Title: The Railroad Recalibration (9/9)
Author: phantagrae
Rating: G
Summary: My idea of how Sheldon's train journey might have gone. A million thanks to my super beta, FoxPhile!
Feedback: Yes, please. phantagrae@earthlink.net
Author's Notes: A million thanks to my super beta, FoxPhile!
Chapter Nine
Sheldon stepped down from the train, making his way wearily toward the early morning sun streaming in at the exit, looking for the bus stop.
Suddenly he saw a familiar form silhouetted in the sunshine. A shocking flush coursed through his body as he realized who it was.
"Amy?"
"Welcome home, Sheldon," she said, her wide smile coming into view as she stepped closer.
"Amy, what are you doing here?" he said, a surprised smile breaking across his face. His heart was suddenly pounding in his chest.
"When you called to tell me you were leaving Houston and that you'd be home today, I went online and looked up the train schedule," she explained. "I knew you had to be on the Sunset Limited, so I checked the arrival time and, well, here I am!"
"Amy," he said quietly, "It's good to see you." He wrapped his arms around his body.
"It's good to see you, too, Sheldon," she replied, clasping her hands together. "My car's right outside."
As they walked out toward her car, she continued.
"Did you know that the Sunset Limited is the descendent of the former Southern Pacific Railway's service dating to 1894? And today it is the oldest 'named' train in continuous operation."
"I know!" Sheldon enthused. "Did you know that the name originated with a predecessor railroad—the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway, known as the Sunset Route as early as 1874?"
"I know!" Amy replied.
"Isn't this fun, Amy?" He smiled happily at her as he loaded his things into the back seat.
She smiled and nodded as she got in the car.
He got in beside her and buckled up, turning to her as she started the engine.
"I can tell you all about the Coast Starlight, and the California Zephyr, and the City of New Orleans!"
"Yes, you could," she replied, pulling out into traffic. "Or you could tell me about that night in New Orleans."
"Or I could tell you about the University of Chicago and their physics program," he countered.
"Tell me about the trains," she said.
"Great!" he began, pulling his phone from his pants pocket. "I have pictures and everything."
As Sheldon launched into a description of each of the trains, he realized they weren't headed to Los Robles Avenue.
"Amy, where are we going? To your place?"
"I thought I'd fix you some breakfast, Sheldon. Today is Friday, so…scrambled eggs and toast?"
"Yes, scrambled eggs and toast," he replied quietly. He quickly thought through the implications. He'd never had a breakfast date before. She'd never made him breakfast before. But this could be a perfect opportunity. He wanted a few minutes alone with her anyway, apart from Leonard and Penny and the others.
"Finish telling me about the trains, Sheldon," she said simply, reaching over to pat him on the knee.
He started up again, slowly at first, as he tried to gauge her sincerity, but soon his enthusiasm for the subject took over and he was talking quickly, spilling facts about the history, size, speed and construction of each of the trains in turn.
As they reached Amy's door, Sheldon finally ran out of steam. He suddenly realized he didn't want to talk about the trains anymore.
"Why don't you relax on the couch while I get the eggs started," Amy said simply as she tossed her purse on the chair by the door.
"Oh, I can help you," he offered, setting his shoulder bag and jacket on the chair as well. "Would you like me make some tea? Do you have orange juice with no pulp? I can certainly get the toast started—even though you don't have a Cylon toaster. Cylon toast is the best."
"Sheldon," she chided as she got the eggs and other items from the fridge, "Cylon toast tastes exactly the same as regular toast."
"Disagree," he said, getting juice glasses and plates from the cabinet. "But it's a moot point, since you don't have a Cylon toaster."
She chuckled as she fished a whisk out of a drawer. "Sheldon, would you please reach into that cabinet on the right and hand me the small, black mixing bowl."
"Of course." He handed her the bowl and set about loading her regular toaster, setting the table while it worked.
They set about making breakfast together, moving easily about her familiar kitchen, as Amy caught him up on what everyone had been up to while he was gone.
After they ate, they moved over to the couch to have some tea.
"Amy," Sheldon began shyly, "I have something for you."
She smiled in bemusement as he stood to retrieve his bag.
"Sheldon, did you buy me a gift? I thought you didn't like gift-giving."
"I don't," he replied, sitting down again. He first pulled out the t-shirt from Galveston. "My mother bought this for you. She bought one for me, too."
"Matching t-shirts?" Amy smiled as she took the shirt from him and held it up. "How did she know my size?" "I picked the size." Sheldon said nonchalantly. "For the record, I will not be wearing my shirt at the same time as you. We're not twins."
