Chapter 9
The next morning Sheldon lay in bed and stared at the ceiling. Soon after the incident in the hallway with Rachel last night, Penny had stormed into their apartment threatening to castrate him. Frightened by Penny's threats Sheldon had retreated to his bedroom for the remainder of the night. Sheldon thought back to last night, before everything went to hell. He thought about Amy, he had been nervous at how she would react to seeing him again after 2 years, but was relieved when Amy wrapped her arms around him. Normally Sheldon despised all physical contact but when it came to Amy he welcomed it. Sheldon instantly recognized the dress Amy wore last night, it was that blue dress, that same blue dress he had help zip up 2 years ago. Sheldon thought back to that day, remembering how his mind wondered what it would be like to kiss every inch of Amy's exposed flesh. Amy was still as beautiful as he remembered, last night during dinner he couldn't help but stare at her while she was talking to Bernadette. He thought back to how annoyed he was with Rachel, even though he wasn't quite sure why he felt that way. When Sheldon conversed with Amy during dinner last night, he felt happy and secretly hoped if he and Amy could simply pick up where they left off 2 years ago. Those thoughts were shatter the instant he heard Amy say that she was being offered a new 5-year contract in Sweden.
Across the hall Penny, Amy and Bernadette sat at the kitchen counter. Penny asked, "So what are you going to do, are you going to confront him?" The visions of last night still fresh in Amy's memory she shrugged her shoulders, "what would I say, Sheldon your not allowed to move on even though your not currently in a relationship and I left you 2 years ago?" Bernadette shook her head and said, "every time Rachel is around Sheldon she practically throws herself at him." Penny added, "That woman has no shame." Comforted at the fact her two best gal pals supported her and had her back. Amy talked into her tea, "As much as I want to be angry with Sheldon for what I saw, I'm going to be leaving for Sweden in a couple days and I would hate for us to end on a bad terms."
Amy's cell phone buzzed, Bernadette asked, "Is that Sheldon what are you going to say?" "I flew 11 hours to see him the most I can do is spend some time with him, we are still friends after all." Amy finished, trying to convince herself.
A few hours later Amy got dressed and headed across the hall, Leonard answered the door to let her in. Amy stepped into the apartment, not knowing what to say or do she joined Sheldon on the couch. Feeling the awkwardness in the air, Leonard grabbed his keys out of the bowl, "Ill see you two later, I'm going to see what Penny's up to." Leonard finished as he walked out the door.
Being the first one to break the silence Sheldon spoke, "I'm really glad your home." Feeling joy in Sheldon's words all Amy could manager to say was, "me too." They both sat back on the couch and proceeded to watch TV.
After being out with Penny for a few hours Leonard headed back to his apartment. After the events of last night he worried that Amy and Sheldon would get into a huge fight resulting in Sheldon adopting more cats. Upon opening the door to his apartment he was relieved at what he saw. Sheldon and Amy were in the kitchen standing over the stove. "Is it supposed to be brown like that?" Sheldon asked Amy. "As long as you don't burn it, it should be fine." Amy answered.
Curiosity getting the best of him Leonard asked, "What on earth are you guys doing?" Sheldon turned excitedly towards Leonard, "Amy's showing me how to make Swedish crepes." Amy gestured to the mess on the counter, "After the first 20, I think he's finally getting the hang of it." Leonard headed over to the kitchen counter to sample the results. The three of them stood over the kitchen counter eating the crepes. Sheldon and Leonard took turns asking Amy questions her time in Sweden.
Sheldon turned to look over at his desk; his cell phone glowed indicating that he had received a text message. Sheldon retrieve his phone and looked down at the screen. It was from Rachel, apologizing for her actions last night and asking if Sheldon would meet with her so she could apologize in person. Without responding back he turned off his phone. Amy looked over at Sheldon, "Is everything ok?" Sheldon nodded, not wanting to bring up Rachel's name, he didn't want to spoil his day with Amy. As the three of them cleaned up the counter, Sheldon turned towards Amy and asked, "Do you want to go to the zoo?" Excited to spend more time with Sheldon, Amy agreed.
