Chapter One: No Such Thing as Fate

Hey guys! Those of you who liked the Merthur story I was working on, I lost it. I took it off to work on it (because there were so many errors my computer was missing). Turns out my computer had a virus and had to be erased of everything. So instead I began to get inspired for Sheldon/Penny.

I apologize!

This is close to the first episode of TBBT with a little bit of changes. I won't be doing every episode or anything…

: ) Enjoy!

000

"She is quite an improvement from our last neighbor."

"You mean the two-hundred pound transvestite with a skin condition? Yes, she is."

Penny looked up from the stack of boxes surrounding her. Actually there weren't as many as she had anticipated. Apparently packing up your life from a small town in Nebraska to a scumbag "actor," to your own place had a lot less baggage then she anticipated.

What she saw when she looked up was a site she wasn't really used to seeing. Two pair of eyes gawking at her in both amazement and curiosity. It wasn't like she didn't know she was pretty. In Nebraska, she became Queen of the Corn Queen's Court which was a pretty big deal in her family.

The celebratory pie had been extremely delicious.

Sweet Potato

Penny looked at the two men viewing her. Well, one of them was viewing her; the other had suddenly become fascinated with his bag strap or the floor. He was extremely cute with gaudy plaid pants and some sort of t-shirt with an odd symbol on it.

The other man was cute too. He was about the same size as Penny with a friendly smile. His eyes were kind of squinty even though he was wearing somewhat fashionable glasses. His smile grew when he noticed Penny look at him.

Penny walked closer to the door; left the boxes piled on the floor and rubbed her hands on her shorts to get the dust off. How could boxes be so dirty when they were brand new? Not that she was a clean freak, but still.

It made no sense.

As she approached the doorframe, the two gentlemen followed her example and approached her on the other side. The taller one continued to look down even as he moved.

"Hi!" Penny said, wondering why she sounded so cheerful when inside she felt horrible.

"Hi!" the smaller of the two men said in a somewhat high pitch voice.

"Hi" the taller man murmured.

Penny lost her smile a little, what was his problem?

"We are your neighbors. We live across the hall..."

"Oh!" Suddenly it made sense why these men were so cute and apparently shy. They were gay! Her best friend in high school had been gay, she missed him. "That's nice!" Her smile grew. At least now she wouldn't have to worry about being hit on and could get over her ex, the jackass.

The shorter man began to turn red. "N-no, not like that! We live to together in a hetero-sexual way!" His friend beside him nodded in agreement before looking back at the ground.

Well there went that.

"Oh." Now Penny was the one looking down at the ground.

"My name is Leonard and this is Sheldon." Leonard held out one hand in what looked like a mix between a wave and a handshake. It came off as his arm standing out halfway in-between. He automatically put his arm back before Penny could decide if she wanted to shake it.

His other hand (she now noticed) was holding a brown bag of food.

Sheldon looked her in the eye and gave her the cutest little smile. It didn't last long before his focus was once again on the floor. He needs to work on his social skills!

"Penny." Her cheeks were beginning to hurt from smiling so much. There hadn't been a lot to smile about since the breakup, but these guys were just so nice. They didn't need to hear about her breakup with Kurt on the first day.

"Maybe sometime we can hang out." Leonard said. He stopped making eye contact and squinted towards her. He must have been focusing on the ceiling or something way above her head, because his head was slightly tilted upwards. It took all of Penny's focus not to turn around and look to see what he was so curious about.

Instead she said "Oh that sounds nice! Maybe we can all get some coffee sometime."

"You could come over and watch 'Battlestar Galactica' with us." Sheldon asked surprising the hell out of Penny. What the hell is Battlestar Galactica?

"Sheldon…" Leonard began fidgeting a little "I doubt she wants to watch Battlestar Galactica, but more importantly we have already watched Battlestar Galactica."

"Not season two with commentary!" Sheldon exclaimed. He glowered at Leonard and then looked up at Penny a little hesitantly. "We also have lunch, if you are interested."

Sheldon quickly turned away from Penny and Leonard and walked toward the apartment across the hall. He unlocked the door, strode inside then put his keys in something that sounded like it was made of glass.

He left the door open.

Penny grinned "is he always like that?" Her eyes never strayed from the opened door at the end of the hall.

"Actually..." began Leonard, taking Penny's focus away from the opened door and back on him "he is usually a lot worse. This is him being really well behaved and social."

Penny laughed.

