Ineffable Omens (Crowley x Aziraphale)

Not Giving Up Now

 Aziraphale turned to a different technique of looking for Crowley. He made posters and miracled them all over the world, in every city and every town, hoping Crowley would see even one of them. The had a black and white photo of Crowley on them, with the words, "Has anyone seen my idiot? Lost 6 years ago. If you're reading this, you piece of shit, I've loved you for 6,000 years and I'm not stopping now. Please come home."

It took only a week for Crowley to get his message and get up the guts to reveal himself again. He did it in the pouring rain, fitting for how miserable Crowley felt inside. Aziraphale wasn't at his bookshop, so he went over to his own place and knocked on the door. Sure enough, the angel opened the door and the two of them stood their wide-eyed and in shock.

The angel wasn't looking so good. He was thinner, his hair a mess and his clothes disgruntled, like he hadn't been taking very good care of himself. The demon looked even worse, soaking wet, sleep-deprived (although that was impossible), wrinkled clothes, and his sunglasses taped together Harry Potter-style.

"What is wrong with you?" Aziraphale said, holding back tears and pulling the demon inside, slamming the door shut, but without much conviction. "How could you have done that? I want an explanation."

"Angel, are you alright?" Crowley asked, concerned. "You don't look too good—"

"Don't you angel me, mister! Explain."

Crowley got skittish. "I left because it hurt too much to be around you."

"You could have just told me that. I'm sorry my companionship was such a drag. I'm sorry you couldn't stand being around me. But let a guy know!"

"No! No no no no no, Azi, you've got it all wrong. That's not what I meant. It hurt because every time I saw you I wanted to kiss you and I knew you would never like me like that."

"Oh," Aziraphale said, his face falling. "You could have just told me. You shouldn't have left."

"I already knew the answer."

"How could you have possible known how I felt?"

"Well up until that poster you were pretty damn clear about your feelings!" Crowley snapped. "You go too fast for me, Crowley. What the hell was that about if it wasn't a clear rejection?"

"I said you go too fast for me, I didn't ask you to cut me out entirely! I just wanted you to wait for me, wait for me to catch up and as soon as I do ... as soon as I finally sort out how I feel about you you try to kill yourself and then vanish into thin air. You could've been dead for all I knew!"

"But I wasn't."

"But you could've been!"

"But I wasn't!"

"SHUT UP!" Aziraphale said, tears streaming down his face. "I loved you and you left."

"Azi ..." Crowley said, reaching out to put a hand on the angel's shoulder, but he backed away. "What do you want me to do? Should I leave?"

"No." Aziraphale tried to stifle his sobs and he sank to the floor, his back to the wall, head in his knees.

"Should I stay?"

"No."

"Then tell me what to do."

"Just ... just don't let me go."

Crowley sat down next to the angel and put his arms around him. This time the angel didn't push him away. Crowley drew him close and they stayed there the entire night, the angel wrapped warmly in the demon's embrace.