Not long after the Armageddon that wasn't, Crowley and Aziraphale grow even closer and cross the line they've been towing on for centuries.

"You could stay with me, if you like."

The offer was tempting, enormously so, more than it ever had been. More than he ever allowed it to be.

He didn't end up staying with Crowley he did, after all, get his bookshop back.

He did, however, end up spending a lot more time with Crowley at his place and just about everywhere else.

His reservations that held to for so long began to crumble after the Armageddon, after they were cast out, as it were, from their respective "sides".

He was on humanity's side and so was Crowley and that earned a certain change on his viewpoint.

He did not much care that he was an angel and Crowley was a demon. They simply existed as they were, different celestial beings but with a place in each other's lives.

This often included lunches at the Ritz, it was becoming one of his favorite places, though Crowley, the wiley demon that he was, liked to shake things up and he followed because, well, he never could pass up a good lunch with Crowley.

Not to mention, as much as he adored food, it was infinitely more satisfying when he had someone to share the experience with. He was shocked by how much Crowley had not tried,but also delighted that he was able to share his favorite foods with his favorite being.

Crowley didn't always like everything he made him try but he was always willing to try it and if he didn't feel like eating, he would at least order a glass (or two) of wine and keep him company, which was more than enough to keep them both satisfied.

Crowley also kept showing up at his bookshop more often and join him for tea and he started to visit Crowley at his flat.

He was fascinated by Crowley's plants and for some reason, the plants seemed to bask in his presence as well.

They went for picnics, and to museums, art galleries and concerts and he was even able to convince Crowley to see an Opera and he found an almost relieving delight that none of it had to do with stopping the armageddon.

Oh the War would be coming, the War between the Celestials and Humanity, and he could rely on that in the back of his mind, (yes that was the reason he continued to spend time with a demon) but for once in his six thousand years on Earth, he knew he was spending so much time with Crowley simply because he enjoyed Crowley's presence.

One Friday he had arrived at Crowley's place and had been there all afternoon, taking in lunch and tea in the quiet of Crowley's inhabitance.

At some point the demon had left, going on about something about Scotland and had invited Aziraphale to go with him but Aziraphale had already settled down with a mug of hot cocoa and one of the books he had started keeping at Crowley's flat.

"It's not a bookshop, angel!" Crowley had protested originally once he started to notice the piles of books scattered around.

"I don't intend to make it one." Aziraphale answered simply - the very notion of turning a flat, especially Crowley's, into a bookshop was ridiculous - and Crowley groaned at him but said nothing more about it.

It was one of his favorite books, one he had read and reread dozens of times. Yet he was still so enraptured by it's contents that he failed to notice that Crowley had returned until the demon tossed himself dramatically onto the couch beside him.

Aziraphale looked up, brow raised and sniffed the air. There was a new and pungent smell that was different from Crowley's usual slightly smokey scent. He liked that scent and didn't like that it was covered up by this rather unflattering one. "What have you been up to?"

The corners of Crowley's lips twitched in a smirk. "Did you know farmers don't particularly like to chase after their entire herd?"

Aziraphale pressed his brow together and pursed his lips. Ah, a farm. Yes that explained it. "Minor mischief for you. I do hope you did not cause any harm to the animals."

Crowley shrugged, crossing one leg over the other and spreading his arm across the back of the couch. "Nah, they just ran haphazardly around the very expansive field for a while. Gave them a little taste of freedom, they enjoyed it you know."

He hid a small smile as he looked back at his book. He noticed a pattern, that Crowley's method of being a demon included causing inconveniences and annoyance to humans but never did any actual physical harm to anyone.

As far as demons went, it was positively good but he dare not call Crowley that anymore to his face. Though dare say, sometimes, sometimes, he was tempted to just to get him all riled up.

"And you haven't moved at all since I left." Crowley observed. "Do you enjoy this, truly?" He waves his hand to his little set up with book and mug.

Aziraphale looked back at him. "Truly, I do and I'll have you know I have indeed moved."

Crowley raised a silent eyebrow and Aziraphale gave him a tiny smile as he reached for his angel mug. "I needed more cocoa."

Crowley shook his head and sighed in exasperation. "I never should have introduced chocolate to you."

Aziraphale's eyes widened slightly. "Perish the thought! It was perhaps the best thing you've ever done."

"Six thousand years of knowing you and giving you chocolate was the best thing I've ever done?"

Aziraphale lifted his brow as he took a quiet sip. He could think immediately of a few other things - saving his books from the church - coming into the church in the first place. Countless other times that Crowley showed up to save him when he found himself in trouble.

"It's quite delicious."

