Chapter 19

Sheldon stood looking at his childhood toy for several more moments. When he turned around, he found Amy standing still, eyes wide.

His mind started racing. Why did Amy have his Mr. Spock action figure? Why did she take it? Why had she kept it secret for so long? Why had she denied having it? What did this mean? Could Missy be correct? Did Amy view him as a potential romantic partner?

But when Sheldon opened his mouth, what came out was, "Why did you lie to me?" He held up the action figure.

Amy's mouth opened and closed, reminding Sheldon of a goldfish.

"When I wrote to you twenty-three years ago requesting the return of my Mr. Spock action figure, you wrote back and stated that you didn't have it…you even attempted to make me feel guilty for suspecting you."

He waited for her response. He supposed he should be angry, but the only thing he felt at the moment was shock and curiosity.

Amy looked at the action figure, and then back at him. "Sheldon…I…am sorry."

"For what exactly? Stealing? Lying?"

Amy bit her bottom lip and a wrinkle appeared in between her eyebrows. "All of the above?"

"Is that a question?" Sheldon looked down at the action figure in his hand, running his thumb over it. When he looked back up, he repeated his initial question. "Why did you lie to me?"

Amy took a deep breath and sighed heavily. She walked over to her couch, falling into the seat and slouching her shoulders. "I was embarrassed."

Sheldon walked over and sat down on the opposite end of the couch. "For stealing your supposed best friend's toy? I should think so."

Amy started fidgeting with her hands.

"Why did you take it?" Sheldon asked.

Amy fidgeted for several more moments. When she raised her head, she looked away from him rather than at him, causing Sheldon to wonder if she had any intention of answering the question.

When she did answer, Sheldon thought her voice sounded strange. "I wanted something to remember my best friend by. I had never had a friend before, and I wanted a reminder."

Sheldon frowned in confusion. "But…we were planning to write letters. Why should you have worried about forgetting me?"

Still looking away from him, Amy replied, "Plenty of people say they're going to keep in touch and never do."

Sheldon frowned as a new thought occurred to him. "Is that why you watched Star Trek?"

Amy shrugged. Sheldon wished she would turn to look at him. "Initially, I guess. I used to watch The Next Generation when it was on during the week and The Original Series reruns on the weekends. I figured you were watching, and so I liked the thought that we were watching the same thing."

Sheldon processed that comment. He thought back to all the times that he had watched Star Trek as a child, and found that he enjoyed the thought that Amy had been watching at the same time. He felt something else, as well, but wasn't able to identify it, so he logged it away for further study later.

"Why did you keep the action figure for so long?"

Amy stood up, keeping her back to him. Why on earth was she not looking at him so deliberately? It was more baffling and irritating than finding out his friend had stolen his childhood toy.

"As I said before," Amy started, "I wanted the reminder of you…"

"But…"

"I'd prefer we keep it at that Sheldon," Amy said, quickly, sounding almost angry. "You don't have to know all of my reasons, only that I took it and that I'm very sorry."

Sheldon frowned. "Why are you angry with me?"

"I'm not angry with you."

"I know I'm not good at reading emotions, especially when the subject refuses to turn around so that I can view their facial expressions, but your tone indicates that you are irritated. I'm the one who should be irritated, not you. You're the one who betrayed me, not the other way around."

Amy whipped around quickly, a look of horror on her face. "I did not betray you. I was sad about leaving. I took the toy as a token of our friendship."

Sheldon raised his eyebrows, feeling his anger start to rise. "In fact, you did betray me. You took my very favorite toy and then lied about it…for many years. Quite frankly, I'm unsure at the moment what the state of our friendship is. It appears that you have been a liar and a thief for nearly the entire time which I have known you."

The look Amy gave Sheldon made him regret his words. She turned back around quickly, showing her back to him again. Sheldon sighed. He was no good at emotions. He wasn't even very angry. In truth, "hurt" might be the better way to phrase it. And "confused". Finding the Mr. Spock action figure so shortly after his conversation with Missy had left Sheldon with so many feelings that he was unsure of what to think.

"I said I was sorry, Sheldon," Amy said, her voice sounding funny again, as if she were catching a cold.

Sheldon pondered what to do. Did he forgive her so readily? To steal one's favored toy and then lie about it for twenty-three years seemed too great an offense to forgive so readily. But Sheldon also didn't like the thought of having his relationship with Amy irrevocably changed. In fact, now that he thought about it, the mere thought of not having Amy as his friend caused him to feel another undefined emotion; one which was definitely not happy.

Sheldon found himself at a loss as to what to do, and was unwilling at that moment to take the time to examine his feelings. He stood up abruptly. "I believe Missy is waiting for her purse. We should get going."

Amy nodded, her back still to him, said, "I have to use the restroom. I'll be back shortly," and then walked away without looking at him.

Sheldon walked back over to Amy's desk to grab Missy's purse. He looked down at the action figure in his hand, pondering what to do with it. It was his toy, after all…but he already had a Mr. Spock action figure, exactly like this one.

