The Distance Decision

~ May ~

Knock, knock, knock.

Gently, Penny opened the door and poked her head inside. It really was what she expected to see, Sheldon on the couch flipping the pages of a science magazine as the silence of the apartment enveloped him.

"Hey," she offered with a smile and he flipped another page before finally looking at her. "You home alone?"

Sheldon nodded slightly. "Yes." He said simply and returned to his magazine.

Rolling her eyes at his short answer, Penny closed the door behind her then shuffled to the couch and sat down. With a heavy sigh, she dropped her feet on the coffee table sharply. She felt Sheldon bristle next to her and rolled her head to the side to look at him. "Is it good?" She asked, hating the silence.

"And you're referring to…?"

Penny gestured at the book. "Your science magazine." She hated sometimes how hard it was to talk to him. There were moments when he would let his guard down and they were quite civil with one another. Even times where they got along, they would argue and sometimes banter but it was in those times that she enjoyed his company most.

Then there was today, when he was clearly moody and seemed annoyed by her mere presence. "it is derivative and wrought with useless information that any first year medical student should already know. It's for simpler minds."

"Hmm… maybe I should read it." Penny said softly as she peered over his shoulder. "I could talk a little science with you guys."

Sheldon eyed her for a moment and shook his head. "It's far too complicated for you, Penny. You would find nothing about this magazine comprehensible."

"Right." She groaned tiredly before running a hand over her face and looking away from him. Damn him and his ability to do this to her. She'd been called stupid before. Half the time the people she served at the restaurant thought she was stupid before they even met her. It didn't bother her there, those people's opinions didn't matter.

His did, he was supposed to be her friend and yeah he acted like everyone was stupid compared to him but she was being irrational and she knew it.

Still hurt though.

"Where are the guys?" She asked, desperate to change the subject.

With a loud exhale, Sheldon cleared his throat and set the magazine on his lap. "They are currently at the bank trying to procure funds for a summer long trip out to New Jersey to visit with Leonard's father. The University out there has accepted them to be temporary lecturers for events and things of that nature. It was very spur of the moment from my vantage point. It's a foolish idea, really."

Penny felt that pang of guilt in her stomach again, they were running away from her and the bullshit she stirred up by getting drunk, again, and waking up with Raj then stumbling out of the bedroom like the whore of Nebraska and ruining everything.

"So you're not going?" She asked, fidgeting with the drawstring of her sweats, suddenly despising the shyness of her voice.

He shook his head. "Absolutely not, the summer is when I do some of my best work. The warm weather and the ability to go to the University and not have to deal with the throngs of students that parade about… these are peak months for me and I won't allow anything to tarnish that."

"Could have just said no, MoonPie." She countered with a smirk and waited.

"Only MeeMaw calls me MoonPie."

Penny felt the smallest hint of victory in her gut. "Right, sorry." And then again the silence fell between them. "So uh… what are your plans today?" Penny couldn't understand why she kept pushing conversation on him. He was so very terrible at it.

As if he were extremely put out, Sheldon picked up his magazine and displayed it to her. "I was reading Theoretical Physics bi-Quarterly."

"Bi-Quarterly? So that means you have some time to finish this one before the next one shows up?" She finished, half expecting him to be impressed with her knowing what Bi-Quarterly meant.

He wasn't. "Penny," he started, condescension laced in his voice. "I have already finished this magazine and am merely going over it to pass the time."

"So you're not doing anything then?" She asked and didn't wait for him to respond before sliding a bit closer to him on the couch. "Let's do something!" She chirped happily.

Sheldon leaned away from her a bit and Penny could have sworn there was guilt in his eyes. "I—I have plans with Amy Farrah Fowler."

"Oh," she deflated and scooted away from him. "That's okay," she said brightly again and stood from the couch. "I should probably do something productive anyway like clean my apartment or… take a nap, I don't know."

"I would suggest cleaning, the last time I was in your apartment I worried I might fall into a pit of entropy."

Penny smiled softly as she reached for the doorknob. "Have fun with Amy, Sweetie."

And she was gone.

Sheldon tossed the magazine on the table and stomped off to his room, suddenly in a very unsettled mood.

Penny found herself lost in the sounds of the street outside. She had come into her room with all intents of taking a much needed nap but once she lay down, her mind was alive with worry.

They were running from her, from the chaos that she'd caused because they were smart enough to know that they needed to be away from her to repair the friendships she'd tried to destroy.

