Summary:
Sheldon comes back.
Penny bit her thumb as she waited for Sheldon to appear. His flight had just landed and she couldn't wait to see him. Skype and email could never fully scratch that itch she got. She needed to see Sheldon in person.
Her life had changed so much in the last eight months since she was last able to touch him and yet it still didn't feel real. There was this constant feeling of waiting for the other shoe to drop that kept her on her toes. As if something was going to go wrong and ruin her life.
When Sheldon told her that he would be staying for another two months after six long months had already passed, her first instinct had been to yell at him to get his butt on a plane ASAP. But she knew how important this was to him, she still made it clear that she was not okay.
"I know it's only two more months Sheldon, you don't have to keep repeating that. I just…I miss you okay? I miss you a heck lot. I know this could get you that Nobel but-but I just miss having dinner with you. I miss your lame jokes. I miss you."
Sheldon had looked at her in shock before nodding to himself. "I can be back in ninety two hours. I need to call-"
She interrupted him. "No, no! You're too much at times." Penny had laughed, the pressure in her chest now a little bit less overwhelming.
But she used those two months to the max. She had started to enjoy filming the sketches, it was very hard to look past the horrible comments so she simply stopped. She also deleted her social media accounts after Courtney had to deal with a stalker. And that was a whole other fear unlocked.
On the bright side, she was also a part of the writer's guild now. Well, kind of, she was an associate member.
Penny wrote a sketch because while she found the rhythm to Smosh, she still felt that the stuff they did was aimed at a younger audience, heck, Shayne and Damien were literally out of Disney. So she tried her hand at trying to write something with a little more adult humor and a little more bite to it.
"This is great!" Monica, one of the writers, told her as Penny sat nervously in front of her.
"You think so?" Penny was sweating bullets even as she smiled happily at the praise.
"I do! But!...I don't think it's quite our alley." Monica said sadly and Penny wanted to cry. "No, no, no! What I'm saying is, why don't you sell this sketch to another channel?"
And that's how Penny found out that you could sell sketches. Monica acted as the middle man.
"CollegeHumor? Sounds like the kind of place that does 'Hotness rankings'" Penny joked but Monica cringed. "Oh."
"No, well…yes, but there are new people in charge! The writing is changing, trust me." Monica promised and Penny decided to trust in her friend.
So now Penny was trying her hand at writing and despite her grammar being less than ideal, she was giving it an honest try. She was still working her ass off but now it felt productive, it felt like the right step in the right direction.
She couldn't wait to tell Sheldon everything. About how much she missed him, how much he meant to her. She wanted to tell him how much she loved him.
Penny perked up at seeing a tall shape made his way past the gate.
Sheldon tried and failed to knead the kink out of his neck. Despite trying his best to not fall asleep in the small and cheap airplane seat he had failed and his reward was now this annoying pain in his neck.
Not that the flight itself had been comfortable, far from it. Whoever thought that it was acceptable to bring babies into flights should be subjected to a special kind of torture. At least the in-flight meal was acceptable, if only barely.
As he stood impatiently, waiting to leave the plane, he had to wonder again if the extra two months had been truly needed. Of course, initially he believed that fully, but as time passed and more in particular, as he got closer to home, he had to reassure himself that he had taken the right decision.
Science would be changed…he hoped.
But, he missed Penny something terrible. Beyond her role in his life as someone accommodating and kind, he missed his friend, confidant and…the word 'lover' seems inadequate as they hadn't actually performed coitus yet.
The memory of Penny using her mouth on him assaults him. Heat on his face and he has to close his eyes to stop the memory, to stop the sensations.
It didn't work.
Vanilla under his nose, the feeling of Penny's recently washed hair under his fingers, the warmth and wetness of her mou-
Sheldon forcefully shook his head and thought about the least sexy thing he could imagine. Loop theory.
Lately thinking about Penny caused this reaction and it was infuriating.
Penny had made the decision to wait until Sheldon was fully out the gate before approaching him, but like in those movies she loved and hated, she started walking for a couple of steps before going into an ungraceful sprint towards her Moonpie.
She watched as Sheldon caught sight of her and a small smile grew on his face. "Penn-ugh"
Before Sheldon could greet her she had already jumped him like a squirrel trying to get on the bird feeder. Sheldon grunted as he caught her but thankfully he didn't drop her. She buried her face in the crook of his neck.
