Chapter 4: Carly's Hobby

"I'd like you to meet Oppenheimer, Frisch, Panofsky, Feynman, Weisskopf." -Sheldon

The rest of the week Carly kept herself busy- at work and home. Ever since she had watched Batman with Sheldon, she refused to go to their apartment for dinner. She couldn't bring herself to.

She was terrified of what his reaction would be, now worried it would be awkward between them. But also because she desperately hoped she hadn't imagined it all.

The more she thought about it, the more she had convinced herself that it couldn't be possible that Sheldon could like her. It was Sheldon.

No, Carly knew it was because she was lonely and desperate for her own love story that she was seeing things the way she wanted to see them- not how they actually were.

She needed to drop the romance novels. They had messed with her head.

Saturday rolled around and she still hadn't seen him. Penny had texted her on Friday, asking if she was all right, but Carly had assured her that she was just busy and tired from work. It wasn't technically a lie. She had run herself ragged at work, trying to keep her mind off of anything Sheldon.

Unfortunately, it seemed like everyone and their brother had wanted to check out a superhero book of some kind. It had irked her.

When she woke up that Saturday morning, she wasn't sure how to feel. Would he even show up, as they had planned?

She didn't know if she should get her hopes up, but then again she felt that she knew Sheldon well enough to know he never made a plan he didn't intend to keep.

So she started her day as if he would be showing up and dressed in jeans and her Batman shirt he had bought her. She hadn't worn it since he had handed it to her Wednesday night after watching both Batman movies and she figured that it fit that she wore it today.

She honestly didn't know if he would like where she was planning on taking him. It had been the first thing she had thought of. She hoped it would be okay.

If he showed, that is.

She had eaten breakfast already and was checking her watch frequently as the time ticked closer to nine, terrified to both see him or not see him.

Knock, knock, knock.

Carly froze and quit breathing, her eyes snapping over to her door. She dropped the Geographic magazine she had been pretending to read and stood on shaky legs.

All right, this was it.

She stood from her couch and flattened her hair that hung loosely around her shoulders and pulled her shirt down to adjust it, making sure she looked presentable.

When she opened the door, sweating and a mess, she was stunned to see a bright blond standing before her, grinning.

"Hey!" Penny greeted, seemingly glad to see her.

"H-Hey Penny, what's up?"

Penny noticed her odd voice and anxious face. "You thought I was Sheldon, right?"

Carly sighed, unable to hide her disappointment. Or relief, she wasn't sure which one it was. "Yeah but it's okay, come in."

Carly gave her a small smile and opened the door completely, letting the blond in.

"I won't stay long because Sheldon should be arriving soon—Leonard told me," Penny explained when she saw Carly's questioning look. "But I wanted to know what was going on with you two? I haven't seen you since Wednesday? I hope everything went okay."

Carly crossed her arms over her chest uneasily, thinking back on that day. "Well everything was fine and we were watching Batman together and then he suddenly asked me if Stuart had asked me out while we were at the comic book store. And I said yes he did, then wondered why he had asked. So he said that he wanted to warn me about Stuart. And I asked him why. And he said because a girl like me shouldn't go out with a guy like Stuart. And I asked him why again. And he said because he is a theoretical physicist and Stuart owns a comic book store. And then I asked him what if I wanted to be with someone who owns a comic book store, and then he said that a woman like me should be on the arm of someone like him. And then I said that there wasn't someone like him. And he agreed." She took a long deep breath and Penny stared at her amazed at how long Carly could talk without breathing… and how fast.

"Wow," Penny murmured, eyes wide.

"I'm sorry. When I get upset, I ramble," Carly explained helplessly, putting her face in her hands.

"No, no, don't worry about it. So do I," Penny sympathized. "But what I meant was, wow. Sheldon kind of admitted to liking you."

Carly let her hands fall to her sides, looking at Penny with worried eyes. "It's all I have thought about."

