First and foremost: Your reviews are amazing. You deserve an ending like no other, so I will do my best to deliver. It isn't NOW but it's coming eventually…

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AUTHOR'S RANT (previously LONG, but shortened now):

For the person who left the anonymous review saying you didn't want the two together because Sheldon is an 'asshole' well…when isn't he? That is the driving force of the story and exactly why Penny is trying to break his selfish exterior to get to what she knows is inside: all that sweet, loving Sheldon! YUM!

It wouldn't be canon if he was nice all the time. Just sayin… :)

Hey, if you choose to read M rated fiction, know it isn't all going to be perfect, and sweet, and lovely all the time. This is why it's M.

I hope whoever wrote that does take advantage of reading and enjoying the remainder of the story. They deserve to know how it ends and hopefully have fun with the story as you all have.

Much Love,

MyOwnStar

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Sheldon woke to a loud and annoying buzz. It was his phone on vibrate ringing o his nightstand. He groggily picked it up and looked at the number.

Who was calling him so early? He didn't recognize the caller ID.

"Hello?" he answered, trying to sound awake.

"Dr. Cooper?"

Sheldon shot up in bed. He cleared his throat. "Yes, this is Sheldon—Dr. Cooper." His breath caught in his throat as he waited for what the person on the other end had to say.

"Good morning. Sorry to call you at 6a.m," said the person on the phone.

It's already six! I should have been up by now.

Sheldon checked his clock and swung his feet over the side of the bed.

"This is Dr. Rochester. I wanted to extend a personal thank you for meeting with us yesterday. It was truly a task going through all those qualified candidates. You were among our top picks."

"Thank you," Sheldon said, licking his dry lips and desperate to hear the news. He started to shake nervously but waited out what the man had to say. He couldn't believe he was on the phone with Dr. Owle Rochester!

"Now, I'm sure you're aware of the group's initial hesitation for including you." Sheldon nodded though he couldn't see it over the phone. "But I am well aware of your intellect and true talent, Dr. Cooper." There was a short pause and Sheldon pressed his phone up to his ear harder. "I remain impressed by your abilities. I called to personally welcome you to the group. Congratulations."

Sheldon's mouth dropped and his breath came out in gasps and stutters. "Really? Oh, thank you! Thank you, Dr. Rochester! You won't regret this! Thank you so much!"

He heard the man chuckle into the phone. "See you today."

When Sheldon was off the phone, he was so giddy he almost cried out of joy but didn't.

"Leonard!" he called, standing up and pulling his robe and slippers on. "Leonard!" He rushed out into the hallway and was greeted by a groggy roommate.

"Yea?"

"I got it! I got the position! Dr. Rochester just called me!"

Leonard's face, while tired, lit up for his friend. "That's amazing. Congrats, buddy!"

"Yes. Well, it took them long enough to decide, but you know they have to act like the others get a fair chance, but we all know that is just for appearances." Sheldon shrugged, and turned around to enter his room again.

Leonard raised an eyebrow and walked back into his own bedroom.

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Almost skipping up to the table, Penny pushed Sheldon's shoulder with her order pad.

"So, you didn't call me. Have you heard yet?"

A smile could not be suppressed as Sheldon looked up at her. "I did. I'm in."

"Oh!" Penny squealed, her arms draping over his shoulders enthusiastically. He actually patted her arm gently in response. "I'm so happy for you!" She pulled back and finally looked at the others, who all appeared to be happy for Sheldon, too. What she really wanted to do was grab his head and plant a kiss on his lips, but of course she didn't.

"Ok, let's get these orders in," Penny said, with a giddy shrug and a smile.

Now she could take Sheldon out and show him that dates weren't that big of a deal! It was perfect! And of course, this was a big deal for him—so she was genuinely excited for his accomplishment.

"Hey, is Bernadette working today?" Howard asked.

"Uh," Penny looked over her shoulder. "Yeah. I think she has a table though." Penny was too distracted by Sheldon's news and her plans to even come up with a snarky comment for Howard.

After they all gave her their orders, she gave Sheldon one last smile and turned to walk to the kitchen.

"She's really excited for you. That's awesome," Raj said.

"Does she know you will be working insane hours on this?" Howard added.

"Yes, she is. And no, she does not. Nor should it be a bother to her as we are not an official couple. We will see each other when time permits." Sheldon glanced at Penny who was walking up with their drink orders.

He smiled a little at the site of her, flattered by her reaction of his news.

Howard looked at Leonard who just waved him off and looked down. He then turned the gaze to Raj who shrugged.

"You're going down swingin', huh?" Howard asked wryly.

