The 2003 Proposition
Sitting by the island, Sheldon sipped his tea alone. The yellow mug on the opposite side, just to comfort him with the memories of all those moments they shared a tea in the evenings. He stared blankly at the scarce furniture in the living room. The place felt as empty as his heart. Even though he fought so hard against his feelings, there was no denying that he missed her terribly. And his hopes of getting her back were diminishing as his efforts seemed useless. His last failed attempt, to ask her to be his new roommate, crashed him. He was so sure she would say yes to it right away. Instead, she just stared at him as if that was the most stupid thing he had ever said. 'As if I've ever said anything stupid.' He thought, but deep down he knew it had not been his smartest idea.
But he really meant that he hated being a person with feelings. That vixen had trailed a path to his heart and now there was no way back. It was not like a product that didn't work well and could be returned to the store. Relationships are hard, that was something he learnt for sure. And no Dark Matter equation was harder to solve than how to get Amy back. 'Humm.'
He left his tea behind, as he walked towards one of the many boards spread all over the place. He quickly erased one which was long ago solved, and started writing down all the failed ideas he had and all the possible scenarios.
Asking her to move in - failed
Convincing her she wouldn't be fertile for too long - failed
Trying to trick her with jealousy - failed
Bringing back good memories from the past - failed
Fun with flags video - failed, but with a bit of hope
Asking Bernadette for advice - not much useful
Moving to the other side of the board, he drew a division line and started listing what awaited for him in the future.
Amy will never want me back and hate me forever.
Or we may get back to be just friends.
I could fall in love again. (that's poppycock.)
Amy will move on and meet someone new, getting married eventually. Someone better than me. She'll finally be happy.
He wrote the last words of that sentence in anger. "But what about me? Doesn't she have any regards to my feelings?" He dropped the marker on the floor and walked towards his bedroom, slamming the door behind him. He fell on his bed, not even bothering to remove his shoes. A tear fell from his eye, but he didn't make a move to wipe it, making the pillow case wet. He lay there on his side, the darkness of the room hiding him from a world where Amy is married to someone else. And happy.
"Shelly, it's time to wake up, sweetheart."
Sheldon opened his eyes and closed them back immediately, hurt by the light entering the room. Mary stood beside the window after opening the curtains.
"Come on, Shelly, it's your church day."
"But I don't want to go to church."
"I'm not going to take any of your excuses, you get up now and get dressed properly, we're heading to attend the morning service. Your good friend Leonard will give us a ride."
"Fine!" He stood up, not happy about leaving his bedroom to attend church. He put on his best suit, as Mary waited for him in the living room. When he came from the hall, he found the whole gang waiting for him.
"Dude, we're going to be late!" Raj complained, giving him an angry look.
"Why are you all here? Are you also attending church?"
"Yes, sweetie. Let's go." Penny replied, grabbing his arm and leading him towards the door.
They all climbed down the stairs when suddenly he noticed someone missing.
"Where's Bernadette?"
"Shhhhh, are you out of your mind? Don't say her name out loud next to Howard!"
"Yeah, he's been sensitive since the divorce."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
As they entered the cars, Sheldon sat on the backseat with his mother, while Leonard drove with Penny by his side. He looked blankly through the window. The town seemed so different, yet still the same. Something was different and he couldn't tell what it was.
They parked next to the church, and they all left the cars and entered the building. It was beautifully decorated, roses all over the place. The sweet aroma reminding Sheldon of something, but he didn't know exactly what. They chose their seats, and Sheldon sat by the corner, in a place he could hardly see the altar. There were several people standing there, but he couldn't recognize any of them.
Soon there was a sign and everybody stood up. A song started playing, a sweet and familiar song, but he couldn't somehow remember its name. Sounds of gasps, "oh's" and "wow's" filled the room, as a woman in white walked down the aisle. He seemed disinterested as always, he never cared for church service or any religious rituals. He didn't believe in any of that. But curiosity took place and he dared to look around and see who was entering the church. His eyes widened, his mouth dropped, as he saw the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life.
"Amy!" He yelled, but she didn't turn her face to look at him. She kept on moving, ignoring him and everybody. She had the largest smile on her face, and her eyes sparkled as she stared at her husband to be, waiting for her next to the altar.
Sheldon tried to call her again a few times in vain because she didn't even flinch. A man dressed in a black tux took her hand and kissed it, leading her to the minister, who asked everyone to sit down.
