A/N: My apologies for the delay as I had to put this aside for a while to work on older fanfictions. Updates will be slow as I finish up other stuff, but they are coming as I have the next two chapters written already.

Thanks Hazelra7 and QBMaja for support and guidance when I sent you crappy first drafts as I wrote with little sleep in between double shifts.

Remember to review if you can because I have to know if I suck. LOL.

Disclaimer: I don't own BBT but like to take them out to play sometimes.

Amy and Sheldon were on their third wind as they laid on their pulled out bottom bunk in their compartment talking in between kisses as they moved through Texas.

So far, the two had enjoyed a few hours of peaceful bliss. However, both knew without saying that at some point they had to face the music for taking off from their problems so suddenly.

They just thought they would at least hit Chicago before reality bit them in the buttocks.

By the time the train crossed into Arkansas, their bodies had finally gave in to their physical and mental exhaustion as they fell asleep in each other's arms to the gentle movement of the Texas 22 Eagle.

Three hours later, a phone ring brought to an end to Sheldon's peaceful slumber. He kept his left arm around a still sleeping Amy as he picked up his phone with extreme irritation. When he saw who it was, he didn't give it a second thought as he tossed it by the magazine rack.

"Who was it?" Amy asked groggily before she moved her head from Sheldon's chest and turned to her side.

"My mother. Go back to sleep." He said spooning her from behind.

Amy drifted before suddenly waking and sitting up. "Sheldon, shouldn't you answer the phone? She's probably calling because she found the note you left at the house and is worried about us."

"No, I don't want to talk to her now." Sheldon said annoyed, feeling the cold from his girlfriend no longer next to him. "Now, lay back down with me."

"Sheldon—"

Amy was interrupted by her phone ringing, which Sheldon picked up at the edge of the bunk. He read the caller ID and handed it to her. "Your mother."

Her response was to mirror her boyfriend's actions with her phone. Sheldon couldn't help but be smug as he responded, "Amy, shouldn't you answer the phone? She's probably wondering where you are and is worried about us."

The neurobiologist merely turned to her boyfriend narrowing her eyes. "Suck it, Cooper."

When she saw Sheldon's eyes focus on her breasts, she spoke again. "I don't mean those and you know it."

After another ring, the phone stopped before Sheldon's started to ring again. He grumbled before he got up and saw it was his mother again. At the same time, Amy's phone joined Sheldon's in filling the compartment with an unbearable cacophony. When she got up and saw the caller ID, she groaned.

"I've got to program rings in my phone for more than you and our friends."

"You and me both, Little Lady."

They looked at each other for a minute before glancing at their ringing phones and noting the time.

"You know, Amy…the dining car started serving dinner fifteen minutes ago."

"How uncanny. I'm quite hungry as well since we missed breakfast and all we had today were those pretzels and beverages on the flight to Dallas."

The two tossed their phones back on the bench and left quickly as the phones stopped ringing. A minute later Sheldon's phone had a chorus with Amy's as they rang again.

Mary hung up her phone and exhaled in frustration. After a moment, she went to call again when the phone receiver was taken out of her hand.

"Mom! Why did you do that?"

Meamaw pushed the off button on the cordless phone and put it back in the cradle. "Because you were being a nuisance."

"I'm trying to apologize to my son. I come home to acknowledge my mistakes and all I am greeted with is a note stating he and Amy left. No phone call, no waiting for me to get home…just a note!"

Meamaw looked at her daughter. "Well, Mary, you done shit in your nest with your behavior in regards to Amy and Moon Pie. Time to face the consequences.

"But Mom—"

"Mary Louise, you were mean to that little girl. On top of that, you hurt your son with your words and pettiness as much as Amy, if not worse. Frankly, you need to take your medicine and deal with it. He'll talk to you when he's ready."

When Meamaw stopped talking, the phone rang again. When she saw the caller ID, she felt her blood boil. Holding her hand up to her daughter, she answered the phone. "Hello?"

Mary could only watch as her mother's face turned to stone. "Well, hello Mrs. Fowler. I'm Sheldon's grandmother Marie. How are you?"

Meamaw saw her daughter shrink back in shame as she realized who the caller was. "No, Amy and Sheldon are not here at the moment. Can I take a message?"

The elder woman waited for a moment, barely biting her tongue. "No, I don't know where they are or when they will be back, but Shelly left a note saying they stepped out but will call later."

