The evening had proceeded with everyone drinking a little and then they all had played Twister and Giant Jenga. Amy had never felt this well at a party. It was at home, it was just with her closest friends and it was great fun, even more so with the newly developed friendship with Howard and Bernadette seeming extremely happy about it. Amy had been afraid that Bernadette could have been jealous but she had reassured her there was no reason. Amy loved how simple this was. They were just friends and they could hug and dance with each other without anyone having second thoughts.

"Time for some more dancing, I think!" Howard grinned, after they had boxed up all the Jenga bricks again.

This time Raj scuffled over to the stereo and turned it on. A Rihanna song blared out of the boxes immediately and Howard started moving almost simultaneously to it. He grabbed Bernadette's hand and swirled her around. Stuart, who had watched the two, suddenly went over to Amy. "May I dance with you?"

"Sure!" Amy smiled and took Stuart's hand, letting him swirl her around.

Amy felt a little nervous but not too much. After all she had dated him once and even though she had never told anyone, they had almost kissed when Stuart had picked her up. Unconventional, yes, but Amy had been in a flirtatious mood and if the neighbor's dog wouldn't have ran down the corridor barking, their lips most definitely would have met.

Sheldon, who had only joined the games so far, was already sipping his fourth Tea. He felt kind of lightheaded but he didn't even question it, it felt good and it had eased his anger a little. The thought vanished within a second though, when he turned back to his friends and saw Amy dancing with Stuart.

Enough was enough.

Sheldon jumped off his chair and suddenly felt like the room was turning. Clearly a sign of vertigo. But it disappeared as fast as it had come. He quickly went over to the dancing crowd and tapped on Stuart's shoulder. "Do you mind?"

The young skinny man flinched and immediately stepped away from Amy. She felt kind of sorry for him a little and smiled at him in apology.

Sheldon had had enough. He had watched his girlfriend having fun with all the others the entire evening, with everyone but him. The thought that it might have been his fault never occurred to him. Whatever had happened until that moment though – now it was his turn to have some fun.

For some reason Sheldon felt eased and still a little dizzy. But it was a state of bliss… it was like someone had turned the volume of his thoughts down a little. And that helped him to concentrate on more important things.

Absolutely positive about Stuart still watching them, he wrapped one arm around Amy's waist and pulled her close, starting to clumsily dance with her. The neurobiologist's eyes widened, she kept her arms up, scared to touch her boyfriend. What had gotten into him? He danced so closely to her, that their bodies touched. Amy felt his heat spreading all over her and she was sure that her cheeks flushed. She clearly had always wanted her boyfriend to make her feel this way, to make her feel that… aroused… but most definitely not when everyone else was around.

"Sheldon" She whispered with a nervous giggling. "What exactly are you doing"

"Dancing with my girlfriend. Or am I not allowed to anymore? Would you rather dance with the one who'd gladly make you his wife if he wasn't married already?" Sheldon's voice had gotten louder and everyone had turned around to him.

"Sheldon, don't ruin this, please" Amy mumbled and tried to get away from him.

He clearly was intoxicated and she didn't enjoy this at all.

"Ruin it? You know who ruined something? That little mommy-adoring chimp when he said that he would marry you!"

Everyone turned around to Howard and stared at him.

"I, uh, I never said that. I mean, I think Amy would make a good wife but… not for me… I mean…" Howard stuttered, for the first time in months clearly overwhelmed.

"He meant for you, Sheldon!" Bernadette grumbled in her way too high-pitched voice. Now it was time for Sheldon to be flabbergasted.

'Oh' He thought. That was what Howard had meant. Now thinking of it in retrospective it kind of made sense. How could he even have thought that Howard was in love with Amy? Of course Amy was smart, beautiful and very humorous. But Howard was more than happy with Bernadette and just thinking about him checking out other women seemed kind of repellent now that he thought about it.

"I'm so sorry" Sheldon had no idea what was going on but he suddenly felt like crying but it probably was the alcohol. He sat down on the sofa and started sobbing quietly.

Amy and Howard immediately were by his side, Bernadette kneeling in front of him, patting his knees. "It's alright. We understand."

"No, you don't" Sheldon's thin voice came from behind his hands.

"Yes, we do. We know that you love Amy."

The neurobiologist blushed and cleared her throat, trying to ignore what Howard had just said. She just laid her hand on Sheldon's shoulder and carefully caressed it.

"Guys, I think it's better if we leave. Sheldon needs sleep. He might have had a little too much tea…"

"That darn tea!" Sheldon cried, shuddering a little at the thought of it. No, he couldn't even have taken one sip more, he kind of was grossed out now.

"Alright" Bernadette got back on her feet. "Let's get going before he vomits on my shoes!"

Stuart awkwardly scraped by Penny and Leonard. "Sheldon, I'm sorry if I ruined your evening somehow"

"You didn't, buddy. He's just a little confused!" Raj comforted his friend and then pulled him out of the apartment.

Howard and Bernadette also left. Penny and Leonard were the last ones.

"Do you think you can handle him?" Leonard asked Amy sympathetically. He knew what a big crybaby Sheldon could be when he felt unwell.

Amy just nodded, smiled at her friends and got up from the sofa.

"Thanks for the party!" She shouted after Penny and Leonard.

They smiled and waved and then left. Amy took a deep breath when she heard the door of apartment 4B fall shut. Now she had time to deal with her drunken boyfriend.

