AN: Just a ditty about Sheldon and Amy! Shockingly, this does not take place in my "Shamyverse." Enjoy!

THE OSCULATION INTERRUPTION

Sheldon comes back from his journey determined to be a better boyfriend. Amy welcomes him back determined to be a stronger woman. They both have something to say. If only it could get past their lips. If only their friends would stop interrupting.

Okay, that wasn't so bad. And now it's over.

Sheldon got up and followed Amy to the door, as she finished their conversation. He would not have admitted it, but he wasn't really listening. Not because he wasn't interested in what Amy was saying - she was the most interesting person he knew - but because he felt the release of blood through his arteries, which had been constricted most of the evening.

Even though Amy had been calm since she and Leonard had come to pick him up in Arizona, this had been their first stretch of time alone, and, honestly, he was frightened. Amy could be so many things he didn't understand and violent was one of them. Penny had told him about the pillow-bashing incident. What if Amy was saving up all of her anger to unleash it on him on their first Date Night? What if she used her purse and not just a pillow? Would Amy break my impeccable face?

But, instead, Amy had mostly talked. She had shared her frustrations, but in a contained fashion, and had even apologized to him for what she perceived as her role in the stresses that had caused him to flee. She had been so logical and calm and reassuring that Sheldon almost told her what he had decided on his journey. But the thought of saying it aloud had turned his mouth into a parched desert. So, instead, he had nodded deeply and tried to convey something, everything, with his eyes.

Amy had seemed content with that, his nonresponse. He wondered if she would always be content with it, and then he realized he hoped not. Someday, when he didn't know yet, he would tell her.

Standing in front of his apartment door, he noticed Amy had fallen silent, looking at him expectantly.

Oh, yes. Now it felt like too much blood was rushing through his circulatory system. He had missed this.

He smiled at her and reached for her waist, pulling her in closer. Pressing his lips against hers (definitely missed this), he tasted the saltiness from their Chinese food and the warmth from their tea. About to pull away, Amy surprised him by leaning into his lips and putting her hands on his arms. His circulatory system ramped up into overdrive at the newness of it. Amy was kissing him differently! She seemed, what?, softer? proactive? Can a person be softer and proactive at the same time? It occurred to him that this was probably a good sign and this, this!, would be the perfect time to tell her.

He backed up to look down at her, and he noticed she looked slightly flushed. Is she embarrassed? Should I be embarrassed, too? But I'm not.

"Amy, while I was gone I did some thinking and -" he started, his hands still on her waist.

Suddenly Amy was slamming into him, and he lost his balance and fell backwards in shock. Amy landed on top of him, her arms and legs flailing.

"Oh, Jesus! Sorry guys!" Penny said. "I didn't think you'd be right by the door. Are you okay?"

Sheldon looked into Amy's eyes, wondering if he looked as terrified as she did. She's touching my bathing suit area! He felt incredibly hot. Amy took Penny's offered hand and scrambled ungracefully off of him. Which only made things worse. Not my circulatory system this time.

"Sheldon, are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost," Penny asked.

"I'm fine," he managed to croak out. He gulped. If I don't move, no one will know.

Amy groaned, and put her hand into the small of her back. "That's gonna leave one nasty door-knob shaped bruise."

"Let me look at it. I'm so sorry. What were you guys doing, anyway? Do you need some ice?" Penny clucked.

Then, right here in front of me!, Amy lifted up the back of her cardigan and blouse so that Penny could examine the injury. And, in the few seconds before Sheldon scrambled away to his bedroom, for the love of all that is scientific!, his eyes were filled with her creamy skin.

" . . . then Leonard said that I should make an exception in this case, that Howard was my friend before he was my student. He thinks it was rude of me to defriend him on FaceBook. Do you think he's right?"

"Yes," Amy answered, staring into her boyfriend's beautiful blue eyes. Not that he was noticing.

"Yes? That's it? Doesn't it seem like favoritism if I fraternize with one of my pupils on a regular basis? For example, tonight he's the only student joining us for Thai food."

"Sheldon, he is your only student period. It's fine."

"But I want to do this correctly. I don't want to mess this up, too."

Something in his voice, a vulnerability that she had rarely heard there, settled over Amy. She wanted, so badly, to tell him how loved he was, that his imperfections and failures didn't make him less loved, they just made him more human. No, I will not tell him now. I will wait for the perfect moment. I want it to be romantic.

Instead, propelled by a memory of last week's Date Night, she suddenly leaned forward and kissed him.

