a/n: Once again, this chapter contains no sex, but I've moved it to the M-rated section because eventually this story will. Also, some of the things they will be engaging in will become more...sexual. I'm not comfortable having some of this stuff in the T-rated section. I'm just trying to be responsible.

a/n: Anyway, welcome back! Thanks so much for all the lovely reviews. You folks are the greatest. So, be nice to me through this next chapter too! Nah, you don't have to be nice. If you've got something to say, don't hesitate to say it.

Concession

Chapter 26: The Mad Parade

Surprisingly, she didn't have to drag him kicking and screaming back to her bed. They were both nervous about this new adventure they were embarking upon no matter if Sheldon admitted it or not.

"Now," Amy said slowly. "All we have to do is get back in bed and let things happen naturally."

"I'm not in the mood anymore," Sheldon told her.

Okay, so he wasn't literally kicking and screaming, but he was putting up a fight with this. She looked down at his hands that were still attempting to hide the rise in his pajama pants.

"I already told you that we don't have to do anything you're not ready for," Amy reminded him.

"Don't you get it? I'm not ready for this."

"For what? You were about to do the same thing in the bathroom. You're just doing it in bed instead."

Sheldon frowned. "But it's in your bed and you'll be right here with me. It's too much."

Amy sighed and signaled for him to get into bed. "It's not like I'll be able to see anything." She watched as her boyfriend slowly got back underneath the covers. "Besides, I'll be doing it too, so I probably won't be paying much attention to what you're doing." She knew for a fact that she was lying about that. The whole reason she wanted to do this was to watch him. It was a shame that she wouldn't be able to see all of him, but she had to start somewhere.

"This is way outside of my comfort zone."

"Just relax." She slowly got into bed with him. "See? It's the same thing we did last night. We've already taken turns touching each other, so I won't touch you anymore tonight. Okay?"

Sheldon nodded slowly.

Amy reached over and grabbed one of the condoms out of Sheldon's messenger bag. "Here."

"What's that for?"

"It's not for intercourse, that's for sure. Just put it on."

Oh, yes. Amy was already regretting the fact that she couldn't see anything below his neck. She was a little surprised that he was doing what she said.

"Now, you seemed to find it fascinating that I would write a fantasy without intercourse," Amy went on to say. "Well, I happen to believe that there are many different ways to experience intimacy, but it's only truly satisfying when both parties experience them together." To be honest, she was pulling this stuff out of the sky. She just wanted to be around while her boyfriend did his thing. "So, what I want you to do is think about what we were doing before you left the room."

"Okay."

Was he actually being cooperative? "Now, close your eyes, pretend I'm not here, and do whatever it was you planned to do when you were in the bathroom."

"Nice try. Not gonna happen," Sheldon told her.

Well, she couldn't expect him to be completely cooperative. "Fine. I'll start without you." Just before she closed her eyes, she saw confusion written all over her boyfriend's face.

"Wait," Sheldon murmured before she was able to begin. "Aren't you embarrassed by all this?"

Amy opened her eyes and looked at Sheldon for a long time. "Of course I am. You read my story. For me, something like this is embarrassing beyond belief. But there are two things motivating me right now. One is my scientific curiosity. The other is the fact that I'm really, really horny. You have to understand, I used to masturbate two to three times a week before Next Generation Madness. Once that started, that number rose to five to six times a week—"

"Almost every day?" Sheldon asked quietly.

"That's right. But when we started Kolinahr lessons, that number decreased to about once a week," Amy continued.

Sheldon nodded slowly. "I see. There does seem to be a correlation between NGM and increases in self-abuse frequency. Before NGM, I would only do it once every other month."

(Seriously?! That's all?!) Amy thought. Then a little smirk played at her lips. Her boyfriend was finally talking openly with her about masturbation. She wasn't sure if it was the fact that they weren't completely illuminated that made it easier to talk about these things, but she was glad it was happening.

"Once we started spending weekends together, I began engaging in self-abuse once a week. Sometimes twice," Sheldon told her. "We should probably make notes of our observations."

No, no, no. He wasn't getting out of this that easily. "We can do that in the morning," she said. "Now that I'm down to once a week, I tend to become a little more 'on edge' than usual when you're around." She moved her nightshirt out of the way and allowed one of her hands to wander down to the front of her panties and simply rest there. "Having you here while I do this is incredibly, incredibly embarrassing for me, as I'm sure it is for you, but I happen to think this could be a real learning experience for us."

Even under the covers, the move she made hadn't gone unnoticed by her boyfriend. She could tell by the surprised look on his face. He'd become strangely quiet and remained motionless as he stared at her in disbelief. And even in the streetlight, she could see his Adam's apple bob up and down as he swallowed nervously.

