Dean had thought of how he might propose to his destined mate from time to time, but somehow, he’d always imagined they would actually be dating first. Silly him. He should have known better than to think the universe would make something like meeting the omega he’d hopefully spend the rest of his life with as straightforward as that.

He’d gone back and forth on trying to decide whether or not now was the right time to tell Max he’d imprinted, and as he stood on the doorstep to his mother’s house, he was no closer to figuring it out. He decided he’d just have to feel out the moment when it came, but even if the offer he was prepared to make Max was one of convenience, he intended to do it the right way. There was a ring in his pocket and he already had plans to take Max out alone so they could talk in private. A stroll in the park wasn’t exactly the romantic overture he’d always planned, but it was better than asking him on his parents’ sofa and if the plan was going to work, it needed to be in effect before their meeting with Henrietta the following morning.

When Max answered the door, Dean realized just how long twelve hours could feel when they’d been spent apart from his destined mate. Asking Max to actually be his mate was more than a matter of appeasing the court, at this point. He needed to be near the omega, and the idea of Max going back to New York and taking Gavin with him was unbearable.

“Wow,” he breathed. “You look nice.”

Max looked down at his sweater, parka and jeans like he thought Dean was joking. “I’m not really fancy or anything. And you’re wearing a blazer. Should I go change?”

“No, not at all. I just wanted to, uh…never mind,” he coughed. “Wanna get going?”

“Sure,” Max said, following him out to the truck. “Where are we headed?”

“I thought we could take a walk while we talk about the plan.”

“Ah, right. This mysterious plan of yours.” Max cocked his head and stared up at Dean as the Alpha opened his door. “So we’re driving to take a walk?”

Dean grinned. “Just trust me. There’s a place I think you’ll like.”

Luckily, Max seemed to be in a pensive mood, so he didn’t notice that Dean was too nervous to talk on the short drive to the lake. The park that surrounded it was small but well-kept, and there were evergreen plants and flowers blooming in defiance to the chilly weather. Dean grabbed a blanket he kept in the back of the truck and draped it over his arm, motioning for Max to follow him down the path.

“This is beautiful,” Max breathed as they walked under the archway of barren trees, white light streaming through the branches from the winter sky. The clouds were heavy and Dean could smell the snow in the air. The lake was already partially frozen over, and soon there would be families skating around it. He was relieved that they mostly had the park to themselves for the day.

“I thought you might like it. Used to come here a lot to think.”

“What stopped you?”

“Other than not having a lot to think about?” Dean teased. “Just work mostly.”

“You must be busy. I’m sorry you’ve had to use so much of your time off helping me and Gavin.”

“It was my pleasure. Anyway, this is the first time I’ve had something besides work to focus on in a while,” he admitted. “It’s nice. I mean, not the circumstances, just…” Max smiled patiently and Dean sighed. “I’m not good at this.”

“Good at what?” the omega asked.

“Serious talks. I can read a guy his Miranda rights in my sleep, but when it comes to life stuff, I turn into a blathering idiot,” he muttered.

Max stopped walking by an empty bench, looking up at the Alpha in concern. “I know we don’t know each other very well, but we’ve been through a lot in a short time. And I literally owe you my life. Whatever it is, Dean, you can tell me.”

Dean gazed down at the omega standing in front of him. He’d never been a nervous person, but one minute alone with Max and he felt like he was asking Cory Klein to the prom all over again, only if Max said no, it would be a hell of a lot worse than the whole soccer team laughing at him.

“Like you said, we haven’t known each other long and I know it’s not conventional, but… I wanted to give you the option before we talk to Gavin’s social worker tomorrow.”

Max tilted his head. “What option?”

Dean groaned internally. He was bungling this even more than he’d feared. If he couldn’t keep his thoughts straight, how was Max supposed to know what he was asking? “I’m not saying this because I don’t think you can take care of Gavin on your own, first of all,” he said, sensing the omega’s guard go up as he spoke. “I believe in you, and I know you’ll find a way to show the judge what I’ve seen, no matter what. Just so you know where I’m coming from.”

“Okay,” Max said slowly. “I appreciate that, but what the hell are you trying to say?”

Dean started to laugh, but it got choked out in his throat. “It’s uh… Sorry, I’m not usually like this. Not every day you ask an omega you barely know to be your mate, I guess,” he said, reaching for the ring in his pocket. Since words were utterly failing him, maybe it was time to go back to symbols. The ring box slipped out of his hand like it was made of butter, of course, and when he went to lunge for it, he wound up knocking heads with Max hard enough to send them both to the ground.

