Chapter Eleven:

Amy stood looking up at her boyfriend in shock. Sheldon was there at her apartment at almost nine am when he was supposed to be at work, looking well put-together, but thoroughly upset. She could see it in his eyes.

"Okay, come in, have a seat. Just give me a minute."

"Thank you."

Sheldon entered and shut the door while Amy hurried into her bedroom to gather some clothes, then into the bathroom, where she brushed her teeth, washed her face, and combed her hair, then got dressed and came back out. Sheldon was sitting patiently on his side of the couch, staring off into the middle distance, though he looked up when she came in. He stood as well, so she stopped in front of him.

"Okay, first, I want to say I'm sorry I didn't call you at seven. I overslept. So what happened this morning? You don't seem hurt."

"I wish to have intercourse," Sheldon blurted.

Amy's jaw dropped. "What?!"

"Coitus. Let us 'do it'." Sheldon reached down began untucking his ubiquitous long-sleeved shirt under his T-shirt.

"Sheldon, what is going on? What happened?"

Sheldon paused, his shirt untucked from his waistband, his hands even on his belt. Amy felt light-headed and instantly aroused…but there was something wrong. Either she still dreaming, or Sheldon had finally gone crazy.

Sheldon removed his hands from his belt, which he'd undone before she stopped him (though a part of her was more than a little frustrated that his button and zipper were still firmly closed), and fidgeted. After a moment, he told her what happened the previous night, not that morning.

"Oh, Sheldon, I'm sorry. You know Penny didn't mean it, don't you?"

"Everything has some kernel of truth," Sheldon said, still looking at his hands. "Part of her meant it. Of course she did. I hear it all the time. 'Sheldon, you're being unreasonable', 'Sheldon, hugging is not going to kill you', 'Sheldon, calm down.'-"

Amy interrupted him, as she was sure he could go on for a long time with phrases he'd heard over the years. "Well, maybe, but Penny doesn't hate you."

"That doesn't matter. I have come to the conclusion that I do need to some sort of intervention. Leonard once told me that it 'must be hell inside my head', and he is right at times. I never wanted to admit it, that I might need help. Most of my life, those who hated or hurt me were worthless, stupid cretins who wouldn't know the difference between a proton and a protein with a detailed description. I didn't care what they thought. Why should I? They were stupid, so how could they be right? Even Leonard, Howard… I thought they were just fussy. Lazy. Or downright heartless in the face of phobias they didn't share. Occasionally, I did entertain the thought that they, that you, were correct and I was overly…sensitive. But it had always worked for me. But now…now it interferes with my relationships with people I care about. And that's not something I can abide by…any longer."

Amy looked up at him for a moment, her heart going out to him. Her poor Sheldon. He had to feel awful, even though Amy knew that Penny hadn't meant it. She was angry, and she had spoken out in anger, but she would feel awful herself if she knew how Sheldon had taken her words.

However, there *was* some kernel of truth to it, as Sheldon had said. Hadn't they all tried to get him to see that some of his personality quirks were simply too extreme?

"Therefore, let us have intercourse," Sheldon said, his hands going back to his pants.

Despite the seeming determination, Amy could see the tension in his movements. She sighed and reached out to put her hand on his arm, staying him.

"Sheldon, we are not going to have sex."

Sheldon looked confused. "Don't you want to?"

"Of course I do! I want nothing more than to throw you down on my bed and rip all your clothes off." Sheldon blanched. Amy pointed at his face. "That right there is the reason I'm saying no. Because you look like you're going to faint. You don't want to, you think you have to, and that's not good enough. Sheldon, you're overreacting. You're not ready for this and I won't have it. Now, let's sit down and talk about this."

Amy moved resolutely to the couch and sat down. Sheldon stared at her for a long moment, as if unconvinced. Amy stared back at him and patted the cushion next to her, the one Sheldon had claimed for himself as 'his spot' in her apartment. Looking a little shame-faced, Sheldon buckled his belt again and came over, leaving his shirts untucked, so that Amy could see that the long-sleeved shirt was longer than his T-shirt. Perhaps he didn't tuck the long-sleeve shirt back in because that would require putting his hand down his pants in front of her. An innocent movement, and yet… Hoo.