"What are you talking about?" Sheldon turned his head to his friend.

Leonard piped in. "Don't, Howard. It's just going to kill his good mood."

Before Sheldon could say anything else, Penny was plopping their drinks down on the table. Sheldon's lemonade came with a matching yellow umbrella and a lemon wedge on the side.

"There isn't liquor in here, is there?" he asked her, touching the paper decoration and looking up at her.

"Not this time," she smiled.

He raised his eyebrows and took a sip. "Well, thank you."

When Penny left, Howard sat back with his arms crossed. Just then, Bernadette came up to say hello to the guys, primarily Howard.

And the remainder of dinner consisted of Howard's rambling about his new female interest and him gathering the courage to ask her out again before they left.

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Grabbing the box, Sheldon thanked Penny for the cheesecake she brought to him. She followed him into the kitchen area where he put it in the fridge.

"So, when do you want to go out? I still owe you a dinner," she said in a sing-song voice.

"Oh," Sheldon said, standing up again. "About that. Don't worry. That is truly unnecessary."

"Why not? I want to take you out!" Penny put her purse down on the counter and glanced back at Leonard who was pretending not to listen while he was on the computer.

Sheldon glanced that way too and took her hand, leading her to his bedroom. Closing the door behind them, he turned to her and said, "My time is going to be fairly precious coming up soon. My new endeavor will leave me all consumed with my work."

"Well, when are you gonna eat?"

Sheldon shrugged.

"What is this really about, Sheldon?" Penny crossed her arms, her colorful hooded jacket pulling closer around her.

He cleared his throat and looked at her more directly. "I am simply stating that I will be busier than usual, and that is already enough of a deviation from my routines that I cannot promise you further attentions. I will be here, but certainly not as readily available."

Penny shrugged. "Fine. So, when do you wanna eat?"

"Are you not listening to me?"

"I hear that you're avoiding a date with me."

"A celebratory dinner. A friendly one. I'm not abandoning our paradigm."

"Okay…" Penny licked her lips and gave him a hard look. "A friendly celebratory dinner. Tomorrow night."

He sensed he wasn't getting out of this but really wanted to start distancing himself from Penny. He was way too embarrassed to admit to her that he had barely gotten the position (because of spending so much time with her) and indeed, now was his time to focus hard and make this opportunity count. He couldn't afford another screw up.

If she had gotten into his head this much, even with his efforts otherwise, then what would happen if he let her get fully inside with no barriers. His work would no doubt suffer.

"Well, actually, tomorrow starts up the research. Only a meeting, but after that it will be intense." He was telling her the truth about that.

"You're really avoiding this aren't you?" Penny shook her head at him. "You really don't want to go out with me."

"Penny, not everything is about you." Sheldon turned around and started fidgeting with his comic books. He was unsure of how to ask her to leave.

"Well, I guess since the great Doctor Cooper will be too busy for breathing starting tomorrow, I guess I'll just have to offer a congratulations a different way."

Sheldon slowly looked up and he drew back a step when Penny started to take off her jacket.

"What are you doing?"

She turned and locked his bedroom door. "Giving you something to think about in the lab on your late days working. Since, you know, you'll be too busy and all."

"I will be." He started to edge towards to the door, hoping to open it up and get her to leave. He had mentally prepped himself all day for talking to her about this, especially after the heartache of yesterday, but she wasn't making it easy. It was especially hard after seeing how excited she was when he told her the news, which was worth telling her in person (he had to admit that).

She slapped his hand away from the knob and pushed him against his door.

"Sheldon, stop being this way," Penny scolded, tugging at his pants. "You're acting like I'm gonna rape you or something."

"Penny, technically when someone is forced into—" her hand slipped into his pants. "Oh, boy."

"Go on," she coaxed, her hand teasing him from outside his briefs. She could already tell this wasn't going to be a matter of forcing him into anything. She smiled.

His hands rested on her shoulders with every intention of pushing her away. He opened his mouth to continue what he said, but the hand was too distracting (and wonderful).

"I'm not having sex in that bed," he breathed out, pulling her menacing hand away.

Penny smirked, kicking off her shoes and taking off her work shirt. She looked around.

"There's an awful lot of floor, Sheldon."

He narrowed his eyes at her. A thought came to his mind. "I think it's about time to reinstate the strikes."

"Because I want to have sex with you?"

"It's more the persistence than the desire. One can understand the desire." His smug smile and shrug gave Penny the impression that 'Bazinga' was purposefully being omitted (though, given Sheldon's reputation for his ego, he was probably being serious).

