Author's note: So sorry about the long wait for this chapter, but the good news is that now uni is pretty much finished for the semester I should have much more time for updates! Thanks for your patience, and the next chapter won't be far away. I know this story has been kind of slow in terms of the Sheldon/Penny relationship but it is moving towards it, trust me! There's probably only a couple more chapters left of this story but I already have a sequel planned and can't wait to write it. Thanks so much to everyone who has been reading and reviewing so far, I really appreciate it :)
Sheldon awoke with a start, drowning in the uncomfortable feeling that there was something he was meant to be doing. He turned his head slightly and caught sight of Penny sleeping deeply and peacefully beside him. The events of the previous evening came flooding back to him— the news that his meemaw was sick, rushing to Penny's for comfort, Leonard forgiving him slightly for the 'betrayal' of his growing relationship with Penny, and then…this. Yet another step towards the confusing but not unpleasant changes taking place in said relationship. He hadn't shared a bed with anyone since he was a kid and was occasionally forced to share with one of his siblings when their parents took them on a vacation and wanted to cut down on costs. Well, other than the night the heat went out whilst he, Leonard, Raj and Howard were in the North Pole…but apparently they weren't supposed to talk about that.
Sheldon had no desire since to have his sleep interrupted by sharing a bed and all the perils that went along with it, such as being accidentally kicked, or robbed of his half of the blanket, or overheating from the presence of a warm body beside his. But Penny had done none of those things— she'd just slept soundly beside him, being neither distant nor clingy, giving him exactly what he'd needed. Just as she always did. Although she constantly declared or alluded to the fact that she didn't understand him, Sheldon had felt for quite some time that she came closer in many ways than anyone else did. He sighed, not allowing his mind to go too far in pondering the implications of this; he had long since learnt that doing so would just confuse him further when it came to he and Penny. Instead he glanced at his alarm clock, noting that it was almost time he and Penny got up and made their way to the airport. It was still dark outside and he was slightly afraid of her reaction to him waking her at this hour— it was certainly well before her eleven A.M rule and he wasn't entirely sure if the lack of a door to knock on would make the situation better or worse. Slowly, he leant over her, taking a moment to look at her lovely face before the potential 'not a morning person' crankiness would descend upon him.
"Penny," he said in hushed tones, lightly nudging her shoulder in an attempt to wake her. "Penny!"
Penny awoke with a start, looking up at Sheldon with a confused expression then looking around her.
"Where am I?" she mumbled, still half asleep.
"You're in my room, Penny. You agreed to fly to Texas with me to visit my meemaw," Sheldon reminder her with some trepidation in his voice.
Penny sat up fully, rubbing her eyes and shaking her head, trying to clear the haze of sleep from her mind.
"Oh yeah," she replied sleepily, patting his arm. "Don't worry, Sheldon, I'm not going to punch you," she continued, noticing his nervous demeanor.
Sheldon breathed a sigh of relief and got out of bed, gathering up the pile of clothing that he had neatly folded and stacked on top of his suitcase, and made his way to the bathroom.
A short while later Sheldon was dressed and knocking softly on Leonard's door, a mug full of hot coffee in his hands as some kind of compensation for the favour. Leonard answered the door with a drowsy yet patient expression on his face and accepted the proffered coffee, then retreated back into his room to get dressed. Sheldon went back into the kitchen to settle the matter of breakfast and, recalling Penny's fondness for French toast, he set about making some. Of course, it wasn't French toast day so he would be having cereal, but he hoped that Penny might appreciate the gesture. When she entered the kitchen a few minutes later her mood seemed to improve dramatically at the sight of the fresh coffee and French toast with maple syrup. She smiled warmly at him, and tucked in to her breakfast. This could work, he thought.
Sheldon sat in the uncomfortable plane seat, fidgeting nervously. Penny looked up from the magazine she was reading and gently placed her hand on his.
"Sweetie, I know you're nervous but it's going to be okay. I've flown loads of times and nothing's ever happened to me,"
Sheldon looked at her scathingly. "Penny, I hardly think that the fact that you have engaged in air travel numerous times without incident conclusively proves that this particular flight is safe from disaster."
