Sheldon didn't know why the nightmares started. He knew when they started, and he remembered a great deal of each of them. They weren't like the nightmares that he had when he felt guilty or when he started reading that infernal book. These were the kind of nightmares that made him feel real, heart-stopping terror. They weren't always the same, and they didn't always make sense, but they were getting more and more frequent.
Sheldon started out simply when it came to trying to get rid of the dreams. No more horror movies. It was driving him nuts that he wasn't caught up on The Walking Dead, but he had to stop watching and even stop reading the comic book when the nightmares started taking a zombie tint. The dreams didn't go away though, they just shifted again.
Sheldon was starting to feel afraid to go to sleep. He would sit up in his apartment way past his usual bedtime, and wait until he was too exhausted to sit up any longer. Falling asleep sitting in front of his TV in his spot helped, but the sleep was short and of bad quality.
The lack of sleep was starting to get to Sheldon. He had bags under his eyes and he just wasn't acting like his usual self. He was forgetful and even more grumpy than normal. His friends were worried about him, and even his mother had been called. Still, no solution had been found. After weeks of this, most of his friends just tried to avoid him if possible.
Amy never avoided Sheldon during this time. She was trying to find him answers using neuroscience, but even there the success had been limited. When Sheldon forgot to meet Amy for lunch, she went to find him. He was just staring at a blank white board when she walked in.
"What was it this time?" Amy asked. She frequently asked about his dreams. She thought that maybe talking about them would help. It hadn't so far.
"People kidnapped and murdered my entire family," Sheldon said tiredly.
"Come on," Amy said as she tried to hide how horrified she felt that he had to keep living these things over and over again.
"What?"
"I'm taking you home. You are taking a nap. You're barely functional these days," Amy told him.
"I don't want to take a nap," Sheldon complained.
"I don't care. I'm taking you home. You are going to lie down at least. Let's go," Amy said. She knew that she was the only who could talk to him that way. Amy watched as Sheldon tried to put his windbreaker on upside down. She sighed and helped him put it on before grabbing his bag and carrying it out to her car for him.
Amy walked Sheldon up to his apartment and went inside with him. She told him to go put his pajamas on, and he did as she said. Then he came back out of his room and looked at Amy instead of going to bed.
"I really don't want to go to sleep," Sheldon said. "It will be more of the same."
"How about I come sit with you for a little while? I'm usually not as scared if I'm not alone. Maybe it will help if I sit with you while you fall asleep," Amy suggested.
"I'm not scared. I just don't like the dreams," Sheldon said. They both knew he was scared. He was terrified, but it helped him to say it.
"Okay. Still, I'll sit with you for a little while. I can sing you Soft Kitty," Amy suggested.
"I'm not sick," Sheldon said. "However, you may sit with me for a couple of minutes."
Amy followed Sheldon into his room. She watched as he got into the middle of his bed, but then he moved over a little so that she could sit on the other side of the bed with him. Amy stayed on top of the covers. She hummed a song that he didn't know, and he did feel more comfortable with her there.
Sheldon was so exhausted that he fell asleep quickly despite the fear he felt. Amy watched him. When he was fast asleep, she thought about leaving, but then thought better of it. She decided to stay with him for a little longer. Maybe if he woke up from one of his nightmares, but saw a familiar face, he wouldn't feel as scared for as long.
In the quiet of Sheldon's room, it wasn't hard for Amy to drift off to sleep herself. She hadn't planned on sleeping there, but she woke up to Sheldon's room dark and the noise of her friends out in the living room. Sheldon was still sleeping peacefully next to her.
Amy started to get up to tell everybody to keep it down, but it was too late. Sheldon was stirring next to her. He woke up in the dark of his room. Amy didn't know if he had had any bad dreams, so she said, "Hey. You're okay. You're awake."
"I know I'm awake," Sheldon said sleepily. Then he looked over at the clock. It was almost seven at night. It was the longest he could remember sleeping without a nightmare in weeks. He usually slept in three or four hour stretches, but this time he'd slept nearly six hours. It still wasn't nearly enough to make him feel rested, but it gave him hope for the first time in a while. Then he realized that Amy was still there with him. "Thank you. I didn't have any nightmares," Sheldon told her calmly.
"Sheldon, dinner," Leonard yelled. "Do you think Amy is coming over?"
"Yes. I believe she is," Sheldon said before smiling at her. He was feeling tired, but the best he had in a long time. Amy smiled back at him, sharing the joke.
Then they went back out to the living room.
"Oh. She's already here," Leonard said.
"Yes. As I informed you earlier, Amy drove me home so that I could rest. Then she stayed with me for a while," Sheldon explained.
"Okay. Did you have a good nap?" Leonard asked.
"I did. Thank you," Sheldon said before sitting down to eat.
They had a pleasant enough dinner together. Everyone was pleased that Sheldon wasn't making nonsensical statements or snapping at everyone. Sheldon wasn't the nicest person or even the most logical on his best days, but the lack of sleep had really affected him. The last time everyone was over, he spend the whole time trying to convince them that they were all in a simulation. That in and of itself wasn't very strange, but all of his reasoning had to do with candy flavors. This went on for over an hour before he got up, called them all idiots, and demanded that they leave.