Penny frowned, not understanding what was wrong. "Is this a bad thing?"

Carly huffed, crossing her arms again and looking to the air beside her in thought. "I don't know what to believe. Sheldon... he isn't like most guys. He is germaphobic, a genius, awkward, and completely in love with his job. There's absolutely no way he would like someone like me. Or anyone for that matter. I just don't get it and to be honest, it's kind of too good to be true."

Penny worried her lip and took a step towards her after a couple of seconds. "Look, honey... From what you've told me, you've had a really tough life. It's completely understandable to feel the way you do."

Carly shifted under her gaze, feeling vulnerable.

Penny sighed. "Carly, Sheldon likes you. Even after everything, he still likes you. I know he does. He is beyond excited to spend the day with you and hasn't shut up about it. It's honestly driving us all crazy. It'll be a relief when today is over."

Carly's lips curved upwards at that, knowing Penny was trying to cheer her up. She sobered a little, feeling scared again. "Do you honestly think he likes me? It's not just everyone's imagination?"

Penny smiled at her and reached out, squeezing her shoulder. "I honestly do."

Carly let herself smile gratefully at Penny. "Thanks, Penny. You're a great friend."

Penny pulled back her arm and grinned. "I know!" Then she caught sight of the time from her watch and dashed to the door. "I gotta go. Have fun with Sheldon today."

"He is for sure coming?" Carly asked, following her to the door. She just needed confirmation so she could stop worrying.

"Penny turned as she walked, "I saw him getting ready before I came down. Don't worry sweetie, it'll be fine," she said with a wink and then headed down the stairs towards the lobby with a last wave.

Carly waved back, a smile on her face, feeling much better than before. She closed the door and walked over to the mirror that hung on her wall next to the door, checking her appearance over just to make sure. If Sheldon was coming like Penny said he was, she didn't want to look like an emotional mess.

Not a moment later, did she hear it.

Knock knock knock. "Carly." Knock knock knock. "Carly." Knock knock knock. "Carly."

Her heart almost jumped out of her chest at the sound of his voice. She licked her lips, trying to calm herself down, and grabbed for the doorknob.

When she pulled the door open, she was taken aback by how handsome he looked. He didn't look different, not really. He wore dark purple pants and a red Flash t-shirt with a brown long sleeve shirt underneath, pushed up to his elbows as usual. But something about seeing him there in her doorway, looking down at her from his height, with those bright blue eyes... it struck a chord in her.

She felt herself smiling. His eyes dropped to it, taking it in before traveling back up to her eyes.

"Hello, Carly."

"Hi," she murmured, unable to take her eyes off of him. It felt like it had been longer than just a couple of days since she had last seen him. She cleared her throat, realizing she was stalling. "Um, ready to go?"

He nodded and she grabbed her keys from the hook next to her door, then locked her apartment so they could walk down the stairs together.

"Can you tell me where we are going now?" Sheldon suddenly asked from beside her, sounding impatient.

Carly couldn't help but laugh and felt the tension from before break, "No, Sheldon. It's a surprise."

"I didn't make it a surprise when I had you watch Batman," he pointed out as they walked out the apartment building and towards her car parked on the side of the street.

"I know, but I have a feeling that you'd back out if I told you," she told him in amusement, pressing the button on her key ring, hearing the doors unlock to her car. They both climbed in and put their seat belts on.

"That's possible. But wouldn't this count as kidnapping since technically you aren't letting me make my own decision to do this or not?" he asked as she turned the car on and immediately turned the AC on as it was super-hot inside, even for a Summer morning.

Carly laughed at his words as he adjusted the vent in front of him. "Not unless you call it willingly being kidnapped. You didn't have to agree to come."

Sheldon snapped his mouth closed, realizing she had a valid argument, but wanting to pursue it further he said, "I had to agree. You did something for me, now I have to do something for you. It's social protocol between friends."