She needed to stop drinking, it was a plague that brought with it bad decisions and mornings of regret. They were good people and she wanted to be more like them, wanted to be so easy to forgive and move on. But they all had so much more in their lives than she did. They woke up each morning and went to jobs that they loved, accomplished things that mattered.

All Penny had was the satisfaction of sex and relationships to pin her hopes on. So she searched for it in comfortable places because she couldn't fathom returning to the club hopping and late nights in bars where she fought between passing out in a bathroom or naked under a random bedspread.

She wasn't that girl anymore, she couldn't be. Her friends now, outside the boys, were Amy and Bernadette and they were solid, they really know who she was and wanted to know more. The girls she hung out with when she first broke up with Kurt were just as lost as she was. In the stall next to her, talking to the boy she was going sleep with best friend.

When Penny met all of these people, she was so far beyond them when it came to the matters of life. She had lived, she had loved and she had lost. But now, after gently carrying them to the world they were too frightened to enter, they'd all forgotten to keep hold of her hand.

They'd left her behind.

Closing her eyes, she cursed the tears that spilled down her cheeks onto the pillow. Why was she crying? She had a good life here, she had friends, the kind of friends that you really want to be around every day.

But she was missing something, a piece of her that she often wondered if Leonard carried. It was a thought that had crossed her mind more often than not. That he took away her carefree mentality, the ability to find comfort in lust and merely see love as nothing more than something that was to come in the future.

She did love him, she once loved him but not enough, not what he deserved and because of that she let him go. It isn't that Penny wasn't ready to love him; it's that she couldn't love him the same way he did her.

Rolling away from the wet stain on her pillow, Penny's eyes fell on her small stack of yellow t-shirts and the white under garment that made up her Cheesecake Factory uniform.

She was the longest running employee at that place now, a depressing thought if there ever was. She wanted to leave, she was desperate too but it wouldn't be today, it wouldn't be within a month or probably even a year.

Her mind flashed an image of boats, individual boats that were all carrying her friends to their happiness. While she was barely keeping her head above water, merely content that she could still see them. That she could keep swimming just enough to stay close.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Penny." His voice called to her and she let the familiarity settle her.

Rising to her feet, Penny quickly made her way to the door and waited while he finished. She opened the door with a small smile and saw that he was carrying a box of some kind. "Hello." He offered as he shifted his feet from side to side.

Penny stared at the box, then back to his averting eyes. "Hey, what's up?"

"I," he started but stopped just as quickly and cleared his throat. "Amy had to cancel our plans at the last moment and I was wondering if you would be interested in playing a game of Star Wars Classic Trilogy Monopoly?"

She couldn't stop the soft laugh that bubbled up into her mouth.

Sheldon looked at her with hopeful eyes and she found a strange kinship in the loneliness she saw in them. "I didn't know there was a Star Wars Monopoly, how have we not played this before?" She asked while stepping aside to let him come in.

"Well," Sheldon moved in quick and sat the box down on her coffee table after pushing her jacket off the same spot with his elbow "Wolowitz, Koothrapalli, Leonard and myself have played it numerous times but Leonard was always insistent that you not knowing about this version of the game was for the best."

Penny chuckled before closing the door and locking it. "Huh? Well you know it can't get much worse than Klingon Boggle." She then sashayed past him to the kitchen. "You want some iced tea?"

"Yes, no sugar please." He said before pulling out the board and pulling out the game pieces and little settlements and cities that were meant to take the place of the classic hotels and houses. "Who would you like to be?" He asked while displaying all the silver coated pieces.

She poured a couple of drinks and studied him. "Hmm… Luke Skywalker." She said with a shrug and when she brought him his glass, he was looking at her with a stubborn face. "What?"

"I'm always Luke Skywalker." He said like a child and she rolled her eyes before sitting on the couch. "Don't you think Princess Leia would be more fitting for you?"

Her lips drew into a thin, frustrated line. "Yeah cause me and Leia have so much in common." She took a few of the pieces from his hand and looked them over. "Here, I'll be Vader." She said with a dark glare and a silly smile before setting it on the first space next to Sheldon Skywalker.

Twenty minutes into the game and they were deadlocked. She had all the Star Destroyers which were supposed to be railroads like in the original game but Sheldon was in control of the entire back end of the board, which included the two Coruscant spaces that were normally Boardwalk and Park Place.

