Oh Lord, I don't even know where to begin on the apologies. Has it really almost been 11 months since I last updated this story? Ugh, it has! I am SO SORRY for the wait and I would totally understand if no one is reading this anymore. I've recently gotten back to the TBBT fandom and had the strong to desire to finish this story of mine. I'm proud to say I did finish my other TBBT story a couple months ago, now it is this one's turn! I plan to update once every week and if not every week then every two weeks. But this WILL get done, I promise!

Forgive me if this chapter is bad with the characterization of the characters. It's been awhile, but it will get better as the chapters go on. I hope. Now, I hope you all enjoy! :)

Chapter 6

Penny loved watching movies, almost as much as she wanted to be in them. Movies could take her to worlds she could only dream about.

When she was little, she would pop in her favorite VHS and act out all the scenes with her favorite characters. That was when she knew she was destined to be an actress.

Too bad destiny had a way of screwing people over. If her life was a movie, it wouldn't do well in the box offices and people would not line up to go see it. Hell, if her life was a movie she probably would be rejected to play herself in it. Too mid-western, they would say. Too short, too skinny, not skinny enough. The list would go on and on.

Some days, she just wanted to give up, pack up her stuff and move back home to Nebraska. She was no closer to winning that Oscar than she had been six years ago when she had first moved here with Kurt. Her job at the Cheesecake Factory was starting to wear on her. The long hours on her feet, the patrons from Hell and getting minuscule tips just weren't cutting it anymore. More often than not, her customers weren't all bad but it seemed that lately everyone was in a bad mood and they were always seated in her section.

The highlight of her day, after a nice hot shower of course, was walking across the hall to join her boys in apartment 4A. The feel of her cushion in the middle seat and a container full of hot food, nearly made her forget about the day she had. The company usually helped with that too, especially whenever Sheldon was involved.

Lately, though, Sheldon hadn't been there and her time in 4A seemed to be a little duller. There was no one to verbally spar with her on the littlest things. On Halo Night, she had no one to blow up. Well, there was always Howard, Raj and Leonard, but that had gotten old real quick.

On Anything Can Happen Thursday, the guys had gone out to a bar but she didn't have a tall physicist to bug next door.

Now, on Friday, she was glad to have him sitting next to her on her couch, eating Chinese food and watching a movie. Things were starting to feel more normal. She missed him. Today had been a rare treat. She had spent most of her day with the beautiful mind of Dr. Sheldon Cooper.

Two years ago, she would have thought herself crazy to want to hang around him. He was a big bag of crazy, still was, but he had toned it down a little. Well for her, anyway. He had finally accepted her as a part of his life. That had been hard for him, she knew, but she felt honored to be considered one of his friends.

"Penny," his breath tickled her hair as he leaned down to whisper in ear. She nearly jumped out of her skin at his sudden closeness. "We are both done with our meals. Would you like me to get up and turn off the lights?

Staring down at the container in her hands, she was surprised to find it empty. When had she finished eating her food? Looking up at the TV, she found she had missed a good chunk of the movie. Ray and his family were on the road.

"Penny?" Sheldon spoke again. This time he paused the movie and shifted his body so that he was looking at her fully. "Are you all right? Would you like me to stop the movie and allow you to rest?"

"N-No," she finally managed to spit out. Why had she even had trouble speaking in the first place? He had only asked a simple question. "I was just in my own little world, sweetie. You can turn off the lights, if you want."

"Okay." He stood up, and then turned to her with one elegant hand outstretched. "I can take your garbage, if you would like me to dispose of it."

"Um, sure." She handed him her empty container. "Thanks, Sheldon." She gave him a bright smile and he returned it with just the corners of his mouth barely lifting. His eyes looked weary.

Penny watched as he dumped their garbage into her garbage can and then, as he walked across the room to flip the light switch.

"Penny," his voice came from the darkness near her door and grew closer as he spoke. "This was quite unsafe. I could trip over any number of things and receive a serious injury." Suddenly, he was in his seat beside her, unharmed.

Penny rolled her eyes. "You wouldn't have tripped over anything, Sheldon. I cleaned my apartment the other day."

"Hm, I did notice the slight cleanliness of your living room." He reached over to the coffee table and straightened out a stack of magazines that were lying there. "But of course, there is always room for improvement."

Penny knew that she should get annoyed with him, but he was starting to sound more and more like himself and that was a relief.

"Can we finish the movie now, Sheldon, or are you going to nitpick through everything in my apartment?"

Sheldon placed his hands in his lap. "Very well. Start the movie, Penny. We'll deal with this mess at a later date."

Penny rolled her eyes again, but patted his leg with affection (he only flinched slightly.). "Oh, Moonpie, I have missed you."

The rest of the movie was viewed in silence and Penny only caught herself once trying to hide behind in Sheldon's arm. The movie didn't freak her out as much as it had all those years ago, but there were still parts that sit shivers down her spine.

