Chapter 15
Author's Note: Shoutout to the following readers for their reviews: the naughty vixen, AlHc924, green-ninja05, to all the guest readers and new readers for this story. Thank you! Enjoy Chapter 15.
Before Sheldon could listen to Amy's message, Penny went inside the apartment.
"Hey, Sheldon. You guys got a minute?"
"I'm calling with Amy right now. What's so important-"
Amy interrupted him. "It's okay, Sheldon. Let's listen to what Penny has to say first."
"Oh, alright."
Amy let out the breath she was holding. Thank you, Penny.
"It'll just take a minute, I swear." Penny went to Leonard's room and told him to get out. She had a surprise for them.
"What's up?" Leonard asked as he and Sheldon saw Penny with two paper bags.
"I was thinking about Sheldon's little joke the other night about me eating all your food."
Sheldon interjected. "Oh, that was no joke. But I understand your confusion as I am our group's resident cut-up."
Leonard looked at Sheldon. "I'm sorry, you are our resident cut-up?"
Sheldon: Yes.
Leonard: Prove it.
Sheldon: Knock, knock.
Leonard: Who's there?
Sheldon: Interrupting physicist.
Leonard: Interrupting physi…
"MUON!" Sheldon chuckled.
"Anyway, I've been working extra shifts, so as a reward, I got an early bonus from my boss at the Cheesecake Factory. And I thought, hey, how about I get the guys a little thank you to pay them back. So, Sheldon, ta-da!"
Penny got a box out of the paper bag and gave it to Sheldon. He was floored. "Ah! A vintage, mint-in-box, 1975 Mego Star Trek transporter with real transporter action. Hot-darn!"
Leonard asked Penny where she got it. She told him that she bought it from Stuart at the comic book store.
"You went to the comic book store by yourself?" Leonard couldn't believe it.
"Yeah, it was fun. After basket weaving with the girls, I took a quick detour there. I walked in and two different guys got asthma attacks. Felt pretty good." She smirked.
Sheldon was ecstatic. "Well, this calls for an expression of gratitude."
"Ooh, am I about to get a rare Sheldon Cooper hug?"
"Not this time. Then they wouldn't be special." Sheldon clicked his tongue and pointed a finger gun towards her. "Thanks, Penny."
Penny: You're welcome. Don't worry, I didn't forget about you. Leonard, I got you a label maker.
Leonard: Wow. No, it's great. Also, uh, mint-in-box.
Penny: Mmm. And, I got you a transporter too!
Leonard dropped the label maker on the floor and marveled at his box "Awesome!"
"Ooh! Let me get my Mr. Spock action figure." He sprinted to his bedroom.
Penny noticed Amy on Sheldon's laptop. "Oh. Hey, Ames! Sorry... Did I interrupt your call with Sheldon?"
"Not at all. Listen. We don't have much time. Is Sheldon's phone there?"
Penny saw Sheldon's phone beside the laptop. "Yeah, it is. Why?"
"Sheldon has a copy of that drunken message I gave him that night."
Penny widened her eyes. "Oh my God. I thought I deleted it."
"Apparently, any message that gets deleted is backed up on his phone. Can you erase it?"
"I'm sorry, Amy... I don't know his password." She turned to Leonard who was busy with his gift.
"Sweetie, do you know Sheldon's password?"
Luckily, Leonard knew it. Amy quickly explained the situation and they deleted her message before Sheldon came back from his room.
"Thank you, Leonard and Penny. That was a close one."
"Don't worry. The next time we drink, we'll keep your phone for you." Penny teased.
Sheldon forgot about Amy's message. He was too caught up in his new transporter toy. He eventually broke it and switched his with Leonard's.
Amy came by the apartment and found out. She told him to give it back to Leonard. He reluctantly returned it.
"I hope it breaks." Sheldon pouted.
"Don't worry, Sheldon. I can buy you another transporter from the comic book store. Stuart, was it?"
Sheldon was touched by Amy's gesture in making him feel better. He and Amy went to the comic book store to see if Stuart still had the limited edition transporter.
Both of them entered the store.
"What do you think, Amy? Magic huh?"
