Title: The Amorousness Experiment

Fandom: The Big Bang Theory

Pairing(s): Sheldon/Leonard, Sheldon/Penny friendship

Warnings: Slash, slight character deviation (sorry, I have a hard time writing for Sheldon), possible future sexual relations.

It has been nearly a year since Leonard and Penny's latest break up. Despite Penny's eagerness to get back into the dating world, Leonard has practically holed himself in the apartment and refuses to leave for many other reasons besides work and food. It's not like he had done much else while dating Penny, anyway, but now he was just being difficult.

During this inflated amount of time spent indoors, Leonard and Sheldon have gotten increasingly closer. Not in a visibly significant way, but Leonard had come to appreciate certain Sheldon-y quirks while Sheldon had come to respect Leonard's need for normalcy.

In a way, they had simply become more comfortable with each other, being forced together for so long. If they hadn't been best friends before, they certainly were now.

In fact, it was one day that Howard noticed something. Sheldon sat in his spot, as per usual, but Leonard had taken a seat beside him and had placed himself precariously close, almost leaning against the other nerd. Sheldon seemed perfectly comfortable with this, calmly accepting his food and going through the list of specifications in his order that absolutely must be followed and was satisfied by the positive response. Howard noticed Leonard's lips curl slightly as Sheldon rambled off about something about the restaurant that no one was really listening to. He ate his food in silence, just an eerie smile on his lips as his roommate talked on and on.

And that was only the beginning of it.

Where Leonard would regularly back up Howard and Raj when arguing against Sheldon, there were more agreements with Sheldon on Leonard's part than not and there was a point that Howard and Raj were insistently mocking Sheldon's quirks and they both got frightening glares from the experimental physicist that shut them up for a while.

This all struck Howard as odd. Sure, the two have gotten closer and sure, this has been building up over the past several months, but Howard wasn't aware that it had gotten this bad. It was like Sheldon had a brainwashing machine hidden in his room-

No... he couldn't.

Shaking the thoughts from his head, Howard relaxed on his couch and tried to forget about it.

"Did you notice how gay Leonard was acting towards Sheldon today?" Raj asked suddenly, bringing over two sodas from Howard's fridge. Howard sighed loudly, popping one open as he nodded. "Yeah, I was just thinking about that."

"Dude, it's like Sheldon-"

"Brainwashed him. Yeah."

They both sat back on the couch, taking a sip from the bottles.

It took them a second before Howard shook his head. "No. He can't have a brainwashing machine. He would have bragged to us about it by now. Wouldn't he?"

"Maybe he did and then brainwashed us to forget it." Raj murmured, eyes wide.

Howard ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head. "Let's just not think about it." He said finally, turning the T.V. on. For the next two hours, the two friends watched recorded reruns of the original animated Transformer's series.

The next morning, at the apartment, Leonard stood in the kitchen, staring holes in his coffee. Sheldon emerged from the hallway in his pajamas and robe, giving his roommate an odd look. "That doesn't seem very productive." He murmured, walking past his friend to get to the cereal, choosing something on the middle ground of fibre intake. Leonard glanced up, frowning at Sheldon's cereal preparation. "Yeah." Was all he got out before picking up the mug and taking a sip from it. The two stood in awkward silence for several moments before Leonard opened his mouth to say something then closed it again until he finally opened it and words came out.

"How are you, Sheldon?"

Sheldon glanced up, surprise on his face as he awkwardly glanced around the room before finally settling on his roommate.

"Odd." He murmured before shaking his head and turning his attention back to Leonard. "I am doing well, how are you, Leonard?"

Leonard bit his lower lip as he turned back towards the island. "Leonard, I believe the common response is to answer my reciprocated question. However, seeing as I asked simply out of politeness and because you tend to enjoy meaningless conversation, I really do not mind if you don't reply."

Leonard didn't take his eyes off the island, his expression was blank. This time, Sheldon frowned. He had expected Leonard to reply anyway, despite the statement, but Leonard just stood there, completely silent and eerie, staring at the island.

It took him a minute, but finally the experimental physicist spoke.

"I'm just thinking, Sheldon." He forced a smile and exited the kitchen.

Jaw dropping and closing, looking quite like a gasping fish, Sheldon struggled to argue. Finally, he followed his roommate to the hallway. "Leonard!"

He wasn't sure why he was so concerned. He had found himself becoming increasingly more empathetic towards his best friend. Over the past few months, they had started forming a bond that he never actually understood, but was oddly pleased with.

