Sorry for the delayed update! Just simply got busy with holiday-related activities!
The Festivity Infusion Process
Chapter Three: The Gift Exchange Contemplation
Sheldon was the easiest person in the world to find a gift for… unless you were Amy Farrah Fowler.
Anybody else could make a quick run to the comic book or model train store and find something that Sheldon would enjoy. But for Amy it was different. She couldn't settle on some frivolous child's toy that he was guaranteed to love. That would be too easy.
Her Christmas gift for Sheldon needed to mean more. It had to be special.
"Oh, just get him a ticket to the planetarium," Penny waved her hand, as though Amy had the simplest task in the world laid out in front of her. "Or a life-long membership to the California Science Center or something."
"I can't do that, Penny," Amy said. "It has to be really good. He's always done so much for me."
"Oh. Sure," Penny's voiced dripped with sarcasm, which earned her a quick glare from Amy. "Look, I love watching you two together," Penny continued apologetically. "And it's sweet that you are trying so hard. But lets be honest – Sheldon's not the best gift giver. And he doesn't really want to be. He'd be the first to admit that. Has he ever put this amount of thought into your gifts?"
"Honestly, Penny?" Amy gaped at her. "The Relationship Agreement? The emergency contact form? The tiara? How does he come up with this stuff? His gifts have always been perfect."
"First of all – The Relationship Agreement is not a gift," Penny pointed out. Amy was about to argue, but her friend silenced her and continued.
"However, I suppose you're right about the tiara," she acknowledged with a shrug. "I tried my hardest to talk him into getting you a silver heart-pendant necklace, but he was dead-set on that jeweled crown of yours. He did insist that you'd like it."
Of course he did. He knows me.
"Although, he wanted to get you a humidifier at first," Penny pointed out. "I talked him out of that one. You're welcome, by the way."
A humidifier, eh? Hm… Amy had been meaning to get one of those. Her skin had been feeling rather dry lately, and her harp really did need to be in a room with a bit more moisture in the air. Perhaps on our way out of the mall, Penny and I could swing into Sears…
"You know, " Penny kept talking without waiting for a response from Amy. "When Sheldon suggests things like that, a part of me still thinks he just lucks out when he does actually give you something that you like."
'Lucks out'? Sheldon? No way. The gifts were too perfect. He knew what he was doing, even if it didn't appear that way to Penny. Sheldon put so much consideration into his presents for her; She couldn't do anything less for him.
"Ooo!" Penny grabbed Amy's arm and dragged her, reluctantly, into Victoria's Secret. "I've got to get the second half of my gift for Leonard!"
Amy was in awe at her friend. How was it that she wasn't nearly as anxious at the prospect of getting her boyfriend a present as Amy seemed to be? Penny wasn't the least bit concerned that Leonard wouldn't like his gift. She was just so… resolute in her choice.
Amy wished she could have that same assurance. For her, giving holiday gifts to friends was a relatively new experience. Aside from one ill-fated Secret Santa game at work – which landed her supervisor in the hospital with a monkey bite – Amy had never had the opportunity to give Christmas gifts to non-family members. She and Sheldon had never exchanged Christmas gifts... mostly because of his disdain for the concept, but also because of timing. She'd always been with her family.
Penny, on the other hand, had given Sheldon great gifts in the past.
Numerous times, her bestie had recounted the amusing tale about the day she gave Sheldon a napkin with Leonard Nimoy's signature on it. He had hugged her. Willingly. And why not? It had been the perfect present, after all.
Amy was determined to get something for Sheldon that would elicit that same kind of over-the-top, uncontrollable response from him. Her boyfriend's hesitance to touch her in that way was increasingly confusing – especially given the fact that he had voluntarily hugged Penny multiple times... or so she had been told.
She couldn't deny it - Amy was jealous of her best friend. Not in a 'get-your-hands-off-my-man' way, of course. Quite the contrary; She was extremely happy that her boyfriend had been able to form such an important friendship, given the extent of his... quirks. However, on more than one occasion during the development of his friendship with Penny, Sheldon had discovered ways to bypass his typical aversion to touching, which had allowed him to open up to her in a way that Amy had only dreamed of.
