Chapter Text
Crowley tried to sleep on the flight. He really did. And given that the whole ordeal totaled about twenty hours, the fact that he managed about five hours of sleep given his manic state deserved an award.
He’d done it. He’d just...given notice. It was a stupid thing to do without a plan. He hadn’t even talked to Aziraphale. It wasn’t as if he couldn’t find another job in London if Aziraphale chucked him but he’d had a job.
You have a safety net, you’re going to be okay, this isn’t the end of the world.
Regardless, his fingers itched to dial Beez just to see if maybe, just maybe they might want him back.
He’d gone and fucked up his life for a decrepit lodge in the middle of fucking nowhere.
Because you’re in love, whispered the useless voice in his head as he swallowed his third whiskey soda hoping it would slow the shaking of his hands.
That third drink did knock him out for a few hours but he woke up with a gummy mouth just in time to go through customs and transfer planes at SEATAC and text Aziraphale his flight was on time.
Aziraphale sent back a string of heart emojis that made Crowley’s stomach twist up.
Why hadn’t he talked to his boyfriend before doing any of this?
Pushing through the crowd disembarking the plane, Crowley’s hands began to sweat. His knees began to sweat. He reminded himself he hated his job. This was for the best. He was turning over a new leaf regardless of how Aziraphale felt about it.
That didn’t stop the heart palpitations.
It didn’t help that, tied up with all the nerves, was the deep set excitement at seeing Aziraphale after three months apart. Crowley hadn’t expected the relationship to last that long and yet here they were. They loved each other. Crowley was visiting. Aziraphale wanted him to.
After a minute of convincing himself that his eyes didn't look too red in the mirror, he splashed water on his face in the bathroom and left the terminal. Slipping between the crowd spilling through the doors, he exited to the arrivals floor. The early evening sun was setting outside the floor to ceiling windows, bathing the whole airport in light. He blinked as his eyes adjusted before his gaze finally caught on Aziraphale, standing among the crowd. His whole body was outlined in light, blond hair brushed back from his face and, even backlit, Crowley could see the brightness of his blue eyes. He saw Crowley and smiled.
Crowley had no idea who crossed the room but barely a breath passed before he was engulfed in a hug. His bag dropped at Aziraphale’s feet as Crowley clutched his hands around his back, hands spread wide over the soft texture of his blue and yellow flannel.
"Hi, angel," Crowley said into Aziraphale's shoulder.
"I missed you, love," Aziraphale said, not releasing him from the hug but pulling back slightly to kiss the corner of his jaw. The familiar smell of Aziraphale's beard oil washed over him and it was just like coming home.
Finally, they parted and Aziraphale said, "Best get a move on. We're wasting daylight."
They picked up Crowley’s bag downstairs, barely able to stop touching each other, holding hands, a brush of knuckles over each other's hips. They must have looked like fools to everyone around them but for once in his life Crowley didn't very much care if he looked like a fool. It was just that Aziraphale was there. With his sleeves rolled up, pretty forearms and gorgeous hands hoisting Crowley’s suitcase from the conveyor. Crowley couldn't tear his eyes from Aziraphale's back as they walked to the parking deck to find his truck. He hadn't forgotten the hypnotic powers of that X of his braces across his broad back but seeing it again replaced the nervous squirming in Crowley’s stomach with an entirely different type of squirm.
Aziraphale lifted his suitcase into the truck bed while Crowley waited in the cab. The minute the door shut, Crowley asked, “Can I kiss you?”
Aziraphale paused and laughed, a tiny huff. “Of course, my dear.”
Crowley scooted over the small space in between them and drew Aziraphale into a kiss that was not nearly as filthy as he wanted it to be. But they were in a brightly lit parking garage and the sort of kissing Crowley wanted to get up to would be deeply conspicuous. As it was, he savored the scrape of Aziraphale’s beard over his chin, brushing his mouth over Aziraphale’s lower lip and just dipping his tongue inside.
He’d never felt like a particularly good kisser but the way Aziraphale moaned and melted into him was high praise indeed. He withdrew before he gave into the urge to crawl into Aziraphale’s lap.
“That was very nice,” Aziraphale said breathlessly as Crowley tore himself away.
They pulled out onto the highway towards Pine Grove, chatting about the flight and Crowley tried to not seem too weird, but was probably failing. Finally, Aziraphale took an exit and pulled into a diner, insisting Crowley eat something.
It was the sort of 24-hour place that had a rotating pie shelf and waitstaff who wore kitschy aprons. The sort of place that made Aziraphale giddy. Crowley couldn’t care less but was happy enough to watch Aziraphale order pie and coffee. He ordered himself a turkey sandwich, resolving to eat a little just so Aziraphale wouldn’t worry.
It turned out Aziraphale worried anyway because Crowley picked at his sandwich until finally, Aziraphale set down his fork and wiped the corner of his mouth with the inadequate paper napkin.
“Would you like to tell me what’s got you in a mood?”
Crowley ripped another piece of turkey out of his sandwich and grimaced before wiping his fingers on his own napkin. He was going to fuck this up. In this middle-of-nowhere diner.
“I might have...some news.”
He glanced at Aziraphale and caught the end of a worried expression as it flitted across his face. “Good or bad?”
“Depends,” Crowley said. He took a long drink of water to whet his swiftly drying mouth. Rip the bandaid off. Come on. No matter what happens, Aziraphale won’t be a dick. He’s not like that.
“I got news. About the lodge.”
“Oh,” Aziraphale said, sitting back in the booth. “That’s hardly life altering information. I thought something terrible had happened.”
“Wait ‘til I finish,” Crowley said.
