Chapter 4

Thanks again to ShAmy4evr for being the most patient and thorough Beta EVER! Also a shout out to Boys3allc who helped with the Southern dialog! Thanks again!

The next morning, Amy pulled up to Los Robles at 8:25. She wanted to make sure she was early and she needed a few moments to catch her breath before seeing him again. She had spent most of the night researching everything about him, his work, his schooling, anything she could find. She had found out that he had graduated at 11, and gone to Rice. He had got his first doctorate at 16 and another a few years later when he finally came to Caltech. She was amazed that he hadn't come earlier.

She had even tried to read some of his academic papers, but soon discovered that they were over even her head. A feeling flowed over her that she had rarely felt before: She was impressed and if she could admit it, a little awestruck. No wonder the guys were so impressed when they had met Dr. Sheldon Cooper.

As she parked the car, she realized that she hadn't thought to ask him for his apartment number and was in a quandary about what to do. Should she wait in the car or the foyer? Should she try to find his apartment and knock? She entered the building and waited in the lobby. She was looking over the mail boxes when a pleasant bubbly blond wearing a tight jean skirt and even tighter white blouse came out of the elevator. She went over to the mail boxes, put a letter in the box and turned around giving Amy a wide smile.

"Hello! Can I help you find someone?"

Amy was a little wary with this stunning beauty. In her experience, most pretty girls she had had dealings with had been nice to her face, but cruel as soon as her back was turned. However, Amy tried to act normal and ignore the years of bullying that had tainted her personality, "Hello. I am looking for Dr. Sheldon Cooper."

"I think you may mean my neighbor. Can you describe him? Quiet guy?"

Amy's eyes glazed over just thinking of his description, "Yes. Tall, thick dark hair, brilliant blue eyes like the sea, wide shoulders, and these arms, I mean..."

The blond smiled, "Yes. That's him alright. I think I found him for you."

"Oh good, where?" Amy looked to the mail boxes but the blond pointed behind her to Sheldon who had just come down the stairs.

"Behind you."

All the color drained out of Amy's face like a water color painting left in the rain. She turned slowly round to see Sheldon smiling at her.

"Mornin' Amy. Was I late?" Sheldon tried unsuccessfully to hide his grin at overhearing Amy's description.

"I um.. wasn't sure…if I should have met you at your apartment, or outside. I just.. Oh man…" Amy looked down at her watch and slumped her shoulders.

"4A. If you had come by earlier, I could have offered you a cup of tea without spilling it on you this time. I am still hoping to make up for our first meeting yesterday." Sheldon walked toward the door and held it open for Amy with a huge grin.

Amy cocked her head in confusion, "You've already bought me tea. I think your debt is paid. Shall we?" Amy marched with precision and headed through the door, but before she left, she turned to thank the blond woman with a slight wave.

The blond shook her head, "Seven years as a neighbor, I can't even get a hello. One day, and she gets tea! So much for blonde's having more fun."

The drive to Caltech was over far too quickly for Sheldon's taste. He had wanted every second alone with Amy to last for hours. Sheldon was interested in the woman he had met that first day, not the fantasy he had dreamed up the night before in some hypnagogic haze. The woman on the floor, with coffee dripping off her sweater, the woman who had impressed him within seconds of meeting her, the woman he wanted to chase down the hall, that was who he craved to know.

He still didn't believe that this smiling brunette could be the same woman described by his fantasy congress of Sheldons. He had spent all night researching her background and the similarities were astonishing. The three guys were also the same, everything the five Sheldons had said was true in this reality as well. Sheldon felt that it had to be some kind of recessed memory that for some reason he was repressing. He must have heard of them before in a periphery memory, and this was the way his brilliant mind had filtered through the data. He was determined to find out more, and hopefully prove it all wrong. He knew without a doubt that alternate universes did not exist. However, each time he saw her smile at him, his drive to disprove it weakened.

They walked together to her lab and were greeted by a giddy Eddy and glowering Gladys.

Eddy was the first to speak as he held open the door for the couple, "Well well, coming in together? Was the carpooling easier coming from the same apartment?"

