The First Date Resurgence

IV. The Homegirl Advantage

Once outside the hotel, Sheldon paused but didn't let go of Amy's wrist. He snapped his fingers twice above his head, and a blue car stopped before them. He opened the door and helped her climb in.

"As you know, my father has already passed away, but filling in for him tonight is Carl," Sheldon cocked his head towards the middle-aged man sitting on the driver's seat, who looked over his shoulder and grinned at Amy.

"The mailman?" She asked incredulously.

"I have since found out that he's a very understanding and considerate fellow," Sheldon replied.

"You're a fine-looking lass, aren't you?" Carl remarked. "You did very well, my boy! I was getting a bit worried, I didn't think you had it in you, but now you got yourself a lady."

"Some well-intentioned paternal ribbing, customary for any date wherein a father figure accompanies a couple," Sheldon explained to her.

"A date? But it's not date night."

"It's not, but it's Anything Can Happen Thursday," he countered, his cheeks reddening slightly.

She leaned her head on his shoulder and was pleased that despite tensing up, he didn't pull away. "Where are we going?"

"We are going to have dinner first since neither of us has eaten, after which we'll watch a movie, then go for a walk in the park…"

Was he… doing what she thought he was doing? She blinked up at him. The color on his cheeks deepened and he glanced away.

She smiled. "That sounds great."

The car pulled into the driveway of an unfamiliar restaurant. Sheldon helped her out the car, and they waved goodbye to Carl, who promised to pick them up later.

Amy's eyes swept along the Ming Dynasty inspired façade, brightly lit with rows of paper lanterns. "This restaurant only opened a couple of weeks ago," she said. "This definitely isn't in your list of approved eating establishments."

"Remember what day it is today." He offered his arm and she took it, feeling like she was walking on air as they entered the grand double doors.

Sheldon talked to the front desk, and as a waiter led them to their table, Amy asked: "How did you get the reservations?"

"The owner is one of the University's sponsors and a close personal friend of President Siebert. I made a deal with him."

"What kind of deal?" She queried, fearfully thinking of Leonard "escorting" a wealthy, widowed benefactor.

"President Siebert secured me this reservation in exchange for my not installing suggestion boxes around his office for at least two months."

"I see," she breathed, relieved.

Upon their entrance into the private room, a flurry of waiters laid out a feast and disappeared just as quickly, closing the embroidered silk-paneled sliding doors behind them.

Amy examined the dishes; there were his usual favorites like tangerine chicken, as well as more unusual choices. She quirked an eyebrow. "I thought you didn't want to try Peking duck?"

"No, but you like it." He shrugged. "And as it is this establishment's signature dish, we must eat it."

Amy grinned and led him to the corner sink. After washing up, they sat side-by-side, and she demonstrated the way of eating Peking duck.

"You can eat the skin first… spoon some sauce on the pancake, then place a piece of meat and vegetables on top, before wrapping the pancake." She popped the morsel in her mouth.

Sheldon grimaced, wiping his mouth after eating his far less tidy wrap. "I find this to be an inconvenient dish."

"But what about the taste?" She made a tight wrap and offered it to him.

Instead of accepting it with his hands, he instinctively leaned forward and took the wrap in his mouth. Her fingers accidentally brushed against his lips and he swiftly pulled back, his eyes widening with the realization of what he had just done. He coughed and sipped his tea.

She looked down at her plate, busying herself with making another wrap.

He mumbled something.

"Sorry?"

"It's not bad," he said, and attempted to make another wrap.

She bit back a giggle and ate some more.

The couple stood in the lobby of the cinema, staring at the current selection of films.

"Raj mentioned a new movie with Sandra Bullock," Sheldon said. "He said it features a tried-and-tested romantic set-up with timely rain, isolated beach houses and an epiphany of love guaranteed to appeal to female audiences."

"That sounds like a safe choice," Amy mused. "But I was hoping for a movie that would provide more in the way of mental stimulation."

"In that case, there's a Japanese film being shown with subtitles and the original audio about a time traveling train and it presents a perfect opportunity to learn about time paradoxes and feudal era Japan," he said in a rush.

She watched him, bouncing slightly on his toes and clear blue eyes shining with anticipation, being as impossible to deny as an adorable little child. "That's interesting, let's watch it."

