THE FOWLER-COOPER RESOLUTION - Chapter One
Amy's Princeton Apartment
Sheldon still on bended knee looks up at Amy. He notices her breathing becoming rapid, mouth wide open and a stunned look on her face. "Amy are you okay? My knee is starting to go numb here."
A breathless Amy with her left hand on her chest around her heart "I err Sheldon..."
"Amy are you having a panic attack?!" he said with alarm.
Amy gasping and struggling for breath "I think I must be, the shock of all this", gasping once again "It was not at all what I was expecting."
"Remember SoccerMom09's advice, we need to get you sat down and relax your breathing" he said.
"Okay" she replied increasingly short of breath.
Sheldon got up closed the ring box and placed it back in his right trouser pocket. He puts his arm around Amy and calmly walks her over to the couch, helping her sit down. Sitting next to her Sheldon notices the almost empty cup of tea already on the table in front of the couch next to Amy's closed Laptop "Would you like another cup of tea? Perhaps it might help calm you down?"
"No I am fine now, I am starting to get my breath back" she replied, her breathing clearly starting to get back to normal.
"Good, you had me worried for a minute there. I was expecting a reaction to my sudden appearance and proposal, but that obviously isn't what I had in my mind" he said.
"Sheldon, I know you will be expecting an answer and before I do I have to ask. Why propose now? Why not any other time before I went away on this fellowship?" she asked.
"That's the thing Amy, you were away and I was missing you terribly. I know it has only been a few days but as the saying goes 'Absence makes the heart grow fonder'" he answered.
"I have only been away for a few days Sheldon! I am not sure that saying applies here. In that context, it's usually months or years" she laughed.
"I have been thinking about this for some time Amy, it's not just a spur of the moment thing. It just feels like the right time, I want us to get married and become husband and wife" he said with a smile.
"I know and I have wanted that too believe me, I have been waiting a long time hoping you would ask me. Honestly, I was starting to wonder if it would ever happen, but things have been going so well between us these past few months with us finally living together I didn't want to put any pressure on you" she said looking at him in with a loving smile.
"So is it a yes or a no?" he asked, eager to know her response.
"Just one thing, does this by any chance have something to do with Ramona?" she asked.
"The proposal? No, but Penny was right Ramona was interested in starting a relationship with me. I asked her flat out if that was her motivation for spending time with me this past couple of days and she confirmed that. As I was listing off reasons why nothing was going to happen she kissed me" he said with some shock in his voice.
Amy's eyebrows raised and her face suddenly becoming hard and stern "She kissed you?!"
"Yes" he replied with some sadness in his voice.
"Okay Sheldon you need to explain exactly what happened here" she said with her voice sounding considerably higher.
Meanwhile back in Pasadena, Apartment 4A
Penny is at the Kitchen Island making a hot drink and eating a box of Almond Nut Thins, she hears the doorknob turning and in walks Leonard.
"Hey sweetie, good day at work?" she said with a smile.
"Yeah pretty good, been going through some ideas for something new to work on. With the guidance system project gone I need something to really get my teeth into and focus on" he replied with some enthusiasm in his voice.
"Good to see you getting back into the swing of things and working on something new. What do you fancy to eat tonight, some takeaway? Maybe Chinese?" she asked.
"That sounds good" Leonard replied.
"Okay, well I will pop over to 4B and ask if Sheldon wants to join us. Keep him company with Amy away and I want to keep him well away from that Ramona, that girl and what she is up to still concerns me" she said with some worry in her voice and genuine concern for their friend.
"Funny you should say that. I went to pick up Sheldon from work for the drive home and he wasn't there" he suddenly remembered.
"What do you mean he wasn't there? You haven't fallen out have you? Sheldon hasn't taken public transport again and got lost?" she asked.
"No we haven't fallen out there was no sign of him in his office. His door was wide open and his Laptop on his desk was in sleep mode" he said with no major concern in his voice.