Amy took a deep breath. (Well, here goes nothing,) she thought. She slowly let her fingers trace her girl parts through her panties and it was almost enough to put an end to all of this.

"Wait. Wait," she barely heard her breathless boyfriend plead.

She was sure she was paying enough attention to him to know he hadn't moved since he put on the condom she gave him. So why did he sound as if he'd already started? She stopped mid-stroke and just looked at him.

"Actually," Sheldon began. "It's...it's getting late and to be honest, I just did this yesterday..."

She should have known he would chicken out. Her demons had called him a coward. She'd called him a coward. It was only natural that Sheldon would try to get out of this. Then again, she wondered if anything in her most recent story would hold true...

"Okay, Sheldon. You're obviously not ready. I shouldn't have tried to talk you into it," Amy said with a sigh.

As soon as Sheldon was about to say something, Amy went back to slowly rubbing herself through her panties. Would she be able to tempt him into joining her like what happened in her story? After a few short moments her hips began to move slightly with each slow stroke.

"Amy, wait."

Hearing her boyfriend say her name was the icing on the cake. There was no way she'd be able to hold out much longer. Her panties were all but soaked with her wetness and her fingers felt like magic against her lady parts. If he expected her to stop, he was sadly mistaken.

"It's never like this when I'm alone. I haven't even touched it," she heard her boyfriend say.

(What?) Amy asked herself. Her hips and fingers stopped moving and she looked at him for a long time. What had happened? What was he talking about? "Are you okay?" she asked.

Sheldon, who seemed to be holding his breath, finally exhaled and nodded. "It stopped."

Amy narrowed her eyes at her boyfriend. He'd interrupted her pleasure session because he didn't know what was going on with his own body? (Dammit, but he did get me to stop. He wasn't as sadly mistaken as I thought,) she said to herself.

Wiggling the fingers between her legs, she was a little surprised by how sensitive she was down there. So she went back to fingering her damp panties, this time determined to be satisfied. Alternating between fast, aggressive strokes and slow, gentle caresses, she felt her excitement filling to the brim. She couldn't help letting out a quiet moan.

It wasn't until she heard the labored breathing of her boyfriend that she realized her eyes were closed. She'd had all intentions of watching him the whole time, yet she'd let her own pleasure absorb her. As she kept teasing her own genitals, she stared at Sheldon. His eyes were closed and his lips were parted in the most tempting fashion she'd ever seen. It was difficult to say whether the rocking of her own hips was causing the bed to move him or whether he was moving on his own. Not only that, but from what she could see, the motions of the comforter seemed to indicate that his arm was performing some sort of slow movement.

Was he touching himself? She was tempted to simply reach over with her free hand for confirmation, but she knew she would ruin whatever this was if she did. (But if I'm right and he really is touching himself, then my last fantasy wasn't too far off base,) she thought.

The fingers with which she fondled herself slowed. She wanted to enjoy this moment for as long as possible. Even if he wasn't touching himself—what else could he be doing?—it would be fun to imagine that he was.

There was a sudden shift in Sheldon's manner that intrigued her. It became pretty obvious that he was actually masturbating with her. The movement of his arm gained momentum and the bed suffered a more vigorous rocking that wasn't caused by her. His labored breathing mixed with short, stifled moans were music to her ears. Practically her entire body began to throb with want and she allowed her own hips to match his movements.

She watched as her boyfriend's body jerked and his lips disappeared into his mouth in what she assumed was an attempt to reduce the amount of noise he made. Unfortunately, she didn't have the presence of mind to do the same a moment later when her eyes fluttered shut and the building tension within her loins burst free. Her pleasured sounds all but echoed throughout her bedroom.

And when Amy opened her eyes, she found that Sheldon was staring at her in a way she thought she'd remembered seeing only once before.

She wanted so badly to reach over and touch him. She wanted to move closer and kiss him. And the scent that was driving her mad earlier simply served to make the experience more real.

Even in the streetlight, she could see Sheldon's eyes wander down and she wondered if he might be looking at her lips.

Once her breathing had calmed, she cleared her throat. What exactly was she supposed to say at a time like this? "We should probably make notes of our observations in the morning."

Sheldon, his lips still tucked away inside his mouth, nodded slowly.

This was an unexpected twist. She and her boyfriend had just had orgasms in each other's presence for the first time and she wasn't really sure how she should feel. Embarrassment seemed to be taking a front seat here, however, and she was suddenly shy. She couldn't be sure how Sheldon felt, but he seemed to be veering toward the embarrassment she felt.

"Are you okay?" she asked him.

Her boyfriend took a deep breath and nodded again. "I need a shower."

