Summary:
Penny notices something.
Penny moved her brush carefully over the canvas. She wanted to make sure that Sheldor's bravery shone through.
She had always loved painting and drawing, but the farm didn't let her have much time for her hobby. Then in Pasadena she had a sketch book that she loved with everything but Kurt never gave it back to her so it was lost. 4B brought a different type of rhythm to her life and she always put it off, thinking that she could pick up the hobby at any time.
And then she realized she hadn't painted or drawn anything in almost three years.
The patio of their new home slowly became her art corner, well, half of the patio. The other half now had a smoker and a grill. You can take the boy out of Texas, but you can't take Texas out of the boy.
Thinking of Sheldon, she stopped painting and turned to look inside the apartment. Her Wackadoodle roommate was at his whiteboard and judging by the soft smile on his face, the physics was physicking.
Penny narrowed her eyes at him for a moment before returning to her painting. She was eighty percent sure that their friends were trying to set them up.
She first noticed it during the housewarming party, which took place a week after they had already moved in. Their kitchen was lovely but rather tiny, it could hold three people comfortably but any more than that and it became a sardine tin.
Penny was grabbing a beer out of the fridge, Sheldon was behind her and he asked her to give him another bottle of Mountain Dew, she refused and just as she closed the fridge's door to let him know how unhealthy so much sugar was, they were suddenly pressed together.
Her head was pressed against his chest and one of his hands went to her back, maybe to balance himself out while his other arm went to the wall behind her head, pretty much trapping her between him and the wall.
Just as she was about to push him off, they were pushed together again. Straining to look behind Sheldon she could hear Jonjon's laughing voice as he tried to open the fridge door. "Wait for your turn Barley!"
Carly pushed Jonjon again which in turn pushed him against Sheldon's back and pressed Penny further against the kitchen wall. She could hear Carly say something to Jonjon but for all the money in the world, Penny couldn't tell anyone what she had said.
She was suddenly very conscious of the contact their bodies were making. Her breasts were squished against his chest, Sheldon's leg had somehow ended up in between her legs and she was full on straddling it, which did funny things to her when Sheldon was pushed again and his leg sort of jumped a little.
Her empty hands went to hold on his waist and his shirt must have ridden up because she could feel the warmth of his skin against her fingers. His breath hitched for a moment and he looked down to look her in the eye.
Sheldon's eyes were so dark.
Penny wasn't sure how long they stayed like that, but it was Sheldon's leg moving and the little noise that came out her mouth that finally made her react. She was tiny compared to everyone else in the kitchen but she had good muscles.
Two strong pushes and she was free to move back into the living room. Her face was burning hot and her nipples were trying to break a hole through her blouse.
Brian and Dani very deliberately were not looking at her and no one brought up the incident, which in their friend group was more than a little weird.
Sheldon didn't stop blushing for the rest of the night but besides a quick apology he didn't bring up the incident either and Penny would be damned if she was the one to bring it up.
Then, during the next DnD Thursday Sheldon was the only one that had a regular spot at the table, the rest just sort of adjusted, but curiously enough, now Sheldon's spot also had an empty spot to his right which was dubbed Penny's spot by Jonjon and no one dared to sit there. Which was weird because she had never asked for a spot.
She had also caught Sheldon looking at her randomly during the day, he would pretend that he wasn't looking at her but it was Sheldon, so he sucked at the whole being subtle thing.
Speaking of, she moved to clean her brush and turned to look at Sheldon and sure enough, he was watching her. He moved his eyes back to the whiteboard and she was caught between wanting to chuckle and wanting to kick his ass.
Wackadoodle.
All in all, it felt like something was happening and she was the only one in the dark. It also made her feel like she was back in middle school and a boy had a crush on her but she was the only one to not know.
She finished cleaning her brush, looked at the canvas and hummed in thought.
It's not like she hadn't thought about Sheldon like that, but well, the whole Leonard thing for starters kinda occupied her attention for a long while.
