A/N: New story! Just a one shot, mostly about friendship. This is actually two fanfic ideas I had, pushed into two. It may not work that well as one fic, but as my first one-shot Big Bang Theory fic, I thought it was okay. It is my first song-fic as well. I hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own Big Bang Theory. I am just a fan. Simple as that, so please enjoy, and don't sue!
You're the Storm
Penny hated that she had let this happen to her again. Though with her track record with the men she dated, it was bound to happen at least one more time in her life. She stared in her bathroom mirror at her eye. It was defiantly becoming darker and the shape of a ring could be seen just below her eye. She groaned. She wouldn't be able to show her face across the hall. And even worst, she had an audition in two days. Not to mention how customers were going to look at her at work. They would just assume that she was just another girl living with an abuser. That wasn't the case. In the least.
Penny had been abused in the past, with the boyfriend, before Kirk. She didn't ever stand up for herself, but you can bet that Penny did this time. The guy hit her because she declined him for another date. She let him have it. She punched him right back, and successfully broke his nose. She was proud of herself, but not at her battle wound that was looking back at her in the mirror.
She quickly went to grab her cover-up to try to cover it up before anyone noticed.
Oh it's healing - bang bang bang
I can hear your cannons call
Knock
Knock
Knock
"Penny, Penny, Penny."
"Crap!" Penny cried.
She moved from her bathroom to her bedroom where she peeked out of her doorway to her living room. She held her breath, hoping that he wouldn't continue.
Knock
Knock
Knock
"Penny, Penny, Penny," Sheldon's voice continued again.
She froze, and tried to not move a muscle. He has the best hearing of anyone she had ever met, and any movement would let him know that she was there. She waited for him to continue.
Knock
Knock
Knock
"Penny, Penny, Penny."
She heard him continue, and still waited for him to move on. She waited, and waited. She didn't hear what she wanted.
"Penny, I heard you swear and move about your apartment on my first three knocks, I need to bring something to your attention," Sheldon's voice was heard clear as day on the other side of her door. She didn't move, but her lips parted as she replied.
"I'm busy, sent me an email," she called.
"Are you currently engaged in coitus?"
Penny wasn't surprised that he asked her that, what was pissing her off is that he wouldn't go away. She bit her tongue, and tried to think of something to say. She wanted to say yes, but she didn't want it bring brought up to the others, which he would at some point or another.
"No, Sheldon," she replied.
"Well I need to talk to you," Sheldon continued.
"Go away!" Penny yelled.
She had moved from her bedroom doorway to her living room, and was standing in front of the door now. There was silence, but she didn't hear him move either. There was silence for the longest time. And Penny didn't know what she was suppose to do. She held her breath, and then reached for the doorknob. As she opened it, she could see Sheldon's blue eyes peeking in at her. She held her breath, and then let him in. She moved back, and tried to look down and away to, hide her blackening eye. Sheldon was carrying a plastic bag, but he didn't seem to notice that he had it any longer.
You've been aiming at my land
Your hungry hammer is falling
"Penny, your left eye is bruised, what happened?" Sheldon seemed surprised by the sight of the black eye.
Penny instantly hated herself for opening the door. She had no idea why she did, but she supposed that Sheldon wouldn't have left if she did. She instantly warned him advance.
"You can't tell anyone," Penny warned him. She knew that she had to tell him before she told him, so he could choose if he could keep a secret or not.
He licked his lips nervously, but he nodded. "I can keep a secret."
Penny was convinced. He had chosen to keep her secret. "I was out on a date, a really bad date, and he hit me."
His eyes went wide, and he moved to her side, and moved at a better angle to look at it. She became paranoid, and tried to look away. He dropped his plastic bag, and reached for her face. She almost flinched, both surprised, and at the fact she didn't want him examining her like a theory or experiment. His hand rested under her chin, and he repositioned her face up to look at him. She felt her cheeks go hot.
And if you want me I'm your country
"Why did he hit you?" Sheldon asked, and he examined the bruise.
She didn't look in his direction, as she was embarrassed that he was looking at her like she was a lab rat, but also that the man who was scared shitless of germs, was voluntarily touching her.
"I refused to go on another date with him," Penny answered.
His eyes went wide. "And that deserves a black eye?"
"He was an ass," Penny replied. "I punched him back. He's probably at the hospital right now. I'm sure I broke his nose." His hand fell back to his side. She took the time to look away now, and move over to her couch. She took a seat and stared down at her hands in her lap. She didn't know what else to say. "So I just want to be alone Sheldon."
