Chapter 5: Getting Together

It was such a beautiful day…for an indoor lecture. For many College kids, waiting in line for a concert is a rite of passage. For Sheldon, this was waiting in line for a lecture. Instead of crowds of screaming fans there were crowds of entranced future scientists, instead of expensive stadium food littering the floor there was a clean seating area aside from some gum under the seats, instead of courting female attendees theres-

"Sheldon!" Paige ran up to Sheldon as he was waiting in line

"Paige!" Sheldon said happily, shocked. "Are you here for the lecture?" Sheldon asked "I'm trying to be the first one in but I suppose you can cut behind me"

"Kinda, I'm part of the lecture, Professor Patterson is my mentor at U.T."

"Really! You're part of the quantum gravity team?" Sheldon said with a hint of jealousy

"Oh yeah" Paige said trying to sound as impressive as possible

"Will you be speaking?" he asked and she nodded "well then I look forward to hearing you speak" he said trying to mask his jealousy with a layer of poise

"Thanks!" Paige said, looking at him one more time before going through the door. Did she start wearing perfume? And they were the same height again, that made him pretty proud.

Sheldon sat in the front as Paige, Professor Peterson, and the rest of the team spoke; Paige even looked at him while speaking, he tried being supportive so he gave her two thumbs up.

After the Q where Sheldon quickly used his question limit after two questions, they truly do an awful job enforcing that as no one else got called out on it, and he eventually left with the other patrons.

Sheldon eventually went back to his dorm and put the finishing touches on an A worthy paper for Technical Writing. After a while he got a knock on the door, it must be Oscar and Darren here to talk about D&D. He opened the door and…Paige! "Oh Hello" he said trying to stay casual

"Hi, just wanted to stop and ask what you thought of the presentation"

"It was really interesting, you're doing solid research"

She smirked "anyway can I come in, I was hoping we could hang out" she said as Sheldon let her in "how have you been, been working out?" she said possibly as a joke

"Oh I'll grab all my physics text books from time to time and carry them all to my desk at once" he bragged, getting her to smile "Bazinga!"

"You joke but, it's working" she complemented, gesturing to the brain

"Just out of curiosity why aren't you hanging out with your colleagues?"

"Professor Peterson took the team out for drinks, that kind of leaves me on my own" she confessed "do you have a roomate?"

"No it's a single" 'similar to himself'...Sheldon was so glad he didn't say that outloud

"I have a chaperone named Mona, she's like thirty and breaths down my neck a lot"

"Why would you need a chaperone?"

"They're under the impression I'm some kind of troublemaker"

"After the stink bombs incident and the our paintball prank, I can confirm they're right" he playfully said

There was another knock on the door and Darren let himself in "hey homie- oh didn't know you had company"

"Oh Paige this is my friend Darren, Darren this is my friend Paige" Sheldon stuttered, Paige was torn whether him calling her his friend was a good thing or a bad thing

"We're having a Mario Kart death match, you in?"

"It's pretty fun, we do it a few times a week"

"You do?"

"You should join us, I'll even let you be Bowser" Sheldon said causing Darren to take a step back, Sheldon never let anyone else be Bowser

"I've never played before"

"Perfect you can be on Oscar's team" Darren said seeing an easy victory

"Your neighbors let you hang out with them?"

"Yes, I've become quite the social center around here" Sheldon bragged causing Paige to seem slightly somber

They played Mario Karts for a while. For the first round it was him vs Oscar and Sheldon won. He was done for now, as Oscar and Darren got ready to play each other.

"So where do you go" Darren said trying to make conversation

"U.T." Paige said

"Sounds like a lot of fun"

"Not really" she whispered "so how long have you guys been friends?"

"Met Sheldon a few weeks ago, he's cool sometimes when he's not an asshole" Oscar explained

"Him being so young isn't weird?"

"Not really, were still mentally 12 so it balances out" Darren added "by the way are you good for D on friday that's the only day Abby could make it"

"There's an Abby too?"

"Yeah you'd like her, she was smart enough to turn Oscar down"

"This is what I'm talking about" Oscar interjected "you play D&D?"

