thearrangement | know that I'll always be there by your side

"Right. Right, I was just, y'know. Wondering if you were still seeing Barty. That tall bloke." He held his hand up a little and realised that this was a ridiculous thing to do, because whether or not Bill was still seeing Barty, he definitely would know who Barty was just from hearing the name. Therefore, explaining what Barty looked like to Bill was simply stupid. "I just haven't seen him around in a while, is all."

Because that would have made this much easier, if he could just talk to Barty directly. That was all he wanted, because Barty had to have some kind of insight, right? What was happening to his Aziraphale? Crowley wanted to protect him so badly, he wished he knew what to do.

"Still together, still living in the same place - you're shit out of luck, mate. He's taken." He wasn't sure if that was what Crowley meant but he very much doubted it, it was just funny to tease him. Bill smiled and then looked at Crowley properly, putting his phone away. "Relax, mate, why are you all -- that?" Stiff and weird.

He patted himself down and then caught himself and sighed. "I wanna offer you a smoke but I'm quitting. I can give you a patch, gum or-- the fuck is that?" He pulled out a small box of poppets and then shrugged and offered them. "I got this from the offy."

"Yeah, I wasn't looking to shack up with him..." Although it seemed like a sweet deal, honestly, now that he got a closer look at Bill. "You got new sneakers?" Huh. Ever since he'd known Bill, he had worn tennis shoes old enough to show his socks through the holes and here he was now. "Fancy."

Comparatively speaking, anyway. "Didn't think you'd ever quit smoking, mate, I remember you nicking smokes back in middle school."

Odd and interesting changes, for sure. He looked at the poppets and wondered whether Aziraphale would like them. Probably. Damn. He had to find out something. "Look, mate, it's about Barty's family. His little brother. I-- We're in math class together and he hasn't been to school for a week now."

And he was very concerned about that, which would be weird if it wasn't for all Aziraphale was to him. Whatever, he was trying to act as if it was a normal thing to ask about.

"Yeah, present. Weird, right? I never get presents. I haven't since I was eight." It was weird but Barty got stuff for him. Shoes, clothes, food, drink and he didn't buy him anything like smokes or drugs like his other boyfriends. He said he had to kick it and try to get clean and healthy. It was good for him. It sucked but it was really sweet.

At the statement, Bill raised an eyebrow and then shrugged. "Maybe he's sick. It's only a week. You mates with him? Cause I'm sure you can just text him or -- oh wait, no, they're weird about that stuff." They didn't do phones, TVs or music. Barty had such a weird childhood, he had no normal memories and his only love was books. Nerdy but he liked it.

He never thought he'd find a bloke reading to him romantic and hot but here he was. Barty did it sometimes, when they were chilling. The morning air coming in and the sun shining as Barty read aloud some fun story and Bill lay there, eyes closed, just enjoy it.

"You think it's something to worry about or what?"

"Yeah. As you say, they're weird about this stuff." And Aziraphale thought that Barty might be up to no good potentially, but all Crowley could see was Bill, who was living a better life than last time he'd checked in with him. Not that he thought Bill was as bad as Aziraphale seemed to believe in the first place, but still. Kind of made him think that Barty couldn't be all that bad.

Aziraphale's current circumstances, however? "He's not got any heating at that house. Or a lot of food, for that matter. And I'm worried that he's in trouble. He has been, shall we say, skirting a few rules? Lately. And it's on me, he's been doing it for me. So... If your boyfriend could find out anything, I'd really appreciate that."

"He's busy but -- fuck, he'll be mad at me if this is nothing so you better be right." He checked his phone and tried to call him but, as expected, he got sent to voicemail. When Barty studied, he hated interruptions and Bill was trying his best to be a good boy but this was kind of ruining it. "He ain't gonna pick up. You fancy a walk. We're five minutes away so..."

He could bring him there, they could quickly talk to Barty and he could either send Crowley away or get more details.

"Just don't me in trouble if this is bullshit or whatever cause he's so stressed." Bill sighed and then started walking down the steps and away from the party. "He's got so many fucking assignments. I think I hacked it, not being ambitious, seems exhausting."

