Chapter 5: Will You Be My Girlfriend?

"I believe I would like to alter the paradigm of our relationship." - Sheldon

Sheldon held a black and white stuffed cat in his lap, smiling to himself in the passenger seat of Carly's car. She had taken him to Build-A-Bear, got soft pretzels with lemonade, and then headed back for Pasadena.

Carly smiled as she drove, committing the day to memory. She would never forget how his eyes had lit up at the sight of the Build-A-Bear store, or how he had immediately decided to make a black and white cat for himself. She was relieved that he enjoyed the day, even if at first he hadn't been sure.

"So you lived in Burbank?"

Sheldon's curious question drew her out of her thoughts and she glanced over at him, meeting his eyes for a moment before looking back at the road. "A little outside of it."

"I see... your whole life?"

She shook her head, then felt a little sad at the reminder. "Not all of it. I moved in with my Grandmother when I was around five and that's where she lives."

Sheldon's eyes widened, looking a little excited at the thought. "You lived with your Mee-Maw?"

Carly couldn't help but laugh a little, he was so cute. "Um, yes. I call her Grandma though."

Sheldon turned in his seat to look at her. "That must have been great, living with your grandmother all this time."

Carly fell silent, not sure how to explain. She felt Sheldon stare at her, waiting, and so she figured she should respond. "Yeah, it was. It was hard to leave her. I almost didn't, but she wanted me to have a life outside of her small house. We've always been there for each other, ya know?"

She glanced at Sheldon and realized he was staring at her shirt again, thoughtful and hesitant. "What?"

He blinked and snapped his eyes back up to her face with a small shake of his head. "Penny told me that your parents died. When you were younger," he told her softly, and she was surprised to see a hidden pain in his eyes.

Carly suddenly felt tight in her seatbelt and she fidgeted, pulling it away from her neck for a moment. Her eyes stared hard at the road.

"Sorry I didn't mean to upset you. I promised Bea I wouldn't."

He sounded upset with himself and she looked back over at him, surprised. "Bea had you promise not to upset me?"

Sheldon nodded then looked away uncomfortably out the window. "I don't know if you knew this but... I'm not- good at recognizing when I've upset someone. Or that I'm going to upset someone. To be honest, I guess most of the time and more often than not I'm wrong."

Carly felt sad for him, hearing his vulnerable, hurt voice. She knew he struggled with it, that it was hard for him. She had learned that rather quickly. Their friends tried, in their way, to help him but she assumed that he needed someone to show him the way- not demand it of him.

"It's all right," she told him. "I struggle with some things too. Like... I get anxious around new people. To be honest, you all are the first real friends I've ever had. I'm grateful every day to have met you."

Sheldon slowly looked back over at her and she glanced, catching his eyes. She didn't recognize the emotion behind them and she bit her lip, looking back at the road.

"I'm grateful to have met you."

The words and the way he said them would repeat over and over in her head forever. Small, quiet - but meaning it.

Her stomach did a flop. She couldn't bring herself to look at him again, but she just had to see his face. How he had meant it. If it meant more than just what he was saying.

She chanced another look at his face and was disappointed to see him staring out the window, almost with his back to her. Had he meant to say it?

She frowned and stared out at the road as they neared Pasadena. He was scared, she could tell. Just like she was.

She needed to figure out a way to get him to feel better about it if she was ever going to get anywhere with him.

"Hey, do you want to play a car game?" Sheldon asked her suddenly, his tone turning bright and excited and she couldn't help but grin over at him, despite being startled by his abrupt change of mood.

"Sure! How do you play?"

oO0Oo

"Well hey, guys! How was today?" Penny asked, not being able to contain herself as the two walked into the apartment.

Leonard looked up over his slice of pizza as Sheldon left Carly by the door to head to the couch. She trailed after him, noticing that Leonard and Penny were the only ones there.

"Get up. You're in my spot."

Penny, who had been enjoying herself, scowled and made Leonard scoot over - but was soon kicked off the couch completely when Penny grabbed a hold of Carly's wrist to pull her down between herself and Sheldon.

Leonard huffed in annoyance and went to sit in the armchair, while Carly realized that Penny was trying to play matchmaker. Heart speeding up, she tried to look normal. She was sitting rather close to Sheldon on the couch.

"Sheldon, that was rude," Carly feigned normalcy and gave him a stern look.

Sheldon was already getting himself a slice of pizza.

