Christmas Eve, Amy's Apartment

Amy couldn't be happier. She had just hosted for the first time a successful Christmas dinner with their beloved friends. Sheldon gave her the most amazing present and he loved the Meemaw cookies she baked for him. She never wanted that evening to end. But she had an idea to entertain her friends a bit more. She found out about a traditional Victorian parlour game called Hot Boiled Beans.

She happily explained the rules, and even though at first they didn't seem excited about it, she was sure they would enjoy it.

"If you people think this is better than Tom Hanksgiving, you are all crazy!" Raj muttered to the gang sitting at the table.

Amy pretended not to hear his friend's mumble, finished the explanation and picked up a small nut from a basket.

"All right, who is first?"

"I'll go, Ames!" Penny offered herself. 'It can't get any worse, right?' She thought.

"Great, Bestie! Now go hide in my bedroom while we hide the nut!"

Penny filled up her glass with wine before taking it to the room with her. After they heard her close the door, the group stood up and started thinking about a place to hide the nut. Leonard suggested to put it in a pencil support on her desk. Everyone agreed, most of them still not really into the game.

"Great idea, Leonard! Do you want to call her back?" asked Amy.

"Ok, I'll go there."

"No, you have to say hot boiled beans and bacon-"

"Ok, ok! I'll do it. Hot boiled beans and bacon for supper, hurry up before it gets cold!"

"Ok, everybody, be discreet about the location it's hidden! Don't forget to say hot or cold!"

Penny opened the door and looked at the gang spread all over the living room.

"Am I supposed to look for it all over the place?"

"Yes, Bestie, that's the fun of the game!"

"Of course it is." Penny replied, placing the empty cup on the table. "Let me see... Maybe here?" She came closer to the Christmas tree.

"Ohhhh Very cold!" Sheldon answered. "Amy, you should have picked up an easier game if Penny would be playing too."

"Hey! Shut up! I'll find that stupid nut, you'll see!" She started looking around the apartment, while everybody yelled 'Cold!', 'Getting warm!', 'Cold again!'.

Penny approached the kitchen, and cheerfully picked up another nut from the basket. "I found them all!"

The whole group laughed. They didn't want to admit, but the game was not that bad after all.

"Oh, come on, guys, won't you give me a hint?"

Sheldon stepped forward.

"Alright, Penny, if you were a scientist analyzing fundamental particles in the place you stand, you would see that they would have minimal vibrational motion, retaining only quantum mechanical, zero-point energy-induced particle motion. So?" Sheldon raised an eyebrow, suggestively.

"How do you think that was helpful?"

"Dear Lord, woman, they didn't teach you about Zero Kelvin at school? That's 10-year old children knowledge!"

"Oh, I guess cold, then?"

Sheldon rolled his eyes and looked at Amy again. "Do you see what I was talking about?"

After a few minutes of hot and cold, Penny finally found the nut, and she picked Sheldon for being next. After he entered Amy's bedroom, Penny hid the nut in the frontal opening of Amy's vest.

"Let's see if he will be the genius to find it." She whispered, blinking at Amy and turned to the door to shout. "Hot boiled beans and bacon for supper! Hurry up, Sheldon, before it gets cold!"

Sheldon opened the door and quickly scanned the room.

"This is going to be easy. I have an eidetic memory, I can quickly recognize whether an object is out of place." He came closer to the bookshelf.

"Freezing!" Penny yelled.

He scoffed. "I was just checking if the books were still in the alphabetical order."

Amy was behind the counter in the kitchen, so the nut bump would not be visible to Sheldon. She knew that he would easily notice it.

He kept on scanning the room, looking at every single corner. He walked towards the kitchen.

"Oooh! Things are getting hot!" Howard exclaimed.

Sheldon blushed, looking at Amy, who was just as red.

"Very funny, Howard! Excuse me, Amy, I need to inspect the counter."