Sure, Amy had shared intimate moments with her boyfriend in different, arguably deeper, ways - and she stood by the fact that she didn't need a physical manifestation of Sheldon's feelings for her - however that didn't change her desire for it.
She wasn't looking for much, but a simple - nevertheless motivated and affectionate – hug from him would be a nice start.
Penny must have noticed Amy's distant expression, because she gently wrapped her arms around her friend's shoulders. "Aw, Ames. Don't worry about it. I'm sure whatever you decide to give Sheldon will be great."
Amy shrugged, pulling herself back into the unnerving reality of the crowded lingerie store.
"I don't know," she said. "For Valentine's Day I got him nothing. Literally nothing and he loved it. How can I top nothing, Penny? I can't get him the same thing twice."
"Yeah, I suppose you're right. He'd have to return one of the nothings if you did that. And they won't take that back without a receipt, you know." She gave Amy a teasing smile. "Seriously, though, Ames. Sheldon hates gift giving. Why don't you do exactly that and get him 'nothing' again? Just… agree not to exchange gifts. I'm sure he won't mind. It'll take the pressure off."
Amy sighed and decided to change the topic, as Penny would obviously not be any help on the matter.
"So, what are you getting Leonard?"
"Weelllll..." Penny winked, as she pulled a particularly risqué-looking garment from a nearby rack. "I think he'll like this. I know, I know… this is really a present for both of us. But I already bought him some fancy Lord of the Rings sword from the comic book store, so I'm good."
"A sword?" Amy scrunched her face in disgust. "I don't understand why our guys want stuff like that. Where are they going to put it? And it's not like you can do anything with a sword. You can't carry it around with you… and it has no usefulness as a kitchen knife, really."
Penny shrugged. "I know! It makes no sense. And – get this – the sword I bought is broken. It's supposed to come that way, apparently. The blade is in little pieces. Stuart says its some kind of replica. I say it's silly – but what do I know?"
Amy nodded. "So… a broken sword and some lacey underwear?"
Penny beamed at her friend. "Yup. He's gonna love it."
"Oh sure, who doesn't love useless weaponry?"
"Or the promise of sex?" Penny added. "Hey - why don't you pick out something for yourself from Victoria's Secret, eh?" Penny nudged Amy playfully with her elbow, but Amy just stared at her friend with a face that could rival Sheldon's expression of haughty derision.
"Yeah, good point," Penny conceded.
The girls stowed their purchases away in Penny's apartment before making their way across the hall to see what their boyfriends had been doing all afternoon. Penny opened their door without knocking.
"We're back!"
"Obviously," Sheldon said without looking up from his computer. "We heard you come in. There's no need to announce yourselves as though you're a court marshal at a fifteenth century gathering of lords and ladies."
"Aw, it's great to see you too, sweetie!" Penny smiled and patted Sheldon on the shoulder as she walked by, immediately making a beeline to help her own boyfriend with the garland that he was attempting to drape haphazardly over the window frame.
"Hey there," Leonard bent to kiss her as she removed the strands of lights that had become tangled in his legs. "I thought you two were shopping? Where 's everything you bought?"
"Oh, we dropped it off at my place," Penny said with a smile. "Didn't want you to see what I got for you."
Amy studied her friends. Their relationship was so… easy. Her eyes drifted to own boyfriend, who was deeply involved in whatever was on his computer.
"Aren't you going to help Leonard decorate, Sheldon?"
He twisted in his chair to look at her in bemusement.
"Decorate? For Christmas?" Sheldon glanced at his roommate, and then back to Amy. "I hardly think so."
"Well, do you mind if I help?"
"I don't care what you do, just leave me out of it." Sheldon turned back to his desk, intently focused on the screen in front of him. He was obviously working on something important.
Amy meandered over to her boyfriend's desk and paused next to him, reaching up to rub his back gently. He tensed and shifted around to look at her as though she were crazy.
"What are you doing?" He asked with confused edginess.
"Nothing," she dropped her arms to her side. "Just… seeing what you are up to over here."
"Oh." Sheldon scooted his desk chair forward nonchalantly, pulling himself just out of reach of Amy's hand. "I'm trying to figure out a way to measure whether gravity has any effect on antimatter. You know… like it does on matter."
