Chapter 2: Nice Skin

"We operate on the assumption that Sheldon has no deal. Though we have many theories about how he might reproduce. I'm an advocate of mitosis." - Howard

Two weeks flew by and Carly found herself surrounded by a true group of friends. After that first night, she had been worried that they wouldn't be as open to her, since she had left on such an odd note- but she had been wrong. They welcomed her with warm arms.

Penny especially. Carly was surprised how easy it became to talk to her, laugh with her, and how many of the same movies they'd seen. Carly was a romantic nerd and so she had seen probably every romance movie made.

She had also convinced Carly to spruce up her wardrobe during a trip to the mall. Penny was so fashionable that it inspired Carly to try harder. It wasn't that she didn't care what she wore, it was more that she just didn't pay attention.

Her head was mostly in the clouds most days, or wearing modest clothing at the library, so donning a cute floral top hadn't been a priority. She was surprised how a new outfit could lift her self-esteem.

Bernadette was really sweet, but surprisingly rather feisty. Her boyfriend Howard was a little odd, but he was nice.

Raj, or Rajesh, still hadn't spoken to her but she was holding out on him. He seemed nice, just bashful. Carly wished she could make him feel more comfortable around her, but she knew that overcoming social anxiety was no easy feat. Especially to his level.

Leonard was great too. He was funny and loved watching Penny smile. It made his eyes twinkle. They were dating and Carly understood why. They seemed to glow in each other's presence.

And then there was Sheldon.

Just as promised, he had taught her how to play Halo. She surprised herself with how quickly she caught on. The controller and the buttons had been the hardest part but he had let her take a few practice turns before they went up against anyone.

True to his word, they had won each game, much to Sheldon's glee and Leonard's dismay. Carly still felt guilty that Sheldon had replaced Leonard with her, but Leonard hadn't seemed too put out. He was busy cheering her on excitedly.

Since then, she was invited to dinner with them each time they got together which was almost every night. Despite the copious amount of takeout food, she was enjoying herself. She had even gotten used to Sheldon and his many quirks.

She had learned that he loved to teach everyone random facts that he knew. Carly was surprised to find that she was learning quite a lot from listening to him until he began talking about science - instead, she just agreed with what he said, not understanding in the slightest.

Carly saw a vulnerability in Sheldon and how he reacted towards others. He didn't understand things out of his comfort zone and he could come off as a right jerk, but Carly knew that he wasn't. The others, although knowing this about him - misinterpreted his words more often than not and turned to mock him out of amusement.

She could tell he tried not to let it bother him or that he didn't notice, but she knew, from observing him, that it wasn't the case. She felt like she should say something but she hadn't known them long and well, she didn't think Sheldon would appreciate her calling him out like that. He was concealing his disapproval for a reason.

Besides that, she found he was quite funny as well if you understood his humor. There was a twinkle in his blue eyes whenever he was about to speak about something he knew or found interesting and Carly couldn't help but find it adorable.

Yes, she found him attractive. She couldn't help it.

oO0Oo

It was a Tuesday night and they all were sat around a table at the Cheesecake Factory.

Penny had made sure to be their waitress while Bernadette had the night off and she was sitting next to Howard.

Carly had found herself sitting between Leonard and Sheldon, enjoying the fact that she was once again with friends she could call her own.

If Carly a month ago could have foreseen this, she wouldn't have been so anxious about moving.

When they had all got their food and began eating, Leonard spoke up from his plate. "So I was over at the comic book store earlier today and Stuart said that he could get us a discount on the Pennsylvania Comic-Con tickets. Isn't that awesome?"

Howard and Raj grinned in disbelief. "What? That's great-"

Sheldon quickly interjected Howard, as usual, a look of astonishment thrown Leonard's way over Carly's head. "Hold on! You mean, you went to the comic book store without me?"

Leonard shrugged guiltily under his roommate's gaze, glancing down at the table. "Yeah… I needed to go pick up my Ultimate Spiderman before it sold out."

His explanation didn't assure Sheldon and Bernadette caught Carly's eyes, looking uneasy.

"That's why they have subscriptions, Leonard. How many times have I told you? That way on new comic book night, Stuart will have them put back for us," Sheldon explained knowingly, wishing Leonard would just listen to him.

"That is true, Leonard. Raj and I have had subscriptions for a while now. It really takes the pressure off," Howard agreed, raising his eyebrows at his friend from across the table. Raj nodded. That surprised Carly, normally Howard and Raj defended Leonard.

