Chapter 25

Despite my initial apprehension, I found that the sexual act was not as abhorrent as I had previously experienced. Of course, I understood that this change was a direct result of the fact that it was Penny that was participating in the act with me. I doubted I would feel the same with any other woman.

And as reluctant intellectually that I had been on beginning this, my body had seemingly known better and pushed me into action. As a result, I was then engaged in a relationship with Penny that was both emotional and physical, something I had never before believed would occur in my life.

It was as if a flood gate had opened. Once I began engaging in coitus with her, I was unable to imagine my life before this had occurred. I was as anxious to repeat the act as my male companions were.

This was another reason why I was reluctant to reveal my changed relationship with Penny to them. I was not ashamed of it, but I was not willing to hear them comparing me to them as a man who was caught up in the pursuit of sexual encounters.

Especially as I did not see myself as falling into their pattern. They were interested in obtaining sex at any cost and with any woman that they could convince to do so.

I was only interested in obtaining Penny.

(from the personal journal of Sheldon Cooper, PhD)

After their first sexual encounter, Sheldon and Penny started to build a relationship. They spent as much time as they could together, though they still kept the fact that they were dating from their friends. Normally Penny would have told a girlfriend, but she was uncomfortable telling Amy, as she didn't know if she still had some feelings for Sheldon. And she knew if she told Bernadette, Howard would find out and that would be the end of that.

Sheldon was uncomfortable with lying, but he was more uncomfortable with discussing his sex life with his friends. And since the guys were not about to ask Sheldon Cooper if he was having sex with anyone, especially Penny, he didn't have to actually lie.

They continued to make Saturday night 'date night'. They took turns cooking dinner for each other, trying new recipes each time. It frustrated Penny to no end that Sheldon was so much better than she was at cooking. But she understood that he was so much better as so many things and that she had to accept that about him if they were going to continue in this relationship.

They also continued to select movies with the other one in mind. He chose 'The Last Starfighter' and 'The Princess Bride'. She chose 'Romancing the Stone' and 'Ladyhawke'. They both needed to compromise and found that they could enjoy each other's choices. Not all the time, but most of the time.

Of course, not everything in the relationship was perfect or ran smoothly. She was, after all, dating Sheldon Cooper.

"I have errands to run and I will need you to take me." Sheldon told her one day.

She looked up at him, "Excuse me?"

"Is your hearing impaired? I said that I will require you to drive me for my errands."

"You know, I think there is something wrong with my hearing, 'cause I didn't hear a question."

"That's because I didn't ask a question."

She nodded, "Yeah, well, that's where the problem starts."

"Why is there a problem?"

"You didn't ask a question?"

"Penny, what is your obsession with questions? I have asked many questions. I have asked three questions in this conversation alone."

"You haven't asked the right question."

He looked utterly confused, so she decided to take pity on him. Just a little pity since he was so totally unfamiliar with male/female relationships.

"Sheldon, you have to ask me if I wouldn't mind taking you on your errands."

"But you're my girlfriend."

"So?"

"Isn't that your responsibility as my girlfriend?"

"No, it is not."

He shook his head. "Do you see now why we required a relationship agreement?"

"No, I don't see. We're talking about it, which is what we should do. And that is not my responsibility as your girlfriend. A boyfriend and girlfriend spend time together."

"Agreed. And we would spend time together doing my errands."

She glared at him and walked out of his apartment. He stood for a moment until he heard her door open and slam shut. He followed her and knocked his customary triple set of knocks.

When she opened the door, he said, "You left."

"Yep."

"Why did you leave?"

"Guess."

"I can't."

"Too bad." She slammed the door in his face.

He knocked again. With a sigh, she opened it. "Are you upset?" he asked her.

"Bingo."

"Why are you upset?"

"Guess."

"Penny, I am unable to guess. As there are so many variables to consider, the amount of time it would take for me to extrapolate enough data to form a hypothesis would be counterproductive to the discussion."

She realized that he truly did not have a clue. "Sheldon, you don't tell me that I am taking you on errands, you ask if I would mind taking you on errands. What if I had plans?"

"Do you?"

"No, but that's not the point. Sheldon, it's courtesy and caring about the other person's feelings. And if you need that person to do you a favor, you ask and say please."

"Oh. Very well. Penny, would you please take me to do some errands?"

"Yes, Sheldon, I'd be happy to."

He shook his head, wondering why she didn't just say that in the first place and avoid all of this nonsense. He almost said that out loud, but something told him to keep it to himself.