"Interesting."
"Well, of course it is. That's why I'm interested in it."
"Well… do you think that it does?"
"Does what?"
"Have an effect?"
"I don't know… that's what I'm trying to figure out."
Amy stood beside him in silence for a few more moments, before Sheldon tilted his head to look at her. "Anything else?"
"No. I suppose not." She tried not to take his harsh tone too personally. When he was in a zone like this, it was typical for him to be very short with people.
"Hey, Ames…" Penny called. "I've got to run back down to the car to get a few boxes of decorations for my apartment. Leonard, do you want to help me?" Penny widened her eyes at her boyfriend and nudged her head toward the door.
"Oh," Leonard picked up on the hint. "Yeah… sure." He hopped off of the chair he had been standing on, and gave his roommate an encouraging slap on the back as he jogged past him. "See ya later, bud. I'll be back in a few minutes."
Amy watched her friends close the door gently behind themselves before returning her attention to her boyfriend. His fingers were briskly typing numbers into the formulas he had created, and then scribbling the resulting data onto a notepad beside his keyboard.
If only he could find a way to put that level of concentration into other aspects of his life, Amy thought. His relationship with me, perhaps?
Buck up, Fowler, she told herself. You promised yourself you'd be more confident. You promised yourself changes by the end of the year. Now's the time to start! She just wished that he wasn't so absorbed in his work. She hated disturbing him when he was so focused.
Oh, who am I kidding? He's always focused on something.
"Sheldon?"
"Mm?"
"Do you… ?"
This is crazy. I don't even know what I want to say…
Amy found herself suddenly unable to put more than two words together. She alternated between "Um..." and "Uh..." several times, before her boyfriend finally turned to her with an irritated expression.
"Well, spit it out, kiddo! I'm in the zone here."
Her cheeks flushed at his pet name for her, and she realized that she was being ridiculous. When did I become so needy? She shook her head at her behavior. Sheldon gives me plenty of attention... there's no need to press the issue right now.
"Nevermind." She smiled and brought her hand back up to rub his shoulder. But, to her dismay, he again tensed and edged away from her. The light pink blush on her cheeks faded away, replaced by a deeper reddish hue as the frustration within her started to rear it's ugly head once again.
"Is my hand cold or something?"
"What?"
"My hand. Is it cold? You keep pulling away from me."
"Do I?" Sheldon's eyes darted to his keyboard. "Um… well, yes. It is cold, actually."
"Is that why you are pulling away?"
He shook his head, but refused to lock eyes with his girlfriend. "I don't care for unnecessary touching, Amy. You know that."
"It didn't seem to bother you too much when Penny patted you on the back earlier. Or Leonard just now."
Sheldon froze, clearly digging through his memory of the past few minutes. His eyes widened when he realized that Amy was correct.
"And you've hugged Penny before," Amy added.
Sheldon gave a nervous cough. "Those occasions have been rare. And I got sick the last time I hugged her… so… that'll teach me."
"You hug your mother, too," Amy said.
"I've hugged you as well, if you recall," he argued. "What's your point?"
"No," Amy insisted. "I've hugged you. There's a difference, remember?"
"Is that what this is about again?" Sheldon groaned. "Are you going to keep bringing up who kissed whom or who hugged whom? Because I told you before… it doesn't matter."
"It does to me," Amy said. "How come you can easily hug some other people… but not me?"
Sheldon took a deep breath, and then closed his laptop and pushed away from his desk. He slowly rose out of his chair, straightening his PacMan t-shirt, and finally locked eyes with his girlfriend. "You're different."
"How?"
"Amy," Sheldon paused a moment to gather is thoughts before continuing. "I don't find it easy to hug anyone. But with some people it's less… unnerving… than it would be with you."
Unnerving? Touching me?
"Oh." There was nothing more too add, really. Certainly nothing that could mask her disappointment at what Sheldon was revealing to her.
"Some things just… have different reactions than other things," Sheldon explained, settling into his spot on the couch. "I mean, take a look at water. If you mix water with titanium tetrachloride, things can get crazy. Mix it with soup and you've just got watered down chicken noodle."
