Thank you for all your kind reviews. Sorry I've taken so long to update.
Chapter Two
It wasn't fair. Amy fumed as she climbed the stairs to her boyfriend's apartment. Why did this have to happen now? How could Leonard and Penny do this? It was going to mean that Leonard would be moving out for good and Sheldon had never reacted well to that. Only recently, he had resisted the suggestion of extending the one night a week that Leonard lived with Penny to two nights, so he must be freaking out over this. They had even said that the living arrangements were not going to change until he was ready, so why were they doing this? How could they be so selfish? Why had they changed their minds?
Amy got to the fourth floor and stared at the door to apartment 4A. She wasn't sure she was up to dealing with a Sheldon freak out, but she had to make sure he was all right. She took a deep breath to compose herself and then knocked on the door. A moment later, she heard footsteps coming towards her and tried to summon up what little energy she had left, hoping it would be enough for whatever awaited her.
The door opened and Sheldon was standing there looking at her. "Hello."
He seemed calm, too calm and she hadn't expected that. "This doesn't change anything." Amy told him before she walked past him into the apartment, put her overnight bag and purse on the floor by the coffee table and sat down on the couch.
Sheldon closed the door and turned to look at her. "You're staying the night?"
"With Leonard and Penny out of town, someone has to make sure you don't do anything stupid, like you're prone to."
He raised an eyebrow at that, but didn't respond. Instead, he asked. "Would you like some tea?" He asked as he went over to the kitchen.
"Sure, why not?"
"What would you like?"
"It doesn't matter." Amy frowned as she watched him make the tea. He should be freaking out? She thought. Why isn't he freaking out? She thought it was strange, very strange. It was also strange that Leonard and Penny would suddenly decide to elope. They been engaged a year, hadn't made any plans for their wedding and now they were eloping? It didn't make sense, unless. "Is Penny pregnant?"
Sheldon looked up, startled at her question. "What makes you think I would know?"
"You two confide in each all the time."
He shook his head. "As far as I know, she isn't pregnant. They just decided there was no reason to wait to get married."
"I can think of one. Leonard will be moving out now." Amy said. "You do realise that's going to happen now, don't you?"
"That would be the logical conclusion to their elopement."
"You normally freak out over that. You even run away last year."
"Is that why you're here? To make sure I don't run away again." Sheldon picked up the two mugs and took them over to the couch. "Here you go." He handed one of the mugs to her and then sat down next to her.
"I don't care if you run away or not." Amy sipped at the tea, frowning at the taste.
"You wouldn't be here if you didn't care."
Amy couldn't look at him, because he was right, she did care. In fact it was the one thing she feared most of all, but she wasn't going to admit it. "You can do whatever you like. I don't care."
"Are you still mad at me for my train trip last year?"
"I don't want to talk about it." Amy said. "Why have you given me sleepy tea?"
"To help you sleep of course." He replied. "You look awful, you know that?"
"Way to make a girl feel better." Amy shook her head and sipped at her tea.
"You may look awful, but you're still look beautiful."
"What are you up to?" Amy wanted to know.
"Nothing. I was just giving my girlfriend a compliment." Sheldon paused and then asked. "You are still my girlfriend aren't you?"
Amy closed her eyes and sighed. "It's not very you is it?" She said after a moment.
"Just because I don't say it, doesn't mean I don't think it."
"I know all about your thinking." Amy retorted.
"I was thinking about you the other night."
"Yeah, thinking about ways to get me to leave so you could watch The Flash on your own."
"What are you talking about?" Sheldon said. "That was the last thing I wanted. In fact, I was going to…."
"You were going to what?" Amy glared at him.
Sheldon hesitated. "It doesn't matter now." He said. "I think you could do with an early night." He put his mug down on the coffee table. "Now I can't permit you to sleep in Leonard's room without his prior consent. It's in the Roommate Agreement."
"I'm not sharing a bed with you."
"I wasn't suggesting that." Sheldon said, but he did look disappointed. "You can sleep in my room and I'll sleep in Leonard's."
"You're allowing me in your room?"
"Yes." He got to his feet. "I just need to get my pyjamas."
"OK." Amy watched him go up the corridor to the bedrooms. What was he up to?