Amy firmly wrenched her mind from the gutter and watched as her boyfriend slowly sat down next to her without looking at her anymore. Amy watched his profile while he sat in silence before finally speaking.

"I am no longer happy…with some of the parts of myself that…cause me difficulty in my life and my relationships," Sheldon said carefully. "I want to be able to…be as free as a bird with my life. Eat Italian on a Monday. Go to the comic book store on a Saturday. More than just Anything Can Happen Thursday." He paused, then looked over at her. "I want to be able to do this…" He reached out and gently took her hand. "Without feeling the need to wash my hands." He let go.

Amy nodded, watching while Sheldon pulled his customary bottle of Purell out of his pocket and washing his hands with it. It would have been insulting if she hadn't been expecting it. Knew he couldn't help it.

"So…you want to…"

"Start a new experiment, to make those things possible. You're the neuroscientist. You believe you can 'cure' my affliction. So do so."

"Firstly, Sheldon, it's not going to be that easy. If possible-"

"'If possible?' Well, you don't have much hope in your own field."

Amy rolled her eyes. "Sheldon, it's possible, but whether you can achieve it is another matter."

Sheldon glared at her. Amy looked back at him steadily.

"It will take a long time. You will need to be patient. You will need to be open to it. You'll have to understand that I am the expert and you'll need to do what I tell you."

Sheldon pursed his lips in distaste, but nodded. "Understood."

"Secondly, it will require of you a lot of discomfort. You will have to put yourself into situations you don't like. You can't balk."

Sheldon looked even more unhappy, but he nodded again. "All right."

Amy looked over her should at the oven clock, the one that Sheldon had corrected because it 'drove him crazy'. It was about ten after nine. "Look, I need to get to work. We'll do this after work, nightly or as warranted, seven pm. All right?"

Sheldon agreed, probably pleased she'd made a schedule of it. Amy got her purse and keys and took Sheldon home. In the parking lot of the apartment complex, they sat still for a moment, before Sheldon smiled at her, said thank you, and headed up.

"Leave Penny alone for a while," Amy advised before he shut the door. "Women need their space when they're upset. Let her come to you. Just go home and relax, or go to work, or whatever you want to do today. I'll come over to your place after work with some dinner, then we'll get started, okay?"

Sheldon hesitated, then said, "It's Monday. Meekrob and chicken satay with extra peanut sauce from Siam Palace?"

Amy smiled. "All right. We'll start slow."

Sheldon looked more relieved than ever. Amy saw him to the door of his complex, then headed to work. She knew she wouldn't get much done that day. No, she had a lot to think about, an experiment to design.

And whether Sheldon knew it or not, it had occurred to her that by 'another experiment' he was referring to an experiment to increase his ability to handle physical contact, just like the experiment that had nearly destroyed their relationship almost six months ago. She sincerely hoped they weren't about to experience another one.

Sheldon plodded up the three flights of stairs to the fourth floor of Los Robles, his mind on the events of the morning. He had just asked Amy for help getting him more open to relationships and close contact. Already he regretted it. What was so wrong with being him? Why did everyone in his life insist that he act more like everyone else? He was unique, special. He was one of the greatest minds of the 21st Century. Why should he have to bend to the whims of those less committed to science than he?

But, he knew, the common denominator in all of the trouble of his life was him. Maybe he didn't have to be like everyone else, but he did have to bow to a few things. Amy had told him before that, until and unless they perfected the ability to download his consciousness into a self-sustainable satellite orbiting Earth, he was dependent upon the rest of humanity. And if he wanted to survive that dependency, he'd have to learn how to give and take. Wasn't that what his own mother had been trying to drill into his head while he was growing up? She had been decidedly unsuccessful, although the unforgiving eye of hindsight told him a lot of his problems had been exacerbated by her coddling. She could say one thing, but she would definitely do another. Nevertheless, he loved her dearly, and he knew that, even if she wasn't nearly as smart as he, she was very wise. Wiser than he in certain areas, and he was realizing that Amy was wise in that same way.

So, he'd bow. He just hoped his friends appreciated his efforts.

