Author's Note: So apparently, (if you happened to catch my edited A/N at the end of my previous chapter) all I needed to un-fry my brain, was to take the pressure off myself. So yay! Here's another chapter! I'm also going to take this time to answer a question posed by an anon reviewer, which I am sure is on multiple people's minds. Do I know how far I'm taking this fic? Yes. I've had an outline for all major plot points since before I started writing, and have always had at least 3-4 chapters ahead planned at any given time. And to the anon reviewer called "Someone", (A) Med school? How on earth do you find time for reading fanfiction? and (B) You thought the end of the previous chapter was cliche but not the one before that where Sheldon overhears Amy yelling she loves Sheldon to her mother? *raises eyebrow* ;) I'm sure there are writers (probably on the writing staff for tbbt) who can write a romance without the addition of cliches, but I'm not one of them. ;)

Amy

Sheldon held the door to the coffee shop open, allowing Amy to walk through first. She was a little baffled at what they were doing here. Earlier this afternoon, Sheldon had insisted that they go to a coffee shop to get some tea. Amy had pointed out that they had several different varieties of tea at home, but he had stated that he had a sudden craving for green tea. Despite the fact that Amy had never known Sheldon to drink green tea, she had decided it wasn't worth the argument, and had agreed to go.

She had assumed they would walk, as the nearest coffee shop was a mere three blocks from their house, but Sheldon insisted that the last time he had gone that particular establishment he had witnessed one of the baristas sneeze and then continue to make coffee without washing their hands. When Amy had inquired where they were going instead, he had spoken the name of a coffee shop several miles from their apartment. And when Amy had asked why that particular coffee shop, Sheldon had adopted an air of nonchalance and stated that he preferred the water on that side of town.

Amy knew something was up, but she just couldn't figure out what. She and Sheldon had been in a curious state of suspension since the events of the previous weekend. She hadn't exactly told Sheldon she loved him, but he had overheard her, and had hugged her in response…and then that had been the end of it.

Things weren't bad between them, but Sheldon had been a bit aloof ever since. She frequently had to call his name twice or thrice before he would respond. It left her a little concerned. She understood that something had changed between them, but couldn't as yet ascertain whether it was a positive or negative change. Despite the fact that she hadn't said "I love you Sheldon" in so many words, the fact that she had admitted to loving him was still out there, and, as of yet, he had not reciprocated the sentiment.

"Amy, why don't you go find the appropriate seat."

She blinked, jolted out of her reverie. "You mean we're going to drink the tea here?"

"Of course. Where else would we drink it?"

"At home?"

Sheldon fidgeted. "No…I think it's best we drink our tea here…you can't drink tea while driving, or else you risk an unfortunate scalding accident…and if you wait until we get back to the apartment, then the tea would most assuredly be cold…no, it's best if we drink it here."

Amy frowned, confused at his insistence. "Ok…"

She turned to walk away, and then remembered she hadn't said what she would like to drink. "Sheldon, could you order me…"

"Don't worry about it. I'll order you the appropriate drink."

Amy raised her eyebrows. "The appropriate drink?"

He blinked. "Yes."

Amy opened her mouth to respond, but, deciding she was curious what he felt the appropriate drink was, closed her mouth and turned around to go find their seats.

She did a quick visual sweep of the establishment. There was something familiar about this place…She was sure she had been here before…

She shook her head and continued surveying the room, which was not very large, in search of the perfect seats. Ideally the table would be in the middle of the area, neither too close to windows or door, nor too close to the bathroom. In addition, she knew Sheldon preferred to avoid sitting next to anyone who might be considered chatty. As she scanned the small area, mentally crossing off the table next to the woman gesticulating wildly, she saw a couple of options. As she spent a few seconds contemplating which option would be best, however, a couple sat down in one, leaving her with only one table. She decided she had best go sit in it, before someone came and left her without a good seat to choose.

She sat down and waited for Sheldon to come back with their beverages. She looked around again, certain she had been here before. She would have to inquire of Sheldon when he returned. She looked over at the register and saw that he was now ordering.

