Summary:

Moving out and moving in.

"Buddy, are you sure you want to move out? I mean, I'm happy to have you here but it just seems…" Howard trailed off.

"Drastic?" Raj added.

"Yeah, that's it. Drastic." Howard nodded in thanks to Raj.

Leonard was sprawled on the plastic covered couch in the middle of the Wolowitz's living room. After telling Sheldon he wanted to move out Leonard had wanted to stay in his room but the temptation to go and beg Penny to take him back was too much, instead he had grabbed some clothes and drove directly over to Howard's in the middle of the night.

"You don't get it Howard, you've never truly ever been in love." Leonard took a swig of his beer bottle. "Penny was the one for me. Why can't she see that?"

"Okay, first, ouch. I'm going to find someone, don't worry. And second, c'mon man, she was never going to stay with you. You're a nerd! Penny is a golden haired goddess that lost her reason for a moment and dated you, but she belongs with muscle heads like that ex-boyfriend of hers."

"I don't know dude…it sounds like you brought out the worst in each other." Raj added.

"So you agree with her. I'm an asshole for not wanting her to be hit on?" Leonard narrowed his eyes at Raj.

"Yeah. That's a 'You' issue, not a Penny issue. She told us time after time how much it messed her up to find out that Kurt cheated on her. For over two years we saw her date and never cheat. Why would you think she'd cheat?" Raj didn't back down.

Leonard huffed. "You don't get it. You can't even talk to girls."

"No, no. Raj has a point. Why were you with Penny if you thought she was going to cheat on you?" Howard pushed back as well.

"Et tu? C'mon Howard, you know how it is." Leonard pointed at Howard with his beer.

"I truly don't. Please tell me."

Leonard downed the rest of his beer before replying. "Girls like Penny never lack options, okay? Me? I'm lucky if the mail lady gives me the time of the day. I needed to protect Penny."

Leonard didn't miss the look shared between his friends and it only made him angrier.

"Don't pretend that you don't know what I'm talking about!" He sat back up to yell at his friends.

Howard raised his hands in defeat. "Then why were you never like this with…" He trailed off, probably trying to remember a girl that had stayed with Leonard for longer than three months. "Oh, Leslie. Why were you never like this with Leslie?"

Leonard grabbed another beer from the coffee table and took two big gulps before replying. "Because it was Leslie." He said it in a mocking tone of voice. "Leslie is like us, she knows it…also she's not parading around in tank tops and pajama shorts." He muttered the last part bitterly.

"Woah, woah, not cool dude." Raj stood up and looked at Leonard in shock. "You and Leslie had a good thing, that you gave up due to your obsession with Penny."

"I thought you liked Leslie?" Howard asked.

"I did. I do…but…Leslie is never going to turn heads, if I enter a room with Leslie no one is going to bat an eye. But man…you should have seen the looks on people's faces when they saw me enter with Penny." Leonard raised his hand with the bottle in a mock salute. "I was the man."

"So I'm guessing you never knew about Leslie's little fan club?" Howard asked.

"Wait, what? What fan club?" Leonard frowned.

"Oh you know, some of the guys from Engineering as well as some of the Geologists have this little fan club for Leslie. It's not creepy or anything, they actually celebrate when she posts a new paper and they're the ones helping her hog all of the lab time so Sheldon doesn't get anything."

"Who is in it?" Leonard asked.

"Davidson, Sanchez, Hunter-"

Leonard scoffed. "Hunter is delusional if he thinks he can get with Leslie."

"I heard they've gone on a couple of dates actually." Raj said casually.

"What! Hunter? Ha ha, very funny guys. Hunter is a glue eater that can't even fix a laser." He narrowed his eyes at nothing while thinking.

"Okay, so it's not just Penny that brings this side of you out." Raj shook his head. "You were thinking of calling Leslie or going to her house or something right?"

"...no…" Leonard said sullenly.

"This is what I'm talking about dude!" Raj said exasperatedly.

"Whatever." Leonard downed his beer. "I thought you were supposed to be my friends."

