After the alley, there had been zero contact. Avoiding Sheldon was easy since he was so regimented that she just lived her life around his schedule. Penny longed for the banter, the flirting, the shy little glances. She missed her friend and, as twisted as it had become, she missed her lover.

Sheldon returned to his first love -science- with renewed zeal. He published articles and even deigned to teach a very small doctoral candidate seminar. Dr. Gabelhauser was impressed with Sheldon's immersion into academic life. Leonard saw it as something else. For one thing, Sheldon had developed a new tic. Whenever deep in thought, he would absently rub the inside of his inner right forearm. This most often occurred while Sheldon was engaged in his other new habit-staring out the window.

Leonard decided to confront him one evening when his roommate was eating in his room (again.) because Penny was over(again.). He knocked on the door.

"Come!" Sheldon said.

"You can come out now. She's gone."

Sheldon finished chewing. "I was reading." His eye fluttered and there was no sign of a book on his bed.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

A bitter laugh escaped Sheldon. Leonard's hair would probably straighten and fall out if he knew the details.

"There's nothing to talk about." He told his roommate. "Nothing at all."

XXXX

. Penny walked into the kitchen while he was making tea. Sheldon spooned out some honey and was drizzling it into his tea when her finger interrupted the golden ribbon.

"Now you've ruined a perfectly good cup of tea," Sheldon scolded. "Don't you use that finger to brush your teeth?"

Penny smiled then stuck the amber coated finger into her mouth, drawing it out slowly. Sheldon swallowed. Penny walked into the circle of his arms and slid her hand into his robe and down. He felt himself harden at her touch. She increased the pressure of her strokes and he backed her against the counter.

Sheldon brushed his lips across her ear then took the outer edge between his teeth. Penny moaned and spread her legs so one of Sheldon's was now there. He felt her dampness soak into his the leg of his pajamas. He moved his lips to the base of her neck at her back and bit .

Penny's grip on him intensified and her tempo picked up. Sheldon groaned between his teeth and ground his hips into her.

"Penny," He whispered as his release began to build. The orgasm took over and Sheldon covered her mouth with his own.

He sat up in bed with another mess to deal with. Annoyed by his regression to adolescent behavior, Sheldon flung back the covers and changed into his emergency pair of pajama bottoms. He couldn't shake the dream. Even though he was appalled by their behavior in the alley, he still wanted her. Wanted to be with the one person with whom control wasn't important because the loss of control was as exhilarating as it was unsettling. He walked toward the apartment door. His blood still pulsed with arousal but he stopped when his fingers curled around the doorknob.

Homo Novus didn't knuckle under. Sheldon returned to his bed with the taste of honey on his lips.

Same Night

Penny's jaw dropped as Sheldon stepped out of the dressing room. Why were they in this store again? He was in the same suit, the black one with the striped tie. Whenever she thought of him in this outfit, her mouth began to water.

"Can I take this off now?" He asked.

"Only if you let me help," she replied before she could stop herself.

Sheldon threw her a confused look which turned to surprise as she stalked toward him. She grabbed his tie and pushed him back into the dressing room.

"Penny? Penny what are you doing?" he shrieked when she loosened his tie and dragged it over his head, mussing up his hair. Penny's eyes darkened and she licked her lips. She always liked seeing Sheldon a little worse for wear. It made him seem more human.

In his panic, Sheldon put up little resistance to Penny's confrontation. She quickly and expertly unbuttoned his trousers and let them drop. Trying not to look at his tighty whities, she let her own pants fall to the floor.

"Take off your underwear," She growled.

Sheldon stood stock still and wide eyed. Penny rolled her eyes and pulled down his briefs. He wasn't fully erect, but he was getting there so she decided to help it along. She crushed her mouth to his in an effort to illicit some sort of response. Only a few seconds passed before Sheldon snapped out of his stupor and reacted. He grabbed her head and pushed her closer to him, turning them both around so that her back was up against the wall. Penny wrapped her legs around Sheldon's hips and he used his body to push her more firmly to the wall.

