A/N: I'm doing my best to update this fic every two weeks. I can't seem to manage weekly, but I will try hard to stick to every two weeks :) Thank you soooo much to all the lovely reviewer peops. You're all awesome.
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)
Chapter 12
Penny wasn't sure what to wear for a date with Sheldon Cooper. Usually her outfit for such an occasion would depend almost entirely on the activity. Sheldon had made it clear that his interpretation of a date was dinner and a movie, so that ought to help, but it really didn't.
The problem was defining what kind of impression Penny was trying to give on this date, what sort of evening she was expecting to have with Sheldon. Some guys that took her to dinner thought the local fast food joint was acceptable, and that buying her a bucket of chicken meant they could feel her up in the back row thirty minutes later. Actually, Penny enjoyed a few of the nights that went that way and she dressed in such a way as to prove she was inclined to play along. Sheldon wasn't that guy, he was pretty much a gentlemen, but Penny really didn't have an outfit that would make her lady enough to match.
Pushing one dress after the other across to the far end of the rail, she sighed. Penny wouldn't define her whole wardrobe as slutty exactly, but she knew what she had and she wasn't afraid to flaunt it. Somehow she wasn't so sure that was a look Sheldon would appreciate on a first date. Penny thought of Amy and burst out laughing, which might seem mean but honestly, she was just trying to imagine herself in the kind of clothes her friend wore - the picture in her head was hilarious.
Eventually, Penny ended up in the standard little black dress, hoping that would seem appropriate no matter where they ended up for dinner. Waiting for Sheldon to come calling was tougher still, since despite her clothing crisis, she found she was ready almost a full half hour before he was due to pick her up. It did occur to Penny as the modern woman that she was perfectly able to go across the hall and knock on the door, but this was a date with Sheldon and she doubted he would appreciate her messing with his plan. He would have a plan, she knew. For all that he seemed to have let go of some of his regimented rules of living, he maintained the triple knock on her door and doubtless had a timetable in place for something as foreign to him as a real date. He proved that when he arrived at exactly seven o'clock and rapped on her door in the usual way. Somehow that seemed to put Penny at ease at last and she was smiling genuinely as she moved to open the door.
"Hi," she greeted him, liking his appearance in the smartest suit he owned, none of the usual scary plaid.
"Good evening, Penny," he replied politely, offering her his arm. "Shall we go?"
"Oh, we shall," she agreed, taking his offered arm and closing the apartment door behind them.
"Penny, may I say, you always look more than agreeable, but tonight you are exceptionally pleasing to the eye," he said in the way only Sheldon could as they descended the first flight of stairs.
"Thank you, Sheldon," she grinned, smoothing the fabric of her dress with her free hand. "You look great too, by the way."
"You ought to think so," he agreed. "After all, you helped pick out this very suit."
That's right, she had, and Penny ought to have realised it. She had been so floored by his appearance when she finally got him into this particular suit. Gone was any trace of the stereotypical geek Sheldon often looked like, and in his place something akin to James Bond. It was amazing what lie underneath if you just took the time to look. The thought of all this made Penny want to laugh. They were such an unlikely couple to anyone who didn't know them, but as she caught sight of their reflections in the glass doors before they exited the building, she couldn't imagine anybody ever looking more right for each other.
"I don't know, Bernie, Leonard's in a pretty bad way," Howard told his fiancee over the phone as he and Raj ate together. "If I tell him Penny and Sheldon are going on an actual date tonight, I can't see him wanting to come home... Well, I have to tell him now you told me," he argued when she said he could not do so. Ccan you imagine the shock if we got back and found them... I don't know, making out on the landing or something?"
Howard shuddered at the very thought of anyone making out with Sheldon, at which Raj rolled his eyes. He didn't see what the big deal was really, apart from the fact that the man-robot was getting some action and he wasn't. That cut deep for Raj, but he wouldn't deny his friend a little happiness, or a little sugar. He certainly spent enough of his life without and Raj knew how much that sucked.
"Okay, Bernie, I'll call you tonight. Love you," Howard grinned, making smoochy noises as quietly as he could in a public place, and then hung up the phone.
"So, Penny and Sheldon, a real date," said Raj thoughtfully. "That's gotta be weird for both of them."
"Yeah, and heart-breaking for Leonard," Howard sighed. "The guy is such a mess. Vegas was supposed to help, but if we can't even get him to leave the minibar in the room..."
"What does he have to get out for?" his friend shrugged. "He doesn't really like to gamble, and he finds it tough to get the attention of women, well, apart from the ones that are paid for."
