The Acceptance Speech

Summary: Sheldon Cooper's Nobel Prize acceptance speech and the stories behind it. (Shamy and lots of friendship between the gang members)

Disclaimer: I don't own the Big Bang Theory and make no profit of this story.


Chapter 7: Winning

Leonard and Sheldon are both nominated for the Nobel Prize in the same year.

Sheldon jokes (no, actually he says that with a straight face but the others like to hope he's joking) about how certain he is he'd be the winner and how despite that he'd share the fame with his former roomate and wouldn't forget to mention him in the acceptance speech...

Leonard wins.

Sheldon's whole world comes to an abrupt halt when the winner's name is announced because that is definitely not his name. It doesn't even sound close to it and no matter how hard he tries he can't wake up and there is the unyielding certainty that this is not a bad dream.

For a second he feels like he can't breathe and thinks he'll collapse , curl on the floor and just cry there. And there have been times when he would to that exactly and he feels somewhat ashamed of those times, discarding them as one of his "lesser" stages of development in life.

But those times feel as though they were a lifetime ago. Before he met Amy, before he started a family, before he knew what friendship really meant.

But now things and different, he is different. Older and more mature and understanding better the concept of friendship and not just the "book" version of it that social protocol dictates but the real one, the one where you know sometimes you have to suck it up, as Penny says, put on a smile and be there for you friends.

So he can't just make a scene (he can already see the headlines that would cause) and steal the show from Leonard. No, he has to be strong and mature and not show how much this breaks him.

He is the first to get up and clap for the winner offering him the best smile he can give, despite his eyes feeling a little wet and his throat tight.

Because, boy does Leonard look good on that stage.

Sheldon can only hope his speech will be at least half as good as the others if he wins. No, when he wins.


Sheldon can feel Amy eyeing him worriedly. It's been a week since Leonard has won the Nobel Prize and she's worried about him, just like the rest of the gang.

Leonard has already called him five times (this morning), apparently being more concerned with Sheldon's disappointment than his own victory. Despite everything, that makes him smile, the shorter man might have his flows but he's the best friend one could ever ask for.

The Texan tells him to enjoy the success and reassures him he's just fine.

It's not true but Sheldon has learnt (the hard way) it is important to take other people's feelings into account and that the universe doesn't revolve around him, as much as he would like it to.

"Amy, for the last time I am fine." He says, voice lacking the usual enthusiasm.

Fine, fine, fine. Semantic satiation.

If you repeat a word a large number of time it loses its meaning and sounds strange on your tongue. Sheldon's is currently experiencing said effect.

"I don't believe you." Amy shakes her head, seeing with ease through his desolate attempts to brush aside what has happened and assure her that it's all peachy. Those things might work on anyone else but she knows him after all. Better than anyone.

"How can you be okay? This has been your dream since you were seven years old!" she exclaims, eyes filled with pain, as if she herself is suffering from the fact that he didn't win.

Sheldon remembers reading a quote saying that love is about sharing the pain and the pleasure of another human being. He supposes there is some truth in those words as overused and corny as they are.

"It's okay to admit you feel disappointed, Sheldon." the neurobiologist murmurs, giving him a comforting gaze as she takes a step towards him, shortening the distance between them.

"Is that what you want to hear? Fine, I feel disappointed!" he exclaims, voice a bit harsher and louder than intended.

Amy doesn't seem to be affected by the sudden outburst, if anything she welcomes it. Sheldon's quick temper and blunt mouth is something she has come to know and in some strange way love. It's a constant, something he hasn't changed over the years, no matter how much he as a whole has.

"It feels fucking horrible!" he screams in desperation and the sudden, harsh and disgraceful words hit Amy like a hammer, effectively breaking the peaceful atmosphere of their apartment on the early Sunday morning.

Sheldon doesn't swear – that's common knowledge. Using coarse language is something so far from his usual ways, something so atypical that she wonders if perhaps, she misheard him or imagined the words.

The silence stretches in the warm Pasadena air and every minute of it is making the atmosphere sunk lower. At the very least some of the tension between them dissipates and with it a small fraction of anger and disappointment Sheldon is feeling.

Amy doesn't know what to say, doesn't have the magical key to making him feel better. Nor does she have a spare Nobel Prize to award him.

"Do you have any idea how excruciating it is to be so close to everything you've ever wanted and then have it stolen away from you?" Sheldon asks, voice small and uncertain, reminding her of a young child.

