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3rd POV – Future Sheldon
"We're family, huh…"
Sheldon sat quietly, lost in thought.
His fingers hovered over his phone screen, his eyes locked onto the contact name: Georgie.
He had been staring at it for a while, debating whether or not to call.
"This madness needs to stop," Sheldon muttered under his breath before finally pressing the call button. "What kind of family spies on each other?!" he grumbled.
"Oh, look at those!" Howard's voice chimed in from behind him, but Sheldon ignored him, waiting impatiently for Georgie to pick up.
The phone rang.
And rang.
And rang.
Until—
Right into Voicemail.
Sheldon's eye twitched, He stared at his phone in disbelief. "What kind of family doesn't pick up their phone?!" he snapped.
"Uhh, he's coming! Screen saver!" Raj's voice whispered urgently from behind him.
Sheldon still ignored them.
Then, the apartment door swung open.
Leonard stormed inside, his face red with frustration.
He glared at Howard and Raj, who immediately pretended to be innocent.
Leonard sighed, rubbing his temples before turning to Sheldon—who was still glaring at his phone like it had personally wronged him.
"Sheldon!" Leonard barked. "Why the hell did you let these two spy on me?!"
Sheldon finally looked up, shifting his gaze toward Leonard.
"Oh, yeah…" he muttered, pocketing his phone. "You don't like being spied on… Neither do I!"
His voice was flat—irritated.
Leonard frowned, confused. "What?"
Before he could press for answers, "You should be thanking us!" Howard chimed in smugly. "If your relationship with Penny crashes, this is basically your black box!"
Leonard froze, "…What did you say?" he asked cautiously.
Howard smirked. "Think about it, Leonard. If anything goes wrong with Penny, this is evidence—your alibi."
Leonard's panic spiked, "…My date with Penny went fine!" he defended himself.
"I heard her," Sheldon interjected, finally looking away from his phone. "Penny wants to slow things down with you. That means there's no second date."
Leonard scoffed. "What?! We agreed to be spontaneous!"
"Spontaneous?" Sheldon smirked. "Even I know that's lame."
"What is wrong with you tonight? You're being mean to me!" Leonard whined. "We had dinner, we talked, we laughed, we made out—what else could I have done wrong?"
Howard smirked again.
"Think back, Leonard. A woman doesn't need a big reason to lose interest. A tiny mistake is enough."
"Please! Everything was fine! I didn't even need my conversation guide!" Leonard shot back.
Howard and Raj exchanged a look.
A guide?
If they had been lucky enough to take a woman on a date, they would've definitely had a guide too.
Sheldon sighed, momentarily shoving aside the thoughts of his brother spying on him.
He stood up, moving behind Howard, "Roll the tapes," Sheldon commanded.
Howard and Raj shrugged before pressing play.
The screen lit up with footage of Leonard and Penny's date.
Sheldon immediately frowned.
"Disgusting, Howard." He grimaced at a close-up of Penny's chest.
Raj patted Howard's shoulder and whispered, "Nice close-up."
Howard, who had been ready to defend himself, instead nodded approvingly at Raj's comment.
"Yep. No second date for you," Sheldon declared.
He turned to Leonard, his expression flat like he already know about this for the first time. "Congratulations, Leonard. You ruined your first date."
"Wh—why?!" Leonard protested, refusing to accept it.
Howard rewound the footage.
"No change in breathing," he pointed out.
"No dilation in her pupils," Sheldon added.
"No quickened heartbeat," Howard continued.
Sheldon nodded, pleased. "Nice observation. However, it is highly inappropriate for you to zoom in on Penny's chest."
"It was for scientific purposes!" Howard argued.
Sheldon ignored him.
"There was no sparkle in her eyes," he continued. "Her hands remained on her yogurt—not on you. Her jaw stayed clenched—no opening for tongue access."
Sheldon smirked.
"And again—congratulations, Leonard."
Raj, still grinning, threw in one last jab, "The biggest clue? You're here, not in her apartment."
Leonard groaned, "I wasn't in her apartment because I wanted to take things slow!"
Then, he suddenly turned toward Sheldon.
"…What is wrong with you tonight, buddy? I feel like you're attacking me for no reason! Clearly, this isn't about my date with Penny, is it?"
Sheldon exhaled sharply, he picked up his phone again.
"I'm sorry if you feel that way… but I feel like my brother keeps spying on me."
Howard and Raj froze, "What?" Howard asked, eyes wide. "Since when have you felt like this?" and he closed his clothes like he being defile by camera.
Leonard's face darkened, "…Have you checked the apartment for bugs?"
Howard immediately panicked, glancing around, "We should check!" he insisted.
Sheldon, still looking at his phone, muttered, "I already checked." Then, his eyes flicked to Leonard.
"…At first, I thought Penny was the spy." He tapped his fingers against his arm. "But she just met Missy, and she doesn't seem smart enough to be a spy."
Leonard scoffed. "I'm sure it's not Penny… Or…"
He turned to Raj and Howard.
"It's one of you."
Sheldon stared.
The room went silent.
"…DUDE!"
"…HEY!"
Raj and Howard both protested at once.
Sheldon, unimpressed, dismissed them.
"They're too dumb to be spies," he concluded.
"HEY!"
"DUDE!"
Raj and Howard protested again.
Leonard smirked, an idea forming in his head. "…Are you sure, Sheldon?"
Sheldon narrowed his eyes.
"The best spy is the one who fools everyone… and gets close enough to the target to extract information."
Sheldon froze.
"…It could be them…" he muttered.
"…Or it could be… me?"
Leonard grinned.
"Ahaha! Forget it, Sheldon. I'm your best friend, right?" He patted Sheldon's arm before walking away.
"…Right?"
His voice dropped to a whisper.
Just loud enough for everyone to hear.