Chapter 11: It's a Mad World
"To paraphrase T.S. Eliot, this is the way the world ends, not with a bang but with a nephew." - Sheldon
After Comic-Con, Carly was surprised to find herself feeling like a different person. It hadn't been the costumes, the massage, or the swimming that had made her this way- it had been sharing a room with her boyfriend, touching him, and kissing him... talking to him in a way that she hadn't before.
She felt so much closer to him. It was nice.
A few weeks later, Carly got a call while doing her dishes. Her hair was thrown up haphazardly into a messy bun and she had thick, yellow gloves on.
When she heard her phone, she thumbed one of the gloves off and picked it up, putting it to her ear without looking at the caller ID.
"I thought I raised you better than this! I've started to believe you lied to me all those times you said you were worried about me or that you'd miss me!"
Carly sighed with an amused smile. "Hey, Grandma- nice to hear from you."
"Don't give me that sass, young lady. Explain yourself!" Her normally sweet as sugar voice was stern, reminding her of one too many times as a child when she had been on the other side of it.
"I've been busy. This new job is exhausting, but I love it. I also have friends now, can you believe it? Like real friends. I see them almost every night- it's like a family."
Her grandmother's voice dropped back into a comforting manner, pleased with the news. "Oh, I'm so happy to hear that sweetheart. After what happened to you in college, I was worried about you trusting anyone again."
Carly felt a weird emotion bubble up inside of her and suppressed it. "Well, worry not! I'm fine."
"Not just fine, from what I hear. I talked to Bea the other day. Saw her at the supermarket. She told me she saw you a few weeks ago with a tall, rude fellow. Said he liked you a whole lot."
Carly froze. Of course, she had found out about that. "Uh, yeah. I took him to the animal shelter because he was interested in my hobbies. He showed me one of his, so I reciprocated."
Her grandmother sounded worried. "What's this about being rude? Don't tell me you're dating some rebel again, Carly ."
She grimaced at the thought of Sheldon being described as a rebel. "No, of course not. He is a theoretical physicist at Caltech University. He's a genius."
"A physicist? That's impressive, but I don't like the way Bea talked about him. Something about how he hurt your feelings."
Carly huffed, not liking how they made Sheldon seem. "No, he's not rude or anything. I don't know what Bea told you but he just isn't good with social conventions. His mind works differently than a normal person's. He didn't mean to be rude that day and he has made up for it a hundred times by now."
She heard her grandmother take a deep breath. "I'm just worried, Carly. You move out to the city, never call, never come see me- and then I hear you have a new boyfriend?"
Carly felt extremely guilty all of a sudden. "Would you believe me if I told you I had meant to call you?"
Her grandmother chuckled. "Yes, I'd believe you- but only because I know how you are."
"Thank you, Grandma," she smiled. "It's good to hear from you. How are you, by the way? Doing okay?"
That sparked her a thirty-minute conversation with the woman who had raised her. She felt nostalgic and a little homesick by the end of it.
"Well, I should let you go- I gotta get to Marge's house for bridge," her grandmother told her suddenly and Carly sighed, having taken off the other glove and had sat down comfortably with her feet up on the couch.
"Oh, all right. I suppose I'll go finish my dishes," she laughed as she sat up and put her feet down on the floor, preparing to stand.
"Take care of yourself, honey," she told Carly, loving concern in her voice that deeply touched her. "Oh and I better get to meet this Sheldon fellow soon."
Carly laughed, "Of course. Maybe I can convince him to come for Thanksgiving."
"Sounds delightful, dear. Oh! And don't worry your grandmother and keep in touch."
Carly giggled. "I promise!"
They said their goodbyes and Carly hung up her phone, her smile fading as she realized just how much she missed her grandmother. Perhaps she should go visit.
Wondering if she could swing it that upcoming weekend, she paused, staring down at her phone's wallpaper. It was the picture she and Sheldon had taken at Comic-Con. She had cropped it, making the picture of just her and him, cutting the others out. She smiled thoughtfully, seeing her hold the wrong hand gesture and his nervous smile.
Her heart fluttered at the sight. Her grandmother had nothing to worry about. Sheldon wouldn't intentionally hurt her.
She put her phone down on her coffee table and went to finish her dishes, thinking of fond memories with both her grandmother and her boyfriend.
oO0Oo
It was later that night that Carly had gone up to 4A to have dinner with everyone. It was a Monday so she assumed they'd be having Thai food. Excited she'd be seeing her boyfriend, she took some of the steps two at a time.
