Chapter Text
Home Street. Edinburgh. 2019
A man entered the church shortly after the sermon finished. He felt strange walking through the corridor. He was an Anglican, not a Catholic. However, everything looked so similar to his church.
The altar was empty, as the priest was already in his office, finishing everything and preparing himself for going home. The man didn’t want to interrupt whatever he was doing, so he waited sitting on one of the benches. He heard a door opening and a light going off; then he saw a man with crimson hair and sunglasses on, wearing a bag on his shoulder. The priest stopped walking once he saw him.
“Oh! Aziraphale!” he said, now smiling “Hi!”
“Good afternoon, Father Crowley” Aziraphale smirked back.
Crowley wrinkled his nose.
“You don’t have to call me ‘father’, you know it, right?”
“We are in a church. Your church, indeed”
“Yeah, but it feels strange. You as a priest calling me ‘father’” Crowley shrugged while getting his glasses off.
Crowley’s yellow eyes met Aziraphale’s. The blond man felt a sudden relief in his chest.
“Anyway, what brings my dear Anglican friend here?”
Crowley sat on one of the stairs in front of the bench where Aziraphale was, leaving his bag next to his right foot.
A few seconds passed before Aziraphale could speak, trying to find the words of what he was about to say out loud.
“Could you confess me?”
One of Crowley’s eyebrows raised.
“You know I can’t” he answered, in a soft voice “A Catholic confessing an Anglican. Probably they would kick me out of here”
“I know… It-It was a stupid question, I don’t even know why—“he interrupted himself “I didn’t know whom I should tell this”
“Do you need any forgiveness?” Crowley laced his fingers together.
“I don’t know…”
Crowley studied Aziraphale’s worried face for a few more seconds, in silence.
“Well, I am not allowed to forgive you in the name of God, but I can listen to you and forgive you as a friend if you need it.”
“Oh, really?” Aziraphale smiled, feeling the tension fading away.
“But if I wanted to, I could go to the police”
“Oh…” he did a small pause “It’s okay, I trust you”
Crowley nodded. Aziraphale looked around
“Do you prefer…” started the redhead man “…a more private place?”
“Yes” Aziraphale sighed “I would feel less…” he gave another look to the place “…judged”
“There is no place for judgment in my church” Crowley stood up, put his sunglasses on and grabbed his bag again “Alright, let’s go to my place”
“Y-your place?”
“Yeah, it’s been a long day I just wanna get home”
Aziraphale nodded and followed Crowley outside the church. The priest’s house was just a few meters from the building they just left. Aziraphale walked a few steps behind Crowley, who turned to check if he was still there when he arrived at the red door.
“After you” he said, holding the entry for him.
Aziraphale entered the building and climbed the stairs towards another door, this time brown. He leaned his back against the wall to make enough space for Crowley to get the keys and open his home. Now this time he entered first.
When Crowley shut the door once both were in, he sighed loudly, taking the sunglasses off.
“Finally…” he said in a whisper for himself. Then he looked at Aziraphale “You can leave your coat over there” he pointed to a coat rack “and the sofa is after that door. Make yourself comfortable, I’ll get a coffee and be right back”
“A coffee? This late? It will keep you up all night!”
Crowley raised one of his eyebrows again. Aziraphale felt guilty right after finishing the sentence. He was not a child, he had free will to do whatever he wanted to. His face didn’t look like it was the first time he was having a late cup of coffee.
“I’ll shut up, sorry…” Aziraphale headed down and left his coat on the rack.
“Do you want a cup of tea? I’ve got rooibos” he did a small pause “It’s the one that doesn’t have theine, right?”
“Yes…”Aziraphale smiled “Thanks, Crowley. That’s very kind”
Crowley didn’t say anything else and went to the kitchen. Meanwhile, Aziraphale sat on the sofa, holding his hands and observing every detail in Crowley’s living room. It looked a bit smaller than his, but it still felt cozy. There was an armchair next to the window with a blanket and a book in it. He wanted to see the title, but from his position, he wasn’t able to. And if he stood up and looked Crowley could notice it and think bad of him for being such a gossip.
