Chapter 3: Comic Book Night

"So, what do you think of new comic book night? Magic, right? "- Sheldon

When Carly had come home after working another long shift at the Pasadena Library, she threw off her pencil skirt and blazer to don a pair of dark jeans and a white tank top, with criss-cross backing. It was an outfit Penny had helped her assemble and she felt nice in it.

She placed her kitten heels to the side and grabbed a pair of white sneakers. Comfortable, is what she thought, but then caught sight of her hair. It had been pulled up all day and when she had gotten into her car, she had tugged the hair tie out of it, desperate for relief on her scalp.

But now, it was a mess with a huge bulbous wave in the middle. Frowning, she dashed to her bathroom and grabbed the curling iron she rarely used.

When she finished taming her hair, proud of the waves she had made and how it framed her face, she froze, placing the curling iron down on her vanity.

Why was she dressing herself up?

But she knew why.

Bernadette's words from the night before crossed her mind and she examined herself in the mirror. Did Sheldon really find her attractive?

The woman looking back at her was tired but had too bright of eyes. Her hair looked nice but her cheeks had a few blemishes. She stared at them, criticizing herself.

There was no way, she reminded herself and tried to force the glimmer of hope in her heart far, far away.

She unplugged the curling iron and made herself leave, unable to keep herself from lingering too long. She didn't want to be late.

Two flights above her apartment, Carly posed her hand to knock on the door in front of her but was stopped short just before her knuckles could touch by her name whispered loudly behind her. Turning around, she saw Penny waving her over from her apartment doorway with a conspiratorial grin.

She approached her, unable to stop herself from smiling back.

"Hey! I heard you were going with the guys to the comic book store tonight. I love what you did with your hair!" Penny closed her door behind her, giving her a once over.

Carly blushed with a flattered smile, grabbing onto the ends of her brown hair with nerves. "Thanks."

"May I ask why you decided to dress up a bit?" Penny asked with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Or should I say for who?"

Carly's blush got darker and she fought with herself. Did Penny assume Carly liked Sheldon back? "Sheldon asked me to go," she told her, keeping her voice from wavering with effort.

Penny couldn't contain her knowing grin, crossing her arms over her chest. "Details!" She demanded in an excited, urgent whisper.

Carly bit the inside of her cheek, glancing backward at the closed door to Sheldon's apartment. Suddenly feeling the urge to blab to Penny about her insecurities, Carly exhaled a deep breath.

"I'm worried that this is all being overlooked and he is just being friendly. How could he possibly find me attractive?"

Penny frowned, seeming confused. "Have you looked at yourself? You're gorgeous!"

Carly stared, stunned. How in the world did someone who looked like Penny think that? Carly was downright average.

Penny saw the look of insecurity and placed a hand on Carly's arm. "Anyone with eyes can see it, Carly, even if you can't."

Carly felt vulnerable and crossed her arms over her chest, her eyes looking over at the broken elevator. "Even so, Sheldon couldn't possibly think so too. He... well, he's Sheldon."

Penny released her and dropped her hands down to her sides with a slight slap when they made contact with her legs. "Trust me, sweetie, Sheldon- he has never, ever been like this."

Carly squinted her eyes, not believing it. "What do you mean? Bernadette said something similar last night."

Penny let out a breath and shifted on her feet, preparing herself to explain. "Okay, I've known Sheldon for a few years now. He has been uninterested in women. Something about how he is too evolved to stoop to that basic human level. We all thought he might not be human, honestly," she stated off-hand, thoughtfully. Carly looked over at her as she spoke, hanging onto each word. "But once you came into his life a couple of weeks ago, he has been… different."

Carly stopped at that and tilted her head curiously. "Different?" She repeated, not understanding.

Penny nodded, squinting her eyes as she thought over the past couple of weeks. "Sheldon hasn't been so…what's the word I am looking for, um… well, himself."

Carly furrowed her eyebrows and Penny realized she wasn't making any sense. The blond took another deep breath, backtracking.

