This chapter is shorter than I intended, but it's looking like it will be another week before I can get time to finish it, so I'm just gonna post what I've got. Forgive any typos. Also, Barry Kripke makes an appearance and his lisp can be tricky. Sorry if my attempts made it hard to read.

Chapter Fourteen

Over the course of the next two weeks, Amy and Sheldon became closer than ever. Instead of a reboot, they called it Shamy 2.0 … bigger and better and, Amy hoped, faster. Their communication skills had definitely improved. Of course, Sheldon knowing all of Amy's thoughts made miscommunication difficult.

Although Amy was not allowed to sleep in Leonard's room, he still spent each night across the hall with his wife. Amy was content to sleep on the couch, but Sheldon would not allow that either. He procured a cot for her and had it put in his room, but Amy never slept on it. At her boyfriend's insistence, she slept nestled up beside him every single night.

While Amy considered it very romantic, it was never sexual. A chaste kiss goodnight followed by PG cuddling was as far as Sheldon was willing to go. But Amy was happy just to be near him. She loved the way he smelled, and the softness of his t-shirt underneath her cheek. Those intimate moments warmed her heart and fed her soul. Although she was still ready for them to take their relationship to the next level physically, lying next to him each night was a satisfactory consolation prize.

Sheldon, on the other hand, would not admit that he liked having her so close. Instead he found a different excuse each night for her to join him in his bed. At first Amy looked forward to whatever transparent reason he would come up with, but after a week she took pity on him and ended the charade by climbing in beside him without waiting to be asked. But it was strictly their secret. Without even discussing it, they both knew they wanted to keep their arrangement to themselves.

Although Amy loved staying with Sheldon, it had backfired on her in one way: he had become so used to her being there that he complained anytime she tried to go home. She spent the better part of one Friday night explaining to him that even welcome guests can become unwanted if they stayed too long. But he was unconvinced.

"You are not a guest, Amy," he pouted. "You belong here now."

"Is that an invitation?" She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling. You've stepped in it this time, Dr. Cooper. I've got you!

Sheldon checked the bottom of his shoes before snorting derisively. "You already had me, Dr. Fowler. And I haven't stepped in anything." He lifted his foot to show her that his shoes were clean.

Amy rolled her eyes as she joined him on the couch. "It's just a saying, Sheldon. How can such a smart man be so ignorant?"

Sheldon took offense. "Hang on now. Why am I ignorant for not being familiar with every homespun, backwoods idiom you throw at me?"

Amy shot him a look. "Do you really wanna go there, Tex?"

"Amy, being from Texas does not make me homespun or backwoods."

"If you say so," she chuckled. "Besides, you are just trying to change the subject."

"Am not."

"I need to go home, Sheldon," Amy said, placing her hand on his arm and looking him straight in the eye. She was afraid that she was getting too comfortable there and that it would hurt her deeply to have to leave. What would she do when he longer needed her?

"But why?" he whined. "Don't you like it here? Haven't I been a good host? We bought the laundry detergent you like, and I let you rearrange the stuff in the medicine cabinet. Plus, I made sure we had ladies yogurt and any feminine products you may need. I even let you sit in my spot."

Amy decided to stop him before he tripped over his lip.

"Of course I like it here. But it's not my home." It hurt her to say that, but that didn't keep it from being true. She kissed him quickly and stood up. "But I will make a deal with you. Let me go home for one night so I can air the place out a little and take care of some things that have been neglected, and I will come back tomorrow morning and stay the rest of the weekend."

Sheldon clearly was not happy with the plan. "Proposal," he said coyly. "You stay here and I'll send Leonard to air out your apartment and do anything else you need."

Amy smiled. The fact that he didn't want to be apart from her was not lost on her. And wasn't that one of the thinks she always begged him for … more time together?

She looked at Sheldon, who nodded in response to her unspoken question, and once again took pity on him. "Counterproposal. You come with me now to my apartment, and I drive you home after dinner?"

Sheldon bounded out of his seat and ran for the door.

When Sheldon suggested to Amy that they keep his telepathy a secret, she readily agreed. They had settled into a kind of groove with it and she liked it being their little secret. She was sure the rest of the gang would figure it out soon enough anyway. But she had overestimated their friends, or at least the amount of attention that they paid to Sheldon.

In fact, she was almost insulted on his behalf. How could they not see it? Especially Leonard. She knew that Howard and Raj merely tolerated Sheldon on most occasions, but Leonard was supposed to be his best friend. And Sheldon had been trying very hard in recent weeks to be kinder and more understanding. All he'd gotten for his trouble was a few comments on his "Vulcan" hearing and an occasional raised eyebrow.

When Sheldon decided to go back to work, even though he had some time left on his leave of absence, he asked Amy to drive him. She had been forced to return to work days before and he was still getting used to her not being at his beck and call. Nobody anticipated his needs like Amy did. Plus, he got bored with the mundane thoughts that filled the heads of their friends. Even Leonard, Sheldon had discovered sadly, rarely had a thought that he found intriguing. It was all Penny, all the time.

Unfortunately, Sheldon's first day did not get off to a very good start. Amy had to go to her lab, leaving him alone to figure out how to get his thoughts from his head to his white boards without being able to write. Leonard had graciously answered his distress call, but it was not a successful solution.

"That's it, Sheldon," he growled, slamming the marker into the tray. Sheldon had asked him to erase and start over no less than eight times because he thought Leonard's handwriting was too "pedestrian."

"I'm a physicist too, you know? With a doctorate of my own. So stop acting like the rest of us are your lackeys. I'm doing you a favor. Or at least I was. Now I'm outta here," he said as he marched out the door, slamming it behind him.

