Chapter One~*~ Crepes

First day of school, new school, middle of the year, it really couldn't get worse than that, Crowley thought as he leaned against the wall of the gym, the cigarette hanging from his fingers was as of yet unlit. It was raining, which wasn't much of a surprise, since it was November, what was peculiar was the blond boy hurrying across the parking lot just ahead of him, without a jacket on, which was peculiar cause Crowley was almost positive he passed the same kid on the way to school in his car. He'd been walking and wearing a huge white fluff ball of a jacket, with gloves and a hat, all of which seemed to be missing. Crowley pushed off the wall stuffing the cigarette back into his pocket as he walked towards the kid.

"Little wet out here not to have a jacket," He said as he came up next to him. The boy, just about his age, stopped and looked up at him and Crowley's breathe nearly caught in his throat. He had the clearest, sharpest blue eyes he'd ever seen. He had on a light blue sweater that buttoned half up the front over a button-down white collared shirt with, and Crowley couldn't believe a high school kid would be wearing this, a tartan bow-tie.

"Sorry?" He asked as he looked over at Crowley. He watched as the kid looked him over, taking in Crowley's skin tight jeans, snake skin boots (that he found at a thrift store), a black Henley shirt with a black vest and a suit jacket from at least the fifties, also a thrift store find. It was all pulled together, as far as Crowley was concerned, with the thin silver scarf he wore around his neck. His long red hair was pulled back at the side and he had on sunglasses, always, he hated his eyes, they'd caused him nothing but grief his whole life.

"I said it's a bit cold outside to be walking to school without a jacket," Crowley repeated as the boy started walking again.

"Ah yes," he said and his cheeks started to turn red. Which could be attributed to the cold, but Crowley didn't think so. "Yes well..." He trailed off and Crowley smirked.

"Especially since I'm sure I saw you on my way here, wearing a big old jacket, huge thing it was," Crowley said lifting an eyebrow and the kid glanced at him again and nodded. His hair, which Crowley could tell would be curly if it wasn't plastered to his head from the rain, wasn't really blonde as he'd thought before; it was really more white then blonde.

"I gave it away," he muttered and Crowley stopped and stared at him.

"You what?" he asked, slightly disbelieving. No one just gave their jacket away, not in this weather and not in the middle of London.

"I gave it away," he repeated a little firmer this time stopping to turn to look at him. "She was pregnant and homeless; I couldn't just let her freeze." He said in his defense and Crowley didn't think this kid could possibly know how that touched Crowley as his mouth fell open just a little. "My dad will probably kill me, but there it is." Crowley just stared at him for a long moment then the last few words hit him and he shook his head.

"Ah come on, how can he be mad at something like that?" Crowley reassured him with a bright smile.

"You think?" He asked his face brightening at the thought and Crowley nodded his head. If Crowley had thought his eyes were striking before they were nothing compared to now, they practically lit up with the smile. Zira finally tilted his head as something registered and he nodded. "You're new here?"

"Yeah, first day," Crowley said with a groan. God he hated being the new kid. "I'm Crowley, well Anthony J Crowley, but please don't call me Anthony, or Tony, or AJ," he wrinkled his nose in disgust before he held out his hand. The kid smiled brightly and nodded his head.

"I'm Zira," he told him taking his hand and shaking it. "Zira Fell, welcome to Haven High." Crowley's hand felt more than just empty when Zira released his hand and he found himself wanting to reach out and take his hand again.

"Zira Fell," Crowley repeated stuffing his hands in the pockets on his jeans as Zira reached up and rubbed the back of his neck and Crowley nodded with a smirk. "Sounds kinda...angelic," he told him and Zira rolled his eyes and cleared his throat.

"Yeah, I blame my dad," he told him and Crowley nodded a second before the bell rang and Zira looked towards the main building. "Oh darn it; I'm going to be late. I'll see you later Crowley," he said with a bright smile and Crowley nodded his head.