"I missed you saw saw mush." She hated how easily she cried. The picture she had in her mind about this reunion was definitely not this.
Sheldon was not a hugger, he had gotten better at it but his hugs were still stiff. But not this one. This time he hugged her with the same desperation she was feeling. His long arms crossed her back and she felt as his fingers sank deep into her hip and under her arm until it was hard to breathe.
"I missed you as well." Sheldon's voice was calm but she could hear the slight tremble and it only made her cry harder.
"Welcome home." Sheldon didn't reply, he only nodded against her neck.
Sheldon had so much to tell Penny, had so much to ask. Had she bagged his comics correctly? Had she set the UV light for the right amount of length to properly sanitize his toothbrush? Did she properly separate and categorize his mail?
But all of that went out the metaphorical window as soon as they arrived home.
The trip back home was quiet, their emotional reunion left him drained and despite his best efforts he dozed off as Penny drove. The death trap she called a car lulled him to sleep.
Penny had gently nudged him awake and taking advantage of his drowsy state, she kissed him unexpectedly in the lips as he stood outside her car. It was playful and chaste, their first kiss in eight months.
It had ignited a burning desire in him that scared him due to its intensity.
As much as he hated it, he was still a human male. Homo Novus still had the same hormonal and physical responses as the rest of the world. And for eight months he had suppressed those responses. Of course, he did not go as far as practicing or trying to achieve Kolinahr…he rather enjoyed the emotions that Penny brought forth in him.
And with her kiss, she brought all of those repressed emotions, feelings and desires out of him, like a runaway loco-motor that couldn't be stopped.
Just as Penny moved away from him, his hand went to the back of her neck to pull her for another kiss, this one was deeper. He wanted to show her the depth of his feelings for her, wanted to quench the hunger for her touch.
His breathing was erratic, he felt like he couldn't get enough air and yet he couldn't stop kissing the woman in his arms.
"Wait, wait." Penny reluctantly pulled away from him, her hand on his chest the only thing preventing him from pulling her into his arms again. "Hon, we're not even inside yet."
Sheldon observed her, it took only an instant but he was able to take her fully. Her half smile, the dilated pupils, the rapid swelling of her lips, the flushing of her skin. The way her hand on his chest curled and grabbed at his shirt as if to pull him in towards her.
Sheldon pulled her to him.
Penny allowed herself to be pulled in.
"I still can't believe we're not having a welcome party for Sheldon." Brian pouted.
"Let it go darling." Erica kept writing the email, trying to find a nice way to call her boss a forgetful bitch without actually using those words.
"But it's been so long, and sure he sent us emails but-" Brian whined and she knew that he missed his friend but she had to put a stop to this.
"Brian, sweetie. It's been eight months since he last saw Penny. What do you think it's the first thing they're going to do when alone?"
"Oh!" Brian nodded slowly. "Right, right."
"Besides, we already have a party planned for next Thursday."
Penny drew an invisible flower on Sheldon's chest using her finger. They were naked and only covered by a sheet. The weather in California was warm and nearing sweltering so even with just the thin sheet they were more than comfortable.
Sheldon's chest moved up and down as he slept, the bedroom door was open and because Penny had forgotten to close the balcony door she could hear the sound of distant cars and the buzzing of the city.
This wasn't what she had imagined their first time would be like. Because, sure they both had been naughty with each other before. Sheldon was fascinated with blowjobs and she was a really huge fan of his long dexterous fingers and his ability to bring her to the edge so effectively and quickly, but she had held back on actual fucking, and then the Arctic put a stop to pretty much anything naughty.
There was no way in hell she was having phone sex, no way.
And then Sheldon had kissed her in the parking lot, he was rough, desperate and so freaking hot. She hadn't seen that coming, not at all. All she had in her head were ideas on where to get dinner from, because without Sheldon here she basically said fuck it to the routine, at least for some of the time. There was some comfort in Pizza night and Halo.
But then Sheldon had kissed her, his large hands went to her neck and butt and her hands went under his shirt and she didn't know how but between frantic kisses they were able to make it into their apartment, thankfully it was only a flight of stairs. She could remember opening the door and then kicking it closed because her hands were busy trying to remove Sheldon's layers.