She had not yet told him about her conversation with her mother earlier in the afternoon. Amy had not heard from her mother since her and Sheldon's hasty exit. She had been certain that her mother had called to yell at her, but instead she had apologized. When Amy had asked where this apology had come from, her mother had explained that the rest of the family had found Sheldon charming. Apparently, according to her mother, everyone, including Aunt Flora, had been charmed by Sheldon's chivalrous defense of her honor. While it was normally shocking to Amy when people weren't charmed by Sheldon, in this case Amy had been taken aback. Her mother had even said that, for the rest of the evening, both Brad and Tadd had taken turns acting like gorillas. It was certainly a curious turn of events.

Amy looked up to see Sheldon walking towards her, carrying two cups. As he set down her cup, and sat down, she turned to him and said, "This place is familiar. Have we been here before?"

Sheldon looked surprised. "Really, Amy? I'm surprised you didn't recognize it the moment mentioned the name."

She waited for him to tell her when they had been here before, but he instead took a sip of his tea. She eyed him suspiciously, frowning.

He looked at her, raised his eyebrows, and said, "Aren't you going to drink your beverage?" He again adopted an air of nonchalance, eyeing her as he again sipped at his tea.

Yes. Something strange was definitely going on.

Amy grabbed her cup and took a sip. She frowned. "Sheldon…this is water."

He put on a face that she supposed was meant to convey innocence. "How odd…and how would you describe the temperature of the water?"

She took another sip. "Tepid."

Amy felt figurative alarm bells going off in her head. She looked around again, stopping at the cup in her hand.

"This is the coffee shop where we first met."

"Why yes, that is correct." Sheldon took another sip of his tea, eying her over the cup.

Amy blinked at Sheldon, mind racing. What had caused Sheldon to want to bring her to the place they had first met; give her the drink she had first ordered?

"Sheldon…what's going on?"

He looked at her for a beat, before setting down his tea and clasping his hands on the table.

"Amy, I have a matter I wish to discuss with you. It concerns the events of the past weekend."

Amy's heart started beating faster. She cleared her throat, mentally preparing herself for whatever Sheldon threw at her. "Very well." She also set down her cup and clasped her hands on the table.

Sheldon cleared his throat, sat up taller, and looked directly at her. "I wish to inform you that I am in love with you."

The shock Amy felt was almost palpable. It hit her like a wave, sending her ears ringing and causing her vision to momentarily blur.

"…What did you say?"

Sheldon sighed. "Really Amy, please pay attention. I said that I love you."

Amy blinked, still not quite able to process the information that has been set before her.

"I'm sorry Sheldon…I'm still not processing."

Sheldon rolled his eyes. "How many times must I repeat myself? I love you!"

Amy smiled at him, comprehension beginning to dawn. "You love me?"

"That's what I've been saying."

Amy frowned. "How long have you known about this?"

"Since last Sunday…or Monday…it was the middle of the night, so that would make it the early morning hours of Monday."

"How did you come to this conclusion?"

"Through logically reasoning through all the facts, naturally."

Interesting. "And what are these facts?"

"I'm glad you asked. First, there is the fact that I enjoy physical contact with you, despite my otherwise extreme aversion to touching. Second, I have found living with you to be far easier than living with Leonard ever was. Third, after overhearing your declaration of love towards me, not only did I not feel the need to terminate our relationship, but indeed found your declaration comforting. Fourth, you make me happy. Therefore, the logical conclusion regarding the undefined emotion I had been feeling, was that I am in love with you…which of course brings me to the reason for which we are here."

He stood up, reaching into his pocket, and then paused. "You'll have to forgive the cloying cliché I am about to drag us both into, but Penny insisted that this was a non-optional social convention of sorts."

Amy blinked, heart racing. "…Ok…"

He pulled his hand out of his pocket. He was holding a box. Amy's eyes grew big.

He knelt awkwardly down onto one knee, grabbed Amy's hand, and cleared his throat. "Amy Farrah Fowler, I ardently admire and love you. Will you consent to be my wife?"

