Hi all :)
Again, thank you for all of the support by following, favouriting and reviewing. I really enjoy reading your input, so keep it coming. Since this story is from Penny's POV, to better understand Sheldon's motives, listen to Madness by Muse. I also have a 20 page paper due on Tuesday, so I will be giving you Sunday's post now. My next update will likely be the Monday after next.
Enjoy!
Penny swiftly walked out to the party. She effortlessly moved through the crowd back to her table. A waiter passed and she grabbed two glasses of champagne off of his tray, only to down one and put it on the tray of a different passing waiter. Penny approached the table and all of her old friends eyed her. She furrowed her eyebrows at them and took a sip from her glass.
"What?" She nervously asked them. Amy smiled.
"Sheldon came by, he was looking for you." Bernadette answered with a sly smile. Penny couldn't help but smile back. The men looked at her with clueless expressions.
"So where is he now?" Penny asked. Amy pointed over to the far wall.
"He is somewhere in that sea of people. He is busy fulfilling his university schmoozing obligations. He should be back shortly." Amy explained. Penny nodded, surely she would see him before the night was over. Quickly, she sat back down and pulled her phone out of her purse. She reluctently checked her text messages, five from Derek. Fuck.
Penny was getting so caught up with her stupid fantasies, that she forgot about her boyfriend. She quickly scanned the texts. 1. Hey beautiful, can you take a sexy photo. 2. What are you doing babe? 3. Going out with the guys if your borde text me. 4. I'm so horny, where's my picture. 5. Nah, I'm alone tonight :(. Penny wondered where the last text was going. Instead of fuming, she quickly deleted his texts and decided that she was going to have a good time.
She got up from the table and walked over to the bar. The bartender was cute, he must have been a few years younger than her though. His dark brown hair swept across his forehead just above his eyebrow and his eyes were a dark chocolate brown. He smiled at Penny and she smiled back. She was beginning to feel a little tipsy from the three glasses of champagne that she drank.
"Hi, can I get a vodka tonic?" She asked as she drummed her fingernails on the counter. The bartender smiled and catered to Penny. He handed her the drink and Penny quickly drank it down through the little black straw that he so kindly included with the drink.
"Can I have another?" Penny quickly asked. He flashed her a quick smile and nodded. Penny took her drink and sat down while she sipped it.
"You know that guy that this party is for?" Penny asked. She was sure her syntax was becoming fuzzy, but she didn't care.
"Yeah, what about him." The bartender asked.
"I know him. I'm Penny." She said with a slight air of confidence. The bartender smiled at her.
"You're a lucky girl. He seems to be a really smart guy." He quickly said to her. Penny passed him her empty glass and was beginning to feel warm all over.
"I'll tell you a secret. That man is fucking brilliant. He has the IQ of a freaking robot. Smart is an understatement." Penny said as she brushed her hair off of her forehead. The alcohol was going to hit her as soon as she stood up, but she didn't care.
"He must really have feelings for you." He offered. Penny laughed, really hard. She started waiving her hand to stop herself. Her stomach began to hurt and she fought to control herself.
"Who? Sheldon? He doesn't have a deal." Penny said at the tail end of her laugh. The bartender raised his eyebrows at her. Penny smiled, stood up and took a maraschino cherry from the bartender's stock pile, popping it into her mouth and ripping off the stem. Penny gave the kid at the bar a twenty.
"Thanks for the chat, kiddo." Penny said as she turned on her heel. She wasn't stumbling, which was a good sign. She would cool it on the drinks for a while. Penny floated around the party, being her happy entertaining self. She had just enough liquor in her to convince other people that she was interesting and charming. When they found out that she was Penny Miller, they kept telling her how lucky she was. Penny thought it was a running joke between all of the guests.
Penny sat down at her table beside Leonard. She looked over at him and it seemed like he was pretty drunk too. She wondered why he was drinking and chalked it up to not having his own Nobel Prize. She patted his thigh as she watched the people walk about the room. Her attention turned toward him again.
"I was so in love with you. Do you know that? I worshipped the ground you walked on and you didn't even care." Leonard started.
"Penny, when you left for New York, you broke my heart. You ripped it out of my chest and stuck it in a blender." Leonard continued. Penny gave him a look trying to figure out what he was trying to get at.
"What the fuck Leonard? You broke my heart. You couldn't even be supportive!" Penny said as she started to get up. Leonard grasped her arm and coaxed her back down to her seat.