He reached down and picked up his plastic bag, and moved over to her. She placed the bag down on her coffee table in front of her. "Fair enough."
She looked at the bag, and pulled the plastic away from the heavy object inside. It was a milk carton of the same milk that Sheldon always bought. "Is this because I drank all your milk this morning?"
Sheldon shook his head. "It's your birthday, and I figured that it was something you needed."
Penny's lips formed into a smile. "Sheldon, this is so sweet of you. Can I ask why though, you hate giving gifts, you always say that you hate it because then there is an unspoken deal that one must repay with a gift later on."
He nodded. "Exactly. You got me Leonard Nimoy's DNA a few Christmases ago, and all that soap is still not nearly enough."
Penny continued to smile. She wanted to point out that milk was hardly worth much, but he had gotten her something she needed. It was a small gesture. No one else had remembered it was her birthday. And receiving a black eye was hardly something she wanted to remember this birthday. And the wack-a-doodle had managed to bring a smile to her face still.
"Thank you Sheldon."
8 8 8
Four days had passed, and she had avoided the group of guys since Friday night. It was now Tuesday night, and she wasn't looking forward to seeing them. Her black eye was now black, purple and blue. The bruising was even now beginning to run down her face. It looked a lot more painful than it was, but having a terrible day at work was only made worse by the customers who stared at her. She wanted to scream at them so badly to mind their own business, but then she would lose out on the tips she needed to help pay rent this month.
I'm an angel bored like hell
And you're a devil meaning well
The guys had come in, and Penny felt her entire body freeze. She felt a lump form in her throat, and her face went red. She didn't want to face them. Howard would say something, Raj would sit there with a panicked look on his face, and Leonard would guilt her into saying something, and then she'd be even more embarrassed. She didn't know how Sheldon was going to react. He already knew, and was sworn to secrecy. Would he act dumb? Pretend he didn't notice? Sheldon was a know-it-all, so that wasn't likely. But would he say something?
"Penny, do you want me to take over the table tonight?" Bernadette asked as she stopped beside Penny at the kitchen entrance. She bit her lip nervously. Then her head nodded.
"Yes, please. Tell them I have too many tables, or something."
Bernadette nodded. "I'll take care of it."
Penny had told Bernadette what had happened right away. Bernadette was angry, but glad to hear that Penny had fought back. She also knew that Penny was nervous about their group of friends seeing her like that. They probably would see her around the restaurant today, but they wouldn't dare say something to her if she wasn't their waitress. That gave her until she got off work later until they approached her, and god willing, they would.
"Thanks Bernadette."
You steal my lines and you strike me down
Come raise your flag upon me
Over at the guy's table, they waited around for Penny to come take their usual order. Leonard and Raj were having a debate over something that Sheldon wasn't listening to. He had no interest in whatever meaningless debate they were having. His eyes kept glancing about the dining room looking about for his neighbour. She always came over to take their order by now.
His eyes fell on her standing with Bernadette by the kitchen. He saw Bernadette nod and smile at Penny, and then she came their way. Sheldon frowned. This wasn't his usual Tuesday schedule. Bernadette couldn't take his order, Penny did!
Bernadette stopped by their table with a smile. "Hey!" she greeted. "I'm taking your table tonight. You're usual?"
"Excuse me," Sheldon interrupted. "You're not our usual waitress, so there is nothing usual about this."
"Here we go," Howard groaned.
"I know," Bernadette replied, with an uneasy smile. "Penny's a bit overrun with tables this evening."
Sheldon's eyes looked around; he knew what her section was. She only had one other table. "No, it's not."
"Sheldon, its fine, you know Bernadette, she won't touch your food," Leonard shot. Raj sat silently, but his head nodded up and down furiously.
"Leonard, for the past five years that we've been coming here, we have sat at this table, and I have gotten lemonade, with a bacon barbecue cheeseburger - bacon, barbecue sauce and cheese on the side, and we have had Penny as our waitress," Sheldon explained.
Bernadette's eyes were now wide, and she looked panicked. She looked back to the kitchen, but Penny was gone. She looked back at Sheldon. "I can promise you, your order is in good hands."
"For God's sake Sheldon, let Bernadette take our orders," Howard yelled.
"Where is Penny?" Sheldon asked. He had completely ignored Howard.
"Um...she may have gone on her break," Bernadette mentioned. She had glanced at Penny's last and only table, who were leaving now. They had already paid up before the guys had come in.
