Chapter 12: In a Garden of Their Own

~~Crowley~~

It had taken two days, but they had finally gotten out of bed. Crowley sat at the table in the kitchen, watching Aziraphale as he ate his breakfast. How he had done this for years and been able to restrain himself was a miracle in its own right. But he didn't have to now and so he leaned over and stole a kiss between bites. This made Aziraphale giggle with delight, and so he did it a few more times just for that smile.

"I think I would like to get out of the city for a while. I think people need to forget us. Let Muriel run the bookshop. We can come back in a hundred years or so. The damage to the city will be repaired. Things will be fresh again."

Leaving the bookshop didn't feel like the ending Crowley had always feared it would be. It wasn't even a beginning; they had their beginning for better or for worse. They were now firmly in the middle, a wonderful middle that would stretch out for eternity. Some things didn't have to end.

"Where do you want to go, angel?" Crowley took a sip of his morning coffee and smiled. His cheeks felt sore from it. He hadn't used those muscles so much in aeons; they were out of practice.

"I hear South Downs is quite nice. Lot's of beautiful little cottages with land. Land that you can grow stuff on. Or, if you're done yelling at the chrysanthemums, maybe we can just miracle it the way we want. I just want some place for us. Nothing that's tied to any memories yet. Something new."

"Not all the memories have been bad." Crowley slid his foot along Aziraphale's calf, creeping up under the leg of his pyjama pants.

"No," Aziraphale smiled back at him fondly, "not all bad at all. But I want something that is ours, that Heaven and Hell haven't put their fingerprints all over."

Crowley smirked. "So you want my fingerprints only? 'Cause unless Heaven is a whole lot more fun than it was when I was there, there are definitely things it hasn't got its hands on."

"You're incorrigible."

"I'm ineffable." The word finally growing on him now that the ineffable plan didn't seem out to get him after all.

"You're perfect."

Crowley took another sip of his coffee. His heart was beating a bit faster, and he hoped that reaction would never stop. He still didn't think he was in a place to admit it, but he loved when Aziraphale said nice things about him. He might even start to believe one or two of them.

"I think that sounds nice, angel. Just you and me, running off together. No, not running. We don't need to run."

It did sound nice. He felt like he'd been running since he fell or, at the very least, ready to run at a moment's notice.

"Perhaps we should saunter off together then," Aziraphale suggested.

"Ohhh, I'm good at sauntering, angel."

Aziraphale's cheeks pinked, and Crowley knew his words had hit the mark.

Crowley felt it unfathomable that he could love this much. He always knew he was a rubbish demon, but this rebellion was his most favourite. He would be more and more defiant every day by loving his angel even more.

~~2 Years Later~~

"Listen! I planted you in the shade like you like, and now you go and get browning on your leaves? That will not do!"

Old habits die hard. Crowley didn't really put as much oomph in his scoldings as he used to and it showed. He grumbled to himself as he left the offending plants and headed back to the house, passing through the archway that read "Eastern Gate". Crowley had rolled his eyes at the angel when he put it up at the entrance of the garden, but he did secretly find it funny. Aziraphale met him at the door, a fond smile on his face.

Property in the South Downs was not easy to come by, unless you were capable of a miracle or two. Crowley had expected Aziraphale to be opposed at displacing the previous tenant, but an overly generous offer and a bit of sweet talk had been all they needed. The couple had wanted to be closer to their grandchildren anyway, the angel had reasoned.

The cottage was not sleek, not modern, and definitely not grey. But Aziraphale wasn't any of those things either, and he loved him, so he gave the place a chance. It didn't take long for it to feel like home. He didn't want an empty house anymore. It didn't match him like it once had. He didn't want anything to be empty ever again.

"Did you get them to smarten up?" Aziraphale asked, giving him a kiss and pulling the elastic out of his hair as he did.

The angel had asked if he wouldn't mind growing his hair out a bit. He'd done it for him easily, but the soft caresses through his now shoulder-length hair made him feel like he came out with the better end of that arrangement.

Crowley wrapped his arms around Aziraphale and just held him. The simplicity of the lives they made for themselves filled his heart.

They had checked the barrier every month for that first year, and then decided on a six-month timeline. It was holding strong. The earth was safe; they were safe.

Muriel was happy to take over the bookshop, promising not to sell a single book. They wouldn't hardly notice a century pass by, but still, Crowley and Aziraphale had told them they could come and visit. Crowley had tacked on, "with advanced notice only."

"My dear?" Aziraphale's voice pulled him out of his thoughts and the haze that a scalp massage usually put him in.

Crowley looked at him with unfocused eyes.

"This life you've given me here is perfect …"

Crowley opened his mouth to interrupt, but Aziraphale put two fingers over his lips to stop him.

"And I was thinking, well, there must be something I can do for you in return."

Crowley's lips curled up under Aziraphale's fingers.

"You absolute bastard." He chuckled, and then pulled his angel close, the fingers fell away from his mouth.

He didn't have time to feel the loss because his angel's lips were upon him, and there would be nothing, not Heaven nor Hell that would pull them apart now.

The End

A/N- Thank you again to everyone who joined me on this journey and to Alice's White Rabbit for her wonderful beta work. There would not be a story without my ficwife LyricalKris, we feed each other's obsession daily and I don't know what I'd do without her. (Check out her Good Omens fics on A03)

Another story is in the pipeline (an AH one this time) and I will start posting once it's complete, so if you're interested in that give me a follow.