After the guests had gone home and after Sheldon had stubbornly demanded they clean up the mess before bed, Penny was finally settling into her bed. She had given Sheldon a sweet, quick, goodnight kiss before they parted ways. She wanted more but he looked nervous.

She was ready to settle in and then she heard a light knock on her front door. It was his signature knock. She smiled.

Shuffling through her living room, she leaned against the front door. "Who is it?" She teasingly asked.

"While I'm glad you're finally showing some forethought into inquiring about who is at the door... tonight is not the night for this, woman." Sheldon sounded annoyed. "It's Sheldon, by the way," he added on quickly.

Penny stifled a giggle and opened the door. "Yes, sweetie?" Penny leaned against the doorframe.

Sheldon's hands were behind his back and he rocked back on his slipper covered heals.

"Well, as I suspected, you are not adequately clothed for this chilly night. So I suppose I should stay here, in your bed of course, to make sure you don't catch a chill." Sheldon spoke in the most scientific manner he could. "It is my duty."

Penny regarded him for a moment. "It's your duty to keep me from catching a chill?"

He only nodded.

Penny grabbed the collar of his robe and pulled him inside gently. She shut her front door and pulled him along to her bedroom.

"You know, Sheldon... you can just ask to stay over because you want to. You don't have to have another reason for it." Penny said before she closed her bedroom door behind them. Penny let go of Sheldon's robe and went to her side of the bed. She sat down on it after pulling the covers back.

"Something on your mind, sweetie?" She asked when she noticed his furrowed brow and how he was standing at the foot of her bed, hands stuffed into his robe pockets.

"Penny, what do you think of my comic book collection?" He asked. His face was calm and he looked thoughtful.

Penny shrugged. "They're not my thing, but it's no different than any other book collection, I guess..." She didn't understand why he was asking this. Before she could inquire, he continued.

"And my action figures, figurines and other super hero and science fiction collectables?" He stepped closer to her side the bed.

"I think that you're doing what you love. And it's fun for you and exciting..." She trailed off when she noticed his eyes get a little wide and he almost smiled.

"And my trains and my… well, everything that I do… You don't think it's childish or I should leave them behind me?" Sheldon was now sitting on the edge of her bed.

Penny shook her head. "No, I've known you for almost... god, what, 9 years now? I have never thought that you should change or stop." Penny reached her hand over and placed it atop his that rested on her bed. "I even like your super hero t-shirts." She smiled when the corner of his lips twitched up.

"You have been one of the few, who isn't a nerd or scientist, to accept me for who I am. Even if you don't understand it, you accepted it." Sheldon was looking at their joined hands.

"What's going on, Sheldon?" Penny asked. She scooted closer to him. He'd never asked her about any of this before and, well… She never thought about it, either.

"Have I ever tried to stop you from pursuing something you wanted to, tried to prevent you from doing the things you enjoy?" He asked.

Penny knew the answer, aside from his disliking of her former excessive drinking, and that time he tried to train her with chocolate... He'd never tried to stop her from anything she wanted to do-in fact, he encouraged it. No one had ever done that for her before.

"Sheldon, you've always been on my side." Penny watched his reaction. He nodded his head and seemed to be deep in thought.

Sheldon licked his lips and leaned towards her. He pressed his lips to hers almost shyly.

Penny felt warmth envelope her whole body. This kiss was different from the first one. She had been shocked, almost frozen, from the forceful way in which he had pressed his lips to hers. Then he had tilted his head and his lips parted, and she had fallen into the kiss. Wrapping her arms around his neck and shoulders and enjoying it. It was passionate but sweet and he wasn't perfect but it was amazing.

This kiss was soft and warm and made her feel dizzy and fuzzy and she wanted to drag him further onto her bed and roll around with him.

She kissed him back and dragged her other hand to his chest to pull at his flannel layers. He leaned into her further and felt his tongue touch her lips gently. Penny pulled away and he made a little noise of protest. "Hey... We should stop." Penny bit her bottom lip and Sheldon moved in again to kiss her.

She let his lips press to hers for a moment and then she reluctantly and gently pushed him away. "We should get some sleep," Penny said with a soft smile before she moved to climb under the covers.

This seemed to break Sheldon from his trance. "Right... Right." He blinked a couple of times before he stood and removed his robe and walked around to the other side of the bed. He slid in and turned on his side to face her.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me..." He said, looking so vulnerable Penny couldn't stand it.

