Well, since I fancy Jim Parsons and my OTP is Shenny, I thought what the hell and made a one-shot. Bear in mind I'm tired and not in the best of moods, and this is my way of expressing my pent-up emotions concerning romance.
Please R&R if you like, look out for more of these in the future!
Disclaimer: I do not own or claim to own any of the characters mentioned in this work, all I own is the words. If I did own Sheldon, the things I'd do with/to him... :)
The Baseball bat Complexity
The evening had started off rather well for Sheldon. Sure he was still upset and confused about an issue at the fore-front of his mind, but at least he hadn't had any interruptions from anyone, and he was enjoying the solitude of no roommates making messes and being loud. The peace of the evening was short-lived however, for a loud clatter that attracted Sheldon's Vulcan hearing more than a moth to a light caused him to shoot up from his spot. His comfort and slight-happiness rudely interrupted by what sounded like a baseball bat connecting with the hard floor of Penny's apartment. Sheldon ran out of the door, shutting it behind him with a sharp slam but without locking, and ran to Penny's door.
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock* "Penny!"
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock* "Penny!"
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock* "Penny!"
Approximately twenty-five seconds after Sheldon's knock, Penny flung her door open, red-faced and wielding a large and lethal bat in her free hand. Her hair was tied messily into a bun, with hints of perspiration on her neck and forehead. Sheldon suppressed a smile at her image. What a noob, he thought fondly. Penny looked bewildered and angry, her eyes softening from steel to molten when greeting Sheldon.
"What do you want, Sheldon?" She demanded, shifting her weight to the left rather sassily.
"I heard a distressing crash from that rather dangerous weapon, and I would like to know why this noise is intruding on my Doctor Who hour." He said, crossing his arms with a stern expression on his face. Penny couldn't help but smile at his comment. However, Sheldon was impatiently eager to return to the Weeping Angel re-run, and spoke again without giving Penny a chance to reply.
"Well? What's your excuse?"
"In Nebraska, we deal with spiders differently to you Texas folk." She whipped sarcastically. Sheldon scowled at her remark.
"You mean to tell me you interrupted the Doctor confronting the Weeping Angels indirectly because you were attempting to kill an innocent spider with a baseball bat?" He asked, incredulous. His arms remained crossed, an indication he was back to his teaching role at the University.
"Yeah, that's exactly what I mean to tell you. Also, I'm lonely. I thought bashing the bat around for a bit could attract attention." With a heavy and dutiful sigh, Sheldon unfolded his arms and gently but firmly took the bat from her grasp, staring warily with his big sapphire eyes into Penny's emerald eyes.
"Do you want to come over? I don't particularly care if you do or don't, but anything to silence that terrible noise is a small mercy. I'm watching Doctor Who." With that he walked away, not even waiting for Penny to reply again. Surprised, Penny grabbed her keys from the wooden bowl Sheldon had taken the liberty of purchasing and placing when on a cleaning rampage, and locked the door. She groaned, unlocked the door again and ran in to collect her laptop, before locking up and entering Sheldon's apartment. In the minute and a half it had taken for her to gather herself, Sheldon had disposed of the bat, resumed Doctor Who and poured two mugs of steaming hot tea. Penny sat at the other end of the sofa, turning on the laptop and nesting it on her lap elegantly. She waited for it to load before tapping in the Wi-Fi password, but to her confusion it was rejected. She typed it in once, twice, thrice but to no avail.
"Sweetie, did you change the password?" She asked, her eyes trained on his expressionless face.
"Yes, it's 'Only meemaw calls me moonpie', no spaces or capitals." He replied without a second's hesitation. She rolled her eyes before typing in the whack-a-doodle's choice of a password.
"Where are the guys anyway?" Penny wasn't really interested in the answer, but asked anyway.
"Trying to hit on innocent women." His eyes never left the screen, apparently absorbed in the handsome British guy's performance. Sheldon kept shifting uncomfortably, and his eyes soon began to repeatedly drift from the screen to corners of the room no one noticed other than the brilliant physicist.
