The next day, once his mother finally decided his hangover had truly gone for good, he called Bernadette. When she answered the phone, she sounded as though she'd been crying.

"God, Howie, I've been so worried! Don't do that again!"

"Sorry, I would've called earlier..."

"It doesn't matter. Are you OK?"

"Yeah. You?"

"I'm fine. Where are you?"

"At my mom's."

"Oh. How is she?"

"She's fine."

"Good."

"Will I see you later?"

"Sure. I can't leave work right now, but I'm free afterwards."

"OK. Mom's got her book club at five."

"I'll be over then. Howie?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"I love you, too. I'm sorry I left you last night. I should've stuck around."

"I don't blame you. I would've done the same thing."

"You would've torn her a new one first."

"Well, yeah."

There was a slight chuckle in her voice, causing him to smile. At least she wasn't crying anymore.

"I'd better go," Bernadette told him. "I'll see you later, honey."

"Bye."

TBBTBBTBBTBBTBBBTBBBTBBBTBBBTBBBTBBBTBBBTBBBTBBBTB BBTBBBTBBBTBBTBBTBBBTBBBTBBBTBBBTBBBTBBBTBBBTBBBTB BBTBBBTBBT

It had initially felt rather awkward to be eating with her ex. Then she realised that Leonard wasn't upset with her or anything. She watched as he picked up his cell and wondered if Penny had texted him. Brushing it off, she went back to her salad. To her left, Raj also picked up his cell.

"Howard called Bernadette. He's OK."

"Where's he been?" Leonard asked.

"I don't know, but he was at his mother's when he called."

"I wonder if he revealed the problem to her." Sheldon mused, not looking up from his sandwich.

There was a short silence as they pondered this, broken by Leonard's cell pinging. "Oh, crap."

"What's wrong?" Priya asked.

"There's a problem in the laser lab. I'll see you guys later."

"Bye."

Sheldon began staring at them as if trying to remember something?"

"You, know, I remember last night," he said to Raj. "You didn't seem very happy with Bernadette. You were rather closed off to her."

"No, I wasn't."

"Actually, you were." Priya pointed out. "You didn't seem very friendly."

"It's just..." He glanced at his sister and then at his tray.

"Is it that you partially dislike her because your sister was a victim of domestic violence?" Sheldon asked.

"A little. I do like her, it's just..." He sighed. He didn't know how to explain it, the conflicting feelings of liking yet disliking his best friend's wife.

"My mother used to say 'Hate the sin, love the sinner'. Is that applicable?" Sheldon said to him.

"Yes. You could say that."

"Rajesh, Bernadette was always sweet. Sanjay wasn't always. Even Mummy and Daddy weren't too happy I would be marrying him. And you know what they're like."

"What's your point?" Sheldon asked.

"My point is, Sanjay meant to hurt me as a way of controlling me. Bernadette is lashing out as a form of defence. She wasn't always like that while Sanjay was."

"I know. I just don't take kindly to those who hurt the ones I care about."

"I know that. Just remember, she needs us too."

"Alright."

She smiled at him and got up. "I'm going to go to the grocery store. You're running low on cereal. And milk. And eggs. In fact, you have no breakfast food."

"OK. See you later."

TBBTBBTBBTBBTBBBTBBBTBBBTBBBTBBBTBBBTBBBTBBBTBBBTB BBTBBBTBBBTBBTBBTBBBTBBBTBBBTBBBTBBBTBBBTBBBTBBBTB BBTBBBTBBT

Just left work. Will be ur mom's in 20 minutes. xxxxx

Howard felt relieved reading that. He wanted nothing more than to see his wife again. He was insanely bored at his mother's. The most interesting part of his day had been calling up his Head of Department and explaining he'd been in an accident and wouldn't be able to work today. It was lucky he hadn't broken his dominant arm. At least he could write or design something. Speaking of the arm, he wondered how he could explain it to the others. Figuring they'd realize the truth when they saw his car was missing (it was in the garage, getting fixed) he decided he might as well fess up if they asked.

Glancing out the window, he recognized Bernadette's grey car pulling up. He walked up to the front door, getting there just as she knocked on it.

"Hey." He awkwardly greeted. He felt strange around her. Like he didn't know how to act, what to say. Was this normal?

She reached up and planted a kiss on his mouth and blinked at his cast."What happened to your arm?"

"It was a car accident."

"Aw." She patted his arm as if trying to heal it. "Can we talk?"

The words stopped his heart. In his experience, those words were never good news. Bernadette saw his look of panic and hastily tried to explain.

"About what she said."

"Oh," Howard said, feeling his heart rate go back to normal. "Yeah, sure."

He let her go in first and followed her to the living room. When they were seated, she took a hold of his hand.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah."

"Are you trying to be tough?"

"No, sweetie. I gave that up years ago."

"I think we should have gone to someone who actually specializes in marriage counselling."

"I agree. Who can we go to?"

"I don't know." Bernadette admitted. "But I think was the wrong person to go to."

"I'm sorry I ran off. I was upset, but I shouldn't have left you when you would have needed me."

"Hey, I don't blame you for that." She kissed his cheek and squeezed his hand tightly. "And I knew you'd need time alone. Besides, I had Joey.."

"What's he been like?"

"He's been really sweet. He's worried, though."

"We all are. I don't want to ever lose you."

"You won't. We'll get help and get this thing sorted, OK?"

Looking into her determined face, Howard couldn't help smiling. With her had arrived a glimmer of hope and looking at her, that glimmer grew and grew until it became a glow of optimism. With her, he could accomplish anything. They could accomplish anything.

"OK. What do we do first?"

Beaming broadly at her husband's return to hopefulness, Bernadette realised that even though they'd had a bumpy road, they would sort this. They would be fine.

No, this is not the end! Do you honestly think I'd do that? No, I'm aiming to do at least three more chapters. Then I've got a little sequel up my sleeve! If there's anything you feel I should add, please don't hesitate to inform me via reviews or PMs!

Love from Shania. xx