She loves
by poopaw
(Disclaimer: I do not own BBT.)
Penny watches her boyfriend from afar. He's laughing loudly, almost wheezing with happiness at something Sheldon had said to Raj. His eyes are squinting – the creases peppered with laugh lines. He stands tall and proud with just a hint of awkward, definitely a long way from when she first met him years ago. However, despite that, he still reminds her of that boy who gathered up the courage to invite her in his life.
God, she's incredibly thankful for that miraculous braveness he somehow pulled from his ass.
She sighs wistfully and sips on her wine, finding herself unable to tear her eyes away from the man who managed to swipe her heart from her grasp without even noticing it. And almost as if he hears her, despite the fact that they were meters away and he had the worst hearing ever, he turns his head to her direction and catches her eye.
She watches with baited breath.
Her boyfriend sends her an adorable scrunched up look and she shakes her head, mostly at herself because how is it that that one action alone sends her heart fluttering wildly? He chuckles under his breath, a little more subdued now than when he was laughing just a few seconds ago. She puts out her tongue and flashes him a silly face.
And instead of telling her how absurd she's being or how immature she's acting, he gives her a small grin, as if he's tucking away the secret of her ridiculousness to enjoy for another day.
He mouths an "I love you" and her heart feels like it's literally stopped.
Because even though they both aren't afraid to say those words anymore, it still makes her heart tremble to know that that man loves her. That he loves her so much that he's willing to wait for her. He isn't afraid that his feelings might change over time or that she might not possibly ever be ready for marriage because right now, she is his entire world and that's all that matters.
He often tells her he's the luckiest man in the world to have her but she feels like she's the one who got the long end of the stick. He isn't perfect – far from it, actually. He has his faults but so does she. But still, with him, she just fits perfectly.
And how could she not be the luckiest when she has a boyfriend as beautifully flawed and incredibly loving as him?
She looks to her left and to her right, and finds her best girlfriends engrossed in a topic entirely too academic for her standards. She finds it safe and mouths an "I love you too, so much" back.
She watches her boyfriend sigh happily before being torn away from their silent exchange by the boys.
And for the first time, she thinks of how it would feel to finally call him her husband.