"Yeah, see you angel," he said turning and heading back to his spot by the gym wall, missing the look of surprise and the blush that colored Zira's cheeks before he turned and ran for his maths class.

~*~One~*~

Zira watched as the new boy leaned back against the lockers, his eyes intently looking over something on his mobile. He wondered how he got away with the whole 'sunglasses in class' thing because he never seemed to take them off. He was a bit...different than most of the kids here and Zira wondered what he was like. He'd seemed oddly touched that he'd given his coat away; he'd seen his face soften just a little after he told him. He reached up and pushed a loose piece of his red hair behind his ear and Zira watched. He'd never seen hair that color before and wondered if it was natural, it looked almost like it couldn't be dye; there was just something real about it.

"What are you looking at?" A voice behind him said making him jump. He turned and tried not to blush at being caught out. Staring at a boy would probably be frowned on by his brother... no there was no 'probably' about it.

"Nothing," he said shaking his head as he turned to look a Gabe. He almost sighed when he saw where Gabe was looking, he'd seen Crowley.

"He looks like he robbed some old rock star," Gabe said sneering towards Crowley and Zira bit his lip to keep from disagreeing. He didn't think so, he thought it was kinda of, interesting, different, but he kept that to himself, no sense in making Gabe mad. Gabe could be awfully judgmental, especially for someone who was president of the Heavenly Haven club here at school. It was the schools one and only religious club, which Zira thought was a bit unfair. What ever happened to 'judge not lest ye be judged' and all that? He and Gabe watched as a group of boys from the lacrosse team walked by and Crowley looked up at them from his mobile as they passed and Zira could see that he followed them for a moment as they walked down the hall before he looked back down at his phone.

"Oh, and he's gay," Gabe sneered, his voice holding a note of disgust that made Zira cringe inwardly. He really didn't see why that could possibly make a difference.

"You don't know that," Zira said looking back over his shoulder at Gabe. "Maybe he's a fan of the sport." Gabe guffawed and rolled his eyes.

"You are so naive little brother," Gabe said as he shook his head and straightened his tie. Zira hated it when he called him that, he was exactly 47 minutes younger than his twin, though they couldn't be more different. "I wonder what his name is."

"Crowley," Zira answered without thinking and this time he visibly cringed as Gabe's eyes shot down to him. "I ran into him on the way to maths, he seemed nice."

"Yeah, well I think he looks like trouble, you should stay away from him." Gabe said and Zira turned and rolled his eyes. Like Gabe could tell him who he could and couldn't hang out with. Though Gabe was one of the most popular kids in school, so he had the power to make Zira's life here hell; as well as at home seeing as their dad took Gabe's word as gospel. He turned and looked at Crowley again and sighed, he wouldn't seek him out, but he wouldn't be rude either, it just wasn't in his nature.

~*~Two~*~

"So who was the wanker in the purple sweater?" Crowley asked after he slid down into the seat next to Zira making him jump just a little. He looked up as Crowley propped his feet up onto the seats in front of him. He looked so comfortable, totally at ease, his head resting on the back of the seat, looking sideways at Zira. They were in the theater, at the very back, and it was empty but for them. It should have worried Zira that he automatically knew he was talking about Gabe, he should also maybe defend Gabe, but really, he was being a bit of a jerk. He put a bookmark in his book and closed it with a sigh.

"Gabe," he said and Crowley nodded his head. He wondered if Crowley had seen him watching as he leaned against the lockers earlier. That had to be when he'd seen him with Gabe, his face reddened just a little at the thought that Crowley had seen him watching him. "He's... my brother, he's president of the Heavenly Haven club."

"Oh Jesus," Crowley mocked with a bark of laughter. Zira looked at him sharply and he held up is hands in surrender and his laughter died off. "You a member then?"

"Yes," Zira said nodding his head as he looked back down at the book in his lap. Crowley's eyes were drawn down too and he was a bit thankful it wasn't the bible. 'Shakespeare's sonnets, the complete works' was sitting in his lap and Crowley nodded.