Even in the middle of passionate kissing Sheldon still had pretty good fingers, her bra was unhooked in a single hand motion and the front button of her jeans soon followed.
"Sheldon! Hone-" Penny had tried to slow things down, she knew that if they kept going like this they would end up having sex and Sheldon might not be ready for that, but the man himself had growled something unintelligible and kissed her again.
So Penny let go.
They made it to the couch where Sheldon lost his shirts and pants, then between the couch and bedroom door Penny had lost her bra and panties and once in bed she had practically torn Sheldon's tighty whities off him.
Smut Scene censored for this site. If you want to read it you can find this story in AO3 under the same name.
Their second time was far more intimate and slow. Sheldon was sitting at the edge of the bed and she was facing him, sitting on his lap, her legs crossed behind his back and his hands on her ass.
It was slow, it was sensual and it made her cry. Who knew that Sheldon of all people would be the one to make her feel loved in this way. He was always so uptight, so controlled and restrained.
Except when he was with her.
Sheldon Cooper had fucked her…and then he had made love to her. Life moved in funny ways.
Smiling, she closed her eyes and tried to sleep as well. It was still pretty early in the day and they needed to eat, but they could stay in bed for a little longer.
"Sheldor doesn't die quickly. He was able to kill the last of the ambushers and allowed his companions to escape…at great cost." Brian moved his hands as he described the way Sheldor spent his last moments. "Sheldor failed his last death save and these are his last moments. What does Sheldor do as he lays there dying?"
Sheldon rubbed a hand over his mouth, his eyes were narrowed and the pencil in his hand was tapping the character sheet anxiously.
"Wait, but I can stabilize him!" Carly's character was the only one still able to fight and she had doubled back to try and help Sheldor but she wasn't fast enough.
Brian shook his head. "You're not a cleric and don't have any first aid perks or skills. Besides, you're still too far away."
"No, no, no. Hold on, if I get a Nat-20 can I help him?" Carly insisted.
Jonjon kept looking down at his sheet, he was looking at it as if it had some sort of secret answer to get them out of this mess. Keith just scratched his head, his fighter was hanging on with 1 hp and in no state to help anyone.
Brian paused, he looked at Carly and then at something behind his brand new DM screen, a gift from Erica. "Okay, it sounds like your character is trying really hard to reach Sheldor so this is what I'm going to do; IF you roll a Nat-20 then I'll say that a magic surge made it so you could reach Sheldor's side BUT you would need to roll a second Nat-20 to stabilize Sheldor."
"Oka-" Before Carly could finish Brian raised a hand to stop her.
"But if on the second roll. No, hear me out. On the second roll…if you roll a Nat-20 then you'll stabilize Sheldor at 1 hp okay? But if you roll anything below that, then that's it. You can only watch him die."
Carly grew quiet as she played with the d20 in her hand, rolling it between her thumb and index finger. "Okay."
"Sheldon? You're okay with this?" Brian checked.
Sheldon looked up at Brian and nodded once before turning to Carly. "I trust you."
"Aw I got you." Carly smiled prettily at Sheldon.
Carly rolled the die between her cupped hands and even blew on it as if this was a game of craps. She closed her eyes and it looked as if she was praying but Penny couldn't really tell from where she was sitting with Dani and Toni on the other end of the table.
"This is so dramatic OMG." Dani leaned in to whisper.
"I know!" Toni agreed before taking a sip of her drink, her eyes never leaving the group playing in front of them.
Penny made a noise in the back of her throat to show she agreed. Mentally she was shaking her head though, this was Sheldon's official welcome back party and of course they spent it playing DnD. Penny looked at the clock on the wall and made a quick calculation, this was the sixth hour of the game and it was almost time to leave so she knew that whatever happened next would need to be put on hold for a another week and Sheldon might be pouty all of said week if things didn't go his way.
'Of course, if he's pouty maybe I can help improve his mood.' Penny's head filled with dirty thoughts.
A sudden cheer pulled her from her thoughts. Carly had hit the Nat-20 and Jonjon and Keith were losing their shit celebrating. Poor Carly looked like she couldn't believe it but she smiled cheekily at Brian.