Leonard didn't exactly leave her feeling super optimistic about her love life, it was like the Kurt thing all over again, except not as bad…yet kinda worse at the same time.
Kurt was a cheating asshole, but that's the thing. He hid it well. She met Kurt in College and while rough around the edges, she could see the guy behind the bravado. He was a farmer's kid just like her, had shitty siblings just like her and they just clicked. She thought he was the one.
And then she got home one day to find him balls deep in a cocktail waitress or gym trainer or whatever that girl had been. And when she had confronted Kurt he had gone full mask-off and admitted to cheating on her several times over their entire relationship.
That had fucking hurt.
Shaking her head she poured some more paint and carefully dipped her brush and continued painting.
So, yes, Kurt was a piece of shit but he had pretended to be a nice guy. Leonard on the other hand…looking back on it, all the signs were there, she was just too forgiving.
Leonard got jealous when they weren't even dating. Admitted to only pretend to be interested in things she liked so he could sleep with her. Trying to act like a macho because he thought that's what she wanted. Being friends with Wolowitz.
Penny chuckled when thinking about that last one. Howard had actually behaved like a decent human being since she and Leonard broke up and yeah, it was also true that they didn't meet as often as before but she thought that it was a good thing. Howard was good in small doses.
She did miss Raj, he came around more often than his best friend but it wasn't the same.
Penny stopped painting to look over at Sheldon once more but this time he was truly focused, he was frowning and looking intently at his whiteboard while tapping his fingers against his leg to some rhythm only he could hear.
Sheldon Cooper might like her…as in like like like. And that was scary in its own way.
Not because she was afraid that he was going to be Leonard all over again. But because she didn't know what a relationship with him would be.
Since moving to this place she had brought over exactly two people, both spent the night and both she never saw again. Sheldon acted perfectly normal, or as normal as he could, with both of them. Never showed signs of jealousy. Never treated her differently.
It was messing with her head a little.
Because Sheldon hadn't shown any actual interests and all of her evidence was just, well, the vibe she was getting. She had waited and waited, and then waited some more but it was getting close to three months since they moved here and so far they had the kitchen incident, heavy and meaningful looks like they were in a Victorian novel and…that's it.
And she was tired of it.
But before talking it out with Sheldon, she had to make sure she wasn't just seeing things. Tonight, Brian and the rest of the boys were coming to pick Sheldon up to go to a Lord of the Rings concert thingy which meant Penny had invited the girls over just to see if she was seeing things or not.
Penny put the final stroke in her painting and took a step back to admire it. She would take care of the cleaning in a moment but for now she smiled at her finished work.
Sheldor in dirty, broken and rent armor stood victorious over the body of an owlbear. Broken helm revealing a tired but smiling face.
This had been a nail-biting session. Brian had sprung an owlbear on the group and the dice had just not been in their favor. Everyone but Sheldor had been downed and that was just because of dumb luck. And then two critical hits from Sheldor had made the battle more even.
1 HP and a dream.
The table had been silent, watching as the owlbear attacked Sheldor…and missed. Everyone had held their breath as Sheldon rolled the dice and the sight of the 20 had made even Brian scream in shock and joy.
She had never seen Sheldon jump in joy, until that night. And now she had the moment that had caused it immortalized.
Time to clean.
Sheldon could hear the shower running as he stood on the patio admiring Penny's painting.
He didn't need more than a glance to remember it forever and yet he stood there, unable to tear his eyes away.
His life had changed far too much in the last couple of months, and yet, he was reluctant to quantify it as a negative.
Leonard refused to interact with him beyond polite greetings but he was no longer his roommate so these types of interactions were only limited to their lunch, which they only had lunch together two or three times a week. Leonard was now classified as an acquaintance.
Howard and Raj still spent time with him, more specifically on Halo night and Paintball during Saturday mornings. Raj remained as a friend while Wolowitz had been moved from valued acquaintance to friend.