"Okay let me explain like this. He hates meeting new people, as you know." Carly nodded, remembering that first dinner with him. "We had to bribe him to go and apologize to you, but he came back and was totally fine with you being around. Then, he starts talking about you. Little things, here and there. For example, the way you explained that new book you were reading. He talked about it for like thirty minutes. I stopped listening soon after he started but he went on and on."

Carly was mystified by this information. She had been embarrassed by the fact that she had rambled on about that book, worried they had found her boring. Sheldon hadn't even seemed interested in it at the time and had changed the subject rather quickly afterward.

Had he really thought it fascinating enough to talk about it again in detail to their friends after she had left?

"Maybe he just liked the book," she denied, it couldn't anything else right?

Penny snorted and laughed at the notion. "Liked? I'm pretty sure he bought it the next day."

Carly bit her lip and looked down, feeling slightly disappointed. Yeah, he just liked the book. That didn't mean he liked her.

Penny saw that she wasn't making her point clear enough so she continued. "And that isn't it. I've been watching him around you. It's like his whole aura lights up. Like there is a brightness behind his eyes like when he watches Star Trek or plays with his model trains."

Penny caught the flash of curiosity in Carly's eyes and looked pleased with herself. "And it's there any time he talks about you."

Carly wanted to wish it were true. Could it be? "Are you sure?"

Penny gave her a sad smile. "I wish you didn't think so badly of yourself. Sheldon likes you. I'm sure of it. Leonard is trying hard to get him to admit it. It's proving rather difficult because well, it's Sheldon."

Carly's eyes trailed over to Sheldon's door, a look of pure hope lingering on her face. "I hope you're right because..." she stopped and looked back at Penny's waiting face. "... I think I like him. I don't know, it's complicated."

"Complicated?" Penny repeated, her eyebrows drawing together, not understanding.

Carly thought over her feelings for a moment before answering in a small, timid voice. "I'm scared."

Penny's face registered looks of understanding and sympathy. "I know and that's okay. Romance? It's scary. Movies make it seem so easy but it's not."

Carly nodded and looked down at the ground, worrying herself up into a tiff. She appreciated Penny's understanding and everything she had told her. Carly felt like she understood the situation better.

Yet, she knew for a fact that she could never tell Sheldon her feelings. It would scare him off, even if he did subconsciously like her too.

In a moment of clarity, she looked back up. "Thank you, Penny, for making me feel better."

Penny looked touched at her words, then waved her off sheepishly. "That's what I'm here for. We're friends now."

Carly smiled, thankful that Penny was indeed her friend, then let out a sigh at the realization she would be late if she waited around much longer. "Well I probably should get over there," she said with a jab of her thumb in the direction of the apartment behind her. "Sheldon wouldn't approve of my tardiness."

They both chuckled at the thought of him. Then Penny turned to her door. "Well, have fun sweetie. Oh!" She seemed to have a sudden thought and stopped Carly, giving her a warning. "Don't let the creepy guys in the store freak you out. Fair warning; don't look them in the eyes!"

Carly wasn't sure how to take that information. "Okay," she said anyway, and then turned to knock on the guy's door.

oO0Oo

Carly followed the guys into the comic book store, immediately feeling self-conscious as all eyes turned to her when she walked in.

She glanced around the room uncomfortable, realizing that this must have been what Penny had warned her about. She absently scooted closer to Sheldon, her hand grazing his shirt. He visibly tensed a little at the sudden proximity, but she didn't notice.

"Um… why is everyone staring at me?" she asked meekly, wondering if she should regret coming with them.

Sheldon stepped away from her and glowered up at everyone, a look she had never seen him make. She was surprised to see all the stares stop at his expression and awkwardly resumed whatever they were doing prior.

Carly immediately felt her body relax when they were no longer staring. "Oh thank goodness," she breathed in relief.

Leonard leaned over to her, from her other side. "It's because you're a girl," he told her from the corner of his mouth.