"Magic surges at your feet. An unknown but not wholly unfamiliar feeling pulls at you and before you know how, you are pulled and are now in front of Sheldor. You waste no time and approach him. Do you say anything before trying to stabilize him?" Brian didn't look like he minded that much that Carly had succeeded, in fact he looked hyped as hell.
"Um, I say: 'Don't you die on me you bastard' and then I try to keep him alive." Carly was anxious and Penny could see her shake a little.
"Okay. Sheldor, do you say anything back?"
"Sheldor turns his head and smiles at seeing his sister-at-arms. He is glad that she is safe and that he fulfilled his promise to protect his fellow adventurers. He says: 'I'll be okay.' and then closes his eyes, satisfied." Sheldon, like most things in his life, was very analytical when playing, he very rarely roleplayed. Choosing instead to describe his character's actions in a calm manner. But Penny knew him and could see the tightness around his eyes, the way he was holding onto the pencil with a little too much force.
"Okay. Carly, your roll please."
Carly cupped the d20 again and shook it in her hand before quickly throwing it onto the table.
Everyone, including Penny, held their breath as they waited for the result.
"Oh." Carly said after a moment, her tone was flat. "It's a 5."
A pregnant pause before Brian spoke up. "Any final words Sheldor?"
Sheldon straightened on his chair and faced Carly. "I'm glad you're safe Chumbud."
"Oh no." Carly's lower lip trembled.
Penny still couldn't believe that Carly had named her character that. Apparently it was meant to be a joke since she didn't expect to actually get into the game, but she did and now her rogue was named Chumbud.
Brian sighed before he went back into his DM persona. "Sheldor fought valiantly against a cowardly ambush, allowing his friends to escape, not unscathed as they were hurt like him. But he fought a good fight and managed to not only successfully keep his group safe, but he also managed to kill every single ambusher…only to succumb to the poison coated in their blades."
Silence.
"Sheldon! I'm sorry!" Carly stood up and basically ran to Sheldon and tackled him. Since he was still sitting down she ended up straddling him on the chair in a manner that Penny knew was very innocent but from where she was sitting, it didn't look innocent.
"Uh oh." Toni muttered into her drink.
Penny was shocked by the sudden and very violent feeling in her gut. She could feel her left eye twitch.
"Sweetie, love, darling, come, leave poor Sheldon alone. Remember he doesn't like being touched." Dani was already out of her chair and calling out to Carly before Penny could have a chance to move.
"Oh shit. I'm sorry Sheldon." To Carly's credit, she did jump back once she realized who she was hugging.
Sheldon was frozen in place and for some reason that annoyed her.
"Penny, I can't help but notice that you're unusually quiet."
"..."
"I believe this is only proving my point."
"..."
"Penny. Penny. You're going to hit that pothole if you-"
*THUNK*
"...oops, sorry." She said in a cheerful tone.
Sheldon cleared his throat. "There is a 90% certainty that you're upset with me. But I have to admit that I don't know why."
"Only 90%?"
"Ah, so I was right. Is this perhaps related to me vetoing your choice of costume for this upcoming Halloween party? Because I'm afraid I must insist that 'generic cat' is not a good costume."
Penny couldn't help it, she laughed. "No, no, well, not all of it. I can pull off a very good cat girl look. No, it's…" And it suddenly sounded so small and petty.
Sheldon waited but after no response he prompted her again. "It's?"
Penny ignored his question for a moment, taking advantage of the fact that they were close to home and she took her time to think her argument as she parked.
She couldn't just say 'I'm a jealous bitch' because, well, she was, but she couldn't just say that.
Unfortunately her time was up and once parked and with the engine off, the silence threatened to swallow her whole.
"Penny?"
"I was jealous, okay!" She blurted out, her eyes glued to the wall in front of her. "I was jealous because you didn't push Carly away and I know that's dumb because you were frozen in shock and I know that, I know that! But I still think about if you enjoyed it or if you prefer someone with bigger boobs or smarter than me or-" A touch on her hand made her look down. She was gripping the steering wheel tightly and Sheldon was gently trying to pry her fingers off.
She relaxed her grip and allowed Sheldon to hold her hand.
"Penny." His voice was gentle and she had to close her eyes to not cry.
