Penny felt her legs give away once the breeze from the door hit her face. She fell to the floor, head in her hands. Tears ran down her face as memories of the past three years flooded her. She, all by her self, had ruined the closest friendship (other then Raj and Howard's) she had ever seen. To her, it was all her fault.

"Penny?"

A small voice came from behind her, and her head whipped around, her whole body falling to the floor. Sheldon sat on the floor, his knees to his chest, outside Penny's apartment. His eyes looked hollow, his chest breathing heavily. Penny forced herself off the ground, and walked to Sheldon.

"Sweetie, I'm sorry. Oh, god I'm so, so sorry." Sheldon stood suddenly, and wrapped his long arms around her small torso.

"No. Leonard is the one who should be sorry. Now, i'm definitely not going to share a noble prize with him."

Shocked, Penny looked up. Sheldon was slightly smiling, looking down at her. Penny managed a nervous laugh.

"Too bad for Leonard."

Sheldon laughed, and bent down to kiss her softly.

'Let him mope. It's natural." He grabbed her shoulders so she would face him head on. "I love you, Penny. Leonard was my best friend for a long time. Now you are. And that does scare me, but I know it's the social protocol." He kissed her again, and she nodded. He frowned. "Now, where am I going to sleep?" Suddenly, a bemused smile hit his lips. "Oh, wait." He looked down at Penny again, and she smiled as she dragged him into the apartment.

----

Raj and Howard, of course, heard the next day. Both were shocked, of course, along with the rest of CalTech, once Sheldon had brought Penny into work one afternoon. He had glared at Kripkie when he decided to hit on Penny. He smiled proudly when Dr. Galbelhouser noted how nice of a woman she was. And she had enjoyed it too. Leonard had never brought her into work, scared that once she really saw what he did, she would run for the hills. And, the opposite happened. She didn't understand much, or any of it at all, (because, in all honesty, Sheldon wasn't very good at "dumbing things down"), but she loved every minute. It all still felt odd to her, the fact she was Dr. Sheldon Cooper, PhD's girlfriend. Wait, FIRST girlfriend.

She worked a shift later that night, and she started talking to some of the co workers about Sheldon. Of course, they all knew who he was. He came in every Tuesday, causing chaos on the whole restaurant.

"I don't know, Penny. He's absolutely nuts. But he's one of the smartest people I've ever met. I can't believe he figured out that physics thing while working here a couple months back. Genius." Her boss, mark piped up from behind a computer where he was putting in an order. "He seems like a really good guy for you. He's lucky to have you."

She beamed behind her notepad, which she was subconsciously doodling on. She noticed the boys, minus Sheldon, walking thought the front of the restaurant. Leonard leading the way.

Yeah, this was going to be a long night.