Here's a short chapter for you all. I'll admit, it's not my greatest work, but I started school this week and I'm already overwhelmed with homework. I just wanted to get something out while I could because I have no idea when I'll be able to do so again.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

That morning when Penny woke up, she was surprised to find herself in her bed and not on the couch. She had thought for sure that when Sheldon saw that she had fallen asleep during the movie he would have left her there. Of course, he would have gotten her a pillow and a blanket, but that would have been the extent of what he was going to do.

Or so she thought.

Climbing out of bed, her stomach growled, telling her that she was starving, but first she needed to brush her hair and teeth. She had to look somewhat presentable when she saw Sheldon. Especially, if she wanted to kiss him some more. Which she most definitely wanted.

Once she cleaned up a bit, she met Sheldon in the living room. Instead of sitting on the couch, he was standing by the window looking at the city. Penny joined him, her breath catching when she saw how beautiful it was, despite the Eiffel Tower not being one of the things being seen.

"Good morning, Penny." His eyes went from the window to Penny. "I hope you slept well."

"I did," she gave him a smile that reviled the sun. "Thank you for carrying me to my bed. Unless..." she narrowed her eyes. "You dragged me there, instead."

Sheldon rolled his eyes. "You're not that heavy, Penny and I only had to carry you a short distance."

"Well, thank you." She slipped an arm around his waist and leaned her head on his shoulder, so they could enjoy the view together. "I can't believe that today is our last day here."

"It is and we shouldn't be spending it indoors. It's a beautiful day. Why don't you go get dressed and I'll take you out for breakfast."

"Great!" She went up on her toes and kissed his cheek. "Give me five." At a look, she amended, "Okay, fifteen minutes and I'll be right out."

Twenty minutes later, they were walking own the street looking for a perfect place to have their breakfast. On the way, they passed numerous cafes Penny would have been more than happy to eat at, but Sheldon hadn't found the one he wanted to, yet.

In her pocket, her phone vibrated and Penny took out it to see who it was. She had two texts, which had been spent a few hours earlier. The vibrate was reminding her of them. One text was from Leonard. Penny rolled her eyes before reading what it said.

Hi, Penny. I hope everything is going okay. I just got a bad feeling in my gut. I hope it's not because you want to kill Sheldon lol

Penny typed a quick reply, Everything is fine and no, I don't want to kill Sheldon.

The other one was from Raj, which put a smile on Penny's face. This one read: You and Sheldon are together now, aren't you? ;) It was sent right after Leonard's message.

Yeah, we're together now :) She replied and placed the phone back in her pocket. She looked up to see that Sheldon was watching her. "Yes?" She asked.

"Everything okay back home?"

"Were you being nosy?" She nudged him in the ribs gently and smiled, not minding at all.

"Of course not. I was just being curious."

"Well, Leonard asked if things were okay here and Raj knows about us, now. He figured it out on his own."

"Hmm. Impressive." Sheldon looked impressed. "We're not even in the same country and he figured that out. Does anyone else, now? Leonard? Howard?" Penny didn't know which one he looked more freaked out over.

"I don't think so. But they'll have to know eventually." She reached for his hand, still surprised that he was willing to hold hers. "Right? We aren't going to hide this. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be able to keep it a secret for long."

"You are right. Do you think we could tell them over a text and not to their faces?" The idea did sound appealing to Penny, but she knew that was the coward's way out. Besides, they had no reason to hide their relationship. Howard would tease them mercilessly for a while and Leonard would be upset and possible even mad, though he had no reason to be. He didn't have any claim on Penny. They had never dated and for that, she was glad. She could admit that Leonard was a good friend, and he was when his jealousy didn't get in the way, but she knew he wouldn't have been a good person to date. For her, anyway.

"We have nothing to hide. We'll tell them and not care what they say. Okay?"

Sheldon paused for a moment. "Okay. I trust you."

Penny kissed his cheek. "You better. Now, how about that breakfast?"

The rest of the day seemed to fly by and Penny wished their was a way to freeze time. Maybe she could convince Sheldon to invent a device that could do that. She knew that he had the starts to do so.

After breakfast, they went to the Louvre. Penny had never been very interested in art before, but walking through the art museum gave her a new appreciation for it. Especially when she saw the famed Mona Lisa.

Their next step was the Arc de Triomphe, which they saw from across the street. Penny, however, did manage to get Sheldon into taking a selfie with her with the monument in the background.

Lunch was quick and easy, since they weren't willing to stop for a long period of time to eat since there was so much to see. They passed the Eiffel Tower again and Penny snapped more pictures with she and Sheldon.

With their lunch in their hands, they made their way to their next step. Notre Dame Cathedral. "It's so beautiful," Penny said in awe at the outside of it. "Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame didn't do this justice."

"Penny, that was a cartoon. Of course, it doesn't." She looked over her shoulder and rolled her eyes. "The real beauty is inside. Come on." He grabbed her hand and pulled her through the doors of the cathedral.

Penny's breath was stolen from her when she saw the beautiful stained-glass windows. Dozens of other tourists were looking around, as well. But Penny ignored them as she walked around the whole room. Sheldon silently followed, their hands were still joined. He was just as much as in awe as Penny.

It felt like they had been in the cathedral for only minutes, but in reality had been two hours. They walked out to see that the sun was quickly making its way to the horizon, meaning the day was nearly over. Immediately, tears sprang to Penny's eyes. Sheldon wrapped an arm around her shoulders and didn't say anything as they started their long walk back to their hotel.

"I don't want this to end, Sheldon. Can't you get a job here and we can live here forever?" Penny asked as they took the elevator up to their room.

"Penny, you know I can't do that," he said. "We'll come back here, again. Hopefully sometime in the near future."

"I know." She sighed and leaned her head on his chest. With one hand, Sheldon took out their room key and unlocked the door. Room service had visited while they had been gone and the place was even cleaner than when they had left, if that was even possible.

"Sheldon," Penny pulled away from him. "I have new sheets on bed and if I take a shower, will you sleep with me tonight?"

Sheldon's eyes went as wide as saucers. "Uh..."

"Not like that. I know you're not ready for that, yet. Today was perfect and if you were to, uh, share my bed, it would make it even better."

"If it was already perfect, then nothing needs to be done to make it better."

"Sheldon, you know what I mean."

"But, I will sleep with you, Penny." He took a deep breath afterwards and Penny knew he was most definitely stepping out of his comfort zone. Penny did a little excited jump and kissed Sheldon on the cheek before rushing to gather her clothes for a shower.

An hour later, Penny and Sheldon laid under Penny's comforter. Sheldon was assuming his vampire pose and Penny was on her side facing him, content with just having him near. "Thank you for doing this," she said and reached over to squeeze his hand briefly. "And I promise to stay on my side of the bed."

Sheldon turned his head on the pillow, still looking nervous but staying in his spot. "Penny, I...wouldn't be mad if, during the night, you were to roll onto my side."

Penny beamed, knowing what he met. "Okay." She kissed him quickly. "Good night, Sheldon."

"Good night, Penny."

Unfortunately, the next chapter will be the chapter where they head home. :( Vacation is over.

Thanks for reading!