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Crowley had been having a great day, too. It was rainy, beez and his crowd were too busy to pay him any attention, and the teachers seemed to have given up on riding his ass. at least for now. But now that great day has been ruined, all thanks to this stupid (pretty) boy being slammed against the lockers. Crowley wasn’t entirely sure what he had done to warrant such treatment, but he knew better than to interfere. There were two main groups at this school; the “good” kids, and then the “bad” kids, led by Gabe and Beez respectively. Crowley was a problem kid, and he was proud of it, so he fell in with Beez’s crowd. he wasn’t a big fan of them but he stuck around anyways.
What did this have to do with that pretty boy being slammed against the lockers? Well, he was a part of gabe’s crowd. and the two didn’t mix well together, to say the least. The smart thing to do would be to just walk away. just walk away, Crowley. Spoiler: he didn’t. Instead he approached the scene, shooing away the bullies who knew better than to mess with him. He then offers a hand to the pretty boy, trying to look as aloof as possible.
“I’m Crowley. What’s your name?” The boy looked up at him, face flushed, hair mussed, and frowned. Crowley began to feel awkward, as the boy kept staring. But then he took his hand.
“My name is Aziraphale,” he said, pulling himself up. Despite being disheveled, he had a sort of dignity about him, and he was very pretty. Has that been established yet? Anyways, Crowley nodded. They stood there awkwardly for a few moments before Aziraphale spoke up.
“So what is it that you want from me?” Crowley frowned, stumped. “I know your type, you never do things for people out of the goodness of your heart. You want something, don’t you?”
“Uhhh y-yeah, definitely! Definitely. That’s definitely why I saved you just then.” Crowley blustered.
“Well…?”
“Well what?”
“What is it that you want from me?” He was beginning to look frustrated.
“O-oh right! Yes, of course.” Crowley paused for a moment, trying to think on the fly. “I...haven’t decided yet. Yeah, you’ll have to just owe me a favor.”
Aziraphale sighed, cleaning up his stuff that had been left on the ground. “Yes, alright. I suppose I don’t have much of a say in the matter?”
“Nope!” He grinned in the most intimidating way he knew how.
The other boy nodded in a sort of defeated manner. “Yes I thought so. Now, Crowley, was it?”
“Yes.”
“Well Crowley I must be going. Thank you, I suppose, for the rescue and please do be reasonable when it comes to your request of me. I guess I will be seeing you again at some point.”
“That you will~” He agreed. “Oh and Aziraphale?”
“Yes?”
And then Crowley was inches from Aziraphale, and the other boys blue eyes widened in surprise. “No promises,” He said, bopping his nose and then walking away without looking back.
Classes went by rather quickly after that, until they reached 7th hour. He walked in barely before the bell rang and made his way to his normal seat. Slouching down, he prepared for another 50 minutes of ignoring his teacher. However he was surprised when his gaze drifted up to the person in front of him and he raised his eyebrow at the fluffy mass of blonde hair and a tan suit jacket. ‘Interesting’, he thought to himself, and filed the information away for later. Finally, the bell rang, and Crowley began to walk out.
“Crowley, come here for a moment please,” the teacher called out before he could quite make it out. He sighed, and turned around to talk to the teacher.
“Yeah?” He shoved his hands in his pockets.
“You know what I want to talk to you about, don’t you? You’re no idiot, as much as you might pretend to be one.”
Crowley just shrugged.
The teacher sighed. “You’re failing my class, Crowley. If you don’t get your act together, and soon, you won’t be able to graduate. I’m going to assign you an extra credit essay, but this is your last chance. After this, no more extra help. If I were you, I would start looking for a tutor.”
His gut plunged at the idea of not graduating. He was done with this hellhole, not to mention his old man’s reaction…Maybe a tutor wasn’t so bad of an idea. And he knew just who to ask…
Aziraphale was in a pretty good mood. He got a few assignments back, ones that he had worked really hard on. He had done very well, as usual. Nodding to himself, he pulled some books out of his locker, wanting to get some additional reading done at home. And then there was a hand on the locker door, slamming it shut. His pulse started racing. Aziraphale looked up, and his pulse started racing for a completely different reason (loathe as he was to admit it). It was Crowley, the boy who had saved him from bullies earlier. He was a bad boy, someone who associated with other, worse kids. Aziraphale had done his best to avoid people of that caliber, but it seemed as though his luck had run out. It didn’t help him that Crowley was unfairly attractive. Aziraphale couldn’t help but notice, even if he immediately denied ever thinking it.
“Aziraphale? Zira? Helloooo?” Aziraphale snapped back, with Crowley waving his hand in front of his eyes.
“Don’t call me that,” Aziraphale muttered. The other boy merely shrugged. “Did you need something?” He asked.
“Yeah, I figured out what favor I’m gonna ask of you.” A bit of nervousness swirled in Aziraphale’s gut, but he nodded for Crowley to go on. “I need you to tutor me.”
“You want me to tutor you?” This was not at all what he was expecting, and he wasn’t sure how to feel about it. The other boy nodded, looking uncomfortable. “What exactly would that entail?”
Crowley shrugged. “I dunno. I just know that I have to graduate. And we can’t do it here, it’ll have to be at your place-“
He spluttered, trying time protest, but the boy in the shades just cut him off.
“-I assume you know why. What’s your address? When are you free?” Crowley finished. Aziraphale’s blood began to boil. How dare he just assume? How dare this boy just barge into his life and make a place there for himself? Things were fine as they were, dammit! Still, he took a few deep breaths to steady himself. Crowley was obviously desperate, and he had always been taught to help those in need. Plus, he did owe the boy. Unclenching his fists, he nodded.
“I’m not free tonight, but tomorrow works. My parents pick me up from school if you want to ride with us.” It was almost worth it to see the shock on the other boy’s face.
They parted ways after that, and as Aziraphale laid in bed that night, he felt as if he had crossed a turning point. He only hoped he had made the right decision.