I hope your weekends were splendid! I'm going to be bogged down again with papers, but I will try to update at least once next week (Mon-Sun). Reviews are appreciated.

Enjoy!

The rest of the weekend raced by, Penny fought off her cold and Sheldon avoided her. He didn't want to risk further contamination as he was already feeling a persistent tickle in his throat, so after dousing himself with vitamin c and receiving confirmation that Howard was not sick, he spent Sunday with the boys playing paintball.

Penny spent her Sunday and half of her Monday in front of the tv watching chick flicks in her pajamas and nursing herself back to health. In the early afternoon Penny received a call from Cal-tech. They offered her the administrative assistant position and asked if she could start the following Monday. Penny accepted their offer and she tried to play down her excitement, but couldn't help smiling into the phone.

She hung up the phone and quickly rattled a text off to her physicist boyfriend who was probably busy at work, thinking about stuff.

Hey. Guess what.

Penny set down her phone and began cleaning up her little sick-induced nest around the couch. She heard Sheldon's light saber ring tone sound and after she tossed her tissues in the trash, she grabbed her phone from the coffee table to read his reply.

You're not really Penny, you're a rogue time traveling shape shifter and you've traveled back in time to convince me to come with you to Boston to assist Walter Bishop in a Fringe Division case?

Penny let out a loud drawn out sigh. She shook her head as she typed on her touch screen.

No.

Her phone buzzed in her hands. She didn't understand how he seemed to not grasp the concept of sarcasm, yet could unintentionally administer it without even trying. Maybe that wasn't sarcasm, maybe that was just Sheldon.

The probability of me correctly guessing what you are going to tell me is astronomical in a world of infinite possibilities. Would you consider just telling me?

Penny smiled, he could be so convincing.

I got a job as an admin assistant. I start next Monday.

She looked at their previous text conversations as she waited for him to reply. It was funny how he flirted. He talked about science, but in a different way. It was almost as if he was softening it for her. Penny's phone buzzed.

Good! Though it's not in your respective field, I'm sure you will perform admirably. On a separate subject, I would like to reschedule our date that was annulled due to your illness.

Penny grinned. She had originally planned for them to go to Travel Town, an outdoor train museum. She wanted to see the look on his face when she told him where they were going.

Yes! How about Saturday? I promise I won't be sick again.

Sheldon quickly texted her back.

It's a date. I trust that you will keep my interests in mind

After fighting off a smirk, she wondered what he thought they were going to do. She couldn't wait. Penny bit at her lip while typing out her suggestive response.

Don't worry, I will keep all of your interests in mind. Do you know what date 3 implies?

Penny pressed her lips together. She couldn't stop thinking about their make out session on his couch last week. He was invading her dreams. It was bad. She woke up in the early mornings with her heart pounding and the feeling of his lips on her body, but sadly they were always just dreams. She longed to feel his mouth on her most intimate area again.

I am lead to believe that the third date suggests that there will be coitus or perhaps some heavy petting at the close of the evening. However, aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself? After all, this will only be our second date.

As she read over his text, she felt her heart rate accelerate a little bit. The suggestion of heavy petting with Sheldon was making her heart go pitter patter. It raced at the thought of him suggesting they have sex.

First off, it's sex. Not coitus. Secondly, Saturday was kind of like a date. We had lunch, talked, and you even spent the night. That sounds like a date to me.

Penny smiled at her reasoning. She could pretty much justify anything. Sheldon texted back.

Penny, I was taking care of you while you were sick. I wouldn't classify that as a date. However I do appreciate your attempt at contextomy and I will concede that it was half of a date.

Penny quickly looked up the definition of contextomy on her phone and found that it was talking out of context. She grinned at his offering of a half of a date. There was no way that she was going to not take his offer. Sheldon quickly sent off another text.

I have to get back to work. The mysteries of the universe aren't going to solve themselves. xx

Penny studied the end of his text. Sheldon has never sent her an email or text that had not gone through rigorous spell checking. Penny's curiosity got the best of her.

What's xx?

Sheldon quickly responded.

