Disorientation: a delusion
"What now?" Sheldon whispered while they hovered in a trance directed by the bottle of water that had begun to grow warm in the heat of their touch. A thin layer of steam had formed along their fingerprints.
"Well," Amy said while clearing her throat.
Sheldon glanced around the room to see if anyone was watching their incredibly revealing display. They might as well be naked, jumping and dancing, begging for attention. Actually, being naked seemed preferable to Sheldon.
But no one was watching. No one even suspected the line they were about to cross and Sheldon's body reveled in the secrecy.
"I actually asked for a soda," Amy continued.
"What?" Sheldon said breathlessly and glanced back to see her face. They both could feel that the trance had cracked. Their senses slowly slipped back into the skins they'd burst from moments before.
"You…" Amy said and moved even closer to him. "We… are holding a water." She swallowed. "I asked for a soda."
"Oh," Sheldon answered but held strong in his pose.
And a small part of him died when Amy let go of the bottle and reached passed him to get her desired beverage. He stood up, shivering in the breath of the fridge, realizing that her body was no longer touching his.
But as she walked away, he watched her offer a subtle, suggestive nod of her head. And while he still held the bottle of water in his left hand, the condensation had run dry. He twisted the cap and gasped as a single drop escaped and slid onto his finger. He bit his lip and smiled before joining Amy on the couch.
"Let's watch a movie," Penny said.
"Okay," Leonard said and walked towards the XBOX. "Any requests?"
"In and Out," Raj said as he grabbed a pillow and curled up on the floor.
"You mean the movie about the guy who claimed he wasn't gay and later realized he was?" Howard said.
Raj looked up to see everyone staring at him. "Don't judge me," he said. "Kevin Klein is amazing."
"Why not something funny?" Bernadette said.
"I'm not really in the mood for funny," Penny said. "How about you, Sheldon? You always have a suggestion. Or ten."
Sheldon glanced at Amy and at the bottle resting between his legs. "Something long," he finally said.
"How about Lord of the Rings?" Leonard said quickly and looked around the room. "The first one, of course."
Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. Lord of the Rings it was.
The familiar music sounded while Leonard dimmed the lights. Bernie moved close to Howard, Raj cuddled his pillow, and Penny held Leonard in a hearty liplock once he sat down.
But Sheldon and Amy fought for every single moment's peace. They replayed the memory over and over. Electricity sped through their brains so fast that they could have communicated telepathically had they not been so consumed with the realization that they'd both made their intentions known.
He wanted her and that simple fact left Amy gasping for air. But for the mousey wallflower, air was beginning to be the least of her worries.
The apartment was dark now. The sun had set and the room had grown warm with the body heat of lovers while Frodo fought with all his might to return the one ring.
But Amy didn't care. She hadn't watched a single second of the movie. Instead, she focused on a lonely spot on the wall, letting her sight dissolve into her other senses, making them stronger so she could better experience Sheldon in the solitude of the dark.
Her ears opened wide to consume the gentle exhale of his breaths. Her chest inhaled the subtle scent of the sweetened white tea that steamed on the end table. And her hands ached to touch him, throbbing in the stillness.
"I think we better get going, Bernie," Howard said while he stretched his arms over his head.
Sheldon's body flinched involuntarily at the distraction as if he'd been doing something forbidden, and that simple act was enough to press the back of his hand against Amy's, igniting in them a helpless, mute, paralytic addiction.
"Wow, I was asleep," she answered before nudging Raj who was pinning her leg to the floor.
"Oh, come on. Can't you guys stay just a little while longer? I'm so comfy," Raj whined.
"Get off," Bernadette said and pushed Raj along the floor.
"Fine. I'll just go home and be alone."
"Would you shut up?" Howard said with a sigh. "We're gonna see you in seven hours."
"Can I at least have a ride home?"
"You didn't drive? How did you even get here?" Howard asked while putting on his jacket.
"I walked."
"You walked?"
"You're gonna make me say it, aren't you? Fine, I'm trying to lose weight. Sue me."
"We'll take you home," Bernadette said and put her hand on Raj's shoulder.
"See you guys tomorrow," Howard said.
"Bye," Leonard answered during a quick break from the make-out session he and Penny had been busy with since the movie began.
"Yeah, bye," Penny said with a wave of her hand before pulling Leonard's lips back to hers.
"Oh, Amy," Bernadette said while digging in her purse. "Here's the comb you lent me earlier."
On the outside it looked as if Amy's had simply refused to acknowledge Bernadette, but on the inside she hadn't even heard a word she'd said.
"Okay?" Bernadette said and set the comb on the edge of the couch. "Well, goodnight."
And they left, debating what was more disturbing: the fact that they could see Leonard's entire tongue lapping against his girlfriend's or the fact that Sheldon and Amy were now the first zombies they'd seen in the flesh.
Probably the former.