Carly opened the door, expecting to see Sheldon immediately greet her, but was put off when she didn't see him. Leonard was at the kitchenette with Penny, pulling out the food from the takeout bags. She frowned.
"Where's Sheldon?"
Leonard and Penny look up, half annoyed by the question.
Leonard answered. "Pouting in his room. His barber is in the hospital." He said it like it explained everything and then went back to what he was doing.
Carly was confused by the explanation. "He is pouting because his barber's in the hospital?"
Penny rose an eyebrow, a sheepish smile on her face. "Is it surprising? It's Sheldon."
Carly walked over to them and crossed her arms, wondering something. "Should I go talk to him?"
Leonard sighed. "I doubt it would help but if anyone in the state of California could talk sense into him- it'd be you."
Carly furrowed her eyebrows. "It's worth a shot I guess."
Penny grinned. "Good luck!"
"May the odds be ever in your favor," Leonard added ominously.
Carly rolled her eyes, amused at their words, and headed for Sheldon's bedroom. When she stopped at his door, she suddenly felt nervous. Would he yell at her?
Biting her lip, she knocked on his door. She heard a muffled "go away!" which didn't give her much hope of it going smoothly.
Knowing her boyfriend's comfort on strict routines, she knew she'd have to be empathic to him in the situation. She had no clue how Leonard and Penny had handled it but, she assumed it hadn't been good.
"It's Carly!" She told him through the door. She could just walk in but she wanted to be respectful. She knew how he was about his personal space.
"Oh! Uh-" She heard him fumble with something, then with heavy footsteps, the door swung open. He stared down at her, looking handsome as ever. It took her breath away momentarily.
Would she ever get used to how attractive he was? She didn't think so.
"Yes?" His tone was distracted and she frowned, giving him another once over. He seemed stressed.
"Are you okay?" She asked him, even though she knew he wasn't.
"Yes- I mean, no. I'm one day late for my haircut and I feel like the whole world is descending into chaos," he told her, dead serious and making her blink at him.
That's a bit dramatic, she thought, but this sort of thing was hard for him. She took a deep breath.
"I heard, Leonard told me. What can I do to help?"
His eyes softened slightly at her question but then he looked around wildly as if he was trying to think of something- then came up with nothing. "There isn't anything you can do- unless you can get Mr. D'Onofrio out of the hospital for me. I can come up with a plan to smuggle him out-"
"Whoa, hang on! If he is in the hospital he probably isn't up for an escape or an impromptu haircut, Sheldon."
Sheldon's gaze hardened, his mouth going slack. "But then what do I do?"
Carly bit her lip again. She had no idea what to do. This wasn't what she had expected when coming up for dinner. Oh, that was it.
"Even though you can't get your haircut, we can still go by your normal routine right? Let's just go eat some Thai food and I'm sure you'll feel a little better. "
Sheldon looked like he might protest again but thankfully, he dropped his shoulders and gave a slow nod. "Yes, maybe that will help."
She gave him an encouraging smile, relieved that she had gotten him out of his bedroom and back to normalcy. Or so she thought. "Great! Let's go!"
He followed her out to the living room, just as Howard, Bernadette, and Raj walked in. "Hey, guys!" Howard greeted happily, unaware of Sheldon's predicament.
"Hey!" Penny said, waving her hand at them as they all joined together around the coffee table, but then caught sight of Sheldon. "Oh, Sheldon! Glad you could join us."
He looked a little offended as if what she had said had been a jab at him, but Carly had walked over to the couch and sat down in the middle. He followed over to his spot silently.
"So! Guess what? I got my letter about the upcoming astronaut training!" Howard told them as soon as everyone had their food and began eating.
"What? That's so cool!" Leonard gushed, along with the rest of them.
"I know, I can't wait!"
Sheldon suddenly began blowing up into his face repeatedly as he moved his fork around in his carton of food.
Carly frowned, while the others gave him baffled and weirded out looks. "Sheldon? What're you doing?"
He glanced over at her as if it were obvious. "I'm trying to get the hair out of my eyes."
Carly was dumbstruck, unable to respond because there was no way his hair was long enough to be in his eyes. She wondered if he was just being paranoid.
Leonard scowled from the armchair. "Sheldon, you're one day late for your haircut."
Sheldon slumped, annoyed but saddened with what Leonard had said. "Thank you for captioning my nightmare."
Exasperated, Leonard rolled his eyes and went back to his food, very over the conversation.
Penny leaned in from her chair next to him. "You know I used to cut my brother's hair all the time. I could give you a haircut if you want."
