2026 Nick
I try to avoid teachers and luckily I get to our classroom without meeting anyone. Walking in I can see Debbie surrounded by a large group of boys and girls. When they notice me, they suddenly became silent. Then I go to my seat and sit down. I can't believe that. I'm trying to act cool but after all that, after New York, I was really hoping things would change here. I feel how my face starts to burn as anger runs through me and I could punch her in the face easily but I don't. I take a magazine out of my bag and I start to read. I can't concentrate and I really feel disapoointed. I knwo she told me in San Fransisco that once we go home she will pretend that nothing ever happened in school but it was such a long time ago! We spent nights together in the same room! In the same bed! Fine, we didn't do anything, we are kids and I'm really not into girls yet except Aunt Penny, but we still slept together… I can't believe she's talking about me like that.
But they are coming towards me. The whole group. I can't cry. I can't cry. Not now not in front of everyone.
Debbie smiles. It's not her evil smile but rather her normal smile. The way she smiled looking at the lights of Manhattan. The way she smiled when I bought her that pink toothbrush.
" What are you reading? " she asks.
I have to stay strong.
" Science. Things you'll never understand. Why? "
" Nick! What's wrong with you? Is everything okay with Uncle Sheldon and Aunt Amy? "
She called my parents, my nerdish parents Uncle and Aunt in front of everyone. Now I really don't understand a thing. I open my mouth in disbelief instead of answering her.
" Nick, what is it? "
" Nothing. I'm fine. What do you want? "
" Well, Catherine and Alex and Paul wanted to ask some questions. "
" About what? " I'm still suspicious. What could she tell them? Oh my God, maybe she told them that before leaving, sometimes I peed in my bed. But she doesn't even know that. But my parents could tell her parents…. I take a deep breath.
" I just wanted to ask that is it true that you two were in New York just the two of you all alone? " Catherine asked.
" Yes? "
" Yes. Oh my God that's so cool. And Debbie told you traveled there on buses and visited half of the country." Alex continues.
" Sure. "
" And Debbie told me that you could hack the system of many bus company sites so you could have free tickets? " Catherine asks.
" Yeah. "
" Could you do that for me to Disneyland? It's amazing. " Paul says.
" Maybe. But it's against the law. " I can't help but smile.
" So you really broke the law? " Catherine asks.
" A couple of times. "
" That's badass. " Paul says.
" I told you. We have this little genious outlaw who comes handy pretty often. " Debbie smiles.
" Hey, Nick, would you mind if I would sit next to you for math class? " Catherine asks.
" Umm, sure. " I nod.
2026 Amy and Sheldon
Amy was saying a shy hello as she sat into Sheldon's car.
Sheldon smiled at her. He was wearing a nice, light-blue shirt. Amy checked all her wardrobe but she ended up shopping with Penny in lunch break the day before to choose the proper outfit to the occasion. Now she was wearing a knee-length simple red dress with a grey cardigan. Her hair was straight now barely touching her shoulders.
Sheldon started the car.
" Where are we going? " she asked. Oddly she felt nervous and unconsciously played with the zip of her purse in her lap.
" I thougth first we should eat. I made reservations, but if there's anything else you'd like to…"
" No, it's okay. I'm hungry. "
Another awkward silence fell between them.
" How are the kids doing? " he asked finally.
" Good. I let them drink coke in the afternoon, so my Mom will spend an evening in hell. She deserves it, she said to me, that I'm being ridiculous, there's no hope for me and it's really pointless going on a date, because no one wants a relationship with a forty-one year old woman who has two kids. "
" I'm making a conclusion here, that you didn't tell her you're meeting me. "
" No, I didn't. And I didn't tell the kids either. I told them I will be out with Penny. But I told Penny the truth. "
" I know. He told Leonard who must have told Raj as he emailed me several online lists of the romantic venues of Los Angeles. Gossip is still spreading fast in our social group. "
" Were they any useful? " she asked.
