A Collection of Shenny Oneshots

Disclaimer: I do not own The Big Bang Theory, nor any recognisable characters or settings, the only thing I can lay claim to is the writing of these stories themselves.

Warnings: None in this chapter

Pairings: Sheldon and Penny

Word Count: 3,196

Hey guys, this cute little collection is going to be my go at a 31-day, non-sexual relationship actions one-shots, they may be taken as a collaboration or be read and interpreted as individual chapters with no connection with one another. I know I am starting on the 2nd but I will attempt to publish two chapters this evening. Please enjoy.

Reacting to the Other One Crying

Penny was bored.

She was bored of just sitting around while Leonard was off doing goodness knows what with goodness knows who on the North Sea. She sighs heavily as she flips to the next page of her magazine wishing that these thoughts; thoughts of Leonard cheating on her, of replacing her with a newer, hotter girl while she was stuck at home. No. Not even at home, she hadn't been back to her own apartment at all that day. Having been almost suffocating in her small apartment all on her own and so, despite her better judgement, she had ventured next door. To apartment 4A hoping to alleviate her boredom and loneliness through the company of her Wacker-doodle of a neighbour. Dr Sheldon Lee Cooper.

"Penny, did you ever wonder how Starfleet captains…"

"No."

She cut him off abruptly, not really caring if she came across as rude or uninterested because, truth of the matter was, she wasn't at all interested in what he was about to say about Starfleet captains at all. Turning to the next page of her magazine, Penny let out another deep sigh. The images not really making an impression in her mind as her eyes glaze over.

Wondering what Leonard was doing right at this moment, she readied her fingers to turn the next page when Sheldon's voice cuts through her thoughts once more and she had to fight not to roll her eyes at him.

"Well, now that I've piqued your interest, welcome to the exciting world of 3D chess."

For what felt like the 6th time, Penny sighed. She dropped her feet from their curled-up position under her body and turned to face the goofy mega nerd sitting in his spot adjacent to where she had curled herself up upon entering the apartment; in Leonard's armchair. She did roll her eyes then, closing her magazine sharply before she threw it onto the coffee table.

"Why don't you just admit that you only want to play this game because you always play it with Leonard, and you miss him?"

Sheldon shifted minutely in his seat, his left eyebrow twitching along with the corner of his mouth as he shook his head, as if disappointed in what Penny had to say.

"You overestimate his significance in my life."

"Mmmm."

Resting her chin in her hand, Penny balanced her arm on her knees and tried to give Sheldon her best 'I am not interested in anything you could possibly say' faces. Which, of course, went straight over the Scientist's head. For a genius he really is an idiot at times.

"Do I miss how he makes a face on my toaster waffle with syrup?"

Sheldon moved a white pawn across the chess board, his fingers fiddling with the piece before he placed it back down shaking his head.

"No."

Penny sighed dramatically, feeling put out by her boyfriend's roomate's need to talk excessively over the most obtuse things. Not knowing when to shut up and sit in silence, but she couldn't really blame him, he missed Leonard. Probably just as much, if not more, then she did.

"Do I miss the way he fixes the zipper on my jacket when it gets stuck?"

It didn't mean that she wanted to sit here listening to him complain and analyse evey last little thing anyone says or does. He moved another piece on the board.

"I don't think so."

She rolled her eyes, hoping that he would be done soon.

"Do I miss how we say good night to each other through the walls of our bedroom using Morse Code?"

Penny almost jumped out of her skin when Sheldon suddenly knocks the word 'no' out on the wooden coffee table and this time she did send the oblivious dork a glare. She had had enough of this.

"Okay, I get it. I get it. You are an emotionless robot."

Sheldon started, his eyes bugged wide as he turned to face the blonde waitress and she could have sworn that she saw a flicker of hurt shining in his cobalt blue eyes before it was gone the next second. He smiled smugly at her, preening slightly with her words.

"Well, I try."

Penny watched as Sheldon continued to fiddle with the chess pieces, moving them back and forth with a forlorn expression on his face. She hated to admit it, but his puppy dog eyes, and the slight downturn of his lips had always been to adorable and at times, impossible for her to ignore. She would despise herself for it later, but she found her resolve crumbling in seconds.

"All right, lets just get this stupid game over with."

She had never seen the older man's face light up so quickly in all her time knowing him and if she had been honest with herself, Penny would have admitted that the radiance had momentarily caused a small flame to flicker in the pit of her stomach. Shaking away the strange feeling Penny settled herself comfortably.

"Great. I'll go first."

"Okay"

Sheldon made his first move, before his fingers began to fiddle with each other. They twisted around one another, knotting themselves up as he shifted his gaze down to his lap where the knot of fingers was lying. His gaze shifted up to watch as Penny made her first move.

"By the way, how are you with zippers?"

Placing her black pawn down on the chess board, Penny eyed the Physicist suspiciously, knowing that she was going to regret asking as soon as the first syllable had left her mouth.

"Why?"

"Well, I really need to go to the bathroom, and this one has gone all cattywampus."