Sheldon just let out a laugh, "We don't live together yet…" Sheldon caught himself when he saw Amy tense up and glare at him, "…. Yet…it was easier for her to pick me up on the way so I wouldn't be late this time."

Sheldon grinned at Amy's blushing ignorance, but she had turned to Eddy, the irritation evident in her raised voice, "EDDY! We didn't spend the night together! I just picked him up, that's all."

"Oh honey, I bet you did. Ready to strap your boyfriend up, and stroke his thalamus like the dominant Vixen you are…"

Sheldon grinned at the term he had heard so often from all the Sheldons: Vixen.

"EDDY! Just load up the happy program! GLADYS, KEEP EDDY BUSY!" Amy demanded making a mental note to interview the next round of students more closely.

Amy dropped her angry face that had even scared Sheldon and put on a fake smile. "Okay, ready to get happy?"

Sheldon stammered, "Umm… sure… I'll try."

Amy started to put on his cap and asked, "I thought you said you were always happy."

Sheldon scooted around in the chair and put on a smile, "Oh right. Sure, I am. Happy as a pig in sh… I mean… yes. Happy."

However as the test progressed, Sheldon was anything but happy. It was supposed to be pleasant, with images of mothers with laughing children, boys playing baseball and lovers welcoming their first child. To Sheldon, it was 45 minutes of anguish.

Amy was too busy again with Bert in the other booth to check on Sheldon's status. After the program was over, Sheldon threw off the electrodes and the cap and stormed out of the room without a word.

Amy saw him leave in a huff and immediately went to the mirrored room to check with her useless interns, "Gladys, did you or Eddy run the angry program for Dr. Cooper. He has already completed that one."

"No, Dr. Fowler. It was the happy one, but he was anything but. He showed sadness at the image of a happy baby, anger at the dad playing with his kids, and look at this part, where a mother is holding her son, his cingulate gyrus is lit up, as if in pain. How sad. I wonder what happened to him."

Eddy was for once, quiet and not sassy, "Maybe… his mom hit him or something."

Amy looked at the results with concern, "Oh dear." Amy wanted to run off and check on Sheldon, but thought to give him space. She refocused on her staff looking to her for answers, "I think we need to rethink the family-focused part of the happy section. I never considered this response."

Gladys said flatly, "Not everyone's childhood is candy corn and Ferris wheels. Also, that clown picture, we get a lot of scared results, so I think we should lose that image too."

"Right… No families and no clowns." Amy scribbled on her clipboard.

Eddy tried to make light of the situation, "But look, here at the part where the lovers are kissing! His prefrontal cortex is highlighted there!"

Amy looked at the results doubtfully, "Hmm. That part of the brain is associated with making future plans, and taking action."

Eddy got his dreamy-eyed look back, "Told ya the peach lip gloss would work! I'm a genius."

"No Eddy, you're really not, or I'd let you take the test!" Amy shook her head and looked back the results of Sheldon's scan. She wondered if she should say something to him, perhaps to find out more about a past that could produce these results. However she knew that if the positions were reversed and someone she had just met started asking about her home life, she would clam up. If Sheldon wanted to speak with her, she would let him come of his own accord and not press him on it. She somehow knew instinctively that she needed to take her time with Sheldon Cooper.

Time was what she got. Sheldon avoided Amy and all her friends as if they would sting him if he saw them again. Amy's simple test had evoked feelings in Sheldon that he had ignored for years. Images of happy families were just a cruel joke and a pack of obvious lies.

To think he had almost thought he could have that, he could have kicked his own ass right there and then. Sheldon had now convinced himself that he didn't need her, or anyone. The last thing he wanted was to open himself up to some wishful thinking fantasy. He was fine alone, and always had been. He dropped any hope as folly. Wishful thinkin' was for suckers, Sheldon thought, and spent the rest of the week locked in the small area that was his new office, or at home working on his white boards engrossed in Leonard's project.