Penny's friends were also now his friends. In fact, he was waiting for Jonjon to pick him up so they could go to a 'Lord of the Rings in Concert' event.
As for Penny…she was his roommate, and yet he had not added the best friend clause in the contract he drafted with her. It felt somehow wrong. She was his best friend, there was no doubt about it.
And yet, he wondered how it would be if their relationship paradigm were to change to a romantic one. He had never been involved in a romantic relationship, the only other person he had considered had been Paige, but her identity crisis as well as self-loathing had cut short his feelings before they could grow into more.
Brian had helped him realize that when it came to Penny he did not have the usual reactions as he did for the others. If Penny touched him then he would not flinch, Penny could touch his food, Penny could get him to calm down.
He trusted her.
An unbidden memory came to him. Penny's green eyes looked up at him, her mouth slightly parted and the scent of her shampoo tickling his nose. It had been an accident, Jon and Carly being playful behind him and accidentally pushing him towards Penny. Her cold hands touching his waist and her pupils dilating until her eyes were pools of inviting darkness.
He stopped the memory and focused on reciting the Pi digits. His body had reacted, he adjusted his pants.
Drat.
Penny sat in Sheldon's spot because that was the compromise they had whenever they had visits and he wasn't at home. As an exception, Penny could sit in his spot as long as she made sure that no one else sat there.
Carly had made herself at home in their kitchen and whipped up some frozen margaritas as well as some strawberry daiquiris.
Penny was sipping her glass and waiting for the right moment to bring up the subject of Sheldon, but it was Dani that noticed her being more quiet than usual that brought the perfect chance for her.
"Hey Pen, you've been a little quiet there, you good?" Honest concern in her voice.
"So…I've…" Penny scratched at her nose in thought, unsure on how to voice her doubts. "Okay, so this is going to sound weird but…has Sheldon mentioned anything about wanting to date me?"
Carly froze with her drink to her mouth and shared a look with Erica who smiled in a constipated way but said nothing. Dani downed the rest of her glass, coughed a little and cleared her throat.
"Finally noticed it huh?" Dani said hoarsely, stood up and went to grab a glass of water.
"What do you mean 'finally noticed'?" Penny frowned.
Carly raised her hand. "We think he wanted to pound you since way back." Erica slapped Carly in the arm. "Ow, why?"
"Don't be crude…but yes." Erica relented.
Penny frowned and shook her head. "Wait, you ALL knew?"
Dani finally came back from the kitchen and sat next to Penny. "The question is. How didn't you notice?"
"No, no, no, no, no. Don't turn this on me. Since when?" Penny asked the room.
The other girls shared a look before Carly shrugged and said. "I thought you two were dating so I was shocked to find out you were dating the short guy. So for me I think I noticed when I met him and saw him interact with you."
"For me it was when Katia tried to touch his arm and he flinched and basically used you as a shield for the rest of the night." Erica added.
"Wait, when?" Penny tried to remember but was coming up blank.
"I think it was during the second night of DnD that you joined us. But yeah, to me it gave a 'This is my girl and she takes care of me' vibe." Erica said with a straight face.
Penny couldn't close her mouth.
"For me I think it was when you broke up with short guy and you said that night he came over to see you and you had a like an intimate moment." Dani added.
Carly whistled and waggled her eyebrows which made the rest laugh, except for Penny who still had a hard time coming to terms with all the information she was learning.
"I…okay…okay…I thought I might have been seeing things but this makes sense…was I blind?" She asked no one in particular.
Another look shared and this time it was Erica that hesitantly spoke.
"Okay Pen, we love you. A lot. But you do have the tendency of having blinders on. You focus on a guy so much that you kinda stop seeing the other men around you. You're a heartbreaker. And you're so damn nice that the men just accept it."
Penny opened her mouth to deny it but Erica interrupted her.
"You broke Jonjon's heart after your breakup with Kurt along with Carlo the gym instructor and that cute barista guy whose name I can't remember."
"Rick." Penny muttered.
