Intro:

Author's notes: This is a sequel to Le Chatelier's Principle. If you don't want to read the entire previous story, just read Chapter 26 and you will be prepared for this story.

Intimacy Collaboration for Systematic Desensitization

Intimacy collaboration.

"The intimacy collaboration will be a joint venture between one Sheldon Lee Cooper and Amy Farrah Fowler. The collaboration will be exploring the mutual desire for greater intimacy. To wit, both parties will agree to sessions that will work on intimacy with the only goal being to become more comfortable with each other's touch. It will conducted in phases. A phase is only complete if both parties agree. After each phase is complete, that phase is considered a completed zone."

Phase One: Hands

Phase Two: Arms

Phase Three: Face and neck

Phase Four: Legs (only 5 inches above the knee)

Phase Five: Back

The new relationship agreement Amy drafted had surprised Sheldon: It was comprehensive and creative. He had expected she would plant in a timeline for coitus, anticipate marriage proposals and imagine the pitter patter of little Cooper kids in a matter of months! Instead, she drafted an agreement that was fairly agreeable to Sheldon. The part he still was petrified about was the Intimacy Collaboration. It sounded like a science experiment in groping. He promised to keep an open mind and receptive to her ideas. Their first meeting after the breakup and ( subsequent Sheldon freak-out) was coming to a close. Sheldon had signed the new agreement and notarized it.

"Not to be a stickler for the rules, Sheldon, but you know you can't notarize your own signature?"

"I would trust no one else with such an important document." Amy smiled. She knew the relationship agreement was the codification of Sheldon's love for her and a symbol of their bond to each other. It might be closest she would get to a marriage license. In fact, it was better. He needed it to feel safe, in control and secure in their relationship. It was a small price to pay for Amy now that she had drafted the new agreement, sans pesky loop holes.

"So, tell me more about the Intimacy collaboration. What are the perimeters? How long do we do this? How do we start? " Amy could tell Sheldon was nervous; When he wasn't crossed armed, he was wiping his sweaty hands on his pant legs.

"Okay, Sheldon. No need to worry. We start with minute time frame. I would touch your hands for 1 minute. Then you would touch my hands for 1 minute. Either party can continue longer with permission from the other party. If we are comfortable, then we can call that phase complete. If not, then next session we would increase to 2 minutes and go up incrementally until we are comfortable with it."

"How will we know we are comfortable with it?" Sheldon hated ambiguity.

"Are you comfortable in your spot?"

"Of course, you're not suggesting that I compare my spot with you touching me?"

"Yes, yes I am. That is your benchmark. When you are comfortable as you are with your spot, when my touch feels like second nature to you, then it is complete."

"Oh Amy, that will take ages!"

"Well, I'm not going anywhere, are you?" She smirked at him. Over the last week they had made tremendous strides in their relationship. Sheldon admitted he loved her and she to him. She told him her wants and desires and he told her his fears. They were as close as they had ever been.

"Nope, I learned my lesson. I can't deal with the withdrawal symptoms from my Fowler fix." He winked at her and changed to sing song tone while making circles with his hand on the cushion," Speaking of withdrawal symptoms, you are still welcome to move in here, ya know." He looked sheepishly at her, like a child asking for a cookie before dinner.

Amy didn't want to move things too fast to scare Sheldon off. Also, she was still upset over his leaving. She was breaking a bit on this point, but she had to stay strong and resist him.

"Now, now Sheldon, we discussed this. It is too soon."

"Sooo, when is 'not too soon'?"

"I'll keep you posted."

Sheldon slumped in his spot. He was too old to pout, but he was really good at it. As he was looking down, he saw her hands. He wanted to touch them; actually, he wanted her to touch him. He wasn't ready to ask for that yet. He looked up at her smiling face. She was so generous with her smile when she was happy. He wanted her to have that smile always. In a matter of seconds he went from looking like a spoiled child to a man longing for a woman. Such was the dichotomy of Sheldon Lee Cooper.

"Proposal: You stay here on weekends. That way we can ease into things. Kind of like the intimacy collaboration, which is brilliant, by the way. " Sheldon hoped waxing her ego would work. No such luck.

"Counter proposal: I stay here once a month, on Friday, after date nights "

"Once a month? That's hardly any… " He stopped himself when he saw her stern look. "Counter –counter proposal: bi-weekly."

"Okay, Acceptable."

Sheldon's sly grin couldn't hide his pleasure at winning. He loved winning. He knew he would get her to move in, he knew it. He just needed to crack that armour. Too bad he didn't realize he had his own shiny metal suit of his own.