"You seem distracted all of a sudden- what is it?"
"I am having unexpected emotions. As a Homo Novus, I should be above all of this emotion poppycock, but it seems I cannot avoid it." He sighed resentfully, glaring at his hands that twisted and danced with each other.
"Well, you can always tell me about it. I'm curious- what has the incredible Dr. Cooper in a fuddle?" She joked, but the smile soon faded when she realised he looked troubled.
"I think… I think I am experiencing what some call love." He said, using quotation marks when saying "love".
"That's great, moonpie! Why don'tcha tell Amy?" She said, lightly patting his hands with her own.
"No one calls me moonpie but mee-maw! Anyway, it isn't Amy I'm in love with." He admitted, his eyes never daring to leave his hands. Penny couldn't control her surprise, as she silently urged him to elaborate.
"I'm in love with…" He suddenly lost his voice, falling mute as he faced the impossible task of admitting his feelings to Penny.
"Who?" She asked impatiently. She instantly felt guilty for pushing him, as his burning azure eyes glared into her own, before he ran to his bedroom, slamming the door carelessly behind him. She paused Doctor Who once again, and waited in silence for him to emerge. After ten minutes of waiting, she decided it best if she left. However, as she made her way to the door, laptop in hand, she noticed a journal left open by his desk. If I'm quiet, perhaps I could get to the root of the problem. She reasoned, edging forward to scan the page for mentions of love. Her eyes suddenly zoned on her name as she saw it elegantly written on the lined page. She read the full sentence, and gasped. It read "I cannot keep my emotions hidden any longer- I have to tell Penny that I'm in love with her." Penny shakily ran back to the sofa, dropping her laptop on it before sprinting to the door to Sheldon's bedroom. She knocked on the door, calling his name urgently.
"Sheldon, please let me in. I have something I need to tell you!" She cried. Sheldon resigned, opening the door.
"I don't really want to talk to anyone." He muttered grumpily.
"Sheldon… I read your journal. But, I want you to know that I return those feelings! I'd never really faced it, but when I first met you I liked you. You impressed me with your scientific, beautiful mind, and you will always be the only moonpie I'll ever love!" She cried, babbling in a desperate attempt to reason with him over reading his journal.
"You read my journal!" He yelled before slamming the door in her face. A second later, he yanked it open again, breathless.
"Did you just say you loved me back, but with more words than necessary?" He asked. Penny smiled knowingly at his constant bewilderment, nodding at the same time.
"Yes. It never felt right with Leonard, or any of the 180 guys you claim I dated." She tried to think of something witty, romantic and suitable to say without being creepy.
"Dr. Sheldon Lee Cooper, Moonpie, whack-a-doodle, Shelly… do you want to be 181? Numbers don't lie." She tempted with a warm smile. Sheldon remembered all the times he'd proved they shared feelings. When he drove her to the hospital. When she comforted him after being betrayed by his friends at the arctic. When she picked out a suit for him to wear. When he'd lent her money. When he'd convinced her to stay. When he'd asked her out on a date, even if it was to get back at Amy. When he cleaned her apartment, despite how creepy she claimed it to be. When he helped her with Age of Conan. When she'd avenged Sheldon's lost items on World of Warcraft. The list carried on in both their minds, whilst Sheldon answered.
"Penny, it would be my pleasure to date you." He answered truthfully. She leant forward to peck him on the cheek, before handing him her phone.
"Why did you do that?"
"Because you need to call Amy and let her know your relationship isn't gonna work out. And I've gotta go tell Leonard. I'd word it better to him sweetie."
The Wi-Fi password hadn't changed since that night. However, one night after three months of dating Dr. Cooper, the man of a beautiful mind, the Wi-Fi password had been changed. A note was tacked to Penny's door, with the password scrawled on it in Sheldon's impeccable handwriting. On it was written, "The new password is 'Penny I love you', no spaces and a capital only on your name. –Sheldon."