Sorry for the wait, but with school and stuff, it's been pretty hard to write. I hope this chapter is worth it, though!

Chapter Twenty-Three

Penny woke up the next morning with a heavy heart. The night before she hadn't slept very well and it felt like there were bags under her eyes. She didn't even stop to look at herself in the mirror as she made her way to the bathroom to take a shower. Sheldon was probably already up, showered and ordering their breakfast. She hadn't wanted the morning to come. Today was their last day in Europe and tomorrow, they would be on their way home. Soon, it would be back to her own apartment, her job and the four boys next door.

It wasn't that she hated her life back in California, quite the opposite, actually. Well, except for the fact that she was still a waitress and not an actress. Yet.

"Speaking of acting," she muttered to herself as she stepped into the shower, the hot water felt good on her skin. "I haven't gotten a call from that last audition I did." However, normally, when she received no call, it meant that she didn't get the part. That made her heart even heavier. She had been absolutely perfect for that part, but they still probably thought she looked too Midwestern, even though the lead was supposed to be from Kansas.

The shower did nothing to wash away the heaviness she felt and after stepping out, clean, she got dressed in a pair of black jeans and a cute pink top. She blow-dried and curled her hair, put a little make-up and was ready to go. She wasn't wearing anything special for Sheldon's last lecture. She wanted to blend in with everyone else, but also wanted to stick out a tiny bit in case Sheldon got nervous and needed to look at a familiar face.

As she walked out of the bathroom, she threw her pajamas in the still-empty suitcase at the end of the bed. Later that night, it would be filled with all of her clothes, again and she didn't want to think about that at the moment. If this was her last day in Germany and having Sheldon all to herself, she would make the most of it.

Opening the door that would lead her into the living room, she could already smell the tantalizing smells of whatever Sheldon had ordered for breakfast. Her stomach protested its emptiness and Penny silently reassured it that it would be full soon.

"Good morning, Penny!" Sheldon greeted brightly from the couch. How he was always so perky in the mornings, Penny didn't know.

"Morning, Sheldon." She shuffled over and plopped beside him.

"I hope you slept well." The line between his eyes creased as he peered down at her, worried and sensing that something was a little off with his friend, besides the normal annoyance of being up early.

"I slept fine," she answered. "So, what's for breakfast?" She changed the subject quickly, not wanting him to ask anymore questions about how she slept, because they may lead to other things and she wasn't ready to deal with them so early in the morning.

"I ordered us some scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage and toast. I wasn't sure what you would be in the mood for. If known that sounds good, I can always order you something else." Going out of his way to make sure she was comfortable was something Sheldon would never had done when they had first met, but now, it seemed to come easily to him. In fact, he looked eager to please her and Penny didn't know what to think about that. It was too early to really think about anything at the moment.

"No, this is fine." She leaned forward to grab a plate and began to shovel eggs on her plate. "I'm starving." Sheldon leaned forward to do the same with his plate, but did it in a more delicate manner than Penny had.

Together, they ate in silence for a few minutes. Sheldon had some of his lecture papers spread out in front of him, out of the way of his food, of course, and was glancing at them after every other bite.

"Are you nervous?" Penny asked and took a sip of orange juice. Never had she tasted better orange juice and wondered if there was any way she could take some of it home.

"Honestly, no. I know I should be since there are many people going to this lecture, way more than I am usually comfortable with."

"Well, if you do get nervous while you're up there, just look for me." She placed her now-empty plate on the table. "I don't know how much reassure I'll be, but maybe it will help to see at least one familiar face."

Sheldon's hand twitched at his side, almost as if he wanted to reach out and grab hers. "I'm sure seeing you in the audience will help me greatly. I want to thank you, again, for coming along with me to this lecture and to Germany. It has been a wonderful experience."

"Just too bad it's going to end tomorrow, huh?" The mood in the room shifted, then, and Penny regretted her words immediately. Sheldon was looking away from her now as he pretend to focus on one of his papers.