"Well, I'm quite disappointed, Sheldon. As a brilliant man, you're entitled to a vice. I could understand frequenting an opium den or hunting your fellow man for sport. But this? Lame-o."
Sheldon was offended. "Well, A, comic books employ storytelling through sequential art, a medium that dates back 17,000 years to the cave paintings of Lascaux, and B, you play the harp. Like that's cool."
Hey! I thought he liked my harp playing... Amy frowned.
Stuart took notice of Amy and approached her. "Can I help you find anything?"
"Hi, are you Stuart? Sheldon accidentally broke his limited edition transporter that Penny got him. Is there a chance you still have another one available?"
Stuart sucked in his teeth. "Ooh. I'm afraid I don't have one. It's limited edition for a reason."
Sheldon expressed his disappointment.
Amy felt bad for her friend. "Oh, that's too bad. Let's find another store... Thanks, Stuart."
Stuart wanted more time to talk to Amy. He stopped her from leaving. "Wait. Uhm... Well, I think Sheldon would be interested in seeing some of our new items. I do have this pretty cool Aquaman statue... How about a Batman squirt gun?"
Sheldon looked interested in what Stuart had to offer so he checked them out, leaving Amy and Stuart alone together.
"So, how do you know Sheldon?"
"We met each other at work."
"I see. Are you two...?"
"Uh, no... We're just friends. Why?"
"Oh, nothing..." He tried to change the subject. "Is it your first time in a comic book store?"
"Yes. I do hope that you have a comic here that depicts a woman whose bosom can't be used as a floatation device."
"Sorry about that. Most of the guys who come in here like big boobs. A couple of them have big boobs."
Amy chuckled at his joke. They ended up talking to one another while Sheldon was deciding whether to buy the Aquaman statue or the Batman squirt gun. He bought both of them.
Amy and Sheldon continued working on their quantum cognition experiment. They arranged a schedule where they would work alternately between Amy's lab and Sheldon's office. It was in Amy's lab this time- they were eating their lunch.
Sheldon turned to Amy. "I've invented a science joke, would you like to hear it?"
"Sure."
Sheldon said his joke. "How many Edisons does it take to screw in a light bulb?"
"How many?"
Sheldon snickered. "Who cares? He stole the idea and doesn't deserve his own joke."
Amy was amused. "Is that really true?"
"Of course, that's how you know it's a good joke. It not only entertains, it informs." He smiled.
All of a sudden, there's a knock on the door. It was a familiar face.
"Hey, sorry to interrupt."
Sheldon's mind flashed back to the events of last week. Great. He's come here again to get in the way. "What do you want, Kripke?"
"Just wanted to drop this off as a little thank you for Amy." Kripke handed her a bottle of champagne.
Amy was touched. Sheldon noticed her expression and tried his best not to care about their conversation.
"What's this for?"
Barry smiled. "Your idea really helped me out. My right-cone quantization paper's online already. The response has been amazing."
Amy was glad she could help him out. It was to return the favor from last time. "Well, that's fascinating. I can't wait to read it."
Sheldon interrupted their moment. "Oh, no, me as well. Uh, please e-mail it to Sheldon at bazinga dot biz. Why dot biz? Because I just gave you the business. And also bazinga dot com was taken."
Barry ignored Sheldon. "Anyway, thanks again." Before he left, he teased Sheldon again. "Cooper, suck eggs."
Sheldon confronted Amy. "Since when did you help out Barry Kripke?"
"I owe him a lot for helping me that one time. Uh, when I injured my lip, right? I'd been thinking about a cellular automata approach to neuronal connectivity, and I thought it might have some interesting applications to string theory, it's not a big deal."
Sheldon scoffed. "Oh, really? I'm working on string theory. Why didn't you try to help me?"
"I did. I mentioned it a few days ago but you said the only math biologists know is if you have three frogs and one hops away, that leaves two frogs."
Sheldon chuckled. "That's pretty funny, that does sound like me. But that doesn't mean that you should be standing on street corners handing out your math to whatever guy comes along."
Amy frowned. "Sheldon, we're all scientists. I helped out a fellow colleague. You're being petty."
