Okay, everyone - new story time!
At the end of my previous story, The Compatibility Constant, I asked everyone if they would prefer a continuation or a brand new story. The overwhelming majority wanted a continuation. SO – ask and you shall receive. (However, it should be noted that I am also working on an entirely new story, because I really wanted to do something different, too. That one will make an appearance at a later date, though).
If you have not read TCC, it will be much more difficult to get a handle on what is going on in this story. This one picks up immediately where TCC left off. There was some canon character progression and a few new characters that were created whom you will not be familiar with if you have not read part one. I encourage you to do so before diving in to this one… for optimum enjoyment. ;o)
There are a couple of things that I did want to point out before you all started reading this one. TCC was told entirely from Amy's POV. This story will be told from both Sheldon and Amy's perspectives - partly because I wanted to change things up a bit, but also because some of the scenes that I have in mind for it can't be told from Amy's perspective alone.
Also remember: TCC began toward the end of Season 6, so no events from Season 7 were taken into account when writing this story.
Ok - enough chatter! Enjoy! And please let me know what you think!
The Compatibility Equilibrium
(A Sequel to The Compatibility Constant)
Chapter One: The Termination Quandary Assessment
What was I thinking? What have I gotten myself into?
Sheldon was seated in his spot… his mind racing after the termination of his Relationship Agreement with one Amy Farrah Fowler.
How could she have talked me into this?
Then he remembered - she hadn't. This was all on him. He was the one who suggested it. He was the one who had forced her to sign the termination. He was to blame.
But, surely, this can be pinned on her somehow? The siren. She lured me in with her scientific fervor… her love of monkeys… her long horse-like hair and conservative dresses. Oh, yes. She knew what she was doing.
Sheldon sat with his long, boney fingers wrapped around a steaming mug of hot tea.
For goodness sake… where is Leonard? His roommate had agreed to meet him back at their apartment following Penny's after-party, but had yet to show up.
Oh, that's right; He's been taken in by a woman, too, Sheldon recalled. Penny had netted Leonard forever with her proposal that evening. Now there would be no living with him. He'd have to fight for time with his best friend. Not only that – but Sheldon's routine would inevitably fall into disarray. His dentist and haircutting appointments would probably be missed and there would almost certainly be a struggle now to get Leonard to perform his daily obligations as roommate.
Sheldon gasped as another reality hit him. Would Leonard even remain his roommate for much longer? What would come of that? And what about new comic book night or vintage video game night? He really didn't have the time or energy to dedicate to finding an entirely new best friend who fit all his criteria. No - he didn't like this change one bit.
As if on cue, Leonard walked through the front door.
"Where have you been?" Sheldon accused. "You said you'd be right over here."
Leonard furrowed his brow and looked at his watch, then sighed.
"Sheldon… it's only been twenty minutes. I came straight over here after we left the theater."
"How was I able to beat you here, then?" he argued. "We managed to take Ben and Claire back to their car and get here before you arrived."
"I had to say goodbye to Penny first, Sheldon." Leonard groaned. "Geez. Get off my back. I'm here. Look, I promised to help you… and now here I am. Do you realize how much effort it took for me to leave my fiancé on the night of our engagement?"
"I don't see why it would require any more effort than on any other night."
"Of course you don't. I forget you aren't human sometimes. You hide your on/off switch so well." Leonard rubbed his temple and tossed his keys into the bowl by the door. He took off the dress jacket he'd worn that evening and draped it over the chair by his computer desk before making his way to the refrigerator to grab a bottle of water.
"So… you sounded pretty anxious at the theater. What is it you need help with?" He asked.
"Women," Sheldon said.
"Women? As in… plural?" Leonard laughed and plopped himself down into his chair.
"Fine. Woman," Sheldon corrected himself with an annoyed huff. "One woman. One annoyingly bewitching woman."
"I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that we are talking about Amy." Leonard leaned back in his chair with a smirk on his face.
"Yes. Amy."
"Well… what's up?"
"We terminated our Relationship Agreement, Leonard."
His roommate spewed his water across the room and sat up on the edge of his seat. "What?! You broke up?!" He wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his shirt. "Wow. I just saw you two in the parking lot! If that's the way you think you are supposed to break up with a woman, then you really do have a warped mindset about how relationships work."
