(Three hours earlier)

Sheldon

Sheldon lays on his bed curled on his side. In his head he is carefully reviewing every interaction he has ever had with Amy. Trying to figure out how he made her hate him. He was used to people not liking him. Normally he didn't care what people thought about him. When it came to Amy he cared deeply. She's the only person he has ever wanted to like him, and it seems now she despised him. His eyes feel like they are beginning to prick with tears. It's an uncomfortable sensation and accompanying emotion. It doesn't help that with his eidetic memory he can remember every detail of their interactions. The look on her face the first time they met. The way her fingers curled around her cup at the book shop. Her open innocent face, the way she could look at him and make him feel like the most handsome and interesting man in the world. Now she looked at him like he had four heads.

Sheldon hears a knock on the door and he knows it's Leonard. He doesn't want to talk to Leonard. After Amy abandoned him on the staircase Sheldon simply didn't have energy to explain to Leonard. Who Amy was and why a woman was running away from him like he was a serial killer. When they returned home he locked himself in his room

"Hey sweetie, can we come in?" he hears Penny ask.

"Great," he thinks now Penny is involved. "Do whatever you want." he answers and his door opens and Leonard and Penny walk in.

"Hey buddy, are you okay?" Leonard asks him tentatively.

"I'm fine. I'm just questioning all my life choices and thinking about buying a cat."

"Buying a cat?" Penny asks. "Sweetie, that doesn't sound fine."

"You hate cats Sheldon." Leonard reminds him gently.

"Things change Leonard. You think you've finally met someone who understands you. Then boom! They can't even say hello to you on the stairs."

"Who was that girl Sheldon?" Penny asks him sitting on his bed. He doesn't answer her. Not knowing how to describe what Amy was to him. He knew her only briefly, yet she was one of the most important relationships he's ever had. Also he knows Penny will over react.

"No one." he answers.

"You wouldn't be acting like this if she were no one." Penny says patting his back making him recoil from her unwanted touch. He just shrugs and moves away from her hand. The only person who had ever been able to touch him without making his skin crawl was Amy.

"Why don't we go to the lego store. Then pick up dinner?" Leonard asks him gently. "Wolowitz and Raj are coming over."

"Can we go to the train store instead?" he asks him getting up. Thinking that maybe a change in scenery will ease the ache in his heart.

"Whatever you want Sheldon." Leonard tells him and they leave and go to Leonard's car. Once they are on the road Leonard tries again to coax out of him what happened. "Are you going to tell me who that was?"

"Did I ever tell you that I taught at Harvard?" he answers staring out the window. He knows he hasn't. He tries never to think of his time on the east coast.

"No, you were a Professor there? I thought you hated teaching?"

"I absolutely abhor it." Sheldon agrees. "Hence the cross coastal move."

"Was she one of your students there? Did you flunk her? That would explain why she's so mad at you." Leonard asks laughing. Sheldon shakes his head.

"She wasn't a student of mine!" he snaps at him. "She was, I don't know what she was actually."

"Did you date her?" Leonard asks confused. In all his years of knowing Sheldon he had never expressed any interest in dating.

"Define dating?" Sheldon asks him.

"You know going out, sharing a meal, kissing…" Leonard leads and Sheldon looks contemplative.

"According to those parameters, yes, she and I dated." he says sourly putting air quotes around the word dating. To classify how he felt about Amy as dating seemed to broad a definition. What he had felt for her was so much more, than just a casual date like his friends go on.

"So which part? The sharing a meal or the…" Leonard asks and Sheldon cuts him off.

"All of it" he says curtly closing his eyes trying not to think about the feeling of Amy's lips against his.

"So you… Wow… I didn't know you had any interest in dating." Leonard asks him floored by his friends confession.

"It was only, very briefly." Sheldon explains.

"What happened if you don't mind me asking?" Leonard asks tentatively.

"I do mind. I don't much feel like talking about it." he huffs. Not wanting to explain because talking about it brings him pain. Also because he isn't quite sure what did happen.

"That's fine… we won't say anything else about it." Leonard sighs as he slips his phone out of his pocket and texts Penny. 'I think Sheldon is heartbroken?' He sends her. It takes only a few seconds before Penny sends him back a text. He fills her in and a plan to reunite the two former flames is hatched. If only for curiosity sake.