"I don't understand what you are saying to me, Sheldon," Amy said firmly. Is he comparing our relationship to weak soup? If he was telling her that he didn't feel anything with her, than he needed to just come out and say it. Stop beating around the bush.
"How do you not understand?" Then a knowing look came over his face and he chuckled to himself. "Oh, that's right. You're a biologist."
Amy frowned at him, but he ignored her and continued. "Well, if you mix titanium tetrachloride with water you get hydrogen chloride gas as a byproduct… potentially dangerous. However if you mix the same – "
"Sheldon, I understand basic chemistry!" The anger in Amy's voice was slowly growing. "Quit talking to me like I'm Wolowitz. I'm not an idiot!"
Sheldon blinked at her outburst. "You're absolutely right," he said. "My apologies." Underneath his breath, he muttered, "Talk about volatile reactions."
Amy sighed. "Sheldon, if you are bored with me, then just say so."
Please don't say so...
"Wait… what?" Sheldon furrowed his brow. "What are you talking about?"
"If you don't …feel… anything for me, then just – "
Leonard burst through the door, interrupting Amy and dropping about ten boxes and gift bags in the process. He kicked a few of them out of the way so that he could tap the door closed with his foot, still balancing the remaining boxes precariously in his arms.
Amy rolled her eyes. Perfect timing, Leonard... as usual.
"What's all that?" she asked.
"Oh – just some stuff for Penny's Christmas party." Leonard plopped the packages down onto the counter, then went to retrieve those he had dropped. "Penny says she and Raj are planning some kind of get-together for next week. An 'ugly sweater' party, I think?"
"Oh." Amy glanced at Sheldon. The unsaid words still hung in the air between them. Her boyfriend's eyes met hers. He looked as though he still had a lot he wanted to tell her, but his roommate's arrival had thrown him completely off track.
He eventually broke her gaze, and stood up to reprimand his friend. "Where, pray tell, is this party going to take place?"
"Don't worry, Sheldon," Leonard assured him. "It'll be at Penny's apartment this time."
Sheldon nodded his approval. "Very well. Enjoy yourself."
"Well, you're coming too," Leonard said.
"I most certainly am not."
"Why not? Amy will be there," Leonard peered around Sheldon at Amy. "Won't you Amy? You're invited and we'd love to have you come."
How could she say no to a Christmas party with her best friends in the world? If she couldn't be with her relatives on Christmas, these friends were as close to family as she could get.
She beamed at Leonard. "Of course I'll be there."
"Amy!" Sheldon turned to her in surprise. "What about me?"
"What about you?"
"Well, if everyone else will be at the party, I'll be over here alone." He kicked his toe on his heel. "You aren't going to stay with me? We can order pizza. I'll even let you pick the toppings. As long as it's not anchovies. Or spinach. Or pineapple." He paused. "Actually, nevermind. I'll pick the toppings."
Oh geez. Look at him. He bit his lip as he waited for her answer, and it almost sent a tingle up her spine. God, he's sexy when he wants something from me. When he needs me...
Who was she kidding? This was Sheldon. Sure, she enjoyed alone time with her boyfriend, but this was also Christmas. She may not be religious, but she wanted the feeling of group camaraderie that she was accustomed to at the holidays. She wanted the joyful Christmas atmosphere. She wouldn't get that with him.
Apparently, according to Sheldon, all she would get with him would be 'weak soup'.
Besides, it was high-time Sheldon started doing the things that she wanted to do, rather than Amy being forced to change her schedule for him. Confidence, Fowler. You can do this.
"I want to go to the party with our friends, Sheldon," Amy said. "Please come with me?"
Sheldon narrowed his eyes at her, then turned to Leonard. "What does an 'ugly sweater' party entail?"
"I dunno," Leonard shrugged. "Everyone just wears ugly Christmas sweaters and hangs out?"
Sheldon scoffed at his roommate, as though it was the most ridiculous thing he'd heard since quantum loop gravity, but he eventually nodded at Amy.
"Fine," he groaned. "I'll go. But I'm not wearing one of those stupid sweaters."
A/N: I just can't say thank you enough for all the reviews. Keep 'em coming please! Constructive criticism too! I take it all to heart. :o)
Thanks!