Thank you for your kind reviews! Here's chapter 2 and I am now writing the third chapter. But, imma tell you guys now that updates may be slow as I have my midterms coming up in a few weeks ugh I hate uni...anyway I will try my best to post every weekend, so as to give me time for writing and copyreading each chapter.

Oh and is there anything you guys want me to include in this story? Just leave em in your reviews:)

With Sheldon and Amy's history out in the open, the group regarded Sheldon in a new light. His quirks, antics, and seemingly odd behavior were some changes he made for himself after parting ways with Amy. The conference was fulfilling for all of them; Sheldon was able to give his lecture without being unpleasant towards his audience with the help of Leonard and Amy watching him from their seats. Within those four days of conference, the guys and Amy shared a bond just about everything. She and the girls of course were no doubt, but Sheldon found himself amazed, amused, and annoyed by the fact that Amy captured the hearts of his three male compatriots. She and Howard bonded over their love for Neil Diamond. She had Raj wrapped around her finger by helping him with his selective mutism. And what Sheldon was most grateful for, albeit secretly, was the fact that she and Leonard challenged each other who knew Sheldon best and shared a laugh much to his chagrin.

Their interview with the magazine went smoothly as they shared their insights on the current state of science in the country and its contribution globally. After that Sheldon had the courage to pull her aside and asked her if she was ready to talk.

As he walked back down to his seat on the plane, he thought back to their conversation…

"Please?" He begged. He knew if he put off this conversation again, they wouldn't be able to get passed tiptoeing around one another and any chance of clearing the air between them would be gone.

Amy sighed and gave in, "where do you want to talk then?" she was hesitant, of course, why wouldn't she? It's been 10 years, how could she look Sheldon in the eye and ask for forgiveness after what happened between them? Especially what her mother did?

"Would you be opposed to have this conversation in my hotel room? Or yours? I-I don't think I would be comfortable to talk in a public place. But wherever you want is also fine, I just though—"

"Sheldon, your room is fine with me," she cut off his nervous ramblings. "My room is a mess, I have yet to organize my notes from yesterday's lecture."

Sheldon nodded, "alright then." They walked towards the elevator and made their way up to the 18th floor.

A heavy, uncomfortable silence filled the room as they stepped in. Amy's eyes wandered around and noticed that even though he hadn't stayed there for a long time, his hotel room showed his neatness and need for order. She jumped at his sudden contact, she snapped her head at his hand on her arm before locking gaze with him, "do you want anything to drink?"

She exhaled and nodded, "just some water please." She sat down on the settee, waiting for him to join her. Once he did, she turned her body towards him and folded her hands on her lap, "so…"

"Yeah," Sheldon cleared his throat, "I-I don't know where to begin Amy, I-clearly, I have a lot of things I would like to say but right now, it's all quite a mess in my mind so if you wish to speak first, I would listen gladly."

Amy nodded at him and swallowed back the nerves threatening to spill out of her body. "Alright, um, 10 years ago, we left things…unfinished," she looked at him with hesitation, trying to gauge his reaction. "Being with you for some 2 years was the best time of my life, I got to be with the person I knew was my equal, we shared wonderful times, and I would never trade it for anything," she paused when she noticed him boring his eyes on hers, "so I want to apologize for how things went down," she trailed off, her voice settling on a whisper.

Sheldon suddenly looked confused, "w-what are you sorry for? I should be the one who's sorry, Amy."

Amy shook her head, "Sheldon, I was an adult. I should've been old enough to make my own choices in life. I shouldn't have let my mother take control of my life. It was foolish of me not to fight back. Leaving you…was the hardest thing I ever did. When I saw you two nights ago, I was terrified. How could I show my face to the man who gave himself to me and I repaid him by leaving? Sheldon I—"

"No." Sheldon cut her off.

"What?"

Without thinking, Sheldon took her hands in his and shook his head, "you can't blame yourself for that. I'm a man, Amy, if anyone should have fought hard, it should've been me."

"But my mother threatened y—"

"You know about that?"

Amy looked down and nodded, she traced patterns on the back of his hand and shrugged, "I found out a year later, I'll admit I started to resent you when you wouldn't answer my emails, my texts, my calls, and I kept on complaining to my mother until she snapped and told me what she did. So I'm the one who should apologize."