"Maybe that's exactly what he needs," said Howard, digging into his food with gusto before it got cold. "I still say a hooker is the way to go."
"For sweet dependable little Leonard who believes in love and commitment?" said Raj with wide eyes. "Dude, he would freak out!"
"Not if he didn't know she was... a rental," he said awkwardly as an elderly couple passed by their table to be seated. "The state he's in now, he'll believe anything. We pay a nice girl to be sweet and sympathetic, jump his bones, leave him feeling a little better about himself. I mean, c'mon, Raj. Losing a woman causes pain, but losing a woman to Sheldon? That's a whole other level of mental destruction."
Raj had to admit that Howard had a point. If paying for a hooker would cheer Leonard up, he supposed he would help out with that. At the same time, his mind was wandering to Penny and Sheldon. For all that they seemed mismatched on the surface, he could actually see them working as a couple. Of course, it was still pretty strange imagining Sheldon wanting to be close that way with anybody, even Penny. Raj wondered how they were getting along on their date, at least up until Howard dragged him off to a bar to find Leonard a nice new affordable friend.
Penny couldn't stop smiling. Sure, it probably seemed a little awkward to anyone who saw her and Sheldon sitting silently at their table. Making conversation was sometimes hard for them anyway, when he got onto science stuff that flew over her head or she started on what he called the banal topics of shoes or her work at the Cheesecake Factory. Tonight it didn't seem to matter. He had been such a gentleman, opening doors for her, pulling out her chair, complimenting her looks. Maybe it was a little mortifying when Sheldon inspected all the cutlery and had several pieces exchanged because he could see they hadn't been correctly washed, but the fact he hadn't run out of the restaurant screaming or just complaining loudly seemed like progress to Penny. This was actually a pretty decent first date so far, and she was definitely not sorry she had agreed to come.
"So, I'm a little stumped for a topic here," she said then, no longer able to hide behind the menu since they had just finished ordering their meal. "I mean, first dates are usually a getting to know you kind of a thing, but we already know everything."
"Actually it would be inaccurate for anyone to claim to know everything about another person, however close they may be," Sheldon considered. "But I do understand that the preliminary question and answer inherent in a first meeting would be redundant on this occasion," he said, much like a text book, which was not unusual for Sheldon.
"Okay, but sweetie, that's not helping us find something to talk about," she pointed out.
He stared a moment at where her hand was now on top of his own on the table. Penny was the type to touch people without thinking, some people were just that way inclined, and Sheldon always hated it, except with her.
It was still baffling to him how Penny was the exception to so many rules he had in his life, even those that still existed days after he let anarchy reign in his life. There were structures and plans he could live without but many he still felt compelled to keep in place. It didn't matter, Penny always found a loop hole, deliberately or otherwise, and circumvented every defence. Not that Sheldon had been aware he was defending himself from her, but maybe he had been. It was hard to tell anymore.
"Sweetie?" Penny prompted when he was quiet too long. "Are you okay?" she checked.
Sheldon looked up from their joined hands and met her eyes, feeling quite overcome. He hadn't had a drink yet, and they were not at altitude. There was no reason for the light-headed feeling he was getting, nothing but her.
"Penny," he said, his voice coming out much lower than he intended. "I think that... that this may be a profound moment in my life."
She wasn't sure how to react to that confession and was prevented from having to come up with anything smart or funny or whatever when a waiter suddenly delivered their meal to the table. For a while their focus was the food, but after stealing a few glances at each other, eventually their eyes met. Penny smiled and Sheldon smiled back.
"This is really, really good," she said around a mouthful of pasta.
"I agree," he replied.
The serious moment was gone, and normal service had been resumed, if there really was such a thing as normal on a first date for these two. Something big was happening here, but it wasn't quite so scary anymore, it was just good.
"You're a nice girl," said Leonard, stumbling a little against the tall brunette that had her arm wrapped around her. "You understand that I am a nice guy. I only want to love and be loved, be a boyfriend to someone," he explained, slurring a little, almost laughing. "Nobody understands, except for you."
"Of course, I understand," she sympathised like the professional she was, fingers running through his hair as they reached the door to his hotel room. "You're such a great guy, Leonard. I don't know why any woman would want to give up on someone like you."
