Sheldon joined Penny on the ship. He managed to convince her to at least give him a chance, despite her fears and concerns. Now he has to find a way to convince Penny that they could be good together. Shouldn't be too hard for a genius, right? Right?

BTW, to the guest reviewers who sent me encouragement, I thank you. Please understand, though, that I have to stick to my principles. I don't approve of anonymous reviews. I never have. It's why I joined the site in the first place, because I did not think it was right that I could leave a review that the author could not respond to.

And to my hilarious anti-Shenny reviewer, loved your last rambling reviews. It was utter crap, but it made me and my husband laugh. Looking forward to your next one.

Penny tended the bar every day, and when she went off shift, they would often make their way to the video arcade, or mini golf. The week just flew by. Before he knew it, the ship was pulling back into harbor and it was time to disembark. He wished he could wait and ride back with Penny, but she would be there another 6 or 7 hours. The employees always spent time after the passengers were gone doing some cleaning and restocking of the ship. One good thing though, was that Penny wasn't on the next cruise. So, he would have a week, uninterrupted, to spend with her.

He spotted Missy's car in the lot and made his way over to it. He put his bag in the trunk and slid inside. Missy grinned at him. "Wow, you have a little bit of a tan! So you didn't just hide in your room?"

Sheldon rolled his eyes at her. "No, I did not. In fact, I spent most days by the pool or at the RedFrog Pub. Wherever Penny was working. And when she was off duty we took advantage of some of the ship's entertainment."

Missy looked at him slyly. "Is that all you took advantage of?"

Sheldon blushed, sending his twin into loud giggles. "Don't be crass, Melissa. Penny and I are nowhere near ready to engage in intimacy. We are moving slowly."

Missy shook her head wryly. "Just don't go so slow you end up going backwards, Shelly. I know you. You over-analyze."

Sheldon looked out the window. "I want to move faster, Missy. But I don't dare. I have to prove to her that I am not like all the others. She is so used to being wanted for only her physical appeal, she is having a difficult time believing that she has any other value."

Missy looked at him worriedly. "Shelly, what are you going to do? How can you convince her?"

Sheldon was quiet for a few moments. "I don't know, Missy. But I will find a way. I'm not going to give up."

Sheldon sat at his Mom's table and waited on her to join him. When she had finished talking to his brother she came over and took a seat. "Shelly, how was the cruise?"

"I think I have made progress. Not much, but she has agreed to give this a chance. She doesn't believe she is good enough Mommy. She is convinced that she has nothing of importance other than sexuality."

Mary sighed and sipped her coffee. "I know. She said much the same to Meemaw. All we can do is pray, Shelly."

Sheldon clasped his hands together on the table. "Actually I think I have an idea. But you may not approve, Mommy. So I want to talk to you about it."

Mary looked at her son with surprise. When was the last time he sought her approval for anything he did? "What's your idea?" she asked.

"I'm going to sleep with her."

Penny wasn't surprised to find Sheldon at Meemaw's house when she got there. If she was honest, she had spent the entire drive hoping he would be. She had even endured Melody's teasing remarks with only a smile and a laugh. What did surprise her was that he was apparently moving in. Penny set her suitcase down and watched him hang his pants up in the closet.

"Sheldon? Why are you placing your clothes in my closet?"

He spun to face her and smiled. He walked over and kissed her cheek chastely. "I am sleeping here now. You and I will share this room."

Penny's jaw dropped. "You just decided this? Without discussing it with me?"

Sheldon nodded and picked up her luggage. "Yes." He began unpacking her clothes and hanging them up also.

"How could you do that?!" Penny asked, her temper rising. It was Leonard moving in all over again.

Sheldon sighed and turned to her. "Because I did the math. The odds of me asking you to let me stay with you, and you agreeing were too low to risk. You would not have let me. So, I took the initiative and made the decision for us."

Penny glared. "You're damn right I wouldn't have let you! Sheldon, you can't do this! You can't just take over my life like this! You're acting like Leonard!"

Sheldon's own temper rose up. He stalked over to her. "I am NOTHING like Leonard! I am not trying to take over your life, Penelope Queen! I am not trying to use sex to control you! I am moving in to prove to you what you mean to me! I am not doing it for sex. I am not doing it to keep an eye on you! I am doing it because I can't bear to be without you!" He gripped her arms. "I am doing this because I don't know any other way to show you that you are more than a body to me." His voice turned soft and pleading. "Let me stay with you. Just staying together in the same room. No sex, no physicality. Just the two of us, sharing a space with each other."

Penny stared at him with wide eyes. "You really mean that, don't you? This isn't about sex?"

Sheldon pulled her in for a gentle hug. "Neither of us is ready for that, Penny. I just want to be with you. To sleep at night with you beside me. Please. Can't we just try?"

Her voice was barely more than a whisper. "You keep pushing me, Sheldon. I'm not sure how much more I can do."

He nodded. "I know. I can't help it. I have always been the type to go after what I want wholeheartedly. It's my nature to pursue my goals without hesitation."

Penny wrapped her arms around his waist. "And here I always thought I was the big ol' 5."

Sheldon grinned. "I think when you get your confidence back, you will find you still are. Which is going to come in really handy when we eventually do become more intimate with each other. I have no experience with that aspect of life, Penny. You'll have to take the lead then."

Penny looked at him for a moment and then leaned up to place a kiss on his jaw. "Fine, but if you're moving in, you have to take over cleaning the room. I hate vacuuming."

"I know," he said dryly. "And dusting, and picking up clothes, and emptying the wastebasket, and…"

Penny pinched his ribs lightly. "Oh hush! I'm going to go say hi to Meemaw. Finish unpacking to your specifications and I'll have tea ready in a few minutes."

Sheldon watched her walk away with a grin. That went better than he feared. Of course the real hard part would come later. Sleeping beside the woman he loved without touching her was going to really test his resolve.

It was almost midnight. They were both staring at the ceiling, hyper aware that only a couple of inches separated them. Penny huffed and turned to him. "Sheldon, tell me about the periodic table."

He looked at her questioningly. "Why?"

Penny rolled onto her side and tucked the blanket around herself. "I can't sleep because I'm too focused on you laying here."

Sheldon rolled toward her and frowned. "Am I so boring to you that you think my talking will put you to sleep?"

Penny laughed and darted forward to kiss his nose. "No, sweetie. I like listening to you talk, even when I don't understand it. Which is most of the time. It's just that when you talk scienc-y, you get this softness to your voice. It's soothing. I think it would help me relax."

Sheldon blushed lightly and reached out to tuck her hair back. Her words made him feel better. He threaded his fingers into hers and began telling her about each element and how it was discovered. Fifteen minutes later she yawned. Another five minute and she was lightly snoring. Sheldon smiled and moved closer. He tucked her head against his chest and closed his eyes. Before long, her warmth and apple scent had him drifting off too.