Chapter Twenty-One

The Quarrel Quandary

Amy and Bernadette sat outside Penny's dressing room, waiting for the bride to try on her fifteenth dress of the day. The girls attended a champagne brunch before heading to the shop. Bernadette, who would serve as Penny's Matron of Honor, and Amy, who was happy to let her due to the awkwardness of Sheldon being Best Man, already found their bridal party wear and even new gowns for the university gala. Penny, however, couldn't seem to find the right dress.

"So, how's Erik?" asked Bernadette.

"Good. We had a really amazing Thursday night," answered Amy, her mind drifting back to that evening, Erik's touch, their naked bodies…

Bernadette giggled. "You enjoying your man candy?"

Amy blushed. "Yes. We're having a good time."

"You guys need to speak up. I can't hear too well," Penny shouted from behind the door.

"Amy likes having sex with Erik," shouted Bernadette.

"Bernadette," hissed Amy, smacking her friend on the leg. "Everybody can hear."

Penny opened the dressing room door to peek her head out. "Well of course she does. He's sweet and adorable. And he looks like he's probably good in the sack, right?"

"Oh yes," agreed Amy, seeing there was no way around this embarrassing conversation.

"And he's not a robot like Sheldon," Penny added, closing the door again.

"Sheldon isn't a robot," said Amy. "He's just, just…"

"A robot," finished Bernadette.

"He just works at his own pace. Not my pace," Amy said. She realized her and Sheldon were supposed to have a regular lunch time scheduled each week. She should probably get a hold of him. On second thought, why hadn't he gotten a hold of her? Maybe just wait for his move. With all the progress in her relationship with Erik, she hardly considered Sheldon the past two weeks. She hadn't even seen or communicated with him during that time.

The notification on her phone beeped, and she opened her messages to see a selfie of Erik flashing her his best smile, a track event in the background. She smiled and sent Hello sexy back.

Penny opened the dressing room door again, and both girls gasped. The bride smiled broadly.

"This is the one," she said, stepping up on the pedestal in front of the three-way mirror. The dress, a light cream color, was strapless and fitted to the waist before it flared out in classic ball gown style.

Both Amy and Bernadette began to cry, with Penny almost jumping up and down with excitement. "Oh my God, this is my wedding dress. This is really happening! I need to text Leonard."

"Just a text message, no photos," warned Bernadette. "Remember, he can't see the dress until the wedding day." The shorter blonde turned to Amy. "So when will we be shopping for your wedding dress, Amy?"

Amy laughed. "I don't think we're there yet." But she'd imagined it. Yet, they'd never really talked about their future. She knew he wanted kids. She knew he wanted to meet her mother, which made her very nervous. But marriage? She smiled at Penny, happy for her friend and wondering if Erik was the one she would be excitedly texting after finding the dress sometime in the future.

Other than the occasional silly selfie, Amy didn't see Erik again until Wednesday afternoon. With the Halloween campaign in full swing, he spent more days at the park, doing some work into the late evening. Their schedules seemed to completely conflict, him available when she was at work. Amy found herself missing him immensely, daydreaming about him, even experiencing a couple very steamy dreams that woke her up, making her want to go downstairs and crawl into bed with him. But would that be appropriate?

Now here they were, together again, and Amy felt so happy to have his arm draped around her as they walked Honeybee through the park on the sunny August afternoon.

But something was wrong. A silence fell between them, and Amy could sense a disquiet in Erik. She didn't know how she knew, but something was definitely off.

She glanced up at her boyfriend as they walked their leisurely pace, following the same route they took the day they met. "Is something wrong, Erik?" she finally asked.

"No," he said quickly, not looking at her. "Why?"

"It just seems like something is wrong," Amy pressed. "Everything going okay with your work?"

"Yeah," he said, removing his arm from around her shoulders and readjusting his grip on Honeybee's leash. "Just miss seeing you. Too busy."

"You know, you can talk to me. I'm your girlfriend. If something is wrong, I'm here for you. You know that, right?" Amy continued, wanting to get to the bottom of this.

"I told you I'm fine," Erik snapped, stopping in the middle of the path, glaring at Amy.

Amy stared up at Erik, shocked by his harsh tone. She noticed dark circles under his eyes and his face appeared slightly sunken. All his past talk about his depression and anxiety flooded her mind.

"Erik, you can trust me. I can help you. Please talk to me," Amy pleaded.

