The Incarnate (A Good Omens CrowleyxReader)

~Chapter 1 (R 9/29/2019)~

"There will come a soldier who carries a mighty sword-- he will tear your city down, oh lei, oh lai, oh lord." Soldier, Poet, King by The Oh Hellos

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"Miss Y/N, we're here," the taxi driver says in a bored, monotone voice.

You look up from the framed photograph you're holding. "Oh, right, thank you." You hand him the taxi fee and a generous tip.

You get out and slam the door shut, pulling your small suitcase out with you, still holding the photo. You look up at a large apartment complex as the taxi speeds away.

The apartment complex is a sorry sight. The splotchy grass covering some of the lawn is brownish-yellow and looks... crunchy. Only one tree is visible, and most of the leaves are missing. Autumn has just barely arrived-- it shouldn't be bare yet. The building itself looks as though it was painted by a color-blind ten-year-old. It's a pukey greenish-brown and paint drips are everywhere where the painter was too lazy to wipe them away.

It's not a pretty sight, but at least it's home. Hopefully, it looks nicer on the inside... But it doesn't. The shag carpet is covered with dark stains and the waft of cat pee drifts throughout the room. The walls are a dark, bland brown.

The apartment is a single large room, with a cheap refrigerator and an old stove separated by a small, sticky countertop in the corner. There isn't a bed, only a couch, also in disarray, covered in stains and becoming threadbare or even fraying in spots.

You place the framed photo onto the far end of the desk. Three smiling faces at the beach-- you and your parents. They're sitting next to each other on a rocking bench and you're standing right behind them with your arms around their shoulders with a goofy grin on your face.

That was a year ago before you moved to London from America. Your parents saved a lot for a special trip for the three of you out to the East Coast. You three didn't normally travel a lot or go out and do things, as your parents were always busy with work and you were busy with school. 

You mostly kept to yourself, and it was incredibly rare for you to even talk to anyone other than your parents. You didn't have any other family, only those two. No siblings, no aunts, no uncles, no grandparents. It was always you three before... everything. You don't feel like thinking about it right now.

In the picture, waves are crashing against a sandy shore and the sunset looks like a melting sherbet ice cream, with pink and orange and yellow, all mixing into a beautiful mosaic. Birds are soaring far above the ocean in intricate patterns and flips.

You can still remember that day. You can still hear their laughter rising above the sound of the waves and seagulls. How the smell of salt filled your nostrils. How the taste of cool lemonade washes away the taste of the ocean. The feeling you had as you sat with your parents, taking in the view, after a long day of jumping through the waves and sifting the fine, snow-white sand through your fingers.

And you also remembered how, despite everything, despite barely being able to keep jobs because there was always someone better, despite the world hating them for what seemed like no reason, they still acted like a young couple, madly in love.

In a way, you were jealous. Jealous that you didn't have someone to be by your side forever, through thick and thin. It was selfish, but you knew that one day, you'd have to leave for college. Time would pass, and eventually, they would, too. But you still had them, and at that moment, during that time in your life, it was enough. Just the three of you versus the world.