Mary watched her mother's face and could swear she was grinding her teeth. "No, I won't call them. If there was some sort of emergency, my grandson would have called his momma and I right away and one of us would immediately let you know."

Meamaw held her hand up when she saw her daughter move to take the phone. "Mrs. Fowler, have you tried calling your daughter? I see. I'm sure she'll call you back when she gets your message but I will let her know you called when I see her."

The elderly woman shook her head in annoyance as she continued to listen. "Mrs. Fowler, I will make sure to let Amy know you called when I see her next. Seeing the time, they are probably having supper now. I have no doubt she and my boy are showing good manners by staying off the phone to avoid bothering others. If you left several messages on Amy's voice mail already, I know she'll get back to you when she can."

Mary watched as her mother became impatient with the person on the other line. "Mrs. Fowler, for the final time, I will not call all over for those kids. My grandson is 34 years old and Amy is almost 32. That means they are old enough to come and go as they please. Unless there is an emergency, I will not hunt them down like snakes in the yard for you, but I will let her know you called. Now, his momma and I are sitting down to supper and it's getting cold."

Sheldon's grandmother smiled as she decided to twist the knife a bit. "I just want to say you Amy is a wonderful girl and you should be proud to have her as your daughter. It was very nice to speak to you. Good night, Ma'am."

Meamaw hung up the phone. "Good gracious, what that poor girl must have dealt with growing up with that woman."

"Mom, why didn't you tell her that the kids are heading up to Michigan?"

"Those poor kids already had to deal with your attitude while they were here. Obviously, Amy doesn't want to talk to her mother just yet and I can't blame her. If she wants to hunt down her daughter so bad, she can do it on her own. She's lucky she was on the phone or I would knocked her down with this cane for what she did by calling you."

"I shouldn't have listened to her, Mom."

"You're damn right you shouldn't have. If you weren't a grown girl, I would be taking the switch to you, but the only thing I can do now is let you clean up your own mess."

"Mom, what do I do? What if he never speaks to me again?"

Meamaw saw her daughter's remorse and couldn't maintain her anger. Walking up to Mary, she hugged her before speaking.

"Mary Louise Sheldon Cooper, he'll speak to you again, but you have to give him time, child. The best way to show him you're sorry is to support them. I've got a feeling his Amy will need this family later on down the road."

Mary made a face as she heard her mother's last words. "Mom, what are you talking about?"

Meamaw wanted to say more, but knew better than to break Amy's confidence. "Never you mind, young lady, but I'll tell you this. There will be a time coming when those kids will need someone to stand up for them. When that time comes, I hope you can be the mother I know you can be."

Deciding it was time to move on, Meamaw walked herself over to her purse by the door. "Now, I need you to take me to my bridge game. Mary Louise, you promise me that you will leave those kids alone while I'm gone. Shelly will call you when he's ready."

Mary nodded to her mother's satisfaction before the two headed out. As she held the door for her mother to go through, Mary hoped her mother was right.

An hour later, the two scientists were finishing their evening meal. Sheldon had moved the salt and pepper shakers along with all the leftover butter packets all over the table. Amy was giggling as she watched her boyfriend use the items to show locations and people as he finished telling a story about paintball with the guys.

"Of course, Leonard fell in the mud, but that's what you get when you get impatient trying to find those gravel monkeys. At least his sacrifice was not in vain because when the dirt people converged on him, we slaughtered them like the lesser beings they are. Physics always triumphs Geology."

Amy's full bodied laugh at the end of his story warmed Sheldon's heart. He didn't realize how much he missed it until he almost lost it yesterday. He didn't want to know how close they came to the end and hoped to never be there again.

He vowed to do what he had to so she would glow like that every day. He also wanted to make sure she knew how much he loved her, even desired her. This morning on his childhood bed was the closest he had ever been with another person and he didn't want it to be a one-off. If their kisses before their nap earlier was any indication, Amy wholeheartedly agreed.

Even six months ago, the thought of being intimate with Amy scared the hell out of him because he had himself convinced that once he did that, he would lose himself.

His relationship with Amy was special…the comradery, the mutual interest in the advancement of science, the ability to challenge the other, and yes, what he recognized now as the deep love they shared for one another. For so long, he was afraid those things would be tainted because he was convinced that intimacy would induce a tail spin that would end with bitterness and regret at how they compromised themselves for an indulgence in a 'slap and tickle' as other couples did.