"I don't need your help," he said, looking at the ground. "I can take of myself. I have for years. I don't need to be taken care of."

His words stabbed Amy in the heart. She wanted to take care of him. He'd helped her, most recently with her conference presentation. Why wouldn't he let her in?

"I love you, Erik," said Amy softly. "Please. Talk to me."

"Listen, Amy," Erik said, meeting her eyes, his brows furrowed and voice businesslike. "You're a busy brilliant person, and I know you really don't need to deal with my unreasonably stressed out roller coaster right now. I love you too much to introduce you to the total freak show Erik Koster."

Amy could feel her anger rising now. How the hell did he know what she needed? She needed to help him.

"Well, it seems you don't trust me," she hissed at him, surprising herself with how fast her anger grew. "Maybe this whole thing with us is moving too fast."

The second the words left her mouth she wished she could bring them back. Erik looked like she'd slapped him.

"What?" asked Erik in a quiet voice.

"I didn't mean that," Amy said quickly. But she realized that the pace of their relationship concerned her, so much so she had expressed it to her girlfriends. "It's just, I miss you, and you seem troubled, and we spent so much time together, and suddenly I don't see you..."

"Well, why don't we draft an agreement setting aside specified times during the week for date nights. We can even time our intimate acts. Would that work for you?" Erik answered, almost yelling, his voice drenched in sarcasm.

Now that was a low blow. Amy felt herself clench her fists.

"I take that back. I did mean it! I don't know who the hell you are, and obviously you don't trust me," yelled Amy, not caring that other people in the park were turning to look.

"How can I trust you now? You don't think we should be together!" shouted Erik.

Amy gasped, suddenly realizing where this could be headed. She'd never argued with Erik like this before. Their past spats have only been over where to eat or what movie to see. In fact, she'd never fought with anyone like this.

Trying to calm her voice down, Amy said, "Erik, I didn't mean that. I just want to know what's wrong."

"I don't need someone to take care of me! I'm fine all by myself! And I've been by myself for a long time," Erik scooped up Honeybee. "I don't need you. I don't need anyone."

And with that, he was gone, marching down the path, leaving Amy standing stricken and shocked. Tears began to roll down her cheeks. She didn't know what to do. Should she follow him? Had they just broken up? What was wrong with him? Why had she said those things?

Amy slowly walked back to her apartment. She paused at Erik's door on her way up, wondering if he had come home, if she should knock. But she didn't know what to say.

Entering her apartment, she immediately went to her bedroom and lay down, tears in her eyes again, her whole body now sobbing. This couldn't possibly be the end of her and Erik, could it? She loved him. She never felt this way about anyone, ever. Just the other day she was thinking of Erik as her future. Sure, they'd only been together for about two months, but she couldn't imagine her life without him.

Amy fell asleep after her long cry, waking up again after 10 p.m., her eyes swollen, still dressed in her day clothes. She slowly got ready for bed, sad and uncertain about the future

Following his angry departure in the park, Erik paced around his apartment, madder at himself than Amy. Why didn't he just tell her what was going on? Because it was humiliating! He was a man, a professional. He shouldn't be freaking out over a few deadlines.

And did Amy really think they were moving too fast? Did she want to slow down? He didn't. He was irrevocably in love with her, wanted her in every way a man could want a woman. He needed her. He should go up there right now and tell her. Confide in her. Yes, he trusted her. He just didn't want to bring her along on his crazy train.

She probably didn't want to see him. He'd started the fight. And they'd never fought before. Erik flopped face down on his bed, feeling tears well in his eyes, his heart racing. Had he just pissed away the greatest thing to ever happen to him?

The next day, Sheldon walked down the halls of the university's biology department towards Amy's lab, a flyer announcing his and Raj's lecture on black holes clutched in his hands. Amy had originally been the one to talk him into the lecture, but with the recent change in their relationship status, he was uncertain if she still had the event on her calendar. He wanted to invite her and also set up their lunches.

Approaching her door, Sheldon saw the lab empty except for Amy, who stood at one of the counters, reading something on her laptop, paperwork strewn around her. Sheldon did his typical knock, which was greeted with Amy's smile.

"Hello Sheldon, please come in," Amy said.

Like lunch a couple of weeks ago, Sheldon once again felt apprehensive approaching Amy. Just being in her presence brought back all those old, confusing feelings. Why couldn't he just move past things? Yet, seeing her smile at him made his stomach jump. But he noticed something different. He'd become accustomed to Amy wearing a little bit of make-up, influenced by Penny. Today she wore none. In fact, her eyes seemed a little red, like she'd been crying. The duo stood in the middle of the room.

