***Note: This is a sequel to The Coccinella Correlation and The Neurochemical Analysis. This will alternate between Amy and Sheldon's POV. Please enjoy! :)

Amy sat apprehensively on the now too familiar couch at Sheldon and Leonard's apartment, watching everyone as they were gathering to begin eating dinner. As she stealthily observed the gang, she noticed that it seemed like any other evening—any other dinner. Leonard was rambling on about his painfully derivative research while Penny gazed on dreamily, no doubt trying to pay attention to Leonard while casually eavesdropping on Howard and Bernadette's conversation about the upcoming wedding. Raj sat quietly toying with his new phone to which he seemed way too attached. Then there was Sheldon; sitting in his spot, generously offering an occasional head nod to Leonard while obviously focusing his attention on some problem or equation far more important to him. Yes, it seemed that the universe was in order and no radical changes had been made. However she knew deep within her that this shallow observation was an utter delusion. Her world had indeed been shaken—radically altered, and the tranquil demeanor that she outwardly exuded was a massive misrepresentation of the frenzy that was moving rapidly inside of her. It had been one week since that night that she would never forget; Valentine's night—the night when her boyfriend, Sheldon (Sheldon…her boyfriend!) told her that he loved her.

One week ago she felt her world shift, and yet nothing outside of her had shifted. It was almost as if nothing had happened at all. This was the first time the whole group had been together since Valentine's Day, and nobody had said a word about this development. She was sure that they were all aware because she texted Penny immediately when Sheldon left her apartment that night after their dinner, and news always travels fast with Penny at the helm. Why was nobody talking about this? More importantly, why hadn't Sheldon mentioned anything to her?

They hadn't seen each other since that night either. The day after that wonderful Valentine's night, he informed her during their morning Skype session that he was on the verge of a major breakthrough and would be devoting much more time to his work. So they had practically been strangers all week, only communicating through text message and brief nightly chats. Not once within their conversations were the events of that night mentioned. She wanted to give him the space and opportunity to bring up the discussion on his own time, but she began to worry when he left it out of his weekly relationship review email. Despite her concerns, she still expected him to greet her warmly and brag about their news to everyone. Alas, he just sat there stoically.

She had been looking forward to this all week. This was her and Sheldon's chance to announce their love and proudly claim their title as an ultimate power couple. Why was she being stripped of this glory? She began to calm her thoughts as she continued to pretend listening to Leonard's insipid research details. She glanced over at Sheldon who was at this point bickering with Leonard. He noticed her looking at him, and quickly shot her the tiniest smile. As her apprehension melted away at his smiling eyes, she let her mind drift back to that night one week ago:

When they had left her apartment that chilly evening, she was on top of the world. A man was actually in love with her, though it was not the first time. Her beckoning pelvis had stolen the hearts of many a man in the past. But this was different. She knew that it wasn't her pelvis that Sheldon was after. No, he wanted her mind and she wanted his mind (among other things) with the same intensity. She too declared her love that night…that night.

Oh that night, her mind shifted—if she didn't have such an objection to the fields of mysticism and sorcery, she would even describe that night as magical. He let her hold his hand as they walked to an upscale restaurant and sat amongst a giant display of roses and balloons. Sheldon quickly pointed out that it was a fire hazard and insisted they go instead to the Cheesecake Factory. How romantic it was for him to consider their safety while upholding sensible Pasadena city fire coding laws! Over dinner they discussed the latest advancements in neurobiology, and even entertained the idea of a collaborative experiment. She remembered Sheldon's smile that seemed to be glued to his face. She had never seen him so happy, so witty, and so relieved. But if he was so happy about the progression of their relationship, why had he been avoiding the issue all week? Why had he not mentioned it to the group? Why did it feel like little had changed? Why hadn't the—

"Go on, Amy!" Sheldon yelped, bringing her thoughts to a halt.

"Excuse me?" Amy replied, shaken.

Sheldon shook his head in disapproval. "I see that your fraternization with Penny has corrupted your attention span. I was afraid it would come to this."

Smiling, Penny shot Sheldon a gesture with which his Christian upbringing made him uncomfortable.

Rolling his eyes, Sheldon continued. "Anyway Amy, I was telling everyone that you mentioned to me on Facebook that you had some big professional news to share tonight. Go on, let's hear it."

