Penny approached the guys' door the next night feeling strange. It was an usual mix of trepidation and…was that excitement? At the thought of dancing with Sheldon? Please. She shook her head to clear it. Although she had to admit to being a little curious about how this was going to go; she had never seen Sheldon touch anyone without being immensely uncomfortable. Even the hug she got at Christmas had been the weirdest thing she had ever experienced, Sheldon was so obviously not used to physical contact.

She stopped at the door, wondering whether to knock. Usually she would just barge in and help herself, more to annoy Sheldon than for any other reason. Thinking about it, she did a lot of stuff deliberately to annoy him. Sitting in his seat, calling him 'Moonpie'...For the first time, she found herself questioning why she did it. Damnit, because it was fun, that's why. Geez, get a grip girl. She barged open the door. Sheldon was fiddling with something on his laptop. The sofa had been pushed back to create a space and the guys were sat on it, clearly hoping to enjoy the show. Raj had popcorn.

Penny put her hands on her hips. "Out. Now." This was going to be weird enough without an audience. They began protesting, but Sheldon had clearly had a similar thought and turned his best stare on them. Not willing to risk a collective strike, they slunk out. Leonard felt something shift in the pit of his stomach as he saw Penny smile at Sheldon, then gave himself a stern talking to. That ship had long since sailed, and besides, the idea of Penny and Sheldon was just…well. Completely ridiculous.

Sheldon stared at the others until the door slammed behind them. "Good evening, Penny". He noticed she had put on some heels, as he had suggested; it would make sense to learn to dance in the shoes she planned to wear on the night. He also noticed that she was wearing an attractive green dress that he had not seen before, and that brought out the colour of her eyes. Then he wondered why he had noticed that, and felt himself flush uncharacteristically.

Of course, he was aware that Penny was attractive. Despite his massive intelligence and analytical brain, he was still male and some part of his brain seemed determined to notice such things. He found the whole notion of sex fairly distasteful, and the idea of exchanging body fluids with someone was enough to bring him out in a cold sweat. However, occasionally his body betrayed him and he found himself reacting not with disgust, but with arousal. Howard had once brought over some pornographic playing cards and had left one on Sheldon's pillow. It had earned him two strikes – one for going in his bedroom and another for being generally vile – but some part of him had obviously responded, going by the evidence he found in his pyjama bottoms the next morning. His reaction confused him; humiliation at being subject to such base desires, yet regret at being unable to remember the dream that had produced such a result. He had kept the playing card.

He knew the others were wondering how he would cope with being in such close proximity to someone else. He and Penny were, as they had previously established, 'friends'. Since then, Penny had occasionally taken certain liberties with his person; touching him on the arm in conversation, sitting with her leg pressed against his when playing Halo. Although alarmed at first, he now found himself tolerating – and sometimes even welcoming - these small contacts. Always a loner due to his eccentricities and his intelligence, the bullying he had experienced when he was younger had driven him further inside himself to the point where his emotional detachment became expressed outwardly as a fear of being close to anyone. Others had attributed it to his phobia of germs, and he had not corrected them. He was scared of germs. It was an easy excuse to avoid intimacy. When he had offered to teach Penny to dance, he had not fully thought through the implications, however he knew how much she wanted to impress this Jake person and felt he could not go back on his offer. He thought back to the gift she had given him at Christmas that he cherished so much, and his resolve strengthened. He had two PhD's, for Heavens sake. He could teach a woman to dance.

Penny watched as Sheldon turned his attention back to the laptop. Was he blushing? The though was interrupted as Sheldon pressed a button and music filled the room. She didn't have a clue what it was, but it sounded right.

"Ok, so what do I do?"

Sheldon came over and stood in front of her. She was suddenly reminded how tall he was, and was glad she'd worn the heels. She looked up at him and felt that strange feeling again as he looked down at her with those big, dark eyes.

"Penny? Did you hear me?"

She started guiltily. "Um, sorry Sheldon…what did you say?"

Maintaining a small distance from her, Sheldon reached out and tentatively rested his hand on her side, his other hand finding hers and holding it. "Put your hand on my shoulder." She reached up, closing the distance between them slightly. She felt him tense for a fraction of a second, then regain himself. "This is a waltz. It is fairly basic…" She waited for him to add one of his usual derogatory comments regarding her intelligence, but it didn't come. Instead, he explained the dance moves to her.

"Shall we begin?"

"Ok, here goes…" Penny took a deep breath. They began to move, clumsily at first but improving quickly as Penny picked it up. She was surprised; Sheldon was good. Very good. It was as if all his awkwardness around people vanished when he had the music and the movements to concentrate on. His grip on her relaxed and felt more natural, and if she hadn't know better she would have swore he was actually enjoying himself.

Sheldon was enjoying himself. Somewhere along the way he had become very aware of the smell of Penny's hair; coconut – no doubt from one of the many gift baskets he had given her for Christmas. He was accustomed to her proximity and she was proving a pleasantly adept dancing partner. She hadn't stepped on his toes once.

They practiced for a while longer, until it became clear that Penny was actually on the verge of becoming more proficient than Sheldon. Wary of getting into a competition, Penny suggested a break before trying another dance. She grabbed the bag she had brought from her place and pulled out a bottle of rum.

"Shall we?" She raised an eyebrow inquiringly. Sheldon raised an eyebrow back. "I really don't think alcohol will improve our ability to dance".

Penny took a deep breath. "Well…I was hoping maybe you could teach me to tango next….?"

Sheldon blanched. "That's not a dance I ever practiced with Missy…." Penny snorted. "Although of course I did study it as part of my repertoire, I'm not sure I could accurately recreate it after so long…."

Penny poured two shots of the rum into glasses. "Don't worry sweetie. I'm sure you'll do fine." She handed him a glass, which he looked at apprehensively. The image of him pressed tight up against Penny's body suddenly appeared in his head. He downed the shot and, eyes watering, held out the glass for another.