#also my headcanon is that when we see aziraphale do his lil double glances at crowley; he is locking in a memory to draw later

[ranseur]

What if it isn't the first time they've met since the amnesia? Like what if Aziraphale doesn't remember the other times Crowley's words felt too large to fit in his head. But this time Muriel, who found the diary in the bookshop, leaves it somewhere Aziraphale can find it. Aziraphale's got a big project to manage, he's really too busy for this, but he can't bring himself to toss the diary away or ignore the shock that it's filled with his own handwriting. Metatron is doing his best to keep Crowley away and keep Aziraphale close, because he wants the Second Coming to go smoothly. (And doesn't want Aziraphale and Crowley figuring out how powerful they are together, re: their collaborative 25 lazuri miracle)

In S2, Crowley gets offered both to be reinstated as a high-ranking demon and as a high-ranking angel (and doesn't that fact alone tell you everything you need to know about the inexistent difference between Heaven and Hell?) Crowley, of course, isn't even remotely tempted by either option. He's fine on his own side/group of the two of them, thank you very much.

What about Aziraphale? Well, Aziraphale isn't threatened with Falling in the present day, but we DO get to see how he reacted the one time he was truly convinced he was goint to Fall. He was resigned. Aziraphale decided to help Job and his children because it was the right - no, the kind - thing to do, despite believing it would make him Fall. When Crowley shows up, Aziraphale isn't angry, he doesn't fight back or argue to try and defend his point, he just accepts it. He did something following his own moral code, against Heaven, and is resigned to his punishment. To quote him directly: "There's Right, and there's Wrong. If you do Wrong when you're told to do Right, you deserve to be punished."

Aside from telling you how incredibly kind and brave and selfless he is, this puts into the right perspective his choice at the end (in my opinion).

Aziraphale goes to Heaven because it's the Right thing to do. An angel should work with Heaven, for Heaven, to make things Right. That's what he thinks he has to do to make things better for everyone, and he truly wants Crowley to be there with him, but Crowley just won't accept the offer, and so Aziraphale does the selfless thing again: he resigns himself, and he gives Crowley up.