A/N: Just a heads up: this is not the last chapter! I'll be posting an epilogue, which will deliver a bit more fluff and also set up the sequel. Sheldon is going to be OOC here, but I think it's Penny's influence on him. Again, all italics here are their thoughts.
Many thanks to everyone for their reviews and support! You make my day!
Today is my birthday and, since I am not doing anything until later, I decided I'd indulge in some of my favorite things: writing, Penny and Sheldon, and "My Fair Lady," none of which are mine! ;)
Chapter Six: Accustomed to Her Face
Penny was furious with him. How dare he play tug-of-war with her feelings? One second, he's all romantic and sexy, going "I can't turn your soul on," and the next, he's all closed off, wanting to be friends!
She growled in frustration when she realized that that was exactly what Professor Higgins was supposed to do. Still, there had been that fleeting glint in his eye…
Penny froze.
Holy crap on a cracker.
Sheldon had caught on! He must've seen that Penny was pushing him! She slapped her forehead, feeling like a dummy.
And that smug, smart bastard decided to push back.
She laughed a little to herself. She was going to have her hands full with Sheldon, that was for sure. Feeling much happier after her realization, she took up Sheldon's former spot off to the side of the stage so she could watch him sing the final number.
. . .
After his initial sense of triumph over outplaying Penny in her little game, Sheldon felt a little flutter of nerves.
What if she doesn't watch me sing now? How am I to let her know of my feelings?
Sheldon blinked.
Oh dear God. Feelings.
He began to sing.
"Damn, damn, damn, damn! I've grown accustomed to her face," he looked to the side of the stage, hoping she would be there.
The warm feeling in Sheldon's chest spread all the way down to his toes when he saw her there, smiling at him. He went on, smiling his gentle smile at her. He would sing this to her, for her, and the audience would be none the wiser, only thinking that Professor Higgins was looking off into space, musing.
"She almost makes the day begin. I've grown accustomed to the tune that she whistles night and noon," he sent a small glare Penny's way, who giggled, clearly remembering his "no whistling" rule. Sheldon smirked.
"Her smiles, her frowns, her ups, her downs are second nature to me now, like breathing out and breathing in," he paused thoughtfully. "I was serenely independent and content before we met. Surely I could always be that way again. And yet, I've grown accustomed to her looks, accustomed to her voice, accustomed to her face."
He sent an admonishing look Penny's way. "Marry Freddy," he spat out. "What an infantile idea! What a heartless, wicked, brainless thing to do. But she'll regret it. She'll regret it."
Penny was clearly flushed.
We must both be thinking of that absurd, unwelcome kiss the stupid blackguard forced on her.
Sheldon remembered how that had made him feel earlier and how she had subsequently toyed with him and decided that he wanted just a little bit more of his own back.
He shot an ambiguous look in Penny's direction.
Just one more bazinga, my Eliza.
"I can see her now, Mrs. Freddy Eysnford-Hill! In a wretched little flat above a store, I can see her now, not a penny in the till, and a bill collector beating at the door. She'll try to teach the things I taught her and end up selling flowers instead, begging for her bread and water, while her husband has his breakfast in bed."
He put his hands behind his back and began to pace, caught up in the moment.
"In a year or so when she's prematurely gray, and the blossom in her cheek has turned to chalk, she'll come home and, lo, he'll have upped and run away with a social-climbing heiress from New York. Poor Eliza. How simply frightful! How humiliating!" he stopped and faced the audience, who laughed when he threw up his hands and cried "How delightful!"
Sheldon took up his rant again. "How poignant it will be on that inevitable night, when she hammers on my door in tears and rags, miserable and lonely, repentant and contrite. Will I take her in or hurl her to the wolves? Give her kindness or the treatment she deserves? Will I take her back or throw the baggage out?"
He stopped again and went on more softly. "Well, I'm a most forgiving man, the sort who never could, ever would, take a position and staunchly never budge; a most forgiving man."
He looked toward Penny again and got in one last barb.
"But I shall never take her back, if she were crawling on her knees. Let her promise to atone, let her shiver, let her moan. I'll slam the door and let the hellcat freeze!"
He stopped short when he saw the confused look on Penny's face. His shoulders slumped. Suddenly, getting some of his own back seemed rather pointless.
He barely breathed out his next line.
"Marry Freddy."
Sheldon paused. He thought of what his life would be like if Penny were not around.
For one thing, it would be much more peaceful.
He looked into her wide, hopeful eyes and knew exactly what things would really be like without her.
Peaceful, but empty.
He shook his head, feeling a great sense of awe and respect for the woman before him. She was not a college graduate. She was not even particularly learned. She knew next to nothing about science or comic books. Her home was a swirling vortex of entropy. She invaded his personal space. She touched his food…
But she was the most important, precious person in his world.
Well, other than Mee-Maw, anyway.
She kept him on his toes with their sparring. She made him laugh. She took him for exactly who and what he was, no questions asked. She was beautiful, inside and out.
And she seems to care for me as I do her.
Sheldon sighed wearily under the weight of this immense realization. Penny was a pistol. He was going to have his hands full. He finished his song, feeling humbled by the power of this woman who had evoked such changes within him.
"But I'm so used to hear her say 'Good morning' everyday. Her joys, her woes, her highs, her lows, are second nature to me now, like breathing out and breathing in. I'm very grateful she's a woman, and so easy to forget, rather like a habit one can always break. And yet I've grown accustomed to the trace of something in the air, accustomed to her face."
He saw Penny brush a tear from her cheek as she left to take her place for Eliza's homecoming.
Sheldon gulped nervously.
Perhaps I've crossed another line?
. . .
Penny could see the wheels turning in Sheldon's head as he sang.
What is he thinking? She mused.
When he shot her a weird, vague look, she didn't know what to make of it.
Then he had started the Professor's rant. Penny watched him, feeling more and more confused.
I hope he's still not mad.
He kept getting angrier and angrier as he sang, and when he whipped around to look at her again her heart stopped.
I must've really hurt him.
She started to feel like a total heel, but then she noticed Sheldon's face change. Now he looked confused.
He stood there for a moment, just looking at her.
"Marry Freddy," he breathed. Penny had never seen him look so sad, and then puzzled, and then…
She blushed.
There was that look of his again.
Sheldon's eyes were blazing, like he was looking into her soul again.
How does he do that? She wondered.
No one had ever looked at her like that. Like she was more than just a pretty face. Like she was someone to be cherished. Like she really mattered in some deeply important way. Like…like they really and truly loved her.
She felt a deep sense of honor at the thought that he cared for her. Tears welled up in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks as Sheldon sang his final notes.
The music flared up and she moved to take her place, wiping her tears and feeling deliriously happy.
. . .
Sheldon felt very odd in those final moments before Penny showed up. He fumbled with the gramophone that the Professor was supposed to play Eliza's voice on, wondering how he could atone for making Penny cry.
Then she came on stage and Sheldon's worries vanished. She was radiant and beaming, looking just like the Penny he had come to care for so much.
"I've come for lessons, I 'ave. I washed my face and 'ands before I come, I did," she said softly, smiling at him beatifically.
Sheldon's heart soared.
"Eliza, where the devil are my slippers?"
They smiled hugely as the lights came down, the curtain closed, and the audience erupted into cheers and applause.
Penny flew to him, embraced him, and then raised a trembling hand to his cheek.
Sheldon, surprising them both, turned his face, took her hand, and placed a lingering kiss on the inside of her wrist.
Penny was looking at him with blazing eyes.
"Penny, you were magnificent."