"Wait. They're twins," Amy said suddenly as she, Penny, and Bernadette were leaving the mall.
"Who are twins?" Bernadette asked.
"Sheldon and Missy. They're twins. She said she was there to for him to buy her a birthday present. That means his birthday must be soon too. Do either of you know when it is?"
Both girls shook their heads. Amy tried to let it go. It must not be a big deal to Sheldon if he didn't even mention it to her. Right?
Still, that night it kept bothering Amy. She called Sheldon's house. She wanted to know when it was. She wouldn't make a scene about Sheldon's birthday, but maybe she would make him a cake.
"Hello, Mrs. Cooper, it's Amy Farrah Fowler," Amy said.
"Hello, Amy, dear. Sheldon is at the library. He'll be back soon, I'm sure. Do you want me to tell him you called?"
"No. That's okay. Um. Maybe you can help me though. I ran into Sheldon at the mall today, and Missy was talking about birthday gifts," Amy started.
"Oh. He is hard to shop for, isn't he? I'm sure he'll love anything you get him, or he'll probably just be glad that you are going to be here at the party."
"The party?"
"Yes. His and Missy's birthday party tomorrow. He told me he invited you."
"Right. Of course. I just forgot what time it started. That's why I called," Amy lied. She grabbed a pen to write down the time for Sheldon's birthday party. It started right at seven-thirty, which was right in the middle of her date with Stuart."
"Thanks, Mrs. Cooper," Amy said.
"No problem. I'll see you tomorrow," Sheldon's mother said before hanging up the phone.
Amy had no idea to do. She didn't even want to go on this stupid date with Stuart. Now she was going to miss Sheldon's birthday party? Why hadn't he said anything sooner? Stupid boys. Still, she made this date with Stuart. She couldn't just cancel on him for Sheldon. It wouldn't be right to get Stuart's hopes up just to let him down in the end.
Amy tossed and turned all night while her mind waged war against her. By morning, Amy still had no idea what was the right course of action. Still, she went out to a store to buy Sheldon a brand new t-shirt for his birthday. She could at least get him a gift even if she couldn't make it to his party. She found one that a big Superman logo on it. It seemed like something he would wear, but by the time Amy got home from shopping, she didn't have time to run the gift over to Sheldon's before her date.
Amy had made a commitment, so she was going on her date with Stuart. That didn't mean she was happy about it. She put on the skirt and blouse she bought while shopping with Penny and Bernadette the next day. Amy had to admit that she looked good in the new outfit. She twirled a little in the mirror to get a good look when there was a knock at her front door. It was Stuart.
Amy's mother was at the door when Amy got down the stairs. Stuart looked nervous, and he was babbling to Amy's mother. If Mrs. Fowler was being honest with herself, she thought that she liked Sheldon better. It seemed like Amy liked Sheldon better too, but this was her daughter's life.
"Bye, Mother. I'll be back before ten," Amy promised.
"Wait. I want to hear about your plans."
"We're just going to a movie, Mother," Amy explained. Then she grabbed Stuart roughly by the arm and pushed him out of her house. She knew where she wanted to be, and it wasn't there and it wasn't with Stuart. She wanted to be with her best friend at his birthday party. Amy thought of the wrapped gift up in her room waiting for Monday when Amy would try to make up missing Sheldon's party. This all would be a lot easier if he would have just said something before Amy made this stupid date.
At the theater, Stuart bought the tickets, so Amy paid for the popcorn even though Stuart kept insisting that he could take care of it. Amy didn't want to owe Stuart anything. Then they found seats together in the theater, and that sinking feeling was getting stronger in Amy's stomach. She thought she might throw up.
"I can't stay," she admitted suddenly as the lights went down.
"It's Sheldon, isn't it?" Stuart asked. He seemed sad, but not bitter. He knew the whole time that something was going on between Amy and Sheldon.
"I'm sorry," was all Amy could say. It seemed that everyone knew that she loved Sheldon. They probably all saw it before she did. Amy kissed Stuart on the cheek and left him alone to watch the movie with his big, lonely bucket of popcorn.
Amy ran all the way home. Mrs. Fowler was shocked when her only daughter burst through the door, only to run up the stairs to get Sheldon's present and then run right back out the door without more than a repeat "I'll be back before ten."
Gasping for breath, Amy knocked on Sheldon's front door. Sheldon's mother answered, and Amy was surprised that there were so many people here. Sheldon wasn't at all popular, so she couldn't believe that there were dozens of people here already.