The door shut behind them, swallowing the last beam of light from the apartment. Sheldon and Amy looked around the emptying room. Three people had gone. Three sets of eyes were no longer threatening their happiness, and three sets of ears were no longer within distance to hear the pounding of their hearts like tribal drums.
Amy thought that the unexpected sense of freedom would help her to make a move, but it only made things more challenging. She couldn't concentrate on anything but the gentle sounds of Leonard and Penny's lips clashing against one another. The sound was enough to make Amy explode with frustration and desire.
And Sheldon was even closer to their public displays of affection. He could reach out and touch them if need be. His Vulcan hearing was powerless to defend against the lusting suggestions that slipped into his mind.
Amy held perfectly still and absorbed the sensation of Sheldon's hand pressing against the back of her own—and she wanted more.
She gently shifted her hand, facing her moist palm into the air hoping that she'd done it slow enough that Sheldon wouldn't notice. But who was she kidding?
His eyes were already staring at her hand and its mysterious movements. What was she planning? What did she want from him?
Amy looked up to see his face. The images from the TV trickled along his skin and made his eyes impossible to read. But when he finally returned her stare, she could his feel his body stiffen and his breathing increase.
She couldn't help but think that his lips looked delicious in the dark. But her goals with Sheldon were so much simpler than that. She wasn't ready for sex or kissing for that matter. But she did want to touch him, even if it was something as simple as holding his hand. So, why was this proving so difficult?
She'd held a man's hand before, in a romantic and platonic sense. Why was this any different? Why did her body tremble at the thought? Why were her inner thighs so warm?
She continued to stare into Sheldon's eyes, which now seemed to pick up on her trepidation. Without breaking eye contact, he pressed his palm to the leather couch and slid it to the front of the cushion.
Amy glanced at the couch and his subtle invitation before she noticed Penny climb onto Leonard's lap.
Good god, couldn't they get a room, the room that was literally twenty feet away? Or at least reduce their sounds of pleasure to a less disrupting volume? Couldn't they tell that she was doing everything in her power to remain in control of her endocrine system?
Sheldon watched the movie while he waited for her to make her decision. Amy let out a sigh that was laced with so much more than frustration and fatigue—it was laced with a thirst that they both wanted to quench. Sheldon smiled at the sound.
For once in her life, she threw caution to the wind and moved her hand towards his. Her fingertips touched the base of his wrist and cautiously inched further into the den of desire. Her middle finger was first to enter the warm, damp enclosure. It lifted its back from the couch to kiss the inside of his palm. The sweat that had bred itself with the fibers of his skin slipped underneath its lips.
So close.
Sheldon parted his lips and continued to stare breathlessly at the television while her hand pushed further along his. Soon her fingers were under his and there was something incredibly suggestive about their position that made Amy blush for the briefest of moments, but then she remembered just how much she wanted this—wanted him. And as she passed the point of no return, her fingers curled up and clenched his hand in a seductive embrace. Their palms pressed against one another, consummating their first romantic expression.
"Oh, my god," Leonard howled into the darkness, making Amy jump in her seat and retract her hand before anyone could see what had happened.
"We're gonna head to bed, guys," Leonard continued and shuffled off the chair while Penny continued to mall him like a wild animal. "See you tomorrow."
They fumbled down the hallway in chaos before slamming Leonard's door .
The credits had rolled along the TV screen, lighting the room just enough for Sheldon to see Amy's face. He looked at her for a moment and held his hand out in the same spot that he had before—just waiting for her to join him again. But she didn't.
"I can't do this," she whispered. "I'm sorry. I have to go," she said and fled out of the apartment as if it were on fire.
Before Sheldon could even understand what had just happened, she was already down the first flight of stairs.
"Amy, wait!" he called after her as he started to follow.
Her feet pattered down the stairs in determination and he could tell that she was getting away.
"Amy, please stop!" he said as he ran faster.
He reached the final stair in the lobby just in time to see the front door swing close. He was gaining on her. He ripped the door open had and ran down the street towards her car.
She pawed through her purse for her keys when she realized that the car was already unlocked. Without any hesitation she clamped her hand onto the handle only to feel Sheldon grip her arm firmly.
"Don't go. Please, Amy. Don't go."
"I have to," she said and pushed his hand away.
When she opened the door and crawled inside, Sheldon noticed a peculiar pendent hanging from her rear-view mirror containing a picture of Kripke. A small part of him shook with anger but the rest of him felt sorry for her.
"Are you in love with him?" Sheldon asked while she adjusted her seatbelt.
Amy held still to process his words. "I thought I was."
She gently pushed Sheldon away so she could shut her door. The engine boomed in the night and exhaust filled the air.
"Amy," Sheldon said and put his hands on the door, "I've never done anything like this. I don't know how any of this is supposed to happen, and more importantly, I don't know how I'll react when it does."
Amy looked at him. "What are you saying?"
"If you run," he let out a heavy sigh, "I don't know that I'll chase you."
She looked at him one last time before shutting her door and driving down the misty Pasadena avenue.