"I'm being petty? You know Barry and I have a professional rivalry. You heard him, he told me to suck eggs. If we were friends, he would have suggested I suck something more pleasant."
Amy couldn't contain her laughter at his comment. He was so innocent.
"Why are you laughing? Did you learn something?" Amy shut her mouth and continued eating her food.
With Amy in her new lab, she was assigned by the university to participate in another research project. Because of this, she had less time for Sheldon who was starting to feel her drift away from him.
Amy has also become an integral part of the group. She would always hang out with them whenever she had the time.
The gang was having pizza night at 4A. They all shared what they had going on. It was Amy's turn.
"Well, at work we've been doing some interesting research with neuroprosthetics."
"Neat. I've been rewatching The O.C., so we're all leading productive lives." Penny quipped.
Amy continued. "We've been working on a computer interface that can use brain wave patterns to control robotic limbs, but we're having a little trouble localizing the signal from the EEG cap."
Howard spoke up, intrigued by what Amy just said. "Oh, well, have you thought about adding a phased array of sensors for better localization?"
"Actually, that never occurred to me." Amy had an idea. "You know, I could use an engineer on this project."
Sheldon added to the conversation. "Well, now, this works out great. Howard's an engineer. I'm sure he knows someone qualified."
The group rolled their eyes.
"She was talking about me, Sheldon. I'm perfectly qualified." Howard replied.
Bernadette backed him up. "Yeah, Howie's the world's best engineer. It says so right on his coffee mug."
"So, Howard, are you interested?"
Howard agreed to help Amy out.
Hmm... I don't like this at all. Sheldon thought. He was wondering why Amy wanted to work with Howard. She was making it more difficult for them to spend time together.
"If we add phase detection to your EEG sensors, I'll have to rewrite most of the code." Howard was holding the EEG cap Amy was working with.
"Can you do that?"
"These hands were made to do three things: close-up magic, writing code, and the dirty puppet show that got me kicked out of Hebrew school."
It was Howard and Amy's first time working together. Amy had her apprehensions about being around Howard especially when Penny told her never to be alone with him. Surprisingly, Bernadette said the same thing. But after they both found out that they liked Neil Diamond, things between them were going great.
Sheldon decided to visit Amy's lab and see how she was doing with Howard. He figured she needed him to save her from the likes of him. Don't worry little moth, the flame will come to you.
"Oh, my God. Three of clubs. That was my card! How'd you-" Amy expressed her amusement.
Amy and Howard were genuinely happy working together. Howard thought he and Amy had nothing in common since she was most similar to Sheldon. However, she's become less uptight and he could feel her loosen up a little around him. Guess she isn't so bad after all. You can keep her, Sheldon.
"I used to make it appear in my pants, but HR said I had to stop doing that."
Amy eagerly looked at his laptop. "So, how much longer until we can test it?"
"It needs to compile, so it's gonna be a few minutes."
"Sounds like we've earned ourselves a break." She looked at him in anticipation.
"You wanna hear some Neil Sedaka?"
"You know, that's your greatest magic trick because you just read my mind!"
Howard played "Calendar Girl" on his phone. They started singing together.
Amy reached out her hand for Howard to hold and she spun him around.
"Well, well, well." Sheldon appeared at the door.
Amy and Howard stopped dancing and turned off the music, feeling embarrassed getting caught jamming along to their favorite artist.
"Hi, Sheldon. I didn't expect you to come here."
"I invited you for lunch but you told me you were busy, yet here you are, dancing." Sheldon looked at her in disappointment. Amy felt guilty.
"We're just waiting for the code to compile. What are you doing here?" Howard asked.
"Well, I just came by to see how you two were getting along." It looks like they're getting along too much. He clenched his fists.
"Everything is going really great! Howard's been really helpful and he and I both like Neil Diamond. Did I mention that he's so good with magic tricks? I don't know how he does it."
Sheldon saw how her eyes lit up just talking about her new friendship with Howard. He hated it.
Howard smiled at her compliments. "Thanks, Amy. I'm glad you feel that way. And doing magic took me a lot of practice. Maybe I could teach you sometime."
