Howard breaks the date off in the least racist and rude way possible he can manage, according to Ellie. Which means it was probably a bit of both. She was still on Penny's couch when Penny finally got out of bed the next day.
Sheldon showed up not long after that, claiming she had agreed to finally go play mini golf. Penny was on the look out for any of the usual signs that he was lying, but none came so she gave in.
It was surprisingly a good amount of fun and she talked him into trying a new restaurant. He pulled out a notebook and asked the waitress a variety of questions but in the end it's been put on the list of Sheldon approved restaurants, with probationary status for now.
After dinner he walked her to her door and gave a quick kiss on the cheek. Penny felt her cheeks warm in response and they said goodnight. She entered her apartment to find it empty and decided to enjoy the peace and quiet and have a nice bath. ~
The peace on the fourth floor doesn't last long. Sheldon and Leonard begin fighting. At first she has a slight suspicion that has something to do with her, but alas it's about something scientific, a paper or theory or whatever.
When the two boys stop speaking to each other Sheldon takes to hiding in Penny's apartment. The upside is he cooks and cleans, the downside is that he complains about Leonard a lot and he's totally rubbing off on her when it comes to tv shows.
She's trying not to play sides so when Leonard asks for wardrobe advice she says yes without feeling too guilty about it.
When she comes back, after trying to convince Leonard to burn that ugly suit, Sheldon's still camped out on her couch watching something. He asks bitterly about Leonard. She almost thinks better of it, but tries to mend fences anyway.
"You should just talk to him, I'm sure you guys can work out this little misunderstanding."
"A little misunder…. Galileo and the Pope had a little misunderstanding."
"Look sweetie, I think he feels really bad about it. And I know Leonard values you as a friend, and he told me himself that without your little idea there's no way he could have come up with this whole experiment thing."
"Little idea?! Excuse me Penny!"
Sheldon goes across the hall and Penny can hear yelling from both sides, and phrases like "lucky hunch!" and "trying to impress Penny!" get tossed around.
When Sheldon comes back he's carrying an overnight bag and his night of the week pjs. It doesn't take long for them to realize he will not fit on the couch, and she will not give up the bed.
"So... sharing. We're two adults, we can do this." she stops and turns to him and holds up a finger, "And this not me picking sides, I'm still going to go be supportive of Leonard."
As she finishes her sentence she crawls into the right side of the bed.
Over on the left, he mutters under his breath something that sounds like "Not if I have my way..."
But when she says, "Goodnight sweetie," he responds in kind and even thanks her for letting him stay. She can't help but think that he has his moments. ~
Authors Note. My plan is to write an ending that makes sense for now so I can pause work on this and try my hand at some one shots and resume this when the mood strikes. So don't be alarmed if it shows up marked complete, that is just part one of my episode by episode project.