Disclaimer: I do not own The Big Bang Theory or its characters.

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Amy had never been to Raj's apartment before, but she had received a text message from Howard to come by for a late lunch. She could smell garlic bread before she even reached the door. Her stomach grumbled. She quickly knocked and heard a friendly voice from within informing her that the door was unlocked. She entered the apartment and was happy to see that Howard and Bernadette were already there.

"Hey, Amy," Bernadette said.

"Hello" Amy replied stoically.

Howard spoke up. "I wanted you to meet with us today so we can discuss wedding stuff, since you're the Maid of Honor. Raj cooked."

"Ok. That sounds acceptable." She sat down at the small dining table with her three friends. Raj handed her a glass of wine and she noticed he'd already been sipping his.

"I hope you like Italian, Amy," he said. She nodded.

They filled their plates and began to eat while they talked about work and other trivial things. Eventually, Howard brought up the subject of the wedding. "So, Bernadette and I need your help. We've been trying to decide on a date for the wedding and we've come to an impasse."

"You can say that again," Bernadette murmured under her breath.

Howard looked at her in bewilderment, but continued his explanation. "I say we should get married before I go into space and she thinks we should wait until I get back."

Amy looked at Bernadette and asked, "Why do you want to wait so long?"

"It will give us more time to prepare for everything," she replied.

"But, like I said last night, Bernie," Howard said, "we'll have plenty of time to plan everything and have the wedding and honeymoon before the launch in May. Why would you want to wait an extra month or longer to get married?"

Bernadette threw her fork onto the table and stood up. "Because I don't want to be a widow!" she exclaimed before running toward the bathroom with her hands covering her face.

Howard, Amy, and Raj were all shocked.

"I slave over a hot stove all day and this is the thanks I get," Raj said, shaking his head.

"I'll go talk to her," Amy said. "The good news is, I think our menstrual cycles may have finally synced up!" With that, she walked out of the room to check on Bernadette while the boys looked at her with disgust.

"Wow, Dude," said Raj. "I haven't seen Bernadette that worked up since your mom was in the hospital."

"Yeah, she's not usually like this."Howard stood up and walked from the table to the couch, abandoning his meal. Raj sat beside him.

"She's just scared of losing you," he said. "I think we're all a little scared of that, to be honest. Going to space can be dangerous."He looked concerned.

"I know." Howard looked at his friend. "I have two dreams. One is to go into space and the other is to marry Bernadette. I should be the luckiest guy in the world right now. Instead, I don't know what to do. I don't want to wait that long to marry her. I love her. And what if something does go wrong and I die? What will happen to her then? I need to know that she's going to be taken care of if something happens to me. I worry about that all the time."

"Then, why haven't you told her?"

"I don't know. I guess I thought she already knew." He sighed. "I want to be married to her more than anything."The look of determination on his face almost scared his best friend.

Meanwhile, Amy knocked on the bathroom door. "Bernadette, may I come in?"

The door opened a crack and she stepped inside. Her friend was sitting on the floor, dabbing her eyes with toilet paper. Amy sat down beside her.

"I didn't mean to ruin dinner for everyone. I just couldn't help it."

"Oh, it's okay. I've never seen anyone storm out of a room like that in real life. It was quite exhilarating," Amy confessed.

Bernadette sniffled and asked, "What am I going to do, Amy? I get scared every time Howie mentions his mission. I want to marry him so badly, but I don't want to see him die in some fiery explosion." She looked down at her hands in her lap and started tearing the tissue into tiny pieces. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost him. I don't want to be happily married for a month and then be left behind if something bad happens to him. Am I being selfish, Amy?"

"Yes," Amy answered, to Bernadette's surprise. "This is how I see it. He could get hit by a car and die tomorrow. Would it matter if you were married or not then?"

"Well, no, I guess not."

"Then why does it matter if you wait or not? Let's say he doesn't come back from space and you remember this fight later. Are you going to say, 'Well, I'm glad I didn't marry the man I love,' or are you going to say, 'I wish I had married him, since that's what he wanted'? I think it would be the latter."

"I think so too. I hadn't thought of it that way. He's the one who might not be coming back. I'd rather know that I made him happy, even if it's only for a brief time. Thanks, Amy."

"It's what a good Maid of Honor would do." She smiled and helped her friend up off the floor. They walked out of the bathroom together and joined the boys. Howard was sitting on the couch with his head down. Raj had an arm around his shoulder. They both looked up when the girls came in. Howard stood and Bernadette walked over to him.

Howard spoke first. "Bernadette, I love you and I want to marry you as soon as possible. If you want to wait until I return from space, I'm okay with that. I just want you to be happy."

"No," she said. "I don't want to wait that long. Let's get married before you go. I'm sorry for yelling at you. I was just scared."

"It's okay. I'm scared, too. But, I think I'll be a lot less scared knowing that my beautiful wife is waiting for me when I get home."

"I can live with that," she said with a small smile.

"Okay. Let's plan this wedding!" Raj said excitedly.

While Howard and Bernadette hugged, Amy said to Raj, "Now that I've helped out Bernadette, I feel the need to offer my services to you." Raj looked at her suspiciously. "If you ever decide that you want to find a cure for your selective mutism, I believe I may be of assistance. I am a neuroscientist, after all."

"Thank you, Amy. I'll think about it."


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Penny placed the popcorn bowl on her coffee table and looked over at Leonard. "I'm glad we did this. It was fun," she said.

Leonard nodded and said, "Yeah, me too."