And speaking about the Catholic Priest, he entered the room again holding two black mugs. He handed the one with the blue inside to Aziraphale and kept the one with the red inside for himself.
Instead of taking a seat on the armchair in front of Aziraphale, Crowley sat next to him, on the sofa. They could kick their feet if they wanted to.
“So, tell me” Crowley crossed his legs “Why do you need me to forgive you?”
Aziraphale suddenly remembered why he was there.
“Oh, yeah, right!” he copied Crowley’s position “Er-” he looked away, feeling observed “Something bad happened. Something really bad”
Crowley nodded, interested in what the Anglican was going to tell him.
“Do you know Muriel? She works in one of the restaurants near your church”
“Oh, my God! What happened to Muriel!!!???” Crowley raised his voice, worried.
“Nothing!” Aziraphale also exclaimed. Then he lowered a bit “Nothing” he gulped “She came to me after the sermon. With one of her friends. Because they needed to report something”
Aziraphale’s slowness in getting to the point was making Crowley a bit nervous.
“One of the priests of the Anglican Church of Edinburgh has…” he cleared his throat“...touched inappropriately Muriel’s friend”
Crowley felt a sudden pinch in his chest.
“Who?” he asked, without moving any muscle of his face.
“She’s 16”
“Who?”
“And her brother is 11”
“Aziraphale, who did it?”
“And he touched him too”
“Aziraphale!”
Crowley didn’t yell, but he grabbed Aziraphale’s arm tightly. When he noticed he took it away. Aziraphale took a deep breath before answering:
“Father Matthew”
Crowley tightened his jaw.
“And I don’t know what to do…” Aziraphale sighed “If I don’t say anything he can still abuse people. Maybe Muriel’s friend was the first one who was brave enough to talk. But he is a priest in the Anglican Church… He has a family. And it’s a respectable member. This could cause so much trouble”
Aziraphale let himself flop on the sofa, after leaving the mug on the coffee table.
“Whatever I do I feel I’m doing the wrong thing” his voice cracked.
“Oh, you are an angel, I don’t think you can do something wrong…”Crowley put a hand on Aziraphale’s knee.
The blond man flushed.
“Oh, thank you, really…” Aziraphale covered his face with both hands “I just needed to tell somebody, you know? It’s not like you could solve it with a miracle or something like that”
Both chuckled.
“I really appreciate you telling me this”
Aziraphale uncovered his face, finding Crowley smiling at him. He smiled back.
“Promise me you won’t tell anything”
“I am a tomb”
Aziraphale got up from the sofa
“What I need to do is to have some sleep. Things will get clearer after resting”
Aziraphale grabbed his coat. Crowley did the same.
“Let me walk you home” said the redhead grabbing his keys and glasses.
“Oh, it’s not necessary. Our churches are not more than 5 minutes away. I’ll be fine”
“I insist. I want to make sure you arrive safely”
“But then you have to walk alone back here”
“Nothing will happen to me. Let’s go”
Both priests walked through Home Street and then turned left in Gilmore Place. It was a chilly night. Their breaths were manifested in the air with a white little cloud.
“Let’s have breakfast tomorrow” said Crowley once they got to Aziraphale’s house next to his church “I know a new coffee shop that you might like. And you could tell me your thoughts about what we talked”
“Sure! At 8?”
“Perfect. I’ll text you the directions”
“Sure! See you then!”
“Good night, Aziraphale”
“Good night, Crowley”
Crowley once alone, took his time for walking back to Home Street. He silently opened his church and approached the altar, hands with his fingers laced.
He knelt in front of Holy Mary’s figure. A custom ceramic statue he commissioned for the church when he started as a priest there.
“Hail Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of death. Amen” he paused before continuing “Forgive me, Mother, for what I am about to do. Forgive me, Mother, because I am about to sin. But, as you’ve always known, this is not for my benefit but the world’s. Protect me in this mission. Amen”
The next morning, Aizraphale was dressing up when he received a message from Crowley:
Home Street, 23. Already there
Aziraphale: Coming!
As usual in Edinburgh, Aziraphale found a grey sky welcoming the new day. Maybe a storm would start at any minute. Maybe not. Who knows?