"Sheldon, hold still"

He had insisted on having his nightly bathroom rituals and Penny would have probably described it as 'pain in the ass'. Amy tried to comb his hair but he was busy moving his upper body to some song that was probably playing in his head.

The physicist grunted and pushed away Amy's hand with the hairbrush. "Enough"

Amy sighed and let her arm sink down. She knew what came next, she had read the Roommate Agreement and it was very detailed. She sometimes wondered if Leonard had even bothered reading every single paragraph of it.

Since Sheldon was seated on the surface of the bathtub, she quickly went over to the sink to wet a washcloth. Amy hurried with the task – you never knew when dizziness struck and would force Sheldon down the bathtub surface. And the last thing she needed tonight was cleaning blood from the carpet and driving a nagging drunken boyfriend to the ER.

She hesitated for a second but then she bent down and raised Sheldon's shirt.

"Woah woah woah!" He protested but was unable to do anything against her actions.

Amy let go of his shirt. "Don't you usually wash yourself?"

"Exactly. I wash myself…"

"Fine" Amy tossed the washcloth into his lap. "Try"

She crossed her arms and leaned against the wall, willing to watch her boyfriend fail. If he denied her help, fine. His drunk ass would realize that this wasn't going to work.

Sheldon took his hands off the surface of the bathtub and immediately his upper body started to sway a little. But he managed to grab his t-shirt and pull it over his head. Then it was time for the next layer. But before he could even lift it, he almost fell over.

Luckily Amy stepped in front of him and his head landed against her belly. A little perplexed he raised his upper body again.

"Still think it's a good idea to do it yourself?" Amy asked, her tone of voice a little sour and sarcastic.

"No" He admitted grumpily, clinging onto the bathtub again.

Amy bent down and swallowed. She had never seen Sheldon without a shirt and she was curious what was hiding under these layers. Nervously she grabbed them and pulled them up. Sheldon managed to let go for a second so she could move the shirt over his head. The sight was more than inviting. His biceps was well trained and Amy could sense abs in the dim light of the bathroom. Also, his chest hair… he sometimes seemed like a little boy with all his behavior and his love for Lego. But in front of her was a grown man. With abs and chest hair.

Amy tried to shake the thoughts off and grabbed the washcloth. Then she started to carefully rub it over his chest and back and under his arms.

"It's cold" Sheldon complained.

"If you wouldn't have insisted on trying it yourself, it'd still be warm" Amy just answered, concentrating on cleaning every inch of his body. Not only was she aware that even in this state Sheldon would not be fooled to nag if she missed any spot. She also wanted to take advantage of the moment when she could caress his body in a for him acceptable way.

Even though she had completed the task as slowly as possible, she soon was finished.

"Alright" She tossed the washcloth into the sink. "Let's get you to bed."

Amy hadn't put Sheldon's shirts back on on purpose. And by now he was too drunk and tired to complain about it or possibly even realize it. His right arm hung lazily over Amy's shoulder, while she grabbed hold of his torso, trying to get him somewhat safe from bathroom to bedroom.

"Jeepers, is that corridor long" Sheldon murmured, eyes already half closed.

"We're almost there" Amy panted.

Her boyfriend was leaning against her with at least half his weight and she was a lot smaller than him. Also had his legs gotten pretty lazy so she basically had to drag him to his room the last few inches.

"Okay. Easy. Here's your bed. Sit down." Amy lifted his arm off her shoulder, diving away from it.

Sheldon sighed happily and laid back into his bed. Yes, this was definitely better. His beautiful cozy bed. Not as great as his spot on the couch but still a place where he felt pretty comfortable.

Sheldon was bothered by his pants so he clumsily unbuttoned them and raised his bottom to strife them down. He failed mid-thighs and let everything sink back to bed again.

"Amy?"

"Do you need help?"

He nodded, eyes still closed.

Amy went to the edge of the bed, grabbed the pants and pulled them down. Then she folded them and put them on top of his dresser. Others would have probably laughed at the rather thin man lying there in his white briefs.

But Amy found something amazingly sexy about this and quickly swallowed to get rid of her dry mouth.

She carefully pulled the blanket over him. His breathing rhythm had become calm and regular and she was almost positive he was asleep so she quietly sneaked up to the door.

"Amy?"

She stopped and turned around. Darn. Had she woken him up? Quietly she walked back to his side of the bed. "Yes, Sheldon?"

"Thank you"

Amy smiled. "You're welcome. Sleep well. And call me if you need anything."

"I… I…" With eyes still closed he seemed to look for something, patting around on his bed with one hand.

Confusedly Amy reached for it and he held hers tight, smiling a little.

"Amy, I don't want to be alone tonight"

The neurobiologist's beautiful green eyes widened and she looked around in confusion. Then back to her boyfriend. "What exactly are you suggesting?"

"Stay here until I've fallen asleep"

Amy sighed but didn't object. She went over to the other side of the bed, sitting down on it. Insecurely she put her legs on the bed and leaned back. He crawled a little closer to her, leaning his head against the side of her thigh. Amy looked down at him in astonishment, then she slipped down, laid on her side, head on her arm, and started playing with his hair. She closed her eyes, telling herself she was not supposed to fall asleep. After a few minutes she realized that Sheldon must have drifted off, because he breathed like a kid; deep and calm. But it couldn't hurt to caress his hair just a little more. Amy sighed deeply and the last thing she started to realize was, that the motion of her fingers had gotten lazy and slow.