Sheldon had a terrible start when he came up the last riser and stepped onto the fourth floor. Penny was sitting on the floor outside his door, legs drawn up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them, resting her chin on her knees. She looked up when Sheldon came up to the floor and stood. She winced as she did so, putting her hands in her back and arching.

"That's not good for your back," Sheldon said. "You could pop a vertebrae or stretch a tendon."

"Sheldon, I want to talk."

"We are talking," Sheldon said uncomfortably. He pulled his key from his pocket and tried to go around her. She stepped sideways and blocked him.

"Please. I've been sitting out here for, like, an hour."

"Why didn't you wait in your apartment? It's right there." He pointed across the hall.

"Because I thought you might run in and lock me out."

"You have a spare key."

Penny frowned. "I didn't think about that. Look, Sheldon, please? Can we go inside and talk for a minute?"

Sheldon reluctantly allowed her inside. However, Amy had told him to let Penny approach him, and she had. He just hadn't been expecting it so quickly. She didn't seem mad at him anymore, but why did she want to talk? Did she want to yell at him some more?

No, she wanted to apologize.

"Sheldon, I'm so sorry about what I said," she said as he turned to her in the front room.

"I understand that what you said was said in anger."

Penny smiled. "It was. Sheldon, I didn't mean any of that."

"Nevertheless, I wish to inform you that I am in the process of changing."

Penny blinked rapidly. "What?"

"I have enlisted Amy to help me with my problems. She will design an experiment to facilitate my ability to handle change and social customs."

Penny looked up at him as if disbelieving. "Oh…Sheldon, you don't have to do that. I'm sorry about what I said."

"I appreciate and accept your apology. I offer one of my own. I should have been able to offer you some comfort in your distress. It was a failure on my part. Therefore, I sought help to make sure it doesn't happen again."

"I feel so guilty," Penny groaned, putting her hand to her head.

"It is not at all necessary. I have been working toward this goal before now. Your emotional meltdown has just given me the push I needed to increase my attempts."

Penny smiled at him. "Well, good. It will be good for you, you know. You'll see that giving people hugs isn't so scary after all."

"My protestations were not because I find contact 'scary'. It is unnecessary and unhygienic."

"No, it isn't, sweetie. It's awesome."

"Yes, well, I have come to terms with the fact that we humans are social pack animals and therefore the need for contact is built into our DNA."

Penny chuckled softly. "I thought you were a Homo Novus, a new breed." Sheldon glared at her, annoyed. Penny giggled and came over, but all she did was look up at him. "Sheldon, I'm really proud of you."

Sheldon shifted, looking down at the floor. Then he looked back at her and jerkily opened his arms and enveloped her, trying to give her the hug he'd been unable to give to her the night before. "Leonard will come home safe and sound."

Penny inhaled sharply, then wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him like before. She sniffled, making Sheldon struggle with his need to let go. However, this time, Penny had her cheek against his chest rather than her forehead, therefore she wasn't crying directly on him. It wasn't better, but he could handle it.

"Thank you, Sheldon," she said with a voice thick with unshed tears. "I miss him so much."

"As do I," Sheldon made himself say. "I did not want him to go. I still would rather he hadn't. But this is a good career move for him and…I'm happy for him. It's about time he did something to advance his career and be progressive, rather than just copy others' work."

Penny giggled, which was much better than her crying on him. It was even better when she let him go and he gratefully stepped back.

"Sweetie, I really am proud of you. You're going to do really well with this new…ambition of yours." She smiled. "Don't you always do whatever you put your mind to?"

She was right, of course. Grammatically incorrect, but right.

Amy knocked on the door to apartment 4B, a plastic bag containing two Siam Palace dinners, egg rolls, plastic folks, and napkins in one hand and a notebook in the other. Sheldon opened the door for her, actually able to give her a smile while he invited her in.

"Chicken satay with extra peanut sauce and mee krob," Amy said, holding up the bag. "And Pad Thai for me."

"Would you like iced tea? Normally there is a special kind served with Thai food, but I don't have any of it."

"That would be fine."

"Why do you have a notebook?"

"Why don't you get us the tea and then I'll tell you? I'll set up the food."