Penny moved closer and pecked his lips, "Don't apologize... I enjoyed it." Penny could feel his hand slide carefully to her hip. "But I thought we might have been heading into territory that we should maybe wait on."

"I agree. Although you bring out a side in me that I've left dormant for almost all my life." His voice was low and his Texas twang came out a little. His hand squeezed her hip a little.

"Clearly." Penny said quickly. She was feeling the urge to pounce on him. She had to resist it, though; she may have been bringing out another side to him, but she was sure he wasn't ready for what that might mean. She didn't want to scare the man.

They didn't talk after that. Sheldon drifted off to sleep and Penny rolled onto her other side and snuggled back into his chest. His hand was on her tummy and she felt warm and safe.

Penny was thinking about how this would be the most different relationship in her life, not only because of who the man was... But who she'd become. She was scared but also excited about the possibilities of this. Of how Sheldon might be as a boyfriend. She felt like it wouldn't be like him and Amy... It already wasn't. On that note, her eyes closed and she fell asleep.

Sheldon's eyes popped open and took in his surroundings, before he let out a calming breath and settled down. Penny was still in bed with him, he was still snuggled around her.

He peered at her clock across from him and saw that it was a couple minutes before 6am. It was Friday but he didn't have anything to do; his apartment was clean from last night. There was nothing good on TV, just a bunch of random marathons he didn't care about. He didn't have work; he didn't have anywhere to be. Moreover, he was okay with that.

Penny's bed was warm and cozy and she was in it. He wasn't really tired but he didn't want to get up, either. He breathed in her scent, smiled slightly at how she always smelled so sweet, smelled so good to him; she was so appealing in so many ways that it alarmed him.

Her skin was soft, her lips were soft. His hand flexed on the patch of skin on her tummy it was resting on. He shut his eyes, and numbers and figures floated through his brain. His fingers started to trace those patterns on her skin. She moved back into him, snuggling further, making a contented sigh.

Suddenly a part of him wasn't soft at all. He flushed embarrassed and he suddenly didn't want her feel that. Her round bottom moved against him and he let out a startled grown.

His hand squeezed her hip to try to stop her. Then she giggled.

"Penny..." He gave her a warning tone.

Penny giggled again and then she rubbed back against him a little more before she decided to take mercy on him and she rolled onto her back.

"Why'd you stop?" Sheldon looked very perplexed and almost sad.

Penny raised an eyebrow. "You, mister, need to be clearer on what you do and don't want."

Sheldon pouted. "Well I didn't even know I wanted that..." He seemed to catch himself. "I mean... First of all, it's Doctor. Secondly I'm glad you stopped." He then flopped onto his own back, shut his eyes and let out a breath to try to calm himself down.

"I've been trying to figure out why I enjoy sharing a bed with you." Sheldon said suddenly. "And I've come to the conclusion that it is because I don't mind it when I'm with you. I trust you. I don't feel pressured to do anything. You're not manipulating the situation for your own... Gains." He had been talking to her ceiling, but he turned his head to her and his eyes were watching for her reaction.

Penny felt for him-he just described what Amy used to do. She also thought about how if she shared a bed with Leonard, it would never simply be about talking, snuggling, or simple kisses. It always had to be about sex... That's what their relationship was; forgettable sex.

"Aren't you getting up?" She asked when she noticed the time.

Sheldon only shrugged, his eyebrows went up and he gave her this little look. "What do, um... What do couples do in bed... in the mornings when neither has to be anywhere?" He looked embarrassed to be asking.

Penny rolled onto her side and sat up on her elbow. "Well, we could kiss, snuggle, talk... Sleep." Penny said casually.

Sheldon nodded. "I see." He seemed to contemplate this.

It was clear to Penny that he had something else on his mind. "Don't do that." She whispered gently.

Sheldon looked confused. "I'm sorry, did I do something-"

"Don't ask and then do stuff just to make me happy... I don't want you to do that. I don't want you to have to do stuff because you think it's what a boyfriend is supposed to do... I don't want that for you." Penny smiled slightly at his confused look. "Just be you."

Sheldon sat up on his elbow; mirroring her position. "How am I supposed to be the perfect boyfriend for you?"

Penny sighed. "Sweetie, I don't want a "perfect" boyfriend. If I wanted one of those, I would have asked you to build me one." She smiled at his bewildered face.

"I haven't figured out how to-" Penny cut him off with a quick kiss before he went into the details of building an android.

