The morning after his couples' night with Penny, Raj, and Lincoln, Leonard was dreading going into work a little. He didn't want to face questioning from Howard and to a lessor extent Sheldon about Raj's new girlfriend. Raj didn't say that he couldn't tell them about Lincoln, but it seemed like that news should come from Raj himself.
Overall, it had been a great night. Leonard could understand why Raj liked Lincoln so much. They were a good match, and it was a lot less weird than Leonard would have suspected if he had been told that he was going to learn that one of his friends was gay.
No. Raj wasn't gay. He made that point very clear. Raj was bi. He had always been legitimately into the girls he dated before now. He just also like men. He hadn't been hiding by dating women until now.
"How was dinner with Raj and his new girlfriend?" Howard ask as soon as he saw Leonard at lunch. Sheldon was barely paying attention to the conversation.
"Dinner was good. We all had fun. Raj seems happy," Leonard said. He wondered how Raj had gotten through four months of not saying "she" or "her."
"Tell me what she's like," Howard said. He was a little annoyed that Leonard had met Raj's new girlfriend before he had. Of course Howard had been really busy with the baby lately. It made a little sense.
"Tall, brown eyes, good looking..," Leonard said. He didn't know what to say. He didn't like lying to Howard. Maybe he should just tell Howard that Raj was dating a man. Maybe he would be doing Raj a favor. Then he changed his mind because Raj joined the table.
"Leonard was just telling me about your big dinner last night," Howard said to Raj. Raj's eyes went wide. He didn't tell Leonard not to say anything, but he assumed that Leonard would keep the secret.
"Yeah?" Raj asked with a quiver in his voice.
"Yeah. Leonard says she's good looking. Why haven't we seen a photo yet?" Howard asked.
Raj breathed a sigh of relief that Leonard hadn't spilled his secret. Still, he had decided that it was time to come clean with all of his friends about this. He pulled out his phone and pulled up a picture of him and Lincoln at the theater a couple weeks earlier. He pushed it over to Howard.
"She looks like a guy," Howard said stupidly.
"He is a guy. His name is Dr. Lincoln Hart, and he's my boyfriend," Raj admitted.
"What? You've been dating a man? You have a boyfriend?" Howard got up from the table and walked away. Raj could feel his heart breaking. After Leonard and Penny had been so thoughtful the night before, Raj hoped that all of his friends might be so understanding. Howard was his best friend, and he hoped that he would be happy for him.
Raj held in his tears as he picked up his phone and also left the table.
"Aren't you shocked?" Leonard asked Sheldon who was still just playing on his phone.
"No. Amy and I saw them at the movies last week. Amy says they are a cute couple. I think that Dr. Hart could do better," Sheldon said.
"You knew about this last week? Why didn't you say anything?" Leonard asked.
"Amy said that it wasn't anyone else's business. I agreed with her," Sheldon said.
Leonard actually couldn't argue with that. He was trying to keep Raj's secret for him too because it was up to Raj whom he told.
Raj thought about going to find Howard, but decided to just go back to his office. Even if Howard was going to be okay with all of this, he still might want some time to think. Instead Raj sent a text to Lincoln to tell him about what happened. Lincoln called him right away.
"Baby, I'm sorry it didn't go as well as last night," Lincoln said as soon as Raj picked up the phone. "We all have stumbling blocks, and from what you've told me, this Howard really does care about you."
"I know he does. It just hurts that he didn't accept me for who I am. Is there any chance I can talk you into coming over after work? I don't want to be alone tonight," Raj said.
"Of course, baby. I'll make you dinner," Lincoln offered.
"Oh, please, no," Raj said. Lincoln was a terrible cook. He knew it, so he just laughed.
"Okay. You can make me dinner. I'll clean up."
"I'll see you later. Love you, Link," Raj said. He was the only one who was allowed to call Lincoln that because Lincoln had been tormented in his youth by teasing about Legend of Zelda.
"Love you too," Lincoln said. It was only after he hung up the phone did he realize that it was the first time Raj had said it. Lincoln had a giddy moment that involved a giant grin and stomping his feet a little.
