After telling Penny the story of his first kiss, Sheldon had left the room. In the doorway, she could see the others trying to guess if Sheldon had received his first kiss before they had. From the look on Howard and Raj's faces, she guessed that he had. Soon, Sheldon returned with a box. It wasn't the box with letters from his grandmother, but from the way he was holding it, it held as much sentimental value.

"I kept everything important," he said and opened the box. Inside was a jumble of seemingly random items. Penny knew that they all meant something to him. Sheldon wasn't a collector of meaningless junk. That was more her department. She inspected the box carefully. There were ticket stubs, a black hair tie, a green ribbon, a CD lyric book, and various other odds and ends. It looked like a box of things Penny had collected when she was with Kurt.

There were pictures in there as well. There were only about twenty or so, but each looked a bit worn, as if someone had thumbed through them many times. There were letters and an unmarked envelope. Penny picked up the top picture. There was a date written on the back in Sheldon's hand. Christmas, 2001. A smiling teenage Sheldon stood in front of a Christmas tree with a girl the same age. His arm was slung around her shoulders. He looked…normal. Just another 17 year old celebrating Christmas with his girlfriend.

"You look so happy," Penny said when she saw another picture. This one was a candid shot dated July, 2002. Amy and Sheldon were sitting on some steps. He was kissing her forehead as she snuggled into him.

"We were happy," Sheldon said. "Everything in this box represents something important. Even this." He held up the hair tie.

Xxx

The morning after their…interlude, Sheldon woke up feeling strange, his nerves alight and his head throbbing. For a minute, he lay in bed trying to remember what had happened the night before. The images came to him slowly. A red-lipped mouth. Hands on his shoulders. Lips against some else's. Crushing, gasping breaths. When he remembered, he sat up sharply. He had kissed Amy. She had been drunk and he had taken advantage.

After she had left, Sheldon had sat on his couch in a minor state of shock. When he had recovered, he had tasted the wine and something vaguely sweet. His reflection in the bathroom mirror had shown her lipstick all over his face. Thankfully, no one had seen him. Everyone had come home hours after she had left.

Their rooms faced each other. Before, it had never been a problem, except when she played her music too loud. Sheldon lifted a curtain to see what she was doing. Amy was awake, sitting at her desk, working on something. When she looked up, she saw him and waved at him to come closer. The gap between the Cooper and Derris houses was small and one could speak to someone across the way if they yelled loud enough. Sheldon and Amy opened their windows.

"Go outside. I'll be down in a moment," Amy half-yelled and he nodded. There was nothing he could do to stop himself. He dressed and went to the driveway, where Amy waited, wearing a plaid robe with her hair still tied up.

"Good morning Amy. Here is your book," Sheldon said robotically and handed her the book. She smiled and took it. Silently they made their way to her porch and sat on the swing.

"Last night was nice," she said shyly, playing with the sash of her robe.

"It was pleasurable." Sheldon couldn't meet her gaze. "But you were intoxicated. It wasn't right to accept an advance made in that state. You didn't know what you were doing."

"So you think I didn't know what I was doing?" Amy's voice took on a brittle edge. "I knew perfectly well what I was doing Sheldon."

"Are you attracted to me?" Sheldon hated himself for sounding so weak, so desperate. Rather than speak, Amy showed him by moving closer, putting her hands on his thighs and nearing her face to his, until their toothpaste breath mingled.

The swing creaked under them as everything seemed to blur together. Their eyes blurred until all they could see was the others. Pupils enlarged and their breathing grew ragged. The chirping of the birds faded away, the sun seemed to grow brighter. Sheldon reached a hand out, then retracted it. He had no idea where to put it. Their foreheads met and she laughed softly as his insecurity.

"You're just so weird, its attractive," she whispered almost into his mouth, the smell of Crest washing into his mouth.

This time it was all him. He didn't want to have any control anymore. So Sheldon pulled her on top of him and kissed her. It was different. Mouths opened on impact, tongues dancing while teeth clacked and arms encircled. Sheldon smelled her shampoo, something flowery and sweet. With a few tugs that made Amy shudder and jerk against him, he pulled the hair tie from her hair. Her hair fell down their shoulders, curtaining their faces.

"Sheldon…," she moaned as his hands threaded through her hair.

"What the hell is going on?" Amy's father and Sheldon's father had appeared on the porch, both carrying fishing poles and tackle boxes. The speaker was Sheldon's father. Amy's father was gripping his pole like he wanted to smack Sheldon with it.

"CPR practice." Amy's face and tone were bland as she got off Sheldon and fixed her hair. "I have to get certified to become a lifeguard. Sheldon was pretending to be a CPR dummy."

"Alright," Amy's father said and ambled down to the truck.

"Do me proud son," Sheldon's father said before he left. As soon as they were out of sight, Amy started to giggle and Sheldon turned bright red.

"You just lied to your father. And my father." Sheldon was flustered. "Why did you lie? Why?"

"So they wouldn't get mad," Amy said. "Well, your daddy seemed okay with what he saw."

"I shudder at the talk he's going to force us to have later." Sheldon sat up. "Why did your father believe us?"

"Oh, he hasn't been right since he fell off the roof a few years ago." Amy waved a hand at the memory. "I gotta get back inside before my mother decides to poke her head into my room." She kissed him quickly on the cheek and went back inside. Sheldon stared at the hair tie around his wrist. A strand of hair was still around it. He smiled for no reason and quietly slipped into his own house.