(Sheldon has learned a lot more about Penny's life finally. Where do they go from here?)

July 2004

After what Sheldon called the "breakthrough" in his mind, he and Penny began to spend a little more time together. She still spent most of her days off, every Monday and Friday, away from the apartment. When Sheldon asked what she did on those days she had shook her head and told him it was private. He tried not to be hurt that she wouldn't confide in him, but it wasn't easy.

Sheldon was starting to fall in love with her. He resisted as long as he could, but there was no denying that what he was feeling for Penny went beyond simple friendship, or concern. He looked forward to every minute with her. He worried about her when she was out late. He was jealous of the way Leonard acted around her. And then there was his physical reaction around her. Dry mouth, damp palms, increased respirations, and so on. He couldn't deny it. He had feelings for Penny.

And if she found out, she'd head for the hills. The first thing he had learned after they began to spend time together was that Penny kept everyone at a distance. Not because she feared them, or because she was unsure how to act around people. She was just sure they would leave her eventually. Everyone left her once she started to let them in. Her Papaw had died when she needed him most. Her dad had chosen to turn his back on her. Her sister had been so glad to get out of the house, she never looked back. The friends she made at the boarding school had disappeared not long after she was withdrawn. Long distance friendships, especially for teens, are easily lost. Bernadette was her only real friend here, besides him, and Penny was just waiting on her to graduate and leave too. And he had already abandoned her once. She had no doubts he would do it again. And nothing he said could convince her otherwise.

September 2004

Sheldon walked in and stopped short. "Penny? What are you doing home?"

Penny looked up from her notebook. She shut it quickly and stood up from the kitchen table. "It's my day off. I switched my schedule at work."

Sheldon briefly glanced at the notebook but didn't say anything about it. "Is there a particular reason why you changed your schedule?"

Penny shrugged. "One of the girls at work is going to go back to school. She needed certain days off, so my schedule changed. I guess I'll be off on Wednesdays and Fridays now."

Sheldon sat down at the kitchen table. He couldn't help glancing at the notebook in front of her. A plain green spiral type. "Penny, have you ever thought of going to college?"

Penny shook her head. "Not since I left school. I can't afford it. Besides, it really doesn't interest me. I never wanted to be a teacher, or scientist, or engineer."

Sheldon felt his stomach churn. She deserved so much more than life had given her. "What do you want to be?"

Penny picked up her notebook and stood up. "Safe." She smiled sadly and heading back to her bedroom.

November 2004

Sheldon looked over his schedule one last time. He saved the program and password protected it. Penny would be home from work soon and not long after that Leonard, Howard and Raj would arrive with Chinese.

He heard her key in the lock and turned around. When she opened the door he smiled pleasantly at her. Penny gave him a slight smile back and went to hang up her coat. Sheldon grabbed two bottles of water and walked over to the couch. Penny was already sitting in the armchair. She had laid claim to it the day after she moved in. He didn't mind much, since she was sitting close by, but he knew she had been very uncomfortable sitting between him and Raj that first day.

"Penny, I have something I wish to discuss with you."

She looked at him curiously and waited.

Sheldon cleared his throat and handed her a water. "I have been asked to go as part of a group on a lecture tour at the first of the year. It will be a series of 40 lectures over 10 weeks. The tour begins in Rome and ends in Moscow. While on tour I will need an assistant to take notes, oversee traveling arrangements, and handle errand running. Usually a grad student fills this role. I would like to propose that you go with me."

Penny's eyes got wide. "What?"

Sheldon nodded. "I want you to be my assistant. I know you already. I am comfortable with your presence. I know how intelligent you are, and feel you are more than capable of handling this job. I know you do not enjoy your job, and this one pays better. You would have a chance to get away for 3 months and decide what you would like to do."

Penny stared at Sheldon for several minutes. He was starting to grow very nervous, each passing moment made him more and more sure that she was going to say no.

"Sheldon, are you doing this so I won't be alone?" she asked.

He looked a bit sheepish. "That is a small part of it. But I really do think you could handle the job well. Besides, we get along fairly well. I do not particularly like grad students. They are always pestering me, or they are too arrogant."

Penny snickered lightly. "You think someone is too arrogant?"

He tried to glare at her, but she just smiled wider. He rolled his eyes. "Penny, you would be doing me a great favor."

The front door opened and the other guys walked in. Penny glanced at them and then looked back at Sheldon. "Can I think about it and let you know tomorrow?"

He nodded and sipped his own water. "I have two weeks before I have to submit the paperwork. Just let me know in the next week."

Leonard set the bags of food on the table. "Know what?" he asked suspiciously.

"Sheldon has asked me if I would be his assistant on his lecture tour in January," she replied. "I asked him to let me consider it."

Raj smiled and sipped his beer. "I will be part of that group, too!"

Penny smiled. "Really? That's great. Do you have an assistant as well?"

Raj nodded. "A grad student named Matt. He is working on his doctorate in Astrophysics."

Howard groaned. "Oh man, 10 weeks touring Europe? Babes in Finland, England, Ireland, Germany, and so on."

Penny laughed and stood up. "I'll just go use the bathroom before Doctor Who comes on." The guys watched her walk away. As soon as she was gone Leonard spun to face Sheldon.