Too fat for Heaven?!

Chapter 6 - A nightmare

A few days had passed since the accidental stuffing at the Golden Droplet. Ezekiel was doing his best to control himself and his cravings, and despite some minor slip-ups, this time he seemed determined to start his diet in order to go back to Heaven.

That's exactly what he was dreaming about that night: being thin again, and being able to fly with his big feathery wings across the clouds; every other angel being proud of him for making it back from Earth and his mentor, Michael, ruffling his blonde locks and smiling at him, happy to have him back in Heaven.

That dream however, wasn't bound to last much longer, as the young angel was suddenly awoken by a scream. His eyes shot open and he flinched slightly, being startled awake like that. He tried to get up, still thinking he was as light as in his dream, but the weight of his sins had already crawled up on his back again, or rather, on his front, in the form of that massive tummy. He briefly glared at it brushing a hand on it and feeling his pudgy fingers sink into all that soft fat. He sighed; there was so much of it... how in the world was he supposed to lose ALL of it?!

His thoughts were cut short by another sound echoing in the apartment... loud sobbing.

Ezekiel felt his heart tighten slightly, he knew whose sobs those were, although he didn't want to believe it; they were Heather's. They were filled with pain and fright, what could have happened?

He heaved himself out of the bed, grunting slightly as he did so. The more he listened to her sobs the more his worry grew; he'd never heard a human cry so hard in his life-

He quickly put his slippers on and waddled out of his room and into the small corridor that separated the two bedrooms. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on her door and spoke up: "H-Heather? What's... going on?".

The young angel waited for an answer, but only got more sobbing as a response; she was probably too overwhelmed by emotions to hear him.

For a fraction of a second, Ezekiel thought of leaving her be, but how could he? He was an angel, he was supposed to protect humans, ignoring her like that was out of the question.

He slowly opened the door and walked in. He had never been in Heather's room before; it smelled like vanilla and looked very tidy, with many books neatly stored in shelves and a beautiful desk with some school supplies lined up on it. next to the window, dimly lit by the cold moonlight, was her bed, she was sitting on it, distraught, her hands pressed against her face, her shoulders twitching with every sob.

"Heather..." he just said, standing in the center of her room, still unable to decide how to deal with the situation.

Heather's head jolted up as she finally heard him, and instantly turned on the small lamp on the night stand. Her golden eyes were full of tears and widened like a deer's in headlights. "Wha-t are you... doing i-in here?" she answered, her breath unsteady.

Ezekiel rubbed the back of his head and looked away "I... I heard you cry, so... I came to check on you" he answered, his face getting a bit flustered. "Did... something happen?".

Heather lowered her glance and muttered: "It was... just a nightmare... I'm okay".

She said she was okay, but it was obvious she wasn't, otherwise she wouldn't have been crying like that. Ezekiel knew something was wrong and he didn't want her to bottle her emotions up inside. "A nightmare? What was it about?".

"Nothing!" she shouted "I-it was stupid... it's nothing".

"I don't think you'd be sobbing so hard for a 'stupid' nightmare" Ezekiel said, slowly walking towards her bed and sitting down on it, its frame creaking slightly as he did so. He looked at her again, delicately placing his big soft hand on her back "I... know we've just known each other for two weeks... but you can trust me with these things, I'll listen, I promise".

Heather looked up at him before her eyes filled with tears once more. She instinctively wrapped her arms around Ezekiel and buried her face in his soft chest, gripping his pajama's shirt tightly and sobbing softly.

The young angel froze up for a moment, not really sure on what to do, then after that initial surprise, he pulled her closer, gently rubbing her back and shoulders until she calmed down.

'Humans are so frail', he thought, glancing down at her 'Even the ones who seem strong, like her... can crumble down when certain things happen'. He didn't want to see her suffer like that anymore, he wanted to protect her... and be her guardian angel.

After some minutes, Heather had stopped sobbing and finally spoke up, sniffling "Alright... I'll tell you".

She took a deep breath and began to explain, her voice choking up from time to time: "I dreamt... I was back at my mother's place... I tried to escape, again and again, but no matter what I did, she always managed to capture me, she would stab me- and... drag my limp body back in my old room. Every time that happened, I would wake up in my bed and the cycle would repeat... I was trapped, with no way out-"-

Did that mean she had actually ran away from home? Why? Was her mother... a bad person maybe? He really wanted to know the whole story, but he decided not to press the matter further, since he didn't want to upset her even more. He simply held her tightly and said: "But that was a nightmare... you're free now, you've escaped that place for good".

Heather hid her face in his chest again and mumbled "I know... see? I told you it was stupid" she chuckled softly.

Ezekiel shook his head "It wasn't stupid, Heather, sure, it was just a bad dream, but it clearly upset you... so I wouldn't call that stupid".

Heather finally cracked a smile, brushing of her tears "Thank you... you're so kind".

That comment caused Ezekiel to blush "W-well, you've been kind to me as well; I'm just... doing what's right".

She nodded, slowly pressing her hand down on his pillowy midsection and nuzzling his chest more, which as a result, made the angel blush even harder.

Finally she whispered: "Ezy... can you stay here a bit longer?".

Where did that nickname come from?! And also... that request! Ezekiel was quite surprised of both things, but it was obvious his roommate needed to be comforted in that moment, so he accepted "S-sure... I'll stay".

As soon as he said those words, she snuggled up on him, pressing her fit body against his soft and warm one, closing her eyes. She took some deep breaths, as Ezekiel ran his pudgy fingers through her hair and then, with a serene smile on her lips, she drifted back to sleep.

Ezekiel looked over at the digital clock on her night stand. It was almost 6am; in a couple of hours she would have been off to university. She never got to eat anything nice for breakfast, since she didn't have the time to make it, and Ezekiel would usually still be asleep that early in the morning... but that morning, things were going to be different.

The young angel wanted to do something sweet to better lift up Heather's spirits. He carefully pulled away from her and placed her back in her bed, putting a blanket over her so that she wouldn't feel cold. Then he got up, turned the light off and headed to the kitchen to cook a little sweet surprise for when she would wake up.