"He's got assignments?" Odd. "Cause from the way Aziraphale was talking, I was kind of expecting him to just be peddling porn, drugs and, I don't know, sacrifice virgins to the devil." Which, yes, Crowley had known that it wouldn't be like that, but it was still curious. Barty had definitely graduated and he assumed he had to have a job to afford the car, the place, presents for Bill and a tenner for Aziraphale. So, why assignments?

"It's not bullshit. I'll explain it to him." He'd go to the actual devil's lair to check up on Aziraphale if he had to, going to Bill's and Barty's seemed harmless enough. "Aziraphale would let me know he's all right if he was all right."

"Nah, just working at the shop while he gets his degree. He's going into like British law or something. It sounds so boring. He told me what his assignment was about and my eyes glazed over." Bill remarked as he sniffed and zipped up his jacket, looking left and right before he dashed across the road. They weren't far from main estate, they were in a block of flats across the way, he could see them from here.

"I always thought I had a weird upbringing and all and then I met Barty. They're a weird bunch. His dad had like 10 wives and all these kids and they're so fucking Christian. I met 'em once, they told me to back off. Fucking cornered me and I -- I burst into laughter." Bill couldn't help it, these Christians in suits were warning him off Barty and talking like that and he just laughed. "It's the poshest threat I've ever had."

"Yeah, I know! They're so weird about that. Cornered me and then it was just 'thank you', 'please' and bible verses." Still kind of terrifying, but in an odd and unsettling way. Mostly because he knew Aziraphale had to live there. "Mind, when my brothers threaten someone, that bloke's lucky if he can still crawl to the hospital after."

They were decidedly more direct, his brothers. Thugs, really. "I guess at least they learned how to talk fancy. No wonder your boyfriend's doing law. Damn. You've stumbled your way into a cushy life, huh?"

"I fucking hate your lot. Hastur is a right ugly bastard and he always spits. He spat a fucking trail from here to the other fucking side of town, last fucking week, fucking spit everywhere." And he was a smelly bastard too. Bill had never had a fight with him but he was always just needlessly revolting. "You're alright and that's it." The rest could go and die for all he cared.

"Dunno if I stumbled but I ain't gonna complain. He's changed my life and he wants me to like, you know, do it for me. Do shit like ... like go back and get my GCSEs and the like. It's well weird." But amazing. Someone loved him. That was all it took - love. "What's up with you and the little angel? He's all, like, you know-- he's sorta..." How did he say it nicely? "I mean, he's a bit of a --" Square. Dork. Loser. Gayer than a barrel of monkeys. "--Queer one."

"Yeah, I keep crossing my fingers for a house fire that mysteriously only I survive." He was kidding. Kind of. He didn't really want his family to die. Well. Maybe Hastur. And Ligur. Maybe most of them. All right, not the path to go down right now, he had less murderous thoughts to focus on.

"Aziraphale's cool." Well. He was decidedly not. "In his own way, I mean. He's smart, he's brilliant, I swear. And he's funny too, sometimes intentionally. Always unintentionally. He's got such joy and he's got a-- You know how everyone here is kind of born tired of life? Sick of it all, hating everything and cursing out everyone? Aziraphale's the opposite of that. Like my shard of light."

He supposed he had changed Crowley's life too. "Makes me be a better person. Being with him."

Wait. "Friends with him. I mean."

"Suuuure. Don't bother hiding it from me, I don't give a shit and I ain't telling. That's for you to tell but you bloody well should. If you ever can." Bill huffed out a laugh and smiled at Crowley, amused that he thought he could hide it from him. Barty always told him that he assumed his little brother was gay and here Crowley was, talking like that and looking for him.

The love was pretty fucking obvious.

"Barty said he thought he had someone cause he mentioned seeing a friend but panicked when he said it was a guy. Normal folks don't panic about being found with their mates but he acted like he outed himself. He's got no tell, has he?" They just hadn't known who the boyfriend was. Now Bill knew.

As they approached an apartment building, Bill pulled the door open for Crowley. "Let's hope the lift isn't knackered."

"Yeah, that's it. I don't wanna be the one knackering his life." Which, Crowley thought, was reasonable. "I know it's obvious for you, I just don't wanna be the one to come out and say it." Given what it could do to Aziraphale's life. What it might have already done to his life.