Penny rolled her eyes and shook her head, but still waited for him to get it together. She knew what he was doing: trying to push her away, yet again. He wouldn't truly tell her why. She refused to play his games.

He buttoned his pants back up and turned to the knob again. "I will allow you the opportunity to leave before Strike One is enforced." He didn't really know where he would go with the strikes; he was just hoping to get Penny to stop. He was already far more attached to her then he wanted to admit. He had mentally prepared himself for cutting the ties.

"You think you're gonna banish me again?" Penny approached him. "We both know what happened last time."

"You called my mother."

"I won." She slipped her skirt off.

"You cheated," he retorted, his grip tightening on his door knob (though he hadn't actually unlocked it).

"You're a sore loser, Sheldon," she purred, her hand guiding his grip away from the door.

"Fine. Strike One." But his tone was more light and derisive than scolding.

Penny just smiled as she led him to the middle of the room. He was now quiet and pliable as she took off his clothes and when he was down to his own underwear, she pulled him into a kiss. He pulled her away for a small moment, as if collecting his thoughts, then pulled her back into a kiss deeper than the one she had started with.

Thank, God, Penny thought of Sheldon finally snapping out of it.

Penny pulled away and looked at a flustered Sheldon. "What do you want tonight?" she whispered.

He raised his eyebrows. This was already considerably better than a dinner out. "What do you mean? What do I want aside from coitus?"

She rolled her eyes as she slipped her hand into his briefs waistband. "Nevermind. Sometimes you over think things, Dr. Cooper."

He sighed at her stroking and closed his eyes for a moment. Penny kissed his neck and he smiled and tilted his head to the side. He didn't even realize that Penny withdrawing her hand to pull her bra off fully was because he'd unclasped it. His hands were graceful as he caressed her breasts with the tips of his fingers. The touch wasn't lingering as within moment, her body slithered down his and with it, his briefs.

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Leonard was already in his room when he heard Penny leaving Sheldon's room. Their voices were low and hushed. Sheldon sounded like he was scolding her gently and Penny just scoffed at whatever it was he was saying. Leonard tried to press his ear against the door to listen but heard nothing decipherable.

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"You know, Penny," Sheldon said, his arms crossed, his naked body draped in his closed robe. His face was calm and his eyes subdued. He was definitely ready for bed now. "Despite the pleasure, that is still a strike." A small smile quirked on his lips, but he suppressed it.

Penny laughed and shook her head. "Oh, Sheldon." She held her jacket in her hand, tugging at his robe. "I may be earning more of those."

He raised his eyebrows, swaying forward a bit with her tugging. "We'll see."

She turned to leave and he followed her to the door, grabbing her purse and handing it to her.

"Have a good night," he said.

She took the purse. "Already did."

He shook his head again at her insinuation, but a wry smile played on his lips anyway.

"And congratulations again. I'm really proud of you, Sheldon."

"Thank you, Penny."

One more small peck on the lips and she was gone. Sheldon closed the door behind him, locking it, and allowing his fingers to linger a little longer than they should have.

"Say something science-y to me," she had said with a cute little smile, sprawled on her back and holding his head in her hands.

He breathlessly stared at her—stunned. Had she just asked for science to be her…dirty talk? Sheldon's eyes must have held that question because Penny asked him again. Bringing his lip down to hers for a soft kiss, he said, "To every action there is always opposed an equal reaction." He kissed her lips lightly again. "Or, the mutual actions of two bodies upon each other," another kiss, "are always equal, and directed to contrary parts." Another kiss.

"Newton's Third Law of Motion," he whispered, feeling the need to explain. Penny just nodded, letting out the small breath she was holding. Sheldon wondered why Penny looked so confused just then, no…mystified. He just watched her face, grazing his touch around her mouth and cheek.

When he'd finally entered her, he rested fully on his elbows, smoothing her hair down with his hands. Her reverie, whatever it was, was interrupted and she closed her eyes. He was taking her slow initially, despite how the evening had started. Penny had tried to get him to speed up with her movements, but his response was his steady rhythm and simple, sweet kisses all over her body.

After all was said and done, Penny didn't say much as she laid there. She just looked away, gazing lazily at the pile of clothes on the floor. His eyes were closed while he laid back, his hands resting on his chest.

Sheldon bit his lip and wondered how he was going to just walk away from that kind of intimacy—the only real kind he has known with someone special. Then he remembered how foggy his mind had gotten even before his great opportunity. He needed to stick to his guns.

But it was a good last time with her, he supposed. It would be there last. It had to be.

He was a man of science. He needed to start acting like it.

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I know some of my chapters are short but they are usually previously epicly long chapters cut down for easier reading an reviewing (and title-ing). :)