Chapter 8: Comic-Con
"What would Spock do?" - Sheldon
Carly had to admit she had been extremely nervous about the trip. Not only would she have to board a plane, something she only did once a year for the annual library conference, but she would be spending four whole days with Sheldon - in the same hotel room.
It had surprised everyone, especially Carly. He had behaved like it was the only sensible idea- as Penny and Leonard and Howard and Bernadette were paired in their respective rooms- which left Raj by himself. Sheldon, who although preferred to be alone and did not want to share a room with Raj, booked a room with double beds for himself and Carly.
In his mind, at the time, it had made sense.
Carly of course was fine with it, but she was anxious. She had spent an entire night with him before but that had been an accident and she'd been drunk out of her mind.
This time, she would be sober and she would know exactly what was going on.
After the long plane ride to Pennsylvania and the short trip to the hotel, Carly and Sheldon parted ways with their friends to make their way up to their room to get settled in before dinner.
Sheldon was all jitters and talking excitedly about what the weekend would hold for them while Carly just listened half-heartedly, unable to focus on anything but the fact that they would be in a bedroom alone together.
It was Sheldon, obviously, and they hadn't even kissed since that first time, so she really couldn't expect much out of it- but she wouldn't stop imagining what could happen.
He opened the door to their room and she walked in after him on bated breath.
"This is my bed," Sheldon declared immediately, setting his suitcase down onto the bed closest to the door.
"That's fine," Carly replied with a small smile and walked over to the other bed, swinging her suitcase up onto it. She turned around to see Sheldon walking around the room, appearing to be searching for something.
"What are you doing?" she asked him curiously.
Sheldon turned to look at her seriously, "Do you see the thermostat?"
Carly bit her lip to stop herself from smiling fondly at him. He was a particular boy. She looked around, before spotting it hidden behind the curtain of the window. "Right there," she told him, pointing to it.
He zoomed over in relief to adjust it. She knew she wouldn't have to wait too long to find out why it was so serious because he would always explain himself whether people wanted to know or not-
"In case you were wondering, the thermostat should stay at a prompt seventy-two degrees at all times. In addition, since we are sharing a hotel room, we should put down some regulations," he told her, all business, and coming to a stop in front of her while crossing his arms.
Carly blinked dumbly for a moment but realized she should have seen this coming. She had been around them long enough to know Sheldon and Leonard shared a roommate agreement in order to live with another. She knew it made Sheldon feel better about the situation.
She sat down onto her bed to give him her full attention, wanting him to know that she would do anything he asked of her. "Lay it on me."
Sheldon squinted his eyes at her in confusion at her words but let it go to allow a small pleased smile appear on his face. Perhaps sharing a hotel room with her would be easier than he had thought.
He composed himself to tell her his schedule and what hers should be to coincide. He was once again delighted that Carly never thought of him as a nuisance. She hadn't ever complained and she didn't. Not once.
He was lucky to have found her... if he believed in luck, that is.
oO0Oo
"God, I am so glad that I don't have to share a room with Sheldon," Leonard said the next day in his Batman costume, waiting down in the hotel lobby with everyone except the girls - pointedly ignoring all the stares they were being given by the other guests of the hotel. Penny had shown him just how much she enjoyed sharing a hotel room with him into the long hours of the night.
After breakfast together and lots of coffee, they had all separated to get dressed for the day.
Sheldon, dressed as Spock, glared at Leonard's jab. "Me too," he replied wistfully. "I don't have to worry about you changing the thermostat or clogging up the toilet when you 'accidentally' eat milk chocolate."
Leonard glowered up at his roommate. "That was an accident and I wish you would stop bringing it up!"
Sheldon shrugged, unruffled by Leonard's hostility, and adjusted his pointed Vulcan ear. "I'm just saying."
Howard rolled his eyes, pulling up his green lantern glove with a sudden dreamy thought. "I wonder what the girls dressed up as. Bernadette never told me... no matter how much I begged," he muttered the last part, obviously put out by it.
"Penny didn't say either," Leonard told him thoughtfully. "Although I'm hoping she wears that Wonder Woman costume again, that was so hot."
Sheldon snorted at him, finding the conversation exasperating, while Raj returned after using the vending machine to buy a water bottle.
He grinned to himself as he wore his Hulk costume. "I'm so glad I chose to wear this, it makes me feel so much stronger-" he mused happily, before something caught his eye over the guys' shoulders, making his eyes almost bug out of his head.
"Hey boys," Penny announced suggestively and the guys turned around to look at her, Carly, and Bernadette. Many of the other hotel occupants were gaping at them already.
