The Frustration Compulsion: Chapter 25
A Change In Arrangements
*a/n Hai guys, I'm glad you liked the last chapter! Just a random question, does anyone know what you're supposed to do when the person you really really really like actually starts taking an interest in your favorite fandom that you're in? Like what does that even mean? I don't know, but it made me really happy and really inspired to write today. For the record, I have no idea how long it takes to get from California to Texas. But In this chapter, we're finally getting somewhere and it's mostly going to be from Amy's point of view while she spends time on the plane and gets settled into Texas and such, and the next chapter is still Amy mostly but then the next chapter we'll start to see more of Sheldon's point of view, I think. Hope you enjoy, don't forget to review! Until next time!~
Previously…
"Are you okay now?" He asked softly, staring deep into her green eyes. Amy felt her knees go weak and she nodded shyly.
That was all that was said until Sheldon stuck his hand back into his pocket and held out his arm once again.
"Shall we?" Sheldon asked once more; looking at Amy expectantly.
With a smile, Amy took his arm in hers and together they walked back to their gate and prepared to board their plane.
Currently…
"Sheldon, calm down." Amy soothed, shifting slightly in her seat beside him. He turned his head to look at her; eyes wide and breathing rapidly.
"How can you say that?!" He asked, his face turning flush. The airplane below them was shuddering and vibrating with a minor intensity; the source of Sheldon's anxiety.
"Sheldon, it's going to be okay." She reassured, grabbing his arm firmly. He was still panicking the same as before but at least turned his full attention to her and looked her in the eye.
"Is it, is it really, Amy?" He was skeptical and frustrated and everything in between and Amy could tell. She had to do something to calm him down or else they were both going to get kicked off the plane.
"Yes, it really is going to be okay. I know so. Do you want to know why I know this?" She sounded confident, or at least she hoped she did. Sheldon had a distant look in his eye but he nodded slowly while still breathing alarmingly fast. His face was no less flush than before.
"In less than 13 hours, we're going to be in Texas to spend a whole week with your MeeMaw and the rest of your family." Amy was beyond nervous. She had her own doubts as to what would happen while meeting his family, but she knew that Sheldon needed to be reminded about his MeeMaw in order to calm down. Lucky for her, it seemed to work.
He nodded again; albeit faster, and leaned back against his seat. Slowly, a somewhat dreamy smile appeared on his lips but he still looked a little dazed. Amy sighed, a job well done. All that was left to do now was to listen to the plane's rumble as it sat in the airport waiting to take off.
#
Some time later, after several more people had boarded the plane, all the doors swung shut and all the screens in front of each seat lowered themselves. Amy was half asleep but became aware of all the commotion around her fairly quickly. Sheldon quickly tore his gaze off of her and focused on the screen before him. The rumbling continued in each of their ears.
Amy didn't bother paying attention to any of the rules that were being said on every tiny screen on the plane. Normally she would have, but since she was flying with Sheldon, he had made certain to go over such things before traveling. She really didn't need to watch some guy explain it to her through a little speaker.
Sheldon was in a similar position. He had flown several times before and knew every single rule and regulation. Listening to someone explain them to him again certainly wasn't worth his time.
Both Sheldon and Amy sat back in their seats once more, and Amy shuffled around trying to get comfortable. She hadn't even been on the plane more than an hour and it was already extremely uncomfortable.
Sheldon noticed all of Amy's squirming out of the corner of his eye. He could understand that she was uncomfortable; the plan seats weren't exactly as soft as pillows. Still, he wanted to make the experience perfect for her, but what could he do?
As casually as he could, Sheldon feigned being tired with a fairly convincing yawn. After that, he raised his arm and slipped it around Amy's shoulders.
She froze at the contact. Sheldon was actually putting his arm around her… in public. With all these physical displays of affection happening so quickly, Amy was more than over joyed. She instantly relaxed into his body and sighed contently.
Sheldon was relieved to say the least that Amy had relaxed into his touch. He was still uncomfortable with such an intimate activity in a public place like they were in, but this trip wasn't about him. It was about Amy, even though she had arranged it for him. She was in for the perfect week, he was sure of it. As long as his plan went on track.
Amy looked up at Sheldon then and interrupted his thoughts with her soft green eyes staring into his. Sheldon felt his heart rate increase suddenly and his palms grew sweaty. He pulled his hand out of his pocket and wiped it on his pants before returning it to its original position.