Carly paused at the word, 'friends', but said nothing on the matter. "Exactly, but it's up to me whether or not I want to make it a surprise and I'm making it a surprise."

Sheldon huffed as they drove but discontinued the argument. Carly smiled as she drove, already relaxing in his presence. He was just like before and it was a relief. She had been so worried he would be different with her after their last meeting.

She glanced over at him, smelling something familiar waft in her direction, he was staring thoughtfully out the window as she drove. He must have taken a shower before arriving at her apartment and he smelled heavily of baby powder. She bit her lip, not able to understand the scent but liked it nonetheless. She wasn't sure if she had noticed it before.

Sheldon couldn't hold silent for very long. "Can you give me a hint, then?"

Carly glanced over at him again, forcing back a laugh at how much of a childlike plead he was using. So she thought, maybe to appease him a little. "Um… where we are going holds something inside of it. And you have told me you like this something."

Sheldon gasped in excitement. "The model train store?"

Carly shook her head with a grin, "Nope." Of course, that would be his first guess, she laughed inwardly at the thought.

"Drat," Sheldon slumped in his seat but then tilted his head with a nod. "That wouldn't be right anyway, considering you said this is one of your interests and you don't know much about trains."

Carly let out a laugh. "You're right."

He then perked up but then slumped again, apparently going against his idea without revealing it.

After a while, he decided to give up for now and she caught herself glancing at him every so often, unable to help herself. She couldn't believe it. How someone like him possibly could like someone like her. It just didn't add up.

How was she supposed to believe it?

"You're wearing your shirt," Sheldon suddenly broke through her thoughts and she realized she had been frowning out at the road. She relaxed her face and looked over at him, seeing his eyes snap upwards to her face.

She assumed he was looking at her shirt. She glanced down at it. "Oh! Yeah, I am. I thought it was appropriate, ya know cause I'm worthy of it now."

Sheldon smirked as she gave him a teasing smile. "That you are. Next time I'll have you watch the older movies. I think you'll like them."

Carly was happy to hear that he still wanted to spend time with her. It made her heart flutter, thinking of them snuggling on a couch watching old Batman movies.

Ugh, she stopped herself. No way would there be snuggling. He could barely handle handshakes and preferred not to even do them.

A relationship with him would be difficult, she realized. If they ever made it that far, how would it even work? Carly knew she would want to hug and kiss, do more... she blushed at the thought and tried to look composed in case he looked her way.

Would he have that exception with her or would they never touch?

She kept those thoughts to herself and focused on driving. They weren't even dating so she shouldn't get ahead of herself.

oO0Oo

Carly pulled into a parking spot in front of a modest building and Sheldon stared at it blankly, reading the sign in front of it. "Burbank Animal Shelter?"

Carly nodded with a shy smile and hopped out of the car before she lost her nerve. Sheldon followed her, still staring up at the building confused. "You drove thirty minutes to come to an animal shelter? This is your hobby?"

Carly led him to the door. "Yep, I used to come here all the time when I lived here. Now that I live over in Pasadena, I haven't been back."

Sheldon looked wary, eyeing the door suspiciously. "I'm not sure I want to do this, Carly. What if they have an extremely sick animal in there? What if it jumps species? What if I die because of this?"

Carly rolled her eyes at his outlandish worries and took his hand without thinking to pull him inside. He snatched his hand away from her like he had been burned, stunning her, and he darted his eyes away uneasily. She cleared her throat, regretting her absentminded blunder. "Don't be silly, Sheldon. Trust me. It's fine."

Sheldon glanced inside the window with anxiety again but then caught Carly's gaze. She tried to give him a reassuring smile and she was relieved to see him relax slightly. He nodded slowly and she smiled brightly at him, then opened the door and led him inside.

"Hey, sweet pea! Long time no see!"

A woman slightly taller than Carly greeted with a heavy southern accent from behind the counter. She had dirty blond hair that was held back in a ponytail and her overly tanned skin held laugh lines on her face. She looked about fifty and she was incredibly happy to see Carly.