Clearing her throat, Amy began nervously. "Oh yes, indeed I have some news. The California Science Center in Los Angeles is hosting a Scientific Nightlife Event. It's a night club atmosphere with a DJ and dancing and alcohol, all within the confines of an open and functioning science museum. It's a true melding of the worlds of geniuses and the drunken underlings of society! Best news of all is that I am going to be the headlining biologist giving lectures and presenting my research that evening. I am going to be presenting my findings on primate addiction while attempting to keep my rhesus monkeys away from the open bar, what fun irony!"

"Well…that's great news, Amy." Leonard added with a slight upward inflection.

"No, you haven't even heard the best part," Amy interjected, "Being that I am the star of this shindig, I was able to reserve VIP tickets for you all! It's next Thursday, so dress for a party and don't make any other plans!"

The room erupted with cheers and mumblings of outfits and dance moves and-

"Wait a minute," Sheldon whined, "Next Thursday is Anything Can Happen Thursday. We're going to sneak into the Geology department and carve cryptic messages into their rocks, remember? There's no way this can be any more fun than that."

"Oh hush, Sheldon" Penny groaned, "This is going to be fun and science-y. You should give it a chance. You might just enjoy yourself."

"Sheldon, it is going to be fun." Amy added, gently placing her hand on his knee. "It's going to be a party where we are the cool kids, and I'm going to be a rock star", she gleamed. "I want you to go with me as my date. We can enrich our minds so we don't feel guilty about throwing caution to the wind and dancing the night away".

Sheldon's eyes darted immediately to her hand on his knee. He quickly pat her hand and stood up. Pursing his lips and taking a breath, he began "First of all Amy, you know I don't dance."

Bernadette spoke up, "I don't know about that Sheldon. I seem to remember some sexy moves from you!"

Howard looked at her puzzled, causing Bernadette and Penny to burst into laughter.

Now annoyed, Sheldon replied "I'm sorry, but your alcohol soaked memories seemed to have clouded your notions, Bernadette. I do not dance."

He continued. " I also do not drink alcohol, carouse with those who are drinking alcohol, or find any interest in placing myself in a darkened noisy room filled with hoards of sweaty intoxicated people, whether I am in a science museum or not."

Amy was afraid this would happen. However after spending nearly two years with Sheldon, she knew to always come prepared with a plan.

"I see." Amy replied dropping her head. "Well tell me this Dr. Cooper, do you support your girlfriend in her professional development?"

Sheldon's eyes quickly darted up connecting with Amy's. He was taken aback by her question. "Amy, you know that I—"

"All I know Sheldon is that you have agreed to observe the guidelines that you, yourself have put in place within the parameters of the Relationship Agreement." She pulled a copy of the agreement out of her messenger bag.

"According to Section 8.4b, and I quote 'Any and all ceremonies, parties, or events that serve to further nurture professional development of the boyfriend or girlfriend shall be attended and/or observed by the respective partner.' "

She moved towards Sheldon, presenting the page for him to read. "Do you remember writing that section, Dr. Cooper?"

"Well that's a silly question, of course I remember. You know I have an eidetic mem—"

"Answer the question, Dr. Cooper." Amy smiled.

"Yes, I do." Sheldon said begrudgingly.

Amy continued, "And are these in fact your initials indicating that you do agree to observe and abide by that section?"

Sheldon, in defeat, replied, "Yes, they are."

Amy perked up. "So Sheldon, will you please be my date and support my professional endeavor?"

Sheldon raised his head to establish eye contact and replied with his koala face. "I suppose that I will be there."

Amy gave him a warm smile and sat back down on the couch, satisfied with herself. Her worrisome thoughts faded away as she took comfort in her and Sheldon's practical dynamic. Perhaps things were okay after all.

After a moment of silence, the room erupted with applause and laughter.

"My God, you are the Sheldon-whisperer!" Howard said in awe.

Sheldon glared at Howard, but curiously did not go on to protest.

The remainder of the evening was filled with excited speculation about the event dotted with occasional interruptions by Sheldon, trying (unsuccessfully) to change the topic of conversation to a more suitable one, like the hidden conspiracy that's on the brink of bringing the model train community to its knees.

As the night drew to a close, Amy got up to leave. Feeling confident from her earlier win, she decided to take a chance on testing out the status of her recent relationship development.

After saying her goodbyes to the rest of the group, Amy slowly walked to the door as Sheldon followed, as usual.

"So Sheldon, can I assume that you will be maintaining your current demanding work schedule?"