The Texan shakes his hand, as if having thought of something just now.

"No, not stolen." he comments, almost as if he isn't talking to her, but rather to himself. Trying to explain things, to find some sense and logic for his own comfort.

Logic is good, logic has kept him going on and protected him his entire life. Logic was his friend, before Leonard and Raj and Penny. Before Amy. Speaking of Leonard, Sheldon feels guilty, trying to correct what he'd said.

"That's the thing. Everything I wanted wasn't stolen from me. Leonard won fair. He deserved the prize. The Nobel wasn't stolen from me, I just…I just lost."

The final word is little more than a whisper and when she meets Sheldon's cold, empty glance she can feel her own eyes starting to water.

Still, she can't do anything, she can't think of the right words that would bring him the much needed comfort. What can she say? Is there anything to say at all?

"You were good enough?" or "Try again?"

No. That wouldn't work, that'd be an offense to Sheldon's intelligence, trying to dismiss his pain with such trivial sayings, as if he is four grader who has a bad grade.

"And…and I'm happy for him, Amy. He is my best friend and I love him, I do. I may not show it but Leonard…he means so much to me. And yet I can't…I can't even look at him without thinking about how much I wanted to win."

The simple, candid words make her realize how much Sheldon has grown up. The once spoiled, bull-headed and often selfish man she had met all those years ago (and still fell in love with despite or maybe because of how broken he was), was nowl ong gone and it made her realize just how proud she was of him.

She steps in closer before wrapping her hands around his frame.

"I know." she whispers.

No pompous words, no promises about things she knew didn't depend on her.

Just the simple reassurance that she understood him. And she did, if anyone did it was her.

"And I'm here for you. We'll get through this."

And the simple statement seems to calm him down and somehow relieve his angst which she saw as impossible at this point. He buries his head in the crook of her neck and draws her in closer and she can't help but melt into his embrace like the first time they'd been this intimate.

"I don't know what I'd do without you." Sheldon whispers in her ear, voice shaking just a little.

"Thank you, Amy."


A week passes and Sheldon's mood improves considerably to the point where they can have another, proper celebration dinner for Leonard without the awkward, drown out pauses between conversations.

Once the two of them are back to their apartment after the dinner (held in the old Cheese Cake Factory because some things never change), Sheldon looks as if he has something to tell Amy and by the looks of it, it seems important.

"What happed at that ceremony…it was the best and the worst day for me. I got to see my best friend win and all the hard work he'd done pay off. At the same time I lost the chance to make one of my biggest dreams come true."

But there is something else, this whole thing also taught me something…" the physicist says, his tone now different. His voice is calm and certain, his aqua eyes are soft and Amy isn't entirely sure she has seen the expression behind them before.

He gives her a prolonged look, his face showing some strange determination. She wonders what he's up to.

"I suppose the best way to deal with a setback is to see it as a blessing in disguise." The neurobiologists says in the end, hoping her words would bring comfort.

Sheldon nods in agreement.

"Exactly. I've learnt that even if I never win the Nobel Prize it won't be the end of the world." he says calmly, as if talking about the weather prognosis and not what he has dreamt of since childhood.

"What are you talking about?" Amy nearly screams back in utter disbelief, "Winning the Nobel is your life goal! You can't just give up now!"

"I'm not giving up." Sheldon retorts quickly, determination once again written over his pale features, his voice firm.

He takes a deep breath before continuing:

"All that I am saying is that…winning a prize isn't why I chose Physics. I do my research because it inspires me. It thrills me. It makes me get up every morning with a broad smile on my lips because I know I will get to learn a little more about the world we live in. As corny as it might sound, no prize can ever compete with that."

Amy just stares at him, eyes filled with genuine love and pride. This, exactly, is the reason why she loves him so much. With or without a prize, in her eyes he is the best physicist to ever grace the Earth.

"Sheldon Cooper, you're the most amazing person I've ever met." she says before pulling him into an unexpected kiss.

He responds immediately and lets himself fully enjoy the physical contact. It is warm and comforting and tells him that everything in the world will be okay, even if it isn't. Why on Earth would he try to fight it? Ages ago he would have, but that Sheldon is long gone.

"Amy, do you know what Nikola Tesla responded when he was asked what his biggest regret was?" he asks once they break the kiss.

