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Penny sat on Sheldon's couch in her t-shirt and panties as they finished their movie. Sheldon had his arm wrapped around the girl who could not yet be his and she gently rested her head on the shoulder of the guy who had always been right under her nose. It was like no time had passed and she was just watching a movie before she had to go to bed across the hall.
"Do you remember when you met me?" Penny asked as they watched Korben Dallas trying to save the Diva's life. Sheldon glanced away from the television to look at Penny who still had her eyes fixed on the scene unfolding in front of her.
"Penny, I have an eidetic memory, I can remember the lunch my mother packed for me on the first day of kindergarten. It was a peanut butter and jam sandwich, strawberry jam not raspberry which was disappointing, the crusts were cut off, but she missed one side. Frankie Brown was allergic to peanuts and he stole my sandwich. The teacher had to-"
"Sheldon. I know you have a super memory. Tell me about the day you met me." Penny interrupted, not wanting to hear about Frankie Brown. Sheldon nodded.
"Well, you moved in on a Saturday. Leonard and I had the day off and we went to the high IQ sperm bank to donate for extra money so we could get the capability for faster downloads in the apartment, but I couldn't live with some woman hoping that my sperm would give her high IQ offspring, so I made Leonard drive me home." He started. Penny stifled a laugh, only they would want to sell their bodily fluids for faster downloads.
"Then when we came home, we noticed you unpacking your things with your door open. I suddenly felt shy and when Leonard approached you I felt uneasy. You were wearing a blue t-shirt and denim cut off shorts. Your hair was roughly the same length that it is now and even though you thought you didn't smell good, you smelled like green apples." Sheldon continued. Penny smiled when she recalled taking over their shower.
"It wasn't until you asked me if I was one of those beautiful mind genius guys, that I felt insanely attracted to you. I wanted to show you the inner workings of the universe. I didn't know what to say, so I just said yeah. Then Leonard worked his way into our moment, and I knew that I had to stay true to my work." Sheldon finished. Penny grinned when she thought about that. Something about talking to a super smart genius got her motor running.
"You want to know something?" Penny asked.
"Yeah." Sheldon playfully answered. Penny smirked.
"It's always been you. I'm just realizing it, but it has. If you would have asked me out back then, I would have said yes. When you did ask me out, I didn't say yes for Amy's sake. I couldn't do that to her." Penny confessed. Sheldon softly kissed the top of her head through her blond hair.
"You understand why I didn't pursue you, right?" Sheldon asked as he threaded his fingers into hers. Penny pressed her temple into his shoulder.
"Yes." She softly answered. The two sat quietly while holding hands, watching the conclusion of the movie that they really didn't watch.
"I have to go back, you know that, right?" Penny asked. Sheldon nodded.
"I do." He replied. Penny felt her heart break. She didn't want to leave, everything seemed to be falling into place but it was too late.
"Tell me about your life in New York." Sheldon asked. Penny sighed. New York, the place where she grew into her career as a stage actress.
"Well, I live in a studio apartment in Chelsea and I am currently employed with a theatre group that produces quite a few Broadway plays. I have a cat named George. He's the cutest cat you've ever seen. I really miss him." Penny finished, feeling sad about leaving her furry friend in New York. Sheldon rubbed at her arm and kissed her cheek.
"When do you go back?" He asked. Penny didn't want to tell him. She wanted to stay on that couch forever.
"I'm leaving tomorrow. I booked a flight for 10 am." Penny stated. She tried not to sound sad. It was hard not to. Sheldon placed his hand on her cheek and turned her face toward his. He pressed his forehead against hers and softly kissed her lips. Penny felt the tears strain against her eyelashes. She wasn't going to cry. Penny pulled away and tried to hide her shining eyes from him.
"Can I see you off tomorrow?" He quickly asked. Penny looked at him and offered a half smile.
"I thought you didn't like good byes and weepy displays of emotion." Penny countered. Sheldon smirked.
"I don't." Sheldon stated.
"But that doesn't mean that I don't want to see you before you go." Sheldon told her. Penny smiled and sat up from the couch, pulling her pants onto her body. She grabbed the rest of her things and walked toward his door.
"I wouldn't say no to that. I have to go. Good night, Sheldon." Penny said as she gripped the door handle. Sheldon sat up straighter in his spot.
