Inside Sheldon's apartment, Amy's spot remained vacant. An empty air hung over the cushion as if it were trying to mask her sudden disappearance from the group, from his side, for the first time in years. Her silence was daunting.
Aside from Amy's consistent declines to join their gatherings, the gang functioned as it always had before. Sheldon and Leonard had just come back with Thai food in tow, and Sheldon had a plan.
He was barely in the room long enough to notice that Penny was nowhere in sight. Of course, Leonard knew why this was, but refused to tell him. Much like himself, Leonard seemed on edge.
Shrugging, Sheldon immediately headed for his bedroom. His monthly trip to the lego store was the next day and he had been hoping he could use Skype to convince his girlfriend to go with him.
"So will you come with me?" he asked her softly, despite his eagerness.
"We'll see," she told him, seemingly on a daily basis now. She never told him no, and yet it always seemed to be the answer.
Could she be trying to avoid him?
Sheldon, while curious, decided not to look into it too much; he trusted her decisions. With a small smile, he bid her good evening and made his way into the living room.
Boxes upon boxes cluttered the floor in a huge mess.
He looked to Leonard quizzically for some sort of explanation. All around the apartment hung wall scrolls that he had not approved of. Raj and Howard were busy decorating the windows with newly purchased neon drapes.
Sheldon's eye twitched as Leonard continued leading the chaos. His apartment, once a four bedroom luxury, was in shambles.
Quickly and clumsily he clambered to the floor beside an empty box; abruptly fainting with a quiet, unnoticeable grunt.
#
Penny climbed the endless flights of stairs in agony, the ones she'd been dealing with for close to a decade. It was only recently she found the desire to live elsewhere than her apartment, but definitely not with Leonard.
True, they were engaged, but everyone makes mistakes. At least, a mistake is what she thought it was.
No matter, there was a bottle of wine in her apartment calling her name. The minute she reached the landing and unlocked her door, her bag was tossed on the ground and she flung herself down on her couch in the darkness.
"...Amy, what are you doing here?" she whimpered.
Unbelievable.
Between her, Sheldon, and now Amy, things just became so much harder for them all.
#
Interesting. I would have thought Penny would have been at Sheldon's tonight, but I can't say it matters much. In any case, after a hasty retreat I found myself across the hall, remarkable how I managed to stay away for so long.
And I knew Sheldon deserved an explanation.
Not that I wanted to hide it from him, I love my sweet Baboo, and that's my problem.
Which, in fact, only intensified the moment I stopped to think about where I was. Everything in the apartment felt so new, but it didn't hold my attention for long.
It was all Sheldon's fault. He left me breathless, that look of hope on his face. I missed his crooked smile way too much, perhaps avoiding him hurt me more than I originally anticipated.
Speaking of his smile, Penny had recently pointed something out to me. Evidentially, the way he looks at me is special, because it shows just how much he loves me.
She didn't sound too happy when she told me.
It shouldn't matter how insecure Penny always made me, the fact that Sheldon looked so relieved to see me made my stomach flip, but for whatever reason it just didn't distract me enough.
And I think he could tell because abruptly, something in him just... snapped. All the sudden his features turned dark and he looked almost... broken. Simultaneously his brow furrowed and he pursed his lips, but I do not think he was angry, as much as disappointed, maybe?
Maybe I was being too obvious, who knows.
Regardless, if I had to describe it, Sheldon looked at me as if he had just lost Leonard, so crestfallen, and then he was gone.
Sheldon brushed past me in such a hurry. I could barely hear the choked noises coming out of his mouth, and without a doubt I knew that my boyfriend was crying, as much as he wanted to hide it.
I stared hopelessly as he stormed out. Somewhere near me I heard Raj yell "I don't know what it is but fix it man!" Although truth me told, I wasn't listening at all. Sheldon's walking away left me shattered, to say the least.
Still, for a second I wondered if I should go after him, it was the least I could do after not directly answering his several invitations. Even so, it felt like my feet were glued to the ground.
I struggled to make it out the door to Penny's after that. When I did, everyone was there almost as if they had expected this to happen. Sheldon, it would seem, was trying his best not to come near me, which had me feeling miserable. Penny had told him something about being okay now, but I didn't quite catch it.
But I guess everything was okay, because Penny looked happy soon enough and Sheldon always knew how to get my heart racing, even just by holding his arms wide open for me, as if no one else was even in the room. All I really remember was stepping forward timidly and accepting his loving embrace.
Besides when he's kissed me, I don't think I've ever seen Sheldon's face so close to mine. It felt so exhilarating to feel him hold me so gently to him; his breath lingering on my cheek.
What had me weak in the knees was his delicate blue eyes, wandering over me as he held me at shoulder length after our hug that didn't last nearly long enough. The only reason he pulled away was because Howard was being insensitive, which I should have expected.
"Well, how are these two doing?" our friend had more or less shouted from the doorway. "Seems like they have reconciled."
Insensitive indeed.
I suppose in a sense, however, he was right. Therefore, I accepted an invitation Sheldon gave me to a place I was not aware of, but only after he completely ceased our contact and stared directly at Howard.
"We're fine, Howard." he said.
#
I couldn't take my eyes of Sheldon as the dim light shone softly and warmly on him. I've never seen him where jeans before, he looked almost too casual, but made up for it with his hair. I love it when it looks as if he just woke up.
Standing there in the middle of the room, I shuffled awkwardly. One of Sheldon's legs was on the couch and bent, the other hanging off. There was nowhere else to sit, but I longed to be beside him and hold his hand.
His feet had to be freezing with no socks on.
Anyway, I suddenly got an idea. Grinning, I walked right in front of the tv he was watching and just stood there. I could feel his eyes on me again, as if scanning my body to remember all my important details was the most important thing to him. I love it when he does that.
"Scoot over," I told him, still smirking. He was almost lying down on the couch, I've never seen him so comfortable in a place we had never been before.
Beside him on the table the lamp flickered slightly, but the soft light continued to shine softly on his face.
He looked up at me with an expression of amusement, and I gazed at him as seriously as I could muster. In mid laugh, he asked, "Or what?"
I thought for a moment in silence. I've never been a natural seductress, but maybe I could try.
"Or you'll suffer the consequences."
I rejoiced quietly when I saw Sheldon visibly gulp at my words. He'll never admit it, but I know I affect him a lot with just the way I talk. When he slid over and made room for me on the couch, I couldn't help but smile lightly.
His leg was still perched up on the cushion as if he were too lazy to move it.
Sitting down beside him, it suddenly dawned on me how close we were. I loved how I was able to fit right in the circle his legs made, and when I turned my head to look at him I saw his tongue dart out to lick his lips.
I winked at him then and, choosing to be bold, locked my leg with his on the couch. My cheeks grew hot again, but mostly from the memory of his breath on mine the day before. I decided to play with his toes a little bit with my other foot and I was right, it was freezing.
It was only until a few minutes later that my attention shifted and I realized that what my boyfriend was watching was a movie, and not in our language. While I was puzzled, I didn't dare ask him because the moment seemed too fragile. He wasn't moving at all.
But then in a murmur, he spoke and I watched as his lips twitched just slightly into the smile I loved so much.
"La otra cara del amor," he said quietly. "That's what I'm watching."
I didn't know any spanish, but didn't ask him what it meant either. I probably didn't deserve it, laying with him so close and spending time with him in such an intimate way.
Whether I was right or not I still don't know, but the fact that I enjoyed it so much reminded me just how much I am totally, absolutely, crazily in love with Sheldon Lee Cooper.