A/N: I am astounded. I can't thank you all enough! As of this posting, TGDR has a grand total of 88 favorites, 123 reviews, 151 alerts, and 30,025 hits. Wow. Just ... wow. I'm so humbled by your amazing response to this fiction. As an author, you've made me extremely happy. I can't express how wonderful it is to know that so many of you enjoy this little foray of mine. So, as a thank you, I've got this chapter up extremely early. You've all motivated me to great lengths and I hope this will suffice as repayment for all your support. Again, thank you so much and please enjoy. As always, I ask that you review to let me know your thoughts, regardless of whether or not you have an account.

I really can't thank you all enough. Please enjoy.

I am no Superman, I have no answers for you.
I am no hero, oh that's for sure, but I do know one thing for sure
Is where you are, is where I belong.
I do know, where you go, is where I want to be.

"Where Are You Going," Dave Matthews Band

The Gravitational Dynamism Revelation

Written by Amputation

It was finally her day. Penny stood in her bathroom, staring at her reflection in the slowly-defogging mirror. Green eyes blinked back at her, and wet, tangled blonde hair cascaded messily about her shoulders. She worried her lower lip with her upper teeth, wondering how the hell she was going to pull this off. She had a salon appointment in a forty minutes; Franz was picking her up in ten. She hadn't even been to a salon in months, despite already receiving her monstrous paychecks. She swallowed and shuffled over to sit on her porcelain toilet.

This was so surreal, and Penny almost didn't know if she should believe it or not. Secretly she feared that one day she was going to wake up from this wonderful dream and find herself back with Kurt, living a miserable life. Swallowing nervously, she wrapped her arms around herself and sighed. Nothing good was coming of this pointless worrying and self-doubt. She was Penny Carlson, budding actress, dammit! No way were some little fraying nerves gonna' keep her from going to the premiere. With newfound courage, she stood and stalked out of the bathroom.

Standing in her room, she slowly pulled on some clothes. It wouldn't really matter what she wore now, considering it was freakin' eight in the morning. She'd be at the salon all day, getting pampered and beautified. Hell, if it wasn't for Franz she'd probably have just slept in till a few hours before the premiere and made a fool of herself. No, Franz wouldn't let her get away with it. Glancing at her phone, she smiled at the picture of herself and her two best girlfriends. Bernadette and Amy. They'd been over the night before and all three of them celebrated Penny's success. It was also then that she'd spilled the beans on her feelings for Sheldon …

"You WHAT?" Bernadette shrieked, blonde hair whirling as she turned to stare at Penny.

"Oh shit," Penny slurred, cursing alcohol to hell for letting her big mouth move.

"I'm so pleased, bestie! I'm glad you've chosen Sheldon! He's by far the best choice for a mate out of the available males in our social circle."

Flushing—from both alcohol and embarrassment—the taller blonde sighed, "Yeah, well it's not so great when he doesn't feel the same way."

"Oh, Penny," Bernadette consoled, "you don't know that for certain! Sheldon—Sheldon's different."

"Bestie, I can't imagine why Sheldon wouldn't feel the same way about you. What with your perfect body and amazing personality, if I were of the male gender or swung that way I'd be ecstatic to hear you loved me!"

Penny laughed. She loved Amy and all her crazy, "Thanks guys, but it's probably gonna' be unrequited forever. I just have to wait for the pain to start to dull …"

The subject was changed and eventually the three went their separate ways, but Penny at least felt better that she'd told someone …

Shaking herself from her thoughts, she pulled her hair back in a messy, spectacularly failed ponytail and wiggled into a pair of jeans. Franz would be here soon and she had to choose her dress for the evening. She paused, the flutter of the scarf her grandmother made distracting her momentarily when suddenly it came to her. She smiled broadly, knowing exactly which gown would catch her love's attention. Her phone rang, signaling Franz's arrival and Penny let her fears and anxieties melt away as she bolted down the stairs. Tonight was gonna' be magical, and dammit, she'd make that boy notice her. She was gonna' render him speechless if it was the last thing she did.

