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God had said She would fix it. But that would be a tiny bit complicated if She fixed herself out of existence, wouldn't it? Would Her work happen, or not? What absolute mess would that paradox create?
That, or something less articulate, was what was swimming in Aziraphale's head when he found himself in his bookshop, on a Thursday evening in May. The sun still shone through the windows, illuminating the dust in the air. It smelt near closing time (you developed all sorts of skills with six thousand years to do it and memorising the varying scents of the day was one of the stranger ones) and he hoped it was, because he had quite a lot to sort out.
Crowley groaned. Aziraphale had reappeared standing by the window, while Crowley had not sauntered slowly but fallen to the floor, his limbs implausibly tangled. "Angel," he began cautiously, "What do you remember happening?"
"Well. Uh. The Almighty, and then you and I, we were... we're still here."
"Yes. Still playing ineffable games, no doubt. Can I... Aziraphale. Can I borrow something from you?"
"Of course. Er, what is it?"
"This," Crowley said, and grabbed the angel's hand in his, using it to pull himself upright, and then quite resolutely refusing to let go. "Actually can I keep it?"
"Yes. Yes if you could just not let go, forever." Aziraphale gripped Crowley's hand so tightly it hurt him, though Crowley wasn't going to complain. "I think perhaps a drink and then--"
The door rattled as someone came through it.
"Fuck off," Crowley groaned, as Aziraphale called out "Closed!"
"Oh, haha. You two are so funny." Joshua smiled so that his face crinkled. "Am I the first one here? Is Adam here yet?"
"I didn't say fuck off," Crowley backpedaled. There was something about Jesus that sort of made you feel ruder than was reasonable, telling him to fuck off when he was being friendly to you.
"It's okay if you did," Joshua promised. "Am I the first one here for Book Club today?"
"Book Club?" Aziraphale said with a frown.
"Oh my god you are such a dad. It's Thursday, it's Book Club. We've been doing this for months. It's okay, you don't need to supervise us, we're not kids. I'll lock the door once everyone's arrived."
Crowley and Aziraphale looked at each other, mouthing words like "Book Club?" and "Jesus?" and shaking their heads.
"Everything has put itself back together a little oddly," Aziraphale murmured, "And I think..." He suddenly replayed the last minute or so in his head and looked at Joshua. "Adam? Not... Adam Young?"
"He's here every week! Are you okay? You don't seem okay. I'm going to put the kettle on, you stay here. And sit down." Joshua marched himself into the back of the shop as if he owned the place, gently touching Aziraphale's shoulder as he passed him and giving him an overwhelming feeling of calm. The angel did as he was told and sat down.
The door went again and Muriel appeared, arm in arm with Eric, the two of them giggling.
Crowley pointed at them and turned to Aziraphale. "Angel. Angel, I don't know if I like this. Who else is going to walk through that door?"
The two of them were still holding hands. It was getting a little sweaty, if Crowley was honest, but he didn't feel that Satan himself could pry them apart now. After all, he'd tried and failed. And Crowley wasn't going to let go. Ever again.
"My dear boy, don't panic." Aziraphale hoped that his panic was completely hidden from view.
Joshua returned from the kitchen with an ancient wooden tray holding six mugs. He beamed round the room, his curls giving a little bounce. "I put extra sugar in yours, Mr Fell. You seem like you need it." He handed the angel wing mug to him, and then handed Crowley a mug with silhouettes of the band Queen on the side.
"You've only just got here, haven't you," he said quietly. "I don't know exactly what happened. Something reset. Something changed. Most people don't seem to know anything's up, but I remember. It was really weird, I looked it up on the internet, what to do if you think you're the Messiah, and then I got sectioned pretty quickly, but then everyone else went home because every time I shared a room with someone, they just got better immediately. So they shut the place down and I just left. And then Mrs Sandwich had some rooms to rent so I just--don't worry, I know what she used to do with those rooms, I don't do that. Am I talking too much?"
"Yes, but don't stop. So does Muriel remember...?" Aziraphale took a sip of his tea and it really was the best tea he'd drunk in six thousand years, and he didn't think it was the extra sugar.
"Kind of. They were a bit surprised the first time they did a miracle by mistake but then a lot of it came back. And Eric remembers all of it. Mostly. I helped him forget being mauled by a hell hound. I thought that was for the best. But nobody else we've met seems to know anything."
"And Adam...?" Aziraphale asked.
"Oh, yeah. Somehow, the whole lot of it. He doesn't seem bothered though, he's so... normal? And he's so normal about me. I met people who were reeeeally freaked out about me accidentally healing them. But he doesn't mind. He treats me like I'm ordinary. Well. No. He treats me like I'm... is it okay if I stop talking?" Joshua's face felt very warm.
Crowley smirked. "Jesus and the Antichrist, hey? Dear me. It puts an angel and a demon in perspective, doesn't it?"
"Don't tease the poor boy," Aziraphale tutted, but he squeezed Crowley's hand tightly again. They still hadn't let go.
"Oh. But we did meet two other people who we think are demons. I don't know for sure," Joshua said hurriedly, "There's just these two guys who run a vape shop round the corner and they're, they're not bad people or anything--"
"They're sketchy as fuck," Eric interrupted, because he was sick of pretending he couldn't hear the entire conversation. "But the vapes are very cheap. Hastur and Ligur's vape shop. If they're demons they're not very good at it. They've got a tank with a toad and a lizard in it behind the counter. And I think they scam some of the customers, but they're alright. They lent Josh a tenner the other day because he lost his bank card and for some reason, he can't just magic up money."
Crowley wanted to comment that maybe Eric didn't remember everything, then, but the door went again and Adam Young swung it open, grinned hello at everyone, and nodded at Aziraphale and Crowley. "Dad. Other Dad. Are you joining us for Book Club? I've actually read the book this week."
"Ah," Joshua smiled awkwardly. "Yeah, you'll not remember that. We all affectionately call you both Dad."
"Godfathers. Again," Crowley tried and failed to hold back a smile. "Is this all of you or have we been blessed with more offspring?"
"This is it so far. You really did just get here, didn't you? It's fine. You're safe. The lift is gone, the escalators are gone, all the routes any of us could remember up or down are gone. It's just this. And as you can see," Joshua gestured to Muriel and Eric, who were making eyes at each other and giggling, oblivious to the rest of the room, "There's no animosity between angels and demons anymore. More than there is between humans, I mean."
"We will join you," Aziraphale said firmly, glancing at Crowley. "We have forever to discuss everything else."
Crowley had rather hoped to get his hands on Aziraphale upstairs, but he was right, a couple of hours at Book Club with this strange family they appeared to now have, that was just as important. "What is it that you've read this week, then?"
"It's a naughty one," Muriel said, pleased. "Do you know Jilly Cooper?"
"I... we met, yeah," Crowley said, settling down on the sofa, the Book Club arranged on the floor. "A marvellous woman."
As the sun slowly started to set, the discussion about the book continued. Maybe, just maybe, everything would be okay in the end after all.