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Crowley pushed the bookshop door open with his shoulder as he returned from the coffee shop with his hands full of a plate of Eccles Cakes, a coffee for himself and a cappuccino for Muriel.
Surprised to see that Aziraphale wasn't at his desk, he called out, "Angel?"
He replied from the back of the bookstore, "I'm here. Could you come to me, Crowley, please?"
Crowley set down his load on a small table and joined the angel, whom he found standing in front of a shelf he'd never seen before. He approached it and saw that there were framed photographs on it.
He asked curiously, "Did you do this, Angel?"
Aziraphale turned to him and replied, "I was going to ask you the same thing."
Crowley shook his head, "Nope. Not me. First time I've seen that."
He looked more closely at the photos and chuckled softly, "Angel, I think our little bee found your old Polaroid."
Azirphale rushed over to an old trunk not far from them and after rummaging through it, he straightened up and nodded, "Yes, you're right, it's gone."
But Crowley wasn't looking at him anymore, staring at the shelf. He asked Aziraphale, "Did you see what's on the photos?"
Aziraphale came back to him and said, "No, I had just discovered the shelf when you arrived. Why?"
Crowley whispered, "Look."
Aziraphale moved closer to be beside him and looked at the first photo.
He gasped as it showed the interior of the coffee shop, Nina and Crowley arguing while Maggie and Azirapahle looked on, laughing.
"Don't tell me that you, the quintessential grump, have seen so many Richard Curtis movies that you thought all we had to do was find ourselves face to face in the rain and we'd be head over heels for each other?"
Aziraphale chuckled, "And Vavoom..."
Crowley turned to him and muttered, "Angel, you're not helping."
Nina then pointed at Aziraphale and continued, "And you, you thought you'd get the same result by forcing us to dance a la 'Jane Austen'. Seriously, it makes you wonder how you ever got together."
Maggie put her hand on Nina's to calm her down and said with a half smile, "The important thing is the outcome, isn't it? All's well that ends well," she interlaced her fingers with Nina's and raised their entwined hands.
Aziraphale felt Crowley's hand slide over his, which was resting on his knee. He turned his, palm up, and their fingers instinctively intertwined as he said softly, looking lovingly at Crowley, "Yes, all's well that ends well. For all of us."
"Oh, I remember that day so well!"
Aziraphale was jolted from his thoughts by the demon snorting at the next photo.
He took a closer look.
It was him, eating with obvious delight. He examined what was on the plate and murmured, "The crepes..."
"Angel, how about a little snack?"
Aziraphale's eyes lit up and it took him only a few seconds to join the demon at the table in the back. He saw that there was a plate covered with a white napkin and two bowls of golden liquid. He sniffed a little and said in a voice of wonder, "Cider..."
Then, his face brightening, he grabbed the napkin and murmured, "That means these are... crepes!"
Sitting down at the table, Crowley added, not a little proud, "And from Paris, my dear angel."
Aziraphale sat down next to him and said in a tone of wonder, "So this is where you disappeared to this morning?"
Crowley nodded with a smile and replied, "I heard you when you were talking so longingly to Muriel about the crepes we had in Paris."
He picked up the fork, picked up a piece of crepe and held it in front of Aziraphale's mouth. The angel instinctively opened it and immediately closed his lips on the bite, unable to contain his expression of delight.
"It's true, the crepes from Paris are the best," Aziraphale murmured, almost feeling the taste in his mouth just remembering it.
Crowley put his arm around the angel's shoulders and gave him a light kiss on the temple before whispering softly in his ear, "Anytime you want, I'll get you some."
But instead of the angel's thanks, he saw him start to chuckle and realized he was looking at the third photo.
The demon leaned closer and saw himself smiling softly at one of his plants that he was watering.
He grumbled, "That cheeky little minx," then reached for the photo and continued, "I can't leave this here."
Aziraphale's hand gripped his wrist as he said softly, "Don't worry, it's not like half the street doesn't know you're a soft-hearted grump."
Crowley exclaimed, "Angel, you can't say that!"
Aziraphale raised Crowley's hand to his lips and kissed the palm before saying softly, "You saved half those people the night of the attack. You stopped Nina and Maggie from being turned into salt statues by Saraqael, you're the one who wanted Muriel to come back here with you. You're the one who told me you'd do anything to protect them. So don't be surprised if people see you as a hero."
Crowley huffed and then muttered, "That's ridiculous. Me? I'm no hero."
The angel said gently, "One day you'll believe it," then added firmly, "And this photo will stay here with the others."
He looked at the next one and exclaimed, "Awww..."
Crowley, still a bit annoyed, growled, "Now what?"
Aziraphale pulled him closer, "Look."
