Descent into Madness
Summary: What would have happened if Sheldon didn't decipher the earworm when he did? What if he was an hour too late? Will they ever be able to get over what she did? Set around S09E10 earworm reverberation. A bit of angst.
Disclaimer: The Big Bang Theory is owned by Chuck Lorre Productions and The Warner Brothers Studios
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Perhaps it was a good thing that he didn't see Amy tonight. He didn't even know what he would tell her. Organizing his thoughts would be a good plan, so that when they were face to face he would know what needed to be said and which questions he needed answers to. He should probably also think about whether it's a good idea to talk to her at all. What good could come of it? So she knew about the ring. Does it really make a difference? Does this knowledge somehow alter the reality of their situation? She still broke up with him. She still slept with Dave. And, as far as he could tell, she was still seeing Dave. So, was it really wise to hash it out about the ring? In truth, it only served to make him feel weaker. As if having the woman you love break up with you over a TV show wasn't humiliating enough. Now she also had to find out that we was thinking about proposing to her. It was indignity piled on top of more indignity, none of which he really deserved. So much for life finally making sense again. So much for being able to sleep soundly. Tonight he will be thinking of nothing else but the woman he loved. Tonight was going to be another sleepless night.
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Chapter 6: Disbelief
The mind is capable of so many things. Able to calculate depth in fractions of seconds, process stimuli quickly and efficiently, and even able come to conclusions with very few details. It runs whether you are awake or sleeping, monitoring every single part of your body. It keeps your lungs breathing, your heart beating, and maintains all metabolic functions that keep you alive. The mind is the greatest organ in your body, but even through all its magnificence… it is also capable of being deceived.
Amy lay in bed listening to her alarm clock go off. The sound was downright irritating, but she couldn't bring herself to roll over and turn it off. It had been five days since she discovered that he had a ring for her, and Sheldon had been avoiding her like the plague. At first, she thought it might just be a coincidence that every time she went to his office, he wasn't there. But a few days in, she realized he was avoiding her on purpose. He did not eat lunch at his usual time or even leave work when he usually did. He had changed his entire schedule just to make sure they did not run into each other, or more accurately, that she did not find him.
Yesterday, she actually went to his apartment so that he would have no escape. To her dismay, he was not home. Leonard merely said that Sheldon left in a rush and had no idea where he had gone off to. If she was a paranoid person, she might think that he bugged her phone or something in order to evade her. Actually, she was starting to get really suspicious of that being the case. At any rate, she did not feel like going to work today. What was the point, it's not like she could focus on her job anyway. She sighed, but decided to get out of bed and get ready for work. She can't let Sheldon get to her anymore. Anymore that he already has, that is.
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He took a peak out of his door before slowly stepping out into the hallway. Avoiding Amy was getting harder and harder every day. He never knew when she was going to come down to his office to talk to him about the stupid ring, so he made a point to leave his office randomly throughout the day in order to throw her off. Lunch was eaten in the telescope room, with Raj's permission. It has been five days, and he somehow managed to evade her, but he wasn't sure how much longer he could do this before she figured it all out. Yesterday, Leonard said she came to the apartment looking for him. It was a good thing he decided to start leaving the apartment at random times as well. He sighed not sure of what he was really fearing. He knew that the ring changed nothing, yet her knowing about it made things so much more complicated somehow. As though it made him more vulnerable than before. Like she somehow has the upper hand now.
As he walked down the hall towards the elevators, lunch in hand, a woman turned the corner and bumped into him, sending his lunch flying out of his grasp and onto the concrete floors. "Oh, my goodness. I am so sorry-" The woman stated, looking flustered. She took a second look at him and realized he looked familiar. "-Dr. Cooper?" Sheldon was busy mourning the loss of his spaghetti with little hotdogs cut up in it to realize that the he'd seen the woman before. When she said his name, he focused his attention on her, and his memory worked its magic to put name to face. "Vanessa Bennet." He stated, remembering how she had solved all his puzzles in that craigslist ad they posted. Her Sanskrit was remarkable.
"What are you doing here?" She asked, unable to believe that she just ran into the brilliant man who introduced her to the world of Klingon-Sanskrit translations. She had kicked herself for being late to his deadline and having the door shut in her face, but perhaps she could get to know him more now. "I should ask you the same question." He replied, knowing he'd never seen her walking the halls of Caltech before. "I work here." He added, to answer her question.
"I was here for a lecture that a friend of mine was conducting." She told him, happy to now know his place of employment. Perhaps she could visit her friend more often. "I see." He said, turning to walk away. Not knowing how to end this conversation, he simply uttered "I should be going."
"Wait." She implored, touching his arm lightly. He moved it, but stayed in place, looking at her expectantly. "Can I buy you lunch?" She asked, hoping for a chance to sit down and know more about this fascinating person. "It's the least I could do after causing you to drop your food." He seemed to consider this for a second, the look of concentration on his face making her smile. "Very well." He responded to her delight. "I suppose that would be acceptable."
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Amy was feeling extremely embarrassed. She actually got her phone checked for any type of tracking device or system, or some kind of hack that would let Sheldon Cooper know of her location. It seemed so plausible considering how well he had been able to avoid her. Now that she got the negative results, she was left feeling foolish. Why on Earth would her ex-boyfriend bug her phone? That's just ludicrous. And most of all, how exactly would he have gotten ahold of her device in the first place? She sighed. Maybe he wasn't avoiding her at all? Maybe she simply had bad luck in trying to locate him? Maybe it was all just coincidence?