The suggestion was innocent enough, helpful even, but Carly knew exactly how that was going to go down with her boyfriend.
"Penny," Sheldon said, sounding condescendingly amused by her offer. "I know you mean well with offering the skills from the hill folk but-"
Penny stifled a laugh at his choice of words as Carly, who knew where it was going lay a hand on his arm, abruptly stopping him from continuing. He glanced down at it and then up to her.
"Sheldon, just say no thank you," she told him, an amused smile on her face. God, he was cute, but she didn't need them arguing.
Sheldon sighed, realizing she was right. He looked at Penny apologetically. "Sorry Penny, it's the bad boy attitude that comes with this hair." He flipped the nonexistent hair out of his eyes and they all looked down awkwardly as he did so.
Carly had a hard time leaving him after dinner. She was really worried about where his mind was. She'd never seen him like this and she wondered if he would be okay.
Before leaving for her apartment, as she had work the next day, she told Leonard and Penny to watch out for him and make sure he didn't do anything bad.
They promised her and she felt a little better, knowing they'd take care of her boyfriend to the best of their ability.
With that in mind, she got ready for bed and fell asleep rather quickly. At some part of the night, she was woken by what she thought was the sound of drums.
Dazed, she sat up in her bed and listened, making sure she wasn't just imagining it.
No, it was drums.
They were getting closer too. What was happening? She got out of bed and went out to the living room, hearing the drums even louder.
She glanced at her clock. It was four in the morning. Who on earth was playing drums in the hallway that early? Glowering at the door, because she needed sleep, she thought that perhaps someone would contact the landlord and complain- but then she heard a familiar set of knocks.
Becoming still, her eyes glued to the door. No... it couldn't be. Could it?
She ran for the door, no longer feeling tired. She swung it open to see Sheldon in his pajamas with his robe tied over them holding a drum in his hands.
"Hello Carly, do you like my bongos?" He asked in a sequence of tapping the drum, probably waking up her neighbor who lived across from her.
She hissed and grabbed his arm, pulling him into the apartment as quickly as she could. He let her and she closed the door behind her, looking up at him with her back up against the door. A million questions filled her mind, yet she went with:
"Sheldon, where did you get bongos?"
He smirked, looking too cute for his good. "Amazon, about a year ago."
"You've probably woke up the whole building by now- did you even think about that?" She couldn't help but scold him, it was four in the morning.
Sheldon didn't seem to care and he shrugged. She watched him place the bongos down on her coffee table and then turned to look at her, his face going odd. "Want to make out?"
That threw her off more than the bongos. Sheldon never just said any of that. "What?" She asked through her gape at him.
His lips curved up mischievously, as he began stepping towards her. "You know, some hot mouth on mouth action."
Heart jumping to her throat, she felt excited and afraid all at the same time. "N-No I got that, I just, why all of a sudden? It's four in the morning."
Sheldon frowned then, pausing on his way over to her. "The world's in chaos, Carly. Anything goes."
She bit her lip and steadily realized what was happening. "This is about the haircut, isn't it?"
Sheldon continued his advance on her, making her heart race wildly in her chest. He was never like this, it was worrying her but at the same time, it was so enthralling.
"No, at the moment it's about how much I want to throw you up against that door and kiss you," he told her boldly, his eyes narrowing into such an intense look of want that she gasped, stunned by him.
So taken off guard, she barely registered him closing the last few steps to her to grab her by the waist, crushing her to him.
She squeaked at the unexpected action and took him by the arms so she wouldn't fall over, the force surprising her. She looked up and as soon as she did, his mouth was on hers- hot, open, and demanding.
He tasted of toothpaste and she tried to compose herself but she was failing. He was too good. His hands slid upwards over her back, holding her to him with brute force. Her fingers tightened on his biceps, everything about him making her mind spin. She felt dizzy and the only thing keeping her from falling was him.
He kissed her so passionately like he knew exactly what he was doing. No longer were there inexperienced and shy kisses, he was forcefully demanding the invasion of her mouth.
Enraptured, she slid her hands upwards over his shoulders and wrapped her arms around his neck. She needed to feel closer to him and she didn't want him to stop.
Surprising her again, he did exactly as he had told her prior and slammed her up against the closed apartment door. She gasped into his mouth but it seemed to just egg him on.
Who was this man? There was no way it was Sheldon Cooper. Her mind couldn't wrap itself around the situation.
Instead of trying to figure it out, she just gave up. She just felt. His sexy mouth, his hands that were sliding up her sides and clutching her to him as if she would disappear if he let go. Her arms let his neck go and slid down to his chest, wishing the bathrobe wasn't so thick because she wanted to feel his warm body and his pounding heartbeat.
