A/N: There were so many requests for an update that I 'm giving in and posting this a bit earlier than anticpated. Still, I hope you all enjoy! Please leave a review at the door! :D

Copper ran a hand through her tangled mane, meticulously running the combs of her brush through the knots that had formed overnight. The worn cotton of her pajamas rubbed against her skin pleasantly as she crossed her legs on the plush cushion. The giant robot Voltron was in some life or death battle with one of Lotor's robeasts, the images flickering colorfully across the screen of her television, but she was only half paying attention. Mainly, she had put the disc in simply to have noise in the apartment, a cold comfort these days.

Grumbling under her breath, she shifted, tugging the mass of ringlets over her shoulder to gain better access to some of the more stubborn snags. Her eyes were sharply focused as she worked, concentrating mightily on the task at hand, probably more so than was necessary. However, she was unwilling to let her mind wander; it only led to avenues of consideration that she didn't care to ponder.

Sheldon had tried calling her, more than once, actually, but she kept her phone on silent; an attempt to honestly excuse herself from ignoring him. This time, however, there hadn't been any gifts delivered to her apartment, giving Copper mixed feelings of relief and disappointment every time she opened her door. Did she want him to try harder? Yes and no, she supposed silently. Yes, because feelings don't just go away, and no, because she wished that they did.

The few moments that she had completely to herself, Copper turned to distractions, whether it was her music, movies, games…anything to keep occupied. Without them, her thoughts turned to memories, analyzing them over and over again, twisting them over in her mind to examine every angle. The reasons why were more disturbing and she shied from them, even in the darkest, loneliest stretches of the night, when sleep danced just outside of reach.

The walls she built kept rising and she hid in their shadow, avoidance preferable to the myriad of emotions that peeked through the cracks in her defenses. She was conscious of her efforts to evade her sentiments, though it did little to aid the endeavor. But, she reasoned, it was keeping her functioning. Would she really not have been able to if she gave in to the impulses to thoroughly examine her emotions?

It was yet another difficult question, and it only preceded the next; just what had she invested in Sheldon? Not the relationship, but the man?

There had been a level of trust, granted one that she shared with others. Sheldon, on the other hand, was different. What trust had he in her? After the words he had spoken last week, that was, perhaps, what she had come to doubt the most. She just didn't believe that he trusted in her, not her intelligence, not her intentions, and not her as a person. But then, he rarely bestowed his confidence in anyone, why had she expected to be special in that regard?

Because she had wanted to be.

Her door opened unannounced, making her jump, but she relaxed when she saw Leonard walking in with a sheepish smile.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you."

She shook her head, fingers and brush still working in tandem.

"It's fine, I wasn't expecting company at this hour of the morning, especially on a Saturday," she explained quietly, giving him a reassuring smile.

He nodded and plopped down in her large armchair, grinning when he looked at the screen.

"Voltron, huh?"

"Yeah. I'm starting to realize that the dialogue was so much more scintillating when I was too young to know any better."

He snorted a laugh, then turned his head to regard her a moment.

"So, how was your parent's visit last week?"

It was a tentative question and Copper suspected the purpose behind it. Still, she answered.

"For the most part, it was rather enjoyable. I'd missed them," she admitted and he reached out to pat her knee.

"I imagine you did. Penny tells me you were very close to them growing up."

Copper nodded, setting down her brush on the coffee table with a sigh after the last knot gave way.

"More so than most, I suppose. I take it Penny told you about what happened," it was more an observation than a question.

"Yes, she did. I can't say that I blame you for how you reacted either, not entirely."

It was as close to speaking about what had happenedas she wanted to get, but Leonard seemed determined for her to talk about it, albeit he was going about it in a much more direct manner, one completely different than his normal passive-aggressive fashion.

"Not entirely?" she repeated, crossing her arms loosely as she watched him, her expression clouded.

"Not entirely," he forged on, "but you knew that Sheldon wasn't going to be able to keep his opinions to himself, not under any circumstance. Still, you could have asked him to, or at least talked to him about your concerns, instead of waiting for him to piss you off."

Copper glared at him for a brief moment before she closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh.

"Alright, that's a fair point. But, may I point out that talking to Sheldon rarely works? He's so convinced of his superiority in everything, you know that."

Leonard nodded his agreement, then lifted a finger.

"But you're leaving out a critical factor of the formula."

She tilted her head at him quizzically and he continued with a smug smile.

"Sheldon cares about you."

Copper lifted a skeptical brow, but when his smile didn't waver, she huffed out another breath and focused her gaze on the giant robots fighting on her television.