"No, I usually just stay in my dorm and study, because I don't have any friends" Paige explained seeming more upset

All this talking led to Oscar crashing his Kart and losing the race, it was time for Sheldon against Paige "I still don't know how to play"

"It's easy," Sheldon said, "use the joystick to steer, use this button to accelerate, this one to drift, and this one to defend against attacks." Sheldon explained as Paige got the hang of it, but she was still a little rusty so Sheldon managed to win.

"And that was against beginner's luck!" Sheldon said being super cocky

"Oh you haven't seen anything yet" Paige challenged

"Hey!" Darren complained as Sheldon and Paige restarted their track

They were neck and neck, Sheldon could only dodge half her attacks as Paige finally shed her somber demeanor and looked to be having fun. They were neck and neck close to the end of the course, no blizzard graphics could stop them, Sheldon grabbed another attack and….he didn't use it, in fact he ended up driving off the edge "Ohhh Nooo" Sheldon faked a loss. He was a bit against the idea of throwing a game…even a little under a year later he still really wanted to impress her.

Paige grinned, she knew exactly what Sheldon did a hundred percent. She wasn't the only one, Sheldon didn't fool Oscar and Darren either. She pondered what to say "I win" she said with a grin giving Sheldon a metaphorical win

"I guess we're even"

'Not really' she thought. "I think I'm gonna go" Paige said grabbing her bag

"Are you sure?" Sheldon asked

"Yeah Professor Peterson and Mona probably should be done by now" she said grabbing her bag and going out the door

"..Bye" Sheldon said, sad to see her go again

After a few moments Oscar and Darren suddenly forced him out of his chair and kicked him out of their room "Go after her dumbass!" Darren said before shutting the door in his face

Sheldon looked to his right to see her about to go down the stairs "Paige Wait!"

Paige stopped in her tracks searching for how to explain

"Are you alright?"

Paige took a deep breath "I'll be fine Sheldon, really" she said in denial

"Are you sure"

Paige took a moment or two to answer "It's just been hard, I thought college would be this amazing adventure but-" she almost said she hated it but Sheldon got her the chance to go to a different school in the first place, she couldn't stand there and tell him how bad it's been "I'm happy for you I really am, you made some good friends… I just wish I had that"

"You really don't?" Sheldon was baffled "that doesn't make sense you're way more sociable than me, you even got Missy to be nice to you, that's no easy feat"

"Well I may not have friends, but I have a Mona" she vented "they can't risk me getting in trouble or not working because I'm essentially a funding draw for them" she was ready to walk down the stairs "Thank you Sheldon, today was fun" she said before leaving

Paige arrived back at the hotel where the team was staying and set her stuff down. "You're late" Mona said following her into the room

"I was just visiting an old friend"

"(sighs) as long as you were behaving yourself" Mona said to ease off "oh and I kinda forgot to mention..Professor Peterson's experiment didn't give all the results we were expecting, so we had to rework the speech for Dallas tomorrow" she told an annoyed Paige. "I'm really sorry kid, I know you already memorised the last one" Mona said with a hint of guilt "oh and Professor Peterson even gave you credit for one of his theories" she said as if that was helpful, she didn't come up with any of her theories

Paige sighed as she accepted the new script, she read through the first few pages and it was simple stuff, just without some of Peterson's new theories. After skimming through she remembered her Mom and Dad were also supposed to attend the lecture, she didn't remember seeing them so maybe they were sitting in the back. She used the new cell phone her dad got her to call them (it was in really good condition; it was only 2.5 pounds and had an extendable antenna).

"Hey Mom"

"Hey honey, how was your speech?"

Paige was a bit taken aback "I thought you saw it"

"What? I thought your father would be there"

Paige sighed, when she left for U.T. her parents at least stopped complaining about each other behind the others back. She got on another call with her dad and what a shock he thought her mom was gonna be there. Paige wasn't asking for them to get back together, she was asking for them to exist in the same room without arguing or complaining about it.