"And that didn't concern you?" she said.
"No not really. Anyway I asked around and Dr Strathclyde in Particle Theory a couple of offices down said he saw Sheldon walking out with a determined look on his face" he answered.
"So where is he? Did he go home?" she quizzed him.
"I would presume so" he replied.
"Well I am going over to check if he's okay and if he wants to eat with us" she said with some purpose.
"Knock yourself out" he replied.
Penny puts down the box of nut thins already half empty and makes her way to the front door. She hesitates at the door and for some reason has this urge to pick up the 4B spare key.
"I'll be back in a moment, get ready to make the takeout order when I come back" she said.
"Sure, I just need to send this email whilst you are over there" he said as he was looking at his laptop.
Penny walks over to the 4B door and knocks "Sheldon are you in there, we are having Chinese, do you want to come over and eat with us?"
No response
"Sheldon can you hear me?" this time her voice louder in case he didn't hear her the first time.
Again no response
Penny thought to herself maybe he is in the bathroom? Or maybe that Harpy Ramona is in there with him doing something weird or worse something normal. Penny shuddered at the thought of them actually being physical. A wave of concern suddenly hit Penny so she decided to open the door with the spare key.
Penny muttered out loud to herself "Leonard said he wasn't at work and Sheldon knows the time Leonard picks him up. Screw it I am going in. If I see what I see then so be it."
Penny opened the door and there was no sign of Sheldon in the living room. Penny with a raised voice in case Sheldon was perhaps in the bedroom or its adjoining bathroom "Sheldon are you home?"
No response, a deathly quiet filled the apartment. No soul was in there. Penny talking to herself "I wondered what has happened to him?"
Penny knocked on the bedroom door "Sheldon, are you in there?" After five seconds with no response Penny opened the door and went into the bedroom. There was no sign of Sheldon, the bed was neatly made and the room itself was as neat and tidy as usual. Penny then checked out the bathroom that was open and there was no sign of Sheldon in there. Penny then closed and locked the door to 4B and made her way back to 4A.
Upon entering the apartment Leonard was sat down at his desk in front of his laptop.
"OK the email has been sent and I am ready to make our order. I'll order the usual for us and Sheldon?" he asked her.
"Sheldon's not there" she said with real concern now in her voice.
Leonard surprised at the tone of his wife's voice "Okay now I am worried, he wasn't at work when I came to his office to drive us home and he is not in his apartment? Is there a note or anything?" he asked her.
"Nothing, there is no sign he has been there recently" still clearly concerned.
"What is going on? Where could he possibly be? The train store? I think they have that special night that Sheldon has been going on about all week, some new model train coming into stock. But that's not for a couple more days" he said to his wife.
"You don't think he is with Ramona do you?" she asked him with a frown on her face.
"Well she took him swimming the other day, I guess it's possible they are trying something else new" he replied.
"'Friend stuff' is not what I am worried about Leonard! I had the conversation with Sheldon last night about Ramona clearly showing interest in him and he shot me down saying she is just a friend and I am misreading the situation" she said sounding exasperated.
"So you are worried Ramona might have made her move? Or that Sheldon might have done something. I know he is feeling vulnerable right now with Amy being away, but this is Sheldon we are talking about here. If it makes you feel better should we call Amy?" he said somewhat dismissively.
"No not yet, we need to find out some more before we contact her. It's pretty late over there right now with the time difference, I don't want to wake her up if he's at a train store" she answered.
"Well I do have the GPS tracking software on Sheldon's phone. We could use that though it has been a long time since I last used it and not since Amy and Sheldon moved in across the hall" he told her.
"Okay let's do that, it might give us an idea where he is and then is we are still concerned we ring his phone. I don't want to just ring it if he is somewhere we know he usually goes" she instructed.
"Okay, well I just need to run some Windows updates on my laptop before I can run the program. I downloaded them at work but they will need some time to update the system files" he said.