T – B – B – T

Sheldon stared into the mirror in the bathroom, attempting to fix a single fly-away hair that had been the bane of his existence for the past fifteen minutes. He was anxious. No, that was putting it too lightly. He was anxious and nearly to the point of insanity. Each passing second his stomach knotted just a little bit tighter and his heart pounded just a little bit faster from behind his sternum. It was all Penny's fault, he tried to rationalize. She had told him it was a non-optional social convention that he attend this extremely important function with her, and to tolerate the more foolish parts of Hollywood's celebrity society. Inwardly, he was conflicted. On one hand, he was upset with Penny and that she'd even asked him to escort her to begin with, while on the other he was extremely flattered and his love for her swelled to great sizes. Had he been attending with anyone else, he would have been feeling relatively fine. But no, he was escorting her. He would be escorting someone extremely important to him. His Penny was the star on this eve, and he would be on her arm. Tonight was the night of the premiere, and it was expected she attend for the red carpet photo opportunities and promotions that preceded the first showing. The entirety of Hollywood glamour was ridiculous to him, and yet he found himself needing to be perfect. Not for himself, no, but for her.

He wanted her to be respected for her talents and that shell-shocking beauty he knew she possessed. He had placed a large duty upon himself to reflect her excellent fashion, exceptional abilities, and her stunning attractiveness. In the weeks leading up to the premiere, he continually pondered her reasons for asking for his presence rather than that of her co-star, Jim Parsons. It seemed more logical to him, why take a Nobel Laureate for Theoretical Physics when she could take someone more relevant to her profession? He also wondered why she refused to go alone. It wasn't uncommon for some celebrities to attend such events unaccompanied. Letting out a sigh, shut his eyes, unable to look at his own reflection. He'd seen pictures and watched films of her co-star, that Jim Parsons, and he was aesthetically pleasing at levels that Sheldon felt were impossible for him to ever attain. His eyes opened and he glared at himself in the mirror, a newfound determination swelling within him as he finally tamed the flyaway with swift retribution. His acute hearing picked up the sound of the door opening and then closing, the clinking of keys in the key bowl alerting him of Leonard's return from his date with Priya.

Sheldon slipped from the bathroom without a sound to standing in the doorway leading from living room to the hall, his posture screaming stiff and uncomfortable.

"Hello, Leonard. I trust your date with Rajesh's sister went well?"

The be-specked man smiled brightly and turned to the taller man. He opened his mouth to reply, but Sheldon could read the surprise on his face as he took a moment to compose himself.

"What are you wearing, Sheldon? Is there a Caltech function I wasn't aware of … or do you have an important place to be? With a certain blonde, perhaps?" he teased.

Sheldon looked down at the outfit Franz had eventually settled on out of her wide selection of fashions. It consisted of a pair of dark gray, close-fitting slacks that felt far too tight, although Penny and Franz had both assured him that was how they were supposed to fit. He still had his doubts. A smooth, black leather belt with a simple, pewter buckle cinched the top of the pants and a surprisingly comfortable pair of black patent-leather dress shoes encased his feet. To his astonishment, they didn't make that annoying clicking sound he'd heard so often in the university halls when he walked. It was a major selling point. His pants were paired with a soft, white button-down shirt that was worn under a dark silvery-gray dress vest. In a small act of desperation for something normal, the Green Lantern's bright insignia faintly showed through the white fabric. His hair had been tamed nicely—finally, after a long battle—and he had taken extra care in making absolutely certain that he was effectively odor-free and would remain that way for the night. He cleared his throat, uncomfortable with his room-mate's staring.

"Tonight is Flux's premiere. Penny asked me to be her escort for the evening, so I will be out rather late. She informed me that it would be expected of us to attend an after-party for at least a short while," he said as he meandered back to his room to retrieve the cornflower blue silk tie that Penny had informed him would match her gown for the evening. He stared into his mirror, expertly tying it in a Windsor knot. All those years of dressing for Chuch with Meemaw had forced him to learn the different knots, and before his father's death, the man had taught him how to tie a Windsor. Sheldon could honestly consider it the only thing the man had taught him he cared enough about to be grateful for.

"Premiere? Already?"

With a quick examination of his person and general aesthetics, Sheldon nodded and returned to the living room with a languid stride that gave the illusion of his usual confidence. Beneath his careful veil of serenity, his heart was pounding and his nerves were shot. Observant blue eyes spotted Leonard in the kitchen, fixing himself a glass of Lactaid. Sheldon inwardly shuddered at his unfortunate encounters with the foul milk impostor, cursing his eidetic memory and its' singular downside.

"Yes," he adjusted his tie nervously, "it is tonight. Why are you surprised?"

Leonard wiped away his white mustache, "Well, I haven't seen any previews. Have I missed them all?"

"Yes. I'm astounded at your ability to remain oblivious, seeing as SyFy airs them quite frequently. Although, you have been absent, choosing to be with Rajesh's sister increasingly as of late. Do you wish to see one of the trailers?" Sheldon asked, seating himself before his XPS.

His roommate followed after a moment, coming to a stop just behind him and looking over the taller man's shoulder, "Yeah, if you don't mind."