"No no no, I'm not finished. I am thanking you. If you hadn't ended it with me, I would never have got together with the love of my life. No offense. So thanks, Penny." Leonard finished with a soft smile on his face. Penny couldn't help but smile back.
"Well, you're welcome. I think." Penny said. She glanced back at the crowd and back to Leonard. She thought back to Sheldon thanking her. It made her heart swell.
"People keep telling me how lucky I am, is there some kind of joke I'm not in on?" Penny asked. Leonard raised his eyebrows and pursed his lips.
"I don't think so." He stated. Penny huffed and wished she was drunker.
"I don't know what's happening, but I think I have feelings for him." Penny said while looking out into the crowd. Leonard stared blankly at her. She turned her gaze back toward him and his expression was priceless. She couldn't help but laugh.
"You have feelings. For who? Sheldon?" He questioned trying to gain some clarification. Penny rolled her eyes.
"Yes." She simply stated.
"Sheldon Cooper." Leonard stated in disbelief. Penny laughed and playfully hit him in the chest. Leonard made a grunting sound as the wind got knocked out of him. Penny narrowed her eyes at Leonard.
"Yes. Sheldon Cooper." Penny stated again. Leonard looked around the room and let out a sigh.
"I can't say that I'm really surprised. You guys always had like a weird chemistry together." Leonard told her. Penny smiled, that was true. Penny stood up, on a mission to find him. She wasn't sure what she was going to say to him, but she knew she had to see him.
As she walked through the crowd, she carefully scanned the room. Penny walked in between people and failed to locate him. She let out a sigh and walked out the doors to the elevator. This was a bad idea anyway, she was drunk and wasn't thinking clearly. Her mind reminded her that she was thinking this way before she was drunk. Penny shook her head and dug through her purse for her room key.
A shock ran through her body when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She quickly turned around and was face to face with the man who had eluded her all evening. She smiled, his smoldering pale blue eyes seemed to bore holes into her soul. They rendered her speechless, she wasn't sure what to say now that they were standing there, just mere inches apart.
"Hi Penny." Sheldon started. He licked at his lips and offered her a small smile. Penny cleared her throat and searched for the words to say, he was the same man, yet somehow different. The situation changed. People change. Well everyone, except Sheldon.
"Hi." She finally mustered. She felt like a sophomore being chatted up by the quarterback. Except Sheldon was definitely not a quarterback. The quarterback of physics, maybe. Penny blushed, her cheeks felt like they were on fire.
"I've been looking for you." Sheldon told her. Penny nodded while mindlessly chewing at her bottom lip.
"I've been doing the same." Penny confessed. Sheldon offered her the bend of his elbow and Penny graciously took it. They walked to another spot in the hotel, where there were less people and they could talk privately. It felt strange. Penny felt nervous.
Penny kept looking up at Sheldon and Sheldon would catch her eye. She would smile and nervously avert her eyes, blushing. She caught Sheldon smirk, like the kind of smirk he gives people when he bests them at something. Sheldon stopped and stood in front of Penny, her heart fluttered in her chest, like a trapped dove trying to get out of a magician's cage. She licked at her lips and before she could assess the situation, Sheldon had Penny pressed up against the wall with his lips firmly planted on hers.
Penny effortlessly sunk into their kiss and slowly moved her mouth with his. Her hands found their way to the lapels of his black suit jacket and she grasped onto them fearing that she would float away on the river of emotion that flooded over her. Penny parted her lips and Sheldon was quick to explore her waiting mouth with his curious tongue. Penny could taste the alcohol that lingered on his taste buds, she was sure that he could taste it on her too.
"You've been drinking." Penny said softly pushing him away. She suddenly felt guilty, like she was taking advantage of him in some sort of inebriated state. Sheldon brought his lips back down to hers and placed them against hers, barely touching them. Penny held her breath and waited for what seemed like an eternity as Sheldon softly exhaled against her lips. Penny could hear the blood pounding in her ears and she was sure that he could hear it too.
"So have you." Sheldon finally whispered. His lips barely brushed against hers as he spoke. Penny felt an intense shock run down her spine, causing her to shiver. Sheldon kissed her again, softly and slowly. He seemed to be imploring her to divulge her best kept secrets. Penny wrapped her arms around his neck and ran her fingers through his soft hair, lightly scratching her nails at his scalp. Sheldon softly groaned into their kiss. His tongue felt like suede as it tentatively ran against hers. Penny gently pushed him away again and searched his hungry eyes for something to rationalize the situation.
