The residents of apartment 4A were gathered around the coffee table when the door opened, prompting the group to turn around, curious who was joining them. "Hi," came a familiar voice.

"What are you doing here?" Penny was the first to drop her plate on the coffee table and rush to greet her best friend. "I thought you didn't get in until tomorrow?"

Amy grinned, knowing she had pulled off her surprise. "I didn't have any meetings or classes to teach tomorrow, so I changed my flight. It's okay that I'm early, right? I can still stay across the hall, can't I?"

"You're always welcome here, Amy. Have you eaten? We have plenty of food. I'll get you a plate," Leonard ushered the woman into his home, motioning for her to sit next to Sheldon on the couch.

Sharing a polite smile, Sheldon and Amy sat in their regular spots, neither saying a word to the other. "Let's get you across the hall for the night," Penny finally broke the tension between the pair. "I was going to change the sheets before you got here tomorrow. You don't mind waiting for me to do that, do you?"

"That's fine," she followed Penny from the apartment, turning back and making eye contact with Sheldon, nodding her head ever so slightly.

Leonard cleared the leftovers and dirty dishes from the coffee table, returning to the living room, he sat in the armchair and watched his roommate play on his phone for a few minutes, "Hey, you sure you're okay with Amy staying across the hall for the weekend? I've never felt more tension between two people than the two of you just now."

"It's been planned for weeks that Amy will stay here this weekend. Her early arrival was unexpected, but it's fine. Her arriving early is good. There are a few things I need to discuss with her. I can try talking to her tonight as long as Penny isn't over there for too long."

"Okay. If you ever want to talk, I'm here."

"Where are you going?" Penny eyed Sheldon suspiciously as he opened the door to exit not long after she returned to the apartment.

Panic crossed the man's face, "I, uh, need to speak with Amy about something. I won't be long. I've got my keys, so if you want to lock up before going to bed, that's fine."

The physicist plucked his keys from the bowl and slipped them into his pocket before closing the door behind himself. Leonard quickly shared his conversation with his roommate before Penny could ask anything. "I asked if he was okay with Amy staying here. He said it'd be planned for weeks and he was fine with it. I have no clue what he wants to talk to her about. Did Amy say anything while you were over there?"

"No," she shook her head. "I tried asking about her mystery man. All she would say is that she's happy, and isn't ready to share more details, but promises to tell us all about him soon."

Unbeknownst to the couple in 4A, a very different scene from what they thought was happening in apartment 4B. Amy opened the door before Sheldon completed his ritual knocks. "I'm sorry. I'll close the door and let you finish your knocks."

"I don't care," Sheldon gently pushed Amy's shoulder until she backed into the apartment far enough for him to close the door behind himself.

Neither said a word as they stared into each other's eyes. Amy reached for Sheldon's hand while he dropped his head and pressed his lips to hers. Slow at first, hesitant, until Amy's hands found their way around Sheldon's neck, tangling her fingers in the hair at the back of his head as she parted her lips and sighed in Sheldon's mouth. Sheldon pulled Amy into his arms, walking her backward until they hit the couch and he gently lowered her, hovering over his girlfriend, continuing to kiss her until she pulled back, desperate to catch her breath. "That was nice."

Sheldon shifted to sit next to the woman he loved. "I've been waiting to do that. I've missed you. Do you have any idea how it nearly killed me to be sitting in my spot with you next to me in yours and not be able to acknowledge you in the manner I'd been dreaming of?"

"You, you've been dreaming of that?" she stammered in disbelief at her boyfriend's revelation. He nodded before dipping his head to kiss her again. The pair cuddled on the couch, kissing from time to time, neither saying much until Amy broke the silence, "It's been almost two months. Should we tell everyone? The girls know I've been seeing someone, but I've refused to tell them more."

"I do enjoy keeping our relationship to ourselves and not having our friends butt in constantly, but we agreed to a one-month trial without telling our friends. We've nearly doubled that. We're scheduled to have dinner across the hall tomorrow. We're all supposed to have dinner at Wolowitz's after the baby shower on Saturday. You can choose when you want to tell them."

The couple silently embraced for several minutes until Sheldon spoke again, "There's so much I want to talk to you about, but Penny and Leonard were already suspicious of me coming over here. I should go home, but I want to take you out on a proper date before you go back to Texas."

Amy twisted to look at her boyfriend sitting behind her. "It'll be out of the norm for our dates, but I'm free Saturday morning. We could go to brunch before I have to be at Bernadette's for the baby shower."