"That's cool, to each his own," Crowley said with a shrug as he looked back up at Zira. His glasses were dark enough that Zira still couldn't see his eyes, even so close up. He wanted to know why he wore them, was there something wrong with his eyes, he obviously wasn't blind, but Zira couldn't think of another reason they'd let him wear them around school.

"Not your type of club I take it?" Zira asked after a moment and Crowley glanced at him then away. His shoulders tensed for a moment and he took a breath. He was not a fan of religion, it had to many rules and broke too many people, even if those people pulled themselves back up and fixed what was broken.

"I'm not a joiner," he told him with an edge to his voice. Zira felt something shift in the mood around them and suddenly Crowley was smiling at him again and he found himself smiling back. "So, new and all, we just moved to town a week ago." Crowley told him and Zira nodded his head, that made sense. Of course Crowley didn't mention that he'd lived near here three years ago. "I thought maybe you could show me around a bit? Point out all the cool spots in town?" He suggested with an eyebrow wiggle. Zira looked at him and snorted, maybe he was blind, if he could look at Zira and think he might know where the 'cool' spots in town were.

"Yeah, I know all the hot spots," he said sarcastically as he shook his head with another snort.

"Well we could always just get a bit to eat," Crowley said and Zira's eyes snapped up to him. Oh he really wanted to say yes, to tell him he'd love to show him all the little hole in the wall spots in town, he really did know all those spots, but the year had just started. And the last thing he wanted to do was piss off Gabe, he sighed.

"I'd like to...but-

"It's cool," Crowley cut him off nodding his head and Zira heard the stiffness in his voice. Crowley's feet dropped off the back of the chair and he pulled himself up out of the seat and vaulted over the chairs in front of him, landing in the aisle. He walked down the aisle towards the exit, at the end he stopped and turned back to Zira. "Later angel," he said with a mock two finger salute before he walked down the steps, leapt over the railing close to the bottom and disappearing. Zira slid down into his seat a bit then kicked the back of the chair with the flat of his foot in frustration. He sat back up and opened his book, he resolved he wouldn't let Gabe control who he hung out with then took a deep breath and went back to reading.

~*~Three~*~

Crowley got into his car at the end of the day and sighed. He loved his car; he'd worked hard for his lovely old car. It was still in pretty poor shape, but he was working on it, and hell, it ran, so not too bad. It was a black (or it would be black when he was done with it, at the moment it was kinda grey and a bit rusty) 1930's Bentley. He'd found it in a car cemetery back in Scotland, which is where they'd moved from. He grew up in London, but they'd moved to Scotland for his step-dads job three years ago. They'd come back when he'd been promoted again and Crowley couldn't be happier to be back in London. He'd worked hard for three summers to save five thousand pounds for a new car because his step-dad said he'd match whatever he saved by his 16th birthday. When he'd found the Bentley it was more a pile of metal and parts on a frame then an actual car but he'd spent all his free time over the last year fixing it. It'd only cost him 6000 pounds, so he was using the other 4000 pounds for parts to fix her up.

He took a deep breath and leaned his forehead on the steering wheel. He wasn't sure why he had asked Zira to show him around, or why he was going out of his way to try and make friends with him. He normally kept his head down and tried to stay out of trouble. Not that that worked very well, you could just talk to the last school he got kicked out of, it really wasn't his fault; it had been a wrong place wrong time deal. He sat back again and shook his head. If Zira didn't want to hang out though that was fine. Crowley was pretty sure it had something to do with the wanker in the purple sweater, Gabe, but he wasn't going to force his company on anyone. He reached down to start the engine when the passenger door creaked opened and he whipped his head over and watched as a messenger bag was thrown into the back shortly followed by Zira, a huge smile on his face, though Crowley could see a blush rising from under his collar. Crowley opened his mouth to say something but no sound came out and he watched as the blush rushed up to Zira's cheeks.

"So there's this place that does crepes, are you a fan?" Zira asked reaching over to pull on his seatbelt and Crowley finally found his voice.