"That guy. So yeah, not that you did anything wrong because you're not a tease but…" Erica shrugged.
Dani's hand patted her leg. "You have been focusing on your breakup and the rebound guys. Also, don't forget that this whole thing needs two people. Sheldon should have told you something."
Carly giggled. "Yeah, something like 'Why don't you bounce on my d-"
Dani interrupted her. "ANYWAY. It's not all on you." She chewed her lip and looked at Erica before slowly saying. "I'm not supposed to tell you this, but Sheldon asked Brian for help on how to, well I guess the word would be woo you?"
Penny's jaw almost hit the floor. "For real?" She breathlessly.
Dani and Erica nodded. "He's never been in a relationship and he was scared of not being able to do it correctly. And look, I think it's great he's taking that step but I'm also thinking it's going to take two years before he actually makes a move so this is why I'm telling you this right now."
"I don't understand." Penny felt really confused.
"You know. Go get him? Hmmmm hunt? Chop chop?" Dani tried to not smile as she said it.
Carly once again raised her arm. "Get you your man before Katia steals him?"
At that Penny's brain restarted.
"Wait, Katia is after Sheldon?" Penny liked the Italian lady that had sort of joined their group but this was the first time she was hearing anything about her chasing after Sheldon.
Erica sighed. "Yeah, she asked if you two were dating and we told her the truth, which is you're not dating. You're dating adjacent…You're the 'I can't believe they're not dating.' brand." Erica giggled at the end and Carly joined her.
Penny blinked. "Wasn't she with you?"
Carly waved a hand as she drank from her glass. "We had fun and that's that."
Katia was after Sheldon. She frowned and took a swig of her glass.
"I need to talk to Sheldon."
The other girls cheered and Penny wanted to believe that it was because they were happy for her and not because of all the alcohol.
Carly stripping naked and dancing on the patio five minutes later made her think that it had been the alcohol after all.
Sheldon enjoyed his ice cream as he listened to Toni and Jonjon argue.
"He has to tell her how he feels, just go up and tell her." Jonjon argued while nodding in Sheldon's direction.
"I'm not saying he shouldn't do that. But Sheldon…well, you're you." Toni told him to which Sheldon only nodded, more interested in his cookies and cream ice cream. "And because he's like he is, it's better if he writes a letter. Pen doesn't do corny, so he just needs to be honest. Okay, maybe Brian should check it first but I think this is the way to go."
"No, but see-" Jonjon started but Sheldon tuned him out.
They were outside the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, having just left a rather fantastic concert. Keith had bought everyone ice cream because summer in Pasadena was hot and uncomfortable, not as much as it was in Texas but Sheldon was not going to pass up ice cream.
What Penny had dubbed as 'The boys' plus Toni were leisurely eating ice cream before going to Sheldon and Penny's apartment to pick up the rest of the group and returning to their respective homes.
He only hoped that Penny and the rest had not overindulged in alcohol.
He turned his head to see Brian and Keith walking towards them, they had been the last to get their own ice cream which gave the twins enough time to offer their opinions on how he should approach Penny.
A pair of snapping fingers forced him to focus back on Toni and Jonjon.
"See, he's not even listening." Toni told her brother.
"Probably thinking about Penny." Jonjon teased as Brian and Keith finally joined them.
Sheldon didn't reply and continued eating his ice cream.
"We'll get there Sheldon, don't worry." Brian assured him. "You've managed to identify your feelings and want to explore them in a relationship. It's great!"
Keith nodded as he ate his own cone.
"Yeah, yeah, I just want them to shake both of them and make them kiss." Toni said exasperatedly.
"Wouldn't that make our teeth hit each other?" Sheldon asked earnestly.
Jonjon guffawed and even Brian chuckled a little as Toni gaped at Sheldon.
"Not literally you goof." She laughed a little which removed the sting of her calling him a goof.
"C'mon, let's go. You can eat your ice cream on the way. Erica just sent me a text asking me if I would still love her if she turned into a worm so that means she's had enough to drink and that probably goes for the rest." Brian rolled his eyes good naturedly.
