A/N: I recommend reading this while listening to One Hour Photo – End Titles (on iTunes!). That's what I listened to while writing it. It sets a mood with no pesky lyrics to distract! Thank you all for the reviews/watches/favorites!

At the sight of his girlfriend with another man, Sheldon didn't waste a second to consider a plan of action. His vision quivering, rendering the room into that of a minor earthquake's epicenter, he strode rapidly across the room, his gaze never leaving the junction between Amy Farrah Fowler's head and Stuart's shoulder. Sheldon recalled the incident between Amy and Leonard in which he was compelled to judo-chop Leonard for mentioning the pulled groin the short man gotten from being with Amy at the wedding. This was five—no, seven times worse than that!

Fortunately for Sheldon, as Stuart saw him coming, he sheepishly moved away from Amy just enough to cause them to break their physical point of contact.

"Amy Farrah Fowler!" Sheldon bellowed, his face twisted into a scowl, spittle flying from his mouth. She looked at him in an oddly tired way, her face full of hopelessness and inevitability. This further irked Sheldon. Why was she not startled or ashamed? She was caught in the act!

Suddenly Sheldon remembered the handshake that she might attempt. Perhaps this was a way of forcing him to approach her so that the finalizing handshake could be performed. This would not do!

Leonard watched his friend stomp away, and stared off in the direction of the departing physicist. Clearly Amy was performing this blatantly open act in order to make Sheldon jealous, and apparently it was working.

Leonard's own failed attempts at maintaining a relationship with Penny resurfaced in his mind. As awkward and socially inept as Sheldon seemed, perhaps it was his confrontational Texas upbringing and outspoken family that made him more liable to correct injustices. Eh…. maybe it was just hormones.

Amy was short. Sheldon was tall. His hands were fast and free to move and hers were folded demurely in front of her, fingers entwined. The handshake had to be avoided at all costs.

As Stuart made room, Sheldon grabbed Amy by the arm and continued walking with purpose, pulling her easily out of the restaurant. She did not try to dig her heels in or even speak; she simply let the tall irritated man maintain his momentum.

It was now raining outside the restaurant and the sky was prematurely dark and stormy. Sheldon moved Amy to the side and released her arm as she leaned against the Cheesecake Factory building. A grimace came to her face and she crossed her arms tightly across her chest, rain soaking her hair and clothes and dripping from her glasses.

"It's raining, Sheldon," she grumbled, clearly irritated by his apparent ignorance of it.

"I don't care," he replied, hair matted to his head. "In case you failed to realize, we are not over. I did not shake on it, and the agreement dictates that—"

Amy held out her hand, fingers extended and he abruptly stopped talking. She looked grim and yet matter-of-fact, her chin up as if challenging him. Even so, the rain streaming down her face made it appear as if she was crying. Sheldon stared at the hand with a strange curiosity. His eyes moved from her hand to her eyes. He was shocked at the resolve in this short female person. He'd underestimated her strength of will.

"But—who am I gonna talk to?" he asked her, his voice softening as he stared again at her hand. "Who will I play Counterfactuals with? What I am going to do on the second Thursday of every month?"

Amy merely shrugged. She'd had her say in the apartment and at its utter failure, she was now empty.

"How could you do this to me?" Sheldon said, his chest rising and falling dramatically with each breath. "With Stuart, of all people? Canoodling with him in public, no less! Am I not worth a better rebound than that?! At the very least you could have picked another doctor!"

"He's not a rebound, Sheldon," she informed him. "I called him to accompany me to the restaurant. He merely obliged," she muttered, her eyes now focused on the ground. Sheldon's body language indicated that he was not convinced. He looked up at her, his arms shaking like dachshunds attempting to dry themselves.

"But you were—touching him! That I cannot abide!"

"In fact, it was more like he was providing me postural support by allowing me to lean my upper torso towards his shoulder. The excessive water loss earlier has been causing me to suffer from orthostatic hypotension. Hence, the reason I'm currently leaning against this filthy, wet building."

"Excessive water loss?"

"Tears."

"Interesting," he murmured. "But why Stuart and not Penny? Could she not have accompanied you?"

"Ha, you have more to worry about with her than with Stuart," Amy cracked, a small smile appearing and then dissipating.

Sheldon blinked.

"What?"

"Never mind, Sheldon. She's the reason I came to the Cheesecake Factory. I planned on speaking with her after her shift was over or at least until she went on break. I just needed someone until then."

"Well, what about me? You have me. That should have been your first choice, if I do say so myself."

"Sheldon, I'm sad because of you, which predicates that I speak with someone else."

Sheldon balked, still lost.

"What did I do? Did I not explicitly state that our relationship is in fact not over and is actually in the process of being on probation? Did I not attempt to explain to you the birds and the bees? Did I not agree to sleep by your side, for heaven's sake?"

"True," she murmured, looking thoughtful and perhaps a bit guilty. So he hadn't forgotten about making that particular amendment to their agreement. The cold rain soaked through her woolen clothing and made her shiver. "You did attempt to do all those things. However, your ardent refusal to consider participating in valid and highly anticipated events in my future… well, it makes me sad."

