Hello everyone. Only a few chapters (3-4) left to this story, and I am already sad to be leaving this universe, that, for many different reasons, means very much to me. I am trying to come to a decision, and I would love to know your thoughts about it.
Initially, I had planned to end this story with an epilogue set maybe a year in the future. It would answer most of the questions regarding Sheldon and Amy's future such as where they are going to live, what will happen to Amy's career as a scientist, and some more. I have the epilogue ready, and I could post it, probably after chapter 32 and be done with this universe.
Or – and this is a crazy idea that came to my mind a few days ago – I could leave Shamy's future a little more open and write a sequel to this story that will deal with those questions. I don't know exactly what the main storyline would be, but it would probably deal with Sheldon and Amy figuring out how to combine the two worlds they are currently living in. I don't know, but somehow it feels, even after all these chapters, their story really has just begun and there is a lot more to tell.
The upside of it would obviously be more Shamy, the downside would be that – unlike an epilogue – it wouldn't just be a "happily ever after"-story but there would be new drama. I would NOT break up Shamy of course, but they would have some issues to deal with and since I plan to include some other characters too, it is very possible that there would also be a few dramatic turns for those (I have nothing planned out yet, but it could mean obstacles for Missy and her children, or maybe a stroke of fate for one of the choir members that would make them relocate to California, I honestly don't know what it would be yet). I am also thinking of writing the sequel from multiple POVs. So, you would get to read Amy's side of it and maybe Missy's too and – depending on where the story will go – maybe one more.
That said, it would probably take me at least 4-6 months to write it. Maybe even more, because I have something else on my writing agenda that I want to work on first.
I know in the end, I will have to make this decision myself, but I am interested in what you think. Would you be interested in a sequel? Or would you prefer the epilogue and the 'happily ever after'?
Take me home
To the friends I've always known
Take me home
Back to the place where I belong
As It Is In Heaven
Chapter 29 – "Home"
"So, this it."
Sheldon had no idea why he was this nervous. This was the place he had called his home for so many years.
The same hallway. The same floor. The same broken elevator.
The same blue apartment door with the same golden plate on it.
4A
He stared at the letters for a long time.
"Well, that's a nice… door?", Amy pulled him out of his thoughts, furrowing her eyebrows at him.
He looked at her and smiled weakly. He had been looking forward to this. Bringing her home to his apartment. But now that he was here, he felt overwhelmed with memories and emotions.
"I'm sorry. It's just… I haven't been here in a long time.", he explained. "And the last time I was here… well it is not exactly a happy memory."
Taking a deep breath, he finally got out his key.
"Before I open this door…", he hesitated, picturing the two sad folding chairs he had left in the room. "You should know that… uhm… I was not in a good place back then. And I made some changes to the furniture and…"
"Sheldon.", she said and put a hand on his shoulder. "Whatever it is, it's going to be fine. Just open the door."
She was right. It would be fine. He knew he did not have to hide anything from her. She would always understand. But he just really, really wanted her to like his apartment.
"Alright.", he sighed and turned the key.
He let Amy go in first. But his eyes widened when he heard her speak.
"I don't know what you're talking about. Your apartment looks beautiful. Just as I pictured it. Look at that great couch. It looks very comfortable."
Couch?
He followed her, and then he was truly speechless.
His apartment looked exactly how he remembered it. Not from the last time he was here, but before. Before his life had fallen apart and everybody had left him.
Everything was in its place. The couch, the love chair, the coffee table… all the collectibles and even all the books he had put into storage.
"How is this possible?", he whispered.
"Look, someone left a note.", Amy told him and pointed to a sheet of paper that was lying on the coffee table.
"Could you read it?", he asked her, still baffled by what he saw.
She nodded and proceeded to read the note out loud.
Dear Sheldon,
We hope you don't mind the intrusion. We still had your spare key, and we really did not want you to come back to the depressing place you lived in before you left. We hope, restoring your apartment to how it once was can be a first step to restoring everything else too. We love you and we can't wait to finally sit around this coffee table with you again.
Leonard and Penny
Sheldon's eyes filled with tears before Amy was finished reading the whole thing.
"Wow…", he croaked.
Amy wrapped her arms around him.
"That was really nice of your friends.", she said softly. "They must love you very much, Sheldon."