Sheldon obediently went into the kitchen to pour a couple of glasses of iced tea, then returned. Amy had set out the black plastic dishes containing their meals, napkins, and plastic forks. She sat down on the center cushion of the couch and let Sheldon have his spot.

"This notebook here will be where I write down the progress of this new experiment. Data collection, observations, victories and defeats, personal insights. I felt a scientific approach might be good for both of us."

Sheldon did look intrigued. "Agreed."

"First, I want to write down a comprehensive list of all of your…routines, schedules, likes and dislikes, personality quirks, and pet peeves."

"This will be a long night," Sheldon admitted with some degree of self-despairing honesty.

Amy smiled. "Maybe."

She picked up her dish and her fork and took a bite. Sheldon took up his own, tucking in to his food with obvious relish. They ate in companionable silence for a few minutes before Amy put her unfinished food down and pulled the notebook to her, flipping it open and clicking the pen she'd had retrieved from her purse. She quickly wrote down Sheldon's Needs in the header and then started creating bullet points. With Sheldon's help, she made a comprehensive list soon. It didn't take nearly as long as Sheldon had predicted, but by the time she was done, her hand ached and her food was getting cold while Sheldon had finished all of his.

"A long list," Sheldon said, looking sidelong at the notebook to read what she'd written. "Are we going to work on all of these?"

"No." Amy finished her dish before elaborating, deliberately making Sheldon wait. Her impatient boyfriend's need for closure *was* still evident, to her annoyance, as he fidgeted and looked at her expectantly. Once Amy was done, she took a long drink of her iced tea, then had mercy on him. "Sheldon, in this list there are parts of your personality that have little to no real negative impact on the lives around you. We're going to go through this list and divide it up with 'things that need to change', 'things that could change', and 'things your friends can just get over'."

Sheldon brightened. "You mean you're implying that some of this is everyone else's fault?"

"Well, not their fault, but certainly not that big of a deal. Take this for instance." She pointed to 'Sheldon's spot' on the list. Sheldon almost looked ecstatic. "It's not that big of a deal for you to have a place in your own home in which you feel most comfortable and wish to be seated. There is other seating in this apartment that friends and family can take. Leonard usually sits in that armchair, and while he moves with a great deal more grace than you, that could almost be described as 'Leonard's spot'."

"So, I get to keep my spot?" Sheldon asked with hope.

"I don't see why not. Sheldon, relationships, are about compromise and mutual respect. This is your home, not mine, and I respect your right to sit where you wish. Your friends could do the same. The only person who would have any equal claim here would be Leonard, and I bet that if you provide a calm argument that this is a…'quirk' that you'd wish to maintain, while you work on others, I'm sure he'd be amenable to agreeing."

Sheldon looked thoughtful and nodded. "It is my 0,0,0,0 constant. I would be very happy to keep it."

Amy reached back into her purse and extracted three colored highlighters. Yellow, green, and blue. "'Need to change'," she said, holding up the blue, "'could change'," holding up the green, "and 'just get over it'." The yellow.

Sheldon took the yellow, almost snatched it, and took the notebook. He drew a bright yellow line across "Sheldon's spot" and then looked extremely relieved. Amy smiled, then took the notebook back. That had been the first on the list, as it was one of the most defining aspects of Sheldon's obsessions. Next was food schedule. Amy took the green and resolutely drew a line across that bullet point. "There's no reason you can't bend every once in a while into trying new things if your friends are hungry for Italian on a Monday."

"I have been working on that," Sheldon said defensively. "I've had spaghetti and hot dogs on two different occasions on different nights of the week in recent memory, changed to the Cheesecake factory when Leonard began his dogged determination to foster a relationship with Penny, and switched both pizza and Chinese restaurants when my preferred locations shut down."

"All good starts, but you could do more." Sheldon said nothing, but he also didn't argue. Amy moved on. The next was 'weekly event nights'. "Halo night on Wednesdays, comic book store on Wednesdays, date night on every third Thursday-"

Sheldon interrupted. "Now that is something you must admit I've worked on. We are together very often. You could count this as a date."

