"I can't believe Leonard didn't tell me you were an aspiring actress!" Penny exclaimed, her arm hooked through Rose's as they walked back to the apartment. Rose couldn't believe how much Leonard had told Penny about her.
"Almost too much…" Rose thought to herself, jumping slightly when her phone began to ring, the Star Trek theme playing out.
"Like brother, like sister. That's Leonard's ringtone for you as well." Penny laughed and Rose's cheeks lit up a little out of embarrassment.
"Hello?" Rose answered the phone without even looking at the caller ID. She didn't need to. Only one person had that ring tone.
"Leonard, we're almost back to the apartment. I'm sure whatever you have to say can wait." Rose laughed quietly, stiffening when a male voice filtered through the phone. That was definitely not her brother.
"Rosalind. Leonard wished me to tell you that he needs you and Penny to go and pick up Rajesh Koothrappali, and Howard Wolowitz from the Comic book store." Sheldon spoke into the phone stiffly, and Rose felt her fists clench tightly as the irritation from earlier began to seep back.
"Fine. Is there anything else, Sheldon?" Rose said through gritted teeth, and just about threw her phone when Sheldon responded to her question.
"Actually yes. Only friends may call me Sheldon. To someone like you, I am Dr. Cooper. That will be all." He stated in a robotic tone, and Rose screamed into the phone before hanging up. Penny stared at the woman beside her in slight shock. What on earth had Sheldon done to make her scream like that?
"Ugh! I can't believe him! Someone like me, indeed!" Rose hissed under her breath, before sliding her phone back into her pocket.
"Come on. Leonard wants us to pick up Raj and Howard from the Comic Book store." Rose took a deep breath as she tried to calm herself.
Not only was Dr. Cooper utterly incorrigible, he had assumed that she didn't know who Raj and Howard were. Before she moved there, Leonard had told her all about everyone. Everyone that is, except for Sheldon. How on earth could he not have told her how annoying the man could be? Well, one thing was for sure. No way was she going to let Sheldon get the best of her- not if she had anything to say about it.
-a few minutes later-
Penny and Rose entered the Comic Book shop and Rose immediately felt right at home. "Oh, hey Penny. Who's this?" A slightly gangly man came up to the girls, and Rose looked him over. He wasn't unattractive that was for sure.
"I'm Rose, Leonard's little sister." Rose introduced herself and shook the man's hand firmly, catching him completely off guard. He wasn't used to women shaking his hand, much less touching him at all.
"Rose, this is Stuart. He runs the Comic Book store." Penny explained, smiling insinuatingly. She was going to play a little Cupid with these two. Rose could use a nice guy like Stuart, and Stuart could definitely benefit from at least flirting with a girl. Laughing quietly to herself, Penny excused herself and went to stand beside Raj and Howard on the other side of the store.
"Hey Penny, who's that girl?" Howard asked, and Penny quickly shushed him.
"Shh! I'm trying to listen to their conversation." Penny announced, pretending to be looking at comics while trying to eavesdrop on Rose's and Stuart's conversation.
"Uh... Isn't that Leonard's little sister?" Raj stated, though it was more of a question than anything else.
"Woah! She's definitely grown up in the past five years." Howard grunted when Penny jabbed him the stomach with her elbow.
"Off limits. You're married, remember?" Penny put a finger to her lips and continued trying to listen in once she had Howard properly shut up.
"So you like Aquaman?" Stuart asked incredulously, and Rose couldn't help but laugh.
"Yes I do! And don't you say a word against him, he is amazing." Rose grinned, blushing slightly when Stuart bravely reached forward and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
"Alright, I cave before the mighty power of Aquaman's biggest fan." Stuart couldn't believe what he did then: He winked at her. He was flirting. With a girl. Dear God, maybe things were finally looking up for him.
"Good. Now that I have you under my power: How about we get some dinner tomorrow night?" Rose asked, taking the pen off of the counter and writing her number confidently on Stuart's hand.
After receiving a shaky and surprised yes from Stuart, Rose said goodbye to him and strode over to Penny and the boys. "Hey guys. You must be Raj and Howard, right? I'm Rose. Leonard's little sister." Rose smiled, her mood lifted considerably after talking to Stuart.
-at the apartment-
"SURPRISE!" Rose jumped when she entered the apartment, and a group of people jumped out at her, catching her completely off guard.
"It's a bit of Welcome party for you Rose." Leonard smiled, explaining the situation to his sister who hugged him tightly.
"Thank you Leonard! You're so sweet! Maybe you deserve Penny, just a little bit." Rose teased, squeezing her brother's hand before turning to face the room.
Though she didn't recognize many of the people in the room, they recognized her. It was a small group, but Rose still felt slightly overwhelmed. After a little while of mingling, Rose excused herself and she stepped into the first bedroom she came to, taking a deep breath as she closed the door behind her. Sighing slightly, Rose pushed off of the door and began exploring the room a little. This couldn't be Leonard's room that was for sure. There were posters of Firefly around the room, and Leonard couldn't stand that show. So this had to be Sheldon's room. Leaning forward, Rose had just reached out to pick up one of the comic books that lay on the shelf when a firm hand grabbed her shoulder, scaring her.
"What are you doing in here?" Turning to face who had scared her, Rose felt a strange tingle run along her spine when she looked up into the most beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen. Shaking her head, Rose tried to shake Sheldon's hand off of her shoulder, and glared at him when he refused to move it.
"I will ask only once more. What are you doing in my room?" Sheldon asked, eerily calm as he stared down at Rose. He felt that odd tightening in his chest once more and his stomach felt slightly queasy when she looked him dead in the eyes.
"I was getting sensory overload, alright? I don't' do well for long periods of time with big groups of people. So I excused myself and your room just happened to be the one I entered. But I'm fine now." Rose responded confidently, reaching up and forcibly removing his hand from her shoulder.
"Now if you'll excuse me, I have a party to get back to." Rose really didn't want to go back to the party. In fact she felt more comfortable here, glaring at Sheldon, than she did out there with all those people. But she wouldn't let him know that.
Taking a deep breath, Rose reached out to grab hold of the doorknob when Sheldon interrupted her again. "…Take this. It helps with anxiety in large crowds. It has been scientifically proven that these help reduce anxiety and stress." He muttered, refusing to look down at her as he handed her what appeared to be a small stress ball.
Pursing her lips, Rose nodded at him in thanks, wondering how on earth he had known just how not okay she was. Exiting the room, Rose closed the door behind her and felt that same strange feeling in her chest as she leaned back against the door. Rose shook her head, trying to clear her head as she pushed off of the door and walked back towards the party.