"Yes, it is too bad."

Sheldon wanted to get to the University early to set up and Penny went along with him. The early morning air was chilly on her bare arms and she had been shocked when Sheldon had offered his jacket when he had seen her shiver. For a moment, she had almost refused it since the thing was hideous, but she didn't know when he'd do something like this, again. So, she put it on and burrowed into the warmth left behind from when Sheldon had it on.

Underneath the hideous jacket, Sheldon had been wearing a grey dress shirt and a pair of black dress slacks. On his feet were a nice pair of black dress shoes. Penny couldn't believe he had actually dressed himself that morning. Gone was the ugly plaid suit and Penny sighed in relief. Hopefully, she would never have to set her eyes on that monstrosity, again.

"Have you been looking in that French dictionary I got you?" He asked. Penny was startled at the question and honestly, had almost forgotten about the dictionary. After all, they were in a country where German was being spoken, so she had been mainly focusing on that.

"Uh, no. Should I have been?"

"N-No. Just curious, is all." If his steps quickened a little, Penny didn't think much of it and thought he just wanted to hurry up.

Several minutes later, they were walking into the science building of the University. There were a few students milling around, but it was still early, yet. Penny wondered if these were the same students that had talked about Sheldon as he walked by his first day there. If they were or not, she still glared at them as she walked past. They just gave her confused glances in return.

"Ah! Penny, you are here!" Dr. Mueller had stepped out of office just as they were about to pass and engulfed Penny in a huge hug.

"Of course," she said and smiled at the older man. "I have to support Sheldon during his biggest lecture of the week, right?" She linked an arm through Sheldon's and was surprised when he didn't slip away from her touch.

Dr. Mueller looked between her and Sheldon, a knowing twinkle in his eye. "Of course you do, dear." He looked up at Sheldon. "You're lecture starts in about thirty minutes. That should give you enough time to setup everything, right?"

"Barely," he said with a twitch of a smile. Penny couldn't believe he had just said something in semblance to a joke and nudged him lightly in the ribs before turning a bright smile up at him.

"We better get going, then," she said. "We wouldn't want you to not be completely prepared before the lecture starts."

"That would not be good, at all," Dr. Mueller agreed. "I will see you later, Sheldon, when it's time for the lecture. I wouldn't want to miss out on it." He waved at them before they started to walk down the hallway. Their arms were no longer linked, but Penny stayed practically glued to his side.

"I'm going to sit right smack in the middle," she announced when they stepped into the large lecture hall. "That way, I won't be hard to find if you ever need to just look at me." She walked up the rows of seats as Sheldon pulled things from his bag and wrote equations on the large whiteboard. She placed her bag on one of the seats so no one would take it and went to join Sheldon back at the front of the room.

"You know, I'm not going to understand a word you say, right? Whether it's in English or German." She hoped up on the big wooden desk and swung her legs, watching Sheldon write some more crazy looking equations with symbols she had never seen in her life.

Penny thought about asking him what some of it meant, but knew he would go into a long explanation that he didn't have time for at the moment and Penny knew she wouldn't understand most, if not, all of it, anyway.

"Penny," he said with his back to her as he continued to scribble things down on the board. "I can do two things at once. If you wish to talk to me, you may."

There silence had been so comfortable that Penny hadn't even thought of filling it up with chatter. "Um." At first, she didn't know quite what to say. Sheldon had never really been interested in idle chitchat.

"Penny, I have never known you to not know what to say." Sheldon turned to her with one of his rare, real smiles. This smile seemed different, though. It seemed softer. She didn't know how to explain it and at the sight of it, her stomach did flips.

Gathering herself, quickly, she stuck her tongue out at him. "Well, earlier, I was thinking about that audition I had awhile ago."

"The one with the girl named Jenny from Kansas?"