He couldn't be certain because of his glasses but he was almost sure Crowley rolled his eyes.

Crowley then leaned in, his brow rising. "The ultimate temptation then." He spoke slowly, annunciating his every syllable, his voice a low, sultry hiss.

Crowley's mouth curled into a devilish grin, flashing his teeth

Aziraphale felt that familiar tingling sensation whenever Crowley got a little too close. Not a new feeling but one he was only recently beginning to truly acknowledge.

He could certainly understand why Adam and Eve had fallen for his temptation. He was very good at it.

He cleared his throat and lowered his mug back to the table. "Quite."

He couldn't see Crowley's eyes through the glasses but could picture them very clearly, staring at him and he stared back for a long few seconds.

Then he quickly averted his gaze and once again dove into his book.

Crowley let out a noise and he wasn't sure if it was a sigh or a laugh. Either way the demon sat back and he continued to read his book aloud as he liked to sometimes do.

Crowley was used to this tendency of his and didn't seem too perturbed when he did it around him and if he was, he simply got up and left.

Unlike him, Crowley was restless and he shifted and sighed a few times beside him before he eventually did get up, muttering something about his plants.

Sooner, or was it later, he wasn't certain, but at some point Crowley had returned.

Fully focused on his book, he was aware of Crowley's presence but tuned him out for a while.

Out of the corner of his eye he watched Crowwley slowly shift closer and closer to him until he suddenly felt his head on his lap.

"Crowley?" His voice lifted in surprise and he paused in his reading. "What are you doing?"

"Well since you have decided to be utterly useless today..."

He frowned at that. Reading was a very good use of his time he always thought.

"...so have I. So I'm sleeping." Answered the demon.

He lifted the book to peer down at Crowley inquisitively. He had removed his glasses and his eyes were indeed closed.

"Demons don't sleep." He pointed out.

"This one does."

He opened his eyes a crack and he was met with the very rare sight of Crowley's golden eyes.

He shouldn't have been startled by it. In fact he wasn't startled by them, he never had been. It was simply a part of Crowley and one he had known since the Garden. No, what he was startled by was how those golden eyes looked at him and how they continued to make him feel.

He almost craved the moments Crowley allowed himself to go without his glasses, almost as much as he craved the indulgence of food.

"Do you?" he murmured quietly. "Since when?"

"Since always, angel. I slept through nearly an entire century once. It was...a pleasant experience. One I wish I could do more often."

"Sleep through an entire century?" Aziraphale couldn't even think of that. No food? No books? No tea? No Crowley…

He shook off that thought immediately. He had spent centuries without Crowley before but that was before. He almost couldn't imagine so many years without Crowley around nowadays.

To not watch him drive around like a lunatic, his small smirk of satisfaction whenever he did something he liked, the way he sipped on his wine and how he sputtered utter nonsense when he was drunk.

The way he brushed off his small acts of kindness as if they were nothing, as if he didn't care, as if he weren't good.

By God Almighty, he could not so much of think of going to sleep and leaving Crowley out of it.

"Why don't you then?" Asked Aziraphale nonchalantly as if he hadn't just made the monumental discovery that his life going forward would be enormously empty without Crowley.

The demon was quiet for a moment. "I've found perhaps life on Earth is not as bad as it once was."

Their eyes met and they held one another's gaze.

"I do suppose…" Aziraphale started, his voice quiet and uneasy, "with the ease of modern conveniences...and humanity has grown slightly less horrible to each other…"

Crowley pressed his lips together and sighed. "Yes, angel, that's the reason." He muttered and closed his eyes again.

He couldn't help but notice the slight bitter sarcasm in his voice.

Crowley was annoyed with him and he was annoyed with himself.

He wondered, with a small sigh of his own, why he kept pushing him away. They only had each other now. No rules to abide by, except their own.

"Your company is also very enjoyable, Crowley." He said finally and his silly reservations about what they were and what they meant to one another were eased even more at the satisfied smirk that suddenly appeared on Crowley's mouth.

"Read your book." Said the demon and Aziraphale obeyed, smiling as he lowered the book back down, enjoying the new weight of Crowley's head on his lap.

"Why did you stop reading?" Crowley asked after a minute or so of silence.

"You do want to sleep, yes? As I understand most people like to sleep in quiet. I did not want to disturb you."

"I am not most people, if you haven't noticed, and there are far worse sounds to listen to than your voice, angel."

He wasn't certain whether that should classify as a compliment but given that it was Crowley, he decided it was.

He smiled to himself and cleared his throat. "Very well."

He began to read again and felt Crowley shift against him until he found a comfortable spot on his lap.

He read until he reached the end of the chapter and then quietly, slowly, lifted the book to once again peer down at Crowley.