Sheldon frowned at the water that was now covering the coffee table, threatening to spill onto his latest issue of Thor.
"Of course we didn't break up. Why would you think that?" He swiftly grabbed his comic book away from the regurgitated liquid.
"But… you terminated your Agreement with her. What else could that mean?"
"It means I've fallen victim to the downside of romantically-based relationships, Leonard. The side that makes one do things without thinking about the consequences. It seems I am not immune after all," Sheldon frowned at his roommate's still-perplexed expression, before elaborating. "We are still a couple. Just… sans Agreement."
"Oh… okay." Leonard relaxed a little and leaned back in his chair.
How can he be so calm about this?
"It most certainly is not okay! What do I do now? I have no idea how to proceed."
"What do you mean?"
"I no longer have a document to guide me in my relationship with Amy Farrah Fowler. Nothing that lets me know when we have gone too far. There's nothing to restrict our physical interaction. Nothing to keep her from grabbing at me like a bandit snatching up money in an open bank vault." He sighed. "Anything could happen, Leonard."
"Wow," Leonard laughed. "How'd she talk you into that one? I can't even get you to let me buy crunchy peanut butter."
Sheldon slumped his shoulders and fell back into his seat. "She didn't. I had to talk her into it."
"What? You mean… this was your idea?"
Sheldon nodded and put his face into his hands. "This has to have been the result of some sort of manipulation." He looked up at Leonard, as though he had just remembered something important. "She works with brains, Leonard. Brains! Maybe she did something to mine. You know, I have this weird tiny bump on the back of my head. I thought it was a mosquito bite, but maybe she –"
"Woah, woah, woah," Leonard interrupted his roommate and set his water bottle down on the table. "Let's not accuse Amy of probing your brain without first looking at all other possibilities."
"What else could it be? That has to be it!" He grabbed at the back of his head trying to find the mosquito bite in question.
"No… Sheldon. Think for a second. Maybe you just secretly wanted to be more physical with her?"
Sheldon looked at him like he was insane.
"How about you explain what led up to your decision," Leonard suggested. He leaned toward Sheldon with his elbows on his knees. "Did anything significant happen prior to the termination of your Agreement?"
Sheldon thought for a moment. "Yes."
"Okay," Leonard nodded, thankful that progress was being made. "What happened?"
"I finally resolved that sticky equation that had me in a pickle for the better part of a week at work." Sheldon smiled before continuing with excitement. "Turns out… I had the mass of the electron wrong. I was treating the nucleus like a point charge and the speed of the – "
"I meant… something significant involving Amy," Leonard interrupted with an annoyed roll of his eyes.
"Oh!" He really should have clarified, Sheldon thought. That really narrows it down.
The physicist pondered his roommate's question for a few seconds. A lot had indeed happened between he and Amy recently; but he hadn't realized exactly how much had transpired until he started to take account of it all. His eidetic memory wouldn't allow him to forget any of it, though.
Over the past few months, he and Amy had started holding hands regularly and had begun to kiss more often – which had not been as unpleasant as he'd expected it to be. She'd declared her love for him, and he'd admitted that he felt the same way. It was the truth, of course, but he'd never intended to actually say it aloud. What was the point? I guess if it makes her happy. He'd met her parents and – what's more – he'd liked them. Her dad, at least. Sheldon had even dipped his toes in the realm of business management by joining forces with Amy's father, James, to begin selling his own board games - and business was good. In fact, Sheldon was due for his first paycheck from the endeavor later this month. Not that he needed it. He still had a whole stack of uncashed checks in his desk drawer.
"Yes," Sheldon finally said, noticing that Leonard was still waiting for a response. "Yes, I suppose some significant things have happened."
"Ok," Leonard nodded. "Are any of those things significant enough that you felt comfortable making yourself more emotionally vulnerable to your girlfriend?"
Making myself emotionally vulnerable? What is Leonard trying to pull?
"Honestly, Leonard, your mother is the psychiatrist… not you. Your mother's specialized field is not a genetic trait. Her skills don't pass down to her children."
"Ask my mother for help, then." Leonard threw his hands into the air and stood up, ready to make his way down the hall to his bedroom, muttering something about 'wasting time' under his breath.