"But, since we're not building any android boyfriends for me… tell me what you want to do in bed this morning?" Penny asked. She figured it would be something along the lines of reading comic books to each other or reciting the table of elements.

Sheldon hesitated, "I wanted to... This will sound absolutely ridiculous..." Sheldon sighed but continued. "But I wanted to ... Your skin is soft that I wanted to trace lines on your abdomen... Specifically your tummy region... I imagined it as a white board and how I could do some thinking and tracing invisible formulas on your skin seemed intriguing to me... Always has." He tilted his head and peaked up at her, worried she would think he was weird.

Penny was silent and then she moved back and Sheldon's heart sank. And then she was laying back on the bed, she pushed the covers down to just below her hips and then she slowly pulled her shirt up, her eyes watching his wide ones. She stopped so the shirt was bunched up under her breasts.

Sheldon's eyes looked wide and his breathing was a little heavy. But then he crawled towards her, resting on his stomach, elbows supporting his upper body. He reached out a hand and placed it flat against her tummy. His hand was so large and warm. Penny closed her eyes for a moment.

She wondered if he knew that this would be considered a fantasy. He clearly stated that he'd thought about it before. She wondered if it was only with her. And while compared to most men's fantasies, this one was very tame. It was probably the hottest thing any man had ever asked of her.

She looked down and watched as his hand gently ran over her tummy and how he closed his eyes to calm down. When he opened them again, he got this determined look on his face, and his palm slid down her tummy until it hit her shorts. He carefully pushed those down more and she lift her butt to let him. He could do whatever he wanted.

She was still fully clothed and nothing was showing, she still felt oddly exposed. His long finger started to draw invisible lines across her skin. She shut her eyes and got lost in the sensations of it all.

She let out a soft sigh when his index finger dipped into her belly button and then slid across the skin just under. She could feel numbers being drawn; she could feel his breath hitting her skin. She moved her hand to his shoulder and then to the back of his head where she ran her fingers through his soft hair.

"At the risk of sounding cliché… you are the physical embodiment of pulchritudinous…" Sheldon's voice was low as he spoke.

Penny's eyes opened when she felt his lips touch her skin. Soft gentle kisses and he rubbed his morning scruff on her tummy. Yes, Penny realized, this was possibly the sexiest thing any man had ever done. And Sheldon wasn't even trying.

He went back to drawing imaginary formulas on her skin and Penny wondered how many other little surprises he was filled with.

Sheldon shut the front door to 4A and turned around. He nearly jumped out of his own skin. Leonard was sitting there, in his robe and glaring at Sheldon over a cup of coffee.

"Really?" Leonard asked.

Sheldon bristled but then he shrugged it off and marched on his way. "Good morning, Leonard. Trust you had a pleasant REM cycle?"

He made his way to the kitchen to start breakfast.

"I thought you were above this?" Leonard asked.

Sheldon glanced back. "Above what?" He was genuinely curious. He grabbed his Frosted Flakes. He was feeling good.

"Revenge... Are you doing this because of the Arctic?" He asked as he stood up.

"Doing what, Leonard?" Sheldon poured his cereal and then grabbed the milk.

"Being with Penny! You're using her to get back at me!" Leonard almost shouted. "This is one of your bazingas right? Because you don't do relationships, you certainly don't do sex." Leonard glared at his roommate.

Sheldon put the milk back, picked up his bowl, and pulled a spoon from the drawer. He took a bite of cereal as he stood at the island; he swallowed his cereal and looked at Leonard. "I can assure you that what Penny and I do, not only has nothing to do with you... But it is also none of your damn business." Sheldon walked towards the front door, cereal bowl in hand.

He paused, deciding to address Leonard's accusation. "I can also assure you that what I feel for Penny is very much real." He opened the door. "Now if you'll excuse me, Penny and I are going to have a TV show marathon. One that I sadly let Penny choose. I will see you later." And Sheldon walked out and shut the front door.

Leonard was so confused. He quickly rushed to his desk to pick up his cell phone. He sent a text and sighed. This had better work.

"Sheldon..." Penny's tone was soft and playful. His eyes darted to her, he arched an eyebrow.

"Quiet..." He murmured. He was concentrating on his task.

"Just pick one." Penny whispered.

Sheldon sighed and pointed to a donut behind the glass.

The man behind the counter smirked, grabbed a bag and put the donut into the paper.

Sheldon took it as he handed the man some money.