Sheldon turned over his hand and enclosed her smaller ones in his, "if we keep doing this, we'll just end up beating ourselves over something that is not our fault. I respect your mother, but it's her fault. It's not ours, it's hers…"

"But?"

Sheldon's head snapped up and wondered how after all these years, she could still read him like an open book. He knew he had to tread lightly for what he's about to say next, he looked back down on their hands and shrugged, "I think it needed to happen."

Amy pulled her hand away from his and stood up from her seat. She took a couple of steps back and looked at Sheldon with hurt and anger, remembering the same words he uttered 10 years ago, "excuse me?"

Sheldon winced internally, "it's not what you think I just meant that maybe it was for the best—"

Amy let out a bitter laugh, "the best for who Sheldon? For you? Is that why you were so eager to let me go? You think I was holding you back?" She didn't know what she was saying. The memories of what happened came back to her full force and as her voice increased, she became completely unaware of her surrounding or what she was saying. "Was it so easy for you to move on with your life, well I'm sorry for the troubles I've caused you Dr. Cooper, I guess I was wro—"

"Dear lord can you just let me finish!" Her words stung so much that he felt his chest contract. Was that what she really felt all those years ago? Or was she only saying that out of anger? He took a few strides until he was in front of her, her heels making them almost eye level with each other. He could see her eyes, raging with emotions; hurt, confusion, longing, anger, pity, it was all there and he wished he could do something to take it from her. Slowly, he raised his hands and placed them gently on her arms to provide comfort. He was pleased when he felt her relax under his touch, "can you at least hear me out?"

Amy closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she nodded.

Sheldon led her to the bed and they sat beside each other. "I know, it was difficult to end things the way we did. Believe me I know. I had to play by your mother's rules or else she'd take you further away. As soon as I got back to California, I threw myself into work, anything to keep my mind off you. It was a difficult time, I couldn't focus on my work, I was always wondering where you were, or if you were okay. But eventually, I forced myself to think that it might do you some good to have a life of your own." Sheldon looked at Amy, eyes pleading to let him finish. "I followed your work Amy, I watched as you flourished into a brilliant scientist I know you would be. And that assured me that what happened was for the best. What do you think will happen if we stayed together? We'll have a hard time being apart from each other. I WOULD BE the one who will be holding you back. Do you think if you came with me to California you'd be able to do the things you did in New Jersey? In Seattle? I had to let you go, not because I want to, but because I need to. Anywhere you'd be, I am always proud of you. And if other universes exist, I know for a fact that we'll be able to find each other again."

Looking up, he saw the tears streaming down her face and before he knew it, he was enveloped in a bone-crushing hug. Amy held onto him, she could count on one hand, the times Sheldon had been completely vulnerable and open to her. She cherished those moments back then, because that meant he was trying his best. She felt his arms encircle her waist and she sighed, "thank you. And I'm sorry for losing it like that. I didn't mean any of it," she whispered.

Sheldon sighed in relief before he acknowledged her apology, "it's quite alright, at least we cleared it all out."

They stayed enveloped in each other's arms for a moment before Amy pulled back and led Sheldon back to their seat. She took a deep breath, "so where do we go from here?"

"Well…" Sheldon started, tilting his head as he kept his gaze on their linked hands, "I'd like to make a proposal."

"Okay, go ahead."

He stilled his movement before he looked back at Amy, "let's…let's start over." He shrugged. "it's been 10 years, a lot has happened and changed so…I'd like to do it all again, ask you out, get to know you, and we'll play it by ear, I suppose."

Amy raised an eyebrow, "play it by ear? Since when does Sheldon Lee Cooper play something by ear?"

"Hey! I'll have you know that I am a changed man…as much change as I could tolerate."

"Which could be less than 1% change," she cut off.

"Alright, enough sassiness from you little lady."

Sheldon was cut out from his musings when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned his head and looked quizzically at Leonard, who now occupied Raj's seat on the plane, "where'd Raj go?"

Leonard looked back at him confusingly, "the others went ahead…the plane landed a while ago, Raj gave up calling your attention…so here we are," he informed him. "Are you okay?"

