Lovely readers, thank you all so much for your kind reviews! I'd love to reply to each of you individually, but there was no time. I'm happy that I managed to correct this next chapter within a week, haha. But I'm so grateful for each of you. It means so much to me that you're still reading this after I took such a long time! Thanks. :)

So, the first chapter was the only one I had for a looong time. Everything afterwards came together much harder. The next chapters will be shorter, but other than that, I hope it's not that noticeable that I had no idea what to write, haha.

One more note: If Leonard comes across a little OOC, it's because I tried to write him as "first season Leonard" who was very shy and insecure. I think it wasn't really clear why Leonard even decided to move to California at the beginning so I just figured it had something to do with his mother. :) Happy reading!

Chapter 2:

It wasn't Monday. It was Wednesday.

Leonard carried his tray over to the counter, studying the board with different menu choices. "Hm… I'll take the Asia noodles, the green salad and red Jell-O for dessert."

"We're out of red Jell-O." said the bored lunch lady as she shoved Leonard a plate of noodles over the counter. "All we have is some cream pudding."

"Oh…" he said a little disappointed. "Nothing for dessert then. I'm lactose intolerant."

"Sucks for you, kid." she said while already concentrating on the next person in line.

Leonard frowned upon her unfriendliness, but moved on to look for a place to sit in the packed cafeteria of CalTech. He was running a little late today and most of the seats were already taken. He would probably not be able to avoid sharing a table with a strange colleague or student this time. His best bet seemed to be the table in the middle of the room. There were four seats but only one of them was occupied.

In retrospect it should have made Leonard wonder why no one wanted to sit there. But only as he came closer, he suddenly recognized the lanky frame and the dark head of hair.

It was Sheldon.

In his mind Leonard fought over his options. Maybe he should just take a chair and move it to a different table. Amy didn't seem to be around and he wasn't sure if her proposal to eat lunch together still counted if the only person present never seemed to be very eager to talk to him. But what if Sheldon saw him walking by and thought him to be rude because he didn't even stop to say hello?

Man, I should have made a decision before I started walking towards him, Leonard cursed inwardly, already standing too close to the table to make a hasty turn without drawing attention towards him.

"Uh, hi." Leonard therefore said and he swore he saw Sheldon roll his eyes before he even looked up to him, surprised to see a familiar face. "Can I sit with you?"

Sheldon seemed to consider his question, but then he nodded curtly, motioning for the chair across from him. "I guess you can."

Leonard sat down. "So… no Amy today?"

His opponent's eyes narrowed instantly. "Why do you ask about her?"

Leonard blinked perplexed for a second. "No particular reason. It's just that… she was the one suggesting to eat lunch sometime and… well, I'm used to seeing you together, so that's why I asked. I thought it would be a good conversational starter… you know, since we haven't really talked that much without her." he added awkwardly.

A beat of silence passed. "Right." Sheldon then simply said and returned back to his food.

Leonard felt a surge of annoyance bubbling up as he noticed that Sheldon apparently came here early enough to get a cup of red Jell-O, which was now sitting at the edge of his tray and seemed to mock him. Leonard shook himself. How ridiculous to get angry at his neighbor because of a dessert. Instead, he tried once more to make some friendly conversation. "So… how come you're having lunch without your fiancée? Are you two okay?"

Sheldon's head snapped up and he sent a smoldering glare across the table. "Of course we are! Why would you assume anything different?"

"I-I don't know, I was just wondering." Leonard said quickly, holding up his hands in surrender.

Sheldon sighed, picking at his food. "If you must know, Amy got held up at a meeting with her colleagues to discuss a new study for the Neurobiology department."

"Oh… okay. That's interesting." said Leonard, waiting for Sheldon to elaborate further. But he didn't. "I'm working on a new experiment, too."

"I figured." Sheldon deadpanned without looking up from his tray. "You claim to be an experimental physicist after all."

"I am." declared Leonard disgruntled. "Right now, I'm looking for more efficient rocket fuel alternatives."

"Oh, boy." Sheldon voiced dismissively once again. "Good luck with that."