"For these guys, they've probably never felt the warm presence of a woman, save for their mothers," Howard explained offhandedly as he moved past them towards the boxes full of comics, followed by Raj who nodded silently at her in confirmation.

Leonard sighed, then moved towards the boxes as well. Carly turned back to Sheldon but found him missing. She realized that he had walked away while they had been talking.

She curiously browsed the store, careful to not make eye contact with the other customers, and found him in the back. Next to him were racks of t-shirts and even more comics. She quickly walked over to him, avoiding the looks she got from the others.

Carly looked up at the wall of comics, chewing on her bottom lip as she recognized Batman and The Flash on the covers. She wasn't exactly ignorant upon the subject of Superheroes. She glanced up at the tall man who was squinting his eyes in determination, seeming to be looking for a particular booklet.

She felt shy all of a sudden, for the second time that night. The first time had been in the backseat, next to Sheldon. Being that close to him for twenty whole minutes? It had been the longest car ride she had ever endured.

And apparently from Leonard's remark when Sheldon had slid into the back seat, Sheldon always had sat passenger.

She had wondered if it was because of her, but Sheldon had explained quickly that if they were to be in an accident, he didn't want Leonard to break the front window by flying through it, causing a shard of glass to cut Sheldon's eye causing him to become blind.

He then told them that by sitting in the back, the front seats would protect him enough that if he closed his eyes quickly, he could avoid such events from happening.

It was a long explanation and had many flaws. It just made Carly more suspicious of him. That glimmer of hope became stronger and stronger.

She stood by his side. He didn't look at her but she knew that he sensed her being there. Carly smiled at him. "What's your favorite comic, Sheldon?"

Sheldon finally looked over at her, as if remembering she was there, and raised his eyebrows, before going back to his searching. "It's comic books and having only one favorite is highly overrated."

Carly took note of his correction, realizing that it must bug him if people called them comics. She said nothing on the subject and smiled, pleased she had him talking. "I agree. That is why I don't have one favorite color."

Sheldon turned to her then, smiling a little down at her and sending her heart beating wildly in her chest. Especially at his next words. "You intrigue me, Carly Bennett."

Carly wondered if he had meant to say it, but she accepted it nonetheless. Feeling light on her feet. "And you intrigue me, Dr. Cooper."

Sheldon seemed to like her words because his smile widened and she could see a hint of his teeth between his lips. It made her happy that she could pull this reaction from him.

He turned then and continued with his search. She grinned, delighted with the little moment they had, and gave her attention to the shirts in interest.

"Do you want one?"

His voice was a lot closer than she had expected and she jumped, almost knocking the rack closest to her over. She grabbed it for support, and to stop it from wobbling.

"I-I'm not exactly sure what shirts are what. I mean, I've seen you wear shirts with these symbols before and I assume the one with the bat is for Batman- but I'm pretty much in the dark about it."

She had rambled, attempting to save herself from further embarrassment. She glanced over at him and he surprised her by taking a Batman shirt from the rack with a thoughtful expression.

"We should change that. I've been meaning to rewatch the Batman movies. Why don't you come over tonight to watch them, then you'll be worthy of wearing this."

Heart jumping to her throat and her ears not believing what he had just said, she stared at him, dumbstruck.

This was the third time he had asked to spend time with her. This had to mean something, didn't it?

He was staring at her in silence, his blue eyes running over her face, searching for her response and the meaning of her reaction.

She quickly composed herself, trying not to show just how thrilled she was at the idea of him liking her back.

"Okay. I don't work until late tomorrow anyway. Will we be eating take out?" she asked, wanting to divert the subject away from how she was feeling.

"Of course. Thai food is essential on Wednesdays," he told her as if she was crazy for even asking. Then, before she realized what was happening, he headed for the counter with the shirt in hand.

Carly paused for a beat, watching him walk away but then suddenly it dawned on her that he was about to buy her the shirt. She ran after him, not knowing that Raj, Leonard, and Howard had been watching them the whole time.