"Amy," started Sheldon, "I would like to take you to brunch on Saturday morning."

Amy let herself into the Wolowitz home early Saturday afternoon, announcing her arrival, "Sorry I'm late. What can I do to help?"

"Oh good," Raj emerged from the dining room. "Amy, can you help Penny with the decorations? I'm almost done with the food. And don't let Bernadette do anything! Today is her day. She shouldn't lift a finger."

Waving him back to the kitchen, Penny chimed in, "Yeah, yeah. We've got it all under control out here." The door swung closed behind him, prompting the blonde to hand the late arrival a bag of balloons. "Here, blow these up. So, where'd you take off to this morning? I came over and you were nowhere to be found."

The balloon she was in the midst of inflating suddenly flew across the room, "Oh, um, I agreed to have brunch with my parents. I told my mother I had to leave by one, but the restaurant was busier than we expected so we didn't finish until after that. I rushed over here as soon as we were done. I'm sorry for being late, but you know how my mother can be."

The gang stayed after the other baby shower guests were long gone, enjoying dinner and time together until Sheldon brought up the time. "Leonard. It's seven-forty. Laundry night begins promptly at eight o'clock. We need to leave now or I'll be late."

"Guess I'd better go or I'll never hear the end of it," Leonard turned his attention to his wife, "You staying longer or leaving too?"

Penny glanced at Amy, "You've got an early flight, Ames. You ready to leave?"

"Thanks for inviting me and making sure I could be here this weekend, but Penny's right. I have to be at the airport early tomorrow," Amy was making her way to each person in the room, hugging them before reaching for her purse. "I'll be back in December, maybe before then if my mother has her way about me coming home for Thanksgiving."

Penny and Amy left not long after Leonard and Sheldon. By the time they were in Penny's car, Amy had a text from Sheldon. "I thought you wanted to tell everyone tonight."

"I did. I do want them to know. I don't know why I didn't say something." She quickly typed back. Sending another message, she reminded the man, "You could've said something, too. You didn't have to wait for me to bring it up."

"Do you think you'll be able to join me while I do my laundry? I want to spend as much time together as we can before you leave in the morning."

Amy grinned at her phone as Penny glanced over, noting her friend's demeanor. "What's got you smiling like that? Is it your mystery man?"

"Let me send one more, then I'll put it away until we get back to the apartment. He was asking to talk tonight," Amy had a message half-typed while talking. "We're almost there. Penny asked if I was texting my mystery man. I told her he wanted to talk tonight so I don't think she's going to ask to hang out tonight. I'll meet you in the laundry room."

"I can't wait to learn more about this guy. I'd love to meet whoever the lucky man is who's got you grinning like a fool at a couple of texts," Penny focused on the road in front of her. "But I'll leave you alone about him for now. I'm just happy that you're happy. Honestly, I was worried about you being alone when you first moved, but I worry less now knowing you've got someone else checking in with you regularly."

Reaching across the center console, Amy grabbed Penny's hand that was resting on her leg and squeezed it. "Thanks. And he does make me happy. I promise you'll be the first I tell all about him and how we met when I decide I'm ready to share more."

Amy trudged up the stairs next to Penny, bidding her a good night before opening the door to apartment 4B to drop her purse on the couch. The bespectacled woman waited several minutes before opening the door and quietly sneaking down the stairs to the laundry room, not wanting to be heard by her friends across the hall. She took a breath and smoothed her hair as she turned the corner into the laundry room. "Hi, Sheldon."

"Hello, Amy," Sheldon turned around from where he was sorting his laundry into two washing machines. Amy sidled up next to him, slipping her arm around his lower back, and positioning herself at his side. "I like being close to you, but it's difficult to do my laundry with only one arm and I'm not comfortable asking you to sort my dirty clothes with me. Can you give me three minutes to finish this?"

The woman dropped her arm and backed away from her boyfriend, granting his request for space. She silently watched him sort the clothes in the basket, and close the lid on each washer before starting the machines. "You're leaving in less than twelve hours," was the first thing he said upon turning around. "Do we tell our friends separately or continue to act as though we didn't resume our relationship nearly two months ago? The next time we'll all be together is at Christmas. That's three months away. Unless your mother convinces you to come home for Thanksgiving, then it's only two months until you're back."

"I'm okay waiting if you're okay waiting. Or I can call everyone and tell them tonight," Amy reached for her phone in her pocket before Sheldon stopped her by planting a quick kiss on her lips.

"Let's wait."

Amy locked eyes with Sheldon as she rose onto her tiptoes to return his kiss, "Let's wait."