They're kisses…

As she imagined the look of confusion that was surely adorning his soft features, he followed up his text with a link to a Wikipedia article about the disambiguation of XOXO. Penny couldn't help but swell with emotions. She was starting to realize that she was falling in love with him. She could never tell him though. She felt a cold tingle run down her spine and she shook out the memories that assaulted her mind. Penny continued to clean her apartment, allowing her mind to wander to better places every so often.

o.o.o.o.o.o

Penny walked through a dark hallway toward a door. The light that shone underneath created an illuminated path. Silence consumed her. The sound of the soles of her sweaty feet sticking to the floor conquered her ears. Her hand reached out for the door knob. It seemed to burn brightly in the darkness. Her fingertips gently grazed the cold metal. It was delicate and felt like it would crumble under her touch. Penny slowly twisted the soft gold fixture and pressed through the door.

Her eyes slowly adjusted to the bright light. Green pastures and trees came through the light. The colors were vivid and filled her with intense joy. Penny slowly walked across the pasture. The blades of grass were sharp against her bare feet. The air smelled sweet, like it had just rained. A figure in the distance came into view and she felt the urge to run toward it.

Penny began to sprint across the pasture, quickly enclosing on the figure. The wind rushed past her and her hair whipped across her face. Her gaze intensified on the figure as she moved closer toward it. Her lungs burned as she ran, but she pressed on. Her pulse was thick and heavy and took over her throat. She felt like she was swallowing her own heart.

The figure became clearer. Penny slowed down and walked toward a man. He was tall and his hair was dark. He had his back turned toward her and he was looking out on the horizon. Penny slowly approached him. As she got closer he seemed to get younger. Penny was soon standing behind a boy who was no older than fifteen.

She hesitated to reach her hand out to touch him, but her fingers slowly inched toward his shoulder. Before she could touch him, he turned around. It was Sheldon. He smiled at her and grasped her hand. Penny searched his face just as he had searched the horizon. She slowly brought her hand to his cheek and brushed her thumb across his full bottom lip. His bright blue eyes were full of sorrow and longing. He gently kissed the heel of her palm.

"It's not safe here." He said to her. Penny looked around. It was just the two of them. Birds flitted about in the oak tree that was rooted into the earth about ten feet away.

"Sheldon, I love you." She softly said. He gripped her hand tighter as his eyes flicked to something behind her.

"I'm sorry Penny." He said more urgently. Penny felt her other wrist being forcefully gripped. Her heart pounded and her veins filled with adrenaline.

As the force dragged her away, she fought to hold onto his hand. There was nothing he could do.

"I'm sorry Penny." He called out after her. Penny watched as he became smaller and smaller as she was being dragged further and further away. Penny closed her eyes and when she opened them again, she was sitting on a cold stone floor. The only light in the room was coming from a small window on the ceiling.

"Say it." A familiar voice said. Penny felt her eyes fill with tears. Her head jerked back at the force of the back of his hand connecting with her cheek.

"SAY IT!" He bellowed. Penny's voice hitched in her throat. As he raised his hand to her again.

"I love you Kurt." Penny spat.

Penny woke with a shriek stuck in her throat. She fought to push off the blankets that were suffocating her. She let out a sob as she clutched her knees to her chest. Her vision became blurry with tears, she let them fall freely to her pillow. Penny sat up and glanced at the clock, it was 4:23. She slowly rocked on the mattress and as she let out a breath she had been holding, she tried her best to forget that dream. She knew it was not real, not anymore. She was far away from the hands of her ex-boyfriend Kurt. Though he didn't hit her or punch her, like in her dreams, he did often belittle her and pinch her hard enough to leave bruises behind.

It didn't matter if that was no longer her reality, that dream felt real, her emotions were real. Penny brushed the tears off her face with her fingers and sprang out of bed. She quickly walked out to her quiet living room and checked that she was securely locked inside. She gently touched the deadbolt. It was cold and solid. It was not going to fail her. Penny felt her entire body buzzing, she took a few heavy breaths and walked back to bed.

The harder she tried to shake it, the more of the dream she remembered. The more she remembered, the sicker she felt. Kurt ruined love for her. Every time she felt like she could love someone, she would have these horrible dreams reminding her of the last and only time she told another person she loved them. Surely, she could overcome her deepest fears and darkest secrets. She had to. If she couldn't, where would that leave her?

Penny laid down in her bed that had gone cold. She reached out and softly pet her small companion that lay dead asleep in her bed. He sleepily stretched out and then relaxed back into his deep slumber. Penny wished that it could be that easy for her. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw a made up adolescent Sheldon apologizing to her. It was comforting, but unsettling at the same time. Penny closed her eyes and thought about Soft Kitty. She softly sang the comforting song until she felt sleepy enough to try to go back to sleep.