Chapter 4: The Golden Gate Liaison

Sheldon sat on the bed, lost in the latest issue of The Flash. Sadly, it was the last page. He closed the comic book with a melancholy sigh. Always too short. Good timing, though, Amy should be here any minute.

At the thought of Amy, he felt a warm little glow. As Thursday had approached, he had become very nervous. An impromptu sleepover because he was so relieved and happy and tired was one thing. A planned trip was something else all together. Of course, his friends had no mercy; there had simply been no logical way to keep it from them. Leonard was mostly silent on the topic at home (other than that smile), but he did laugh at Howard and Raj's jokes. Their jabs had kept Sheldon awake on Wednesday night. What if Amy did wear some sort of little nightgown, not her usual flannel? What if she wore, he swallowed hard, lingerie?

However, Amy, clever little Amy, had thought of these scary things. She had requested a room with two beds. They'd sat on one bed together, watching TV and holding hands, but when it was time to sleep, she hadn't even suggested they sleep in the same bed. She wore her usual flannel nightgown. They had kissed good night, but it was gentle and chaste. And today, she informed him of where the closest comic book store was. He knew this, of course, he had researched it himself; but he didn't tell her that because he was touched by her thoughtfulness.

He heard her key card in the door and Amy entered. He sat up straighter. She looked especially beautiful. She had gone shopping with Bernadette, and her new blouse was the exact shade of green as her eyes. "Hello, Amy."

"Hello, Sheldon." She came and sat on the bed across from him.

He turned to face her, swinging his legs over. His heart was pounding. I want her to love this job and hate this job at the same time. Love is so confusing. "Well?"

"It was nice. I think they liked me." His heart sank. "But I'm not sure. It was all so . . . different." His heart lifted until he noticed she looked sad.

"Are you sad?" She nodded. "Why? Are you frightened to leave everyone behind?" She nodded again. He got up and moved over to sit next to her, taking her hand. "Amy, I think you are very brave."

"You do?" She looked surprised.

"Yes. Even though I know logically that you should consider this, I don't think I could ever consider leaving. Maybe if you were coming with me, but never alone. You do so many brave things I could never do, like drive a car. You even live alone, and I don't know if I could do that."

She squeezed his hand. "Thank you. But I don't think I'm brave. On the way here, I decided I can't do it."

"Are you sure? Think about it, you have another week." He had that bittersweet feeling again.

"I will." They sat there, silently, holding hands, each lost in their own thoughts. He saw a tiny tear tracing its way down her cheek.

Sheldon desperately wanted to cheer her up. Sometimes Amy played her harp when she was sad, but of course her harp wasn't here. Sometimes she drank wine, but he didn't like drunk Amy. He racked his memory for solutions. He remembered that females typically tried to bury their sorrows in ice cream and chocolate. He supposed he could go find a vending machine with chocolate to bring it back to her, but he would have to leave her. Then a memory of his sightseeing research came back to him.

"Come on, Amy, let's go."

"Where?"

"Ghirardelli Square."

He wasn't a neurobiologist like Amy, but Sheldon had never truly believed that chocolate released endorphins that interacted with the opiate centers of one's brain. It had always sound like pseudo-science poppycock to him. Oddly, though, two giant sundaes later and a walk in the brisk wind along the warf had seemed to cheer them both up.

He mentioned this to Amy, and he listened while she explained it on the cab ride back to their hotel. I love it when she talks about her work like this. She's the only one who has ever made biology truly interesting to me. She was just finishing her monologue when they returned to the room.

"Thank you, Amy. That was fascinating."

"Thank you for the unconventional dinner. It was just what I needed." She took off her blazer and hung it up in the closet.

The change in her appearance was mesmerizing. Now she was only covered by that beautiful green blouse, and he liked it. "I love you."

She turned to look at him, a little surprised but mostly pleased. "I love you, too."

He hadn't said it since Sunday. No because he didn't mean it anymore, but because there never seemed to be a good time. He supposed, after a while, it would become casual and easy for him to say, like when Leonard yelled it after Penny. But he didn't want that yet. It still felt too important to him.

He reached for her, and she came to him. He leaned down to kiss her. They hadn't done this all week, either, not this way. He sank down into her mouth, surprised yet again at how good this felt, thrilled at how eagerly she returned his kisses. Quickly he was awash in desire. Nothing in his entire life compared with the elation of kissing Amy like this, and it still hadn't faded even after almost two months of these kisses. This was better than chocolate and walks and almost better than listening to Amy talk about science.

He broke the kiss and looked down at her, stroking her cheek. He reached for her hand on his arm and led her to her bed.

"Sheldon, we don't have to, I didn't ask you to come for that."

"Shhh," he whispered, sitting down with her. He reached for her and buried his face in her neck, kissing all that he could reach, pushing her shirt collar out of the way to reach that little divot he dreamed about. Amy rewarded him with one of those shudders that drove him wild. He reached back for her mouth with force and ran his hands through her hair.

He pulled back. I love the sound of her breathing after we kiss, like there isn't enough oxygen in the room. "Dr. Fowler, as I recall - and you know I'm never wrong about this - I tried to give you something, but then we got too distracted to enjoy it."

He took a deep breath and quickly lifted both of his shirts off in one move. Cold air struck him, as he carefully folded the shirts and sat them next to him, not looking up, wondering what Amy was thinking. He steeled himself and looked at her face. I've pleased her.

Amy raised her hand and he nodded to her. She placed her had over his heart, where she had last week, smiling up at him. My heartbeat. Slowly, she started to trace her fingertips over his chest and stomach. Even in the midst of the searing physical sensations, he found it charming and calming that she was being so precise and orderly in her path. She's memorizing me. He closed his eyes so that he could concentrate on the sensations. It was his turn to shudder when her fingertips grazed his nipples. He knew where she was moving next, and he found his skin there tingling in anticipation of her touch. Too soon, her hand came to rest on his heart again.

