The next morning was strange. None of the magic that had happened last night was there anymore. Sheldon acted like always – cool and a little distanced. As he did with everyone. Now also again with Amy. She sat on the sofa and was in a terrible mood, wrecking her head about how she could go back to the feelings she had had yesterday. But her boyfriend was getting ready to go to work. He had decided to go back even though he had taken off a few days to take care of her. Apparently he had stopped worrying.

"Alright, I think that's all… I'll meet Leonard in the hallway" Sheldon grabbed his satchel and put it over his shoulder.

Amy just nodded and looked at him. She hoped to catch a glance, a smile, anything that told her he was just a little overwhelmed but everything was alright. But no. Nothing.

Sheldon didn't even bother looking at her anymore. "See you later"

"Yes…" As soon as the door slammed shut, Amy grabbed her crutches and got up. She limped over to the bathroom, got out of her bathing robe and got dressed. Then she walked out of the apartment, over to Penny's.

She knocked on the door. She needed to talk.

"Ames" Penny seemed surprised her best friend had come over.

Without a word Amy limped into Penny's apartment and let herself fall onto the sofa with a loud sigh. Penny closed the door. "Tea?"

"Wine"

The blonde stopped in the middle of her living room to stare at the neurobiologist with a look of disbelief. But the surprise only lasted a few seconds, before Penny shrugged, went over to the kitchen, got two wine glasses and poured the red colored alcohol in it.

She balanced the glasses over to Amy. "9 a.m. and you're drinking. I'm proud of you. Cheers!"

Amy just nodded while emptying the glass in one go. She knew that telling Penny about what had happened last night between her and her boyfriend was risky because usually Penny was bad at keeping secrets or shutting up in general. But she needed someone to talk to. And wine would definitely help her ease her tongue.

"Let me guess…" Penny filled up Amy's glass again. "Sheldon"

"That wasn't hard to guess" Amy grumbled and took another big sip of the soothing beverage.

Penny eyed her, then put the wine bottle down and bit her lower lip. "Wanna talk about it?"

"He's just being the weirdo he always is" Amy had decided not to give too much away.

"Well, the weirdo you fell in love with" Without realizing, Penny had said something really important.

She was right. Amy was in love with him and had fallen for him even though she had clearly known about his flaws. And maybe he wasn't angry at her. Or cold. Maybe he just didn't know how to deal with all of this.

"Do you have any advice for me on how to seduce a man?" Amy suddenly blurted out and Penny choked on her wine.

It took several minutes before she was able to look at the young woman glassy-eyed. She opened her mouth but closed it again and thought about it.

Then she sighed. "I know how to seduce a man but I have no clue about seducing a Sheldon, sorry."

"He's not that different from other men, I believe. I just never tried to…"

"Lay him"

"A rather blunt description, but yes."

"Then… uhm… the simpliest is just starting to make out. Kiss him, nibble his ears, kiss his neck, touch him…" Penny coughed a little and rubbed her temples for a second.

Amy stared at her quizzically.

Penny laughed out loud. "Sorry, I just can't imagine that with Sheldon" She quickly cleared her throat again and put on a serious face… as well as she could.

"Anything that works with a little less touching?"

"If you want little touching then I wouldn't exactly suggest sex, Ames…"

"I want to slowly prepare him"

Penny sighed. Amy seemed to be very serious about this.

"Alright. How about you… I don't know. Accidentally run into him naked. After a bath or in the bedroom while changing. Or even better; in hot underwear. Maybe something that underlines your breasts… Sheldon stares at them a lot."

"He does?" Amy felt herself blush. She had never realized that, but she was also sure her best friend didn't just say that to encourage her. She looked down on herself insecurely. She had never really made a big fuss about her own body, never really thought about it or specifically used it for anything. But with that new piece of information, maybe she could do a few tricks to get more physical attention from Sheldon. Like she had last night.

Leonard, Raj and Howard looked at each other, when Sheldon smashed down his tray on the table and let himself fall on the chair. Without a word, he started eating his sandwich, not looking at any of his friends.

They all decided to stay quiet and eat their food, too. No one really knew what was wrong with Sheldon and it was hard to tell. Some days the smallest thing annoyed him, other days his tolerance was higher. Today was not one of these days it seemed.