"Sheldon, don't buy me that," she protested, but he waved her off with a hand.

"Don't worry, you can't have it until you've watched all the Batman movies," he said with a little smirk, looking down at her pleading eyes. "And truthfully, I am being nice. If I wanted to make you truly worthy of wearing this shirt I would make you watch the old movies, the cartoon series, and read all the comic books."

Carly's protesting stopped, suddenly having an epiphany. He was wanting to spend time with her and was buying her something. Yes, he had to like her. He just had to. "Fine," she conceded. "But now I'm in your debt. I'll have to buy you something now."

Sheldon gave a reluctant shake of his head, "Well that would be the social protocol, but no. I don't want anything, so save your money."

It was Carly's turn to wave him off, not taking no for an answer. "No, I must now," she told him, then a thought came to mind. She smirked up at him. "But you must do something that I am interested in to deserve it."

Sheldon's face screwed up in disgust, surprising her with the suddenness of it. "Carly, no offense, but I have no interest in cleaning dusty books. I could just go buy one."

Carly vaguely thought of the book he had bought after she had told him about, then laughed. "No! Just because I am a librarian, doesn't mean that's all I do in my free time. I do have interests you know."

Sheldon raised his eyebrows at her, clearly shocked. "If not books, then what? How come you have never told me about them, then?"

Carly shifted under his gaze, confused as to why she suddenly felt guilty for not telling him even though she knew she had nothing to be guilty of. "I dunno. It's never come up."

"Why not?"

Carly laughed again, finding his offense to not knowing her other interests adorable. "It just hasn't."

"Carly, if we are going to be friends, this is the kind of thing I ought to know," Sheldon scolded.

Carly bit her lip. He was so cute. "Well then on Saturday morning, come over at nine and I'll show you one of them."

Sheldon stopped, seeming to be thinking her offer over. For a moment, he almost looked as if he was going to decline, but then nodded with a growing smile. "Okay. I will be there. But fair warning, if it has anything to do with sports, heights, or vigorous swimming, I am not going to promise anything."

Carly grinned up at him, knowing her eyes were twinkling in merriment. "Nope, it has nothing to do with any of those things. I promise."

Sheldon, who always needed to know everything beforehand, thought for a moment but was surprised to come up with nothing. Carly was a mystery to him. "What, then?"

Carly realized she had him in suspense and that made her grin. "You'll see," she told him ominously, then turned to go look at the display of action figures in triumph, leaving him to stare at her with his mouth gaped- not liking that she was keeping it a secret.

A worker appeared behind the counter before he could chase after her and demand her to tell him. With frustrating contempt, he turned and paid for the shirt, along with his subscriptions.

"Hello, can I help you find anything?" a man asked from behind Carly and she turned around, surprised to not find him familiar. He wasn't as tall as Sheldon but he was taller than the other guys and had dark, graying curly hair. He was smiling pleasantly enough and with the question he had asked her, she assumed he worked there.

"No thanks, I am just looking," she smiled politely at him, then turned her attention back towards the action figures, thinking he would leave her be.

"Uh—well that wasn't the only reason why I came over here," he spoke again and she turned to him once more, seeing him shift uncomfortably.

"It wasn't?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.

He glanced down embarrassed and then smiled shyly up at her. "No. Um… well the only women I see come in here look like men, so when I see a beautiful girl like you, I can only ask if you were forced?"

She stared at him for a moment, not sure if she should laugh or be freaked out.

He seemed to realize this and he shoved his hands out in surrender. "Sorry," he smiled, even more embarrassed. "I was teasing."

Carly had a good feeling about him and figured he was harmless. She smiled at him kindly. "Oh, right."

While Sheldon was complaining that he was missing a new comic to the associate behind the counter, the other three of the group were watching the commotion between Stuart and Carly in interest. From past experiences, Stuart had been an odd, kind man but he lacked any sort of tact when it came to women. That being said, he was different from most nerds like them with the fact he could walk up to them and at least attempt to woo them.