Penny was dressed as Catwoman, a black spandex jumper that hung to every curve on her body, with knee-high black boots. Her hair was down underneath a black mask and she was smirking at Leonard pointedly, who was visibly sweating in front of her - as if he may pass out.
Howard gulped as he stared at his fiancee, wearing a Star Sapphire outfit. It was a long-sleeved pink leotard looking piece of clothing, with a little white star over her hips. She looked very uncomfortable and she shifted in her thigh-high pink boots. The top of her face was covered with a pink mask that ran up over her head into a crown that had a white star embroidered upon it. She wore her glasses over the top of it, smiling up at Howard, pleased with his reaction. It was as if all of his wildest fantasies had come true.
Sheldon wasn't looking at either of the women. His eyes were firmly intent on Carly and his lips slightly parted as he breathed, almost heavily. She had her brown hair pulled up in a high ponytail and was wearing a familiar short red dress that could only belong to Uhura off of Star Trek. She wore knee-length black boots over her bare legs and she was biting her lip as she watched Sheldon's reaction carefully.
In all honesty, Carly had been unsure of how Sheldon would take her costume upon seeing it. She had never worn something so skin revealing in front of him before and truthfully, she felt so out of her element that even she was surprised by herself. The girls had been shocked, excitedly telling her that Sheldon would be stunned by how hot she was, but now that she stood in front of his silent form- she didn't know anymore.
For a long drawn-out moment, she wondered if he was frozen in shock but then his eyes slowly dropped down her frame and back up, thoroughly assessing her attire. Her face lit up at the attention, wondering what he was thinking.
Carly cleared her throat and found her voice, as the others began talking about their outfits to their respected partners. "Do you like it?" she asked timidly to Sheldon, taking a step towards him.
Sheldon suddenly widened his eyes when she advanced and took a step back from her, looking scared. She frowned at him, not understanding the reaction. "Is there something wrong?" she asked worriedly, trying to take another step to him.
He stepped back again, his back hitting into a large pillar behind him. It went unnoticed. "You're Uhura," he stated dumbly, his voice a bit scratchy.
Carly frowned, suddenly feeling silly for wearing this outfit and gaining so much attention from it. She had hoped Sheldon would have been excited by it.
Disappointed, she tried to explain. "Penny told me you were going as Spock so she thought that I could dress as Uhura... because you know, Spock and Uhura have some kind of thing going on..." she mumbled, feeling uncomfortable as his eyes changed from fear to that little glow that told her he was about to say something contradictory.
"That was only on the new movie," he corrected her, his voice lowering to a normal pitch as his eyes raked over her again. "Spock would have never kissed her in the series."
The way he said it. The way he had chosen his words. It was too much and her heart sank, feeling stung as if he had told her directly that he would never kiss her again. "So you don't like it," she concluded, the hurt evident in her voice.
Sheldon crossed his arms over his blue shirt, defensively. "I never said that. I was just pointing it out."
Still, he didn't sound like he approved of it. She glanced at Leonard and Howard fawning all over their girlfriends and then felt rejected.
Carly glanced up at Sheldon and then turned her face away, suddenly wishing she hadn't come. "Fine."
She knew she shouldn't be this sensitive about it. Sheldon wasn't like the other guys. She knew that, it was just that she had let herself hope that he would have a better reaction.
Sheldon stopped his front upon realizing by her brisk tone that there was something wrong with her all of a sudden. "Are you all right?"
Carly returned to him for a moment, seeing the worry in his eyes, before shaking her head. "It's fine Sheldon." She hadn't meant to say it in such an irritated tone, but the damage was done and she didn't miss the flash of hurt in his eyes.
She didn't normally speak to him in that way. Like everyone else did. Guilt crept into her and she looked down at the ground, ashamed that she would treat him that way.
She shouldn't even be angry with him. She was the one who had let herself hope in the first place.
Before they could say anymore, Leonard called out to them from the hotel entrance. "Hey guys, come on!"
They were all beginning to head out the door.
Upset with herself, Carly sighed and made herself move. "Let's go," she told him before turning and walking away, leaving him to follow after.
Sheldon frowned at her back, not understanding what had happened between them but knowing something was wrong. His jaw clenched, feeling dread rise from his belly, and forced himself to follow after her.
oO0Oo
Penny wasn't the only one who had noticed the tension between Carly and Sheldon. Neither of them were speaking to each other and she didn't think they had even stood together since arriving at the convention center. Anyone with eyes knew something was going on.
Instead, Sheldon had been pestering Leonard, thoroughly ticking her boyfriend off- Penny was worried. At the hotel, she had seen the way Sheldon had looked at Carly.
