Hi all,
Sorry for not posting last week, it has been crazy and it will continue to be crazy for the next little while. I know that this may seem a little out of the blue, but the next chapter will be the last one. Thanks again for reading, reviewing, following and favouriting.
Enjoy!
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Article 1: General Terms and Conditions
Section A: Agreement Parameters
This agreement is constituent on the premise that Sheldon Cooper is caring for and nurturing Penelope Miller back to health. Penelope is to agree to and abide by the rules outlined in this agreement.
Subsection i: Temporary Guests are to include:
a) Penny Miller
Subsection ii: Pets are not to be permitted, with the exception of Penelope's feline companion:
a) George (the cat)
b) George (the cat) will be temporarily renamed to either:
i) Wally West
ii) Barry Allen
iii) Jay Garrick
Section B: Disagreements
Subsection i: Tie-Breaking is reserved for Sheldon Cooper. In the event of the tie, Sheldon Cooper will hold the power to break the tie.
Penny looked up from the agreement and watched Sheldon quietly work out his problem on his white board. Her eyes drifted back to his ridiculous agreement, she let out an exasperated sigh and picked up her laptop from the coffee table. Sheldon continued to scratch symbols and numbers into his long equation.
"Penny, I don't hear you reading." He chided, not bothering to turn around. Penny glanced up from her the Google page that she opened up and narrowed her eyes at the back of his head.
"I don't hear you reading." She mimicked back, causing him to turn around. Penny and Sheldon stared at each other for a moment before they both turned back to what they were doing. Penny smirked to herself, she liked pushing his buttons sometimes.
After searching around the web for an alternative to a written agreement, Penny gave up. She didn't understand the mumbo-jumbo lawyer-speak that was laid out on the web pages she was visiting and she really didn't feel much like trying to understand it. Penny quietly watched him as he worked. She wondered what he was thinking about while he was trying to solve the mysteries of the universe. Sheldon must have felt her watching him because he turned around to meet her gaze again. Penny smiled up at him from the couch.
"Sheldon, I love you, you know that right?" She sweetly asked. He couldn't help but return her smile. He capped his marker and placed it on the coffee table.
"Of course I do." He replied as he sat on the arm of the sofa. Penny reached her right arm across her body and placed her hand on his thigh.
"I was thinking that we could just have like a verbal agreement." Penny softly said. Sheldon placed his hand on hers, he tried his best to combat the twitch that tugged at the corner of his eye.
"Penny, the premise of a written agreement is to have something solid and concrete that both parties can refer back to if need be. I promise that it will be beneficial to both parties and that it will protect both of our interests." Sheldon explained. Penny looked away from his pale blue eyes and thought about how to counter his stubbornness.
She quickly picked up his agreement, ripped off the cover page and began writing on the back of it with the pen that Sheldon provided for signing purposes. Sheldon made a noise letting Penny know that she had desecrated his document. This made her smile.
I, Penny Miller agree to be on my best behavior [and at Sheldon's request, my worst ;)] and will do my best to make this experience pleasant for Sheldon Cooper.
She grinned harder and continued to write.
I also agree to do my best not to upset Sheldon's equilibrium while staying in his home.
Penelope Miller
After she jotted down her pledge to him, she signed it off with little hearts. She promptly handed over the paper to Sheldon who took the paper from her without hesitation. He smiled at her attempt at a written agreement and placed a kiss on her forehead.
"Sheldon, I promise I'll be good. I pinky swear." Penny said as she thrust her pinky toward Sheldon. Sheldon looked at her hand, utterly confused by her gesture. Penny sighed, grabbed his hand and put it into position. She locked her pinky around his and squeezed it tightly. Sheldon licked at his lips and his eyes darted across her face.
"I'm fairly certain that a pinky swear isn't legally binding." He quickly sputtered out. Penny laughed and moved over to the middle cushion so he could sit beside her on the couch. Penny leaned into him as she pressed her lips against his. He let go of her finger and moved his hand into her hair. Penny sighed into their kiss as he gently massaged her scalp.
Penny's phone vibrated on the coffee table, causing their moment to shatter around them. Penny pulled away from Sheldon and picked up her phone. It was Nina. Shit. It had been a long time since she had spoken to her. The last time Penny has even considered talking to her agent, she was sure that bad news was going to be delivered, so she didn't bother returning her phone call.
"I have to take this, sorry Babe." Penny said as she answered the call. Sheldon stood up and tried to go back to work.
"Hello?" She hesitantly asked as she stared at the coffee table.
"Penny! Oh god! I'm so glad you picked up! I thought you fell off the face of the Earth or something!" Nina excitedly replied. Penny softly laughed and was glad that Sheldon didn't hear her say that, because he would be explaining to her why that was impossible for days.
"Hey Nina, what's up?" Penny asked, wanting to get it over with quickly. Like a Band-Aid, just rip it off.
"Well I tried to reach you a little while ago, but you didn't return my call." Nina began.
"Yeah I'm sorry about that, I was sort of in an accident and I was in the hospital for a little while. I really meant to call you back." Penny said, interrupting her agent. She looked over at Sheldon who was intently focused on her side of the conversation.
"Oh honey, I'm so sorry to hear that." She quickly said, attempting to sympathize with Penny.
"It's fine. I'm fine." Penny quickly said averting her gaze from Sheldon's curious eyes. Nina let out a sigh. Penny wasn't sure if it was because she was relieved to hear that Penny was ok, or if it was because she still had bad news to tell her, or if it was because this conversation was already dragging on too long.
"Penny, the reason I was calling was because the Executives loved your show, they want to put it on the air!" Nina excitedly told her, Penny sat straight up on the couch, her shoulder stung a bit but she didn't care.
