The Proposition Proposition

By gertie_flirty

Summary: Sequel to "The Milestone" and fourth in my "Ellipse of the Heart" series. Penny and Sheldon reach a turning point in their relationship, then Penny runs away to Nebraska.

Rating: Mature, for vague(?) descriptions of sex

Spoilers: Extremely spoileriffic. Everything aired will more than likely be mentioned or referenced. Please don't read if you don't want to be spoiled.

A/N: A lot of things happen in this fic, and it might get a little long. Please read and review! Hope you like it!

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Part One: Ready or Not

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Heat.

It was the first thing Penny always noticed when walking into the kitchen of the restaurant. Steamy, wet heat from all the food being prepared and the people rushing around. Then the sounds; water running, soup boiling, pots and pans slamming, the hiss of the stove, and the laughter, screams of frustration, and direct orders coming from various staff.

She dodged a waiter who was on his way out the door carrying four plates of pasta on a large circular tray. She hung her coat up on a hook in the storeroom and grabbed her apron and black order book before clocking in. She waved and gave a small smile to Bernadette before ducking out the kitchen door and asking the hostess what her first table was.

Table seven. And it was 6:15 on the dot. It could only mean one thing.

"Boys." Penny smiled and stood at the head of the table where Howard, Raj and Leonard sat looking at their menus, as if they didn't order the same thing every time. They accused Sheldon of being obsessive, but the three of them were also stuck in fairly predictable routines.

"Hey Penny." Said Leonard.

"Where's Sheldon?"

"He got a call from his mom right before we came in. He's outside talking to her."

"How did his grant application interview go?" Penny was a bit worried. Sheldon had a big project in the works he desperately needed funding for, but the person in charge of the grant money was a notorious grouch. She hoped Sheldon hadn't said anything to destroy his chances of receiving the money.

"He won't know for sure until tomorrow. He's a little stressed about it."

"And a little stressed for Sheldon is paranoid panic for the rest of us," Howard added.

Penny rolled her eyes and turned back to Leonard. "Did he wear that suit I picked out for him?"

"He whined like a first grader the whole time he was putting it on, but yeah." replied Leonard.

"It's okay, he complained like a first grader the whole time we were shopping for it." Penny brightened.

"You two have been spending an awful lot of time together, lately," Howard said, a smirk crossing his face.

Penny narrowed her eyes. "We're dating."

"Yeah, but it's been six months. Have you two . . . eer eh eer eh eeer eh?" Howard began moving back and forth in his seat, making bed spring sounds.

"None of your business, Howard," Penny snapped, opening her order book and pretending to write in it.

Raj whispered into Howard's ear.

"You're right," Howard said. "I do owe you twenty bucks. I would've thought for sure they would have done it by now."

"Raj!" Penny said in a scolding tone.

Raj blushed and shrugged, holding out his hand for money as Howard slapped a twenty dollar bill into it.

"I thought we would've known by now, anyway," said Howard. "Sheldon would've definitely said something, just like Leonard used to talk about it all the time."

"Leonard?" Penny arched one eyebrow and put a hand on her hip. "Did you really talk about our sex life?"

Leonard smiled nervously, scoffing in mock disbelief. "Wha—don't—would I—oh, look, water, I am thirsty." He started chugging his water, giving Penny an apologetic shrug.

Raj leaned over to Howard and said something else.

"You're right, six months is a long time to go without." Howard agreed.

"Not like I should tell you, Howard, but Sheldon and I are taking things slow." Penny said.

"Six months isn't slow, it's beyond slow, it's more like a dead stop." Leonard said. After a glare from Penny, he began nervously chugging his water again, becoming horribly depressed for when he emptied his glass. After a moment, he grabbed Raj's glass and started drinking from that.

Raj gave him a look of shock and disgust.

Penny turned back to her book and said quietly, "We're just not ready yet. Drop it."

Sheldon came into the restaurant then, looking hurried and out of breath. He placed his hand on the small of Penny's back and kissed her on the cheek in greeting, saying hello, before he sat in his normal seat at the table.

Penny looked at Sheldon curiously. His suit jacket was unbuttoned, and Sheldon, having never been able to stand wearing a tie, had already loosened it and unbuttoned the top few buttons of his shirt. She could follow the curve of his neck to where it dipped into his chest. He looked quite attractive at that moment.

She could still feel that hand on her back, the kiss on her cheek. It had been a simple, small gesture, but one of unprecedented intimacy, a closeness they had not possessed. Six months ago Sheldon wouldn't have even touched her willingly, and now he was comfortable enough to kiss her on the cheek in public with no hesitation.

The others' voices sounded muddled and thick. She didn't hear any of them clearly as she continued to stare at Sheldon, who was relaying the day's events to his friends while holding his menu stiffly in his hands.

"We're ready," she said clearly, loudly, and the restaurant seemed to come back into focus and the noises regained sharpness.

"Ready for what?" asked Sheldon, baffled.

It was too late. Penny was shoving her book into another waitress's arms, saying "Anna, take my shift. I have to go."

