DISCLAIMER: Sadly, I do not own the big bang theory, nor do I own any of the characters, except Olive.
A/N: I couldn't wait to sink my teeth into this one. This is really just an introductory chapter, there is more to come. This story is a sequel to "Splendid Summer Days". I highly recommend you read that first, though I wouldn't go so far as to say you wouldn't be able to pick up the storyline. "XXX" signifies a break. Enjoy!
Chapter One: Reunion
Like most things, it starts with a knock at the door.
"Sheldon, there's someone here to see you!"
When he emerges into the living room, she's sitting there with his short roommate, wearing skinny jeans and an "I heart hobbits" tee. Her chestnut brown hair is tied in plaits, and there is a pair of headphones around her neck, the cable snaking around her body and disappearing into her back pocket.
His breath catches in his throat, and he forgets to take a breath. She stares at him for a moment. They sit there, in silence, taking each other in for what feels like an eternity, but not nearly long enough.
"Sheldon," she whispers.
"Olive."
She throws herself at him and he catches her in his arms.
"I missed you. I missed you, so much, Shelly. I'm so sorry I left. I tried to come back, I tried, but I couldn't find you…"
Sheldon is aware of a spreading feeling of damp on his shirt and realises that she is crying into his shoulder. He feels tears prick the back of his own eyes, blinks them away.
"I…missed you too," he says quietly, raising one shaking hand to touch her silky hair. She's really here. The girl he has been dreaming about for fourteen years is really here. The girl he had pretended to forget about, but had yearned for. The only girl he had ever loved. The only girl he understood, and the only girl who understood him, "more than you can imagine."
She has changed very little. She looks slightly older, is a bit taller (but still not as tall as Sheldon), and her features are sharper; but her skin is the same ivory shade, her hair smells the same; like strawberry and coconut, and she feels the same when he hugs her close.
"Are you going to leave again?" He can't stop himself from asking.
"As long as you want me, Shellybear, I'm never going away again," she says fiercely, but then a trickle of doubt leaks into her voice, "you do still want me, don't you?"
"Always," he tells her truthfully, releasing her from his embrace, "I have something to show you." He takes her by the hand, leads her to his bedroom. She goes to his chest of drawers, tracing her hands over all his little objects, photographs, action figures.
"I'm still trying to believe this is happening," she says, "I spent so long trying to get away from my mom, to find you, but you weren't in Texas anymore. We have a lot to talk about."
Sheldon is kneeling in front of a chest that sits at the foot of his bed. From it, he retrieves a novel, a notebook, an LP, and a small paper bag. Olive sits down on the bed, grazing each of the items with her fingers.
"You kept them all…" her voice is incredulous, and delighted.
But Sheldon isn't done. He opens his wardrobe and, like a magician revealing his trick, pulls away a blanket covering a bulky object.
"Shellybear!" She squeals, jumping to her feet and pulling the giant teddy bear towards her. "I can't believe you kept him. You're terrified of bears."
"And I bought this, not long after you left…" He reaches down and lifts, with some difficulty, a small record player. "But I could never bring myself to play our song."
Her hand covers his as they sit together on his bed, staring at their memories.
"Do you think we can rebuild what we had, Shellybear?"
"Of course," his brow furrows, "why shouldn't we?"
She smiles, relieved that he has not changed.
"After I left, Shelly, my mom and I went to stay with my aunt in Alaska. Mom became a die-hard feminist – she was always out at protests and stuff. She was in and out of jail for a few years. I was so relieved when I turned eighteen and could escape – I ran away to find you, but you weren't there, and the family in your old trailer couldn't tell me where you'd gone."
"I left them instructions and a forwarding address!" Sheldon says angrily. "I knew those people were dumb as chimps."
"Why did you keep all this, Sheldon?"
He blinks at her.
"Because you asked me to."
Her eyes fill with tears again. She can't believe she's here, sitting next to the boy she's been fighting to reach since '95.
"No one's allowed in my bedroom, Olive, because I was scared they would find these things and ask questions," and as Sheldon says it, he realises that it's true, "and these were my memories, too special to share. Special in a good way, like you said about our elevated heart rates."
Olive picks up her old diary. The words "Olive's Log" are still there, in purple glitter marker, though they have faded a little. She flips through the pages. When she reaches the last pages, she finds the list she wrote of things she had never told Sheldon. Paper clipped onto that same page is a loose sheet of paper filled with Sheldon's spidery handwriting.
Nine Things Sheldon didn't tell Olive, and should have
Olive is the only girl Sheldon has ever loved, and will ever love.
Olive is the first girl Sheldon kissed.
Sheldon doesn't like birds, because Olive doesn't like them.
Sheldon likes monkeys, because Olive likes them.
Shellybear the teddy bear is the only teddy bear Sheldon will tolerate.
Sheldon cannot drive or take the bus because Olive is not there to take his hand.
Sheldon cannot tolerate mess, because it reminds him of Olive's bedroom.
Sheldon has read "Day of the Triffids" seventy-three times to date.
Sheldon will never stop fighting to be with Olive, will never stop searching for her.
Olive chokes back more tears, but feels her heart fill with warmth. Some little part of her that was broken has been patched up.
"I live in Florida now. I got over my fear of blood, and now I'm a diagnostician."
"I'm a physicist."
"You were always going to be."
"Do you have to go back to Florida?" He sounds like a child, he knows, but that has never bothered him before.
"I don't want to." She closes her eyes, realising that she will have to leave sometime.
"Move in with me."
Her eyes fly open. "What?"
"Move in with me."
"Sheldon, that's crazy," she says, although it's breaking her heart, "we could both have changed a lot since the summer of '95-,"
"I haven't changed."
"No, neither have I." She bites her lip, thinking.
"I don't see why it wouldn't work. You don't want to leave, and I don't want you to go. This solution works for both of us."
"Well, I always was an impulsive person," she smiles, and her eyes shine, "yes, Shellybear, I would be delighted to live with you…I'm going to have to quit my job," and her eyes light up even more, and she laughs, "I get to quit my job!"
XXX
In the living room, Leonard hears the pretty girl giggle.
"What the hell?" He pulls out his iPhone, dials Howard's number quickly. "Wolowitz, you will not believe what just happened…"