Toni pouted. "Man…I missed margaritas for this concert. It was pretty damn good tho. We have to do this again."
The group nodded and Sheldon joined. He had to admit that he'd been enjoying these activities with this group of friends. While they didn't share his love for Star Trek or MTG, they had found common ground in DnD, Lord of the Rings and Age of Conan.
On the drive home, Jonjon once again offered him one of his gym's free passes but Sheldon politely declined. He exercised his brain, not his body.
Toni eyed him from the backseat. "I don't know Sheldon, he might have a point. Some meat on those bones and you'll have Penny chasing YOU."
"Why?" He asked bewildered.
Her response left him blushing slightly and looking out his window for the rest of the ride, he focused on reciting the Pi digits again.
The apartment unit was still standing when they arrived thankfully, but the loud laughter that could be heard all the way from the parking lot meant that alcohol had indeed been consumed in large quantities.
Erica jumped into Brian's arms as soon as the door opened and Sheldon worried for a moment that they would run out of oxygen if they kept like that, but Toni herded him inside and instead he focused on a giggling Penny. She was sitting at his spot watching as Carly tried to do some sort of dance on her hands.
Sheldon shook his head and approached to reclaim his spot when Carly lost her balance and he was forced to hold her so as to prevent her from smashing her head open on the hardwood floor.
"Hey!" Penny yelled and he looked up in surprise. She didn't say anything else but pointed at him and then at her eyes in the universal 'I'm watching you' sign and swiftly devolved into more giggles, leaving him utterly baffled.
Thankfully Jonjon came to his rescue and threw one of Carly's arms over his shoulder to take her to Toni's car. "Goddamn Barley, ease up on the protein. You're putting me to shame."
"Shut up, I'll bench press you." Carly slurred.
"Yes, yes, let's get you home." Toni grabbed Carly's other arm and moved towards the exit.
Dani swayed on her feet but otherwise looked unaffected as she waved goodbye at him and followed after the others. Soon it was only Penny and Sheldon left in the apartment and he started cleaning the admittedly light mess
By the time he was done, Penny was already snoring on the couch. He observed her sleeping form for a long moment before moving to his bedroom to retrieve a blanket to cover her with.
Had anyone else been present at the apartment, they could have said that Sheldon gently brushed Penny's hair off her face and that his hand lingered for a moment too long on her cheek.
But no one else was there to confirm if it occurred or not.
Penny woke up due to the glare of the sun on her face, she squinted at the light and saw that the door to the patio was open. Last night's memories finally trickled into her brain.
She was on the couch and had a light blanket over her body. Sheldon.
Sitting up she yawned and rubbed at her eyes. Her hair was a mess and she didn't need to check a mirror to know that. Letting out a second yawn she stood up and scratched her stomach, she needed a shower, but food first.
Sheldon was nowhere to be seen so he must have gone to work already.
Penny grabbed a box of cereal but stopped before pulling it out fully from the cupboard. No, today was more of a grilled cheese kinda day. Too bad they didn't have tomato soup.
As she made her breakfast, her head filled with ideas on how to approach the subject with Sheldon.
She wasn't against the idea, but she needed to know where he stood on this whole thing before she jumped in…well, whatever this could be. Because if they did this thing, there was no coming back from it, their relationship changed forever.
It was a scary thought.
She didn't have a shift today so Penny took a bath, made herself lunch and then spent the rest of the day painting until Sheldon came back. She was cleaning up when she spotted Raj's car from the patio, it gave her enough time to quickly clean herself and by the time Sheldon crossed the front door holding the takeout bag, she was more than ready to take it off his hands and dance all the way to the couch and the coffee table.
"Thank you Moonpie!" Penny sang as she rummaged through the bag of Thai food. "Raj didn't feel like joining us?"
Sheldon was removing his bag and storing it away. "He claimed to have a double date scheduled."
