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Theo stares in awe as Liam's fingers grip his wrist and keep tugging further and further past the bridge he still visits sometimes.
"Where exactly are you taking me?" asks Theo softly as he lets himself be dragged further and further away from the town they live in.
"I already told you, to our new lunch spot! You're gonna love it, so just pick up the pace!" huffs Liam excitedly as he turns with shining blues before focusing on his path and tugging a bit harder.
Theo snorts, but then he does indeed pick up the pace because otherwise, he has a feeling Liam will throw him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
He's done it before, unfortunately.
"How far are we from it, exactly? We're pretty deep into the preserve now," Theo's curiosity just adds a new question to his already simple list of questions to bug Liam with once they reach wherever the place is that he's being dragged.
"Not far, just shut up and keep moving," grumbles Liam as he ducks under a branch, dragging Theo down with him.
Theo chuckles as Liam drags him, still trying to figure out why they had to have lunch in the preserve today instead of with the pack at Theo's apartment like they usually do.
And wow is that an insane statement considering it took a year after Monroe for Theo to even get an apartment and stop living in his truck, let alone be considered pack.
He can feel Liam's nerves spreading into the air around them, and it makes Theo's brows crinkle because that doesn't make sense. Liam planned this, and they have lunch one-on-one often enough that there shouldn't be any nerves. Yet, he can practically taste it in the air, and he can feel Liam's pounding heart in his wrist.
"One last bridge to cross, and then we'll be there," murmurs Liam as he tugs a bit harder but slows as they move over this rickety bridge that's almost made into the cliff that hangs above them.
"Okay, now I have to ask. This is quite far into the preserve, which you don' t normally venture to, so how the hell did you find this place?" asks Theo as he walks with Liam, curiosity aching for some sort of answer.
"You'll understand when we get there, I promise," murmurs Liam as heat rakes up his neck, and Theo eyes the redness in surprise. "I stumbled onto it myself last full moon while you were helping Alec, but it's some sort of tradition for the pack according to Derek."
Theo hums as he tries to wrack his brain for an answer that makes sense, but he has no clue what Liam's talking about.
Which means that there's something the Dread Doctors never knew, or at least didn't think was important enough to pass on.
When Liam finally stops walking, Theo almost runs into him as he tries to take everything in and figure out what he's supposed to understand. It isn't until he sees the gigantic rock that reminds him of the Lion King, that his something in his mind wiggles with recognition.
"The mates in the Pack," murmurs Theo as he walks around Liam, glancing at him only to get a nod in return, before he steps towards the rock and finds the initials. "The couples, that become mates, and anchors all scratched their initials here, but also the pack in general has their own place here too. Why did you bring me here?"
It was something the Dread Doctors had mentioned, but Theo had never came out here, ever. It wasn't necessary for his plan, so he just didn't.
"Well, we're obviously anchors," replies Liam softly, nervousness making his heart thud a bit harder in his chest until all Theo can hear is that beat thrumming. But then he gives an almost sheepish grin when Theo turns to look back at him. "So that's one reason why I wanted to bring you out here as soon as I found it. But after I talked to the pack, they mentioned two other reasons to bring you out here. Though, one of them I was uncertain about."
"We're definitely anchors, which means we'd go where Corey, Jackson, Isaac, Scott, and Derek have all scratched their initials with their partners/anchor's initials. But what are the other two reasons?" asks Theo curiously as he tilts his head to the side, brows furrowing.
He's got an idea of one because everyone keeps telling him it, but he also knows that has to be the one that Liam's uncertain about.
"Well, the one I actually jumped on as soon as they brought it up is that you're pack. That's the one I knew was going to need to be brought up with you, the Pack just had to give me the go ahead to do it without them. So, you need to scratch your initials by the pack initials too," replies Liam confidently, making Theo's heart skip a beat in surprise because that was the one he knew would be the uncertain one.
But it's not the uncertain one.
"Wait, but— I'm not pack. I know everyone keeps saying that, but I'm not," says Theo as he backpedals because they're not skipping past that momentous declaration.
"You've been pack for months, shut up," snorts Liam as he waves his hand, but then it trembles as those blues shine with nervousness. "The part that I was… uncertain about is whether you'd… fuck. Okay—"
Liam turns around nervously.
"You know you can tell me anything, right?" asks Theo softly as he steps forward, hesitating to put his hand on the other man's shoulder because of his nervousness.
"Will you go on a date with me?" asks Liam quickly, practically spitting the words out as he whirls around.
Theo dives forward and kisses him sweetly, murmuring, "Yes," in between each gentle press of their lips.
Now he understands why they're here.