Chapter Text
The room was silent. Sheldon let the weight of his words linger for a few moments so that Amy could digest it. However, she did not speak. Whether she was asleep or pretending to be asleep, Sheldon didn't want to know. He sighed again, still staring at the ceiling. Seems like Amy's not going to reply any time soon.
Regardless of his current predicament, the physicist wanted to spill everything he'd kept about that coffee shop date. He's not good at keeping secrets that's why it's a wonder how Sheldon was able to keep this from Amy for months. He thought of telling this to Leonard and Penny, but he was afraid that they were going to be mad at him for making her wait for nothing. In the end, Sheldon thought that it'd be best if he personally spoke about this matter with Amy alone.
Sheldon glanced and saw that Amy was still leaning left. Well, it's now or never.
"I told Raj and Howard that I didn't want to go on that date. They bugged me relentlessly, telling me that it was my only shot at romance. I eventually got annoyed so I impulsively bought a ticket for the art festival in a museum near the coffee shop we're supposed to meet and showed them the ticket to prove that I had a prior engagement on the day of our date. After that, they didn't push the topic any further. I was glad, of course, but it meant that I had to waste an entire afternoon inside a museum." Sheldon narrated. "I went to the museum, surprised to see how deserted it was. It only took me 20 minutes to see all the paintings. I got bored immediately so I decided to stop by the coffee shop to see if my date was actually going to come. I didn't want you to recognize me so I sat at the farthest couch, away from all the other customers who were busy eating or chatting. I sat there, waiting for you to come by. Then, after a few minutes of waiting, you came."
The physicist closed his eyes, trying to revisit that specific moment in his mind. Thanks to his eidetic memory, he remembered everything and everyone who was in the shop that day. "You wore a blue checkered blouse under a violet and black striped cardigan that day. Your skirt was brown and you had black and shiny orthopedic shoes. You had a black clip on the left side of your hair. Wait, now that I noticed it, your hair was a bit shorter back then." He smiled and continued the story where he left off. "You walked directly to the counter and ordered tepid water. When they gave you your drink, you sat at a table near a long cabinet filled with product displays. You watched the clock intensely as if it did you something wrong. Minutes passed and you continued waiting. I must say, you are a very patient woman. After an hour, you took out a small book from your purse and started to read. I was seated far, but I think that you were reading Chaucer. Anyway, you decided to pass the time by reading page after page until you've finished the entire book. When you placed the book back in your bag, you looked around and finally realized that your date stood you up. Without another word, you walked away from your seat and left the coffee shop."
If guilt is a human-eating monster, it would've devoured Sheldon Cooper already. The idea of him standing up Amy was already despicable. But to literally watch her wait for nothing the entire afternoon? That's on another level of wickedness.
Sheldon thought that Amy might actually hate him for this. The reason why he kept this to himself was because he didn't want to jeopardize the progress that he and Amy are currently having. He just wanted things to stay the same. Unfortunately, with this new information, she can easily nullify their friendship and their fake-dating agreement.
"I tried to forget that day. Each time my thoughts drifted back to the woman who waited at the coffee shop, I would try to think about something else, Luckily, I've been very busy with work so I didn't have to put extra effort into trying to forget you. However, this all changed when I saw you at the cafeteria once again. At first, I didn't recognize you (maybe it's the hair, I don't know). Eventually, with the help of Leonard, the memories of that day came back. It's like I've been dumped in the cold waters of Antarctica with nothing but my underpants on. I only felt two things that time. One, shame, because I had no idea how on Earth am I going to face a woman I stood up. Second, guilt, because I wasted your time and made you wait for a man who's never going to show up."
The physicist inhaled sharply, feeling a pang of guilt and regret. "You know, you had all the right to dump my dinner invitation. You had the right to get mad at me, to scream at me, or to even slap me. Things might've been easier if you just stayed angry at me or decided to ignore me for the rest of your stay in Caltech. But you didn't do all of that. Instead, you easily forgave me when I explained my side. You became my friend, my fake girlfriend, and my daily companion. You became my constant, an integral variable in my life."
"I'm sorry if I stood you up, I know now that I should've done that. I'm sorry if you had to date that stupid Chemist because of me. I'm sorry if I hurt you in any way, Amy. I'm sorry."
The room fell silent again. Even though Amy wasn't able to hear him, his heart somehow felt a bit lighter. He turned away from the woman sleeping on the sofa and decided that soon enough, he'd have to tell this secret to her when she was awake and responding.
When Amy heard that Sheldon was already snoring, she turned left. She stared at him as he slept peacefully. Little did Sheldon know that Amy was awake the entire time.
Amy only slept for three hours. When she woke up at 6, she tried to stretch her arms and legs to wake her senses up. She tried not to wake Sheldon, who was still sleeping on the floor. She decided to leave early so grabbed her purse and the fake dating agreement from the table. When she was about to step out of 4A, the door suddenly swung open, revealing a short, bespectacled physicist on the front door.
"Good morning, Amy." Leonard said suggestively, with a large grin plastered to his face.
"It's not what you think, Leonard."