Howard and Raj stayed with him all night and didn't let him call anyone or go anywhere.

*Knock, knock, knock*
"Penny"
*Knock, knock, knock*
"Penny"
*Knock, knock, knock*
"Penny"

Penny had just finished washing her face and was moving to grab the bottle of vodka hidden behind a cereal box when Sheldon's knocks startled her. She chewed on her lip and considered not opening the door but in the end she thought that Sheldon deserved to tell her 'I told you so'.

"Whatup Moonpie?" Penny said, trying to sound cheerful.

Sheldon blinked at her, frowned for a moment, glanced at the cupboard where she kept the alcohol and then turned to look back down at her, all done in a second.

"Would you mind if I brew a cup of tea? I seemed to have run out." His face twitched and Penny couldn't help but smile.

"Sure, knock yourself out." She moved out of the way and dropped heavily on the couch.

Penny entertained herself watching as Sheldon quietly moved in her kitchen. Even as oblivious as he was, he must have noticed her puffy face and slightly hoarse voice.

In no time she had a hot cup of tea in front of her. She hadn't asked for one but it made her happy that Sheldon in his own way showed that he cared.

They sat in silence and Penny enjoyed the company and the warm drink.

"Penny. Do you know why I enjoy routines so much?" Sheldon suddenly said, breaking the comfortable silence.

She shook her head.

"The natural state of the universe is chaos. Both in macro and micro scale, chaos reigns supreme. Even now as we sit here there are stars exploding and being born. Black holes eat away entire star systems. It's…maddening. At a young age I was faced with this truth and the only way I found myself less terrified of it all was to control as much as I could. If I had control over my life then I could keep the chaos at bay."

Penny wished that Sheldon had sat next to her on the couch instead of at 'his spot' in her apartment. She put her feet up and curled as best as she could while listening to Sheldon.

"Chaos happens every day in our regular lives. People appear and disappear." Sheldon looked into his cup and she wished she could glimpse at whatever memory he was seeing. "As much as I would like to not be part of it, I have to accept that humans as a whole are a part of this chaos process. Even now, how many people are leaving each other, due to break ups or death. How many more will be born that will never know about you or me? It's terrifying. But routines help me focus on the things I have…on the friends I have."

"Am I your friend Moonpie?"

"Of course." Not a moment of hesitation. "Penny. We face chaos every day. For a long time I thought I was facing it alone. But not anymore."

Penny cried again that night. His words shouldn't have been as comforting as they were.

They were going to be okay.

Leonard moved out pretty quickly after that first night at Howard's. His name wasn't on the lease and he didn't want to be there for when Penny brought her rebound one-night stand. It would kill him.

Thankfully, Howard had let him crash in his spare bedroom for a couple of nights until he found his own place.

He had expected Sheldon to bitch much more about him moving out and not being there to drive him, but it seemed that he had somehow convinced Raj to become his new chauffeur.

Not living in Los Robles meant that he wasn't a slave to Sheldon's routine and now they could do whatever they wanted…which turned out to be not that much. They still went with Sheldon to the comic book store but other than that, Leonard was left adrift.

Howard only wanted to go out clubbing or play WOW for 10 hours straight. Raj wanted to go to McDonalds every night and if he had to sit through Twilight again then he was going to lose his mind.

In a weird way, he missed the routine.

"Come here Cowgirl." Dani opened her arms as she stood up from the little cafe table.

Penny ran into the embrace like a little kid after falling down and hurting themselves.

"I'm so stupid." She mumbled against Dani's chest.

"We all are. Now, come, talk to me."

Dani had already ordered a lemonade for Penny and she took a long drink before finally telling Dani what exactly went down that night.

"-and I don't know…I guess I just feel like an idiot. I shouldn't have overlooked so many things. I mean, how can we even continue to be friends after that?"

Dani hadn't interrupted her at all but she did hold Penny's hand.

"It sounds like maybe you weren't even friends."