Deciding he didn't want the reminder of Amy's betrayal, he set the action figure back on Amy's desk, grabbed Missy's purse, and walked out the door, deciding to wait in the hallway. When Amy joined him, she locked the door, and they walked wordlessly down the hall and towards Amy's car.

They were silent the entirety of the car ride, Sheldon pondering the situation, and becoming frustrated at the lack of logical answers which Amy had provided. By the time they arrived, Sheldon was feeling highly irritated; at Amy for stealing his doll and lying to him about it; at Missy for causing him to question his feelings towards Amy in the first place; at Raj for taking his sister on a date to begin with.

As soon as Amy stopped the car, Sheldon got out, taking Missy's purse, and walking brusquely towards the front door. When he went inside, he quickly spotted Missy and Raj, and walked over, shoving Missy's purse in her face.

"Here," he said, angrily waving it at her.

Missy took the purse and said, "What is your problem?"

"Next time, please remember your purse."

"Are you telling me that you're upset because you had to come down here? I thought you'd love the chance to show Amy your little picture book shop."

Sheldon pressed his lips together and glared at Missy. "It's not a picture book shop, it's a comic book store. And I see no reason why I should wish to show it to Amy." He crossed his arms.

Amy had walked in by that point, and Sheldon noted that, rather than join them, she had walked over to a batman display. He noticed Stuart walk over to her, as well.

He looked back at Missy and Raj, both of whom were looking at each other frowning. Missy looked back at Sheldon. "Is something wrong?"

"Why should anything be wrong? My friend is currently ogling my sister like the Bob's Big Boy hamburger his religion forbids him to eat. And my own sister feigned interest in an evening with me, actually taking the time to argue with me about what movie we would watch, only to reveal that she had lied about her evening plans. No, absolutely nothing is wrong."

Missy stared at Sheldon, then looked past him, presumably at Amy, and then back at Sheldon again. "Did something go wrong with Amy?"

Sheldon looked away and shuffled. "What could possibly have gone wrong with Amy? After all, we're so well suited for each other right?" He looked between Missy and Raj, but neither of them answered him.

Missy turned to Raj and said, "I'm going to go have a chat with Amy. I'll be right back."

After she walked away, Raj turned to Sheldon and said, "Relax dude."

Sheldon glared. "Don't tell me to relax. I'm letting you date my sister. I can be as unrelaxed as I please."

Raj held up his hands. "Ok, ok. Calm down."

Stuart walked up at that moment. "Hey, Sheldon."

Sheldon relaxed his stance, ever so slightly. "Hello, Stuart."

Stuart shuffled in his place and cleared his throat. "I, uh…have a question for you."

"Alright," Sheldon replied.

Stuart cleared his throat again. "So…uh…are you and Amy dating?"

Sheldon blinked in surprise. "No."

Stuart cleared his throat a third time. "And…uh…are you interested in dating Amy?"

Sheldon was very aware of Raj staring at him.

"Yeah, Sheldon," said Raj. "Are you interested in dating Amy?"

Sheldon felt back into a corner. This was the very last question he wanted to answer at this moment, especially when he wasn't even sure what the state of their friendship was. He pressed his lips together before deciding to respond with, "No."

Stuart nodded, said, "Ok," and then walked away. Raj looked at Sheldon and shook his head. Sheldon just crossed his arms.

Missy returned and said to Raj, "Well, why don't we get going?"

Sheldon turned to them and said, "Before you resume your date, please drop me off at my apartment."

"Why can't Amy drop you off?" Missy asked.

"I don't wish to have her drop me off. I'd rather have you do it."

"Well, what if we don't want to do it? We're on a date, Shelly."

He gave Missy a look, attempting a blank expression. "Then I suggest you do it quickly so you can return to your date."

Raj looked over at Missy, putting a hand on her shoulder. "It's ok, Missy. We can drop him off and then continue on our date."

"Excellent. Thank you," Sheldon replied. Then he turned on his heel and walked out the door, getting into the back of the limo waiting out front.

Missy and Raj joined him shortly afterward. No one spoke during the ride back to the apartment, for which Sheldon was grateful. He was still feeling a lot of undefined emotions, and did not wish to have to carry on a boring conversation. When the limo pulled up outside the apartment building, Sheldon turned to Missy and Raj, and said, "Thank you."

After getting out, Sheldon walked slowly up the stairs. His anger was starting to wear off, now that he was no longer in the presence of Missy, Raj, and most notably, Amy. This entire evening had been very perplexing, and he found himself with the desire to retire early to bed.

When Sheldon reached the top of the stairs, he started to unlock his door. Suddenly the door across from him opened and he heard Penny say, "Sheldon, what's going on?"

Sheldon turned back to look at her. "What do you mean?"

Penny held up her phone and said, "I just got a text from Amy saying that you're mad at her, and that Stuart just asked her on a date."

A/N: Thanks a million for reading! Please review. :)