They entered the building and headed up the stairs. He could already hear some music through the door and once they were inside, the music was very loud, very metal, very much screaming. And Barty was lying on his back on the living room floor, surrounded by books, holding one up above him and staring at it with full focus. He was just wearing a loose black shirt and black sweat pants, but there was a certain cool he exuded. Crowley was trying to take note, he wasn't sure whether he could ever achieve that.

When Bill closed the door, Barty noticed them. He set down the book, reached for his phone and turned off the music and then sat up, leaning back on one hand. "What the hell, Bill."

He was frowning a little and Crowley took a step to the side and behind Bill. There was that scary intensity to Barty's eyes. He wondered whether he hit Bill. He hoped not. Unfortunately not a rare thing in their circles and, well. He knew Barty's background as well as Bill's. He knew Bill had had bad boyfriends before.

"Hey, lover boy. Don't look at me like that. I got a good reason." Bill didn't seem scared and he didn't notice that Crowley was. He just moved to the side and slipped off his coat, hanging it on the hook. "This is Crowley. He goes to school with your brother, Aziraphale. See, weird thing, he ain't been to school for a week. He thinks it ain't normal but I don't know so I thought I'd bring him here."

He came back over to where Barty was sitting and huffed playfully, reaching out to poke his boyfriend in the face. Yes, he poked him. "Oi, stop being scary. You wanna be nice to him, trust me."

That was his baby brother's boyfriend.

Barty gave a nod to Crowley before catching Bill's hand to keep him from more poking. He also pulled him closer by the hold on his hand, kissing him briefly. However, he was thinking as he did so, debating on the course of action. "It ain't normal. He's right about that. We'd go to school even if we had a fever. I collapsed in gym class once."

More than once outside of it, he had been a bit of a sickly boy. But that was neither here nor there. "I'll drop by. Check up on him. Has to be punishment if they're not letting him leave the house."

"They're not, I tried to go and see him, but he's not even appeared in the window." Crowley wasn't sure whether he was doing the right thing, whether getting Barty involved might not just be making everything even worse, but he had to try.

"Hm." Barty got to his feet, dragging Bill up with him. "I'll drive over. You can tag along, lover boy. Just stay in the car."

"...you mean me?" Why was he calling him lover boy? Oh. Oh, all right then. Aziraphale and him apparently really were that obvious. "Sure, I can come. Are we-- What are you gonna do?"

"I'll hopefully get him out of there before they find a conversion camp they can afford." Barty said it drily, but it was a valid concern. "Luckily, they're skint."

"They're really not subtle, are they? Be nice though. Crowley is all right, he ain't like his shitty family. 'Sides, someone like him with your Aziraphale ain't a bad idea. Got some edge in his life." Aziraphale was just a very soft boy with zero edges so anything like this had to be a good thing, right?

Bill went into the kitchen and grabbed some stuff, pocketing what he assumed they'd need. Money, some ID and the car keys. He tossed the keys to his boyfriend and then got his coat again.

"Are we gonna go talk cause we don't have a great history of talking to 'em." Bill reminded Barty as he pulled Crowley aside so Barty could reach his shoes. "And I don't fancy a fight with that Gabriel bloke. He's fucking hench."

He turned to Crowley, frowning. "You seen that one? He's fucking solid."

"I'll talk to them. You can stay in the car with the kid." Because, no, he didn't fancy Bill's chances against any of them and, more importantly, he didn't want Bill to hear the things they might say to attack him. Barty headed into the bedroom to get changed and Crowley looked at Bill, feeling a little awkward. It was a weird situation.

"I've met Gabriel. He's... intense. Super weird." Very scary in a way he couldn't even begin to explain. "Don't think getting my ass beaten by him is gonna be much help."

"I can handle Gabe," Barty said as he re-emerged, having changed his pants to jeans. He pulled on his boots and then his coat, before wrapping an arm around Bill. "Let's go. Time to rescue an angel."

"Little Cherub. Seriously, you ever seen him as a kid?" Bill asked before he slipped his hand inside Barty's jacket all casually and pulled out his wallet. He opened it up and inside, Barty had a few pictures, including himself, but there was one of a very young Aziraphale. "He's well cute, ain't he?"

Bill laughed playfully and then returned the wallet as they headed down to the lobby.

"You're gonna be just fine, kid. We got you. We'll get your bae in no time."

