The world had almost ended once before. Aziraphale and Crowley had been too inept to stop it. It had been sheer luck, and perhaps the grace of God, who could say, that the crises had been diverted. If it hadn't been for Adam's humanity, his ability to act just as unpredictably as a human would, everything would have ended.

Humanity wouldn't save them this time. Crowley had told Aziraphale that Jesus was decent, but he hadn't been human in over two thousand years and the last time he was, it hadn't gone well. He was a wild card, and since Aziraphale was unable to locate him, he most certainly could not be counted on.

Crowley had shooed Aziraphale out of his flat after their conversation. He'd said he'd needed time to think. If the tightness in his chest was anything like what Aziraphale was experiencing, then he understood perfectly why he'd needed to think on his own.

Aziraphale lifted his cup and brought it to his lips, sipping. He had been dreaming about a nice cup of tea since he left Earth, but circumstances were not letting him enjoy it the way he'd hoped.

"Truly?" Muriel said, holding her own cup of tea in solidarity, still choosing not to take a sip. "But I just got stationed here. I'd hoped to experience a bit more. Did you know there are multiple publications of the same book? Sometimes they have different covers and sometimes they have pictures inside? It's simply marvellous."

"I'm afraid so," Aziraphale sighed, setting down his cup. "In less than two days now, everyone will be gone."

"Even the geese?"

"No, I think the geese will be alright, for a while."

"Do you think God will need someone to watch over them? I could stay and…"

"I'm afraid not. Once the people are gone, well, it's only a matter of time before She shuts the whole thing down."

"Maybe we can bring some of these books to Heaven when we go back?"

Aziraphale gave her a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Perhaps we can."

The door of the bookshop flew open and Crowley strode in with such enthusiasm that Aziraphale couldn't help but feel his spirits lift.

"Have you figured it out?" Aziraphale stood up in anticipation.

"What? No, my place is out of alcohol…" Crowley looked around and then brightened as he spotted the bottle of Sherry sitting on the desk. "That'll do."

"I'll just be in the other room," Muriel said softly as she gave them privacy.

He picked it up and in one motion downed what was left in the bottle. Aziraphale felt himself deflate again.

"Crowley, we aren't going to figure this out drunk."

"No, we aren't going to figure this out until we figure this out." He motioned between the two of them. "We need to work on this together and I can't do that with how we are now."

"We don't have the time," Aziraphale's voice was as sombre as it had ever been.

"We had all the time in the world and we wasted it. This is what we have now." Crowley strode over to the horse statue and placed his glasses on it.

Aziraphale felt lost as he felt the mounting pressure of his duty, but the broken look in Crowley pushed all of that away.

"I think I might have said the wrong thing," Aziraphale acquiesced.

"I think I might not have been as clear as I could have been," Crowley added.

"You were very clear on how much you didn't want to go to Heaven, you've always been clear about that. I just thought, together, we could do some good."

"We do g…we do our best to keep things in proper balance here on Earth. But where I wasn't clear enough was with you. I love you, angel. From the moment you gave that sword away. I never thought anyone would understand me, but it seemed like you might. So when you asked me to go to Heaven, to become an angel again. How could you think I would want that?"

"You love me?"

"Of course I do, you idiot. But I need you to listen to me. I can help but I don't think this is something we are going to be able to stop. And once it's over, the only place for you to go is Heaven and the only place I will be able to go is Hell."

"Alpha Centauri is off the table then?"

The look on Crowley's face was pleading and Aziraphale cringed. "I said the wrong thing again, didn't I? It's not that I wanted you to be an angel. I wanted you to be with me, Crowley. You must know that I love you too. Every wonderful experience I've had has been somehow through you. Heaven doesn't deserve you, but I wanted to make it so it would."

"I don't care about Heaven, angel. I don't need it to deserve me. I don't need it at all. I need you."

Crowley took a step towards him. It was so different from the last time he'd approached him in this spot but his heart hammered just the same. This time instead of grabbing his jacket, Crowley reached up with both hands and cupped Aziraphale's face.

Aziraphale didn't wait for Crowley to reach him, he lifted up on his toes and pressed his lips to his. His hands still shook but this time he was able to calm them as he rested them on Crowley's back. Aziraphale felt Crowley's thumb brush against his cheek and he sighed into the kiss. The tenderness of their companionship filled the moment. Aziraphale didn't realise how many new sensations he could have from just one action. The world was full of such wonders. He could have wept, in all God's mercy, he never expected any for himself. But this was Crowley's mercy and it felt all that more sweet.

"I didn't want to go," Aziraphale admitted, when he pulled back from the kiss. He did keep his arms around Crowley though, that felt far too nice to stop.

"Then why did you?"

"The Metatron, he mentioned the Second Coming, just as we approached the lift. What was I supposed to do?"

"Nothing. Which is precisely why he told you. Do you think he is setting you up, angel?"

"Setting me up? For what?"

"To take the fall."