This story is based on "The Clean Room Infiltration" and all the sweet things Sheldon was telling Bernadette about Amy. The song in the third part is Beethoven's Sonata in G Major, Op. 14, No. 2 (I actually know nothing of classical music, I just found this among my sister's sheet music). Enjoy!

Original publish date: January 8th, 2015

She loves medieval literature, Chaucer's her favorite…

After performing his usual knocking ritual, Sheldon was surprised that rather than answer the door herself, Amy simply yelled for him to 'come in' from a distance within her apartment. He obliged and thus found his girlfriend lazing about on her couch, a book on her lap.

"Your feet are in my spot."

"There's still plenty of room for you, Sheldon," she replied, not even looking up.

"Yes, but the bacteria that has collected on the soles of your feet is contaminating it regardless," he argued.

"My shoes are off, and you know that I keep myself impeccably clean." Amy wiggled her stocking-clad toes for emphasis. "It's fine."

With a dramatized sigh that would make Penny proud, Sheldon removed his jacket and wormed himself between Amy's feet and the arm of her sofa. "What are you reading that's so intriguing you can't make room for your boyfriend, anyway?"

Amy lifted the book from her lap so he could see the title without disturbing her reading. "Chaucer."

"Canterbury Tales Chaucer?" Sheldon scoffed. "If you wanted to entertain yourself with juvenile poetry, might I direct you to the works of Dr. Suess?"

Amy paused just long enough to glare at him over the spine of her book before returning to what she was doing. "This isn't Canterbury Tales. It's a compilation of Chaucer's standalone poems. Here, listen to this…"

She brought the book closer to her face and began softly reading aloud:

"The firste stock-father of gentleness,

What man desireth gentle for to be,

Must follow his trace, and all his wittes dress,

Virtue to love, and vices for to flee;

For unto virtue longeth dignity,

And not the reverse, safely dare I deem,

All wear he mitre, crown, or diademe."

As she spoke, Sheldon had unwittingly allowed his eyes to droop and head to tilt on its side, her tone as soothing as a caress to the face. Probably even more so, for words had always been more of a comfort to him than physical contact ever was.

"That was from his 'Ballad of Gentleness'," Amy explained. "It praises a man's ability to be compassionate and tender with those close to him, and claims it's through these virtues that human dignity continues to live and grow." She sighed blissfully. "Chaucer's my favorite in medieval literature."

He would never in his right mind admit this (and he will defend to his dying day that he is always in his right mind), but as Sheldon's gaze rested upon his girlfriend's dreamy, far off expression, he decided that Chaucer was his favorite, too.

And her eyes sparkle when she watches old French movies…

"I just don't understand why you would want to watch a movie that you can't even understand," Sheldon complained as he studied the back of the DVD Amy had brought. "And in black and white, no less! I hate it when movies don't reflect reality."

"As evidenced by your love of watching men in long robes play with glowing swords and move objects with their minds," Amy countered as she carried the popcorn bowl from the kitchen to the couch.

"Star Wars is a perfectly feasible concept in the future of human beings," he argued. "Their minds are simply more evolved than our own."

"Oh really? The future?" Amy cleared her throat and quoted dramatically: "'A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…'"

"Okay, okay, point taken," Sheldon grumbled. Then he broke into a begrudging smile. "And respect to you for quoting Star Wars."

Amy gave a curtsy before seating herself next to him and placing the popcorn on the coffee table. "To answer your previous question, I took French in high school so I enjoy watching without the subtitles to see how much I can follow."

"Considering that these French movies have more or less the same plotline, it's probably easier than you'd think," Sheldon said, crossing his arms stubbornly. "Male meets female, male and female fall for each other, male and female break it off, male and female get back together, male and female seal the deal with copious amounts of sloppy, unsanitary face sucking."

Amy only shrugged. "Well, pop it in and you can be the judge of that."

Sheldon did so, and returned to his spot just as the opening credits were rolling. Fifteen minutes later and Sheldon had deemed the video quality terrible, the sound even poorer, and the story faring worst of all. He turned his head, a snide comment on the tip of his tongue, when the sight of his girlfriend made him halt any and all movement.

She sat serenely beside him, yet so clearly riveted with the film before her. Her eyes had a shimmering quality to them that Sheldon had never seen before, not tears but something else entirely. The green in her eyes were more prominent than ever, glistening like freshly cut emeralds, illuminated by nothing but the flickering television.

From that moment on Sheldon barely spared so much as a glance to the movie, finding his own source of entertainment in one Amy Farrah Fowler and her sparkling green eyes. And when his turn to pick the movie came along and he chose another old French film, his girlfriend had the decency not to comment.

I enjoy how harp music causes her fingers to dance as if she's playing along.

They were at a restaurant of Amy's choosing, as dictated by the Relationship Agreement that on the occasion of the girlfriend's birthday, the girlfriend may pick a place not on the boyfriend's pre-approved list of acceptable eating establishments. It was the single day of the year she was permitted to do so, and Sheldon was trying his best to for once keep his mouth shut and let her have her day. But boy he was miserable.

It was a candlelit dinner, which Sheldon detested because of both the fire hazard and hippy-dippy sentiment. The tables were far too close together- he had no interest in hearing how the gentleman the next spot over was going to give it to his lady friend once they got home, and he wasn't too keen on other people listening to his discussions with Amy, either. The restaurant did not serve hamburgers, which he has always had on Tuesday nights, and the waiter was not at all accommodating when Sheldon requested they find the nearest livestock farm so he could follow his dietary schedule.

But Amy was happy, so he shot her a contrived smile across the table as he poked around his meal with his fork (with three tines on it, no less. What fresh hell was this place?). He had promised himself when he got back from his cross-country train trip that he would treat his girlfriend better, and that included allowing her to be spoiled rotten on her special day without a word from him discouraging it.

Then the harpist appeared onstage, and not for the first time Sheldon wondered why the Hofstadter family tradition of birthday non-celebration was considered such a cruel thing, anyways.

Mind suddenly rife with flashbacks of his childhood as the old sitcom-like tune filled the room, Sheldon opened his mouth to violate his own self-rule not to gripe about anything when his eyes fell upon Amy.

Her gaze was focused on the performer, expression that of complete peace with the world, but what caught Sheldon's attention was her hand. Her fingers drummed quietly, unconsciously, in perfect time with the harp music. He realized there was even a pattern to it: D, D, A Sharp, B, F, G. Almost as if she was playing right up there along with the professional.

Sheldon sat there in perfect content and enjoyed his personal little side-show for the duration of the song. The hall broke into applause at its completion, though Sheldon's was for someone else entirely, and when Amy threw a searing grin his way he found his returning smile to be much more natural than before.

And as she turned away again as the next song began and her fingers resumed their little dance, he felt his chest ache in the best way possible and instantly recognized it. Not a parasite, nor heartburn from his disturbed eating habits. Sheldon Cooper was falling a little bit deeper in love, and that was just fine with him.