"How are you doing, Sheldon?" Amy asked.

"I'm very well. My work is going good. I've done a thorough literature review at this point to see if anyone else has worked through my current ideas, and it seems I am the first. I still have a couple of loose ends before I can begin sharing my work," Sheldon rambled. He handed the flyer to Amy. "I wanted to invite you to my lecture with Raj next week."

"Of course. I remember. I was the one who talked you into this," she said, smiling up at him.

Sheldon found himself just staring at Amy. She wore the pineapple hair clip from before, and the familiar smell of her apple shampoo wafted up to him. He recognized the pen in her lab coat as one he'd purchased for her. They were ergonomically correct for smaller hands with the gel ink she preferred. Despite looking a little swollen, her green eyes smiled up at him, and Sheldon's brain went completely blank. He should have just put the flyer in the mailbox outside her door or sent her an event invite on Facebook.

What had he failed to do last time they were together? Yes, ask about her! "How are you doing, Amy?" he finally asked.

"Well, I've been working on IRB approval for my study. You should be thankful you don't work with living specimens. The ethics paperwork is a nightmare." She nodded towards the stack of papers by her laptop. "Let's see, oh we got our dresses for the wedding."

"Yes, I heard," Sheldon responded. "I'm Best Man, after all."

"I know. Congrats. You'll do a good job," Amy said. She was always so supportive and reassuring. Sheldon felt a slight pain in his heart thinking about all the times she helped him.

"So, um, how is Erik?" he asked, hesitating.

Amy looked down and closed her eyes, tears starting to fall. "We had a fight yesterday. I said something I didn't mean. Or at least I didn't mean it how I said it. And something is wrong, and he won't tell me. And I don't know what's going to happen," Amy said, her voice quiet and broken, now openly crying.

Sheldon stared at Amy before wrapping her in a hug. She put her arms around him and sobbed into his chest. The gesture was so automatic, Sheldon felt shocked. Yet the familiarity of Amy in that particular spot flooded Sheldon with feelings of both comfort and confusion. Still, he stood there holding her. Suddenly, images of Erik filled his head. He remembered seeing Erik at the karaoke club, playing with Amy's hair and later, at the baseball game, nuzzling into her.

Slowly, Sheldon brought one of his hands up Amy's back to rest in her hair and his nose and lips came down on top of her head. The silky softness of her hair combined with her scent soothed and excited him at the same time. Again, everything left his brain, and he existed just in that moment, which slightly terrified him. What was he doing? Amy wasn't his girlfriend; he didn't want a girlfriend. Yet, he didn't remove his hand or his face, enjoying the sensation far too much, for once giving in to his biological urges. Until he felt another one of his biological urges beginning to rise. Oh dear.

Sheldon suddenly pushed Amy away, holding her by the shoulders at arm's length.

"A hot beverage," he sputtered. "You're in distress, and you need a hot beverage. I'll run to the cafeteria and get you some tea."

He turned and raced from the room and walked fast down the hall, willing himself to calm down. What had just happened? Would Amy have this effect on him every time he saw her? He needed to move on. She'd moved on…

Wait, she'd had a fight with Erik. Maybe she'd want to be his girlfriend again. Was there the possibility of her returning to him? Did he even want that? Well, it was obvious his body wanted that, he cursed. Still, could Amy and he be reunited?

Amy stood in the center of her lab, staring at the door Sheldon just ran out. What the hell? She'd been surprised when he'd hugged her, but found she really needed it. But to be pushed away after only a few seconds? Typical Sheldon. Still, she felt bad for sobbing about her new boyfriend to her ex-boyfriend. So awkward and rude. She would need to apologize to Sheldon when he returned

I guess I could use a cup of tea, thought Amy, turning back to her laptop and IRB application.

She worked for several minutes before another knock sounded at her door. She turned to see Erik standing there, looking worse than she'd ever seen him. His eyes were swollen, hair askew, face unshaven. He wore his favorite baseball jersey and jeans, and she noticed his whole body seemed to sag a bit.

"May I come in please?" he asked with a weak voice.

Amy returned to stand at the center of the room. "Yes."

He walked towards her, and they stood facing each other.

