"What do you think?" Penny asked. She was standing on a chair, stretching to hang up a last ribbon of streamers. It had been her idea to host a housewarming party for Leonard and Priya, but they were holding it in Sheldon's apartment since the couple still wasn't done unpacking. The apartment had never been decorated so festively. Sheldon had tried to object, but she had overruled him in the lowest way possible: by kissing him every time he had opened his mouth to object.
"It's gaudy and overdone; I'm sure Priya will love it," he grumbled.
Penny gave a mock gasp and hopped down from her chair. "You're gonna pay for that," she warned.
"That was a commentary on Priya's sense of style, not-"
She didn't let him finish. His mouth was still open as she cut him off mid-sentence, and she took the opportunity to dart her tongue into his mouth before he could press his lips together. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to imply that French kissing was a punishment, but the past week had been slow torture for her, always wanting more than he was ready for. There were times when she wondered if he would ever willingly move forward, so she took a chance.
He pulled away. "You put your tongue in my mouth," he said accusingly.
She sighed. "Yup. It's supposed to feel good, you know."
"It was weird," he objected.
She focused all her attention on him, having gotten used to Sheldon-speak by now. He wasn't saying he didn't like it, just that it was unfamiliar and different.
"We probably kissed that way before," she said as she reached out and took his hand.
"That thought is rather disturbing. I dislike knowing that something as important as my wedding night happened without my having any memory of it," he complained.
She squeezed his hand tighter as her heart started pounding. "You've thought about us... together?"
Just then, there was a knock at the door. He pulled his hand away and went to answer it. Just before he opened the door, he looked back at her and said, "I can't stop thinking about it."
Penny was sure she had a dumbstruck expression on her face as Sheldon welcomed Howard and Bernadette inside. The man was infuriating; she was dying to ask him exactly what he meant but couldn't in front of their guests.
Soon, all their friends were there, plus a few people Priya knew from work. From the neutral expression on Priya's face as she greeted her coworkers, Penny wasn't sure how pleased Priya was to see them. Hey, at least I tried to invite her friends, Penny thought. It wasn't her fault if Leonard had no idea who his girlfriend's besties were. Then again, given Priya's competitive nature, Penny wondered if she had any real friends at all.
By Penny's standards, the party was a success. Priya's friends from work had mingled well with the group, even if most of them had seemed slightly smug and condescending. The apartment echoed with music and laughter, and there had even been some dancing. Penny had glanced wistfully at Sheldon, but knew better than to ask him to dance with her. He had behaved as well as she could expect, knowing how much he hated parties. He told her he'd spent most of the evening debating intellectual property rights with one of Priya's fellow lawyers and had even gone so far as to exchange business cards with the man. As far as Penny could tell, that was almost the same as Sheldon admitting he'd enjoyed himself.
She had circulated among their friends earlier, asking them to hang around after Priya's co-workers had left. Glancing around the room, she grimaced. She loved all her friends, but they could be rather judgmental at times. How were they going to react when they found out she and Sheldon were together? As she braced herself for the inevitable, Howard rose and walked to the center of the living room.
"May I have your attention please?" he said loudly. The conversation died away as everyone turned to him expectantly.
"There's something I want to ask Bernadette, and I can't think of a better time than when I'm with all my friends," he said. He pulled a small velvet box out of his pocket, opened it to reveal a sparkling diamond ring, and knelt down in front of his girlfriend. "Bernadette Maryanne Rostenkowski, will you marry me?"
Bernie's mouth fell open. Then she squealed, "Yes! Yes, of course I will!"
Howard slid the ring on her finger, and the petite blonde joyfully kissed her new fiancé. Watching them, Penny's initial reaction was less than sanguine. Well, crap, we've just been completely upstaged, she thought. She was happy for her friend, of course, but there was no way she and Sheldon could announce they were dating now without seeming completely selfish. She made eye contact with Sheldon and placed her finger over her lips, hoping he understood and would follow her lead.
She hugged Bernadette and admired the ring before Amy shouldered her out of the way. Then she turned to Howard, congratulated him and gave him a slightly awkward, shoulders-only hug. Even Priya's usual cold and haughty manner seemed to thaw as she talked to Bernie, and Penny couldn't help but wonder if she was hoping Leonard would propose to her soon.
She drifted to the outside of the group, next to Sheldon, who had naturally drawn back from the cluster of people. She tugged on his sleeve and drew him down the hallway. After a quick glance around at her options, she pulled him into the bathroom.
He looked confused. "What are we doing?" he asked.
In response, she put her arms around him and laid her cheek against his shoulder. "Thank you for trusting me and not saying anything."
He stroked her back gently. "You're welcome, I suppose, but you still need to explain. I assumed you didn't want to share our news with the group at that particular moment, but your reasoning eludes me."
She smiled up at him as she stepped back. "This is Bernie's big moment. Telling them about us now would shift the attention to us, away from her and Howard. I wouldn't be much of a friend if I did that."
"Curious," Sheldon said, frowning slightly as he tried to fathom social protocol.