Sheldon opened his browser, "I would have thought you would be more interested in Penny's acting endeavors. After all, you did date her once," he quipped, feeling slightly defensive for some illogical reason. Perhaps this was the Alpha Male within him rising up in the potential threat toward his chosen mate. The thought of Penny as his mate made his ears flush pink. Curse this traitorous flesh!

"Well, I've been busy with Priya, I guess. I care, but I've—I've moved on from Penny. She's a great woman, but, well, we were kinda' a hot mess, you know?"

Sheldon snorted, "As I tried to tell you many times during your unfortunate relationship."

Leonard smiled, shaking his head as the Texan opened YouTube and searched for Flux'strailers, choosing the first one that came up in the results. He sat back in his chair after adjusting the volume on his XPS, allowing Penny's incredible acting talents and emotions to enveloping his senses. Every time he saw these trailers, he found it hard not to imagine himself on the receiving end of her affections. Such a desire was obviously illogical and incredibly selfish of him, but Sheldon was in love with the frustrating blonde and as he had concluded at an earlier date, she often provoked irrational emotional states to arise in him. To frustrate him further, she only believed them to be friends as given by her frequent statements, but Sheldon could dream, couldn't he? He could allow himself this silly flight of fancy, simply because it was his and his alone. Dreams were the only place he could have her, it seemed … and said dreams were slowly becoming more and more explicit as time went on. He swallowed nervously, his hyoid bouncing in his throat, as those frenzied emotions rose within him and shot heat straight to his groin. As the trailer ended and Penny's voice resounded through the close-approaching release date, Sheldon pulled himself from his fantasies.

"Wow. That was really innovative," Leonard praised, "It looks really impressive. I had no idea Penny was such a talented actress. I wonder why she never got callbacks before now …"

Sheldon refrained from proudly stating his role in her reaching such a state of excellence, "Clearly all the asinine directors were foolishly unable to see her undeniable charm and skills."

Leonard looked at his roommate with a warm smile, clapping a hand on the taller man's shoulder.

"Well, all I can tell you, buddy, is that you are one lucky guy to have her."

Blue eyes narrowed as brows furrowed, "What do you mean? How am I considered lucky when all I will be doing is appearing out of place? I will be bringing down her appearance of excellence, as I am a theoretical physicist lacking any connections to Hollywood. Granted I am an exceptionally important person, but I hold no relevance to her or her scene, as it is called. My presence at her side this eve could potentially initiate cruel gossip that is so frequent in today's media. Such a thing could damage Penny's reputation as a budding actress," he paused, looking down at his hands with an intense self-loathing that was unlike him, "I do not wish to bring her harm that is so close to that which I received in school, and I fear my presence could inadvertently damage her career."

Leonard was silent for a long moment before he laughed, loudly. Sheldon felt his face burn in embarrassment and anger.

"You really feel that way?" the be-speckled physicist asked, shaking his head,
"While that's real noble of you, just look at yourself first, Sheldon! You look, well, really good. You're not the same kid who the bullies picked on in school anymore. You don't even look like a kid for once. No, you actually look like someone important and influential. Hell, you are important and influential! You're a Nobel Laureate, Sheldon, and for once you look like a serious adult. Jeez, I'm still kinda' stunned at how good you look. I mean, jeez. Talk about front cover of GQ Magazine," Leonard joked before sobering, "You're still you, though, despite all the outward changes. I mean, who else would have a DC hero's insignia under their otherwise formal ensemble? Only you, Sheldon. Only you and Penny should be proud to have you tonight."

"I—I'm not quite sure I follow," Sheldon murmured, the perplexed look still on his face.

"Have I not explained enough?" Leonard rinsed his glass out in the sink, before drying it as he turned to Sheldon and adjusted his glasses, "If you're worried about giving Penny a bad image, don't. You may lack social graces as a whole, but you can fake it. Besides, I doubt you'd be interacting with many people tonight. It's basically just a movie showing, but with a long red carpet. If you need to interact, think for a second. How many films have you seen and how many heroes have smoothed over any issues with speech? Put that eidetic memory you have so much pride in to use," he said, tapping his left temporal region.

"I … see," Sheldon murmured as his eyes widened in slow understanding. He was surprised at Leonard's sudden insight.

"Just think about it. Try the eloquent Spock mixed with Kirk's overwhelming confidence. Try Bruce Wayne's way he carries himself, et cetera, et cetera. I could go on, but do you get it?"

"I understand. I do believe this advice has been exceptionally helpful," he licked his lips, "thank you, Leonard."