"That's not…I hope that's not true. Me and Leonard, we had fun before. He liked Tarantino movies as well and…and I guess I want to think he liked me for more than my body."

Dani sighed. "It would be really easy for me to tell you that you dated a monster and that he sucks and we should go kill him and bury his body in the desert. But he just sounds like a guy that never got over his mom not paying him enough attention and has an unhealthy view on what relationships are. He might have been an okay friend but he sucked as a boyfriend."

Dani scratched at her chin in thought.

"I still don't know why you dated him. Do you think you have the answer to that?"

Penny looked into her glass and shook it so the ice made a clinking noise.

"I don't know…he…was there, and he seemed so nice, so harmless. I was flattered by the attention, I mean, two years had passed since we met and he still chased after me right? I was thinking that maybe it could work."

"Did you have feelings for him?"

"I mean…no? But I thought they would appear in time after a while."

"Okay Pen, you're a dumbass. But at least that's done with. I will kick your ass if you get back together with him though."

Penny laughed, embarrassed. "Can't say that it hasn't crossed my mind since that night. Maybe I was too harsh, maybe I really did something bad…but then I remember how he basically called me a thing and it passes."

Dani chewed her lip and looked at her hands before looking at her straight in the eye.

"Do you remember Patrick? I broke up with him around the same time you broke up with Kurt."

Penny tried to remember and nodded slowly. "Yeah, I think I do. I was too much of a mess because of the Kurt thing so I think I never asked about it."

Dani took a deep breath. "No one else in the group knows this but Patrick had started to be rough with me."

Penny suddenly had trouble swallowing and she started sweating.

"Never in the face, but he would poke me really hard with his fingers like this and under the ribs." Dani made the gesture and showed her. "It started as playful, just a couple of taps but then he started doing it when he thought I had done something wrong, or looked at another man."

Penny could see Dani's eyes mist and her voice break a little, this time it was Penny holding her hand.

"Most of the time it was good, you know. He made me laugh and everyone liked him, but when we were alone it was like a switch had flipped and I had to wonder if maybe it was because of something I had done or said. I started to think that it WAS my fault…"

Dani grabbed a napkin and swiped at her eyes.

"That counselor you spoke with? She's the one that got me through. I had tried to leave him so many times but these people, they have a way of burrowing into your brain and eroding your self worth and confidence that makes you think you're nothing without them."

Penny moved her chair and put it next to Dani's so she could hug her.

"Thank you for telling me." Penny said softly.

"Thank you for listening." Dani said just as softly.

Penny closed her eyes and thanked god for having amazing friends, who knows where she'd be without them.

Penny opened her door to see a fidgeting Leonard on the other side. She hadn't expected this, it had been only a couple of days since the breakup and they were both avoiding each other like the plague.

"What do you want, Leonard?" She tried to keep an even tone of voice but it still came out more aggressive than she wanted.

"I just wanted to tell you that I'm moving out."

"Oh…okay." She blinked, surprised.

"Just okay? I-no, no. I still think you're being unfair and-"

"Goodbye Leonard." She closed the door, gently but firmly.

Life without Leonard in it was strangely the same. It was mostly just her and Sheldon but Raj also made sure to come around often enough.

"Wow, I can't believe that Jonjon's character could die just like that!" Penny opened the door to their building. They were returning from Jonjon's house, the first Anything-can-happen-Thursday since Sheldon started living alone.

"It is both the ugly and the beautiful side of the game, sometimes the dice just aren't in your favor. But next game we should be able to revive him…if Brian allows it of course." Sheldon nodded pensively.

"Man, I think I want to get in on the game." And she meant it.

"I'll be happy to show…" Sheldon trailed off looking at the elevator shaft. He then turned and looked at all the walls. "Penny, do you see a crack here?" He pointed.

"Hmmm, oh! Yeah." She pointed at it.

Sheldon frowned but said nothing, he moved up the stairs to the next floor and looked at where the crack would be but she didn't see anything.

"Sheldon, should we worry about the building suddenly collapsing?" She asked nervously.