Amy looked up and smiled again. "You're right. Nevertheless…" She drew a green line. Sheldon huffed.

Next on the list was germ phobia. She drew a blue line. Then contact discomfort. Blue line. Admitting feelings/romance/affectionate displays. Blue line. Sheldon made a quiet noise, but Amy ignored him. Needing to be the center of attention. Blue line.

"Now hold on. I am always giving the floor to you and everyone else."

"With ill grace and constant nasty remarks. There's no reason you can't share your wisdom and wit, Sheldon. No one more than I enjoys it. But sometimes you make it seem like you don't care a single bit about the thoughts and feelings of your friends. They are people, too, with worthwhile things to share."

"Shoes and relationship woes?" Sheldon asked snidely.

"You and I have had couples' fights. Have you ever sought out advice from your male friends? I remember Sheldon Cooper's Council of Ladies when you had trouble with your assistant Alex."

"An ill-fated enterprise if there ever was one." When Amy merely stared at him, he sighed. "Yes."

"Well, your friends like to do that, too. Just because their interests aren't always the same as yours doesn't mean they aren't worth anything. You hurt people with your dismissals, Sheldon. Rather than say anything and risk a protracted and possibly even more hurtful diatribe on your part, they usually say nothing. But I can bet you've seen a lot of eye rolling or heard a lot of annoyed sighing."

Sheldon said nothing. Victorious, Amy turned back to the list. Unwanted speeches about various subjects. Taking pity on him, and because she did genuinely enjoy displays of his vast intelligence, Amy drew a green line. Next was 'various schedules including bathroom, bedtime, etc that have impacts on Leonard's life'. She drew a yellow line. "Though, I admit that that's between you and Leonard."

"It's in my roommate agreement."

"And if he chooses not to raise a fuss, then you're more than welcome to continue on as normal."

The next on the list happened to be 'agreements dictating relationships'. Amy looked up and him, then drew a green line. Sheldon looked horrified.

"All I'm saying here is that you don't realize that asked for clauses dictating every nuance of your relationships with Leonard, myself, and whomever else you do or might have a relationship with down the road can seem to be a bit…insulting. A cheapening of the relationship by asking the other person to adhere to arbitrary rules you set forth. However, as you have clauses in them for yourself, you aren't just demanding things of us, so that's why it's green. I just ask that you do more to abide by your own rules, Sheldon. It was only guilt that brought you back to take care of me when I was sick, not a genuine desire to make me feel better."

Sheldon made a face, but nodded. "Perhaps."

They went through the rest of the list. When Amy was finished, Sheldon took the notebook and held it in his lap.

"It's mostly blue," he grumbled.

"It is 40% blue, 37% yellow, and 23% green."

"Mostly blue."

"Yes, by a small margin. You don't have a deadline, Sheldon. Pick one or two and work on them. Work hard, with obvious results. You wanted to make yourself more of a people-person, Sheldon, so here's your guide."

"Not a 'people-person', I don't care a whit about the masses anymore than I ever did. I want to be a 'you-person'."

As if he realized exactly how mushy that sounded, he looked up at her, mortified. Amy blinked in surprise, then smiled warmly at him. She knew that expression wasn't helping his mortification any, but she couldn't wipe the silly grin off her face. She reached out and gently patted Sheldon's arm.

"You already are a person for me, Sheldon. Now, pick one or two blue items and get to work."

Sheldon looked back down at the list much longer than necessary, but she let him, knowing he was still embarrassed by his statement. Amy stood and cleared the dishes, disposed of the trash, refreshed their teas, and only then returned. By then, Sheldon had focused on the tasks at hand and chosen.

"For Penny and the rest, 'needing to be the center of attention'. For you, 'contact discomfort', though I suppose that adds 'germ phobia' in there as well."

"Good choices," Amy said, trying to keep out of her voice the relish she felt at the idea that Sheldon had deliberately chosen close contact to work on immediately.

She had every reason to believe she failed.

tbc…

A/N: In some ways, I am beginning to find this hard to write. PWP is easy as hell, but trying to think of a way that Sheldon would change himself for his friends and be in character, considering how selfish and oblivious he is, is kicking my ass. L