A visit to The Last Bookstore
Not many weeks after the Almost Armageddon, Crowley and Aziraphale decided to take a trip to the USA. It was actually Crowley who had decided to go, but Aziraphale thought it was a good idea and did not need much convincing from the demon. However, Crowley told him that he would find out about the things they were going to do and places they would visit once they arrived.
Crowley had read about a bookstore in Los Angeles that he knew the angel would love, The Last Bookstore it was called and just by the pictures he could tell Aziraphale was going to love it. He wanted to surprise him, he knew how hard it had been for him to lose his bookshop and they had not been out of the UK for a while, so a nice holiday wouldn't hurt. Not as if they had any actual jobs to keep.
"You've got all your stuff, dear? We should head now to the airport or we'll miss our flight," said Aziraphale. "I still don't get why we have to go there by plane".
"Hey, it'll be fun angel, don't be such a party killer. Besides, I get to put my head on your shoulder and sleep for a while," Crowley replied with a smug smile.
"You got us first class."
"Yeah, so we have space to snuggle," he shrugged. "I'm still going to use your shoulder to rest my head," he added and gave the angel a kiss on his cheek.
"Fine," Aziraphale said, looking away and trying to hide the fact he was blushing and failing.
Once they arrived to the airport, they did not have to wait for long before boarding, but it gave Crowley enough time to embarrass Aziraphale in front of some humans while standing in line. The demon put his headphones on and, unsurprisingly, put Queen on shuffle. A few songs passed before he came up with the brilliant idea to lip-sync a song while staring lovingly at Aziraphale. "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" began, and as soon as Aziraphale noticed, he wanted to do two things: punch the demon for being an idiot and kiss him for the same reason. He also couldn't help it but smile at Crowley, who enjoyed every second and whose smile grew wider at that sight. Some people around them noticed Crowley's act and started giggling, which made Aziraphale try to cover his face, while laughing himself.
They started boarding, which saved Aziraphale from another of Crowley's numbers. Now they just had a really long flight ahead of them. Their seats were incredibly comfortable, and they certainly had enough space to snuggle since they were pretty much a bed.
"So, what did you think of my little performance?" Crowley asked now that they were both lying down and had taken off. The lights were off and the sky was dark outside.
"Nothing new really, just confirmed that you're an idiot."
"Angel! How dare you say such profanities?"
"Oh fuck off!" he mumbled.
"I'm sorry, I didn't quite get that, do you mind repeating it just a bit louder?" Crowley teased him.
"I said fuck. Off." He had taken quite a taste for the word since he had been discorporated.
"Gladly, but I would prefer if you made me," he said in a rather seductive tone.
"I did like your performance, dear. Can't wait 'til the next one," Aziraphale said and closed the gap between the two and gave the demon a kiss. He proceeded to put his free hand on his cheek, and Crowley placed his on the angel's back. He slowly moved it towards his curly hair and ran his fingers through it.
Crowley had foreseen this scenario, which is why he had gotten those seats. Eleven hours on a plane next to Aziraphale and not being able to make out with him? Pretty much impossible. At least in that way they were able to do it without worrying about making others uncomfortable or to accidentally nudge someone while kissing. Besides, they could even cuddle and watch TV or read.
"I love you, Crowley," Aziraphale said after they had separated. He was caressing his hair.
"I love you too," Crowley replied and placed his head on Aziraphale's shoulder as promised. He fell asleep right away; the angel did too not long after.
The rest of their flight was uneventful and spent most of it cuddling, sharing food or Crowley attempting to lip-sync to other songs.
"As soon as we arrive, will you tell me where we're going to go?" Aziraphale asked when they were about to start landing.
"No way, Zira," Crowley replied.
"Technically we'll be in Los Angeles."
"Yeah, but I want to surprise you, so you'll have to wait," Aziraphale rolled his eyes. "But, the place where I want to take you will be the first we visit. After that I can tell you where else we'll go." That seemed to calm the angel a little, although he did not face the demon until they landed.
They waited for the luggage, and as soon as they got it, they headed to the exit. That certainly took them a while, and since they were tourists they had to pass through customs and so on. Due to the time zones, it was past midnight there, so there was not much to be done. Fortunately for Aziraphale, as soon as it was morning they would go to wherever Crowley's surprise was.
"Let's go get a cab to take us to the hotel," Crowley suggested and started walking.
"Hang on dear," Aziraphale stopped him. "Thank you for this tip, I love spending time with you and we hadn't done this in a while," he said as he caressed his left arm.
"It's nothing Az, I love being with you and I just hope you enjoy our little holiday across the ocean."