"I know you don't entirely believe that, especially after what happened last week," Leonard admitted, "But that doesn't change the fact that I'm telling you the truth. Copper,"

He called her name gently and, reluctantly, she returned her eyes to his face, which was now set in an expression of concern.

"Copper, he's miserable."

She slid her eyes away again, uncomfortable. She wanted to ask why it should matter to her, when how she felt clearly had no bearing on Sheldon's actions, but she knew better. He wasn't a fool. Even as socially inept as he was, he still knew that a person's family ties were generally important. In that moment, she had felt justified in her actions. Even so, Leonard had made a logical argument. She should have spoken with him about her fears, trusted him enough to be able to talk about it. She hadn't done that and she realized at the very least, she owed Sheldon an apology for that. Even if he wouldn't trust her, she could have set an example.

But she wasn't ready to see him yet. The thought of him still left her cold, the memory a chilled weight in the back of her mind.

"Perhaps then he'll understand how he made me feel," she finally replied, her voice soft.

Leonard looked at her hard for a long moment, his thick brows drawing together.

"So it wasn't what he said to your dad, it was-" he cut himself off with a grunt, chewing on his thumbnail before continuing, "What did he say exactly, Copper? What happened when you two went into the hallway? Because it had to be pretty bad for you to just shut him down completely."

She didn't look at him.

"That's an awfully personal question, Leonard," she muttered, then stood up and began padding into the kitchen on her bare feet, the sunshine reflecting on the green glitter on her toenail polish, "But, to satisfy your curiosity, nothing happened. We walked out, had a very brief exchange of words and I left him there."

He made another noise, but didn't press her. Instead, he seemed to shift tack.

"Copper, are you afraid?"

The question brought her up short. She half-turned to look over her shoulder at him, but he was watching the screen, as if the enquiry had been casually tossed into the air. Sucking in a breath through her teeth, Copper resumed walking towards the freezer, plucking a handful of ice cubes and dumping them into a squat blue glass she pulled out from the cabinet. The frozen water clinked as it fell into the cup, the surface of the cubes becoming less frosted as she poured fresh sweet tea over them.

"What do you think I'm afraid of, Leonard?"

"What's everyone scared of in relationships? Getting hurt, what else?" the questions were rapidly fired and he turned to give her a sharp look from the chair, as if silently reprimanding her for asking such a foolish question. It was a very Sheldon-like action, she thought with a tiny smile.

"Could you have put just a bit more sarcasm in there? I didn't quite feel the sting like I should have," she replied dryly, pulling a chuckle from him.

"Sorry," he started, but she waved a dismissive hand, curling onto the couch once again.

"Don't worry about it, I know you're just worried. It's your nature."

"Now don't go and change the subject. We're talking about you, here, not me."

Her lips twitched.

"Damn, caught in the act."

"And don't try diverting my attention either!"

Their eyes met over the lip of her cup and they both shared a knowing grin, much of the tension dissipating. Idly, Copper ran a slender fingertip along the rim of her glass.

"I don't feel afraid, Leonard. I just feel," she lifted her shoulders in a shrug, "hollow, I suppose."

He frowned at her.

"What do you mean, hollow? You miss him?"

Copper shook her head.

"It's not that I miss him, although I'll admit that I do, a little."

"Then what?"

"I reckon it's that I…I wonder, Leonard. I wonder how I could have believed that a closer relationship with Sheldon could have worked when we're on such unequal footing."

"There's no proof that it didn't."

She looked at him askance.

"Oh?"

"So you guys had a fight. So he hurt your feelings, which is what this boils down to," he added when she opened her mouth to protest, "So, what? You're just going to call it quits there?"

She lifted her brows in surprise.

"That's a rather forceful stance for you, Leonard. I'm not saying you're wrong, but I'm impressed."

His cheeks flushed and he looked down with a shy smile before his head jerked back up with a reproachful eye.

"You're diverting again."

She sighed, holding up her hands in surrender.

"Alright, alright, but how am I quitting something that was barely in existence to begin with?"

When he didn't answer right away, she knew that she had a valid point.

"Leonard, I don't know what I'm eventually going to do. At the moment, I'm not going to do anything. "

"Nothing?"

She shook her head.

"Nothing," then she admitted, "Because, frankly…I don't know what to do."

Sheldon stared off, his slender fingers tapping relentlessly against the arm of the couch. He dimly heard the front door open as Leonard came in and threw his keys into the bowl. The remote was held limply in Sheldon's other hand as his eyes rested, unfocused, on the Enterprise as it floated through the darkest reaches of space.