Picking up the red and blue dice, she looked at him as he counted his silly paper money with an adorable sense of seriousness and she tossed her dice.

"Son of a bitch," she whispered before moving poor Darth Vader right onto the most expensive space on the board… for the second time.

Sheldon smirked. "Oh you've stumbled into enemy territory again Lord Vader."

Though her face held a steady glare, she was having more fun than she'd had in a good week. "You rigged these dice didn't you?" She challenged and he blanched.

"How could I have possibly rigged the dice?"

Penny started to tap her foot hard against the floor. "When you know the laws of physics, Sheldon… anything is possible."

"True," he said with a small smile that she liked to think was only meant for her. "But I see no reason to cheat a game in which I am clearly the superior player."

"We could always play Halo instead." She said smugly and his smirk faltered into a glare that drew out a toothy grin from Penny. "Roll the dice MoonPie."

He wanted to say it, but didn't because the look on her face said she knew what he was thinking.

The game continued on for a good hour and a half before Penny finally conceded defeat and dramatically knocked her Darth Vader character over while making the breathing noises loudly.

"Another sound victory for the Jedi." Sheldon boasted proudly as he began to put his game away while Penny cleaned their tea glasses and the pitcher.

When she was finished, she looked up at him as he stood with his box in hand again much the same as when he'd arrived two hours earlier. She turned to the clock, it was a quarter after six and they hadn't heard any sounds of the boys returning from the bank. Penny knew they'd most likely gone out and done something else.

"Penny," Sheldon called her name even though they were both looking at one another.

She looked behind her with a faux confused look and then back to him with wide eyes. "Me?" He glared at her, such a sweet reward for sarcasm. "Hmm?"

"After a spirited game of Star Wars Monopoly I was wondering if you would be interested in joining me in a viewing of Return of the Jedi."

That old feeling came back, that feeling of being in that apartment when the others came back and the awkwardness she carried in her wake. "I—I don't know, I'm not sure Leonard wants me around much right now… after Raj and everything."

Sheldon narrowed his gaze on her, not frustration but confusion. "I was not inviting you over on Leonard's behest, I was inviting you over to watch a movie with me, whatever Leonard may or may not feel about such an arrangement is irrelevant. This was a notion which he clearly took advantage of while that dreadful sister of Koothrapalli's stayed in our home."

"Oh," she said softly, a tug at the sides of her mouth threatening. Even when he didn't, sometimes he could make so much sense. "Do you have popcorn?" She asked, already moving to the door.

"Penny." He said flatly, snobbery in his expression but playfulness in his eyes that she found quite sweet. "Not only do I have popcorn, I have Orville Redenbacher Mini Bowls, just as they do at the movies."

She laughed and followed him out the door. "Good."

"Oh and red vines!" He cheered before they walked into his apartment.

"Do you think he'll be mad?" Howard asked as the three boys moved slowly up the steps to Leonard's apartment.

Leonard in the lead with Howard on his heels and Raj flipping through a comic book he'd just purchased.

"It wasn't showing at a Sheldon approved theater so I doubt it, plus he enjoys his time alone more than he lets on." Leonard said as they rounded the corner.

Raj bit back a small chuckle that drew quick glances from his friends. "What, that sounded dirty, dude."

Howard shivered. "Ew, no… I don't want any images of Sheldon doing… no, picture Bernadette… Bernadette!" He chanted to himself and closed his eyes.

"Oh yes, good call." Raj said with a happy grin only to be swatted in the arm by his friend while Leonard rolled his eyes with a smile as they reached the fourth floor.

He pulled out his keys and stuck them into the lock, just as the sounds of space combat filled their ears.

"Return of the Jedi." They all said at once as Leonard unlocked the door and opened it.

The sounds of the movie grew louder as the door opened and all their eyes fell onto the sofa.

Their feet were just barely touching as Sheldon lay on his side at his end of the couch and Penny had her head resting on the other. They were both sound asleep and that was when Leonard realized the DVD was merely on the menu and it was repeating over and over again.

"Wow, am I the only guy she hasn't went to bed with in our little circle." Howard commented with a snicker that died on his lips as Leonard glowered at him dangerously. "I'm just saying." He mumbled before turning to Raj who was blushing profusely.

Leonard studied her face with deep interest as he took in the sight of her in a gentle sleep. Her features relaxed and calm as she breathed slowly, in and out. "Should we wake them up?" Leonard asked.