They're really praising each other in front of me? How rude. "Oh, that's nice to hear. I was hoping you two were going to enjoy working together." Sheldon started blinking his eyes.
Amy was perplexed at his behavior. "Why are you blinking?"
"It's Morse Code."
He tried using Morse Code to tell her that it's not too late to get her out of there. Maybe, she was forced to say those nice things.
"Sheldon, I don't know Morse Code."
Sheldon sighed. "Fine. I just stopped by to ask you when we could continue our quantum cognition experiment together. We could do it at my apartment later."
"I'm sorry, Sheldon. I'd love to, but we're just about to test the interface. It could take a while."
"I see." Sheldon approached Howard and looked at him intensely.
"What?"
Sheldon blinked at him in Morse Code: We need to talk.
Howard rolled his eyes but he went along with it: About what?
Sheldon directed his head at Amy: I'll tell you, but first, you have to get Amy out of the room.
Howard relented: Okay.
"Hey, Amy. Since this will take a little longer, can you get me a Dr. Pepper at the vending machine?"
"Sure thing. I was planning to go there anyway. Sheldon, would you want anything?"
"I'm fine. Thank you." Amy left the room.
"For shame, Howard. For shame."
"What are you talking about?"
"You're engaged to Bernadette and now I see you here dancing with Amy. I bet Bernadette's feeling a little abandoned with all the hours you're putting in."
"No, she's not. And nothing weird's happening between me and... Oh. I see what's going on here. You're jealous of me spending time with Amy." Howard smirked.
"No, I'm not. Just because I haven't seen her around lately doesn't mean I'm jealous of the attention she's giving you." Sheldon furrowed his eyebrows and looked down at the floor.
"She asked me to help her, Sheldon. I'm not trying to take her away from you."
"I know that. It's just... Amy hasn't been responding to any of my communications. We rarely get to see each other anymore and I don't think she's aware of it."
It was one of those special moments where Sheldon showed his vulnerability to someone. Howard was touched that Sheldon was opening up to him about this.
He placed a hand on his shoulder. "This'll all be quick, Sheldon. Once I finish helping Amy, she can finally be done with her project, and everything will go back to normal. You just need to be patient."
"I can't believe I'm saying this but I guess you're right..."
They heard someone come in expecting it was Amy, but it was actually Leonard.
"Hey, Howard something interesting just happened. Stuart just- Oh. Sheldon's here. Never mind. I'll tell you later."
Before Leonard could leave, Sheldon stopped him. "Hold on. Why can't you tell him in front of me?"
"Well, I wasn't sure if you'd want to hear this, buddy."
"Why not?"
"Stuart just texted me. He asked if it was okay with you if he asked Amy out on a date."
That was the last straw for Sheldon. Why is everyone so interested in seeking Amy's company lately? I was her friend first! I'm the one she should be working with. I'm the only one she should da-
"Sheldon? Are you listening? Are you okay with it?"
They were waiting for his answer when Amy arrived with Howard's drink.
"Oh. Hi, Leonard. Is something wrong?"
Leonard stared back and forth between a confused Amy and a distraught Sheldon. "No. Not at all. I just came here to ask Howard for something. I'll come back later when the two of you are done." Leonard left.
"That's strange... We're not that busy right now." She handed Howard his Dr. Pepper.
"Excuse me. I have to go as well." Sheldon remarked and quickly went out the door.
Amy looked at Howard for answers, but all he could do was shrug.
Sheldon was pacing in his office. He was bothered.
When he and Amy became friends, he considered her as such an important part of his life. She became a part of his routine. He disliked the fact that she was too busy to answer their daily Skype calls as well as work and eat lunch with him.
First, it was Kripke. Then, Howard. And now Stuart? When did he even take an interest in her? Was it when we went to the comic book store?
He felt his heart constrict. Does she not care about our friendship anymore? Has she simply grown tired of me now that's she's spending time with other men?
He tried to shake away his thoughts but he couldn't. Not when everything he saw in his office reminded him of Amy. He couldn't work on anything else without imagining Amy beside him, questioning his math, and challenging his ideas. He couldn't even sit in his own chair without missing the feeling of Amy stroking his hair when she was checking him for chair lice.