She should have wanted to talk. It was a moment that should have happened and yet she had defied every known social convention by walking away from him. The fact was mind-boggling and even after a week of repeatedly analyzing the events preceding, and following, that moment, he was still at a loss as to what he should do.

He had been spending a large amount of time on the interent, searching for any hint as to what he had said wrong to her. As intelligent as that woman was, it was improbable that she wouldn't have forseen the conversation going forward as it did. The reactions were inevitable.

With that in mind, what was it that had triggered such an adverse reaction in her that she would shut down all communication? Setting down the remote, he crossed his arms, lifting his fingers to his lips and tapping his fingertips against them. He checked his watch. It was 10:45 exactly.

Picking up the phone at his elbow, he started to dial the number.

"She won't answer," Leonard remarked as he moved past him towards the kitchen.

Sheldon's cobalt eyes flashed up sharply, his thumb poised over the last digit.

"And how can you be so certain?"

Leonard froze for a mere second, his hand closing around a bottle of water. Then, he straightened and turned, setting the container on the counter to twist open the cap.

"I'm basing my hypothesis on the evidence of past experiments," the shorter man replied, though his sarcasm was lost on Sheldon.

The physicist considered his roommates words, his finger hovering over the lit number pad, before replacing the entire phone back on its handle.

"I suppose I can concede to that point," Sheldon admitted, "although I would be in a better mood if it wasn't the case."

Leonard cut his eyes over towards him, picking up the bottle and a bag of munchables before sitting down in the armchair. His attention flickered towards the television.

"Ah, the Kobayashi Maru episode," a smile spread over his features, "thinking of the indominable redhead one floor down, I see."

Sheldon wasn't amused in the slightest, Leonard's observation of the obvious only serving to further spike his irritation.

"I would think my attempts to call her would have informed you of that fact, but perhaps I have once again given your powers of deduction too much credit."

Leonard leaned back in the chair, still smiling.

"What's got you so defensive?"

Sheldon didn't deen to reply, sullenly sinking further into his spot as he tried to immerse himself in the television show. Leonard seemed to have relented somewhat, his gaze following the taller man's.

But, despite his best efforts, Sheldon's mind just wouldn't focus. It keep returning to Copper's determination to ignore him. It was maddening, especially when he couldn't understand what he had done. The debate with her had been typical. It was more often than not that they found themselves on opposite sides of an idea or opinion.

He turned it around and around in his mind, as he had for the past seven days, until he thought he may very well lose any semablance of sanity. And the worst part of the entire ordeal?

He missed her.

Even in the privacy of his thoughts, it was a difficult concept to grasp. She had somehow ingrained herself in his life to the point that it was inconceivable to imagine his world without her in some place within it. Closing his eyes, he laid his head back against the cushions, deep in contemplation.

What was it about her? Certainly, she was physically attractive. He enjoyed simply looking at her. The manner in which her curls always seemed to be brushing against the line of her neck, how her eyes were always dancing, no matter the light. The knowledge that her skin was as soft as it looked only increased his desire to touch her, a feat that would have been impossible for any other individual.

And those wicked smiles she would give him; it shouldn't be physically possible to have a smile that could render a man incapable of refusing her anything. The music she could create with the simplest motion of her fingers was uncanny and seemed to have an undeniable affect on him.

The memory of how she had danced in his kitchen, her fingers roving over a guitar as if they were made just to create melodies. The rememberance stirred a strange sensation in his gut, a heat, as he envisioned the curve of her spine as she bent over the instrument, the image melting into the rocking of her hips as she sauntered around the island. His mental gaze traveled over her form, enjoying the sliver of her midriff that peeked out from just above the waistline of her low slung pants.

The memories were creating havoc in his body, so he spun his musings in a new direction, considering the feelings he had experienced in her presence. Well, even outside her presence, simply thinking of her caused unusual emotions, ones that, on some level, he could resent her for.

Why did she have to move here? His life had been idealic before she had run into him on that stairwell. It was uncomplicated by useless feelings and trivial considerations. And then she had the nerve to argue with him and then to leave without the ability to form a coherent response. It was infuriating, exasperating, and the constant need to be close to her, to feed off the sensations she aroused-

His eyes snapped open.

"Now it all comes together," he whispered, enlightenment stealing all the breath from his body.

Sheldon abruptly stood and started for the door.

"Where are you off to in such a rush?"

He half-turned as he opened the door, his jaw set.

"I am going to prove a theory."