"Great, back to business. Just to clarify, there are no physical requirements other than during the intimacy collaboration? I don't have to hold your hand in the theater anymore or the like?"

"Correct, no requirements."

"So," He said this as softly as he could, "how can I kiss you then?"

"Like this.." And Amy leaned in a gave him a quick kiss on the lips. She pulled away too soon for Sheldon's taste.

"So, you can kiss me whenever you want?"

"No Sheldon, I thought you wanted me to kiss you. I'm sorry. I just wanted to stress that there are no requirements on physical contact. That only means you are not required to kiss me. There are no obligations. If I want to kiss you, I will ask, to make you feel better. However, if you want to kiss me , then do it. I am giving you permission. But just not in public." She winked at him and said, "That's not how I roll."

"I don't know what roll you're referring to, but I don't like public displays of affection, either."

In her best French accent, "You and I are very much alike, Dr. Jones…"

"Are you quoting Dr. René Belloq from the 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'?" Amy just nodded and smirked at him. "God, Amy that is so hot!" He grabbed her by the back of her hair and pulled her into a rough kiss. Not an ordinary kiss. This one had passion to it, depth. Sheldon still hadn't allowed himself to use his tongue when kissing her, but that changed in a matter of seconds. Soon, their lips parted and Sheldon ran his tongue across Amy's, tasting her. His senses were in overload: Her smell of cherry shampoo, the taste of peppermint tea, hint of cobbler, her soft lower lip and wet tongue. He was shocked by his actions, pulled away quickly, but still close enough to feel her breath on his mouth. When he finally found his voice he stated sternly, "Okay, no more quoting movies I like, Vixen!"

"Sorry, Tex, that's not in the agreement. But I think I have made my point." Amy leaned back on her cushion, arms crossed in victory.

"Fine! That will be an adjustment for me."

"You seem to be adjusting nicely, Dr Cooper. "

Sheldon hated to admit she was right, so a quick subject change, "So when do we start the intimacy sessions? Hands are the first one, correct?

"Yes, we can start now and continue next week. Why don't we do just one minute now, so we can see how it works. Like a trial run. Next week, we can do a more proper session. "

"Alright, and just so you know, I will be tracking our progress using scientific principles of record keeping and logs. Proper data collection is an integral to any study."

"I do love logs! I would expect nothing less. Now do you want to go first or should I?"

"You go first, so I know what all the fuss is about." Amy frowned at him at his statement. She positioned herself facing him better and held out her hand. Sheldon slowly held out his hand palm down. Softly, she touched his hand with just her finger tips. After gliding her tips over the outline of fingers like she was tracing his hand on paper. His hands were large and strong with distinct veins, yet his skin was soft. She then gently turned his hand over and lightly touched his palm lines. His fingers were long and nimble. When she saw her time was up, she looked up at Sheldon. He was very uncomfortable watching her. She released his hand which he kept suspended in mid air. His breath was shallow and sweat had begun to form on his palms which he quickly wiped off on his pant legs.

"How was that?" Amy could tell it was hard for Sheldon.

"Well, it was more intense than I thought. It was like you were examining me."

"Well, that was the first time I really got a good look at your hands; they're beautiful by the way. You have very strong masculine hands." Sheldon almost blushed at her compliment. "Now it's your turn. " Amy held out her hand. Sheldon took it with both hands. He only held it and didn't move his fingers. His touch was too sensitive. He could feel her pulse, the softness of her skin, her slight shaking she was trying desperately to hide. He was studying it, visually. She had uneven nails, but they were strong and not too long. She had no whorish paint like Penny wore. Her hand was much smaller than his. He never noticed how he could engulf them with his. Before he got the nerve to move his fingers, the time was up. Amy pulled away slowly.

"You okay?" Her concern was touching, but Sheldon was embarrassed. It shouldn't be this hard. He has held her hand before, too many times in his opinion. This was different. There was purpose behind it and it frightened him. He didn't want to admit he was scared of touching hands. Before he had a chance to lie about his feelings, Amy spoke, almost as she had read his mind.

"Sheldon, this is going to be intense. We have held hands before, but not like this. It will take a while to adjust. This was only the first time. Don't worry, we can go at any pace you want." She was so patient and knew just what to say. Her words were like a cool wind in the summer, blowing his anxiety away. All he could do was smile.

A/N: Let me address a few things. WHen I put sciency stuff in this story, I am combing the internet for something that sounds right. I often go to Wikipedia or to abstracts to get the wording right. I often, just use the same verbiage as the article so I dont lose the meaning, or make it incorrect. I have a few chapters I do this. Just a disclaimer.