Sheldon answered, his nimble fingers tugging on the skewed zipper as if to prove his point, Penny simply raised her eyebrow at him and, not for the first time, wondered what she was still doing hanging around, willingly she may add, with her wacky neighbour.

It had been a while.

Penny stared at the 3D chess board her eyes glazed and her mouth hanging open slightly as she moved another one of her pieces, not really knowing how much time had passed since she had agreed to play with Sheldon.

"Ooh. Bad move."

"Really? Why?"

She knew that she could have acted a little more excited, she was an actress for goodness sake, but something about the game was numbing her mind. Though she had a feeling that if she ever used that phrase out loud then Sheldon would have a few choice words to say about how that would be scientifically impossible.

"My queen can now take your rook from below."

Sheldon explained, his voice not as condescending as she would have expected from him as he gestured to her piece and demonstrated the move with his own. He offered her a small, half fake half genuine smile before he turned to study the board once more. Missing the pale dust that covered Penny's cheeks.

"So that means I lose, right? It's over?"

Getting the blush under control, Penny inwardly berates herself because she is with Leonard, sweet, kind, caring, thoughtful Leonard. She was not developing a crush on Doctor Sheldon Lee Cooper, Phd and whatever other letters followed his name.

"If I make this move, but I won't because we're having too much fun."

Sheldon replaced his queen back into her original position, jumped in his seat like a small child and his smile this time, when directed at the waitress, shone brighter, a little more genuine. She could almost hear him thanking her for staying with him, for keeping him company; even though she knew he would never say that out loud.

"Okay, let's take a break."

Penny pushed herself up from the armchair, stretching out her sore muscles from being seated for so long and started to make her way towards the kitchen. The only thought running through her mind being how much she was in need of a drink or two.

"We're all out of alcohol."

Sheldon commented as soon as he notices her direction. She scoffed, turned around and stared at the blank look Sheldon gave her. Rolling her eyes Penny crossed her arms in front of her chest as she met his gaze.

"I wasn't going to get alcohol."

Her neighbour raised one of his eyebrows at her, giving him a look which she had guessed to say 'Penny I have known you for a long time and I know what you are like.' Letting out a loud sigh, Penny returns to her seat, throwing herself down into the cushion watching as a self-satisfied smirk had frown on Sheldon's lips.

"Gosh, I wonder what Leonard's doing right now. I miss him so much."

Penny sighed wistfully, her thoughts travelling back to her short, bespeckled boyfriend. She missed waking up next to him in the morning, loved how much he made her feel cared for and yet. Yet, she couldn't get rid of that impending doom feeling. She, for no reason whatsoever, had a bad feeling that Leonard, sweet Leonard, was cheating on her. Had found some hot chick to hook up with while he was at sea.

"Well, if you'd like, we could call him. I mean that you could call him. As I've explained, the absence of my friends does not cause me pain. As rock and roll bad boy, Paul Simon, once said, I am a rock, I am an i-i-i-island."

Sheldon stated nonchalant but Penny could see through him. Knew that he missed his friend and for that reason, she jumped up from her chair. Took her phone out of her back pocket and smiled brightly as the Theoretical physicist who was watching her every move closely. Anticipation deep in his eyes.

"I'm calling him."

As soon as the words had left her mouth, Sheldon jumped up from his spot and rushed to stand behind her, his face a picture of anticipation as she punched in Leonard's number.

"Oh, goodie, put him on speaker."

The dial tone rang. Once. Twice. Three times before the line connected. Static ran through the connection for a second before loud music began to beat through the phone startling both Penny and Sheldon as they stared down at the phone.

"North Sea, how can I help you?"

Leonard's voice rang through the microphone along with the high-pitched sound of a woman giggling close by and Penny felt her blood run cold, hoping that this wasn't what she had thought it was. Sheldon, Penny guessed that he had been too excited and distracted from hearing Leonard's voice placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Leonard?"

Penny called hesitantly, taking comfort in the solid form of Sheldon standing so close behind her as she too stared down at the device in her hand.

"Penny? Hey, it's Penny. Everyone say hi to Penny."

Sheldon and Penny flinched at the loud crackling that came over the phone as they could just make out 'everybody' calling a 'hi, Penny' back. Leonard cheered along with the other people on the North Sea expedition and Penny frowned even more at the phone.

"Wow, it sounds like you're having a good time."

She offered haltingly as she leant closer to Sheldon. She felt his hand squeeze her shoulder and that is when she had known that the germophobic scientist had touched her willingly, had known that she had been feeling uncomfortable at Leonard's voice. He had been trying to lend her strength from the beginning.

"Best time of my life!"

Sheldon frowned down at the phone, knowing that with the minute slurring of Leonard's words and the thudding music in the background that his roommate was most likely drunk, he knew that his actions were upsetting Penny as he hadn't even stated that he had missed her. He leant forward to catch a glimpse of Penny's face and sure enough, the bright smile that she had been showing at the prospect of phoning Leonard had shattered.

"Oh, Lenny?"

