Just an idea I had while watching 11x23 when Sheldon asked Amy if magazines were making her feel self-conscious again. I figured I might try to write how the first time happened. Remember to practice social distancing and wash your hands
"So Amy went with the girls to buy dresses?" Leonard asked as they walked up the stairs
"Unfortunately yes" Sheldon sighed
How'd she get you to go to the fundraiser?" Leonard asked
"Yes" Sheldon sighed, "Amy pointed out that if I went I could try to see how many benefactors I can get for the physics department"
"I hope Penny doesn't want me to see all that she bought" Leonard grumbled as they made it to the 4th floor
'Thank goodness Amy doesn't do that' Sheldon thought as he bid Leonard farewell and opened his own door
"Hello" Sheldon greeted Amy as he walked through the door.
She gave a half hearted wave in his direction. "I made dinner" she said
He saw her placing spaghetti in a bowl to carry to the dining table, "Oooh Spaghetti with little pieces of hot dog cut up in it. I'll go wash up." He said before running to wash his hands
Sheldon watched as Amy placed a small amount of salad on her plate
"Are you only going to eat salad?" Sheldon questioned
"Yeah" she mumbled as she lifted a forkful to her mouth
"Not even with salad dressing?"
"No. I read in a magazine that-" she stopped when she saw Sheldon's raised eyebrow, "I just wasn't feeling for any tonight"
Sheldon hummed in response as he continued eating his spaghetti. It wasn't until minutes later did, he notice Amy was uncharacteristically quiet and pushing her salad around the plate. He gently put down his fork
"Amy?" he called out, waiting for her to look at him, "is everything alright?"
"Everything's fine" she said giving a tight lipped smile
"Are you sure? Because you've barely spoken since I came home"
"Sheldon…"she sighed
"Is it because I didn't ask you to model your purchases. Leonard told me that was something Penny did, I didn't know you wanted to as well"
"Its fine Sheldon" she mumbled
"Speaking of, where are the bags from your shopping?" he asked, looking around the small living room
"There are none" she said through gritted teeth
"What do you mean? I thought the whole purpose shopping with Penny and Bernadette" he said confused
"There are none because nothing looked good!" she shouted before stalking off to the bedroom slamming the door behind her.
Sheldon winced at the noise, He looked from Amy's now empty chair to the closed bedroom door. 'What just happened?' he thought. He wasn't too sure how to proceed, Amy walked away and slammed the door at him, well there was that one time he talked about their sex life to his colleagues but he had upset her then. He didn't do anything to upset her this time, did he?
Following Penny's advice of talking it out, he went to the closed door and cautiously knocked
Knock knock knock "Amy"
"Go away Sheldon!" she shouted back interrupting his ritualistic knocking
"There aren't many places I can go Amy" he said through the door, "it's a small apartment. And at some point, I may need to use the bathroom"
"Can you just leave me alone for a while, please" she pleaded and Sheldon could hear that she was close to tears. "I'll give you a few minutes" he said loud enough for her to hear before walking back towards the table
He quickly completed his knocking on it. 'Thank God it works on tables too' he thought as he began clearing the table. It was evident no one was going to be eating again tonight.
After the last of the dishes had been washed and Sheldon deemed Amy's hot beverage perfect enough he ventured towards the still closed bedroom door. He didn't bother knocking again, he had left her alone for 15 minutes already
Sheldon softly pushed open the door and saw Amy with her cardigan off, her shirt sleeves rolled up to her elbow, sitting on the bed surrounded by magazines
"Amy"
She looked up at him and Sheldon could see all the evidence that she had been previously crying, her slightly puffy red eyes, the red blotches on her face and the semi-dried tear tracks on her cheeks, which she tried to wipe off when she caught him staring.
"I'm sorry about dinner" she mumbled as he came closer, "I just…" she trailed off
"That's alright. I brought you chamomile tea because I could see that you were in distress", he said resting the cup on her bedside table. He glanced at some of the open magazines, "What's all this?" he said waving his hand.
"N-nothing" she said scrambling to move them away from him, but he already saw some of the articles. He grabbed the one nearest o him and farthest from her
"The 6 week guide to perfect abs" he read aloud
"Give me that" Amy said dropping the small stack of magazines on the bed between them and Sheldon quickly grabbed them
"Why are you looking at swimsuit models?" he questioned tossing it back on the bed between them, "Why are you looking at any of these models for that matter?" he asked before tossing 3 other magazines to meet the first one
"Sheldon" Amy murmured, "Just give me them back Sheldon"
"Why do we have so many fitness magazines?" he asked before those two also met the pile e paused on the last magazine he held. The only one where the pages had writing, "Why is this nose circled?"
Amy sighed and lowered her head to avoid his gaze. Sheldon sat at the foot of the bed and turned to face his girlfriend, "Amy, why is this nose circled?" he asked softly
He already knew the answer without her response. He remembered one time Missy wanted a nose job and had circled pictures of the various ways she wanted her nose to look before his mother had convinced that "the good Lord made her perfect in every single way"
"Amy" he whispered
She sniffed before answering. "I just want to look good" she whispered before using the back of her hand to wipe her nose
"What happened today with Penny and Bernadette?"
"Nothing. Except for the fact that I look terrible in every dress"
"Amy, that's highly improbable" Sheldon commented
"You weren't there" she snapped, "nothing looked like it was supposed to. Or I had to size up cause I'm not as skinny as Penny or Bernadette"
"Well Bernadette just had a baby 3 months ago, I don't think she's that skinny"
Amy glared at him, "You wouldn't understand" she said moving to get off the bed
Sheldon reached out a hand to stop her, "I want to understand Amy. I want to know what has my girlfriend in our bedroom crying when we should be eating dinner."
Amy let out a shaky sigh, " I don't look as beautiful as everyone else"
"Well, that's not true. There are many parts of you that are beautiful"
Amy scoffed, "Save me all of that true beauty is on the inside crap"
"Why would I say that? No one's internal organs are beautiful. They're just squishy and yucky" Sheldon said making a face. "I mean sure you're brilliant and patient and kind, and some might find those qualities beautiful, but I'm talking about physically"
Amy lowered her head once more, "You don't mean that" she whispered
""I do" Sheldon said shuffling toward her, "I love that you don't look like Penny or Bernadette. I love that around your pupils are a different color than the rest of your eyes. I love that your breast are just the right size to fit in my hand when we make out" Sheldon said with a blush. I love that your stomach is softer than Penny's." he said as he still shuffled closer. "I also love that you laugh at my jokes." He moved closer lifting her chin so she could look at him, "don't change your nose, because I love it. Especially when it makes a whistling noise. You sound like a foxy tea kettle. And besides those women in magazines are only airbrushed to look perfect"
Amy's lip quivered slightly as fresh tears streamed down her cheeks
Sheldon's eyes widened in panic, "No no. This was supposed to make you feel better" he said scrambling for the tissue box on her night stand
She reached out to touch his arm, "It did make me feel better"
"So… happy tears?"
Amy chuckled, "yes happy tears. I love you too Sheldon"
"Good" he whispered as he leaned forward to kiss her forehead, "I would kiss your cheek but there's tears and your nose was all runny"
"That's ok. Maybe we should go look for some other dresses at different shops"
"Good" he thrusted the tissue box to her, "I still want to kiss you and you need to wipe your face" he ordered causing Amy to laugh