"They do.", he nodded. "I guess I just… did not want to believe it for some time."
She let go of him then and looked around.
"I must say, I really like your apartment. And I am looking forward to the next few days. I think we made the right decision, coming here a few days earlier."
Sheldon agreed wholeheartedly.
After countless evenings of practicing, the members of the choir had decided unitarily that it was enough now. They needed a little break before the competition.
Around the same time, Sheldon had received a few messages. First, Howard, Bernadette and Raj sent a short "looking forward to your concert"-message, that already excited him very much.
Leonard and Penny did the same but added how much they were looking forward to him being in California again and that they hoped he would make a little time to visit them and meet their new baby.
The rest was easy.
School was out for the summer, so Amy had time. And when he asked her again, if she wanted to come to Pasadena with him for a few days, she agreed instantly.
The rest of the choir would arrive on the day of the competition, which meant, he and Amy now had three days to themselves.
She would get the opportunity to meet his friends. He would take her to CalTech and show her around. And maybe after the competition, he would take her to Wizarding World as he had planned to in the first place.
After that was all settled, he had sent Leonard a text, and told him when and for how long he was going to be in Pasadena – without mentioning Amy, because he would not have known how to even begin to explain who she was – and after a few texts back and forth, they had agreed on meeting in his apartment. All of them. To hang out "like the old days" and Sheldon's heart had done a little looping when he had read that.
But with no word had his friends mentioned restoring his apartment.
A big weight was lifted from his shoulders.
He was not forgotten by his friends. All this time, they had been waiting for him to reach out again.
And as he sat down – finally again in his spot – leaning back at his pillow and Amy sat down next to him, oh, he knew that this had really been the right decision.
His whole apartment felt different with her here. And not for the first time he wondered how different it would have been, having her here for the last decade.
It had only been a month since she had agreed to be his girlfriend, but oh, it had been the best month of his entire life.
And not even because of the things she did to his body – which were amazing.
For thirty days, they had not even spent one night apart. He had moved almost all the things he had brought to Texas into her house.
He loved living with Amy. And while they had not been physically intimate every night, they had held so many intimate conversations.
It was so easy, opening up to her and at the same time, he loved it, when she told him about herself.
And now, finally, she was here, and he got to share this part of his life with her too.
"We still have a lot of time, you know.", he whispered as he took her hand in his. "My friends won't be here for many hours."
"Mhmm…", she said, smiling at him. "What do you have in mind?"
He did not answer, instead he captured her lips and kissed her fiercely.
While he was kissing her in his spot, images appeared in his mind.
He was imagining what it would be like, always having her here at this place.
Waking up every morning here with her. Maybe even working together at the university.
His friends becoming her friends.
Building a life together. A life full of love and science and maybe… someday they would even have their own little family.
'Could you imagine leaving Medford and living here with me?', he wanted to ask her.
But he restrained himself. Because he did not want to spoil the surprise that was waiting for her the next day.
"So, what exactly is the plan for today?", she finally asked him. "When will your friends be here?"
"Well.", he checked his watch. "Leonard texted earlier. The babysitter will be there in the early evening and since it is Thursday, he offered to pick up pizza on the way. They will be here around 7pm."
"Really? They're bringing the food?", Amy asked him.
Sheldon furrowed his eyebrows. Why did she sound so surprised.
"Yes. Why wouldn't they? When we were still living together, Leonard was mostly in charge of picking up dinner."
Amy shook her head. She did not look very happy about this.
"Be that as it may, don't you think it would be a nice gesture to do something special for them tonight? If Thursday is pizza night, why don't we make fresh pizzas for them? I know a great recipe."
Sheldon was about to protest. He could think of more pleasant ways to spend the next few hours than going grocery shopping and then cooking dinner.
"Please.", she insisted. "I am meeting your friends for the first time tonight. And I really want to make a good first impression."
He smiled at her softly and kissed her cheek.
"You will make a good first impression either way. I am sure they will love you. But alright. If this is so important to you, then fine, let's do it. I'll just send them a quick text."
Her smile alone was worth the effort and once they were at the grocery store, debating the menu for tonight – Amy insisted on making tiramisu for dessert – he decided that he really could get used to this, and not just because he loved Amy's cooking.