Sheldon gave Leonard a look like, see I told you.

"I have been meaning to, I just keep forgetting when I go in there," Leonard groaned with a hand to his forehead, his eyes squeezing shut as if he were in pain.

Sheldon shrugged in hopeless defeat, giving up on him. "Forgetting will leave you new comic-book-less."

Leonard scowled at Sheldon but Sheldon was on a new subject now and had turned to Carly suddenly, making her tense up- worrying his wrath was for some reason had turned on her.

"Carly," Sheldon said her name with a different tone, making her look up at him and swallow her mouthful of food quickly, eyeing his smile suspiciously. "How would you like to join us at the comic book store tomorrow night?"

Carly's eyebrows rose in surprise and the others simultaneously leaned in with curiosity at the two. Even Penny, who had been cleaning the table next to them snapped her head up at the question and looked over.

Carly tilted her head, wondering why he had asked that all of a sudden. "Well... I get off work at six tomorrow night, so I'm sure if my schedule coincides with yours I could go," she said with a smile up at him, pointedly ignoring the stares from the rest of the table.

Sheldon smiled back and with no hesitation said, "Great. We go at seven, Leonard can drive us."

Carly remembered the argument between the roommates the other day after Sheldon had practically demanded Leonard take him to the train store. "I could drive."

Sheldon waved her off as if inconveniencing Leonard wasn't a big deal. "Oh don't worry, we can all carpool."

Leonard would have normally been annoyed with Sheldon for assuming he'd drive, but because it had sounded as if Sheldon was asking Carly out... in a way, he said nothing and was silent with anticipation.

Carly looked to him to make sure it was okay, and Leonard gave a small shrug. So, she nodded to Sheldon with a smile. "You talked me into it. I'll come over to your apartment after I get home from work and we can all leave then."

Sheldon seemed pleased and went back to his burger. The stares dissipated as Carly went back to her meal and she knew she couldn't wait any longer. She stood, catching them off guard.

"I'll be back; I need to use the restroom," she explained and Bernadette then wiped her mouth with a napkin and got to her feet.

"I'll come with you," Bernadette smiled up at her and the women walked away from the table towards the back.

Carly was washing her hands and looking up at her reflection, noticing a stray hair out of place, as she waited for Bernadette to finish in her stall.

When she did, Bernadette grinned, approaching the sink. "So Carly, do you think Sheldon was asking you out?"

Carly was stunned by the sudden question and she gaped at the short, smirking girl to her left. Was he? Is that what they thought? She frowned and finished washing her hands, thinking about it logically and trying not to get her hopes up. "Probably not. He was just being friendly." The idea of Sheldon being interested caressed a part of her she didn't recognize and was a little scared of. She flattened her hair down with damp hands, willing herself to not think about it too much.

Bernadette shrugged though and washed her hands. "I'm not so sure. Leonard told Penny and Penny told me that Sheldon thinks you have nice skin."

Carly stopped fixing her hair and looked over at Bernadette, mystified with a growing blush on her cheeks.

"He thinks I have nice skin?" She couldn't help but let out a flattered, light laugh. "Well that's a good thing, I suppose. He is germaphobic."

Bernadette gave her a sheepish grin. "Sounds like to me he thinks you're attractive." Carly stared at her, stunned. Sheldon couldn't possibly think that about her.

Bernadette continued, bypassing Carly's reaction. "It's surprising because from all the time I've known Sheldon and from what I've heard about him, he's never shown any interest in anyone before."

Carly wasn't surprised to hear that. Her first impression of him came to her mind. "That doesn't mean he has an interest in me though, I mean it's Sheldon."

Bernadette shook her head, disagreeing. "Look, you know Sheldon. How he is. Has he ever shown any interest in women? Talked about them? Anything?"

Carly thought back on their time together and came up with nothing. He hadn't even mentioned a woman in her presence. Even Penny, who although was dating his roommate and gorgeous, didn't capture his attention.

So if he had told Leonard that she had nice skin... had commented on her appearance and then all of a sudden asked her to the comic book store, it made sense didn't it?

Carly was shocked at the revelation. No, that couldn't be possible. Sheldon was scientific. He probably didn't even realize what he had said. They were all probably reading too much into it.

Carly bit her lip in thought, while Bernadette finished washing her hands, wishing they hadn't said anything to her. She couldn't help but examine her feelings she had been denying.