I'm going mad. And look, there's her desk, taunting me. I really should've let them take it away...
"Why is this dreadful thing even here? I've got to get it out of this office."
Sheldon went to Amy's desk and tried to push it.
"What are you doing with my desk, Sheldon?"
Sheldon heard Amy's voice and he thought he was hearing things. He looked to see where it was coming from. "No! Not you again."
Imaginary Amy was back. This time, she was wearing a lab coat. She was sitting on Amy's chair. "Hello, Dr. Cooper. Miss me?" She smirked.
His heart skipped a beat. She's not real, she's not real. "What do you want from me?"
"I don't know, Sheldon. I only appear every time you're distressed about the real Amy."
"That's ridiculous. I'm not in distress."
"Are you sure? Why is her desk still here then?"
"What's it to you? It's a perfectly functional desk. I could use it for my other things..." Sheldon's eye was twitching.
Imaginary Amy snickered. "You were just trying to get it out of here a minute ago. Go ahead and sit down so we can chat."
Sheldon didn't know why, but he followed Imaginary Amy and sat on his own chair across from her.
"So, how are you doing?" She had the same clipboard with her the day they first met. It seemed as if she was emulating a psychiatrist giving therapy to a patient.
"How am I doing? I could get that question from the lady who slices my bologna at Ralph's. "
"I'm sorry. Let me start over. Why are you mad at Amy?"
Sheldon: I'm not mad at Amy. I'm just upset that she's forgotten her role as my friend.
Imaginary Amy: I'm sorry? What role?
Sheldon: We have a relationship that's different from the rest and a mutual admiration that skews in my favor. As my friend, she should cater to my needs. But now, she's helping Kripke with string theory, working with Howard- who appears to be her dance partner now... And I wouldn't believe it if she'd actually agree to date Stuart. That's a dealbreaker.
Imaginary Amy: How is dating Stuart a dealbreaker?
Sheldon: Stuart's an impoverished peddler of picture books, a person who would not be at all appealing to Amy Farrah Fowler. Imagine if they started dating. Just the thought of them in a darkened theater is repellant.
Imaginary Amy: She's not obligated to play by your rules, Sheldon. She can put herself in any repellant situation she wants.
Sheldon: That's unacceptable. Why would she want to waste her time with such uninteresting men?
Imaginary Amy: Hey! One of those men happens to be your friend. And besides, she can hang out with anyone she wants because both of you aren't in a committed relationship.
Sheldon: ...
Sheldon was speechless. He still didn't know where he stood with Amy. Sure, they were friends. But they never actually addressed the fight they had before Amy moved out of the office. How she held his hand, and how he still wondered if she really lied about her liking Kripke. He never found it in himself to ask her about it again.
"There's only one way you can have her all to yourself again."
Sheldon's ears perked up. "And that is...?"
"Tell her how you feel."
I was trying to avoid doing that... Sheldon sighed. "Do I have to? Can't we just stay friends?"
"Well, you can. But that still leaves her the possibility to give Kripke or Stuart a chance. She'll continue having no time for you, and you'll become miserable again."
No! I can't have that. But- "I'm not sure how to tell her."
"You don't need to tell her... Maybe you could show her. Do something romantic for a change. Something that could sweep her off her feet, you know?"
"How am I supposed to do that?"
"Hmm... Let me think."
Imaginary Amy: Oh. You can ask her out on a date. A candle-lit dinner, some music, have some wine...
Sheldon: Wine? Grape juice that burns? No thank you.
Imaginary Amy: Okay. How about you look into her eyes? Let your eyes do the talking.
Sheldon: She'd think I was checking her eyes for conjunctivitis. That's not romantic at all.
Imaginary Amy sighed and kept thinking. Suddenly, she found the answer. "Oh, I know! You can kiss her! Kissing's romantic."
"Kiss her? But she hated our kiss..."
"We don't know that. And she was the one who kissed you. There's a difference. You'll be the one to initiate it now."
"I'm not sure about all this..."
"Come on, Sheldon. It's the only way. Here." She placed his hands on her waist. "Show me."