"What? Oh man, he didn't tell me."
"Wolowitz told him during lunch so he wasn't aware either." Sheldon went to wash his hands as Penny finished arranging the food on the coffee table. As they had dinner side by side while Star Trek played on the TV, Penny was hyper aware of Sheldon.
She was trying to catch him looking at her, or see if he was nervous about how close they were together but nothing, he ate as calmly as he always did, spoke to her like usual and if she didn't know better she would have never suspected that he liked her.
Sheldon Cooper liked her.
Penny still had a hard time wrapping her head around that little fact. It was Sheldon Cooper after all. Mr I-don't-need-human-contact. He liked her.
"So you like me huh?" She ended up blurting out when it finally became too much to hold it inside her. She cringed a little as she said it because this was definitely not the way she wanted to say it.
Sheldon stopped eating, sighed as if exhausted, muted the TV and calmly told her. "I will assume that Carly in her inebriated state blurted something out and then Dani or Erica confirmed it?" His eyes never left the TV.
Penny leaned back against the couch and let her leg make contact with his. "Something like that, yeah."
Sheldon nodded but still refused to look at her. "If you will reject the idea of dating me, I ask that you wait for me to not be in the room before laughing. I would prefer to not look at your reaction so I hope you understand my insistence on continuing watching the TV." He said it so seriously that she almost forgot to be offended at the idea that he thought she would laugh at him.
Almost.
"Sheldon Cooper!" She stood up with her hands on her hips. "You think that I would laugh at you?"
Sheldon frowned for a moment and she could see him struggle trying to figure out why she was upset. Penny tapped her foot but she was wearing slippers so it didn't make a noise against the carpet which made her huff in annoyance.
Sheldon must have misrepresented her huff because he finally looked at her and the open earnestness on it as well as his words made her deflate almost right away. "It was the reaction of the only other individual whom I considered entering into a romantic relationship with."
"Oh…" Penny now was angry on Sheldon's behalf but a small treacherous part of her brain knew that High School Penny would have laughed at the idea of dating Leonard or Sheldon. However, she was no longer that person. "Well, I'm not going to laugh."
She sat back down and this time Sheldon at least looked at her.
"I just want to know why you didn't come to me with this, so we could, you know, talk it out." She needed to know.
"There are very few things in this world that intrigue me. Science, to be more specific, Physics, intrigues me. I believe that through it we will be able to discover all those secrets the universe is still holding."
Penny listened and wondered how it would answer her question.
"Of course, it won't be easy and scientists will make mistakes. Like the ridiculousness that is Loop Theory. But I digress. My point was, that as far as I believe Physics will take us, each and every one of us had to start from the beginning. We need to learn and the more we learn the more we understand, and the more we understand the more the universe opens up to us."
Sheldon paused to gather his thoughts for a moment and she was more than happy to wait for him.
"Physics and science are logical. Relationships are not. Initially I suspected my feelings towards you were nothing more than physical attraction, something that while annoying to deal with could be ignored. However, soon it became clear to me that your presence in my life was not only welcome but desired. You have to understand that this was a new feeling for me."
Sheldon licked his lips and for the first time he looked nervous.
"I was unsure on how to proceed. This was new for me. Thankfully at the time something unexpected occurred, your friends welcomed me in. I was also made aware that Brian had successfully navigated a relationship for almost a decade with Erica and so I decided that before I approached you, I needed to learn."
"Learn what?" She pulled her legs up and hugged them against her chest.
"Relationships. The reasons why people choose to willingly enter into a romantic relationship. What they entail. What I want out of one. Do I even want to enter one?" He shrugged but she was impressed. This was a huge step for him.
"And what did you learn?"
"That relationships are both more complicated and less complex than I had initially believed. I still don't understand why communication seems to be so hard to achieve, most if not all issues appear to be related to poor communication."
Penny hummed in agreement.
"As much as I call myself Homo-Novus, the truth is that I still seek companionship. I struggled with this realization but ultimately I came to accept that I need people."