Doing all this day-to-day stuff with her just made everything more real.
He was back in Pasadena. With his girlfriend. The woman he intended to spend the rest of his life with.
"You know, the only thing I do not like about your apartment is the broken elevator.", she grumbled as they carried the groceries up the stairs.
"Well…", he shrugged. "You get used to it. For the past years this was pretty much the only exercise I got."
"Still…", she said as they arrived at his apartment door. "If I would live here, I would file a complaint with the building manager. And then call him about it every week until this thing is fixed."
His heart had jumped at 'If I would live here'.
He took put the groceries down on the floor and then wrapped his arms around Amy's hips to pull her close.
"Well…", he whispered. "If you would live here, I would support you in this endeavor. Because I am sure, we could think of a different kind of… exercise to do together."
"Mhmm…", she hummed. "I like your way of thinking."
She gasped as he dove in to kiss her then.
He did not know what came over him.
Maybe it was the memory of all the times when he had stood here in that stairwell, dreading to go inside his empty apartment. Dreading the time, he had to spend in there alone with nothing but his thoughts to keep him company.
And now, here she was. His perfect companion and the love of his life, and the loneliness he had felt, nothing but an unpleasant memory.
Overcome with emotion, he pulled her body flush to his, before pinning her to the door with his body and kissing her over and over again.
She was moaning into his mouth as she grasped his shoulders, and it was clear she could hardly keep up with the ferocious way he was kissing her.
"I love you so much.", he breathed out between kisses.
"I love you too.", she replied breathlessly.
"Maybe…", he croaked. "Maybe we should change our plans and just order pizza after all instead of cooking. That would give us two more hours of free time before dinner. And when I say free time, I mean free of clothes."
A soft smile spread on her lips but then her eyes widened, and she looked right past him.
"Uhm…", she croaked. "I don't think we have two more hours, Sheldon."
Whatever did she mean? It was not even five o'clock. Surely, they had more than enough time.
But then he caught a movement in his peripheral vision and turned his head.
Oh no.
Leonard and Penny were standing on the second to last step of the stairs, staring at him and Amy with eyes like saucers. Penny was squeezing Leonard's arm and Leonard looked like he was about to faint.
How long had they been standing there, he wondered. How much had they seen? And heard?
"Uhm… hi.", Amy croaked and let go of his shoulders to straighten out her hair.
Sheldon took a step backwards and released Amy from his tight embrace.
"Hello Leonard. Penny.", he said as casually as possible.
"Holy crap.", Penny exclaimed as she ascended the last step, dragging Leonard with her. "I mean… Hi. I'm Penny. This is Leonard. And you are…"
She offered her hand and Amy shook it weakly.
"Amy.", she said awkwardly. "I'm so happy to finally meet you. I've heard so much about both of you."
"I'm sorry, we're a bit early.", Leonard who seemed to have regained his ability to speak just now, said. "The babysitter arrived early, and Penny just couldn't wait to finally see you again, Sheldon. And we thought, it would be nice to talk for a bit, you know… before the rest of the gang arrives. We probably should have called."
Sheldon finally released the breath he was holding.
This was not how he had pictured introducing his girlfriend to his friends. But he guessed, the cat was out of the bag now.
"It's okay.", he said and finally opened the door to his apartment. "Let's go inside and… talk."
They all took a seat around the coffee table. Sheldon sat in his spot with Amy next to him and Leonard and Penny shared the love seat just like they used to do.
If it weren't for Amy and the way Leonard and Penny were still staring at her, it almost felt like it used to.
"Will the others be here sooner as well?", Amy finally asked. "Because making the pizza dough will take a while."
"The others?", Leonard asked, still a dumbfounded expression on his face. "Oh, you mean Howard, Bernadette and Raj. No, like I said, we wanted to come here early to have some time without them. Also, Stuart initially offered to babysit for them, but Denise was put on bedrest and Stuart's still at the store, so they can't make it before 7 pm anyway."
"Denise?", he asked.
He was baffled when he heard about Stuart's employee/girlfriend who was apparently pregnant. That was news. He honestly never thought Stuart would be able to reproduce with all his strange medical issues.
"Wow… I always thought Koothrappali would be next."
