Warning: Mention of rape. None of these characters are mine. :)

Leonard heard footsteps coming from the hallway and immediately looked behind him. He noticed Sheldon's figure sneak into the bathroom, and heard the water running. Good, he's started his shower, that means that he's feeling better. Leonard sighed, convincing himself that his roommate will get out of the shower and come back to his usual annoying self in no time.

Sheldon walked into the living room fully dressed in his green lantern shirt, his laptop in his arm, heading toward his desk. Leonard couldn't help himself. "Sheldon, I just want to say that I won't push anything anymore, I will let you have your space and we can change the subject now." He said hurriedly, fearing that Sheldon will shut him out again before he could finish his sentence. Sheldon looked up and smiled, nodding his head.

"Thank you, now are you ready to go to the comic book store?" Sheldon said showing his regular tone of voice, as he placed his laptop carefully on his desk. Leonard was pleasantly surprised that Sheldon still wanted to go with him, but was relieved to get his friend back to normal.

"Yes, definitely, ok let's go," Leonard said getting up and grabbing his keys.

"Are you going to take me to the train store afterward as well like you said?" Now Sheldon is back.

"Of course buddy, I said I would" Leonard was being extra nice, which pleased Sheldon normally, when he would cater to him when Sheldon was angry, but this time he wished that Leonard would respond to him like he usually does, with annoyance and grimace when he asks him to do something out of the way.

At the comic book store, Howard and Raj were already in there flipping through rows and rows of comic books, searching for their needs. Leonard opened the door for Sheldon, and Howard noticed it, quickly making a comment. "Opening the door for your husband I see, that's a sweet gesture, are you two going on a date tonight?" Raj snickered at Howard's usual comments. Sheldon frowned, and Leonard rolled his eyes.

"What does he mean by that, Leonard?" Sheldon turned to his friend.

"I held the door open for you and Howard doesn't have manners," Leonard said rolling his eyes again, beginning his search. Sheldon continued to frown.

"Are you implying that we have a sexual relationship?" He directed his question at Howard, who just stared back at him, slightly surprised by his question. "Because we don't, we have a platonic relationship, we don't go on dates, and I'm not married to him" Sheldon wanted to clear things up.

"Are you sure, because you live together and spend a lot of time in each other's company, you depend on Leonard a lot, that sounds like a relationship to me" Howard liked to aggravate Sheldon, but today was not the day.

"Howard, shut up," Leonard said immediately, seeing Sheldon's face turn red. "Don't mess with the Sheldon today dude, he's not in the mood, and I'm not either" Leonard said annoyed and slightly worried that Sheldon is going to explode like he did this morning.

"Alright, jeez, are you on your periods or something" Howard, didn't know really when to stop. Sheldon, turned and walked to another section of the comic book store, getting away from the incessant nagging and teasing. Leonard's instinct was to go to him and talk him down, but he knew that if he did, Howard will make another comment, causing Sheldon to get angrier, and we're back to the morning all over again. "What's with him?"

"Nothing, he's just not in a great mood today, and he just wants to do something that takes his mind off things," Leonard said trying to be nonchalant as possible so his friends will just drop the subject and take it as Sheldon is just being Sheldon.

"What's he needing to take his mind off of?" Raj said getting curious.

"I don't know, can we just drop it?" Leonard said, not looking up from his comic book search.

"Sounds like they had a lover's quarrel," Raj said jokingly to Howard. Leonard, looked at them annoyed again, before hearing something slam into the floor behind them, as they saw Sheldon storm out of the store, leaving behind a book that apparently, he was reading. Leonard, went to it, picking it up and placing it back on the shelf.

"You just don't get it do you? When I said shut up, I really meant shut up!" Leonard nearly yelled at his friends. "Now I have to go after him before he gets lost", he said leaving the store in search of Sheldon. Raj and Howard just shrugged, going back to their search for the missing comic books in their collection.

Leonard went down the street, trying to determine where had his friend gone. He heard someone sobbing around the corner, and found Sheldon sitting on the edge of the walkway with his hands covering his face. Leonard, walked carefully to him, trying not to frighten him or make him feel worse. Leonard sat next to him, and placed his arm around his friends shoulder gingerly. He knew Sheldon like the back of his hand, if Sheldon is sobbing uncontrollably, there is something seriously wrong. He decided not to say anything but just sit there with his friend, providing hopefully some sort of comfort just being there. It was a good ten minutes of sitting there in silence, hearing the muffled sobs, and sniffs from his roommate, feeling helpless in the situation and wishing he could make whatever that was bothering him all better. After a while, Sheldon was finally able to regain composure, and pulled out a tissue wiping his eyes, and nose. He still couldn't look at Leonard, but felt comfort knowing that he was there. Leonard stood up after a few seconds, encouraging Sheldon to follow suit. "Let's go to the train store, you'll feel better" Leonard simply said, leading him to the car. Sheldon nodded, and followed him.

The train store made Sheldon feel better, no one was there that said anything inappropriate or embarrassed him, Leonard didn't even try to get him to talk, he just walked around the store looking at the train sets and the accessories that went along with it. On the drive back, Sheldon broke the silence. "I'm sorry, I'm behaving like a child".

"You're not, you're obviously going through something that's bothering you, but I won't ask you to talk about it. I'm here though, if you ever do want to." Leonard said, with his eyes on the road. Sheldon nodded, understandingly.

"Do you mean that or are you just saying that as a social obligation?"

"I mean it Sheldon,"

"I want to, but… my reluctance isn't about discussing the details of what is troubling me, it's how your reaction might impact my emotional stability" Sheldon was honest, he didn't know any other way.

"What kind of reaction do you think I would give you?" Leonard is now comfortable addressing the topic carefully.

"Pity, concern, treating me as if I were a damaged individual that needs constant acknowledgement and praise in order to function effectively in life" Sheldon replied. Leonard thought for a moment, of what could Sheldon possibly said that Leonard would take pity on him and treat him as if he's a porcelain doll, about to break any minute?

"What if I promise that I wouldn't treat you any differently that I treat you on a regular basis?" Leonard tried to make this as easy as possible, preparing himself mentally for what Sheldon will reveal.

"Alright," Sheldon paused.

"Sheldon, what kind of reaction would you prefer me to have?" Leonard asked, hoping to get a clear answer as how Sheldon would best handle revealing his secret.

"As if I had told you something that was a regular occurrence in our daily lives. Nothing special, nothing sad, nothing emotional. And you have to promise me, that you won't tell anyone about this. I'm giving you the opportunity to get out of this if you cannot abide by the convenient of secret keeping. You do not have to know by any means" Sheldon was serious.

"I promise Sheldon,"

"This is confidential, anything we say right now is protected by the roommate confidentiality clause" Sheldon, had to bring up the roommate agreement.

"I understand Sheldon" Leonard was trying not to get annoyed.

"I was raped"