"Aw. He was cute. I kinda remember him." Although, back then, he had just been that weird Christian kid and they had not been friends. Besides, Crowley had been a kid himself. It was different to looking at him now. It was also interesting that Barty had a picture of him. Going by what Aziraphale said about Barty, if anything, he wouldn't have thought he'd have that kind of attachment. But then, he probably shouldn't buy into anything he had heard from Aziraphale. He had all kind of weird ideas about Bill as well. "I want him to live somewhere else, but he likes being there. I mean, he wants to stick to the rules."

"He won't want to now they are keeping him from seeing his love. It was bound to happen." Barty shrugged, heading out the door and walking straight to his car, so he could unlock it. "You should sit in the back with the kid, darling. Then they won't see you from the windows."

His windows in the back were darkened.

"I ain't scared of them. I'd fight them any day, even Gabriel, if I had to." He looked at
Barty and then leaned forward, stealing a quick kiss. "But I know it ain't my fight so, yeah. I'll be there but not there. Just rooting for you. As always."

He smiled a playful smile and then slid into the back with Crowley. He did up his belt and kicked some of the stuff under the seat to try and make it look less messy.

"Oi, music. Don't bore us on the way." Bill politely requested. "I assume you can't rock out when your baby brother is in the car." He'd be scandalised.

"I'm not concerned over you not picking a fight, I just think they'll be slightly more agreeable if you stay out of sight." Well. "More on message, anyway. Less getting distracted by how I have been led astray by a wily little minx like you."

Crowley chuckled, assuming that it was a joke. It was hard to tell with the delivery, but Barty didn't seem to mind him laughing, so that was good enough. He watched as Barty turned on the music, as requested, then leaned back when they started on their drive. "Aziraphale doesn't like any music like this. He calls it bebop."

He was so ridiculous.

"... What the fuck is bebop?"

It was a relatively long drive where Bill googled bebop, read half the wiki page aloud to them, then got sidetracked by the life and times of Thelonious Monk, a schizophrenic jazz pianist that captivated him for most of the ride.

Bill knew they had arrived when suddenly the music cut out and they were approached that ugly, remote little place on the outskirts. It was easy to tell Barty's old place, it had no fucking lights on. "If things go south, be careful."

"It's not going to go South, love. They're family." Barty turned around to look at Bill, just about smiling. "Anyway, I have a knife."

With that, he got out of the car, leaving Crowley behind to puzzle over this. "Is he kidding? Does he-- He has a knife, doesn't he?" Just didn't seem as if he'd be bluffing. But what was he going to do with the knife?

He watched as Barty approached the house, knelt down to get a spare key out from under the doormat and then let himself in.

"Hello, darlings! I'm home!" Barty closed the door behind himself, pocketing the key absently as he looked around. "Aziraphale! Get down here!"

He decided to simply make it an order, while he could hear his other siblings scramble around to decide how to deal with him.

Was that Barty? It was hard to navigate his room in the total dark he was stuck in but he did manage to get the door open. It wasn't locked today so that was nice.

"Bartemius?!"

"Get back in your room now, Aziraphale!"

Well, wasn't that two conflicting orders that left him somewhat paralysed on the stairs because he could now see Barty on one side and his other siblings emerging from the living room and -- and he was in his pyjamas and not really escape ready. If that was, in fact, that was happening. He looked at Barty, a little desperate. "It's... it's very late." It was ten but that was quite late.

"You should really come with me, Aziraphale. You've left your glasses in my car." Or else just his boyfriend who for some reason always wore sunglasses. Barty had forgotten why, some medical condition? Whatever, he was just hoping that Aziraphale would pick up on it. That he'd come with and stop listening to anyone else.

"What do you think you are doing, Bartemius?" Gabriel squared his shoulders, showing off his full height and might.

"What the hell do you think you are doing? Literally. Can't even see a thing in here." Barty huffed out in frustration, shaking his head. "I've told you I can pay for your damn electricity. This is ridiculous, are you still praying that God will cough up some money for you? Or better yet, father?"

"Will you stop it with the blasphemous talk in our house? You are not welcome here, not with that ungodly attitude. Reflect and repent, Bartemius! And Aziraphale, you know better than to consort with the likes of him."

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