*A/n hey guys! I wrote a Shamy Au based on a prompt I found on this one list and basically since it's au it's gunna be slightly (maybe more) OOC than usual but uhm I tried to make it something that wasn't too cringeworthy. Hope you enjoy, and look forward to more Au's in the future, as I am now on 'Summer break' (even tho I start back up in ten days :P ) Also new prompts would be nice and keep me motivated.. but you know.

Everything's cool :D

(Warning: Slight swearing…)

I'm posting this to Tumblr tomorrow by the way, but thought I'd post it to here first :)

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Amy, like most people she knew, had struggled with getting a job as a teenager. It was a problem that occurred while she was in college, a year earlier than usual, and continued to this day, four years later. The only thing she had now was a few degrees in science and a job as a bagger at the local supermarket.

Days for Amy were often very long, though she never showed it. Her enthusiasm was surprising, she was always punctual to work and looked more than just fantastic. Even though every customer and every employee loved her for many reasons, Amy's job was and forever would be at a standstill, because in America having a college degree doesn't mean shit.

This never affected the smile on her lips though. She'd happily work there every day for the rest of her life if the man would come more often.

He didn't look too happy the first and only time he had come. She didn't blame him, the place was often humid and filled to the brim with people, but she'd never forget the slight down curve of his lips as he approached her, and the way he subconsciously bit them when he met her eyes.

He asked her if they had any guava nectar in stock, mumbling something about it being for an experiment. By the way he stood and the manner in which he presented himself, Amy could tell he was quite smart.. and lacking social skills.

She'd happily smiled at him before leading the way.

They didn't talk much on the way to their destination, but Amy could feel his eyes grazing over her slowly, as if he were studying her. Of all the people she met, he seemed to be the most observant.

So then she asked him more about his experiment, and as she gave him a side glance she saw exactly how his eyes lit up and how his breath seemed to catch in his throat. He immediately started talking, soon sounding almost breathless.

"I'm attempting to see if consuming guava nectar in small amounts will improve my concentration..."

And Amy had no idea what he was referring to, but found it oddly cute how such a tall, handsome man seemed to have the attention span of a small child. Especially as he trailed off mid sentence to quickly scan a cereal box and pick it up excitedly.

She did feel sympathy for him though, and hoped his experiment ended in his favor, so she told him so.

He responded with a nod and then they were standing in the isle he was looking for. Giving her a small smile, he thanked her politely and disappeared in the sea of products lining the shelves. Amy smirked to herself as she watched him, because he had a nice booty, however creepy it might have been for her to be starring at it.

As Amy walked back to her position at the front of the store she whistled quietly to herself, the new Neil Diamond song stuck in her head for the time being. Her regular smile had taken to her lips quite a while ago and she supported it now as one of her coworkers approached her, and asked her to cover their shift at the register for a short while.

"Of course!"

Time seemed to go slower behind the counter, that was, until people started flooding into her line more than anyone else's. All the faces she'd probably seen before, and as she checked them out she gave each of them a compliment, speaking softly and bagging their items carefully.

After every customer she said the same thing "have a good day!", which wasn't unusual.

And then the man was standing before her, his long, slender fingers grasping the green box of guava nectar as if it were the most important thing in the world to him. He set it down on the counter awkwardly, withdrawing his hand slowly. Amy smiled at him.

His eyes found their way to the ground and, shifting from foot to foot, he blushed slightly. He regained his composure rather quickly, however, and his gaze finally settled on her.

"I don't usually come here…"

Amy nodded while taking the nectar and swiping it across the scanner.

"How come?" she asked with general curiosity, thinking she could afford it as there was a break in the flow of people in her line and Sheldon was the only one left.

He took a moment to reply, looking as if he were considering telling her some sort of secret. Eventually, he said "I like my food prepared a certain way… Leonard says it's crazy, but in all my years of living in California I have only come here twice."

Amy nodded slowly as she listened, placing his item in a plastic bag and hearing the quiet ruffle as she did so. She knew this was all he was getting, but asked anyway, that warm smile still etched on her face.

"Yes, that will be all."

"Your total will be two dollars." she said patiently, and as he pulled out his wallet she slumped slightly. "May I ask who this Leonard is?"

She asked because she simply didn't want to stop talking to him, and it seemed to spark some interest in him absolutely adored the way his face seemed to soften at the mention of his name.

"He's my friend."

Amy could tell he meant a lot to him. Even though she typically avoided assuming things, this man seemed like he didn't have many friends. She was incredibly happy for him.

Taking the offered money from his hands, Amy placed it in the cash register, imagining what would have happened if their hands had brushed, or if he had tried to flirt with her. Things like that usually didn't happen in real life, and it didn't bother Amy. She just liked to think a lot.

And feeling especially slow, she carefully ripped his receipt off the machine and searched for a pen behind the counter.

"Tell me more about Leonard." she said, trying to stall as she thought of what to write on his receipt. She wanted to give this stranger something nicer than a simple "have a good day" so a friendly message seemed appropriate.

But from behind the counter Sheldon's smile faltered slightly. He almost appeared confused for a moment. "Wouldn't it make more sense to ask about me, since Leonard isn't even here right now? Plus, he's in love with our neighbor, so he's already a lost cause."

Amy almost chuckled at this, looking up briefly and raising an eyebrow at the man."Little self centered, are we?" she asked teasingly. She hoped they were on friendly enough terms that she could do this without offending him.

"I've been told that, but I only said it because you don't even know my name." he pointed out. Slowly he began inching forward, a line of a few people beginning to form behind him.

"So what is it?" Amy asked as she scribbled her note finally. She wrote down his name immediately after he said it, only his first, and dropped the folded receipt in his bag.

"Have a nice day!" she called after his retreating form. She wasn't sure if he even heard, but put the thought to the back of her mind as she continued her duty.

Shortly after the next few customers Amy was able to return to wandering the building in search of things to clean or bag or people to listen to. She couldn't help but recall every word she'd written on Sheldon's receipt, however, and had she not been so confident in herself, she would have thought it cringeworthy.

She remembered writing that he was cute.

When he talked about things he loved.

When he walked.

When he was concentrated.

Simply when he was himself.

After a few days the encounter faded to a memory she dug up every so often. Time rolled on, and Amy was still working at the same place, and he hadn't come back.

One day a few years down the road after yet another day shift, Amy came back to her apartment to discover someone had sent her mail, the old fashioned way. Thinking it was another bill, she grabbed it and trudged inside.

When she wasn't around others, a smile all the time seemed a little ridiculous.

The door closed behind her with a soft click and she paced her living room, opening the envelope carefully. On a sheet of computer paper it was printed clearly how she was offered a position at a highly respected university not far from where she lived.

Finally she could put her degree to good use.

And somewhere in the middle paragraph, it had been stated how she would be working alongside a Dr. Sheldon Lee Cooper, a well known physicist with several varying degrees himself.

At twenty four, years after she'd first stepped foot into college to begin her career, it was finally starting to pay off.

And to celebrate, she went to the grocery store to resign, picking up a box of guava nectar before she did so.

Cheers to Sheldon, she thought with the first sip. For tying guava nectar to physics and somehow getting her involved in the project.

How Neurobiology played a part in this she had no clue.