"I assumed us both to be above such provincial needs," he replied. "Are you and I not future award–winning neurobiologists and Nobel Prize Laureates, respectively? Our minds would be wasted on diaper changing, potty training and a piece of paper that forces us to obey what is essentially a relationship agreement drafted by lawmakers much less intelligent and extrapolative than we are."

Amy considered Sheldon's logic. It was surprisingly sound and yet was lacking in that it did not hint at any contemplation to be a parent or spouse.

"I wasn't asking us to marry or have children anytime soon, Sheldon," she replied, her voice breaking. "Just that you might love me enough to want to do it someday."

She was almost compelled to put her hands over her mouth. Damn. She'd said the L word. According to the relationship agreement, this was not to be used in the context of an argument. In fact, it had even been stated as L_ve in the agreement. Love was wholly forbidden.

"I see," Sheldon said, using the back of his hand to wipe the rain from his forehead. His response was anticlimactic. "However, you are equating love with procreation and matrimony. I argue that what you call love is in fact a primal emotional attachment to another that alters the lover's perception of the lovee in such a way as to render that person a perfect match to him or her."

Thankfully the rain concealed the hot tear that surreptitiously slid down Amy Farrah Fowler's cheek. It was the first time she'd heard Sheldon's opinion of the concept of love.

"Is that what this is?" she asked quietly.

"I would argue that it is," he responded with no hesitation.

"You love me," Amy stated, her eyebrow cocked as she tested the way the statement sounded in her mouth. "Am I correct in saying that?"

Sheldon rolled his eyes. His soaked t-shirt clung to his body, outlining the shape of his torso. She'd left herself particularly vulnerable with this statement, and immediately regretted the possibility of what he might say. She decided to take in the sight of his practically naked torso to avoid thoughts of her sustained vulnerability.

"Can you not infer my feelings toward you based on this most recent turn of events?" he replied. "You're a neurobiologist. Do you not believe that it is indeed oxytocin that is flooding the synaptic clefts in my nucleus accumbens, compelling me to do things I don't normally do?"

Amy almost swooned at Sheldon's way with words, at the mention of the love hormone oxytocin working in the context of his central nervous system. Woo, neurobiology and romance paired quite well together.

"That's all well and good, but I just want to hear you say it," she said, clearing her throat. "You know, that you love me."

"This feels so… juvenile," he murmured, shifting impatiently from one foot to the other. "Look at you, Amy; you're shivering. You'll catch your death out here."

At that, he moved to her side and draped his arm over her back, pulling her against his body. Amy felt him shiver against her and couldn't help but shiver again, this time for an entirely different reason.

"This frigid rain, combined with our meager clothing, reminds me of the North Pole," he said, staring off in the distance. "It seems that in this case, our body heat is ineffective in warming us."

"I propose that we get out of the rain and huddle together for warmth," Amy added. She shivered again. "Partake in a mid-day nap, as it were. It's the perfect day for it."

"I agree," Sheldon responded. He blinked at the sound of his reply in the affirmative. No coercion had elicited such a reply. Rather, he'd said yes because it was a good idea. Perhaps the idea would have occurred to him had Amy not proposed it first.

"I see that your car is in the parking lot. Surely Stuart can find his own way home," Sheldon added.

"Most assuredly," she replied with a nod. Now she was smiling. Sheldon felt relieved.

"Allow me to first confirm that we are in fact still together," he stated.

"On probation," Amy cautioned. "But yes, we are together."

"I guess this means we will be sleeping together," he said. "Sleeping."

"Yes," she said. "Transverse unconsciousness. Is that feasible for you?"

"It is," he replied solemnly.

They strode to her car in silence, although Sheldon continued to keep his arm around her. The inherent thinness of his appendage did little to block the raindrops from striking her, but it did serve as assistance for her crying-induced wooziness.

"I guess the only question remaining is where this event will be taking place," Sheldon asked, walking her to her car door.

"What?" Amy replied, her mind floating on a cloud as she clicked the unlock button on her keychain. At that, Sheldon opened the door for her and removed his arm from around her shoulders. As she moved to enter the vehicle, staring up at him with excitement all the while, he spoke.

"I suppose what I'm saying in lay-speak is, your place or mine?"

Amy abruptly fell to the ground, having fainted from utter joy. Sheldon stared at her still body for several seconds before realizing the implications of her fall. She awoke shortly with a sore head and a back covered in gritty asphalt chunks to find her boyfriend hoisting her by the upper arms while trying to pull her into a seated position.

"You weren't lying about that orthostatic hypotension," he muttered, straining with effort as he finally attained his goal.

"Right," she replied, rubbing her sore head. "Orthostatic hypotension." Slowly she moved to one knee as he helped to pull her to her feet. She teetered unsteadily, bits of black asphalt falling from her back. "Uh, orthostatic hypotension has been known to linger, so you may have to physically support me for some time—you know, for my well-being."

"Of course," he answered.

Sheldon didn't see Amy's big toothy grin as she entered the vehicle. And Amy didn't see Sheldon's little smile as she did so.

A/N: Either this will be the end chapter or I may have one more. What do you think?