He was struck by how peaceful he looked, if you could use peaceful to describe a demon, to describe Crowley.

But he was, with his eyes closed, his face relaxed, his hands rested lazily on his chest.

He had never seen Crowley like this before. He couldn't help but stare at him. Gaze in silent awe at a very rare, and beautiful sight.

Crowley's mussed up ginger hair fell over his forehead, no doubt a result of his escapades at the farm.

Without realizing what exactly he was doing he reached down with his free hand and gently brushed the strands away from his forehead.

It was something he realized in that moment he had always wanted to do. Run his fingers through that fiery hair, but he never could muster up the courage to so much as touch Crowley for more than necessary, none the less such an intimate show of affection.

He couldn't resist the temptation any longer and slowly ran his fingers through his hair. It was much softer than he imagined a demon's hair to be, but Crowley always did keep himself better groomed than the other demons.

"Aziraphale..."

He froze, his eyes widening. Crowley's voice was low and deep, rumbling in his chest.

He immediately removed his hand and Crowley's hair flopped back onto his forehead. He shifted and blushed.. He was usually the one to set boundaries, he should be aware of them as well.

"My apologies."

Crowley's lips pulled into a frown and for a moment, Aziraphale felt his heart drop and he feared that he ruined such a tender moment between them.

"I didn't say you should stop." Crowley continued and Aziraphale realized, his heart lifting and with it a smile, that Crowley's deepened voice was only due to his sleep and not from any annoyance.

It was a human trait but he was inhabiting a human host and had such limitations.

He slowly lowered his hand back down to the top of Crowley's head. The corners of Crowley's mouth twitched and he turned his head, until his forehead was pressed against his abdomen.

"Your hair is lovely." Aziraphale murmured quietly as he one again started to run his fingers through it.

"Your hands are magic."

He felt flushed all of a sudden and a smile grew on his lips.

"Well, I do know a trick or two."

"Not your silly little human tricks, Aziraphale. Real magic."

"Real magic?"

"Angel magic."

"It's not magic, it's simply angelic and I assure you I am using no such magic on you."

Crowley scoffed quietly. "I could argue against that."

He frowned and his hand paused. "If you are suggesting that I would ever use my influence upon you…"

He gasped quietly, only merely startled as suddenly Crowley shot up.

Crowley got into his face very often, but usually he was at least somewhat prepared for it. He was well aware of what pushing some of Crowley's buttons would do.

He wasn't aware this was one of them.

"I am saying, angel," Crowley hissed and he could feel his hot breath against his mouth and there was a flash of something in his golden eyes. "That from day one you have had some kind of ridiculous hold on me."

His brow pressed together. "Day one? The garden? I have never done anything to you. Certainly not intentionally." He couldn't deny the little stab he felt in his heart at Crowley's use of the word ridiculous.

Crowley groaned in the back of his throat. "I know with you it's never intentional."

His frown deepened and he closed his book, setting it down on the arm of the couch. "What do you mean?"

Crowley's nostrils flared, now he was annoyed.

"Do we really need to keep playing these games, Aziraphale?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." He insisted, knowing full well he knew exactly what he was talking about.

Crowley's lips curled up in a frustrated snarl. "Oh you do! You're an Angel for Christsake! Your very reason for existing is to feel love."

"It is, and I do, so what are you getting at?"

"My point," Crowley hissed and his mouth got impossibly closer. His lips subconsciously parted as Crowley drew nearer and his eyes darted downwards.

"You silly, stubborn, mischievous little angel…"

"Mischievous?" His eyes darted back up. "I would hardly call myself-"

Crowley quickly cut him off. "You gave away the flaming sword to the first humans who ever existed!"

"They needed it, after what you did, I couldn't quite help myself-"

"And all the centuries of you getting yourself into situations where I had to rescue you, mostly to do with food or your books mind you, both very human and un-angel like obsessions."

"Obsessions? I wouldn't call them obsessions. Fascinations, indulgences, perhaps…"

"And what am I, angel? To you?"

"You're...Crowley." He didn't know how better to describe it than that. A friend, yes. But also so much more. He had never known another like he knew Crowley and never wanted to. Crowley was unique, Crowley was special.

The corners of his lips twitched up. "I'm a demon, a being you weren't supposed to interact with, none the less befriend. Yet here we are, with six thousand years of history behind us. You want to know what hold you have on me, angel?"

He was fairly certain but nodded all the same.

"Love."

He swallowed hard as the word came out of his mouth, more tender than he ever thought Crowley could be, and Crowley did have his sparse moments of tenderness.

"I love you, you daft, stubborn angel."