As she walked her way to the cafeteria, she wondered why she wanted to see Sheldon anyway. To talk about the ring? What was there to talk about? She had no plans on begging for him to take her back or anything of the sort. It's not like the ring actually changed anything anyway. Perhaps it wasn't about the ring at all. Maybe Penny had been right. If she just explained to Sheldon what really happened, maybe he could forgive her. Maybe they could even be friends. And then, they could build something back up from that. Something stronger than before. Now that she realized her mistakes, now that she understood where she went wrong… maybe she could be the girlfriend Sheldon Cooper really needed instead of expecting him to be something he was not.
She rounded the corner to the lunchroom when the back of a familiar head came into view. It was Sheldon! She finally was able to catch him. As she walked further in the room though, she realized that someone else was at the table. Who was this gorgeous woman sitting across from him? She watched as the woman laughed at something Sheldon said and it made her feel extremely irritated. His quirky sense of humor was another thing she loved about him. She did not like the idea of another woman enjoying these things.
Did you want to know what the worst part was? It was not the fact that the entire gang seemed to be comfortable around her. Or the fact that they all included her in their conversation as though she was already part of their group. Or even the fact that no one else at the table seemed to be baffled by Sheldon focusing on this woman. No, the worst part was, from her angle of view, it seemed as though Sheldon cooper was actually flirting with her. The smile that he was giving her, the tilt of his head when the woman would smile back… that absolutely life-brightening smile. Amy was fuming. So this was why she couldn't get ahold of him, because he was seeing another woman. That's why he wasn't at home when she went over there. It's why he didn't have lunch at his normal hours. It all made sense now. Sheldon Cooper had changed his routines because he added someone into his life. Here she was hoping that they still had a future together when he's clearly already moved on. And upgraded too, it would seem. She sighed heavily, resisting the urge to confront him since she really had no right to, and spun around to go back to her lab… her heart feeling like it was being shredded into tiny little pieces.
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Vanessa Bennet was a remarkable woman. She shared his passion for flags and ancient languages, she had a smile that he found quite endearing, and her voice was soft and soothing. Something about it made him feel better, and that was definitely a welcome change. With the chaos that has controlled his mind lately, feeling soothed was exactly what he needed. As he walked back to his office after lunch, he was glad he decided to obtain her contact information. Who knows when that would come in handy?
Howard and Raj were quite surprised when he showed up to their lunch table. He wasn't sure if it was because he was actually eating lunch with them for the first time in five days, or because he brought her along with him. He figured it might be the latter, since after explaining that she was here for a lecture they seemed relax and incorporate her into their chatter. Leonard had a bit more questions to ask since he had never seen Vanessa before. She eloquently told the story about how they met, detailing each puzzle she had to solve and Leonard seemed amazed that a woman like her actually existed. He remember his best friend saying "good for you, Sheldon." Although he wasn't quite sure what that meant. Good for him for eating lunch at the table? Good for him for making good puzzles? Good for him that he managed another day without talking to Amy? Perhaps he will never know.
One thing was for certain in his mind. Talking to Amy was not an option. At least, not yet. The very idea of seeing her standing in front of him, close enough to touch, makes him feel all kind of anxious. She was still the woman who owned his heart. The woman he wanted to marry. Talking to her about the future that they no longer have together would simply break his heart. He did not want to dredge up topics such as the reason she broke up with him in the first place. Or what she and David did that night. Or what she thinks about the ring. All of those things would just bring up feeling he had been trying to suppress for over a month now. Great, just thinking about it was making his heart beat faster. Perhaps he would need soothing sooner rather than later.
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Amy wanted to be drunk in a bar with her friends, but after telling them about the stunning woman she saw with Sheldon in the cafeteria, they decided to have girls' night at Penny's instead. It would be better if they were in a quiet environment so she could tell them all the juicy details. There was a lot of disbelief with the situation. Was the woman really having lunch with them? Maybe she just got lost and somehow ended up at their table. Was Sheldon really engaging her with conversation? Maybe she was a toy train saleswoman. Was the group really welcoming her into their fold? Maybe she could get them all tickets to comic con. But Amy was sure this was not the case. No, it seemed as though her ex-boyfriend found himself someone new. Someone better suited for him.
"How could I compete with that?" Amy cried, taking another sip of her wine. "She was gorgeous, Penny. Maybe even more gorgeous than you!" Penny crumpled her face at that. "Oh sweetie, we still don't know what's really going on. Don't jump to conclusions just yet." Bernadette nodded in agreement. "Yeah, there's no way someone that gorgeous would be into Sheldon anyway." She said, earning a scowl from Amy. "I mean, it takes a very special kind of person to see past all his quirks." The petite blonde corrected. "You know what?" Bernie got up and walked to the door. "Maybe we should just go over there and ask." Amy got up as well. "But what if he's not home?" She asked, knowing he wasn't there the last time she tried to corner him. "It's D&D night. He's home." Penny reassured her, opening the door, and the three of them walked out into the hallway.
The sound of a bunch of nerds having fun was audible. They heard cheering and yelling, and it brought back memories for Amy. Memories of than one time the girls played Dungeons and Dragons with the boys and a love spell was cast on Sheldon and her characters. The resulting D&D "sex" they had in his room afterwards. If that wasn't an incredibly intimate moment, she didn't know what was. Feeling courageous due to the liquor she'd consumed, she strolled up to Apartment 4A and opened the door without bothering to knock.
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Silence. That was all that could be heard after the girls barged in to Sheldon and Leonard's home. The boys were frozen in their spots, not sure how they were supposed to feel. Guilty? Disloyal? Like a bunch of traitors? The women were immobilized from disbelief. There was a new player in the room, and she was sitting in Sheldon's spot.
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