"Oh, Raj. No, he's not there yet, but he recently started dating this nice woman he met at the planetarium and… I am sorry. Who exactly are you again?", Penny asked, directed to Amy.
"She already told you.", Sheldon stated slightly annoyed. Really that woman's memory. "Her name is Amy."
"I'm Sheldon's girlfriend.", Amy explained, even though he thought that couldn't have been clearer before.
Leonard's and Penny's eyes widened in shock again. Sheldon swore he could hear the wheels turning in their heads.
"You have a girlfriend?", Penny finally blurted out.
"Yes, Penny.", he answered, rolling his eyes. "Or did you think I would just kiss some random woman in front of my apartment door?"
"But… how did that happen?", Leonard asked. "How long have you been together? How did you meet? Are you both staying in the apartment while you're here? Together? And… how did that happen?"
Sheldon turned to Amy to apologize for his friends' rudeness, but she was sitting next to him with a huge grin on her face.
"We met in Texas.", she answered for him. "I rented a room at his meemaw's house. We became friends and eventually, we decided to start a relationship. Yes, we are both staying in this apartment together for a few days, and to save you the next question, yes, we will be sharing a bed. But enough of me. I am sure your other friends will have similar questions and I would prefer to only answer them once. Also, I am sure the three of you have a lot to catch up on and I should get started on the pizza dough, or there will be no dinner tonight."
She winked at Sheldon and got up.
He was about to follow her to the kitchen – they had planned to cook together after all – but she shook her head slightly. "Talk to your friends.", she seemed to tell him.
So, he just kissed her in gratitude – which again made Leonard and Penny stare at him in shock – and sat down again.
"So…", he cleared his throat. "Are all your questions answered then?"
"I'm sorry, Sheldon.", Leonard said, shaking his head. "We don't mean to be rude. It's just hard, imagining you… with a girlfriend. You were never interested in… dating."
"Well.", he sighed. "I wasn't. But after I met Amy… I don't know. She just… changed the way I see the world."
"Wow.", Penny whispered. "You really love her, don't you?"
Sheldon looked at Amy who was smiling at him softly. He was sure, she was listening to every word.
"I do.", he confirmed, still looking at her. "Very much so."
With that settled, the conversation shifted to Leonard's and Penny's new life. Because Amy was right. He did not want to tell everything twice and he knew his other friends would want to hear about his time in Texas too.
Leonard and Penny sounded really happy, as they talked about their children, their house and their jobs. A wave of sadness and regret coursed through him. His friends had built a whole new life. And he had been too broken to be able to be part of it.
At one point, Penny got up.
"Hey, I'm going to see, if Amy needs help in the kitchen."
"But… you cannot cook.", Sheldon told her. "Maybe I should go help her instead."
Penny motioned for him to stay where he was.
"You're right. But maybe… I should learn how to cook."
Sheldon was about to protest again, but Leonard shook his head at him amused.
"She won't listen to whatever you have to say. She just wants to get to know your girlfriend. Let her. Hey, have you seen the new Avengers movie?"
As much as Sheldon loved Amy and enjoyed spending time with her, sitting in his spot and discussing the latest Sci-Fi movies with Leonard was exactly what he had missed these past years.
While he was talking to his best friend, elated because of how easy it felt, reconnecting with him, his gaze shifted to Amy and Penny every once in a while.
Even if Penny seemed to be completely useless in the kitchen, evidenced by Amy undoing almost everything his blonde friend did, they seemed to get along quite well, which played perfectly into the plans he had for the future.
Once the pizzas were in the oven and the dessert was in the fridge, the women joined them again and he couldn't help but smile when Amy cooed over the baby pictures Leonard showed her.
And then, just as the oven timer went off, there was a knock at the door and the rest of his friends appeared.
Howard was the first to enter.
"Oh, it's so good to finally be here again.", he exclaimed and looked around in the room. "Hey, Sheldon. It's good to have you back at last."
Sheldon got up to greet him and part of him was surprised about this genuine greeting from the friend who had spent a great deal of the last years making snarky remarks towards him.
"Thank you, Howard.", he said seriously.
"Hello, Howard.", Amy said as she appeared next to him. "It's really nice to meet you."