"Sheldon don't you think we should talk about this?" Penny asked. Sheldon grinned at her and placed his lips against her neck. His breath was hot against her soft skin. He gently nibbled along the vein that pulsed along her throat as he worked his fingers into her hair. Penny let her eyes flutter closed. How was it possible that he was making her feel this weak in the knees?
"Penny, I've waited too long.. to waste more time.. thinking and analyzing." He whispered against her neck in between slow burning, agonizing kisses.
"Just go with it." He pleaded. His breath was heavy in her ear. His voice was smooth and reassuring. She couldn't help but agree. Penny quickly nodded her head and Sheldon ran his hands from the nape of her neck, down Penny's soft bare back, stopping at her ass to gently caress her delicate curves. As they kissed, Penny moved them closer to the closest elevator so she could hit the button to go up and she quickly loosened Sheldon's black tie on the way there. The elevator arrived at the ground floor and the two of them quickly pressed inside when the doors opened.
The doors closed and she fumbled to hit the right buttons. The elevator began climbing floor after floor and they couldn't keep their hands off each other. Sheldon pressed her against the mirrored wall and lifted her leg up onto his hip. His hand cautiously wandered up her dress and stopped when it met her garter belt. Sheldon smiled and searched her face. Penny smiled at him and playfully bit her lip.
"You like that?" She coyly asked. Sheldon's eyes were wild. All he could do was nod and continue to search under her dress.
"You know that there are cameras installed in these elevators." Sheldon warned. Penny's eyes darted across his face and she smirked. So he had a deal, and it was quite naughty. Penny pressed her lips against his and playfully bit at his bottom lip, causing him to moan into her mouth.
Penny smiled when the elevator stopped at her floor, the two got off and Penny grasped his hand into hers and led him down the hallway. They walked in silence. She couldn't believe that she was taking Sheldon back to her hotel room. This whole experience was surreal, she felt like she was cheating on her life back home with this fantasy of how things used to be.
She got out her room key and unlocked her door. Penny led him into the room, his hands quickly wrapped around her waist and ran up her body, cupping her bra-less breasts through her dress. Sheldon pressed his hardness against her backside and Penny softly sighed. She unzipped her dress from the side and took Sheldon's wandering hand into hers. Penny led Sheldon to her king size bed, and pushed him onto the mattress.
As she stood in front of him, she couldn't help but think about Derek. It was obvious that she didn't truly care for him. She was considering cheating on him and living with the guilt for the rest of her life. Suddenly the rational part of her brain kicked in. She couldn't do this to Sheldon, she couldn't do this to Derek. Penny pursed her lips together and fought back tears that sat on the edge of her lashes.
"Penny, what's wrong?" Sheldon said sitting up in her bed. His boyish innocence caught her off guard. Tears splashed onto her cheeks and Sheldon quickly stood up wrapping his arms around her and sitting her on the bed. He sat beside her and rubbed at her arms with his hands.
"Penny, please don't cry. Have I done something to offend you?" He naively asked. Penny let out a small laugh through her tears, of course he would think that.
"No, Sheldon. You're fine, you've done everything right. It's me, I'm the one who is doing something wrong." Penny said trying not to sob. How embarrassing.
"Sheldon I have a boyfriend." Penny bluntly said, there was no reason for beating around the bush. Sheldon softly patted her on the back. She expected him to say 'there there'.
"Penny, if you have a boyfriend, why didn't you bring him with you?" Sheldon questioned. Penny shrugged, she didn't quite have an answer. He asked to come and Penny said that he couldn't and that she wasn't allowed to bring a guest. She didn't want him here.
"I don't know, Sheldon, I guess that I just wanted to see everyone as Penny. Not Penny and some guy she's dating." Penny confessed. She tried to laugh through her tears, but her breath hitched in her throat. She quickly realized how pathetic she was sounding.
"You have to go." Penny quickly told him as as she got up and gently guided him to her door. Penny opened the door and Sheldon quickly turned around, he grasped her wrist.
"Penny aren't you at least a bit curious about what could happen between us?" Sheldon softly asked her. The tears stung at her eyes. Of course she was.
"Sheldon, please. I just need you to go." Penny whispered. She hoped that he wouldn't hear her and take her in his arms once more.
Sheldon nodded and left her hotel room, closing the door behind him. Penny let out a confused sob and collapsed against the door. She allowed gravity to take her body to the floor where she cried. Penny felt so confused, she wanted to be with Sheldon, but she already had someone at home. She couldn't do that to Derek. Penny wasn't that kind of girl, she was a nice girl who didn't play around with fire. Penny knew she was in trouble.