Amy would walk past his office but the door was always closed with a "DO NOT DISTURB" sign hanging off the handle with another one saying, "This means you!" It seemed that Sheldon had fixed his motorcycle, and drove himself to Caltech, avoiding the parking lot that Amy used.

By the end of the week, Sheldon had worked through Leonard's idea, and had a few of his own. Sheldon presented Leonard with the paper he had wrote over one evening that had impressed Leonard completely. He read over the work more excited than he had been for years. It was like his love of physics had been jumped started again.

"Sheldon! This is amazing! You took this to a level I've never dreamed. Wait… you put my name first?"

"It was your idea. I hate it when someone takes credit for other's work. I had a professor at Rice that did that to me over my idea on tau neutrino amplification waves."

Leonard knew all about that theory, and it was over 14 years ago! "THAT WAS YOU!?" Leonard realized that Sheldon went to college young, but to have that kind of work at a young age was unheard of. He was star struck.

"Yeah..But he took my paper, put his name on the top and presented as his own. Lesson learned... Bastard." Sheldon grumbled thinking of the professor who had stolen his work during his freshman year. If he had been at Caltech, that would never have happened. It was just another reason Sheldon had hated his father for making him go to Rice. Sheldon did not want to prolong the conversation and quickly moved to the door to leave.

However Leonard wanted to discuss the idea more, "But Sheldon, this is ground breaking. We need to publish right away!"

"Do what you want, Leonard. It was your idea. I just did some calculations." Sheldon turned and added, "Make sure you tell Gablehauser about it too. He likes when he is kept in the loop. He's a diva that way."

"Sheldon thank you. Really. I mean, I knew you could help, but this is above and beyond. You're really a good friend." Leonard couldn't hide his smile, but it was not returned. Sheldon seemed so blase about the paper, but Leonard could tell, it was more than apathy. Something was weighing on his mind.

Sheldon just shrugged and returned to his office, preparing to head home to think and be alone, as he was used to. Normally, he would be elated and excited over publishing a new idea, but now his mind was elsewhere. It had now been some days since he had seen Amy and the loss of her company was tangible, but instead of pushing him to seek her out, it scared him more than he could admit. He had to avoid those kind green eyes, because one look and he would be back in a hopeful haze.

Leaving his office that evening he smelt a familiar fruity aroma and spun round to find Amy standing in front of him.

"Hello, Dr. Cooper." She was stoic in her greeting.

Sheldon jumped back, "Oh dear lord woman! You scared the sh… the pants off me."

Amy gave a short smile, then was all business, "Forgive me, but I just wanted to see if you were going to conclude the final part of my test on Monday."

Sheldon looked at his shoes, "Um… I said I would, didn't I?" It was more a question than a challenge, although Sheldon knew that he had made a promise.

"You did. But I will understand if you need to bow out given your reaction on Tuesday."

"Oh..I was just." Sheldon looked up for a second at Amy's face then down again, "I should have said goodbye, sor..." He was enough of gentleman to know that he had been rude after she'd been so kind to him the first day they had met. He was embarrassed about the situation and did not know how to explain his absence.

Amy stopped his words with a wave of her hand, "Please, no need to apologize. Thank you for your participation. I do have one open slot but I don't want to ask you do to something you'd rather not do. Think on it over the weekend. Here is my number. Text me by Sunday if you can't make it and I will still have time to fill the space."

"You're givin' me your number?" Sheldon looked up to meet her eyes, but Amy was looking down at the small scrap of paper in her hands.

Amy shrugged, "Yes…" Amy handed Sheldon a small slip of paper and quickly made a dash toward the door before Sheldon could say a word. He watched her scurry away, and then felt a pain in his face that was becoming familiar. He reached up and realized, he was smiling for the first time in four days and his facial muscles ached.

Sheldon rode home to his empty apartment mulling over the week's events with the smile still on his face. Amy Farrah Fowler was everything those made-up Sheldons had said, and more. He had felt drawn to her the moment he had seen her, as if they were connected with a string that was pulling him not only closer to her, but down a deep abyss of feelings he had never experienced before and it scared him like nothing else.