"Good night, Penny." He said. Penny left and briskly walked down the stairs. This was the last thing she needed. She didn't want her mind to be filled up with everything that Sheldon turned out to be. Even if she didn't want it, it was too late. He was going to be with her for the rest of her days, haunting her. Penny brushed a tear that escaped her eyelashes off of her cheek.
Penny got into her car and drove back to the hotel. Sheldon plagued her thoughts, the softness of his tongue lingered on her, the scent of him teased her when she packed her suitcase, and the sincerity of his words would echo in her ears for days to come.
Just go with it.
Penny got ready for bed, she would just have to try and put him out of her mind and tomorrow she could get back to her own life. Tomorrow was a new day.
oOoOoOoOoOo
Penny waited at her gate, Sheldon never showed. She felt hurt and betrayed. Penny boarded her flight and tried to forget about this weekend. Things were never going to be the same, not while Sheldon was in Pasadena, not while she was here. She decided that when she got home, she would just try to forget. She would stop with the emails, scrap her play, try to forget Sheldon's intoxicating scent and his blue eyes and his surprisingly strong forearms. Penny willed herself to snap out of it.
For the rest of the flight, she watched The Holiday with Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet, ignoring him. She was ignoring the fact that he swept her off her feet too late and ignoring the fact that she wanted to know more about him, even though she knew more than she needed to know and ignoring the fact that he didn't show up. Penny huffed, closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
When she arrived, she got off the plane, collected her luggage and hailed a cab. Penny watched the busy New Yorkers scatter about on the sidewalk. Everyone was in a rush here. The cab pulled up to her apartment building and she quickly got out of the cab. After getting her things from the trunk, she got onto the elevator and made her way to her apartment.
Penny unlocked her door and pressed inside. Her cat attacked her legs with snuggles as she tried to wheel her luggage toward her bed. Penny picked up her cat and snuggled him. It seemed like she was gone for a year instead of a weekend.
"I have to make one more stop before I can settle in for cuddles. I'll be back before you know it." Penny told George. George meowed at her in protest, but Penny didn't listen, she walked out the door and took the elevator down to the lobby. Penny hailed another cab and requested to be taken to an apartment building on the upper west side.
After the cab stopped, Penny paid the driver and got out. She stood in front of Derek's apartment building and let out a sigh. It was now or never. Confess your sins. Penny trudged up the stairs and caught the door as someone was coming out. She made her way through the building and stood in front of the door.
Penny quietly knocked on the door and waited. Her stomach was filled with guilty nervous knots. Though she really didn't want to face him, she couldn't wait to get it out in the open. Penny Miller was a cheater. The quicker she could end this sham of a relationship, the sooner she could get back to being Penny. The door opened and money was being offered to her. Penny frowned. Derek stood before her in a bed sheet.
"Penny! Hey! I thought you were the pizza guy." He sheepishly confessed. Penny sighed and pursed her lips together. Confessing was going to be harder than she thought.
"Derek can I come in? I have to talk to you, it's really important." Penny said as she tried to push past him. Derek leaned against the door jam, blocking her from entering the apartment.
"Actually, now isn't really a good time. Can we talk about whatever you have to talk about tomorrow?" He said, almost pleading for her to go away. Penny gave him a puzzled look, but figured out what was going on when she saw a woman's arm wrap around his waist.
"Derek come back inside, I'm starving!" The woman said as she tweaked his nipple and slipped back into the apartment. Penny nodded her head at the situation, of course this would happen to her. At least she wasn't the only guilty one, she kind of felt relieved. Penny turned on her heel and began walking down the hallway.
"Penny wait.." Derek called to her. Penny ignored him. She walked down the stairwell instead of taking the elevator. As she fled down the stairs, she let out a breath she was holding. At least she avoided having a really shitty conversation with a guy who she thought she knew, but as it turns out she never really knew at all.
As Penny walked down the street, waiting for a cab to come along, she felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of her. It was almost as if the events that transpired were giving her a serendipitous alternative. The realization that she avoided an almost unavoidable circumstance, it didn't change things. Sheldon lived on the other side of the country and he failed to see her off when she left. Penny sighed as she flagged down a cab and headed home.
Penny settled into her apartment. She turned on the tv and watched some garbage show on MTV, snuggling with George the tabby cat. She told him about her trip to Pasadena, California, where her knight in shining armor had hopefully not forgotten about her, even if she wanted nothin more than to forget about him. As she told him stories, she began to feel groggy and she eventually fell asleep with the tv on.
