Chapter 2. - That Is The Question.
As they settled back into her apartment, Penny felt like she was on the back foot here. She'd planned to surprise him halfway through and interrogate him while he was unbalanced. Instead, she was totally suckered into the story, and he caught her off guard instead of the other way around.
"Please can you now explain why you were hiding on the roof watching me?" Sheldon asked, his arms still crossed as he sat perched on the chair facing her.
Ugh, she wanted wine.
"Erm, I saw you. Yesterday I mean. Doing that Doctor who tangerine thing we watched last week." She said.
Sheldon raised an eyebrow.
"So, you have watched me more than once then? Oh, and you should know better given that you've seen the episode in question. It was a satsuma, not a tangerine." He corrected with a sniff.
"Satsuma, Sad-Sumo, who cares about that! What the frak were you doing up there!" She burst out.
"Honestly Penny, surely that was obvious, especially to someone of your aspirations. I was acting." Sheldon said arrogantly.
Penny felt like her eye was about to start twitching. After seeing him be so heartbroken and poignant just a few minutes ago, she wasn't ready to handle normal, robot Sheldon.
"Yes, Sheldon. I do realise you were acting. My question was addressed more toward the why rather than the what. Why were you on the roof acting?" She pushed.
He shuffled around a little and she felt better. She felt better now that he was on the back foot.
"I, er, I was -no. I act because I like it. Why else?" Sheldon deflected. Rather unsuccessfully at that.
"Why?"
"Why what Penny?"
"Why do you like acting? Why do you act? Where did you learn it? When did you write songs? Why is it a secret? Why not let everyone know?" She exploded.
Sheldon leaned back in his chair, suddenly now wary. A quick look in his eyes confirmed he was approaching baby-deer mode, so she backtracked a little, giving him a soft smile.
"Please Sheldon, you were amazing! Why is it a secret?" She begged him.
"Well, I learned it as a child back in Texas. Missy would often drag me to the theatre classes at school and often bullied me into taking part. Eventually, I got used to it and enjoyed it. I didn't give it much thought for a while after that, but I discovered it was a good way to spend time productively while I was in Germany studying for my first doctorate, plus I was a lot younger than the other students, so I was often coerced again into taking part because there were always roles for my age bracket." He finally answered.
God, it was like pulling teeth with him sometimes.
"So, why is it a secret?" She pushed.
"Well- That is- Of cour-" he felt her eyes boring holes into him. "Oh, fine then! You've been our neighbor for a significant amount of time by now, you should be familiar with the dynamics of my social group, correct?" He huffed.
She gave a nod, not wanting to interrupt.
"Leonard is my best friend, Raj is my friend, and Howard is a treasured acquaintance." She rolled her eyes at that. He paused and glared at her before continuing. "We share many of the same interests, and they 'put up with me'" he used his fingers to make air quotes at that. "However, they are not always the most supportive people. I may have trouble noting social conventions such as sarcasm, but I do understand outright mockery, and given what I know of them. Telling them about this would only lead to them mocking me about it." He finished, looking sad in that adorable way only her whack-a-doodle could.
She'd have hugged him if he wouldn't freak out. Instead, she simply agreed with the sentiment, but thinking about it any deeper made her feel sad.
Sheldon had to hide parts of himself from his friends because they'd make fun of him for it. She'd normally tell him that meant they weren't friends if they weren't supportive, but he also made it seem like they were his only friends and he'd rather have bad friends than no friends.
And she'd always thought they were so sweet until now. She felt like the veil had lifted and she could see some of the ugliness that they'd previously camouflaged with geek toys and big words,'. She didn't like it. It felt like all the social politics she went through in high school. Given all their tales, it seemed to her that they had a tough time at school and were now relishing in being the 'top dogs'. And her poor moonpie skipped that entirely and didn't know how to handle it.