Kissing him back with neediness, she slid her hands underneath the sides of the bathrobe and pushed it open, revealing his plaid button-up pajama shirt. Feeling his warmth and his heart, she felt elated. He groaned lightly into the kiss, his nose pressing against hers in abandon.
His hands slid downwards, to her hips and pulled her in. She felt exactly how he was feeling and she had to admit she felt the same way. She experimentally pressed herself against him, rocking her hips into his absentmindedly, needing to relieve her burning need for him.
He choked a little and a small whimper left his mouth before he finally broke the kiss. Disoriented from the heavy make-out session, she slowly opened her hazy eyes and looked up into his as they panted and gasped for air. His blue irises were dark, wild and for a moment she didn't even recognize them as Sheldon's. He was different.
But then she remembered what was happening and why.
"S-Sheldon," she whispered, her hands still on his chest and feeling exactly how his heart raced in his chest. "What are you doing?"
He was going to regret this. He always did when they got carried away and he'd take a round of antibiotics just in case because he was deathly afraid of catching something she could accidentally give him from their long drawn out kisses.
But he didn't look regretful this time. His gaze matched hers and he didn't let her go. One of his hands slid up to her back and held her even closer to him.
Finally, he spoke in a raspy, choked voice. "Whatever the wind gives me."
Carly wanted to frown, she wanted to push him away and tell him to think clearly, she wanted him to need her like this when he wasn't going insane - but instead, she just stared at him wordlessly, caught in his eyes. She bit her lip, worrying about what would happen.
Then, one of his hands lifted from her waist, breaking her thoughts, and dropped to her cheek. She held her breath, searching his eyes but they weren't looking at hers anymore. They had dropped to her mouth with concentration and then his thumb swept out and unhooked her bottom lip from her teeth.
"You do that when you're nervous," he told her lowly. "It drives me insane."
She struggled to not bite her lip, feeling horribly self-conscious. "I'm sorry."
He shook his head slightly, his eyes flickering up to hers from her mouth. "Don't be. It... it makes me want to kiss you."
Again, she gulped. He was too much. This was too much. What did he expect her to do when he touched her like this and told her these things? How was she supposed to hold herself back?
"How often do you want to kiss me?" She asked him, very curious in his answer.
Sheldon licked his lips and looked up into her eyes. "All the time."
That was enough to have her swooning on her feet. All the time? Good lord. Was he serious?
"B-But I thought you didn't like kissing-"
He gave her a flat look then as if she were oblivious to something. "If I didn't like kissing you then I wouldn't."
Carly snapped her mouth shut, eyes going wide. He was for real.
His expression changed and he leaned in a little as he shifted on his feet. "I'm not ready for anything else yet, though. I hope you understand... even with the world gone crazy."
She nodded, completely understanding. "Of course... I don't think I'm ready either but, I do enjoy your kisses."
He smirked then as if he were superior. "Of course you do. You're being kissed by Dr. Sheldon Cooper."
Carly's heart fluttered at that and she smiled, unable to stop herself. She spread her fingers wide on his chest. "You're right. I'm so lucky."
"Luck has nothing to do with it," Sheldon corrected her but her smile just got wider. "Enough about all of this though- can I... can I sleep here tonight? Leonard got all grumpy with me and I don't want to see him right now."
Carly's heart jumped to her throat as she looked at him in disbelief. "You want to sleep here?"
Sheldon took a couple of steps back from her, releasing her and leaving her there against the door, cold and empty all of a sudden. He turned slightly, looking at something. "I can sleep on the couch."
Carly fidgeted her fingers, glancing to the couch and then to him. "Oh, sure. Of course. Right. Okay."
She closed her mouth, feeling dumb. She had spent a whole weekend in the same room as him, it wasn't a big deal.
"I'll get you a pillow and a blanket." She hurried to her linen closet and grabbed a gray blanket, then took a pillow from her bed to hand over to him on the couch.
He took them gratefully and put them down in front of him. Then he looked up at her, his eyebrows knitting together in obvious distress. "Do you think everything's going to be okay? I don't think I can live like this for another day."
Carly's heart ached for him and she folded her arms over her chest. "I do. Something good always comes from something bad. It just might not be in the way you think."
Sheldon frowned then, looking away from her. He didn't comment but sat down on the couch.
"Well, I should head back to bed. I have to work a long shift tomorrow," she told him and hesitated to leave, not with the kiss up against her door still on her mind.
