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Collide, or, The Cooper-Ballard Convergence	By : FemmeBono Category: 1 through F > The Big Bang Theory Views: 4469 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Big Bang Theory, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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Cht 8

Out of the doubt that fills your mind

I finally find you and I collide
Sheldon woke exactly ten seconds before his alarm and deftly reached over the sleeping girl to disable it before it could go off and startle her. Chagrined at his all too human reaction to waking curled up behind a woman, he then eased out of bed and grasping his robe in front of him, shuffled quickly into the bathroom to resolve his current state.

Whitney woke not long after, feeling the draft at her back and blearily looked over her shoulder. No Sheldon. She did, however, hear the shower running and assumed that he was in it. Groaning, she rolled over and put her face in his pillow, inhaling the clean masculine scent. Best night’s sleep in eons, she mused, lifting her head and sniffing delicately at the new smells of coffee and frying bacon now wafting through the apartment.
She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stepped quietly to the door. When she came down the hallway she heard voices talking in hushed undertones, which stopped at once as she rounded the corner to find Leonard and Penny in the kitchen. Penny was at the stove, frying up bacon and omelets while Leonard sat at the island with a cup of coffee in his hand.
“Oh Whitney,” Leonard spoke up, “how are you feeling?”
“Better,” Whitney smiled grimly, “way better.”
“Cup of coffee, sweetie?” said Penny.
“Oh god, most definitely!” Whitney pleaded, as Leonard rose and went to the cupboard over the coffee pot.
“How do you like it?” Leonard asked.
“Sweet and light.”
“Speaking of sweet and light—“ Penny began, as Leonard desperately tried to shush her. “What’s going on with you and Sheldon?”
“Ahh…what do you mean?” Whitney hedged. “If you mean last night, he was just looking out for me.”
“Well, sweetie, last night was just one thing,” Penny added as she set the bacon on a paper towel-lined plate. “He’s been acting so differently around you and we’ve never seen him like this. Ever.”
“It’s just…he doesn’t exhibit nurturing capabilities for anyone,” Leonard contributed as he handed Whitney her coffee. “Not even Amy.”
“What happened with Amy anyway?” Whitney cut in, trying futilely to change the subject.
“They broke up,” said Penny, turning an omelet and trying unsuccessfully to keep it intact. “And that’s another thing: they broke up because the relationship wasn’t going anywhere.”
“To date,” Leonard said, “the only one in Sheldon’s life who’s managed to get between his sheets is…well…you.”
“I think those were extenuating circumstances,” Whitney said dryly, blowing into her steaming cup.
“You don’t understand Sheldon though,” Leonard pressed. “He doesn’t do extenuating circumstances. He doesn’t touch people casually. He doesn’t invite anyone over for dinner, and he never lets anyone sit in his spot. That’s like the holiest of holies.”
“Whitney, sweetie, I don’t think you get how monumental it is for Sheldon to show emotion at all—unless he’s upset the new comic that he wanted was bought up by someone else, or I forget and leave the tomato on his hamburger. Last night he showed a side of himself that we’ve never seen in all the years we’ve known him. Sheldon Cooper doesn’t defend anyone, he doesn’t get physical, and he’s certainly never done anything nurturing unless it was against his will. Heck, Amy had to trick him into caring for her while she was sick!”
Whitney set her cup down. “You know, I don’t think you know him at all. He’s really a decent human being, and you don’t give him credit for being a thinking, feeling person who actually is capable of compassion and caring. He’s done so much for me since I got here.”
“Yeah, he’s got some hang-ups—and boy, don’t I know about hang-ups,” Whitney laughed mirthlessly. “But he’s done so much for me, that I could start feeling like a human being again. He’s dried my tears, made me tea. Comforted me when I had nightmares, come running to my aid not once but twice, and never once has he asked me to do a thing for him. Not once!” she said, her voice rising.
“I don’t know what Sheldon you know, but the one I know is a good man,” Whitney said standing up. “I think there’s a lot of depths there that you guys miss because you get so hung up on crazy schedules and germ phobia and whatever other silliness he uses to cover up his insecurities. And I hate to tell you, but you guys might be part of the reason for that. You know, I’m about to deploy again with this new unit in barely a week, and I really hate to think about leaving him behind. He’s the best friend I’ve found here.”
Her voice had started shaking so she took a breath and bore down to get the next words out. “I know now that if anything happens to me downrange there is someone else out there, besides my family and my battle buddies, who cares. As hard as it is leaving them behind, it’s going to be just as hard to leave him too.”
Before she lost it entirely, Whitney turned and snatched up her belongings by the couch that someone had neatly folded and placed on the coffee table. Without a backward glance, she hurried out the door before she erupted in shuddering sobs and traipsed quickly up the stairs before anyone in the halls saw her in nothing but a borrowed t-shirt. Had she glanced at the hallway when she crossed to the couch, she would have seen Sheldon standing rooted to the spot in the doorway, his wet hair tousled and a worried look turning that cool gaze to the turbulent color of the sea.