Later that evening, sitting in his silent apartment he started to think over the week's events and his smile started to fade as the familiar feelings of doubt crept into his mind. Whacha thinkin' boy? She'd never wanna be with you! She's too good for you… You'll screw this up just like you do everything else.

Every word in Sheldon's head was voiced with a thick East Texan accent. He could almost smell the bourbon, and he knew that voice was right. He had no business wishing for what he could never keep and hoping for some fairy tale ending.

How could he think because of one stupid detailed dream, he could have a relationship with this woman he had just met? Sheldon started to panic, his thoughts flooded his mind with such speed that he couldn't process them all. He circled the room, holding his chest as he rocked back and forth. He had to get out of there, before something happened that he couldn't handle or worse, he messed it up. It was all too much: Working on Caltech's campus, seeing her every day, working with people; Sheldon felt overwhelmed, he could never do it.

He went straight to his room, packed a bag, grabbed his keys and headed to the door. Before he reached the handle, he let out a long sigh. He could ride his bike to the bus station, but he knew he could never handle a bus ride for that long. He would be in a panic before the bus reached Barstow. He had to do it though, he had to get away for a while.

He threw his bag on the worn out arm chair, and paced around the room while holding his phone to his chest, not knowing who to call for help.

It took him 20 minutes to calm down enough to make a phone call he thought he would never have to make again. He dialed the familiar number with a shaking hand.

"Hey, it's me. Yeah… No shit… I need you. Can you meet me at the Houston Bus station? Why not? I know I hate the bus… Well, I'll get on the bus this time… I can try, god damn it…" As he listened to the voice on the other end, he closed his eyes trying to ignore the echo of his father's voice in his head. "Okay then come pick me up here!"

"There is no way in hell I'm driving 18 hours to pick you up, Shelly!" The man on the other end of the phone let out an exhaustive sigh, "Whatcha doin' Shelly? What is it this time?"

Sheldon took a few breaths and then gritted his teeth. He said in low voice, "It's just too much to be here anymore. I need to go back home for a while. Just a while."

"Hell, Shelly, Texas? That ain't your home! You know that! Hasn't been for 18 years. Now, what's gonna on?"

"Look Junior, I just can't be here anymore, okay. Leave it."

"No, I ain't leaving shit. Now, come on, is it work again? Did them students mouth off at you again?" Junior moved closer to the receiver and shook his head sadly. He did try to use a softer tone, but it didn't last long, "Was it the damn school?... The landlord again? …They changed the soap again, Christ Shelly, if you want me to come all that way there in my lousy truck, you gotta tell me what the fuck is gonna on!"

Sheldon mumbled through his thin lips, "I… Met someone."

Junior sat back and arched his arms over the back of his old coach, "No shit."

"Yeah, I know."

Junior was so thrilled that he leaned forward and slapped his knee, "Well, go on! Tell me about her!"

Sheldon put his hands through his hair and shook his head, "She's perfect, Junior. Perfect for me, anyway. Smart, like as smart as me."

"As smart as you? Holy shit."

"Yeah…She's kind, generous, patient. She doesn't put up with any crap."

Junior smiled and said sweetly, "Sounds like mom."

Sheldon narrowed his eyes at what Junior had said, "She's not like mom. I don't like her because she reminds me of mom, Damn, Junior!"

"Calm the hell down. I just mean, she's got good qualities like mama. So why in the hell are lookin' to leave California? Did she dump you or something?" Junior suddenly shot back in his seat, "Oh shit, did she?"

Sheldon shook his head, "No, no … not yet. She even introduced me to a group of guys. They like the same things I do, but I don't know…"

Junior almost couldn't hide his glee. Sheldon with friends, and a girlfriend? It was too much to hope for. "Are you.. um…dating? Is she your girlfriend?"

Sheldon swallowed, and thought: "She's supposed to be…" But he didn't want to tell his brother about his weird dream where he had met five copies of himself all of which had Amy as a mate. He just answered simply, "She doesn't know me that well."