"Penny has been eating with us for years now, she should be well aware that this is my spot and whoever sits in it will be told to move," he told her simply, before taking a bite out of his pizza.

Carly was going to protest further but Penny nudged her and she looked over at her. "Don't bother. He's right, I knew better," Penny replied with a casual shrug, sounding defeated but also annoyed.

Carly let it go and took a piece of pizza for herself, trying to ignore how her thigh was brushing against Sheldon's as she did so.

Leonard then spoke up. "So you never said, how was today?"

Sheldon suddenly snorted derisively. "Leonard, don't you ever watch the news? It was 90 with a 20% chance of precipitation. Good lord, I thought you got that app for a reason."

Leonard glared at him, realizing he would get nowhere with Sheldon, and turned to Carly. "How did today go, Carly?"

Carly grinned at the memory of the day, unable to hide her happiness even if she had wanted to. "Great! We had a swell time."

"That's nice, where did you guys go?" Penny asked with a glance, curious as she took a bite.

"Carly took me to the animal shelter that she volunteers at over in Burbank," Sheldon explained, sounding way more enthusiastic about it than she remembered him being when they pulled up to it.

Carly smiled at him fondly, still relieved he had a good time regardless.

"An animal shelter, hunh? That's sweet," Leonard approved thoughtfully, and Carly smiled back at him.

"Yeah it's a great place," she agreed. And it was. Bea was amazing and was like a mother she never had and the way she was passionate about the animals there was inspiring.

"Isn't it wrong to hit on someone else, while sitting right in front of your girlfriend?" Sheldon asked his roommate suddenly with a baffled glare.

Simultaneously, Penny choked on her pizza and Carly snapped her eyes to Sheldon in disbelief, while Leonard looked at him like he had gone insane. Did Sheldon think Leonard had hit on Carly?

"I wasn't hitting on Carly, cool your jets. Taking care of animals is sweet, Sheldon."

Sheldon's eyes squinted at Leonard and didn't want to let it go. "No these jets will not be cooled-"

Realizing that Sheldon was about to start a ridiculous argument, Carly tried to soothe the situation. "Sheldon relax, he was just being polite. He didn't mean anything by it."

Sheldon's fierce eyes darted to Carly and seemed to lose a little bit of his steam before glaring back at Leonard with a warning on his tongue. "You best watch it."

Leonard blinked owlishly at his roommate, unable to process what had just happened. He had never seen him like this over a person before, besides his mother or his Mee-Maw.

Penny wasn't ignorant to what was happening and she stifled her smug grin the best she could and gestured over to the stuffed cat on the end table next to Sheldon. "What's that?"

Sheldon seemed to be cooling off and he looked over at it before glancing at Carly with a knowing grin like they had a secret. "That's Richard Trevithick, the inventor of the first steam locomotive."

Carly glanced at Penny with a bashful smile, hoping she got the hint that they had a good day. Penny grinned back at them, then seemed to remember something.

"Oh, Carly. Bernadette and I are planning a girl's night next Friday night and we wanted to know if you'd come."

Girls night? She had never gone to a girl's night before and had only seen them on TV. "Sure!" she grinned, getting excited about it and the fact that she had friends to do that sort of thing with. "What are you guys planning on doing?"

Penny shrugged casually while taking a sip of her water bottle. "Oh just buy a bottle of wine and kick back and relax. We can all crash at my place," she said with a coy smile.

Carly brightened at the thought. She wasn't a drinker, but she knew enough about the adult world that it was common to drink when spending time with your friends. "Sounds fun. I get off at seven so I will hurry to change and I will meet you up here then."

Penny was pleased. "Awesome!"

"Carly," Sheldon interrupted suddenly.

Penny and Leonard rolled their eyes in unison. Of course, he would have a problem with something.

Carly turned her attention to him, noticing how his eyes were worried and he was staring at her seriously. "Yes?" She asked hesitantly.

"Are you sure it's wise to drink with Penny? I have seen her drink and she can be a bad influence. She even has caused me to be 'wasted' and I ended up taking my pants off in front of a lot of people. I just don't want that for you," he explained and she stared at him, dumbstruck.

"Wait, what? You got wasted and took your pants off?" she asked him, clearly unbelieving. "That is horrible!"

Sheldon blushed darkly from his ears to his cheeks, then glanced away. "Admittedly yes, but it was because I was nervous about making a speech and Penny told me that it would help."

"And it did!" Penny defended herself loudly, not liking that she was being made to sound like a bad guy. "You had completely forgotten how nervous you were and didn't mind getting comfortable on stage."

