Disclaimer: I do not own the big bang theory.
Penny reminded herself that she would have to give the hotel a great review online when she was in a better frame of mind to write it. Apparently Sheldon let someone at the hotel know that she was sick, so she got a call asking if she would like a room service order placed. She wasn't hungry just yet so she asked for tea for now and placed a pre-order for dinner. The café's chicken and stars seemed appropriate for her meal and she took the liberty of ordering Sheldon a barbeque bacon cheeseburger, bacon, cheese and sauce on the side, knowing it was Tuesday and he must have been feeling a little lost with all the disruptions to his routine.
Where was he? She tried to estimate what time she was brought to his room but the earliest she looked at the clock was four hours ago. She hadn't seen him since well before that, after he got a call and took it in the hallway. Maybe it is some sciency thing and she shouldn't worry. He really couldn't be so cruel as to care for her, buy her every single cold care product under the sun and then disappear with another woman for hours. Right?
Chamomile and peppermint tea in hand, she began to pace in front of the window looking over the strip. The sky was just darkening and the lights of the city were getting brighter and bolder. She hadn't really looked at it before tonight but there was something comforting about a city where there was always something new happening, something interesting. She looked out across the buildings and hotels imagining how many people were losing their life's savings or winning on a high bet at the slots, getting married by Elvis or watching a show like Zoomanity. She wanted to see the city and experience more than beyond the hotel. The last few days had been absorbed in conventions and dances and make overs that she only made it to the casino floor once, and didn't even get to use her Sheldon-taught craps skills.
Where was he! Their dinner would be getting here in about twenty minutes. He needed to be here for when it arrived, otherwise it would fall below his preferred temperature and she would have to order him a new meal all over again. It was difficult enough the first time as she had to stress the importance of his bacon being cooked to exactly the right crispiness and that the person delivering the meal should probably wear gloves.
She realized that she was being protective of him but it felt natural. After six years of living across the hall she felt like she might as well have lived in the same apartment. They had breakfast together more times than she could count. They ate dinner together even more often; she knew to get his low sodium soy sauce and the good hot mustard better than Leonard did. Standing there by the window, dressed in his Tuesday pajamas she could begin to understand how all this could happen, how she could come to see Sheldon as a suitable mate. They were oddly compatible. They had just enough fight in them that she would never be bored. They shared interests like Halo night and she was secretly becoming increasingly fond of classical music, she wished he would play some for her sometime. If they ever had kids they would evil geniuses, able to see the world as in-depth as their father and connect to it as thoroughly as their mother.
She had to sit down. Maybe it was the Nyquil talking or that she hadn't eaten anything substantial in twenty hours but the room was starting to spin. She was falling in love with Sheldon, yeppers-LOVE. She didn't even know where he was, or who he was with and she was at his mercy for him to love her. 'He could make me so much happier than I thought. With Leonard I couldn't say I love you. I did love him but just as I do now. He's my second best friend. But Sheldon? He's like that big clump of chips at the bottom of the bag. He is extra flavorful and never expected. Jesus, I am having far too many epiphanies for one week. I need to loosen up once this cold dies down.' She sat back on the bed and tried to relax.
-T—B—B—T—
The Shenny Squad decided to take advantage of the time Penny was sick to create several contingency plans. Luckily, Howard had already gotten a head start a few days ago in case "Ya know, Las Vegas shit when down." They came up with twenty six different situations that Sheldon could find himself in when dealing with Penny. They ranged from full on war (likely), him refusing to allow her leave his hotel room lest she contaminate more of the areas he would visit during the remainder of the trip (most likely) to where to take him to buy an engagement ring if he needed it (less likely, though possible), they even made appointments at seven different public health clinics in case Sheldon deemed it necessary for Penny to be tested before he would have sex with her. They were prepared.
They did most of this to avoid the inevitable conversation they were to have with Leonard today over coffee. No one wanted to be the guy to say 'Hey, we want the love of your life to run into the arms of Sheldon.' If he did still think Penny was the closest thing he would find to happiness it would break him, break the plans and most certainly break up the group.
Howard hated this more than anyone. His wedding was less than a month away and he could slowly feel the rug being pulled from under him. With all the other changes he was about to make in his life how was he supposed to cope with everything being turned upside down in a matter of a few days? It was insane. The last few months were insane. Sheldon gets a girlfriend (in name), proves something no one ever thought possible, gets the girl. It was as strange as Raj finding a great love with Amy Farrah Fowler. Actually, that was more strange, he did always think there was something there with Penny and Sheldon… they were just too damn close.
But part of the changes Howard knew he needed to make to keep Bernadette happy was for him to be more responsible and in charge. He always had a good head on his shoulders and he knew he would have to be the one to bring this all up to Leonard. So when he eased into it and found Leonard surprisingly receptive to the idea of Penny with Sheldon he was relieved, then surprised.
"I told Penny, right after you and Bernadette left the restaurant a couple days ago, that I thought she should date Sheldon. I had hoped it would spark something in there but I didn't think it would happen so fast." Raj spit his coffee out. "Hah, Penny had the same reaction when I said it."
"Well it is surprising, dude. I mean we have had to listen for years to 'Oh, Penny this, oh Penny that." Raj reasoned.