" Well, you tell me. We arrived. "
The restaurant was nice and they had a good place to sit. Amy found the red, leather covered chair comfortable. They were both looking at the menu without talking. After they ordered and their drinks arrived (nothing alcoholic) Amy felt the silence weird again. She could see that something was about to happen, that anyhow this date goes, it could be important, but they looked like, they might want to avoid it.
" So… Umm… It's actually harder than I thought. " she started. A long pause came.
" Yes, apparently we were better at texting. " Sheldon agreed.
" A lot better. " she nodded. She didn't want to start the serious part. Not yet.
Sheldon drank from his water then looked at her.
" Amy… Why did you ask me out? "
" Because I promised you I'll think about us and told you I wanted a theory first about our relationship before starting to experiment again. But then I realised I have way too many theories and I have to narrow them down and to do so I have to spend time with you. So I have a special rule for tonight. We shouldn't talk about the kids. "
" Agreed. " he said smiling, but after that they were sitting without talking again. Amy didn't know where to begin. She had feelings for him, really deep ones, but talking about feelings with Sheldon, well maybe not the greatest idea ever. Now they've talked through all their problems when Nick was missing, so they were still only eating the appetizer and out of topics again. Sure the could have a nice converstaion about work and about anything else in the world, like they've had so many in the past few days, but now this wasn't about having fun. This was about them and like everything about them it was a little insecure and totally weird.
" So how do you think Nick is doing back at school? " Sheldon asked.
" He's fine. But Sheldon… We're not talking about the kids, remember? "
" I'm sorry. " he said.
" So are you satisfied with the food? "
" Mostly. But I asked the waiter for mildly salted, and this is definitely not it. I'll have to talk to him when he comes back. "
Amy shook her head.
" Unfortunately Dory learned that from you. I went with her to get some ice cream and she said she wanted a chocolate-cake flavoured one but without sponge-cake in it. It was terrible. I guess the ice cream guy closed his shop since then. "
" You said that we won't talk about the kids. " Sheldon shook his head.
" I'm sorry… " she said and opted for the version to sit still and wait for anything to happen, to Sheldon to talk or to find out what she wants to say. Or maybe he could just grab her hand. She felt she would be satisfied with that too, but expressing feelings via physical contact wasn't part of Sheldon's game. If he had a game at all. After finishing dinner, Amy was a little bit afraid that Sheldon might ends their date their and she has to go home without anything happening between them. Was this really them? But instead he offered that they may go for a walk in the nearby park. Amy agreed, but she still didn't know what to say.
" Sheldon, why aren't we talking? " she asked finally.
" Well, I don't know why aren't you talking. I'm not talking because you asked me out, so probably I thought I should wait until you really finally tell me what is going on in your mind about us. I tried to ask that from you, but I didn't get an exact answer."
" I see. Don't you think, your ideas could help me? "
" Usually my ideas are wonderful and have a huge variety. They are colorful and amazing. Sadly when it comes to you my otherwise brilliant mind often leaves me alone. "
" Yeah, I know. The last two years I had the opportunity to experience that. " That just slipped out of her mouth.
" So you can see, that's why now I can't really add anything to this situation. " he nodded with a bitter expression. Amy didn't wanted that at all.
" I'm sorry. I didn't intend to make you feel guilty. I'm past that. "
" No. Actually you were right saying that, because it is a fact that I mostly didn't behave rationally in our marriage for the last two years. And where did it get me? It's another fact that it made me lose you completely. Amy, I can't lose you again. I can't lose you because of how it affected the kids and how it affected me. Maybe sometimes I do have certain urges to have more with you than we do have right now, but I can overcome those in the favor of our friendship. I may not get to be with you all the time or live with you again, but this way, at least I get to meet you and have conversations with you. It's a lot more beneficial for me and for our family than being strangers or enemies. And that's where our romantic attempts led us last time. "
Amy felt her eyes filling with tears.
" So you changed your mind. " she said softly.