Raj tried to work, but he mostly just worried. He worried that his best friend might never talk to him again. He worried that now that some people knew that he was dating a man, it might get back to his family. All of it scared him so much that he eventually decided to go home for the rest of the day. Maybe he could hide in his bed with Lincoln and never face the world again.
Raj stopped by the grocery store on his way home. Could the people there tell that he was buying supplies to make his boyfriend dinner? He had no idea. Maybe people had always been able to tell that he was different.
When Raj got home, he put away all of the groceries before straightening up. He had just started making dinner when there was a knock at the door. Raj couldn't wait to see Lincoln. The day had been long, so he opened the door, ready to be wrapped in a tight hug that would put all of his pieces back together.
Instead it was Howard and Bernadette and the baby.
"I'm sorry about how I reacted earlier," Howard said.
"Did you make him come apologize?" Raj asked Bernadette.
"No. I came along to make sure you were okay. He wanted to apologize on his own," Bernadette said. They were all starting to walk into Raj's apartment when someone else showed up behind them.
"Hey, baby. Is everything okay?" Lincoln said. He had flowers in his hand for Raj.
"Hi. Lincoln, these are my friends Howard and Bernadette. Guys, this is my boyfriend, Lincoln," Raj said. He hadn't planned on introducing them, but it was easier than he thought. The words just fell from his mouth as easily as saying hello.
"Hi," Lincoln said. He wondered if he should leave, but he didn't want to unless Raj asked him to.
"Can we talk alone?" Howard asked.
"Sure," Raj said. They went into Raj's bedroom, and left Lincoln with Bernadette and the baby. Lincoln was cooing the baby and asked if he could hold her. Bernadette agreed and handed her over. She wasn't one to hand her child over to strangers, but Lincoln was almost part of the family even if they had never met.
Raj closed the door and turned toward Howard.
"I am sorry about how I reacted this morning. I don't care if you are gay. We've all had our suspicions over the years," Howard started.
"I'm not gay," Raj said.
"You are dating a guy."
"I am bi. I always have been. I like women and men," Raj explained. He didn't care so much about the labels, but he didn't want people to think he had been living a secret life sleeping with men all these years. His relationships with women were valid just like his relationship with Lincoln was.
"Okay. I don't care if you are bi, but I care that you kept this from me. For months. I know I haven't been around as much with the baby and everything, but it hurts that you didn't trust me to tell me that you were dating a man. And when you did decide to start telling everyone, you told Leonard and Penny first," Howard said.
"I was worried about telling you because I was scared you would hate me. I care about Leonard and Penny, but you are my best friend. I was so worried you wouldn't want to speak to me anymore," Raj said as tears started coming down his face.
Howard had never really had to worry about something like that. Yes, he was a little worried that his mother would be upset when he married a nice Catholic girl, but his friends already knew Bernadette. They loved her. Maybe he could try to understand that Raj would be worried that he would lose everything for love.
"We would never. I guess I can try to understand it though. Did you know that Sheldon found out last week?" Howard asked. "We all love you, and we want you to be happy," he added seriously.
"That was Sheldon and Amy at the movie theater," Raj said in realization. He hadn't gotten any sleep that night, worried that Sheldon would tell everyone. He figured it must have been someone else when a few days had gone by without anyone saying anything.
"Everyone knows now. You should bring him to family dinner this week," Howard said.
"My food," Raj suddenly said. He had forgotten that he had started cooking, and ran out of the bedroom. Bernadette was stirring the food on the stove while Lincoln played with the baby. Everything was fine. It would keep being fine.
Raj just started crying at the scene. Lincoln handed the baby to Howard and pulled Raj into his arms. He wondered if he should deck Howard, but decided that he should wait to find out what happened. Or at least wait until Howard wasn't holding the baby.
"They love me anyway," Raj sobbed into Lincoln's chest.
"Of course they do. You aren't broken or wrong. You are cute and funny and a very good cook. Who wouldn't love you?" Lincoln said as he rubbed Raj's back. He was glad he hadn't punched Howard. All of this was more stressful on Raj than Lincoln understood before that moment.
Howard and Bernadette stayed long enough to make sure that Raj was okay. He offered them dinner, but they said they needed to get the baby home.
"But you should bring him to family dinner on Sunday. We need to get to know to the man who has your heart," Bernadette said echoing Howard's earlier statement.