Sheldon watched them carefully as he made a pot of tea. Penny and Amy seemed to be polar opposites.

Amy was quiet and calm. She was studying Sociology at Pasadena City College . She looked like a librarian. She spoke softly and with great precision.

Penny laughed and teased and joked. She moved constantly. She tended to blurt out whatever was on her mind. She had never went to college, her body of knowledge earned through doing rather than studying.

Penny touched Amy often, whether it was holding her hand, twisting a lock of Amy's hair in her fingers, or just placing her hand on Amy's knee. Amy did not seem to initiate touches as often, but never moved away from Penny's touches. Sheldon decided that, as he lacked much experience with relationships, he was just unable to see what drew them together.

Having Amy around forced Leonard to give up his obsession. Soon he and Leslie Winkle resumed their previous friends with benefits arrangement. Howard and Raj managed to find two ladies through Raj's parents. They set Raj up on an arranged date and Anya had brought her roommate along for Howard. Bernadette was nice, if a bit naive and Anya was very shy and quiet. She saw Raj's mute-ish as a blessing since she was not required to answer him if he could not speak.

Sheldon should have felt left out. The lone single in a group of couples, but Penny wouldn't allow that. He was included in everything. Whether a group activity or, with just her. He actually enjoyed those times the most. He and Penny could talk comics and sci-fi for hours, although often they argued. She was a "Dark Horse kinda gal" while he was more of a DC and Marvel guy. Penny often rolled her eyes and said he was "oh so mainstream". They clashed frequently over movies also. She had a fondness for classic romance, and musicals. Sheldon thought The Wrath of Khan was the ultimate in cinematic gold.

It took him 84 days to realize he was attracted to Penny. It only took 3 to notice when Penny began avoiding the group.

Sheldon walked into the comic shop and immediately looked for Penny. She was by the graphic novels. He almost looked right past her. She was wearing jeans and a grey t-shirt with a sock monkey on it. Her hair was tucked up under a ball cap that read NC-1701. This was the first time he had seen her at work in normal clothes.

She was helping an older gentleman pick out a present for his grandson, so Sheldon hovered near the register, knowing that she would return there to ring up the man's purchase. Ten minutes later she had sold the man a copy of Dork Towers. Without a word she turned and walked over to the shelves and began putting out boxes of trading cards. Sheldon frowned when she didn't speak.

He moved closer and cleared his throat. Penny squeaked and jumped up. She spun around and almost hit him, but managed to pull her hand away at the last possibly second.

"Hell's Bells, Sheldon! You scared me to death!"

"Unlikely," he replied. "You are very much alive."

Penny's eyes were suddenly tear-filled. "Yeah." She turned away and he barely caught her next words. "I can tell by the pain."

He clutched the strap on his messenger bag. "Penny, are you in distress?"

She shook her head, and bent over a box. "I'm fine, sweetie. Just working."

Sheldon moved around to face her. "I ask because you missed Dr. Who on Sunday, Thai night, and Big Boy night. Amy has also been absent." He was stunned by the sudden flash of anger in Penny's eyes.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I'm sorry. I've just had some things to do. I'll try to drop in tomorrow for a movie, okay?"

"What about tonight," Sheldon asked worriedly. "Will you be joining us for pizza and Halo?"

Penny shook her head. "Not tonight. I need to speak to Amy about …something."

Sheldon nodded. "Ah. A date. Very well. We will see the two of you tomorrow then." He turned to leave, a vague sense of confusion and trepidation lingering in his mind.

"Sheldon!" Penny spoke louder than she had intended, drawing the eyes of several customers. She cringed a bit as he turned back to her. She bit her lip and almost told him never mind. She had to know though. It would help her decide what to do later. "If you had a Batman figurine and you knew it had a crack in it from someone else playing with it, would you try to repair it, knowing it was never going to be fixed completely, or just get rid of it and buy a new figurine?"

Sheldon's answer was immediate. "First of all, Penny, I would never allow anyone to play with my figurine. Second, once it is cracked, it is junk." He wondered about Penny's question. Had someone broken one of her possessions? He knew she had an extensive collection of Chinese zodiac animal figures, and several Hellboy and Hellsing collectibles.

Penny nodded and tried to smile as a customer walked over to the counter. Sheldon was right. It was junk. Her relationship with Amy had a crack in it a mile wide.