She challenges him at every turn, something he strangely finds most attractive about her. At first, he doesn't get it though. He has to trace back their past arguments in his head, and even the more recent calm of cohabitating. Neither of them are perfect, of course. They have scars -- without them, they never would have been drawn to one another. Tony reaches for her arm across her body, just bracing it on her shoulder so as not to jostle the wine. He nudges his nose against hers and latches onto her eyes with his, trying to make a meaningful connection for what he's about to say. "I'm ready."

He hopes it's significant enough. Not so much that it's what she wants to hear, but something that will resonate with her and help her understand that he's already all in. If this doesn't work out, he has nothing else, so really what has he got to lose? Pepper has always been more pragmatic than that so he isn't expecting anything earth-shattering here. But he does accept her for all the faults he's seen, and even the ones he hasn't. They're part of what makes her perfect in his eyes.