"It was much better than the last time we tried to hang out, just the two of us," Penny stated. They both thought back on that night.

They had tried hanging out just as friends. They went to the movies and found themselves arguing over which film to see. During their argument, Leonard revealed that the only reason he had let her choose the movies while they were dating was due to the prospect of sex at the end of the night. She was appalled, but let him pick the movie for once. She wasn't happy about it, but she let it go. She was even less thrilled that he made her pay for her own ticket. After the movie, they had ventured to a bar where he made her buy her own food. Since it wasn't a date, she flirted with the guy at the table behind her. Jealousy made Leonard flirt with another girl. By the end of the night, they were angry at each other and had decided that maybe it wasn't as easy as they had first thought, hanging out just as friends.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that night," Leonard said.

"Me too."

Leonard thought about it for a minute and said, "I guess I was just a little jealous and selfish. I was a bit of a jerk."

"Yeah, you were, " Penny said, catching Leonard by surprise. Finally, she admitted, "But, I was too."

"Maybe we could start over." Penny looked at him suspiciously. "I mean, just as friends. Hang out like this. Find out what we have in common."

"Yeah. Get to know each other instead of jumping into bed together." She thought for a moment and asked, "Can I be honest with you, Leonard?"

"Of course you can," he replied.

"I always felt like you only dated me for sex. Like I was just the trophy girlfriend. I didn't feel like you really knew me. I think that's why I was so surprised when you said you loved me."

Leonard had the decency to look ashamed. "I'm sorry I made you feel that way. As much as I hate to say it, I think you may be right. I was so excited to be sleeping with the hot blonde next door that I didn't get a chance to really find out what you like and don't like."

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Penny picked through the nearly empty bowl of popcorn while Leonard nervously drummed his fingers on his knee.

She looked over at him and said, "I think hanging out together like this is a good idea. Maybe once a week we can do this, just as friends. See where it goes. If we decide that we only want to be friends, we'll be friends. If we decide we want to be something more…" she let the sentence trail off.

He nodded, "Okay. So, it'll be like a 'friend date.' Until we figure things out." He looked away from her briefly, then asked, "I guess sex is off the table then?"

"It's not even in the same room as the table."

"I can live with that, " he said and smiled at her. She smiled back.


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Monday was Thai food night in Apartment 4A. The whole gang was there, as usual, including their most recent acquaintance, Julie. Once everyone was settled, Howard and Bernadette felt it was time to make an announcement.

"Bernie and I have set a date for the wedding," said Howard. All eyes were on him now. "I hope none of you have plans for April 21st."

Leonard replied, "Wow. So, Howard Wolowitz is actually going to get married. Never thought I'd see the day." He smiled at the couple.

Everyone chatted about the wedding. Even Sheldon chimed in, asking if they will be known as Dr. and Mr. Wolowitz after the wedding. Howard glared at him.

At the end of the meal, Sheldon gathered his leftovers and walked to the kitchen to place them in the refrigerator. Amy followed him, wanting to talk in private.

"Sheldon," she said, once they were out of earshot of the others, "I'd like to discuss our relationship."

"What do you mean?" he asked her, with a quizzical look and his head cocked to one side.

"Well, it has come to my attention that you are physically attracted to Julie."

"I am no such thing!" he exclaimed a little too loudly.

"I beg to differ. I noticed you had a pupillary response when she walked into the apartment."

"Perhaps I had come from a brightly lit area of the apartment just before she arrived, and my eyes were adjusting to the low light," he responded.

Amy looked unconvinced. "You've repeatedly wiped your hands on your pants tonight, indicating an increase in the secretions of the sudoriferous glands of your palms."

"I've been a bit feverish tonight, that's all. I probably picked up some bug from your Cornhusker 'bestie.'"

"You've been speaking in a lower register than normal all night."

"Have not!' he purposefully squeaked.

"You're blushing, Sheldon," Amy said.

"As I said before, I think I have an illness."

Amy shook her head and laughed. "I thought you, of all people, would understand the scientific reasoning behind all of your physiological symptoms, but I was wrong."

"Darn tootin', you're wrong," he said, slipping into his Texan dialect.

"The point I am trying to make, Sheldon, is that you don't see me as a potential mate. You don't find me attractive."

"That's not true. You have a beautiful mind, Amy Farrah Fowler."

"It's not the same," she said, dejectedly. "I can see now that you only value me as a close friend."

"Well, of course. What else would I see you as?" he asked, confused.

Amy sighed. "I suppose I should now consider myself a single woman." She looked at him sadly, then quickly perked up. "Surely there is someone out there who will be attracted by this beckoning pelvis." At that, she walked back to the couch and sat down. Sheldon stood alone in the kitchen, puzzled by the whole conversation.

"I'll never understand women," he said to himself and went to join his friends.

End Part 2


A/N: When I started writing an outline for this story, I found myself dividing it up into parts that I imagined would be equal to the length of an episode. So, after putting all of my plot points on a timeline, it came to an even 10 parts. I was very excited to see in your reviews that the you feel the parts are playing out like episodes of the real show, because that's exactly what I intended!

As you can probably tell by now, even though I have this listed with Sheldon as the main character, it's really more of an ensemble piece. I love all of the characters and I want each of them to have some time in the spotlight, so I'm hoping all of you reading this feel like I'm doing an okay job at that.

Once again, thank you for taking the time to read and I hope you like it. I'll be working on Part 3 this weekend, but my cousin is getting married Saturday and Father's Day is Sunday, so it may take a while to finish it.