This chapter overlaps the previous one, only from Sheldon's POV.

Sheldon watched her in his peripheral vision. Lately he had begun to notice a shift in his perception of Penny. At first he had attributed it to lack of interaction. He and Penny rarely spent much time together anymore, and it was reasonable that he would miss her since he was so used to her being around.

Then Amy and Bernadette had been fighting and Penny ended up with a broken nose. He had been appalled by the callous lack of concern that his friends had for Penny's welfare. Even Leonard, who was supposed to love her, had laughed and teased her about not ducking in time. It took him a couple of weeks to figure out why that angered him.

He cared about Penny. She was more than just a friend. He spent the last two weeks looking back over the history between them. He always asked her to take care of him when he was sick. He had taken the bus to see her, for goodness sake! He even took care of her when she was injured. He never took care of Leonard. Okay, so he once took care of Amy, but only because he knew if he didn't, Penny would have been disappointed in him. He had been in the hallway, about to leave when he thought of how Penny would react to him abandoning her bestie.

He was forever moving her on and off his mortal enemies list. He never did that for anyone else! Only one other person had ever been removed from the list, and that was because Wil Wheaton had given him a collectable! Penny had once been removed from it because she watched Doctor Who with him. And he removed her even though she talked through the entire episode!

He worried about her. Every time he did see her, she was drinking. Penny was no teetotaler, but it seemed to him that her drinking had escalated to an alarming degree ever since she and Leonard had renewed their carnal activities. She wasn't happy and it hurt him to see her this way. Sheldon was certain he cared for Penny more than he should.

Bernadette drew everyone's attention to the sky and he watched as the meteor burned brightly. He felt Amy slip her hand into his and he sighed. He thought about the question Penny had posed him a couple of weeks ago. Would he really be open to a physical relationship someday? He was more comfortable with touch now than he was a year ago, but he still found it unpleasant.

He rolled his eyes as his left eyebrow twitched. Okay, so he didn't find everyone's touch unpleasant. He had hugged Penny several times, and enjoyed each one. Often Penny, a very touchy-feely person, would touch his arm, shoulder, or back. He never minded her close proximity on the couch, although he did mind if others got too close.

For a long time he had convinced himself his lack of objection to Penny's touch was just him being resigned to her personality. Lately he had started to wonder if there wasn't a deeper meaning to it.

"Sheldon, this is so romantic. I would like to invoke section 4 of article 32 of our relationship agreement," Amy said.

He frowned. "The spontaneity clause?"

Amy nodded. "I want a kiss, Sheldon."

He looked at her with a stunned expression. He noticed Penny standing and heading for the stairwell. Where was she going? His stomach twitched. He looked down at Amy's upturned face. He tensed up and bent his head. He placed a quick, chaste kiss on her cheek and jerked back away. He ignored the flash of disappointment in Amy's eyes. He was not going to feel guilty. She had been in his life long enough to know his quirks and phobias. And she had been in his life long enough for him to know she would keep pushing. It seemed like they were forever in some sort of relationship balancing act.

From the left he saw Leonard hurrying toward the stairs. Off to engage in carnality, he supposed. Sheldon's stomach fluttered ominously again. That was beginning to happen more often lately. He swallowed the lump in his throat. How much longer was he going to be able to do this? How much longer was he going to be able to hide this? How would his friends and girlfriend react when they discovered his secret affection for Penny?

Sheldon stood and brushed off his pants. Amy rose up beside him. She looked at him expectantly and he silently sighed. He led the way back down to the 4th floor and moved into the kitchen. He had no desire to sit on the couch. Amy would want to cuddle since technically it was date night. He put on a kettle and placed his wooden tea case on the table.

"What blend would you like?" he asked calmly.

Amy sat down and looked over the selection. "I will have raspberry tonight."

Sheldon placed the appropriate teabag in her cup and selected peppermint for himself. Penny's favorite, he noticed. "How is your new study proceeding?"

Amy shrugged. "I am dispensing opiates to starfish. It is quite boring. I miss the monkeys sometimes."

Sheldon pulled out a chair for himself, but before he could sit, the front door opened and Leonard stormed in. They watched him stomp back to his room, carrying a box. Sheldon and Amy looked at each other and then toward the hall. The door opened again and the others walked in. Leonard's door slammed and he stomped back out to the living room. He looked at Howard, Raj and Sheldon.

"Penny broke up with me," he growled. "As my friends I expect you to stand by me." He looked at Sheldon. "That means you can't be her friend."

Sheldon felt a chill run down his spine. What had happened? Was Penny okay? What did Leonard mean he couldn't be friends with Penny? Why should their relationship ending affect his friendship with Penny?

"Leonard, that's not fair," Bernadette said. "Penny is our friend the same as you are. You can't just dictate who we are friends with."

Leonard glared at her, causing Howard to step forward protectively. "I mean Howard, Raj and Sheldon. Bros before hoes," he said, emphasizing the last word harshly.

Raj leaned over and whispered in Howard's ear. He nodded and took a deep breath. "Raj and Penny were supposed to go shopping for a birthday gift for his sister the day after tomorrow."

Leonard narrowed his eyes. "Fine. Go shopping with Penny." Raj looked relieved. "But you won't be welcome here anymore."

"Now wait a minute," Sheldon said quickly.

Leonard spun around to face him. "No! I live here, too! I am tired of Penny playing games with me! She knows how I feel about her! She just ripped my heart out and basically told me I had no say in the matter! I am tired of being disregarded! She puts everything before me! School, work, friends, everything! She doesn't get to break my heart and keep my friends! So chose. You're either my friend, or you're Penny's." Leonard's eyes flashed dangerously. "You can't be both." Leonard turned and stomped his way back down the hall.

Silence reigned for several minutes. Finally Amy walked out into the hall and knocked on Penny's door. The others watched from the doorway. She knocked several times. "Penny? It's Amy. Can we talk?"

Bernadette placed her ear on the door. "I don't hear anything," she whispered. "Maybe she went to bed."

Amy pulled out her phone and dialed Penny's number. After a moment she hung up. "She shut it off. It went straight to voicemail." Amy dialed Penny's number again. She put it on speaker. "You all need to hear this."

Hey, this is Penny. I've turned off my phone for a couple of days. I know you have questions, but please respect my privacy. Thank you.

Everyone walked back into the apartment. Howard sat on the arm of the couch. "What do we do?" Everyone looked at him with surprise. He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, okay so last time I was all about Team Leonard, but let's be honest. Penny is our friend. She's never once abandoned us."

Bernadette sat on the couch and rested her head on Howard's leg. "I think we should wait a day or two and then figure out what to do. Give them both some time to settle down. Then we figure out what happened and how to fix it."

Amy took Sheldon's hand in hers and moved in close until their sides were pressed together. He let her, too. He needed the comfort as much as she did.