Sheldon didn't, though. Instead, he left his seat and walked towards the altar. That was absurd! He tried to reach the area, but the more he walked the farther it became. The ceremony continued, and when the minister asked the classical question if anyone had anything against that union, he yelled, he screamed, but no one heard him. He couldn't stop it. Amy was marrying someone and there was nothing he could do, as he kept on walking and walking and never reaching her. After exchanging vows and rings, the minister finally spoke.
"I now declare you Mr. and Mrs. Kripke!"
He saw his archenemy grabbing Amy and kissing her. He felt sick to his stomach, everything started spinning, and all he could do was shouting.
"NO!"
Sheldon woke up all sweaty and breathing fast.
"Thank God it was just a dream!"
He jumped from bed, walking towards the living room, grabbing his jacket and his keys. He ran down the stairs, each step feeling like it was delaying him from his task. He needed to see her. Ne needed to tell her he loved her.
He took the bus and arrived there as fast as he could. When he finally arrived at her door, he suddenly stopped. He didn't even think of what to say. He just knew he had to see her. He decided to knock anyway.
*knock knock knock* Amy.
*knock knock knock* Amy.
*knock knock knock* Amy.
When the door opened, he was petrified.
"What do you want, Cooper?"
"Kripke!"
Sheldon woke up all sweaty again.
"Dear Lord, that was the worst nightmare ever!"
He slowly stood up, walking sleepily to the kitchen to fix himself some tea. He grabbed the blue mug from the cabinet, noticing the yellow one was missing.
"Who took Amy's mug from the cabinet?"
He looked around, trying to find it.
"It's here. Hello, Sheldon."
He turned around to find Amy sitting in one of the beach chairs.
"Amy, what are you doing here?"
"I don't know, apparently I'm back in time. Are we in 2003?"
"Well, that was what this was supposed to be."
"So, in 2003 I'm still in Harvard, ergo it's not possible for me to be in Pasadena."
"Oh. But then how could you be here and there at the same time?"
"Maybe paradox?"
"Oh, right. So, are we back together?" He took a seat in his spot, but it didn't feel the same with Amy sitting on the chair far from him. He definitely preferred the couch.
"How could we be back together in 2003, if we hadn't even met?"
"You're right again, as usual."
"Oh, so in 2003 you recognize I'm right and you're wrong?"
"I think so."
"Well, so apparently the solution for our problems is time traveling."
"Maybe it is!" He answered, placing his mug on the wooden improvised coffee table and grabbing a marker.
"If we could go back to 2003, meeting in different terms and starting over, but still with all the knowledge of what didn't go well in 2015, maybe it would have worked."
"You mean it had will have worked."
"Oh, right. Thanks for correcting my hypothetical future grammar. I did the same thing with Leonard a few months ago when we discussed Back to the Future."
"Do you mean, a few years ahead?"
"Oh, right, but then it couldn't have happened because in a future where we met in 2003, we would have been married by then, and who knows what we would be doing then."
"I think I like the hypothetical happiness we would have had in 2015 better than our distracted makeout session when you would mention The Flash."
"Amy, not that again."
"It's not because we're back in 2003 that I forgot what you had will have done in 2015."
"But then if it's a memory then it couldn't be in that verb tense, or could it? So it means you should forget it all."
"But if I forget it all we can't build a new future together learning from our past/future experiences."
"But how can we live in a world with incorrect grammar and inconsistent verb tenses?"
"Well, I think we reached an impasse."
"I think that too. I'm sorry Amy."
"That's ok. Bye, Sheldon."
"Goodbye, Amy Farrah Fowler."
"Dear Lord, does this dream never end?"
Sheldon got up from his bed. He slowly walked towards his living room. The blue and yellow mugs abandoned on the island. The board he wrote down the possible scenarios still there. He leaned down to catch the marker that had fallen on the floor, and he started erasing the board. He didn't know yet how to get Amy back, but those ideas wouldn't help him if he kept on having those weird dreams.
"Maybe I should just accept Bernadette's advice and take it as an opportunity to change. But by now, I need that couch back."
THE END
Author's notes: That was just a quick one-shot for an idea I had after watching the episode 9x04.
I hope you enjoyed this little piece. It's been a while since I last wrote a story.
Please review, but please, no spoilers, I'm trying to stay unspoiled this season! Thanks for reading!