“Sorry,” Dean groaned, holding his head as he groped the frosty grass for the ring. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Max said, staring at him in shock. For a second, Dean thought he might have a concussion, but when Max looked down and the Alpha saw the box he’d been looking for in the omega’s hands, he knew otherwise. Max finally looked back up at Dean, his eyes widening. “Did you just say you’re asking me to be your…mate?”

Dean swallowed hard. Facing down a criminal with a gun? No big deal. Facing the omega his heart had already claimed as its own? That shit would’ve been enough to make him turn in his badge and his gun, if it was a job requirement. “I uh…yeah. I did.” He cleared his throat, taking the box from Max’s hand to open it. The gold band sitting inside suddenly felt inadequate, but he didn’t know enough about Max’s taste in jewelry to go with anything flashier. Come to think of it, the omega didn’t wear any. Maybe a ring was a mistake, after all…

“Oh my God,” Max said, unblinking as he stared at the ring.

Dean waited, hanging on the omega’s every word. Max’s face was too blank with shock to tell if his reaction was good or bad. “Sorry the ring’s kind of plain. It’s just a placeholder, really, until we have time to look for something better.”

Confusion filled the omega’s eyes as he looked from the ring to Dean. “The ring is perfect, but…I don’t understand why you’re giving it to me. You’d…you’d really do this, just so Gavin and I can be together?”

I’d do it this very moment for no reason at all other than the fact that I can’t remember life without you, thought Dean. What he said was, “Yeah. Of course. I mean, I know I’m not the city’s most eligible bachelor or anything, but I figure it would boost our chances.”

“Oh,” Max said in a strange tone. Dean had always known that trying to understand omegas was a lost cause. His brothers were the brains in the family, but he considered it a victory that Max hadn’t slapped him across the face in offense yet. “Wow. Dean, I don’t even know what to say. That’s the most generous thing anyone has ever done for me.”

“You could say yes,” he said with a nervous laugh, taking the omega’s hand to help him to his feet.

“Are you sure? I mean, this is… it’s a huge sacrifice to make for someone you don’t even know.”

“I know enough that I can tell you if this thing isn’t permanent, you’re gonna be the one who decides that, not me,” Dean said, his voice turning rough. Every innocent touch, even through the thick fabric of their gloves, stirred a need inside of him that was bewildering and incredible at once. In the beginning, the force of the bond he’d felt forming from the moment he’d met Max had overwhelmed him, and it still did. The main difference was that now, he was more than willing to be overcome by it. “I’ve always wanted a mate and a family, Max. Truth be told, I thought there’d be some space between those things, but the idea of losing you or Gavin? That’s what scares me. Not this.”

Max’s eyes shone with disbelief as he listened to the Alpha’s words. Dean only realized then that he’d never let go of Max’s hand. “People will find out about my past,” he said, lowering his voice to a whisper as shame filled his gaze. “Aren’t you worried about your reputation?”

“I’ve done plenty of things I’m not proud of, but this isn’t one of them,” Dean assured him, sweeping the hair out of the omega’s eyes. “Besides, do I really look like a guy who cares what a bunch of prudes think?”

The smile on Max’s lips would have been enough reassurance that Dean was making the right decision, even if nothing else was at stake. He’d dated omegas in the past, but he’d never felt this way with anyone else. It was more than just a chemical attraction. Max had once been the prize at the end of a long and difficult investigation, but he was no less a mystery now that Dean had found him, and the Alpha was all too happy to spend the rest of his life solving it, if Max let him.

In that moment, he knew it wasn’t the moment. The one where he would confess that Max was the omega who’d been destined for him, and the answer to every question that had lingered in his lonely heart for years. It wasn’t their time yet, but it would be. For Dean, the offer he was making was more than just an arrangement of convenience or necessity, but he’d had a full week to come to terms with the connection they shared. Max deserved time, too, and he deserved to be courted the way Dean had always planned when he finally found his mate. They’d both waited this long. What was a little more time in exchange for a moment that was truly theirs?

“Then the answer is yes,” Max said softly. “I’ll be your mate.”

Dean’s heart skipped a beat, but he forced himself to play it cool. “Yeah?” he grinned, tugging at the fingertips of Max’s glove to pull it off. “In that case, I’d better do this right.”

Max’s eyes widened as the Alpha sunk down on one knee. Dean took the ring and slipped it onto the omega’s finger. “Look at that,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to the back of Max’s hand. Maybe the time for a real kiss hadn’t come, but the color that rushed into Max’s cheeks gave him hope that it might not take as long as he feared. “It’s a perfect fit.”