The Forehead Initiation, a big bang theory fanfic

Title: The Forehead Initiation
Disclaimer: The Big Bang Theory, created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, all rights reserved to CBS and WB.
Rating: T

*knock knock knock* 'Amy.'

Surprised, the brunette neurobiologist turned her head around to see the tall, lanky theoretical physicist standing at her bedroom door with his head peeking in. 'When did you come in?'

'Well, I knocked at seven o'clock but you didn't answer,' Sheldon said carefully. 'I knocked again, but you still didn't answer. Then I proceeded to knock another three rounds; I still got nothing. So I opened the door with the key that you gave me last year.'

Silence. 'What?'

'The point is,' Sheldon continued impatiently, 'I knocked on your door and you didn't answer, so I simply went in.'

Amy blinked and stared at him.

'Anyway,' he said, breaking the awkward silence. 'Would you like to come out to the living room? I brought Thai food and a movie that you might like. We can watch it while having dinner. After all, it's our date night,' he walked in and let himself sat beside her on the bed, his eyes looking at her face cautiously. He didn't like seeing her like this. Ever since her mother's funeral, Amy had hardly eaten any food; she didn't respond to any of his electronic communications, and she didn't even call him to make plans about their upcoming date night.

She looked really pale. And he didn't like that.

'I guess that's fine,' Amy answered his question after a while, got up to her feet, and started walking towards the living room. She was about to open the bags of Thai food when Sheldon suddenly emerged from behind and stopped her hand.

'Let me take care of that. You go and sit on the couch. Or,' he said while searching for chopsticks, 'you can help me set the movie. The DVD is on the coffee table.'

'OK,' answered Amy nonchalantly.

Sheldon went back and forth bringing the food and setting the coffee table, humming all the while. He felt a little bit happier now that Amy had obliged to do the things that he had planned the night before. It was not until when he sat on the couch, and was going to give Amy her portion of rice with kung-pao chicken, that he realised she was sitting with her head down, her hands clutching the DVD.

'Amy?' he asked, his hand which was holding the food container hung in mid-air.

She didn't answer. Then he noticed a few dark spots stained her blue skirt.

'Amy?' he called her again, a little bit louder.

Amy jerked at his voice, startled. 'Sorry,' she said, wiping her face with her hands. 'Sorry, I...' her voice cracked.

Calm yourself, Fowler.

She took a deep breath, wiped some more tears from her eyes, and then looked up at him while throwing a small smile.

'I'm sorry,' she said softly. 'This movie, it reminded me of something.'

'Oh,' Sheldon frowned, relieved that she had stopped crying. 'I thought you like Forrest Gump. You told me that this is one of the best movies that you had ever seen and that you first saw it with yo…'

He abruptly stopped talking.

'My mother, yes.'

Then none of them said anything. Amy had had her head down again, looking at the cover of the movie, her fingers slowly stroking it.

'See Amy,' her mother turned her head to her while the credit started to roll, 'if God intended everybody to be the same, He'd have given us all braces on our legs.'

'Mother, I don't wear any braces on my legs,' Amy stood and began to walk towards the exit. 'And I AM different.'

'You are,' her mother said, taking her hand while walking down the theatre's stairs. 'That's why you're special,' she smiled.

'And just like Forrest,' she added when Amy rolled her eyes at her, 'I believe that you, my child, will do just fine.'

Her tears started to fall again at the memory. Regrets and guilt enveloped her as the images of her mother slowly rolling in her mind, making her miss her even more. Making her feel alone.

Leaving her broken-hearted.

Amy felt as if the air had left her lungs, crushing her heart. Gripping the DVD even tighter, she tried to breathe more evenly, more deeply; but her body refused to do so.

Then suddenly a pair of hands pulled her into a hug.

Patting her back awkwardly, Sheldon shifted his arms more comfortably around her little body and said, 'I'm sorry, Amy.'

Touched, she felt a wave of emotion hit her and sobs started to come out. She let herself cried silently in Sheldon's arms, for her voice couldn't even come out anymore.

She stopped after a while. Wiping her tears with a tissue Sheldon offered, she then found her voice and managed to say, 'Thank you, Sheldon.'

He stared down at his lap, thinking. 'I wish there's something that I can do to make you feel better.'

'I feel better now,' Amy looked up at him and smiled. 'Much better. Thank you.'

His eyes made their way back to her face, looking at her red, puffy eyes intently.

'Okay, that's it. Close your eyes,' he suddenly let go of her.

'Huh?' Amy felt disappointed. 'Why?'

'Just do it,' he said firmly, 'no further question.'

Amy pouted a little. She wished he'd hug her just a little longer; his warmth - fused with the talc smell - was really comforting. Nevertheless, exhaustion and grief had taken over her energy to argue with him. 'All right,' she sighed, closing her eyes.

The sound of crickets could be heard from afar. For a while, Sheldon found himself hesitating, feeling uncertain of what he was about to do next. He took a deep breath, and then focused his eyes at the sight of his pale-faced girlfriend; that was when he got the courage.

Amy was getting more curious. She was about to open her mouth and asked Sheldon what he was planning to do when suddenly his hands grabbed her shoulders, and she could feel his hot breath blowing at the top of her head. Before she got the chance to open her eyes, his lips touched her skin.

He kissed her forehead.

Sheldon broke the kiss after a while, only to find that Amy still had her eyes closed, giving him a chance to examine her face. Her cheeks are a little pink now, he thought. It gave her face a colour that wasn't existed a minute ago.

Good. He couldn't help but smiled at the sight; she looked better.

He quickly hid his smile when she started to open her eyes. She gazed at him with an unreadable expression, making Sheldon felt uneasy.

'Aren't you hungry? I am,' he swiftly turned, took a pair of chopsticks, breaking them into two. When he turned to give Amy her rice box, he saw her smiling from ear to ear, her eyes stared at his with a softness he couldn't explain. This caused his stomach to jump a little, but before he could do anything she leapt onto him, pulling him into a tight embrace.

'Thank you, Sheldon,' she whispered.

She no longer felt alone.

With one hand holding a rice-box, Sheldon placed his other hand on her hair, slightly stroking it, subconsciously smelling her hair. Her dandruff shampoo really does no longer smell like tar.

And he liked it.

They continued to hold each other for a little while, enjoying each other's presence. Then, it was Sheldon who broke off first.

'Amy?'

'Yes?' she answered cheerfully.

'I'm starving.'

Thanks for reading! Long live the Shamy! :)