Once the end credits rolled, Sheldon moved to turn the lights on and headed for the door.

"Well, Penny, I've enjoyed this time together but it is nearing the time for me to go to bed and I still have my nightly rituals to perform." He stood ramrod straight, with his arms behind his back.

Penny smiled. "I had fun, too, sweetie."

He nodded and opened the door to leave her apartment. "Goodnight, Penny. I hope you have pleasant REM cycles."

"I hope you have sweet dreams, too, and I'll see you tomorrow."

Sheldon looked over his shoulder. "We are neighbors. It is almost guaranteed that we'll 'see' each other tomorrow at some point, Penny."

"Well, you're about to 'see' my foot up your ass, if you don't leave." She smiled sweetly.

This time Sheldon rolled her eyes. "Really, Penny, you and your threats of bodily harm astounds me."

"You love it anyway." She moved to the door and rested a hand on it.

"Penny!" He sputtered. "Now, why would I love your threats? Especially, if they are made towards me?"

"Goodnight, Sheldon." She closed the door on his face. Leaning against the closed to door, she sighed. He could be annoying and condescending, but Sheldon was still her Whackadoodle.

It was 8:13PM and Penny sat atop her washer as it cleaned her clothes. Sheldon was due down there any minute and she wanted to see his look of surprise when he saw that she was actually early for once.

Hopefully, he would show up. It had been two weeks since he had done his laundry at the correct time.

Two minutes later, Sheldon walked in dressed in his bright colors and plaid pants and in his hands was a full basket of his dirty clothes.

Raising his eyebrows slightly, he greeted her. "Hello, Penny."

"Hey, Sheldon!" She greeted back brightly. A wave of relief went through her when she saw him walk through that door. She hoped it meant that things were going back to normal and he wasn't going to be constantly working.

After loading his clothes in the washer and measuring out the correct amount of detergent, he turned and faced her. "I trust that you have had a satisfactory day."

Penny marked her page and set it down next to her. "Well, I had to work today so that wasn't so good, but when I came home I took a nice shower and marathoned Sex in the City until it was time for laundry night. How about you, Sheldon? Was your day satisfactory?" She crossed her legs at her ankles and looked at him expectantly.

"It was. I woke up at my usual time, made myself a bowl of cereal and sat down to watch Doctor Who. After that, I worked until lunch, in which I made myself a sandwich. Leonard, Howard and Raj went to a movie at a theatre of which I did not approve of. I was left to my own devices for supper and at 8:15 I came down here." Penny was surprised he hadn't run out of breath as he explained his day. "Oh, and Dr. Gablehouser called me this afternoon to inform me that he would like to have a meeting with me on Monday morning. Apparently a visiting professor from Germany will be there."

"Oh." That was when she remembered the conversation she had overheard the day before. "Do you know what it's going to be about?"

"No," she shook his head and looked perplexed. "He just told me that I better show up."

"I think I may have an idea." She bit her lip, a little unsure if she should tell him or not.

"Really? Please, tell me." He walked closer to her, so that now he stood in front of her. It only made her slightly nervous. He was so close his legs almost brushed hers.

"Well, when I was bringing your food back after re-heating it, Dr. Gablehouser stepped out of his office with another man and I heard Leonard's name, so I stopped to listen."

"Penny," he tsked. "Eavesdropping is rude."

She rolled her eyes. "Then, they said your name."

"Oh," he blinked. "Go on, then."

She smiled smugly. "That's what I thought. Anyways, Dr. Gablehouser mentioned Leonard and his work and how reliable it was. Dr. Mueller, the other guy, mentioned you and said that you would be a better candidate for whatever they have planned."

"Well, Dr. Gablehouser was right. Leonard's work is reliable; he should be picked for whatever this event is. "He turned from her and headed back towards his washers, which had beeped their completion, and went about transferring his wet clothes to dryers.

"What?" She jumped of the washer and was at his side in an instant. Was this really Sheldon Cooper? The man that always boasted of his work and brought other people's down?

"You heard me, Penny." He didn't look at her.

"I did and I can't believe it! Are you serious, right now? Is this a bazinga?"

"No, bazinga." He looked up at her, his blue eyes unreadable.

She grabbed his arm and was surprised when he didn't shrug it off. "What if this meeting is to tell you that they chose you?"

"What if it is to tell me that I was not chosen?"

"Stop playing devil's advocate!" She nearly screeched. "Dr. Mueller knows you, is impressed by you and I'm sure he told Dr. Gablehouser that you were the perfect choice."

"I guess we will see on Monday, won't we, Penny?" His voice lacked the confidence it usually held and his shoulders almost looked slumped in defeat.

So much for thinking things were going back to normal.

Thank you so much for reading this! I know it's been awhile and it means a lot to me if there are still some of you out there reading this story! I will see you all soon!