"It's just…"
"Penny. You know I enjoy making plans." It wasn't a question but she still nodded. "Ever since you entered our lives, you have become an integral part in those plans. Right after me you are the best shot and thus ideal for the role of vice-leader in a survival situation."
She laughed, enjoying his voice and the touch of his hand on hers. She turned her hand and interlaced their fingers. She still did not turn to look at him. "Only vice-leader?"
"Of course, you lack my genius intellect and unmatched decision making skills." Sheldon had no filter.
Another laugh bubbled out of her. "Is that so?"
"It is, but that's not the point. Ever since we altered our paradigm to include a romantic element, I found myself unwilling to alter my plans further."
"English, Sheldon."
Sheldon sighed tiredly. "In layman terms. I do not wish to enter a physical, emotional or sexual relationship with anyone else but you."
It wasn't exactly the most romantic love confession but it still filled her chest with warmth. "Forever and ever?" She teased him.
Sheldon ignored her last remark with the practice of a thousand years. "I do not enjoy emotional displays but I believe that you've shown vulnerability and it's only appropriate that I do the same. Despite what I might show, I am perfectly aware that I am a difficult individual and this recent expedition was a stark reminder of it. I fear that my idiosyncrasies will one day be too much to bear for you and that you will grow tired of me…Like Leonard did."
She squeezed his hand and finally turned to look at his face. Sheldon was blushing slightly and he looked uncomfortable but she was really proud of him for showing her what he was scared of…which only made her feel worse for her little outburst.
"Leonard…" She started but trailed off, unsure of what to even say. It was sort of true. Leonard had gone from joking to being actually mean towards Sheldon. Actually, not just Sheldon, but also Raj. "Well, Leonard has a lot of issues. I think that maybe, yeah, maybe he grew tired of…not you exactly, but of his life?"
The more she thought about it, the more sense it made to her. Leonard had changed, slowly at first but the man he was at the end of their relationship was not the man she had met all those years ago.
"Yeah, I think that's it. You know? He wasn't happy and he was trying to blame someone else for that." Penny was happy to see Sheldon nod to himself as he slowly took her words in.
She enjoyed the feeling of his large hand, she rubbed his knuckles as he came to terms with the fact that his best friend had issues that were not related to him.
"This is most likely a strange thought to voice, given everything that occurred. But I hope he is able to be happy." Sheldon's face lacked his usual arrogance and instead she was allowed to peek behind the curtain, at the man that loved his friends but didn't know how to express it.
"Me too Honey. Me too."
"Hey girl, I just wanted to call you and make sure we're all good." Carly's voice was full of anxiety.
Penny closed the balcony door behind her and went to sit on the bench she used when painting. "We're good. Actually, I'm the one that should be apologizing."
"No, no, no, no. I got a little too into the s-"
"No, no, I get it. I get it. I feel bad because I made a bit of a scene and-"
"No, no. It's all good. I need to be less touchy. I just hope Sheldon doesn't hate me."
"What?! No! No, don't worry about that. He is fine, he was just a little shocked but believe it or not he has gotten a bit better about touching other people."
"Oh good. I was worried he didn't want to come and play anymore."
"You're joking. He's already planning on helping Jonjon figure out a way to resurrect Sheldor."
Carly laughed and Penny smiled at hearing the anxiousness leave her friend.
"So why didn't you bring that girl of yours to last night's game?" Dani yawned after asking that, moving to serve herself a cup of coffee. She didn't have work today so she stayed the night with Toni. "I thought you were going to officially introduce her to us."
Jonjon quickly chewed his mouthful of cereal and cleaned his mouth with the back of his hand. "No way, I don't think I'm ready for her seeing me roleplay my Paladin."
Dani paused with the cup to her mouth, she raised an eyebrow at the dumbness she had just heard. "You can dip your stick in her oil but DnD is a step too far? You're weird bro."
"Ew, no. Hearing you say that is like hearing my mom. Stop."
"Brat. I'm only three years older than you."
"You know what I mean."
"Yeah, yeah. But seriously, it sounds like things are going great with her, why not introduce her to us officially?"
"You think it's a good idea?"
Dani tilted her head and gave him a very unamused stare.
Jonjon lowered his eyes and scratched his brow. "I know. I'm…look, I think I'm in love with Priya."
"Woah." Dani blinked several times as she digested the information. This was big.
