Do not own The Big Bang Theory or any of the characters.

So I have been writing fanfiction for a couple of years now but this will be my first Big Bang Theory fic. I have only started to watch it like a month ago but I soon became very hooked with this hilarious group of characters. And have become almost obsessed with the coupling of Leonard and Penny.

This is just a short little one-shot that I randomly thought of when watching episode 8, The Adhesive Duck Deficiency from Season Three. I hope you like how I have written the characters...I tried.

Enjoy!

Sleeping Beauty

There she lay, so beautiful that he could not turn his eyes away, and he stooped down and gave her a kiss. But as soon as he kissed her, she opened her eyes and awoke, and looked at him quite sweetly. - Sleeping Beauty

The moonlight shown through the open window of the bedroom and onto her face. The night was silent except for the soft sounds of her breathes as she lay there, sleeping beside him; a smile appearing on Leonard's face as he rolled onto to his side.

"She is beautiful," he thought to himself as he perched himself onto his elbow and looked on at Penny's face. She was lying on her back due to her dislocated right shoulder, her head was turned in his direction; her blonde hair falling out of the bun and spilling out onto the pillow. He could make out the movement of her eyes underneath her eyelids as she continued to sleep deeply, snoring softly. Her lips were slightly parted. He had a strong urge to kiss them. He couldn't believe that this beauty was his. After months of being together, Leonard could still not believe his luck. That Penny was going out with a guy like him. His smile widened in the dark as he thought of how he was the luckiest man in the world, to have such a wonderful woman sleeping beside him every night.

It was mid morning as Leonard entered the apartment, throwing his keys into the bowl as he dropped the heavy duffel bag onto the floor. He was exhausted from the night before where he, Raj and Howard had stayed up all night waiting for the meteor shower. Which they had end up missing due to the accident of eating cookies which were filled with pot, that Howard had gotten from two middle-age women, who happened to be middle school teachers. "Sheldon, I'm home!" he called out to his roommate as he shut the front door behind him and walked into the living room.

"Sheldon!" he called out in confusion as he turned and made his way down the hallway. Knocking on Sheldon's bedroom door, he pushed it open after there was no answer. Leonard frowned at what he saw; the bed was neatly made up like it usually was however there was no sign of his roommate that occupied the room. Walking back into the living room, Leonard pulled out his cell phone. He frowned again at what he read on the display screen. He had five miss calls, all from last night. Hitting number three on his phone, he pressed it to his ear as it dialled Sheldon's cell phone. As he listened to the dial tone, Leonard decided to go see Penny, across the hallway. Just as he excited the apartment and stepped out into the hallway, Sheldon picked up.

All his life he had been that guy who never got anything in life. From the moment he was born, he had been handed the short end of the stick; literally and metaphorically. His parents had always expected greatness out of him, always comparing him to his brother and sister. Leonard had always tried to do the very best but it was never enough it seemed like. The same went for girls. He had gotten his first kiss from a girl name Marina Bark, at his 8th grade Christmas dance. He had had a major crush on her for most of middle school. He had been more than thrilled when Marina had come up to him, where he stood underneath the EXIT sign of the gym, alone. She had walked right up to him and kissed him right there full on the lips. The kiss only lasted a second before she had walked away. It had taken him a good half an hour later to get up the courage to walk over to her, where she stood with her group of friends. They all laughed as he approached them and asked Marina to dance. She had flat out turned him down; making her friends laugh even harder at him. It turned out that Marina had only kissed him on a dare. It went on like this the rest of middle school and high school; where girls like Marina only pretended to like him and using him only to do their homework and such.

It wouldn't be until his senior year that he would get his first ever girl friend, Susie Marshall. She was neither the prettiest girl nor the smartest but she was a girl who liked him, Leonard wasn't going to turn her down. As he entered University, his luck with girls seemed to get a little better but not all that much changed. "I guess things to work out in the end," he thought to himself as his hazel eyes continued to study the face of Penny. Reaching out, he gently brushed the stray hair off of her cheek and placed it behind her ear.

"Well, hello Leonard, It's nice that you are finally getting back to me now," answered the Physicist.