"You picked chocolate covered?! After all of that?" Penny asked.

Sheldon innocently shrugged his shoulders. "You picked a donut that has more flavors then a Basken Robbins," he said before he tore a piece off his raised chocolate covered donut and ate it.

Penny smirked. "Look at you using sarcasm! And my chunky monkey donut is delicious!" Penny purposefully walked into him, nudging him lightly. He gave her a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

She looked up at him again as they walked. Enjoying their Friday afternoon, he seemed content and happy.

They had spent the whole morning in her bed... And it was the most innocent and fun time she'd had in a bed in a long time. They shared kisses of course, but they also talked a lot. Sheldon tried to explain some of the more complicated theories to her... She explained the appeal of the Sex and the City. She had told him she got her tattoo fixed; he had blushed but asked to see it. They talked some more until Penny said she wanted donuts.

They were now sitting at the park, having finished their donuts; it was quiet, since everyone seemed to be shopping. They hadn't spoken sense they got there about 30 minutes ago. But it wasn't awkward or stressful. No one was trying to fill the void with words.

They were quietly watching some ducks and geese in the pond that sat in the middle of the park.

"I talked to my mom yesterday, gave her the usual greetings… told her about us." Penny's voice was careful.

Sheldon nodded. "I spoke to my mother last night as well… I informed her that I had had a relationship paradigm shift with you…" He glanced at her.

They were seated side by side on the bench, they were pressed together but Sheldon's hands were in his lap and hers had been playing with the ends of her jacket.

"And what was your mom's response to that?" Penny asked.

"What was yours?" Sheldon raised an eyebrow at her.

"I asked you first, mister." She poked his side.

"That would be Doctor… and she said that she knew something had happened because in all the years that I had called her, I had never sounded so happy." Sheldon almost seemed puzzled by that statement at the time. He was sure that he had been happy in the past, whether it was with his academia, or a brand new comic book. Though, he supposed this was a different sort happy.

Penny smiled. "My mom said that I sounded happy as well. I didn't sound worried or fake…"

Sheldon nodded. "I suppose that is their version of a blessing, then."

Penny nodded and she moved her hand to take his and pull it back to her own lap, where she held it tight. He squeezed her hand back and they went back to quietly enjoying the ducks and geese.

Raj had picked Sheldon up later that day to go over to Stuart's comic book shop for his annual "Late Black Friday Sale." Penny had decided to stay behind, let him have his fun. She was in the middle of straightening up her living room when she found one of Sheldon's DVDs.

After making sure it was indeed in the case, she made her way across the hall with her spare key. She unlocked the door and peaked in; no one was home. She walked to his DVD collection and scanned through the titles. He'd stop using the Dewey Decimal system years ago when she had a hard time finding movies on her own. Now it was just alphabetical.

"What are you doing?" Leonard's voice asked.

Penny sighed; she had wanted to avoid him. She stuffed the DVD in its hopefully rightful place and turned around. "Putting a DVD back… and leaving." Penny said after a beat. She walked to the door.

"Penny, wait… can't we just talk about yhis?" Leonard asked as he stepped towards her. He looked kind of sad and pathetic. He was making that sad puppy face. But, she wasn't going to fall for it this time.

Penny sighed. "We keep trying to talk about this, and we start arguing and then you throw in some hair brained scheme to try and break Sheldon and me apart." She looked at him expectantly. "I don't know what you even want to talk about."

Leonard wasn't going to be swayed. "How come you haven't updated your Facebook profile to that you are in a relationship with Sheldon?' he asked. He knew it was petty, but he had to try.

Penny furrowed her brow. "What are you even talking about? How does that matter to you?" she asked.

Leonard stepped closer. "Or is it because you know people would look at you sideways because it has barely been three weeks since you and I broke up."

Penny shook her head. "That has nothing to do with any of it…" Penny took a deep breath and walked over to Sheldon's laptop; she powered it up and logged in.

"What are you doing?" Leonard asked.

"Sheldon gave me a second user profile on his laptop, last year, so I could use it in case of emergencies." Penny typed away and clicked a few times and then she stepped back. "There, happy now?" Penny asked.

Leonard looked at her Facebook profile. She had updated her relationship status. She was just waiting for Sheldon to accept and then it would go public.

"He would never… not without making you sign a contract first." Leonard said smugly.