"Hello, Amy Farrah Fowler. You look… lovely. He's in the basement," Mary told Amy as she pointed the slightly sweaty and winded girl to the door. Amy nodded as she eyed the partygoers who she now realized were here for Sheldon's twin sister. Amy went downstairs to the basement where Sheldon was sitting alone on a couch playing video games. The party hat on his head was so sad that Amy actually laughed to stop herself from crying.
"Hi," Amy said brightly. "Happy Birthday! Why didn't you tell me?"
"Hello, Amy Farrah Fowler. Thank you, and in answer to your question, I knew you were busy," he explained.
"You are so silly. Why didn't you invite the guys? They would have come. I doubt they get invited to a lot of parties even if Leonard and Howard have girlfriends who are way too pretty for either of them."
Sheldon just shrugged. He always hated his birthday because no one he ever invited came to his party. He had given up on trying to really participate.
"Let's call them!" Amy offered.
"It's okay," Sheldon told her.
"No, it's not, silly." Amy pushed her gift at Sheldon. She smiled while he opened it. He said he loved it, but Amy still didn't expect it when he pulled off the t-shirt he was already wearing in favor of the new one. It took all of the strength Amy had to no reach out and touch his stomach when he was standing shirtless in front of her.
"Oh," Amy squeaked as she put her hand over her mouth.
"Are you okay, Amy Farrah Fowler?"
"More than fine. It fits?" Amy asked.
"Like a glove," Sheldon told her.
"Let's go get the numbers for the math team. I'll call Penny," Amy told Sheldon once she got her head back on straight. She had it bad for Sheldon, and she didn't know what to do. For now she was going to make his birthday okay.
Sheldon nodded and they went upstairs to invite all of the guys and their girlfriends over for Sheldon's birthday party. As Amy suspected, none of them had plans for the night except for Leonard and Penny who decided they could drop their previously planned dinner to come to Sheldon's party.
Raj even stopped somewhere to get Sheldon a book as a present on his way over. Sheldon kind of liked the idea of having friends. Even if Raj then immediately dropped them to hang out with Lincoln who was already there for Missy's party.
"Well, I can't compete with his boyfriend," Sheldon joked as he led Leonard, Penny, Howard, Bernadette, and Amy back downstairs to the basement. He thought that he could probably get a big game of Mystic Warlords of Ka'a started or even a short campaign of Dungeons and Dragons going if he had that many people over.
"We don't call them boyfriends," Leonard pointed out.
"Why not? They are clearly interested in each other," Sheldon wondered out loud.
"Because Raj is scared. He told me that Lincoln invited him to prom though, so he's going to need to decide what he wants to do soon enough," Penny explained.
The group sat around the table in the basement where Sheldon was playing dragon master to them all, including the three very bored looking girls.
"Hey, Shelly. How are things going down here?" Sheldon's mother asked when she went to check on him and Amy a little later. She didn't want to constantly check on them, but she also didn't want to leave her son alone with a girl who might or might not be his girlfriend for too long. She was shocked to see the larger group who were still setting up their character sheets for D&D.
"Things are good, Mom," Sheldon told her. He silently pled with her to not make a big deal out of the group surrounding him. None of his other birthday parties had ever had this many people at it.
"You kids know that there's plenty of food upstairs, right? That's not just for Missy's friends, but Shelly's too. Plus we are going to have cake soon. I'll come back to get y'all for that," Mary told the group.
"Thanks, Mrs. Cooper," Amy said for the group.
"No problem. Y'all have fun," Mary told them. Then she left them alone, but couldn't help but smile to herself. Her Shelly had friends.
The group had more fun with the game once it actually started, and Sheldon offered to set up a bigger campaign for them to do next time. The girls weren't sure they were up for that, but Leonard agreed immediately. Sheldon decided that he liked Leonard. He was glad that Amy had pushed for him to call everyone.
"What happened with your date with Stuart?" Sheldon finally asked after everyone else left and Amy stayed to help him clean up the soda cans and paper plates that now littered the basement.
"Oh. That. I just realized I wanted to be somewhere else. Someone else was more important," Amy muttered vaguely with a dismissive wave of her hand. Sheldon heard what she wasn't saying though. She wanted to be here. With him. Because he was more important.
Sheldon set down the plates he stacked together and walked over to Amy Farrah Fowler. She swallowed hard as she peered back up at him. He was so tall. Then he started to bend toward Amy. Amy's eyes closed automatically when their lips met.
"Sorry. I should have asked," Sheldon started to say as he pulled away. Such an uncharacteristic small amount of thought went into kissing Amy Farrah Fowler that Sheldon felt exposed now that he had done it. He opened his mouth to keep explaining when Amy put her hand on the back of Sheldon's neck to pull him close. From there she started kissing him. All apologies then went forgotten.
