Author's Note: Thank you guys very much for the reviews. I received nearly twice the normal amount. Bravo. Consider my ego sufficiently boosted.

Amy

Amy looked over at Sheldon. They were on a date at a new restaurant, and as a result Sheldon was questioning the already hassled-looking waitress his usual inquiries regarding sanitation, room and cooking temperatures, and what it was that made the special, special. It had not been Amy's idea to go to a new restaurant. Sheldon had informed her, on their way there, that Penny had vehemently declared an anniversary was a special occasion and that it was a non-optional social convention to eat dinner at a "fancy" restaurant.

She knew this could take awhile and therefore chose to use the time for reflection. It was difficult to believe that it was already a year ago that Sheldon had invaded her date with Stuart to request she be his girlfriend. What was even more difficult to believe was how far she and Sheldon had come.

When she had received and signed the initial Relationship Agreement, she had somewhat resigned herself to a life with minimal to no physical contact. And now, a short (and yet long) year later, here they were, three amendments later, regularly engaging in physical contact. Nothing over the top of course. Despite Amy's repeatedly bringing up the subject of potential future coitus, Sheldon maintains that he is adamantly against such a thing.

But Amy wasn't losing hope. If one Sheldon Cooper could kiss her of his own initiative, then she was certain that there was hope for coitus. Amy smiled down at her menu as she recalled the events following that evening…

Amy woke up when she fell onto the floor. She felt completely discombobulated. She looked around in the dark and realized she had been asleep on the couch. Why was she sleeping on her couch? And why did her eyes feel as if she had sand in them?

She shook her head to help clear it and then sat upright as she remembered; Sheldon had kissed her last night! Twice! She smiled and her heart started beating faster. Yesterday had certainly been an interesting day. And also a bit of a whirlwind. Sheldon had said she was pretty, and then those two dances…her heart rate increased even more. And then he had kissed her.

She wondered what would happen when she talked to him tomorrow. She supposed she must have fallen asleep and he had found his own way home. She would have to call him in the morning. They both hated to talk about feelings, but in this case Amy felt that it was probably best to tackle the proverbial elephant in the room as soon as possible. Knowing Sheldon he would be likely to pretend the entire episode hadn't existed. Well…she wasn't going to let him.

She yawned and then remembered why her eyes felt full of sand. She hadn't taken off her overwhelming amount makeup. She put a hand to her hair, which felt like a tangled mess. She supposed she should just take a shower before going back to bed.

She got up and walked through her apartment in the dark. She didn't feel like turning on any lights. When she got to her room she grabbed some undergarments and walked into the bathroom. She had a nightlight in there and decided that would be sufficient light.

Her shower took longer than normal. She wasn't used to having to spend so much time shampooing her hair and washing her face. She was so sleepy that she thought at one point she might have dozed off under the spray. She had come to and she realized she had no idea just how long she had been standing under the water. She checked to make sure that her hair was rinsed out and then decided a more thorough shower could be taken in the morning.

She dried her hair and ran a comb through it, put her clothes back on and then headed for her bed. It wasn't until she was just about to climb into it that she realized there was already someone there. She blinked confused. Was that Sheldon? Why was he in her bed? And why did he sleep like a vampire in a coffin?

"Sheldon?"

He sat bolt upright and shouted "Danger! Danger!"

He looked over at her. "Amy? Why are you in here?"

"Why am I in here? Why are you in here? I thought you went home."

"And how exactly would I have gotten there? You had fallen asleep so I decided to leave you on the couch and sleep in your bed."

Amy shrugged apathetically and started to climb into the bed. Sheldon jerked the covers back down.

"Excuse me! Just what do you think you're doing?"

"I'm attempting to go to sleep. In my bed."

Sheldon looked at Amy as if she had lost her mind. "But I'm already in here."

"So." Amy was too tired for this.

"So," Sheldon went on, exasperated, "we can't both be in the bed."

"Why not?"

Sheldon scoffed. "Why not? Why not? I'll tell you why not." He thought for a moment, looking around. He was in the middle of the bed. "There's no room."

"There would be room if you moved over to one side."

Sheldon's lips thinned. "I…can't. The lumbar support is not adequate on either side of the bed. Only in the very middle did I find it acceptable."

Amy shrugged. "Fine. Then go sleep on the couch."

Sheldon looked affronted. "Go sleep on the couch? But I am already sleeping in the bed."

Amy sighed. "Sheldon, I would like to go to sleep now. In my bed. I welcome your presence in it, but if it is too indecent for you then by all means, feel free to seek slumber elsewhere."

Sheldon narrowed his eyes, thinking. "Fine." He begrudgingly started scooting over but as Amy started to slide into bed he turned to her sharply, holding up his index finger. "There will be no cuddling, hand holding, or…kissing of any kind! This will in no way become a custom and indeed shall not ever be repeated in the future. We are going to sleep and that is it."

Amy raised her eyebrows. "What else would we be doing?"

Sheldon cleared his throat. "Nothing. That's why I said it."

"Fine."

"Fine." Sheldon turned away abruptly, hoisting the covers up to his chin.

Amy had rolled onto her side, facing away from Sheldon, and smiled before falling back to sleep.

When she woke up the next morning, Sheldon was already out of the bed. She sat up groggily and looked at the time. It was already well past 9:00. She walked into her living room. Sheldon was in the kitchen, and he looked to be preparing breakfast. Amy frowned in confusion.

