I love your reviews! Thank you so much! Tbh I didn't think it would have that much but I'm so glad you liked that intro. I'm not that confident with this chapter tho, this is more of a filler chapter for me, but anyway, you might recognize some tbbt scenes here and there. I'm a bit sleepy as I try to edit this one so heads up for any errors you might encounter.

Secondly, I wanna check in with all of you. I hope all of you are safe and in good health. Idk if it's just my country or not, but the situation here in the Philippines is not even getting better. I hope you're in a better situation than me *sigh*. So if this fic helps you cope in anyway, know you're not alone bc I anchor my sanity by writing this.

Don't forget to leave me a review!

Things went back to 'normal' on Sunday and Leonard was getting suspicious. Sheldon stayed rooted in his desk all day yesterday and every time he tried to see what he was working on, Sheldon would close his laptop and turn to his whiteboard. At first he thought it was work, but as the day went on, the board remained blank and Sheldon was not at all bothered by his lack of progress.

Leonard sneaked a glance towards Sheldon once the traffic light turned red. Something was definitely up since Saturday night and his curiosity was eating him. He cleared his throat and asked, "did something happen to you last Saturday?" Of all the years he had known Sheldon, he learned not to beat around the bush. It was easier to communicate with him with a direct approach to avoid any confusion. The theoretical physicist looked at him with an unreadable expression on his face.

Sheldon could feel his heartbeat against his chest as his mouth opened and closed. He tried to remember if there was something about his behavior that would give away what happened at the movie theater. But with his eidetic memory, he knew he had been cautious enough around his roommate that it was impossible for him to find out. He settled for a snide remark, "aside from you whining like a petulant child and the university punishing me by working with Kripke? I assure you Leonard, that day couldn't have gotten any worse."

Leonard rolled his eyes. Maybe he was giving too much thought about Sheldon's behavior but then again, it was weirder than usual…if it didn't get any worse maybe it was the other way around. "Penny and I saw you smiling on your phone. You started your laundry late, you didn't make any progress, and yet you were still in a better mood," he stated.

Sheldon raised an eyebrow, "did you want me to stay mad at you? Because I have no problem with that, although I would need some context as to why."

Leonard groaned as the light went green. His eyes shifted back to the road as he shook his head, "you know that's not what I meant."

"I have no idea what you meant."

Leonard glared at the road before huffing out a breath, "you're Sheldon. You don't stray from your schedule, you don't smile unless it's because of a koala, and you don't have a mood other than being condescending."

Sheldon pursed his lips, thinking of a way to evade the questioning. He looked outside the window and shrugged his shoulders, "the movie theater adjusted their temperature, I just gave them a strongly worded letter about it…and what's life without whimsy," he muttered and hoped that Leonard would not notice that his eyes were twitching.

Leonard tried to look at him again but failed to notice his ticks so let out a resigned sigh, "you could use a little more of that whimsy," he mumbled.

Amy stared absentmindedly at the wall ahead of her. She had her head resting against the palm of her hand, her mind floating back to the movie theater. After she got home, she immediately added Sheldon to her contacts and sent him a quick text of gratitude. They didn't talk much after that, but he did say that he had an interesting day because of her. They bid each other good night with a hope of talking with each other soon.

And so there she was, letting time fly by as she stayed inside her head. She was supposed to go over her notes for tomorrow's lectures before she found herself distracted. She failed to notice that her assistant was looking at her warily as the young woman typed away on her laptop. It was only when she cleared her throat that Amy snapped out of her reverie. Her assistant tilted her head as if trying to read her making Amy feel guilty of wasting time. She pursed her lips, "yes?"

"Are you alright, Dr. Fowler? You seem distracted."

The next thing that registered in Amy's mind was her constant tapping of the pen against the desk. She put it down and sighed before smiling towards her assistant, "I'm fine Ellie, just thinking about something."

Ellie furrowed her eyebrows, "anything I can do to help?"

Amy appreciated the young woman's concern but shook her head with a smile, "I'm afraid it is not work-related."

Ellie's eyes widened and her face flushed in embarrassment, "oh! I'm sorry for overstepping Dr. Fowler."