"No!" Sheldon couldn't ask Beverly Hofstadter about this. True, he had shared many things with his roommate's mother, but this was something he needed his best friend to help him analyze. "Wait…"
Leonard reluctantly turned around. "Yes?"
"Um… my decision to terminate the Relationship Agreement with Amy was made when I realized that I was restricting myself."
"Restricting yourself… how?" His friend returned to his chair, interested.
"I was putting myself in a box. I don't like boxes. I'm claustrophobic."
"The type of box you are talking about is metaphorical, Sheldon."
"Irrelevant. The box was still there."
His roommate smiled. "Sheldon… that's actually quite poetic."
Sheldon sighed. He knew Leonard wouldn't be able to handle this. Why do I continue to approach him for help? He always dives face-first into the hippy pool.
"Nevermind, Leonard."
"No, wait! I'm just not used to hearing you so open about your feelings."
"I wasn't talking about feelings, Leonard. I was talking about restrictions and obstacles and genuine medical issues."
"Okay, okay… so you removed your restrictions," Leonard said. "And that makes you feel – er – I mean, makes you concerned that…"
"I'm worse than a chemist, Leonard," Sheldon said with frustration, snarling a bit at his recollection of that horrible Ben fellow he'd had to endure earlier that evening. "No matter how many times you analyze two unknown materials… you'll never know how they will react until you mix the two together. I thought I had analyzed everything. Amy loves me, Leonard. And I love her. Her dad loves me. And I enjoy his company. I know that Amy – for whatever reason – wants to touch me in public. While I don't see the appeal of it, I'm not as opposed to that as I used to be. The next logical step was to remove the limitations for us. In my mind it made sense. But, like a pea-brained chemist, there were more variables than I'd accounted for. The concoction blew up in my face."
"Wait a second… you love each other?"
Sheldon groaned. "Honestly, Leonard. Why must you always fixate on the trivial?"
"Being in love isn't trivial, Sheldon! It took forever for Penny to admit she loves me. Those words have meaning."
"You've always been harder to love than I am, Leonard. What can I say?"
His friend frowned.
"Leonard – what does it matter? You're getting married." Sheldon explained. "That's what you wanted, isn't it? Don't turn my problems around and make them about you. Attention-hog."
Leonard rolled his eyes. "Fine, Sheldon. How did terminating the Relationship Agreement blow up in your face? Things seem to be pretty swell between you and Amy. You two looked rather cozy in that parking lot."
"That was anything but cozy." The backseat of Amy's car had been uncomfortable, dark and cold. Not exactly pleasant for someone who didn't even like to be contained in a metaphorical box.
"Well, up until tonight you two acted like you were just work acquaintances. So I'd say what you were doing was progress."
"Leonard… It's that kind of talk that got me into this situation. In fact… I could blame this whole thing on you. You and Penny and your Shakespearean ideas of romance. Putting thoughts into Amy's head. You two are like a flippin' Nicholas Sparks novel."
"Sheldon, we didn't put any ideas into anyone's head. We're just –"
"She could leave now, Leonard." There it was. Sheldon hadn't known what was bothering him until he said it out loud. That was it, though - the variable that he hadn't considered. Amy could leave him now without so much as a signature on a piece of paper.
"What?"
"Amy can leave," The words came out of his mouth again as though he were just realizing that he'd made a mathematical error at the beginning of an equation that was three white-boards long. "There's nothing keeping her here with me now."
"What are you talking about?"
Seriously… has he always been this dense?
"Our Relationship Agreement. I hadn't considered it before. I thought I had considered everything prior to the termination… but I forgot a major detail."
"Amy won't leave – "
"Well, of course she won't. I'm a catch. But she could," His eyes widened as he realized that his concerns might appear a bit 'hippy-dippy'. He straightened his back and held his chin high. "It's already taken so much effort to incorporate Amy into my life. And who would help me clean the earwax from my ears if she left? Nobody else seems too keen on helping me with that problem."
"That's because it's disgusting, Sheldon. And completely unnecessary."
"I have an over-productive cerumen glands, Leonard!" Sheldon said adamantly. "What good is Vulcan hearing if my ears are clogged?"
