A/N: I don't own any of the Big Bang Theory characters and I am not making any money from writing this.

Please forgive any minor spelling or grammar mistakes, English is not my native language.

I apologize due to this chapter not being very eventful. Other chapters will be better, I promise.

Once Alex finished her exclamation, Leonard felt cold sweat rolling down his back. He knew that he is over reacting, but he couldn't help it. When he was imagining the surprise, everything was so perfect-and now, it turns out, something went wrong. Still, he did his best to stay calm: he took a deep breath and looked at the map, trying to find a solution. He felt his heart skipping a beat when he, soon enough, noticed something that, he thought, may be a solution.

"Look", he said, while Alex leaned closer, looking at the map, " if we can go this way instead of the way you marked, and if we get going approximately ten minutes earlier, we may get on the next location in time."

"Yes...", Alex noted, "but that part of a road will be blocked that day due to the construction works."

"Oh", Leonard whispered, and his face fell. Alex felt herself shivering. She newer saw anyone being so carying and hard-working, so... in love.

She gently hold his right hand. Leonard felt pleasant shivers going down his spine once he felt her warm fingers pressed against his hand, and suddenly, he didn't feel so nervous anymore. He raised his head and looked her in the eyes, that looked surprisingly warm.

"I'm sure I'll think of something", she assures him. "I will let you know once I do."

"Thank you", Leonard smiled. "I know you will." Then he slowly moved his hand off hers, and Alex suddenly felt cold shivers spreading from her palm to rest of her body, like she just woke up from a dream.

Next, they exchanged few words, said "Thank you" and "See you later" to each otherand Leonard left, leaving Alex sitting at the table covered with bunch of papers and writing supplies, alone.

Leonard... Leonard was beautiful, and smart, and funny, and she simply loved everything about him. And no matter how happy he seemed while he was with Penny, Alex still couldn't understand how could Leonard can still be with her after everything she done to him. She heard about those things mostly in form of gossips and Sheldon's snarky comments, so she didn't know is everything she heard true, but it sure sounded awful. The ways she would break up with him, how he needed... basicly not be himself while he was with her... Of course, Alex was rational and rather smart person, and she knew that Leonard maybe has some flaws the one can't notice or be bothered by unless engaged in romantic (and sexual) relationship with him, but she couldn't understand Penny. She only knew that, if she would have someone like Leonard in her life, she would never, ever...

No. It's better not to think about that. He is happy with Penny, he is not interested in her, and she won't do anything to stop that. She couldn't do anything to stop that.

But still, a girl can dream...

#

That night, after work, and before meeting with the guys and Penny in Leonard's apartment, Raj made a brief visit to a comic book store. He was really stressed out and kinda depressed lately, so he wanted to relax and maybe have a little chat with Stuart. Howard was still his best friend and they were getting along very well, but he loved talking to Stuart from time to time. Stuart was also single and had troubles finding a girlfriend, so he sometimes understood him better than Howard when it came to that matter.

After all, although he used to be even lonelier than Raj and knew that feeling very well, Howard was now married, while Stuart was (as far as Raj knew) still single and, well, lonely.

As soon as he walked in and approached to one of the shelves, Stuart walked toward him and gave him a warm, friendly smile that instantly made Raj feel a little better. It was nice to know that someone other than your small circle of friends and family cares about you, and that that someone is close to you.

"Hi, Raj", Stuart said. "Do you need help with anything?"

"No, I'm good", Raj replied. "I just went here to check out some comic books."

"Oh, OK."

He wanted to start a conversation with Stuart, but didn't know how to do it. So he just staid standing in front of those shelves, reading comic books. Stuart continued walking around, but he always staid close to Raj. It was like he, too, wanted to talk with Raj about something, but didn't know how to do it. Finally, he approached to Raj.

"So...", Stuart started, trying to sound casual, "something... new going on with you."

"Not much", he said. "I was on one date but... it didn't end well."

"Oh", Stuart sighed, concern and empathy clearly evident on his face. It actually made Raj's heart warm for a moment. "Well", Stuart continued, trying to form a smile, "I hope things will work out for you. You're a great guy."

"Thank you", Raj said, trying not to blush, and continued reading a comic book. They were standing there in an awkward silence for a minute or two, till Raj raised his head, looked Stuart in the eyes and asked: "Anything new with you?"

Stuart felt huge drops of sweat rolling down his palms. Tell him. Don't be a coward. But start with a bad news. Try to sound pathetic.

"Well... my cat died."

"Oh", Raj's face fell. "I'm sorry. It's a sad thing, man."

"I guess. He, it was kinda an ass. We had this love-hate relationship. It would often ran away and then come back, and I was so confused and naive that I would take it..." He took a deep breath and bit his lower lip, trying to stop upcoming tears. "It's better not to talk about that."