"Good, let's go." He ushered her to the ticket line.

The skirt of her sea-green cocktail dress fluttered around her knees as they moved, and she caught him peeking down at glimpses of her thighs, but made no comment on the matter.

He tugged at her arm, bringing her closer. "Where did you get that dress?"

It was only when she followed his darting glances around the lobby that she noticed more than a few double-takes directed her way. "You don't like it?"

He avoided her question. "Based on the quantity and duration of stares you've been attracting, I'd say it puts an inordinate amount of emphasis on already prominent parts of your figure."

She laughed. "That's not it, I'm just overdressed for this place—"

"It is it," Sheldon insisted seriously. "You look exquisite…" his voice trailed off and he stiffened, pursing his lips.

"Is that so?" She whispered.

He nodded, almost begrudgingly.

She looked appreciatively at the black blazer he wore over a Green Lantern shirt and black jeans. "Thank you. You're looking very handsome yourself tonight."

They entered the theatre just in time for the next screening. They took their seats, and emboldened by the darkness, Amy took his arm and put it around her shoulder.

"What are you doing?" He cried, a note of panic in his voice. "You didn't send me a written notice about engaging in physical contact tonight."

"It's a non-optional social convention to put one's arm around one's girlfriend while watching a movie," Amy quipped.

"It is? Stuart didn't put an arm around you during your date."

"He wasn't my boyfriend." She smirked playfully at him. "Are you saying you wanted him to put his arm around me?"

He frowned. "You know I don't."

"Then relax," she said. "Also, my bare arms feel rather chilly."

"That should teach you to wear clothing with the maximum coverage at all times," he said smugly, but pressed his warmer arm against hers anyway. "I just realized that this is a non-verbal assertion of Fred Hirsch's concept of positional good."

"The one that states an object is only valued by the possessor because it's not possessed by others?"

"Exactly. Given the genre of the film we're watching, this theater is filled with physiologically mature males unaccompanied by females. It's only natural that I send out a message that states: 'neener-neener.'"

"Are you saying that you only value me as a girlfriend because it makes me unavailable to fulfill that role for someone else?"

"Of course not. I never said it was a perfect concept."

She chuckled and snuggled in his arms.

The path meandering through the park was bordered with the golden light of hundreds of lamps. Amy gasped.

"Carl suggested this park," Sheldon told her. "It was the best option by a long run, since we'd be stumbling blindly in the inadequately lit premises of the other parks."

"It's so romantic," she murmured.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, before Amy fell behind and finally stopped.

"What's wrong?" He asked, noticing her wincing.

"It's these shoes. They're not the most comfortable ones for walking or dancing, or any sort of motion actually…"

"Well, those are the most illogical footwear I've ever encountered then," he said, "given that it inflicts injury instead of preventing it."

He helped her to a bench and unstrapped the sandals off her feet. When he grabbed her arms and eased her on his back, she shrieked: "Sheldon—!"

"Carl's waiting on the other side. Walking the path is the only way to reach the main road, and turning back would take much longer." He lifted her, piggy-back style, and started walking. In a too-nonchalant tone, he said: "Did you know that for a conscious load, a piggy-back ride is the most stable carrying position?"

She couldn't reply; her heart was pounding so hard she was sure he could hear it as well as feel it against his back, and she was close to hyperventilating.

"Amy…" he muttered, his voice deeper than usual. "Please try not to breathe so hard, I can feel all your movements upon my back."

"Sorry."

When they reached the car, Carl opened the door for them. "What happened? Did you get a few drinks in the lady? Good job that." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Of course not," Sheldon retorted. "Her footwear proved to be too challenging to wear on a walk through the park. I would like to take her home now."

"Anything you say, sonny boy." Carl started the engine and drove to Amy's apartment. Once there, Sheldon carried her again, only putting her down once they were inside her apartment and he was assured that her floor was sufficiently clean to walk barefoot on.

"Amy." He looked into her eyes. "What's your assessment of tonight's date?"

"Excellent," she replied. "In fact, I find this to be our most enjoyable date so far. And it has far surpassed, and therefore effectively displaced, the memory of my first date with Leonard."