Sheldon Present time at Amy's door

"Hello Dr. Fowler...Penny..." Sheldon says as the door opens. Penny looks aglow with excitement and Amy would rather shrink into the wall. With the way her new blonde friend was acting you would think she was getting a gentleman caller.

"Good evening ." Amy says quietly. Penny makes a high pitched squealing noise and claps her hands together. That makes both Sheldon and her look over at her.

"I am going to leave you two love birds alone." Penny says and Amy cringes. It's been a long time since they were anything close to love birds. She doesn't need Sheldon feeling forced to be with her.

"We're not…" Amy starts.

"Love birds.." Sheldon and Amy finish together. but it's too late Penny is sneaking out the door and shutting it behind her. Amy looks at Sheldon happy at least they are in sync on one thing. Even if that one thing is making her heart pinch in her chest.

"Are all the neighbors here as invasive as her?" Amy asks Sheldon. And he smiles at her shyly. He turns to face her and she has to look up to see his face. She had forgotten how he towered over her.

"Not as invasive as her, but you'll find she has a way of making herself somewhat endearing." Sheldon says wryly.

"Oh." Amy says worried. "You two are close?"

"Not by choice, my roommate is quite infatuated with her. Personally I don't see the allure." he admits and Amy is mollified.

"So its been awhile." she says shifting her feet. "Since we last talked." she finishes gulping and looking down at the floor. She can feel his gaze burning into her.

"Yes, it has… and I believe most of the blame for that is on you." Sheldon says and Amy looks up at him as he crosses his arms. Staring down at her with his haughty professor face on.

"Me?" Amy says indignantly her face flushing with anger. She forgot how arrogant he could be.

"I know you're mad at me Amy, the thing is I am clueless as to why? I've never been good at reading human emotion before. All I know is I gave up everything for you. Then you disappeared on me." he growls out.

"I disappeared on you? You are the one who pulled a Houdini." she replies in disbelief.

"Did you know that Houdini took his stage name from magician Robert-Houdin, whose autobiography inspired him?" Sheldon says Amy knows he is trying to break the tension. Their relationship had been formed on a mutual love of knowledge.

"That's an amusing factoid, but not what we are discussing presently. I'm talking about the fact that you asked for space and I gave it to you. Then when I went to talk to you. You had resigned from your post and moved all the way to California. Without saying even a goodbye." Amy says with her voice cracking at the end embarrassing her.

"Not saying goodbye was a mistake. However I only did what I did so we could spend more time together without worry of persecution. I resigned my post so what happened between us wouldn't affect either of our careers. Then I accepted a post in California because I knew that you would be returning home soon." He explains with a deep sigh.

"Why didn't you tell me any of this? You didn't even try to contact me again until weeks afterwards." She says sadly.

"That was a mistake. However, in my defense I assumed that I had time. That you would understand when I laid everything out for you. Then we could reunite once you had your doctorate and were home for the summer. Why did you never respond to my emails?" Sheldon asks curious.

"I never read them. I deleted them without ever opening them." Amy admits hanging her head.

"Why didn't you read them?" he asks hurt.

"I was scared." she whispered as tears form in her eyes.

"Scared of what?" Sheldon asks confused.

"Of everything! Of what you would say, of losing you completely before I ever even had you. In our brief time together I never felt more alive. I wanted to keep it exactly how I remembered it. Untainted by the words I imagined you were going to say to me." Amy confesses.

"If you had just read the emails then you would have seen I laid my heart on the line. That everyday you didn't answer my heart closed back up. Since you I haven't opened up like that to anyone else. You broke my heart Amy, and you did it again when you wouldn't even say hello to me on those stairs." He says hanging his head.

"I didn't mean to break your heart. Not back then and certainly not now." Amy tells him looking at him with wet eyes, almost spilling over with tears. This was the first time she had ever been accused of being a heartbreaker and she wasn't sure she liked it. "The thing is Sheldon is that you broke my heart too. When you sent me away that night. I was so hurt and embarrassed, I know that you had your reasons. It was so long ago you don't need to explain to me what happened anymore." she says pausing.

