Author's Note: Hey guys, thank you all so much for the love you've sent me via reviews! I really appreciate it. Well here it is, THE chapter. I hope you all love it. Thanks to The_Sunday_Wife. You are sooooooo great. Also, I'm pretty sure I got all the italics right this time! Whoo hoo! :D

Sheldon walked thoughtfully down the stairs, grasping his laundry basket tightly.

What was he going to do? His mother always knew when he was lying so he couldn't just tell her that he'd asked Penny and she'd said no. He was actually going to have to go through with it. But maybe he could do it in such a way that she wouldn't understand what he was really asking her and would thus say no. Hmm. He might be able to pull that off…

He walked up to the laundry room door and heard Penny inside on her cell phone chatting. He was about to step through when he heard something that made him stop.

"Of course, Mary. I understand, thanks for the phone call." Pause. "I will. Bye." Sheldon stiffened at the mention of his mother's name. Surely she wouldn't have…

Wow. That was out of the blue. I really love her. But Sheldon! What was he thinking? He can't have been serious could he? Is he really interested in me? He has been unusually nice lately and considerate. What if he really does like me? How do I feel? It's just so weird! I've never really thought of Sheldon that way…well, that's not true. When I first met him I thought he was cute and flirted a little, but then I got to know him and his quirky habits…well, they are sort of cute. Sometimes. Sometimes he can be infuriating…

Sheldon wanted to stop her internal monologue, or at least that train of thought, so he stepped into the laundry room. He still had no plan of action and this recent string of events wasn't helping him to conceive one.

"Hello Penny." He said nonchalantly as he sat his basket on the counter. Penny turned immediately.

"Hey Sheldon." She said. She turned back to her laundry as if nothing was different. What should I say? Should I bring it up? No. He needs to do it. If I'm going to say yes, he has to at least do the asking…wait. Yes? I'm going to say yes. Wow. I guess I am…

"Penny." Sheldon finally started as he sorted his clothing. Penny spun around.

"Yeah, sweetie." She replied. He's going to do it now?

"Did you manage to keep your apartment clean?" He asked, focusing on his laundry. Well on the outside, on the inside he was still trying to figure out what he was going to do. Really, reading women's thought was just getting him into uncomfortable circumstances…

"Uh…yeah, it actually looks really nice. The way you organized it makes everything so much easier. And I even sorted my laundry today…"

"Well done Penny! That's wonderful!" He said placing his warm coloreds into a washing machine and adding the appropriate amount of detergent and softener.

Agh! Is he going to say something or isn't he? I can't focus on what I'm doing! Sheldon smirked slightly. However uncomfortable, this situation was a little amusing…

He started the machine and then turned to Penny. She was watching him, obviously having given up on trying to focus.

"Can I help you with something?" He asked. Penny stared at him. Help me? She squinted at him but finally shook her head. He knows I know. I don't know how he knows, but he knows. Maybe he heard me talking to his mother. Well, two can play this game, Moonpie. Sheldon was about to open his mouth and tell her that nobody but Meemaw called him moonpie, but stopped just in time.

"Nope." She said, "How was your day? Did you talk to anyone interesting?" Sheldon loaded another washing machine. Well played Penny.

"Well this morning I talked to Leonard, although I didn't find it very interesting. He's very unoriginal. Then Howard and Raj came over and we had a discussion about the new Thor trailer. We discussed it at length, trying to decide how the plot was going to go. There are so many ways they could take this movie. Then my mother called me to discuss banalities of life. Then Leonard wanted to talk about Priya. Now I am talking to you. None of this was very interesting, but there you have it." Sheldon turned back to sort his white clothes. Priya? He wanted to talk about Priya? What new things can he have to s- no. Stop it. He'd trying to distract you.

"So your mother called, how is Mary doing?" Penny sat on the edge of the counter and Sheldon glanced at her.

"She is well. She was doing laundry." He replied. Penny nodded.

"What did you guys talk about?" Sheldon looked over at Penny who stared up at him innocently. Yeah, I'm gonna win this buster. You should just give up. Sheldon looked back at his laundry.

"We talked about many things. My sister, Leonard…like I said, banalities." He knew he was in trouble when Penny did a mental cheer.

"And you didn't talk about anything else?" Sheldon shook his head.

"Nope." He felt his eyes twitch. Gotcha.

"Yes, you did." Penny was grinning now. Sheldon sighed and put his clothes down. He turned to Penny.

"Let's stop playing games, shall we?" Penny looked up at him smugly.

"Gladly. Is there something we should discuss Sheldon?" Sheldon frowned at her.

"Aside from my mothers meddling in things she shouldn't, yes, there is something…" Oh my god. He's really serious. He's going to ask me. She stopped smiling. Sheldon looked down at his feet.

"Penny…" He is so cute. "I was wondering if you would consider a change in our relationship paradigm." Penny stared at him. Was that it? What does that mean?

"A change?" She ventured. Sheldon nodded and stepped forward, gaining confidence.

"Yes. Recently I have begun to realize that my own happiness is somehow hinged on being around you. I feel as if this means that perhaps we should change our paradigm to something more fitting these feelings." He's happy around me? Sheldon was a little startled at her inner question; he hadn't really realized what he had said. But now that it was said, he realized that it was true to a certain extent. He may not have feelings quite as strong as what he had expressed to his mother, but he was happy around Penny. He did enjoy her company. Penny looked up at him.

"You have feelings for me?" She finally asked. I can't really believe this now that I'm hearing it. Sheldon hesitated.

"Yes." No twitch. Penny smiled. Yes! He said yes! This is so strange.

"So what your asking is…?" Just ask me out Sheldon, please, just make this easy… Sheldon took this hint.

"Would you like to go out with me Penny?" Sheldon almost cringed from the decibel of her inner squee. She hopped off the counter and threw her arms around his neck.

"Yes." She whispered in his ear. Sheldon placed his hands tentatively on her waist and allowed himself to smile. He really was happy. How could his feelings have changed this much? He often found Penny barely tolerable. But, he reminded himself, you haven't changed that much. Yes, she is unorganized and she isn't a genius, but he liked those things about her. She was his opposite. She was his missing piece. And she was happy, her thoughts told him that.

And Sheldon realized he liked making Penny happy.

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