"I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light."

- Helen Keller

A knock on a door alerted Sheldon, whom had just came home from Best Buy. He was folding his bus pants neatly before putting them away inside the closet. Sheldon walked up to the door and twisted the handle. On the other side was Penny with her welcoming and warming smile that always seems to have an effect on Sheldon.

"Hello, Penny. I thought your shift doesn't end until four in the afternoon?" Sheldon asked.

Penny tilted her head up to meet Sheldon in the eye. "It does, but I decided to come home earlier. I apologize that I wasn't available to pick you up from the store. At least you brought your bus pants along with you."

"I don't mind. I feel like an inconvenience when I request for rides when you are busy," Sheldon pursued his lips for a moment. "Penny, as much as I value the times when you stop by my apartment, why did you leave work early? I was given the understanding that you need extra money and you need to pick up more shifts to prevent withholding your current lifestyle. Leaving work before you're supposed to doesn't help that."

She nodded. Penny appreciated it when Sheldon cared about her. "I had to. This is kind of important, sweetie."

Sheldon felt the familiar feeling of flutters in his stomach when Penny used the term of endearment for him. He stepped over slightly to the right and invited Penny inside. "Do you want to come in?"

She walked into the living room slowly, and before Sheldon could shut the door behind him, a hand prevented him from doing so. Leonard stood in front of the doorway as Sheldon glanced over to him and Penny. He turned to Leonard, who was still waiting outside. "What are you doing here?"

"Sheldon, I still live here. I haven't moved out formally, yet. So, this is my apartment too right now."

Sheldon controlled his patience, and Penny stepped between the two. "Sheldon, I need you to sit down. We need to talk, all three of us."

"I have nothing to say to Leonard. All I want is him to hand over the keys for this apartment and be on his way now." Sheldon crossed his arms and glared at Leonard.

Penny lightly gripped both of his arms and Sheldon lowered his head to look at her. "Sweetie, please. He wants to explain things."

Sheldon nodded and walked to the couch. Penny sat beside him on the middle cushion as Leonard closed the door and took a seat on the beige arm chair. The three were quiet. The air was filled with tension between the two smart men who were supposed to be best friends, but acted like strangers now. Sheldon contained the anger he had for Leonard. He confronted Penny the day before, and made her feel uncomfortable. The last straw was him touching her.

Penny gestured Leonard to begin talking, but both were still sitting in empty silence. She sighed, and slipped her small hand into Sheldon's. He flinched, and immediately trailed his eyes down to their interlocked fingers. Her touch calmed him down. Sheldon took one deep breath and turned his head to Leonard. "What do you have to say?"

Leonard began explaining himself. He apologized profusely for his behavior for the past several weeks, and noted that what he did was unacceptable. Sheldon listened to his heartfelt plea to forgive him, with Leonard mentioning how they had fun times with each other. Sheldon sighed, remembering the three-person chess matches and Settlers of Catan games. He remembered the time when they won a costume contest on New Year's Eve.

As much as Sheldon hated to admit it, he misses his little buddy. Sheldon regained the memories of all the good times they shared, the ones that only included him and the other three men. Their betrayal was what keeping him from continuing his friendships with them. He couldn't trust them.

They did those things more than once, what was stopping them for doing it another time?

He was grateful to salvage at least one friendship which was with Raj. Sheldon did wish that it would be easy to forgive them, but it was a challenge.

Now here was Leonard, practically on his knees, begging forgiveness from Sheldon. He swore that he will never try to change him and he wouldn't dare to do something wrong to him again. He was sorry for all the rough times he gave Sheldon and all the times when he made fun of him. Leonard understood that Sheldon and him may never be close friends like before, but was hoping that they'll still be friends.

"Leonard," Sheldon made the other man pause in the middle of his long speech. "Let me talk to Penny for a second."

Penny followed Sheldon into the kitchen area, wondering what he needed to say. "Penny, we can't trust him."

"Sweetie, I know this is hard. I don't trust him either. But I need you think this clearly. Are you sure that there's nothing to do to salvage your friendship with him and you're ready to leave him?"

Sheldon paused. He was sure, wasn't he? "What about you? You wish to endure more of his constant obsession over you?"

She shook her head. "Of course not. I'm worried Sheldon. I'm trying to see if this is the best decision for you." Penny stopped and pondered for a second. "How about this. A test run. Remember when you told me about how before a new product gets released to the public, the company has to do some kind of test run and make sure everything's fine? Well, try to get along for a few days or a week. See if this goes anywhere. If you still think he'll never change, cut the cord. I'm only suggesting this to you and you have the final say."

"But I want him out of the apartment now. You need a place to stay because of financial problems."