He looked over at her and smiled at her. "Of course. Goodnight, Carly."
Carly smiled in return, wishing she could snuggle up to him again like she had that night she'd been drunk. She barely remembered it but it always came back to her in dreams. "Goodnight, Sheldon."
The next morning as she was twisting her hair up into a bun, she heard knocks on her door. She frowned at her reflection. She was getting popular all of a sudden.
She figured it was either Leonard or Penny, worried about Sheldon and expecting him to be there with her. She left her bathroom and headed to the living room, surprised to see Sheldon still curled up on her couch fast asleep.
He must have been exhausted.
She quietly opened her door and was surprised to see both Penny and Leonard standing there, looking apologetic.
"Hey, is Sheldon here?" Leonard asked, his eyebrows hovered together. "He didn't come home last night after waltzing down the stairs with bongos."
Carly smiled tightly and slid the door open further so they could see Sheldon. They peered inside and visibly relaxed at the sight of him.
"We should wake him up. He's got work this morning," Leonard told her and Carly hesitated but let them in. They were right. If another thing messed up Sheldon's schedule, who knew what would happen.
"Nice outfit," Penny commented in approval, a grin appearing on her face. "Very librarian like. You only need the little glasses."
Carly rolled her eyes, laughing lightly under her breath. "Haha."
Leonard had approached Sheldon and to Carly's horror, began banging on the bongos still on the coffee table. It made both Penny and her jump, startled, but not as shocked as Sheldon was as he immediately woke and sat up- looking at Leonard and then the girls in fright, before realizing what was happening and where he was.
"That wasn't nice," Carly couldn't help but say to Leonard, her eyes narrowing as she thought that Sheldon deserved better with the tough time he was going through.
"It was necessary," Leonard justified, seeming to know something Carly didn't. She crossed her arms over her chest.
"What are you and Penny doing here?" Sheldon asked his roommate, looking uneasy under their gazes.
Penny sighed and came over to him. "Sheldon, look- you and I have known each other for a long time now. I've done a lot for you, heck you've even seen me naked once."
At that, both Carly and Leonard froze.
"Uh, what?" Leonard said dumbly and Penny waved him off as if it was unimportant. Carly disagreed. Why on earth had Sheldon seen Penny naked? And why did Sheldon not look uncomfortable about it?
"It's a long story- the point is, you can trust me, Sheldon. Just come home and let me cut your hair, please?" Penny pleaded with him. Both Carly and Leonard glanced at each other, wishing they had details.
Sheldon looked down in thought before turning his gaze to Carly. "What do you think, Carly?"
She jumped, still stewing, and not paying attention. "What was it?"
He frowned a little but repeated back to her what was said. "Penny offered to cut my hair, do you think I should let her?"
Carly smiled down at him fondly. He was asking her for her judgment? Did he value it that much? The whole naked Penny thing almost disappeared from her mind- almost. But Penny was her best friend and she trusted her more than anything. "I do, Sheldon. I'd trust Penny with my own hair."
The blond smiled gratefully up at her and Sheldon blew out a breath. "Very well."
They all sighed in relief. Leonard clapped his hands together. "Great! You have an appointment with hairstylist Penny after work today- so let's get moving. At this rate, we'll be late."
Sheldon stood, the blanket that had been on his lap falling to the floor. "You're right, I should get going," he dropped down and picked the blanket back up, setting it on the couch, then followed Leonard to the door.
He stopped when he reached Carly and gave her a small, apologetic smile. "Thank you for letting me stay on your couch."
She shook her head, not minding in the slightest. "Any time."
His eyes twinkled and then he seemed to hesitate. She watched him, unsure of what he was thinking before he suddenly dropped to her level and kissed her on her cheek.
Heart hammering in her chest, she stared wide-eyed as he gave her a cheeky smile and a wave. "Goodbye, Carly!"
Then he was gone. Leonard was still by the door and Penny had paused on her way out when she'd seen what happened.
Carly's hand moved absently to her cheek, unable to believe he had done that in front of their friends and everything.
She caught Penny's eyes and saw that the blond was grinning ear to ear. "Well, all be. Our little Shelly's all grown up!"
Carly blushed through a shy smile and she rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah, go on. I gotta get to work too!"
Penny and Leonard laughed and they left, happy for their friends.
The Werewolf Transformation Episode is my all-time favorite. I practically know it by heart. So obviously I needed to include it. I hope you enjoyed my twist on it! Thank you so much for your reviews! Adelene Abnormal- I'm deeply touched that my story could make your day brighter! Knowing that made my day.
See you next week with some more Sharly!