"You are correct in your assumption but rest assured, I am very close to the reaching the breakthrough of my career; and once I do we can reestablish our previous successful dating schedule, after a suitable celebration period, of course", Sheldon replied with a starry-eyed smirk.

"Of course." Amy smiled warmly.

Placing his hands behind his back and slightly leaning forward, Sheldon began softly. "Okay then, good night Amy."

"Goodnight Sheldon." Amy paused. "I love you."

All other conversations in the room screeched to a halt as all eyes were suddenly on Sheldon, whose hands were noticeably trembling.

After taking a second to calm his nerves, Sheldon tilted his head and stepped back slowly.

Taking a hurried breath, he replied with a high pitch, "Amy, I have explained to you that we cannot come to that conclusion until we receive the results from your repeated brain scans; but even if we had those results, why would you say…" Sheldon took a second to focus his thoughts and continued while leaning closer to Amy, almost whispering "…that you love me after already making it clear on our previous encounter?"

"Sheldon, first of all, you and I both know we don't need the results of those brain scans. You know that I love you; I told you so last week. You seemed fairly happy about it then, but we have not discussed it any further since. You haven't even made any changes to the Relationship Agreement. So now I am taking the initiative and moving that as a gesture of our love, we begin to say it to each other often, for example when we part for the evening or perhaps before terminating a telephone conversation."

"Okay, I'm going to have to stop you right there," Sheldon interrupted. "The Relationship Agreement has not been amended because the purpose of the agreement is to set rules and guidelines to govern our behavior in this relationship, not our emotions. An amendment is unnecessary because I don't see why our behavior has to change just because of an upgraded emotional status. Furthermore, reaffirming our feelings to each other is just silly and redundant. There are countless better ways to spend our time together. Remember just last month when I taught you how to throat sing?"

"Yes", Amy replied, averting her eyes.

"Well tell me this," Sheldon began smugly "Would we have won top honors at the National Overtone Singing Enthusiast's annual luncheon if instead of practicing, we spent the evening repeating our feelings to each other? I think not!" he smirked in derision.

Actively trying to remain calm, Amy replied, "Sheldon, I believe you are missing the point here. Ever since last week, it seems that our relationship has not progressed at the rate I had expected. I understand you are preoccupied with your work, but I would appreciate some effort in observing the significance of the events of last week. You told me that you loved me, and it's important to me that you act like it." She grabbed his hand.

Sheldon closed his eyes and took a nervous gulp. His mind was conflicted with a sea of thoughts. The thought of the germs on her hand terrified him, but he didn't want to let go. He gently slid his thumb across her wrist, holding on tightly. His heart began to race as he felt her fingers curl underneath his own. Despite his heartbeat and the sudden heavy, consuming feeling in his stomach, her hand seemed to ground him, to comfort him. But no, he couldn't let himself be comforted now. He couldn't give in to her logic. Not this time. Not about this. He released her hand slowly, hesitantly, before tensing up his entire body—placing his hands at his sides, fists clenched.

Softly and stoically, he began "I still don't see why I have to change my behavior and reaffirm my feelings to you in such a banal display. That is where I stand on the matter, and I request that we end all further discussion."

Amy looked up at Sheldon with the beginning of a tear in her eye. Stifling herself she replied, "Very well. Goodnight Sheldon. I do love you."

Shaking his head slowly with his eyes closed tightly, Sheldon opened the door. "Goodnight, Amy."

Amy stood on the other side of the door for a moment. She couldn't physically move until she mentally processed what had just happened. Why did she do that? She knew that Sheldon would be fragile after the events of last week. She knew that with him, she had to maintain firm boundaries and not place too much on him too quickly. How foolish she was to push him! She knew better.

She decided she needed to go back in there and make things right. Just before knocking on the door, she overheard Penny yelling.

"Sheldon, what the hell did you just do? I will never understand. You came home last week happier than we have ever seen you. But instead of taking this night to celebrate with your girlfriend like a normal human being, you made us promise to keep quiet, AND you shut poor Amy out at every turn! Sweetie, what is going on with you?"

Through the door she could hear some indecipherable mumbling followed by Sheldon's voice booming.

"This IS NOT up for discussion. I ask that everyone leave NOW!"

As she heard a distant door slam shut, she took a deep breath and began to descend the stairs towards home.

***Okay, I promise there is at least one more chapter coming soon, I would never just leave it there! It kind of made my heart hurt just stopping where I did. There is some good stuff coming, so stay tuned! Thanks again for reading! :)