"But you are my boyfriend…" Amy said, raising an eyebrow at him.
Sheldon sighed and pulled the gift bag from his duffel.
"This is from me. I…I…Um…Here." He quit trying to talk and simply handed her the gift bag.
She reached into the bag and retrieved the small tissue-wrapped gifts. Each one was wrapped in a different color and as she set them on the coffee table, Sheldon rearranged them into a specific order.
"I want you to open them this way—starting with this one," he said quietly.
She unwrapped the first gift.
"A monkey!" she exclaimed softly, a wide smile blossoming on her face. "Oh, look, it says 'Welcome to Emeryville' on its tiny shirt." She looked at Sheldon with a questioning tilt of her head.
"I bought it at the hotel that first night of my trip," he explained. "I saw it in the window of the hotel's gift shop and I knew I wanted to give it to you. Open the others!"
Next was a fairly realistic chimpanzee on a tiny pedestal, with the words "Denver Zoo" on the front.
Then came a keychain with a small, square-shaped, stylized rubber monkey with a small medallion that said, "Chicago".
Next was a wooden monkey playing a trumpet. It wore a banner across its chest that said, "Laissez les bons temps rouler."
Lastly was a monkey fashioned out of seashells with the words "Galveston, Texas" inscribed on its base.
"Oh, Sheldon," she said softly. "These are so sweet!" She wiped at her eyes.
"I, um…" he began uncertainly, "I missed you…and…when I bought them, it was almost like…like having you there with me."
She suddenly had her arms wrapped around him and he instinctively tensed up at the feeling of her body pressed against his.
But then he felt his universe expanding.
He wanted to hug her back.
He extricated his arms from where they were trapped on his lap and he returned her embrace. He took a deep breath and relaxed into her arms, feeling the small hitching of her breath as she sniffed back her tears.
At last they sat back from each other, she wiping at the tears welling in her eyes, he, smoothing imaginary wrinkles from his trouser legs as he willed his flushed face to return to normal.
Sheldon cleared his throat and looked up at her.
"Amy," he began, his voice faltering a little.
"Yes?" she replied, looking up happily at him.
"We…didn't get to have our date night this past Thursday."
"I know."
"Um, do we want to…make it up somehow?" he asked, studying her hair and her features, but managing to avoid looking her in the eye.
"Well, pretty soon it will be time for our June Date Night," she pointed out. "I suppose we could have two date nights this month…"
"I don't want to wait another week," Sheldon blurted out.
Amy gaped at his outburst, raising a questioning eyebrow, but she said nothing.
"I propose we simply make up the date…by…by…" Sheldon took a deep breath and lowered his gaze. "By kissing," he squeaked out.
"Um…okay," Amy breathed. "How…?"
Sheldon suddenly leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers, his heart pounding and warmth spreading through his body at the strange yet familiar feeling of her lips. He took hold of her upper arms to give himself better leverage and he felt her hands clasp his arms at the elbow.
They kissed for a long moment, then sat back from each other.
Sheldon swallowed hard and took a deep breath before he dared to look up at Amy.
"I…I don't…I don't want to change our dating schedule," he finally managed to stammer out. "I still want to take things slowly."
"Of course, Sheldon," Amy replied breathlessly.
Suddenly his lonely night in the hotel room in New Orleans came flooding into Sheldon's mind.
"Um, I think maybe I should go home now," he said, looking down at his lap again. "I need to go home and take a shower," he added hastily.
"Okay," Amy replied, a puzzled frown crossing her brow at the abrupt ending of their moment.
They both rose to gather their things and went down to her car. As they made the trip back to Los Robles Avenue, Sheldon returned to his talk of trains and scenery, trying desperately to fill the air with conversation that had nothing to do with the feelings running rampant in his chest.
Sheldon could feel the burning flush still present on his cheeks and he didn't trust his voice. Yet he had missed her so much that he wanted to stay with her. He began to twist his mental Rubik's Cube again. He wanted to talk with her. He didn't want to talk about his confused feelings. He wanted to spend time with her. He was afraid to admit how he was feeling.
After what seemed to Sheldon like an eternity, they finally pulled up in front of his building and made their way inside, Sheldon at last falling silent.
As they started up the stairs, he slipped his left hand into her right hand. They climbed in silence for the first few floors.
"Amy," he began at last.
"Yes, Sheldon?"
"I'm sick of trains."
End