The morning light trickled into her bedroom. Penny luckily had the day off, she really didn't want to go back to work anyway. Penny rolled over onto her stomach and checked her phone. She had an unread email, and two text messages, one from Sheldon and one from Amy. Butterflies filled her stomach as she unlocked her phone to check the text from Sheldon.
Penny, please accept my deepest apologies for not seeing you off, I got called into a work meeting and I was unable to postpone it. It was good to see you.
Penny sighed, she wasn't sure what she was going to do, so she didn't reply, even though he could clearly see that she had read his text. Penny moved onto the text from Amy.
Bestie, what happened the other night!? I was under the impression that you had a boyfriend.
Penny smirked at her friend's text. Amy was right to be curious, but Penny didn't want to divulge too much information.
I did. It ended when I found him in bed with another woman.
Penny quickly sent her text message and then checked her email. It was from Nina. Penny sat up in her bed like a bolt of lightning ran up her spine. She opened the email and began to read.
From: ninasmith
Date: 8:33 am; December 20, 2016
To: pennyblossom
Hi Penny,
I brought your idea to a few executives at CBS and they want to explore your idea further. They want a script to work with, hopefully you have something prepared. I will be awaiting your response.
Cheers,
Nina
Penny stared at the email from her former agent. She was sure this had to be some kind of joke, and a tasteless one at that. Penny's phone chimed with Amy's ringtone. She flipped over to her texts
Oh no! That is just terrible bestie. If I were there, I would make you a hot beverage and allow you to take comfort in my waiting arms. He obviously doesn't know what he is missing. On an unrelated note, a little birdie told me that you confessed your unbridled love for a physicist who may or may not live across the hall from Leonard and I.
Penny laughed when she read the message. Of course Amy would say something like that. Penny felt overwhelmed. There was a chance that she could move back to Pasadena if this whole sitcom thing panned out. She needed to make sure she was doing it for the right reasons. It needed it to be for her, not anyone else, even if they were one of the smartest of men in America. Penny ignored her text from Amy and replied to Nina's email on her laptop.
Hi Nina,
That's great to hear. Please see attached the first draft of the pilot for Big Bang.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Penny
Penny quickly sent off the email and returned to Sheldon's text message. She thought about how she was going to approach it.
I understand why you couldn't have been there. You should have called.
Penny smiled. Perhaps this was going to work out. Maybe it was possible that she could have it all. She quickly returned to Amy's text.
Sheldon and I watched a movie. On an unrelated note did you hear back from your realtor?
Penny waited for them to text her back. She really didn't want to get out of bed, but since her neighbor wasn't coming to make sure her cat wasn't going to die, she got up to feed George. Penny took a shower and got ready for the day, she thought that maybe she could go get a coffee and curl up with a book and watch the snow fall. She smiled as she pulled a cozy sweater over her head and checked her phone again. She clicked on Amy's text.
Actually we did, we can take possession next week because it's a fast sale, but I don't know what to do about the apartment. We've already paid for this month and next month.
Penny's eyes grew wide. She thought that maybe even if the whole sitcom thing fell through, she could take a chance. Now that she had some experience in theatre, maybe she could actually get somewhere in LA. Even if she couldn't get a job in show business, maybe she could get an office job as a receptionist somewhere. She then checked Sheldon's text.
I know I should have called. If you let me, I can make it up to you.
Penny was intrigued by his proposition. How could a man who lived almost 2500 miles away make it up to her.
How?
She hit send. As quickly as she sent the text she was receiving his response.
I'll wait.
Penny's heart skipped a beat and butterflies filled her stomach, she couldn't believe it. She was going to move back to Pasadena. Penny smiled to herself and quickly texted Amy.
I'll take the apartment off your hands. I can send you the rent money and when I get there we can deal with switching the lease over. I'll just need you to let the moving guys in when they come. I'll send you more deets later. Can you just keep this between us? I am doing this for me, not a physicist that may or may not live across the hall from you.
Penny wasn't sure she was ready, but she didn't care. She needed a breath of fresh air and as good as New York had been to her, she needed something else, something familiar. Penny picked up her cat and danced with him in her apartment singing 'Going to California' by Wave.