When Sheldon looked over and saw her, he smiled. "Good morning Amy. I have made us scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast. You woke up just in time. Would you prefer orange juice to drink? Water? Hot tea?"

Amy blinked at him, still confused. This was a switch from the surly Sheldon she had encountered in the middle of the night. "Sheldon…you made breakfast?"

"Yes."

"…Why?" Maybe she was still sleeping.

"We need to eat don't we?"

"Yes…I suppose we do." She sat down on her couch as he carried over their plates. He set them down and then brought back the beverages. As he sat down, she eyed him suspiciously. Something strange was going on here. As much as Amy would like to think that Sheldon was just being a loving boyfriend, previous dealings with Dr. Cooper made her feel otherwise. She recalled the story Sheldon told her about when Leonard refused to take him to Switzerland to see the CERN supercollider. She recalled one of the tactics he employed was breakfast in bed.

"Sheldon, what's really going on?"

He gave her an innocent look. "I don't know what you mean?" He picked up the plate of toast. "Toast?"

She gave him a look. "Sheldon."

He set down the plate and sighed. "Fine." He turned to face her. "I wished to speak to you about our…interactions last night."

She raised her eyebrows. "Continue."

Sheldon cleared his throat. "When we agreed to alter the paradigm of our relationship it was with the caveat that nothing changes. However, in the ensuing months I have found myself in situations that necessitated the challenging of certain areas of our agreement. I have, admittedly, been the instigator of the written changes, but it is my belief that it is due to the liberties that you yourself have taken with regards to the agreement that has made such changes necessary. I have done my best to meet your requests, but after the events of last night, I believe that an establishment of a status quo should be stated and that we should agree from this point forward to adhere to the rules of the agreement."

Amy blinked. "You mean you blame me for defying the Relationship Agreement, as well as your desire to kiss me and you don't want to add kissing as an acceptable display of affection to the Relationship Agreement?"

Sheldon looked relieved. "Precisely."

"I decline your terms."

Sheldon looked shocked. "What do you mean you decline the terms? I haven't stated them yet."

"But they will include a clause prohibiting any other forms of physical contact beyond hand holding, hugging, and cuddling correct?"

"Of course."

"Then I reject your terms."

"Now Amy…"

"Sheldon." She turned towards him. "I appreciate that the events of last night were under unusual circumstances. I did not appear my normal self yesterday. That said, whether you wish to believe it or not, it was your own desire that led you to kiss me. I was not breaching any of the terms of the Relationship Agreement by putting on makeup, wearing contacts, or curling my hair. And I was within my rights to ask to cuddle you at the end of the evening. It was your own actions which precipitated the event."

Sheldon looked ready to protest but Amy held up her hand.

"It was you who decided to appropriate me from my rightful partner to dance in the bridal party dance. It was you who refused to let me reassume my twelve inch distance from you after Raj and Cynthia nearly bumped into us. It was you who asked for a second dance and held me uncommonly close. It was you who decided to come upstairs to my apartment rather than go home with Leonard. And lastly, of course, it was you who initiated the first kiss." Amy looked at him, trying not to show her inner happiness at having bested him in his game of wits.

Sheldon narrowed his eyes, undoubtedly building his defense. "Yes. Well. You were the one who asked me to kiss you a second time."

"A request that you could have denied."

His lips thinned. Along with his narrowed eyes, Amy thought he looked ready to spontaneously combust. She swallowed the urge to smile and maintained a steady gaze at him.

He let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine. What do you propose?"

"I propose a further amendment allowing for kissing." He looked ready to object and she yet again held up her hand. "Such an amendment would of course have clearly defined regulations regarding frequency, necessity, and an option to decline if a person could give clearly defined reasons for the desire to abstain."

Sheldon considered for a moment before sighing and responding with "Fine. I agree to those terms. I'll draw up the preliminary paper work this afternoon."

Amy smiled. This was quite a victory…

"Amy?"

Amy was snapped out of her reverie. "Yes?"

"Aren't you going to order?"

"Oh yes. Of course. I didn't realize you were done putting in your order." Sheldon gave her a strange look. She cleared her throat and ordered the salmon.

After the waitress was gone, they resumed discussing their day. Amy noticed Sheldon seemed preoccupied. She wondered if he was worrying about the implications of an anniversary dinner. Since that morning all those months ago neither one had felt the need to change the Relationship Agreement. Thus far, the amendments had been working for both parties.

Perhaps he was worried that she would make a request for further intimacy. It had of course crossed her mind, and was indeed something she enjoyed thinking about. She had indeed made several attempts at suggesting coitus, but in actuality she found that she was enjoying the current parameters of their relationship. She had even been able to persuade Sheldon to give French kissing a try once. It hadn't gone quite as expected, as neither of them fully understood how to employ it. But nevertheless, they had both found the experiment informative, and Amy was certain they would give it another shot in the future.

She was snapped out of her musings when Sheldon abruptly changed the subject from his current research. His descriptions had taken up the majority of dinner and they were now at dessert. She had gotten used to listening and thinking at the same time. It had been a necessary skill to develop, as Sheldon liked to talk for extended periods of time.

"Amy. I have a proposition I wish to pose to you."

Amy cocked her head to the side, curious. "Go on."

He set down his fork, and folded his hands on the table. "I would like to request your hand in marriage."

A/N: I know right? You answered my plea for reviews and I repay you with a cliffhanger. Alas, it seemed the best way to end this particular chapter. If you want to know what happens, you know what to do: Review Review Review! :) Any guesses on Sheldon's motivating factors?