"Sure, crepes, yeah," he said nodding his head as he started the car and smiled at Zira. "Let's get crepes."

~*~Four~*~

"I just don't know why anyone would want to sit through Hamlet, it's so depressing. Shakespeare wrote so many funny ones, why not go see one of those?" Crowley said and Zira smiled and nodded his head. They'd been sitting in the little diner for almost two hours now and Zira was a little surprised that the conversation had not once lagged. Crowley was so easy to talk to, and he had no problems giving his opinions on things, even though a lot of his opinions were not very 'popular.'

"Well I won't disagree that his funny ones are very good," Zira said as he picked up his cup of tea. "But don't you think the funny ones are better because of the sad ones? You know; no light without the dark and all that?"

"Yeah, I think I'd still find them just as funny, without all the depressing shit." Crowley said with a shrug as he looked down at his cold cup of tea. Zira watched a few emotions play over his face, it was a bit hard to tell just what they were, with the glasses covering his eyes, but his face was pretty expressive. Zira opened his mouth to say something, though he wasn't sure what, but Crowley's face totally closed off and he sat back against the booth, his stare going over Zira's shoulder.

"Zi!" Zira's shoulders tensed up and he gave Crowley what he hoped was an apologetic look before he turned.

"Michael, I'm fairly certain I've asked you not to call me that," he said as his brothers two best friends walked over to the table. The boy was smiling, but it was a nasty smile, one that Crowley knew came with trouble. And the girl with him had given Crowley a once over that ended in a barely disguised sneer.

"Aren't you going to introduce us to your friend Zi?" Michael asked and Crowley watched as color rose up Zira's neck at the emphasis Michael had put on the word 'friend.' He'd said it in a tone which clearly implied something...more.

"Crowley, these are friends of my brothers," Zira said turning back towards Crowley as the boy grabbed two chairs and pulled them over to the end of the table. "Michael and Uriel."

"Come on now Zi, that's a bit harsh, aren't we your friends too?" Michael asked with a bit of a smirk as he and Uriel sat down. Crowley could see by the look on Zira's face that, no, they were not his friends.

"I'm pretty sure he asked you not to call him that," Crowley told him, speaking up for the first time and Michaels' eyes flashed with something hard when he looked at Crowley.

"I don't think I was talking to you," Michael said and Crowley rolled his eyes, not that any of them could see it and shook his head. Michael looked back at Zira and seemed to be studying him for a moment. "Didn't your brother tell you it wasn't a good idea to hang out with this rubbish?" Michael said nodding towards Crowley without looking at him.

"Seriously, what is this, West Side story?" Crowley asked and Zira chuckled then bit his bottom lip when Michael glared at him.

"Well, course you would use musical references, wouldn't you." Uriel said and Michael chuckled at the poor joke.

"Oh yes, funny right? The gay boy using a musical reference, shocking!" Crowley exclaimed leaning towards them just a little. "We were in the middle of a conversation Michael, so I don't suppose you'd piss off?" he asked in the same tone someone might ask a person to pass the salt.

"What the hell is with those stupid glasses anyway?" Michael asked, reaching out and snatching them off his face before Crowley had time to jerk back. He hissed in pain and slammed his eyes closed; bring his hand up to cover his eyes.

"Michael!" Zira yelled in shock as Crowley growled and turned his body away from the window he was sitting next to and Michael raised the glasses to his face, ignoring Crowley. Zira pushed out of his booth and moved quickly around their chairs and climbing in next to Crowley.

"Geez, how can you even see through these things?" Michael said before Zira snatched them out of his hands.

"Go away Michael, now," Zira said and Michael stood, there was an edge to Zira's eyes he'd not seen before.

"On our way out anyway," he said as though he hadn't just been a bit scared of Zira. "Going to meet up with your brother," Zira didn't flinch at the implication in his words and Uriel looked from him to Michael who shook his head.

Zira didn't even turn around to look at him as he and Uriel walked away. He put his hand on Crowley's hand; the one covering his eyes, and spoke softly.

