Thank you again for the support for this story! As promised, here is chapter 3 (technically the second half of chapter 2)
Wedding bells and broken hearts
Chapter 3
Amy
She was glad when they were finally back at the hotel, and she was able to say good-night to Sheldon.
He had not said a word after they had talked about her dress.
It was fine by her. There was no need to keep pretending to be a couple after all.
Also, it gave her time to try and process this eventful day.
Meeting Sheldon's family had opened so many wounds. It had been more than she had ever hoped it to be.
It was bittersweet, really, knowing how well she got along with all of them. Because in less than a week, they would probably be calling her all sorts of names.
Amy opened the door to her room, hoping to – finally – get to rest and recover from the emotional toll this day had taken on her.
Her jaw dropped however, when she saw the room. It was huge and looked really fancy. More like a suite than a common hotel room.
What baffled her the most was the huge, comfortable looking king-sized bed. That must be a mistake. No way Sheldon booked this room to stay in with her.
Wanting to take a shower, she was met with the most luxurious bathroom she had ever seen. A gigantic tub in the middle of it. And those buttons on it? Was that a whirlpool?
There were all sorts of small bottles and bath salts in a little basket on the counter. Amy tried to ignore all of it and undressed quickly before entering the shower.
Standing under the hot stream, she started thinking. This was not the room Sheldon had booked for them, of that she was almost certain. But then what was it?
Was it a ruse? Did he book it after she broke up with him? Did he want her to believe this was their room, so she would know what she was missing and take him back?
Or did he just do it to hurt her? To rub her face in the fact that he would never share a room like this with her.
It was ridiculous really. In five years, he had never once shown any interest in sleeping in the same bed as her. Even during the sleepover in their fort, as lovely as it had been, he had insisted on sleeping separately from her.
Should she call him and let him know she was onto him? No, he would just deny it and she had no proof.
But it was too painful to stay here. So, she decided to call the reception.
"Hello, this is Amy Farrah Fowler. I'm sorry for the inconvenience but would it be possible for me to move to a different room? A smaller one, preferably?"
The lady on the other line was silent for a moment.
"I'm sorry, Dr. Fowler. There are no more rooms available. I told Dr. Cooper when he tried to change the reservation a few days ago. The only single room we had left is the one he is occupying right now."
Oh… So maybe it was not a ruse? She needed to be sure.
"Uhm… Just out of curiosity, could you tell me the date this particular room was booked?"
There was the sound of clicking on a keyboard on the other line now. After Amy got the information she had requested, she ended the call and lay back on her bed.
Sheldon had booked this room months ago. Around the time they had fought about his application to Mars. It did not make any sense.
She looked around. It must have cost a fortune to stay here for a week. Why? Why did Sheldon do this? What was behind all this?
She shook her head. It seemed highly unlikely that Sheldon would have wanted anything to happen between them here, and even if he did, it was irrelevant now.
It was over. They were over. She could not waste her time thinking about what might have been.
Suddenly it was all too much. Barely having slept in days, the travelling, spending time with the Coopers, the way everyone had been so nice to her, the room.
She could not stand it anymore, so she took out her phone.
Sheldon
He was still enraged because of what Amy had accused him of in the car.
'I never thought you looked at me that closely'. How could she think that?
Was that why she had broken up with him? Well, how would he know? She had never given him a reason.
She had not given him a chance to defend himself. So even if this was the reason, her thinking he did not notice her, he would not have been able to tell her, how wrong she was.
Because he did notice her. Always had. Much more than he had wanted to at times.
Sighing, he finished his bedtime routine and was already lying down, when his phone rang.
Reaching to his nightstand, he was surprised when he saw the caller. What did she want now?
"Amy?"
"Hello Sheldon, I am sorry for disturbing you. I just wanted to offer you the bigger room, since you paid for it."
He did not see that coming. And he most certainly did not want to be in that room. He did not even want to think about it.
"It's no big deal, Amy. I'm already settled in here. Keep the room.", he replied brusquely.
"Oh… I see." Did he imagine things, or did she sound upset? Yes, this was her upset voice, he was sure of it.
He bit his lips before asking. "Is there something wrong with your room?"