"Amy, I'm so sorry," he began in a broken voice. "I should have told you what was going on and…"

"No, Erik, I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said," Amy interrupted. "It's just this, this is all so new to me and…"

And then they were holding each other, both crying. Amy on her tiptoes with her head on his shoulders. She found herself looking at the framed photo of the chimpanzee Patricia he'd given her, and she smiled through her tears. They could work this out.

Erik clung to her so tightly, she almost couldn't breathe. "God, Amy, I need you. You have no idea."

Amy pulled away slightly, and they kissed, both their faces wet with tears.

"I thought you worked today," she said.

"Called in sick. My first time. Watched three episodes of Bonanza, then had to come see you," he said. "I'm so ashamed of the way I acted. I'm going through a rough time right now. I should have told you. It's just, just…" he laughed weakly. "I've never been in an adult relationship."

"Erik, after I'm done here, I'm coming over," said Amy. "We have a lot we need to talk about. To figure out."

"Okay," he said quietly before embracing her again. "I love you, Amy."

"I love you too," Amy said, beginning to cry again, this time happy tears.

Sheldon stood beside the open door, listening to the couple, holding two cups of tea. He returned to see Erik and Amy standing in the middle of the lab just before their embrace. He'd quickly dashed to the side of the door to listen. Now, feeling disheartened, he placed Amy's tea on the floor in the middle of the doorway and turned to head back to the physics department. Taking a sip of his tea, he walked slowly, wondering why he felt sad. He'd moved on from Amy. He'd been doing better at work because she wasn't around. Why did he suddenly feel so empty?

Turning into his office, he saw both Raj and Howard looking at his dry erase boards. Sheldon sighed. He certainly was not in the mood to deal with visitors now, particularly Howard, who had slammed a door in his face the last time he saw the engineer.

Sheldon straightened his shoulders and walked into the office. "What can I do for you two gentlemen?"

"Hey Sheldon," said Raj. "Dude, are you okay?"

Do I not look okay, thought Sheldon. "Why do you ask?"

"You just look kind of, I don't know, uncharacteristically sad," answered Raj.

Sheldon's shoulders sagged and he looked down at the ground. "I just spoke with Amy, and I…don't know." He didn't want to talk about it, certainly not with Howard present. He worked his way around his desk to his chair, the two men taking seats across from him.

"I didn't realize you felt so strongly about Amy," Howard said, looking sympathetically at Sheldon.

Sheldon put both elbows on his desk and his head in his hands. "I didn't know either."

"Do you want to talk?" asked Raj.

"No."

"Do you want us to leave?" continued Raj.

"No."

"Okay." The men sat in silence before Raj spoke again. "The mail room brought you a package as we were arriving."

"A package?" Sheldon glanced around his desk to see a cardboard box with the words Sheldon Cooper Care Package written on the side. The return address was the McCarthys in Woodland, Washington, sent overnight express mail. Curious, Sheldon put the package on his desk and opened it with a pair of scissors.

The three men looked in to see the box filled with all manner of items. On top was a round tin with a post-it on top saying: Made these for you and paid extra to ship them overnight so they'd be fresh. These are my award-winning snickerdoodles. Enjoy, honey! Love, Sally

Sheldon opened the tin and took a cookie, offering some to Howard and Raj too.

"Holy shit," exclaimed Howard after taking a bite. "These are amazing. Literally the best cookie I've ever eaten."

Raj simply nodded as he chewed, and Sheldon couldn't agree more. The texture, the buttery sweetness. He felt his mood instantly improve.

"What else is in there?" asked Raj.

Sheldon pulled out an item wrapped in tissue paper. Tearing away the paper, he held a sculpture of a squirrel made of Mt. St. Helens ash.

"Who are these people?" asked Howard, helping himself to another cookie.

"My geology friends from Washington," he said, pulling out a copy of one of Glenn's books, he opened the front cover to find a rather long inscription. He quickly put it aside to be read later, in private.

Next came several brochures and maps of the Mt. St. Helens area and a stuffed plush salmon. Finally, the bottom of the box featured two more items wrapped in tissue. Sheldon opened the first to reveal a framed picture from Glenn, Yoshi, and Lillian's visit. He remembered Yoshi snapping a selfie of them playing billiards. A rather good picture of the four of them, blown up to a five by seven, and Sheldon smiled, remembering that evening.