Giving him a small smile, Amy was ecstatic when Sheldon smiled back at her with his perfect smile that she had long before fallen in love with.
Their special moment was interrupted by the plane's sudden jerk forward and the rumble of the floor beneath them increased. Sheldon sucked in a quick breath and squeezed Amy closer to him for support. Amy responded by setting her free hand on his arm gently and giving him an encouraging smile.
Being lost in Amy's eyes never proved to help him as much as it did in that moment. When they both finally looked away, the plane was successfully in the air. The only problem was the slight pressure that formed in his ears, but he could live with that.
Only 12 hours and 59 minutes to go.
#
About 4 hours into the flight, the plane was tugged to the left a little and Sheldon let out a small whimper. He gently shook Amy and she gazed at him with sleepy eyes.
"Yes, Sheldon?" She asked, completely content to be sitting so close to him. He looked back at her with a worried frown and large, alert eyes.
"Amy, did you feel that?" He sounded almost frantic. That wasn't the first time Sheldon had woken her up for something unnecessary, but she really didn't mind. She didn't want to be asleep throughout their whole plane ride; she'd miss all the scenery.
"Relax; it was just the plane experiencing some turbulence." Amy mumbled sleepily, lowering her head back onto Sheldon's shoulders. He tensed slightly, but relaxed after a short while.
"I knew we should've taken the train." Sheldon muttered under his breath, shaking his head slightly. Amy smiled to herself, secretly elated that her boyfriend had agreed to spend so much time with her in the first place. It didn't matter to her where they went of how that got there, just as long as they were together.
"You know you like spending time with me." Amy teased softly, looking back up at him. Sheldon considered her hypothesis for a moment before deciding that she was right.
"Well, if I had to choose between traveling with you on a plane or going alone on the train, I'd choose you and the plane. So yes, you are correct." He gave her another special smile after that and Amy felt her own happiness increase tenfold.
"I'd hope so," She said before once again lowering her head and getting comfortable into Sheldon's side. A moment later, he pulled her in closer yet again and she felt him gently kiss the top of her head.
Amy fell asleep seconds later with a big smile on her face.
#
The rest of the plane ride and baggage collecting and things went unnoticed by Amy, mostly because she was asleep for most of it but when she was awake, she was half asleep and in a daze. She couldn't have asked for a better thirteen hours spent with the man she was in love with.
Unfortunately, their perfect time spent together was quickly coming to a close and Amy knew she wouldn't get to see much of Sheldon alone in the next week. With all his family and everything, she doubted they would even have time to play a short game of counterfactuals.
The only time remaining before Amy was scheduled to meet Sheldon's family was the time it was going to take them to drive from the airport to their destination. She knew it wasn't a long drive; Sheldon had informed her of that when they sought out her rental car.
Amy had had the sense to inform Sheldon's family that they were coming, and they all wanted to be there to drive them from the airport. She was surprised when Sheldon had politely refused, stating that they would find their own mode of transportation. His actions puzzled her to no end. Surely there was a reason behind his odd behavior, right?
Sheldon seemed fidgety in the car ride to his old home. Amy glanced at him from the corner of her eye and saw that he was already gazing at her intently. She blushed at the sudden attention before bringing her eyes back to the road.
"Is everything okay, Sheldon?" She asked, concern dripping from her voice. She heard him sigh and the minute she pulled up to a red light, she turned her head to look at him.
"Yes, I'm fine. It's just, I know how little we're going to get to see each other over this next week, and to be honest, I'm finding it increasingly difficult to separate myself from you."
Amy was surprised that he was telling her all this. She could only wonder how long he had been feeling like that. Would this change anything about their relationship? Would they be spending more time together? Possibly an extra date night…?
"I concur, it's not going to be easy, you know. This will be good for us, right? I mean, I'll get to meet your family… and you, you'll get to see them too! I mean, that's what family is about, right….? Seeing each other…"
That was probably the most stupid thing she could have said. Amy was nervous, and she certainly wasn't denying it. How on Earth was she going to make it through the week?
"Amy, I know staying with my mother is something that you didn't plan on originally, but I have to warn you, if we spent any time together, and I mean any, she will accuse us of 'sinnin' at least once. Nor will she let us see each other after dark. Now, I don't know about you, but these rules seem a bit restrictive…"
'Sheldon wants to see me after dark….' Amy thought to herself with giddiness. Of course, she knew he probably meant playing games or something like that, but it was fun to imagine things.
