A/N: Things are going to get a little rocky for our favorite pair, but fear not, all shall be well! Sheldon's going to continue with some OOC behavior, but some of his typical eccentricities are going to show up as well and botch things up a bit. I've also done some major condensing of lines here, to fit with the story arc.

Thanks again to everyone who has reviewed. You guys are the best!

This chapter is dedicated to Life4DemiMeg, for the brilliant suggestion of applying the dialogue from "My Fair Lady" to what's going on between our actors!

I own nothing that appears here, save the plot!

Chapter Four: What's to become of me?

Penny wasn't sure how exactly she got through the moments leading up to the Embassy Ball, but the time had finally arrived for her to dance with Sheldon again. She was so excited she could hardly breathe. She stepped into the circle of Sheldon's arms and the dance began.

Right away she knew something was off. He was saying all of his lines and he sounded fine, but Sheldon wasn't really looking at her. His eye was twitching again too.

Without being too obvious about it, Penny tried to follow his line of sight. When she finally pinpointed where he was looking, it took all of her willpower to suppress an aggravated sigh.

Sheldon was looking straight at Josh, who was doubling as the Hungarian ambassador tonight and would shortly be cutting into their dance. She felt a little freaked out when she noticed that Josh was devouring her with his eyes, completely oblivious to Sheldon's stare.

It was then that something clicked into place in Penny's head. Sheldon had been jealous earlier. She had wondered what he meant by 'Don't fall in love with Freddy.' Now that she knew, she tried to tell Sheldon with her eyes that everything was fine, no need to worry on that account. He still wasn't looking at her though.

When he handed her off to Josh, Sheldon's eyes were cold as ice and his jaw was set.

. . .

It happened in the brief moments when the crew was changing scenes. Josh pulled Penny backstage and threw himself at her, crushing her lips with his.

Penny pushed him away and slapped him as hard as she could.

"Don't you touch me! We discussed this! I'm not interested, you bastard, so back off!" The look on her face was Junior Rodeo angry. Josh took his chance at life and hurried away before Penny could really slug him.

Penny had to hurry off too to take her place for the next scene. She never noticed Sheldon, who had come to be near her and who had stormed away, hurt and embarrassed, when he had seen Penny and Josh kissing.

. . .

The warm feeling in Sheldon's chest had turned to ice. He didn't know why it bothered him so much to see Penny kissing someone else. She wasn't his property (even Sheldon knew that would be crossing a major line), and it wasn't like they had established a romantic paradigm between themselves. She had every right to kiss whomever she wanted.

Perhaps he had misinterpreted her actions this evening. Penny was an affectionate person. It was within the realm of possibility that she had simply been engaging in acts of friendship with him. Yes, that must have been it. Of course she liked "Freddy." He appeared to fulfill the usual specifications that she seemed to require in a mate. Yes, it was perfectly clear now. Penny was Sheldon's friend, and nothing more.

His chest still felt hollow and cold though.

. . .

It was time for Eliza to confront Professor Higgins about her future. Penny was excited. This was a big scene. She was ready to just move on from the ugliness of the last few minutes and enjoy herself again. Sheldon came into view and she knew it was go time.

"What the devil have I done with my slippers?"

Penny threw his slippers at him like she was supposed to. She channeled the anger she was feeling at Josh into Eliza's anger.

"Here are your slippers! Take your slippers, and may you never have a day's luck with them!"

Sheldon narrowly avoided being hit by the slippers and glared at Penny. She felt confused again. Higgins wasn't supposed to be really angry, not just yet anyway. But, the look on Sheldon's face was furious.

The scene went on for a few more minutes, with the former flower girl and the professor arguing back and forth. Sheldon was still just a little too realistically angry for her liking.

When he told her to 'Sit down and be quiet!' it was forceful enough to scare her just a bit.

When he got to the bit where Higgins tells Eliza that 'she might marry,' he said it so bitterly that something finally kicked into place for Penny.

Sheldon had seen Josh kissing her.

Her stomach churned.

Sheldon was so angry because he hadn't seen her slap Josh.

He was still being jealous. Penny knew that some of his anger probably came from not understanding why he was jealous, either.

She tried to communicate with him through her eyes again, but Sheldon was just too far gone. It wasn't doing any good.

When they reached the part where Eliza thinks Higgins is going to hit her and cries out, Sheldon exploded.

"It's you who've hit me! You've wounded me to the heart," he spit out. His face was red with anger. He paused and then said, confused: "You've caused me to lose my temper. That's hardly happened to me before."

Penny felt a stab of pity for him, but it didn't last very long. As their "argument" went on, she started to get mad too. Sheldon had no right to be freaking out like this! He hadn't even given her a chance to explain herself and he was acting like a kid who'd gotten his favorite toy taken away.

She let all of her anger out when it came time for Eliza to hiss "Leave your own note for Mrs. Pearce about the coffee, for it won't be done by me!"

Sheldon roared "DAMN MRS. PEARCE, DAMN THE COFFEE, AND DAMN YOU! Damn my own folly for having lavished my hard-earned knowledge and the treasure of my regard and intimacy on a heartless guttersnipe!" before storming off the stage.

As the lights went dark on the scene, the audience broke into thunderous applause. Penny was glad, because that way they couldn't hear the forlorn sob that escaped her throat.

. . .

Backstage, Sheldon was already feeling contrite. He had noticed that Penny had perceived his anger and responded accordingly, but he had done nothing to restrain himself. He had not even waited to give Penny a chance to explain before unleashing his irrational anger.

When she strode furiously up to him, he was not surprised.

"Sheldon, what the hell was that!"

Although he certainly felt very ashamed of his behavior, he also had no idea how to atone or apologize. He opted to just stay quiet.

Penny huffed angrily.

"Fine! I'll talk! I'm guessing you saw the stunt Josh pulled. I'm also guessing that you didn't see me smack the daylights out of him!"

"No, no I didn't," he muttered, eyes locked to the floor. He didn't like whatever he was feeling right now. It was like he had eaten undercooked food and was now suffering the gastrointestinal consequences.

Penny plunged on.

"Next time, why don't you check your facts before you go all Sheldon and clam up on me!"

He spoke up before he was even really sure what he was doing.

"Penny, when I saw him kiss you it felt like the floor dropped out from under me! I can't adequately explain myself, but I don't like him! And I don't like that I can't explain it!"

He was breathing hard, his eyes wide with fear.

. . .

It was Penny's turn to feel sorry. She shouldn't have flipped out on him earlier, and she knew it. Sheldon wasn't good with emotions, and she should have shown a little more respect for that. She sighed heavily, remembering the heartbroken look on his face at the end of the last scene.

"Sheldon, I'm…"

The music for the opening of the next scene started up, cutting her off. She had to go, and now, or she would throw off the entire thing. She shot Sheldon an apologetic look before running off, leaving him looking lost and flustered.