A/N: Sorry this took so long to update, and also for this chapter being a filler - it's meant to show their relationship and how far they have to grow, but still pretty boring. I'll have another chapter up definitely sometime soon, and am also guilty of beginning another story but I'm keeping that one under wraps until I have it planned out. Thank you so much for the continued support, I am officially in love with this fandom!

Just Like Sheldon

Chapter 4


He observed her, like an experiment, as she flitted around the apartment in her own unorganised way. She was scouring her floor for her work uniform, a piece of toast hanging from her mouth, her hair in a messy up do and pyjamas slipping off her body in a haphazard fashion. She looked like she had just literally rolled out of bed; which, he reasoned, was not too far from the truth. It was 11:00 and she had the lunch shift at The Cheescake Factory, which gave her an hour to get ready. Sheldon knew he would be able to achieve that feat easily - but of course he would appoint himself far much more time and wouldn't be caught dead rising after nine in the morning, no matter the occasion, or lack thereof. He thought of barging into her room ad waking her at 7:00 to begin her day, but decided he quite liked the peace and quiet of having the apartment to himself. He had hung around the apartment until she passed out around midnight last night. He wasn't tired at all, another effect of his supernatural being, so he had perused the Internet looking for guidance on his current state; somewhere between living and being deceased. It was an awkward place to be, that was for sure.

They had come to an unspoken mutual agreement that they would just have to learn to live together for the time being. He still maintained the apartment was actually his, while she still insisted it was hers. They were at quite an impasse, and he had a feeling it would remain so for quite some time.

Time; that was Sheldons biggest problem. Penny had revealed that he had already been in a coma for three months mow, and the fact that his family had decided to start renting out the apartment wasn't a good sign at all. It said to him that perhaps he wouldn't be on life support for too much longer. It surprised him that he was still functioning with the help of a machine, something he thought his mother would be completely against. As a devoutly religious lady, he thought she would of accepted that her son should be in the hands of God by now and that he was moving on to a better place. But maybe his mother just wanted to hold onto him for a bit longer, he thought, but how long was long enough?

"It would really help if you could help me find my clothes, Sheldon!" She growled around the toast, dodging around his body where he stood in the space between the living room and the kitchen.

"It would help if you would cease spreading crumbs all over the ground, Penny." He mocked.

"Not in the mood," she hissed.

"If you were more organised and your apartment didnt look like an entropy then you would have prepared this last night. Luckily for you, you have me around for that. Only lord knows how you survived without me."

"I survived fine!"

"Well moot point anyway, because I took the liberty of ironing and folding your uniform last night."

She froze and gave him a wide eyed stare, pulling the toast from her mouth.

"Really?"

He nodded.

"Thank you," she said quietly, gathering the clothes from the armchair. "You didn't have to do that."

"It's natural for me to want to clean. I am a superior creature, after all." He said smugly.

"Yeah, you're definitely a creature of some kind." She mumbled. She plucked her cup of coffee from the kitchen bench and set it down on the coffee table.

"You need to use a coaster,"Sheldon frowned.

"It's fine," she murmured distractedly.

"You aren't some sort of barbarian," He rolled his eyes. "You'll mark the wood."

"I don't have the time, I need to have a shower. If you care so much, then you move it."

"I will not succumb to your every order that you are clearly capable of doing yourself. You're uneducated mind should be able to handle it. You're not the only one living here, Penny."

"Likewise, Sheldon!" She half-screamed, obviously becoming frustrated. He was becoming increasingly frustrated, too.

"You have no respect for me or this apartment," he pouted.

"You don't have respect for me either," she argued.

"You don't deserve it."

"Neither do you! Respect isn't automatically given, Sheldon, you have to earn it."

"I have a PhD and am renowned for my work in the physics field - I have evidently earned respect."

"This is the real world, and sorry to say, but no one gives a crap about that!"

A thick tension filled the air as they stared each other down across the room.

"I'm leaving," he said suddenly and stomped to the door, walking through the solid wood before Penny could utter another word.

~TBBT~

Penny entered her apartment at eight o'clock that night, giving a tired sigh at Sheldon who was watching TV in his spot on the couch. He didn't acknowledge her presence, instead choosing to resolutely stare at the moving images on the Discovery Channel documentary that was playing.

The shift she had just finished ha been a real shitty one, and she wanted nothing more than to have a hot shower and curl up to enjoy some good TV- preferably something like Sex and The City. But her mini fight with her unexpected new room mate had resulted in a sinking feeling lodging itself in her stomach all day, the kind she knew wouldn't disappear until they worked things out. Despite popular belief, she didn't actually like going Nebraskan on people's asses.

"Can we talk?"

He ignored her, his jaw stubbornly set as he kept his gaze straight forward.

"Please?"

Still no response.

"Please, please, please, please, please, please, please?"

Nothing.

"Okay," she began, taking off her jacket. "I'm just gonna start getting naked right here right now unless you talk to me..."

"Stop!" He squeaked. "There's no need for that!"

She gave a triumphant smirk. "It speaks!"

He gave her a glare. "Your juvenile attempt at interaction is not amusing."

"Juvenile schmuvenile," she grinned. "It worked."

His face gave a nervous twitch.

"And now I have your full attention," she started, sitting on the edge of the cushion next to Sheldon. "I just want to begin by saying that I'm sorry for the little spat we had this morning. I woke up late and was rushed, and wasn't awake enough to properly handle your opinion. So, um, yeah. I guess all I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted," he said primly.

She waited and the seconds ticked by before he gave another twitch and turned back to the TV.

"Is that all? Isn't there something else you'd like to say to me?"

"Yes, I suppose so," he sighed. She smiled encouragingly.

"You smell like Cheesecake. It's not pleasant."

She huffed and pushed herself off the couch, thinking that if this man was so insufferable during his current state, then she couldn't imagine what he'd be like alive. But strangely enough, the fact that she had been worrying about their fight the majority of the day told her that she was becoming pretty fond of the dude.