This is a sequel to my fanfic Love Leads to Isolation. The sequel demonstrates a change in Sheldon from that first story so you might want to read that story first. It's not too long! As always though, the reader is in charge. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: The TBBT characters are not mine.

Sheldon looked down at his watch one more time. Ugh, the wait was killing him. Figuratively, of course. His health was fine. Actually, physically he had never felt better.

He was finally caught up on his lack of sleep from his recent self-imposed prison work camp to publish the paper on super asymmetry. He had been eating healthier, thanks to his wife Amy's recent craving to eat organic home-cooked meals. He had even been doing a few more push-ups before bed and before he got ready for work in the morning.

But most of all, Sheldon attributed his physical well-being to his more frequent and more rigorous bedroom activities with Amy. Nothing made him feel more physically alive than when he was making love to his beautiful wife. And he had been doing that a lot lately to make up for lost time. Oh, he still had a pseudo-random coitus schedule for he and Amy. He was just very good at manipulating the algorithm to lean in his favor these days.

Sheldon recalled how he missed his wife physically and emotionally during the months he devoted exclusively to publishing their paper. It was a horrible time in their marriage. They often went days without seeing and speaking to each other because he was working day and night to publish before the end of the year. He missed so many important events during that time. So many firsts for them as a married couple. Their first Thanksgiving, first Christmas and first New Year's Eve. He had even forgot about her birthday that year.

However, he could not deny he learned an invaluable lesson as well from that horrible time. A lesson he was very glad he learned in his first year of marriage as opposed to waiting for years to learn until it may have been too late for him to change.

Change.

Sheldon hated change and the inevitable disruption and chaos it brought with it. Of course, he loved his routines and his schedules but his aversion to change went beyond simply having to adjust a schedule. He could not really explain it but when he felt out of control, when it seemed as though everything in his world had changed, he felt overwhelmed. In those moments, life was simply too much for him. Sheldon had to get away from it all and think.

He remembered the time years ago when he left Pasadena to "ride the rails" for a while due to be overwhelmed by change. It seemed so many things back then hit his life all at once. He had struggled with the possibility of losing Leonard as a roommate when he and Penny become engaged. He had struggled with the University denying him the right to change his field of study. His favorite place to go when he was sad had suddenly burned to the ground. And when his girlfriend Amy had innocently suggested he could move in with her if he did not want to live alone, Sheldon could not stop himself. He sarcastically vocalized to her, in rapid succession, a list of all of the things he desperately wanted to have with Amy, but stoically would not admit. To her or even to himself.

Even back then, deep down inside him, Sheldon wanted to marry her, get a little house, start a family and enjoy their sunset years together. The fact that for the first time in his live he actually wanted to change so much, overwhelmed him. More than anything. More than losing a roommate. More than losing his beloved comic book store. Even more than his desire at the time to move on from string theory. Sheldon had to leave.

Now looking back on that time he spent apart from Amy on his trip, he felt conflicted. On the one hand, he felt guilty and ashamed for being away from her. On the other hand, he had enjoyed his time of discovery to learn not only more about himself but also to learn more about how he truly felt about Amy.

Sheldon always knew he was a man of science. His interests lied in discovering the inner workings of the universe. His first love had been "lady physics". He never thought that anything or anyone would cause him to change his mind on that fact, but something or rather someone did. His Amy.

Don't get him wrong, Amy was a hard core scientist herself and often worked late hours and put the needs of science before her own needs. However, she also made the effort and time to show him how important he was to her. She showed him how much she loved him and how much she wanted to have a future with him.

It was on that train trip years ago when Sheldon finally realized how much he loved Amy. He realized that he really did want all of those things he had sarcastically listed off to her before he left. He realized he was willing to change if it meant he could spend the rest of his life with Amy. He began to solidify their relationship. He made up for missed date nights. He was the first to say "I love you" at their "do-over" prom. He agreed to get a pet together and raise their Martian children someday and have their first sleepover (albeit a G-rated one) to show her he wanted a future with her too. And most of all, he made the decision, with Mee-Maw's ring in hand, to ask Amy to marry him.

Sheldon had been ready to commit to her right then and when she broke up with him, he tried to win her back. He loved her. When he realized; however, that the childish behavior he displayed in order to persuade her to change her mind only hurt her more, Sheldon displayed an uncharacteristic trait for him.

Selflessness.

He wanted her to be happy. Even if that meant marrying someone else. Someone better than him.

Because he loved her, he had let her go.

Thank goodness they had both learned from their time apart and decided to get back together. They had come along way since that time.

Sheldon really had changed. For Amy. He changed more than just his routines and schedules. He bared his soul, heart and body to her. He committed to her forever. And he could not dispute that along with disruption and chaos, change had also brought him love and great happiness. That was the invaluable lesson he learned last year.

Nothing was more important than love. Never take it for granted.

Might as well call himself a full-blown hippy now, he chuckled internally.

"Dr. Cooper" he heard bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Yes" he replied.

"They're ready for you" said the young graduate student who was shadowing him around today.

"Thank you" Sheldon said.

He stood up straighter, took a deep breath, adjusted his tie one more time and walked out on stage to the sound of thunderous applause.