Who was devastated after hearing the news about this season 12 as the last season of TTBT? I was. I still am.
Nevertheless, editing this chapter made me feel a little better. Hopefully, you will feel better as well after reading it.
Here's hoping for the best season 12! Happy reading!
Sheldon intentionally left some copy of his favorite comics in his old bedroom to be reread when he visited his mother and Meemaw. He had the same copies in his apartment, but he kept some in Texas so that he did not have to worry about running out of reading material. It turned out to give other merits such as to prove your counterparty wrong when debating about some topic in a particular edition like this time. He had an eidetic memory, but he had learned that people tend to not believe him if he was not able to show evidence to support his statement.
He never thought that the girl his mother introduced him to held the same interest as him in comics, science fiction, and physics. At first, he was afraid that the girl would be some religious type like his mother considering they met at church. But as it turned out, she also interested in physics. She was only a physics teacher in a high school, so she only had a master degree and did not have a doctorate, but he understood that not everyone could be like Sheldon Cooper.
They were sitting on the floor his bedroom, with comic books spread around them. It had been so long since he had a conversation about comics as stimulating as this, nowadays the guys only wanted to talk about was their women—and in Raj's case, his lack thereof.
"Well, Sheldon, it looks like you were right after all," Vanessa said after he showed the comic to her.
"I've told you. My brain would never betray me. It remembers everything."
"But, surely, not everything everything, right?"
"Everything. I have an eidetic memory."
"Wow! That is amazing," Vanessa said.
"I know," he replied. Sheldon thought she looked a little flushed but he was not sure. He knew that his brain was the chick magnet. Even Amy had the same reaction when she found out about it, although he could clearly see the flush on Amy's cheeks.
"You have an eidetic memory?" Amy asked him one afternoon when they were working in her lab. Sheldon was reciting to her an interesting article he read the night before. Amy had asked him how he could remember all of it, so he told her about his eidetic memory.
"Yes," he replied coyly.
"Hoo, that is very impressive Doctor Cooper."
"Thank you." Usually, when people complimented him, he would respond with some cocky replies. However, there was something sincere in Amy's tone which made him felt truly flattered.
"How I would love to scan your brain and study how it works," she added shyly. Sheldon could clearly see the blush on Amy's face which, added with her remarks, had also made him blush in return.
"Sheldon, are you okay? You're blushing. You should have gotten used to compliments for your amazing brain by now," Vanessa interrupted his thought.
"Oh, no. I was thinking about Amy, I-I mean other things," he said. "And I'm perfectly aware of how amazing my brain is. Anyway, it's getting late. Won't your mother be looking for you?" Sheldon quickly changed the subject.
"I don't think so. She knows I'm here and she knows your mother," Vanessa replied. Sheldon thought she looked a little disappointed but again, he was not sure. Reading other people's emotions was not his strong suit. "So, this is your old bedroom?"
"Yes," he said, frowning. They had been in the room for a while, and she just commented on it now.
"Do you miss being here?"
"Not really. I don't miss my childhood times. I do miss my mother and Meemaw though, and sometimes but very rarely, my brother and sister."
"My family moved a lot when I was a kid so I never really had a home growing up, you know," Vanessa said. She then started talking about her childhood which irritated Sheldon—they were there to talk about comics, not her boring childhood. Sheldon tuned her out. He recalled Amy's story about her childhood; she told him her mother put her in the closet every time she thought Amy had done something terrible. However, Amy never let it get under her skin and always managed to sneak a book or two, so she could spend the time-out to read. That was why she was so smart. Now, that was interesting, he thought. Sheldon scolded himself. His brain could not stop thinking about Amy, and it made him wondered her whereabouts. He eyed the room, and his gaze fell on the cardigan Amy used earlier. He suddenly felt the urge to see her.
"Excuse me a moment," Sheldon stood.
"Where are you going?"
Sheldon already left the room without even answering.
Amy sat on the step of the back porch. She needed to sort out the feelings she did not understand. She should be happy that Sheldon found someone who shared the same interest in comics and science fiction shows, but she could not stop the unsettling feeling in her stomach when she saw his excitement when he talked with Vanessa. She did not like it. She was the one who told him to open his mind, but now she just wanted to judo-chopped that woman and tell her that Sheldon was not for her. The thought surprised her, and she realized she was crying.
Amy was starting to accept that she was feeling something stronger than just a friendship with Sheldon and the probability that she was jealous when she heard someone opened the door behind her. She quickly wiped her tears and looked up to see Sheldon stood next to her. He sat down on the step next to her. He watched her intensely, so Amy quickly averted her gaze. If Sheldon caught her teary eyes, he did not say anything.
"Why are you here?" he asked her.
"I just needed some fresh air," Amy replied, hoping Sheldon would not notice her hoarse voice. "Why are you here? I thought you were having fun talking with Vanessa." Amy scolded herself after saying that, now she sounded jealous and she did not want him to think less of her.
