Sheldon and Amy saw each other a few times during the following week, but everything stayed normal between them. Other than Sheldon including a goodnight hug, they didn't touch each other during their meetings. There were no more declarations of love. To any outsider, their relationship was the same as it always was, but when Sheldon and Amy caught each other's eyes, they could see how much they loved each other.

On Thursday a week after they had told each other that they loved each other, Sheldon arranged to meet Amy at her apartment for their first round of experiments. It was agreed that it would be much better to keep it private. It was "anything can happen" Thursday, the other guys were spending the night at a bar, and Sheldon was happy to spend time with Amy even if he was nervous about what they were going to do.

He had printed out Amy's request and looked it over about a hundred times. They were starting with the casual touching set. The guys agreed to drop him off at Amy's before they went out, so at least he didn't have to take the bus. Plus, Leonard said he would give Sheldon a call when they were leaving if he wanted a ride home.

Knock Knock Knock "Amy."

Knock Knock Knock "Amy."

Knock Knock Knock "Amy."

Amy was near the door, but she waited until Sheldon finished knocking. She smiled on reflex upon seeing him standing there in her doorway. "Hi, Sheldon."

"Hi," Sheldon said shyly. Amy thought it was cute that he was nervous around her.

"Come in. I'm just finishing up dinner."

"You cooked?"

"Yeah. I thought that since you were going to miss out on dinner with the guys I would at least make you some spaghetti with cut up hot dogs."

Sheldon visibly relaxed. Amy knew him well and he knew that he was in good hands. Amy wasn't going to push him beyond what he could handle. Plus, most of the night's experiments were based on things that they had already done. They were just going to see what they could implement in the relationship on a regular basis. Sheldon took a seat at her table and waited for Amy to be done cooking. He offered to help, but she made him sit down. She knew all of this was hard enough for him. The least she could do was make him a dinner he liked.

Once dinner was over, Sheldon started feeling a little nervous again, but Amy's presence kept him calm. "Should we go sit on the couch?" he suggested after he finished helping her wash her dishes.

"Um. Sure," Amy said. She felt stupid for being nervous. It was her idea, and all they were going to do was some cuddling. It was exactly what she wanted from Sheldon.

Amy sat next to Sheldon on her couch. He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. She could see that it had been folded and unfolded many times. It wasn't like him to have something in such a state of disrepair on him. He read from it again and outlined the procedures.

"First, I am supposed to put my arm around your shoulders without any other body parts touching," Sheldon said. "Are you ready?" Amy nodded and Sheldon put his hand on her right shoulder so that his arm rested across her shoulders. It was tense at first, but he moved to relax the muscles in his arm.

Sheldon held up the piece of paper and read from it, even though he had obviously memorized it. "Does that feel comfortable to you?" he asked Amy.

Amy thought about it and she liked that she could feel a tingle where Sheldon touched her. It had always been that way. Even when she grabbed his hand in an experiment outside of that bar year before, the tingle was there. Sheldon was different in that way. Amy didn't have the same hang ups about touching people that Sheldon did, but that didn't mean it was easy for her. Except with Sheldon. Hugging Penny or Bernadette or Leonard was work, hugging Sheldon was instinct.

"I like it," Amy finally said. "What do you think?"

"I find it... acceptable."

They were supposed to move on, but instead they stayed like that. Sheldon turned on the tv and Amy leaned into him a little before asking him if it was okay. He nodded. Amy wasn't sure she believed him, but then he started playing with a few strands of her hair. She was fine if they didn't move on to hugging or having a hand on his waist while standing. Amy felt like she already got everything she wanted. It wasn't until Sheldon had started trying so hard that Amy realized how much it was just little things like this that she missed. Knowing that Sheldon loved her and that he liked playing with her hair while he managed to cuddle with her on the couch made her feel like the luckiest person on the planet.

After about twenty minutes, Sheldon reminded her that they had other experiments to run. They stood up and hugged each other since that was next. When Amy had written the request, they had only hugged a few times, but it was comfortable for them both by the time they got around to the experiment. That actually made it feel a little silly to talk about. They both agreed that it felt acceptable.

The other casual touches, like a hand on the waist or on the arm, seemed rather awkward. That meant that they decided to shelve them for the time being. Sheldon had gone through every one of Amy's suggestions and they decided together if they liked them or not. He was such a good sport about the whole thing that Amy was practically buzzing.

In the end, they decided to continue the goodnight hug with an additional greeting hug when appropriate. They also decided that they would sit with his arm around her and her leaning into him if they both agreed it was comfortable for them. It could only happen at either of their homes or at a movie.

"Are you sure you are okay with that? It seems like a lot of touching," Amy said.

"Yes. You've allowed me to opt out if I feel uncomfortable with it at some point, but I enjoyed spending time with you tonight. I can't imagine that it would be much different another night."

"Okay."

"Amy, can I tell you something?" Sheldon asked.

"Of course. I always want to hear what you have to say."

"Sometimes I want to burn off my skin with acid when people touch me. I can feel them there for hours after a handshake or even an accidental bump. It's like torture. But not you. You've always been different. Even when you held my hand after we went to see Zack, I felt a tingle in my hand. I liked it. I've spent so much of the last couple of years trying to understand why I can handle it so much better when you touch me. I still don't know, but please understand, this is something that I want to do. Of course, I want you to be happy, but I'm doing this as much for me as I am for you."

To Amy, it was like he had told her that he loved her all over again. To know that, even thought it was hard, he wanted to touch her; to be with her. She was speechless.

It turned out that she didn't need to say anything. Sheldon just put his arm back around her as he flipped through the channels. They still had an hour to kill before Leonard was coming to pick Sheldon back up.