The neurobiologist waved off the apology, "you didn't overstep, it's fine. By the way, since I have a full load tomorrow, I'll let you have the day off. You've been such a great help with my last paper, you deserve a day to yourself."

The young brunette nodded enthusiastically, "thank you Dr. Fowler, I'll make sure to send your schedule for the rest of the week before the day ends."

Amy gave a nod before turning back to her notes. She closed her eyes and exhaled slowly, focus Fowler! She opened her eyes and stared at the words in front of her, this is going to be a long day.

Her eyes shifted to her phone and she bit her lip, contemplating the idea that popped into her head. Would it be weird if she texted Sheldon in the middle of the day? She didn't want to seem like a desperate friend, however, her thoughts kept coming back to him. It was both confusing and frustrating for her, she didn't know why she was still thinking about it. What would I even say to him? She thought, her left hand reached out to grab her phone on the table.

She was just about to unlock her phone when it vibrated, making her jump in surprise. A new message notification appeared on her screen and her eyes widened seeing Sheldon's name. It seemed that the universe had already made the choice for her. With shaky hands, she unlocked her phone and the message immediately opened.

Good afternoon, Dr. Fowler. I hope I am not interrupting anything important. I would like to share with you that I have read your latest paper…along with the others credited to your name. -S

Amy's jaw dropped as her right hand flew to her mouth. Oh my, she was thrilled that he was interested enough to read some of her works, considering that Sheldon was physicist. She decided to type a response, completely ignoring the urgent workload in front of her.

Good afternoon, Dr. Cooper. I'm surprised that you have taken an interest in my paper, given that we belong to different fields of science. I would love to hear your thoughts about it, if you are open for a discussion. -A

Amy hoped it did not come across as her demanding his time. It dawned on her that he must have looked her up and suddenly she felt her face flush. Her mind wandered to last night…

It was a rare Sunday that Amy was able to sleep in and start the day late. Her first thought was wondering if yesterday had been a dream. She got her phone from her night stand and checked her messages; seeing Sheldon's name brought a sense of relief to her. It would be cruel and devastating if befriending another person really turned out to be a dream.

She caught up with the shows she was currently following and deep cleaned her apartment after months of putting it off. Soon enough, nightfall came. Amy fixed herself some dinner and sat on the couch. Opening up her laptop, she contemplated for a while if she should read some background on Sheldon Cooper. It's not that she didn't believe him—with the way he spoke to her at the movie theater, she knew he was intelligent—rather it was genuine curiosity telling her to look him up.

Before she could back out, she typed his name on the search engine, her teeth nibbling on her lower lip in anticipation. On her drive home, she wondered if he had more up in his sleeve, if he was some kind of a household name in the scientific community.

Search results immediately popped up on her screen and she clicked on the first link. It was a Caltech profile; his research interests, contact information, alma mater, and his portrait.

Amy found herself captivated by his photo, a sigh escaping her lips. She looked closer and finally noticed his blue eyes. A small smile appeared on her face; the person she met a while ago did not resemble the man staring back at her now. Maybe because it was a professional photo taken years ago, he wasn't even smiling, yet his gaze was intense as if he'd rather be anywhere else than sitting there to be photographed. Even his short profile was brief and concise, lacking any personality.

She then directed herself to his published papers, most of which were co-authored by another physicist named Leonard Hofstadter. She could feel his passion towards String Theory; even though the math included in his work was beyond her capacity, she figured it must be months' worth of hard work. His grammar was impeccable; he was articulate yet his words were succinct. She also found out he was a recipient of numerous accolades for his contribution to Physics over the course of his career, confirming her assumptions that he was a renowned physicist.

Amy's phone chimed and brought her back to the present.

I'm free this evening if you want. We can have our conversation via Skype. -S

Alright. I look forward to it, Sheldon. -A

As do I, Amy. I'll let you go back now as my 20-minute break is also over. Talk soon. -S

Amy smiled to herself when Sheldon asked for her Skype account, not at all feeling guilty about the time she lost. Surprisingly, after that short exchange, she was able to divert her complete attention back to her work. If she were planning to engage in an intellectual conversation with Sheldon, she'd make sure that her night was free of interruptions.