"Besides…" Penny hesitated, then decided to tell him her thoughts. "Everyone's really happy for Howard and Bernadette. They're all supportive of the fact that they're together. Same with Leonard and Priya - even Raj has gotten used to the fact that they're a couple. And Stuart was accepted as part of the group right away, once he started dating Amy." She sighed heavily. "I don't know if our friends will react the same way if they find out we're together. In fact, I was pretty sure they'd think it was a joke… you know, like one of your bazingas. I had this crazy thought that if one of them could just walk in on us making out or something, they might understand that we really have feelings for each other."
Sheldon had been listening with a puzzled expression on his face. He reached out, took Penny's hand and guided her to the rim of the bathtub, which in his opinion was the only sanitary place to sit. He perched next to her. "No one would exclude any paramour of yours from the group. Our friends' incredulity would be entirely directed at myself, with good reason. I am the one who has never shown any interest in the opposite sex. I'm the one they view as a freak. And I'm the one who's betraying my best friend by dating his ex-girlfriend."
"I don't care about Leonard's stupid jealousy, and after what he did to you in the Arctic, he doesn't have any right to talk about betrayal. He-"
Suddenly, Sheldon leaned over and kissed her. All thoughts of Leonard fled as Sheldon's arms tightened around her possessively. To her shock and delight, he nibbled at her bottom lip the same way she had done to him just that morning. She tentatively darted her tongue across his mouth. His response was to delve his hands into her hair, pulling her closer as he opened his mouth to her. Penny moaned at his unexpected passion and pressed her body against his. She wondered if she could climb onto his lap without toppling them both over into the tub.
A high-pitched squeal interrupted her plan, and she jerked around to see Bernie standing there in the bathroom. Her friend's eyes were huge, and her engagement ring sparkled as she pressed both hands to her mouth in shock. "Penny? You and Sheldon? I can't believe it! Why didn't you tell me?"
Penny's cheeks burned, and for a moment, she was speechless. She glanced at Sheldon, only to find he had the oddest look on his face. Was that embarrassment? No, if she didn't know better, she would've said he looked guilty.
"We were going to tell you all tonight, but I had no idea Howard was going to propose," Penny explained as her face reddened.
By this time, Howard, Leonard and Priya had crowded into the bathroom, with Raj, Amy & Stuart craning their necks in the hallway, trying to see what was going on.
"Aww, it's so cute! Howie, they were kissing! Everyone's falling in love," Bernadette cried ecstatically, grinning at her fiancé of fifteen minutes.
Howard looked confused. "Who was kissing who?" Then he caught sight of Penny and Sheldon, still sitting on the rim of the tub. Their reddened lips and rumpled clothing told him everything he needed to know, even if he hadn't missed the fact that Sheldon had an arm wrapped possessively around Penny.
"What the frak…" he muttered.
"I think I'm hallucinating," Leonard said faintly.
"You always said he needed to loosen up," Priya commented with a shrug. She wasn't nearly as concerned what Sheldon did, as long as it didn't affect her.
Penny blushed, feeling self-conscious yet at the same time supremely happy to have Sheldon's arm around her in front of all of their friends. She stood up, pulling him to his feet as well, and leaned into his side. "We've been together for about a week. We were about to tell you when Howard decided that was the perfect moment to propose. Sorry, Bernie, I didn't mean to steal your thunder."
Her closest friend just grinned back at her. "That's okay. I'm happy, you're happy. Everyone's happy!" She looked around at their circle of friends, and her face fell slightly as her gaze alighted on Raj.
"Maybe I can fix him up with one of my coworkers," she whispered sotto voce to Howard.
"Only if she's smoking hot," Raj grumbled, annoyed that Bernie drew attention to the fact that he was the only single person within their group.
"So this is for real? It's not some stupid joke or social experiment?" Amy asked, squeezing into the bathroom as far as she could.
Sheldon drew Penny a little closer to his side. "You wouldn't ask that question of any of your other acquaintances, would you? Why would you doubt Penny's word? Or mine, for that matter? You know I'm incapable of lying convincingly. Penny and I are in a relationship," he stated calmly, and there wasn't the slightest twitch or tic as he spoke.
Leonard had a little crease between his eyebrows as he studied the two of them. Then he looked over at Priya, gauging her reaction before he said, "Uh... congratulations, I guess."
"Thanks," Penny said with a smile. "Now if we can all move out of the bathroom, I think I have some wine that would be perfect for a toast."
Even Sheldon drank a small sip in honor of "lasting friendships and new beginnings", as Howard tactfully put it, with a quick glance at Raj as he said so. Sheldon leaned down and murmured in Penny's ear, "That wasn't as difficult as you were anticipating, was it?"
"Could've been worse," she agreed in a whisper. "You did that on purpose, didn't you? Somehow you knew Bernie was going to come back and find us."
"She has a distinctive gait. I heard her coming down the hall and decided to implement your suggestion. I didn't think you would object."
"Not as long as you promise to do that again soon," she replied with a flirtatious grin.
He gave her a tiny smile and kissed her on the forehead, as if he had exceeded his limit for public displays of affection. In response, she pulled his head down into a much more passionate kiss, and afterward, even the shocked exclamations from their friends couldn't erase the smug look on his face.