I don't own The Big Bang Theory or the characters

I want to thank my beta MillionLights for the alterations made in the story. Much better now!

Summary: There were a lot of proofs of life around that apartment.

The craziness behind the fic: What if all that happens is a product of Sheldon's imagination? What if Leonard had brought the couch, along with Howard and Raj, and then he ended up abandoning Sheldon? It seems to me that Howard and Raj wouldn't stick around with Sheldon without Leonard around. So, what if Sheldon dreamed of having Leonard around? He thought that maybe Leonard would've talked to Penny when they first saw her. He imagined having Penny in his life. He imagined Amy and Bernadette and he thought of everyone's lives. I started to think of this when Sheldon pointed out (Season 8 Episode 5) that whenever there was an 'adventure' he was one of the people living said adventure.

There were a lot of proofs of life around that apartment.

The marks on the door from when Raj decided to measure Leonard and Howard to prove, once and for all, who was the tallest. Leonard won, and the marks stood there forever.

There were scratches on the wall between the door of the bathroom and of Sheldon's old room, from when Leonard drunkenly fell, while holding a trophy. He, in the morning, got a new poster and put it up, making sure Sheldon didn't see it. Sheldon saw it anyway and took Leonard's TV privileges.

The brands on the ceiling proved the story that Howard tried to deny. It proved that he tried to solve his 'space toilet' – like Penny called it – in Leonard and Sheldon's apartment. There were remnants of meatloaf no matter how many times Howard cleaned it.

Then the pictures, on the fridge and in the walls. Between photos taken on the group's weddings and births, there were photos taken by Penny when she first met the guys. Pictures that years later Bernadette and Amy found out and tacked up. They were exposed around the apartment and used to surprise the guys. Only Raj found it funny, but the photos stayed there.

There was a dart, stuck on the curtain, from when the guys decided to play. Leonard threw it there when instead of playing it to his front he played it to the window. They never found it or realized it was stuck there.

There was a stain of wine that Penny made on the ground. One night, Leonard got home late and found Penny sleeping on the couch. He carefully picked her up, not realizing there was a glass of wine in her hand. Penny ended up dropping it, breaking the glass and spilling its content. The stain stayed there. And Penny slept in her bed, waking up with a glass of water, an aspirin and a note from Leonard, saying she had coffee in the kitchen, that he went to Howard's house and that he loved her. She kept the note, just like she had kept all the other letters and notes - no matter how simple they were – that Leonard wrote over the years.

The scratches on the floor, made when Sheldon decided to live like he was back 2003, before he met Leonard and his life was easier. When he took the couch and the desks away and put the TV on top of a couple of bricks. Putting them there scratched the floor, and so did taking them away as well.

There was a big mark made by a sword when Raj decided to take the Game of Thrones relic from its place and play against Leonard. They fought together, Raj with the sword and Leonard with his lightsaber. They stopped once they hit the wall and they lacerated it. They, of course, were more concerned about the sword, and once they saw it was okay they never played with it again.

There were marks on the door lock from both Leonard and Penny trying to open the door when they were drunk or sleepy.

There was a mark on the wall behind the TV made by Howard when they were playing bowling on the Wii and Howard let go of the remote.

There was a mark on the floor next to the couch made by Halley's chair, when she was finally old enough to eat with them all.

There was a mark on Sheldon's cushion from when Penny shot the paintball gun on his spot.

There were a lot of proofs of life around that apartment. That was why when the first people got to that house, they couldn't believe people hadn't lived there for years. Only their ghosts.

After my crazy theory and writing this story, I thought. What about Sheldon? Where did he go?

I think he went back to Texas because, after so many interviews, he couldn't find a roommate as good as Leonard.

And Penny went back to Nebraska because Sheldon never spoke to her like Leonard did. So she wasn't able to pay rent or anything else, so she went back to Nebraska and started to work on her parent's farm.

Leonard went or back to New Jersey or to another city.

Raj stayed with Howard and eventually Howard met Bernadette and they ended up getting married. The couple had their own kids and 'adopted' Raj, who stayed single his entire life.

Stuart wasn't very lucky and lost his comic book store due to the fire, went to live with his parents – are they still alive?

Hope you all liked this story!