This time Leonard definitely saw him roll his eyes. As if Sheldon didn't believe that he actually knew what he was talking about. And this time there was no Amy around to dispel or mollify his inappropriate behavior. "Okay, enough of that!" Leonard exclaimed, dropping his fork.

"I couldn't agree more." Sheldon chimed in.

"No, I mean enough with the eye-rolling and the nasty frowns. Ever since Amy invited me over to dinner you seem to have a problem with me." Leonard finally dared to point out. "And I don't know what I could've possibly done to anger you."

Sheldon scoffed. "Of course, you don't know."

"No. I really don't." Leonard stated firmly. "But I hope that we can sort this out like adults instead of stewing in resentment. We'll be seeing a lot of each other with being neighbors and colleagues, so it would be nice to be civil. Now, I'd say that Amy and I get along fine, so what's your problem?"

"That right there!" Sheldon pointed out passionately, straightening up in his chair. "That's the problem."

Leonard furrowed his thick, dark eyebrows. "What?"

His opponent was biting his lower lip now. As if he had said something he never intended on sharing. His cheeks were blushing a bit and he looked downwards. Eventually he decided to continue, "Don't think I didn't notice the way you were looking at Amy when you first met her. And now you're so nice to her, bringing her flowers, assuming that we're having problems and meanwhile you two get along so well." He paused, looking at Leonard intently. "But she's not for you!"

Leonard's mouth dropped open. Of all the things Sheldon could've said that was definitely something he did not expect. The tall, arrogant physicist, who seemed to be so confident about everything that concerns him, was jealous.

"Oh… Sheldon, I know she's not for me. Of course, I know. You two are engaged and you know each other half your lives already. Even if I wanted to, how could I ever come between such a strong bond?" he said earnestly.

Sheldon wet his lips, suddenly seeming a lot younger than he actually was. Leonard saw the nerdy, intelligent but socially insecure teenager that he himself had always been – and still was to be honest – and he started to sympathize with him. Would Leonard be lucky enough to get a girl, he would damn well make sure that he would never lose her to someone else, either. No matter how weak the competition seemed.

"So… you're saying you have absolutely no romantic interest in Amy, whatsoever?" Sheldon questioned, his blue gaze penetrating and truth-seeking.

"Amy seems to be a wonderful, nice person, sure…" Leonard admitted. "But I swear... all I see in her is an engaged woman and possibly a completely platonic friend."

Sheldon stared at him a while longer, then he nodded, obviously convinced that Leonard was telling the truth. He looked away. There was a glance in his eyes… reluctant and maybe even a little ashamed. "To be honest…" Leonard again spoke up conciliatory. "I thought I could be friends with both of you."

As Sheldon looked up, Leonard realized that he was only now really seeing him for the first time. His eyes still held a small dose of mistrust, but Sheldon had lowered his guard a bit, ready to let him in. "I'm not very good with those kinds of… social bonding expectations." he said. "I often times fail to recognize sarcastic comments or facial expressions. The only person I can read is Amy." His gaze wandered off again and he absentmindedly poked his spoon into the Jell-O. "And even she leaves me puzzled sometimes."

"Well, maybe that's something I can help you with." Leonard said eagerly, jumping at the chance to get to know his neighbor a little better. "I'm not great with people, either. Especially not with women. But that's what male friends are for, I guess. To help each other figure out the fair gender."

Sheldon didn't look totally convinced but apparently he was desperate enough to take even a shy, unconfident nerd's advice. He put his tray to the side, leaving the Jell-O untouched and crossed his arms upon the edge of the table. "To tell you the truth, Amy and I did have… an argument, just after you left the other day."

"Oh… I'm sorry." Leonard said haltingly, fiddling with the tips of his fingers beneath the table. "Why did you argue?"

"Amy complaint about my harshness towards you. She, too, didn't see reason for my…" he wrinkled his nose. "My jealousy." Sheldon admitted. "She said if I continue to act like that, we'll never find friends here."

"And you… didn't look to make friends?" Leonard asked, trying to get to the core of the problem so he could be helpful.

"I don't know." Sheldon shrugged. "I always thought that I work best in solitude. Growing up, Amy was my first and only friend and I wouldn't want to lose her for the world, but I don't see reason why I would need anyone else beside her. I'm happy with the way things are."

