Sheldon
Sheldon stood throughout the wedding ceremony completely detached from the moment. He wasn't sure what was going on. He was experiencing symptoms similar to yesterday evening, except that they were markedly worse today. Aside from the funny swooping sensation in his stomach, he now had added shortness of breath, and tachycardia along with a more pronounced arrhythmia. He also found it strange that his legs were unstable and that he didn't seem to have mobility in his neck. He was completely unable to move his head away from looking at Amy.
He didn't quite know what had happened. He had been perfectly ok when Penny and Bernadette's cousin Cynthia had walked down the aisle. In fact, he had spent the time trying to work out a particularly tricky equation he had been working on. But then Amy had started walking down the aisle and he had felt the now familiar swooping sensation followed by tachycardia, shortness of breath, and an increase in perspiration.
He noticed Amy glancing at him every few minutes, but he still couldn't force his head to move. A nagging voice in his head kept reminding him of Leonard's assessment that Sheldon's problem was an attraction to Amy. As much as he was loath to admit it, he was beginning to think the assessment was correct. He went through other possible explanations for his symptoms, but he kept coming back to attraction.
This truly baffled him. He had for so long believed himself above such responses. He was fond of Amy and had even come to accept and appreciate the current parameters of their physical relationship. He had not given much thought to her appearance prior to the past few days, as he had always more been drawn to Amy's mind and companionship. He would even admit, however, to enjoying the romantic aspect of the relationship, and had recently discovered that he often looked forward to their date nights.
But her appearance? He supposed he appreciated her eyes. There was always an intelligence lurking behind them and he found their particular shade of green aesthetically pleasing. And, now that he thought of it, he did like her smile, especially if it was directed at him or his achievements. And he also found that he quite enjoyed her hair. Sometimes when they were sitting he would notice how the light refracted off of it.
He looked at her hair now. It was indeed very shiny. And curly. He had never seen Amy with curly hair before. Without realizing it, his eyes started following the curl that framed her face, from her hairline curling down to her chin. He found himself imagining twirling the curl around his finger.
Then he realized what he was thinking about and gave himself a mental shake. Had he really just been thinking about twirling Amy's hair around his finger? He tried to look away again, but found that he still did not have full use of his neck muscles.
He thought about his assessment last night that Amy had looked softer than normal and compared it with her current appearance. If she had looked soft last night, he didn't know what to call this. He had never paid attention to the shape of her body before, but couldn't help but notice that the dress she was wearing accentuated the more feminine aspects of her body. He felt his tachycardia return.
When he glanced up to her face, he discovered Amy was looking at him. He froze, a little disconcerted to be caught staring at an area other than her face. All he could do was blink at her. He noticed her eyes looked different. Without her glasses and with the presence of makeup they looked larger and, even at this distance, he could see that they appear to be a brighter shade of green than normal. She turned back to look at the front.
Sheldon didn't know what to do. This was an entirely new feeling for him and he wasn't sure how to respond to it, internally or externally. One thing was certain, if this was what attraction was, then he didn't like it. Thus far the only things it had produced were the desire to faint, use an inhaler, and/or get an EKG.
Sheldon noticed movement and realized the ceremony was over. He watched Amy walk down the aisle on the arm of Raj and again found himself staring at the curls down her back as she walked away. Then, as Leonard and Penny walked down together, he lost sight of Amy and realized that he was now left to walk down the aisle with Cynthia. He was relieved to discover that his legs were functioning.
Sheldon sat down at his assigned seat at the reception. Amy was seated next to him and he had yet to say anything to her. He kept looking at her, and would attempt to open his mouth, but could only manage to blink at her before turning away and taking a drink of water.
Amy had walked up to him while the photos of Howard and Bernadette were being taken and had smiled and said "Hello". He had also attempted to speak at that time, but had still found that the only thing he could do was blink at her. He had noticed again just how large and green her eyes were without her glasses. When he had realized that he would be unable to respond, he had quickly turned around and went to speak with Leonard.