Junior grunted, "And you ain't gonna let her are you? Damn Shelly. He's still beating you, ain't he?"

Sheldon was confused by what his older brother said on the other end of the phone, "Who, whaddya mean?"

"Dad. He still beating ya down."

"Dad is dead." Sheldon crossed his arm over his chest.

"Not in your head. He's alive and well and yelling in that damn voice that you ain't good enough for shit. I mean for Christ sake, you graduated at 11! You gotta scholarship to any damn school you wanted, and still it wasn't good enough. And now, he's doin' it again! Tellin' you that you ain't good enough for this girl. I know that voice Shelly. Let me tell ya. You know what happened between me and Twila?"

Sheldon lowered his shoulders. He really didn't care about his brother's dalliances, but he was trapped and had to hear about it, "What?"

"I cheated on her! Yep. Just like Dad, except I just kissed the tart, but still. Drunk and with a god damn blond no less. Twila was the best thing ever happened to me, and I screwed it up because I thought I wasn't good enough for her. Here's the thing, Shelly. I had somptin' you didn't, I had 3 more years with mom. That was a good thing. That's how I know I screwed up, I can still hear her voice in my ear. But even with that extra time, I still got his damn voice drownin' her out and tellin' me I ain't good enough for shit."

Sheldon looked out in the distance and said almost in a whisper, "I can remember everything she ever told me, but I remember him too." Sheldon swallowed his spit in his mouth and sucked his teeth.

Junior shook his head, "You got the brunt of it when you were home. Thank god Meemaw insisted to you go to the dorm, or you'd of had it worse."

Sheldon rolled his eyes and said in the phone, "Dorm was no picnic, Junior."

"I know, but it wasn't as bad as coming home. I know about the workout sessions and all that. He always thought you weren't man enough. Well, he always told me I wasn't smart enough. Why couldn't I be smart like Shelly? He would spit at me with that damn sickening sweet breath.

Lord knows Missy had it bad too with dad yelling at her telling her she was too fat, or too tall, or too whatever he said. I think it was dad tellin' her she was no good that got her used to it, ya know."

Sheldon said with no emotion, "I know. I wished I went to Shreveport too." He was always resentful that Junior took Missy to live in Louisiana and not him as well.

"Fuck, Shelly, you were getting your doctorate for Christ sake, and Missy wasn't even going to high school! Sure I took her to live with me in Shreveport, but I could only take care of one of you. I'm sorry I left you behind."

Junior looked down at his hands and rubbed the rough callouses from 20 years of work out in the oil fields. He had taken Sheldon's sister to live with him when she was 17. Watching over a rebellious teenage girl was hard enough, without dealing with all the hang-ups of boy genius Sheldon as well. Junior had had to make a choice which twin to save. For years he had thought that he had made the right choice that was until Missy met Bobby. As Junior listened to the sullen voice of his younger brother, he wasn't so sure he should have tried to take them both.

"I understand, Junior. I could escape in my work. Missy had nothin'."

"Yeah I thought that a more stable background would help her, that was until she met Bobby on that weekend back home and took it into her fool head to move back to Galveston into his dumpy apartment"

"He isn't coming back around, right?"

"Nope, I think you took care of that, but he doesn't pay for child support either. Missy's alright with the new guy. He's a nice guy too. A little… Ha… That's funny… He's kinda like you!"

"Whacha mean?"

"You know, smart, a little nerdy cause he is manager at Best Buy."

Sheldon had to roll his eyes, "A Best Buy clerk is nothing compared to a theoretical physicist, Junior."

"Well, he's a manager. Don't get your feathers ruffled. Anyhow, he's stable and loves Jake."

"Good. I am glad she never dated much after Bobby, I was worried about her taste in men."

"Well, that time with Meemaw did wonders. This guy Missy's got, oh man he dotes on her like crazy, like she is a goddess or something. Anyways, now we all escaped him, huh? Should be great, right? Bull shit, he is still lurking in our heads. But let me tell you something, if mom was alive, things would have been so different, Shelly."

