A/N: My first BBT fanfic. I tend to favor angst. And Shenny. Speaking of which, Penny is a little OOC. But I think its worth it. Reviews are appreciated.

The Emotionally Compromised Effect

He was a man with an eidetic memory, and yet he couldnt quite remember when this absurdity began. He could tell you however, that this, her, had left him emotionally compromised and irreparably damaged.

.

She had taken a seat next to him instead of next to her boyfriend. It wasnt unusual other than the fact her boyfriend had been gone for the entirety of the summer and as social protocol dictates her seat should be by his side- and not his own. Still, as the movie played on,her hand found its way to his knee.

He did not like to be touched at all, the germs that were now resting on his pant legs now were in the thousands. And still he couldnt swallow the lump in his throat to express his distress. He no longer was able to watch the movie when he felt her thumb rub across his knee in slow purposeful circles. Her fingers spreading out along his inner thigh.

He closed his eyes and recited the formulas he cherished so dearly as he felt every slow deliberate touch making his way up his leg. But even the equations could not push his now straining erection aside. He watches through hazy eyes and a hammering heart as his room-mate, his bestfriend , her boyfriend moved to turn off the dvd player.

She retracts her hand, and he leaves before he has to watch her kiss him goodnight.

.

He avoids her like the plague, staring out his peephole for unnecessary lengths of time before he goes to leave his apartment. Its all moot however, because he runs into the two of them on the staircase.

She calls his name and it sounds so innocent he almost thinks that maybe he had imagined it, though he knows with all of his intellect he most certainly did not make such a juvenile mistake. Still, the causality of it makes him feel crazy.

I cant be crazy. He muses when they continue up the stairs. My mother had me tested.

.

It happens again, exactly two weeks later just enough time for him to re-establish some sense of normalcy between the two of them. Just another time for two laundry nights, two halo nights, and multiple banters in which he corrects her and she baffles him.

It happens at the comic book store filled with the stereo-typical men who use the alternative universes to escape from this one. He feels at home as he flips through the single issues, it isnt until she calls for him does his spine tense just ever so slightly. He pauses mid flip before he gingerly pulls his hand away from the book and comes to her side in a few short strides.

"Can you reach the spiderman figurine up there?" She says batting her pretty lashes at him, tucking a piece of blonde hair behind an ear. "Nephew." she explains- though its not necessary information for the task at hand.

He thinks to tell her so, but just leans over her slightly to retrieve the item and get back to his own comics. Its not until he feels her hands press against his crotch does his fingers twitch on the figurine. His head swarms and he goes to jerk away from the task all together and once again he is betrayed by his body as he pushes into her manicured fingertips.

She smiles and whispers softly. "Spiderman?"

"Yes." he says clearing his throat as he removes the figurine down for her and she gratefully releases her hold. While she thanks him, he scans the room to see if anyone has seen, she just smiles wistfully and whispers ever so softly- that if it werent for his vulcan hearing he surely wouldnt have heard her.

"That a marker in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"

.

She keeps him up at night and his head spins as to why shes touching him so intimately and why more so than anything was he responding so quickly? Why did soft little touches have to fuel such a desire that was non-existent when she wasnt around?

He presses his palms into his eyelids and wills his head and heart to stop pounding.

.

It's laundry night when she meets him down there dirty clothes basket at her side, perfect smile on her face.

He looks for the confident proud physicist he knows himself to be and comes up empty as he continues to fold his laundry.

"Penny." He says clearing his throat and just her name on his tongue makes him feel a clenching in his chest he isnt familiar with.

"Whats up buttercup?" She says as she shuts the washer and spins around to face him.

"The way you have been touching me lately is inappropriate considering you are still in a relationship with Leonard and I..." his voice tampered out as she closed the gap between them.

"I was merely conducting a scientific experiment for Amy's benefit." Penny says grinning like the Cheshire cat- wide and yet not quite meeting her eyes. "It seems you can only be aroused Dr. Sheldon Cooper in public places."

"T-that isnt true I..." he stuttered wanting so desperately to prove her wrong, however the words its only you would not- could not come and so he did the only thing he could really do out of his element. He closed his mouth.

The air between them was so tense even he wasnt oblivious to it. He left before he had finished folding his laundry.

.

Sure enough, Amy attempts to engage him discreetly amongst their friends.

Sure enough, Amy fails.

He finds another emotion find its way up his throat and he has to excuse himself from Thai food. He does not come out the rest of the night and terminates his relationship agreement with Amy Farrah Fowler in the morning.

.

He listens as Leonard tells him about the progression of their relationship, and how hes certain its going to work this time- boasting with a confidence Sheldon no longer feels. He cant force himself to accumulate his daily fiber intake along with the rest of his meals.

He watches her kiss Leonard, her lips bruised from their coitus and he feels his stomach ache to the point he doubles over and knocks his whiteboard onto the floor, smearing equations and dreams alike.

Its not much longer after that he puts on his bus pants and travels to the hospital hoping desperately for a way to alleviate the pain in his gut. They diagnose him with "stress ulcer" and insist he take it easy.

.

He realizes, with great shame, that he has been emotionally compromised and with a 187 IQ he cant even formulate as to why.