Disclaimer: Not mine

Chapter Seven: Low fat ice cream

A knock at the door. Penny won't answer. She buries her face in the cosy patchwork quilt covering her legs, tries to clear her face of tears a little. Olive opens the door anyway.

"I come bearing ice cream," she says solemnly, holding a tub.

"Hey Olive," Penny says quietly. Olive marches into the kitchen, grabs a spoon and throws the ice cream at Penny.

"What is this?" Penny asks, appalled, after tasting the ice cream.

"Low fat," Olive says, "a tip I got from Friends. Save the full-fat stuff for the terminal cases."

"Oh, believe me, Leonard and I are terminal. Actually, we're over already."

"Listen," Olive begins tactfully, "I was talking to him, and I think that you should give him a chance to explain."

"Really?" Penny asks, suddenly hopeful. For all her anger act, she had thought she was in love with Leonard. If there is any chance that this was not his fault, she is going to grab onto it for dear life.

"Really," Olive nods, "but...maybe you should cool off a little first. Let's watch a movie, or go shopping, whatever. I have to cheer you up."

"Do you?"

"Yes, of course. You're my friend."

Penny smiles. It's nice to have a friend who cares about her.

"Ok. Let's watch Little Miss Sunshine."

XXX

Olive, who still thinks Penny looks down, invites her to come thrift-store shopping the following day, and Penny happily agrees. They pick Sheldon up at Caltech after he's done with work, but apparently his mobile is off, so they have to go inside to get him.

They ask directions at the front desk, and then begin working their way through the maze of corridors. Olive's eyes are drawn into the various labs and offices, expecting to see something cool and exciting – a robot, an explosion, purple smoke floating from a test tube and an evil-genius type guy laughing maniacally – but it's all disappointingly humdrum. Mostly people standing around, staring at grease boards full of equations or hastily scribbling things down.

Leslie Winkle, emerging from her office, is dismayed to see Middle Earth Barbie and her brunette friend walking towards her. She contemplates simply passing them by, but she has to say something...

"Penny," she says quietly, "can I talk to you?"

"I suppose..."

Olive senses this is her cue to leave.

"I'll just...go on and find Shelly." She walks away, hears them go into Leslie's office. Finds Sheldon's office after asking for directions, twice.

"You busy, Shellybear?" She asks, popping her head around the door. He's staring at his board, and makes no sound but holds out his arms and she goes to his side silently, staring at his complicated work.

He scribbles something down, and takes a deep breath.

"Ok, I'm done."

"Ready to go?"

"Yes." He slips into his jacket and starts packing stuff into his messenger bag. Penny appears at the door, looking...weird.

"How'd it go?" Olive asks, scooping a ton of pens into a desk tidy.

"Um, it was ok. Leslie said it was her fault, that she was drunk and she kissed him, and that he tried to push her away... I should have listened to him! I should have trusted him. I'm a horrible person!" She slumps down on the chair opposite Sheldon's desk and bursts into tears. Sheldon slings his messenger bag across his shoulder, looking decidedly uncomfortable about having a weeping woman in his office.

"This. Is. Not. Your. Fault." Olive urges.

"I shall wait in the car," Sheldon tries, but Olive catches his hand and scowls playfully at him.

"You shall do no such thing."

"Will," he says quietly.

"What?"

"You will do no such thing."

Olive rolls her eyes, smiling, and then turns her attention back to Penny, who is hastily drying her eyes.

"I'm OK. I'll talk to Leonard later. Let's go shopping!"

For the next few hours, Sheldon finds himself being dragged in and out of various thrift stores, made to carry bags and comment on outfit after outfit. When they get back into Olive's mini, Sheldon is concerned by the amount of excess weight all of their purchases have created in the car.

When they arrive back at 4A, Leonard is lying flat on the sofa, depressed, with Fire playing softly on the CD player.

"Leonard," Penny says softly. He looks up, shocked. "Can we talk?"

"Sure!" He leaps to his feet.

"We'll go over to my apartment." Penny leads the way and he follows wearing only socks, too caught up in his thoughts to remember shoes. Olive puts her bags in the bedroom, and then curls up next to Shelly on the sofa to watch the new series of Stargate Universe.

"Today was pleasant," he says stiffly, throwing an arm around her shoulders.

"Yeah, it was. Oh, I have a surprise for you!" She pauses the recorded episode and disappears into the bedroom, returning with a single bag. "This is for you."

He takes the bag and retrieves a heavy object wrapped in tissue paper. He pulls away the delicate wrapping carefully, like a child opening a Christmas present oh-so-slowly. When he sees the anodized silver Darth Vader piggy bank, his eyes widen in surprise. Olive giggles, and placing her hand over his tips it upside down.

"It's from 1981. I dug it up in that last store, when you were critiquing that yellow dress that Penny was trying on."

"Thank you," he says sincerely, setting it down and kissing her.

"You're welcome, Shelly," she says happily, and settles down to watch TV. When the episode is finished, they decide to bake a cake.

It turns out Sheldon can make a mean sponge cake, and Olive ends up just watching the master at work. Although she does get to ice the cake. She covers it with pink frosting, and uses purple to write "Olive and Shelly" on it. Then, like the child she still is inside, uses a spoon to eat the remaining icing.

They each have a slice, and then fall into bed, tired and contented.

XXX

The following morning, when Olive comes into the living room for breakfast, Penny is already sitting at the counter with a phone clutched to her ear. She is ordering a new bed.

Olive pours herself a glass of orange juice and smiles knowingly. She is guessing that things are back to normal with Leonard and Penny.