"Do you think Stuart is trying to hit on Carly?" Howard asked idly, as they all continued to stare at the two in interest.

Leonard's eyebrow quirked as he watched the two laugh. "It would seem so."

Raj sulked, looking back down at the comic books in front of him. "Why am I cursed with this problem of not being able to talk to them? Was I created to be alone for my whole life?"

Howard waved him off with a wry grin, "Maybe if you would spend less time whining and pray more often to your holy cow then it would happen."

Raj glared at Howard, offended her would say such a thing. "That was uncalled for and I am only going to let it go because we are going to the movies tonight."

That made Howard's smile fall and he looked up at Raj through pained eyes, while Leonard glanced at them. "Raj, how many times do I have to tell you that when I say we, I mean Bernadette and myself."

"You didn't clarify who when you said it. You just said we. So sorry if I am used to being the one you spend the most time with," Raj told him grumpily.

Howard rolled his eyes and slammed his hand on the box, appealed that he would complain like that. "Stop being so upset about it. You are making me upset and we both know how it is when both of us get upset."

Raj slumped his shoulders in defeat. "Fine, but you better take some time out for me too."

Howard sighed, defeated, and putting a finger to the bridge of his nose, tired. "Fine."

Raj glared at his tone. "You don't have to sound unhappy about it."

Howard glared back at him. "I'm not, Raj! I am just tired of having to schedule my relationship around you."

"Well if you—"

"Love birds! Sheldon's coming," Leonard interjected with all too much enthusiasm, and they both shut up, ignoring each other grumpily as they looked down at the comics.

"Hey, guys. I hope you don't mind if Carly comes over tonight to watch Batman. We are going to be watching both of the movies back to back," Sheldon said with a small smile, holding his paper bag of comic books in one hand and flipping through the boxes with the other.

Leonard was surprised and happy to hear that. "Why would we? Although, Howard and Bernadette have a date tonight so it will just be us and Raj."

Raj grumbled. "No, I think I'll just go home. I'll see you guys later," he said miserably and headed for the counter to retrieve his subscriptions, then disappeared out the door without another word.

Sheldon seemed confused by the atmosphere. Leonard was annoyed.

Howard sighed, exasperated. "My goodness, it's like having a second girlfriend," he muttered before saying his goodbye to the guys, getting his comics, then leaving himself.

Sheldon then turned to Leonard. "What just happened?"

Leonard sighed, shaking his head at his roommate. "You don't want to know."

Sheldon thought about asking him to elaborate, but then he decided he didn't care enough and shrugged.

Leonard glanced over at Carly while Sheldon looked down at the books before him, frowning down at them. Stuart looked put out before waving goodbye and leaving a remorseful smiling Carly. Leonard kind of hoped that it meant that Carly had turned Stuart's advances down.

"You do know that if you are trying to find new comic books in here, then it's absolutely a waste of time," Sheldon pointed out suddenly, causing Leonard to break out of his thoughts, then remembered.

Leonard nodded once with slight irritation. "Right, subscriptions," he muttered to himself before turning away and signing himself up for new comics at the counter.

Carly approached Sheldon's side then and grinned up at him. "Hey, did you get your new comic books?"

Sheldon looked up at her, unable to stop himself from smiling slightly. "Of course."

"Which ones?" she asked curiously, peering down at his stack of books in his arm.

Sheldon raised an eyebrow at her curiosity before glancing down at them too. "Well you won't know what any of them are, but I suppose it won't hurt to tell you," he told her, turning to her all the way and getting that twinkle in his eye when he talked about something that excited him.

Carly got entranced by it, admiring his reaction to things that made him happy.

"Batman Gates of Gotham, X-men vs. Avengers, and The Amazing Spiderman."

Carly smirked up at him. "Well, actually I am aware of who those are. I do work at a library and we sell some comic books," she informed him, glad that she knew this, hoping it impressed him.