He had looked like a deer in headlights, completely besotted with her. If she didn't believe their relationship was progressing, the look on his face confirmed it.
The only thing she could conclude was that Sheldon ruined the moment with his big fat mouth, somehow hurting Carly's feelings.
The poor girl looked miserable and was closing in on herself by the moment.
Penny knew she needed to do something and so she approached Carly, grabbing her by the arm and startling her to pull her away from the group. "Hey girl, I saw some free candy back there. Let's go rob them bitches."
She caught Leonard's eyes and gave him a meaningful stare to which he rose his eyebrows, then it dawned on him. He nodded to her in approval and turned to see Sheldon walking ahead of them, by himself.
He frowned. Something was seriously off.
As soon as the girls were out of eyeshot, Penny rounded on the brunette. "All right. What did that weird asshole say to you?" she sternly asked Carly, crossing her arms over her chest.
Carly was shocked at Penny's intuitiveness and then deflated. "It's that noticeable?"
Penny rolled her eyes, thinking of the two of them sulking while everyone else was having fun. "Very."
Carly took a deep breath, her eyebrows knitting together. "He didn't do anything bad."
Penny snorted, not believing it for a second. "It's Sheldon. It couldn't have been anything good."
Carly shook her head, her face pained. "No, it was me. I let myself think that he would have a normal reaction to seeing his girlfriend dressed like this but..." she trailed off and then shook herself, coming to her senses. "He was just being himself. It's not a big deal but I accidentally made it one. I got angry at him and I feel guilty about it but, I'm so upset right now I can't bring myself to tell him sorry."
Penny furrowed her eyebrows, but she understood. She gave Carly a sympathetic smile and reached over, squeezing her arm comfortingly. "I think you took his reaction the wrong way. He wasn't put off by how you looked, he was awed by it."
Carly bit her bottom lip and didn't look believing. "All he seemed to think about when he saw it was how inaccurate it was to the tv series. Do you honestly think he liked it?"
Penny nodded dramatically, wishing Carly had more self-confidence in herself to recognize it. "He was practically drooling. I saw him with my own eyes. He was probably fighting the urge to have his way with you right in the middle of the hotel lobby!" Penny laughed, sure it was an exaggeration but she didn't think she was that far off from the truth.
Carly blushed darkly at her words and looked down at the floor in embarrassment. "I highly doubt that."
Penny groaned, tugging at Carly's hand. "Carly come on, let's enjoy ourselves. We look ridiculous and we get free stuff." She gave the woman a grin which Carly reluctantly returned. It didn't quite reach her eyes. "Apologize to him, do something. He is driving us all mad and I hate seeing you so sad. So have fun with your boyfriend... or, whatever fun is with you guys. You get to spend quality time with him for the next couple of days- enjoy it!"
Carly made a face that let Penny know she was getting through to her. Thank goodness.
"Oh, all right," Carly conceded, a smile tugging at her lips.
Penny grinned, happy with the outcome, and then tugged her friend to grab candy before they returned to the guys.
Carly cautiously approached Sheldon who was picking through a stack of comic books on a free product table.
She paused at his side, uncertain of what she would say to him. He looked so adorable in his costume, with his fake pointy ears and his drawn on eyebrows. This had been something they both had looked forward to. She didn't want to ruin their time because she couldn't get a handle on her emotions.
Sheldon hated that. She needed to get herself together.
"Sheldon?" She worried her bottom lip with nerves.
He didn't look at her at first, carefully looking through the pile of comic books. She knew he had heard her, but she made herself wait patiently until he looked up at her. He held a Batman comic book in his hands and said her name curtly, his eyes hesitant. "Carly."
"Sheldon, I am so sorry I got angry with you at the hotel. You didn't do anything wrong. I was just being overly sensitive," she confessed, feeling worse for wear. She hated disappointing him and she seemed to keep doing it even when she didn't mean to.
His eyes squinted a little at her confession and then fell from her face, staring down at the floor in thought. "Why did you get upset?"
Carly felt a tiny blush grace her cheeks and she swallowed thickly. "I... didn't think you liked my costume. I picked it out specifically because I thought you would."
Sheldon's gaze snapped to hers when she spoke and she froze, unable to read the expression in his eyes.
"How could you think I didn't like it? You're dressed up as one of my favorite Star Trek characters. Admittedly, I would prefer Captain Kirk but- Uhura is a lady and so are you."
Carly felt stupid. Her heart fluttered in her chest at his words and she looked away from him, ashamed of herself and her actions. What was wrong with her?
However before she could reply, they were pushed out of the way by a large group of people trying to get to the free table.
Probably without thinking, Sheldon quickly took her hand and pulled her away from the table before any of them could touch them.