Amy's ears were ringing again. She started blinking rapidly.

Sheldon tsked at himself. "Of course, I forgot a key component. Naturally you can't agree until you have seen the ring." He opened the box and Amy saw a ring on which sat the largest diamond she had ever seen.

She looked from the ring back to Sheldon, and before she even realized what she was doing she shouted "YES!" and lunged for him, knocking the both of them to the floor.

As Amy kissed Sheldon's face repeated, he said, "We really need to work on your Kolinahr skills."

"You said you 'ardently admire and love her'?" Leonard started snickering.

Penny swatted his arm. "Hey! I told him to say that…it's cute!" She looked over at Sheldon. "Don't listen to him. It's romantic." She turned to Amy, who was naturally sitting next to Sheldon. "I bet you liked it didn't you Amy?"

"Actually, while I normally defer to you for all socially acceptable romantic conventions, in this case, I do believe it was…how did you phrase it Sheldon?"

"A cloying cliché."

Amy nodded. "Yes. A cloying cliché."

Penny rolled her eyes and sighed. "You two are obviously made for each other."

Amy looked up at Sheldon and smiled.

Leonard cleared his throat. "I'm still a little shocked that you decided to ask Amy to marry you Sheldon. How'd that happen?"

Sheldon frowned in confusion. "I don't follow."

"Well…was Amy pressuring you to get married?"

"No."

"Was your mother?"

"No."

"Well…if you weren't being coerced, then why were you even thinking about it?"

"Ah. I see. Well, when I overheard Amy's declaration of love for me, I also heard another item of information which I couldn't get out of my head. Amy had stated that she planned to spend the rest of her life with me…and try as I might, I couldn't get the phrase out of my head. I gave it a great deal of thought, not wishing to repeat my previous mistake of proposing too soon, and came to the conclusion that as I love Amy, and that I now knew that she loved me in return, it was only logical to propose."

Leonard was nodding thoughtfully as Howard and Bernadette walked through the door, Raj following behind, beer already in hand.

"Hey guys," said Howard, "What's the big news emergency?"

"Oh my cow! Look at the size of that ring!" Raj pointed at Amy and then rushed over.

Howard's jaw dropped and Bernadette gasped.

"Amy! Sheldon! You're engaged?" she squeaked. "Let me see the ring! Raj, let Amy get up!"

Amy stood up and walked over to Bernadette, who immediately grabbed her hand, eyes wide.

Howard looked a little skeptical. "Isn't that ring a little…much?" He glanced self-consciously at Bernadette's hand. "How many karats is that thing? Two?"

"Actually," interjected Raj, "it looks to be about three and a half karats at least. Oh! And princess cut! Very nice."

Howard laughed nervously, "Yeah…but…Amy won't want to wear that thing around right? Isn't it a little gaudy?"

"I don't know," said Bernadette. "It seems to be working nicely with the tiara currently on Amy's head."

Just then Sheldon spoke up. "Ladies, Gentlemen, please. Allow my fiancé to have her hand back if you would. There is plenty of time to gawk at the ring after we eat our celebratory ice cream."

Amy walked back to sit next to Sheldon, while everyone else found their way to their seats.

After they were finished eating, the group sat around carrying on several small discussions amongst themselves. Bernadette was busy assuring Howard that his ring choice for her engagement ring was more than satisfactory. Raj was currently regaling Leonard with the difference between the various cuts found in diamond rings. Penny and Sheldon were in a near heated debate over whether or not Sheldon's proposal fell under the category of cliché.

Amy took it all in, glancing slowly around the room. When she reached Sheldon and Penny, she smiled. Her fiancé and her bestie, fighting over her, in a way. Life was certainly good.

She looked down at her hand, entwined in Sheldon's, and couldn't help but remember that moment on Valentine's Day, well over a year ago, when the best she had hoped for was to hold Sheldon's hand.

The End

A/N: Except not quite. Stay tuned for an Epilogue. Reviews appreciated. :)

P.S. Credit for the location of the proposal goes to Moyrani. It was several threads ago in the Shamy thread on Fan Forum.