He must have gotten some decent sleep for once. The conversation tonight was very subdued and involved which X-Men character would most likely to win a reality competition. It was clear that Sheldon was much more like himself again.
However, when everyone started leaving, Amy got up to leave as well. Sheldon got scared again.
"You can't go," he told her.
"Why not?" Amy asked.
"You... You helped me sleep. I need you to stay again," he told her.
Amy looked at Sheldon. She could see the real yearning in his eyes. He'd gotten enough sleep to think straight, but he still looked like a mess. His hair was messy from sleep, and she just noticed that his pajama top was buttoned incorrectly from when he had put it on earlier.
"Okay. I'll be back in an hour. I need to pick up some stuff from home, but I'll stay with you tonight," Amy told him.
The relief on his face was very plain. Amy walked over to him and kissed him on the cheek before walking out his front door. She had been so worried about him for a while, and if her presence would help him get rest that his mother, medication, and therapy weren't, she couldn't turn him down.
Amy hurried home to take a quick shower and pack a small bag of clothing so that she could return to Sheldon's apartment. While she did that, Sheldon sat on his couch and stared at the TV. He had been so confident that Amy was the solution to his problems when she was there, but what if it had just been luck?
It was only forty-five minutes later when Amy knocked on Sheldon's door again. He opened the door for her.
"Would you like something to drink or should we just go to bed?" Sheldon asked. He wanted to just go back to sleep. The few hours awake were weighing on him, but he knew he should be a good host. Especially because he knew he was being demanding by making Amy stay with him.
"Let's just go to sleep," Amy said. Amy believed that the nap earlier would keep her awake most of the night, but she wanted to get Sheldon into bed. She could see that he was fading before her eyes.
Amy changed into her nightgown, and then found Sheldon. He was in bed, but he was still awake.
"Everything okay?" Amy asked. She was nervous. It was the first time that she was going to spend the night in the bed of the man she loved. They weren't going to engage in coitus, but that still didn't make it any less momentous.
"Yeah. I just didn't want to go to sleep until you were back," Sheldon admitted. "Is that side okay?" Sheldon sounded a little nervous too, but Amy assumed that was because he wasn't sure if he would be able to get through the night like he hoped.
"Yeah. This side is fine," Amy said. Then she pulled the covers back and got into the bed.
"Goodnight, Amy," Sheldon said before turning off his bedside light.
"Goodnight, Sheldon," Amy returned.
Sheldon heard the screaming, and he knew it was another nightmare. Why else would someone be screaming? Then he felt a kick in his leg. He was terrified, but he couldn't understand the context of what was happening. There had been no build up. Just the screaming that sounded a lot like the love of his life.
"Amy," he cried before he was kicked again. The pain felt so real, and as he opened his eyes, he noticed he was in his room. Amy was next to him, but something was wrong. She was screaming and she was thrashing, but he couldn't see any kind of threat.
Leonard rushed in and leaned next to her. "She's having a night terror, Sheldon. Give her space, but talk to her. My brother had these when he was a kid. You need to remind her that she's safe," Leonard said. He figured that Sheldon's voice would be more calming to Amy than his own.
"Amy. It's okay. You're safe. I love you. You're safe. It's okay," Sheldon was chanting at her. Amy stopped screaming and settled down after a little bit. After another moment, Amy opened her eyes and saw Sheldon and Leonard leaning over her.
"Ah, man. I just had a night terror, didn't I?" Amy asked. It was the only reason why her boyfriend and his roommate would be surrounding her like that in the middle of the night.
"Yeah," Leonard said. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I'm sorry. They are worse when I sleep away from home. I just didn't think I would even sleep because I accidentally took such a long nap with Sheldon this afternoon. Maybe I should go home. I'm sorry," Amy said.
"No. Wait," Sheldon said before she even started to get out of bed. The put his hand on her arm. "Please don't go." They both watched as Leonard let himself back out of Sheldon's room before Amy spoke again.
"I don't think you are going to get caught up on your sleep if I'm screaming my head off in your bed, Sheldon," Amy told him.
"I didn't have a single nightmare over the last," Sheldon looked over at the clock on his bedside table, "five hours," he finished. "You can't leave me," Sheldon said sadly.
"Are you sure?" Amy asked. "What if I have another terror?"
"I handled the last one fine. I just told you that it was okay, that you were safe, and that I love you, and you calmed down. Considering I didn't know what was happening, I think I did very well."
Tears sprang into Amy's eyes and she threw her arms around Sheldon and gave him a kiss before hugging him tightly.
"What are you doing?" Sheldon asked, but he didn't push her away.
"I love you, too," Amy said.
"I know," Sheldon said. Then he got why Amy was practically strangling him with a hug. He had never said out loud that he loved her before. "You aren't mad that I said it in bed, are you?"
Amy pulled back and looked at him. "No. Why would that bother me?"
"The first time Leonard told Penny that he loved her, they were in bed. They broke up over it. I was just checking that you weren't mad about it."
"We are in a different kind of relationship than Leonard and Penny."
"I know. Ours is much better," Sheldon said with a sly smile. "Okay. Let's go back to sleep."
"Okay," Amy agreed. She stopped touching Sheldon all together and moved back to her side of the bed.
Neither of them had another nightmare that night. Or the night after that. Or any of the nights they were together.