"No way, I've heard the horror stories of waking Penny up before she's ready. Do you want to get your throat punched?"

Raj backed away and even Leonard paled a bit. "Maybe you guys should go, I'll just let them sleep out here." He whispered and watched as his friends waved and made quick exits from the apartment.

Once he turned off the television and draped a blanket across the both of them, Leonard knew the best way to rid himself of this terrible feeling in his heart was to go away for a summer. To distance himself from her because she would never be where he was, she was the girl of his dreams. He was just her neighbor and a boy she cared about, but couldn't love.

He wasn't okay with that, it made him angry and want to yell at her, want to hurt her at times as she had him. In truth, her existence in his life had done damage to every relationship that followed his one with her. It's wasn't why Priya left, but it was good reason to why she didn't fight harder to stay.

Leonard didn't want to hate Penny, really he had no right too, but if he stayed this close to her for too long and had to watch her move and laugh and live without him, he would start to resent her.

And he cared about her far too much for that.

Walking up the step to the hallway where his room was, Leonard saw a small yellow post-it on his door. He picked it up and read.

You left a dirty towel lying on the floor of the bathroom this morning, Strike two.

With a bitter sigh and a glance back to the pair sleeping on the couch, Leonard had to admit that escaping Penny wasn't the only good thing about a summer away from Pasadena.

Penny woke up in the middle of the night, the living room dark and quiet as she sunk into the warmth of the leather and wiped at her mouth with the back of her hand. It didn't take long to recognize where she was, she'd slept on this couch a number of times but it was the tickle at the bottom of her feet that surprised her.

Sitting up slowly, she saw his face and smiled. He looked like a diagram that someone might draw on the proper way to sleep on a couch. His head resting on his folded hands, knees tucked up ever so slightly and a pillow under his neck to keep from cramping.

He was so full of crazy that Penny couldn't help but adore the boy. His routines and schedules drove them all insane but he was loyal as hell and to her that counted for something.

Still, she shouldn't be here, she didn't deserve to be here after her last night in here was lying naked in bed with Raj. So she stirred up slowly, quietly as she could and settled the blanket back down on the couch and silently thanked Sheldon for keeping her company by kissing her palm and gently resting it across his hair.

The hallway that separated their apartments was cold and with each step she could, the sleep in her eyes faded. Once she made her way back into her own home, she eyed the clock, it was 11:26 and her apartment was feeling very claustrophobic.

She scurried into her room and found her cell phone on the nightstand, she had one unread text from her mom reminding her to call her sister for her birthday. She made a mental note and started flipping through her contacts.

She found the one she was looking for and started typing.

Hey Amy, long shot but U aren't still awake r u?

Putting the phone back on the table she sat on her bed.

Penny wanted to do something, anything but sit in this house all night and think because to hell with losing her mind in the silence.

A moment later her phone buzzed and she lit up with excitement.

Reaching over quickly, she grabbed it.

Of course, I am mostly nocturnal, why are you still awake? Do you require a late night phone chat? I can call you?

A smile rolled across Penny's lips at the message, she couldn't help but realize that this girl would do anything for her. She'd had a boatload of friends growing up, she had her boys now and Bernadette, but Amy was different. She couldn't explain it, but she appreciated it.

With a skilled precision, she texted back.

U want to go out? I know its late but we could do something fun.

It wasn't a minute later that her phone buzzed again.

Be there in 30

Then Penny was up and in the shower.

It was nearly midnight when Amy knocked softly on her door. Penny jumped over a small stack of magazines and answered. "Hey you… whoa… looking fierce Amy!" Penny said before stepping aside and letting the other girl in.

Amy was dressed in what Penny could only assume was an experiment for her. A shorter skirt, well short for Amy which meant it stopped at her knees, and a slightly low cut black t-shirt that showed the absolute faintest hint of cleavage and a light jacket to cover her arms.

"Yes, I'm hoping to catch some serious ogling in this outfit. Perhaps I can lure myself in a man by showing off a bit of leg and reeking with the scent of 'free milk' as my mother used to put it."

Penny laughed a bit awkwardly but nodded nonetheless. She started for the door after grabbing her clutch purse but Amy was still in the apartment, watching her.

"What?" The blonde asked, turning around hastily.