Leonard laughed, leaving Amy confused. "Don't worry, I know. What I do not know is why you're in our apartment this early."
Amy crossed her arms and revisited the events of last night. "Well, your friend here was drunk last night so I had to take him home. He wasn't feeling well so I decided to stay here and look after him since you're not around."
"Is that so? Well, thank you for taking care of Sheldon last night. I'm sorry if he's such a pain in the ass."
The brunette chuckled. "He's always a pain in the ass."
Leonard grabbed his phone from his pocket and typed something. A few moments later, Amy's phone chimed, indicating that she received a new message. "Anyway, we saw you last night at the Cheesecake Factory. It looked like the two of you were having a fun time so we decided not to intervene. Look, I sent you some photos that Howard and I discreetly took last night."
Amy took her phone out of her purse and then opened Leonard's message. He sent her two pictures. On one, they were laughing and on the other, they were smiling at each other. Amy was so preoccupied last night that she forgot to send her mother pictures of their date. Thank goodness Leonard and Howard saved her from her stupid mistake.
"I tried to invite him to come with us but he refused, saying that he had other things to do." Leonard winked, painting Amy's cheeks red. By the looks of it, Leonard is really buying their facade. "Anyway, I won't keep you any longer. Take care on your way home and drive safely, Amy."
Amy gave him a warm smile as he made way for her. She waved to Leonard before walking away from 4A. As she descended the stairs, she realized that Sheldon's choice of dating venue wasn't random at all. He knew beforehand that Leonard and Howard would be there so he made sure that they'll be seen by them.
A smirk escaped the brunette's lips. "That cunning bastard." she said as she clutched their fake dating agreement in her arms.
Amy decided not to communicate with Sheldon the week after their date at the Cheesecake Factory. She made sure to avoid crossing paths with Sheldon in the hallways of Caltech. She even started cooking her own meals just to have a reason to stay locked in her laboratory during lunchtime. However, Sheldon was persistent. He continued sending her messages, mostly short narratives on how his day went or random facts that Amy didn't even bother to read.
Sheldon Cooper
6/3/2020, 6:47 am
A pleasant morning to you, Amy. Did you know that on August 12, 1099, Godfried of Broth and the Crusaders beat the Egyptian Fatimid army? I bet you didn't.
Sheldon Cooper
6/5/2020, 10:23 am
I'm savoring the solitude in my office because Kripke is going to come back to work next week. Ugh, I hate him. His stupid face annoys me so much.
Sheldon Cooper
6/7/2020, 11:12 am
To be honest, I don't know what you found interesting in slimy brains.
Sheldon Cooper
6/7/2020, 2:58 pm
I'm bored. What are you working on? Let's eat.
Sheldon Cooper
6/7/2020, 3:09 pm
I've sent you exactly 103 messages since August 2. Are you even reading my messages?
Sheldon Cooper
6/7/2020, 3:20 pm
Why aren't you replying to me? Why aren't you answering my calls?
Amy groaned as she put her phone down. She's alone in her lab, but she doesn't want to be accompanied by anyone else, most especially by Sheldon. She tried to revert her attention to the papers before her which contained results from their addiction study. Before she finished reading her pile of papers, a knock resonated in her room. It wasn't just a normal knock, it was Sheldon's signature knock.
Annoyed, she stood up and opened the door. "Ugh, Sheldon what is-?" Her sentence was cut short when she realized that the person in front of her door is not Sheldon. Instead, the person who paid her a visit was a blonde physicist.
Sheldon glanced at his board one last time before sitting down on his chair. Ah, life for him was definitely better without Kripke around. He's proud, of course, for he was able to finish a month's worth of work in just a week. The physicist grinned to himself. Maybe I should get Kripke suspended more often.
He grabbed his phone, hoping to receive a message from Amy. She hasn't been replying to him ever since the date. Sheldon had a hunch that she heard everything he said about their failed coffee shop date and is now angry at him for being such a jerk. Well, he couldn't blame her. After all, he was also mad at himself for making Amy wait for nothing.
Sheldon was about to eat a late lunch at the cafeteria when his phone rang. When he looked at the caller ID, his heart nearly skipped a beat. It's Amy. Amy is calling him.
With shaky hands, he immediately answered the call. She was sobbing hard.
"You're weepy, I don't like it when you're weepy. What happened?" he asked.
Amy didn't respond, she just continued crying.
"Tell me where you are." Sheldon demanded.
The sobbing noises suddenly toned down. He heard a deep sigh from the other line. "Lab." she whispered before she hung up.
Sheldon got up and ran as fast as he could toward the biology department. He didn't mind the stares that he received on his way to her laboratory. In his mind, his priority was clear: he needed to know what the hell happened to Amy.
He was panting by the time he reached her laboratory. Without any hint of hesitation, he opened the door, surprised to see a train wreck inside Amy's lab. Books and papers were scattered everywhere and the chairs were flipped, as if it came across a tornado. When he didn't find what he was looking for by scanning the room, Sheldon began walking to the inventory room, the only place in her lab that he hadn't visited yet.
As the door creaked open, he saw Amy Farrah Fowler, surrounded by shards of broken glassware and drenched in a large pool of blood.