"Does the Warlords of Ka'a evening still stand today?" Howard was the one who decided to break the silence.

Leonard was almost prepared for an outburst of anger or whatever Sheldon was feeling. But instead his friend looked up and his facial expression seemed a little more relaxed. "Oh, yes!"

"Bernadette will be out with a few colleagues, so we can meet in my apartment if you want!"

"Sounds great!" Sheldon looked back on his plate.

Raj struggled for a few seconds, then he looked at his friend. "Since when are you okay with outsourcing a game of your apartment?"

Sheldon shrugged. "I think Amy needs a little time to calm down."

"It's sweet how you care about her" Leonard smiled.

"There is nothing sweet about it." Sheldon barked. "It's in the Relationship Agreement and that's a signed contract. I have to do it, so I do it."

Leonard nodded towards Howard and Raj. Now they finally knew what had bothered him.

It was around 6 p.m. when Sheldon finally got home. He had procrastinated at work and then at the Comic Book Store and had only left when Stuart wouldn't have stopped asking him what was wrong. And talking about Amy to Stuart was nothing Sheldon felt comfortable with, not after what had happened in the past.

Sheldon quietly closed the door and took a deep relieved breath, when he realized Amy wasn't sitting in the living room. He took off his shoes and his jacket, put his satchel away and walked over to the kitchen to prepare some tea for himself. He put the water on the stove and grabbed the tea box. Camomile, yes. That sounded about right.

When the water was done boiling and he put it in the cup, he started feeling like something was missing. He usually always drank tea with Amy. That little vixen. Sheldon sighed.

"Amy?"

No answer. The theoretical physicist went back into the living room. "Amy?"

Still silence. He walked over to Leonard's room and knocked on the door. Then he heard some noises from the bathroom. Slowly he walked over and listened. Apparently his girlfriend was in there. He knocked three times. "Amy?" Again. "Amy?" And one last time. "Amy…"

"Yes, I'm in here"

"May I ask what you're doing?"

"Well, I must have slipped somehow and now I can't get up."

Sheldon's eyes widened and he opened the door immediately. Amy was sitting on the floor. The bathtub was filled with a lot of foamy water and there was a little puddle next to it, in which Amy had stepped apparently.

"Why didn't you wait for me?" Sheldon sighed as he walked over to her.

"I had no idea when you would be back"

He bit his lip conscience-stricken. "Sorry. Let me put something there so you can get up without slipping again."

He placed a towel over the puddle and then looked back at his girlfriend. It was only now, that he realized she wasn't wearing much. A pair of gray shorts, like he had seen them on Penny before, and a black bra. He swallowed and tried to control his thoughts but they swirled around like ladybugs on a warm day in June. Last night. What she had done. What she had made him feel. Her neck. Her hair. The soft skin of her waist under his hand. The memories came crashing so fast, that Sheldon almost got dizzy.

"Is everything okay?" Amy eyed him worriedly.

Sheldon nodded quickly. "Yes, I'm fine. Come on, let's get you back on your feet."

He struggled a little with where to touch her, but as she placed her hands on his shoulders, he had no other option than to grab her hips and pull her up.

When she was back on her feet again she blew a single hair strand out of her face and then looked up into Sheldon's blue eyes. She caught him staring down on her chest but quickly rising his eyes when he realized she was looking at him.

"Thank you" Her voice wasn't more than a whisper when she slowly lowered her look onto his perfect lips.

"I think I'm gonna let you take your bath" His words were calm and quiet, yet a little shaky and full of something Amy couldn't quite detect.

Sheldon took a step back and turned around. Amy grabbed his wrist.

The physicist swallowed hard, when he felt his girlfriend's tight grip. He didn't know if he could stand looking at her again and being able to control certain regions of his body enough to not make her see what she did to him by just being in a bra.

"Would you help me?" Amy still had her hand wripped around his wrist. "I'm afraid of slipping again."

Sheldon finally turned around. "I don't know if that's a good idea, Amy."

Amy let go of him. "Why?"

"Well, the situation…"

"As a man of science, I think you are well aware of the anatomy of a female body. And it wouldn't be the first time you see me… naked."