"So comfortable that everyone saw your ass," Leonard said with a laugh, making Penny burst into laughter as well at the memory.

Carly saw how embarrassed and ashamed Sheldon looked, horrified for him. She grimaced at the thought of how mortified he had been.

Although she couldn't help but notice that he had told her all of that because he was worried about her, she felt herself melt. He did like her, didn't he?

Penny caught the way Carly was looking at Sheldon and stopped laughing. The girl had it bad. They just needed to give Sheldon a little nudge. He was being stubborn and frustrating as usual.

Penny suddenly stood with a quick decision, dusting her pants off and catching the eye of Leonard. She lifted a thumb and gestured behind her, before looking at Carly and Sheldon. "Well, I gotta work early tomorrow. I will see you all later," Penny told them, pleased when she saw Leonard stand as well, obviously understanding.

"I'll walk you out," Leonard said with a smirk and followed her after saying goodnight to Carly.

They were alone once more in his apartment and it was just as uncomfortable as the last time. The bliss from the day had faded but lingered like a warm breeze.

Carly finished her pizza, trying to swallow quietly because it was incredibly silent in the apartment. She chanced a glance at Sheldon and he seemed to be inwardly struggling with something.

She frowned, turning to him. "Are you all right?"

Sheldon glanced at her, his eye twitching a little. "Yeah, I'm fine. A little rattled that I told you about that, but I'm fine."

Carly felt for him and wished to take his hand but was worried about what his reaction would be. She tried instead to reassure him with her words. "Don't worry I'm not going to laugh. It wasn't your fault."

Sheldon glanced at her again, his eyes softening a little. "I know. You aren't like that."

She smiled at him, glad that he knew that, then remembered why he had told her about his embarrassing moment in the first place. "Sheldon, worrying about me is sweet of you but I can take care of myself. I won't let Penny or anyone for that matter pressure me into doing something I don't want to do."

Sheldon tensed and nodded once, avoiding her gaze. She frowned, wishing he would look at her and realize it was okay. To let her hug him. To tell her he liked her.

Carly stared at the side of his face, watching a muscle jerk in his cheek as he thought hard about something. She bit her lip.

The only way she would be able to move forward is if she made the first move. She knew that and had known that. She remembered how he had recoiled from her that day when she had accidentally grabbed his hand.

She swallowed thickly, worrying that she was going to overstep her boundaries and send him running to the hills.

"Sheldon?" she murmured, unable to speak any louder because she was mortified that he would leave. That he would never look at her the same again.

But she had to know.

"Yes?" Finally, finally, he looked over at her and she was startled by the way his blue eyes changed when settling on hers. For a moment, she forgot what she was going to say.

She blinked, her breath speeding up, and her hands beginning to sweat. "I know that this may come as a shock to you, and I really hope you don't hate me after this but... I-I like you." There she said it. She felt immense relief for a good couple of seconds before the regret forced its way through and she was left to watch his eyes widen and his whole body freeze.

"I..." Sheldon was speechless. She liked him? At first, he thought she meant as friends but they had already declared they were friends, so it couldn't have been that and the way she had said it.

'I-I like you.'

His mouth ran dry and he searched her face, watching as her eyes filled up in what appeared to be fear.

He could relate. He was terrified. He had never felt this way about another human being in his life and he didn't understand it. He didn't get why he was mesmerized by her smile, how he easily got lost in her eyes without meaning to, how he couldn't get her out of his mind, and how every time he saw her, he felt a little more. Like actually felt.

Since the day he had met her, something stirred in him. Changed him. He didn't know what any of this meant.

How could he explain what he felt to her? Would she understand, when even he didn't?

Carly dropped her eyes to her lap, gaze hard and willing herself not to get upset at his silence. It was as if she had pressed the reset button on him. He was still, unmoving. She hadn't been able to read his face and she had given up.

What was he thinking?

The longer the silence, the more terrified she was that she had ruined what they had. She had to fix this- it had been a mistake.

Carly panicked and got to her feet, hell-bent on getting out of the apartment and hiding alone in her bed for the rest of the weekend. Maybe for the rest of her life.

"I- uh, I should go. S-See you-" she made a move to run from him but was caught by a strong, long-fingered hand around her wrist.

She froze, eyes darting down to it, shocked. Was he... touching her? His hand was warm, sweating a little, he must have been nervous too. His grip was surprisingly strong.

