Chapter 5
[Present Day]
Leonard stood in Sheldon's bedroom, "So let me get this straight, Rachel asked you out to dinner and you suggested that she come over to our place for pizza night? Don't you think she would rather have you two eat dinner alone?" Leonard made sure to put emphasis on the word 'alone'. Sheldon missing all the hints laced in Leonard's sentence, "Tonight's pizza night, if she wants to eat dinner with me I don't see why we cant accommodate her. Besides her father is funding my research, the least I can do is feed her."
Hearing the knock at the door Leonard answered, "Hi, you must be Rachel, come in, Sheldon's told us all about you. Feel free to sit anywhere you'd like, except for there." Leonard finished as he pointed to Sheldon's spot on the couch. Walking in hesitantly, Rachel was unable to hide her disappointment in finding the apartment full of people. Leonard and Howard couldn't help but stare at Rachel as she wore a tight low cut dress along with 4-inch stilettos that accentuated her long legs. Bernadette elbowed Howard hard in the ribs and gave him a dirty look. Emerging from his bedroom, Sheldon greeted "Hi Rachel, glad you could make it. Let me introduce you to everyone this is Leonard, Penny, Howard, and Bernadette." Rachel put on a fake smile and leaned towards Sheldon, "I thought you invited me over for dinner." Sheldon taking his seat on the couch, "Of course we will be having dinner, Raj should be here any minute with the pizzas, as tonight is pizza night" Rachel, giving in took a seat next to Sheldon on the couch.
After Raj came back with the pizza, everyone ate in silence as they could feel the awkwardness in the air. Sheldon dropping some sauce on his shirt, "Use a napkin sweetie, I swear you're like a 5 year old." Penny said as she dabbed at Sheldon's shirt with a napkin. Rachel watched Penny with a cold stare. Trying to fight the awkwardness Penny attempted to make small talk, "Rachel that's a really cute dress, where did you get it?" Rachel, looking over at Penny sizing her up, "I got it from Bijan", Rachel finished her sentence and mumbled under her breath, "not that you could afford it." Taken aback at Rachel's snarky comment Penny was rendered silent. Penny and Bernadette stared at each other with wide eyes. Raj looked at Rachel and then to Penny and Bernadette, Raj screamed in his mind, 'oh no she didn't.'
Rachel looked over at Sheldon; "Your research in string theory is amazing, its revolutionizing they way we view science" Rachel batted her eyelashes at Sheldon and casually put her hand in Sheldon's lap. Sheldon feeling uncomfortable at the physical contact bolted up out of his seat. Without saying a word he headed over to his desk and pulled out a magazine from one of its drawers. He walked back over to Rachel, "If you want to see what's revolutionizing science, take a look at this." Sheldon handed over the copy of Neuron to Rachel. Uninterested, Rachel looked at the cover and flipped through a few pages, "whats this?" Leonard chimed in and pointed to the cover, "That's Amy, Sheldon and Amy were really close. She been in Sweden these past two years working on her research" Rachel, looking at the cover and looking towards Sheldon, "that's nice, well if your into that stuff, I mean its just Neurobiology after all." Sheldon being quick to respond, "Amy's the most intelligent person I've ever come to know, aside from myself of course. " Penny laughed, "Remember when Sheldon and Amy were planning on having a progeny together." Howard responded to Penny, "Thanks for talking them out of it, I can't imagine a world run by Shamy overlord's." Leonard chimed in, "Remember that crazy game Sheldon and Amy created, counter something?" Sheldon gave Leonard a disapproving stare and corrected, "Counterfactuals, a game you could only wish to be able to comprehend." Everyone laughed and started reciting their favorite Sheldon and Amy moments. Rachel sat back against the couch in silence, pursing her lips.