Leonard pushed his black-rimmed glasses up his nose, going into lecturing mode. "Well, people are instinctively drawn to social contacts. It's in our nature. Some people just need it more than others."

"I always thought Amy is just like me regarding her social needs. We never had anyone except each other all our lives. I thought I was enough for her."

Leonard's eyebrows shot up, surprised by so much insecurity. It seemed so out-of-character for him. "That Amy wants to have more friends doesn't necessarily mean that you're not enough for her. I think that she just wants to have other platonic sources of companionship next to the romantic relationship she shares with you." Leonard assumed. "She needs friends to talk about things she can't talk about with you."

Sheldon furrowed his brows, slightly offended. "Amy can tell me anything!" he held fiercely.

"I believe that. It's just…" Leonard paused, thinking about how he could make him understand and wondering at the same time when he had learned so much about relationship problems. Having a psychiatrist for a mother must have some perks after all. "Well, just think about what you and I are doing right now. You're looking for advice because of a problem that you couldn't resolve despite having talked it through with your fiancée. Sometimes it helps to get an outsider's perspective of things."

Sheldon listened to him attentively. Gone was the arrogance and the contempt, replaced with honest curiosity. "I understand." he said. "Amy wants to have friends so she can unload her worries onto them which would otherwise envenom our relationship."

Leonard tilted his head considering his conclusion. "Yeah, you could say it like that."

Sheldon sighed deeply again. "I was afraid that Amy could have a valid point. Oh, boy, and how should I do that? Making friends? I'm not good at that. People are naturally intimidated by my intellect and vice versa I'm quickly bored with their meaningless problems. Ordinary people simply can't hold my attention when I have more important conundrums to think about."

Leonard secretively rolled his eyes upon his arrogant speech. "But you would try it for Amy, wouldn't you?"

"Of course, I would." Sheldon was quick to reply. "I would do anything to make her happy."

Leonard nodded, pleased with his answer. "Then I'm willing to put up with you."

"You put up with me?" Sheldon raised a single eyebrow, making Leonard grin.

"Yeah… maybe we can try to make friends together. It can't be that hard once you're not looking all by yourself anymore, right?"

Sheldon shrugged his shoulders. "If you say so."

Leonard smiled. This was the longest, and more importantly nicest, conversation he had with his new neighbor. And on second thought he realized that this was also the nicest, non-work-related conversation he had with anyone on campus. So the lone wolf, can find friends, Leonard thought pleased with himself. "Sure." he said. "In fact, I could tell you something right now that you and I could possibly bond over."

"Oh, really? And what would that be?" Sheldon scoffed in bemusement, obviously not believing that the two of them could have anything in common.

Leonard pointed at Sheldon's red T-shirt with a lightning bolt across his chest. "That's the logo for The Flash. The other day you wore a Superman shirt, so I guess you're into comic books?"

Sheldon's eyes widened, a spark of excitement gleamed in them. "You too?"

Leonard nodded proudly. "My favorite superhero is Batman, but I do have some old Flash collectibles, too."

Now the geeky young boy came fully out of its hiding as Sheldon's blue eyes sparkled. "I have multiple, meticulously preserved first editions of the series. All stored beneath plastic-covers and stacked in boxes. Amy says I have to keep them in our extra bedroom, but she'll never convince me to get rid of them altogether."

Leonard got excited, too. "That's so cool. You have to show me sometime."

"Gladly."

"Oh, you know what… today is Wednesday." Leonard remembered. "That's the day the new comic books arrive at Comic Central in Pasadena."

"There is a comic book store?"

"Yeah, I always swing by after work. If you want to you could join me."

"Ohh, I'd love to!" Sheldon smiled brightly. "I'll check with Amy later, but I'm sure she's okay with it."

Leonard couldn't believe how different the stern, standoffish physicist could be once he opens up to someone. His demeanor was innocent and almost childlike, Leonard realized in amusement. "Great." he said. "We'll meet in the parking lot at four. And Sheldon?"

"Yes?"

"As your new friend… would you be willing to trade your dessert with me?"

The beginning of a wonderful friendship... ;) But there are still a few people missing, aren't there?

Tell me what you think! :)