So this was her situation; she had no friends at college, she wasn't allowed to cause any trouble, her contributions weren't taken seriously, and apparently she wasn't even getting to show her parents any of 'her' work.

Worst part was she was stuck…right? Well she wasn't stuck, she wasn't held at gunpoint and forced to go to college, but dropping out would disappoint everyone in her life. Her parents are under the impression she's doing well, Sheldon made a big gesture and helped her go to her school of choice, Erica….actually they haven't spoken in a while, but dropping out means throwing away all the chances she got and what little good will she manifested.

She should at least stop to see Sheldon again. She really missed him. She was also curious how he was doing after the last time she saw him…where he confessed he had a crush on her…and he said he wanted her to be happy…

Paige took a deep breath and knocked on his door

The door opened and Sheldon was there to let her in "Oh hi Paige how are you doing today?"

"Oh umm good, how are you?" Paige said awkwardly

"I thought you were leaving for Austin, is everything ok?"

"Well…I really needed to talk to you about something" Paige said trying to find the right words, sitting on his bed while he sat in his chair "the last time- well not the very last time, but last major time- you mentioned that you kinda liked me" better now then never "I was wondering, well hoping actually.. that maybe you were still interested?"

Sheldon's jaw dropped "Are you kidding me, I only said that to get rid of you but you're still on that!"

The door and window burst open as dozens of college kids came in and started laughing and pointing at her

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA" they all laughed as Paige had a full on panic attack, this could not possibly get any worse

"LOOK! She came to school with no pants on!" one of the jerks pointed out before Paige covered herself

And then the Earth exploded

Back to Reality

Paige shook her head as she approached. She was overthinking this, if Sheldon didn't have a crush on her anymore than it wasn't a big deal, he was still her friend and would understand. She raised her arm to knock, and just stayed there for a bit. What was she gonna say?

She finally knocked and braced for anything….but Sheldon didn't answer. She quickly knocked again but again no answer. Sheldon's house wasn't too far, maybe he doesn't actually sleep here. To be sure Paige pressed her ear to his door to see if she could hear anything, there didn't seem to be anything happening inside so Sheldon probably wasn't-

"Paige?" she heard Sheldon's voice and immediately removed her ear from the door

"Hi Sheldon" Paige said awkwardly

Sheldon thankfully didn't seem too mad and opened the door "I thought you were going back to Austin?"

As of right now the team would be going back to Austin in a half hour and she told Mona to leave if she wasn't there. She needed to say something "I don't think I'm going back"

"What?"

"I think I'm gonna drop out" Paige confessed "are you mad?"

Sheldon seemed shocked she would ask that "well no I'm not mad, just a little curious, why? where will you go?"

"I was thinking..here, in your dorm, just for a couple days until I figure out how to tell my mom, please" Paige sped through to get her full request out

Sheldon pondered this for a second "are you running from the cops?"

"Not this time" Paige quipped

"...ok then, you can stay here"

"Thank you" Paige said feeling guilty "I'm really sorry"

"For what?"

"For throwing away my college, you're the reason I went to that school and I feel like I'm stabbing you in the back" she said as she sat down

Sheldon was silent for a few moments before he sat next to her "Paige, you didn't stab me in the back, I don't lose anything by you dropping out" Sheldon said trying to explain the situation "while I don't fully understand your motivation I won't shun you for it. The desired outcome of getting you to go to that college was that it might make you happier, if that hasn't been the case then it only makes logical sense that you should try something different" he said being so kind and understanding and not at all judging

Paige's lip started to quiver

"There's a convenience store really close by, if you need anything I could make you a guest package for-" she pounced and got him in a kiss

She had her eyes closed but he wasn't moving much so maybe he liked it, it felt amazing, why didn't they do this a long.. Time..ago-

She leaped back and covered her mouth, the shocked look on Sheldon's face made her feel horrible. She can not just do that, what was she thinking? Did she just ruin her relationship with Sheldon? Why would she do that? What was wrong with her?