He didn't know much about Amy's parents or their marriage. From the snippets he heard from his girlfriend here and there over the years, pain overtook love and affection. It was clear to him that Amy did not emerge from the experience unscathed, but honestly, neither did he from his parents' dysfunctional relationship.

It would take time, but when he was ready, he would tell her about experiences he had shared with no one and the thoughts that would sneak in at unguarded moments. He hoped that she could do the same someday because while most other people's thoughts and opinions didn't matter to him, Amy was an exception…the only exception.

As his Meamaw would say, they were bent, but not broken. Things could get fixed…together. Patience was not his virtue, but it was Amy's. Expressing one's opinion freely with him and certain others were sometimes difficult for her, but he could help with that. He knew that the two of them were unstoppable.

One day, he knew, each would be able to let their guards down and finally show the other how much they loved each other without fear of germs, freak outs, teasing from others, failure, or control.

Amy was near the end of her laughter when she saw Sheldon was watching her intently. 'What was that look?' She thought to herself. He wasn't plotting or looking bored. It wasn't his Koala face, but it seemed…softer.

It was then she realized what it was.

Contentment.

Before Amy knew it, her boyfriend took her hand and squeezed it. After her momentary shock, she returned the affection. "I missed you, Sheldon. I missed my friend."

Sheldon gulped as he realized a hard truth. "I missed mine, too. I remember when we would do the coolest stuff, like passing rumors about us having coitus…"

"…or when we spray-painted your name onto the parking bumper after Caltech gave your spot to Howard."

They laughed for a moment before Sheldon became serious. Amy could see the look on his face and waited for him to respond.

"When did we stop being friends, Amy Farrah Fowler?"

Of all things Amy expected him to say, that wasn't it. After getting over her initial shock, confusion seeped in. "What?"

Sheldon looked down, reluctant to say anything for fear of Amy's reaction, but they vowed to work on things while they were on the train. Meamaw told him it wasn't always easy, but honesty made a couple stronger.

"When did we stop being friends? I remember always having more fun with you because…I could relax and be myself without having to worry about Leonard's sarcasm or Howard's perversions. Raj, well…is Raj. But after becoming boyfriend and girlfriend, we didn't always have fun like we did. Sure, there were our date nights…we still went to the zoo and dumbed down lectures to make fun of people, but we didn't always have…fun anymore, Amy, did we?"

Amy thought about Sheldon's words and realized he was right. Both were new to dating and while they started out with stuff like Boyfriend/Girlfriend Singalong Night, eventually their time together was focused on other things with an emphasis on keeping him happy at her expense. They still enjoyed each other's company, but it was like they were trying to live up to certain expectations.

'Expectations on what others thought we needed to be successful.' Amy lamented. As she looked at her physicist, she saw him waiting for her answer, so she gave the only one she could comfortably give.

"I don't know, Sheldon. I just know that after a while, I think we tried to live up to what others thought we should be like, which only made us more often than not walk on eggshells around each other. I was caught up in trying to make you the perfect romantic boyfriend to have stories to tell at Girls Night. You were always keeping me at arm's length because you were terrified of your feelings for me and compromising your vast intelligence."

Amy hesitated for a moment, but knew that to progress together, they had to get all their cards on the table. If Sheldon could speak outside his comfort zone, so could she.

"I think we would tell others that either coitus was unnecessary or a requirement, but in reality, due to past experiences, we each had our own fears about intimacy and where it may lead us. As our relationship grew, the friendship, which was our backbone, started to crack under the strain and would have eventually broken if things had continued on the track it was on."

Sheldon pondered for a minute before he realized he couldn't refute her point. He shuddered at the thought of them broken and without the other. "I don't want to do that anymore, Amy."

Amy smiled. "I don't either, Sheldon."

Sheldon lifted up his glass of milk for a toast. Amy grabbed her glass of Merlot as she waited for him to speak.

"To us, Amy. To never again trying to be what others expect of us. To stand together against people who give us a hard time against what made us work. Most of all, never again forgetting to be best friends."

Amy felt her eyes watering up. "I'll drink to that."

The couple clinked glasses before drinking as the waiter walked up with a paper. "Would you like dessert?"

Sheldon took the dessert menu and perused before looking up at his girlfriend. "Do you trust me?"

Amy heard her boyfriend's words and remembered a scene from one of the Star Trek movies he made her watch over the years. Deciding to have a little fun with Sheldon, she smirked as she put her hands together and gazed at her boyfriend with a playful smile. "Implicitly."