"You are more than welcome to have lunch with us. We are having curry which would really lower the stress you must have after all the packing done in the past couple days. It can also make you regular" Leonard began to blush "and nothing says relaxation like a healthy colon!" He coughed and fidgeted looking away.

"Leonard I'm no expert, but I don't believe discussing ones regularity when it comes to bowels is really the way to invite someone to lunch." Sheldon, who after becoming situated in their apartment had realized Leonard, still carried their food. Nothing was worse than cold curry. He walked towards Penny and Leonard and reached for the brown paper bag.

Leonard moved out of reach waiting for Penny to decide. He motioned for Sheldon to wait a moment.

"It's okay; I'd love to come over for some curry!" Penny closed the door of her brand new apartment and walked across the hall. She was in for quite a culture shock when she made it past the threshold of the other apartment.

There were white boards everywhere with gibberish written on them. Math equations mixed in with letters and what looked like squiggles her nephew drew on the paper menus of every restaurant.

She also noticed a lot of the "knick knacks" around the apartment matched the symbol on Sheldon's shirt.

"Feel free to make yourself comfortable." Leonard said putting his bag away before placing the food on the table in the middle of the living room. He opened each of the lids and put the cutlery next to each dish. The smell of curry wafted in the air reminding Penny how long it had been since she had eaten a meal. Water and a berry&nut mixture just didn't cut it after a while.

She walked around the apartment and approached one of the larger boards covered in multiple lines of scribbling. "Leonard did you do this?" She pointed towards the board and smiled.

"That's my work." Sheldon said walking towards Penny and the whiteboard.

"So you're like one of those beautiful mind genius guys?"

Penny's grin grew as the cutie lowered his eyes towards Penny and gave a somewhat cocky grin. Obviously the best way to get to know Sheldon was to discuss his work; she would have to remember that. He looked hot as he leaned in a little closer and whispered "Yeah."

"This is really impressive."

Penny looked up into Sheldon's eyes and smiled. He smiled back.

Not seeing the look that crossed Leonard's face Penny went towards the food and sat down. She automatically sat at the seat closest to the lamp and furthest away from the door thinking this would keep her out of the way in case the two geniuses had plans. Maybe they would make a rocket! Like rocket scientists!

"You wanna see a cool board Penny?" Penny looked up towards Leonard and lowered the forkful of delicious curry goodness that had been so close to her mouth. So close! She slowly began to stand up and walked towards the back of the room where Leonard was located pointing to his own board.

It had a lot more stuff on it then Sheldon's had, but it had a lot less squiggles.

"Holy smokes! You did that all on your own Leonard? I am quite impressed."

Sheldon snorted from across the room still standing near his board with his hand lying on the top of one corner.

"If by holy smokes you mean the same sort of stuff one sees in the general education classes at MIT, then sure."

"What?" Leonard squinted as Sheldon walked away from his board of doodles to Leonard's board of doodles.

Penny sat back down next to the food and listened to the two men bicker. Out of the corner of her eye she could see both men square off. Each with their arms folded on their chest.

"At least I didn't have to invent universes so the math could come out!" said Leonard.

"The universes are there sir" Sheldon argued, sliding his hands away from his chest and toward his pockets.

"Oh, yeah?" Leonard peered towards Sheldon and observed him "which of the twenty-six universes are really there?"

"All of them, that is the point!"

Penny was completely lost. All she knew about the universe was the Solar System and even then she knew the names of the planets, but not the order. She rarely paid attention in school, but she did enjoy it. Well, she enjoyed her football-playing-boyfriend Matt. Quarterback. Hot. That was what Penny truly remembered about high school.

She took a bite of the curry and sighed in content. It was truly delicious.

She didn't notice the room get quiet, but suddenly she had a man standing directly behind her.

"Penny, that's my spot."

Sheldon looked down at her from where he was standing. His face started twitching a little. It was still kind of cute in an odd sort of way.

She finished her bite of curry and turned to where she was facing him directly. She lightly pulled her shorts down as she did so. Shorts on a leather couch were very annoying. She smiled up at Sheldon, he did not smile back.

"Come sit next to me sweetie." She took her hand and lightly rubbed the middle seat in a circular motion.

"Erm…" Sheldon stuttered watching Penny's hand. "No, that is my spot."

Leonard sighed from the chair directly across from Penny.

"Just sit somewhere else Sheldon. It's only for a couple hours." Penny heard Leonard begin to eat behind her. She didn't stop looking at Sheldon though to check.

"Why is this spot yours?"