"I did, but if I want to talk about comics or Star Trek, I could do it with the guys back home. Besides, she found atomic spectroscopy boring," Sheldon only replied. "And I kind of missed you," he added sheepishly.
Sheldon reached her hand and intertwined it in his, rubbing her knuckles. Amy put her head on his shoulder and inhaled his body talc. She felt he pressed his head on hers. They both were silent and enjoying the moment.
"Are you sad?" Sheldon asked after a while.
"Not anymore."
Mary was cheerfully knitting in the living room by herself. Her mother had retired to her room after she told Mary to fix what she had done. Mary only scoffed at her—there was nothing she needed to fix. Sheldon and Vanessa got along very well. Frankly, she was in doubt at first, but she was glad that she got a positive reaction from Sheldon that evening.
"Mrs. Cooper?"
She was surprised when she looked up to see Vanessa stood with her coat draped on her arm.
"I'm going home now. Thank you for the lovely dinner," she said politely.
"Are you leaving now? I thought you were still talking with Sheldon upstairs.," Mary said.
"We were, but then he left. I think I bore him."
Despite her chuckle, she looked a little sad and Mary felt sorry for her. "I'm sorry, Vanessa. I will talk to him."
"Oh, please don't. Look, Mrs. Cooper, I know you and my mother have some arrangement for us, but I only came here because she asked me to. And while Sheldon is very interesting and brilliant, I can see that he already has someone else on his mind. Maybe you should see it, too. Good night and thank you again for dinner."
With that, Vanessa left.
Mary needed a moment for her words to sink in. She silently put her knitting tools on the coffee table and walked to the kitchen—she could use a cup of tea. Mary was pouring the water onto the kettle when from the kitchen's window, she saw Sheldon and Amy in the back porch. They were sitting on the step and leaning against each other. There was no one else around them, so they did not need to prove a point to anyone, yet they still showed affection towards each other.
Suddenly, Mary's eyes were open. She had been so obsessed with finding the perfect match for Sheldon she did not see that he actually had found it. She realized that her mother was right all this time. Sheldon was a grown man and she should had trusted him. She was embarrassed for being so proud and thinking that she knew what was best for him without even considering his opinion and decision. Mary could see that Sheldon and Amy were compatible with each other. Truth to be told, seeing Amy was like seeing Sheldon and it scared her at first. Mary thought Amy was weird, but Sheldon was a unique specimen himself, any normal person would not attract him. Mary could see a significant change in Sheldon with Amy beside him. A good change.
Mary smiled. She decided to forget her tea and give them some privacy. Still, she took a mental note to have Amy and Sheldon sleep in separate bedrooms later.
It was getting dark, but none of them seemed to care. They were still sitting on the step of the back porch, holding hands and leaning against each other. They were too busy with each thought; tomorrow they would fly back home. Would everything go back to normal? They did not even know what was normal, to them, what they had at the moment felt natural.
"We should start packing now. We have an early flight tomorrow," Amy broke the silence.
Sheldon only mumbled his approval, but neither of them moved.
"Sheldon?"
"Yes?"
"What happens when we go back?"
"I guess everything returns to normal."
"But I like it here."
"In Texas?"
"Not precisely. I like what we have and what we are doing here."
"Oh," Sheldon replied weakly. "I like it, too."
"Technically, we did not set the parameter on how long we are going to continue pretending to be each other's girlfriend-boyfriend. We still can do this once we are back in California," Amy proposed.
"I know. But I don't want to pretend."
"Oh," Amy replied. She felt the air was sucked out of her lungs. She sat straight, moving away from his body and instantly missing the warm. Although, Sheldon did not let go of her hand and Amy was sure her heart would shatter if he did.
"Amy, when I found out that my mother was trying to set me up, I was angry because I thought she understood me. The need to find another human being to share one's life with has always puzzled me. I was perfectly fine on my own, but then I met you and I knew what it is like to have you around. And I like it so much I can't even imagine my life without you now."
Amy gulped, feeling the air suddenly filled her lungs. "I feel the same way," she finally managed to say.
"Good. Because I want it to be real," Sheldon said, squeezing her hand.
"I really want that, too."
Sheldon nodded and adjusted his position to face her him. "With that being said, Amy, will you be my real girlfriend?"
Amy mimicked his position and grinned widely, "Yes."
He grinned back at her.
Suddenly, a gentle breeze flew. Amy involuntarily let go of their joined hands to rub her arms and warm herself. Sheldon quickly enveloped his arms around her and rubbed her arms, trying to give her some heat. "You really do get cold easily," he said, although he did not seem to mind at all.
"I know, that's why I'm always wearing so many layers. Too bad, I already took off my cardigan," she said. However, none of them considered getting inside.
"I agree. You should always wear your cardigan. In fact, I think maybe you need to wear more."
In the not so distant future, Sheldon Cooper would complain that Amy Farrah Fowler was wearing too many layers when they were about to make love for the first time. But it was a story for another time.
- the end -
A/N: Didn't I tell you that this is the last chapter? Well, it is. Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. Thank you very much for reading and leaving reviews on this story.