At the time it seemed like a good idea. Penny had just been dumped, after all. She was lonely. Sheldon was there. He stood up for her and that meant a lot, especially because it was him. Sheldon Cooper did not stick up for others. He only cared about himself. Or so she thought.
Earlier that night he agreed to keep her company. She put in "The Notebook". It was her favorite movie. Sheldon rolled his eyes, a pained look on his face. "Penny, You know you become extremely emotional when watching these kinds of movies."
"I'll be good, I promise. Please?" She just shot him a pleading look and he immediately looked away, features softening slightly. "Very well. If it means that much to you."
Did she just give in to her? Based on her feelings?
"I still don't understand why you want me with you. Why not Leonard? He's the one who is chronically infatuated with you. He would certainly be able to feign interest better in this sort of thing than me. After all, I'm not very good at.." he paused to think of the correct words and averted his gaze before turning back to her.
"..comforting crying girls is not exactly my specialty."
Penny smiled at him warmly.
"Sheldon, sometimes it's nice to be with someone who isn't interested in you like that. I just want to watch a movie without worrying about things getting heated or awkward, and there's no chance of that happening with you."
Sheldon seemed to think about this for a few seconds, but didn't say anything. He seemed to be satisfied enough with her answer so she pressed play on the DVD remote and sat down beside him on her couch. Sheldon looked a little uncomfortable.
"What's wrong, sweetie?"
"I'm agreeing to this but I get to choose the movie next time." Sheldon turned to look at her. Next time? She laughed cheerfully and he wondered why. "Well, that's how it works, isn't it?"
She wasn't positive because it was dark, but she thought she saw the slightest of smiles from him.
She needed to focus on the movie.
Surely enough, about halfway though she was already tearing up, and Sheldon just seemed to be analyzing every moment of the movie, as if it were a problem that needed solving. She didn't even want to begin to imagine what was going on in his head right now. She turned back to the screen.
"Look at us, we're already fighting!'"
"Well, that's what we do, we fight! You tell me when I am being an arrogant son of a bitch and I tell you when you are a pain in the ass. Which you are, 99% of the time. I'm not afraid to hurt your feelings."
Penny felt a lump forming in her throat. She was trying her best to hold back her tears. She started to think that maybe it wasn't such a good idea to watch this after all.
"It's not gonna be easy. It's gonna be really hard. We're gonna have to work at this every day, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, for ever, you and me, every day."
That did it. The levees broke and Penny started crying. Sheldon stared at her, taken aback, unsure of what to do. He looked around the room. At the floor, the ceiling. His stomach began to ache and he wondered why. He hadn't eaten anything bad, to the best of his knowledge..
"I'm sorry, Sheldon, I just..."
Instead of finishing her sentence, she began to cry harder.
Sheldon shifted carefully in his seat. He gently took the remote out of her lap and paused the movie. She wouldn't be able to watch in her current state anyways.
What was the proper protocol for this type of situation? He thought about what he should do, but couldn't come up with anything. He may have 2 PhDs and an IQ of 187 but when it came to emotions, he was clueless.
He saw a box of tissues on the table and quickly reached over and grabbed one. He held it out to Penny and tried his best to smile, hoping it would make her feel better. He remembered once reading a study in a medical journal that claimed that smiling could-
His thoughts were interrupted by Penny grabbing the tissue out of his hand and wrapping her arms around him.
She buried her head in his chest, getting his green lantern shirt wet with tears. To her surprise, he didn't say anything. Didn't get angry. Didn't ask what she was doing. He just sat there awkwardly. Hands firmly at his sides. She felt one hand move away carefully.
" There, there." he maladroitly patted the top of her head.
She looked up at him. "I'm not a dog, Sheldon."
He looked back at her, hand still resting on her head. His face was blank, unsure of how to respond to that, but she smiled and he seemed relieved. He didn't realize being friends with a girl would be so taxing. He decided that's why he didn't like girls. They were too easily affected.
She unwrapped her arms from around him and sat back up, but instead of moving back over to her side of the couch, she stayed beside him. Sheldon wondered if she was due to get her period soon. He would have asked, but remembered the other times he brought up her menstural cycle.
For some reason, it didn't seem to be a popular conversational topic among women.
Penny rested her head against him and smiled up at him lazily. She had never behaved like this before. She hadn't been drinking as far as he knew. What could have caused this? Did their friendship progress in any way? He wracked his brain for an answer.
He was probably overthinking things. Common sense dictates that she was acting irrationally because of her current fragile emotional state. He decided that he could let it go this one time. It was getting dark. He wondered if Leonard was home yet. It wasn't normal for Sheldon to not be at home at this time. What if he came over here to see if Penny knew where he was?
What if he saw Penny pressed up against his side? Her legs curled under her, and head resting against his arm? He wondered if people might get the wrong idea. Or was this something that good friends did? He honestly wasn't sure. He was never good with relationships.
He began to think about what Leonard must see in Penny.
She was beautiful. He would admit that, but there are other factors to consider when selecting someone to carry your genes. To spend your life with. He frowned at the sentimental thought.
He wasn't sure what most people considered important. But supposedly greater genetic differences produced healthier offspring. He wondered if she would consent to giving him a blood sample to test, to see if her DNA was compatible with Leonard's.
"Penny?" Sheldon looked down at her and saw that her eyes were closed. He reasoned that her episode of hysterics must have worn her out.
"Penny?" he tried again to no avail. She was asleep. He sat quietly, listening to her breathe.
He found his eyelids feeling heavy. He was uncomfortable. He felt awkward and wished he was in his own bed, but for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to push her away. So instead, he leaned back and tried to relax the best he could.
He would just wait till she woke up. It was the polite thing to do. His mother would be proud of him, he thought. Penny stirred in her sleep, and he felt her hold his hand. Her fingers were cold. He tensed at the sudden touch before looking down at her. She was still asleep. Dreaming. Probably that he was someone else.
He remembered how his mom used to tell him girls with cold hands have warm hearts. Of course he knew it was probably due to poor circulation, but he imagined Penny would like that.
"Sheldon...?"
It was soft. Almost inaudible, but he was sure he heard it. His name? Why would she be dreaming about him? Although it isn't completely unreasonable, since he was the last person she saw. Still, he couldn't help but feel a little pleased, although he wasn't sure why. He also noticed that his stomach pain from earlier was gone.
He wondered if it would be acceptable to put his arm around her. It would be uncomfortable to try and sleep in his current position, in any case. He carefully pulled his arm out from under her and gingerly put it around her shoulders, trying his best not to disturb her. She instinctively cuddled up to him, her arms around his waist.
And for the first time that night, he didn't flinch at her touch. Maybe physical contact wasn't that bad after all.
Or maybe it just depends on the person. He would need more data to reach a final conclusion.
He began to speculate whether their DNA was compatible.