It wasn't that he hadn't flown before - sometimes taking the train was too impractical even for him – but the nerves he felt at being on a steel tube suspended 33, 000 feet in the air never seemed to lessen. Knowing the science behind aviation and aerodynamics didn't seem to help either. And that was before even considering the germs of the passengers. Penny shook her head, exasperated, and turned back to her magazine. Sheldon peeped out the small porthole window briefly then turned back to Penny.
"Penny, they're doing something to the engine. Why are they doing something to the engine?" he asked, a note of hysteria in his voice.
Penny gave the window a quick glance then turned her eyes back on Sheldon.
"They're just checking it, Sheldon. It's standard procedure on every flight. Everything's fine," she reassured him, trying to keep her voice calm and patient. She knew this wasn't easy for him.
But Sheldon continued to stare out of the window, clenching his hands in his lap and chewing on his lower lip. Finally Penny stood, unable to bear it any longer.
"What are you doing, Penny?" Sheldon asked her, bewildered.
"Swapping seats with you" she replied firmly. "Come on. You'll feel better if you're sitting over there."
"I seriously doubt that having close proximity with a complete stranger will make me feel better," he argued. "Did you know that the risk of contracting a viral infection is higher at an airport and aboard a standard aircraft than anywhere else?"
Penny sighed again.
"Just switch with me, Sheldon. There's no one even sitting there."
"Not right now, but the plane is still boarding Penny— anyone could take that seat. A germy child, a tourist from another country carrying any number of foreign pathogens…"
He cut himself off at the expression on Penny's face. It was a familiar one and one that told him clearly that she was not to be messed with. He sighed and stood up resolutely, and they shuffled around one another awkwardly to get to their new seats. Sheldon managed to say nothing more about the potential of contracting any life threatening illnesses and distracted himself until take-off with a book about the latest developments in electromagnetic physics. But when the plane began taxing around the run way, preparing for take-off, Sheldon started fidgeting again, no longer able to pretend that he wasn't freaking out about the movement of the plane and the sound of the engines slowly revving up. Once again Penny reached for him, this time taking both of his large hands into her smaller ones and holding them. As the plane started to lift into the air, Sheldon gripped Penny's hands tightly.
"It's okay, Sheldon honey," she soothed, and he rested his head on her shoulder gratefully.
Several hours later, their plane touched down in Texas. The remainder of the flight had been fairly uneventful— Sheldon had calmed down after take-off and had spent the remainder of the flight reading his book, scrawling various equations in his notebook and typing a journal entry on his laptop, whilst Penny watched the in-flight movies and flicked through several magazines. Although he had gotten slightly nervous on the landing, he had always found take-offs much worse, and found that the presence of Penny beside him was enough to keep him calm. They got off the plane and collected their luggage, which to Sheldon's immense relief were amongst the first bags to come out, and headed towards the place that Mary always picked Sheldon up from when he came to visit. They spotted her and made their way over and she wrapped Sheldon in a tight hug that he didn't object to much. He actually surprised himself in how relived he felt to see her— after the emotional turmoil that he had been through in the past day or so, and how unused to that he was, it was nice to be doted on slightly.
"How are you my Shelly?" she asked him, cupping his face on either side with her hands.
"I'm fine, mom,"
She scrutinised him for a moment then, apparently satisfied with his response, turned to Penny and pulled her into a hug.
"Thank you so much for coming, Penny. I really appreciate it and I know Sheldon does too," Mary told her earnestly.
Penny smiled warmly back at her. "Well, you're both very welcome. It's lovely to see you again Mrs. Cooper."
As they followed Mary to the parked car she filled them in on the situation with Sheldon's meemaw, informing them that she was still quite unwell but was doing significantly better, and that she would take Sheldon and Penny straight to the hospital to see her. Sheldon felt relieved to hear that his meemaw was getting better yet, but a part of him couldn't help thinking about how hard it would be to see her lying sick in a hospital bed. He hated hospitals in general but it was normally the germs he was concerned about rather than seeing someone he loved unwell or in pain, especially when he hadn't seen them in awhile. An unfamiliar feeling of guilt gnawed at him faintly, and he promised himself that he would visit meemaw much more often from now on.
A/N: Would love to hear your thoughts :)