" Amy, I… I haven't changed my mind. I always respected you even if I haven't acted upon it for a while. And I still do respect you. I… I may had several attempts to re-estabilish our former husband and wife relationship by trying to seduce you, but there were certain circumstances that just put me into a changed emotional state, like our son missing, then coming home then you postponing our divorce hearing, which may not makes sense, but as I told you, my mind lacks some of its functions when it's about you. " He said looking down. Amy felt hurt by his words although they seemed true and he said out loud what she has already been thinking. Maybe this was the best they could achieve. Still it was not enough for her.
" I disagree with you. Our entire lives are made of certain circumstances which put us into different emotional states. So any feelings that were brought up by special curcimstances are not less real than the ones that other, more usual circumstances bring up. And I was hoping respect is not the only feeling you ever had for me." she said finally.
" You're right, but that's why I like to control those circumstances, turn them into valuables and just do math with them mostly. "
" Yes, that would definitely be the easier choice." she said. She hated sometimes the cold, rational Sheldon.
" Amy, I don't want the easier choice. I want what's best for the both of us. But I'm not sure about what that will be."
" Yes, it has certainly been easier when we were just soulmates. " Amy said finally.
" Soulmates? " he asked stopping for a moment.
" Sure none of us would have admitted we have ever believed in this hippie thing, but non officially I actually did believe that we were you know… meant to be. We were so similar and we had so many things to talk about. Didn't you think the same? "
" I guess at some point of my life, I thought that we were meant to be. "
Amy nodded.
Sheldon was looking at her.
" Amy… do you still think we are soulmates? "
She looked back at him in the eyes.
" Not really. No, I don't. "
Sheldon took a deep breath then nodded.
" Well, then it's for the better to leave all this behind between us. It's getting cold. I'll get you home. "
" Sheldon… Wait. What is it again? " she asked.
" As we both expressed in our own ways that we may no longer desire to be in a romantic relationship with each other, I don't think we should continue dating. "
Amy shook her head. Mabye he was right, but she had to tell him. This was a now or never. She grabbed his hand.
" Sheldon, wait. I did not want to express that. Sure we are not soulmates, but we are not less than that. We are actually more than that. Soulmates are fantasy. We are real. What we have is real. Sure this means we have to work for our relationship, but I want to work for it and I know that if we do, it will be worth it. Yes, now this is the hard part, and there's a chance of failing again, but I still want that. I cannot guarantee that it will work out and that it is the best, but I'm sure about how I feel. I love you Sheldon. I'm sorry if it's intimidating for you to hear and I understand that after all that we've been through you don't feel the same, or you don't want to act upon those feelings anymore. I promise, I'll try to be a good friend to you and I won't bring this up ever again, but at least once let me tell you, I love you. You are the only man for me. And I don't just love you because we are similar or we are both smart or we have kids together or I was meant to love you. I love you because I know you and you are not flawless, but you're a fine damn man. And the last couple of weeks showed me that our relationship has values worth fighting for. "
"Amy…" Sheldon looked surprised and in trouble findig words.
" It's okay... I understand. " she said her eyes sparkling from tears and let go of his hand.
" No, you don't. " he said grabbing her hand.
" I said it's okay. " she turned away.
" But it's not. Amy, I love you too. Of course I love you. Do you even know why did I fall in love with you the first place? "
She shook her head. She was trying not to cry. Sheldon told her he loved her. He still loved her.
" Because of my high intellect and my lack of experiences with socializing which made us similar? " she asked. She was curious where he was going with this.
