A/N: How lame am I? I just realized you can reply to reviews. Awesome. Keep the comments coming, guys! They're great inspiration and now I can REPLY to you! :D Haha.

The Paradigm Alteration

Chapter Seven

Penny sighed and pulled her knees closer to her chest, perched on her couch. Her teeth were brushed, her pajamas were on, and even though she told the boys she'd be back, there really wasn't any reason to. Her head, although bruised and cut, was in no danger of brain injury. It had been over 24 hours since she had hit her head. The boys had woken her up every two hours last night, and she was fine. There wasn't any reason to go back and sleep over again.

Although that couch is comfortable.

Shaking her head, she let her forehead fall gently on the tops of her knees. The worst part was she didn't want to face everyone after her little lapse in judgment with Sheldon's pocket. She could only imagine what was going on over there. Sheldon was most likely horrified and going off on some lengthy explanation as to why Penny should no longer be allowed in the apartment again.

Strike three!

Even though it was disheartening to think about being banned from the boys' apartment, she couldn't help but smile a bit. That man and his crazy ideas. She couldn't imagine anyone else in the world giving strikes to friends as if they were children.

Another sigh escaped her lips. What was getting into her? Why was she so interested in Sheldon lately? It didn't make any sense. Yes, the man was a part of her life, but...she should be wanting to tear her hair out thinking about Sheldon's rules, not smiling about them. Maybe it was because he was the only one at the moment who seemed to genuinely care about her health. Plenty of people cared about Penny as a person, even about her feelings or opinions. But her health? Her overall state of comfort?

Other than her parents, she really couldn't picture anyone else. Maybe that's why she was paying more attention to him lately.

But that doesn't really explain the reason for feeling him up through his back pocket.

Groaning, Penny lifted her forehead off her knees and replaced it with her cheek. She was too impulsive for her own good. That was definitely going to have repercussions.

Click.

"What the,-" Penny's head jerked up as the power went out in her apartment. Sitting in near-total darkness, she cursed. Loudly.

Knock knock knock. "Penny?"

Knock knock knock. "Penny?"

Knock knock knock. "Penny?"

"Damnit Sheldon, the door is open!" she snapped, not wanting to attempt to locate the door in the dark. Knowing her luck, she'd end up with another injury.

The door opened hesitantly and light from the hallway flooded her apartment.

"Well, I guess that answers that question," Penny sighed.

"What question?" He stood in the doorway, a tall shadow blocking out the light from the hallway.

"I was hoping the entire building was out of power," Penny sighed. "Now I see it's just my electric company catching on to the fact that I haven't paid my bills."

"Why haven't you paid your bills?" He asked.

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly working, am I?" She threw her arms out, frustration quickly bubbling in her chest. Her previous somber mood had dissipated, and her previous fear of how Sheldon would react to her little stunt went out the window. Now she was just frustrated, plain and simple. "What do you want, Sheldon?"

Her voice seemed to snap his attention back, because he suddenly brought himself up to full height and locked his hands behind his back. He was in full 'condescension' mode. "Yes, well-".

"You know what?" Penny cut him off and threw a hand up in his direction. She couldn't deal with him right now. "Never mind, I don't want to hear it. Am I banished?"

"Banished?" She could have swore she heard slight confusion in his voice, but maybe that was just wishful thinking.

"Yeah. Banished. Look, I'm sorry I stuffed the money into your pocket. I'm sure you have some stupid rule about your pocket like you do about your room-"

"My room?"

"Yeah. 'People can't be in my room, Penny'," she imitated. "'People can't be in my pocket, Penny.'" She continued. "'People can't be in my office, Penny.'"

"Unfortunately, I have no control over that particular area. The university seems to believe that anyone has the right to meander into my work space without prior arrangement simply because the university owns the space. Never mind the fact that they gave me express permission to use it as a solitary work space,-"

"Sheldon!" She cut off his ramblings. "Just...never mind!" She frowned and tucked her knees even closer to her chest. "What are you doing here?"

"You've been gone for over an hour. Leonard sent me over here to make sure you weren't injured," he answered.

"Of course he did," Penny replied wryly. "I'm fine, I just..." she took in a breath. "I was just...embarrassed over what I did." She tried to explain how she was feeling. She knew it would be lost to him, but she attempted to anyway.

His head turned toward the floor. "You are referring to the incident involving your hand and my right buttock?"

"Yeah, that one," she shook her head, feeling a warmth spread over the bridge of her nose and seep into her cheeks. "I shouldn't have invaded your personal space, Sheldon. I'm sorry."

There was a long pause, and Penny kept glancing in his direction to make sure he was still there in the doorway. She was expecting him to tell her at any moment that she was no longer allowed in their apartment, or that she now had two strikes, or-

"Apology accepted."

Penny's head snapped up at the quiet response. "Oh," she blinked. Wasn't expecting that. "Well, thank you," she replied, still reeling over the fact that Sheldon Lee Cooper was letting someone off the hook for groping him in the middle of his kitchen. Without even a strike?

"Are you planning on sleeping here with no power?" He ignored her response, and put his hands behind his back once more.

"Well, it might get a little hot with no air conditioning," she trailed off. "It's not like I can do anything about it, though." She shrugged lightly. Inside, she was crying. This wasn't the first time her power had been cut off. She closed her eyes and sighed. Maybe her dreams of becoming an actress were just a waste of time. Maybe she should start to think about getting a real job, one that paid more than just the bills. Having good health insurance would also be a bonus.

But...she'd be giving up her dreams.

"I find that," he started loudly, then seemed to realize his volume and coughed lightly. His head dropped to the floor once more, and he continued in a lower voice. "I find that your...presence in our apartment, provided you aren't engaging in loud coitus in Leonard's room, is not as much of an intrusion as I had expected."

"Were we that loud?" Penny bit her lip, embarrassed to realize that Sheldon had heard them.

"It created a need to purchase noise-canceling headphones," he replied sharply. "And interfered with my sleep patterns more than once."

"Oh, god, I'm sorry sweetie," Penny apologized, shaking her head. It never bothered her to think about interrupting Sheldon's daily schedule, but for some reason, it really bothered her now.

"Yes, well, that rude invasion of my sleep cycle has seemingly come to an end," he replied lightly.

"Yes it has," Penny nodded as well. "And it won't happen again," she added.

"You have no control over that," Sheldon replied.

"Considering I won't be sleeping with Leonard again? I think I do."

"Leonard may choose to take another sexual partner," he pointed out.

"Oh, well, yeah," she chuckled. "Obviously."

"Then you cannot possibly say with any authority that it won't happen again," he insisted.

"Well, how about this," Penny smiled up at him. "If Leonard does find another girlfriend, I'll let you stay over here to get away from any noise. Then you can have a good night's sleep and it won't ruin your sleep cycle." She grinned at him.

"I can't possibly get away from any noise if I'm over here," he stated.

"They can't be that loud."

"I was referring to your snoring."

"Hey!" She frowned. "You know what? Just for that I think I am going to sleep on your couch tonight. I'll snore extra-loud just to bother you, too." She stood up and started to walk out the door.

"Unlikely," he countered, looking down at her as she passed him. "The decibel at which you currently snore is already higher than most people." He shut her door.

"Yeah, well, get the headphones ready, mister. Tonight, I'm not taking my allergy medication."

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A/N: Just a short chapter for now. ;D I promise the next one is going to be better. It'll be the first chapter from Sheldon's point of view. :O Wish me luck! :D