"Good, you can order our food then whilst you wait"
"Okay, so the usual?" he asked her as he picked up his phone.
"Yes, though order me some extra fortune cookies" she replied.
"That won't help find Sheldon or mystically say why or where he has gone" he chuckled.
"Just do it Leonard!" she said clearly irritated probably down to worrying about her friend.
"Okay ringing now" he said.
Meanwhile back at the Princeton apartment
Amy pacing around the Princeton digs, voiced slightly raised but not shouting "So Ramona kissed you?"
"Yes" he replied still sitting on the couch.
"Kissed you as in she kissed you and you didn't kiss her? Or kiss her back reciprocating the advance?" she said still pacing.
"No I didn't kiss her back" he answered.
Amy struggling to get her head around this "Sheldon you need to explain in what context she kissed you, what were the events beforehand that made her kiss you or felt it was OK to do so" she asked him.
"Okay here is what happened. I asked Ramona flat out was she interested in starting a relationship and to my surprise she said she was" he said.
Amy with her pace quickening, face slowly changing to something more akin to anger, voice now shouting "I just knew she was trouble!"
"As I was saying her response was she was interested. I listed reasons why nothing was going to happen between us, she is a work colleague and more importantly and I stressed this forcefully to her, I'm already in a relationship" he added.
"And then she kissed you?" she asked him, voice still raised.
"Yes" he answered.
"And then what happened?" she asked him.
"Well I was in total shock. I told her I was not interested and yet she still kissed me. My impulse kicked in and that was telling me to get the hell out of there" he said.
Amy's voice easing in volume "Okay, so you got out of there. Did you tell her it was inappropriate to kiss you and that she was way out of line?"
"No, I just said excuse me and walked out" he said.
"Sheldon you should have told her she was out of line!" not in an angry tone but slightly stressed.
"I freaked out, I wasn't expecting it and it quite frankly disgusted me" he said sounding freaked out by the experience.
"It's okay Sheldon. It sounds like Ramona was way out of line here you haven't done anything wrong." she replied, her voice much lower now.
"I feel really foolish here" he said looking down and upset.
Amy showing concern sat down on the couch, held Sheldon's hand and started stroking his hand with her thumb "Why do you feel foolish?"
"That I didn't pick up on her intentions, I know I have difficulty reading people but I thought I had made real progress especially these past few months" he replied.
"Sheldon..." she said softly, still stroking his hand.
"I should have listened to Penny, she warned me she picked up on what Ramona's intentions were and I didn't listen" he replied with anguish and pain.
"Sheldon, don't be so hard on yourself, I believe what you said about how it transpired. I know how hard it is for you to read people and you have improved a lot when it comes to that." Amy slightly changing the subject in an effort to ease the apparent pain on his face "So when you left you went home and then straight here?"
"I took a cab home to get the ring and then another cab to LAX. And here I am" he answered.
"It's very sweet you came all this way and on your own! I have been missing you like crazy" she said smiling and still holding his hand.
"I've been missing you too, so much so I just felt the urge to come here right way and propose" he said.
"Are you sure this is the right time and that you want this?" she asked him her voice low and somewhat comforting.
"Absolutely, remember the conversation in our home just before you left saying I find great comfort in you being around and waking up next to you each morning? Well I meant that and these past few days have just reinforced that, I want this feeling for the rest of our lives" he said.
Sheldon delicately removed his hand from hers, eased off the couch and goes down once again on bended knee. He then reached into his pocket for the ring case and opened it as Amy is sitting on the couch.
"Amy you mean the world to me, I will only ever have eyes for one woman and that's you. You are not just a girlfriend, you are my soul mate. You came into my life and transformed it, a lot of the real life things that people experience I simply never thought possible for me before I had met you. I want you to be my wife and take the next step in our journey together" he said with real emotion in his voice.
"Oh Sheldon, the ring is beautiful as are your words" she said voice trembling and tears about to flow.