The current situation would be an obvious side-effect from the bond. Care. Sheldon cared deeply for his friend and was concerned about the response he got. It was abnormal, and if there was anything Leonard wanted to pretend he was, it was normal. Leonard was not one to present himself as abnormal unless there was something seriously wrong, which is why Sheldon was currently grasping on to his roommate's wrist, preventing the other man from holing himself into his room.

"Leonard, speak to me."

Leonard lifted an eyebrow. "Since when do you want to talk?"

Sheldon shook his head. "It is irrelevant what I want right now. You are my friend and I am yours and I can recognize emotions, I just choose to ignore them most of the time. However, I care about you."

Leonard chuckled to himself. "I'm honored, Sheldon." I said finally. He noticed that Sheldon had not let go of his wrist, probably nervous that his roommate would escape again. Adorable.

"However, this is one instance that I really don't want to talk about it. Especially with you."

Sheldon looked hurt. "But... why not?"

Leonard pried his wrist from his friend's grip. "It's just not something that I really want to share. Sometimes people want to keep things to themselves."

Sighing, the taller of the two gave up, hanging his head dramatically as he turned away from his friend. Leonard watched, practically heartbroken. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm trying to fix it so that I'm not so sad." He wasn't sure why he had reverted to a childish dialect.

Sheldon looked back, smiling softly as he nodded. "Good. Contrary to popular belief, I don't like it when my friends are troubled."

Leonard nodded, a small smile on his lips. "I know that." He said softly before retreating to his room.

Sheldon sighed again, feeling very emotionally drained. He wasn't used to such vigorous emotional strain in such a small amount of time. Placing a hand against his head, he went to go sit on the couch, wondering exactly what to do. It was the weekend. He had time off, and yet he didn't know what to do without Leonard.

So he walked across the hall.

Oddly enough, Sheldon continued to stay friends with Penny after the last breakup (which was rough and a little more difficult for the two than the last one). It was odd, that Sheldon had come to tolerate and even enjoy the company of such a person as Penny. She was a simpleton and yet he found her occasionally teaching him things and giving him advice on the only subject he had ever admitted he could use a little work on - people.

He knocked nine times in total, three knocks in between calls of his friend's name. She opened the door seconds after the last knock with a look of mock exasperation on her face. "Hello, Sheldon." She greeted with a smirk, letting the still robed scientist into her apartment. "What's up?"

Sheldon glanced around the apartment that Penny occasionally allowed him to clean, but did not survive his last cleaning. It was already in disarray. "Leonard's sad." He answered. Penny rolled her eyes as she walked over to the kitchen. "I don't care."

"But I do." Sheldon responded quickly. Penny's eyebrow lifted, just as Leonard's had. "Really? Why? You don't really... care about people."

Sheldon shrugged, crossing his arms as he continued to survey the mess. "I do, sometimes, I just allow people to assume that I don't. It's easier than dealing with other's emotions. Usually they assume that I don't care, but it becomes troublesome when I really do care and I really do want to do something."

Penny smirked again as she made herself some coffee. "That made no sense." She said with a chuckle. Sheldon sent her a glare. "Penny, sometimes I question my sanity for wasting so much time trying to have conversations with you. Then I remember that my mother had me tested, so insanity is ruled out."

Penny just rolled her eyes. "So you care about Leonard and you want to do something for him? That's simple enough. First you have to figure out why he's upset and then ask him what you can do. Usually, he'll say nothing or respond sarcastically, but if you keep at it, he'll most likely answer you honestly."

Sheldon frowned. "You really like to point out the obvious, Penny. I know what to do, but I already tried to ask him what's wrong but he doesn't want to tell me."

Penny rolled her eyes. "People don't like to share their feelings for different reasons. I don't like to seem desperate by complaining all the time about my life, but sometimes it's nice when people keep bugging me until I give in, y'know?"

Sheldon shook his head. "I do not. This is the kind of idiocy I try to avoid in the social world. But I suppose if it is to help Leonard then I will give it a try."

Penny nodded, taking a sip of her coffee. "That's the spirit." She said sarcastically. Sheldon sent her another look before turning towards the door. "Thank you, Penny."

"Anytime, sweetie."

Sheldon walked back to the apartment, trying to think of a way to get Leonard to talk. Finally, he decided to go simple and walk up to the other man's door and knock.

Knock

Knock

Knock

"Leonard."

Knock

Knock

Knock

"Leonard-"

"What?"

The door was not open, and the voice was muffled. Sheldon licked his lips and shuffled his feet. "What's wrong?"

"Go away, Sheldon."

"Please tell me! This lack of information is making me incredibly uneasy."

"Sheldon... please just leave me alone."

"I can't, Leonard. I must know."

Suddenly, the door flew open. Leonard's hair was out of place and he had left his glasses on his desk. His eyes were red and puffy and his nose was blushed.

