I should tell you

Chapter 2

Chapter 02 –

Sheldon got into the apartment, waiting for his normal, Thai takeout night...

And that... Wil Wheathon was there.

"Sheldon! Guess who we brought for dinner!" Leonard could hardly disguise his smugness, and anyway, he didn't seem to want to. "Penny couldn't contain her anxiety to introduce our new neighbor to you and the boys..."

"Yeah, but I'm already regretting..." said Penny, making a face, "Wolowitz always makes me regret..."

"Don't be like that, Penny", said Becky, agreeable. "I enjoy the attention. Besides, he is nice."

Howard's face lit up.

"Wow, thanks." he said, in his most gallant voice.

"So, Mr. Theoretical Physicist," Becky provoked, "Any news from God?"

"Yes, I'm a theoretical physicist. But you didn't tell me what you do so far, so I could call you by your 'area of expertise', that if you even have any. Unless you want me to call you 'Miss Smarty-Pants'."

Becky tried not to smile, but her lips twitched involuntarily.

"I don't... really have an 'area of expertise'", she said, mockingly, "I am just a Harvard graduate. English and American Literature and Language. I am also, a Musician of sorts. I can play the piano, very well. I wish I could say I am not that good, but like Jane Austen says, 'Nothing is more deceitful than the appearance of humility. It is often only carelessness of opinion, and sometimes an indirect boast.'"

"Wait. That sentence is not entirely unfamiliar to me..." said Sheldon, curious.

"It's by Jane Austen!" answered Becky, excited about his interest.

"See that, Leonard!" said Sheldon, again, "A famous and very studied author actually said something like that! Now, Leonard! Now, all of you!"

"Not only she said that, my dear Sheldon, but she also wrote on her most famous book, 'Pride and Prejudice'."

"Now, wait a minute..." said Sheldon, contemplative, "That name does ring a bell. How strange that I don't remember this particular sentence, from such a popular novel."

"Nah. That's probably because you have absolutely no humility." said Leonard.

"I'm gonna get it for you. I'll be right back. Please, don't you go anywhere." Becky said, sprinting out of the room.

Okay... now that was a sudden change of events... And Wolowitz, in particular, didn't seem happy about it. Raj, like always, didn't have anything to say about it (or just couldn't). Penny and Leonard were watching, engaged on the process.

Becky burst through the door in a few minutes, with a huge hardcover book and immediately handed it to Sheldon. 'Jane Austen's Complete Collection'.

"Here, you can have it. It is yours, now. Treat it with care, it has been my friend for, like... ages."

"Why, then, would you give me something that precious?" he looked awestruck.

"Because... Well, because I want to apologize. I was wrong about you, and I am sorry for judging you based on appearances. I hope that, from now on, we can be friends?"

She was offering him such a warm smile and again, caught him off guard.

"I—I can't accept that."

"But why?!"

"Sheldon... Don't do that. Please. Not now." Leonard tried to intervene, confusing his friend even more.

"I can't. This item looks priceless. I don't have anything to give you in return for it."

"Why, it is a present. One's not supposed to give the other anything in return. If you don't take it, I will throw it away. Like... now."

She meant it.

Sheldon simply grabbed the book she was handing him, barely nodded, feeling... weird. Overwhelmed?

"What color are your eyes?" he asked, to dodge the sensation.

"Um... Hazel?"

"I don't think so..." He said, getting conspicuously too close to take a better look, "They seem amber. They can't be hazel. Hazel eyes are due to a combination of Rayleigh scattering and a moderate amount of melanin in the iris' anterior border layer. Hazel eyes often appear to shift in color from a brown to a green."

"I couldn't follow you at all. Um, so... My eyes are not hazel, then?"

He didn't answer. And she was lost in his eyes, so deep blue...

She felt the urge to hug him, but resisted to the impulse. It seemed just... wrong. Not really inappropriate, but... wrong. As if there was some kind of invisible force-field dividing them.

Yep. Definitely a force-field.