Sheldon nodded and got up from his seat before he grabbed his carry on and followed Leonard out of the plane. "I'm fine."

Leonard sneaked a glance towards his roommate, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion as he tried to decipher his best friend's current behavior. He cleared his throat before he spoke again, "so the guys agreed to a Halo night…we could catch a couple of hours of rest but if you'd rather, we could cancel it…"

Sheldon waved him off, "we stick to the routine Leonard, you know how I hate messing up my schedule."

Leonard sighed and nodded his head. No words were spoken between them, except bid their friends goodbye, even as they exited the airport and got in a cab. Before getting in, Penny took hold of Leonard's hand and jutted her chin towards their tall friend, 'what's with him?' she mouthed.

He shrugged, unaware of Sheldon's inner battle with himself. He was now starting to worry, not only because it was an unusual behavior for Sheldon but also he would be the one who had to figure out what's wrong before it got out of hand, knowing how immature his best friend could be when in distress.

Sheldon, on the other hand, was mulling over the last few days in his head. It's true he wanted another shot with Amy, but ever since the conference ended, he began to doubt himself, and despite telling himself that his fears were irrational and nonsense, he could not shake them off. So much for winging it.

He sighed again and leaned back on his seat, not knowing he was being observed by the other two occupants in the back of the cab. About 40 minutes later, they arrived at 2311 N Los Robles Ave. The three of them gathered their suitcases and trudged up the stairs silently, the exhaustion from their short trip finally catching up to them.

"Are you gonna stay at my place tonight?" Penny suddenly asked as they reached the third floor.

Leonard looked at her shrugged, "I was planning to, but if you don't want, that's okay."

"No, no, I want you to, it's just that I invited Bernadette over, while you guys play your video games. I'm gonna give you a heads up that I might not be able to wait up for too long if I had a couple glasses of wine."

Leonard smirked at her, "I know," he paused and took her hand, "I won't stay up too late," he smiled and kissed her cheek as they parted ways on the fourth-floor hallway.

Sheldon was already sitting on his spot when Leonard entered, he heard a sigh from Sheldon, "that's 25," he muttered to himself. He closed the door and cleared his throat, hoping to get Sheldon's attention, "Sheldon, we could really cancel tonight if you want. You don't look okay." This time, however, Sheldon did not even look up at him or gave him any acknowledgement that he heard him. He shook his head, "well…I'm going to bed and…I guess see you at dinner," he trailed off.

As he reached the end of the hallway, he thought he heard Sheldon mutter something incoherent that he decided to ignore it.

Howard and Raj arrived with the pizza around 6pm since they forgone Comic Book Night this week. "Hey, are we all set?" Raj plopped down on the floor and opened a bottle of beer.

Leonard nodded his head and opened his laptop, starting up the game. Sheldon emerged from his room, feeling slightly better than this afternoon. "good evening gentlemen, I assume you all are ready for our weekly Halo night?"

"Hell yeah!" Howard sat down on the opposite end of the couch. "Bernadette's next door with Penny so I wouldn't worry too much about going home early, unless of course the missus wants to go for a different kind of game," he wiggled his eyebrows smugly.

Leonard and Raj rolled their eyes while Sheldon scrunched up his face in confusion as he sat down, "what game could possibly be better than Halo that you and Bernadette would enjoy?"

This time Howard rolled his eyes as he ignored Sheldon and got himself a slice of pizza. "He's talking about sex Sheldon." Leonard informed.

"Oh," Sheldon looked at Howard in slight disgust, "of course you'd enjoy that, you won't be needing an impressive credential for that sort of activity."

The engineer scoffed, "at least I don't sleep like a vampire in my bed," he muttered under his breath.

After their usual banter they began to play the game, the night escalating to one of the best they've had for the past few months. However, as the night progressed, Sheldon found himself thinking about Amy again and lost his focus on the game. They've already lost three out of the seven times they restarted the game and the guys were getting frustrated and curious.

Howard groaned and glared at Sheldon, "come on just tell us what's bothering you! I didn't come here to lose at Halo, so either you pull it together and we play the game, or you tell us what's got you in over your head and we'll pretend to care until you can be your weird self again."

"Howard…" Leonard warned.

