Chapter 5-Tongue Tied

Sheldon and Leonard sat down for lunch together in the regular place. It had been a fairly quiet day, the two men never bringing up the strange behaviour from home.

After 5 minutes of picking at potatoes in silence, Leonard finally spoke up.

"So, has Penny said anything about me?" Leonard asked.

Sheldon, who had been eating his meal completely normally, froze with his fork halfway to his mouth.

"Was I away for the beginning half of this conversation you are continuing?" Sheldon had a stunned blank look on his face.

Then Howard and Raj sat down beside them.

"Hey guys? What are you talking about?" Howard asked, eager to hear any gossip or information that had nothing to do with him.

"I think Penny wants to get back together with me." Leonard grinned.

Sheldon froze mid chew. He swallowed whole what was in his mouth, and rushed out his next sentence.

"What lead you to that conclusion?" His voice reminded him of that when he was just reaching puberty, that tiny screech recognizable in his tone. He began eating faster.

Leonard turned to Howard and Raj and explained how Penny hadn't slept at home in two days and how it MUST be a ploy to be 'closer to the man she let get away'.

"You sound touched in the head, Leonard." Howard laughed.

"Yeah, man you are looking way too much into this." Raj stated.

"Well if she is over again tonight, I'm going to show her that I'm interested too, and then you will all see." He smirked.

Sheldon just quickly ate his potatoes and then returned to work.

[-]

All through lunch Sheldon did his best to listen instead of speak. All the great minds know that listening skills will help you achieve the most.

His self esteem was never at an all time high. Being the most intelligent person on the face of the Earth had its drawbacks, no one understood you, for one. Secondly, no one ever believed you had a chance at things all the regular guys did.

For once he couldn't explain this to himself. Why he suddenly didn't care utmost which seat he watched his movies from. He hadn't slept in his own bed in two days, he barely slept at all. This was all new to him and he was playing it by ear. It made him uncomfortable, and he wouldn't admit to anyone that it was a bit fun.

It unsettled him to hear Leonard talk about Penny like she belonged to him. Penny had barely mentioned Leonard at all in their recent time together, but now that Leonard brought it up, Sheldon felt queasy. As if all this time, Penny was just using him to get to Leonard. It seemed likely and yet at the same time so very highly unlikely.

Leonard couldn't have known how much Sheldon's feelings were now in knots. No one bothered to wonder of Dr. Cooper had any feelings at all…except Penny.

[-]

Sheldon had been looking forward to being home all day. To the one person that didn't think of him as a crazy heartless robot Doctor.

Leonard talked about Penny in the car the whole drive home, and how he was working on a master plan to cleverly express his feelings to her.

Sweat formed on Sheldon's forehead. Once Penny went back to Leonard, he would only have Howard and Raj again. Already Howard was set to be married, and who knew how long it would be before Raj was with someone? It was all too fickle…he needed someone he could depend on to be around for him. Someone that wasn't his mother, for once.

Sheldon sat down in his usual spot as Leonard placed his work bag down at the computer desk.

"Did you really want to watch Dr. Who tonight?" Leonard asked.

"Not really," Sheldon thought, "I just watched it last week…but, Penny wants to watch it with me, so…"

"Yes."

Leonard was startled with the shortness of Sheldon's reply.

"It's such a wonderful series that I need to educate Penny so that she may educate others like herself." He stated matter-of-factly.

"You're right, and I'm going to join you guys. " Leonard said, I'll text her to be here in an hour and we can make a night of it. Maybe we could even call in a sick day tomorrow." Leonard suggested.

"Now, honestly Leonard, are you going to let a movie date with a woman interfere with your work schedule?" Sheldon asked.

"You did. If I didn't say something, you would have missed work to sit and watch TV shows with Penny all day." Leonard stated, and went into his room to freshen up for Penny's arrival.

Tongue tied, Sheldon went with no words at all.

[I just reread this story and although Sheldon isn't as canon as he could be, I'm still having fun with the variation. Please review and I love any ideas anyone has! The lunch scene is from a review I received and inspired me to keep writing this story! Thanks to anyone who reads, and I'm planning some new Big Bang fics very soon!]