"Err... Alright..." She slowly took a step to the left, trying not to look suspicious. She quickly placed a hand inside her vest to hide it. Unfortunately Sheldon was not buying it.

"Amy, is there anything in your vest?"

"My hand! My hand is in my vest."

"And... What else are you hiding in there?" He slid his hand behind hers, slightly brushing her breast in his move. He felt the nut wrapped among her fingers closed tight, which she quickly let go with his touch.

"Nothing there, uh?" He looked down at her, realizing just now how close they were. He gulped, gazing at her eyes.

"Steamy hot!" Penny yelled from the other side of the room.

"Ooh, this game keeps getting better and better!" said Raj steepling, his fingertips dancing cheerfully.

Sheldon was frozen in the same place. He didn't remove his hand from her vest, feeling the warmth of her body against his hand, the slight movement of her belly with every breath. It was Amy who made a move. She intertwined her fingers with his, the nut among their palms, and slowly removed them from her vest.

She smiled at him before releasing his hand, not breaking eye contact. He was still holding the nut and looking at her. At that moment he forgot where they were, he forgot about his friends, and he forgot about the nut, which fell on the floor as he brought his hands to her hips, stepping closer to her and kissing her softly.

Amy's brain stopped functioning for a moment, as she felt his soft lips moving against hers. She grasped his arms for balance, and he tightened the grip on her hips, deepening the kiss. She didn't notice all her friends slowly leaving through the front door, Penny threw a quick glance before closing the door, smiling at the lovey-dovey couple.

It was several minutes later when they broke the kiss, when Amy noticed they were alone.

"When did everybody leave?"

Sheldon looked around the empty apartment. He felt ashamed for a while, realizing that he had just repeated the 'Tihuana Sex Show' now in front of his friends, but at this time he was the one who started it. His hands were still resting on Amy's hips, and he felt her arms wrapped around his waist. He didn't answer her question, instead he leaned again to capture her lips, this time sliding his hand up inside of her vest, feeling the warmth of her back through her thin shirt. Amy melted with his touch, feeling her knees tremble and her legs weak. Sheldon sensed she was losing balance and grabbed her by the waist with both hands, placing his shaky girlfriend on the top of the counter.

"Better?"

She nodded in response. "Hmmhmm."

Placing one hand back inside her vest, he brought her closer, and the other hand caressed her chin, raising her face.

"You look pretty tonight."

"R-really?

"Of course, Amy. I told you I would say it to you more often after prom."

"You look really handsome too."

"I know." He grinned, bringing her face closer to him and placing a soft kiss on her lips again. And again. And again. After a while they were lost in a make out session. Their bodies were almost glued together, as Sheldon devoured her lips. He broke the kiss for a while to look down and find the buttons of her vest. Amy took the opportunity to ease the knot of his tie, which he thanked with a quick peck before she removed it completely. He took out her vest, placing it on the top of the counter beside her. She opened the buttons of his shirt near his neck, and he mirrored her movements, releasing her from the big golden collar button, making the ruffle part of her shirt fall at the side, revealing her neck and a bit of her cleavage. He gulped before lowering his head to greet her soft skin with his mouth.

Amy brought her hands to his nape, touching his hair softly, feeling his soft kisses slowly moving down as he continued to unbutton her shirt. His hands quickly completed the task, revealing a neat white bra as her shirt fell from her shoulders. She suddenly felt too exposed, covering herself with her arms.

"Sh-Sheldon..."

He lifted his head, looking at her with lustful eyes, breathing heavily. "Was that too much?"

She closed her eyes and nodded, and he immediately helped her close her shirt.

"I'm sorry, Amy! I don't know how I lost control..."

"No, don't be sorry, it's just that it was too fast, I felt overwhelmed."

He looked down, rebuttoning his own shirt, and she cupped his face with both hands.

"Sheldon, I'm sorry I panicked, but I liked it very much."

"Me too. I love you, Amy."

"I know." She teased.

