Amy opened the door to her apartment and walked in with baited breath alongside Sheldon. Sheldon placed his overnight bag down on the floor and observed the surroundings that he would be staying in tonight.

'How was Penny when you left her?' Sheldon asked.

'She seemed fine; at least a lot better than she was when I arrived. She was more sober and with it; I looked after her and kept her company and I think she enjoyed it. We watched chick flicks which included Bridget Jones Diary and then she went to sleep just before I left.'

'Good, I should hate for her to be sad still and under the influence of alcohol, it could be a lethal concoction,' Sheldon sighed.

'I'm sure she will be fine Sheldon. Right… it's 9.45, what do you want to do?' Amy asked.

'I suppose you could help me unpack,' Sheldon shrugged.

'Ok…' Amy said softly, her heart pounding. She knew she probably wouldn't get much out of Sheldon and that him staying with her was just an experiment but she figured she try and get as much as intimacy as she could out of it as possible. Slowly but surely they both got through unpacking his overnight back, 'Sheldon, one would think you were going on holiday for two weeks.' Amy laughed, 'why on earth did you bring three boxes of your cereal with you?'

'Well, I wanted variety,' Sheldon said in a matter of fact voice.

'But I have cereal here?'

'Yes but it's your cereal, this is my cereal.' Sheldon said, picking up the cereal box and hugging it to his chest. Amy rolled her eyes and then proceeded to show Sheldon where everything was and how it worked, Sheldon all the while taking notes. After this they came up a bathroom rota and Amy realised that it was approaching 10.15pm.

'Come on then Sheldon, I suppose we had best get ready and head to bed…. Wow that sounded weird.' She chuckled.

'Alright Amy, I shall use the bathroom first and you can prepare a Yoo-hoo for me.' Sheldon ordered before making his way over to the bathroom and getting ready for bed. He emerged around 10 minutes later in his Saturday night pyjamas, 'whist you use the bathroom, I shall prepare my charts and graphs ready for the experiment,' Sheldon smiled, 'now where's my Yoo-hoo?'

'On the table, I'll see you in a minute,' Amy smiled before almost skipping to the bathroom. Sheldon heard the shower start and took a deep breath.

'Relax Shelly, you are sharing a bed with your girlfriend for experimental purposes. If you did it with Penny, you can do it with Amy because Amy is your girlfriend. It will be like sharing the sofa, only lying down and... oh God Sheldon! What are you doing? For a phenomenal genius you are incredibly stupid sometimes! Then again this is for the purpose of science…'

Whilst Sheldon was rambling to himself, Amy had finished in the bathroom and had come out in her nightgown. She shook her head at his incessant gabbing and made her way to her bed, getting in underneath the duvets.

'Sheldon! I'm ready for my cuddles!' she called and soon Sheldon trudged in.

'Oh dear Lord… you know Amy, perhaps we should call off this experiment?'

'Sheldon,' Amy gave him a scolding look and he sighed.

'Fiiiiiine, let's get this over with,' he whined.

'I don't see your problem, you enjoyed it with Penny, what makes you think you won't enjoy it with me?' Amy asked and Sheldon was stumped for a response. Sighing in defeat, he nodded.

'Agreed,' he slipped in next to her and slowly and awkwardly they moved towards each other, Amy placing her head on his chest and Sheldon awkwardly placing his arms around her.

'How does this feel?' she asked and he shifted slightly, analysing the situation.

'It doesn't feel bad, but it is definitely still alien to me,' Sheldon said. Whilst he said those words, he couldn't help but feel that he much preferred it with Penny, especially when her hair smelt like green apple as opposed to medicated anti dandruff shampoo. When he awoke next to her and they're arms and legs were intertwined, it felt as if he was meant to be there and he almost didn't want to move. He would definitely have to write this down and analyse this down to its very core. But then again, Amy was his girlfriend, surely these results he was collecting were incorrect; social convention dictated that he should like and want to do this more with Amy as opposed to Penny.

'Sheldon, will you kiss me again… like you did on Valentine's Day on the train?' Amy said softly, nuzzling softly into his chest and Sheldon tensed, 'please… it may add to the findings of the experiment,' she added.

