Dream of Me

by: muaaimoi

1.

Penny is fourteen the first time she dreams of the guy. All she really recalls from the dream is a bemused feeling and panicked blue eyes. It makes her turn down Mark Finnan when he asks her out the next day. While Penny is usually all over a guy that's that into her, she just can't say yes. His eyes are all wrong. And she's clearly meant to be with some one with blue eyes. She starts to chase Roland Fallow instead.

2.

Sheldon has just finished his first doctorate when he dreams about a pretty girl with green eyes and blonde hair. He wakes up in a state of complete confusion. While it's hardly the first dream he's had of a pretty girl, it is the first where all they have done is talk. He wan'ts to have words with his subconscious. He can't think of any reason to have dreamed what he had. And he can't seem to stop thinking about it.

3.

The dreams are hit and miss. She has them often, but only when she's particularly late for bed. Being a rowdy teenager, this is almost every night. She tells herself she stays up talking by accident. That she just wasn't paying attention when her mother tells her to turn in. Excuse after excuse, she would much rather sleep and dream of Brad Pitt. Really.

4.

There is a fellow grad student trailing after him. She's a few years older, and, judging by the amount of eyes that follow her around a room, very attractive. She has made it no secret just what she wants from him. Apparently, intelligence is sexy. Sheldon finds with in himself a startling lack of interest. The green of her eyes is all wrong.

5.

Daniel Seiver goes above and beyond to make her his girlfriend. He gives her ten roses for Valentines day. One for every year he's been in love with her, he claims. Since kindergarten. She goes out with him, of course she does. She's not waiting for some boy who doesn't exist outside of her dreams. She tries to ignore that his hair is too light. His body too muscular. And maybe if he had to lean down to kiss her, it would have worked. She doesn't mention a thing to Sheldon.

6.

Her name is Penny. How incongruous. Colloquial. Common. Penny, Penny for your thoughts. See a Penny, pick it up, all the day, you'll have good luck. Sheldon drives himself crazy wondering what kind of luck has him obsessing over a girl who is no more than a figment of his imagination. Maybe he's finally crossed that line between genius and insanity. He should probably get tested again. He doesn't even believe in luck.

7.

Senior year has Penny drinking twice as much as the last three years of her life combined. Everything is so much easier to deal with after a few shots. She dreams of Sheldon every night now. So what? And it turns out the love of her life is imaginary. Okay, spending the rest of her life in a drunken haze won't be so bad. She's hooked up with this hunk called Kurt. The sex was great. That helped. Not much, but it helped.

8.

Sheldon had finally understood why his subconscious had created Penny. Clearly, his subconscious had decided that most human interaction was useless to a genius such as himself. So by creating an ideal partner with whom to compare his actual prospects, he could successfully ignore his baser, biological needs. All in order to fully commit himself to science. Sheldon decides that his subconscious is, while he's usually uncomfortable with such language, their really is no more apt a term, a complete heartless bitch.

9.

Penny hates college. Hates it. There is no place in the world that reminds her more of exited blue eyes, awkward limbs gesturing, soft pink lips running a mile a minute... Her dream man is one of the smartest people in the world. Or he would be, if he was real. He tells her all about geeky things that probably don't exist, and waking up and being expected to learn, after a night full of that, is far too much. At least she has a real excuse for doing so badly, even if she'll never tell any one. Kurt doesn't have that much.

10.

He gets a room mate when he moves to California. He soon needs another. Leonard endangers his life on the very first day. Sheldon deliberately chooses to ignore this. He is still a far cry from his other prospects. Aside from his lamentable tendency towards the sentimental, and having a social life. At least he bends easily to Sheldon's will. From what hes experienced in life thus far, that's the best quality he can find in anyone. Penny finds it all rather hilarious. It makes him think, both foolishly and wistfully, that he might not mind meeting some one who refused to knuckle under. At least not if that person was Penny.

11.

Kurt wants to leave Omaha. He wants to head to head to California. He says he'll make it as a stuntman. It's so easy to jump on his band wagon. Penny tells him she'll be an actress. She's going to spend the rest of her life pretending her heart doesn't brake every night. So it's a good investment, she'll have plenty of practice acting. Even if it's the same role every day. She's Penny, perky, blonde, and happy. And she has yet to meet any one who sees through it. Besides, if she has to take another college class she'll explode.

12.

