"Hey, Shelly doesn't like being touched." The bubbly girl tapped Penny on the shoulder, not upset but firm.
"Oh, yeah. Sorry Sheldon." But still Penny didn't let go.
"It's understandable so I will allow it for another 15 seconds." Sheldon said snootily but Penny knew it meant he was happy as well. The bubbly girl looked surprised and even a little upset at Sheldon's words.
Taking a deep breath and inhaling Sheldon's scent of dry markers and Tide, she finally let go of him after squeezing one last time. She smiled up at him, suddenly feeling much happier and hopeful than she had felt in months.
"Hi." Penny smiled up at Sheldon. "Are you one of those beautiful mind geniuses?"
Sheldon's eyes widened for a moment before he dipped his head and smiled shyly at her. "Yeah."
Here they were, almost 5 years away from that initial meeting and in another state, but they were still Sheldon and Penny.
Bubbly girl cleared her throat but neither Sheldon nor Penny looked away from each other.
"Emily. Would you please allow me a few moments?" Sheldon finally looked away from her and addressed the other girl.
Bubbly girl, now named Emily only gave Sheldon a suspicious look before nodding hesitantly, she rummaged in the bag she was carrying and pulled a Tupperware container before handing it to Penny.
"Can I please have your autograph?" Emily said. Penny borrowed one of Sheldon's markers and signed the Tupperware. It wasn't the strangest thing she had autographed, body parts not counting.
"Thank you! Shelly, it's your turn to drive me home, don't forget." Emily left, cell phone already to her ear as she closed the door behind her. "Mom! You're not going to believe who I just…" Her voice trailed off and Penny had to smile at that, she would never get used to being famous.
The sudden quietness of the room brought Penny back to the now and the fact that she was now in a room with Sheldon again.
"So…" She started, unsure of what else to say. Putting her hands in her back pockets and turning to face Sheldon. He had moved to sit behind his desk and his face still had that pleased smile.
This conversation should be easy.
"So.." Penny said nervously as she faced him again.
Sheldon had gone to sit at his desk. While he was happy to see Penny again, he was most assuredly off balance and his desk made him feel back in control.
"While I am most certainly pleased to see you again, I do have to ask. What are you doing here?"
Sheldon took notice of the way that Penny's face fell at his question before a familiar flush of anger covered her cheeks. Penny narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips.
"I missed you! You, you, ass!" She said after a moment. "You simply up and left!" Her voice broke for a moment before returning to her usual fierceness.
Sheldon furrowed his brow, he hadn't expected this.
"Oh, don't look confused. We were friends and you just left like my friendship didn't mean anything at all to you. Not a goodbye, not even an email!" Penny had started to pace his office, like a caged tiger. "Do you have any ide-"
He interrupted her tirade. "But I did send you an email." Sheldon said calmly.
Penny sort of deflated and widened her eyes. "What?" She said breathlessly.
Sheldon quickly moved to his computer and pulled up his personal email, a couple of clicks and he soon had the email he had written to Penny. He motioned for her to move behind his desk, rolled his chair away and gave her room to read for herself.
Penny looked at him suspiciously but complied. She leaned in and Sheldon forced his eyes to look up at the ceiling. Penny was wearing jeans that accentuated her form rather positively.
'3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510582097494459230781640628620899862803482534211706798214808651328230664709384460955058223172535940812848111745028410270193852110555964462294895493038196442881097566593344612847564823378678316527120190914564856692346034861045432664821339360726024914127372458700660631558817488152092096282925409171536436789259036001133053054882046652138414695194151160943305727036575959195309218611738193261179310511854807446237996274956735188575272489122793818301194912983367336244065664308602139494639522473719070217986094370277053921717629317675238467481846766940513200056812714526356082778577134275778960917363717872146844090122495343014654958537105079227968925892354201995611212902196086403441815981362977477130996051870721134999999837297804995105973173281609631859502445945534690830264252230825334468503526193118817101000313783875288658753320838142061717766914730359825349042875546873115956286388235378759375195778185778053217122680661300192787661119590921642019893809525720106548586327886593615338182796823030195203530185296899577362259941389124972177528347913151557485724245415069595082953311686172785588907509838175463746493931925506040092770167113900984882401285836160356370766010471018194295559619894676783744944825537977472684710404753464620804668425906949129331367702898915210475216205696602405803815019351125-'
A sniffle interrupted his thoughts and he saw Penny cry, but before he could do anything else she sat across his lap and hugged him tightly.
"Penny!" Sheldon raised his hands and worried that if anyone were to come in at that moment, a slew of rumors would certainly circulate about what he did in his office.
"I thought you hated me." She said it so quietly that even him, with his acute hearing, might have missed it. But he was Sheldon Cooper and he did not miss anything. Arctic incident notwithstanding.