When she moved in to kiss him, he was more than happy to let it happen. He was eager, even in his semi-drunken state, but Zoe was used to that. It didn't matter. As many drinks as he'd had, she wasn't even sure he was capable of much in the way of sex tonight. Still, whatever he wanted, she was willing. The guys that paid her did so well, and assured her this Leonard guy wasn't exactly kinky. He wanted to feel loved by a woman who would be his girlfriend, or at the very least a substitute for the one who just dumped him. She could play sweet and understanding as well as she could play anything, and then when Leonard woke up in the morning he would find a note on the nightstand. She would say she was sorry but that she wasn't good enough for him and never could be. That should sure boost his confiendece, that and the overenthusiasm she planned to show when they got into bed together. Honestly, Zoe could almost feel sorry for the guy, almost.
"I honestly wasn't so sure I was going to enjoy it, but I really did," Penny enthused as she and Sheldon climbed the stairs back towards their respective apartments. "I mean I've seen it before, but when stuff doesn't make sense you're pretty good at explaining it," she smiled.
"The Star Wars canon is vast, but for the original movie, it's not really necessary to know all of the background. Those that saw it in 1977 were just completely in awe of what are now considered primitive special effects and the new leaps and bounds being made in the science fiction movie genre."
"Well, it impresses me," said Penny definitely. "I mean, sure, you can kind of tell the space ships are models sometimes and some of those aliens things in the bar..."
"The Mos Eisley Cantina," he corrected gently.
"Sorry, the cantina," Penny acquiesced. "They were clearly guys in costumes, but hey, there's only so much you can do, especially way back when."
Sheldon couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm for a movie he had not been convinced she would enjoy. Whilst the original Star Wars was still a masterpiece in his eyes, and all the better for being shown in its original theatrical version rather than George Lucas' travesty of a special edition, Sheldon knew Penny was not much of a sci-fi fan. Still, it had been she that insisted it was the movie they should see together on their first date.
"You took me to a great restaurant, you've been a total gentleman all night, and you're paying for everything," she had said as they surveyed their choices outside the movie theatre. "You should get to see a movie you love instead of some chick flick or whatever just because I like seeing Channing Tatum get naked," she had told him, and though Sheldon really wasn't sure who she was talking about, he just headed for the desk as quickly as possible and got them two tickets for what they now called 'A New Hope'.
"I am glad you enjoyed the movie, Penny," he told her as they reached her door and faced each other. "I have the other two from the trilogy on dvd, and Blu-Ray, and special edition dvd, and VHS... I also have the prequel trilogy but that is an even bigger continuity nightmare," he rambled on a moment before shaking his head. "If you would like to see them, it could be arranged?"
"Yeah, that might be nice," Penny agreed, shifting awkwardly before him.
This was the end of their first date, and she knew what came next. Some guys would kiss her goodnight and then leave with a promise to call. Others would be dragged to her bed for a night of passion, leaving in the morning with similar vows to call her. There were few that ever did call actually. It made her sad to think about it, and yet happy because she had much more of a guarantee with Sheldon.
"Well," he said then, looking as oddly nervous as she felt. "I had a very pleasant evening, Penny. Thank you for your company."
"Thank you, Sheldon, I had a great time too," she assured him.
Still he didn't move away and she was glad in a sense and annoyed in another. If he was just going to stand there they were never going to get anywhere. He couldn't be afraid of kissing her, not after all those times before, and yet he looked confused or just terrified maybe.
"Sheldon?" she got his attention, their eyes meeting.
"I... I'm not sure of the correct protocol," he said, sounding a little too much like the gold robot from the movie they just watched, See Threepio if Penny wasn't mistaken.
She bit her lip so she wouldn't laugh at the comparison that came to mind unbidden. The last thing Sheldon needed right now was for her to mock his lack of confidence.
"The protocol is we say goodnight," she told him, stepping in closer.
She had to be the bold one, it seemed. For all his domineering ways before, grabbing her and kissing the breath out of her on no less than two previous occasions, he didn't feel so confident now. Penny was quite sure enough for the both of them when it came to this part of the night. Her arms went up a round his neck and she pulled him down to her level.
"Goodnight, Sheldon," she said softly.
"Goodnight, Penny," he replied in kind right before she kissed him.
It wasn't the deep passionate moment that had come before. Just a sweet, slow, melding of mouths that left the both of them a little dizzy. Their foreheads rested together and she smiled at seeing the same expression on his lips.
"I think we can safely say the first date was a success."
"I concur," he breathed as they parted at last and Penny unlocked her apartment to go inside.
She threw Sheldon a little wave as she went inside. Leaning back against the closed door for a moment, Penny closed her eyes and just let all the feelings she was having wash over her. She was dating Sheldon Cooper, and as crazy as it might sound, she couldn't be happier.
To Be Continued...