The last word sent shivers up and down Sheldon's spine. He stood there motionless, as Amy slowly pulled down the shorts and tried to step out of them. She started to stagger and in less then a second Sheldon was there again to hold her. "Careful"

Amy looked up at him and chuckled. "Amy Farrah Fowler, the great neurobiologist… not even able to get out of her shorts alone."

Sheldon grinned.

Amy's smile slowly disappeared and her heart pounded in her chest as she slowly turned around and wiped her hair to the front over her shoulder. "Could you help me, please?"

Sheldon felt like a robot. He felt like standing somewhere else in the room and watching himself put his fingers on Amy's bra hook to open it. It was as if everything happened in slow motion. Sheldon felt his blood rush through his body, circulating in it, his heart pumping blood like crazy.

He lowered his hands and watched how the bra straps slipped down Amy's shoulders and arms. Then he watched her place the bra on a nearby chair that Sheldon had put in there to make things easier for her.

There was this feeling of being dizzy again. Sheldon swallowed and tried to concentrate. But all these thoughts were gone, when Amy turned back around. He couldn't help it. He had to look. And she saw it. She saw what he had tried to hide for all those years. His eyes were locked, they wandered over her chest, inch for inch.

Amy was nervous but in a weird kind of way she enjoyed it. Goosebumps went up and down her arms as she analyzed Sheldon's face. It was tense, but not in that kind of way when he was angry or scared. There was something dark in his look. Something raw.

Before she even realized what she was doing, Amy had pulled up the short-armed t-shirt Sheldon was always wearing over the long-armed one.

His breathing tempo had increased when he looked into her lightgreen eyes.

"You little vixen" He whispered while slowly shaking his head.

Amy knew she had him. She took the opportunity and also got rid of the long-armed shirt. It took all of her strength not to run her hands down his naked upper body. She had never in her entire life been so tempted to touch someone. The affect he had on her was insane.

"I have a proposal to make" Amy swallowed when she realized her voice had gotten thin.

"Which is, Miss Fowler?" He answered, letting his look wander around between her chest and her eyes.

"We take that bath together"

It took her a second to realize what she had said and when she realized, she was afraid she had gone too far.

But Sheldon was caught up in so many crazy feelings, that he just nodded. Amy's mouth hung open, as Sheldon slowly opened the zipper of his pants. There was so much excitement and arousal running through her body, that she was afraid she'd tremble and fall if he would just even slightly touch her in that moment.

But Sheldon was too busy folding his pants and putting them on the chair. He then stepped back and looked into Amy's eyes.

She was insecure what to do next but she didn't want to push her luck. So she didn't take off the last piece of clothing she was wearing. Instead she smiled at her boyfriend. "Well…"

He stretched out his hand supportingly and Amy took it, before she stepped into the bathtub. The water was warm and relaxing. Amy slowly sat down and sighed while she leaned back. She closed her eyes for a few seconds and when she opened them again, Sheldon sat down across from her. She drew up her knees so he would have enough space. Their toes touched and Amy giggled and then smiled at Sheldon. "Thank you"

"What for" His blue eyes seemed to pierce through her soul.

"Trusting me" Amy whispered.

Sheldon was not a person who would get emotional or who was usually touched by any words. But what Amy had just said, warmed his heart in a weird kind of way. He was trying hard for her. And she realized and appreciated it.

"Turn around" Sheldon sat back a little further.

"W-what?" Amy asked insecurely.

"Turn around" Sheldon repeated.

The young neurobiologist did as she had been told and cringed, as she felt a pair of warm hands on her shoulders.

"I'm sorry" Sheldon apologized immediately.

"No, I was just… not aware…" Amy mumbled.

Her boyfriend smiled to himself and then put his hands back on her shoulders before starting to slowly knead her warm skin.

Amy couldn't help it, a moan that was born deep down in her throat, escaped through her mouth. It sent a shiver through Sheldon's body.

While his left hand continued massaging her shoulder, Sheldon's right hand slowly slipped down her back, gently using his fingernails. He felt her bending her back and noticed the goosebumps on her arms.

He continued that dangerously arousing game for a few more minutes. Then he decided to do it again and before Amy knew what was happening, his lips had softly collided with the side of her neck. Just like they had last night.