Sheldon watched her move towards Carly with open arms, intending to hug her he assumed but stopped short when she spotted him by the door. "Well my, my. Who do we have here?"

Carly glanced behind her to see Sheldon glancing around the room uneasily as if looking for a reason to leave. Carly looked back at the woman with a growing blush, "Bea, this is Sheldon Cooper. He lives two floors above me."

At his name, Sheldon looked over at the woman called Bea again and she raised her eyebrows at him, then went back to Carly.

"Not even there a full month girly and you already got yourself a boyfriend? The city did wonders for you, sweetie," Bea said then gave Sheldon another once over, seeing something she hadn't noticed before. "You got yourself a tall one too. Good pickin'."

Carly wanted to cover Bea's mouth with her hand to get her to stop and was sure Sheldon was extremely uncomfortable by it. "Uhm, no we aren't together. Just friends," Carly told her, hurrying to make the situation right.

Bea didn't look sorry but she apologized. "Well, come here honey. I feel like I haven't seen you in forever."

Carly let out a little laugh and happily embraced the woman. "It's only been a couple of weeks. How much damage has been done without me?" she teased as they released each other.

Bea laughed a hoarse laugh and Sheldon frowned at it, not knowing what was funny. He then watched Carly move towards the counter, peering over it with a grin. He became curious so he followed her to see a pin where a temporary habitat was set up for a pure white bunny behind the counter. He couldn't help but let a smile appear on his face at it. It was adorable, after all.

He couldn't help but think the animal was lucky it wasn't locked up in a cage for cosmetic testing.

"Oh, girl! You know we do better with your tender touch around here. Hoppy there has been missing you," Bea told her with a fond laugh, walking over to the pen and petting the bunny behind his ears.

Carly grinned while standing up straight, and then looked up at Sheldon. She caught his little smile and it made her heart skip a beat. So he liked animals? That was a relief. "Do you want to go see what I brought you here for?" She asked him and he jumped as if startled.

Sheldon took a step back, realizing he had been caught smiling at a rabbit, and frowned, but nodded wanting to restore his masculinity. "I suppose. But I must say Hoppy is a rather stereotypical name to give a rabbit."

Bea raised her eyebrows at his offensive statement and Carly's mouth fell open, suddenly uncomfortable. She should have expected him to show himself like this in front of Bea. "I thought it was a good name," she murmured, feeling a little stung by the comment all the same.

Sheldon snorted, crossing his arms over his chest and rolling his eyes. "Sure, if you're a hippie."

A hippie... Carly frowned and looked away. Sheldon had referred to love as something a hippie experienced before. He always made it sound so insulting. The hope she had for him faltered a little.

She cleared her throat, trying to save face. "Let's just go." She headed for the back of the building where the animals were kept.

Once Carly was out of immediate earshot, Bea stopped Sheldon, who had made a move to follow, with a question. "Sweetie, you don't have a clue do you?"

He paused and looked over at her, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "If you are referring to what you are talking about, no. I don't."

Bea placed her hands on her hips, not appreciating his tone. "Sheldon, isn't it? Well Sheldon, look. If you are going to be around that young lady you better start being more considerate of her feelings. Couldn't you tell that she was upset when you insulted her?"

Sheldon gaped, not understanding. He replayed what he had said and came up with absolutely nothing. "But I didn't insult her. I was referring to the rabbit."

Bea blinked, wondering where on earth Carly had found such a man. "She named the rabbit," she informed him, giving him a pointed look.

Sheldon's eyes widened at the realization and he instantly felt guilty. "Oh."

Bea raised an eyebrow and took a step towards him, pointing at him with a finger. He took a step backward, not comfortable with the proximity. "That girl in there is sweet, caring, and loving. Now if you guys have anything going on then you best be watching out for her, including paying closer attention to her feelings."

