Penny sat in shock, not quite believing that Sheldon had just kissed her. Getting up, she quickly ran out after him and managed to catch him before the door shut. 'Hey! You can't just kiss me and then run out on me.' She said, 'So…' she smiled at him, 'gonna explain to me what just happened back there?'

'I'm sorry, I don't follow.' Sheldon blinked at her and suddenly Penny noticed that Leonard had just walked in and was now standing in the kitchen, pouring himself a cup of coffee. Sighing, Penny pulled Sheldon back into her own apartment, 'owww, Penny! I don't like being man handled!'

'Ok, I'm sorry,' Penny said, dropping his arm. At least he was now in her apartment again and they could talk.

'Penny, I just said goodnight to you, we should all be getting ready to go to bed.'

'It's eight o'clock,' Penny said, raising an eyebrow, 'so don't beat about the bush… come on, spill. Why did you kiss me?'

Sheldon looked extremely uncomfortable but realised that she wouldn't let him go until he had given an explanation, 'I don't know… it's just seemed like the appropriate thing to do.' He shrugged and Penny frowned, not happy with his explanation.

'So… you didn't want to do it, it just followed social convention?' she asked and Sheldon nodded.

'I thought that would be obvious.'

'No, no… no it wasn't.' Penny said, feeling slightly bummed out. She had thought it had meant something to him but then again, this was Sheldon. She looked at him and thought; something didn't sit right with her about his story. Sheldon didn't kiss girls unless he had feelings for them, so his story on following social convention must have been a load of bull. Thinking hard, she thought of various ways of getting him to either tell the truth or just give in and kiss her again.

'Is there anything else you needed me for?' Sheldon asked, feeling like he had dodged a bullet by pulling the wool over Penny's eyes. He needed to talk to Anna about his kiss with Penny before anything else happened otherwise he might mess things up.

'No,' Penny smiled and suddenly a wicked thought came to mind, 'So I guess I'll say goodnight then.'

'Goodnight,' Sheldon smiled.

'Sweet dreams,' Penny said before leaning forward and pressing a quick soft kiss to his lips as if they had been doing it every night for the past year. She knew she'd have to take the initiative, otherwise it would never happen. When she pulled away, Sheldon looked at the beautiful blonde actress in front of him and he realised that he didn't need Anna's help. This was something he had to figure out for himself because it couldn't be taught. Amy had tried to teach him and failed but he realised that when he worked off his own instincts, things had turned out better.

'Um do you think you could um,' Sheldon swallowed his nerves and looked at Penny, 'would you mind if we could… do that again?' he asked and Penny looked at him, quite shocked that he had responded in such a way. She nodded and leant forward again, pressing another soft kiss to his lips. This time, when she pulled away, he looked at her and frowned.

'Was that… bad?' she asked and he twitched his nose before sitting down.

'It was weird.' He said and he took her hand and guided her so that she sat down beside him, 'Something isn't right though, aren't I the one who is supposed to be kissing you?'

'It works both ways sweetie,' Penny whispered, inwardly grinning to herself. She was finally getting him to come out of his shell.

'Ok, well let me try it this time,' Sheldon said and Penny nodded, closing her eyes as he kissed her. No sooner had he done that, he pulled away… unhappy with his performance, 'maybe if I close my eyes or tilt my head more?'

'Sheldon, honey… you're thinking about it too much. Go with your instinct, just like you did earlier and at the company retreat. Don't think about it… just act and do what you feel is right.' Penny whispered and he nodded and watched her as she closed her eyes and puckered her lips. Forgetting social convention and everything that seemed foreign to him, he concentrated on Penny and gently cupped her face before gently placing a soft hot kiss on each of her eyelids. When she let out a quiet, gentle moan, he took that as a good sign and moved his lips to hers before enveloping them in a very passionate kiss, surprising himself and Penny. 'Much better,' Penny added when they parted, trying to catch her breath before Sheldon kissed her again.

Sheldon couldn't help but feel extremely proud of himself as he kissed Penny. If someone had told him a year ago he would be making out with Penny on her couch, he would have laughed at the idea. But low and behold, here he was… on Penny's couch, kissing her. They pulled apart breathing deeply, 'So, what comes next?' he whispered against her, his hot breath giving her goosebumps.

'Depends, what do you want to happen next?' Penny grinned.

'Well, we've gone out for the meal, we've had the kiss… logically coitus is the next available option. So I'm thinking we should have coi-sex… if you want to.' Sheldon whispered and Penny smiled at him.

'Sheldon… not everything ends in sex you know and as much as I want to take you up on that offer… it wouldn't be right.'

'But… I find myself… liking you Penny. I like you a lot.'

'Really?,' she said, a large grin forming on her lips, 'Well, I think that I find myself liking you too,' Penny chuckled, looking at him before going to a more serious mode, 'but seriously, it would be wrong of me to have sex with you until you were 100% sure. What I think we should do is start a relationship Sheldon, and then build up to sex after a few dates or until you feel comfortable.'

'So you're saying that you and I should partake in a courtship ritual.'

'In so many words yes.'

'But it seems such an unnecessary and complicated precursor to the act of procreation. I've seen countless numbers of men come in and out of this apartment without going through a courtship ritual with you.'

'Sheldon,' Penny decided to ignore his insult, 'it might seem like that to you sweetie, but some people need those rituals.'

'Explain.'

'It's usually considered a good idea for two people to get to know each other further before they become… intimate.'

'Why is that?'

'Because it's more comfortable. You spend some time together, you laugh, you talk and that makes it easier for two people to get closer.'

'But the end result is the same is it not?'

'Well I guess so.'

'Then I fail to see what is accomplished by all the talk.' Sheldon shrugged and Penny sighed.

'Trust me on this one, you and I need to get to know each other in a more romantic sense before any coitus ensues.' Penny smiled before placing a kiss on his nose, 'now goodnight.' She grinned before getting up to see him out. Suddenly her phone rang and she grimaced when she saw Simon's name flash up on caller ID, 'It's Simon.'

Sheldon looked at her and gestured for the phone, 'Give it here.' He said and Penny obediently handed him her phone. Sheldon clicked the answer button and raised the phone to his ear, 'Penny doesn't want to talk right now Simon. I would appreciate it if you'd leave her alone. I don't care if you want to talk to her, right now she needs her rest and a stress free time. Look here Simon whatever your surname is… humans are deuterostomes. That means that when we develop in the womb the anus forms before any other opening. And that basically means that everybody has been an asshole at some point in their lives. Most people learn to control it but a small majority, like yourselves, are always going to remain assholes. Now, please respect our privacy and leave us alone.' Sheldon said before hanging up and handing the phone back to Penny, 'you're welcome.'

'Thanks.' She laughed before finally saying goodnight to Sheldon. As soon as the door shut, Penny couldn't help but give herself a pat on the back. She had managed to get Sheldon to kiss her and admit he liked her and strangely enough, she did in fact find herself liking him back. She wanted to take it slow though, rebuild what they had after that awful fight they had. This was a learning curve for her too and she wasn't going to blow it this time.

Thanks for all your reviews so far, I'm really glad that you give me the honour of reading them. I hoped you liked this chapter, I felt I needed to give some proper Shenny to the story so voila. Let me know what you think :D xx