"They do want to take over the project though, it's been quite a while since they have heard from you and they already have plans for the entire season. The good news is you will be paid royalties for every new show that goes out." Nina explained. Penny knew there was bound to be some bad news. But as the creator, they had to have her permission to move forward, otherwise she could potentially go after them for copyright infringement. Penny took in a deep breath and looked up at Sheldon. What would he do? He would get paid. Penny smiled at him, causing him to smile back.
"I want to be paid royalties for every new episode in every new season produced, I want to be credited as the creator, and I want to be paid royalties when and if the show goes to syndication." Penny replied.
"I'm sure that I can make that happen." Nina quickly said. Penny grinned.
"I'm glad." Penny replied. Nina told her that she would let her know what they think of the deal, Penny told Nina that she would be sure to answer when she called. They said their goodbyes and Penny shot up off of the couch, almost immediately regretting her decision to do so. She didn't care, she brushed off her stinging shoulder and wrapped her sling free arms around Sheldon. He hesitantly patted her right shoulder blade before she stepped back.
"I'm going to have a show on TV!" Penny squealed. She stood up on her tiptoes and planted a firm kiss on his lips. Sheldon pulled her in close, getting wrapped up in her excitement. Penny pulled away and flopped back down on the couch.
"That is quite exciting, Penny. In an hour when I take my designated lunch break, you can tell me more about it. Now before I get back to work, do you need anything?" Sheldon asked her. Penny grinned and shook her head. Sheldon nodded and picked his marker up from the coffee table and got back into his work. Penny was a firm believer in the theory that when one door closes another opens. And thankfully, someone left this one wide open.
o.o.o.o.o.o
A week after Penny came home from the hospital, Sheldon returned to working at work. He told her that she was more than welcome to stay and much to Penny's surprise, she did. Everything she needed was at Sheldon's place, so there was no real need to go over to her apartment. She was also grateful that he took the liberty of paying Penny's rent and utilities while she stayed with him. After all, it was only temporary.
It was Wednesday, which meant that it was new comic book night, but Sheldon told her that he would deviate from his schedule because their friends wanted to visit with her. Penny was feeling much better, her scar was a light pink color and her dissolvable stitches had mostly dissolved. She wasn't wearing her sling, except for at night, she wasn't having crazy dreams and she was finally beginning to feel like herself again. It felt good.
After she stepped out of the shower, she dried herself off and wrapped herself up in her towel. She wiped the condensation off of the bathroom mirror and looked at herself for a few moments, her scar was fading and it no longer made her feel insecure. Penny smiled at herself in the mirror and gently ran her fingers along the line of her scar. When the wound was fresh it reminded her of the horrible situation she had endured, but she no longer felt that way. Instead Penny chose to look at the silver lining. Someone loved her and because of that love, she would make it out of the darkness even more resilient and beautiful than before.
Penny finished getting ready, it wouldn't be long before everyone was here. Penny tidied up Sheldon's apartment while her cat watched from his spot on the couch, which was actually Sheldon's. Penny quickly realized that she only had comfortable, lazy clothes in the drawer that Sheldon had designated for her,she didn't have any 'normal' clothes to change into. Not wanting to look like a slob, she grabbed her key from the bowl and quickly darted across the hall. It felt weird to be unlocking her apartment door. She hadn't been there in what felt like ages.
She crept inside, it felt like she was sneaking into someone else's apartment. Penny realized what she was doing and laughed to herself. She walked into her bedroom, her bed spread was missing, it was still on Sheldon's bed, though now it was a mixture of his sheets with her pillowcases and her comforter. She smirked and quickly changed into a pair of jeans and a cute v-neck t-shirt. She was thankful that she was able to wear a bra that had straps. She quickly made her way back to Sheldon's, feeling slightly out of place in her own apartment.
Soon after changing Sheldon came home from work with their friends in tow, Leonard, Amy, Howard and Bernadette followed her lanky physicist boyfriend into the living room. Leonard set their Thai food on the coffee table and embraced Penny in a hug. His embrace was strong and friendly. Penny hugged him back. She pulled away and was flooded by more hugs from her friends. She even accepted a quick one from Howard. Everyone took their spots as Sheldon grabbed dished for everyone to use. Penny sat in the white armchair beside the sofa and everyone was expectantly looking at her. She let out a sigh.
"I'm fine, let's just talk about this really quick because I'm more interested in what I missed out on." Penny started.
"We were all really worried about you Penny." Leonard started, he sounded sad. Penny pressed her lips together. She did not want to have a Penny Pity Party. She smiled at him and nodded.
"Sorry guys, I changed my mind. I don't want to talk about it. I'm fine, ok?" Penny asked. Everyone nodded. She met Amy's beaming smile.
"I must say, Bestie, you do look radiant." Amy chimed causing Penny to grin. The conversation moved to their wedding date, and Amy asking Penny to be her maid of honor, then it shifted to Bernadette's due date, which was next month. Penny had to admit that for a very small woman Bernadette was carrying her twins very well. Howard mentioned that Raj would be moving back next week from India with his wife. Everyone ate and talked as if nothing had happened and Penny couldn't be more thankful. She didn't want to feel like a victim, she just wanted to feel like Penny.
Conversations turned into the group of friends watching The Avengers on Blu-ray together and Sheldon shushing them when Howard and Leonard would make off-hand comments about Black Widow. Soon the group disbanded and everyone went home. Penny and Sheldon stood in the kitchen washing the dishes in the sink together. He washed and she dried. She couldn't help but chuckle to herself as she continued to compare their opposite natures. He was stubborn, she pushed him out of his comfort zone, he was rigid, she was flexible. She was the yin to his yang and it could never feel more perfect and balanced.