Jonjon smiled awkwardly at her before lowering his eyes again. "Yeah."
Dani put down the cup on the counter and moved to take a seat next to Jonjon. "Okay. I'm sensing there's a 'but' in there." All the teasing had left her voice.
He took a shuddering breath. "We were talking about the future and I asked if she could picture us living together…"
"And?"
"She said no to the idea of moving in together."
"Ohhhhhhh…did she say why?"
Jonjon refused to meet her eye and instead scratched the back of his head before rubbing his earlobe which she knew meant he had done something he was ashamed of. "Oh no, Jonjon, what did you do?"
"Nothing! I mean…I sort of…" He trailed off into unintelligible mumbles.
"Speak up, you ass!" For good measure she punched him on the shoulder.
Jonjon covered his face with his hands and she could practically feel the waves of shame radiate off him.
"Jonjon. I need you to tell me what you did. I have a feeling it's not as bad as you think it is." That was complete and utter BS but he didn't need to know that.
"After she said that I kinda, sorta, walked out on her and I haven't replied to her messages or gone to the gym…"
Dani closed her eyes and took a calming breath because otherwise she might have punched him again and this time not so gently. "Was she trying to explain her reasons for saying no when you walked out?" She was amazed by how calm her voice was.
"I don't know. Maybe?"
Dani opened her eyes and smiled very gently at Jonjon. "You're a dumbass."
She didn't hold back on the next punch.
Priya looked at herself in the mirror trying to make her puffy eyes a little less obvious and she was failing miserably. She had been crying nonstop for the last three nights since Jonjon walked out on her and no matter how many messages she sent him, he wasn't replying back. He had even been absent from the gym which was so rare that she knew he was avoiding her.
Eight months just gone like that.
Not that they had dated all of that, it took a couple of weeks for them to find a good rhythm and then a little more for them to go exclusive and then she had officially met Keith, his best friend and then she had introduced him to Raj.
Things were going great. Were.
Jonjon had surprised her by asking what she thought about them living together. She had been super happy to hear him say that but she still had to say no.
Priya had changed jobs, going from working for a top law firm that specialized in corporate law to a still successful but not as well paid environmental and immigration lawyer. And yeah, she could say she was much happier working for things that felt that actually impacted the world, she hadn't expected that, she always thought that people were talking out of their ass about rewarding jobs.
Turns out she had been wrong.
Also, for the first time in a long time she had to actually do chores and take care of her apartment by herself. She could afford a maid but…well, she always had a maid, growing up she had two and because of that she never needed to do her own laundry, or buy groceries, cook or anything that actually required labor.
It was much harder than she expected. But she was happier for it. It felt nice to do things by herself, to be independent for once in her life. Yes, she had savings and she could ride those out if things took a turn but at least her bāpū wasn't paying her bills like he did for Raj.
And this whole change was great, she felt in control of her fate. She liked living by herself and taking care of her place and she wanted-no-she needed to do this, at least for a little longer.
She wanted to explain all of this to Jonjon but she couldn't.
Fine. She was already screwed over once and she managed to-
The doorbell interrupted her line of thinking. A last glance at the mirror showed that her efforts had been for nothing, her eyes were still puffy and anyone with two brain cells would be able to tell she had been crying, which only made her want to cry again.
"Whatever." She muttered at her reflection before moving to open the door.
It was still rather early in the day so it must be a delivery, she had ordered a new set of scrubs for Jonjon as a gift, they had a pattern of small dinosaurs around the edges and they were meant to be a surprise.
Already feeling tears in her eyes she opened the door and was shocked to find a shame faced Jonjon there.
He tried smiling at her but it came out more like a grimace. "Hey."
Priya sniffed and tried to show a strong front. "Hey."
Silence.
She stared at him directly while he did his best to stare at his feet.
"Look-"
"I'm sorry-"
They spoke at the same time and she gestured with her hand that he should go first.
"I'm sorry. I reacted like an asshole. When you said no I felt humiliated and sad and like I had done something wrong and…and I missed you a lot. I should have listened to you but I was too in my feelings." She shouldn't forgive him so easily, and she wasn't going to. But she would hear him out at least.
Priya pinned him with a stare for a long moment before stepping back and silently inviting him into her apartment. It wasn't a great apology, but it was a start.