Sheldon had no idea what possessed him to text her while he was working. He scoffed at himself, 20-minute break? Really? If his friends could see him now, they would never let it go. Sheldon Cooper would never deviate from his work and to find out that a woman…a scientist one at that made him lose all focus, they would surely go out of their way to tease him about it.

He wanted to put the blame on Amy, it was all her fault, he thought to himself. If her credentials weren't so interesting then wouldn't have spent his entire Sunday learning about her achievements and work history. To say he was captivated was an understatement, he was practically glued to his desk chair yesterday while he was reading her work. And while she wasn't a child prodigy like he was, she was close enough. He knew there was nothing wrong with what he was doing but he made sure to be discrete to avoid Leonard's wandering stare.

He looked back at his board and sighed; he had barely done anything since this morning. The unfinished equation stared back at him, daring him to focus on the mysteries of the universe, but as hard as he tried, something was holding him back.

But now, after talking to Amy, he finally willed himself to focus and fortunately made a bit of a progress on his work.

After work, they picked up their usual food at the Siam Palace. Leonard was glad for the silence during the drive over back to their apartment. He sensed that maybe Sheldon was in the zone, which would explain why he didn't join them over for lunch or why he was late for a few minutes than their usual meet up time after work.

They arrived just in time before the others entered their apartment. Yet, Sheldon saw it coming. The moment he sat down to eat his dinner, the conversation around him began. He merely tuned them out to deal with his own thoughts and ideas that swirled around his brain. That was until Howard called his attention, he looked back at the engineer and raised an eyebrow, "what?"

"You didn't join us for lunch today and your assistant said you were pretty busy, any luck?"

Sheldon rolled his eyes before he opened his mouth to answer but Penny interjected him and looked at Howard, "look at you, missing Sheldon all of a sudden," she teased.

Bernadette giggled beside her husband, "never thought I'd see the day."

Sheldon grumbled, "anyway, to answer your question Howard, first I would like to point out that I do not believe in luck, which is a complete hokum. But if you were inquiring about my progress in my work then unfortunately…no, I am currently moving slowly with String Theory."

The group offered him words of encouragement which he appreciated even though he would deny it if asked. Right now, finishing this dinner affair was the first thing on his mind. He couldn't help but to check the time frequently and time seemed slower than normal. He tried to join in on the conversation with the others to distract himself and it helped even a little. So when all of them were done and the chatter died down, he was close to jumping out of his seat and retreating immediately to his room.

His knee kept bobbing up and down as he waited for his friends to leave his apartment. He resisted to roll his eyes as they bid each other good night while he checked the time on his phone. He promised Amy he would call and he himself was looking forward to it. Once the door closed behind them, he shot up from his seat and strode towards his desk. He grabbed his laptop before making his way towards the bedroom, failing to notice the questioning look from Leonard.

He settled on his bed, suddenly feeling nervous of seeing Amy's face through the screen. He shook his head and called her. In just few seconds, Amy's face appeared on his screen, her smiling face brought a sense of relief over him. He let a faint smile grace his lips, "hello."

Amy's sigh was audible enough for him to here, he wondered if it was a reaction from seeing him. He observed her face and he felt a flutter in his chest which only intensified when she greeted him, "good evening Sheldon."

"How was the rest of your day?" He asked.

"It was fine, nothing exciting," Amy wrinkled her nose as she replied. "I spent the day looking over my notes for tomorrow."

Sheldon's interest piqued and couldn't help but ask, "tomorrow?"

Amy nodded, "yes, I teach part time to grad students when I don't have my lab hours. I think it's the university's way of keeping me as part of the faculty," she chuckled.

Sheldon had a sudden realization that even surprised him, "I must say Amy, getting to know you made me think about something."

Amy furrowed her eyebrows, "really?"

Sheldon nodded, "yes. I always thought that, given I am an alpha male, my personality resembles a blazing fire and everyone's moth-like personality makes them drawn towards me. But it seems in this friendship, the roles have been reversed."