" No. Those things made you a good friend. But the thing I fell for was your faith. Faith's been always a tricky thing for me, my mother was always a believer, but she believed in things I couldn't relate to. I had no faith at all. I'm not talking about God but I had no faith in people or in the possibilities of life or in myself. Then there you came. And now I'm not talking about how you coming to my life made me believe that we were destined to be together. I'm talking about your faith. You were always hoping that life could be more, could be better. I was satisfied or at least settled with my own little world. But you… You were searching for more. You were hoping that we could be friends, you were hoping that you and Penny could become friends and you were hoping we could become more. You were there, with no experiences with men or having girlfriends, but you were still believing, that you can have it. You believed you can have things that I wrote off long decades ago. And you made all those things actually come true. And that's when slowly, you made me believe, that maybe my life could be more than schedules and loneliness too. You made me believe that I can have a family of my own, one thing I thought it's emotionally impossible for me. Not our similarities made me fall in love with you. Our differences did that. "
" Really? " she asked. This was the most beautfil thing Sheldon ever said.
" Really. " he said. Amy couldn't hold it anymore but stepped closer and hugged her tightly standing on her toes, feeling the strongest desire to place her lips on his. Sheldon hugged her back, placing his hand on her back, but turned his face away.
" I haven't finished yet. When we failed, Amy, that made me doubt all that faith and hope. And I still do have doubts. I love you, and I'm willing to work on this with you, if that's what you want, but I do have doubts. "
" I do have doubts too, but that's something we should accept if we want this. I know I do. Now more than ever maybe. "
" Let's do this. " he nodded finally kissing her. His kiss was soft at first, but as she slowly opened his mouth she felt his tongue slowly moving. His hands weren't just laying on her back, but caressing her. She hugged her with one arm but her other hand went up for his hair to stroke. It was a long kiss, but after they broke it to catch a breath she wasn't letting him go still and just hugged him tightly.
" How do you feel? " she asked.
" I don't know. I felt happy but now I need all my attention and cognitive function to control my baser urges. "
" You don't really have to. " she said smiling.
" We are in a park. "
" Well, maybe we should get going. " she said letting him finally go only holding his hand.
Amy woke up at six a.m. to the alarm of her phone. Sheldon was mumbling something in his dream and snuggled to his pillow while putting an arm on her hip. Amy was laying next to him.
" Sheldon, I have to go. I sent a text message to my mother that I'm only coming in the morning, but Nick and Dory will wake up exactly half an hour for now, and if I won't be home by then, they will be worried. " she said putting his hand off of her and sitting up. Theye were spending a night at Sheldon's apartment.
Sheldon also sit up.
" Can I come with you? "
" You have to come with me. I need a ride home. And also you have to come home. I mean I know we haven't talked about this, but I hope you consider moving back to our house as a valid option. " she said.
" In that case I'll come back to my apartment packing after work. "
" Please don't. I'll help you do that in the weekend. Now I want you to come home with me, have breakfast with us, dirve the kids to school, then ditch work and stay with me. " she asked. She knew it was a bold question considering the person she asked.
" Ditching work is something I don't do. And we were calling in sick for more than a week when Nick was missing. " he refused still smiling.
" Come on, Sheldon, they do need our names. Their entire University is garbage without us. They won't fire us. " she said.
" True, but as I said earlier, I don't ditch work. And I'm surprised you do, Little Lady." he said playfully stroking her arm.
Amy shrugged her shoulder.
" Penny thaught me how to ditch work. And I was hoping you would make an exception. " she said.
He shook his head.
" You are the only exception in my whole life. " he whsipered.
" I know." she smiled at him.
" It's really disturbing, you know, for a man like me, who likes rules. "
" Well, it is said, that the exception proves the rule. " she winked at him.
" I always thought that was a stupid idiom. Logically thinking how could an exception prove a rule? " Sheldon asked.
Amy was ready with the answer." The Latin interpretation of the phrase is philosophical, and it explains, that the use of the term exception assumes the exsistence of a rule. Meanwhile the old English interpretation is, that the word prove used to mean test, so it is more like that an exception tests the rule, which leaves the possibility open, that the exception falsifies the rule. But I'm pretty sure you already knew that. "
" I did. But I guess, hearing the Latin interpretation from you, actually convinced me."
" Then, let's go home. "
So, that is it. Epilogue is coming. Please share your final thoughts with me, I really love that, like more than anything. I'm happy about how this fic turned out actually, I hope you feel the same.