"I'm so sorry Crowley," he said slipping the glasses on over Crowley's hand and Crowley lowered it as they slipped into place. "My brother's friends are-

"Arseholes," Crowley muttered and Zira signed and nodded his head. Crowley blinked a few times trying to get rid of the sun spot in his vision.

"Gabe wasn't always so bad," he said feeling a small need to defend his brother. "We use to be close, but when my mum passed away 5 years ago he and my dad took it hard. Then my dad got very into our church along with Gabe. We've always been mildly religious, but they went all out. Now my dad, he leveled back out a bit, once the grieving passed but Gabe..." Zira paused and sighed heavily as he reached across the table and grabbed his tea. "He likes the power that comes with it, I think."

Crowley watched him as he took a drink of his tea. He could see the sadness sitting on his shoulders and he didn't like that. He had a feeling Zira hadn't spoken about this to anyone before, but he could see it weighted heavily on him.

"My dad, my biological dad, he dumped my mum hours after I was born, said she must have been 'consorting with evil'." Crowley told him softly using air quotes over the last three words and Zira looked up at him, Crowley could see the curiosity on his face, but he could also see he was too polite to ask outright. "My eyes see; I was born with a defect in my eyes. And he was very religious, dumped me and my mum in the street and walked away all because I was born with odd eyes." He looked around the small diner and spotted a hallway that led to the bathrooms. "Come on, I'll show you." He said nodding towards the back and Zira seemed to understand because he slid out of the booth and Crowley slid out and walked away, Zira right behind him. When they got to the dimly lit hallway he raised his hands to his glasses. "It doesn't interfere with my sight all that much, I got lucky, it can be blinding." He said pulling his glasses off and looking at Zira. Zira looked up at his eyes and was taken back slightly. "It's called Colobomas," he said softly, Zira didn't flinch or look horrified, which was a drastic change to other people he'd shown and Crowley was grateful. Zira was staring, but it didn't really bother him, since his face conveyed only curiosity and...was that wonder? The color of his eyes was close to yellow, but Zira could see flecks of gold in there and the pupil which should have been round was long, almost like a cat, no that wasn't right. It was almost like a snakes eyes. "I have a strong sensitivity to light though," Crowley continued as Zira studied his eyes. "It's mostly natural light but-

"Oh dear and I had us sitting right next to the window, why didn't you say-

"Cause the glasses filter almost all of it out, it doesn't bother me." He said cutting him off a bit harshly and Zira nodded. "I just don't...want to be treated differently, it's bad enough I have to wear the glasses, you know?" He explained his tone softer now.

"Of course," He said nodding his head, his fingers twitched at his side, he was fighting the urge to reach up and touch Crowley's face, run his thumb along the apple of Crowley's cheek, just under his eye. He squeezed his hands into fists at his side and could feel the heat rising up his neck. "I'm sorry that oaf hurt you." He said and Crowley smirked and shrugged before he put his glasses back on.

"I hope I didn't..." Crowley trailed off as they moved back towards their table.

"Yes?" Zira prompted as Crowley sat down. He was a bit surprised when Zira sat down next to him, instead of across from him, as he had been. He shifted to look at Crowley, tucking one foot under his leg.

"I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable, earlier. What I said about me-

"Of course you didn't," Zira cut him off with a wide smile. He reached over and patted Crowley's hand before he picked up his tea again. "No one should be made to feel bad about who they like. It's not as if you have a choice in the matter." Oh shit, Crowley thought as his heart rate sped up when Zira's hand touched his.

"Right, yeah, good," Crowley said nodding his head looking anywhere but at his hand. He swallowed and then cleared his throat. "Is your brother going to give you a hard time, for hanging out with me? I don't want to cause-

"I'm far too old to be letting Gabe decide who my friends can be Crowley." Zira said with a smile before he reached into a pocket on his sweater and pulled a pocket watch and Crowley couldn't stop the chuckle that bubbled out when Zira popped it open. "What?"

"So how old are you exactly? 65?" Crowley said with a smirk looking at the pocket watch and Zira rolled his eyes and closed the pocket watch and put it back.