There was a long silence. He huffed annoyed. Just when he wanted to hang up, he heard a sigh.
"No, Sheldon, there is nothing wrong. It's beautiful. It's just… After the flight and this day, it's a little too much to deal with right now."
He had not been sure before, but this time, she had definitely sounded like she was on the verge of crying.
"I shouldn't have called. This is highly inappropriate. I am sorry, Sheldon. I'll hang up now. Good night."
Her voice was choked up and she sounded more than just a little distraught. But before he could say anything she had ended the call.
Sheldon sat up in his bed. He was confused now. Even more than before. Why did she sound so upset? What was wrong with her? What did she mean, it was too much to deal with?
He knew he shouldn't care. He should just ignore her. It wasn't his business anymore. And he was mad at her anyway.
But still.
It was Amy.
Amy
Amy cursed herself for calling Sheldon. She needed to keep calm. Get this week over with. And not break down while talking to her ex on the phone.
He must be thinking she was crazy with the way she had called him just now. It was stupid, really. It was a room. Just a room. Nothing else.
She curled up on one side of the bed facing the wall. It all had happened so fast. A week ago, she had been looking forward to their anniversary date. And now they were broken up. Just like that.
It was such a mess. She still loved him so much. Would he be here in the room with her if she had not broken up with him? Maybe even in the same bed?
Or would he be at the reception, screaming and demanding twin beds because this room was nothing but a misunderstanding?
It did not matter anymore. Nothing did. What's done was done.
The tears she had been holding back all day were starting to fall and a sob escaped her throat.
Just then, she heard the sound of Sheldon knocking on her door and froze. Did he want to switch rooms after all? She didn't dare answer him, because she knew her voice would give away her tears.
Sheldon
There was no answer when he had knocked. Amy could not have fallen asleep so fast, could she?
Carefully, he tried to open the door and succeeded. She must have forgotten to lock it.
"Amy?", he whispered. It was dark but he could spot her figure on the bed. She was laying on her side, facing the wall.
Strange. Maybe she was asleep after all. But just as he wanted to turn around and leave, he could hear something that sounded like a stifled sob.
"Amy?", he asked again. "Are you crying?"
"No.", she answered, but her shaky voice told him the opposite.
This was preposterous. Why would Amy be crying? She had no reason to cry.
"I can hear you crying, Amy.", he stated. He was at war with himself.
This should not be bothering him. She had broken up with him after all.
He should be upset and curled up like a ball in his bed. Not her. Nevertheless, he had to ask.
"Amy? Are you upset? Or sad?"
He could hear her huff. "It's none of your business, Sheldon."
She was right. He had no business being here. He had never wanted to set foot in this room again now, had he?
But something had made him check on her. It seemed he had a hard time accepting the fact that he did not have to care about her anymore.
His mind took him back to a different occasion when she was crying. They had not been dating then but she had wanted him to hold her. She had been craving intimacy and human contact then, or so she had told him.
He should not. He really should not do this. But he could not help it. The moment he noticed her despair, his anger had dissipated into thin air.
Was he going crazy? It felt like he was being pulled to her. And it was kind of a social obligation now, wasn't it?
Amy
It was so quiet, she almost thought Sheldon had left the room again. But then she heard slow footsteps and felt the mattress behind her move a little.
No, that was not possible. Maybe she was already asleep and dreaming. There was no way Sheldon would get into bed with her.
But then she felt his warm body behind her brushing hers softly. She froze.
"Sheldon? What are you doing?" Her voice was still shaky, and the tears kept coming.
And then she felt his touch. Just lightly. His lower arm lay loosely on her side and his hand started stroking her shoulder.
"I'm comforting you.", he said softly. "Just like that other time when you were sad."
That other time? What did he mean? She racked her brain until she remembered.
He must have meant the time, Bernadette and Penny had excluded her from dress shopping.
But that had been years ago. They had not even been dating then and she had had to negotiate her way into cuddling.
He seemed to have no problems holding her now. They had come so far since then. And still, everything was broken now.
She exhaled shakily. It felt nice, being held by him like this. His hand on her shoulder.
It was just a gentle touch. Their bodies were barely touching. And yet, it felt so much more intimate than everything they had ever done.
