After Nobel

Sheldon was still a bit sad when the Nobel ceremony was finished, and the laureates and their families were taken to a banquet at the City Hall. A long, black Volvo limousine was waiting for them in front of the Stockholm Concert Hall and since Sheldon and Amy didn't know their friends will come despite their earlier fight, there was only one car waiting for them. Rather than waiting for another limousine, they opted to squeeze into one. After the ceremony, Sheldon and Amy were immediately engaged in conversations with other laureates and several important guests, so the gang hadn't had the chance to congratulate them, although they did all that when they received the news from Sweden.

The limo was a large one, so everybody was comfortable, and after the women got in first, Howard, Raj, Leonard and Sheldon got in too. Sheldon sat across Amy and looked at his wife, who was whispering something with Penny and Bernadette, her face was glowing, she looked happy and proud.

Sheldon turned to Howard, Raj and Leonard and said: "I meant what I said earlier. I app …"

"Sheldon!" Leonard interrupted him.

Sheldon stopped talking and looked at his three friends, companions, sometimes frenemies and brothers.

Leonard smiled at him and said: "It's okay, buddy. We know."

Howard and Raj nodded, and Howard took over. "Well, I for one am thirsty. Let's see if this French champagne is worth its undoubtedly high price."

Sheldon nodded and smiled, then said: "By all means, lets have a toast. Raj, could you take a look in the glass compartment if there are enough glasses for all of us?"

Raj turned to the shelf with the small fridge and a secure shelf with, as it turned out, nine glasses. He gave each of them a glass and he gave the champagne bottle to Howard, who opened it.

Sheldon was a bit tense for a second, his brain immediately started to dwell on the potential dangers of opening a bottle with bubbly liquid in a moving vehicle, but he restrained himself. He didn't want to upset anyone, least of all Amy, who also got a reward of a lifetime and he wanted her to enjoy the day to the fullest. Well, what was left of it, since they already fought before they went to the ceremony.

Howard opened the bottle without any problem or injury to himself, others or the vehicle and poured the champagne in all the glasses but Penny's, he only hesitated over Sheldon's glass, who nodded and silently urged him to give him some too. Raj took a bottle of mineral water and poured it into Penny's champagne glass.

"To Amy and Sheldon, you deserved this award and we are very proud of you," Leonard said and grinned. "And we love you too and we wouldn't miss it for the world." He looked at Amy, winked at her and put his hand on Sheldon's shoulder.

Sheldon gulped, nodded and briefly touched his had in return. With the corner of his eye, he saw his wife looking at him. Without thinking, he downed the champagne, put the glass to the floor and grabbed Amy's hand and pulled her into his lap, where she landed with a surprised squeak.

"Whooopie, things are getting hot in here!" Penny shrieked in amused surprise, but everyone was forgotten the second his wife looked into his eyes, silently questioning his sudden move.

He leaned closer, moved away a strand of much shorter, but teasingly free hair and whispered into her ear: "Amy, are we okay? I mean … I"

"Yes Sheldon, we are okay. And I sorry. I was a bit harsh …" she whispered back and lowered her eyes.

"No, Amy. I am sorry. I know this isn't the right time to talk about what was said, but I just wanted to know if you and I … If you …" he gulped and found he was unable to finish his thoughts for they were too disturbing. Were they okay? Was Amy upset with him? Angry, because he was his usually callous self? Was she … Did she … did she still love him?

All this must have been plainly written across his face, because Amy took his face into her hands and leaned in. Her sweet, champagne-y breath touched his lips, when she said: "Yes. Later. But I want you to know, that I love you with all my heart and this is one of the best days of my life, mainly because I am here with you. Never fear, my love. This is forever," she said and gently touched his lips with hers.

Sheldon didn't mind her doing it in front of his friends, in this tiny space, because he wasn't there. In his mind, they were alone, just his Amy and him. He needed to hear that she still loved him, that his world was right, because without Amy, his lovely, beautiful wife, none of this mattered. So he just nodded and smiled, his hands instinctively found her waist and squeezed it.

Their friends were laughing, cheering loudly and someone even turned on the radio in the car.

Some say, that some things happen in accordance with the divine timing and this was one of those weird occurrences, because the song that played on the radio was the song that Sheldon had to tolerate while riding a bus one night, when he was returning from date night with Amy. That particular bus was driven by an older African-American lady who adored Lionel Richie and tended to listen to music a little too loudly for Sheldon's' liking. Nevertheless, he was forced to listen to the song, because it was too loud and because it was late and he was feeling odd. If he was honest with himself, he would have admit it that he was reluctant to go home, there was a tiny, hidden part of him that was wondering how it would be like if he would spend the night in his girlfriend's apartment and returned home in the morning. That was not long after they changed their status from girl friend and boy friend to girlfriend and boyfriend and he was very uncomfortable with all the weird feelings when he was in her company. That song somehow stuck with him and every now and then, when he would think of Amy, it was that song that he heard in the far corners of his mind. It was like a whisper, a promise of something yet to come.

Back in the limo, he finally understood that those were the first movements of the 'heartworm' he couldn't get rid of and boy, was he happy he didn't.

Glad for his eidetic memory and without really thinking what he was doing, he opened his mouth and started to sing:

Guess, I'm on my way
Needed a friend
And the way I feel now I guess
I'll be with you till the end
Guess I'm on my way
Mighty glad you stayed

I'm stuck on you
Been a fool too long I guess
It's time for me to come on home
Guess I'm on my way
So hard to see
That a woman like you could wait
Around for a man like me
Guess I'm on my way
Mighty glad you stayed

At first, his friends didn't realize what he was doing, but Leonard, who was sitting next to him, looked at him and his eyes couldn't believe the sight before him. Sheldon was looking at Amy, his eyes were shining and adoring, he was humming. His voice was rich and velvety and full of emotions that none of his friends, not even Leonard would believe him capable of.

Amy was staring at him with a slight smile and eyes full of unshed tears. The moment they all witnessed so suddenly was so magical that they wished they were somewhere else, because they did not wish to disturb or break this flash of pure, naked and endlessly deep love that was so plainly written all over the faces of the couple, caught in their moment in time.