This was an anonymous entry, so unfortunately I can't give credit to this prompt. But thank you, kind stranger!
Original publish date: January 27th, 2015
He's called her. No answer.
He's texted her. Nothing.
Facebook, Twitter, Skype, Snapchat. No, no, no, and no.
Sheldon stared unwaveringly at his phone screen, his knee bobbing faster and faster as his anxiety continued to grow. It had been three hours. Three hours without hearing a peep from Amy. What could she possibly be doing that prevented her from something as simple as checking her phone? She could be anywhere. She could be lost. She could have been abducted. She could be dying on the side of a road.
She could be at her apartment in tears, playing her harp and wholly convinced that no one loves her.
That's it. He couldn't wait any longer. Leonard wasn't home (most likely doing a host of icky things to Penny across the hall), which left him only one option. Snatching up his jacket, Sheldon left in such a turbulent rush that he didn't even bother changing into his bus pants.
X
Knock, knock, knock. "Amy."
Knock, knock, knock. "Amy."
Knock, knock, knock. "Amy."
Sheldon thought his lungs would burst as he panted the words out, completely winded from breaking into a sprint the moment he stepped off that deathtrap of a bus. His brain sternly reminded him that this was why he didn't do things like exercise, but his heart didn't seem to pay any mind so he just braced himself against the doorway and waited for his girlfriend to open up.
She never did.
Sheldon frowned at the stubborn piece of wood that stood between him and his peace of mind, as if he could convince it to budge if he just glared hard enough. A moment more and he raised his fist to it once again.
Knock, knock, knock. "Amy?"
Knock, knock, knock. "Amy?"
Knock, knock, knock. "Amy?"
Amy always spent her Saturday afternoons, without fail, reading quietly in her apartment, more often than not her favorite compilation of Chaucer's works. Something was wrong. There was no other explanation.
Knock, knock, knock. "Amy!"
Knock, knock, knock. "Amy!"
Knock, knock, knock-
"Sheldon?"
He wheeled himself around. "AMY!"
Profound relief spurring him on, Sheldon bolted down the hall and tackled his girlfriend in a bearlike hug, squeezing her for all he was worth. It was several moments before he felt her hesitantly return the hug, and he may have found comfort in the way her hands slipped slowly up and down his back if he wasn't so preoccupied with rememorizing her dandruff shampoo scent.
After almost a full minute of the two quietly holding each other, another, secondary emotion began to bubble up inside of Sheldon. Anger.
"Where in the world have you been, young lady?" he demanded as he pried himself away. "I've been trying to contact you for hours and you've been blatantly ignoring me. So to use my newly acquired knowledge of urban slang to best emphasize my point, 'what gives'?"
"I'm sorry, Sheldon, I really am," Amy said. "There was a situation with the monkeys at my lab so I got called in. We had to strap them down to perform x-rays on them, and I had to turn my cell phone off so it wouldn't interfere and I guess I forgot to turn it back on again."
Sheldon's gaze was glued to the few inches of floor between them, eyes distant and weary. "You really had me scared, Amy."
Amy stepped in closer, taking both of his hands in her own. "Is there anything I can do to make it better?"
"No, it's fine. Although…" Sheldon bit his lip. "Amy, you must've had a- a pretty stressful day, right?"
"Uh, I guess," Amy said slowly.
"And when someone is stressed, cuddling usually makes them feel better." he looked away again. "I know you're fond of such sentimental nonsense, so if it's what you need… I would not object."
A smile was threatening to overcome Amy's face, but she valiantly held it at bay. "Okay, then."
She dropped one of his hands, but the other she held on fast as she gently tugged him into her apartment, shutting the door behind them.
