The story line is a little bit different. It's set during the third season before the introduction of Amy. Leonard and Penny never went out. :D AS HOW IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN!
The Big Bang Theory isn't mine.
I hope you enjoy. I'm not very good, but I really liked writing it. So have mercy.
Penny and Sheldon don't fight. It's mostly because of Sheldon, he doesn't hate anything more than yelling. In the beginning she used to scream at him a lot, but it never got anywhere, he'd just shut down and walk away, not bothering with speaking with her anymore till she apologized. Other than his usual outbursts, Sheldon didn't talk about his parents fighting. Sheldon talks about everything, so it worries Penny, that when she does ask, he doesn't answer. Over time she toned it down, she bites her tongue and writes him an angry letter as opposed to battling it out in person. It's a routine that works for them, it might not be a normal thing couples do. But Penny didn't expect it to be normal, sometimes she finds that his logical ways of thinking things through before rushing head on spare her a lot of time and effort. Not that she would ever admit it to him. Never once, never once, has Sheldon raised his voice to her. Sure he's made sarcastic comments about just about everything she does when he's angry with her, but never, never ever, has he yelled at her.
So when he is, she's more scared than anything else. Something must have really snapped for him to scream back at her.
He has a legitimate reason for yelling at her, most boyfriends wouldn't yell at her, it wouldn't exactly bother most people. But Sheldon is all about routines. Penny's apparent negligence to his schedule seemed to really have struck a nerve.
She booked a trip to visit her parents on a whim, it's not like she needed to ask permission for this, obviously. Sheldon had a gala that she had convinced him to attend, he RSPV'ed and then his boss said that since he was attending he'd have to talk to various donators, there was no backing out of this anymore. Sheldon was going, for the sole reason of Penny being there with him. For a second she thought about Kurt, he wouldn't have cared the least bit that she wasn't attending his gala. He'd just give her a smack on the ass and ask for a beer.
Things were easier with Kurt. Things were better with Sheldon.
Howard didn't know exactly what to feel when he caught Penny and Sheldon together. At first, he just stared at them. They looked like they've just been caught making out by their parents. Sheldon was groping Penny underneath her shirt, Penny had Sheldon pushed up against the elevator. Howard did a double take, then he smirked.
"Of all of us, you pick C3-PO?" Howard laughed again, but he was really worried on the inside. Extremely worried, the damage that this would inflict upon Leonard would be immeasurable.
Slowly, they unglued themselves from each other and started straightening themselves up. "Howard, please don't Leonard yet." He caught the subtle eye roll that Sheldon produced, he didn't know if Penny just ignored it, or didn't see it. Howard just nodded, he knew that he was going to end up telling Raj, it was inevitable.
"I can stall Leonard for a couple of weeks. I suggest that the both of you try and get him a girlfriend though, it'll soften the blow." He walked away then, and ignored Sheldon when he said "But it's HALO night."
During the next few weeks, he observed them. He somehow managed to keep his secret from Raj. He watched the secret couple intently, and in a way, they were the cutest couple he'd ever seen. Their relationship was based on subtlety, they sat together on the couch, very close to each other. But they only shifted that way once everyone's attention was somewhere else. They had secret conversations with their eyes, though that was old news. Everyone knew that they had a secret language. Sheldon found every way possible to touch her, when he sat up he'd rest his hand on her knee, he'd graze his hand against hers. She wasn't any better, she made sure that their thighs were touching, she made sure that whenever a movie came on she'd whisper in his ear, pretending to be confused about a movie she's seen about ten times. He was more than happy to whisper back to her. Now that Howard thought about it, he wondered just how long this thing between Sheldon and Penny have been going on.
He wondered why Sheldon was able to keep this secret but not any other ones.
So when they were taking a break from their Star Wars marathon, (there were about to switch over to the prequels) Penny and Sheldon went into the kitchen to make some coffee and tea, and grab some more snacks for the rest of them. Most times, when they went off by themselves, he and Raj would listen to Leonard come up with ways to talk to Penny, or sit beside her, or even touch her. Howard couldn't help but chuckle to himself, all this time, Leonard was chasing after smoke.
Howard watched. Penny was perched on top of the counter while Sheldon hustled about making the drinks. Penny was kicking her feet back and forth, it seemed as though that Sheldon wasn't paying enough attention towards her, so in hopes of gaining it back she started to lightly kick him with her feet. He glared at her, from what Howard could tell, playfully. Penny leaned back, resting her elbows on the counter, she raised her foot to kick him near the thigh, but he caught her foot. And dragged her legs apart so he could stand between them.
Howard stopped paying attention to them after that, he turned his attention to Leonard and Raj. How could they have not seen that? How could they have missed that?
He turned back to the couple in the kitchen, by this time she had come off the counter and they were grabbing the mugs to bring forth to the rest of them. He decided then, he would keep the secret till they told him not to.
