I just know he actually listens to you.

Well that was true. Penny had noticed that over the years. Sheldon never listened to something he didn't want to listen to. If he didn't want to hear it he either ignored you or left the room. But he listened to Penny more than anyone else. So as she was walking up the stairs to 4B after her shift she decided to go after what she wanted like the Big Ol' Five she was. And he would listen. After she showered and changed. There was no way she was talking to anyone until she no longer smelled of cheesecake.

After her shower Penny flopped face down on her bed, got out her phone and texted Raj to bring her her Thai food. She didn't want to see Leonard so soon after dumping him. Again. She'd call Sheldon over after dinner.

~*DD*~*DD*~*DD*~

Just as Raj sat down in 4A he received a text from Penny. She wanted him to bring her her Thai food. He was about to get up when he had an idea.

"Sheldon, could you take Penny her share? She doesn't want to see Leonard so soon after the breakup."

Raj got just the reaction he wanted. Leonard scowled and opened his mouth to say something - probably scathing toward both Penny and Sheldon - but Sheldon interrupted him, knowing Raj was giving him an opportunity to talk to Penny.

"I suppose. Perhaps she and I could eat the ice cream I bought for dessert. It is the custom to eat ice cream after a breakup, is it not?"

Raj nodded and Leonard spluttered, not quite able to put his surprised, indignant thoughts into words. Sheldon packed up his and Penny's food, went to the freezer, got out two pints of Ben & Jerry's, and left the apartment. When the door shut behind him Leonard's brain unstuck and he was able to form sentences again.

"What the hell?"

"What?" Raj asked innocently.

"That. What the hell was that?" Indignation gave way to confusion, but he was still surprised.

"I don't know what you're talking about, dude."

~*DD*~*DD*~*DD*~

*Knock knock knock*

"Penny."

*Knock knock knock*

"Penny."

*Knock knock knock*

"Penny."

Penny, from her spot facedown in bed, mumbled, "Dammit, Raj." Then she yelled, "Come in, Sheldon!"

The second the door opened he started talking, but didn't actually look at her.

"Raj said you didn't want to see Leonard, which is understandable. I don't particularly want to be around him either, so I brought you your Thai food. I also brought ice cream. I am given to understand ice cream is an integral part of the "mourning period," so to speak, after a break up. Since Amy and I severed our agreement today I bought Cherry Garcia for myself and Chocolate Therapy for you. I thought it sounded appropriate, as you often seem to need therapy after ending a relationship, and Missy once told me chocolate fixes everything, though that's impossible. It doesn't fix a broken lightbulb, for instance, nor does it fix -"

"SHELDON!"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. May we sit and eat? The food is getting cold and the ice cream is melting."

"Yes, sweetie. Let me just put it in the freezer. We can eat it after dinner."

~*DD*~*DD*~*DD*~

Sheldon was enjoying his pint of Cherry Garcia and trying to get up the courage to broach the subject of his feelings when Penny shoved the spoon into her ice cream and set it on the coffee table. They were seated on the couch, Sheldon on the far left, Penny on the far right, her back against the arm rest, feet curled under her.

"Why did you break up with Amy?" she asked softly, breaking the silence.

Sheldon hesitated. "I violated the Relationship Agreement last night when I held her hand."

Penny didn't look convinced, and he didn't blame her. After talking to Raj it seemed like a flimsy reason indeed. A poor excuse, if he were being honest - which he always was, because he couldn't lie to save his life, not even to himself. Penny was giving him the same look Raj had in their office. The 'don't give me that crap' look.

Sheldon sighed. "I wasn't thinking of her when I took her hand." He refused to mee her eyes. He was afraid of what he might find.

"Oh." That was the Sheldon equivalent of saying someone else's name during sex. She wondered... "Who...who were you thinking of?" She didn't know of any other women in his life, but she didn't dare think it had to be her. Wishful thinking only got you so far before it started dragging you down.

"Penny," Sheldon began, but paused. He drew a deep breath and began again. "Penny, my mind regressed back to the long-term memory and ignored the short-term memory. Since you moved here you have sat in the middle cushion to my right, excluding the times you sat in the chair to my left. It is ingrained in my long-term memory that you sit next to me in my apartment. When we watched Howard blast off into space I thought 'Penny will seek physical comfort from the person nearest her.' So I reached to my right, habitually thinking you were sitting there when, in fact, it was Amy sitting next to me. Her presence was stored in my short-term memory, which I ignored in favor of my long-term memories.

"Penny, I reached for your hand, not Amy's." His eyes were blazing into hers as he took her left hand into his right, as he had meant to do yesterday.

Penny was overwhelmed by this revelation. When he grabbed her hand, a line from a song drifted through her head.

"Love hurts, but sometimes it's a good hurt and it feels like I'm alive," she sang softly, looking at their joined hands. She looked him in the eyes again. "Sheldon...I'm going to kiss you. Don't freak out, ok?"

But she needn't worry. His lips touched hers first, tentatively. She squeezed his hand and leaned into the kiss, scooting closer to him on the couch. The knuckles of his free hand lightly grazed her cheek. It was the sweetest kiss she'd ever experienced and made her feel special, like she was the only girl in the world.

He pulled back slowly, as if he didn't want to, and licked his lips, tasting her chocolate ice cream. "I would like to propose a shift in our relationship paradigm," he said softly.

"I accept on one condition," she said.

"And what would that be, Penny?" he asked. Sheldon would give her anything in that moment.

"That you kiss me like that at least once a day for the forseeable future."

"Can I kiss you in other ways as well, or am I limited?" He brushed a piece of hair behind her ear.

Penny looked intrigued and a little surprised. "Oh? What did you have in mind?" She smiled.

"Well, I've noticed the pulse point in your neck quite a bit lately." His lips ghosted over the spot mentioned. "And there's a freckle right behind your left ear that looks intriguing," which he touched with his nose. "I could go on and on," he whispered.

Penny shivered. "I could let you." She pulled him up for another deathly soft kiss that set her on fire like no other kiss had. She sucked in his lower lip and tasted cherry mixing with the chocolate left over from their ice cream. It was her new favorite combination; cherry chocolate. It would forever remind her of this moment - the moment everything started to fall into place for them.

A/N: I hope this is as satisfying for you as it is for me. Writing this has truly been a therapeutic pleasure.