"But Penny—"

"It's urgent. I have to go, now." She said it forcefully, untying her apron and handing that to Anna as well. Penny grabbed Sheldon's hand and started pulling him behind her as she walked out of the restaurant. "Let's go."

Sheldon was too flustered to protest, too busy trying to stay on his feet while being yanked out of his chair, and he left with Penny hand in hand silently, dropping his menu on the floor behind him.

The three men left at the table all wore similar open-mouthed expressions of shock. After a few moments, Howard leapt to his feet and began walking away.

"Howard, what are you doing?" Leonard asked.

"Oh, I gotta watch this."

"Sit down, Howard," Leonard said in a stern tone.

Howard took his seat, grumbling, "You never let me have any fun."

Raj stood up, then, and started to walk away.

"Raj!" Leonard called out. "Sit down!"

After Raj came back to the table, Leonard asked, "What made you think that if Howard couldn't go watch, you could?"

Raj shrugged. "Well, sometimes you let me have fun."

Howard said, "Leonard, don't be grumpy just because Sheldon and Penny are engaging in coitus."

Leonard slapped both hands over his face and rubbed his eyes in frustration. "You know what I hate? The word 'coitus.' I hate that word so much. 'Coitus, coitus, coitus.' I wish I could just extract that word from the English language and disintegrate it into a million tiny pieces."

Howard and Raj shared a look.

"Seems like someone hasn't had coitus in a while," Raj said.

Leonard nearly flipped the table.

He had been too confused to say anything on the way out of the restaurant. Too intrigued to speak up in the car. But after being dragged up to the fourth floor rather roughly by Penny, he felt he finally had to say something.

"Penny, what is going on?"

"Shhhhh," she replied, digging frantically in her purse for her keys. "Dammit, where is it?"

Calmly, Sheldon slipped his hand into the side pocket on Penny's purse and pulled out her key. As he unlocked her door and entered the apartment, he said, "Penny, I would like an explanation for this. I'm quite hungry, and you dragged me away from dinner."

"I have to do this before I chicken out," she said, not looking at him. Her eyes were a bit wild, and her face flushed.

"Do what?" he asked, blinking.

She grabbed his tie and pulled him down to her, kissing him fiercely. With one foot, she kicked backwards and slammed the door behind her, deepening her kiss with Sheldon.

He responded as best he could, though he was still confused. Why would she be afraid of kissing him? They kissed all the time.

And then she moved against him, in that special way she had with her hips, in that way she knew excited him. He grunted and held her even closer to himself, trying to kiss back in the way he knew she liked.

They finally broke apart, breathing heavily. "Let's go in the bedroom." Penny suggested.

Sheldon tilted his head to the side. "I'm not t—"

"I swear to God, Sheldon, if you say 'I'm not tired,' I will flip out."

"Why else would we go in the bedroom, if not to sle-oh." The realization hit Sheldon like a Romulan laser striking a defenseless Enterprise. "You want to engage in coitus?"

Penny sighed. "Maybe we're not ready for this."

"Why ever not? We've been involved in a monogamous relationship for nearly half a year, far past the socially acceptable benchmark most other couples use to judge their suitability for coitus."

Penny blinked. "You mean, you want to?"

"Yes." Again, it was one of those times Sheldon answered the question like the answer was completely obvious. "Don't misunderstand, it never used to be a particular goal of mine, but since we embarked on our relationship, I've looked into the matter, and it doesn't seem like it would be unpleasant. After all, we are two grown adults, in love, in a stable, supportive relationship. I hardly doubt intercourse would detract from what we have."

Penny bit her bottom lip. "I think that's the most romantic thing anyone has ever said to me before I had sex."

"I wasn't being romantic, I was being practical."

"I know, sweetie. That's what makes it romantic." She took his hand in hers and pulled him to the bedroom. "Come on."

Heat.

Between them, heat. It pulled them together. Forced them, really.

Time was slow, and things happened in clipped, short scenes, cobbled together in their memories later.

Sheldon, carefully unbuttoning his shirt. Penny, impatiently ripping it off.

His hands, slender and nimble, moving delicately. Her hands, small and eager, moving roughly. He said something about research. She told him to shut up.

He was nervous. He was blushing. She felt herself blushing along with him.

She hadn't had sex in so long. Even before her and Sheldon started dating, it had been months. It left a part of her wanting. She needed this. She could feel the desire deep down in her belly, warm and overwhelming.

Her hips, again, pushing against his, moving back and forth. Sheldon tried to analyze everything quickly, efficiently, but that was an ineffective tactic in this situation. Penny told him to just go with it, a possibility that scared him to death.

Their bodies reacted together with such fluidity. Sheldon was stern, yet gentle; surprising Penny with a capability she couldn't have imagined. Whatever research he had done was more than enough to get the job done. Of course he would be a genius at this too.

And Penny surprised Sheldon with her shyness when she was completely naked in front of him for the first time. He had never imagined Penny to be meek, in any sense of the word, and this somehow calmed him; that she was insecure and nervous as well. She was also blessedly patient, showing him the way she liked things to be done.

And when they finished, and were basking in the glow of their long awaited union, they lay there in her bed for only a few minutes before Sheldon sat straight up, wrapped her comforter around himself, and ran out the door.