For all his genius, I-have-a-187-IQ attitude, when he wasn't being a super genius it just seemed like he was a lonely child at heart. She decided she'd help him as she would a lonely kid.
"I think I understand Sheldon. But they're not very good friends if they would make fun of you for something like that, plus you were amazing! How about you forget about those guys and spend more time with me? We could act together?" She smiled softly.
"… that would be nice Penny." He said with that little shy smile she loved about him. "But what should I do about them?" He finished worriedly.
She leaned forward with a serious face as she explained her plan. They'd both take the time to be around them less and less until they were practically strangers. If asked, all they had to was explain that he was trying alterations to his routine to see if there was a better set up for his sero-whatever.
XxXxX
Over the next few weeks, they spent more and more time together and she found herself drawn to Sheldon more and more. Once you got passed a lot of his odd quirks - which actually started to make sense in a Sheldon-sort of way when he explained his reasons for them - he was a cutie with a heart the same size as his big, genius brain.
And oh boy! As soon as she asked him for tips with her acting, he went absolutely bat-crap crazy. He crammed as much info as he could into her head until she had a migraine while being stone cold sober. The next day when he arrived at her apartment with a fat binder full of more tips, she had to slow him down. Her heart almost melted at his explanation.
"I've had this binder since a week after you moved in but couldn't find the right time to give it to you without giving away that I like acting too. I know the guys always made it seem like you were just a waitress with a low IQ, but you have a massive EQ and a lot of potential. Everyone can improve at something no matter how good they are at it, and with a few tips I'm sure things will turn around for you."
She could almost feel her eyes watering just remembering it. As far as she was concerned, the biggest breakthrough that night wasn't for her confidence or her skills, it was the fact that Sheldon didn't flinch when she leapt across the table and gave him the biggest hug she could. He didn't even flinch when she cried a little.
Not long after that, she got her first real role! She was the attractive neighbor in a sitcom. Where she'd be the friendly temptress that led to the main couple splitting up for a bit. She felt like it was Sheldon's tips and support that helped her, because she succeeded for the first time not long after trying out some of the things from his big binder. Sheldon though, was adamant that she'd earned it on her own talents, and that she hadn't had time to 'assimilate the teachings' in the binder yet. She'd rolled her eyes at him but still gave him another rib-crushing hug.
She'd started driving Sheldon to work at this point, and discovered that although he liked geeky stuff, he wasn't as obsessed as he seemed to be with the rest of the guys; he just found it the easiest way to handle their relationship. This led to him spending a lot more time running lines with her for her role.
Sheldon was quickly becoming the most important person in her life by this point. They not only spent all their time together, but everything he did seemed to be for her sake more than anything.
He even catalogued (without her permission!) her finances and set up a budget plan that would allow her to quit her job at the cheesecake factory and focus on acting full-time.
She was really beginning to feel like she was living her dream life rather than living a dull life with a dream. She was spending her days doing what she loved with the person she felt like she was beginning to love in a different way than the sibling way she had first thought.
The feelings she had bubbling in her heart came to a head shortly after she'd quit her waitressing job. Her and Sheldon were once again on the roof, - which she noticed was quickly becoming 'their spot' - running lines and talking when she decided to try and convince him to act too.
"Come on, please? We spend so much time on it, why not?" She begged.
"Penny, acting is your dream not mine, I want to win the Nobel prize in physics." Sheldon declared emphatically.
"Yes, but you already said something about how acting helps refresh your brain or whatever - it doesn't impact you getting your Nobel sweetie?"
"Yes, and I can do that here. I don't need to audition for roles or play in front of crowds to 'refresh my brain.'" He said, fingering air quotes at her incorrect recollection.
Penny had to concede to that. He didn't need to act as a job for him to enjoy it. He was perfectly happy acting to an audience of one, but she wanted him to. She hoped they could get roles on the same project and act together. She was dying to show the world what they could do.
"Please moonpie? I just want to act together with you." She pouted.