Sheldon stood from the table, and without a word, grabbed his messenger bag, and jacket, and left the Cheesecake factory.
"The frak was that?" Howard mumbled.
And if you want me I'm your country
If you win me I'm forever - oh yeah!
Penny was sitting on a milk crate at the backdoor of the restaurant. She was holding her head in her hands, and was so embarrassed by this. She wished she had called in sick. Without work she would be on the streets though. So even worse, she wished she had never gone on that date. If she hadn't, then this would have never happened, and she wouldn't hate that she was showing her face in public.
Even worse was that her neighbour was here to witness her self-pity. It was so sad that she knew it was him just by his horrible plaid pants that she could see at the corner of her eye.
"Penny."
She turned to look up at Sheldon, who was staring down at her. She hated that he was staring down at her. She was surprised when he bent down to her level. She glanced at him again.
"Penny, why are you avoiding us?"
"Because of this," she pointed to her black eye. Not all the make-up in the world could cover it up.
Sheldon lightly nodded. "We don't care about your bruise."
If it was anyone else she had said that to her, she would have slapped them. With Sheldon, she knew it had no mean meaning. She knew that he cared that she had gotten punched. He was just trying to say that they weren't put off by the black eye.
"I just don't I can face the others," Penny replied. "I don't want them asking questions."
"They won't, they already know about it," Sheldon answered.
"What!" Penny cried. "You told them!"
Sheldon shook his head quickly and stood from his bending position. Penny followed him up. He quickly protected his throat from her. "Bernadette told Wolowitz, and in turn, he told everyone else. I'll have you know, I lectured them before we came here about not saying anything."
"...You did?"
"Yes," he said in a matter of fact tone, one that penny knew to be nothing more than Doctor Sheldon Cooper.
Penny smiled, and leaned up and in, playing a quick kiss on his cheek. "Thank you sweetie."
She felt him stiffen under her touch, and could feel his widened and panicked eyes on her. And then when she pulled away he was fumbling into his messenger bag. She watched as he pulled out a little package of anti-bacterial wipes and began to wipe away where she had kissed. Penny expected nothing less from Sheldon. She smiled at him as she watched him.
"Alright Moonpie, you win, go back inside, I'll wait on your table."
'Cause you're the storm that I've been needing
And all this peace has been deceiving
I like the sweet life and the silence
But it's the storm that I believe in
Penny returned home, from a very successful night at work. She couldn't help but feel more confident after talking to Sheldon in the alley behind The Cheesecake Factory. He was true to his word. No one said a thing as she took over her table again from Bernadette's care. It was just like any other Tuesday evening.
Except that Penny couldn't stop staring at the cheek she had kissed. Every time she looked at it, she found herself grinning. The look on his face was priceless, and his reaction was just as priceless.
It was anything can happen Thursday. And the guys had decided to go out to a bar. Sheldon was staying behind. He was enjoying his time alone. Or so, she suspected. She was in her apartment, painting her toes. It was the simple things like this, that she enjoyed and made her life more bearable.
It had had been almost a week, and her bruise was starting to go away. She suspected it would take another few days before cover-up would begin to even start to work to cover her bruise, but a few more days at work, boosted her confidence. Her coworkers weren't staring at her like they had been, and she had already didn't care what her customers thought. Or at least, what her non-regular customers thought.
But it seemed that she didn't need to be concerned with what her best friends thought either. She grinned a little, with the knowledge that Sheldon was some part of that. He had become her best friend so quickly. Annoying at times, loud, and with an ego so big, he could have the sun itself orbit around him. He was also loyal, and able to walk out of his comfort zone in an emergency.
So when he knocked on her door this evening, she welcomed him inside her apartment.
Come and conquer and drop your bombs
Cross my borders and kill the calm
Bear your fangs and burn my wings
I hear bullets singing
"Penny, will you take me to the comic book store, its Thursday," he asked. She sat back, on the couch, and dropped her feet off the coffee table. And she put the top on her bottle of nail polish. As much as she liked seeing him, she hated the fact that he was interrupting her.
"Yeah, but its "Anything can happen Thursday"," she answered.
"Yes, and therefore I think it is entirely possible that you will take me to the comic book store," Sheldon replied.
She didn't want to go out, not with her black eye. So Penny knew how to put him in his place. "Alright sweetie, sure, we'll go, I just want to warn you, that my Check Engine light has been flickering on and off all week."