She followed his arm and looked into his face. His scared, anxious face. His eyes stared up at her, hard emotions swimming in them that made her stomach flip wildly in her body.

"Wait," he told her, sounding almost broken. She stared back at him, breath hitching. Was he...

"What is it, Sheldon?" She breathed, wanting to know, needing to know.

His fingers loosened on her wrist and slowly released her, his hand falling to his lap before standing. She immediately felt the loss from his touch, skin tingling, but was taken aback by how close he was now standing to her.

She craned her neck, looking up into his face in anxious curiosity.

"I believe..." His voice was low, deep like he was struggling to understand himself. "I believe that I could possibly... like you too."

Everything around her disappeared when he said those three words and she stared, eyes focused solely on Sheldon as he gazed back - looking worse for wear.

Then, she fully processed what he had said and she smiled. A full, wide, and bright smile reached her eyes. "You do?"

She needed confirmation. This couldn't be real.

Sheldon just nodded, ducking his head a little and glancing down at his feet before peering back into her eyes. "Briefly I thought I may be having a heart attack, or possibly an alien parasite making me think about you all the time, but- the only other conclusion I could come up with, the only logical explanation is... that I like you."

Hearing it again, coming from his mouth and not her imagination, made her heart soar. She wanted to hug him, kiss him- something! But she refrained, not wanting to scare him off. She knew he was enduring enough.

"I'm so relieved to hear that," she told him honestly, breathless. "I've been holding it in for a while."

Sheldon's lips curved upwards, looking relieved as well. "Me too. God, I'm glad that's over."

She laughed, unable to stop herself because this- this feeling of knowing that he liked her back, that this was happening- felt like heaven.

They both dropped back down to the couch, turned to the other with smiles on their faces. Then, after a sudden thought, the happiness on her face faltered. Her heart jumped with anxiety again.

"What does this mean for us?" she hesitantly asked him. "Are we... do we-" She broke off, unable to say the word 'date' aloud.

Sheldon's smile fell, becoming uncomfortable once more with the conversation. His eyes dropped to his lap, thinking as she watched on bated breath. Did he understand what she was trying to say?

He let out a breath. "Social protocol dictates that... if two people should like each other more than friends than- well, that is to say... we should-"

He did know, she concluded, heart suddenly racing in her chest at the implications.

"Ask me, Sheldon," she urged, knowing she would need to help him along. She always would.

He glanced at her once more before looking down again at the floor, his eyes seeming to look for a hole to crawl into. He was silent for a long time but she waited silently for him to speak. She could wait. She had waited her whole life for this moment. For a man to ask her the question she had seen in so many romance movies and read about in books.

But as the silence continued, with no sign he was going to continue, her patience grew thin. "Sheldon?" She prompted.

He jumped, startled and he suddenly gave himself a shake out of the stupor he had been in. "Carly." He said her name so formally that she straightened her back and gave him her full attention. "Will you be so kind as to not reject my question as to if you will be my girlfriend?"

That wasn't exactly what she had thought he'd say but she shouldn't have been surprised. She laughed lightly, finding him to be endearing even amid nerves and insecurities. "No, I won't reject your question, but you must ask it first."

He let out a huff and threw a slight glare at her. "You're being difficult. You know how much this is making me uneasy."

Carly leaned in, watched his eyes widen substantially at the proximity, and was surprised that he didn't lean backward away from her. She looked into his eyes seriously, a reassuring smile playing on her lips. She didn't miss his notable glance down to her mouth.

"I promise," she vowed. There was no way she would tell him no. She straightened and removed herself from his personal space. He visibly breathed easier. "I could give it to you in writing if you want." It was a joke but she saw the consideration on his face.

She laughed with a playful roll of her eyes.

"Carly." His tone drew her attention back to him and she paused in breathing. "Will you be my girlfriend?"

The question was music to her ears. Something she had only imagined and never thought would be asked of her. She bit her lip, drawing out the moment. He watched her reaction and she just about told him yes, thousand times yes, but she suddenly wondered something.

He caught sight of the change of expression and grew worried. "Before you answer, remember you said that you wouldn't reject it," he reminded, making her hold on to her words, with fear.

She broke into a smile. "I know, but before I answer, you must answer my question first."

Sheldon raised his eyebrows, concerned. "I didn't know you would have stipulations before answering."

Carly resisted the urge to place an assuring hand over his. "Sheldon, if I can't reject your question then we all know what my answer will be."

Sheldon thought her words over before reluctantly nodding. "Okay fine, go on."