"No, actually I think it will help Sheldon if he'll talk to us," Raj offered. "Come on, we promise we won't dismiss or ridicule you."

Sheldon looked at his friends before he put his laptop on the coffee table and sighed, "alright," he paused, trying to find words that would not make it seem like he was some sort of hippy, "I am facing a dilemma…in the male-female relationship area."

The three friends looked at each other, surprised at his confession. That was not what they expected to come out of Sheldon's mouth, they set aside their laptops and turned towards Sheldon. Leonard was the first to speak, "male-female relationship like in the comics? Or Star Trek?"

Sheldon rolled his eyes, "no, I'm talking about my male-female relationship…"

"You mean with Amy?" Raj asked.

Sheldon sighed in frustration, "yes of course with Amy! Can you imagine me talking about anyone else?"

"Well we couldn't imagine you having interest in anyone else until we met her, so…" Howard shrugged at him. "What's this problem you're talking about?"

The lanky physicist leaned back on his seat and stared at his hands, "well, I want to ask her out on a date but I-I don't know how to do it," he said with a shrug.

Leonard furrowed his eyebrows, "why don't you just text or call her? It's just a date."

Sheldon glared at Leonard, "it is most certainly not 'just a date' Leonard!" He huffed in frustration before shaking his head, "well I suppose it is, it's just I feel like asking her out is something I should prepare for. What if I do it wrong and she turns me down? O-or I try to ask her but words won't come out of my mouth? I need to be prepared of all the possible outcomes when I ask her."

"Come on, Sheldon you're overthinking this," Raj pointed out, "I'm sure Amy would be happy to go on a date with you, no matter how you ask her."

Howard nodded his head and perked up, "he's right and come on, you guys were together 10 years ago, how did dating come around?"

Sheldon turned a deep shade of red and his eyes started twitching, "well um…" he gulped and clasped his hands together.

Sheldon held his phone at arm's length, he could still hear the shrill voice of his mother form the other end. He shook his head and brought the device back to his ears, "mother…"

Mary beamed still, "oh Shelly, I'm so glad you finally found a nice young fella to keep ya company."

Sheldon stammered at his mother's words, "keep me company? Amy is just a friend mama, nothing more."

Mary sighed and shook his head at his son's naivete, "baby, do you really expect this Amy gal to stick around for Lord knows how long with the two of ya just bein' friends?"

"Well I don't see why she'd be interested with anybody, I'm a delight and we consider each other as equals."

"Shelly, no matter what you say, Amy is first and foremost a lady fella, she has her needs," she paused but quickly added a warning, "but that ain't mean I'm talkin' about you two sinnin' ya hear?"

"Mother please, you know how I feel about coitus and once again I am telling you that Amy and I are just good friends," he paused, an uneasy feeling settling on his stomach as he whispered, "I'm sure she doesn't see me that way."

"Oh baby, let me ask you something," Mary started, determined to make her son see reason and give in to his human side just for once, "do you like spending time with Amy?"

Sheldon snorted, "of course I do! She's brilliant, intelligent, no nonsense type of person, when I talk to her I feel like I'm talking to myself but with a woman's voice."

Mary couldn't help but to roll her eyes, "how often do you speak with each other?"

"As often as we can, it is quite interesting to know that we don't run out of topics to discuss with each other and every day I look forward to our conversations."

"Do you think about her when you two ain't together?"

Sheldon furrowed his eyebrows, "what is it with all these questions?"

"Just answer it!"

Sheldon was silent for a moment, "well…yeah I sometimes do. I wonder what she's doing or if she's busy, or I think about topics that we could talk about the next time we see each other."

"How would you feel if another fella would take interest on your girl?"

"First off mother, she is not my girl, Amy is not some possession I could own just because I want to, and secondly I don't want to think about that and even if there are other men why would she take interest in them? She doesn't need those idiots to talk about mundane and hippy dippy things."

"Why don't you ask her out to dinner?"

"Because I'm scared to," Sheldon's eyes widened as he clasped his hand on his mouth. "Drats."

Mary smirked on the other end, "just do it Shelly, from what you have told me about this girl, she'll agree to a nice dinner with you. Amy's ain't gon wait on you forever, so if you don't want another man to wander 'round her, you better get a move on or else you might just make the biggest mistake of your life…alright baby?"