He was extremely intelligent and admittedly handsome. In addition to that, he had this way about him that she liked deep down. How he understood the universe and all of its particles but wore superhero shirts and ate pizza every Thursday. He was complex and interesting, and... she knew she liked him but he was so off-limits. He couldn't even understand more than half of the social interactions he was in. Even if he did think she was attractive, he probably wouldn't ever act on it.

If she allowed herself to get her hopes up that maybe, he felt the same way, she knew she would end up broken-hearted.

Carly idly followed Bernadette to the paper towels. After a thoughtful moment, she glanced up at Bernadette. "Do you think that it's possible he could like me? You know him better than me."

Bernadette tilted her head in thought before concluding. "Maybe in his way, I think. Sheldon isn't normal so anything he does isn't going to be either. Plus, I don't think he's realized it yet."

Carly mulled over Bernadette's words as they exited the bathroom to join the others for the rest of their dinner.

oO0Oo

Howard watched his girlfriend leave with Carly and then shook his head, looking back at his friends morosely. "I will never understand why women go to the bathroom in packs."

Raj raised his eyebrows and smiled fondly, thinking of something. "Well, in their defense, it can be quite a social event."

They all looked at him, confused by his response and how he would know that, causing Raj to look down at his food uncomfortably, avoiding their eyes.

After a pause, Leonard rounded on Sheldon, taking the opportunity with the girls gone for the moment.

"Sheldon, why did you ask Carly to come with us to the comic book store tomorrow?"

Sheldon squinted his eyes in confusion. "I don't understand. I thought you liked Carly."

Leonard rolled his eyes at Sheldon's obtuseness. "Of course I do. I don't care if she comes; I'm just wondering why you decided to ask her."

Sheldon raised his eyebrows, leaning back in his chair to ponder Leonard's words. He was silent for a long moment before he explained slowly as if trying the words on for size. "Well, she likes books and comic books are a small part of literature. I thought she might enjoy herself there."

Howard, who didn't get the answer he had been wanting, huffed in frustration, before looking up at him from beneath his eyebrows. He needed him to understand what they were asking. "Sheldon. Are you sure there isn't another reason why you asked her to come with us?"

To their irritation, Sheldon stared blankly at Howard, trying to grasp what Howard was going for, but decidedly gave up. "I don't understand. Why are you all interested as to why I asked her to go? Was it supposed to be just us tomorrow and I wasn't aware of it?"

The guys rolled their eyes, unable to hide their contempt, and then Raj gave it a try. "Sheldon, let me ask you something. When you look at Carly, do you think she's pretty? And if so, is that why you asked her to come?"

Sheldon opened his mouth to speak but Leonard cut in, sounding tired. "I already tried that Raj, he just told me she had nice skin."

Howard laughed at that, wishing he had heard the conversation. "Skin? Well… I suppose that is a step forward on Sheldon's asexual record."

Sheldon glowered at them, not appreciating how they were talking about him as if he wasn't there and disapproving of their assumptions. "I'm not asexual, not that there's anything wrong with being asexual. I just haven't felt the need to become tied down by someone cranky once a month, demands emotional affection, and needs coitus at least once a week."

Leonard scoffed, not appreciating the jab at his and Penny's relationship, but Howard interjected with hope in his voice. "Until now, right?"

Sheldon was so confused and his body began twitching uncomfortably, hating the fact that he didn't understand something that was so obvious to his friends.

Leonard noticed this and glanced towards the bathroom doors, realizing they were running out of time to pull information out of Sheldon's head. "Sheldon, we're just wondering if the fact that Carly has nice skin might be why you asked her to come."

Sheldon stopped and looked over at Leonard, finally thinking he understood where the question was going. "Well it's a contributing factor, I suppose. I wouldn't want to engage myself around someone that was unhygienic. Their germs would be too hard to stand next to."

The guys all grinned at each other, realizing that Sheldon might be hardheaded and oblivious, but he might be having some physical attraction to the brunette librarian. It was the best confession they were going to get at the moment.

"Should we be talking about germs at the dinner table?" Carly teased as she and Bernadette returned to the table, making all the guys, save for Sheldon, jump in surprise and turn to their plates hastily.

Sheldon then looked up at Carly, admiring her smile, his lips curving upwards at it unknowingly.

Bernadette did notice though and threw a wink over at Carly, making her look down with a bright red blush to try to finish eating.

"So, about Comic-Con. Are we all in?" Howard asked suddenly, trying to sound calm and like they hadn't just almost got Sheldon to admit his feelings for Carly.

Leonard, Sheldon, and Raj immediately became enthusiastic about it and Carly wondered what going to Comic-Con would be like.