She knew it was a bad idea. Sheldon was probably just doing this to fulfill a presumed social convention.
She should not be enjoying this so much. It would only hurt more when he was gone again.
But just like meeting his family, she felt, somehow, she deserved this. To enjoy the little bit of intimacy Sheldon was willing to give her.
Just today, she told herself. Just for now. She had been pretending to be his girlfriend all day. It was a logical continuation.
So, she relaxed into his touch and let the tears fall silently, while he kept stroking her shoulder.
"Thank you, Sheldon.", she couldn't help but whisper. He didn't say anything, but he stroked her shoulder a little more firmly in response.
It was so comfortable. The tears had stopped falling a while ago and her eyelids were starting to feel heavy.
So, she closed her eyes and for the first time since their five-year anniversary, Amy fell asleep easily.
Sheldon
As soon as his body had touched Amy's, Sheldon had regretted his decision. Oh, he had planned to touch her that night when he had booked this room. But not like this.
Holding a crying Amy somehow made everything even more real. He had carefully caressed her shoulder, hoping it would soothe her, trying not to cry himself.
He was still confused as of why she was sad.
She had wanted this, right? She had chosen to break up with him. She had not even given him a say in the matter.
After a while her breathing pattern had evened out and he knew she had fallen asleep. Only then he allowed himself to let out the deep breath he had been holding.
He could not resist the urge to scoot a little closer to her.
He rested his face in her neck and inhaled her scent. It was so familiar, so comfortable. So… Amy. He buried his nose in her soft hair and couldn't hold back a sob.
He stroked her shoulder one last time. He knew he had to leave now. He felt like a creep, lying in bed with his sleeping ex-girlfriend.
With shaky legs he stood up and retreated back to his own room.
Only when his head hit the pillow, he allowed the tears to fall.
He could remember it perfectly. The way her warm body had felt, the way her hair had tickled his nose. Her soft curves and her unique scent. It was intoxicating.
He clutched the bedsheets in his hand and sobbed.
This was all wrong. He should be there with her in their room right now. Celebrating their engagement. Holding her after consuming their love for the first time.
It had taken some time to talk himself into it, but he was ready. Even curious about it. And after spending nights thinking about it, he was almost sure, he would enjoy it.
Because so far, he had enjoyed everything he had experienced with her.
He had been so sure that she would want nothing more than to be engaged to him. That she would have loved this little trip. In his head he had planned it all out perfectly.
He would have led her to their room, and she would have been thrilled and called him thoughtful and romantic.
Maybe she would even have reacted just like the time when he had gifted her the tiara. And this time, he would have been prepared for her enthusiasm.
He would have taken her to bed, where he would have shown her how important she was to him. How much he loved her. And how far he had come from the man who could hardly hold her hand a few years before.
He did not know how successful he would be to please her, but he had read up on the topic and he was certain she would have enjoyed it.
After that, they would have opened the bottle of champagne – he would have even been willing to take a sip to celebrate the occasion – and they would have taken a bath in the tub and started planning their future, just like she had told him she wanted to when they had fought about his application to Mars.
There, he would have asked her to move in with him. Because he could not wait for that until they were married.
No, after he finally came to terms with the thought, he realized, he was looking forward to it.
Living with Amy, seeing her every morning, combining their lives, talking about science, going to bed together.
He did not know why he was ever scared of that. They had been so compatible since the day they had met.
Of course, she would have said yes. Wasn't it, what she had always wanted? She had suggested this several times during the course of their relationship.
And then, if they both had enjoyed their lovemaking, maybe they would have done it again in the tub.
And in the end, they would have fallen asleep together, next to each other. For the first time and from there on every night of their lives.
It was such a mess. What went wrong? He couldn't tell. Everything had been good. During the past year, after he came back from his trip, they had gotten so much closer.
They had spent more time together, had more dates, kissed more often. Was that not what she had wanted? He had told her he loved her. They had even planned to get a turtle. And she had spent the night as his place.
Why did she have to break up with him? Why did she stop loving him?
And why was she sad now all of a sudden? What did it mean?
He tossed and turned for what felt like hours before he finally managed to fall into a restless sleep.