Over the next 2 days Amy spent her time with Sheldon visiting various places in Pasadena. They visited the Zoo, the movies, CalTech, Amy's old lab, restaurants they used to frequent and even the comic book store. Amy was enjoying her time with Sheldon; it brought back familiar feelings of happiness. Amy tried to ignore the fact that the next day she needed to be back on a Plane headed to Sweden if she were to accept the research contract. Amy and Sheldon had been avoiding the topic these past few days, neither wanting to be reminded of the fact.
The group all gathered at one of the local restaurants for dinner. Sheldon and Amy isolated themselves into their own conversation. Sheldon, finally finding the courage to ask, "Are you going to do it, re-sign in Sweden." Amy looked down at her plate not wanting to give away her pained expression, "Career wise, it would be logical." Finishing her sentence she asked, "do you think I should stay here in Pasadena?" Amy looked at Sheldon begging him to say yes. Sheldon expressionless recited the sentence he had practiced in his head. "They want you as lead scientist on a 5 year project, that's a huge stepping stone in your career. I'm really proud of you." Amy picked at her food for a while before finally turning to Sheldon and asking, "Rachel, is she… are you two…" unable to fish her sentence Sheldon chimed in, "She's crazy, her mother clearly did not have her tested as a child." Amy let out a laugh before she cleared her throat and continued, "I umm.. seen you two in the hall, kissing." Sheldon's eyes grew wide. Not wanting to start a fight Amy added, "Its ok Sheldon, its ok that you moved on, I'm ok. We're still friends and I care about your happiness" Sheldon responded in defense, "she attacked me in the hallway, if her father wasn't funding my research I would file a sexual harassment lawsuit against her." Sheldon continued to explain the situation in the hall Amy couldn't help but feel relieved. Finishing Sheldon lowered his voice and spoke into Amy's ear, "You're the only woman I have ever kissed willingly." Amy blushed at Sheldon's statement and she looked around the table to find that their conversation wasn't as private as they intended.
The group walked out of the restaurant. Raj patted his belly and commented on his growing waistline. "How dare you ignore me Sheldon Cooper." Everyone turned around in unison. Sheldon mentally slapped himself, "Oh dear lord, why have you forsaken me." Rachel walked right up to Sheldon and poked him in the chest, "How dare you ignore me!" Sheldon unsure in how to handle the situation spoke the first thing that came to mind, "Rachel, you are bat crap crazy. You clearly cannot take a hint." Rachel offended, scolded Sheldon "You can't reject me, NO ONE rejects me!" Amy responding without thinking, "I believe he just did!" Rachel looked at Amy and back at Sheldon. Rachel gestured towards Amy, "You would rather have this loser? Look at her and look at me." Sheldon coming to Amy's defense, "Amy is not a loser, she's the most intelligent person I have ever met." Sheldon continued, "and Amys classy, you for one look like you walk the streets of Pasadena." Penny turned towards Leonard and said, "Leonard, hold my purse because I'm about to go all Nabraska on this bitch." Leonard held Penny back. Rachel continued hysterically, "Intelligent? It's Neurobiology for Christ sake. I was top of my class at Oxford!" Amy fought back, "I'm sure it wasn't your intelligence that got you there." As Amy finished her sentence she stared daggers into Rachel. Taken aback Rachel responded, "What are you implying?" Amy refusing to back down, "Nothing that hasn't been IMPLIED before." Raj made an OMG face at Amy's retort. Rachel growing frustrated, spoke to Sheldon one last time, "Sheldon, you can say goodbye to your research grants and goodbye to your career because you are DONE!" With those last words Rachel walked off. Everyone took turns looking at each other dumbfounded at the events that had just unfolded.
The next day, Amy found herself standing in apartment 4A. Sheldon having a horrible case of deja vu asked rhetorically, "All packed and ready to go?" Amy simply nodded. Sheldon stood next to Amy with his hands shoved into his pockets. Amy had one hand on the doorknob she looked up at Sheldon and asked, "Will we still be friends?" Sheldon speaking just loud enough for Amy to hear, "…Always…" Without looking towards Sheldon, Amy continued, "Am I doing the right thing?" Answering almost robotically Sheldon said, "Logically… yes…." Amy got on her tip toes and gave Sheldon one last kiss on the cheek to say goodbye.