One morning when Sheldon walked into his office, he found Leonard there waiting for him. He raised one eyebrow in surprise. While he liked to arrive to work early, Leonard had been barely sneaking into work by eight, now that he was living on the other side of town - or perhaps his tardiness was due to amorous activities with Priya. Sheldon didn't care which it was, nor did he want to know. He glanced at his old roommate and then moved around him to hang up his jacket on the coat tree in the corner of the room.

"I assume you wish to talk about a personal matter?" he asked.

"How'd you know?" Leonard replied.

Sheldon bit back a sigh. "If you wanted to talk about a work-related matter, you could have done so on the clock. The fact that you have sought me out before work began indicates that the matter is also of a personal nature, or else you would simply say what you wanted to over lunch. It's a simple logical deduction."

"Oh… right," Leonard squinted at him for a moment before jamming his hands in his pockets. "It's about Penny."

"I see." Sheldon moved so the desk was between them. He clasped his hands behind his back. "What about Penny?"

"I just… I don't want to see you get hurt. Honestly, I didn't think the two of you would make it this far. At first, it just seemed like a knee-jerk reaction to me moving in with Priya. You know, I thought in some ways, Penny was like a substitute roommate to you. She's familiar, and she takes care of you. But it's been three months, and now I'm really starting to worry about you. You said you were thinking about marriage, and I know why. You think if you're married, she can't leave you, but Penny's never going to… she's not interested in marriage or commitment. And come on, you're hardly her type. In fact, you're like her anti-type. Face it, your relationship just doesn't have a future. If you let yourself get too attached, you're just going to regret it. I did," he added quietly.

Sheldon frowned. After a moment, he placed his hands on the desk and leaned forward. "You are hardly an impartial observer. Do you still have feelings for her?"

Leonard shrugged. "You never stop having feelings for someone you used to love."

Sheldon rose to his full height and raised one eyebrow. "So if Penny and I did terminate our relationship, what would you do? She thinks that Priya is hoping you will propose soon." He felt his jaw tighten. "Are you waiting to see if Penny becomes available again?"

Leonard raked one hand through his slicked-back curls. "Of course not… but it's only natural to have a plan B, isn't it? I mean, if you're really interested in dating now, you have so many other options. Those crazy grad students used to throw themselves at you all the time, remember? It's okay to have a … an exit strategy."

There was a roaring in Sheldon's ears as he stalked toward his best friend. He clenched his hands tightly. "That is the difference between you and I, Leonard. There is no one else for me, and let me make one thing perfectly clear - Penny is mine. She is not your second choice or your backup plan. She is my-" He broke off, shock piercing the haze of anger that had fogged his brain. Dimly, he noted that Leonard had scrambled back and was holding his arms up defensively. He sucked in a deep, shuddering breath. "She's mine."

For a moment, Leonard stammered incomprehensibly. "Don't say I didn't try to warn you," he finally muttered and sidled out the door.

Sheldon was still pacing his office, filled with a restless energy that demanded that he do something, when Raj walked in. Taking one look at the other man's face, his eyes widened and he took a cautious step back. "What happened to you?" he asked.

"Leonard," Sheldon growled. Hearing the unusual rasp in his own voice, he halted in confusion.

Raj sighed and leaned against his own desk. "What did he say that's got you all riled up?"

"He said my relationship with Penny doesn't have a future. Then he told me I had 'other options', and said that he still had feelings for her. He implied she was his backup if his relationship with his sister failed."

Raj's eyes narrowed, and he scowled. "That smug, two-timing bastard… no wonder you're so ticked off. I'm surprised you didn't punch him."

Sheldon glanced down at his hands. "I was tempted," he confessed. Then he glanced back at his friend. "I thought you would've agreed with him, about Penny and I dating."

Raj looked away. "We took bets," he muttered. "On how long your dating Penny would last. I guessed ten weeks, which was way more than Howard or Leonard thought. Maybe he freaked out when he realized you exceeded all our predictions. As for taking sides… Priya's my sister. She scares me sometimes, but she's still my sister. So if Leonard is shacking up with her, then I'd rather hear he's thinking about marrying her than that he's got a backup plan." He made a moue of disgust.

"I don't have a backup plan," Sheldon said quickly. "I don't want to have an exit strategy. I love Penny, and I want to marry her."

