'Penny, can I have a word?' Amy asked after telling Burt to sit with Sheldon. Penny got up and both women stepped into the restaurant's bathroom. 'What are you and Sheldon doing here? According to Sheldon's schedule, Friday is Chinese night not Sunday!'

'He asked if I wanted to go out for Chinese food cause we were both home alone and I said yes… what are you doing here? And with Burt! I swear you two were gonna go out for lunch!'

'Well, you said to go on a date with him so I changed it to dinner as opposed to lunch and I suggested this place to Burt because it's a nice restaurant.' Amy sighed, 'damn, what should we do?'

'I don't know. Sheldon has seen you now… I can't just take him away.'

'What if you tell him you think you should go somewhere new.'

'Amy, he's got an IQ of 187! He'll see past it, we'll just have to double up and pretend like we're all just friends.'

'Penny, this is supposed to be a date with Burt and it's supposed to be away from Sheldon so I can compare.'

'Well, why don't you and Burt go elsewhere?'

'But…'

Knock knock knock

'Penny and Amy'

Knock knock knock

'Penny and Amy'

Knock knock knock

'Penny and Amy'

Penny and Amy looked at each other and left the bathroom.

'Sheldon, you can't knock on the ladies restroom. That's totally inappropriate!' Amy hissed and Penny chuckled to herself behind at how stupid he could be despite his genius.

'I apologise. Penny, I wish to go elsewhere. This Burt guy just insulted me in Klingon.'

'Burt speaks Klingon?' Penny asked, baffled.

'No, but he translated what he wanted to say on Bing's new translator and showed it to me on his cell. Damn the internet making Klingon available for the idiots of this country to use!'

'Come on sweetie, let's go.' Penny giggled and she looked at Amy. Both women had been saved by Sheldon's wish to leave, so Amy went to sit with Burt whilst Penny and Sheldon began to walk to her car.

'So… what shall we do now? I was counting on having Chinese food' Sheldon asked.

'Well, why don't we go back to my place and I'll make spaghetti with hot dogs' Penny smiled as they both sat in the car.

'OK, but it better be as good as it was last time.' Sheldon said and he sighed when Penny's "check engine" light came on as she turned the ignition. 'You really need to get your car fixed, I don't really want this hunk of junk to be the death of me. If I am to die before my expiration date, I would want it to be at the hands of a light saber or if not that a nuclear explosion due to my findings going wrong, but seeing as the latter couldn't physicaly be possible, being killed by a light saber it is… image me making a miscalculation, ppft.' Sheldon wittered and Penny rolled her eyes.

'I know Sheldon, let's just get back to my place,' she sighed as she pulled out of the parking space.

The journey back to the apartment was quiet and Penny couldn't help but think of what had happened back at the restaurant. Sheldon had feelings for her… Sheldon had feelings for her! Although thrilled at this new found revelation, she realised that, whilst it would be in her nature, it was not in Sheldon's to embark on an affair. Let alone with the boyfriend of one of her closest friends. Her only hope was that Amy's date with Burt went meticulously well so that she would leave Sheldon and in turn he would be free to give himself to her. That was the only way anything could ever progress between herself and Sheldon, she would have to wait and be patient.

Upon arrival at Penny's apartment, Penny took all out the necessary ingredients for their dinner and began cooking.

'Sheldon, I'm out of salt, could you pop over to yours and let me borrow some?'

'Penny, did you not think to go grocery shopping?'

'Well, I was a little preoccupied getting past Leonard cheating on me Sheldon, now march your butt over to your apartment and bring me some salt.' Penny ordered and Sheldon sighed, doing what he was told. 5 minutes later he was back and handing the salt over to Penny, 'See was that too hard?'

'No I guess not.' Sheldon said, sitting down on his spot in Penny's apartment and opening a comic book that he had grabbed whilst he was over at his place.

Penny placed the spaghetti in the boiling water and turned to see Sheldon chuckling at the comic book. 'You're reading a coming book.'

He looked up at her, licked his thumb and turned the page, moving his eyes back down towards the comic, 'And you are calling attention to your bosom by wearing a low cut top.'

Penny smirked at him. He'd been caught red handed by her unknowingly, 'Have you been staring at my chest Dr Cooper?'

'No, I just thought we were having a "State the Obvious" contest,' He said, not taking away his eyes from the comic and Penny rolled her eyes. She could see through his little lie, 'though since we are on the subject: your breasts are in fact a tad asymmetrical, however there's definitely nothing to be concerned about. They look fine to me.' Penny smiled… there it was. Little by little, Sheldon's red blooded male hormones were emerging and it only seemed to be happening around her. He wasn't like this with Amy; he had actually looked at her chest, evaluated and made a judgement on her breasts, a good judgement at that.

Penny tasted the sauce that was simmering on the hob and licked her lips afterwards. She really could be a good cook when she wanted to be because this tasted delicious! That salt did wonders obviously. The spaghetti was nearly done, so she set the table for herself and Sheldon, placing a candle in the middle and lighting it. She found adding a candle to a table always secured the element of romance between two people at a table.

'Sheldon, dinner's ready.' She smiled and Sheldon put his comic book down and took his seat at the table as she placed the meal before him. She took her seat and they both began to eat.

'Penny, I must compliment you on this… it truly is wonderful, mmm mmmm mmmm.' Sheldon praised, smiling at her.

'I'm glad you like it.'

'Leonard never cooks for me, so it's nice to have someone who does.'

'Well, I want you to know that you can come over any time you want and I'll cook for you.'

'Really? Wow, that's quite an offer.'

'Well, since we've both discovered that after 6 years of knowing each other and having repressed feelings for one another, I think we should explore it and make time for each other. I know that I've come to enjoy your company and I want to spend more time with you and I hope you want to do the same with me.' Penny reached out and placed her hand on his, gazing into his eyes. To her astonishment, he pulled away from her as quickly as one would if they had been stung by a hornet and were reacting to the pain.

'Penny, as much as I would like to accept your offer; I am still with Amy and whilst I have a relationship contract with her, I cannot engage in such intimate actions like this.' He said, rendering her speechless, 'I shall bid you goodnight Penny and I shall see you tomorrow.' Sheldon said quickly before rushing out her apartment.

Penny couldn't quite wrap her finger around it. An hour and a half ago, he was telling her that he liked her as well as he did Amy, if not more. An hour and a half ago, he was whispering in her ear, making her shiver and goosebumps form on her arms, her hair standing up on edge. He had let her hold his hand, she had cooked him a romantic meal and now he just ran away. Frowning, she racked her brain, trying to come up with an answer as to why he had acted so strangely. Perhaps she had enforced too much romance on him for one day and expected too much from him, or maybe it was the stress of Amy showing up whilst they were having a heated moment in the restaurant had rattled him and his confidence.

She knew now that she would have to take things extremely slow if she wanted to have a relationship with Sheldon. It would be like walking on eggshells or in a minefield, he was a flight risk and for the first time since she had realised her feelings for Sheldon, she understood that it wasn't necessarily a good thing for her to feel this way about him.

Heya guys, sorry for the delay in the update. Been busy the past few days and haven't had time to write. I want to thank you for my lovely reviews, nearly at 100! Yay! You guys are so awesome and I value your comments, they make me write better and motivate me! So as a treat my 100th registered reviewer will be getting an inbox from me and will be able to come up with a story line that I will integrate into the story! Also on Bing there is actually a Klingon language translator haha it's perfectly legit! Anyway, let me know what you guys think of the chapter and I will try to update asap! xx