"In the winter that seat is closer to the radiator to remain warm and yet not so close as to cause perspiration. In the summer it is in the path of a cross breeze created by opening windows there" Penny looked to where Sheldon was pointing with her jaw slightly ajar "and there. It faces the television at an angle that is neither direct thus discouraging conversation nor so far away to cause parallax distortion, I could continue but do I really need to go on?"

"Oh….kay. Sheldon come sit in your spot and I'll sit here, in the middle."

"You really don't need to do that" Leonard whispered glaring at Sheldon as Penny moved.

"No its fine, I don't want to be a burden." Penny was quite fascinated by Sheldon's speech anyway. What else was the poor man going to say? Was he this particular over everything?

Once everyone was situated and in their proper places, Penny began to feel a little uncomfortable. What did she have to talk about with these guys?

"So Penny, tell us a little bit about you."

"Well, I'm from Nebraska. I grew up on a farm. I want to be an actress and am currently writing a screenplay. Until I get my big break though, I work as a waitress at the Cheesecake Factory."

"What is the screenplay about?" Sheldon asked with a slight eyebrow raise.

"My life."

"Interesting." Leonard said with a broad smile. Penny smiled back. Leonard was so sweet.

"I guess if one wants to read a screenplay about serving cheesecake then your screenplay is definitely the way to go." Sheldon ventured taking another bite of his curry.

A little put off after Sheldon's speech, Penny scooted a little further away noticing how their knees were touching this entire time (a detail noticed by Leonard).

"Although" Sheldon began again "cheesecake is one of the true desserts which show America at its best. I've always wondered why we didn't say 'American as Cheesecake' though now that I sit here thinking about it, it doesn't sound quite as catchy as 'American as Apple Pie.'"

"I love apple pie!" Penny said smiling. At least in this rant she knew what the cute guy was talking about.

"I love mine with ice cream" exclaimed Leonard.

"No you don't you are lactose intolerant." Sheldon said looking away from Penny and now viewing his friend in a quizzical manner.

"It doesn't matter Sheldon" Leonard said clinching his jaw and grinding his teeth. Each word was met with a new breath and frustrated sigh. "So, that's the story about Penny? It sounds fascinating."

"Yeah" Penny realized her eyes were watering. She looked down at the ground hoping to not break down in front of the two nice guys she met today. Get it together Penny! "It was, until I moved here and dated an asshole for four years! That's as long as high school."

Sheldon began twitching again.

Tears streamed down her face. She sniffled.

She looked up and smiled as Sheldon held out a tissue towards her.

"You know what the worst part is?"

"That it took you four years to graduate high school?" Sheldon inquired. Squirming away slightly as Penny continued to blow her nose. Although he did smile a little as Penny snorted.

"No" she laughed slightly "he cheated on me and I still have feelings for him!"

"That is stupid." Sheldon handed her another tissue.

"Yeah, I know." Penny stood up and threw out the tissues. She rubbed her eyes with her hand and then looked down. She was covered in box dust from her apartment. "Ugh, I'm so gross and my shower isn't working."

"You can use our shower." Leonard began sounding a little grumpier than he had earlier. It would be months before she found out just how jealous he was over her lack of enthusiasm towards him. Years before she knew how much Sheldon actually did care for her. Such a waste.

"She can?"

"Yes" Leonard glared at Sheldon "She can. She can use the damn shower."

Penny walked up to where Leonard was sitting and pat him lightly on the shoulder. He was just so sweet!

Penny proceeded to follow Leonard to the back of the apartment noticing where the two bedrooms were located; opposite one of the bedroom doors was a picture in a black frame. Penny walked up to the picture and leaned in a little closer to see what it was. She smiled slightly at what looked to be a young Sheldon in a cap'n'gown being hugged enthusiastically by what Penny had to assume was his mother.

"When was this picture taken?" Sheldon looked extremely young in it. He must have been in early teens by this point. High school graduation maybe?

"Oh, that is Sheldon when he got his second Doctorate." Here is a towel for you Penny. Feel free to use anything you want. Just holler if you have any questions." Penny took the bright red towel from Leonard noticing a yellow lightning bolt making her think of Sheldon's shirt.

Getting naked underneath the symbol suddenly sounded really invigorating to her, you just broke up with your boyfriend Penny, get it together!

She smiled at Leonard and thanked him for everything. She noticed he looked exceptionally happier than he had been in the room with Sheldon. She turned around and walked into the bright yellow bathroom. It was so clean and cheery, like an oasis in the middle of a nerdy little kingdom. Although by this point anything would have been wonderful as long as there was hot water.