Raj looked at him and shook his head. "Leonard was right about one thing; you've always have other options, even if you were oblivious to them. So why her? She doesn't really seem to be your type - if you even have a type. For a while, we all thought Amy was the kind of girl you'd go for. She's a lot like you: brainy, rude, terrible fashion sense. You and Penny have almost nothing in common."

Sheldon hesitated. "Trust," he answered. "That's why I love her, why I need her. There's never been anyone else who has supported me and understood me. She may laugh at my quirks - everyone does - but she also accommodates them. Even knowing what I'm like, how difficult I can be, she still likes me. When she smiles at me, I feel like I would do anything for her. The wonder is not that I fell in love with her, but that it took me four years to do so."

Raj's mouth had fallen open as he listened. "That was beautiful," he finally managed. Then his smile faded. "I don't think Penny's used to anyone seeing her like that… like a person instead of arm candy. I hope you can be patient, because having someone know her - the real her - and love her anyway, probably scares the hell out of her."

Sheldon frowned. "That doesn't make any sense."

"Sure, it does; it's a pattern. Men like her for her looks. Her relationships are usually nothing more than lots of sex with guys who will take her out and pay for things. Minimal effort on her part, minimal commitment. She keeps things light and casual so she's not hurt when it ends. Your relationship must be stronger than you think if she knows how you feel and still hasn't run screaming."

"Perhaps," Sheldon replied, but he was unconvinced.

"It was the hat," Penny murmured. Her eyes were closed, and she was leaning back in an overstuffed armchair in the therapist's office.

"What about the hat?" Julie asked.

"It made him look hot. I put it on his head because I wanted an excuse to touch him," she said.

"Good. What happened next?"

"He looked. He never looks."

"He never looks at you?" Julie asked softly.

"Not like that. Not like he wanted me."

"What did you do?"

"I grabbed him by the hand. We were going to have our rematch. He didn't let go of my hand. We were leaning on each other as we walked down the street. Everywhere he touched me felt like it was on fire."

"Then what happened?"

Penny frowned. "We were fighting…"

"Why?"

Her frown deepened, then finally cleared, although her eyes remained closed. "The guy at the shooting range wouldn't let us in. He said we were wasted, and there was no way in hell he would put even a BB gun in our hands."

"Were you angry at him?"

"I guess… I was more annoyed at Sheldon. I wanted to show him I was better. I wanted to wipe that look off his face."

"What look is that?" Julie prompted.

"The one I hate. The one that says, I'm better than you."

"So what did you do?"

"I picked a fight with him. It's so easy to push his buttons. When he gets mad, he acts like a little kid on the playground."

"Okay, Penny, I want you to open your eyes in three… two… one…"

Penny did as she was instructed. "I keep getting these little pieces back, more and more each week. It was going really good. Why'd you stop me?"

"You said your purpose in coming here was to remember why you agreed to marry him. I think you just revealed something very significant." Julie tapped at her laptop, and Penny heard a recording of her voice, sounding detached and vague, saying, "I wanted to show him I was better. I wanted to wipe that look off his face."

"Oh… yeah, I guess I did," Penny said slowly.

With a few more keystrokes, Julie played back the next soundbite: "The one I hate. The one that says I'm better than you."

"How does it make you feel when you think he's looking down on you?"

"Angry, I guess… hurt, and maybe a little ashamed. He's my friend; I want him to stick up for me, not tear me down."

"Why do you feel ashamed?"

"Because some part of me thinks he's right. I'm a waitress. I can barely afford my rent, and then I go out and do something stupid like buy these designer shoes because they make me feel better."

"Why do the shoes make you feel better?"

Penny shrugged and looked down at her hands, interlaced on her lap. "I guess I feel like if I'm wearing something so beautiful and expensive that means I'm not a failure, that I deserve better things."

"That look you described from Sheldon, did that make you feel like a failure too?"

She nodded, then her face went blank with shock. "Is that why I said yes?" she whispered. "Because he used to look down on me, so it made me feel like got one over on him?" Color suffused her face. "Did I seriously marry him because I wanted to… embarrass him?"

"We still have some more work to do to uncover your motivations," Julie replied. "But I think that your actions since discovering you're married are just as important, if not more so. You said he was a friend before that night, and now you're at least giving the relationship a chance. Clearly, you care about him. The question is, are your feelings are strong enough to remain married to him?"

Penny felt a trembling seize her whole body. She clasped her hands tightly in her lap. "I don't know," she whispered.