Sheldon didn't know what to say to that. This woman called Bea vaguely reminded him of his mother. But she wasn't and he was just about to call her out on it but then he wondered something. "Do you care a lot for Carly?"

Bea was not expecting his response. "Yes, why of course I do. She is like a daughter to me."

Sheldon nodded with understanding. "Well, I have a difficult time assessing others feelings, but I can assure you I will do my best to be more thoughtful of her feelings."

Bea seemed to accept his answer and that was a good thing considering Carly returned and looked between them expectantly. "Sheldon, are you coming?"

Sheldon looked over at her and nodded, then went to join her. "Yes of course and I think Hoppy is a wonderful name for a rabbit, most in particular that one."

Carly blinked, shocked by the sudden enthusiasm, if not overly done, for the rabbit's name. She looked over at Bea for answers but she just grinned with a wink.

She felt a smile grow on her face, ducking her head a little as she looked at Bea. She must have said something to him. Whatever it was, she appreciated it.

She then turned to lead Sheldon to where she hoped he wouldn't freak out.

She stopped in front of a door to the side. "I opened all their cages so be careful to not let any of them out," she warned as she carefully opened the door and looked in, before moving herself cautiously through the door. She grinned, watching him do the same.

Sheldon closed the door behind him and then turned. He saw so many different breeds of cats that he had trouble keeping up with his thoughts as he said the names of them in his head. "Wow."

Carly beamed at his reaction and looked around her, finding a small white and black cat to scratch it behind the ears. "I've volunteered here for a few years now. All these cats are adoptable and vaccinated, and there's nothing wrong with them, so you don't have anything to worry about - like diseases jumping species or biting you to turn you into Catwoman," she teased as she watched him freeze and tense up as cats brushed themselves up against his legs.

He glared up at her, not appreciating the joke at his expense. "I never said anything about turning into Catwoman. And if we are being technical here I would be a Catman and Catwoman was never bitten by a cat. She just saw herself as a feline," he said, struggling to stand on his tiptoes as he tried to move away from the cats in desperation. To no avail though, they seemed to enjoy his company.

Carly frowned at the sight. "I thought you liked cats. You told me before..."

Sheldon looked at her in a panic, his eyes wide in fear. "I do. I just don't trust them."

Carly didn't know what that meant but whatever it was made sense to him. She went to a cupboard and grabbed a treat bag. At the sound of the crinkle of the bag, all of the cats in the room came running for her.

Sheldon sighed loudly in relief once he was standing alone. She vaguely saw him examining the cages, probably to make sure they were clean to his standards, while she made sure to give each cat a treat of their own.

She glanced up at him again, wondering something.

"Sheldon, would you like to feed them a couple of treats too?" she asked him, causing him to pause and look at her then the cats, panic suddenly reappearing in his eyes.

"I… I don't know. I think I'm okay," he said, shrugging and waving her off, attempting to hide his uneasiness from her.

Carly sighed. She didn't want to push him if he was uncomfortable but she had a feeling he was just overwhelmed. Perhaps bringing them all out at once to surprise him had been a bad idea.

She fed all of the cats a treat except the small white and black one, who was pleading with her by her feet. She picked him up in her arms and stood, then walked over to Sheldon.

Sheldon's eyes widened and stared down at the cat. He tried to back away but she caught his wrist quickly and watched him seize up at the touch. "Carly, I do not think that this is a good idea." He licked his lips uneasily.

Carly let go of him and spoke to him gently. "Sheldon give me your hand."

Sheldon stuck out his chin. "No."

"Sheldon, come on."

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please Sheldon!" she practically shouted, getting frustrated with his persistence, but surprising herself at the outburst.

He almost stomped his foot and she bit her lip, wondering if she was just pushing her luck. Then, ever so slowly, she saw him place his hand out, palm up in front of her face.

"Fine, but you could have asked nicely," he said, his voice indignant but she could see it in his eyes he was forcing himself.