He helped her stand up, bringing her close to a hug.

"Let's start the cleaning?" He asked, kissing her forehead. "The furniture out of place is driving me crazy."

Sheldon helped her to do the dishes, and after that while she folded the table towel he piled the chairs at a corner, dismantling the table.

"When are you returning this furniture?"

"On Friday."

"Alright, will you help me bring the couch back to its place?"

After the living room was organized back to it's normal arrangement, Amy prepared tea and Sheldon turned on the TV. They were exhausted, especially Amy. It had been a long day for her, with all the party preparations and the cooking. She brought them two mugs, handing him one and sitting by his side.

"I'm so tired!"

"Yeah, and it's getting late." He said, taking a sip of his tea.

"Yeah... You could spend the night here if you like."

He looked at her, surprised by the sudden offer.

"I can sleep on the couch and you take the bed, I have your emergency bag here, so you have clean pajamas and a change of clothes for tomorrow."

"But Amy, you're exhausted, I don't want you to sleep on the couch, it's uncomfortable."

Amy looked down disappointed, she was really hoping he would stay. She was definitely not in the mood for driving him home.

"We could share your bed, if you don't mind."

"Are you sure?" She looked up at him, her eyes lit up.

"We've been together for over 3 years, I guess we can share a bed." He looked down at his tea, taking another sip.

"I'd like that very much."

They finished drinking their tea, and while Amy cleaned the mugs Sheldon went to the bathroom to get ready for bed. She walked to her bedroom, thinking about which nightgown she would wear. She opened a drawer and started searching for the one she had in mind. She heard Sheldon opening the door and she quickly grabbed her stuff and went to the bathroom to get changed.

Sheldon sat on her bed, looking around her bedroom, a place he had been just a few times before. He took a deep breath. 'It's not that bad, I just need to control myself...' he thought. He pulled the covers out and adjusted himself in. He was surprised by how comfortable he felt there.

Amy opened the door and Sheldon turned his head to look at his girlfriend, when his eyes popped out and his mouth dropped open. She looked gorgeous in a long black lacy nightgown. She turned around, the fabric floating around her legs.

"How do I look?"

"Fascinating."

She smiled at him, climbing beside him in bed. He instantly raised his right arm to accommodate her with him, which she happily accepted, cuddling with him.

"This is nice." She said in a low voice, almost whispering, laying her head on his chest.

"Definitely." He replied, kissing her forehead and wrapping her with both arms.

"I wish we could do this more often."

"We could include sleepovers in the Relationship Agreement."

She looked up at him, smiling. "That would fulfill one of my New Year's resolutions."

"Do you make New Year's resolutions?"

"Yes, every year."

"I didn't know that."

"Everybody makes it, Sheldon, you don't?"

"Amy. I have a life plan, I don't need to make empty promises every year."

"My promises are not empty."

"I didn't mean yours, but most people's are."

"True. But, I also like to think about the things I want to accomplish in the short-term, and I think it's a good time to reevaluate the past year and imagine what could be done for the following one."

"Well, I never saw it through this point of view. What are your resolutions?"

"I already revealed one of them... I tell you the rest if you make yours."

"Amy! That's not fair!"

She looked at him with puppy eyes, holding him tighter.

"Alright, I'll make mine. Then you tell me what yours are?"

"Yes." She nodded.

"I'll do it during the weekend. It has to be ready before New Year, doesn't it?"

"Preferably, but it's not an obligation. Just write down what you think and then we show each other, right?"

"Ok, it's a deal." He leaned his head and kissed her. "Now let's sleep, it's way past my bedtime." He yawned.

She kissed him on the cheek, caressing his belly. "Good night, Sheldon."

"Good night, Amy."

A/N: Hey guys, thanks for reading the first chapter. It will be a short story, though. I will not promise an amount of chapters, I always guess it wrong anyway. ;-)

I hope you enjoyed it! And your reviews will be very welcomed!

Thanks in advance!