so much time into wilted and crumbling into faded brown leaves. However, it was just as you remembered. The bushes were a lush green and the leaves full of life, the flowers tall and freshly pruned. They were vibrant as ever and truly looked even better than you left them. You felt your boyfriend's hand press into the small of your back as he led you up the path and towards the front door, pulling the keys from his pocket. Ever since you'd returned, Tony was always touching you in some way or form. Whether it be holding hands, legs brushing, or a hand in your hair, he always kept you within arm's length. As if he was your tether, and if he let go you'd float away from him forever. It was really the only sign you had that he was affected by you being gone. Obviously he'd kissed the life out of you when you were both reunited and he'd told you how much he'd missed you, but other than that he'd seemed perfectly fine. You were one of the lucky ones who didn't have the misfortune of coming home to find their partners married to someone else, and in fact found numerous tabloids commenting on how the once playboy seemed to of not even breathed in the direction of another since you'd disappeared. You stepped onto a creaking wooden stare only to look over and find a wooden swing hanging, one that had certainly not been there when you'd left that morning.
"I hope you don't mind, I kept up with things while you were on your little vacation." Tony teased softly as he unlocked the door before looking at the swing, moving to wrap his arm around your shoulders. "What do you think?"
"Vacation, right." His comment earned him a good-natured eye roll that always brought a grin to his lips, knowing you loved his witty comments almost as much as he did. "It's beautiful Tony, where'd you get it?" You smiled back at him before reaching out to touch the chain it hung from, it was stained a beautiful cream color with (favorite color) throw pillows arranged.
"Oh, I built it." He hummed, looking it over as he pressed down on the armrest a bit. "Turns out when half of your team and your girlfriend dissolve you end up having some spare time on your hands. I finished off your payments too by the way. They weren't exactly looking to put your loan on hold and I know you've always said you don't need my money, but you weren't here to tell me no this time. It's a dangerous world where you leave me unsupervised."
"I love it. And I'm going to pay you back every cent," You couldn't help the smile that spread so far across your lips it almost hurt, a hand moving to your chest. Despite all the time that had passed, he'd kept things in line for your return. You turned to wrap your arms around his neck, leaning up to press your lips against his. His hands moved to push up under the curtain of your hair and ran his thumbs over your jaw as he tilted his head a bit. The familiarity of the scruff brushing against your face and his warm touch made you want to melt into him even more, smiling against his lips as you let your fingers tangle into his soft hair.
"We should probably go inside now," You murmured, letting your fingernails lightly scratch his scalp as he pressed his forehead against yours. "What about we just stay right here instead? Forever?" He hummed, moving his hands down to your hips and pulling you completely flush against him as he went in for another kiss which you happily returned before giggling and slightly swatting his chest. You took his hand, moving to tug him towards the door despite the grunt he made in retaliation and leading him into the house. "C'mon, I probably have five years worth of dust to-"
You paused when you stepped in the house, eyes wide as you took in the sights before you. The first thing that caught your eye was the living room. The putrid spinach green walls you always complained about but never found the time to repaint were now a clean shade of (preferred color). The house smelled as if it had been freshly cleaned, candles lit along your coffee table. The plants that you'd forced Tony to help you pot were far from the dead crisps you'd expected, but rather thriving with the addition of a cactus. The outdated television screen that couldn't even handle Netflix had been replaced with a brand new flat screen, and the gas fireplace you had never been able to get to work properly had a fire burning within. You couldn't help the gasp that escaped, your hand returning to your chest as you stepped further inside. The kitchen was the same, except the crooked cabinet had been fixed and the table leg that had been propped up with an old book was now fixed. Several other little things that had always been a complaint but never enough for you to get around to fixing were made new, and overall it just had a completely new feel that you couldn't help but love. You turned to Tony who was currently kicking a toolbox under a table and out of sight before he shrugged off his jacket and walked into the room, avoiding your eyes.
"I just made sure things were kept up while you were gone. I finally chucked the tin can known as Alexa, I mean it's honestly the word A.I. I've ever seen, but I wired F.R.I.D.A.Y here. I honestly don't know how you lived like this, hazard, everywhere." He gestured with his hands, "I'm surprised you didn't cut your foot on the staples where the carpet was coming up or hit your head on that crooked cabinet, and absolutely no security system? Do you not realize with all the craziness we see that even a basic alarm would be life-changing?"
