The next afternoon after work, Penny had invited Amy and Bernadette over for their Friday Girl's Night.
Knowing that Sheldon had asked Amy to dinner the night before, Penny wanted to know everything.
Amy sighed as she parked outside the apartment block.
She stepped out of the car, and did a double-take as she saw Sheldon and Leonard approaching the building with a bag of take-out.
Sheldon spotted Amy standing by her car.
"Uh…You go ahead Leonard." Sheldon said, "I need to speak to Amy."
Amy's heart began to beat faster.
Leonard nodded. "See you in there. Hi Amy." He nodded at her, pushing open the door.
"Leonard." She smiled.
Sheldon walked closer to Amy and rubbed the back of his head. "Hello Amy." He said softly.
"Hello Sheldon…"
There was a pause.
"Amy I do hope you can forgive me for my abrupt departure last night." He said, looking Amy in the eye. "I panicked. Kissing you was a big step for me."
"I know, Sheldon." Amy replied gently. "But thank you for trying. Please don't be afraid to try again."
Sheldon swallowed. "You're welcome…May I try now?"
Amy blinked. "Are you sure? I mean..."
"I'd like to." He insisted, leaning in slowly.
Sheldon lightly pressed his lips to hers, but Amy felt him shaking a little.
"Sheldon, I can feel you shaking. Stop." She said quietly.
"No, I need to try." He replied, trying again.
Amy still felt him shaking, but this time he was more determined, and placed another kiss on her lips.
He pulled away and took a deep breath.
"That wasn't so bad." He muttered.
Amy bit her lip. "It really isn't. Can't we make this a regular thing?"
Sheldon's breathing quickened. "Oh…Well I'd love to get to that point one day Amy. But let's take it one step at a time."
Amy lowered her head.
"Please don't be sad Amy." He whispered, "I'm really trying."
"I know. It's just that every tiny kiss sends sparks through my body and I want more. I can't help it Sheldon. You know how I feel about you." Amy replied.
"I know." He said.
Amy wished he would tell her he loved her too, but that would never happen.
Before, she could deal with it, but every day grew harder and harder and she had fallen more and more in love with him.
She knew she couldn't really have a relationship with someone who was afraid of touching her, of telling her that he loved her, but she couldn't help it.
It was like Sheldon was a forbidden candy to her, and she wanted him…Needed him.
Blinking, Amy sidestepped him. "Penny's expecting me." She smiled sadly.
"I'll walk up with you then." Sheldon offered.
Amy just nodded half-heartedly.
..
As they reached the top of the stairs, Amy turned to approach Penny's door.
"Have a good night." Sheldon said to her.
"You too." She returned.
They stared at each other for a few seconds before entering the respective apartments.
"Hey Amy!" Penny and Bernadette greeted.
"So, how did it go with Sheldon last night?" Penny pressed, handing Amy a glass of wine.
"Well…If I tell you, will you promise to keep it to yourselves?" She replied.
"Of course."
"He kissed me."
Penny and Bernadette's eyes flew wide. "Wow! He…He kissed you?"
Amy nodded. "It was only lightly, and he did it again twice just now."
Penny grinned. "This is brilliant!"
"Is it?" Amy looked to the floor.
"Yes." Bernadette confirmed. "Come on, you know how Sheldon is; he's taken leaps and bounds trying to prove himself to you. But I'm sensing that you're not fully satisfied?"
"We should be much farther along than this right now. Like you and Howard, or at least Penny and Leonard. Even Raj and Lucy are making more progress than Sheldon and I!" Amy complained, putting her hand to her face in despair.
"Look Amy, we know it's hard for you, but Sheldon really is trying. Please don't give up on him." Penny reassured.
"I can't give up on him; I love him. That's exactly the problem." Amy shook her head.
"He's trying so hard Amy. He's kissed you three times now; that's amazing progress for him!" Bernadette said.
"You're right." Amy nodded. "I should be happier."
"So come on then! It's Girl's Night and we have pizza, cake and chips to snack on, and makeovers to do!" Penny grinned, bringing a big case over to the couch and setting it on her lap.
..
The girls had just finished their pizza and were dolled up, taking group photos on their phones, when Amy's suddenly vibrated.
"Sorry, bear with me." She said, sliding her finger across the screen.
She had one new message in her email inbox, and as she opened it, she gasped.
"Oh my God!" She sank down on to the couch.
"Amy? What is it?" Penny asked.
"What's wrong?" Bernadette added.
Amy cleared her throat.
"Dear Dr Fowler,
I am sure you have heard about the amazing job opportunity that we will be granting to one of our Neurobiologists.
The job is a five-month post at the Fitzpatrick Marine Biology Facility in Tampa Bay, FL.
The tasks that you will be required to do are comparisons between human and dolphin brain activity and thought pattern and analyse the data to come to a conclusion.
We believe that you are our ideal candidate, Dr Fowler.
Your research in neurobiology has been outstanding, and we would love to offer you this position.
It begins on the 24th April, and ends on the 24th September when you will return to your job as normal.
Please let me know if you are interested by next Monday, otherwise the position will be offered to someone else.
Please consider this carefully.
Sincerely,
Dr Brightman."
Amy read.
Bernadette and Penny squealed excitedly.
"Oh my God Amy, that's amazing!" Penny grinned, hugging her best friend.
"This is the opportunity of a lifetime! Are you going to accept it?" Bernadette asked.
Amy took a breath. "I don't know...It's such a huge honour, but Sheldon and I are only just making real progress, like you said. What if I leave, and then I come back to him and he's gone back to his old self?"
"It's only five months." Penny answered.
"Yeah, we'll keep him in line." Bernie added.
"Hmm." Amy pursed her lips.
"You don't want to leave him do you?" Penny smiled.
Amy shook her head. "Not really. Oh Lord, what do I do?"
"Well you have almost two weeks to decide." Bernadette answered, sensibly. "You don't have to make a decision right away. Besides, we need to finish our Girl's Night!"
"You're right." Amy nodded, closing the email on her phone. "I don't have to decide right away. Maybe I can discuss it with Sheldon tomorrow. He'll know what to do."
..
A/N: The Fitzpatrick Marine Biology Facility is fictional (to my knowledge). Thank you for reading and reviewing. Chapter 5 will be up soon!