It was in Raj's best interest to always observe. Since most of the time he couldn't do much else. He had suspected Penny and Sheldon to get together for a very long time, and after almost two years passed, and they didn't Raj wondered if it really had anything to do with Leonard. He thought most likely not, Penny really didn't seem that much into him, I mean how could she when she invested most of her time with Sheldon? Still, there had to be a reason why they hadn't gotten together. This time, he decided to properly observe them, it didn't matter how creepy that was, he just really needed to know. After months of watching, Raj found out it was due to stubbornness, they were both too pig headed to admit that they liked each other. Since the both of them spent so much time convincing everyone around them that they hated each other, they didn't really want to admit defeat. It was so high school, and it made Raj squeal like a little girl. He knew that there would be serious drama with the introduction of Amy, Sheldon spent so much time with her. You could see Penny grit her teeth every time Amy was there when she wasn't supposed to be, you could see her glare at nothing at all whenever Sheldon would have give Amy a compliment. Penny only ever got backhanded compliments. So maybe Penny and Sheldon weren't the best couple. Maybe it would make more sense for Sheldon and Amy to get together, yet somehow, Raj still hoped for the two clueless kids to get their shit together and kiss.
Sheldon got jealous too, Raj watched with utter glee every time Sheldon clenched his jaw when ever Leonard would talk about her. Penny's dates became less and less with the growth of Sheldon and hers friendship, she still did have dates. To which Sheldon would always respond the same way. He'd insult her for her stupid choices, then continue to spend the whole night whining about how much more stupid the current date was. Raj noticed how after a while Penny's dates stopped all together, then reached their peak once Sheldon met Amy.
Raj, thought it was within his duty to do something about it. Since he couldn't exactly talk to Penny, he talked to Sheldon instead.
"Dude, did you see Penny's new boyfriend?"
Sheldon response was automatic. "She doesn't have a boyfriend."
"Yes, oh, big guy, what was his name? Oh yeah, Kurt! They were going at it downstairs."
Sheldon was out out of the apartment in a pace that even the Flash himself would've been proud of.
After a few minutes Raj followed him downstairs they were on the third floor landing. he stayed hidden, determined to hear their fight.
"And why is that you care if I'm seeing Kurt or not?"
"I want to know why you are! I don't care, I just want to know why would do that to yourself."
"Do what to myself? At least Kurt wants me!"
Raj wondered why Penny was playing along, he knew that she wasn't with Kurt. Raj had seen Penny downstairs collecting her mail when he saw the opportunity. He high tailed upstairs and fibbed to Sheldon. It worked out better than he has planned.
"That is not a legitimate reason to have a relationship with someone!"
"Yeah, than what is? I don't even understand why you're jealous. It's not like you like me!"
"Of course I do!" Sheldon all but screamed.
Then Penny slammed him against the elevator and they made up for lost time. Raj stopped watching after Sheldon slipped his hands up her shirt.
Leonard didn't like it when his friends lied to him. It was rare when they did, usually it was only one of them at a time, and they were all really terrible at keeping them. Their group was very close knit that secrets just weren't able to be kept, especially with Sheldon around. That nervous tick was easy to spot.
So, when all of them seemed to be successfully keeping a secret it was odd, and it left Leonard feeling uncomfortable. He thought that maybe it was about him, he didn't want to be self centered, but he couldn't think of anything else. But he was a scientist, so he'd sit and observe.
"I'm going to go give Penny her mail." he still held the torch for Penny, he tried to kick the habit, he really did. But she was a ball of energy and he shouldn't couldn't being in love with her. She hand't shown him an attraction over the last few years, but he was certain that she was just a little bit interested, she stopped going on dates for almost a year now. Leonard thought that maybe it was because of him. He couldn't be sure, but he was going to give up hope.
"You still do that?" Howard asked, he was staring intently as Sheldon. Leonard bumped his glasses up his nose to stare at Howard better. Why was he staring at him so hard?
"Yes, whenever she's here she ends up starting a fight with Sheldon. So I've got to try and get her on her own."
Leonard noticed Sheldon's jaw clench. Somewhere, in the back of his head, a voice was telling him to back off of the Penny matter, or at least stop talking about it right now. Leonard wanted to know why Howard was so twitchy, and Sheldon looked angry. Sheldon was never angry, whenever his temper did rise it was more comical than anything else.
"Whats wrong with you?"
"Absolutely nothing, however, I don't think you can say that about yourself. As predictable as you are, I have a gnawing assumption that you're going to either make a sarcastic comment that I won't understand, or you'll ask what's wrong with you. I can answer that for you. Of course there are very little things that I can't answer. Anyhow, the problem with you, is you do not know when to give up. Within the three years in which you have pursuing Penny, has she shown any interest? But of course, I know the answer to that too. No, Leonard, she isn't interested. I know for a fact that you know this, yet you still continue to fawn over her."
Leonard's jaw dropped and Sheldon's venomous tone. Why was he so mad?
"Sheldon, buddy, take a chill pill."
"Wait, wait, why are you so mad?"
"Were you under the impression that I'm mad?" Sheldon's fact twitched. "I'm not mad." Sheldon's entire face spasmed. "I need to go now."
Leonard was too shocked to stop Sheldon from grabbing Penny's mail from his hands and marching straight into Penny's apartment.
I guess the mystery was solved. Leonard sits on the couch, completely defeated.
"How long has that been going on?" he muttered quietly. Howard awkwardly clears his throat.
"My guess, a couple of months. But I don't know the details."
"Jesus!" wailed Leonard.
His turned back to the apartment across from his. Well he thought, it's not like he hadn't seen that coming.
THE END
I hope you liked it.