And for the first time, Penny realized that maybe Leonard was right. Would Sheldon require her to sign a contract… a relationship agreement? She didn't think she could do that. No, she didn't want to do that. Penny wondered if that would be it. If they couldn't work over one of his stupid rules…

A small chiming sound came from Sheldon's laptop, indicating a status update.

Penny looked at the screen and she felt like crying. Tears did well up.

Leonard peered down at the screen and his mouth dropped open.

Sheldon had accepted the update and then it was posted to each of their profiles.

Penny sat down in Sheldon's chair and stared at the screen as people gave it thumbs up and started to leave comments. She realized it was silly, but this was a big step for Sheldon.

He was agreeing without any certainty or careful planning on his half.

Leonard was shocked still. He'd never known Sheldon to be so… easy.

Penny closed the laptop and turned to Leonard. "Happy now?" she asked before she stood up and walked out the front door.

"If one more friend, and I use that term loosely, comments on this with another "OMG!" or "hot couple alert!" I will ban all of them." Sheldon said as she stared at his iPhone screen. He was sitting in the passenger seat of Raj's car.

Raj looked over when he stopped at the red light. "Sorry about that… I got excited."

"I mean, I don't know what everyone is so excited about… just confirming something via technology." Sheldon's eyes never left the screen.

Raj raised an eyebrow and looked at the man beside him. Sheldon had a tiny smile on his face as he read the comments.

"So the comments are positive?" Raj asked.

Sheldon nodded. "Yes… aside from a few of her exes who seem really confused by her choice of men as of late." Sheldon said absentmindedly. He then quickly typed something and sent it. He smirked at the screen.

"Did you just digitally give Howard a strike, I'm sure what he typed was a typo…" Raj said trying to get a look.

Sheldon shook his head. "One of Penny's exes called me a "bean pole" and Penny replied "a bean pole with TWO doctorates!" and I just used the smiley face emoji to reply to that comment." Sheldon said. He gave a breathy laugh.

Raj smirked. Sheldon was so in love.

Sheldon walked to her door; he had debated on stopping by his place first to leave his purchases and messenger bag, but he felt he should see her first.

Knock knock knock "Penn-"

The door was open and he had a wiggling Penny in his arms, her arms wrapped around his neck and he nearly stumbled and fell back. She was planting kisses on his neck and face.

"Did you mean it?" Penny asked, she was still wrapped around him, her lips touching his neck.

Sheldon had finally put an arm around her, holding her to him. "Of course I did, Penny… I trust you."

And he really did.

It had been before he got home, Leslie Winkle of all people had commented on his wall, asking if he'd made her sign a contract, adding "Every girl wants to a legal document dedicating what they can and cannot do."

Sheldon hadn't even thought about a relationship agreement with Penny. And as he thought about it, he started to think of what it should say. And then he stopped. Penny wouldn't want one. But how would he make sure that it would work. How could he ensure that everything would… and it dawned on him that they had known each other for 9 years and she never signed any contract. She had become his best friend, his best neighbor… his Penny. And she never signed a thing. And his life was fine. Better.

So Sheldon typed up a reply. And the first like was from Penny.

"Penny doesn't require a contract. I am very certain that this will work out sans one. Now I demand you stop posting on my wall."

He took a deep breath and held her closer. "Earlier you said comics were not your thing… I got you a couple you might like." He said and Penny pulled away laughing slightly. Sheldon smiled at her laugh.

"Come on, Moonpie." Penny dragged him inside her apartment.

A/N: A few things:

Shoutout to my BETA Lizwontcry.

Angry anon reviewers! What?! This is for all the hate left on all my work. Just relax man… imma keep writing no matter what. I also got a review that was trying to say that I'm an awesome writer but I should stop writing for tbbt… kay.

Shout out to Kunal posting that awesome cast photo that had Jim and Kaley next to each other... that photo also had my four favs from the show in it.

I love all of my reviewers, I love you all. You make my day and this fic is for you. I hope it continues to live up to your standards.

I received one review that stood out and it was from a Shamy fan and I wanted to say, that was one of the nicest reviews I've ever gotten. Because you didn't have to leave one. And you did and it made my day, so thanks!

I hope this piece is still loved by many. I am enjoying writing it. Just a heads up, I'll be doing an M rated Christmas fic later on (I have dabbled in the idea of making this fic M rated because well… I mean… but I may keep it T…) um so that and I might be continuing with Starman…

I'm not sure how long this fic will be, I think I'll just see where it takes me.

Thanks again loves!