You guys are awesome. Thank you for all the great feedback! This chapter is fairly short, but it wraps up this day finally. Enjoy!


"Well it took the better part of the past half hour, but congratulations. You finally managed to get through the entire scene." Sheldon said.

Penny let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah, how about that? We got through the whole thing."

"Is there anything else I can assist you with this evening?" Sheldon asked.

A cold shower and some cheap box wine.

"No, I'm fine. I'm good. Really good. I think we made some real progress tonight. With the play, that is." She said.

Stop rambling Penny. Seriously.

"Oh good. You know, I think I'm getting pretty good at this myself. A skill set sure to come in handy with my day to day social interactions at the university." He said.

"Great. Just great." Penny looked down and fidgeted a bit. "Well, it's late, so you know. I'll show myself out. Um, ok yeah, thanks. Goodnight Sheldon."

"Goodnight Penny." He said as he retreated toward his bedroom.

Penny went back across the hall to her place and leaned up against her door.

Get it together Penny. You should be happy that you're engaging in character. This has nothing to do with Sheldon.

She plopped down on her couch and opened her laptop. Still no emails. Her mind continued to wander about the events of this evening.

I need to get out of character. I'm not Sarah. I'm not lusting after Professor Cooper. Dammit! Professor Collingsworth. Tim Collingsworth is the character. Sheldon Cooper is just the actor. And not even the real actor. Just a temporary actor.

"I've reallllllllly got to make sure I never mix those names up again." She said aloud to herself.

I wonder if cold showers really work.

Penny got up and hurried into her bathroom. She turned on her shower without adjusting for hot water. She disrobed and jumped in as quickly as possible.

"HOLY CRAP THAT'S COLD!" She yelled as she immediately jumped back out. "Why the hell do people do that?"

I suppose it did keep my mind off of things for a few seconds. But still, not fun at all.

She adjusted the water temperature and took a normal shower while singing Katy Perry songs to keep herself distracted and upbeat.

Fifteen minutes later, penny strolled back into her living room in her towel. She was still humming pop songs and dancing around. She went to grab her laptop when she heard a familiar sound.

:Knock knock knock: "Penny"

:Knock knock knock: "Penny"

:Knock knock knock: "Penny"

She shrieked. Loudly. The last thing she expected to hear at this hour was Sheldon's knocking.

He quickly opened the door to see why she was screaming. Penny grabbed on to the top of her towel and looked toward Sheldon in horror. He immediately closed the door behind him and shielded his eyes from her.

"Sheldon! What the hell, I'm not dressed!" She yelled.

Still looking away from her, Sheldon spoke. "I'm sorry to disturb you Penny, but you left your script on the coffee table." He reached in her general direction with her script.

She exhaled. "Oh, thanks. I'm sorry for yelling. You scared the crap out of me." Penny took the script from Sheldon.

"For the record, Penny, if you are afraid of people entering your apartment while you are inappropriately dressed, might I suggest locking the door?" He replied.

"Yeah well, I'll work on that." She said. "I'm not naked, you don't have to cover your eyes. You've seen me in a towel before."

He put down his hand. Penny said it herself; Sheldon had seen her in a towel before, but today it felt like he wasn't looking AT her. He was looking THROUGH her.

She grasped the towel closure even harder. Sheldon just stared at her blankly, not knowing what to do next. "Thanks again, I appreciate it." She said.

"Of course. Goodnight Penny." Sheldon said. He bowed his head and left the apartment.

That was really nice of him. Maybe all it took was the poetic words of Timothy Collingsworth to bring it out of him.

She practically skipped back to her bedroom and got ready for bed. Penny put on a cute pair of Hello Kitty pajama shorts and a skimpy tank top. She brushed her hair a bit and left it tousled, trying to look both sexy and sweet. She played in the mirror for about 15 minutes before throwing herself on her bed. She smiled and let out a happy sigh.

Penny tossed and turned for a bit and eventually fell asleep. She began to dream about opening night, staring out into a full audience, anxiously awaiting her performance. Penny was on stage with Cole, about to enact the first love scene from the show. Cole's hair was soft and curly, and he seemed overly confident. Penny was doing a phenomenal job at acting like a young college student. All of a sudden, they got to the first stage kiss. Penny leaned forward and closed her eyes, kissing him softly, feeling the heat of his lips spread upon her own. When she opened her eyes, he was no longer Cole. She was staring at the face of Sheldon Cooper.

She immediately woke up and sat straight up in bed.

Holy crap! What the hell dream was that?

Penny's heart rate remained elevated and her throat went dry. She walked into the kitchen to get a water bottle. She took a sip as she walked into the living room to grab her laptop. If she was going to be wide awake and freaked out for a while, she might as well go on Facebook or something.

She opened up her laptop and saw she had 1 new email from Leonard. The letter was really sweet and appreciative. He told her about the trip and how he couldn't wait to be back in Penny's arms.

She half smiled, but felt oddly jarred by his kind words.

Why do I feel so guilty?