The final item was another framed picture, an eight by ten. Sheldon let out an audible gasp when he removed the paper. Lillian had drawn him as a comic, standing in his office, surrounded by his dry erase boards. She'd titled it: Dr. Sheldon Cooper, Master of the Universe.

"That is so cool," Raj said. "I want one."

Sheldon's hand grazed something on the back of the frame, and he pulled off a post-it which read: Thank you so much for making me feel better the other day. You are a good friend. Sincerely, Lillian.

"Seems like a nice group of people," said Howard, looking at one of the maps.

"They are," Sheldon agreed. Then he looked up at his friend. "Howard, I'm sorry I haven't been a good friend all these years. And I'm sorry about our fight."

"Water under the bridge, Sheldon" Howard said, slapping him on the shoulder. "We do need to talk more later and…"

"Hey guys, what's going on?" came a voice from the door.

The three men turned to see Amy standing in the doorway, holding the cup of tea Sheldon brought to her. Sheldon gulped. He'd just been getting back on track, the care package distracting him, and now Amy drenched his brain again.

"Sheldon got a care package from his geology friends," said Howard. "Check this out." He threw Amy the plush salmon, and she caught it with her free hand.

"Yeah, and we were just about to make some plans for Leonard's bachelor party. So no women allowed," added Raj.

"Um, okay," she threw the salmon at Sheldon. "Well, I just wanted to thank you for the tea, Sheldon. And for listening to me. And, well, I'm sorry our conversation got cut short. And it was inappropriate of me to vent about Erik to you. I'm… just sorry… lunch tomorrow? Noon?"

"Okay Amy," Sheldon answered meekly.

"Great. Bye guys." And she was gone.

Raj walked over and shut the office door. "Sheldon, if you want to talk…"

"I don't," Sheldon snapped, and then realized he needed to calm down. "I mean, not right now."

"Ohh, I have an idea. Let's go after work to create a Mt. St. Helens care package. You know, go to the mall and get some SoCal stuff," Raj said.

"And then go to dinner and talk about my idea for Leonard's party. Cause we'll need to start planning now if we're gonna pull it off," Howard added.

Sheldon looked between the two men. "I'm not too good at reading social situations, but I have a strong feeling you are trying to make me forget about Amy."

"Yeah. That's what friends do. So let us," Howard said.

Sheldon looked at his two friends and down at the box, finally glancing at himself as a comic. "Okay. I'll meet you two after work."

Amy dropped off her bag and headed to Erik's apartment upon returning home, expecting a short conversation and a romantic dinner, perhaps time for a movie. What actually happened became the most emotionally exhausting evening of her life.

They began sitting at his small dining room table, Erik pouring out everything he'd been experiencing the past week with the new job, the overwhelming deadlines, logically knowing he could handle it but still looking at the crazy big picture, worried about his perfectionist approach to his work. Amy listened, occasionally shocked. He broke down into tears several times, causing her to cry as well. He always appeared so together, he hid this so well. Until he broke, of course. As a neurobiologist, she knew how depression worked, but to see it coming out in someone she cared about became a whole different matter.

She told him she wanted to listen, wanted to help him. He shouldn't be embarrassed. Everybody had something, some demon.

"Yeah, Amy, really?" Erik said snidely. "You don't. You're smart and confident."

"God, you have no idea!" she shouted at him before breaking down crying again. She began rambling about her childhood, things she'd never told him before, never told anyone. Previously, she'd only shared happy memories, mildly embarrassing moments. Now she let it all out. The rejection, the bullying. Her father abandoning them and the effects on her, her mother. The absolute lack of friends or connection. Her final decision to cut herself off from social situations altogether. Living alone, in her own bubble along with her work, until she met Sheldon, and ultimately Penny, who changed her life. Became her friend. As she talked on and on, she realized the profound impact Penny had on her. She really needed to get her a nice wedding present…

"See, you're not the only freak show," Amy said after her long rant, grabbing a tissue to wipe her eyes.

Erik's face lit up in a smile. "Seems like we're both delightfully scarred and screwed up. A match made in heaven."

Amy laughed. "Yes. Erik, you need to let me help you. You need to talk to me. We're in a relationship, and that means we take care of each other. You've taken care of me. Let me do the same."

"I guess I'm used to being on my own. Trying to handle things myself," Erik said. "But it does feel better to talk about things. And you…you just make me better all around. And so happy. You heal me."

Amy walked over and sat on his lap. They held each other for several minutes not saying anything at all

About 8 p.m. they ordered Chinese and ate quietly until Erik brought up the elephant in the room.