And then he explained. All about the money and the lodge and the call with the lawyers. Aziraphale’s expression grew flatter and flatter until Crowley blurted out, “And that was it. I quit my job. And now I’m here. And sort of hoping that you want me to stay. And that you might want to run a bed and breakfast and part time ski lodge with me.”
When Aziraphale just stared at him, Crowley nattered on, “Of course there’s all the paperwork and citizenship nonsense to work out and I’d have to find somewhere to live. I’m not assuming anything. I mean unless you’d be okay with it. Would you be okay with it?”
Aziraphale stood abruptly and snatched Crowley’s wrist, dragging him out of the booth and across the diner and into the...bathroom?
“What are you— “
Aziraphale slammed the door shut and backed Crowley against it, kissing him fiercely. “You impulsive idiot.”
“Is that a yes?”
Aziraphale kissed him again, hands pressing up under the hem of his shirt, touching his stomach, his sides. He shivered.
With a sucking kiss to his neck that would definitely leave a mark, Aziraphale dropped to his knees and made quick work of his belt. Any other day Crowley would have protested. But he’d been thinking of getting Aziraphale off since they’d gotten into the truck and with Aziraphale looking up at him with his pretty blue eyes Crowley couldn’t say no. Why would he say no to his pretty boyfriend giving him a suck job in the loo anyway? He wasn’t an idiot.
“God, you’re gorgeous,” he said as he sank one hand into Aziraphale’s curls. Aziraphale pushed into the touch, acknowledging it, accepting it, before unzipping Crowley’s trousers and nuzzling him through his drawers. “I’ve been on a plane for twenty hours so if you don’t want to—”
“I couldn’t care less,” Aziraphale said, finally tugging down his pants and sucking him down in one go. Crowley’s head thumped against the door as his hand involuntarily tightened in Aziraphale’s hair. The wet heat of Aziraphale’s mouth blanked out everything else and Crowley let it.
When he came, Aziraphale swallowed it down, hands on Crowley’s arse, insistent. Afterward, he fell back on his heels, eyes shining, mouth wet as Crowley put himself away, limbs feeling a bit like well-cooked noodles. Aziraphale wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and stood, allowing Crowley to pull him into a kiss.
“You’re really alright with this?” Crowley asked when they parted.
“Crowley, if you’re alright with it, and it allows you to move here, then I am over the moon,” Aziraphale said. They kissed again and Aziraphale added, “Let’s go home.”
Crowley’s heart soared. He hadn’t fucked up. This wasn’t a mistake. In fact, this was perfect.
Before they could get distracted again, Crowley said, “You should probably head out to the car.” He brushed Aziraphale’s hair back from his face. It was rather wild where Crowley had been tugging at it. “You look like you’ve been giving blow jobs in the loo.”
Aziraphale blew a raspberry but left without much of a fuss.
Crowley got their leftovers boxed up, and ordered a lemon meringue pie to go. He thought Aziraphale would enjoy the extra treat.
He deserved it.
Eight weeks later
"Aziraphale, we need to get over to the lodge and meet the contractor," Crowley hollered from the door as he shrugged on his jacket. The weather was turning cold as winter approached and even the jacket he’d bought with Aziraphale earlier in the year was starting to not be enough.
When Aziraphale didn’t reply, he sighed. They would never be on time to anything if Crowley didn’t keep them on schedule. Now that they were working together, Crowley was learning all sorts of things about Aziraphale that hadn’t been clear during his impromptu vacation in the spring. Mostly that Aziraphale was high maintenance, sometimes spending up to half an hour deciding on an outfit just to go snake a drain. Crowley didn’t get it, but, then again, he couldn’t complain about the end result. His angel was handsome.
Crowley had also learned that country life suited him as long as he had things to do and getting a building ready for enthusiastic tourists definitely constituted things to do. He hadn’t ever thought he’d be the sort of person to be happy to wake up at 6 AM just to drive a truck two miles down a dirt road to remove rotted wood from a decrepit porch, but he was doing it and he loved it. He might be sore and irritated at every contractor named Bob in a 100 mile radius, but it was better than he could have ever dreamed because he didn’t have to touch any spreadsheets or talk about document managements systems and when he came home at 7 PM, it was to his beautiful boyfriend and his glorious cooking and sweet kisses.
God, he was a sap.
“Aziraphale,” he said again, trotting up the stairs to retrieve his erstwhile boyfriend. He froze. Aziraphale was kneeling by the wooden chest by the bed, looking like a child with his hand caught in the cookie jar except said child had knocked the entire cookie jar to the ground.
"Crowley," Aziraphale yelped, trying to snatch whatever he had dropped. It rolled forward and came to a stop in front of Crowley's feet.
"Erm," Crowley said as the ring plinked onto the ground by his big toe. "Is that…"
"Yes," Aziraphale said, heaving himself onto the edge of the bed. "You weren't supposed to find out. I was going to ask at Christmas."
"It’s only been eight months," Crowley said. Stupid thing to say. Why would he point out reasons to not get married when he’d been thinking about it for months?
"I believe people often say when you know, you know," Aziraphale said like the matter was casual and Crowley wasn’t about to fucking hyperventilate in the middle of the loft. "And I know."
Crowley looked down at the little black ring on the ground and fought a wave of dizziness.
"Me?" he asked incredulously.
"You."
He pictured it. Waking up every day in this cabin next to his husband before going off to manage the lodge’s final renovations and then one day, its reopening. He pictured coming home to Aziraphale every day. The rest of his life, stretched out in this log cabin, a low fire burning, Aziraphale’s hand in his.
It was unbelieve to think that he could have this happiness for the rest of his life and yet here Aziraphale was, offering it to him, easy as anything
"Yes, of course, yeah. Let's get married," Crowley said, unable to stop the grin that spread over his face.
Aziraphale grinned too. It was beautiful.