Amy frowned. "Oh, Sheldon. I thought you weren't gonna shower for a while so I could smell more of your natural scent."

"I never agreed to that. Besides, this condom is...," Sheldon began, but he stopped short and rolled his eyes. "You know."

"Oh," she said. She hadn't thought about that. In that case, she definitely needed a shower as well. "Go ahead. But don't be too long. I need a shower too."

Amy struggled to stay awake once Sheldon left the room. They'd stayed up much longer than they should have. At least there was no need to wake up early tomorrow.

How could she possibly be tired, though? After what she and her boyfriend had just done together, she was sure she'd be antsy for the rest of the night. Then again, the cause of her antsiness was usually the fact that she needed to do what had just been done. While she was still both nervous and excited about the situation, she also felt relaxed. In other words, presently she was the embodiment of an emotional contradiction.

And what about Sheldon? What did he think of all this? Would they really write down what had happened between them? Perhaps once they took notes of their findings, she would be able to read exactly what he thought. To be honest, they should have started taking notes earlier on in their experiment like any good scientist would...

...a few moments later...

Amy was suddenly being shaken awake by her boyfriend.

"Amy. I'm sorry to wake you, but didn't you want to take a shower before bed?" Sheldon asked, standing over her.

"Was I asleep?" Amy asked groggily. It was obvious that she'd fallen asleep while Sheldon was taking his shower.

"It's getting pretty late. If you still plan to shower, you'll want to make it quick."

She stood and nearly bumped right into Sheldon.

"Sorry," they both said, trying to get out of each other's way.

Amy giggled when they failed to get past each other. "You sleep on the other side, Sheldon. Go over there."

"My apologies." He finally had the good sense to go to the other side of the bed. "Sleep deprivation has clouded my judgment," he told her as he climbed into bed.

She simply stood beside the bed and watched Sheldon look her over. Did he think that she wouldn't notice that? Or was he unaware that he was doing it? Her face warmed and she looked down at the little nightshirt she was wearing. It really was outside the realm of her normal attire, but considering his reaction to it, she was sure that she should go shopping for similar nightwear.

Amy felt Sheldon shifting to get out of bed and she looked at her clock. It was only seven in the morning. They'd only gotten to sleep a few hours ago and here he was about to get up.

She reached over and grabbed his pajama shirt sleeve. "Sheldon, it's Sunday morning. Come back to bed," she uttered.

"You mean 'sleep in'? Sheldon Cooper does not 'sleep in'."

Amy frowned, still holding his sleeve. "Well, Amy Farrah Fowler does when she's been up half the night. Come on. It won't hurt to sleep for another hour."

Sheldon sighed and slid back into bed. "Oh, alright."

She smiled and kept a hold of his sleeve. Why was she smiling? It could be the fact that her boyfriend was actually being cooperative again even though he seemed to have his own agenda. It could have been the fact that he didn't mind that she was practically groping at him so early in the morning. Or it could have been the fact that she'd spied the hickey she'd made on the side of his neck last night. There was no way that would go unnoticed. As a matter of fact, she was surprised that Sheldon hadn't mentioned it himself after his shower last night.

So she simply held his hand and closed her eyes again.

While Sheldon was taking care of his morning business, Amy pulled out her laptop and stared at the screen for a moment. (What a night. I probably won't get over this for a while yet,) she thought. With all the time she'd been spending with Sheldon, there was no time to write out her fantasies. But then again, why would she have to write them when she was living them? Last night was amazing.

Maybe she should begin writing her observations instead. But where to start? They'd done a lot since this whole thing started. She was a little surprised that they'd come so far. They'd masturbated together in her bed! What was she thinking? That had to be the most embarrassing thing she could have ever imagined doing with him.

If he hadn't read her most recent fantasy, would Sheldon have even considered adding something like that to their experiments? Then again, he'd tried to back out of it. It brought to mind something her demons asked her a while back: Would he be able to stop himself if his need were great enough? Apparently his need was great enough to do it this time...

"Amy," Sheldon called to her from the bathroom door. "Do you happen to have a topical antihistamine? I tried to find some last night. I seem to have developed a rash on my neck."

Amy giggled to herself. "That's not a rash, Sheldon. That's a hickey."

"What?!"

"I did it to you last night. Remember when I was kissing your neck?"

She heard him sigh. "Of course I remember. I have an eidetic memory," he told her.

"Well, that's the result."

Sheldon stuck his head out of the bathroom door. "How do I get rid of it?"

"It's just a bruise. It's no big deal," Amy told him.

"But won't people start making assumptions and then start asking questions? Oh, the questions."

"Calm down. You've already told them that you want to keep our relationship private."

Sheldon finally came out of the bathroom. "But they didn't sign any paperwork stating that they agreed to it. Therefore those people are not to be trusted."