Sheldon chuckled as he remembered his talk with the other Sheldon's stories, "That's for sure."

"I'll tell you what mom would do if you were pining for some young lady." Junior let out a laugh but Sheldon was not so amused.

"I'm not pining for anyone. I just want to leave before it gets too far."

Junior snorted and snapped at Sheldon, "Before you fuck it up and get hurt. Or she leaves and hurts you. Don't think I don't know this tune, Shelly. I've been singing it to myself for years. I'll tell you what mom would do."

"What?" Sheldon held the phone to his ear with both hands and asked in a voice reminiscent of his 11 year old self. "What would mama do?"

"She'd come out there, drag you out of your self-pity party and make you talk to that girl." Junior let out a laugh, "Knowing her, she would probably turn it around so you thought it was your idea." Junior hooted, "Then, she'd cook."

Sheldon smiled and sighed out the words, "Fried chicken with Biscuits."

Junior licked his lips and stared out into space at a fading memory, "Oh, and that cobbler with the little bits of brown sugar on top."

"Better, pecan pie." The rare felt smile bloomed again on Sheldon's face and he took a moment to savor it, like the Pecan pie his mother used to make.

"Yeah… God damn, I'm hungry as spring bear, and it's 1 o'clock in the god damn morning here. I wonder if Waffle House is open… "

"Yep, they always are. It's in the Logo, Junior… Anyway, the one on 1635 Elton Rd. is the closest to you. It's only 5.4 miles south on Highway 10." Sheldon knew where all Junior's favorite restaurants were.

"God, I miss ya Shelly. Your memory is just so fucking cool and you were best GPS in the world."

Sheldon smiled again. His brother had never said that before. "My mind is worth more than a GPS, Junior. No one appreciated my genius and they still don't."

"Sure they do, Shelly." Junior changed his tone, "Now, you listen here! This girl you like, she will see that too."

"She don't seem to be interested in me, if you want to know the truth."

"Oh bullshit, just give her time. You said she's smart like you. I wager she knows what it means to be an outcast cause of her mind. She's probably got some similar scars. I bet they all do, those new friends of yours."

Sheldon sat up, and thought about what Junior said, "You know, I bet you're right!"

"Of course I am. You're not the only smart one in this here family. Now, don't worry. Everyone is fucked up somehow. Don't think you're special, cause you ain't." Junior got up and stretched out.

Sheldon cleared this throat, he didn't want to explain the idea of multiverses to his brother, but he knew Amy was special, "I feel… like a gotta prove something to be with her, ya know? Like the math don't add up."

"Well, you're smart. Make the math add up. Use that mind of yours, and figure it out!"

Sheldon smiled at this brother's advice, "Okay, Junior." He looked across the room and eyed his white board.

"Now, you go out with those friends, and that new girlfriend of yours. There's got to be a place to eat in that damn Gomorrah, California."

Sheldon smiled, and thought his mom would have said that too. "Okay I will. Um… Thanks.."

Junior smiled and thought how much he had grown, "Night, Shelly. Try to have SOME fun, okay?"

"Okay. I'll try and figure out how. Bye." Sheldon hung up the phone, grabbed the bag and unpacked it.

The next thing he did was find the biggest white board he could find in his apartment and started to work.

"Okay… multi-dimensional worlds and M theory… Dazzle me…" Sheldon started to work and didn't stop for the rest of the weekend. He researched all he could, building on work done before him, but with a new acceptance to theories that he had once dismissed. Around Sunday, as the dusk light was filtering through his window, Sheldon finally stepped back from his white board and sat in his desk chair.

"Well…I'll be god damned."

There etched across his board was the proof. It was real, all of it. One of those Sheldons, probably number Five, Sheldon wagered, had found a way to collapse the barrier. It was possible and more importantly, mathematically provable. Sheldon exhaled and smiled with a new sense of conviction. If more than just the math was possible, then the whole time line from each other Sheldon was real as well. A wife, a family, a group of friends. It all had happened before. Could it happen again? Could it be possible that he could make this work with his Amy?

