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The children had come back. Well, they were more teenagers. Eighth graders in American terms, but they were Ninth Years in English terms. Quite literally the worst age to be at. You were either an asshole or you were a pushover with anxiety. There is no in-between.
They were now ripping pages out of his books. He kept his favorites in the back so nobody could even think about buying them, but he loved all his books! It was so hard to pick favorites!
"Please stop!" He was practically begging, on the verge of tears. He didn't have the heart to do anything with them, they were children! He couldn't miracle them away, he didn't know where they'd go! He didn't want them to die, no matter how cruel and heartless they were.
"What's the matter you fat old twat? Your boyfriend not here to save you?" One of the boys asked, slowly tearing out a page of one of the books while staring Aziraphale right in the eye. He didn't know when they'd leave, but they did soon after they'd trashed the place. Some of his books were okay, but some of them had liquid dumped on them. He couldn't fix those...
Eventually, Crowley showed up, but it was very late and Aziraphale had fixed most of the books, or the ones he could, at least. Those that were wet, he couldn't fix those pages. He'd cried throughout most of the day but had managed to pull himself together enough to be functional. Crowley walked in the door and immediately knew something was wrong.
"What happened?" Were his first words. Aziraphale just shook his head,
"What do you mean, dear?" He asked.
"You've been crying, haven't you dove?"
"I..." The Angel didn't respond, instead turning away from him. Crowley went over to the angel, running his hand down his back.
"Love, tell me what happened," The demon whispered, kissing his partner's cheek. Aziraphale shook his head a little,
"You might hurt them..."
"Were those kids back again?" He asked. Aziraphale reluctantly nodded, Crowley's other hand running over his cheek.
"I'm sorry..." Aziraphale whispered. Crowley shook his head,
"No, you shouldn't be. You've done nothing wrong, Angel, not a damn thing! I can't believe those kids came back! God, didn't I scare them enough last time?!" Crowley was very obviously seething with anger, so Aziraphale did what they both needed right now. He kissed Crowley on the lips, pulling him close and running his fingers through the demon's hair. Aziraphale felt Crowley's wings wrapping around him, holding him close even after they broke the kiss.
"I love you, Crowley... I-if those kids ever come back I'll call you..."
"You'd better, Dove. I'm not threatening you, I just don't want them to hurt you again." He kissed Aziraphale's cheek lovingly, running his hand over his partner's back.
"I will..." The angel muttered softly.
"Good... Now, it's pretty late. Would you like me to stay with you overnight?" He asked softly. Aziraphale nodded, and Crowley let him go, taking his hand and leading the angel back to the room where he slept, and they curled up together.
Before Aziraphale had gotten together with Crowley, he rarely slept. He'd slept all of seven times in those six thousand years. Now, though, it was so nice to just cuddle up with the demon, nuzzled into his chest, or sometimes the reverse, and sleep together.
However, he woke up startled. Crowley was gone, and there was screaming outside his room. He rushed out to see what was happening, finding a child pinned up against the wall by his shirt, Crowley hissing profanities and various threats at the teenager, his sunglasses off.
"Crowley, let him go!" The angel demanded.
"Why sssshould I?! Did he have any mercy on you when he was sssssssshredding up your bookssss?!" The demon hissed.
"That doesn't matter, he's a child! Let him go!!" Aziraphale yelled in the most demanding voice he could muster. Crowley rolled his eyes and threw the child, who landed on his back and quickly rolled over and ran out of the bookstore.
"Crowley..." Aziraphale said.
"They came back to hurt you, Aziraphale," Crowley picked up a pocket knife that'd been dropped on the floor. "I ssswear if they ever come back, I will kill them. If I ever even sssssee them again, I will kill them. No, I'll do one better, I'll drag them back down to hell myssssself.
"Please calm down..." Aziraphale said quietly.
"I'm sssssorry, Aziraphale. But I'm not letting them hurt you again."
"And they won't... Next time I'll defend myself. A-at least a little bit..." He said quietly. Crowley sighed and hugged Azi, kissing his neck softly.
"I love you, Aziraphale..." He whispered.
"I love you too, dear..."
"Let's just... Go back to bed. It's not even six AM." He said. Aziraphale nodded, with the two heading back to bed.