Carly was surprised by the sudden action and also the fact that he had initiated physical contact for the first time. She glanced down at their hands before he could let go, feeling overwhelmed by it all.
"Carly, I never want to hurt your feelings."
Carly shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, his hand still firmly holding hers. He had a way of making her heart hurt and melt at the same time. "You didn't. I just expected a different reaction."
Sheldon blinked in confusion. "What sort of reaction were you hoping for?"
Carly suddenly wanted him to let her go and she struggled to pull free from him but was surprised by how strong his grip was. She fidgeted in front of him, her eyes glossing over his searching face. "Um, it doesn't matter."
Sheldon frowned, intent on knowing the answer. "No, I want to know."
Carly knew there was no way out of it. Sheldon would get it out of her eventually if he wanted to. She took a deep breath, unable to look him in the eyes when she said it. "Well... I guess I was hoping you'd say I looked nice."
Sheldon didn't say anything for a long pause and it made her slowly look back up at him. He wasn't looking at her face though, and instead was eyeing her appearance again with concentration. Her breathing quickened at the intense appraisal. Then his eyes returned to hers, looking similar to how he had looked before she had kissed him.
"Very well," he said quietly, his face contorting uneasily at his words but she could tell he wholeheartedly meant them. "You look nice, Carly."
The words were innocent enough but they resonated deep in Carly. They moved her. Made her eyes mist much to her embarrassment.
Sheldon wanted to make her happy and he liked how she looked.
Her bottom lip slid between her teeth as she held back her emotions. They were in public after all and it was with great difficulty that she composed herself.
Carly wanted him to know though, how much his words meant to her. She rose their entangled hands to her heart, where it beat steadily for only him.
"Thank you, Sheldon," she told him, every bit of her feelings for him evident in her voice.
Sheldon's eyes widened a fraction at their hands and just exactly where he was touching and he glanced up at her, obviously uncertain on what he should say or do.
She realized this and didn't want to push him into discomfort. She hoped she had gotten her point across and promptly released his hand, which he snatched back to himself with offending speed.
She didn't let it deter her. He had told her everything she had wanted to know.
"Hey, guys!" Some kids had appeared at their sides with cameras. "Can we get a picture with you two? You look great!"
Sheldon raised an eyebrow at the kids, refusal on his tongue but Carly stopped him, with a "Sure! We'd love to."
"We would?" Sheldon asked in alarm. She gave him a reassuring smile.
"Why not? They think we're Spock and Uhura, right?" She wanted this moment forever. She turned to the group then. "Could you take our picture too with this?" She handed over her phone to the mother of the group who stood back as they all began forming around them.
"Absolutely!" She gave Carly a wide grin.
Sheldon gulped, idly feeling as if he was being held hostage.
The kids cheered happily and gathered around them. Their mother stood in front of them, two phones in her hands.
Sheldon scooted as close to Carly as he possibly could to avoid touching any of the kids. She could feel how uncomfortable he was but she selfishly needed this picture.
Carly reached down between them and took his hand, hoping to reassure him without words. Distractedly, he clenched onto her hand and held on for dear life. She smiled, glad that she was helping.
He threw up a Star Trek hand gesture with his other hand and Carly copied him. Soon, the picture was taken and the kids were running away while shouting their thanks.
Carly retrieved her phone as the woman walked over and handed it to her before leaving. Carly looked down at the picture on her phone and grinned. She would keep it forever. She grinned up at her boyfriend. "That wasn't so bad."
Sheldon was looking down at the picture over her shoulder and his frown turned into a look of wistful amusement. "You're doing the sign wrong."
Carly darted her gaze down to the photo, looking between Sheldon and her hands. "Oh! I did it with the wrong fingers." She blushed with an embarrassed smile.
Sheldon laughed and that was when they realized they were still holding hands, that he hadn't let go. They looked down simultaneously.
"Oh! Sorry I didn't mean-" Carly tried to remove her hand from his but he held it tightly.
She snapped her eyes up to meet his and she was surprised to see a small smile on his face. "I've gotten used to this."
Carly swooned at that and smiled softly. "I'm so glad."
Their eyes caught and they got lost in them for a long moment, their feelings for one another evident in their gazes.
"You two coming?"
It was Howard and he was calling over at them, expectantly.
The moment broke, and they released their hands to walk side by side back to the group - smiles on their faces for the rest of the day.
As it should have been.
oO0Oo
Carly and Sheldon entered their hotel room after dinner with their friends after an announcement from Penny that they should all go swimming down in the hotel pool.
