Sorry for the wait! I would give you an excuse, but I'm sure you all don't want to hear them. ;)

Enjoy!

Chapter Twenty-Two

"You know, it's been nice not having Sheldon around," Howard said and settled his butt more firmly in Sheldon's coveted spot. Since Penny was also away in Germany, it Howard that had decided that he would break Sheldon's rule of not sitting in his seat. The man knew that Sheldon would find out about what he had done, but it was still worth it. The Spot was the most comfortable one in the apartment.

"You say that every time Sheldon's away, dude," Raj pointed out. He sat on the opposite end of the couch and had his legs propped up on the table. In his lap, sat a carton of Chinese food. Without the tall physicist around, there was no one to chastise him for eating so messily.

"It's true." Howard propped his feet on the table, as well. Instead of Chinese, like his best friend, he had decided that night he would have Italian. Normally, Tuesdays were days where they went to the Cheesecake Factory, but without Sheldon there to make them go and Penny to wait on them, they had all decided they would switch it up. After all, next week, they would be right back on their every day schedules.

"What about you, Leonard?" Howard turned to his other friend, who was sitting in his arm chair, looking absently at his lap where his phone sat. "How has it been to not have to deal with Sheldon twenty-four/seven?"

"It's been good."

Howard exchanged a look with Raj before turning back to Leonard. "Just good?" When Leonard didn't reply, Howard threw one of his pasta noodles at him, which got his attention. "What's up with you? You seem out of it. Don't tell me that you miss your crazy roommate."

"Of course, not!" Leonard protested. "I'm just debating if I should text Penny, now, or wait until later."

Raj quickly ate a bite of his orange chicken to hide his smile. Earlier that day, while at work, he had decided to text Penny and she had seemed to enjoy talking, or in this case, texting him. Even though he had mentioned Sheldon. He knew that Penny liked the tall man. Since he couldn't speak in front of her, Raj had taken to observe her actions and they seemed to be different around Sheldon. Sure, they argued, but more often than not, they agreed, now, and they seemed to be hanging out with each other more.

"Well, isn't it like four in the morning there? So, I would wait," Howard suggested.

"I called her the other day, but we didn't get to talk much." Something told Raj that the phone call hadn't gone very well, but there was no way Leonard would admit that aloud.

"Does she want to come home, yet?" Howard asked.

"No, surprisingly," Leonard answered. "But it is Europe, and she's never been out of the States before, so I'm guessing she's more than willing to put up with Sheldon while they're there."

"I don't know, man. There would be only so much I could take, even if I was in Europe," Howard said and got to his feet to throw away his empty container. "Now, if there were any hot babes involved, I think I'd be able to take a lot."

Raj rolled his eyes and finished his meal. He was the only one who knew that Penny wasn't putting up with anything because Sheldon wasn't bothering her, at all. In fact, she was enjoying her time in Germany with him and if she could, she would spend more than a week with him.

"So, now that we're done eating, is there anything you guys want to watch?" Howard had picked up the remote on his way from the kitchen. "We can watch whatever we want. So, suggestions?"

Leonard was still too preoccupied with his phone and Raj shrugged, not caring what they watched.

"America's Next Top Model it is!"

Penny had gone to bed once Sheldon had left and woke up a few hours later. It was close to lunch when she finally crawled out of bed. She knew she had to hurry if she wanted to order lunch and for it to get there before Sheldon.

She ordered them sandwiches, wanting to keep it simple. Later, they would be dining out, again, and Penny couldn't wait.

Once she finished ordering, she went back to her room and looked at her clothes. What did one wear to go see a castle with a friend? A friend who, if Penny were honest with herself, she wanted to be more with.

Jeans and a t-shirt wouldn't do it. Not this time. But nothing too fancy, either. It wasn't a date. Maybe she could wear a cute, flirty dress. She had brought one along, just in case... Just in case, what? It wasn't like Sheldon would have noticed the clothes she was wearing. He wasn't that kind of man.

Penny pulled out a nice, pink dress that she knew would be perfect to wear that day. It hit her mid thigh and she had a cute pair of pink flats to match. Walking around in heels all day would not be a good thing, even if she had a pair of those that would go even better with the dress.

She placed the dress on the bed and the shoes on the floor in front it. She would get dress after they ate, not wanting to risk spilling anything on it before they were to leave.

Several minutes later, there was a knock on the door, announcing the arrival of their lunch and only a few minutes after that, Sheldon walked through the door. He smiled when he saw her setting up their meals in the table. He slipped off his bag and placed it by the couch before taking a seat.

"These look delicious, Penny. I believe you've made a good choice for our meal. Like I knew you would."

Penny blushed and tried to hide it by picking up her sandwich and taking a large bite from it. "So, how were your lectures, today?"

