"One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood."

-Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Sheldon switched the lights of his office on and his eyes wandered to the stacks of papers on his desk. He took off his messenger bag and windbreaker and placed them on one of the seats resting against the wall. He moved to his desk and slowly lowered himself down on hid office chair. The papers in front of him were dated days prior to his absence, and after rereading all of them, he knew where to go from there.

Picking up his Expo marker, Sheldon's phone vibrated against his pocket. Seeing the incoming text he received, he smiled when he read her name.

How's my theoretical physicist who is currently tackling the mysteries of our universe?

He quickly typed out a reply.

I'm currently working on finishing the paper I had started before I went on leave.

Sheldon walked up to one of his whiteboards and began erasing the numbers on it when Penny sent another text.

:) Nice to see you back at work. Those equations aren't going to solve themselves LOL.

LOL? Sheldon responded.

Laugh out loud... LOL! Penny replied.

Amusing.

His phone buzzed once more.

It is :P Anyways, I have to run. Going in front of the cameras in five. Good luck on your paper!

Before Sheldon could text her goodbye, a familiar man entered his office.

"How may I assist you?" Sheldon asked.

"Nothing. Dr. Gablehauser is requesting for you presence." Sheldon noticed his case of rhotacism.

"Alright. I'll be in his office in a few."

They both paused. "Do you remember who I am?"

"You seem familiar, possibly because of your speech impediment."

"Wow. I didn't know you would lose that much memory, but anyways, I'm Barry." Barry gave Sheldon a small wave.

"You're Barry Kripke?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

Sheldon had nothing else to say. "Well, Barry, if you'll excuse me, I have to meet with Dr. Gablehauser." He capped on the marker in his hand and both men left Sheldon's office. Sheldon went straight down the hall as Barry turned left and walked into the corner where Leonard, Howard, and Raj were standing.

"Is he mad?" Raj spoke.

"Not sure fellas." Barry informed them before placing his hand towards them. "You owe me $10 for speaking to Cooper, remember?"

Leonard rolled his eyes and handed him the money. "There."

"See ya."

Once Barry left, the three headed to the Dr. Gablehauser's office.

"Why do you want to know if he's mad?" Howard asked Raj.

"I uh- can't tell you."

"Did you say something that pissed him off?"

Raj quickly shook his head. He hadn't told Leonard or Howard that he informed Sheldon about their past actions.

Sheldon held his lunch tray out in front of him as he entered the cafeteria. His attention was caught by Leonard flagging him down to their table where Raj and Howard sat. He decided to head towards them, taking a seat across from his roommate as the others exchanged greetings with Sheldon.

Leonard watched as Sheldon poked around his food with a fork. "Something got you down, buddy?"

Sheldon slowly lifted his head up. "No."

"Sheldon, I know that something is up. Can you please tell us?" The shorter physicist pleaded.

"Nothing is wrong." Sheldon could feel his left eye twitch uncontrollably as the three men sitting with him stared at his face.

"You okay?" Howard asked.

Before Sheldon could open his mouth to answer, another one of his lost memories began to play out.

"Sheldon, just tell me who messed up my power point presentation."

Leonard confronted Sheldon the moment he got home from a lecture. One of his friends played a prank on Leonard, replacing his slides with pictures of barely clothed women. He guessed that it was either Howard or Raj, knowing the Sheldon was incapable of doing such act.

"I don't know Leonard!"

Sheldon's eye and mouth began to twitch.

"What's wrong with your face?"

"There's no reason to bring my looks into this. Good day, Leonard." Sheldon huffed and retreated to his bedroom.

If Howard found out that Sheldon had snitched on him, his favorite Amazing Spider issue #29 would have been burned into charred pieces.

And that was the memory that told Sheldon about his inability to lie.

Howard recognized the twitching face. "He's lying, guys. A blonde waitress keeping you up all night?"

"No!" Sheldon immediately answered.

"Hold up," Leonard interrupted, "you're talking about Penny?"

"Yup. I had a feeling that Mr. Roboto over here having a little crush on her."