Knock, knock, knock. “Whitney!” Knock, knock, knock. “Whitney!” Knock, knock, knock. “Whitney!”
Whitney stood with her forehead on the door, the reverberations from his knocking vibrating against her as she tried to compose herself. I cry more in front of this guy that anyone else in my life, she thought. It’s a wonder he still comes around. Whitney took a deep breath and opened the door. There stood Sheldon, wet head, slippered feet, and dumbfounded expression. He must have heard.
She stepped back and let him in, but instead of sitting as she gestured him over to his preferred spot on her couch, he continued to stand as if he did not know how to take the next step.
“Whitney,” he said slowly, “I just heard you say you’re deploying again.”
Whitney tried to swallow the knot in her throat, but couldn’t, so she settled for nodding mutely.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I couldn’t, Sheldon,” she said achingly. “I didn’t know how. I thought about lying and saying it was training or that I was getting sent to Korea, but I don’t want to lie to you, and I don’t want to bring that into our—paradigm,” she finished, thinking quickly. She had almost said relationship, but caught herself in time.
“But this is extremely worrying,” Sheldon breathed, his forehead wrinkling. “You’re the extra dumpling.”
“What??”
“Bernadette doesn’t eat dumplings. You’re the sixth dumpling.”
“That is not a clarification, Sheldon. Explain fully,” Whitney urged, now more confused than before.
“Every Monday we order Chinese from Szechuan Palace,” Sheldon began. “We order a side of dumplings, which come six to a serving. Penny, Leonard, Howard, Raj and I all eat one, and for ages there has been a spare one, which always perplexed me. Bernadette doesn’t eat them and Amy hated cabbage, so it always became an issue. Then you came along.”
“And I eat dumplings.”
“Precisely,” Sheldon smiled, now believing that Whitney understood at last.
“Is that your unique way of saying you’ll miss me?” Whitney said with an inkling of hope sliding gently through her.
“On the contrary, it is my reasoned argument against why you cannot go,” Sheldon said, clasping his hands behind him as if delivering a lecture.
“Really?” Whitney said, the hope dying like a defunct firecracker. “Are you going to try to sell that story to my commander?”
“If need be.”
“Sheldon, I can’t politely tell the Army ‘no’ simply because your OCD doesn’t allow for odd dumplings. I’m sorry but I have to go.”
“But you can’t,” Sheldon said, his voice taking on a petulant tone. “You just got back!”
“Yes, but that was with my active unit. Had I stayed in the Army with them then I would have had a year of stabilization before I had to go again. But this is a new unit, my guard unit, and it’s time for a deployment in their cycle.”
“Can’t someone else go?”
“No, there are only three of us in my MOS in the whole unit. Sheldon, it’s only for three months, it’s a short support mission for the regular units that are there, and then I’ll be back.”
“Three months??!” Sheldon spluttered. “That’s 12 dumplings! Three paintball games! 12 Halo nights!”
“And Sheldon I’ll make it all up to you when I get back,” she cut in before he could continue. As he started listing all the things she’d miss, Whitney felt a pang of longing that threatened to break her. “I’ll go to the train store with you—heck, we can take a train trip together if you’d like. I’ve never been on a train; it’s always sounded like fun to me. How’s that?”
“You promise?”
“Yes, and I can’t text every day, but I can email you every day and we can Skype when our schedules permit. I’ll be on the FOB the whole time, so I should be able to keep fairly regular hours, and we’ll only have to worry about the time difference.”
“Well that certainly sounds reasonable,” Sheldon considered. “I could pretend you’re attending a SHIELD conference for the World Security Council.”
“Of course,” Whitney said, letting out a relieved breath, though she had no idea what SHIELD was. “We’ll count down the days until I come back from my conference, and you can start a trip itinerary for us. I should get a week of block leave when I get back.”
“Oh goody!” Sheldon said, clapping his hands. “You’re going to love trains! I just know it! I’ll start narrowing down our list of options for tours and oh! I’ll need your spare key so I can pack for us while you’re gone. This is an experience of a lifetime!”
“Great, Shel,” Whitney smiled. “Well, happy planning.”
“Oh dear lord!” Sheldon said, paling. “I forgot about work!” He reached out and wrapped both arms around Whitney, practically bouncing with mingled pleasure and anxiety. “I have to finish my morning preparations! My schedule is so far behind I’ll have to opt for the middle stall at work to move my bowels…” and with that, Sheldon scampered hastily out of Whitney’s apartment leaving her baffled and laughing in the middle of the living room.

Lyrics from Howie Day's "Collide"
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- 9
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Collide, or, The Cooper-Ballard Convergence