Sheldon's eyes flew open. He was surprised to find himself not in the warm comfort of his bedroom but under the bluish glow of his tent.

The nightmare that had woken him from his slumber had had him chased by ravenous wolves through a dark, secluded Forrest. He had awoken just as the pack leader was about to pounce. Sheldon took a shuddering breath and closed his eyes in an attempt to settle once more.

He had made such a big fuss of sleeping all by himself in his own tent that he hardly wanted to admit how anxious he was beginning to feel. It was a dream, he told himself. I am safely zipped up in my sleeping bag. Wolves do not have the dexterity required to access the zip to my tent. I am the master of my own bladder.

He began to calm and even started to drift back to sleep, when there came a deep howl from deep within the surrounding trees. Before Sheldon had even had time process what he was doing, he was up and out of his tent, shielded by his fleece blanket and heading to Leonard and Penny's neighbouring tent.

He was stopped in his tracks as he realised that there was no solid door by which to knock on so, in his panic, unzipped their tent and piled in.

"Sheldon!" Penny yelled.

"There's a big, hungry wolf out there and it will not stop until it is feasting on my meaty flesh!" It was only now that Sheldon turned to see the rather flushed couple, entangled and glaring back at him. "Can I stay with you two?", he said obliviously.

"Sheldon" Leonard began, exasperated. "It was you that wanted to sleep by yourself. It was you that assured us all that there was no need for us to sleep like… like pack animals."

Sheldon faced Leonard with a somewhat hangdog expression "That was before the wolves".

"Sheldon, you are not sleeping in here. There is not enough room and we are…" Leonard cleared his throat, "busy"

"Sweetie, why don't you go and see Amy?" Penny added.

Sheldon gave them both a final sullen stare before climbing out of the tent and heading quickly across the clearing to the beacon of hope that was Amy's bright orange tent. He unzipped the opening to her tent, a little more gently this time. However, he hadn't been gentle enough as Amy was sat up, armed with the camp's frying pan as protection against the shadowy figure at her door.

"Dr Fowler, it's me. Sheldon! There's no need to bludgeon me with a frying pan." he chastised "Although, I applaud you on your choice of weapon, given the circumstances. Shrewd decision to arm yourself against the impending wolf invasion"

"Sorry, Sheldon" she said putting on her glasses as she spoke, "I couldn't see because of the dark and the… I'm sorry, wolf invasion?!"

"Yes" he nodded vigorously "haven't you heard the howling? It's enough to send a chill to the bone…"

"Sheldon, we are not going to be attacked by wolves."

"Really?" he said sceptically, "Are you prepared to take that risk?"

"Sheldon, if you are scared…"

"I'm not scared! I….err….came to make sure you were alright." He said this rather unconvincingly, even so, Amy couldn't help but smile at the sentiment.

"How about I make us both a cup of tea, Sheldon? To calm you down….calm us both down" she added as he looked at her uncertainly.

"That would be nice" he said as he sat himself down.

Once they were both armed with their tea and both curled up in their separate blankets, Sheldon appeared to have composed himself again.

"You know," Amy started, clinching her warm cup of tea close to her body "apparently, people enjoy the warmth of holding hot drinks as it reminds them of the warmth and security of human physical contact"

Sheldon gave her an uncertain smile as he cupped his tea close to his chest, but he decided to stay silent. Amy left him to his thoughts and, for a while, they sat in comfortable silence before Amy could stifle a yawn no longer.

"Sheldon, I'm tired. I'd like to go to sleep now".

Amy placed down her mug, closed her eyes and started to curl up in her sleeping bag with her body still facing him.

"Amy?" Sheldon said, almost in a whisper.

Amy kept her eyes closed "Yes?"

"Can I stay here with you tonight?"

Amy still kept her eyes closed, scared that if she was to meet his eye he would lose his bottle altogether. "Of course you can, Sheldon."

She heard Sheldon sigh with relief and then watched out of the corner of her eye as he neatly tucked his thick fleecy blanket into a cocoon around his body and settled as far across the tent from her as possible.

Amy smiled to herself and closed her eyes once more ready to drift off to sleep when a sudden banging noise and yelp came from the other side of clearing. She looked worriedly at Sheldon but this time he kept his eyes closed and merely muttered, "It will only be Leonard & Penny with their amorous activities."

She was ready to settle down again when she suddenly felt the warmth of Sheldon's hand clasping hold of hers. When she looked over at him he looked as still and serene as ever. She beamed at him and squeezed his hand back.

As she floated off into the land of nod she was sure she overheard him mumble to himself "Ah yes, much more effective than tea."