"Highly unlikely, this is most likely cosmetic damage…"

"Most likely?" Her voice was high.

"...perhaps we should let the administrator know."

Of course Sheldon had the guy on speed dial, one frantic call after and there were several people swarming their building looking for infrastructural damage.

Penny couldn't sleep well that night, afraid that the building might collapse on her. "I was only joking god." She muttered at one point during the night.

Next morning as she's having her coffee at 4A she's freaking out a little.

"I mean, what are we supposed to do if it's not cosmetic?" She gestured with her cup. "It's not like I'm going to be able to find a cheaper place, not this size, that's for sure."

Sheldon continued eating his cereal. Way too calm for her taste.

"Why aren't you freaking out? You should be freaking out."

"The administrator called. It's cosmetic damage." He said calmly.

"Oh…you should have told me." She slapped his shoulder.

"Penny, may I remind you that I bruise easily?" He rubbed at his shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Okay I'm going to go, I have the breakfast shift and Raj is probably already on his way. I'll see you later."

"Before you go. This situation has made me consider a possible change. I had originally thought about proposing that we become roommates. However, Brian mentioned that it might not be a good idea due to your failed relationship with Leonard and whatever feelings being in his former room might bring."

Penny could only gape at Sheldon.

"My lease is almost about to expire so I was wondering. Would you like to be my roommate in a different building?"

Penny frowned at Sheldon. "Bazinga?"

Sheldon shook his head. "It would make sense." He yawned, as if this was just a regular conversation. "I don't want to find a new roommate that has to learn the routine and you wouldn't have to spend so much on rent."

Penny moved to sit back down. She was trying to find a reason to not do it but was coming up empty. At least until she thought back on her dating life.

"I'm not saying yes, but how would it work. I might want to bring a date back at one point."

"The roommate agreement accounts for such occasions. At least a six hour warning before someone spends the night and I will have no complaints."

Penny gave him a look.

"I meant, no complaints about the arrangement, I will still complain if your date touches my things, sits in my spot or otherwise makes themselves a nuisance for me."

She nodded, that sounded more like Sheldon.

"Given that the damage to the building was only cosmetic in nature, I do believe that we're not under a strict time limit. My lease expires in 45 days which should give you plenty of time to think it through."

"And if my answer is no?"

Sheldon sighed. "I suppose I would start searching for a new roommate."

Penny slapped her thighs and moved to stand up. "Okay, I have a shift and you need to get to work. We'll talk about this later because I love you Honey, but I don't know if we could live together."

She left for work and spent the rest of her shift thinking about actually going through with it. It wasn't like she didn't already know and was familiar with the Sheldon Cooper brand of crazy but this would be an entirely different thing.

On the other hand, would it really be that different? She was already familiar with the routines, the requests, and driving him around. She knew how to calm him down and get along with him.

Two years ago? She would have killed him in the first week of them living together.

Her shift ended without her being able to reach a clear answer so she did the only thing she could. She called Dani.

"Hey Cowgirl. Whatsup?"

"I need some advice. Sheldon asked me to move in with him and-"

"Woah! Woah! Woah! Hold on! You only broke up with Leonard last week. This is too sudden. I know he loves you but no! This is too much and too sudden."

Penny realized how it sounded and she backtracked immediately. "Nononononono, not like that. I meant as roommates. His lease is about to run out and, well, he needs a roommate."

"Oh! Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh…okay, you almost gave me a heart attack there." Dani sighed loudly.

She spent the better part of her afternoon on the phone with Dani while trying to figure out the pros and cons of living with Sheldon.

"I wouldn't have to clean much, Sheldon does it for fun."

"Wait, seriously?...And he has a stable job…"

"Don't. He doesn't work like that."

"You'd be surprised. You know how they say nerdy girls are the kinkiest? I found the same applies to nerdy guys."

"Then Sheldon must be the kinkiest. Now, be serious."

It wasn't until she was preparing for bed that Penny thought back on something Dani had said. 'I know he loves you.' She shook her head, nah, she probably misheard.