Penny cupped his face and patted it gently. "I know. I think it's a great idea, but Sheldon, you don't drive. Leonard is telling you that he's willing to drive you around again. I picked up more shifts at the restaurant and it's messing up my schedule. I don't like you taking the bus or walking home alone. Try it for a short time."

Sheldon looked at Penny and back at Leonard who was sitting on the couch. "Alright."

The two walked over back to the living room. "Leonard, I'm willing to give you a chance. You have one week to prove yourself. That's seven days to see if you are worthy of my trust again. If you revert back to your old ways during or after that time period, you'll be seeing yourself out of this apartment."

Leonard beamed. "T-That's great! Wow, I was scared about it going the other way. Thank you for giving me a chance. I meant the things I said to you just now, and I wish that the accident didn't happen."

"No, Leonard. I'm grateful it happened. Without it, I wouldn't have met Penny." He shifted his eyes towards the blonde and smiled.

Penny squeezed his hand before Sheldon returned his focus on Leonard.

Leonard was observing the two. Obviously, something was definitely going on between them. He refrained from asking, afraid of irritating Sheldon. Penny was right, what she and Sheldon have is none of his business. "You two look like a cute couple."

Penny chuckled and released her hold of Sheldon's hand. "We're not a couple."

Sheldon frowned when he lost the feeling of Penny's soft palms. "We're friends."

"Oh." Leonard got a sense of what was happening.

Sheldon cleared his throat. "Would the two of you care to play the new Halo game I bought?"

"Sure. Sounds awesome," Penny cheerfully said as Sheldon stood up and inserted the video game inside his Xbox, taking three controllers with him before returning to his spot. "How are we going to split into teams? Do you guys want to play one-on-one instead?"

"What do you usually do?" Leonard asked.

"Penny and I team up and eliminate the opposing team with ease."

Leonard cracked his fingers. "I bet you two can't beat me."

"Um, that is highly unlikely to happen. Am I sensing a challenge here?"

"I challenge you and Penny to beat me."

Penny couldn't help but laugh. "Good luck, Leonard."

The round started and the three took their places.

"You're going to need it."

Sheldon walked Penny down the stairs after playing hours of Halo. Leonard lost, much to his surprise. Sheldon laughed at Leonard's confidence in beating them.

With Penny, they were unstoppable.

As they descended to the Lobby, they talked about plans for the weekend. Sheldon wanted to attend a model train show, and he invited Penny to come. Penny, however, had another audition lined up and she was ready to give it her all. The audition is for a small recurring role on television, and Penny was hopeful that she'll ace it.

They stopped in front of Penny's silver car, but they lingered outside for a while. Sheldon gently cupped Penny's jaw and slowly lifted it up, her eyes gazing upon the early night sky. She gasped, seeing all the stars shining down on the two. She heard Sheldon speak, but continued examining the stars above.

"When I was a little boy in Texas, I enjoyed stargazing outside Meemaw's farm. The city lights are too bright for the smaller stars to be seen, so I suggest going somewhere far away from the city to have a better view of them."

"The stars are small and dim, but at least I can see that they're up there," Penny said, lowering her eyes back to Sheldon's face. "Leonard told me something interesting today and I'm not sure if it's true or not."

"What did he say?"

Penny bit her lip. "He said that you like me?"

Sheldon gave her a small nod. "I like you. I like your company."

"Sheldon, that's not what he meant."

He shrugged his shoulders and moved away from Penny. "It's getting late and I must go back inside."

Penny inched closer. Her voice was low and quiet, sending shivers down on Sheldon's spine. "Tell me."

He sighed defeated. "I'm not sure of what I'm feeling towards you."

"What do you feel, Sheldon?"

He tried to find an excuse to not further their current conversation. "Penny, I do have to go. I-I..."

"Alright," Penny quickly climbed inside her car and drove away without another word. Sheldon stood in the middle of the sidewalk, unsure of what had happened. She deserves to know, but he was afraid. He was afraid of things changing and afraid of those changes becoming bad ones.

He didn't want to risk losing Penny out of his life. At that moment, Penny was the center of his everything.

Sheldon gasped at the thought that flew in his head. Pursuing something that he has not much knowledge of with Penny scares him. With that, Sheldon ran back inside and into the safety of his apartment. Leonard was on his computer and he rushed into the bathroom. He brushed his teeth and washed his face as fast as he could before changing into his pajamas and slipping under his blanket.

It must be hell inside your head.

At times.

As Sheldon willed himself to sleep, he knew it was hell once again inside his head.

A/N:

I do love a conflicted Sheldon.

Updates will get slower this week. I'm finishing up the next three chapters for this story and at the end of the week, I'm going out of town. I'll see if I can have another one up tomorrow, but no promises :)

Oh, and I love reading your reviews. I mention that too many times yet its still not enough.