Amy hoped Sheldon did not notice the shiver that went through her as she processed his words. They were both silent, staring at each other before Amy took a deep breath, "are you implying that you are drawn to me?"

"I'm not implying it, I'm stating it out right. You're an interesting person Amy, I'm glad we're starting a friendship."

It felt foreign to Sheldon, to hear those words coming out of his mouth. Being this honest about his perception towards another person was not his strong suit, yet he had proven himself wrong just now. He mentally shook his head, he felt like a paradox.

Amy can only smile at that, "why thank you Sheldon, I find you interesting as well," she paused and dared to ask the question that had been on her mind the whole day, "is that…is that why you looked me up?"

Oh she saw him blush alright, she was certain. Sheldon shrugged before nodding his head, "I really admired your paper, Amy…and since we're on the subject, I have a few questions for you."

Sheldon noticed that her entire demeanor changed as soon as he broached the subject of her paper. The confidence surrounding her was even more visible, he figured this must be her persona in the workplace.

Amy's face bloomed, finally getting to talk about her passion for neuroscience, "okay shoot."

Leonard was on his way to his own room when he heard noises from Sheldon's room. He stopped short and leaned closer to his roommate's door. His voice was muffled but he was sure that Sheldon was talking. However, he was too tired to even try to figure out what he was doing. For all he knew, Sheldon could already be dreaming, it wouldn't be the first time that he would wake up with his best friend sleep talking. He rolled his eyes before he entered his bedroom.

Amy was enjoying answering Sheldon's question about her paper and all her previous work. It had been a while since she talked about something she enjoyed without being dismissed or ridiculed for it. It was a nice change. Other than her sister, nobody in her family really paid attention to her and her career, as if getting the highest degree in academia was nothing…despite the fact that her parents were the one that instilled the value of education in her mind.

As their conversation droned on, she felt her eyes getting heavy, the excitement coursing through her veins a while ago was waning. She spent her afternoon finalizing her notes and making sure that her night was cleared so she could have this Skype session with Sheldon. She was regretting it now, though, as she tried to fight off sleep. It was difficult with the smoothness of Sheldon's voice echoing from her laptop. He was talking about something…wanting to go somewhere, she didn't even know if she heard him right.

She must have dozed off because the next thing she heard was Sheldon calling her name. Her eyes snapped open and blinked rapidly as her eyes adjusted. She saw his amused face and couldn't help but frown, "I'm sorry for dozing off like that, I must be more tired than I thought." The yawn that escaped her just proved her exhaustion. She immediately covered her mouth and looked sheepishly back at Sheldon. "Sorry," she added quietly.

Sheldon just chuckled, "it's fine Amy, we'll just continue another day. You better get some rest, I wouldn't want you to suffer tomorrow while giving your lecture, those students would miss out on your brilliance," he said. He was planning to ask her to accompany him to attend a book event but he knew it wasn't the time.

Amy managed to smile and nod her head, "I'll talk to you tomorrow, Sheldon. Thank you for this evening, I haven't had fun like this in a long time," she responded, her voice already on the verge of whispering. She transferred her laptop on the empty space of her bed and snuggled under the covers. "Good night, Sheldon."

Sheldon had a soft smile on his face as he watched Amy struggle to keep her eyes open. After she was nestled comfortably in her bed—the setting which he tried to not give too much thought despite how intimate it felt—he bid her good night quietly, "good night Amy…sleep well."

The last he saw was Amy's smiling face and the little wave she gave him before the window disappeared. He let a few moments pass, his mind imprinted with the memory of today's series of exchange between them. He smiled, feeling content and happy.

He noticed it was past his bedtime so he hurried to finish his nightly routine, cautiously moving around the bathroom lest Leonard would wake up from his movements.

After he got under the covers, he replayed the events of the day in his head once more. He might not have been productive with his work so far, but somehow he felt like he took a step forward regarding his friendship with Amy and to appease himself, he let himself believe that they made progress in that area.

Let me know what you think and thank you in advance for all your reviews. I will update again next week (or at least try to). Wishing you all well! Sending love to everyone xo

~kingdomfictionalia