"Do you think this relationship is going too fast?"

Everything snowballed from there. Amy talked about being afraid they were going to burn out. She'd been in a five year relationship where the furthest they got was kissing and now she was sleeping with Erik after two months. Yet she felt so connected with Erik. She felt their love. In fact, she often felt her breathe taken away just thinking about it.

She shared with Erik what her girlfriends said when she worried about going too fast.

"Whoa, wait, you don't tell them, you know, like everything," he said, glancing down at his crotch and looking back up at her.

Amy laughed. "Not everything. Not specifics."

Erik just looked at her skeptically before launching into his appraisal of the relationship, how wonderful she made him feel, how he finally felt complete after all these years. Knowing he had support, especially after opening up to her earlier that evening. He stood up and paced around the room before sitting on the couch, Honeybee jumping up into his lap. He told her about his parents marrying after only a couple months dating and their decades-long marriage. About Jessica and Benji. Amy knew about some of these things before, but to hear him talk now, about how he saw her as the lead in their own epic love story, made Amy start to cry again. Amy soon realized he'd observed all these positive relationships, while she'd seen many negative ones.

"Do you really want to back off?" Erik asked. "Because I love you Amy, and I'll do whatever to keep you in my life."

"No," said Amy instantly, honestly. "It's just, I've never experienced something like this before, and it's terrifying."

"Yeah, it is," Erik said. "Putting everything on that one person. Your love, your trust. Everything…But meeting you and falling in love with you has been exhilarating and brought me back to life. And I just want more. I need more."

Amy didn't know how to ask the next question, so she just let it come out. "Have you thought about us, um, in the future? You know…"

"Like marriage?" he asked, looking at her.

"Yes," she said, meeting his gaze.

"Yes. You?"

"Yes," Amy responded, quickly looking down and beginning to clear the dinner mess. It was now after 10 p.m. and things had begun to congeal.

"We need to figure out this schedule of ours," said Erik, clearing his throat. "Not seeing you every day is killing me. Seriously. Literally killing me."

While cleaning up, they came up with a solution. On days they could not see each other for a walk or a real date, the one returning home later would simply join the other at his/her apartment for the night. Amy had already given him her spare key and assured him Honeybee was welcome anytime.

About 11 p.m., the couple crawled into bed, exhausted from crying and talking and spilling out their innermost feelings. Both stripped down to just their underwear, they fell asleep holding one another.

Very early the next morning, when the sun just started to peak through the shades, Amy awoke facing a sleeping Erik, still unshaven, his hair mussed, his mouth open slightly. She watched him for a bit, wondering how she ended up at this particular moment in time. In love with a kind, caring man. Despite his flaws, or because of them, she loved him more today than ever before.

Amy began kissing his sleeping lips and soon found him kissing her back, his arms wrapping around her and pulling her against him. They both caressed each other slowly and quietly, none of the awkwardness of their first time together or the flirtatious and frantic pace of the last time. Amy felt herself wrapped up in him, his sweet kisses trailing up and down her body, her mouth and hands exploring him slowly, methodically. They didn't speak to each other, just touched. Amy felt a newness about their lovemaking, perhaps coming from their openness the night before. There was something deeply intimate about this moment, something neither had experienced before.

The build-up was slow, but soothing and beautiful, and when he finally entered her, he slid in without any hesitancy or difficulty, causing them both to cry out in pleasure, the loudest sound either had made beyond a whisper since they began kissing. He was on top, and he propped himself up on his elbows to meet her eyes. They both gazed at each other as he thrust slowly into her, her body moving up to meet his.

"I love you so much, Amy," he said breathlessly.

"Erik, I…love…you," she gasped, feeling her climax approaching. Again, the slowness, the gentleness of the moment was simply marvelous.

She felt him stiffen and release inside her, and she ground up against him as she reached her own orgasm. Still, they never took their eyes off each other, Amy loving seeing him come undone, certain Erik enjoyed the same from the intense gleam in his eye.

Amy felt an overwhelming sense of peace driving into work later that morning. She'd never shared so much with anyone as she shared with Erik. And she felt closer to him than ever before. And closer to herself, the true Amy. The one ready to love and be loved.

Author's Note: Next time, the gang attends the university gala.

Taking a break from angst in the next chapter. Everyone in this story deserves some fun, right?

Please let me know your thoughts. Thank you for reading. A lot more to come.