Sheldon bit his bottom lip, contemplating his mother's words, finally he responded, "alright, I-I'll try."

Mary smiled, "I'm proud of you baby, good luck, talk to you soon, love you."

"love you too," he hang up the phone and smiled widely as he saw Amy approach the coffee shop where they were supposed to meet.

Amy smiled at him as she sat down, "hey Sheldon, have you been here long?"

Sheldon shook his head, "not really, I just got off the phone with my mother, she was asking about you."

Amy's eyes bugged out, "w-what? You told her about me?"

"Of course I did! You're my friend," he smiled.

Amy cleared her throat and looked away, "right…friend, okay," she pretended to read the menu from above the counter, "should we order now?"

Sheldon noticed the change in her demeanor and wondered if his mother was right. "w-wait," he called out before she could stand up. This time, he cleared his throat, struggling to hold Amy's gaze and he suddenly felt hot and itchy like his nerves were spilling out of him. "I was wondering if you…um would you…I-wouldyougoouttodinnerwithme?" He breathed out.

Amy looked at him, not understanding what he just said, "I'm sorry? You were talking too fast."

Sheldon looked down and gulped, you can do this Cooper, he thought to himself. "I was wondering if… you would like to go out to dinner with me." There, he said it. Now he looked up to see her facial expression. Warmth spread through him as he saw a smile blossomed on her face.

Amy tilted her head, "are you asking me out on a date?"

Sheldon nodded and shrugged, but them he smiled as he heard the sound of her laugh. It was one of the things he was grateful for having an eidetic memory, he won't be able to forget that sound.

Amy beamed at him, "I would love to, Sheldon."

Leonard smirked at Sheldon after he finished his story, "aw look at you! Getting all tongue-tied because of a girl."

"Which is why I'm in this situation, I seem to be lost on how to ask properly without embarrassing myself."

"Hmmm, well can you think of something now?" Raj asked.

"I actually can't because I haven't even talked to her since we got back…I-I don't even know what to say."

The guys were silent, trying to think of a way to help Sheldon. "Why don't we ask Penny and Bernadette? They're women, might be helpful to get some tips from their perspective," Howard suggested.

Just then the door opened, Penny and Bernadette walked in, "hey guys, sorry to interrupt but do you have wine in here? I only had half a bottle and it ran out."

"Oh you might want to skip the wine, Sheldon's having lady problems," Leonard smirked.

The two ladies' jaws dropped and stared at Sheldon, "y-you mean Amy right? Like a real lady. A person, with a heart, body, and doesn't have robot voice," Penny commented.

The guys snickered, "yes, he's planning on asking Amy out on a date, we thought you might have some tips." Raj sipped his beer.

"Oooh," Bernadette cooed as she took seat in between Sheldon and Howard. "We had a great time with Amy at the bar back in Colorado, she's a great woman Sheldon, and if you're planning to ask her out, you better do it in person."

"Yeah, because it means you're actually looking forward to a date with her and want to spend time together," Penny added.

"I don't know her address."

"Do you know where she works?"

"Well yeah, she works at UCLA."

"Then go there," Bernadette shrugged.

"Oh yeah, and hey you promised to cook dinner for us mister. Why don't you visit her, invite her over here for dinner, and work out on how to ask her then?" Penny reminded him.

"Sheldon Lee Cooper in the kitchen, it's like a mad scientist cooking up drugs to take over the world," Howard mused.

"It's like straight out of a comic book," Leonard joined in.

"Next thing you know he has a costume strapped on himself, traipsing out in the streets with some weird hairdo."

Sheldon glared at them, "how very mature gentlemen." He turned to the ladies in the room and asked, "are you sure it's gonna work?"

"Well it's worth a shot, it's better than doing it over the phone."

"I guess you're right," Sheldon sighed.

"You're gonna do fine sweetie, don't worry too much about it," Penny patted his knee for comfort before standing up and retrieving the wine bottle from their cupboard. Before she and Bernadette left, Penny turned back to Sheldon and narrowed her eyes, "when can we expect this dinner?"