He put his hands into his pockets, trying to not get them too cold. Some people waved at him, as they knew him from the church. He answered with a smile and a nod.
He didn’t have time to stop and chat with anybody. Crowley was already at the café and didn’t want to make him wait. And he had something so important to tell him.
“Good morning!” a young woman greeted him when he entered the café “What can I get for you?”
“Good morning!” he nodded for the tenth time that morning.
Aziraphale looked at the blackboards behind the waitress for a moment, analyzing what he was going to order.
“They say the hot chocolate here is so good. I’ve ordered one” said a voice on his right.
Aziraphale didn’t get scared after Crowley’s sudden appearance. He hadn’t taken his sunglasses off.
“And the cinnamon buns look very nice”he replied to his friend’s sentence. Then he frowned his lips and raised his eyebrows, thoughtful “Yeah, I think I’ll get that” Aziraphale looked to the young girl “A hot chocolate and a cinnamon bun, please”
“Perfect, sir”
“Alright, come” Crowley grabbed Aziraphale’s sleeve and brought him to the inside of the café.
“I thought you would get a coffee” said Aziraphale.
“Already had two at home”
A paradise of books decorated the walls of the place, filled with cute wooden tables. Next to the window at the end of the place, two armchairs and a table smaller than the other ones were waiting for them. The rest of the place was still empty.
“I guess you didn’t hear the news yet” Aziraphale started talking while sitting.
“About what?” Crowley crossed his legs and rested his hands on his knee.
“About…” Aziraphale looked for a second to the waitress, who was preparing their orders. He lowered his voice and leaned over so Crowley was the only one to hear him “About what we talked about yesterday”
“Father Matthew” Crowley also whispered, imitating Aziraphale’s posture.
They went back to their initial positions.
“Gabriel called me this morning. He woke me up, which wasn’t the best way to end my dreams. I was having a very interesting conversation with Oscar Wilde…”
“Aziraphale…” interrupted Crowley “What did Gabriel say?”
“Right” the Anglican shook his head “They found Father Matthew’s body this morning. In his church. He is dead”
Crowley opened his eyes and raised his eyebrows.
“Really?”
Aziraphale nodded. Crowley crossed his arms.
“How did it happen?”
Aziraphale shrugged and shook his head.
“They will celebrate the funeral at noon. The family said they wanted to put his business together as quickly as they could. Gabriel is going to officiate it in his church”
“The dead’s church?”
“Yeah. The same place where he…” Aziraphale didn’t want to say it out loud “Well, you know”.
“Are you gonna go?”
The waitress approached them with their breakfast.
“Thank you, dear” Aziraphale smirked.
“Thanks” Crowley inclined his head.
“Enjoy, gentlemen” the girl smiled and went back to the counter.
Aziraphale kept looking at her for a second.
“She seems a good person. I like her vibe” his voice softened.
“Aziraphale” Crowley called his attention once more “The funeral”.
“Well, I should go. But I don’t want to. I would prefer to stay at home reading, honestly. Just thinking about stepping on that place is making me feel dizzy. But if I stay home, Gabriel or Michael are going to come over and dramatically knock on the door ‘Aziraphale! Why aren’t you coming to one of your Brother’s funeral?’” he mocked Gabriel’s voice.
“You can stay at my place, if you like”
“What?”
“You can tell them a quick excuse and stay in my apartment. They will never search for you there ”
“Are you trying to tempt me to lie?”
“I am suggesting to you how to not go to a place you will be uncomfortable”
“But lying is a sin”
Crowley leaned again and whispered:
“And so it is touching minors inappropriately and Father Matthew enjoyed that sin too much”
“Don’t compare me to him”
“Sorry”
Both looked away, avoiding each other’s eyes for a moment.
“But what am I supposed to tell them?”
“I don’t know. The first thing that comes to your mind”
Aziraphale grabbed his phone and looked at Gabriel’s chat for a while. Then he wrote and sent the text quickly.
“I have to visit a friend in Glasgow today, catching the train in a few minutes. I’ll be back at night. Can’t go to the funeral” he read out loud.
“See?”
Aziraphale put his phone away.
“I feel damned”
“It’s not that bad when you get used to it”