"That he didn't win the Nobel because of his fight with Edison?" the neurobiologist replies, incredulous. Unlike Sheldon she hasn't had the time nor the desire to memorize the biography of every famous scientist that has walked Earth.

"No. His biggest regret was that he let his work take all of his attention. He missed out on life…he never knew what it was like to share your life with another person."

Amy nods, although she still can't quite figure where her lover is going with that statement.

"And I don't want to make his mistake." Sheldon adds and without any warning gets on his knees.

Amy stares at him in disbelief, feeling as if the whole scene is part of some happy dream and not reality. Because she has pictured this exact moment hundreds if not thousands of times in her mind but nothing could prepare her for when the other finally makes the step.

Sheldon takes out a small velvet box from his pocket.

"Are-are you really going to…Oh, my God, Sheldon!"

"Amy Farreh Fowler, will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?"

"Yes! Yes! Of course, Sheldon!" she exclaims as Sheldon puts a small silver ring on her finger, making one of her biggest dreams come true through such a small, simple gesture.

They kiss and Amy feels like one of the princesses she heard about in those bed time stories her mother would rarely tell her. The feeling is surreal, something she can't describe even is she's eloquent by nature. She never thought such a thing would happen to her, she believed love was reserved to other girls, pretty girls, girls who don't do science.

"You're my prize, Amy Farah Fowler." Sheldon whispers in her year, dispelling all of the bad memories she has from a lifetime ago.

Because her life with Sheldon, despite all its difficulties, offers moments that feel like a fairy tale and this is one of them.

"Though I wouldn't mine a Nobel as well." Her fiancé (that sounds really good to her) smirks and she lets out a small, heartfelt laughter because of course Sheldon would say something like this.


"Gentleman, I want to thank my wife Amy, for she's the one person who's supported me through this entire journey." Sheldon says, voice steady and full of grace.

Not only is Amy grateful for his words, she is proud. There isn't even a trace left of the man who was once unable to trust another human being due to his childhood and loneliness.

"Believe it or not, I can be hard to put up with" the Nobel laureate smirks and he can hear a few laughs throughout the audience.

"Oh, we believe it." Howard chuckles and the entire gang turns to nod in agreement.

"From personal experience." Leonard adds with a small smile of his own as years of memories with his roommate flood his brain. It makes him feel all the more nostalgic of those times even their lives are a thousand times better these days.

"You're such a drama queen." Penny teases, squeezing his hand.

"That's why you love me" the short man wiggles his eyebrows, making his wife roll her eyes.

"True that" Penny laughs in the end, turning her attention back to the stage.

"No matter how obsolete and hard I might have been to deal with my wife, who has a brilliant mind of her own, stayed with me and encouraged me." Sheldon voice speaks of warmth and gratitude and Amy can't help but let a small tear stream down her face.

"Oh, Sheldon." She whispers, returning her husband's warm gaze.

"Gentlemen, if I could over you a piece of advice. If you want the Nobel Prize, get yourself a woman like Amy Farah Fowler."

The audience chuckles and Amy earns a few curious looks as some people recognize her.

"Well, I am sorry but the best one is already taken." Sheldon jokes, finding it almost impossible not to insert his trademark "bazinga!". Then again that would probably be some very bad publicity.

Amy laughs at him, making a mental note to make this moment a treasured memory.

"The time for my speech is almost over, so I'd just like to add a few more comments before some of you get bored."

Sheldon continues and he earns a few encouraging smiles from the people that matter to him the most in the world – his wife and the friends, effectively serving as the best family he could have asked for.


Author's Note: So, yeah I am back and so is this story! Sorry for the long absence but I do intend on making this work complete. Same goes for my other Big Bang story "The Abduction Incident" (that one is full of Shamy as well, I promise, hah).

Anyway did you enjoy this chapter? I simply couldn't stop myself from writing a cute Shamy proposal that fit with the narrative. And Leonard winning first, I thought that would be a nice twist and a great way to create some character development from Sheldon.

Really what I wanted to portray with this fanfic is Sheldon growing up along with his friends and Amy, all the while pursuing his dream. Don't know how well I'm doing but at least it is super fun to write it, haha!

Once again I apologize if the speech was a little cheesy but I'd figured Sheldon would be pretty emotional once his biggest dreams come true!

Shout out to: bamadude, Stardustvixen, kelli.k, chickychum, Jime221, froggy62800 – your feedback and support is much appreciated!

Please share your thoughts on the story with me!

Reviews serve as an author's motivation!