The shorter man went over to his laptop and settled down into some work while Sheldon sat in his spot and stared at his hands, brain working overtime. His beautiful mind was on a rampage, perusing his long list of movie characters he found relevant to social graces and powerful charisma. He needed to be polite, confident … perhaps somewhat aloof and relaxed. He thought of Cary Grant, Christian Bale, Clint Eastwood, Humphrey Bogart, Gregory Peck … male actors he considered to have given exceptionally suave—for lack of a better defining word—performances. He would be emulating some of Hollywood's greatest male leads. He could do it. His hands clenched and unclenched with his fraying nerves.

A triple knock sounded on the door to 4A, prompting Leonard to stand and open it. Sheldon found himself frozen, his anxieties skyrocketing. Penny. Penny was at the door. She was here, and he would have to go with her. He took a steadying breath, braced his hands on his knees and stood, eyes glued to the floor. He walked over to the door, finally looking up at the woman in his doorway. His breath caught and he didn't think he would ever be able to take another one ever again.

She was wearing another of her dresses she'd been fitted for, one he hadn't been able to see. It was frightfully familiar and his heart pounded even harder in his chest. The neckline was a small, angled cowl-neck that revealed her clavicles to his view. The overlapping satin blended down into the same soft cornflower blue silk of the rest of the dress. Just below her waist on her left hip, a brooch of a painfully memorable symbol marked the gathering of the floor-length, silken skirt and allowed her long, taut, bronze legs to be viewed when she shifted her weight. Her feet were clad in simple black stilettos, the minimalism of her footwear allowing the gown to stand out. Her eyes that were delicately rimmed with charcoal liner, dark mascara, and topped with a sheer sweep of heliotrope shadow that darkened at the outer corners made her twin viridian irises seem to glow. Her glowing face was fresh, natural-looking and clear. Her skin shimmered in the light from his apartment, making her appear otherworldly. Her golden hair was wavy and natural, accented by sweeping loose curls and a single, silver Penny Blossom on the right side just above her ear. She held a box in her hands. The overall familiarity was not lost on Sheldon and he had to force himself to breathe.

"Hey, Leonard. Sheldon, you look—you look amazing," she murmured, those brilliantly green eyes stunning him again.

"I—I find your ensemble exceptionally aesthetically pleasing as well," he managed to croak out, cursing the way his body betrayed him. He heard Leonard chuckle and move away from the door. Penny's eyes never left his as she smiled brilliantly at him and he swallowed the strange lump in his throat.

"I have something for you," she said, handing him the box, "and don't worry, there's no need to reciprocate."

Hesitantly, he opened the black box and blinked. His blue met her green and her smile brightened.

"T-Thank you, Penny," he said, gingerly removing the sleek, silver pin from the box and affixing it to his vest. She helped him with the pair of silver cuff links bearing the same symbol as the pin, and when they were on, he examined them with wonder.

"I wanted to make sure we matched, you know?" she said, smiling demurely and gesturing to the brooch that bore a similar symbol.

"I have an irrational urge to go clothe myself in my Spock costume after seeing your take on Nurse Chapel's uniform," he replied evenly, "Despite the obvious changes, I find it rather enthralling."

She flushed and he marveled at her outstanding beauty, "I'm glad you like it. Franz was amazing with the design process. Are you ready to go?"

With a nod, Sheldon made his way past Leonard and into the hall, following Penny down the stairs. They managed one flight in silence before the beautiful blonde looked at him and spoke.

"There's a limo waiting outside for us. But Sheldon, we're riding with some of my cast mates."

Smothering a scowl, the tall Texan sighed, "I see. Might I know who said cast mates are?"

"Well, I think it's just Jim, and if he has a date, them too."

Sheldon nodded, "Very well. How long will it take to reach our destination?"

She chuckled as they reached the mailboxes, "Probably no more than a half hour at most."

Nodding again, Sheldon held open the door for her—like a good gentleman should, he heard his Meemaw say in his head—and followed her out into the cool, early evening California air. The limo was shiny and black, the chauffeur standing by the back door waiting. Penny smiled up at him and he felt his lips quirk in response. He gave a short bow before extending his elbow to her, to which she giggled and looped her arm through his. She leaned her head softly against his bicep as they walked together toward the limo. Sheldon had a feeling it would be an exceptional evening.

And how right he would be …

A/N: Well, that's it. Again I ask that you take the time to review, whether it be criticism or compliment, anonymous or signed. I will respond to any questions (so long as it doesn't spoil the plot!) and I love feedback! Please and thank you!