Carly wasn't a swimmer by any means but she didn't want to miss out on a chance to hang out with her friends as much as possible on the trip.
"Penny is delusional to think we'd go swimming in that large excuse of toilet water," Sheldon muttered, closing the door behind them.
Carly winced. She should have known he would be against the idea. She sat down on her bed and removed her boots, needing them off because her feet were killing her.
She glanced up at him as he sat all of his belongings he had collected that day at the convention on his bed to look through them.
"I was thinking of going, Sheldon," she hesitantly told him, knowing he wouldn't be happy with that.
He stood up from leaning over his stuff and gave her a look of astonishment. "What? Why? I thought you'd want to spend time with me?"
The way he said it made it sound like he was preferring her over the pool but she knew better, even though her heart wanted to hope it was true. She slid her other boot off and then sat up on the bed, giving him a look.
"Of course I want to spend time with you. I was hoping you'd come with me," she explained.
His face squished up into a disgusted look. "I would never go to a public swimming pool, Carly. Do you know how many germs are in there?"
Carly grimaced apologetically. "No."
Sheldon huffed and crossed his arms over his chest, taking a step toward her. "Well I do and if you knew what I did, then you wouldn't go either." He paused as she looked down, in dismay - wishing he would change his mind but it wasn't sounding like he would. "Oh! Look, I have an Aquaman bobblehead!"
Carly looked up at him then, seeing that he had returned to his stuff and had found a green and orange dressed figurine, to which he was giddily looking it over.
She sighed and made herself get up, disappointed. "I guess I'll go by myself then," she said and went over to her suitcase by her bed to find the bathing suit she had packed.
Penny had informed her well in advance that the hotel had an indoor pool and that she was planning on going.
Sheldon looked over at her silently, watching her kneel in front of her suitcase, grab what appeared to be strings of some kind, and then get up to head to the bathroom.
He frowned, not liking the fact that she was leaving him. He followed her to the bathroom, stopping the door from closing with his hand. She jumped and snapped her gaze to him, her eyes wide and surprised. "Wait."
She frowned at him and he faltered. He removed his hand from the door and crossed his arms again, feeling vulnerable. "I'm confused. I thought you came here with me. Why are you so intent on spending time with Penny and the others?"
Carly looked a little guilty and he wondered if he had convinced her to stay by inadvertently guilt-tripping her. "I'm here for all of you. Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that we are spending more time together and that my boyfriend is sharing a hotel room with me... but I do want to hang out with Penny too."
Sheldon's feelings were hurt then. She wasn't there for just him as he had thought. "Oh. I see."
Carly realized that she had upset him. "No, Sheldon- don't look like that."
Sheldon shook his head. "No, no it's fine. I get it. Go and... hang out with your friends."
She watched him with an aching heart as he left the bathroom doorway and sulked to his bed. What was she supposed to do now?
Torn, she dropped her bathing suit on the bathroom vanity and approached Sheldon at his bed. His back was to her and so she wasn't sure if he knew she was there or not, but she decided to do the only thing she could think of to show him just how much he meant to her.
She wrapped her arms around his middle and pressed her face against his back. He jerked, startled, and made a move to turn around but she held him tightly to her, pressing herself up against him and not willing to let go.
"Sheldon, please don't be upset with me. You mean the most to me," she told him honestly, trying to convey what she felt. "If you don't want me to go, I won't go. We can... we can watch one of your movies and hang out here until we fall asleep!"
Sheldon slumped in her arms and breathed heavily against her. When he turned this time, she let him go to look up into his sorrowful face.
"No, it's fine," he told her, before glancing upwards with a sigh, coming to grips with something. "Just because I don't feel comfortable doing something doesn't mean you have to miss out. Just... make sure to take a really good shower when you return."
Carly bit her lip, staring up at him and knowing it had been hard for him to say any of that and mean it. "Are you sure?"
Sheldon gave her a half-hearted smile and nodded. "I'm sure."
Carly still felt conflicted by it, but she honestly did want to hang out with the others. She had always wanted to spend time down at a pool with friends. "Thank you, Sheldon... although," she paused and gave him a look underneath her eyelashes. "I will miss you."
Sheldon rolled his eyes at her with a playful smile and she grinned impishly. "Yeah, yeah okay- go on."
She wrinkled her nose with a smile and then left him to change. When the door shut, Sheldon sat down on his bed and put his head in his hands.
He would miss her too.
Thank you for letting me know you got the alerts! I truly appreciate it. I wasn't so I wasn't sure if anyone else was. Thank you for your reviews, follows, and favorites this week! They mean a lot to me.
Sheldon's finally coming around to her touch! Be prepared for the long awaited romance between them next chapter ;)