"She's real. She really is their Amy. My own Amy…"

Sheldon sat back threw his hands on his head and inhaled in a gust of hope. In five realities, his alternate selves were with Amy. Some had screwed it up, but they didn't know what he did. It could be done, he could be with her if he took their lessons to heart. She was meant for him. It wasn't religion, or wishful thinking or even the silly concept of fate. It was science. It was proven. It was all there, scribbled on his white board.

He remembered his Carl Sagan quote and it had new meaning: It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.

It was no delusion, no wishful thinking; reality had suddenly become much more satisfying and reassuring. He just needed to fight off the fear that had kept him holed up in that lonely apartment for years. He had to fight back on the little voice who told him he wasn't good enough. Sheldon needed to prepare for battle against his inner demons, but just thinking of her with him as a tangible possibility and the battle was won.

He looked at his watch; it was only 6:30 pm Sunday evening. He still had time to call her.

Sheldon pulled out the piece of paper with Amy's number on it that he stuffed into the bottom of his messenger bag. He drew in a breath and texted her immediately, then erased it. Then started again, and erased it…He talked aloud to get his words straight in his mind, "Okay… Amy I want you to know, I will be at your study… sorry for being an ass…" He started to enter is words again, then rolled his eyes, and before he finished the text, he slammed the phone down, still trying to figure out what he wanted to say.

Suddenly, his phone lit up with a text alarm. Confused he picked up his phone and realized he had sent Amy part of his message, only it said, "Amy I want you…"

Sheldon was mortified. "OH SHIT!"

Amy response was quick: Dr Cooper, I think I gave you the wrong impression. I only need you for the experiment."

Sheldon scrambled to write a new message. "Sorry for that, I hit send before it was done. I wanted to say, Amy I want you to know, I will be at your study." Sheldon hit send and held his breath.

Amy replied, "Oh. That makes more sense. 9:00 AM?"

Sheldon let out a sigh. He suddenly grew a smirk and typed, "YES. Oh, is it possible… could I ask for a lift to work again?" He was figuring a way to spend every moment he could with her.

"I thought you had fixed your motorcycle, I saw you on it the other day."

Sheldon wondered what day she had seen him and why she hadn't said hello, but then given how he had blown her off since the last study, he wasn't surprised. The walk home that Tuesday had been a long and lonely one.

He quickly thought of a lie, "It is in need of repairs. Blown head gasket." He had bought the motorcycle about month after his sister and nephew had left, unable to resist a motorcycle named Vulcan. He had hardly used it in the last 15 years and it sat in storage. Tuesday night, Sheldon had replaced the oil and filled it up and it had started like a dream. He had only been able to ride it the short distance to Caltech so far, but it was enough. There wasn't a thing wrong with it, but Amy didn't need to know that.

It took a few minutes, and Sheldon thought she was done for the evening, but Amy finally texted him back.

"Well you drive a Kawasaki Vulcan 800 ergo you need to pull the engine to replace the head gasket. The part is only 30 dollars, but finding an 11004-1310 GASKET-HEAD will be difficult."

Sheldon nearly dropped the phone. How could she have known that? He had to take a minute before he responded.

"Wow, little lady, you are full of surprises. Do you know how to fix motorcycles?"

"No, I know how to use Google. I will pick you at 8.30 AM. See you tomorrow Dr. Cooper."

"Good night, Amy Farrah Fowler."

Sheldon sat back in his chair and asked aloud, "How did she know I rode a Kawasaki?"

Back in Glendale, Amy put her phone away with a smile, and then paused, "How did he know my middle name was Farrah?"

A/N: Sheldon Six has seen the light! He finally believes in alternate dimensions and it only took 18 chapters of two stories to do it! LOL. Now, how can he use this knowledge and win the heart of one Amy Farrah Fowler? Answer: Any way he can.

Thanks for all the reviews folks! I really love to hear what you think of this crazy tale. The show is leaving us Shamy shippers with a bad taste, and I hope this little tale gives us somethin' sweet to soothe our hearts. Thanks again, and please, tell me what you think.