"I do not have a crush on her!"

Howard chuckled. "Don't deny it, embrace it."

"Well, have you been talking to her?" Raj asked.

Sheldon knew that there was no point in lying. What he did care was Leonard's reaction to him talking to Penny. All week, he heard at least one comment from Leonard about the woman he barely knew. He started to eat at the Cheesecake Factory more often just to see glimpses of her, but failed at it since Sheldon would warn her about his visits.

He nodded once before resuming eating his food.

"Do you have her number?" Leonard questioned.

"I don't want to answer that."

"Please, Sheldon, you know how much I like her! It's in the bro code! You got to hook me up with your friend!"

Sheldon stood up and picked up his tray. "I'll be eating in my office. If you have anything else to say other than Penny, I suggest you do not bother looking for me." Sheldon glared at Leonard before leaving the cafeteria.

"Leonard, calm down." Raj said. "Give him some space."

Leonard rolled his eyes. "Fine, but he I can't believe that perfect gorgeous woman gave that nut ball her number."

"Yeah, well at least she didn't give it to the creepy clingy stalker that is you."

Raj brought his tray to the garbage bins before storming out of the cafeteria just like Sheldon.

"What's happening to our group?" Howard asked out of the blue.

Leonard shrugged his shoulders. "Things changed, i.e. Sheldon and Raj. Crazy right?"

"Yup," Howard answered nonchalantly, "crazy."

Sheldon gathered his mother's baggage as he waited for her in the hotel room. His mother had stayed four days longer after she spotted the cut along her son's cheek. She had asked him furiously about how he got it. Sheldon was able to make up an excuse, saying that he had a bad dream that night and scratched his face while asleep. If he had told his mother the truth, she would have stayed in Pasadena for another week.

Once Mary was ready to leave California, the Coopers headed down to the lobby and climbed into Penny's car. Sheldon placed Mary's baggage inside the truck before entering through the passenger side door. Mary sat behind them, eying the two young individuals.

"You know, Penny, you seem to be a good match for my Shelly." Mary said with a smile.

Sheldon turned his head back to look at his mother. "No, mother. We are just friends."

Penny nodded. "Yup. Plus, I just got out of a relationship and I'm enjoying my bachelorette days at this moment."

"Whatever happened between you and that Amy, dear?"

Sheldon shrugged his shoulders. "Amy and I are not compatible for each other at this second."

The car stopped in front of the airport terminal.

"It was nice meeting you, Mrs. Cooper. I hope I get to see you again." Penny said.

Mary rested her hand on top of Penny's. "Take care of my little boy. No matter how much he says that he's a grown man, look after him. He can cause as much trouble as a twelve year old kid."

"Mother, I think you should enter the airport now if you don't want to miss you flight." Sheldon exited the vehicle and went to the trunk to get his mother's luggage.

Mary approached him and hugged her son tightly. Sheldon stiffened before placing his hand behind her back, patting it gently.

"Be safe, Shelly. I don't want to come back here with you hurt, understood?"

Sheldon nodded, and Mary continued. "Shelly, you know I wasn't joking around about you and Penny."

"What?"

"Don't act confused, mister. You know what I'm talking about. You're turning 34 in a month, and I'm still hoping that one day, you'll settle down and have a family of your own."

"Mom-"

Mary tiptoed and kissed her son's forehead, then patted his cheek. "Think about your future. It's not all about Nobel Prizes and physics in life."

"It is for me."

His mother sighed. "Think about it, Shelly. You'll regret it when it's too late."

Sheldon waved to his mother goodbye as she disappeared from his sight. He climbed into the car again as Penny watched him.

"That took you awhile, what did you guys talk about?" Penny asked.

Sheldon gave her a small smile. "Nothing to be worried about."

"Good."

As Penny merged into traffic, Sheldon couldn't help but look at the driver beside him.

We are just friends.

Sheldon turned to the blonde. "So, how do you feel about bowling tonight?"

A/N:

Again, ignore the overlooked misspellings and grammar errors. English is tough, man.