"I'll keep this next part quick as I don't want you having another panic attack. Amy Farrah Fowler will you marry me?" he asked looking directly in her eyes hoping for the response he of course desired.
"Of course, Yes!" Amy let out a small laugh and trying to fight the raw emotions and the tears.
Sheldon with a beaming smile gently eased the family heirloom out of its box and slides it onto Amy's ring finger, by chance a perfect fit. Amy holds the hand up so she can get a better look at the ring and savour the moment, tears now starting to flow down her eyes and onto her cheeks.
"I love you Sheldon" she said not breathless but totally calm and at ease.
"I love you too" he replied.
They go in for a kiss and then a hug, emotionally drained from the whole event they then sit on the couch and cuddle. After 15 minutes of silence and a period of contentment Amy sits up and straightens herself.
"So what happens now? I still have my work here at Princeton to finish" she said.
"Well my flight back is tomorrow night and I do want you to continue doing your work here as I am proud of you and want you to make it a success" he smiled.
"Tomorrow night you say?" she replied with a suggestive look and a sultry voice.
"Yes, I thought maybe I could have a look around your campus and also check out those famous gardens and some of the faculty whilst you are working" he replied.
"I actually have the day off tomorrow, we can go around together and I can show you around the place" she said smiling at him.
"That sounds great" with enthusiasm in his voice.
"But that's tomorrow and we have a good few hours until then" the voice once again sultry and low almost whispering.
"Indeed we do" his voice also low, eyebrows raised and perhaps noticing what she might have in mind.
"What do you think of the apartment?" she asks as she grabs hold of his hand again.
"Quite cosy and snug" he answered.
"This is only part of it, let me show you the bedroom" her voice even more sultry and the intent clear.
Hand in hand Amy leads Sheldon into her Princeton bedroom and Sheldon shuts the door.
Meanwhile back in Pasadena, Apartment 4A
"Okay the updates are done I am booting up windows now. In a few minutes I should be able to run this GPS tracker to see where the hell Sheldon is" Leonard said almost excitedly.
"We may have to find out where Ramona is staying and check the GPS with that location, Amy is going to kill me if something has happened between them!" she said with concern in her voice.
"You talked to Sheldon, told him clearly what Ramona was up to and he ignored that. I am not sure what else you could have done" he tried to give her a reassuring look as he said this.
"I know I know, it's just I promised Amy I would keep an eye on him" as she let out an exasperated sigh.
"Anyway I suspect he's at one of his usual places, perhaps some night time event is going on and he is there. I am sure he will ring or text me if he wants picking up" again he tried to calm the situation and ease any worries his wife had.
Penny walks over to the fridge to get a bottle of ice cold water.
"Penny, I err found Sheldon's location" he added with surprise in his voice.
"Where is he?!" she replied though far louder than she had intended to say that.
"Well he's not at one of his local usual places" he said.
"Spit it out Leonard" she was clearly irritated thinking he was trying to drag out Sheldon's location for dramatic effect.
"Well according to this GPS tracker he is in New Jersey, specifically the Princeton campus" he told her.
"Really?" she said with some surprise.
"Yes really" repeating what he said as it was the truth.
"I wonder why he has gone to see Amy, has something happened? Did Ramona do something? How in the hell did he even get there and travel on his own?" she speculated and at the same time was asking her husband.
"I don't know what he is doing there but he is clearly there and Amy is there as we already know" he said.
"I'll call Amy and find out" she replied.
"She could be in bed by now. And do we want to disturb them? What if something happened and Sheldon has felt the need to rush over there? I say we leave it until the morning and then find out" it was the sensible thing to do he felt.
"Ok, but I am texting Bernadette" she said.
"And I'll text Raj" he said with his phone in his hand.
"I don't think I am going to sleep much tonight. I really need to know what's going on" she said with much excitement in her voice and an urge to find out.
"Me too babe, me too" he said.