"Let me just change my clothes and get my purse." She ran into her bedroom and came out a few minutes later with a tank top and shorts on and started looking around, then returned to the bedroom.

"Penny, aren't you ready to leave?" he asked her.

"Just a second, I need to find my car keys."

"As I have told you many times previously, you need to get a bowl and place your keys there whenever you came home. Then you would always find them."

"Yeah, yeah, blah, blah. I don't have a bowl and the keys aren't in a bowl and I can't find them and all your lectures aren't helping me."

Sheldon sighed heavily and shook his head, then began a cursory search of the room. However, the clutter hid any potential hiding places for the missing keys.

"Penny, if we are going to spend more time together, you will need to clean your apartment."

"Can we table that crap until later. Damn, I know they are going to be in the last place I look!"

Sheldon stopped and stared at her. "Well, of course they will. Why would you continue to look for them once you locate them? That would be an entirely useless endeavor."

The glare she gave him told him he had better stop talking. He turned back to the search and she let out a breath. At least he was learning when to shut up.

The subject of her apartment's messiness came up again of course. She always tried to straighten up when date night was at her apartment, but in between, she usually didn't have a lot of time to clean. However, now Sheldon was spending more time at her place. Once he'd begun having sex, he found he enjoyed it and they didn't limit it to Saturday. Since Leonard spent most nights with Nancy, Sheldon was free to spend his nights in Penny's bed. Of course, that meant walking through Penny's apartment. And through Penny's clutter.

"Penny, I believe I provided you with an organizational schematic some time ago. If you would only…"

"Sheldon, I have to work, I have to go to school, I have to study and I have to spend time with you. There is no time for cleaning unless I let one of those things go. I can't stop working or I won't be able to pay my rent. I can't stop going to school or studying. The only thing left would be you. Do you want me to take cleaning time out of Sheldon time?"

"No. However, if you would permit me, I could clean your apartment."

She stared at him. "Haven't we been through this before? A long time ago?"

"Yes, but at that time I did not obtain your prior permission. I would not do it unbeknownst to you while you slept."

She thought about it. She knew that he was uncomfortable with her untidiness and the only solution would be for him to correct that.

"Are you sure you wouldn't mind?" she asked him.

"Penny, I mind the mess much more than cleaning."

She shrugged. "If you're up for it, why not?"

And so he began cleaning and organizing her apartment. In the end, despite her protests, she worked with him and it became a joint effort. And actually kind of fun.

The one aspect of their relationship that only got better and better was the physical one. Sheldon was an eager and willing participant. He researched sexual positions and other things to enhance their lovemaking. And just as Penny predicted, his skill level improved very quickly. As he did in everything, he was determined to excel in that too. Which meant that Penny had to stay on her game as well.

On one of their date nights, she came out of the bedroom wearing a tiny red lace nightie that exposed her cleavage right down to the edge of her nipples and was short enough to allow her butt to almost be visible.

He looked at her quizzically. "That garment appears to be insufficient as it does not protect your body."

"It's not supposed to protect my body, it's supposed to look sexy."

"Oh, so it is to signify to one's partner the desire to engage in sexual intercourse."

"Yes, Sheldon."

"Well, that's understandable. There is a correlation in the animal kingdom. Many species preen or decorate themselves to indicate a willingness to mate."

"Great."

"However, in our species, since the ultimate goal for both parties is to end up naked, it occurs to me that if you were completely divested of clothes, you could accomplish your mission and expedite the process."

She rubbed her forehead. "I'm not trying to expedite the process, I'm trying to make you hot."

He looked confused. "The temperature in the room is at a constant." When he saw her glare, he thought and then said, "Ah, it is intended to elicit sexual arousal in the male."

"Yes." She ground out.

"While I now understand the concept, I do not see the purpose in our situation. I experience arousal whenever I see you, no matter what you are wearing."

She laughed lightly. "You know, just when you make me so crazy that I want to strangle you, you say something like that."

She went to him and put her arms around his neck and kissed him. As his arms encircled her, his hand slid down the silk and lace.

"Hmm, interesting."

"What?"

"While I do not need this garment for my arousal, I find that this material does provide some extra response in me. As well, the sight of your body parts as they are revealed by the garment."

"That's the point, sweetie."

"Fascinating."

Thanks for everyone's positive response to my last chapter. I relly appreciate the support of my readers. And I do try to answer every review. But if you aren't signed in I can't. So this is for "Nick" if you're still reading: I realize it probably didn't make medical sense, but as I stated, I am not an expert in the medical. The whole thing was done for dramatic effect, so I took a good deal of dramatic license. Thanks!