Penny threw back the shower curtain and had to focus really hard not to giggle at the sight of the boys shower gel, shampoo, and conditioner. Each bottle had a character from the Star Wars movies on them, with the plastic heads and everything. Did grown men really use these? She was suddenly thankful for her ex-boyfriend. He was dumber than a box of toads, but at least he had taught her about Star Wars. Kind of. Mostly, he had just had a thing for Princess Leia and the golden bikini…

000

Leonard stormed down the hall to where Sheldon was quietly sitting and finishing his meal.

"What is your problem Sheldon?"

"I don't know what you mean." Sheldon stood up and threw out his meal.

"Are you hitting on Penny?" Leonard stood next to the island and the kitchen watching Sheldon twitch and squirm away. He was interested in Penny!

"No, of course not. She just broke up with her boyfriend."

"Yes she did, but I am really interested in Penny." He was. She was the first girl he could imagine having smart and beautiful babies with! She had a beautiful smile, lovely hair, an amazing body. She looked like every heroine in his comic books except for being blonde.

There was no way in hell that Sheldon Cooper, the man who could barely have a conversation without complaining about something was going to get into Penny's pants instead of him! Not that that was really the only thing he wanted, but still.

"Leonard, I really hope you don't think you will be engaging in coitus with this girl." Sheldon moved back towards his spot and sat down. "What will you two have to discuss after the coitus?"

"Oh, and I guess you think you could do a better job?"

Sheldon looked towards Leonard in confusion. "No, I have no interest in engaging in coitus with Penny."

"Good."

000

Penny got out of the shower and wrapped herself in the red towel. It was quite soft and fluffy. She snuggled a little in it, bringing it up a little to caress her face.

Knock, knock, knock.

Penny?

Knock, knock, knock.

Penny?

Penny opened the door slightly confused. Sheldon looked away from her in the bright red towel and knocked lightly against the door with his knuckle even though it was already open.

Knock, knock, knock.

Penny? He whispered.

"Yes Sheldon?" Penny continued to adjust the towel noticing Sheldon's eyes follow the movement before he coughed and looked away. Sheldon was very 'old school' like a southern gentleman. Although she didn't know if he was southern. She didn't really know a lot about the quirky scientist.

"Penny, we seem to have more company than when you entered the shower. Our friends Koothrapali and Walowitz have arrived." Sheldon held his left hand behind him awkwardly.

"That's okay sweetie." She patted him on the cheek noticing the twitching start again. "Once I get dressed I can leave you guys alone so you can spend some time with your friends."

"I thought of that" he brought his left hand up which contained a pair of men's pajamas and top. "I didn't think you would want to get back into your dirty clothes. What would be the point of getting into your dusty clothes after taking a bath?"

Penny took the clothes from him.

"I don't know if these will fit you they aren't mine, but they are clean. Feel free to keep them." Sheldon slowly turned around and walked out of the bathroom.

Penny smiled and began to get dressed in the clothes Sheldon had provided her. The top was a little snug in the breast region and the pants were a little long, but comfortable. She bent down to roll the pajama bottoms up. She once again noticed the little lightning bolts and red color on the pajama bottoms, how could these not be Sheldon's?

Seeing her dusty clothes scattered on the ground, Penny bent down and wrapped them up in the towel. She figured at least for a while, she could keep the towel too. She was starting to really enjoy the lightning bolt and the luminous red.

She walked slowly from the bathroom down the hallway grinning slightly at the picture. Sheldon looked so uncomfortable. His mother must have been really used to her quirky son because she just hugged the hell out of him and then someone snapped the picture. Perfect.

The closer Penny got to the living room, the more convinced she became that Leonard and Sheldon were more normal than their friends. Voice number one had a really thick accent and was talking about how Natalie Portman was stellar in Star Wars and the Phantom Menace, and the second voice kept talking about how he would "nail Natalie's phantom in a menacing way." Voice number two sounded like a tiny little creeper.

He was.

As Penny approached the living room, a smaller man with a bowl haircut approached her.

"It must have hurt when you fell down from heaven, because baby you are an angel sent from above." The little man bent down reaching for Penny's hand and kissed it. Penny recoiled and slowly pulled her hand away not wanting to hurt his feelings, but get away. Far away.

"The name is Howard, and you are?"

"Penny. I'm a waitress!" Penny moved away from the man and walked towards Sheldon and sat down next to him. He was in his spot smiling slightly. "Penny that was Howard Walowitz. The quiet man sitting down on the ground there next to your feet is Raj."

