The coffee cups slid from his fingers, falling to the floor with a clunk. Penny glided her hand into his hair and kissed him more deeply. She felt him respond. His lips parted, as he returned her kiss running his hands over her back. When she finally pulled away, his eyes were shining.
"Why are you kissing me?" he asked.
"This is my experiment," she said.
Her senses spiked, as she felt his lips brush hers again. They fell down into his usual spot on the couch. He felt so right in her arms, as if he were made for her. She slipped her hand under his t-shirts and slowly up his bare back. He gasped, and let out a boyish giggle.
"Oh Penny," he said. "I want to rush upon you, like the victorious allies of Gondor and Rohirrim against the hoards of Mordor."
"I don't know what that means," she laughed.
"You will," he whispered, pushing her down on the couch and kissing her hungrily. She wrapped her arms around him and let herself sink into his kiss. Why did it sound so inviting, when Sheldon spoke like this? It annoyed the heck out of her when Leona….! Oh god!
She pulled free and quickly sat up.
Penny had done some misguided things in her time, but cheating wasn't one of them.
"Are we stopping now?" he asked, confused.
She looked over at him, "Leonard." she said meekly.
"Oh kryptonite."
"What are we going to do?" she asked.
"Well, when you tested your hypothesis, what was the probable outcome?"
"Huh?"
"Before embarking on an experiment you need to account for all possible variables."
"Variables?"
"Leonard and Amy, of course," he said.
She gave him an addled look.
"Oh Penny, I assumed when you wantonly pressed your lips on mine, that I was in the hands of an expert, who had an authoritative doctrine."
"Authoritative what?"
"A strategy… a series of actions or procedures… an established way of progressing."
"I just went with the moment," she replied, feebly.
"Went with the…." he huffed, "These actions are potentially devastating to our current arrangements," he said, "we could lose people," he added, with a concerned tone.
"Alright smartypants, you're the one with the massive brain. You think of a plan."
They sat side by side, in silence, Sheldon thinking. He gave her a quick glance, "Maybe you should corrupt me first, and we can devise a viable solution later," he said earnestly.
She looked at him for a minute, then smirked. Reaching over, she pulled his head down to rest on her shoulder. "You did become a real boy, didn't you?" she said tenderly, as she stroked his hair.
They didn't say anything for a while and then he said softly, "Are you going to break up with Leonard?"
"Are you going to break up with Amy?"
"I said it first," he shot back.
"I don't know...," she said. "I do love him. I just don't know if I want to be with him in 20 years time. I never feel ready."
"Shouldn't you feel ready by now?"
"What about you and Amy?"
"I am very fond of Amy, she helps me," he said. "I can't imagine not knowing her."
Penny felt saddened. "Let's face it sweetie, this is an impossible situation."
"Not necessarily impossible," he said sitting back upright. "We haven't done the calculations."
"Well… you let me know," she said, kissing him lightly on the forehead. She stood up to leave, knowing that staying was a bad idea.
"Maybe one day," she said, as she stepped through the door.
She made her way back to her apartment. Squeezing a cushion up to her chest, she sat down with her knees pulled up. There were no calculations for this. If they took things any further, the outcome would be far worse for Sheldon than her. She'd get over it, but he would lose his best friend and Amy. He wasn't equipped for that. What a mess, her heart sunk.
Not long after she departed, Sheldon left his apartment. He quickly made his way to Raj's place.
Knock, knock, knock "Raj."
Knock, knock, knock "Raj."
Knock, knock, knock "Raj."
"Sheldon!... I was expecting you."
"You were?"
"Yes, ever since I heard the news from CERN that the super collider had failed to find evidence of supersymmetry, I knew it was only a matter of time before I'd see your sorry ass skulking round here," said Raj.
"Firstly, the true decisive quest starts in two years time when the LHC resumes operations at much higher energies," he said "…and I never skulk."
"Well, if you're not here to beg me to work with you again… why are you here?"
"I need to borrow some films."
"Oh, you've come to the right place. Just call me Rajflix."
"No thank you."
"Come to think of it, you probably have everything I've got. I've see your collection, its redonkulous," he said.
"Yes it is, but I require something, only you can provide."
"Bolly porn?"
Sheldon gave him a look.
"What then?"
"Films about love."
"Come again?!"
"Slushy puerile stories with overly romantic sentimentality. Do you have them?"
"Sure I have them," said Raj puzzled, "but why do you want them?"
"For research," he said.
"This is about the CERN results, isn't it?" said Raj waving a finger at him. "…you're crying on the inside," he said sympathetically.
"I'll ignore that!"
That morning had left its mark on Penny, a physical imprint. She could still feel his warm lips and the smooth skin of his back on her fingertips. The compulsion to kiss him had been overwhelming. When he told her about his attraction, she let it draw her in.
What had I expected exactly? said thought.
She had wanted to make out with him, but she hadn't thought beyond that. He had been right. A simple kiss, escalated far quicker than anticipated. These last two weeks she had learnt that Sheldon Cooper was full of surprises. But she had to let it go, she told herself.
There was a knock. It was Leonard.
"Hi Penny," he said.
"Hi," she said, feeling thoroughly terrible.
"I see you've cleaned up,"
"Oh yes, I had some help…" she looked around. The place still looked great.
"How are you, Penny? I was worried and a little disappointed the other evening. You just don't seem yourself lately." He said as he sat down next to her on the couch.
Should she tell him? No!
"I did have too much to drink, but you really shouldn't worry."
"I know that you are bored with your job and frustrated about what to do next. I understand, but the drinking? It's not a good sign to drink alone like that."
"Leonard, I admit I have some bad habits. I'm not perfect, but I never really was. You are right about the drinking though, it didn't solve anything." She left it at that for now.
He seemed to relax a little and said. "We've having Chinese over at my apartment, if you wanted to join us?"
"Us?"
"Me, Howard and Raj. Sheldon's busy"
"Sure," she said.
It was then, that she wondered if Sheldon might tell Leonard what she had done. He had managed to hide his attraction from everyone but kissing was a very different matter.
"Hi guys," she said, as she arrived.
Raj nodded and Howard said "Hey."
Penny sat down and Leonard passed her a carton of food.
"Thanks."
"So where's the wackadoodle?" Howard asked.
"He's locked in his room, he doesn't want to be disturbed this weekend," said Leonard, looking in the direction of the bedrooms with a slightly furrowed expression. "I hope he's not building something in there."
"I told you it was only a matter of time, before the gremlins in that guys head planned a mutiny," said Howard, looking serious.
Raj whispered in Howards' ear. "Raj thinks he's upset about the supersymmetry news."
Penny stiffened; maybe this was the first sign of a breakdown after all. She felt a panic rising in her chest and privately dropped him a quick text. "Shelly, hope you're okay?"
His reply didn't come until just before she went home to bed. "Very well, thank you."
On the Monday after her shift, she got in and dropped her mail on the coffee table. It normally stays unopened for a couple of days. If she can't see a bill, it isn't a bill! But today something else arrived, a large brown envelope. She opened one end and reached inside, pulling out a stack of pages bound together. A note attached read, 'Please enter intended date and sign.' It was titled, 'The Relationship Agreement.'
Thank you everyone who has read my story and for your kind reviews. I have really enjoyed writing this. The shenny is an intriguing idea which I think, with care, could make for an exciting story on the show.