"Oh right," he said with a slightly dazed look before Leonard hollered over to them to signal that he was ready to leave.

The trio stopped to pick up Thai food on the way home and once again, Sheldon sat in the backseat alongside Carly. This time she more comfortable and she talked casually to both Leonard and Sheldon instead of being completely silent like the car ride to the comic book store. The fact that she was almost positive he liked her gave her a small amount of confidence she had needed.

After eating around the coffee table, they were halfway done with the movie Batman Begins and Carly surprised herself by being rather intrigued by it.

Leonard frequently would glance over at the two from his seat in the armchair, still trying to believe what he was seeing. Carly was sitting next to Sheldon on the couch. Neither of them was aware that they were sitting close to one another and that when one of them moved the other one did.

At one point Leonard had to hold back a laugh when they both reached out to grab a leftover crab ragoon and ended up bumping hands because they had gone to pick the same one up. Carly had blushed fiercely and Sheldon had politely let her take it.

That surprised him. Sheldon was being courteous without anyone having to tell him.

As the movie wore on, Leonard's phone vibrated and he took it out to see that Penny had texted him.

Hey sweetie. Come over. I need details and you should leave them alone together. See what happens.

After reading the message he shifted and sat up straighter, sniffling, and glancing from the movie to the couple on the couch. "Um… I'm gonna go see how Penny is doing. She told me to come over later to see her."

Carly watched Leonard stand and walk over to the door, Sheldon seemed to ignore him but then said one thing, "If you're going to engage in coitus, please keep it over there."

Leonard huffed in indignation, stopped to glare at Sheldon with the door in his hand before he said goodnight to Carly, and closed the door behind him. He sure hoped something good would come of this.

Carly suddenly realized in alarm that they were now alone. She changed a glanced over at Sheldon and he was seemingly unaffected by this. He was staring intently at the TV screen, mouthing the words to the movie as he had been doing throughout it.

Carly trailed her eyes over his handsome face, over the green lantern shirt he wore, down to see his right hand on his knee. She bit her lip to fight the urge to take it into hers. He would freak out.

Plus, she didn't think she had the nerve to do it anyway. The fear of rejection was mortifying.

So she tried to focus back on the movie but found it harder to do so now that they were alone. She thought about asking him a dumb question about the movie just to hear him talk and have him pay attention to her for a split second, but she knew he didn't like it when people spoke during movies. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, and glanced down before looking back up at the movie. She was a coward.

"What's wrong?"

Carly's eyes snapped to his concerned face. "Nothing," she said immediately, sounding rather guilty.

"Then why did you sigh? Most people that sigh are sad, depressed, bored, or exasperated," he told her, trying to figure her out and pausing the movie which made the room become defiantly silent and made her cheeks burn with embarrassment.

"I'm just tired," she lied, forcing a reassuring smile up at him. "It's all right."

He frowned, looking worried. "Would you like to save this for a different day when you aren't overly fatigued?"

Carly then gave him a true smile, appreciating his concern. "No, it's quite all right. Continue with the movie."

Sheldon accepted her answer and nodded, then played the movie again. A couple of moments passed and she wondered if she would even be able to focus on it again.

Then paused it again, and Sheldon shifted in his seat to look at her. She looked back at him, beginning to feel self-conscious with how his gaze was suddenly searching.

"Why did you pause the movie?" she asked, warily.

"Did Stuart ask you on a date?" he asked out of the blue and she widened her eyes at the question.

"What?" She didn't know what to say.

Sheldon then looked down, uncomfortable for a second as he thought over something, before staring at her seriously. "Forgive me. The man who talked to you over at the action figures when we were at the comic book store, his name is Stuart and he owns the store. I saw you guys talking—"

"I know who he is," she suddenly smiled, finding him cute when he didn't understand social situations, and stopping him from mumbling on. "And yes, he did."