Sheldon's eyes bugged out for a second as the quote got his sub-cortical areas racing before he covered. Looking to the waiter, he spoke.

"One fudge brownie with two forks, please."

Now it was Amy's system that went into overdrive as she realized the implications of the brownie. When the waiter left, she smiled again. "An after dinner brownie on a train, Doctor Cooper?"

"Yes, Doctor Fowler. A just reward for the stimulating company during my meal and also for remembering a scene from Star Trek IV. While it wasn't from Spock, it's still extraordinary."

'Oh what this man can do when given the right inspiration.' Amy thought as she continued the flirtation. "Captain Kirk, while impressive in his own right, will never compare to Mr. Spock and his brilliant scientific mind. While his intelligence is his best quality, I have to admit that his lanky frame and tall stature…hoo!"

Sheldon suddenly got an image of himself as Spock to Amy's Nurse Chapel in her laboratory as he kissed her passionately before pushing her against the wall, ripping her panties, and taking her against the wall. His train of thought was interrupted by the plate with the brownie on it was placed in the middle.

"One brownie with two forks. Enjoy."

Seeing Sheldon's intense gaze made Amy blush before she took her fork and cut part of the brownie. She moved to take a second bite when she decided that turnabout was fair play.

With a look of innocence, she cut a piece of the chocolate treat and moved it to her mouth without taking her eyes off her boyfriend.

Observing his transfixed face, Amy slowly put the fork in her mouth and pulled the delicate treat off the fork. When consumed, she slowly licked her lips and was positive she heard a whimper before satisfaction flooded into her core.

"You made an excellent dessert choice, Doctor Cooper."

When Sheldon heard his formal title again, all the blood rushed to his lower half. Seeing their waiter, he flagged him down.

"I need a box for this brownie and I'll tip you thirty percent if you bring it here within twenty seconds."

The waiter made it back in fifteen.

Sheldon threw the item in the provided box before throwing down cash and taking Amy's hand. She couldn't help but get excited as he hurriedly moved her back to their compartment. The door was barely shut before her physicist devoured her lips like his last meal.

Their hands roamed all over each other before Amy's landed on his firm posterior. Sheldon's response was to push her harder into the door as his lips and teeth made a sensuous trail down her neck and back to her ear. His hands moved down to her rear end and kneaded it as he groaned.

"Oh, Sheldon." Amy moaned.

His body taking over his mind, Sheldon led her to the bunk. The two collapsed on it hard before getting wrapped around each other like cellophane, causing Amy's phone to fall on the floor nearby.

The neurobiologist's eyes were going into the back of her head as Sheldon nibbled on her carotid artery like an ear of sweet corn when her haze lifted for a moment. Reluctantly, she stopped her boyfriend's machinations.

"Sheldon…should we talk more?"

Amy's words cut through Sheldon's fog as he came back to reality. The physicist winced at the tightening of his pants as he looked down at his girlfriend. He knew honesty was key.

"Amy…this won't be an overnight process or an easy one. I say we take it one day at a time while we are in Michigan. However, but before we go back to Pasadena, we need to form a battle plan for facing down our foes."

Amy was intrigued. "By our foes, you're not referring to our insecurities?"

Sheldon inhaled. "By foes, I'm referring to our mothers, our friends, my future career plans, and yes, our insecurities and doubts."

Sheldon's left hand caressed Amy's cheek. "Amy, I love you more than Doctor Who…Spock…my spot…and I think also Physics." He moved his other hand to her hair and awkwardly, but gently combed it as he continued his thoughts.

"I want to show you how much…in all ways possible. I need patience as will you as we work together to forge our own path in our relationship…not the one that has been poked and mucked up by our families and our friends' jokes, condescension, and opinions."

Amy saw her boyfriend get a familiar twinkle in his eye. "However, as a brilliant neurobiologist once told me, the brain needs rest. What better way to do that to relax with proven relaxation techniques such as this…"

Sheldon kissed her gently on the lips before moving and giving Amy's ear a quick nibble. "…and this..."

Her soft moan traveled to his groin as he traveled down to his favorite spot on her neck. "Don't forget this, Doctor Fowler. Something I learned from my experience in a biology lab a few years back is to be thorough in your task."

'Where is my misophobic boyfriend who was afraid to touch me for all those years?' Amy thought before her final thoughts were stripped clean by a large hand palming her breast.

The couple's world blocked out everything as they were entwined together as their hands traveled over each other's upper body. Their domain was so insular they didn't hear Amy's phone ringing again.