"They went well. It is such a joy to lecture to students who actually take what you're saying seriously. Many times at Caltech, I would find myself speaking to a class where half the students were asleep or on their cell phones."

Penny put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, sweetie."

"It is quite all right, Penny. It's just frustrating."

"I understand."

Another smile her way. "I know you do." After that, they ate the rest of their meal in comfortable silence.

Once they were finished, Sheldon stood to clean up their plates and Penny went to her room to quickly get ready for their outing. She didn't want Sheldon to wait too long on her and she wanted to get going as soon as possible. It wasn't every day she got to visit a real castle!

"We will have to take a tram up there," Sheldon said as they walked to the tram station. In his hands, he had a Heidelberg Castle brochure, of course. "Then, from there, we could either go on a tour with a tour guide or just walk around on our own."

Penny wanted to walk around on her own, but she knew Sheldon liked order and structure, so going with a tour guide would be what he would want to do. She was about to answer him, when Sheldon interrupted her.

"Do what you want, Penny. This whole trip is for you."

Had he been reading her thoughts?

"Uh...well, then, I would like to explore the castle on our own. If that's okay?"

"Of course, it is." No twitch. "This way we will be able to look at the sites and beautiful architecture at our own pace." He hoped the brochure. "Penny, did you know that more than three million people visit the castle a year?"

"I didn't, but that's a lot. Do you think it will be crowded today?"

"I don't know. Most likely, unfortunately." It was no secret that he wasn't too fond of being around a lot of people.

"It'll still be fun!" Penny couldn't help but beam. She hadn't been this excited for anything in long time. It felt good.

They stood in line for tickets and soon, they were on the tram. Sheldon had given her a window seat and she sat with her nose practically pressed to the glass as they made their way to the castle.

"Ooooh, Sheldon, can we eat at one of those cafes, later? They look so cute!"

Sheldon gave her a confused looked. "I'm sorry, but I don't understand how a building that you eat in can be considered 'cute'?" He even used air quotes, bless him.

Penny really had no explanation. "It just is, okay? So, can we eat at one?"

"Of course. We can do whatever you like." Penny opened her mouth and Sheldon held up a finger. "Within reason."

Penny hid the smile on her face when she turned back to the window.

"That was amazing!" Penny gushed. "It was all so beautiful."

Unfortunately, they hadn't been able to see everything. There had been too much to see and the place closed at six to the public, but they had seen enough for Penny to fall in love.

While they had walked around, Sheldon had told her interesting facts about the history and other things. Penny didn't mind and found herself asking him several questions, which he had been more than happy to answer.

Now, they were making their way to one of the cafes, one that Penny had pointed out on the ride there, and took their seat outside. The weather was nice and Penny couldn't imagine sitting inside.

When their food arrived, Sheldon placed a napkin in his lap and folded his hands on the table. "I have some news, Penny."

"Yes?" Penny stopped herself from digging in, since she was starving, and waited for Sheldon to tell her the news.

"Friday morning will be our last in Germany."

"What?" Penny dropped her fork and didn't care at the noise it made as it clattered against her plate. "I thought we were here until Sunday morning." Tears threatened her eyes, but she quickly blinked them back.

"I am afraid not. Tomorrow is my last lecture, and it's the biggest one of the week, and then, on Friday morning, we will be leaving. It would be best if you had your things packed Thursday night as our train will be leaving very early in the morning."

"Okay, I'll be ready," she said softly and went back to her meal. This time, the silence wasn't so comfortable.

Sheldon almost cracked and told Penny what they were doing Friday. Yes, they were leaving Germany, he hadn't told a lie, but they wouldn't be going home quite yet. When he saw the tears in her eyes, he had almost blurted out that they would be going to Paris, but he quickly refrained from doing so.

He knew that seeing her face when they pulled into the train station in Paris would be worth the tears she had almost shed today. Now, all he had to do was keep quiet about it until Friday.

He could do this. Right?

Penny was going to miss this bed. She was going to miss this room. She was going to miss ordering room service for her and Sheldon. She was going to miss the streets of Heidelberg. But most of all, she was going to miss spending time with Sheldon. The past few days had been almost perfect and she knew they had grown closer.

However, they hadn't grown close enough. At least, Penny didn't think so. She knew she wanted to be with Sheldon, but she wasn't sure how he felt about the idea. This trip, she had hoped maybe they could take that step and become a couple, but with only a day and a half left in Europe, Penny wasn't sure if that was possible, anymore.

Tomorrow was Sheldon's big lecture. She would go and support him. Maybe she would be brave and that night, she would kiss him. But if he pushed her away or reacted negatively, she didn't know what she would do with herself. Sheldon was her best friend and she didn't want to lose him.

Sighing, she turned to her side on the bed and looked out the window. Things had been going so well for her and now, it was all complicated.

Sorry if this all seemed rushed, but I needed to get something out for this story before I got swamped with school.

Thanks for reading!