"Not yet. At the end of your date, he gave you a half-kiss. Which means I must exceed that token of affection and…" he moved his hands towards her shoulders, flinched, then held them. "I am going to kiss you and you will be kissed in a way you never have been before."

"Okay," she agreed breathlessly, lifting her chin expectantly and closing her eyes.

After a full minute, she peeked. He was biting his lip and swallowing hard.

"Sheldon, it's okay, I can just…" she stood on her tiptoes but he restrained her.

"No!" He transferred one hand to the small of her back and pulled her against him, the other hand cupping her cheek. "I will kiss you."

"Very well." She closed her eyes again.

Another endless minute passed, and still nothing.

She sighed. "Sheldon, if you're going to kiss me, you should just do—mhmm…" his warm lips pressed firmly against hers; she shut her eyes to savor the sensation and resisted the urge to part her lips. But when he coaxed her mouth open, she surrendered to her impulse, shuddering when his tongue caressed hers, timidly at first, then more insistently. She was sure that her knees had buckled, but his arm held her securely; she responded to his kiss with all of the pent-up longing in her heart.

They broke apart only when it became impossible to deny the need for air, breathing hard.

"In movies, people seem to find it romantic when a man interrupts the speech of his girlfriend with lip to lip contact," he explained between huffing.

"Indeed, I can confirm the appeal," she agreed. "You have successfully romanced me."

He smiled confidently. "It's part of my boyfriend duties. I trust we'll see each other tomorrow for dinner?"

"Yes. Goodnight, Sheldon."

"Goodnight, Amy." As if it was the most natural thing in the world, he brushed his lips against hers. Then he left her apartment.

When she was relatively certain that he had gone down the stairs and out of earshot, she clapped her hands against her cheeks and ran to her room, squealing: "Hooooooo—!"

Leonard entered Apartment 4A with Friday's dinner. Sheldon was sitting on his usual spot, browsing through a bound document and occasionally making notes. In all honestly, Leonard had been expecting his roommate to sneak in and kill him in his sleep the previous night, but when they both woke in the morning, Sheldon was as contented as he could be… no, far more contented than he should be. It was both relieving and unnerving.

"Hey buddy, what's up?" He placed the takeout boxes on the table and started to take the seat beside Sheldon.

"You can't sit there!" His roommate cried with such vehemence that Leonard leapt off the couch with a level of agility he didn't know he had.

"What are you talking about now?"

"That is Amy's spot."

"… What?"

"As you know about my spot in the couch, in the winter, this seat is close enough to the radiator to remain warm and yet not so close as to cause perspiration. In the summer, it's directly in the path of a cross breeze created by opening windows there and there. It faces the television at an angle that is neither direct, thus discouraging conversation, nor so far wide to create a parallax distortion—"

"Yes, yes, I know that," Leonard snapped.

"Then, it should be obvious that as my girlfriend, Amy is entitled to the spot with the most comparable attributes and in close proximity to mine," Sheldon snapped back with greater fervor.

At that moment, Amy had knocked and let herself in the apartment, and was smiling fondly at Sheldon. "It's hard to make a girl's heart skip with an obvious rationalization, and yet somehow, you do it."

Sheldon waved his hand almost bashfully and gestured for his girlfriend to sit beside him.

"…" Leonard looked from one weirdo to the other. "You know what, nevermind, I understand."

"As well you should, seeing how I have laid it out in the simplest terms," Sheldon declared.

They started poring over the same document, falling into deep discussion, and before Leonard could stop himself, he asked: "What are you doing?"

"Revising the Relationship Agreement," Sheldon replied distractedly. "I've realized that Amy should have input in our Agreement and it should be revised to meet her mysterious feminine needs. This applies particularly with regards to all forms of physical intimacy in a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, which we would now be considering on a case-to-case basis, with respect to each other's comfort levels."

"Oh really," Leonard goaded. "Would that be up to and including coitus?"

"I said all forms of physical intimacy, didn't I?"

That wiped the sneer off his face. "… The Loch Ness monster is real. Mommy, I'm scared."

There was another knock on the door; Beverly and Penny entered, followed by Raj, Howard, and Bernadette.

"Leonard, I've come to bid you goodbye, I'll be returning to New Jersey now," Beverly announced.