"Alright, just know that it had nothing to do with you. Amy you had much less at stake than myself but we both could have lost a lot had things not been taken care of properly. I tried to take care of it properly so we could continue. So our relationship could proceed unencumbered! I followed you all the way to California. I wrote you a dissertation outlining my feelings for you and the repercussions I expected from it. Only for you never to speak to me again. If you had no feelings for me, you should not have lead me on." Sheldon replies seriously.

"I never lead you on. My feelings for you were… are stronger… than I can even begin to process." Amy says weakly.

"Then why did you disappear?" he asks and the hurt in his voice makes Amy feel like she could crack in two.

"Why don't we sit down?" Amy says sitting on her couch and he follows her sitting with his long legs pressed against her knees. "I think that this has all been one terrible misunderstanding. Somehow we both feel that the other one has been abandoned."

"I suppose that is true." Sheldon agrees.

"When you told me, to put my clothes on and leave that night. I was so hurt, and embarrassed. I never thought I would be able to face you again." She says shyly.

"Why?" He asks thoroughly confused.

"I had thrown myself at you! Obviously making you uncomfortable." Amy says miserably.

"No, I had forced myself on you and I was feeling conflicted. As a man and as a Professor. My morals and my ethics were in question. I needed time to process the choice I was making." Sheldon says looking at her with pleading eyes.

"What did you decide?" Amy asks cautiously.

"That I made the wrong decision." he says.

"I see." Amy says sadly.

"In stopping, what was happening." he finishes and she looks up at him shocked.

"Really?" She asks hopeful.

"Yes." he admits. "I have never felt the way I felt about you, about anyone else. I don't expect to ever feel that way again. When I lost you I felt such acute pain…" he trails off closing his eyes. "I never wish that experience again." he says gently picking up her hand softly in his. His hands are cool and hers are hot. Two opposing forces meeting.

"I know how you feel. I knew I would never meet anyone like you ever again. My mom has been threatening to make me date." Amy groans at the thought of her mother.

"You've seen other men?" he asks jealousy creeping into his voice.

"Not like with you. Never like with you." she sighs glancing longingly at his mouth. That's why when you rejected me…"

"I could never reject you." he says softly.

"I know that now. However back then it was so easy for me to believe, because I never understood what you saw in me. It never made sense. It only made sense that you didn't want me." Amy mumbled shyly.

"Amy, you are the most incredible woman I have ever met." he says staring into her eyes making her body quiver all over.

"How do we proceed from here?" she asks and he leans in close to her face making her breath catch in her chest.

"Well." he purrs brushing her hair out of her face. "How do you feel about rebooting our relationship to the last point we both agreed it worked. Like as in a computer?"

"What point would that be?" Amy whispers as his lips brush against hers. "Oh!" she moans softly.

"Is this point agreeable?" he murmurs against her lips.

"Very." she agrees wrapping her arms around his back as he presses her against the back of the couch. He kisses her deeper and more confidently than the last time. It feels like they are making up for lost time as their lips and limbs tangle in desperation. Amy's hands search under his shirt for skin and he moans against her mouth as her hands work against his taut muscles.

"Amy." he whispers his lips pressed against her ear.

"Yes." she answers sliding her lips from his ear to his neck.

"I pride myself on being a gentleman. If we keep this up I might find that difficult." he warns her his blue eyes looking at her sternly as he pulls away from her.

"I don't mind." she assures him.

"You deserve better than an over-sexed tumble on your couch." he says seriously.

"You're right." Amy agrees sheepishly. "I guess you should go." Amy agrees sitting up and straightening her clothes. Sheldon looks at her sadly.

"You want me to leave?" he asks.

"Honestly, no." she admits, the idea of him leaving again causing her pain.

"Then maybe we should discuss the new parameters of our relationship?" he suggests.

"That could take awhile." Amy says smiling.

"Perfect." Sheldon answers with a grin.

The Next Morning

Sheldon sneaks back into the apartment in the early hours of the morning. Tiptoeing to avoid his roommate and the obvious and annoying questions that would follow his discovering him not sleeping in his own bed.

"Good Morning Slut." he hears someone say and he screams, making Penny squeal with laughter as she sips her coffee.

"What are you doing here?" he asks her annoyed.