Sheldon froze, staring at the scene before him.

"Love, Sheldon. It's something you wouldn't understand."

"Penny is understanding. Perhaps she'll offer a compromise?" Sheldon suggested.

Leonard let out an irritated noise and pulled at his hair. "I'm not in love with Penny. I'm still intrigued and attracted to her, but I am not in love with her. I just want us to be friends again. But it's not her, Sheldon."

Leonard's gaze was locked onto the other physicist. "Think. Who has been the only other person I've ever trusted as much as her? The only person I have been spending a majority of my time with lately? The only person I can actually talk to, despite how difficult it is."

Sheldon frowned, his face contorting into one of confusion as he thought of any other female that might be in Leonard's life that would fit into that description.

"Leonard, either you have been sneaking out to see a woman or you have made one up, because there isn't anyone who fits that description."

Leonard stared at his friend desperately. "God, you're oblivious." He murmured finally before retreating back into his room.

Sheldon was left awfully confused as he stood outside of his friend's room. Of course, his mind was hard at work trying to figure out who this mysterious individual was who was giving his friend such grief.

He was distracted as he pulled on clothes from his closet, so much so that he accidentally wore his Sunday underwear rather than his correct Saturday pair. Finally, he headed over to Penny's apartment again, hoping that now that he had more data she could possibly be of more help to him.

Going through his usual knocking routine, he was greeted by a slightly irritated Penny. Her clothes were rumpled and hastily applied and her hair was mess. "What, Sheldon? I was just getting dressed."

"I know why Leonard is so upset."

Penny let out a cry of aggravation as she stepped aside to let the man in. "So?"

"He's in love, he says."

She blinks and averts her eyes to the ground, straightening her clothes and hair. "Well, Sheldon, I'm not willing to take him back-"

"Not with you."

She glanced up, lifting an eyebrow. "Who the hell else could he possibly be in love with? Don't tell me he's gone gay for Wolowitz or something!"

Suddenly, both individuals paused their actions and looked at each other. "I didn't even factor in the males in Leonard's life." Sheldon murmured, his mind now working to find someone who fit that description in all areas of his friend's life. How could Sheldon have forgotten sexuality? Leonard had presented homosexual tendencies in the past, and they were completely ruled out of the equation before. How could he have missed it?

Penny practically watched the gears turn in Sheldon's head, his eyes widening as things started to click into place.

"Sheldon..."

"He gave a vague description of his subject of interest. He said that the person was the only other who he has trusted more than you, someone he has been spending a large amount of his time with-"

He was definitely not made for this kind of thing.

"Sheldon... I think-"

"I know. I'm just... just give me a moment, Penny."

Sheldon perched himself on the couch, too emotionally stressed to care that it wasn't his "spot". Penny cautiously placed herself beside him, staring blankly ahead. Finally, she spoke up. "I suppose I should have seen this coming."

Sheldon looked up at her, his eyes narrowed evilly. "I mean, he loves being around you more than anyone else. He says he can't stand you and yet, there he is, across the hall, still living with you, continuing to spend more and more time with you. There are so many reasons why it should have been obvious. Why didn't we pick up on it?"

Eyes closed, Sheldon shrugged offhandedly. "He was so obsessed with you for so long, I think we just assumed that it would always be you." He said finally. "Plus, it's harder for Western culture to grasp the idea of homosexuality or even factor it in as an option. We just overlooked it because Leonard previously identified himself as a heterosexual man."

Huffing out of annoyance for his naivety, Sheldon shook his head. "I should have kept in mind the fluid sexuality of animals."

Penny twisted her lips around before licking them, casting her eyes downward. "B-but isn't it different for humans?"

"Humans are animals, Penny. We all have primal instincts that we can not overlook. One of which would be sexuality."

Penny swallowed hard. In all the time she and Leonard dated, she had only suspected an alternative sexuality a few times. He certainly showed a few signs, but she would never have suspected this.

"What do you think about this, Sheldon?"

Sheldon blinked rapidly. He hadn't thought about his own feelings. "I..." Pursing his lips, he straightened up in his seat. "I am indifferent." He finished, but the flash in his eyes and small twitch in his lips said otherwise.

"Sheldon, if there's anyone who you can talk to about this, it's me."

"I find sexuality overrated and cumbersome."

Penny rolled her eyes. "But..." She pushed, poking her friend's shoulder.

Sighing softly, Sheldon casted his eyes down and Penny could almost hear the gears in his head turning.

"However," He emphasized. 'But' sounded so undignified. "My feelings may have gone beyond my control."