"Good morning to you too Sheldon," replied Leonard sarcastically into the phone. "I hope whatever you phoned me about last night, wasn't important. You know that I was camping with the guys out in the mountains and wouldn't have gotten cell reception..."

"It was a matter of most importance," cut in Sheldon, a tone of annoyance in his voice. "As you and the others were out star gazing, I was left to fend for myself, thank you very much."

"Sheldon, what happened?" asked Leonard, getting annoyed at his friend for not getting to the point. He was standing outside of Penny's door, waiting for Sheldon hang up before knocking.

"Your girlfriend Penny slipped in her tub due to her own fault of not having applied adhesive whimsical ducks to the surface like I had done when I had first moved into our apartment. It's a sham. People should be taught the dangers of the tub and how it becomes slippery. Adhesive stickers or a mat on the bottom of one's tub should be monitory just like a smoke detector is for every home..." explained Sheldon.

"What? Penny SLIPPED IN HER TUB? IS SHE OKAY? Cried Leonard into the phone, suddenly panicking.

"She dislocated her right shoulder but she will live," replied Sheldon, in his matter-of-fact tone of voice.

"Where is she?"

"She is at home. After I drove her to the hospital last night, her shoulder was fixed and put into a sling. She was given strong pain medication and was told that it should be better within two weeks or so. I then drove her back to her apartment, where she is currently."

Leonard opened his mouth to ask where Sheldon was however instead he thanked his roommate, "Thank you Sheldon for taking Penny to the hospital and being there for her, when I couldn't."

"You are welcome. But I was simply doing the age old tradition of the hero," replied Sheldon, smuggling. "Penny being the damsel in distress and me, the Knight in shining armour."

"So where are you anyways?" asked Leonard after a moment, wondering where his roommate was. He knew he wasn't at work because it was a Sunday and he wouldn't be at the comic store, because they only ever go to the comic store on Wednesdays night or on special occasions. And since Sheldon stopped taking the bus, he would had no way of getting there since everyone who usually gives him a ride wasn't home.

"I am at Penny's."

"You are?" asked Leonard as he turned and looked at the door of Penny's apartment, eyebrows knitted together in confusion on why he was just hearing about this now.

"I stayed the night on her couch. I feared of leaving her in case she chocked on her own saliva in her drug induced state," explained Sheldon into the phone to his roommate.

"Well that was thoughtful," he spoke, not quite sure if that was a good thing or not. "I think I'm going to go now Sheldon but I will see you a moment. I'm standing outside Penny's now," he explained before hanging up and placing his phone back into the front pocket of his jeans. Taking a step towards the door, he knocked.

"Good Morning Leonard," greeted Sheldon with his crazy smile as he answered the door.

"Good morning Sheldon," greeted back Leonard, a slight smirk appearing on his face. "Can I come in?"

"Well I can't really say, seeing this being Penny's apartment and not my own. But considering how you two, are partners in coitus now, I would determine that Penny would not mind you being here," Sheldon rambled on for a moment or two like this before sighing. He could not find a reason why Penny would not want Leonard to come in.

Throwing his roommate an odd look, Leonard stepped past him as he made his way to the bedroom. The glass door was closed but Leonard could make out the form of Penny on the bed through it. Knocking softly on the glass, he called out her name, "Penny, It's me Leonard."

The moment he had first seen Penny from the across the hallway, he had been smitten. She was the most beautiful creature he had ever laid eyes on from the corn silk blonde hair to the bluest eyes he had ever looked in to. As he had gotten to know her better, he had realized not only was she the most beautiful woman ever but that she was the most perfect. From her smile, to her voice, to the way she laughed out loud, not caring what anyone thought of her...she was perfect in every way possible. There was nothing that he found himself not loving about her. Even know he dreamed about them becoming more then friends one day, he had never thought it would truly happen. For the two years that they had grown close friends, he had dreamed often at night of her turning around and seeing him as someone else then her cute nerdy neighbour from across the hallway, wanting to be more than just friends. But he never really thought it would come true. There had always been that voice at the back of his head doubting him that Penny would never go out with him. That she was just another Marina Bark, just using him. But he knew that to be wrong, Penny was nothing like Marina. She was gentle and caring. She truly thought of him as a friend, a good one. And that is something that he treasured the most about her; that this perfect creature, thought of him...this lonely nerd as a friend. So he had told himself, if nothing ever happened the way he wanted with Penny...he would still have the honour of calling her his friend. As long as she played a factor in his life, he would be happy.