A warmth blossomed in his chest and with it a small smile.

He cleared his throat lightly. "Six thousand years, my dear. You might have said something sooner-"

He was suddenly cut off as Crowley growled and then closed the small remaining distance between them with a harsh kiss to his mouth.

That time he knew precisely what he was doing to push all of Crowley's right buttons to get exactly what he wanted.

His eyes closed and his hand returned to Crowley's head, his fingers curling in his hair.

Crowley's mouth moved against his own, his body pressing against his and he knew he had most definitely found his new favorite indulgence.

"If it wasn't entirely obvious…" Aziraphale started once Crowley pulled away, his voice a little strained. He brought his hand to the side of his face, the tips of his fingers running over the tattoo at his sideburns and he smiled. "I also happen to love you."

"Obvious?" Crowley groaned with a dramatic roll of his eyes. "You couldn't have made it any less obvious! Sweet Moses, Aziraphale!"

Crowley fell to the seat beside him but sat closer than he ever had before, their thighs pressed together and his arm strung behind him.

A delightful tingling shot through his body as Crowley returned the favor and began to play with the hair at the nape of his neck.

He turned a sheepish and apologetic smile to him and Crowley gazed at him in exasperation.

"How many times have I asked you to run away with me? And how many times have you claimed to not even like me?"

His brow twitched downward and he winced. "Ah, yes...many times I'm afraid but you always saw through that, didn't you?"

"That is besides the point and that point being you were anything but obvious and made it a point to be just the opposite!"

"I do apologize." Aziraphale said gently, turning his head into Crowley's hand and hoped his affection would be able to make up for it now.

Crowley let out a deep sigh and shook his head. He pursed his lips, hiding a smirk.

"You are forgiven." He said, echoing Aziraphale's words from not so long ago and Aziraphale answered with a beaming smile.

"Do you remember Moses?" Aziraphale asked suddenly after they had settled back down.

"Yes," Crowley nodded with a small smirk, "and I recall he wasn't so sweet when he brought down those tablets."

Aziraphale shot him a look. "That's because while I followed him up the mountain you tempted everyone with their false gods and idols."

Crowley shrugged unapologetically. "Deserved it as far as I'm concerned after the whole Noah business."

Aziraphale frowned and nodded in acknowledgement. "Hm, yes that was awfully dreadful."

"I still cannot believe it came from your side."

Aziraphale thought about the Angels and how they had treated him over the millennia. How Crowley said they had treated him at his "execution". And how they were actually prepared for and wanted war.

He may still be an Angel in all physical sense of the word but he did not belong to their side and perhaps he never had.

Aziraphale shook his head and gazed at Crowley with a tender smile. "You're my side now."

Crowley raised his brow in pleasant surprise and a smug grin slowly crossed his lips. "Well, I'm glad to see you've finally come to your senses."

"Only took six thousand years and the threat of the end of the world."

"Six thousand years," Crowley echoed, "and you hadn't a bloody clue."

Aziraphale turned a look on him. "That's not exactly true." He admitted.

"Oh no?" Crowley turned his head and narrowed his eyes.

"I was aware of what you wanted, to some extent at least but I couldn't…

"Hold on, hold on…" Crowley leaned in towards him, his eyes were just a little fiery, "...are you telling me you have been teasing me all of this time on purpose?"

"No!" He felt the lie as soon as he said it and the expression on Crowley's face indicated he didn't buy it either. "Not completely on purpose." He articulated slowly and offered a small sheepish smile. "Accidentally on purpose."

"Accidentally on purpose?" Crowley exclaimed, his brow shooting up. "Do you know how ridiculous that sounds."

Aziraphale let out a small huff. "I simply mean that of course I loved you and I wanted to but I couldn't."

Crowley's scowl deepened. "Angel, please…"

"I couldn't let myself." He corrected himself quickly, his voice soft and apologetic. "I couldn't untie myself completely from.." he turned his gaze upwards.

"And now?" Crowley prompted.

Aziraphale looked back at him and smiled with a small shrug. "Now I simply don't care anymore. Not about that, or them. Just you and this flawed but glorious little planet."

The scowl on Crowley's face faded into a smirk and Aziraphale couldn't resist leaning in to give him another short little kiss.

"It's only us now, my dear." He murmured, once again reaching out to touch his face.

Crowley rested his head back onto his lap after a minute, settling back into comfort and Aziraphale immediately took to his hair again.

"Angel?" Crowley lifted his hand and wrapped his fingers gently around Aziraphale's wrist.

"Yes?"

"Stay with me."

It wasn't a question this time and for Aziraphale there was no question in his mind anymore of what his answer was.

"For all time, Crowley. For all time."