Penny gaped at him, this was huge.
"And this led to the thought of romantic entanglements, only once before had I considered the possibility of one but she-"
"What's her name?" She needed to know.
"Paige. I had considered that Paige would perhaps be an ideal companion but even as young as I was, I could tell that Paige was spiraling down, unable to deal with the burden of her brilliant mind. She desired nothing more than to be 'normal', to have no expectations set on her. Our roads parted and last I knew, she was satisfied working as a teacher." Sheldon shook his head, disappointed in the fate of Paige.
Penny rested her chin against her knee. "But I'm not a genius." A statement.
Sheldon nodded. "I know."
"So why me?"
"I don't need you to be one." And he said nothing more.
"But you said that Paige was brilliant and that's what made you consider it." She needed to push on this.
"And I also said that I was quite young. I can see now how miserable Paige and I would have made each other. She would have resented me every single day for not buckling under the pressure of my genius and would have felt the need to rebel against a non-existent authority."
Penny laughed a little at how humble Sheldon sounded. "But I will not resent you?"
"Allow me to answer that with another question. Do you feel that I'm superior or better than you?"
"Hell no!" She didn't even hesitate.
Sheldon nodded as if he expected her answer. "Because of that. For everyone else I am Dr Sheldon Cooper double PhD. For you I'm just Sheldon. I admire that you stood your ground against me from the start and that you were never intimidated by me. I could be myself with you."
Penny didn't answer, mulling his answer until she realized he hadn't said if he liked her.
"Wait, but do you find me attractive?"
"Penny, Penny, Penny." He said condescendingly and her eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "I already said that I was physically attracted to you. How could I not? While crude, Wolowitz was accurate in describing you as a 'Golden haired goddess.' though I believe he also called you a 'Corn goddess.' but I prefer the former."
Penny could feel her face warming up. "Bu-But you never said anything."
"Unlike the rest, I am perfectly capable of controlling my impulses." Sheldon continued to look calm.
Penny rubbed her face. "Okay, okay, so now what?"
"You are more experienced than me on these matters so I will defer to you."
She started pacing in front of Sheldon.
"Okay, let's take this step by step. You are attracted to me and would like to give dating a try?" Sheldon nodded. "You went so far as to request help from Brian because you wanted to be successful?" Another nod. "And you won't mind…touching and stuff?" This was the most important part because Penny liked sex and she was not ready to give it up.
"I didn't believe that I would be, but Brian pointed out that you're the only person I allow to touch me and after further thought I have to agree, you have always been a very physical person and without realizing it you made it a regular part of our interactions. You often touch my arm when speaking to me, when we sit close together you will instinctively rub your leg against mine, you lean against me when taking my order at The Cheesecake Factory and touch my neck for some reason. All of these don't cause me to flinch away in the same manner as with other people."
Penny's mouth made a noise as she closed it from when it had fallen open in the middle of Sheldon's speech. He had a point there.
"Huh…I hadn't noticed all of that actually. So…you're open to…touching and stuff." She still couldn't say fucking for some reason.
"I am willing to try…touching and stuff." Sheldon said carefully. It seemed he understood perfectly what she meant.
"Okayokayokayokayokay." She said quickly. "Goodgoodgoodgoodgood." She sat next to Sheldon again and very purposefully made sure her leg touched his. No flinching.
"Penny. I'm unsure about what this means. I answered your questions but now I don't know what comes next."
"Well…you're right. But, I need to be asked a question so I can answer it." She said teasingly.
Sheldon looked confused for a long moment before he blinked and tilted his head.
"Penny. Would you like to go on a date?"
"You know what Moonpie? I think I do."
Penny didn't have any idea of what dating Sheldon would be like. But the idea wasn't as strange as it might have sounded once, hell, it didn't give her the same reluctant feeling that she had whenever Leonard brought it up.
She did know that it wouldn't be boring…Holy crap on a cracker, what had she gotten herself into?