"Amy, it's not Date Night," he pulled away from her too quickly.

"So?" she tried to sound coquettish.

"See, this is a perfect example of what happens if you make an exception to established principles. One minute, someone decides it's acceptable to socialize with a student and the next minute you're kissing me at unscheduled times. Chaos ensues!"

Out of habit, Amy started to take the hurt and fold it up into another origami shape to fit into her heart, but then she stopped herself. No, I made myself a promise while Sheldon was gone.

"It's not chaos, Sheldon. It's what being in a relationship is about. It's a sign of -" she caught herself just in time "- affection. I'm your girlfriend, and I think I deserve your affection."

He licked his lips and cocked his head slightly. After a moment, he nodded and leaned in to kiss her.

It was strange, on the sofa like this, a little uncomfortable because of the angle, so Amy slowly turned her body and put her hands on his shoulders to steady herself. He pulled back just a little, probably in surprise, she thought, but she wasn't about to stop. She closed the short distance between them and applied her lips to his again. Why was I so shy for so long? No wonder he left me. I never showed him how much I enjoyed this. Amy tilted her head and shifted her lips, which brought an immediate reaction from Sheldon, as his arms reached for her.

Now, this is romantic. Maybe I should -

"Hey, Sheldon! The delivery man came while I was getting the mail and -"

Amy pushed Sheldon away, and, in so doing, ended up on the opposite end of the sofa. Leonard turned away from the key bowl to look at them, his hands full of Thai food. Amy smiled at him, probably too broadly, she realized too late, and started to twirl her hair.

"Um, okay," Leonard shook his head and deeply furrowed his bushy eyebrows. "That was weird. Hi, Amy, I didn't know you were coming early. Anyway, I've got the food. Everyone else should be here soon."

". . . So then it occurred to me that maybe my original hypothesis was wrong and it was dopamine all along. It completely changed everything! I'm so excited at the direction this new study is taking!"

Amy is beautiful. Sheldon started and tried to mentally shake the thought away. Where did that come from? Amy was a lot of things to him - brilliant, thoughtful, patient - but he valued her for her mind. It's beneath me to give into baser emotions based on my endocrine system. And surely Amy doesn't want to be appreciated for some physical aspect she has no control over, something she just won in the lottery that is genetics. Right?

But . . . but . . . standing there, her eyes glowing in excitement, her white lab coat making her look even more scholarly, her hair pulled back revealing more of her neck . . . Amy was beautiful.

"Amy, I . . . want to thank you for driving me home," he finished in a rush.

"Of course, Sheldon. You're welcome," she picked up an empty petri dish.

"I'll speak to Leonard about it. He cannot just keeping leaving early to go visit wedding venues, without thinking about your schedule."

"It's fine," Amy said. "I enjoy driving you home. It gives us more time together."

Something in the way she looked at him when she said that make him clutch the strap of his messenger bag even tighter. Should I tell her now? In her lab? Is that a good place? She likes her lab.

"Uh . . . um . . .I . . . um," he licked his lips.

"Sheldon, what's wrong?" Amy took a step closer to him, concern on her face. "Do you feel unwell? There's a vicious cold virus going around. Do you have a fever?"

Her palm was on his forehead, and he felt certain he had a fever now. Everything in him, his mind, his body, his memory, flashed back to that moment on his living room floor floor two weeks ago. And last's week kiss.

Not even sure how it happened, he was kissing her. She seemed stiff at first, like she used to, but them she pressed against him and oh boy! He moved one of his hands up to her neck, her beautiful, fully exposed neck, and caressed it with his fingertips. She made some sort noise against his mouth and Holy mackerel!

Then she made another noise, something more like a scream, and leapt away from him, dropping the petri dish. It shattered on the floor.

Almost instantaneously, another yelp came from the door of her lab, and Sheldon whipped around to see Howard standing there, holding his phone in one hand and clutching his chest in another.

"You just about gave me a heart attack with that scream!" Howard said.

"Well, you shouldn't walk into people's labs while texting! It's very frightening!" Amy retorted, her face bright red. "Who knows that you might have, uh, ran in to! Like a, a, a door!"

Howard narrowed his eyes and turned his head, looking back and forth from Amy to Sheldon. "Hmmm. Looks like you could use some help with that."

"I most certainly do not need help," Sheldon replied.

"Cleaning up the petri dish?" Howard pointed own to the glass shards on the floor. "And I was coming to ask you if you needed a ride home. I've been texting you."

To be continued . . . Thank you in advance for your reviews!