Penny squeaked as she noticed the man who was sitting quietly on the floor. She held out her hand and smiled at what she assumed was the first voice. He was cute too, brown skin and wearing multi-layer sweater vest. He smiled back at her and shook her hand.

Penny looked back at Sheldon. "Why isn't he saying anything?"

"Yeah, don't take it personally." Leonard walked from the kitchen to the living room and joined the rest of the group. "He doesn't speak to women."

"He doesn't speak to women, like at all?"

"He has selective mutism." Sheldon finished and proceeded to take a drink of hot tea. He put the cup back on the coaster next to the lamp by the couch.

"Penny would you like a hot beverage?" Penny smiled.

"I should have offered you a hot beverage earlier" Sheldon explained. "The social convention is to give you a hot beverage when you are feeling sad. I should have given it to you when you cried." Penny continued to beam towards Sheldon and politely declined.

Both of them missed the amazed looks by Raj and Howard and the angry look on Leonard's face.

"So, are we going to start the second season of Battlestar Galactica or just stare at the blonde angel?" Howard whispered towards Raj. Raj nodded in amused silent. He then leaned closer to Howard and whispered something in his ear.

"That's what I mean, Sheldon is noticing a girl." Howard and Raj smile.

"Sure." Penny adjusted herself to focus on the television. "What is this show about?"

Sheldon sighed beside her. She looked over at his bemused expression. "Penny" he said her name as if he was talking to a toddler. It made her smile.

"Ooh is this going to be about sinking ships?" Penny noticed every time she interrupted Sheldon he began to twitch. She found herself really enjoying this reaction. Who knew an anti-social twitchy man could be so fascinating?

"I think you mean Battleship." Sheldon mumbled.

"Oh sorry."

"Don't be. It's just more proof our education system is lacking."

"Don't be an ass Sheldon." Howard adjusted his legs on the couch next to Penny behind Raj. His black leather pants stuck to his legs creating an annoying slick noise. He then adjusted the sleeves on his black and red sweater which matched the red dickey underneath.

Sheldon smirked. "Anyway Penny, Battlestar Galactica was made in the 1980's. Well actually 1978, but this is the 1980's version which is a little better. Anyway, this is about Earth and its defense against…"

"So how many are there?" Penny stated. Annoyed with Sheldon, such a moody ass!

"Many." Leonard responded, smiling slightly as Sheldon began to twitch at being interrupted.

"Generations! Each one more quelling then the next." Howard finished next to Raj who nodded in agreement. Raj leaned up towards Howard and whispered in his ear.

"Yes, Lorne Greene is a treasure." Howard said in exasperation.

Raj sat back down on the floor smiling.

"Penny I would prefer if you didn't interrupt me again. Please." Sheldon stopped twitching.

"Sheldon I would prefer if you didn't behave like a monkey with no manners. Please."

"There are so many errors in that example, but I apologize." Sheldon whispered the last part. It was barely audible over the opening credits, but all of them heard it. No one acknowledged it or discredited it. Dr. Sheldon Cooper never apologized unless he was begged too by Leonard.

Penny looked over at Sheldon and smiled, "I accept your apology sweetie."

Sheldon grinned back and adjusted himself in his spot for ten episodes of Battlestar.

000

A few hours later, Penny woke up to absolute silence. She opened her eyes to a pitch black room. No one was there and the sun was still outside causing shadows. She stretched wondering where the gang of nerds had gone. They really were unique, but they made Penny feel special.

Especially Sheldon.

It felt as if the precocious ass always made her smile for some unknown reason.

She rubbed her eyes and stood noticing somebody had wrapped her in a blanket and added a pillow underneath her head. Probably Leonard.

She laughed as she noticed a note located underneath all the squiggles on Sheldon's board.

Penny,

We left. Leonard claims I need to add more to this note, but what?

You can find us at Big Boy, it is Tuesday night. Tuesday night is burger night.

Dr. Sheldon Cooper (BS, MS, MA,PH.D, Sc.D)

Penny smiled, even in a note Sheldon had to show his accomplishments. She bent down and folded the blanket neatly on Sheldon's spot. She then laid the pillow on top. She walked to her apartment quietly closing the door on the way out.

Time to get out of the PJ's and into some nice clothes! Penny had never had a big boy burger before.

000

Well, I hope you enjoyed! Chapter two should be up pretty soon.

Let me know if you have any issues or concerns with this.

This will have sex, but like some of the other Shenny fics, you can't really have Sheldon ready for love making at first.

Just a lot of cuteness and then love.

Also, you might hate Leonard at first….just warning you. But later you will love him again.

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