Sheldon flinched when the front door banged open and a flustered blonde dumped two suitcases unceremoniously on the floor. "Damn him!" she spat, marching over to the couch and firmly parking herself in his spot.

"How was the wedding?" he asked, without a hint of sarcasm.

"ArggghhhhhhhhhHHHHH!"

He was going to assume by this reaction, that it hadn't gone well. "Where's Leonard?" he asked, gazing from the discarded cases, to the open door and back to his volatile intruder.

"He's getting a rental car sorted out," she snarled, "We crashed!"

"Y-y-you crashed!" he said, bouncing to his feet.

"Don't worry, Leonard's fine!"

With this, he approached the front door and pushed it closed. "You're in my spot," he said. She shot him a glare, then reluctantly slid to the middle cushion.

"So you didn't make it to Vegas after all?"

"Oh yes, we made it Vegas alright! We almost made it to Denny's for the ceremony but then we had an argument. We crashed. End of!"

"Okay." Satisfied with this answer, he shrugged and sat back down at the computer desk, where he had been contemplating his own dilemma.

"And another thing!"

"Oh no," he rolled his eyes, knowing it wasn't over.

"Did you know that while Leonard was away, he made out with another girl?"

"No, I did not."

"He confessed on the way to Vegas, saying he just wanted us to know everything, so there were no surprises," she said, "And I told him, that I could get past it."

Sheldon looked over his shoulder. "A brave decision."

"But then!…" she was on her feet now, hands waving as she spoke. "… we stop at the gas station because we'd been in such a rush we hadn't checked how much gas we had and it was low. Leonard gets out, right… and I have this nagging feeling… you know, in my gut…" Sheldon didn't know what she meant by "in my gut" but he nodded anyway in the hope it would hurry her to a conclusion. "…so then I'm looking in the glove compartment for some gum and you'll never guess what I found…" She stared at him for a second, those big eyes blinking back at her. "No, I'll never guess." he replied, honestly.

"A card!" she blurted, "From the girl, and it said, "Thanks for a lovely evening on the North Sea. If you change your mind, here's my number! Love Mandy."" she pulled a face and flopped back down on the couch.

"Interesting?" he queried.

"He kept it, Sheldon! Why would you keep a card with someone's number on it? I knew there was more!" Sensing this was a trick question for which he had no expertise, he simply offered a raised eyebrow.

"Exactly!" she answered.

Sheldon took it to mean he had chosen the correct facial response and let out the breath he'd been holding.

"When he told me about the girl, I wanted to be mature about it and not let it ruin our happy day but it crept into the back of mind and when I saw the card! I lost it!" she was standing over the computer desk now. "Now, I don't want you to get all upset about how this is going to affect you, but Leonard and I are finished."

"So… does that mean finished for good, or just finished until next time?"

"It means finished for good!" she snarled, waiting for the argument she was sure would follow.

It didn't come.

Confused by his silence she continued. "A-and don't try to talk me out of it."

Sheldon had mentally prepared himself for the upcoming nuptials of Leonard and Penny and in doing so; he had made plans of his own. Reasoning that he and Amy should follow suit. It was the way things were done because once Leonard and Penny married there wouldn't be a place for him. He would have to adjust, as much as this was terrifying.

If Penny had returned before he'd spoken to Amy, he would have descended into panic but after the shock he'd just had, he wasn't sure of anything anymore. The redundant ring hung from Gollum's unyielding clutches on the desk in front to him. "I'm not in a position to make any assessment," he said, peering at it.

Penny spotted the sparkler in a flash and instinctively reached out, he didn't stop her. "Oh my god, Sheldon! Are you going to ask Amy to marry you?" she gasped. "Wow, this is amazing! Look at the size of that ring, bet it's worth a mint. Much more than mine was," she chuckled to herself.

Swiveling his chair away to avoid those questioning eyes, he fell silent.

"What's wrong?"

There was a pause before he turned. "Amy has taken a step back from our relationship."

Penny gasped and dropped to her knees next to his chair. "After you proposed?"

"I didn't get a chance to propose."

"Oh sweetie, I'm sorry," she said. "Here I am moaning about my own stupid problems."

"It's okay."

She reached out a hand, "Come on let's go," she said. "I'm going to make you spaghetti with little hotdogs and you're going to tell me everything."