Brian stared at his computer screen blankly, Sheldon didn't seem to understand what he had just admitted.

"Wait, hold on. Wait. What do you mean that Penny is the only logical option?"

Sheldon sighed, as if annoyed by Brian's question. "She's the only logical option for a roommate. Despite her many shortcomings, she is accommodating, kind and attractive, not to mention that she's familiar with my routines and needs and despite her shortcomings she has proven herself to be quite the match in several categories."

Brian scratched his nose in thought. "Sheldon…do you have…romantic feelings for Penny?"

He was expecting a scoff from the other man or even a disgruntled speech but he wasn't expecting Sheldon to open his mouth in shock and freeze in place.

"Sheldon?"

"Who told you?!" Sheldon looked panicked and he looked around as if the police would come to get him.

"Woah, calm down. I'm just…I don't think you realize how…" Brian struggled to explain it to Sheldon. "Just, when you talk about Penny there's this fondness to your voice that I hadn't heard from you before, that's all."

Sheldon narrowed his eyes at the camera but the effect was lessened due to his shitty internet and Sheldon looking pixelated.

"Not a word to anyone."

Brian raised his hands. "My lips are sealed. But have you…well, have you told her?"

"No."

They spent the rest of the call talking about relationships and Brian didn't have to be a two phD genius to know where Sheldon's mind was at.

"How did you know you wanted to engage in a relationship with Erica?"

"Why do people go forward with relationships that seem to make them unhappy?"

"How can I get rid of feelings for someone?"

And honestly Brian felt like he was handling a bomb.

"Look Sheldon, when it comes to relationships you can never know one hundred percent that it's going to work, that's the hard truth of it. You never know until you try. And I know, I know, you want certainty that Penny will like you back but there is no formula for this."

"...who said anything about Penny?..."

"Right."

Unfortunately they didn't get very far and mostly talked in circles at that point, that's why the next game night Brian pulled Sheldon aside and at the questioning look from Jonjon he said "DM business." Which made everyone back down, it was one of their breaks in the session and Brian pulled Sheldon to the backyard so no one could hear them.

"So?" Brian asked.

"I'm sorry. I'm supposed to understand what that question is referring to?" Sheldon looked honestly confused and Brian almost smacked himself in the head.

"Sorry, forgot I was talking to you. I mean, have you expressed your feelings for Penny yet?" Brian tried to imitate Sheldon's way of speaking.

Sheldon widened his eyes and looked around, afraid someone might have heard them. "I would rather we don't talk about this within earshot of the rest."

"They're conspiring against us, don't worry." Brian waved his concerns away. "Penny is free now, she's no longer dating your roommate and you have the chance to…yeah, I was going to say shoot your shot but it sounded wrong."

"No. You yourself said that it was a 'scummy' move to approach a girl when she's emotionally vulnerable." Sheldon did the air quotes.

"I mean, yes. Yes it is. BUT! You gotta show your hand a little, let her know you're interested…" Brian trailed off, a sudden realization making him freeze in place. "Wait. Have you ever been in a romantic relationship?"

"No. I always found them messy and useless." Sheldon deadpanned.

"Until Penny?" Brian needed to make sure.

"...Penny is intriguing…" Not a declaration of love.

"Okay, I'm asking because I was about to give you unsolicited advice. But it sounds like you're fine staying friends with her. So, I'm not going to butt in." Brian stretched, sitting for so long was not doing his back any favors. "Let's go back in."

"Besides Penny, there's only one other thing that intrigues me and that is Physics."

Brian stopped and looked back at Sheldon. The tall man was looking up at the night sky with a peaceful look on his face. Okay, so maybe it had been a declaration of love after all.

"I'm going to need a straight answer here Sheldon because I want to make sure that I'm not going to mess up. You want to date Penny?"

"I suppose courtship is not as outlandish as I once thought." His eyes were still focused on the stars above them.

Brian scratched at his eyebrow trying to decide if this was Sheldon-speak for 'Yes, I want to date Penny.' or not.