Crowley could only soften as he saw the scene Muriel had captured. It was the two of them sharing a glass of wine on the terrace of Madame Justine's restaurant.
"Crowley, please let me order."
Crowley rolled his eyes and shook his head, "No, no, no; not your terrible French again. Why do you insist when Justine told you she speaks and understands English?"
He continued in a lower voice, "She even speaks English better than you speak French."
The angel pouted and protested, "Crowley, I heard that, and it's not very nice."
Crowley raised an eyebrow as if to say, 'I told you I am not nice,' but their argument had to stop because Madame Justine was at their table ready to take their order.
"Ah Madame Justine."
"Bonjour, Mr. Fell and Mr. Crowley. What can I get for you?"
“Est-ce que... nous pourrrions avouar oune non, non deux verres de Château Neuf du Papeu?”
Crowley saw the woman hold back a smile as she nodded before answering, "I'll get that for you right away, gentlemen."
As she walked away, Crowley sighed, "Angel...can you please stop with the French? I'm begging you."
Aziraphale leaned toward him and, with a small smile on his lips, he whispered so only they could hear, "Shall I really stop, my dear? Even if I tell you, Je t'aime..."
Crowley stammered, "Wh... what?"
Aziraphale's smile widened as he repeated, "Je t'aime, mon amour..."
When Madame Justine returned with their wine, if she was surprised to see Mr. Crowley with flushed cheeks, she didn't show it.
"Why are your cheeks so red, my dear?"
Aziraphale's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, and from the angel's teasing gaze, it was clear that he knew exactly why Crowley was blushing. The demon turned to him and wrapped his arms around him, leaning in until their lips were only a breath apart before he whispered, "You know damn well."
Aziraphale chuckled slightly and murmured, "Je t-" but didn't have time to finish his declaration because the demon had pressed his lips to his in a kiss that made the angel forget all about his French.
The sound of the bell jingling as the door opened caused them to hurry apart as a familiar voice exclaimed, "Hello, hello, hello!"
Crowley put a finger to his mouth to signal Aziraphale to be quiet, whispered something in his ear, and then walked silently over to Muriel, who had just entered the bookshop.
"Good morning, nosy little bee."
Muriel, by now accustomed to Crowley's teasing, replied directly, "Good morning, Mr. Grumpy."
Crowley held out his hand to them and said, "I believe you have something that belongs to Aziraphale. Can you give it to me, please?"
Pouting, Muriel thrust their hand into their bag and asked, "Didn't you like my surprise?"
Aziraphale, who had also approached them, handed the angel their cappuccino and replied, "On the contrary, it was very thoughtful of you and we are absolutely delighted. Just give the camera to Crowley, he'll give it back to you afterwards."
Muriel, a little confused, obeyed before Aziraphale led them to a bookshelf and assigned them their task for the day. Since they, like their "teacher," loved books, Muriel quickly forgot about the camera and got to work. Aziraphale walked back to Crowley and kissed him on the cheek, taking the opportunity to whisper in his ear, "Wait ten minutes and it'll be perfect."
"Are you sure?" murmured Crowley.
"Absolutely." the angel replied, before walking over to his desk with his Eccles cakes.
Crowley, for his part, sipped his coffee and waited, as Aziraphale had told him, for about ten minutes. Then, camera in hand, he approached the corner where Muriel sat cross-legged on the floor, reading one of the books they had to catalog. So focused that they were oblivious to their surroundings, let alone the click of the Polaroid and the photo that was already coming out.
Silently, Crowley turned back and walked over to Aziraphale. He put his hand on the angel's shoulder, and when he looked at him, the demon raised his thumb to show that everything had gone perfectly as planned.
A little later in the day, Muriel made their way to the small kitchen at the back of the store to make themself a cup of tea, passing the shelf they'd set up and looking at it with pride. Suddenly they stopped.
There was a new photograph in the middle.
They moved closer and gasped because it was a photo of them sitting cross-legged on the floor, reading. That's when they understood why Crowley wanted the camera.
They murmured, "But...why?"
"Well..." Aziraphale began.
Muriel was startled because they hadn't heard them arrive, each on one side of them.
It was Crowley who continued, "You've been taking pictures of all these little fragments of happiness for us, so it would be a shame if you weren't a part of it."
"Oh..." was all Muriel murmured before stepping up to the photo and touching it with their fingertip.
Aziraphale and Crowley looked at them fondly, then moved closer. Crowley put his arm around Aziraphale's shoulders, and the angel leaned his head against the demon's chest.
As they watched Muriel arrange the frames on the shelf, they were both filled with the same certainty.
No matter what happened to Heaven and Hell, they would do anything to protect these fragments of happiness and those who were a part of them.