"W-What?" Sheldon was sweating. Why does it all seem so real? Curse this imagination of mine.
"Just look into my eyes, slowly lean in, and then kiss me."
Sheldon tried to close his eyes and shake his head again, hoping she would disappear, but she was still there expecting him to kiss her.
He took a deep breath and looked into Imaginary Amy's eyes. He slowly leaned in and felt his breath run short.
"Good. Now as you stare into my eyes, you have to look down at my lips. It's a sign you could give to Amy to let her know you want to kiss her."
Hmm... So, that's how it's done. He glanced at her lips and continued leaning in.
Before he could touch his lips with hers, he hesitated. He let go of her waist.
"I can't do this." He ran out of the office, hoping Imaginary Amy wouldn't follow him.
Sheldon collected himself inside the men's room. He was taking deep breaths.
You can do this, Cooper. You can keep Amy away from Stuart, Howard, Kripke, and any other man if you just allow yourself to kiss her. I mean, it's all just in your head. If you aren't mentally prepared, how can you actually kiss the real Amy?
He thought about kissing Amy for a long time. He wanted to prove to her that he was a better kisser than Kripke ever was. Sheldon knew that Amy forgot about her drunken kiss but he knew he couldn't.
He couldn't forget how amazing it felt. How all of his inhibitions dissipated in a matter of seconds. Being enveloped in her scent, tasting the sweetness of her lips, feeling its softness on his own. He knew what he had to do.
With a newfound determination, he went back to the office.
Imaginary Amy was startled as he barged inside. "Hey, I'm so sorry about- why are you looking at me like that?"
He stared at her intensely and slowly walked towards her. He glanced at her lips, just like she told him.
"Sheldon? What are you-"
He leaned in and kissed her with all the passion he could muster. At first, it was awkwardly rough and he was pressing too hard, but it didn't take long until it became more gentle as he opened his mouth to suck her bottom lip. He deepened his kiss as he moved closer and placed his hands on her waist, her head moving up at their proximity.
At that moment, Sheldon felt all his worries melt away. He missed her so much and gave her everything he had, her scent filling his senses. The jealousy and anger he felt were replaced with pleasure and desire. It was like he was claiming her as his own. She's mine. No one else's.
The kiss was longer than he expected. He thought he would lose his breath any minute now. He finally gave in and moved away, but not before giving her another chaste kiss.
He stared at Amy with a funny look on his face, his eyes all hooded. However, he snapped out of his stupor. She's not real.
He smirked and looked at the surprise on Imaginary Amy's face. Lips all swollen from the kiss, her cheeks blushing a bright red.
"So, how was that?" Both were breathless.
Boy, my mind really is superior. It really felt like I was kissing the actual Amy. I mean, I was certain she'd disappear right after-
Suddenly, Sheldon realized something. Wait a minute. She was wearing a lab coat a while ago...
He heard Howard at the door.
"Hey, Amy. You left your watch at the lab. I was supposed to show you a new magic trick with it but I forgot."
Howard noticed the tension between the two of them. "Are you two okay?"
Sheldon's breath caught in his throat. He gasped and covered his mouth with his hands. He made an error he could never take back.
Oh, dear. I just kissed Amy Farrah Fowler.
End of Chapter 15.
Author's Note: I really enjoyed writing this chapter. He finally kissed her! (Thank you, Imaginary Amy.) What happens next for Pasadena's favorite power couple?
Notable episodes I used: The Transporter Malfunction, The Comic Book Store Regeneration, The Flaming Spittoon Acquisition, The Collaboration Contamination, The Locomotive Manipulation
A fav/follow/review would deeply be appreciated. Let me know what y'all think. (Tell me what y'all thought about the kiss. I'll try to improve next time.)
It's almost time for me to study, so I would need more motivation to continue writing this fic, so I could finish it as soon as possible. Hoping for all of your patience. Thanks for all the support so far. Until next time, Shamy fans!
P.S. I got the idea of Imaginary Amy from the episode where Howard started hallucinating Bernadette. I thought it would be a cute concept to show just how crazy Sheldon is about Amy.