"I don't know why he's so angry," Sheldon muttered to the empty room. "I'm the one left in the lurch." He called Amy, who answered after the first ring.

"What's wrong," she said, her voice sounding worried.

"Leonard walked out on me," he answered, sounding pathetic.

"What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything!" Sheldon's voice got higher with each word. Amy could almost visualize him stomping his feet like a petulant child.

"Poor baby," she cooed, smiling at the double meaning.

"Come help me, Amy. Leonard was useless. I need you."

"But I'm not even a physicist. How could I possibly be more help than Leonard?"

"Physicist or not, you're ten times smarter than Leonard. Plus, you aren't mean," he added softly.

"Well thank you. I appreciate your confidence in me. But I'm afraid I can't come right now, Sheldon. I'm so busy myself." She heard him groan and immediately felt bad.

"Maybe Barry could help," she offered sheepishly. She knew how Sheldon felt about the man, but over the years the two had at least come to a slightly less hostile, begrudging respect for each other's work.

"Kripke? I take it back, you are mean!"

Amy sighed. "That's the best I can do. Sorry, Cuddles. I'll see you at lunch."

Sheldon smiled at the endearment. While he would never let her know it, he had come to appreciate the nickname. And she had begun to use it more often since they started sharing a bed. But his mirth was short-lived.

"Kripke! Over my dead body." The phrase struck him like a thunderbolt. His perfect mind immediately went back to the day of the accident with such clarity it made him wince. Maybe he would pay ole' Barry a visit after all. He knew that if anybody at Cal-Tech wanted him gone, it was Kripke. Who else could it be? Everyone else here loves me!

With the police investigation still stalled, Sheldon decided to take matters into his own hands. He walked purposefully to Barry's office and knocked on the door. Because of Sheldon's trademark knock, Barry knew who it was and took his sweet time answering.

"Hey, Coopah! You're back. What was it wike being a speed bump?"

Sheldon glared at him, but refused to take the bait. "That's right, Barry. I am back, despite your best efforts." He muttered the last part under his breath, pretending he didn't want Barry to hear it.

"What efforts? I could give a wats ass what you do, Coopah. I just enjoyed not having you awound," he said with a shrug and a smirk. "And you have to admit, the image of you wying on the gwound covered in skid marks is pwetty funny."

"Agree to disagree," Sheldon said. "But are you certain that you had nothing to do with the unfortunate … incident?" He hated to give his nemesis more fodder for his tasteless jokes, but he needed to be sure that Barry was not the culprit. And the best way to do that is to get him to think about it.

"I don't know anything about it. I wish I did. I would wove to buy that guy a dwink!"

Again Sheldon glared at Kripke but let his remark pass without retaliation. "I wonder who it could be," Sheldon mused, lost in his own thoughts.

"What are you tawking about now?" Barry grumbled. "And why are you here?"

Sheldon decided to level with him. "Well, it turns out the car that hit me had a Cal-Tech parking sticker on the windshield. So I'm thinking maybe it wasn't an accident after all."

Barry burst into laughter. "Aw man, now I weally want to buy them a dwink! That's cwassic, Coopah!"

"Indeed," Sheldon said dryly. "But do you know who it could be?"

"Are you sewious? I can think of a hundwed people who want to see you dead. Starting with your own fwiends. Did you ask Hofstadteh?"

As this conversation was getting him nowhere, Sheldon decided to leave. None of Barry's thoughts were incriminating, so why should he continue to put himself through the torture of being in the same room with him.

"Thanks for nothing, as usual, Kripke."

Sheldon turned to go, but Barry stopped him. "Look, Coopah, I was just joking awound. I reawy don't know who hit you, and I'm gwad you're okay. But if you ever wepeat that, I'll kill you myself."

Sheldon nodded. "Thanks, Barry." Sheldon was almost out the door when Kripke stopped him again.

"So, how's your wovewife?" he sneered. "You getting' any?"

Sheldon sighed. "You never disappoint, Barry," he said, shaking his head.

"Funny, that's exactwy what Amy said to me wast night!" Kripke emphasized his point with clenched fists and a pelvic thrust.

Sheldon gaped at him, angry at himself for almost feeling something akin to friendship for the Neanderthal. He could not stop himself from hearing Barry's vulgar thoughts, and knew his eidetic memory would never let him forget them. Which just made him hate Barry that much more.

"You guys still using the wocket?"

That was the final straw for Sheldon. "You're a pig, Kripke, and this is a waste of my time." He marched out and slammed the door only to poke his head back in a second later. "By the way, that's Dr. Fowler to you. And stop picturing her naked!" He slammed the door again and practically ran down the hall. He wanted to get far away from Barry and his thoughts.

Sheldon went back to his office and hacked into Kripke's email and social media accounts, but all it yielded was a wasted afternoon. And probably a few nightmares. That guy is one sick puppy!

By the time five o'clock rolled around, a petition had been circulated begging President Siebert to force Sheldon to spend the rest of his leave at home as originally planned. Citing "the potential for harm to come to the one-handed nuisance," the petition had even been signed by three of Sheldon's closest friends: L. Hofstadter, H. Wolowitz and R. Koothrappali. And, of course, Batman, Mickey Mouse and Jesus.

Siebert ignored the obviously bogus signatures and told Sheldon to spend the rest of his leave at home … or else he could find another place to work. Sheldon was very displeased, but a quick listen to his boss's thoughts told him the man was serious. Foolish, Sheldon thought, but serious.

So as he walked to Amy's office to catch a ride home, he had only one thing on his mind: how could he get her to take the next two weeks off as well.