Too fat for Heaven?!

Chapter 10 - You are beautiful

Ezekiel averted his eyes and looked away. "A-are you sure you're ready to know?".

Heather looked up at him with a very determined expression on her face "I am... I have the right to know who my roommate really is... don't you think?".

The angel knew she was right, she had been providing for him for more than a month now; he owed her a lot more than just an explanation. He took a deep breath "V-very well then..."

Ezekiel snapped his fingers, uncovering his halo and wings. Heather was already looking shocked; maybe she thought it was a hallucination or a dream. She stretched her hand out to touch one of his little wings; she could feel its feathery texture, it was real and it seemed to be literally floating on top of his scapula.

She took her hand away "A-are you...".

"Yes... an angel" he muttered, looking a bit ashamed of himself, he knew he wasn't supposed to be there, not in that form at least. "I wish I... could have told you sooner but... I was afraid you would be scared by it".

Heather went back to hugging him, her heart was beating a lot faster, she wasn't scared, but... she had never believed in angels or anything related to them and that discovery had turned her world upside down a bit. "W-why would I be scared of you? Sure you're... an angel but you don't have bad intentions, right?".

"Of course I don't! It's just... I didn't want to cause you any stress with that knowledge" Ezekiel admitted, blushing a bit.

She nodded, if she had known about that right away she certainly wouldn't have been able to get as close to Ezekiel as she had gotten while being kept in the dark about his big secret. "But then... why are you here?".

There it was, that question... he dreaded to answer that question, he was an angel, he was supposed to be perfect! And yet... he was far from it. "I'm a sinner... I need to atone for my sins, that's why...".

"A sinner!?" Heather exclaimed "How can you be a sinner? There's nothing wrong with you".

"Take ONE look at me Heather!" he shouted, his voice cracking a little "How can you say there's nothing wrong with me when THIS is taking up almost all my lap?!" he continued, grabbing his belly and lifting it up. "I used to be so slim and beautiful, like every other angel! And my wings were so feathery and big... my mentor used to compliment me every day for my work, he said I had potential... but now look at me! I'm such a fat... disgusting disappointment- I let him down... I let everyone down!".

Ezekiel was talking his heart out. His feelings were overflowing, slowly breaking through the dam that had kept them at bay for so long. He looked so distressed that he might have started crying right there and then.

He hid his face in his hands, taking deep breaths "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry...".

Heather was staring at Ezekiel, feeling mortified for him. She felt her heart tighten, he must have been suffering so much... keeping all those things inside his head, having nobody to talk to... she used to be like that too, bottling up all her feelings until she couldn't take it anymore and then just letting them explode in one big crisis.

She gently took Ezekiel's hands in hers, pulling them away from his face and caressing them lightly, bringing them up to her lips and kissing them.

Ezekiel was blushing deeply... how could she be so kind to him? "W-what are you...".

"Ezekiel... you're not a disappointment, I don't know who shoved that thought in your mind, but it's not true, you're amazing, you're kind, caring, generous... and you're still beautiful", she said softly, still holding his pudgy hands tightly.

The young angel widened his eyes and blushed. Even in the pitiful state he was in... she still had so many nice things to say about him, she still found him beautiful? She couldn't have been serious, right? She was just saying that to make him feel better... "You shouldn't waste your time with someone like me... you're already doing so much for me as is, you don't need to praise me as well".

"I'm not wasting my time" Heather said firmly, looking at Ezekiel straight into his eyes "And I meant every single word I said..." she blushed slightly "I care about you, Ezekiel, that's why I'll keep supporting you no matter what, until you can support yourself".

He shifted his glance "I-it's going to take a long time..." he mumbled.

"I don't care... I'll be there for you, and I know you'll do the same for me" she smiled sweetly and leaned her head on his shoulder.

Ezekiel's cheeks got flustered once more as he delicately wrapped his arm around her waist. "Thank y-you...".

After a brief pause, Heather spoke up again: "So... you'll have to go back to Heaven one day... right?" she had a pinch of sadness in her voice, which was immediately picked up by Ezekiel.

"I'm... not so sure anymore..." he mumbled, rubbing the back of his head.

She tilted her head in confusion. "W-why? You're an angel, Heaven is your home!" she tried to be rational, as much as she would have liked for Ezekiel to stay there forever, she couldn't keep him away from his duties.

"I... don't know if I could call it... home... it's just the place I've been living in for most of my life, but... it never felt like a proper home" the young angel tried to explain.

At those words Heather felt a strange feeling in her chest... she understood perfectly what Ezekiel meant by that; she used to be in a similar situation after all. "Then... what do you want to do?".

"I..." Ezekiel got a bit silent, lowering his glance. He didn't really know what he wanted to do... his angel's duties told him that he was supposed to atone for his sins and go back. But there was a part of him who would have rather stayed with Heather, who accepted him for who he was, with his positive and negative traits and who wanted to help him instead of throwing him out like the Council had done.

The more he thought about it, the more the answer became clear... but was Heather going to be okay with it?

"I just want to be happy...".