She felt guilty then. She glanced down at his hand, still waiting, and she took a deep breath. This had been what she wanted right? To touch him? Even as innocent as giving a cat a treat?

Carly used her free hand to place the treat delicately in his hand, her fingers brushing his palm softly. It was ridiculous, she thought, as she felt little tingles spread through her fingers at the soft touch.

Carly shifted uncomfortably and dropped her hand to return to the subject at hand, not wanting to freak him out with her weird feelings. "This is Oreo. He's my favorite. I found him in a shoebox behind the dumpster outside. He was just a kitten."

She watched Sheldon carefully pick the treat up with his fingers and gingerly held it out for the cat that was desperately trying to get to it from Carly's arms. Oreo's head was upside down and his eyes had dilated.

It was an endearing sight.

Surprisingly, Oreo didn't eat his fingers and was satisfied with the treat. Carly set him down to let him wander with the other cats, smiling at them fondly.

"You named him Oreo?" Sheldon asked, his voice and face hinting that he was about to insult her again. Or her name choices. Were they that bad?

She raised her eyebrows at him as if daring him to say anything about her name choice, and he caught the look, dropping his eyes as if he was a kid being caught in the cookie jar.

She crossed her arms across her chest and looked around at all the cats, feeling rather put out. "I thought you would like this."

"It's nice…" he reluctantly admitted, which did make her feel better. "But what am I going to get out of it?" he asked, cutting to the chase and she couldn't help but roll her eyes with a smile.

"Is that the only reason why you wanted to come?"

Sheldon looked aghast at her assumption. "Of course not! I was just curious."

Carly laughed, and gave him a knowing "mmhm" and began returning the cats to their cages. She had two in their cages when she saw Sheldon staring at her, his eyebrows knitted together.

"What?" She asked with a hesitant smile.

His eyes wandered around the room, looking at each cat before shrugging. "I will help."

She watched in stunned silence as he began scooping up cats and putting them in their respectable cages. He had noticed their pictures on the outside of their doors to make sure they went into the right one.

One of the cats in her arms tried to escape, probably realizing that he was going to be put up, and brought her attention back. Collecting herself, she placed the cats in her arms in their cages and helped Sheldon with the rest.

She put the bag of treats back into the cupboard, but as she did, a small plastic container from the top shelf fell and almost hit her in the head.

Gasping, she sprung backward in shock and stared at the offending object for a couple of beats, realizing what had happened.

"Are you all right?" Sheldon asked her from behind, sounding far away and concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It just startled me is all," she laughed lightly at herself and picked the container up. She looked up at the top shelf and figured she could reach it.

Standing on her tiptoes, she went for it but was dismayed to realize she was an inch too short to get it back up there.

Grunting in an effort, she didn't notice Sheldon approaching her until he was standing close - too close, and his long arm went out to grab the container from her hand.

She froze and idly thought she may die, feeling his arm and the side of his chest brush up against her as he slid the container onto the top shelf.

"Don't you know how to ask for help?" He questioned her and she felt her face burn. Was this happening?

"Uh, yes," she replied dumbly, not hearing herself over the sound of her loud heartbeat.

As soon as he stepped away from her she realized that she had stopped breathing. She let it out slowly, not wanting to draw attention to herself. Sheldon probably hadn't even noticed her reaction.

She made herself close the cupboard and they left the room, neither saying anything to each other and avoiding their gazes.

Soon they were saying goodbye to Bea and were on the road again back to Pasadena. Sheldon had admitted that he enjoyed himself. Although he had initially been wary of the health of the animals, after closely examining the cages, he agreed that they were well taken care of.

"So what do I get?" Sheldon asked once more, as he looked out the passenger window. He was attempting to hide in his eagerness.

Carly jumped out of her thoughts, the movement catching his attention and he looked over at her to see her give him a tiny smile.

"Hang on," she told him as she turned the steering wheel to drive the little ways to the mall.

Happy New Years!