Not being able to hear an answer, he reached out and slowly turned the door knob. "Penny," he whispered again as he entered the room, closing the door behind him. His face was etched with worry and concern as he made his way over to the bed, where Penny lay, fast asleep. Taking a seat on the edge of the bed, his eyes fell onto the blue sling she had wrapped around her shoulder. "You poor baby," he thought to himself as a wave of guilt spread through him. He felt bad about not being there for her last night. "I'm sorry Penny," he spoke as his eyes rested on her face. God she was beautiful when she slept, he thought to himself as he reached out and gently brushed the loose hair off of her face.

"Sorry for what?" she asked back in a soft voice as she slowly opened her eyes and stared back at him.

Leonard did not reply back right away, he paused for a moment as he continued to look into Penny's blue eyes before speaking, "I'm sorry for not being there last night for you...when you needed help. I should have been the one to driven you to the hospital and lay on your couch all night making sure you were alright and not Sheldon...instead where was I? Uh, getting high in the middle of the mountains." He then suddenly let his gaze fall as he rose to his feet and began to pace around the bedroom. He was angry at himself.

"Getting high?" asked Penny in confusion at her boyfriend. "I thought you went to go see some meteor shower?" she asked eyebrows knitted together.

Leonard stopped pacing at this and looked over at her. "Never mind," he spoke shaking his head. "It's a long story. But that's not the point Penny. I should have been here. When you needed me the most, I was off somewhere else...I'm sorry," he explained as he rushed to her bed side once again. His brown eyes looking down at her with guilt.

"Leonard, sweetie," began Penny, as she reached out and took his hand with her good one. "It's not your fault...it's my own for not having stupid adhesive bears..."

"Ducks," corrected Leonard.

"What?"

"It's ducks, adhesive ducks we have on the bottom of the tub."

"Oh, whatever. Same thing. It's my own fault for slipping in my tub and dislocating my shoulder, not yours. You have nothing to apologize for," she spoke with warmth up at him. "Well except leaving me here with having to rely on Sheldon and having him drive me to the hospital!" She smirked at him, hoping to break the tension that seemed to be in the room between them.

Leonard looked at her for a second before his face broke out into a smile. "You are amazing, you know that," he spoke as he leaned down and brushing his lips against hers. The kiss lasted for a moment before Penny broke apart, wincing in a pain.

"Are you okay?" asked Leonard, his eyes filling with concern as they shot to her shoulder.

"I'm fine. My shoulder just a little swore that is all...I think the pain killers are wearing off," replied Penny with a smile, reassuring Leonard that he didn't do anything wrong. After helping Penny to sit up, so that she could take her medication; Leonard help her lye back down as she slowly began to fall back to sleep. The strong medication that she had been prescribed made her extremely tired. Leaving her to sleep, Leonard had left the bedroom to find that Sheldon was still there.

"She is sleeping again," Leonard explained to his roommate as he took a seat beside him on the bright blue couch that occupied the middle of Penny's apartment.

There was a moment of silence between the two roommates as they sat on the couch awkwardly together before Sheldon shifted his weight and turned towards his friend. "Leonard, did you know that your girlfriend has the Chinese symbol for 'soup' tattooed on her right buttock?" asked the physicist in all seriousness.

Leonard raised an eyebrow at this, sticking out his chin as a look of utter confusion came upon his face as he looked at his friend's face, was he being serious?

However, when that day had finally come, where Penny had smiled at him warmly, her face brighten at the sight of him as she opened the door to see his face; looking at him differently, throwing herself at him with full force, kissing him on her own. And not just because she was drunk or that it was his birthday. He had been the happiest man on earth. For this beautiful perfect creator had gone to surprise him yet again, making him fall more madly in love with her then he already had.

Thanks for reading. Please review telling me if you liked it or not. Thanks again, Julie

Sleeping Beauty