A female voice, sounded equally as intoxicated as Leonard, sounded through the speaker. Sheldon squeezed Penny's shoulder again when he had heard her take a sharp inhalation. A clear sign that she was either shocked; about to shout or very upset.

"Lenny, come back here. I am not through with you yet."

Penny chocked on the breath she had been exhaling. Her shoulder began to shake slightly when they heard Leonard laugh breathlessly and the woman respond by giggling. There were wet sounds coming down the speaker next and Penny, with all her experience, knew that Leonard was cheating on her. Even Sheldon could easily decipher what those foreign noises had been by the tight set of Penny's body, and the wetness he had caught gleaming in her green eyes.

"Well, we can tell that you are busy. I'll leave you to it, bye Leonard."

Penny hung up her phone not giving Leonard a chance to respond, though if Sheldon were to guess he would have said that his roommate would have been too preoccupied to respond anyways. He glanced at his female neighbour and instantly felt himself freeze at the sigh Penny had tears streaming down her cheeks, her fists clenched tightly around the mobile phone still clutched in her hands.

He stared down at her for a moment before he guided the distraught female to the sofa, not paying much heed when he had seated her in his spot and handed her a box of tissues, he always kept on the coffee table. Patting her gently on the shoulder, he had made his way into the kitchen silently and put the kettle on the stove to heat up.

The apartment was silent for a while, the only sounds to be heard were Penny's occasional sniffle and the high-pitched wheezing of the kettle when it had finished boiling. Pouring two cups of camomile tea, Sheldon made his way back to his upset friend and placed the tea into her quivering hands.

"There, there, Penny."

Despite her sadness, Penny couldn't help but chuckle at little at Sheldon's actions as he patted her shoulder, seating himself on the arm of the sofa beside her. She threw caution to the wind when she leant into his side, resting her head close to his chest and snuggled into his warmth. She felt him freeze and feared that he was going to push her away when he did something, she hadn't even thought possible. Especially when it came to Sheldon. He, after a moment, wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her more firmly into his side, his fingers had stroked through her hair once before they brushed down her arm and rested there.

"There, there. Sheldon's here."

"I can't believe I missed that jerk!"

She cried out, her tears had started afresh and without a thought she cuddled herself closer to Sheldon, burying her face into his side as his fingers continued to brush gentle up and down her upper arm.

"I am sorry, Penny."

She took in a shuddering breath and wiped her eyes with the tissue now scrunched up in her hand before she released a sigh.

"I can't believe I was so stupid. No matter who I date they always turn out to be the same backstabbing, cheating jackasses, even the sweet ones. I really thought Leonard was different from all the other guys I had dated."

"You are not stupid, Penelope. You are one of the smartest people I know when it comes to social conventions and, as the kids say, street smarts. You may not have a PhD or doctorate like myself and Leonard, but you are smarter than both of us when it comes to interacting with people and what to do in different situations. I know I have had to ask for your assistance on more than one occasion, Penny."

"Thank you, Sweetie. I think that is the nicest thing you have ever said to me. But come on, there has to be something wrong with me. Why does every guy I date turn out to be a jerk? Can't I just, for once, date a guy who is smart, kind, attentive but also challenges me? Can't I have someone who doesn't see me as just sex on legs?"

Penny began to cry again. Sheldon passed her another tissue and continued to hold her. Despite the action being foreign to himself and a little out of his comfort zone, for some reason or another, he couldn't quiet fathom, he wanted to hold Penny close. He wanted to comfort her and make her feel better.

"Penny. There is nothing wrong with you. You are a kind, friendly, hard working woman. You are both aesthetically pleasing and a wonderful friend and for those of them who cannot see all of that is not worth your time. You deserve to be happy Penelope and I know some day that you will find the man who is going to worship you and not just as, as you so eloquently put it, 'sex on legs'."

She wiped her eyes again and took a deep breath. Penny pulled away from Sheldon's warmth reluctantly, enough so that she could look into his eyes and offered him a bright smile, only dampened slightly by the tear stains on her cheeks. She threw her arms around Sheldon's waist and held on tightly. She had felt Sheldon freeze again momentarily before he had wrapped his arms around her shoulders slowly, unsure about the physical contact. She sighed into his chest.

"Thank you, Sweetie. I don't know what I would do without you."

Before Sheldon had chance to respond, Penny had jumped up and placed a soft kiss to his cheek before she had spun around and headed for the front door. As she had been about to cross the threshold of his apartment and head to her own, Penny had turn around.

"Hey, Sheldon?"

He watched her patiently, waiting for hr to continue.

"Yes, Penny?"

"Would you, maybe, wanna come round to mine after my shift tomorrow? We can watch Star Wars and I'll make Spaghetti with little cut up hot dogs?"

Sheldon relaxed his shoulders at the invitation and smiled at the waitress.

"I would love to, Penny. I will see you tomorrow evening."

"See you tomorrow, Moonpie."

With that, Penny had skipped out of the apartment. She giggled when she heard Sheldon's 'only Meemaw calls me Moonpie' just as the door clicked shut.