"Honestly Penny, only Meemaw can call me moonpie. And we can act together now, can we not? I wrote The Tale of Orpheus with you in mind so you could play Eurydice and we could do that?" He answered automatically, unaware of the trip-mine he'd just dropped.
Penny noticed it.
"Sheldon? Sweetie? What did you mean by you wrote it with me in mind?" She asked.
Sheldon paled to a chalky white almost instantly. He began fidgeting and was getting that baby-deer look again. Penny quickly held his hands and gave him a smile. He sighed and looked down. When he gulped and looked back at her, he was still pale but now his cheeks were almost crimson.
"Erm… When I was learning to write plays and stories, I did some research." She rolled her eyes fondly. "…and the articles I found said that if you struggle to come up with something, write what you feel instead and shape that feeling into a story. For example, I like flying kites, so I could take that happy feeling and write a joyful family-themed story, you understand?" He finished with the question.
Penny just nodded. She could see he was struggling to answer her, and she didn't want him to bolt by talking before he finished.
"Well, I quite liked your company - by that, I guess, I mean I like you. So, when you went on a date with Leonard, or got back together with Kurt, I felt sad. So, I took those feelings and wrote the story about Orpheus and Eurydice." He finished, now looking directly at the floor.
Penny was stunned. It was the sweetest thing she'd ever heard. She had no idea she liked him. It was lovely and cute and she was happy he liked her because she liked him back and she was so overjoyed and happy and she was a big ol' five and so she kissed him.
It took him a while to unfreeze and kiss her back, but it was everything she'd hoped it would be. She quickly found herself in his lap with her arms around his neck as she was wishing she didn't need to breathe and break up this perfect moment.
She did though and leaned back with a gasp. Both of them resting their foreheads against each other as they absorbed what just happened.
"Well, that wasn't planned." She said sheepishly.
"No, I'd rather think not."
"Would you rather that didn't happen?" She asked, hurt.
"Not at all. I just didn't think you would ever plan to be intimate with me." He defended, and it broke her heart. For all his confidence, it seemed he didn't think he was worthy of her. She gave him another brief kiss before replying. "You're amazing Sheldon, and I've kinda wanted to do that for a while now, I just didn't think I'd do it."
"Why not?"
"Because I didn't think you'd like it. You don't like people touching you and you don't like germs and we were friends, and I didn't want to ruin things." She blurted out.
Sheldon heaved a small sigh before sitting up and wrapping his hands tightly around her waist.
"I am not an asexual robot with no 'deal' as Leonard often states. I am mysophobic but I know you and trust you. We've been in contact while auditioning, we've hugged every day for the past 24 days without incident. And as previously discussed, I, er, I adore you." He finished with a blush.
She loved how honest he was. Even when it terrified him, he'd bare his heart to her if she asked him to. He supported her because he wanted to, and it made him all the more amazing to her.
She loved seeing him act, his tone and body language and facial expressions would be perfect, but when you looked into his eyes you could just see all the joy and freedom he felt while doing it. That's what she loved the most about him, and she wanted to share that side of him with the world.
When she told him as much with a kiss to the cheek, he quickly folded and agreed to audition for some small theatre roles. She almost had to roll her eyes. After all the arguments and persuading to no avail, all the logic he countered, a kiss from the girl he liked, and he agreed immediately.
If it wouldn't be so much fun using that in the future, she'd have laughed.
A few days later, Penny had to admit it, it seemed like when Sheldon did anything, he did it to the best of his ability - and wasn't that a juicy thought for her to explore later! - he must have gone to at least three auditions a day and by the end of the third day, he'd been accepted for two different roles! She asked him how on earth he did in three days what she'd struggled to achieve in three years, and he arrogantly said it was in the binder. A kiss on the cheek later and she was sat looking at a whiteboard as Sheldon tried to explain it in as much detail as he could.
She loved her whack-a-doodle.