He opened his eyes and smiled. He pulled her closer and kissed her again. Deep and warm but gentle. As he kissed her with more passion, he placed his hand over her heart, feeling it beating beneath his hand. He was aware, somewhere, that he was also feeling the edge of her bra and the mound of flesh it contained. He enjoyed the speedy rhythm of her heartbeat for a moment and then moved his hand up to the V in her blouse.

"Amy, may I . . ." She nodded into another kiss. He struggled with the top button (Who knew a woman's shirt is so hard to get off?), but he got the hang of it by the third. He released the rest of the buttons in rapid succession. He reached up for the shoulders, but stopped to give Amy a look. She nodded. Using both hands now, he pulled it off her shoulders and down her arms. Amy shook her wrists and hands free.

Sheldon's breath caught in his throat. All he could see, all he knew, was Amy's beautiful torso. Seeing it all like this, completely exposed to him, was different from before. Her bra was different, it was plain white this time, but no less beautiful to him. Amy took his hand and placed it back on her heart. This time, he was violently aware of her breast there. He hadn't touched here last week, he had stayed safely below the band of bra. He forced himself to look up at as he moved his hand along the top edge of her breasts. Then Amy closed her eyes and shuddered.

Pulling her in to kiss her neck and collarbones, his hands started moved in a frenzy. He wanted to slow down, he wanted to force himself to savor every millimeter of her flesh, but he also couldn't stop himself. I need to stop. I don't want to stop. He slipped his thumb into her bra and felt her nipple harden beneath his touch. Amy moaned. Oh boy. The moan frightened him and excited him even more at the same time. Oh, Albert Einstein, I need to stop. But he didn't. He was sucking on her earlobe and before he knew what he was doing, he was pulling at the center of her bra.

Amy giggled. Sheldon broke away from her, startled. "It's in the back." What's in the back? Why is she giggling? Oh, the bra clasp! This one is different! I need tell her I need to -

Before he could speak, Amy had reached behind her in some sort of contortionist move and removed her bra.

Sheldon thought he was having a stroke. Certainly he was about to pass out. His vision was fading on the edges, and he stopped breathing. All the medical textbooks and his undergrad anatomy class and that book Leonard had given him did not prepare him for this moment. What do I do? How do I touch them? Why are her breasts so beautiful? He didn't realize he was staring, frozen solid, until Amy touched his arm.

"Sheldon? Are you okay? Look up at me." He forced his eyes up to hers. "Breathe through it. We'll do it together." Her hand had moved down to his. She took a deep breath in through her nose and out through her mouth. He joined her on the second breath. Several breaths in, Sheldon felt better. How strange this is! Both us sitting here half-naked doing Kulinar. I wonder if this is how Vulcans do it.

The unexpected thought made him smile, and Amy smiled back at him. He was able to speak. "Amy, I think maybe . . . purely from the standpoint of physics . . . this might be easier if we . . . it's just that this is a very . . . um . . . viewpoint and maybe . . ."

He reached for shoulders and gently pulled her down on the bed beside him, keeping his eyes on her face the whole time. Her eyes looked nervous, but she didn't fight it. Now his head was laying very close to hers, he was able to look directly into her eyes. It was better, not so overwhelming. She smiled again.

Laying one hand on her waist, he curled the other one under his head. Slowly, he moved his hand up from her waist. He reached the hill of flesh and barely touched it with one fingertip. Amy let out a slow breath. "Is this okay?" She nodded, which made a rustling noise against the bed. And so he gently, slowly memorized her chest with just the tips of his fingers the way she had memorized his. He never looked away from her face, and she keep watching him, only closing her eyes occasionally when a little moan escaped. He brought his hand back to her waist.

"Amy, you are so beautiful." She blushed deeply at that, and he enjoyed the sight of her skin, all of it, turning such a rosy pink. "But I really need to take a shower now."

Coming out of the bathroom in his pajamas, Sheldon saw Amy was already in bed, sitting up. She looked up at him, and pulled the blankets down next to her. He paused only for a second before crawling in next to her. The other bed felt like it was on another continent tonight, and he couldn't bear to be that far away from her.

He was pleased to see she was wearing her sensible nightgown. I could not take that twice in one night. As she took her glasses off, he turned off the lamp and slipped down between the sheets. He was briefly addled by Amy's little body curling up against his, but he welcomed her head on his chest. "No ideas, Dr. Fowler."

"Of course not, Dr. Cooper. We still have 325 days to go." He heard the smirk in her voice.

Because it was so dark, he allowed himself to smile back. "Quite." I may have to revise my calculations.

Sheldon had never cared for horticulture, but he had to admit the Japanese Tea Garden was very orderly and that was pleasing. He was just about to turn and point out the precision of a certain plant when he heard both the Darth Vader theme and Sweet Caroline at the same time. Their phones were ringing in unison. They looked at each other in alarm.

"Leonard," Sheldon murmured after reaching into his pocket.

"Penny," Amy replied.

By silent mutual consent, they stepped slightly apart to take the calls. "Leonard?"

"Sheldon, sorry to bother you on your big weekend but I have big news of my own! Penny and I got engaged -" right then, Sheldon heard Amy squeal into her phone "- and I don't remember or really care about the protocols of The Roommate Agreement, but I wanted you to know and I wanted to tell you I'll be moving out sometime soon. I -"

Leonard was still talking manically, something about flowers and candles and Penny one knee, but Sheldon stopped listening. The floor had just dropped out of his world.