A/N: Okay so I came up with an idea for my Valentine's Challenge. I won't go into any details here. Rules for the challenge can be found on the forums. I hope you all enjoy.
I own nothing:
Penny was so excited. She had never in her life been rewarded for her work. She was a terrible waitress. Her friends had told her as much. Now she was the top seller among new sales reps at the pharmaceutical company. They rewarded her with a bonus of $5000 and a trip for 4 to Aspen, Colorado over Valentine's Day weekend. She had never been a fan of the holiday because there was so much pressure to make it special. However, she knew that Leonard loved it and always wanted to top it each year. This year she was going to make it special. She couldn't wait to tell him. She went home that evening in an extremely good mood.
When she arrived back at the apartment and made her way to her fiancé's home, she was surprised to find that everyone had already arrived before her and were just sitting down to eat. She was even more astonished that Bernadette had taken it upon herself to tell everyone her good news.
"Congratulations." Leonard said to her and gave her a kiss as she sat down. "I am so proud of you."
"You told them?" Penny asked Bernadette accusingly.
"Oh calm down. All I told them was you were the top seller. I didn't give any details of your news." Bernadette answered her.
"Well what else is there?" Leonard asked.
"I got a bonus check for $5000 and they are also sending me on a trip for 4 over Valentine's Day weekend to Aspen. I thought we could have a romantic weekend with some friends."
"Ugh." Sheldon said.
"What's ugh?" Penny asked him. She had a feeling she knew but didn't want to just assume.
"Valentine's weekend will be so crowded." He answered her.
"And your point is?" Penny asked him. She was getting impatient. She was so excited and now Sheldon was beginning to ruin it.
"I don't want to go someplace like that." He stated.
"Wait Sheldon, what about me? What if I want to go? You don't want to take me someplace like that over Valentine's Day. It would be so romantic." Amy said to him.
"Well…" He stuttered. He knew that now that he was becoming more intimate with Amy, he would have to step up to the plate for Valentine's Day.
"Actually guys, I was planning on asking Bernadette and Howard to join us." Penny interrupted.
"What? I thought I was your best friend. Why Bernadette?" Amy asked sadly.
"Well there are two reasons. First, Bernadette helped me get this job. I thought this would be a nice way of saying thank you." She answered
"Aw thanks Penny." Bernadette smiled at her.
"I get that. But what is the second reason?" Amy asked.
Leonard and Penny looked at each before stating together. "Sheldon."
"Oh." Amy said understanding what they meant. Sheldon could be a real handful when it came to travelling.
"What did I do?" Sheldon asked confused.
"Sheldon, how can I put this gently?" Penny started but Leonard interrupted.
"To hell with gently, you're a pain in the ass when you travel." He said.
"Oh well then I guess it's settled. I didn't want to go anyway." He said. The truth was he would have gone. It would have gotten him out of having to plan something himself. He wasn't sure he would be able to give Amy what she wanted.
"I'm sorry Ames." Penny said.
"It's okay actually. I agree Sheldon can be quite the handful when he travels." Amy stated.
"Hey." Sheldon said.
"Thanks for being so understanding." Penny said ignoring Sheldon.
"No problem." Amy said. The truth was she was disappointed but couldn't fault Penny for picking the other couple.
"So Howard, Bernadette, what do you say? Do you want to come with us to Aspen? It should be fun. We can ski, sit by the fire at night and there is a spa." Penny asked.
"Sounds fun." Bernadette said. "What do you think Howie?" She asked him.
"I say hell yeah!" Howard answered.
"Great!" Penny said. "So we leave on Friday the 13th in the morning and return on the Monday the 16th in the evening. Everything is included, meals, spa treatments and lift tickets. It's going to be a great weekend."
"That sounds amazing. Now I can't wait." Bernadette said.
Raj and Emily had been sitting on the floor listening to the conversation going on around them. Raj was not foolish enough to think Penny would ask them to join them. He knew that Penny and Emily still didn't get along. He didn't understand it but didn't argue with them. They tolerated each other when they were in the same room together. There would be no way she would want to spend a whole weekend with them in Aspen. And he knew Emily wouldn't have wanted to go anyway. So he kept his mouth shut.
"So Sheldon and Amy since you won't be going away to Aspen, what are your plans?" Emily asked trying to get the subject away from Penny and her trip.
"Well it is still a few weeks away so we hadn't really talked about what we wanted to do." Amy answered him. "I originally thought I would just let Sheldon decide what we could do. I have planned the last two Valentine's. I think it is his turn."
Sheldon gulped at this. He knew she would be expecting this year for him to plan it all. He didn't know what to do. He could take her out to dinner sure but where. And he would be expected to get her a gift. He had changed a lot in that category since Christmas. He knew she wasn't expecting something perfect but something from the heart just like he did then. He knew he wouldn't be able to top that gift but he would find something that would make her happy.
"Are you sure you want me to plan it all?" Sheldon asked her.
"Oh come on Sheldon, surely you can plan a Valentine's Day for your girlfriend." Penny weighed in on the conversation.
"Now Penny, I don't want him to have any pressure. I trust that he will plan something that we will both enjoy." Amy said smiling.
Sheldon knew what she meant by that. Last year, she had planned a romantic weekend away at a bed and breakfast. She had taken him on a wonderful train ride for dinner on a vintage train. It was truly the best even if they did have that minor disagreement in the middle of dinner. It had all turned out better than he imagined. And she had agreed when they got home that the trip was better than she could ever have dreamed. But since then things had gone up and down between them. It all culminating with him leaving for 6 weeks to get his head on straight. When he came back he knew he had to make things right with Amy. She was mad at him for leaving without saying goodbye and then calling Leonard when he was in trouble. He more than made up for it when he started taking her out twice a week to make up for all the dates he missed. Then at the prom redo he told her he loved her. He knew it was true while he was away it just took him some time to come to grips with it before he could tell her. Since that night they had become more and more intimate and he had even found second base, a place he found he quite enjoyed especially when Amy took her cardigan off. He had yet to sleep with her though and he knew they were getting close to that. He was starting to believe he was ready for that next step but he wasn't sure how to proceed.
"Sheldon?" Amy asked pulling him out of his thoughts.
"What?" Sheldon said startled.
"Did you hear what Raj said?" She asked him.
"No, sorry, I was thinking about something." He said.
"Well he wanted to know if we would want to join him and Emily at that restaurant we went to a couple of years ago on our anniversary." She said to him.
"Well then I was thinking maybe we could come back here and have a game night." Raj said.
"Now that is something that sounds fun." Sheldon said. He was relieved. But he knew he had to make sure it was fine with Amy. "Would you be okay with that Amy?" He asked.
"I've already told them I thought it was a great idea." She answered him. She then turned to Emily. "Emily, this is your first Valentine's Day with Raj, are you okay with it?"
"I think it is a wonderful idea. I am not a big fan of Valentine's Day. I don't think you need to put aside one day a year to tell the person you are with that you love them." Emily answered.
"I agree with you there." Sheldon said. Leonard rolled his eyes at him. "I saw that Leonard."
"So then it's settled." Raj said. "I will make the reservations for us. It will be a great night."
"Great." Amy said.
"So who wants to watch Dr. Who?" Sheldon asked.
The girls all groaned but the guys were all excited. They watched a couple of episodes then everyone went home for the night knowing they all had Valentine's Day plans made.
Okay so what do you think? Lenny and Howardette in Aspen while Shamy and Rajily stay at home? Good pairings. I have some great ideas.
Please let me know what you think...reviews help me keep my thoughts coming.