Amy was in a daze as she walked home from Sheldon's. He was her boyfriend. Sheldon Cooper, boy genius, was her boyfriend. After they kissed, Sheldon sat Amy down on the couch where they talked until Amy had to go home. It was so comfortable even if Amy couldn't stop smiling because she had just had her first kiss ever.
"Amy Farrah Fowler, will you be my girlfriend?" Sheldon asked seriously after she stood.
"Yes, Sheldon Cooper. I would love that," Amy assured him.
"Great. I'll get you the paperwork soon," Sheldon told her. Amy didn't get that joke, but she gave him a toothy smile all the same. Then he kissed her once more before walking her out of his house.
Amy couldn't stop smiling while she walked through her front door.
"Amy, sweetheart," Amy's mother called. Because Amy was in her head, she almost didn't hear her mother. She only noticed that her parents were waiting for her as she grabbed a snack. She beamed at them.
"Amy Farrah, we have something to talk to you about," Amy's mother said.
"What's up?" Amy asked with a happy sigh.
"We have good news! We are moving again. We both know that you haven't loved Texas. Dad has been given an opportunity to move us to California, and we are taking it. We hope that it will be somewhere you can have a great senior year. A fresh start, right?"
Amy just stared at both of her parents blankly. They were moving her? Again? When she had friends and a boyfriend. She was in love with Sheldon Cooper, and they were going to take her away from him. Yeah, she didn't love Texas exactly, but she did love the people here. This wasn't fair. She clenched her fists, but tried not to scream.
"When?" Amy croaked. She was blinking back tears even though she hadn't been bothered by a move in years. Moving is what she did. It's why she didn't even try to make friends. This time her parents had told her that she was going to stay here until she graduated. She felt so stupid for believing them and forming attachments. Instead, it was just like all of the other places. How long had they even been there? Four months, if she could remember correctly.
"At the end of the school year. Then we'll go to California. You'll go to the beach and get sun. It'll be great!" Amy's mother explained.
"Yeah. It'll be great," Amy agreed, but her heart wasn't in it. "I guess I have time to say goodbye to Sheldon. I mean, I love him, but this will be okay." Then Amy ran up the stairs to her room.
Amy's mother was alarmed, so she followed her daughter up the stairs. She knocked on Amy's door. "Amy Farrah, are you okay?"
"Yes, Mother. I am fine," Amy cried.
Amy's mother still opened the door and saw Amy lying on her bed with her pillow in her arms. Mrs. Fowler walked over to Amy and started stroking her hair.
"You're in love with Sheldon?"
"Of course not. I'm being a little melodramatic. I have a little crush on him," Amy swore. She knew it her heart that she did love Sheldon, but she was always the good girl when it came to moves. She hadn't shed a tear over a move since she was eight. She was a little upset, but she would get through this.
"Are you sure?"
"Of course. I'm just being a teenager," Amy promised. Amy never lied to her parents, so she was surprised that she managed to sell this one. Then again, it might be what Amy's mother wanted to hear.
"You're going to love California, and I promise you'll get to spend your whole senior year in one place. It'll be great," Amy's mother told her.
"Right," Amy agreed. She gave her mother a smile that didn't go to her eyes.
Amy spent the whole night tossing and turning. She had no idea how she was going to tell Sheldon that she was going to move again. She didn't want to tell him. She wanted to go to school on Monday and kiss Sheldon again. She wanted to walk around the halls with her hand in his.
By Monday morning, Amy was resolved that she was going to just tell Sheldon the truth. That they still had a few months together, and she still wanted to be his girlfriend. It wasn't like this didn't have an end date anyway. Amy wanted to go to college on the East Coast and Sheldon, ironically, wanted to go to school in California. It wasn't like they were going to get married or anything.
That plan flew out the window when Amy saw Sheldon waiting for her by the bike racks. He kissed her as soon as she finished locking up her bicycle. Amy decided to just let herself feel this for a little while longer. She could tell him tomorrow.
Only, Amy didn't tell him the next day. Or the day after that. Or any time that week. Every time she looked at him, she couldn't bring herself to tell him. Not when Sheldon invited her over to play games after school where he always stole a kiss or two. She really couldn't tell him when his fingers slipped into hers during Biology. She didn't want to burst the bubble of her first love. She wanted to just feel it a little longer.
Amy almost told him when they got in their first fight, but even then she couldn't bring herself to do it. Everyday, she swore she would tell him, but everyday something made her keep it to herself. Maybe she was just lying to herself just as much as she was lying to Sheldon. It was easier to face the day when Sheldon was just her boyfriend, and they were happy. One day, she would tell him, but the longer she kept it to herself, the harder it was to admit the truth.