Sheldon's eye began to twitch. She stood from her seat, and reached for her bag. Sheldon stepped forward. "LET'S WATCH DOCTOR WHO!" he cried.
She stared at him, and pretended that she was surprised, though she wasn't. She was satisfied though. "Are you sure sweetie?"
He nodded. "Yes...I nice...safe night at home is good...for the soul," he replied. "If you believe in that stuff, which I don't."
"Oh, well that sounds good as well," she answered. "Which season will we be watching, and will it have David Tennant?"
Penny had a little crush on that doctor. He had the right balance of nerd and hotness, that Penny admittedly had a thing for, and was kind of looking for a man like that.
"I think I have the right season in mind," he stated. He quickly left her apartment for a few minutes, and then reappeared with a small DVD set. She quickly tried to examine what he had chosen. He showed it to her by lifting it up. She didn't recognize the doctor on the cover.
"Which doctor is he?"
"The fifth doctor," he answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Oh," she answered. She realized that it was from the old series, the original series. She had no idea what this doctor was like, or anyone before Christopher Eccleston's portrayal. "Well, let's pop it in. I trust your judgement."
She had always ended up enjoying whatever Sheldon had showed her. He learned quickly what sort of nerdy stuff she would enjoy. And she appreciated that.
"Interesting fact, this is the doctor that inspired David Tennant to went to play The Doctor," he told her.
She took the DVD case from him, and glanced it over, staring at the actor's face long and hard. "Hey...wasn't this guy in like, a mini episode or something?"
"Very good Penny, he was. He had a scene with David Tennant in mini episode where he played his version of The Doctor," Sheldon continued.
She smiled. It wasn't often that he complimented her, but when he did, she always felt a little bubbly inside.
And if you want me I'm your country
If you win me I'm forever - oh yeah!
Two hours later, Penny and Sheldon finished one story arc of the old series. Penny was actually impressed that the stories went on for multiple episodes. They seemed more fleshed out than the new series, but David Tennat was still her kind of guy. She didn't deny that Peter Davison (she had asked Sheldon his name between episodes)was a pretty neat Doctor.
"It was neat to see the Cybermen," she replied as the credits were over, and the DVD went back to its menu. "I liked it, thank you for sharing with me."
He gave her his slight smile that he seemed to always give without notice. She returned the smile and leaned forward. He noticed her movement. "Penny, what are you doing?"
She didn't notice her own movement until he had pointed it out. Her eyes widened slightly, and her breathing hitched in her throat. She didn't know what to say. She had no idea why she had moved forward. "I don't know," she answered honestly.
She pulled away.
'Cause you're the storm that I've been needing
And all this peace has been deceiving
I need some wind to get me sailing
So it's the storm that I believe in
She jumped up off her couch, and looked for something to grab to make it look like he hadn't just jumped up because she had freaked herself out. She felt her pain a little, but then she saw a stray towel lying at her island. She could grab it and fold it. She reached for it, but she froze when she felt a warm hand take hers in theirs.
She glanced back at Sheldon, who was looking at her, but with shy eyes that wouldn't look directly at her. She could feel her whole body go hot, starting where he was touching her. Sheldon didn't voluntarily touch people. And he had taken her hand, for a reason she couldn't just figure out. "Sheldon, what are you doing?"
His shy blue eyes looked up at her, and he replied, "Letting you know that everything is alright. I'm here."
Penny didn't know what to say. He was comforting her, in a completely different way than he did when she was in the hospital with a dislocated shoulder. He was more human. She squeezed his hand in hers.
"That's what I love about you," Penny breathed.
You fill my heart, you keep me breathing
'cause you're the storm that I believe in
"You're full of so much love," she continued.
"Just like WALL-E?" Sheldon questioned.
She smiled and nodded, "But your no robot man."
"Penny, that goes without saying," he replied.
She laughed lightly, and was standing closer to him now. As she laughed she let her forehead lean against his chest, and her free hand rested nest to her head. She could feel Sheldon tighten up, but when his free hand came up around her in a friendly one armed hug.
"You're my best friend," she told him. "There's no one that could ever replace you."
"Does that mean you are my EVE?" Sheldon asked.
She looked up at him, her cheeks were burning. To her surprise, his were too.
She smiled at him. "Figure it out yourself, you're the genius."
And if you want me I'm your country
A/N: The song is "You're the Storm" by The Cardigans. Awesome song. It fits really well with Shenny in my opinion. It's also gotten me through some tough times, which I have been going through recently. I hoped you enjoyed.