"Yes I know, my mum used to say I had an old soul." He told him with a chuckle and Crowley was happy to see him smile again.

"I can see what she meant," he said as he reached out and tweaked the bowtie. "I like it though, it's different."

"Thank you," Zira said with a bright smile. "Listen, I should be getting home soon, my dad will be home from work soon and I don't want him to wonder where I am." Zira said as he slid from the booth with Crowley following.

"Can't you just text him?" Crowley as they walked out the doors, towards the parking lot.

"I don't have a mobile," Zira admitted and Crowley smirked at him. "I...oh the infernal things drive me crazy. My dad tried to get me to carry one, told me I can get all my books on my phone. But I like real books. The way they feel in your hands, the smell, mobiles don't smell." Crowley was laughing by the time they were settled into his Bentley and Zira was glaring at him, though Crowley could see the smile trying to break through.

"It's okay angel, I can take you home, just point the way," Crowley said and Zira nodded his head.

"So that's going to stick then is it?" Zira asked as they pulled out of the parking lot.

"What is?" Crowley asked though he had a feeling he knew what Zira was talking about.

"Angel," Zira said and Crowley mentally cursed, he liked it, personally he thought it fit Zira, but he didn't want to make him uncomfortable.

"I can stop, if it...if it bothers you," Crowley told him as his grip on the steering wheel tightened a bit.

"No," Zira said shaking his head after a moment of silence. "No it doesn't bother me," he said and Crowley had to hold back the huge sigh of relief. Neither of them spoke, but for the driving instructions Zira gave him and Crowley was happy to find it was not an uncomfortable silence as the radio played quietly in the background. Finally something accrued to Crowley and he smiled.

"You walk to school every day?" He asked and Zira shrugged.

"I don't like to drive, Gabe has a car, but I'd rather walk, and it's not far." Crowley nodded and turned left when Zira told him to.

"Do you like to walk, or do you do it because you don't like to drive and Gabe is your only option?" he asked tentatively looked at Zira for just a moment.

"Well, it's not a bad walk, but it's gonna be a pain for the next few days, till I get to the shops to get a new jacket." He explained and if Crowley wasn't mistaken Zira was hinting at the fact that maybe he wouldn't walk, if someone offered to drive him; which made his smile grow.

"So, if you had a friend who had an awesome car," Zira snorted out a laugh and Crowley shot him a mocking glare. "Anyway, so if this friend said, hey I don't live far from here, want a ride to school every day? You'd say?"

"I'd love that Crowley, thank you," Zira said with a huge smile on his face. "Turn just up there," he said pointing and Crowley nodded. He turned down the street. The houses here were nice, on the larger side, so higher middle class. He could see that a few houses already had Christmas lights up. "That's it," he said pointing at one of the decorated houses.

"Bit fan of Christmas are we?" he asked and Zira nodded his head.

"It was my mum's favorite, so we make a bit thing of it every year." Zira said and Crowley's smile turned fond when he looked at him.

"That's nice," he said sincerely as he parked in front of the house. "So I'll see you in the morning then?"

"Yes, tomorrow," Zira said opening the door. He reached back and grabbed his bag from the back. "Do drive safe Crowley," he said as he slipped out the door.

"Will do angel," he said before Zira straightened up and closed the door. He stepped back from the car and slid the messenger back over his shoulder and smiled at Crowley lifting his hand to give a little wave before he turned and headed towards the house. Crowley sat there for a few moments watching as Zira headed into his house then sighed. This had the potential to end very badly for him; he could already tell he was developing a crush on Zira. And while he was fairly sure that Zira found him...intriguing, he couldn't tell if it was because he was attracted to him, or because he was different than the people Zira was used to. He had a small feeling that maybe Zira wasn't sure himself, and that could be disastrous too.

"Well shit, can't ever be easy can it," he muttered to himself as he pulled away from Zira's house. Neither he nor Zira noticed the figure watching them from the upstairs window.