"Why are you sneaking in your own apartment in the same clothes you wore last night?" Penny asks her eyes dancing behind her cup of coffee.

"I asked you first." Sheldon says annoyed.

"I have the early shift at work and I was out of coffee. Your turn." Penny says with a smirk.

"Fine… I spent the night at Amy's." he huffs.

"Yeah you did." Penny giggles.

"There was no sleeping involved!" Sheldon shouts quietly not wanting Leonard to wake and tease him relentlessly.

"I bet there wasn't." Penny sniggers from behind her mug.

"It's not like that! I love Amy too much to disrespect her with a tawdry night of lovemaking!" Sheldon yells at her as he storms to his room.

"You love her?" Penny yells after him as he slams his bedroom door. "Holy crap on a cracker." she exclaims to herself shaking her head as she lets herself out of the apartment. "I didn't know that he could love."

Two weeks Later

"Do you think he is asleep?" Amy asks as they sneak into Sheldon's apartment. Like they have been doing almost every night for the past two weeks. Except for that first night they spent talking all night. Sheldon has made it a point to sneak her in after Leonard has gone to bed and always making sure she is back in her own apartment by one.

"One way to find out." Sheldon whispers back before shouting. "Amy! I can't believe you would say neuroscience has more real world applications than physics."

"I think it's clear that neuroscience has more real world applications. Its the science of the brain. The thing you use to study physics!" Amy counters loudly and Leonard comes out of his room putting his jacket on.

"You guys have fun, I'm going out." He says picking up his keys.

"At this hour?" Sheldon protests.

"I'm going to Howard's." he tells him. "We are working on a project, I might be gone all night."

"Fine, it's your life." Sheldon says throwing his hands up. Then he listens to hear Leonard's feet go down the stairs. "I thought he would never leave." he sighs, before he grabs Amy and walks her backward to the couch kissing her.

"You do know you could just stay at my place." Amy whispers in his ear as they collapse on the couch in a tangle of limbs. "Then there would be no need for this charade."

"Then run the risk of another inquisition in the morning?" Sheldon asks her.

"Is it so embarrassing to have your friends know you are with me." Amy asks voicing the concern that had been in her mind since they reconnected. They spent a lot of time together. They texted, and emailed constantly in the time they were not together. Yet Sheldon seemed reluctant to declare their relationship as anything other than just friends to anyone else.

"It's complicated." he tells her staring into her face and going for another kiss which she dodges.

"You are not my Professor anymore. How complicated can it be?" she asks seriously.

"To be fair, I was never your Professor. Luckily… you would make a terrible student." he tells her playfully.

"A terrible student?" she says trying to squirm away from him. "I am an excellent student. Top of my class as a matter of fact."

"Not to me, you would be willful, always questioning and challenging me. I would have to make an example of you." he growls.

"What would you do?" Amy asks him biting her lip.

"I would have to bend you over my desk and spank you." he says his eyes sparkling as he hitches her leg around his waist and gives her a playful smack to demonstrate."

"I don't think that would be an effective punishment Professor Cooper." she whispers against his ear.

"Why ever not?" Sheldon says shivering at her warm breath.

"I would always be thinking of new ways to raise your ire. It would be so distracting that I would learn nothing in your class." Amy says seductively as she playfully tugs his earlobe with her teeth.

"So you agree you would be a terrible student." he says turning his head to kiss her again. They kiss until their lips are swollen and bruised. When they break away Amy lays her head on his chest.

"Not fair, you distracted me." she pouts.

"Easily distracted, another reason you would make a terrible student." he teases.

"Only for you." she agrees.

"Only for you." Sheldon repeats. "That's the issue Amy. This side of me. The Dr. Sheldon Cooper who spends his Saturday nights making out like a teenager behind the bleachers. Is a side of me I never thought existed. A side of me that I was quite proud that I lacked." He sighs. "I made quite a big deal about how I was more evolved than me peers for not engaging in illicit activities. To admit that I am not as evolved as a previously thought. Well it's a lot of crow to eat."

"Am I not worth eating crow for?" Amy asks worriedly.

"Amy." he says and then pauses struggling to find the right words. It's rare for him to lack words. Everything about himself when he's with her is rare. "You are worth everything to me. I was ready to give up everything for you before. I am prepared to do it again."