"Well hey, you guys came to the same conclusions too right? It was inevitable. They just need some help." Having been given the clear by Leonard, Amy then pulled out an impeccably organized guide to their contingency plans, with everyone's role marked and highlighted clearly. She even had a set for Leanne. It listed everything from anecdotes about their past, so that everyone would be prepared to offer up evidence, and had a detailed list of reasons they should be doing this if they began to lose faith.
Leanne, Amy and Bernadette turned their attention to a catalog of shoe shops in the area while Howard began to fiddle with his phone (turning it into a monitoring device he could plant in Penny's pocket), Raj began to search on his phone for jewelry shops and Leonard had to excuse himself for an unexpected but most welcomed call.
"Leonard." Sheldon spoke on the line, "Dr. Gamble called me. He wants us to meet him and another administrator from CERN about the new department. He said he has a more concrete offer than last night. What do I do Leonard? Penny is sick and he says the meeting could run all day."
"Well how sick is she? Do you have to absolutely stick around or is she just sleeping?" Sheldon admitted that probably could step out for a while. He didn't want to leave her. He hated the silence of the room and what it let him think and feel and fear but he wanted to be by her side in case he never got to be there again.
Finally with Leonard's pleading, Sheldon made it way down to the conference room. He had never been more surprised in his professional life than the offer he was just made.
-T—B—B—T—
Sheldon finally came back in the room just as the room service was being brought in. He walked in to the sight of Penny still in his pajamas, which sent chills of possession through him, seated at the little make shift table. She swept her hand to indicate his seat.
"Penny, you ordered for me?" He asked cautiously as he lowered himself to his seat. He was trying to not look like he was examining everything for its cleanliness.
"Yes, you whack-a-doodle. It isn't one of your Anything-can-happen Tuesdays. I always get you your burger on Tuesday." He was so happy his heart sunk. She still took care of him when she didn't even have to, when she was sick. He hadn't been ready for this. He wasn't ready to feel closer to her than he already had. Why did life have to time things so poorly? He began to eat, watching as she slurped her soup.
"Where were you today?" She asked. He hoped he imagined the little hints at indignation.
"I was called to a meeting with someone from CERN. There might be an opportunity to do some, work, yeah." He needed more practice in deception. He could feel his eye twitch thinking about the fact that he was hiding huge information from her.
She noticed the tick and thought he was lying outright. He might have been with that woman again. That's when she made up her mind. She wasn't going to let this get to her. She was in Vegas and for a short while she had the opportunity to enjoy his affections and attention. She would take it. If it ended in heart break, well, what happens in Vegas could stay there.
"Oh, so anything interesting you want to talk about?" She couldn't figure out what to say to him, so she stuck with what she knew- make it about Sheldon.
"Oh, nothing really. Just some new developments, a new department, they are instituting there. They wanted my opinion." Internally he was combusting. 'They want me to move there and run it!'
"Oh, well that is interesting." 'Why do you keep hiding her from me?'
"Penny, did you know that there have been some recent developments in the search for the God particle? I found that particularly fascinating as well. It doesn't have anything to do with the new department, but the advances in that area are attracting the funding for it." 'It would be a huge step for me. Something new and challenging. But if I go I can't be with you. I wish I knew how you felt.'
"Oh." 'I want to cry.'
They finished eating in near silence, thankful that the other hadn't started the conversation they both wanted to have and both wanted to avoid. Sheldon was convinced that if he asked her what she felt about him she wouldn't say she wanted to be with him. He feared it was the opposite, that she was clinging to him because she couldn't have Leonard or was otherwise using him as a distraction. Penny was convinced he would give her some spiel about how monogamy makes little sense from an evolutionary perspective.
Room service retrieved the table and foodstuffs and Penny went to sit back on Leonard's bed. Sheldon didn't know how to ask what he wanted to. He never went through the awkward stages most people went through, where a boy tries his hardest to be as close to his love interest as possible. So, he couldn't figure out how to ask Penny to join him on his bed without it sounding like he was propositioning her. He did all he could think of, he ignored the fact that his bed was there. He tried to forget its existence and climbed onto Leonard's bed beside her, turned on the t.v. and acted like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Penny felt like they took a step backwards somewhere. Just yesterday they had been about to tear each other's clothes off and now she just hoped he would put his arm around her. It took him a while to figure out the logistics of the move but soon he found himself with Penny pressed against his chest as they watched re-runs of Star Trek: The Next Generation. They worked their way from Schisms to Ship in a Bottle before, by silent mutual agreement, Penny switched off the t.v. and they snuggled closer as they laid down to sleep.
He held her like Amy described Raj holding her: like his personal jewel. She felt protected and loved, not like she was being caged or placated like Leonard or Kurt held her. She could feel his breath on her neck and he could smell the vanilla of her shampoo. Each wanted to say the three big words but neither was brave enough to try. But they could both feel it, they could both understand that in the moments before their brains finally hit REM they were there for one another like it should be. It was bliss.
She wanted to just live for this moment and forget the possibility that it might not last. She wanted to just enjoy what little of this closeness she could get. But as her eyes closed, the sudden flash of the images of Sheldon with her at an altar, him making love to her, him holding her as they went to sleep just as he did now, haunted her like an old memory. It was the second night she went to sleep in tears.