You watched the madness unfold, his words getting quicker and more slurred together as he got more and more worked up over the leaky sink and the flickering garage light. He placed his hands on his hips, "and honestly, don't even get me started on how dangerous it is to have a malfunctioning gas fireplace." He touched the bridge of his nose, as he turned in your direction. "Lucky for you, you have an excellent boyfriend and went through and made sure that there's absolutely nothing in this house that could, well y'know." His voice started to break on the last word, clearing his throat he moved to fiddle with one of the chairs. "See? This loose leg could end up with you falling back and hitting your head or-"
He paused, looking down at the chair. "Any of these things could happen, and you were just perfectly fine with that. Like an accident couldn't happen at anytime, I mean what if someone came in here or, I don't know. I know you have powers but there's things in this life that I can't protect you from and-" he stopped, letting his elbows rest on the chair as he let his face fall into his hands.
You felt a tug on your heart, gaze softening as you walked up to him and gently took his hands into yours and squeezed them as his watery gaze avoided yours. "Hey." You said softly and reached up to gently cup his face, running your thumb over the rough stubble with a gentle smile. "I'm not going anywhere Tony, I'm right here."
He let his forehead drop to your shoulder as you moved to wrap your arms around him, his moving around your waist as he nuzzled into your neck and you could feel him take a deep inhale of your perfume. "I just want you to be safe. That's all. I... I can't lose you again."
You felt a piece of your heart chip off at his words, moving to press a kiss to the top of his head as you rubbed circles into the center of his back. His hand slipped up under your shirt, far from a sexual manner but rather just feeling and needing to be closer to you. "I'm not going anywhere sweetheart, I promise. I plan to stay right here with you forever and ever."
"Good, because I wasn't really going to give you a choice." He mumbled against your skin, leaving a kiss there before pulling back. "I do have one more surprise for you."
"More? Tony, you've already done enough." You chuckled softly, smiling back up at him as you let your thumb swipe under wet eyes.
"Yeah, but I know for a fact none of that other shit will matter when I show you this." He grinned, moving to place a kiss above your temple before taking your hand and leading you up the stairs, moving to your closed guest bedroom door. Well, it was supposed to be a guest bedroom but it was yet another thing on the list you'd never gotten around to. He moved to open the door, pushing it open to reveal the walls completely lined with bookshelves, each book organized in complete color coded order. Lights had been strung along the ceiling, as well as a large comfy chair and rug placed by the window with a table and accompanying lamp.
"Tony..." You looked around, eyes wide with wonder. But before you could finish what was no doubt going to be a big reaction, he moved to the table and opened the drawer. "As outdated and completely a waste of space as they are, I also got you these. I figured you'd want to keep up."
In his hand was what you'd only caught glimpses of on the internet, but it was every Taylor Swift album you'd missed while you were gone. Your eyes widened to the point you thought they'd never be able to close again as you moved to jump into tony's arms, wrapping your entire body around him. The man barely had a chance to set down the CDs and catch you, holding you tightly against him as you leaned up to press several quick kisses to his lips. "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou-" You mumbled through your kisses as you cupped his face. Tony chuckled against your lips, "Of course. I mean. My fiancee only deserves the best after all."
You froze mid-kiss, puckered out like a fish as you slowly pulled back. "What?"
"Oh, did I not mention that part? Hm. I knew I was forgetting something." He moved to push your hair behind your ear only to flick out a ring between his fingers, copying the cheesy trick of pulling a coin out of a kid's ear. He moved to take your hand, squeezing it gently. "If the past five years has taught me anything, it's taught me that my life really sucks without you in it. All I could think about was you and how much better my life has gotten since you stepped into it. Surprisingly, despite me already being a pretty good catch you somehow found a way to slip in and make me an even better man than I already was."
The line earned a giggle and an eye roll as tears formed in your eyes, hand moving to cover your mouth as he slid the ring onto your finger.
"I've made a lot of mistakes and done a lot of shit that would take too long to name, including accidentally selling missiles to terrorists to creating a killer robot, yet I do know the one thing I got right was you. And despite all the absolutely batshit crazy bullshit, you've been there for every single moment and never once turned your back on me. I lost five years, but I'm ready to spend whatever I have left with you." He said softly, earning more waterworks from you as you just nodded, unable to speak as you leaned up to press your lips to his. He let his fingers work their way into your hair, squeezing your waist tightly to him as he couldn't help the cheeky grin that formed. "Isn't this the part where you say yes Tony, I would love nothing more than to become Mrs. Stark and become wife to one of the greatest men of-"
He was cut off by a sharp whack to his chest as you couldn't help giggling through your tears. "Yes Tony. Yes." You whispered, leaning up to press another kiss to his lips knowing that this is exactly how you wanted to spend every moment from this point on. This man waited five long years, not even knowing if you were coming back and yet here was, spending all that time taking care of you when you weren't even present. Quite frankly, you couldn't name a better soul for a husband if you tried.
a/n
There's another one! I'm thinking of doing a blip return series, of how different characters react when you're reunited from the blip. drop a name and whether you or them were blipped and I'll definitely write it!