Amy groaned as she woke up the next morning. It was too bright in Sheldon's room and he wasn't there. The previous night was a bit of a blur, but she remembered being really fascinated by Sheldon's train set. Or had that been a dream? Either way, Amy decided to be a little bit more open about Sheldon's train obsession because it was more fun than she would have thought.

There was a glass of water and two pain killers next to her glasses on the nightstand. Amy put on her glasses and started to reach for the water, but noticed a folded piece of paper there. She opened the paper and read the note inside.

Dear Amy,

I'm assuming that you'll need the pain killers and water after last night. You were still pretty out of it when I had to leave to play paintball with the guys, so I decided to let you sleep. You'll notice a key under this note. Please use it to lock up when you leave and then keep it. I've been meaning to give you one for a couple weeks now.

I'll check in with you later. Have a good day.

Love,

Your "babe," Sheldon

Amy groaned again. She suddenly remembered calling Sheldon a babe and his amusement about it. Then again, she supposed that it was better than him being upset by it. The whole night was nearly enough to make her stop drinking all together.

Amy checked her phone and saw that she only had an hour before she was supposed to meet Penny to go to the mall. Then it hit her, Sheldon had just given her a key to the apartment. Not just to lock up, but to keep. A key to his apartment. He had a key to her apartment for months, so it really shouldn't have been such a shock, but it still was.

Amy wished she had the time to think about what it meant, but she had already slept away most of the morning. Turning on the shower and getting in, Amy tried to let the water carry away the rest of her headache and tiredness. She was definitely going to stop drinking with Penny.

It was strange to be in the apartment without anyone else there. Amy poured herself some orange juice and made some toast before remembering the cookies from the night before. She stole a piece of paper from Sheldon's desk and pen to write Leonard a note and leave him a five for the stolen cookies. It seemed like a fair price for the cookies since she didn't know their actual cost. Then Amy let herself out and locked the door behind her with the shiny new key on her keyring.

She knocked on Penny's door and Penny came to the door still in her pajamas and messy hair.

"Oh good, I'm not the only one who drank too much last night," Amy said when she saw Penny.

"Oh, right. The mall. Come on in and I'll get ready."

"We can do this another day. I don't even need the makeover. Sheldon gave me a key to his apartment. That's a pretty big step forward, right?"

Penny sat down on her couch next to Amy. "Really?" This news had woken her up. Amy handed over the note and Penny quickly read it. "What did you guys do last night? And what is this "babe" thing?"

"We played with his train set and I fell asleep on the couch. I also called him babe, but he seemed amused by it. That's why he included it in the note."

"You are a vixen, Amy. Now, let me go get dressed. This definitely needs to be followed up by a makeover. You don't want to lose this momentum," Penny said as she got up to get dressed.

Amy reread the note from Sheldon while she waited, and then put it in her purse to take home and put in her journal. She wanted to keep that note. Penny was taking a while to get dressed, so Amy decided to wash some of the large pile of dishes in her sink. She was nearly half done by the time that Penny came back out, ready to go.

The mall was pretty busy because it was a really nice Sunday, but Amy and Penny found Bernadette pretty quickly. In each of the stores, Amy couldn't find very much that she would normally wear, but Penny would grab a handful of items and shove her into the dressing rooms. Amy had to admit that some of the stuff was actually really pretty. The skirts tended to be a little more flowing and the tops were a little more fitted, but most of it was still similar enough to what she would normally wear.

Penny pulled some dresses for Amy too. A couple of them were brightly colored, but Amy tried them on too. Penny wouldn't let Amy put any of those back even though Amy didn't really feel like they were her style. She knew that she had veto power, but Amy thought a couple extra items that she would never have thought about wouldn't hurt. Plus, Bernadette said Amy looked great in them.

Penny also talked Amy into buying new glasses. They found some bolder glasses that weren't so different than the pair she had on, but they were black and had thicker frames. They also ordered Amy some contracts. Amy wondered if the "nerdier" glasses were the way to go, but Penny assured her that they were much trendier than the ones she was already wearing.

Amy was glad that Penny was her friend because these all seemed like a random bunch of pieces that she could never figure out how to go together. Penny assured her that she would look beautiful for her date on Thursday.

The group decided to stop for lunch before looking for shoes. The whole day was taking a chunk out of Amy's checking account. It would be worth it if Sheldon responded well, but it was more than Amy had spent on clothes the whole previous year. Especially since she found all of those clothes of her grandmother's. Still, Amy decided to limit the shoe shopping to two pairs. Being a fashionista was a lot harder than she ever knew.

They were finally leaving the mall when Amy got a text from Sheldon. "We lost, but I died very heroically. I hope your day at the mall with Penny went well."

"I'm sorry that you died, but you are always my hero. My day with Penny was long but productive," Amy wrote back.

"Dinner tonight at my place with the guys?"

"Sounds great. I should still have time to get in a nap first. See you soon."

"I'm also planning on taking a nap today. You could come straight here and we could nap together," Sheldon suggested.

Amy wondered if the invitation was out of missing her or if he was just being reasonable. She could have a longer nap if she cut the traffic out of the equation.

"Penny, can I store this stuff at your place for the evening? Sheldon invited me over, and I don't want him to see all of these clothes."

"Sure, sweetie, but I thought you were going to go home to take a nap?"

"I was, but that was part of Sheldon's invitation. He said he was going to take a nap and that I could join him," Amy admitted.

"Aww. Sheldon can't sleep without his Amy. That's cute," Penny said, laughing. Amy's face went a little red, but Penny just hugged her. "I'm sorry, Ames. You guys really are cute together. Who would have known that Dr. Whack-a-doodle would have found someone who loved him so much?"

Sheldon got out of the shower and sat in his spot. He kept flipping through the channels on the television, but nothing good was on. Leonard was working at his computer, but after the third time through the channels he turned to his friend.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm waiting for Amy. She is supposed to be coming back over, and then we are going to take a nap before dinner," Sheldon told him.

"I can just send her in when she gets here if you want to start on that nap."

"No. I have trouble falling asleep without her, so I'll just wait."

"You have trouble falling asleep without her?"

"Yes, Leonard. That's what I just said."

"Why don't you have her over more than just the two nights a week then? I know you were concerned about her moving in, but you could have her over more often. Or you could try sleeping over there again?" Leonard suggested. Sheldon's bad mood when Amy wasn't around made a little more sense to him now. He thought that Sheldon missed Amy, which also seemed likely, but he also was suffering from a lack of sleep.

"The Relationship Agreement says two nights a week, Leonard," Sheldon said as if he had no control over his own ridiculous document.

There was a knock on the door and Sheldon jumped up to get it. It was Amy, and Sheldon pulled her in for a hug as soon as he saw her.

"You could have used your key," Sheldon told her.

"I forgot that I had it. Plus, I get a hug this way."

"You would have gotten the hug either way. Are you ready for that nap?" Sheldon asked. He looked even more tired than Amy, so she nodded and let him lead her into his room. They didn't change their clothes or climb under the covers. Instead, Sheldon just wrapped his arms around Amy and pulled her into his chest before sighing happily. He was asleep before she even had a chance to close her eyes.