Sorry for the wait! School and work are kicking my butt! Hope you all enjoy and I can't promise when the next chapter will be, but I can promise it won't take me a year to update! I'm getting back into the swing of this story and I should be updating pretty regularly.

Chapter 12

The shift at the Cheesecake Factory had dragged and Penny was glad to finally find herself back in her apartment, dressed in a pair of yoga pants and oversized sweatshirt. Her blonde hair was thrown into a messy bun and her face was make-up free. It was her time to unwind...well, until Sheldon made his appearance. Which would most likely be soon.

Penny didn't care that she looked like a hobo and she knew Sheldon didn't mind either. It was one of the good things about having a friend like him. He didn't seem to care what she wore and she didn't have to constantly try to impress him. She could just be Penny. Yeah, he did get annoyed with how she acted sometimes and they got into fights, but that was what friends did and at the end of the day, she knew that Sheldon would always have her back.

They had known each other for almost three years and had become great friends. When Penny had first met Sheldon, she would have laughed at the idea of spending a week alone with him on a trip to Germany. Now, she had practically jumped in joy when he had called her name. Since the Arctic, Penny had felt her feelings toward the tall scientist shift. No longer did she think of him as the awkward, robot-like man that had entirely too many rules, but as the awkward man who could be endearing and sweet.

The Arctic had hurt Sheldon deeply. So much so that he never brought it up and winced whenever the word 'Arctic' was mentioned. Penny had remained by his side during the whole deal and now, she could honestly say that he was her best friend. However, lately, she had started to think of him as something more and that worried her. Sheldon didn't do relationships and she knew that if she developed feelings for him, she would find herself in a world of hurt.

*Knock knock knock*

"Penny."

*Knock knock knock*

"Penny."

*Knock knock knock*

"Penny."

Penny couldn't help the smile when the sound of three knocks and her name sounded on the door. Earlier in their relationship, she would have told everyone how annoying Sheldon's knock was but deep down she didn't hate it at all. Whenever she heard it, she knew exactly who it was.

"Come in!" She called from her position behind the kitchen counter. She was going to start making some tea, knowing that Sheldon would want something to drink when he came in and tea sounded good to her.

"Really, Penny," Sheldon sighed when he opened the door. "I could have been anyone and you just let them barge into your apartment."

Penny rolled her eyes and turned to set the kettle on the stove to heat up. "Sheldon, sweetie, you tell that me every time I let you in without opening the door first. I know it's you knocking and if it isn't, there's a reason why I still keep my old baseball bat." She walked across the room and sat down on the couch next to him. "There's a reason why my dad called me Slugger."

Sheldon's lips tilted up slightly in a smile and then he got down to business. Turning in his seat, he faced Penny fully and handed over a thin binder. "This has everything you need to know about the trip. We leave in two weeks time, so that should be enough time to inform your employer of your one week vacation."

Penny nodded and began to flip through the pages of the binder. Everything that was needed to know where on those pages. There was a schedule for the day they left and a schedule of all the events Sheldon would have to attend during the week. There was even a list of suggested items Penny should bring along.

Any other person would have been surprised at the time and effort gone into the binder, but Penny knew this like an every day thing for Sheldon and wasn't surprised at all.

"Thanks," she finally said after skimming through some of the sheets. This binder would be a part of her nightly readings, tonight.

"You are welcome," Sheldon replied happily. He was very pleased with how she had received the binder of information. "Hopefully, you will review these pages carefully. I would hate to get all the way to Germany to find out you have forgotten something important."

Penny rolled her eyes and placed the binder on the coffee table in front of them. "How about you pack everything for me? That way I will definitely not be forgetting anything."

"Penny, I seriously doubt you'd want me to pick the clothes you would be wearing. I know you take your appearance very seriously. You seem to view some of my clothing choices with disapproval, so I doubt you'd be happy with the wardrobe I'd pick out for you."

That was a long way of just telling her no, she thought. But that was typical Sheldon for you.

Getting up from her spot on the couch, she walked over to the stove where the water in the kettle had come to a boil and moved to pour two cups of tea. One of the mugs was just a plan yellow one, while the other bore the yellow and black bat symbol. Penny had found the cup at the one of the stores at the mall and hadn't hesitated to buy it.

It was now the only mug Sheldon used when he was over at her apartment.

Sheldon smiled at the sight of his cup as she handed it to him like he did every time. "Thank you, Penny."

"You're welcome, sweetie." She settled back into the couch and blew at her tea. They fell into a comfortable silence. Sheldon didn't feel the need to fill every moment with words and Penny felt the same way as well. They had come a long way in their friendship.

"Penny, are you...happy about coming with me to Germany?" The question seemed to come out of nowhere and when Penny looked over at Sheldon, she was surprised to see that he wouldn't look at her. In fact, he looked...worried.

"Of course, I'm happy!" She was quick to say. "I get to go on a vacation and to Europe, no less! Why wouldn't I be happy?"

Sheldon still refused to look at her and Penny started to get worried. "You do not mind that it will be that you spend most of your time with?" Sheldon didn't do insecure; well he didn't before the Arctic.

"Sheldon," she put her cup down and gave him her full attention. "You're my best friend. I'm actually really excited that I get to go to Germany with you. Really. It's going to be fun and I don't know why you're so worried about it."

Sheldon didn't respond right away, his mind seeming to be far away at the moment.

Penny was left to wonder why he was feeling this way. Had one of the guys said something to him? Had it been Leonard? Had he told Sheldon that she wouldn't want to go with him? She mentally shook her head. No, he wouldn't tell that to him, knowing that if she found out about she'd kick his ass. Howard? She could see his scrawny butt telling Sheldon that she wouldn't want to go with him.

"Well," Sheldon finally spoke. "I'm very glad that I choose you, Penny." When he didn't say anything more, she reached back for her tea and they fell into a comfortable silence once more.

Sheldon returned to his apartment a few hours later. Leonard sat at his computer, eyes squinting as he read whatever was on the screen. Sheldon greeted him as he walked by and sat at his own computer, hoping to get some work done.

"Everything set with Penny?" Leonard swiveled around in his chair and faced his friend. "After seeing that binder, she didn't run for the hills, did she?"

"She was quite thankful for it, actually." Sheldon didn't even look from his screen. The question irritated him, but Penny had already told him that she was glad to be going on this trip with him, so he wouldn't let anything the guys said get to him.

"Well, that's good," Leonard said before turning back to his computer. Sheldon was glad to see that he wasn't disappointed by his answer. He was afraid that Leonard would get all mopey once he found out that Penny was going with him and if he was jealous, he hadn't shown it.

Sheldon was grateful. There was only so much sad music he could stand and he had gotten enough of it the first time Penny had rejected Leonard.

He pulled up the material he would speak about at Dr. Mueller's university and began to add more points to it. As he wrote, his mind wasn't on the screen in front of him, it was on his blonde neighbor, his very pretty blonde neighbor, and he couldn't help but wish the next weeks to go by fast.

We're getting closer to their trip to Germany! :D

Thanks for reading!