"Green," Sheldon said while looking out the window. Amy looked away from her gaze on him and saw that there were no longer cars in front of them, so she started driving again. No more words were spoken on their journey, and in no time, Amy was about to round the corner and pull into Mary's driveway.
While Amy was waiting and looking for traffic, Sheldon grasped her hand and sent a tingle down her spine. She looked at him briefly before a small smile came to her lips. Sheldon was holding her hand again, and it hadn't been twenty four hours since he had! Oh, the joy.
"I want you to know that while my mother won't approve, I will still hold your hand on occasion and show limited displays of physical affection." Sheldon whispered once Amy had pulled in. She wanted so badly to ask him to elaborate, to be more specific, but before she could, a woman who looked to be about in her fifties ran up to her car.
She saw Sheldon heave his chest once before plastering on a genuine smile and opening the car door to greet his mother. Instead of pulling her into a hug, he offered her his hand. She wasn't having any of it.
"Shelly Bean, don't you go replacin' hugs with hand shakes. You know that's not how we do things around here." Once again, Sheldon sighed and rolled his eyes. He didn't protest when his mother engulfed him in a hug, and he tentatively placed his hands along her back.
Fairly quickly, Mary pulled away and Amy watched as Sheldon walked over to her side of the car and opened her car door for her. He was such a gentleman.
"My oh my, if it isn't Amy!" Mary exclaimed with such a cheeriness that made Amy confused. People didn't usually love her presence that much.
"Mrs. Cooper," Amy said with a nod, not sure at all what she was supposed to do. Mary chucked at her response and gave a little smile.
"Just like lil' Shelly over here. My, he couldn't have picked a better woman." With that, Mary engulfed Amy in one of her motherly hugs and Amy felt herself standing there, just as Sheldon had, but after a moment she felt herself relax. This woman had quite the motherly quality to her, something Amy had never experienced with her own mother before.
After Mary and Amy separated, Amy caught Sheldon smiling a little as he observed their interaction. She thought it was the cutest thing in the world.
A few feet away in the door way, the sound of someone clearing their throat filled the air and all heads turned to find a frail, old woman with faded blonde hair standing there with her legs crossed.
"Now, who is that I see? Is that my Shelly Bean and his little girl Amy?!" She, too, seemed enthusiastic about Amy's presence. It baffled her to no end.
Still, she could see why Sheldon loved this woman so much. Her smile was warm and she had the silhouette of a young school girl. Everything about her seemed so amazing from the moment she laid eyes on her, and she didn't even know the woman yet!
Mary nodded at her mom's words and placed a hand on Amy's back, leading her inside. Once everyone was standing in the kitchen, she turned her gaze to her son and cocked her head at him.
"What?" He asked innocently, enjoying the time that he was spending with his grandmother. It had interrupted their conversation, and he was slightly annoyed.
"Now Shelly, you know the rules around here. Go get your bags from the car." Sheldon glanced at Amy in a plea, almost as if asking her to make his mother change her mind. Amy stared back, just longing to be alone with him for a little bit longer.
MeeMaw seemed to notice this, and gave Amy a knowing look. Mary completely missed everything because her gaze remained on her son. It was almost as if they were having a staring competition,
"Fine." Sheldon whined; slumping his shoulders a bit. "But if I have to go out there, Amy has to come with me. You know I don't lift things."
Mary was having none of Sheldon's arguments against this. She pulled Amy closer to her and stared Sheldon down a bit more before he finally relented and made his way outside; grumbling all the way.
MeeMaw turned to them both after that and looked at Amy apologetically. Amy felt awkward, not knowing what to do. Mary looked as ecstatic as ever.
"Alright now, I think imma leave you two be and keep Shelly company outside." As MeeMaw bid farewell, she pulled Amy into a warm and loving embrace before whispering in her ear.
"You and I need to have a conversation later, young lady." As she pulled away, Meemaw winked at Amy and smiled once again before walking out of the house.
Amy was left puzzled, but decided not to think about it until later. Instead, she stood inside the kitchen and looked around. She was in the house that Sheldon grew up in. She felt pretty darn special that she could come there with him.
"Come on; let me give ya a tour." Mary offered, walking ahead of Amy into the living room.
Amy sighed; it was going to be a long night.