The guys also got interested and looked at Sheldon hopefully. The physicist sighed, thinking about his schedule and which day he could possibly give up for an impromptu home-cooked meal. "I suppose Friday works for me. I could prepare y'all some mean Texan delicacy that I personally learned from my mother and Meemaw."

"Perfect," Penny exclaimed, leaving the four gentlemen on their game night.

The next morning Sheldon woke up 10 minutes earlier than usual, he didn't know why but somehow his stomach felt funny. He got up from his bed and went straight to the bathroom, he figured if he started his day early, he would have more time to work before he would visit UCLA.

He was sitting on is spot with a bowl of cereal when Leonard walked in, his roommate walked towards the hallway before halted in his tracks and looked at him, "you're early."

Sheldon rolled his eyes, "I am, Mr. Obvious."

Leonard shot daggers at him before walking towards the bathroom, "just another day at 4A," he muttered. After taking a shower, he fixed himself some toast and joined Sheldon in the living area.

"So…you going to work today?" He noticed Sheldon wearing his bus pants.

Sheldon nodded, "I am, although I am planning to visit Amy around lunch time," he cleared his throat and looked at Leonard, "do you think she'll appreciate it if I bring food?"

Leonard looked surprised at his friend's question before he beamed at him with pride, "yeah! I think she'll like that very much, that's a very nice gesture Sheldon."

Sheldon let himself smile a little, the funny feeling in his stomach slowly dissipating. They finished the show they were watching before they headed out of the apartment.

Once they got into the car, Sheldon turned to Leonard and bounced lightly on his seat, "do you want to play a game?"

Leonard groaned internally, "do I have a choice?"

"No, not really. Okay, so this game is called What Siren am I? Here's the first one." Sheldon suddenly mimicked a siren which pierced Leonard's ears as soon as he heard it.

Oh god, think of something Hofstadter, "uhh, I don't know, a fire truck?"

Sheldon looked at him smugly, "you have to be more specific than that, so no point for you," he paused to think of another siren before he bounced excitedly once again on the passenger's seat, "oh oh! Okay how about this," he went on to mimic another annoying siren.

Stupid game, "um, the French police?" He guessed, trying to ignore the throbbing sensation on his head.

"Oh you were so close, it's Belgian ambulance," Sheldon informed him. "Okay um how about we move on to What whistle am I?" He opened his mouth but before he could start, Leonard cut him off.

"Can we stop for a while? I'm getting a headache."

Sheldon looked sad, "aw, right in the middle of our game."

Leonard fought himself not to roll his eyes, "yeah weird," he paused before glancing at Sheldon briefly, "have you told Amy you're gonna visit her?"

"No…I-I want to surprise her."

Leonard was floored, the past week he saw more of human Sheldon than he had for the last 8 years he'd been his roommate and he found himself nodding, "well good luck, I hope both of you will have a nice time. I can't wait to have Amy over for dinner on Sunday."

Once they arrived at Caltech, Sheldon felt like time couldn't pass by fast enough, he finished his calculations in no time, he called a nice restaurant to order food for himself and Amy, and now he was fidgeting on his chair checking his watch every once in a while.

As soon as his watch read 11:30, he jumped out of his seat, grabbed his jacket and messenger bag, and went to fetch the lunch he ordered. After that, he made his way to the nearest bus stop and waited anxiously. He released a huge sigh as he got into a good seat on the bus. He looked out the window with mixed feelings, anticipation and nervousness. He hoped he won't mess this up. You just have to invite her over for dinner at your apartment no big deal. Besides, she was the one who revealed your skills in the kitchen, it's only necessary for her to be there, he thought to himself. He turned his attention back to the streets of Pasadena growing smaller as he looked back.

40 minutes later, he arrived at his destination and shook off the remaining jitters he had on himself. Immediately, he found the building for Neurobiology and headed inside, "drats," he muttered to himself as he didn't know where Amy could be. He stood there for a few minutes before he heard a voice behind him.

"Excuse me sir, can I help you?" Sheldon turned around and saw a woman, probably a grad student, looking at him expectantly. "Oh my god you're Dr. Cooper! It's an honor to meet you sir."

He nodded his head and looked around before he settled on the person in front of him, "by any chance do you know where Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler's lab or office?"

