Matchmaker Chapter 3

A/n: I am so sooorry that I took forever to update, but as I previously stated in my other fics, I have been dealing with a bad case of writer's block. The good news is, we're going to be continuing with normal bookwork in class soon so that should get the juices flowing (ironically). In any case, here's the next chapter, as promised, I hope you enjoy it!

*Obligatory stating none of this is mine*

Penny opened the door to find a very flustered physicist. "Sheldon?" she asked. Something was very obviously wrong. His face was twitching and he couldn't even seem to put a whole sentence together, which for the very articulate Texan, was something that almost never happened.

"Sheldon, sweetie, what's wrong?"

"Penny, I find- I must ask- he said- are- we-"

"Sheldon! Calm down, what are you trying to say?"

"Pennyarewedating?" He said it so rushed, it almost came out in one word. All Penny really caught were the words "we" and "dating", and that was enough to bring an even more confused expression to the waitresses's face. Penny steered Sheldon to the couch, and left to fix him a cup of tea before he could even ask for it. It is a non-optional social convention, after all. She handed her neighbor the tea, and took a seat next to him.

"Okay," she started slowly. "Let's take it from the top. What happened, and what are you talking about?"

Sheldon took a calming sip of his tea, wiped his hands on his pants, and took a long slow breath. His eyes could not meet hers while he explained. "Leonard has pointed out to me that you and I have been behaving like a typical example of what western society would label as a 'couple'. As you are aware, I am not very skilled when it comes to intrapersonal relationships. Therefore, I am deferring to your social expertise." He paused to let her absorb what he said, as he knew it would take her a while. "Are we dating?" he asked again.

Penny stared at him, at a loss for words. "Well...no," she finally replied. "We're not. Couples touch, couples do things together, usually eat together, they spend a lot of time with each other..." She slowly realised they had been doing each of these things increasingly, lately. Granted, they didn't touch like the other relationships she had been in. However thinking back on it, there had been a few instances... When she was taking food out of the bags, be it Chinese, Thai, or even pizza out of the box. Penny would be handing him his food, and their hands would brush for one, maybe two, seconds. True enough, it wasn't much, however Penny recalled Sheldon didn't rush for the Purell immediately after each ocurrence. It was a small start, but if Sheldon (who found the very idea of touching anyone for the breifest of seconds without being equipped with surgical gloves abhorrent), was willing to touch her and not have a mental breakdown but instead act like nothing happened, that was saying something.

"Penny?" Sheldon's voice broke through her thoughts. She raised her head to look him in the eye. "You have been sitting there, apparently lost in thought for quite a while."

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that. I was just thinking that Leonard may be right about that. Think about it-" she started giving him examples of each of the items she had listed previously- "we have been touching lately, our hands, and you don't touch anyone, yet you touch my hand and act like it's no big deal. We do our laundry every Saturday together, we tend to eat dinner together alot, and we have been spending alot of time together, lately."

It was Sheldon's turn to think, now. Leonard appeared aot be right, he and Penny did in fact seem to be a couple. He would have to set her straight, that he did not want a romantic relationship, nor did he think he would ever want one. However, he found that he did not object to having her as company for the greater part. He wondered at the possiblities of entering a relationship, and ending this mishap here. This could be a learning experience.

"Penny, you are my friend, right?" he asked tentatively. He wasn't sure how to word this.

"Of course, sweetie," Penny smiled at him.

"If I asked you to show me what a relationship is like, so I can decide for future reference if I actually do want one, would you be willing to help? I want to know exactly our male friends find so fascinating about it."

Penny stared at an oddly shaped smudge on the glass of her coffee table. "Like a fake relationship experiment?"

"Precisely."

The smaller blonde thought for a few moments, before sighing. "It's a big responsibility, Sheldon; me teaching you. Can I have a while to think about it?"

The lanky physicist stood up and walked toward the door. "Of course," he replied, opening the door. "I expect an answer in no less than one week." With that, he shut the door.

A/N: Again, I apologize for the wait, thank you for reading, I hope you all enjoyed it! please review!