(He's already done in the bathroom? How long was I just looking at my computer?) she asked herself. "Then just tell them it's a rash," Amy suggested. "They wouldn't believe you'd let me do something like that to you anyway."

"I don't believe I let you do something like that to me." He went straight to the kitchen to make some breakfast, but noticed that she had her laptop. "What are you doing?"

"Noting my observations," she said simply.

"Save it for later. We still have a lot of episodes to watch," Sheldon said.

After Amy finished up her bathroom business and grabbed her bowl of cereal, she offered Sheldon the blanket they usually used during viewing. She was a little surprised that her boyfriend looked away and shook his head. Sharing her throw while they watched The Next Generation had become nothing short of a tradition.

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

Sheldon simply shook his head again.

"Talk to me, Sheldon. We've done this almost since the beginning and suddenly you don't want to. Did I do something wrong?" she asked.

Her boyfriend remained quiet for a long time.

"Please tell me," she said quietly.

Sheldon sighed and stared at the coffee table. "Alright. It's just that I have an eidetic memory..."

Yes, she knew that. It was just about all he talked about. But she would be patient and let him take his time explaining himself.

"And when placed in situations that are similar to situations I've experienced before, I tend to recall very vivid details about that past situation," Sheldon said slowly.

Was he hinting that...?

"I'm afraid that sharing a blanket...," he went on. "Well, you were there last night."

He was. He was hinting that if they shared her throw now, he would think about what they did last night.

"Alright," Amy said. "We don't have to share my throw. But can we still cuddle?"

Sheldon nodded slowly. "Alright."

"Okay. We'll get to that right after I eat breakfast," she told him, picking up her cereal. "Start the show."

Sheldon looked at her strangely, but did as he was told.

...in the evening...

The two had spent their day quietly enjoying the rest of season four of Star Trek: The Next Generation and as much as Amy wanted to get details about Sheldon's feelings regarding what happened last night, she restrained herself. And she could tell that that restraint had baffled her boyfriend.

It baffled him so much that during the ride back to his apartment, he folded his arms and all but glared at her. "Okay, what is your deal?" he asked.

Amy only peeped at him for a moment out of the corner of her eye before looking back at the road. "My 'deal'?"

"Yes. You're always prattling on and on about the stuff we do together. Why haven't I heard a single word about last night?" Sheldon asked.

"Well, I thought you didn't want to talk about it."

"Of course I don't want to talk about it, but that's never stopped you before."

Amy couldn't help feeling confused. When she wanted to talk about this stuff, he fought tooth and nail against it. Now, when she was saving this conversation for scientific study, he suddenly seemed to be in some sort of panic about it.

"I thought it would be better if we waited until we recorded our observations," she told him.

"R-really? That's all? You're not disappointed?"

"Disappointed? We've done more together in the past two days than we've done in the past two years. Why would I be disappointed?"

"Well, you usually talk about how you want more of something you like. You liked hand-holding, so you said wanted more. You liked hugging, so you said wanted more. You liked kissing, so you said you wanted more."

Amy narrowed her eyes, but kept watching the road. "Of course I liked it or I wouldn't have..." She wasn't sure what to say. She should have just told him what she intended to tell him. If she didn't like it, she wouldn't have orgasmed so quickly. "Of course I want more."

Sheldon sighed. "Okay."

She waited for him to continue, but he didn't say anything else. What was this? Did he just want to hear her say that she wanted more of what happened last night? (I swear, sometimes I want to wring that sexy neck of his,) she thought.

But maybe there was more to it than that. Maybe he was feeling insecure about this whole thing. Well, he couldn't have felt more insecure than she did. She deserved some answers too.

"Were you disappointed?" Amy asked.

"To be honest, I was," he said without hesitation.

Amy's heart sank. (He didn't like it. He'll never want to sleep in the same bed with me again,) she thought. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes.

"There were several moments when I thought I'd regained control," Sheldon continued.

Her tears seemed to revert immediately and she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. He'd folded his arms tighter and had slumped in his seat a bit.

"And then you with all your moving and your breathing and your—" Sheldon was saying before he stopped abruptly and took a deep breath.

Her heart skipped a beat. "Don't be disappointed by what you did. You're only human. You may not be easily swayed by your endocrine system, but it still influences some of the things you do."

"Well, it didn't just influence last night. It took over," her boyfriend told her. "Our Kolinahr lesson tomorrow must be strict and intense. Last night can't happen again."

(Now that you've told me this much, last night will happen again. Last night and then some,) Amy thought.

...to be continued...

a/n: This chapter was kinda scattered. Please excuse the clunky presentation. As always, thanks for taking the time to read this clumsy story and please review.