A look of recognition appeared on the grad student's face as she offered him a smile, "yes, um it's on the left wing of the building, you just have to go down that hall," she pointed towards the left side, "take another left, and then Dr. Fowler's lab is on the right side four doors down."

Sheldon sighed in relief, "thank you," he turned to leave but the grad student called out to him again.

"Dr. Fowler's not there right now though, she's guest lecturing today," she looked down at her watch and noticed the time, "I could walk with you to the auditorium where she is, I'm supposed to go back there anyway, the lecture's only for the next 15 minutes."

The physicist agreed but asked the grad student to wait for him as he left the food in her lab. He took a quick look around and smiled to himself, before closing the door and joined the young student towards the auditorium. The student opened the door for him and he nodded his head in gratitude, as he looked forward, he smiled, seeing Amy in front of all these young people, eager to learn from her. There must be hundreds of students sitting in the auditorium and Sheldon felt a surge of pride.

"I'll leave you to it Dr. Cooper, again, it's an honor to meet you."

Sheldon offered a polite smile, "thank you for all the help, Ms…?"

The grad student smiled, "Seymour, and it's no problem," she gave him a last smile before going down back to her seat.

Sheldon looked around once again at the enclosed space before noticing the vacant chair beside him. Before taking a seat, he looked back at the front and watched as Amy flawlessly deliver her lecture. She was once again dressed in a very formal attire which Sheldon found flattering and unusual compared to her typical wool ensemble. My little lump of wool. He suddenly frowned when he noticed she stopped talking, only to realize she was now looking directly at him and he had enough sense to look back at her sheepishly.

The grad students were also confused at the abrupt pause, whispering with each other as they followed the gaze of their lecturer; the whispers grew as they all looked up at Sheldon. Amy cleared her throat, "alright everybody, I can entertain several questions before I end the lecture," she managed to get the attention of her students as Sheldon took a seat.

15 minutes later, the students began to file out of the auditorium and Sheldon made his way down to the podium. He saw Amy look up at him and met him halfway, without thinking he placed a hand on her waist and placed a kiss on her cheek before he pulled back to greet her, "hello."

Amy shivered at the contact and smiled at the man in front of her, "hi! This is a nice surprise, what are you doing here?"

Sheldon shrugged, not really knowing what reason he could blurt out that would not end up with him stuttering like a teenager. "I brought lunch, my friends seem to be taken with you, they asked me when I would host dinner and reminded me to ask you to come over at our apartment. You do know it's your fault that I am required to do so," he glared at her playfully.

"Hey! I didn't hear this much complaining 10 years ago, and if I remember correctly, I gained 2 pounds 10 months after we met since you kept insisting that you're gonna cook," she glared back. They stood there holding each other's gaze before bursting out in fits of laughter as they reminisced the past.

"Well you're worth it," he said seriously and Amy couldn't help the blush that appeared on her cheeks. "And hey, I also didn't hear you complain about the weight gain…ow!" he screeched when Amy slapped him on the shoulder.

Amy gathered her belongings before turning back to Sheldon, "come on, let's get out of here and where is this lunch you mentioned I'm starving!"

"Left it at your lab, I had a grad student point me where it was."

Amy raised an eyebrow, "you actually talked to a stranger?" Seeing Sheldon's glare, she chuckled and nudged him a bit, "I'm kidding."

They walked out of the auditorium together, their banter continued on even as they reached her lab.

"So are you available tomorrow? You could help me prepare it too if you want," Sheldon offered.

Amy smiled widely, "really? I'd love to, what time do you need me to be there?"

The physicist shrugged, "I haven't decided what to prepare yet but if you could drop by around 4pm that'll give us time for grocery shopping and about an hour give or take to cook dinner."

"Alright, I can't wait!" She inhaled the scent of her food, "thank you, for this Sheldon."

Sheldon smiled, "you're welcome." He looked at her with a warm smile and the fluttering in his chest made it difficult for him to focus on his own food, but he didn't mind it one bit.

I hope it was not too dragging for you guys lol. Next chapter will be the dinner and you'll find out how he's gonna ask Amy out. Amy visits Caltech and another tbbt character will make an appearance *winks*

~kingdomfictionalia