"Screw it. Alright, I'll help you." Brian hoped this wasn't a bad idea.

"Very well. I do believe this concludes the drafting of the new roommate agreement." Sheldon stood up from his spot and went to move towards the printer, laptop in hand.

Penny rubbed at her eyes tiredly. She couldn't believe that she had said yes to being roommates with the Wackadoodle, and she especially couldn't believe they had just spent four hours crafting the new version of the roommate agreement.

She had feared that he would try to sneak in stuff just to mess with her but much to her surprise the document had been pretty straight forward.

She didn't even have to be his driver, Raj had been granted that pleasure. Of course she still had to drive him to the mall and the supermarket and in case of medical emergencies but she thought it was fair.

"Please sign here." Sheldon was back and he handed her the contract which she reviewed once more before signing it.

Penny suddenly laughed. "We already have a contract in place but haven't decided on a place to live."

"Oh, that's right. Thank you for reminding me. Considering the amount of rent you currently pay, plus the services as well as the current distance to our respective jobs, not to mention the average expenditure in gas. I have selected these three options." As he spoke, Sheldon moved towards his desk and removed 3 folders that he handed to her. "All three are approved by me. You can find in each file a report detailing the exact amount of rent we will have to pay, distance to our jobs, etcetera."

Penny opened the first file and almost immediately discarded it. Eight floor. No thank you.

The second file held more promise. It was in Bellefontaine, a two bedroom apartment unit. Penny's eyebrows went higher and higher the more she read. Just a block away from the hospital, it had a covered patio, it was larger than 4A, it had its own washing room and a pool that was shared with the other units, which were only four. Each unit held only two apartments and theirs would be the one on the second floor. Her rent would be pretty much the same.

Penny almost didn't want to look at the third folder, but she forced herself to stop and moved to open the last file.

She frowned as she read. This apartment was at a basement level, it was a little smaller than 4A and while it was still pretty close to their jobs, it just didn't make sense why Sheldon would choose this one. At least, it didn't make sense until she got to a specific part 'Built around the Del Mar Station of the Gold Line, Haven is the perfect intersection of convenience and comfort. Easily access greater Pasadena from the rail line on-site'

Of course, trains.

No, she had made her choice. Picking up the second folder she handed it to Sheldon. "This, it's the perfect one."

Sheldon nodded but looked forlorn at the third folder. "I'll make the arrangements."

Penny smiled cheekily at him. "We're roomies now."

She could have sworn that Sheldon smiled back at her, but it was gone before she could fully tell.

Moving sucked ass.

So many boxes and so much crap to throw away. How was it possible that she had five pairs of slippers and only two were in a wearable state, the others were ratty and smelled like hell.

As the movers picked up her couch, several empty bottles rolled out and Penny quickly picked them up. It happens again with the bed and she made a vow to herself to slow down on the drinking.

They're going to be using her furniture because it turns out that most of the furniture at 4A belongs to Leonard, but according to Raj he still hasn't found a place to move in to, so the movers are going to come back tomorrow and take it to the Wolowitz's garage.

While moving out is hell, moving in is heaven.

Penny has fun decorating the place, making sure that the place says 'Here lives Sheldon and Penny.'

She chooses the smallest bedroom, it makes her feel safe and she doesn't have as much crap as Sheldon does.

His whiteboards go near the entrance to the kitchen, where the largest window is. Her couch fits almost perfectly in front of the heater disguised as a chimney, and once they purchase a wall stand for the TV, it will go right there.

They have a clear view of the balcony sitting on the couch.

She moves a chair out to the covered patio and simply admires the skyline while Sheldon fiddles with the couch, trying to find his new spot. No one can look in from the outside thanks to the high walls on either side of the patio and the only entrance is from their apartment so Penny feels safe to nod off outside. At least until Sheldon poked her so she could go to bed properly.

Home. What a funny word.

Nebraska had been home.

4B had been home.

And now this was also home.

Home.

What a nice word.