"Oh, yeah… are you sure you don't need me to drive you to the airport?"

"Not necessary, I shall be accompanied by your interesting trio of friends." She bared her teeth—well, smiled—at Raj, Howard, and Bernadette, who gave her three identical frozen grins.

Beverly turned the couple sitting on the couch, saying: "Amy, Sheldon, I must say farewell."

Amy stood up, looking genuinely forlorn. "That's too bad, I wish I could've discussed with you about your research more…"

She hugged the younger scientist. "Feel free to engage me in any and all forms of electronic communication." She looked at Sheldon. "I hope you'll take good care of this exceptional young lady, she's the kind that comes along once in a generation."

"As I know very well, thank you," he said.

"I trust there are no hard feelings between us—with this business of the past few days. After all, you can hardly fault a mother for looking out for her child's interest."

"Not at all, I understand. In fact, I sympathize with your futile attempts to obtain for your offspring the fascinating woman who is my girlfriend and not for anyone else." He nodded cordially.

Beverly nodded in a similar fashion. "Goodbye, Sheldon and Amy." The couple returned to their agreement revision, while she glanced at Leonard… and smirked knowingly.

"Mother?"

"He may be a genius but as a creature of habit, it's far too easy to predict his reactions. Making it all the better for a psychologist such as myself to manipulate them for my purposes." She tilted her head at the huddled pair. "Sometimes a challenge, imagined or otherwise, is all it takes to push a relationship in the right direction."

Leonard gaped. "Wait… do you mean you set up this whole thing on purpose?"

"Of course, after all, I am so digging the Shamy," she quipped. She turned to Penny and asked: "Did I say that right?"

Penny gave her a thumbs-up sign.

"It would've been a pity if they encountered relationship problems based on Sheldon's stubbornness. Why, between the two of them, they're capable of producing progeny that would grow up as the future leaders of mankind."

He shivered. "Is that what you think?"

"Yes." Suddenly, she embraced Leonard, whispering: "Besides, I think this would help your cause with my homegirl here. Nothing like intrigue to spice up a relationship." Before he could hug her back, she let go.

"Penny, I have seen the light and realized that you are indeed a suitable match for my son." She hugged the younger woman.

"Aww, thanks Beverly," Penny gushed.

"After all, it's impossible to expect a woman as intelligent as Amy Farrah Fowler to be interested in him."

"Uh… right." Nevertheless she smiled.

"Let's go," Beverly told the trio.

As they walked to the door, Bernadette asked: "Dr. Hofstadter, about this ménage a trois you suggested, if we were to hypothetically adopt this relationship paradigm, in moments that my two partners are engaging in an act of passion, would I be free to watch it?"

"The relationship could be tailored to fit a little voyeurism, so I don't see why not," Beverly said.

"That's interesting…" Bernadette mused.

"What?" Howard demanded. Raj was staring at her with bugged-out eyes.

"Hypothetically, of course," she said sweetly.

"Forget about that ménage thing… Honey, could you get the door?" Howard requested. Both Raj and Bernadette reached for it at the same time. Howard glared. "Raj… how many times must I tell you that 'Honey' now refers to my fiancé, Bernadette. You're really not helping here!"

The door closed behind the four of them. The Shamy were utterly focused on each other, and oblivious to Leonard and Penny who were still in the living room.

He quirked a corner of his mouth at her. "Hey."

"Hey…" she stepped closer. "So I guess the 'Lamy' thing didn't pull through, huh?"

"Oh, no…" he shrugged with exaggerated regret. "In the end, my own mother gave up on it, convinced that I wasn't good enough for her."

"Well, you know what they say," she snaked her arms around his neck. "One girl's frog is another girl's prince."

"Really, I never heard of that one."

"Uh-huh. And to transform him, all it takes is a kiss." She drew closer at the same time as he did, and their lips met in a kiss.

Author's Notes: The idea for "Amy's spot" is based on a discussion with the ever lovable ladies at the Shamy threads of Fanforum—thank you, for the awesome, inspiring analyses and Shamy-piphanies. And to all readers: thank you for reading! Hope you all enjoyed the final chapter in its fluffy glory. I've pretty much OD'ed on fluff between this chapter and my last one-shot. I should probably take a break from fanfic writing.