Having a social life is a surprisingly welcome distraction. Howard, Leonard, and Raj are surprisingly entertaining. Especially their inept attempts to 'get laid' as Penny would call it. While Sheldon wouldn't have have half the problems his so called friends experience in their vain attempts to get with women, he can't be bothered. He has Penny, even while he rather acutely doesn't. She's enough for him. Or she will have to be. No other girl will ever suffice.

13.

Penny feels bad sometimes. Kurt is an okay guy. Hes been with her two years now and she doesn't feel a thing for him. Oh sure she says and does the right things. She's a great girlfriend and their relationship isn't so bad really. But she thinks it's just a matter of time before he catches on to her act. it's just as well really, Kurt deserves some one who truly loves him. And while Penny holds a great deal of affection for him, she will never be in love with him. Her heart may as well carry a stamp that says property of Sheldon on it.

14.

Sheldon is worried he's going to start loosing it. Or that maybe it's already started. He saw a girl today, while riding in Leonard's car, from the back she looked exactly like Penny. It had been all he could do not to call out. Penny wasn't real. She was a product of his subconscious desire to dedicate his life to science. Because if she wasn't then she was a psychosis. One that may have been getting worse. He goes straight to the hospital, even suffering through the filth of a car ride. He had never been happier to receive a normal, for him at any rate, he had a remarkable brain, EGG.

15.

Penny likes being a Waitress. It calls forth all of her carefully cultivated talents. Like her ability to smile like she means it, to flirt harmlessly, and pass the time in a productive Zen like state. With no one all the wiser. It's basically a mental stand by she's developed. A way to eat up the hours in the day and wear her body out for the best part of any day. The dream starts at around two o'clock in the morning. And she can spend at least four hours with the crazy non existant goy she's madly in love with. Emphasis on the madly.

16.

Sheldon didn't understand what it was about Penny that made him love her. But he had made his peace with the fact that he did. And it was love. When he had caught himself mentally offering up his most prized possession, for a chance to have her for real, in a world outside of his dreams, he'd given up his denial. Especially considering it was with a deity he didn't even believe in. Anyone he was willing to give up Star Trek for he loved, psychosis or no.

17.

Penny breaks up with Kurt. She has to. She had looked at him over the table one morning and realized she was it for him. Four years, She had been with Kurt four years of their lives, and he clearly had no intention of going anywhere. If she had been anyone else she would have been happy. Guys that looked like Kurt weren't known for their fidelity. And he had been faithful to her. For all that he wasn't the nicest guy, he was good to her. And she just couldn't lead him on any more. He didn't deserve it. She picks a fight. She's at her friends apartment in time to dream of Sheldon that night.

18.

Some times Sheldon feels like he's in limbo. Like he's just going through the motions until the day ends and sleeping was his goal all along. It feels like it's the only part of his day that matters. No matter what he does, how much progress he makes with his work, if he doesn't talk to Penny none of it seems to matter. Sleeping was the first part of his life he had ever scheduled and optimized. He had learned everything he could about it. The brain waves, the best position, the best mattress, how to derive the most rest and relaxation. And still the best part of it is Penny.

19.

For a full moment Penny can't believe it. She thinks she fell asleep out of exhaustion, on one of her moving boxes, or her car. But she only dreams of Sheldon at night. She knows. If she could see him every second of the day she would. Penny figures faking a coma wouldn't be that hard. Not with time with Sheldon as her motivation. She pinches her arm, hard. And he's still there. So much more Solid than he has ever managed to look in a dream. Penny waste no time in tackling him to the floor. She doesn't care if it's a stranger who looks just like him. This is probably as close as she will ever get, damn it! And she's not going to waste her God given opportunity.

20.

The first time Sheldon sees Penny in the waking world she is surrounded by a halo of light. He looks down. Silently thanking a deity he hadn't quite believed in. Penny has a Shadow, she is surrounded by boxes. Real solid boxes. Ergo, Penny was real. His conclusion was further affirmed when she jumps him. Forwardness has always been one of Penny's best traits. He wonders how he will explain never watching Star Trek again to Leonard. And if this is all also just a dream Sheldon will drive a car once he wakes up. He's sure an accident will send him back.

XxX

This has been sitting in my Doc thing a while. I almost let it expire by accident. I'm not too excited about the ending, but it's my first real attempt at a twenty drabbles, so maybe I'll do better on the next one. I hope you enjoy. I will gladly take any and all feedback. It's truly appreciated, and it inspires me to write~