"SHELDON I'M SO SORRY!" Paige said with extreme guilt "I shouldn't have- I didn't mean-" she had no words that could justify that. Sheldon just sat there in shock obviously having his own rush of emotions

She grabbed her bag "I..I'll go, I am so so sorry Sheldon, I-"

"WAIT!" Sheldon abruptly jumped up and grabbed her arm, stopping her from leaving. What was he doing? He just stood there for a long moment as if he didn't know what to do either but Paige didn't fight him. He lifted his shaking hand and set his palm on her cheek, after another moment of just standing there he began to lean his face towards her and kissed her gently on the lips. Paige's eyes fluttered back open as she gave him the biggest smile

"you win"

After their moment they sat down for like four minutes trying to think of how to address their situation. "So" Paige finally said "was that your first one"

Sheldon was a tad nervous "yes it was" he muttered "it was very enjoyable ... .was it yours?"

"Kinda" she said softly "you're a good kisser for a first timer" she complimented and Sheldon nodded

Sheldon's alarm went off completely disrupting the flow of their conversation "oh I'm supposed to be going to class in ten minutes"

"Ok" Paige nodded "is it still alright that I stay here?"

"Of course" Sheldon said "I trust you won't disrupt my system, you can even decorate that extra section of the room if you like" he gestured to a small portion of the corner wall.

Paige nodded as Sheldon grabbed his briefcase "would you want to do that again sometime?" she asked, flirting a little

Sheldon awkwardly shrugged his shoulders "I did enjoy quite a lot" he said essentially accepting. He reached the door then immediately speed walked back "one more question" he paused "does this experience solidify you as my girlfriend?"

Paige was again at a loss for words but knew the answer "I want to be" basically a yes

"..and… I want you to be" essentially confirming their new relationship status. He once again made it to the door before turning to her "would you care to join me on a trip to the lecture hall Miss"

Paige snickered "it would be my truest pleasure Sheldon of house Cooper" she playfully mocked him before following him out the door.

Paige ended up joining Sheldon at all three of his classes that day, except she didn't need to take notes, always exchanging banter about how easy the class was or how bad the professor's handwriting was.

Eventually Sheldon had to get a ride home and he dropped Paige back off at the dorm room "thanks for walking me…to your dorm" she said before they waved goodbye.

Sheldon made his way to his pickup spot. It seemed that the campus or possibly just the entire world became more colorful, full of life, and happier than before.

He eventually got home and instantly tried to figure out what he could do for Paige, maybe his mom will know how to help, no she'd tattle on her and from what Missy says about teenage relationships getting Paige in trouble would be a betrayal of her trust. He needed to keep this on strictly need to know basis

"Missy?"

"Sup"

"Could I borrow one of your Sassy magazines?"

"I knew it! Look I'm cool with this but do not tell Dad" she implied

"I ran into Paige again today and I'm making her a guest package…she's also my girlfriend now"

"..WHAT!" Missy shouted

Mom froze within her tracks holding a laundry basket "somthin wrong?" she asked peeking in her room

"Oh…ugh nothing Sheldon just told me…you're just naturally that pretty and didn't need any surgery" Missy said mentally kicking herself, no one would believe an excuse that-

"Oh, why thank you kids" Mom happily said before moving on with the laundry

Missy then observed Sheldon "..you're not kidding!" Missy said shocked to the point of thinking she was going insane "...on the one hand, I'm like really really impressed you got her to like you… but in my other hand I've lost so much respect for her… though in some other hand I am the one who set you two up so Alright!" she said offering a high five which he proudly accepted "...you just high fived me without mittens"

Sheldon snapped back to reality "oh dear" he said before washing his hands "I guess I wasn't thinking"

"A word of advice, if you want to get her a gift I think a guest package is a little overboard"

"Well she is staying in my dorm and I want her to be comfortable" he said getting Missy's attention again "she wants to drop out of college and she doesn't know how to tell her parents" he explained

Missy sighed "are you sure you're up for it?" Missy said handing him one of her magazines

"Well she came to me.." Sheldon explained "and I want to help her"

"I don't think giving her a magazine, a toothbrush, and…tampons is gonna help her much"

"Oh did I get the wrong brand?"