"I guess. Are you... seeing anyone?", he asked, and Stuart's heart skipped the beat. Tell him. Tell him now.

"Yes, I am actually seeing somebody."

"Oh." Raj didn't know how he feels upon hearing that: sad, happy or indifferent. "Who is she... do I know her?"

"You... you may know her..."

Raj was confused. "How do you mean I mayknow her?"

Say it, say it!

"Well... it's a big world. I guess you may meet her... at some point in your life... I will ask her."

"Oh, OK." Raj looked at his wrist watch. "I need to go. I enjoyed talking to you."

"Me too", Stuart smiled and waited for Raj to leave, then sighed in frustration and ran his hands through his hair.

#

It was close to nine pm. Boys were sitting on the couch, eating Chinese food. Penny was sitting in an armchair. Sheldon wasn't there: he was in his room with Amy, deciding to have little to no physical contact with other people-except for Amy-until he gets better

"It's so silent here without Sheldon", Penny commented. "Nobody to tell us boring non-important things, nobody to offend us, nobody to bother us with silly rules. I think I miss him."

All three boys looked at her, their eyes widened in mixture of terror and disbelief.

"I'm just kidding", Penny said after few tense moments, and all three of them sighed in a relief.

#

Stuart was in his apartment, sitting on a couch, girl he so desperately wanted to let Raj know about sitting near him. "I wanted to tell him", Stuart said, "but... I simply couldn't find the right... way? Moment? Or maybe I didn't want to spoil his mood. He seemed happy... little lonely... but not upset or anything... because of the... break up..."

He took a deep breath and buried his face in his hands.

"I'm sorry, Lucy", he finally said. "I didn't want to upset you."

Lucy gently put his right hand on his shoulder, and he pulled his hands off his face and looked into her big, brown eyes.

"You didn't upset me", she assures him. "We are in a relationship now. We can-and need- to talk about anything."

"Do... do you think that I am... betraying..."

"No!", Lucy cuted him off before he could finish the sentence. "Don't even think about that. Stuart... if we didn't meet... on that bridge... that night... we... we would be..." She bit her lower lip, having no enough strength to finish the sentence. "Stuart... since I'm with you... I'm finally making some improvement. I never felt so happy. So don't feel bad about it."

"I know, it's just... I heard Howard saying... bros before..." He bit his lower lip before he was able to say anything more than that. "Before friend's ex girlfriends", he finally said.

"We are making each other happy, and I think-I could be wrong, and maybe I am wrong, but I will try not to think about that for a moment-that if anythihg you do is making you happy, making you feel happiness-not pleasure or somethihg like that, but true happiness, no matter what some people think of it, it is at least on some level good for you and good at any level. We were looking for happiness our whole lives, and we finally found it. Why would it be wrong?"

Stuart smiled, starting to think that he over-reacted. He lay his head on the couch and turned his gaze on Lucy.

"You are beautiful, and smart", he said, softly, and Lucy felt herself blushing. She tried to stay calm so she just smiled and gently stroked his hair.

"Would you like to watch a movie?", she asked.

"Yes, gladly."

#

Beating Sheldon and rubbing VaporRub on his chest wasn't as arousing for Amy as the first time, but it was definitely... intense. With the guys and Penny still in the living room, she couldn't have her fun with Gerard there (she actually fantasised about doing it there, naked, while sitting on Sheldon's spot) but she was planning to have a little fun with the Gerard in her car, at least once before she gets home.

Amy was singing Soft Kitty exactly by Sheldon's orders, but once she finished and started to leave, Sheldon found himself unable to sleep. He felt a need, an urge to do something. He knew what it was, and it sounded irrational and out of character for him and almost terriffying, but he decided to do that rather than having trouble sleeping.

"Amy?"

"Yes?", Amy, standing in front of his room door, turning around.

"Thank you for taking care of me."

Amy couldn't believe what she just heard. Did Sheldon Cooper actually thanked her? Yes, he did. She was sure. But she didn't want to scare him away, hoping he may do it more often in future, so she decided to stay casual and calm, yet grateful.

"You're welcome, Sheldon."

Sheldon nodded his head and closed his eyes, suddenly feeling peaceful and sleepy. Amy turned off the lights and left the room, closing the door behind.

A/N: The way Stuart and Lucy met is described in my story "Bridge". You don't need to read it in order to follpw the story. It's pretty dark. One more note: Leonard would never lie to o Penny. Ever. I know that you all know that, but just to let you know, that Leonard/Alex part could lead to wrong conclusions. Also, how many of you thought that Stuart is going to tell Raj that he is in love with him, while he was actually trying to tell him that he is dating Lucy? Please let me know xx :)