Fourth of July (Do I really need to write the date?)

Penny was regretting her decision to join Bernadette, Howard and Raj for the fireworks display at Cal-Tech. She wandered the grounds aimlessly, sipping on a wine cooler. Groups of students and faculty littered the lawn, everyone smiling and laughing.

From the moment she arrived, she had felt out of place. Priya was as cold as ever, and Leonard was under Priya's thumb. Bernadette and Howard had immediately been dragged off by some of Howard's co-workers. Raj was caught up in a debate with some grad students, and Amy had pulled Sheldon off to meet some of her colleagues.

Penny was all alone in a crowd of people she didn't know and had nothing in common with.

"Hello. You look lost."

Penny turned to see a casually dressed gentleman standing beside a willow tree. She judged him to be about 45. He had a familiar look but she couldn't quite place him. His arms were muscular, and his shoulders were broad, but it was the tattoos up and down his arms that really intrigued her. "Not really lost, so much as …." Penny looked around. "Okay, so I'm a little lost."

He laughed pleasantly. "Well, maybe you would like to join me?" He waved his hand to the bench behind him. Penny hesitated a moment and then walked over.

"I'm Penny," she said, holding out her hand.

"Mark," he said shaking her hand. "So, Penny, are you a student here?"

Penny laughed. "No way. Not nearly smart enough for that. My friends work here."

Mark smiled. "My buddy's wife works here. English department, I think. Anyway, she insisted I join them."

"So why aren't you with them?" Penny asked.

He grinned. "Well, they disappeared under a blanket and suddenly these strange animal noises began. I thought it best to exit the vicinity."

Penny laughed and nodded. "That was probably the best thing to do."

"What about your friends?" he asked, offering her a water from a small cooler.

Penny set down her empty wine cooler bottle and opened the bottle. She took a sip and looked out over the lawn. "Not sure. Things are kind of weird. I've been friends with these four guys for a few years. Two got girlfriends, who aren't very fond of their boyfriends having me around, so they sort of took off and left me."

"That's rough," he said softly. "So, what do you do?"

Penny sighed. "I'm a waitress at the Cheesecake Factory. I'm registered for a course at the city college in history. And in my spare time, I go to auditions for parts I am apparently too Midwestern looking for." Penny suddenly looked at him with wide eyes. "Oh, umm, no one knows about the history course. I've been keeping that a secret. I don't know why I told you."

Mark smiled. "That's nothing to be ashamed of."

Penny nodded. "It's not that I'm ashamed. It's more that I want to do this myself. Without my friends interfering. Or laughing at me."

He frowned. "You think they would laugh at you?"

Penny sighed. "I don't know. I just know that I don't want them to know yet." Penny looked at him closely. "You look really familiar. Have we met before?"

Mark grinned. "No, but I recognize you. You used to date Zack Johnson, right?"

Penny nodded with a questioning look. "You know Zack?"

Mark sipped his water. "Very well." He grinned widely. "He's my nephew."

Penny burst out laughing. "Crazy Uncle Mark?"

Mark laughed along with her. "Yep. Black sheep of the family."

An air horn sounded in the distance, signaling the fireworks were about to start. They settled back to enjoy the show.

Sheldon was starting to get very worried. When he had returned to the group's spot with Amy he had found Leonard and Priya cuddled up, Bernadette and Howard sharing a lounge chair and Raj laying down on the blanket. No one knew where Penny was. She had not shown up before or during the display. Now they were packing everything up and she was still nowhere to be found.

"Maybe we should search for her," he said, once again.

"Sheldon," Priya's voice was full of annoyance. "Penny is a grown woman. I am sure she is fine. She probably met some guy and is …busy."

"Well, she was half right," a male voice said behind Leonard. Penny and Mark strolled across the lawn toward the group. Sheldon watched with narrow eyes as the man leaned closer to Penny. "Thank you for sitting with me. I had a delightful time."

Penny smiled and leaned in to hug Mark. "Thank you, too. I enjoyed myself very much. Good night, Mark." She kissed his cheek lightly and watched him walk away. Once he was out of sight she turned to Bernadette. "Well, I'm ready when you are."

Before anyone could say anything else Penny turned and walked over to Bernadette's car and slipped into the back seat.

Long after they returned home, and everyone else was asleep, Sheldon lay awake in his bed. He felt unsettled and had no idea why.