"Thanks.", Howard replied, looking a little confused. "And you are…"
"Amy.", Penny shouted from her seat before Amy could say anything. "She's Sheldon's girlfriend."
This time, Sheldon was able to enjoy his friend's shocked reaction.
"G… g… girlfriend?", Howard stammered. "B… bazinga?"
"Nope.", Sheldon answered grinning and took Amy's hand in his.
"Bernadette!", Howard shouted. "Hurry. Strange things are happening in here!"
Only seconds later, Bernadette and Raj entered the scene, after having found a parking spot and again, there were shocked faces and dumbfounded questions.
Sheldon grinned at Amy and Amy seemed to have trouble holding back laughter too.
Oh, yes. Coming here had already been worth it. If anything, his friends' reactions proved how much his life had changed during the past year. And he couldn't be happier about it.
And then, once everyone had calmed down, they sat around the coffee table to enjoy the delicious pizzas Amy had managed to make despite Penny's interference.
Just like old times. But Sheldon no longer felt alone or out of place. Having Amy by his side made everything so much better.
"Alright, now enough with the chit-chat.", Penny finally exclaimed. "Now that everyone is here, I really want to hear the whole story of Sheldon's adventures in Texas. I mean… conducting a church choir? Getting yourself a girlfriend? I demand the full story. Right now. Don't leave anything out."
Amy and Sheldon took turns telling their story.
Everything from their first meeting at meemaw's funeral to Sheldon suddenly owning the house Amy lived in, to the choir and how they became friends.
Missy's suffering in her marriage made everyone gasp out loud and Mary's behavior had them shake their heads.
Raj swooned once they got to the song Amy had written for Sheldon and how they had spent the night together for the first time – leaving out the details of course – after that.
But when they got to the morning of the attack, his friends' eyes widened again. For a whole different reason.
"A gun?", Leonard exclaimed. "He beat you half to death and pointed a gun at your head? You almost died? Again?"
"Excuse me. I… I can't take this anymore.", Penny mumbled, white as a sheet before she ran off to the bathroom.
The others looked equally mortified, and Sheldon did not know how to continue.
It occurred to him that maybe he should have left this part out for now.
"I…", Leonard croaked after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence. "I should probably go after Penny. See if she's alright."
Sheldon nodded, but then Amy nudged him gently.
"I think, Sheldon should go.", she said firmly.
Everyone including him looked at her surprised.
Why should he go after Penny? She was not his responsibility. Also, he really did not want to.
"You told me, she's like a sister to you.", Amy insisted nonetheless. "If this were Missy, overwhelmed with the thought of almost losing you, you would go and comfort her. There is nothing Leonard could tell her, that would make her feel better. It should be you."
Sheldon breathed out heavily. He knew, Amy was right.
"Are you sure you want me to go? Because the last time you saw me with Penny, you thought…", he stopped himself. They had not gotten to this part of the story yet. But he did not want Amy to feel insecure in any way again.
"I am sure, Sheldon.", she nodded. "I know there is nothing to worry about. Go be there for your friend."
He looked at Leonard, who nodded. "I think Amy is right. I can't even wrap my head around what happened to you. It should be you."
Sheldon sighed defeated and got up.
Knocking at his own bathroom door was weird. Entering it, knowing someone else was in there was even weirder.
But the weirdest thing was Penny, sitting on the edge of the bathtub, her face buried in her hands. She was sobbing, and Sheldon thought back to the last time he had seen her like this.
It was the day he had found her locked out of her apartment after a botched audition. She had cried about swallowing a fly and her life being a mess.
But she had not cried as hard as she was crying right now. And this time, getting her hooked on a computer game would not do the trick.
Sheldon sighed deeply and sat down next to her, still not sure why she was crying like this.
"There, there.", he said and patted her shoulder.
It only made her cry harder.
"Why are you crying?", he finally asked her. "Nothing really happened. I'm still here."
Finally, Penny lowered her hands and looked up.
"How could you do that, Sheldon?", she said accusingly. "How could you just completely shut me out of your life for years? You… you were one of my best friends. I confided in you about almost everything. I cared for you when you were sick. We helped each other so often. Did you really hate me so much, just because you thought I stole Leonard from you?"
Oh. They were talking about that now.
He had hoped it would not come up again.