"I'm sure I will," he said and gave Crowley a tender kiss.
"Our first kiss in the City of Angels," said Crowley.
"The first of many."
They got a taxi pretty quickly, which drove them to their hotel. Their room was quite huge, and both the angel and the demon embarked in one of their favorite human activities: sleep.
"I can't wait to see where we're taking me tomorrow Crowley," said Aziraphale as he held the demon and gave him a kiss on his forehead. Crowley held the angel tighter.
"Time to wake up, dear," Aziraphale said.
Crowley took a look at the alarm clock on the nightstand. It was 8:30 am.
"You know, I would complain about waking me up so early, but I have to keep my part of the deal and you have waited enough. The place opens at 10 and we get there in half an hour on the subway, so we have some time," Crowley responded, with his face half buried on Aziraphale's neck.
"I'll shower then. We could get some breakfast and go around the hotel for a while, it seemed rather nice." Crowley limited himself to smile at him in agreement.
Once Aziraphale was done showering, it was Crowley's turn. They then went to the restaurant and had breakfast.
"The view from here is truly beautiful," said Aziraphale, looking outside.
"I couldn't agree more," said Crowley as he stared at the angel with a hand on his cheek and the other reaching out for Aziraphale, who proceeded to take it.
"A lovely view indeed," he said, now facing his partner. Both of them were smiling as if they had just started dating and had never laid eyes upon each other before.
Their way to The Last Bookstore was much more quiet than Crowley had expected, Aziraphale was looking out the window, and so was he. When their stop came, Crowley told Aziraphale that they had to walk a couple of blocks before getting there. The angel did not know what to expect: all that secrecy was finally coming to an end, which was exciting but somehow also frightening, what if he didn't like the place they were going? Crowley sounded so excited to take him there and he was really sure that he was going to like it. He hoped he actually did.
"We're one block away and we don't have to cross another street, so I need you to close your eyes and let me guide you to the entrance."
"Crowley!"
"We'll just keep holding hands but now you'll have your eyes closed, that's all!"
"Alright, let's do it," Aziraphale agreed.
On that final stretch, Aziraphale stumbled twice, which Crowley found amusing.
They arrived to the place.
"Okay, you can open your eyes now," Crowley whispered. Aziraphale did.
"Oh my-" Aziraphale exclaimed as he looked around. The place was huge, there were books everywhere and it was a two-story building, which meant there were even more books than the ones he could see. "Crowley this is-" he managed to say before noticing the huge smile one the demon's face and the phone he was holding.
"So? What do you think?" He had recorded the angel looking around completely amazed. He would treasure that video forever.
"I think I love it here," Aziraphale managed to say. He held Crowley's hand again. "Thank you, seriously. I didn't imagine this at all and I'm so glad you didn't tell me you were bringing me here."
"Thank you for always being there for me. And thanks for not insisting me to tell you."
"Care to join me to explore the place?"
"It would be my pleasure," Crowley said. Aziraphale smiled and got close enough to him to kiss him.
"What do you say if we look for a place to, you know," was all Aziraphale said.
"Aha," Crowley said, perplexed and wanting so desperately to close the gap that separated them. He hated when Aziraphale did that.
Since the place had just opened, there were not many people yet, which allowed Crowley and Aziraphale to rapidly find a place to sneak out to and had a quick make out session. They entered to a small bunker which was next to the kid's section, so they had to be as brief as possible so they wouldn't risk being caught and taken out of the bookstore.
Aziraphale pushed Crowley gently against a wall (there were books, after all, and what kind of bookkeeper would he be if he wasn't gentle when pushing his partner against them?) and started kissing him with an ineffable passion. He grabbed his hair as he kissed him on the mouth; Crowley was pulling the angel's coat. Aziraphale started to go down and his lips landed on Crowley's neck.
Both of them enjoyed that immensely, and it seemed to cool them off a bit, due to the fact that Aziraphale's moves became slower and his lips found the way back to Crowley's. A few seconds later, they stopped.
"I'm doing much better now, what about you my dear?" Aziraphale asked, sighing.
"Yeah, me too. Thanks," Crowley responded, still quite agitated.
"Let's now explore the place," Aziraphale said and gave out a hand. "Perhaps we should start here."
And so they did, they stayed at the bookstore for hours. Crowley took several pics of Aziraphale reading or just marveled at the amount of books at his disposal, all of which he could buy; Aziraphale hugged Crowley from the back a few times when he was looking at books and he also gave him a kiss or two. They even asked one of the employees to take a pic of them; the pair left having bought several books and with quite a story to remember.