"What are you talking about?" He was baffled by this entire situation.
Penny sniffed and with one hand swiped at her eyes in a futile attempt at cleaning herself. Sheldon wanted to start disinfecting his office right away but didn't want to upset Penny even more.
"I never saw this. Or I would have never lost contact with you." She was slowly gaining control of her emotions.
Sheldon's mind quickly went over all possibilities before narrowing it down to only one. The same thing he had been victim of.
Sabotage.
"Penny. May I look at your phone please?" A small but intense anger settled in his stomach. Surely, he would be mistaken.
Penny didn't even hesitate before handing him her phone.
Sheldon's deft fingers navigated through the screens until reaching his objective which made the anger in him become heavy and real. A hot and cold flash and a conscious effort to not grind his teeth.
"Penny, I know it might not be easy to remember but did anyone else have access to your phone, laptop or email before I left California?"
She squinted her eyes in thought before widening them. "Leonard did! Right before the Arctic thingy. He said he was going to put his itinerary on my calendar." Penny said happily before looking at his face.
"Are you familiar with email rules or filters?"
Penny didn't think that she could ever be so disgusted. She was even shaking, with anger and so many emotions she couldn't name. Only Sheldon's presence grounded her.
"Let me make sure I understand this completely." She said far too calmly. "Leonard set a filter so that any email sent from you would be marked as read and sent to the spam folder?"
"Precisely."
Penny closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her hands were shaking, she had never felt this much anger.
"That bastard!" She spit out as angry tears ran down her cheeks. "Why in the hell would he do something like this?" She asked aloud.
"I find myself at a loss as well." Sheldon truly looked lost but resigned, like he could expect anything from Leonard. Hell, she should be on the same boat, how could she ever have thought that Leonard was a nice guy.
"If he wasn't behind bars I swear I would go and kill him!" Penny couldn't stop the shaking.
To her surprise, Sheldon nodded.
Penny sighed and slumped against Sheldon and the arm of his chair, suddenly feeling exhausted.
"Now what?" She looked up at him and yawned.
"I have already removed all filters from your email, unfortunately emails in the spam folder get automatically deleted after thirty days so there's no way to recover them."
"Can you send me that email again please? I want a copy." Penny pointed to Sheldon's computer screen.
Wordlessly he moved them closer to his desk, clicked twice and sure enough she received a notification on her phone. She stared at it for a long time and leaned closer against his chest.
"Thank you Moonpie. Oh, and to answer the question in your email. I would love to stay in touch with you. We're friends and it doesn't matter who I'm dating or not, that will not change." Her arm went to his neck and she pulled him down for an awkward and uncomfortable one armed hug.
He tolerated it for a moment before clearing his throat. "Penny, if you don't mind. My leg is going numb."
She smiled up at him and teased him. "Are you saying I'm heavy?"
"You are in perfect balance for your height and-" Penny stood up as Sheldon talked and talked, she stretched her back while he kept talking, she didn't really listen to him but simply enjoyed the sound of his voice. She had missed it. Had missed him.
But no more.
"Hey Moonpie. I'm actually living in Austin as well." She interrupted him. "Over at Presidium Waterford Apartments, do you know where?"
"Research Boulevard?"
"Yes!" Penny gave him her full address.
Sheldon nodded and she was certain that he had filed it away in that brain of his.
"I'm currently residing at 31st Street Condominiums." Penny pulled out her phone to check the address and to save it.
"Hmmm, Google says it's only a 15 minute drive!" Penny smiled at her phone before turning that smile on Sheldon. "We can do Pizza night?"
"That would be acceptable." While the words were lackluster, the small smile on his face more than made up for it.
Penny almost said goodbye, but she still hadn't apologized.
"Sheldon…I'm sorry. I should have tried to understand the situation better. I was too caught up in Leonard being back and…yeah, I should have done more. Reached out to you. I'm sorry."
"I accept your apology. Although I should point out that you were not part of the betrayal. You and Leonard were dating as such your loyalty lied with him an-"
"NO!" She made sure he was looking her in the eye. "No Sheldon. It doesn't work like that. No matter who I date, my loyalty lies with my friends. I fucked up before but no more. You're stuck with me now Moonpie." She smiled at him.
Sheldon tried to fight the smile forming on his face but it was a losing battle and she was rewarded by a true, honest to god smile from him.
"Now that we're back together…that girl that was here."
"Emily." He supplied.
"Yeah, Emily. Are you dating her?" Penny waggled her eyebrows at him.
Sheldon let out a frustrated sigh and it was as if no time had passed at all.
"No, she's my friend in the same way you are my friend."
"I was joking Moonpie." Penny laughed.
Yeah, things were finally back to normal.