"Penny, I…", he sighed. "Yes. Back then, when you and Leonard moved into your own house, I did feel like you both were abandoning me. It was hard, seeing you two move out and leaving me behind."
"You almost died, Sheldon.", Penny kept going on. "Twice. First your heart attack after which you still refused to talk to us and then in Texas. Do you have any idea what it feels like, hearing we could have lost you for good? How could you not even tell us? We would have come to Texas. We would have visited you. We would have helped you recover. How could you not tell us about… anything? You had this whole life for almost a year, and you did not contact me once. This... it hurts, Sheldon."
"Penny.", he said softly.
"You could have told me about Missy.", Penny said, more tears running down her cheeks. "I like Missy, and I would have done anything to help her. Or you could have told me about Amy. I'm sure I could have given you advice there too. Or we could have talked about your meemaw's death. That must have been so hard for you. Or the choir. I would have come to listen to one of your performances. And so would Leonard. We… we were like a family for so long, Sheldon. We did not abandon you. You abandoned us."
It stung, hearing this. But he knew, Penny was right.
"I know.", he said. "Penny, I realized this a while ago. After falling in love with Amy, I realized how lonely I was before. Seeing all of you move on with your lives was hard, especially when I thought I would be alone forever."
"But we never left you behind, Sheldon.", she insisted. "You just wouldn't listen. We wanted you to be our children's godfather. And we were going to have a room in our house dedicated to you, where you could stay over at times. We always wanted you in our life. And we were crushed when you just shut us out."
Sheldon smiled weakly.
"I tend to do that.", he whispered. "And I am sorry, Penny. I really am. And for what it's worth… there were times when I would have loved to talk to you about Amy."
"She's amazing by the way.", Penny said, finally smiling a little. "If I would have ever tried to imagine the perfect woman for you… well, I couldn't even have come up with her, but she is, Sheldon. She's… It's like she's made for you."
"She is.", he nodded. "She is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I… I love her, Penny. I love her so much."
"Of course you do, even a blind man could see that.", Penny grinned. "It's hard to believe you two only met less than a year ago. You look so comfortable around each other. I mean… a girlfriend, Sheldon. Like… a real, human, kissing, saying lovey-dovey things, spending the night-girlfriend. This is crazy."
"Do you want to know what's even crazier?", he asked. He wasn't sure what Amy was telling the others outside, but he really wanted Penny to know this part of the story. "I could have met her much earlier. Ten years ago, to be specific."
And then Penny's mouth dropped open as he told her about being set up with Amy ten years ago. And her eyes widened when he got to the part where Amy saw the two of them grocery shopping together.
"No.", Penny shook her head. "Oh, no. Poor Amy. I can't believe, she's so nice to me. She must have spent years hating me."
Sheldon smirked. "You don't know her very well, Penny. Amy does not hold grudges. She never hated you. That's just not her. She's… she's kind and understanding and she would never hate you because of a stupid misunderstanding. I… I gave her so many reasons to hate me or give up on me. But instead, she kept giving me more chances that I deserved. She's just…", he sighed deeply. "Penny, I am going to marry her. As soon as possible. I already have the ring. And I brought it here with me. I want to spend the rest of my life with her."
It was the first time he had said that out loud. And boy, did it feel good.
"Wow…", Penny whispered. "I am so happy for you, Sheldon. But… this life… will it take place in Texas? Or are you planning on coming back permanently any time soon?"
This was the million-dollar question.
"I'm… working on an answer to this.", he said, deciding to keep the details to himself. Penny did not need to know everything after all.
Finally, Penny was ready to go out to the others again. And right on time too.
"Wait…", he heard Raj say, just as he walked up to his spot on the couch again. "Did you just say your full name was Amy Farrah Fowler? Why does that sound familiar?"
Sheldon sat down next to Amy and took her hand in his. She looked to him, a silent question in her eyes.
'Do you want to tell them?', she seemed to ask him.
"It sounds familiar to me too.", Howard chimed in. "Amy. Amy Farrah Fowler… And you said you used to live in the area?"
"I got it.", Raj all but screamed. "You. You were the woman we were trying to set Sheldon up with. When was this? About a… a decade ago?"
"Holy shit.", Howard shouted. "This is crazy. Sheldon, did you hear that?"