Carly was surprised at how taken aback Sheldon looked. His eyes were wide and his mouth was slightly agape. His whole body was leaning back as if the air had been knocked out of him.

"I said no though," she said hastily with her hands raising out in front of her and she watched in awe when he visibly relaxed.

"Thank God," he breathed, and then he turned back to the movie and played it.

Carly frowned, off-balance. That was it? She sat there for a moment, replaying the situation that just happened.

Sheldon had seemed upset by the fact that Stuart had asked her out. The confirmation of his feelings was then brought up to eighty-five percent. Her heart fluttered in her chest at the thought. Was this true? She had to know.

"Sheldon?"

He paused the movie again, looking at her with a raise of his eyebrow. He seemed unruffled in the slightest.

"Why did you ask?" she made herself ask. She was scared of what his answer would be but he was pulling her around and she had to know for sure. Her heart couldn't take it.

Sheldon looked speechless for a moment before he thought up something. "Stuart has asked out many women that have walked into his store, including Penny. He is an odd creature and I was just wondering if I needed to warn you of his notions with women."

Carly raised her eyebrows at him, wondering if that was just an excuse or if it was the real reasoning. "What notions? He seemed nice enough."

Sheldon was stunned. "Nice enough—no. He owns a comic book store, Carly. He is not exactly the "women guru" as Wolowitz calls it. You saw what kind of guys are in there, he is just the same. They're all creepy."

Carly looked baffled. "Sheldon, you go in there and you aren't creepy."

Sheldon realized he had messed up his excuse. "Uh-um, I mean. I'm not creepy. B-But I am a theoretical physicist and he just owns a comic book store. You wouldn't want to go out with him."

Carly couldn't contain her smile at that so she bit her lip. Make that ninety-five percent positive he liked her. He had been trying to make justifications for his real reasoning but he had admitted what the truth was without realizing it.

She was surprised at the flirty response that came out of her mouth, "And what if I wanted to go out with a guy that owned a comic book store?"

Sheldon looked like a deer in headlights. His mouth twitched and then his eye did. "Uhm—a woman like you? You'd look better on the arm of…" His voice cracked and he had to lean over and take a drink of his diet coke.

Carly had to refrain from grinning now. It seemed like he knew exactly who she would look better on the arm of.

"On the arm of who, Sheldon?" she asked anyway, making him anxious as he tried to think of something else to say. "You?"

It was bold and a couple of weeks ago she would have never said it to a man no matter how much she liked them. But he made her feel different. He was different. He hadn't been interested in anyone and he had a sudden curiosity in her. That had to mean something, didn't it?

He stared at her mortified with his mouth open; not knowing what to say to her. Carly glanced down at her hands that were starting to sweat. There was no going back now.

Sheldon somehow found the words he had been searching for because he composed himself for a moment. "Someone like me, I suppose."

Carly looked up at him from under her lashes and his eyes flashed down to the floor uncomfortably, no longer able to look at her in the eyes.

Carly's heart pumped loudly in her ears and she swallowed down her nerves before murmuring, "There isn't anyone like you."

Sheldon nodded slowly, still staring down at the floor. "I know… but just in case."

Carly decided to take pity on him. He was wildly uneasy and she was just making it worse. He looked positively scared. She knew how that felt. She didn't want him to admit to things he wasn't ready to, but now she had peace of mind. That was all she needed.

"Well," she said suddenly, in a different tone, catching his attention. "If I'm going to wear that shirt, we best be getting on with the movie."

That seemed to calm him and he nodded again, sitting up straighter on the couch and hitting the play button on the remote. She heard him breathe heavily next to her and she tried not to get too antsy.

Sheldon Cooper liked her.

The rest of the movie was silent with no more interruptions and so was the next movie. Soon she was saying goodbye and had left the apartment, leaving Sheldon alone to clean up the coffee table and head to bed.

His mind kept him awake for a long time, unable to stop himself from thinking of Carly's eyes and the way she made him feel.