Now that she was sitting right beside him, he was even more uncomfortable. He kept glancing over at her quickly before returning his eyes to his water glass. He felt his tachycardia returning yet again.
Amy cleared her throat. "Sheldon…is something the matter? Are you feeling alright?"
He looked over at her. Her eyes were very large and he noticed the concern in them. He slowly shook his head, still unable to vocalize. He cleared his throat and turned back to his water glass yet again. Now that he thought of it, he wasn't sure he wanted to vocalize his feelings. For one thing, he was still confused about what they were. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Raj, Leonard, and Penny watching him.
He turned back to Amy again, but she was looking down. Yet again he found himself wishing to curl her hair around his finger. He was taking note of the quick rise and fall of her chest when suddenly she got up.
"If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go freshen up." She walked away without looking at Sheldon, but he saw her blinking rapidly.
He heard Penny say "Talk to him. I'm going to go make sure Amy's ok."
Leonard started to protest, but Penny was already walking away. Sheldon saw him turn to look at him. "Sheldon, what is the hell's the matter with you?"
Sheldon took a deep breath. "Leonard, I find myself in unfamiliar territory…" He didn't quite know where to begin. Leonard and Raj were staring at him and he didn't like having to admit ignorance in front of Raj.
Leonard looked at him with a curious expression on his face. "Tell me. Are you experiencing any of the same symptoms you were experiencing last night?"
"Yes. Only now they're worse." Sheldon felt his tongue loosen. He was now on familiar territory. He could discuss symptoms.
"How so? Explain them to me."
"Well, the swooping sensation in my stomach is the same, but now I am feeling a very pronounced tachycardia, arrhythmia, and shortness of breath. Additionally at various points this evening I have felt faint, with a weakness in my lower extremities."
"Dude, it sounds like you've fallen hard for Amy's new look," Raj piped up.
Sheldon gave him a look. "I believe Leonard and I were talking, thank you."
"Sheldon…Raj is right. It sounds like what you're experiencing is the normal chemical response associated with attraction to the object of one's affection."
"Leonard…" Sheldon thought about his next response. "…I think you might be right."
"I am?" Leonard looked taken aback. "I mean, yes, of course."
Sheldon thought about his next question carefully. "So…what do I do?"
Just then Penny walked up. "I'll tell you what you do. You go over to Amy and explain to her what your deal is. She is in the bathroom trying not to cry."
"Crying?" Oh dear. Sheldon didn't like weeping women at all. "Penny, why can't you fix it for me? She's your friend. Tell her…tell her whatever will keep her from crying."
"Sheldon, I can't fix it for you. You have to talk to her."
"Leonard?" Sheldon looked over at Leonard, hopeful that he would be on his side.
"Sorry Sheldon, but she's right. You have to talk to her."
Sheldon sighed. "Fine."
He got up and walked over towards the bathroom, trying to figure out just what he was going to say.
As he arrived at the bathroom, contemplating how he was going to reach Amy in the women's restroom, the door opened and she stepped out. She looked surprised and then uncomfortable.
"Sheldon, why are you standing outside the women's restroom."
He was starting to feel light headed again, but willed his body to calm down. He cleared his throat. "I…came to see if you were alright."
She shuffled and looked down at the floor. "Yes. I'm fine."
They both stood uncomfortably. Amy continued looking at the floor and Sheldon contemplated his next words. He had a peculiar feeling he knew why Amy was upset this time, but it made him uncomfortable. Well…one thing he had learned in this relationship endeavor was that it was usually up to him to make Amy feel better. He just wished there was a way to do so without verbalizing feelings. It made him feel like a hippie.
He cleared his throat. "Amy…you look very pretty."
She looked up surprised. "I do?" A smile came to her face.
He cleared his throat again. "Yes."
"Sheldon…can I give you a hug?"
"Yes."
As she hugged him, he took the opportunity to touch her curls, hoping she didn't notice. He decided he liked her hair curly.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review! And don't worry...this reception is by no means over :)