Sheldon looked down at his girlfriend and removed his arms from her whilst she moved away to face him, puckering her lips slightly and starting to close her eyes. 'Amy, when I kissed you on the train, I will not deny that I enjoyed it. However that kiss was to prove a point and totally by accident. Our relationship is one of the mind remember? It clearly stipulates this in the relationship agreement.'

Amy was annoyed at her boyfriend's response and crossed her arms, a harsh look coming across her features, one of which Sheldon didn't like.

'Sheldon, we need to talk.'

'Alright, speak.'

'I'm going to ask you something now and I want you to answer me truthfully. I know you find our relationship intimate at the moment but I can't help but crave more. I long to be kissed, to be touched and loved, to have a relationship that involves intercourse; like Penny and Leonard or Wolowitz and Bernadette. I want to know… do you think we will ever consummate our relationship. Do you see us getting married? Where is our relationship going? We've been together for three years now and I'm not getting any younger. I want children and I want to live in a house and get married and at the moment you won't even kiss me unless you wish to prove a point. I'm 28 years old, you are 34, my menstrual cycle is regular and my womb is ready for breeding... we are at the prime age for settling down and having children.'

Sheldon shifted uncomfortably. 'Oh dear, I do believe my answers may be disappointing to you. Amy, as you know I am not comfortable with intimacy and it does not come as easily to me as it does to others. In response to our future, I'm afraid to say that I have no plans for children or marriage in the near future. My goal at the moment is to win a Nobel Prize and that's all I aim for at the moment. This is a big step for me staying in your apartment and it's already uncomfortable. I mean I have not yet established my place to sit, I am not around my familiar surroundings and you are the only person in the building that I know.'

Amy bowed her head and blinked away a couple of tears, 'So essentially you are saying that our relationship is to stay like this forever?'

'Well not forever, just for the next ten years.'

'Sheldon, I don't know if I can wait that long…'

'Amy, I know this is disappointing for you but please accept my views on the matter. I know that I am not the most romantic of boyfriends and I'm not really sure why I am in a relationship, all I know is that I need you and for the moment, that's good enough for me.' Sheldon said gently and Amy nodded.

'Do you even love me?'

'Love? Well there's different types of love aren't there. There's friendship love, theres…'

'Sheldon, you know what love I am referring to! Just answer the god damn question!'

'Amy, I care for you a great deal but I don't know if I love you. I'd have to think about it.'

'Right… I see, well I suppose we had best sleep then.' Amy whispered and Sheldon nodded, not picking up on how his words had hurt her. His words just then had spoken volumes about their relationship and it pained her to know that he did not love her like she had thought.

'Goodnight Amy,' he said before closing his eyes and lying straight as a board. Although sleep came quick to Sheldon, Amy remained awake. She was now confused at her boyfriend's actions, there was definitely no doubt that he had feelings for her; no he didn't love her but he definitely cared strongly for her and that he liked to show it in his own special way. However there were times when it seemed that he was far more comfortable being intimate with her bestie than with her. Sheldon had no problem hugging Penny or visiting her apartment, he seemed to be very concerned for her wellbeing more than anyone else in their friendship group. Penny was beautiful and everything a guy could want and herself? Well she was plain and awkward and still a virgin. Sheldon had mentioned their relationship being like this for the next 10 years, although she may be able to get Sheldon more comfortable with intimacy and there was a chance he could change, she felt like she couldn't take that risk. Amy rolled over to look at her sleeping boyfriend and softly kissed him on the lips before attempting to cuddle up to him. However, no sooner had she cuddled up to him, he shifted away from her.

'Conclusion of experiment: Penny is better than Amy.' Amy whispered to herself. She would have to discuss her findings with Penny and see what she said. Amy had always thought there was sexual tension between them but Penny always had Leonard to fall back on and Sheldon just didn't understand. She was pretty sure that if she and Sheldon reverted to being friends, there would be no difference. She picked up her phone from the bedside table and turned it on, flicking down to Burt's number and sending him a text.

Hi Burt,

Fancy grabbing lunch one day?

Amy x

Thanks for all your lovely reviews guys I really enjoy reading them :] Started to stir the pot between Sheldon and Amy but haven't quite figured out how to break them up yet… any suggestions? Thanks for reading and let me know what you think of the chapter! xx