Leonard sighed, then gave him a sideways smirk. "Well… what are you so worried about? Like you said… you're a catch, right?"
Sheldon nodded. Sure, Amy was lucky to have him. It didn't change the fact that it made him nervous to not have her attached to him in writing.
"Sheldon? You okay?"
He brought his eyes up to meet Leonard's. Of course his friend wouldn't understand this; He and Penny had always left their relationship to chance. It was like they were playing a game of Chutes and Ladders with their lives. Leonard was used to this type of nonsense and chaos.
"I'm fine, Leonard. Nevermind."
His roommate patted him on the shoulder. "It'll be okay. You'll just have to work harder at keeping her, hm? Maybe do some things that she wants to do."
Things that she wants to do? Everything I do is something she wants to do! That's what had led to the termination of the Agreement in the first place. He wouldn't have even considered it if they hadn't been moving forward at a blindingly-fast pace.
"I'm going to bed, Sheldon," Leonard said, without waiting for him to respond. "Penny and I are going to eat breakfast with her parents in the morning before they fly back to Nebraska."
Sheldon nodded at his friend. I suppose in all the proposal commotion Leonard 'forgot' that he promised to take me to work in the morning.
And so it starts… the beginning of the end.
The physicist watched his friend hobble down the hallway to his bedroom, removing his shoes along the way.
Left alone, Sheldon pondered his predicament. Surely there was some way that he could ensure that Amy would remain his girlfriend? He'd become accustomed to her presence in his life, after all. There had to be something he could do that would give him the confidence he needed on a daily basis that she would remain just a phone call away if he wanted to speak with her, or that she would be available to him if he required her opinion about something.
He sighed as he realized this would take some thought and planning.
He would be getting no sleep tonight.
Across town in her own apartment, the woman in question – Amy Farrah Fowler - was running her brush through her dark brown hair. It took more effort than usual to get the bristles through the tangled mass of curls that had been stuck in place with copious amounts of gel and spray.
Making a mental note to only use hairspray on the rarest of occasions from this point forward, the neurobiologist finally crawled into bed and placed her glasses on the nightstand beside her pillow.
Her mind was reeling after the night's events.
Her boyfriend – the Dr. Sheldon Cooper – the same man who just a few months ago wouldn't go to one of her relative's birthday parties without three days written notice, the man who had a specific day slated for date nights and a schedule for his bowel movements, the man who cherished procedure above all else... This man had gone out on a limb for her. He had thrown caution and structure to the wind and was willing to open himself up.
Her heart had been beating at an elevated rate all evening… and showed no signs of slowing down soon. I really should chart that in the morning, to make sure I'm okay, she thought, to make sure there's no permanent damage. She wouldn't care if there was, though. Permanent damage be damned; This was the best feeling in the world.
She couldn't wait to spill the details at her upcoming girls' night with Penny, Bernadette and – now – Claire, but she was even more excited for her next encounter with Sheldon.
What would they do when they were together again? It could be anything. Hold hands in public? Hug in front of their friends? Kiss in front of them? The possibilities were endless. The restrictions of their Relationship Agreement were no more.
She pulled the cord on her bedside lamp and darkness filled the room.
Amy lay in silence for several minutes, trying to list the bones in the human body from memory to make herself fall asleep. She made it through the entire skeleton twice before she realized that it was no use… she was simply too excited.
She'd be getting no sleep tonight.
Chapter Two coming (relatively) soon!
A/N: If you followed my last story, then you know I love reviews and constructive criticism. Please don't be shy! I enjoy hearing what you think – even if it is something you feel I can improve upon. Many thanks in advance!
Also, I can't guarantee that I will be able to update this at a regular pace. New chapter postings will never be RIDICULOUSLY spaced out... but several factors may limit my writing/editing time. For one: I'm starting a new job, but also (even though I already have 12 chapters written) some of the latter chapters are causing me some trouble. I may hold off on posting a couple of the earlier chapters until I can figure out some of the key technical issues towards the end. A lot of it will be directly connected to earlier events in the story... so I don't want to box myself in later. I'm hoping to get that all sorted out soon, though! ;o) Just for your own reference: I don't anticipate this story going any longer than about 15 chapters.
Ok... enough jibber-jabber. Tell me what you think about the first chapter!