"Yep. That one. I was so sure I was going to get that part." She sighed and slumped a little. "Maybe acting isn't for me. Still, I want to have at least one successful part under my belt, you know? Just to say that coming to California was worth it."

"Not that coming to California was a total bust," she quickly added when she saw hurt flash across Sheldon's face. "I got to meet you and the guys. You've been better friends to me than my friends in Nebraska were. None of them would have taken me to Germany."

"I, for one, am glad you came to California, specifically Pasadena and across the hall from us," he said. "And I am sure, that you will get that one part, Penny. Possibly, even more."

"Aw, thanks, sweetie!"

He looked like he was about to say something more, but the first of the students began to trickle in. Penny took that as her cue to leave him alone to finish getting ready and take her seat.

Sheldon's voice nearly soothed Penny to sleep as he spoke to the roomful of students. Twice, he had glanced at Penny, but she knew he hadn't done it because he was nervous. He was confident as he spoke, his voice never wavered and when he looked at her, sitting in the middle of the room, his eyes brightened and he smiled as if he was glad she was still there.

After the lecture, everyone applauded and Sheldon positively beamed. Gone was the insecurity that people wouldn't take him seriously as a physicist, anymore. Penny was glad that he had been given this opportunity to prove to everyone that he was still and always had been brilliant.

As the room began to empty, Penny stood up from her seat to find Sheldon surrounded by at least a dozen students. Dr. Mueller stood a little bit away, looking very proud of his former student. When he saw Penny descend the steps, he walked her way and wrapped his arms around her in a friendly hug.

"Today has been a great success, as has been the week. I have noticed a change in my students because of Dr. Cooper's lectures. More of them have drive, now. They wish to do better. It is incredible, this change."

"Sheldon is very passionate about his work," Penny smiled. "I'm sure it wasn't hard for him to transfer that to the students."

"I have also noticed a change in Sheldon. A good change." The older man's eyes sparkled. "And I know it's because of you. Now, I understand that today is your last day in Germany."

"Actually, it's our last day in Europe. Tomorrow, we'll be heading home." Penny felt like crying.

"Oh." A crease showed up between Dr. Mueller's brows as if he was confused about something. "Well, then, how unfortunate. I wish you could have stayed longer, my dear." He hugged her, again. "And I must also insist that you dine with me one last time before you go."

"I wouldn't mind, at all." She smiled. "But you'll have to check with Sheldon. He's the one that makes the plans."

"I'll go ask him, now." He winked and walked right up to Sheldon. By then, only a few students remained, but when they saw Dr. Mueller walk towards Sheldon, they dispersed and went out into the hallway.

Penny took a seat in a desk and waited for the two men to finish talking. However, she couldn't hear what was being said and if she had known they were speaking in German, she would have gotten very suspicious.

"I thought you were staying in Europe until Saturday evening?"

Sheldon looked slightly confused at the question and at why the question was spoken in German. "We are."

"Penny told me you were leaving tomorrow to fly home."

"That is what I told her. Actually, we will be taking a train to Paris. We will be spending the rest of our stay there."

"Oh." There was a twinkle in Dominik's eyes. "That is very romantic of you."

Sheldon felt his face heat up. "Uh. Yes. I was...hoping that it would be." It felt odd for him to not be sure of what to say.

"Penny is in love with you." The words were simply spoken, but Sheldon felt as if he had just been slapped. Penny was in love with him?

"She did not want me to say anything, of course, but I figured you would need a nudge in the right direction."

"When did she tell you this?" Sheldon gripped the strap of his messenger bag so tight, his knuckles were turning white.

"Before you left for Germany. Actually, Dr. Gablehouser and I had just been discussing who to send on this trip when we ran into the lovely Penny. She was quite distraught because she felt as if you would never return her feelings."

Sheldon was silent.

"Do you? Return her feelings, that is."

Sheldon didn't even hesitate this time. "Yes."

Thanks for reading!