The slamming of her body against the dressing room wall woke her with a start. She was in her sweat soaked bed, twisted in her duvet. Panting, she lay there for a moment while she tried to collect her thoughts. She untwisted herself from her blanket, walked to the kitchen and downed an entire bottle of water that sat on the counter.

She looked at the front door and decided to pay Sheldon a visit. Setting the bottle down, she marched over and turned the doorknob. She stopped short when she thought of Sheldon's reaction to her in the alley way behind the restaurant. Letting the cool wood of the door touch her forehead, she tried not to cry.

XXXX

Raj, Howard and Leonard stood outside 4A.

"Maybe he won't notice." Raj offered. Howard and Leonard gave him scathing looks.

"I still say you color the rice with soy sauce." Howard repeated.

"Right, 'cause he won't notice his food is oversalinated." Leonard sneered.

"Why don't you just reason with him. Tell him the truth- they ran out of brown rice." Raj said.

"Why didn't I think of that?" Leonard 's voice dripped sarcasm. "After all, reason and Sheldon are practically synonymous."

They entered the apartment. Sheldon sat in his spot staring blankly at the TV which was tuned to a game show!

"I don't think the rice is your problem here." Raj whispered. Howard said nothing but silently acknowledged that this was bad.

"Hey, Shelly," Leonard's voice was cajoling. "I got your tangerine chicken here." Sheldon looked at him with dull eyes; he reached out a long arm for the container.

"Thank you , Leonard."

They all waited while he peered inside the container.

"Hmm." Sheldon frowned. The other three braced themselves for his tantrum. The physicist placed the container on the coffee table.
"While I appreciate your efforts to procure me dinner, I find that I'm not hungry after all." Sheldon's voice was expressionless and he wandered to his room.

Howard watched him go. Yep, very bad, indeed.

XXXX

Penny was wiping down the bar. It was a slow night and she was mostly alone.

"Hel-looo, my beautiful golden flower."

Her hackles rose at the voice. She looked slowly over her shoulder.

"Howard." Her greeting was quick and curt. "What are you doing here?"
Howard positioned himself on the bar stool across from her and gave a chuckle.

"You know, it's amazing. If I had a nickel for every time Sheldon said that to me. You two always seem to say the same thing in the same fashion. It's like you're connected in some way."

Penny wondered if it would only be considered manslaughter if she shoved a handful of peanuts down his throat. Her hands gripped the polished surface of the bar.

"Why are you here?" Each word was forced out between her teeth.

"Sheldon banished me. I think I forgot to genuflect when he came into the room." Howard adopted a mournful expression. "I came here for a little comfort since it appears you two have had yet another falling out." He drew his index finger down the back of her hand.

Penny snatched her hand away. Falling out? That was the understatement of the year. Sheldon wouldn't look at her or be in the same room. Penny ended up crying at some point every day, deeply ashamed of her treatment of him. After all, what did Sheldon know about interactions between men and women? Her thoughts caused her lip to quiver.

"He hates me." She confessed to Howard and put her head on the bar to let the tears fall. Howard sat there, blinking nervously and unsure of what to do. This wasn't how this encounter was supposed to turn out!

"No.. No.." Howard crooned. He reached up and patted Penny's head since the bar prevented any further contact. "Penny, I can assure you- Sheldon does not hate you."

"Yes he does." She gave a loud sniff then lifted her tear-stained face to him. Howard shifted on the stool; his pants were too tight to sit comfortably for a long time.

"Okay, here's the deal and, since I'm already banished, I've got nothing to lose." He took a deep breath. "There has been no one- not even Leonard- who has had a more profound effect on Sheldon than you. And, it pains me to say it, I have made numerous observations of him when you are around. As a self-proscribed love doctor, I can tell you ,Penny. Most women would give everything they have to have a man look at them even once the way Sheldon looks at you all the time."

Penny gave him a watery smile. He wasn't bad- creepy but not bad. "I don't know how to fix this one, Howard."

He shrugged. "I can't help you there but I have heard that sex helps to clear the mind."

"Peanut?" Penny offered him the bowl.