"No, I think you gotta help her confront her parents" Missy urged "if she's in a really hard place then it'll only get worse unless she faces it"

Sheldon sighed "I don't want to rush her, she has been through a lot" he said adding the magazine to his box anyway and changed the subject "quite ironic of you to make that joke now that I have a girlfriend right?"

"...right, a joke, obviously" Missy hesitantly dodged "and wait to tell mom you have a girlfriend, she'll flip"

Sheldon thought she was overplaying it but she had been known to have tantrums in the past so he agreed.

The next day Paige woke up, remembered she didn't have a second day's worth of clothes, and put on the first day's clothes. It was a Saturday so it wasn't a guarantee that Sheldon would come so she may as well practice what she'll tell her mom.

She needed to be firm, yet understanding, honest, yet modest, sympathetic, yet tenacious. She hadn't seen her face to face in a couple months so maybe she'd be easier to talk to… nope.

Sheldon actually came a half hour early, apparently he told his family he had early office hours. "I got you this"

"Oh, thank you," she said, accepting the care package. Sheldon brought her a couple magazines, some snacks, some tampons, and a book titled…. 'How to stick it to your parents' that was ridiculous but it was probably her favorite gift.

"I thought it might help with your current parental situation" he expressed.

Paige was silent for a moment "I think I'm ready to tell my mom"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, she's gonna get word that I left the group at some point, I may as well get to her sooner than later" Paige said not entirely sure if this was right, she was walking straight into trouble but at least it would be said and done.

"I can be there if you want"

"No, she's gonna be really mad and I don't want to risk her blaming you" Paige enforced "I'll be fine on my own"

Sheldon got in contact with his Meemaw and gave her a version of the story minus their relationship. She picked them up and was more than willing to give them a ride. Paige was mostly ok in the beginning of the ride but seemed to get more stressed as they went along. Sheldon made sure Meemaw wasn't looking and tried to push himself 'don't think, you gotta not think again, just for a little longer'. He pushed himself enough to lay his hand on hers and laced his fingers with hers, she was a bit shocked at first but was very flattered and laced her fingers with his as well. Unbeknownst to them, Meemaw did catch a glimpse but kept on driving.

They finally reached Paige's house, Sheldon wished her luck, and she entered the house.

"OK GOTTA GO-" not five seconds in and she already saw her mom furious "Where have you been, I get a call YESTERDAY that you ditched your lecture tour, I called your dad, I called both universities, I called SIX different police stations, WELL are you gonna tell me where you were" Her mom bombarded her with questions not allowing her to answer

"Huh" Paige sighed as she sat down "I…I can't… I've been really struggling" she started "ever since you found out I was smart everyone just assumes that I'm perfect, that I can handle anything" she gulped "and believe me I've tried, but I'm not as perfect as you've all hoped, I'm sorry" she said pausing because she expected to be yelled at by now but her mom let her go on. "I thought I would love college, convinced everyone to let me do it and…I was wrong, it was a mistake. I had a really hard time getting through it, I don't have any friends, only people who see me as a kid" she still had the floor but seemed to be cracking through to her mother "I want to drop out of college" she said shocking her mom "I don't know what's next for me but I want to be able to find it" Paige said everything she could think and yet her mom was still silent "could you please say something?"

Her mom bit her nails a little wondering how to respond "you're still in trouble" she said essentially confirming what Paige wanted

Meemaw and Sheldon were still waiting in the car, they figured Paige wasn't coming back out but Sheldon insisted on seeing if she was ok. Paige eventually peaked out the window and gave them two thumbs up, his girlfriend would be ok. Sheldon nodded and Meemaw drove him home.

Paige watched as her boyfriend went home

Hope you guys have enjoyed the story up to this point. And if you were wondering why Sheldon was so willing to be in a relationship, he's pretty much accepted the idea that he likes her at this point. From this point on we'll be getting a mix of both chapters that are based off episodes of the show and chapters that are entirely original stories with the characters. I'll be releasing the next chapter in about 3 days so please come back if you can.

Thank you for reading, and Please Review