I don't own TBBT or the characters.

Penny walked into the lobby of her building after a particularly rough day, wanting nothing more than a hot bubble bath and a chilled bottle of wine. What she found was an open elevator door. She peeked around the corner of the doors curiously. Howard was standing inside, the wall panel open in front of him.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

Howard jumped with surprise and the panel sparked. Howard gasped and grabbed Penny's arm. He pulled her out of the doorway just before the doors literally slammed shut.

"What the hell?!" she yelled.

"Sorry," Howard said as he quickly turned back to the panel. He attached a couple of wires from a little machine he was holding and tapped a few buttons. Penny moved closer and looked over his shoulder. He glanced at her anxiously. "I lost a bet to Sheldon and he told me to fix the elevator. I'll get the doors opened as fast as I can."

Penny looked at Howard with a frown. His voice was strange. Sweat was popping out on his forehead and his shoulders were starting to shake. His eyes were almost completely white, with very little iris showing. Crap on a cracker! Howard was claustrophobic, she realized.

Penny took the machine from his hands and pulled him to the center of the elevator. "Howard, breathe. Close your eyes," she commanded, "and count to 5. Come on, follow my lead."

Howard's eyes were still wide open, so she placed her hand over his eyes. He was twitching like Sheldon when he hadn't known the answer during that university quiz. She placed her other hand on his chest and spoke softly. "Come on, Howard. Follow me. Breathe in, 1-2-3-4-5, and breathe out."

After a few seconds, he began to breathe slowly and deeply. Once he stopped twitching, Penny removed her hands. Howard's eyes were a little calmer and he gave her an embarrassed look.

"Sorry," he said, blushing deeply in the dim light.

Penny nodded calmly. "Did Sheldon know you are claustrophobic?"

Howard shook his head. "I didn't even know until just now. That's never happened before. And I've been stuffed into a duffle bag before."

Penny was appalled. "A duffle bag? That's terrible!"

Howard shrugged. "That's the life of a nerd," he said matter-of-factly. He took a steadying breath and moved back to the panel. "I better get us out of here."

Penny walked over and stood to the side watching him. "Can I help?"

Howard glanced at her a bit shyly. "Can you talk to me? Keep me from focusing on the walls closing in?"

Penny tried to find something that she could talk about, that Howard would be interested enough in to pay attention. Basically all they had in common was that they both liked sex, and no way was she discussing sex with Howard Wolowitz!

Penny just opened her mouth and started talking out random things, hoping to find something, anything, to distract him. "When I was 5, I had my first horse ride. My uncle Tom held me in front of him. I fell in love immediately. The thrill of galloping across the yard won me over immediately. My uncle knew it, too. He was the one that encouraged me to join the junior rodeo competitions, too."

Howard looked over at her briefly. "I've never been on a horse. I don't think I've ever even been near a horse."

Penny smiled as memories crowded into her mind. "They're such gentle animals usually. Riding on a horse gives you such a sense of freedom. It's like there's no one else in the world but you and the horse."

Howard was intrigued by the look of joy in Penny's eyes. He had seen her happy, sad, angry, bored, and indifferent. But he had never seen this expression before. A beep from his machine drew their attention. He grinned and pressed a button and the doors opened.

"Viola!" he said loudly. They quickly scrambled out into the lobby. After a second, Penny picked up her purse, where she had dropped it and Howard used a screwdriver to wedge the doors open. They glanced at each other and smiled wryly.

"Well, good luck with the elevator," Penny said. Howard nodded and Penny walked toward the stairs. She paused for a second and looked back to see Howard looking at his shaking hands. An idea burrowed into Penny's brain as she headed upstairs.

The door to 4A opened and Penny walked in. Sheldon, Leonard, Howard and Raj looked up to greet her. Penny waved and turned to Howard. "Let's go."

Everyone looked at her in surprise. Leonard stepped closer and sighed. "Howard, what did you do?"

Howard looked stunned. "I didn't do anything!"

Penny grinned. "Of course you didn't, sweetie. Now get your scrawny butt out that door."

Sheldon frowned and looked between Penny and Howard. "Where is Howard going?"

Penny grinned. "We have a date with a couple of beautiful females."

Leonard turned a bright pink. "F ..females? You're going out with a woman? With Howard?"

Penny grinned with a great deal of humor. "Enough questions. We have to go. Come on, Howard. Get a move on!"

Howard followed Penny with bemusement, too curious to ask any questions. They drove for about 20 minutes, Penny chatting about her last audition, and Howard listening with only half an ear as he tried to figure out where they were going.

Penny parked in front of a large brick building on the outskirts of town. She got out, excitement emanating from her every pore. Howard followed, curiosity overriding his hesitation.

They walked inside and were greeted by an older man. He smiled warmly at the two of them. "Hi. I'm Carl, the owner. Come on through. I've got you both set up in the paddock."

Howard's jaw dropped as he followed Carl and Penny out the back to the large fields. Two horses stood tied up to the post nearby. One was a black Fell Pony and the other a bay Moyle. He looked at the two animals, both much larger than he was, with trepidation.

Carl clapped him on the back and smiled. "Don't worry. I picked out Hettie, the Fell, just for you. She's the most docile animal I've ever worked with. I don't think she's ever moved faster than a walk in her life."

Howard looked over at Penny, excitement and hope shining in her eyes. She had done this for him. She wanted to share something she loved with him. For the first time in the three years he had known Penny, he truly felt like she cared about him, at least a little. He didn't want to disappoint her.

Penny parked her car and looked over at Howard. "So? What do you think?"

Howard shifted his aching body and grinned. "I can see why you like it. You're right. Once I got used to how Hettie moved, it was really cool. Like I was sitting on top of the world."

She nodded and they exited the car. "You did really well, Howard. I'm proud of you."

Howard blushed lightly. "Penny?"

She looked over the roof of the car at him. "Yes?"

Howard bit the inside of his cheek for a second. "Can we go again?"

She grinned widely. "Absolutely. How about next Sunday?" Howard nodded and followed her out of the parking lot toward the building. "A good hot bath will ease those aches. And use that liniment Carl gave you," Penny said.

When they reached the fourth floor Penny turned toward her door. Howard reached out and touched her shoulder, drawing her attention. He could feel eyes on them from the peephole in 4A, but he chose to ignore it.

"Penny, thank you for taking me. I really did have a great time." Howard hesitated and blushed. "And I owe you an apology. I've never treated you as anything but a set of boobs. You went out of your way to do something nice and to include me in something you love. So, thank you for being my friend."

Penny got teary and reached out to hug him briefly. "Oh, sweetie! That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me."

Penny patted his cheek and entered her apartment. Howard glanced at the door behind him and decided he didn't want to answer any questions tonight. Tomorrow, after he had eased the sore muscles in his back and legs, but for tonight he would go home, happy to know he and Penny really and truly were friends.