Sheldon stood outside his bedroom door with an armful of bedding, listening to the sounds of movement coming from inside. "Go to bed." He said quietly. "Why won't you go to bed?" He had been shocked when he had seen how pale and tired she was and all he had wanted to do was to take her into his arms and hold her, but he never got the chance. Then when he realised she was planning to stay the night, he decided he was going to look after her whether she liked it or not. His initial plan was for them both to sleep in his bed, so he could keep an eye on her and hold her if she needed it. Amy had vetoed that before he even had a chance to suggest it though. The next best thing was having her sleep in his room, while he slept next door. She hadn't been in his room for months, not since the Prom, but she was more familiar with his room then Leonard's and he would be nearby if she needed him for any reason.
The squeak of a bedspring told him she had gotten into bed at last and he sighed in relief. "I really must do something about that bedspring." He remarked as he went to the other bedroom, where he put the clean bedding on the chair. As he stripped the bed, he thought about what he had learnt. She was still upset about his train trip and while that surprised him, it did explain her earlier comment about him being prone to doing something stupid. He hadn't like that, but was too worried about her to respond to it. He would though, when the time was right.
Sheldon put the used bedding in the laundry basket and then got the clean bedding from the chair. Did she think he was going to run away again? He wondered, but why would she think that? Why wouldn't she tell him what was wrong? He asked himself and why would she think he had wanted her to leave the other night? He had meticulously planned and rehearsed what he was going to say to her that evening and he didn't understand how she come to the conclusion she had. That had to be due to lack of sleep he decided and he hoped she would be in more rational frame of mind after a good night's sleep.
When Sheldon finished making up the bed, he stepped back to look at it. "The sacrifices one makes for love." He sighed and then put his ear to the wall to the next room to listen, but he couldn't hear anything. Did that mean she was asleep? He wondered and decided he would check after he had gotten ready for bed.
He quickly undressed and put his blue plaid pyjamas on and then went to the bathroom, pausing at the door to his bedroom. Again, there was no sound coming from inside. She must be asleep he decided and went on to the bathroom.
Sheldon returned 10 minutes later and this time he opened the door and peered into the darkness. He could just make out that that she was laying curled up on her left side and judging from the sound of her breathing, she was asleep. Quietly he went into the room and made his way around the bed to the side she was on and smiled when he saw she was asleep.
Amy looked so peaceful and so beautiful laying there, that for a few minutes he was just happy to watch her sleep. Then he leaned forward and gently kissed her on the forehead. "Sleep well, my vixen." He pulled the covers further up over her and then quietly left.
Back in Leonard's room, he climbed into bed and tried to settle down to sleep himself, but could relax. "Maybe I should have had some sleepy tea as well." He sighed and briefly considered making some, but he didn't want to have to get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, so he decided against it. Instead, he picked up his phone and started to browse the internet. "Maybe I can get some ideas on how to fix things with Amy."
He must have dozed off, because the next thing he was aware of was a loud piercing scream coming from the next room. "Amy?" He scrambled out of bed, but his feet became caught in the sheets and he tripped, banging his right knee hard on the floor. He groaned in pain and for a moment, he didn't move, but then she screamed again and he quickly freed himself. "I'm coming." He gasped as he hobbled out and back to his own room.
Amy was sitting up in bed, still screaming. "Amy?" Sheldon clambered onto the bed and tried to put his arms around her, but she started flaying her arms about, fighting whatever demons were invading her sleep. "I'm here." He tried again to put his arms around her, but she was struggling too much and one of her elbows connected with the side of his face. He winched, but ignored the pain and made another attempt. This time he managed to get his arms around her in a bear hug, pinning her arms to her sides. "It's OK. I'm here." He pulled her closer to him and started to rock her. "It's OK. I'm here." He said softly. "Shhh…. It's going to be OK." The screaming stopped and he felt her relax in his arms. "That's my girl." He continued to rock her until he was sure she was sleeping peacefully once again and then he gently eased back her down on the bed.
Sheldon closed his eyes and took a deep breath. There was no way he was leaving her now and even though she had made it clear they were not going to share a bed, he pulled the covers back and climbed in beside her. He put his arms around her as he moaned. "Shhh…. I won't let anything hurt you."
"Don't go." She murmured.
"I won't." He said softly.
"Don't leave me."
In that instant he knew what was wrong. "Never." He vowed. "Never again."