Penny smirked, proud that she had gotten such vital information out of her neighbor. "Good, so you guys can go and rejoice your newfound love!" She said jokingly. Sheldon looked over at her dramatically. "It's not the simple, Penny. You should know that."

Penny frowned, nodding. "So... make it simple. Tell him how you feel. Maybe you guys can work something out."

Sheldon pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes squeezing shut. "I don't really do relationships, Penny. Like I said. It's not that simple."

The blond sighed, nodding. She should have known her boys would have been so utterly stubborn when it came to things like that. Lucky for them, she has played 'Matchmaker' for friends of hers many times and it almost always turns out well. Look at Wolowitz and Bernadette for example!

"Well, if you're going to be so grumpy about this, I guess I'll help you guys. After all, you're both some of my best friends, despite the break-up."

Sheldon glanced up, looking sceptical. "And how do you propose you will help us?"

Penny placed a finger on her chin, tapping it thoughtfully. "Well, we need him to realise the potential in your relationship somehow. And you need to get more confident in the idea of a relationship with Leonard. How about I propose an experiment?"

Sheldon perked up, the slightest twitch at the end of his lips told Penny that he was interested.

"What if I give you instructions, things you can do to get Leonard more comfortable around you in like... a romantic way, and at the same time it will get you more comfortable in that sort of situation."

Sheldon deflated slightly at the proposal, thinking it fairly boring, but deciding that it was at least worth a try.

So Penny wrote down a list of "moves" for her friend. Things like giving Leonard gifts, complimenting him, defending him, getting close to him physically, touching him as much as possible.

Most of these things made the physicist cringe. He didn't necessarily like touching or contact of any kind, and all he did was torment his roommate with insults and backhanded compliments. It was going to be difficult to force himself to behave this way, but he was starting to get emotionally invested in the experiment.

Sheldon had recognized his attraction to Leonard a few months after the man initially moved in. Never before had he met someone he could spend such a significant amount of time with without feeling the need to strangle someone. Leonard's intellect also made him a very likely suitor in Sheldon's mind. He'd had intelligent friends before but they weren't nearly as... human as Leonard was. And it was the first time that humanity in someone was actually appealing. It just made the stocky, socially-awkward, lactose-intolerant physicist more appealing to Sheldon than any human has ever been.

Of course, these feelings have been suppressed for so long, partly because of Sheldon's reservations about sexual attractions, partly because of the way his mother had spoken about homosexuals when he was a child and partly because he didn't want to scare Leonard away. There were already so many different factors that could have driven Leonard away from Sheldon, but here he was, years later, still living with the same neurotic scientist.

Perhaps that's why Sheldon secretly adored him so much. Because he was the one that stayed.

After going over the instructions, Sheldon reluctantly left Penny's apartment and slunk over to his own where he found Leonard, hair tousled and eyes still slightly red, spooning cereal into his mouth. It took Sheldon a few moments to realise that it was still technically morning (11:38) and cereal was still a logical food choice.

As he shut the door, he felt Leonard's gaze fall on him.

"Penny's?" He grunts.

Sheldon nods and finally lifts his eyes to look at his roommate.

"Are you okay, Leonard?" He asks, finally, pursing his lips as he slowly makes his way to the couch where Leonard was sagging into.

The shorter man stared into his bowl, eyes sad. "Yeah, Sheldon. I'm okay."

Sheldon detected a note of sarcasm, something he's gotten much better at noticing, and went to sit next to his friend.

"I don't believe you." Sheldon stated calmly, placing his hands delicately on his knees. Leonard looked over, lifting his eyebrows. "Really?" He responded, clearly surprised that Sheldon hadn't just let it go.

Sheldon nodded. "Yes. I think there is something wrong. And I want to help."

Subtly (or at least as subtly as he could manage), Sheldon scooted a bit closer to his roommate, smiling encouragingly. Leonard put his spoon back into the bowl and rested it on his lap, blinking rapidly, clearly confused at the odd behaviour displayed by his friend.

"Are you okay? Sick? Insane? Brainwashed?"

Sheldon frowned, searching for something to say. "I'm just concerned."

Leonard ran his fingers through his hair. "When have you ever been concerned for me?" He asked, suddenly defensive.

Sheldon debated on what he was about to say. Penny had told him to tell the truth as much as possible, as long as the truth is relevant and not embarrassing.

"I am often concerned about you, Leonard. I choose not to show it for various personal reasons."

Leonard just stared at his roommate in shock. "I... have to go lay down." He murmured, standing up, heading towards the kitchen, dumping his bowl in the sink and shuffling towards the hallway with his fists clenched.

Sheldon huffed. This was going to be a very long experiment.