Carly shifted uneasily in her seat, worrying about his answer again. "Okay. If we are to be boyfriend and girlfriend does that mean I can touch you?"

Sheldon froze at the question, his eyes lowering to her hands and then back up nervously to her face. "Touch where?"

Carly softened. "Like holding hands? Hugging?" She paused awkwardly before adding, "Kissing?"

He bristled at 'kissing' and she bit her lip. Perhaps that had been wishful thinking.

"Holding hands... I can get used to," he admitted slowly, giving it some thought. "But under the conditions of only doing it when we're alone or giving each other a handshake."

Holding hands when they were alone? She could deal with that. "Okay, what about hugging?"

Sheldon visibly gulped and then tried to look like it wasn't a big deal. "On special occasions, like when Leonard Nimoy dies or Supernatural ends."

Carly didn't know what either of those two things were and so it didn't sound too promising. "What about if we are alone and it's been a long time since we have seen each other? Normally people hug when they want to convey that they missed the other."

Sheldon looked thoughtful for a moment, then nodded. "Okay, that's fine. But we see each other every day almost- so that won't be necessary."

Carly cracked a smile at that. "Okay and lastly, ki-"

"No kissing," he cut her off, shaken. She stared at him, stunned and disappointed. "Not yet. I... I need to get comfortable with all of this first."

Carly knew that all of this was new for them, him especially, and so she accepted it. She hoped that in time, he would feel at ease around her enough for them to do all sorts of things. Everything.

"It's a deal," she told him, then after a moment's thought, she stuck her hand out to him.

He looked down at it, unsure, then trailed his gaze back up.

She quirked an eyebrow, a smile on her lips, as she waited. She gave her hand a little shake as if to say, 'hurry up'.

Sheldon then let out a dramatic sigh and she knew she had won. He rolled his eyes and then took her hand. She grinned, glad that he had followed through.

He gave her hand a little shake and then released her, giving her a playfully annoyed look. "Should I just write out a relationship agreement? I could have it printed out by tomorrow."

Carly let out a laugh at that and shook her head, putting a hand out in front of her to say 'stop'. "No, it's fine."

Sheldon was disappointed at her answer. He always loved creating documents.

"Hey, you haven't answered," he reminded, feeling insecure again at the realization.

She grinned and then sat up properly, looking at him in the eyes. "Yes, Sheldon. I will be your girlfriend."

Sheldon let out a sigh of great relief. "I thought you were going to back out."

Carly laughed at him, unbelieving that he would think that after their whole conversation. "Sheldon, I promised you I wouldn't."

"Yeah but that doesn't mean anything. Everyone said that the Green Lantern movie was going to be great, but it wasn't," he pointed out as if it justified it.

Carly shook her head in amusement, loving his nerdy side, before suddenly standing up from the couch, startling him.

"Where are you going?" he asked her, baffled that she was leaving soon after they had agreed to be boyfriend and girlfriend.

She reached the door then turned to give him a smile over her shoulder, making him slightly breathless at the sight of it. "I'm going to go get my clothes. I will meet you in the laundry room in a few minutes, deal?"

Sheldon felt something stir in him and he gave her a sheepish grin, then looked down at his watch as he got to his feet. "Smart thinking. It's twenty minutes till 8:15. Wouldn't want to be late. I will see you then."

When he turned around to head back into his bedroom, she grinned and called out to him on a whim. "Sheldon?"

He spun around to see her walking towards him, a coy smile on her face, sending his heart to race in his chest. It would have been concerning if he hadn't grown used to it throughout the time he had known her.

She carefully reached out for him and he tried to remain still, unsure of what she was going to do but still wanting to see what it was.

Carly softly took his hand and looked down at it fondly, thoroughly enjoying the feel of his hand in hers. He looked down at their entwined hands in wonder and then rose his eyes, catching her gaze. His fingers twitched in her hold.

"See you, my boyfriend," she murmured, excited to use the term for the first time. She smiled at him, relieved he was letting her hold his hand, even for a brief period.

She gave his hand a light squeeze before releasing it, then turned on her heel and headed to the door.

"Okay, my girlfriend," he said quietly back at her, watching her leave his apartment in awe. He made himself walk to his bedroom to retrieve his dirty clothing.

They both wore matching, knowing smiles the rest of the evening.

Hello everyone! Thank you for reading this revision of this story. This is whereit begins to differ from the original story. I hope you enjoy it nonetheless! See you next Thursday!