"I did.", Sheldon said, trying to stay calm. But he could not stop his blood from starting to boil.
"Wait. Did you know already?", Raj asked baffled. "But how… you said you met her in Texas. What a coincidence."
"I knew, or to be more specific, I figured it out along the way.", Sheldon stated. "But did you know, Amy went on that date you had set up for us? Just to think I stood her up?"
It was his friends' turn to be speechless.
"You… you did?", Raj stammered. "But… Amy I am so sorry. I thought Howard cancelled the date."
"Why me?", Howard tried to defend himself. "I thought you cancelled."
"But you set up the account. I did not even have the password.", Raj protested.
Amy squeezed Sheldon's hand. "Stop fighting.", she demanded. "This was ten years ago. And everything turned out fine in the end."
Sheldon could hardly believe his ears. Yes, it turned out okay. However…
"I cannot believe you two.", he started, ready to tell them off. "Amy waited for hours for me to show up. She had to walk home alone in the middle of the night. And then she was…"
"Annoyed.", Amy shouted quickly and glared at him. "I was annoyed. You should have cancelled. It was very rude of you. But it is in the past."
Apparently, she did not wish to talk about this part of their story. He would have to talk to her about this later. Because he really wanted his friends to know what they had caused with their thoughtless actions.
"You know what that means, Sheldon.", Howard teased him. "You were wrong back then. And Raj and I were right. The dating website did actually find your perfect match."
Sheldon was about to protest but… well, there was nothing to protest.
So, he just squeezed Amy's hand and gazed at her lovingly.
"Well, I guess everyone can be wrong once in a while. I should have listened to you two. But Amy is right about one thing. Everything turned out fine in the end."
"Did he just admit he was wrong, told us he should listened to us and said someone else was right? All in one conversation?", he heard one of his friends whisper. He did not even care who said it. He just cared about the woman next to him, who was looking back at him with that special smile she always reserved for him.
They all spent the rest of the night catching up and sharing stories. As expected, Amy fit in perfectly with his friends.
And Sheldon couldn't help but think, that this was what the last decade could have been like for him. Or maybe… could it be what his future would look like?
He wasn't really sad though when his friends left that night. Partly because he knew, he would see most of them the next day for lunch at the university.
And partly because… well… for obvious reasons.
"Your friends are great", Amy told him as she helped him clean up the kitchen.
"Yes, they are. And like I told you, they already love you."
That earned him a soft smile and he couldn't resist pulling her close and kissing her lightly on the lips.
"And I don't blame them.", he continued. "I know how easy it is to fall in love with you."
"Mhmm… I love you too.", she mumbled before she kissed him back. "And…", she whispered. "If I remember correctly, I was promised a few hours of clothes-free time earlier."
Oh, dear Lord, he wanted to rip her clothes off when she talked to him like that.
But instead, he took her hand in his and led her to his bedroom.
Girls aren't allowed in here. No one is allowed in my bedroom. My fortress of solitude.
But the thing was, he did not want a fortress of solitude anymore.
He wanted her. Wherever he was, she was supposed to be too.
He undressed her slowly. Even though he had done this so often by now, it almost felt like the very first time, and his fingers trembled as he uncovered more of her skin.
He needed this right now. He needed to have her naked in his bed. In his apartment.
He needed to kiss every inch of her. He needed to hear her moan for him. He needed to feel her lips and her soft hands touching him. Making his skin burn.
And then he needed to feel her. All of her.
As he entered her, he didn't stop kissing her for even a second.
He took his time making love to her. Slowly. Gently.
Mind-numbingly intense, with the way she moved with him. Welcoming each one of his thrusts as she moaned into his open mouth.
And just as he thought, he couldn't take it anymore, they fell apart together. Waves and waves of pleasure washing over them both.
He could hardly believe the intensity of it.
It was so different, here in his bed. So raw. And so real.
How do you know you love someone?
The answer to this question was everywhere.
Everywhere she was.
In every moment he spent with her.
He watched her sleep in his bed, already giddy to see his plan for the next day unfold.
A plan that was meant to lay the foundation for the life he had dreamed up for the both of them.
A plan so perfect, he didn't even consider the possibility it could go wrong.
So very, very wrong.