"Is that what you're wearing?" She asked and Penny offered a slightly offended face and gave herself the once over. She'd gone relatively simple, a pair of low cut jeans and a long sleeved black shirt that hugged her curves well enough but didn't show much skin. "No offense bestie, you still radiate like the sun but let's face it… I'd have to say of the two of us, I'm displaying the goods with a bit more thunder tonight."

Sighing slightly, Penny lowered her head with a shy smile and shrugged. "I'm not really up for… displaying any thunder tonight. I'm not looking to meet anyone; I just wanted to get out of the apartment." Penny then glanced up at her friend who was not-so-subtly trying to display more cleavage. "Besides, what are you doing flaunting all that, what about Sheldon?"

"Oh Sheldon is still an option but my aching pelvis can't wait while he tries to rearrange his schedule to fit in a little poke and tickle." Penny laughed and Amy again looked down at her chest. "I haven't exposed this much of myself since the girls took my clothes during the junior high pep rally and I had to cover myself with our mascots outfit and run through the gym."

Penny furrowed her brow. "What was your mascot?"

Amy sighed. "We were the ants, so all I had was the exoskeleton of a very small boy who played our mascot, I remember he had a very serious case of narcolepsy and would often pass out in costume and have to be treated for heat stroke after the games."

"And they still let him be the mascot." Penny asked with slight concern as they exited her apartment.

The dark haired girl nodded and started to walk, rather uncomfortably, in her high heels. "Oh yes, the local news station did a very dramatic piece on his condition, if they'd have taken it from him after that they may have started a riot."

Penny found herself absolutely disconnected from the raucousness of the club. She quietly stirred her gin and tonic that she'd taken a single sip out of and watched as Amy danced with an awkward looking young man with an overgrowing beard but a cute smile. He was shorter than Amy, which meant he was about five inches shorter than Penny.

This really wasn't what she was hoping for upon going out and it was entirely her own fault. She couldn't make herself dance; she didn't really want to leave the stool. She was sad, she just couldn't understand why.

Amy returned when the song ended, sweating and grinning from ear to ear as she pulled up a seat and took a drink from her martini.

"Woo!" Amy cheered giddily over the new starting song. "Did you see that little foreign boy trying to keep up with me; it was like he was shaking it for a green card out there!"

The blonde laughed and nodded as stray bits of her hair cascaded into her face. "He seemed into you, did you get his name?"

"No," Amy shook her head with a sigh. "If it's meant to be, he'll come back to me." She finished airily.

Again Penny smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes and the ever observant Ms. Farrah Fowler didn't miss a beat. "Are you okay?"

Penny looked up as if she'd been caught stealing cookies. "I—I… yeah, I'm just not into the dancing but this is fun."

"Did you get another drink?"

She shrugged. "No, still my first."

"Is it unsatisfactory?" Amy prodded; worry in her eyes that Penny both appreciated and wished would go away.

"No, it's fine, I'm just," Penny pursed her lips and hesitated. It would be easy to unburden herself but the truth was… she didn't know why she felt so lost. She was no different than she was last month and then she was doing fine. She hung out with her friends and laughed and smiled, Amy was burrowing her way into her heart and was virtually there now, so why was she feeling so… incomplete. Making sure she used every dime she spent on acting classes, Penny smiled brightly and stood. "This place is kinda dying out, you wanna go back to my place and watch trashy reality shows from my TIVO?"

Amy grinned and downed the rest of her drink before standing. "Those shows really are tremendous displays of human emotion, great for studying and research, plus it's fun to watch other people have shabby, disastrous lives."

Penny woke up on a couch for the second time in the past twelve hours and groaned at the cramp in her neck before sitting up and yawning heavily. It was Saturday, she didn't have to work today and that was good because she was pretty sure it had to be well past noon.

Amy had went home a little after three and Penny sat up for another hour before falling asleep in her living room while fighting not to buy a food chopper they were selling on TV. It was only $19.95 but as if she could even afford that. Money was pretty tight but she was making it for the most part. She may have to miss her cable bill today, and a meal or two but for the most part she could make it to her next paycheck.

After taking a long and much needed shower, Penny changed into a pair of Hello Kitty shorts and a pink t-shirt before rummaging through her cabinets for any coffee but they were bare. "Shit," she cursed, it was nearly one so the boys wouldn't have any coffee either.

Knowing there was a Starbucks about a mile away; Penny put on her favorite blue hoodie and started out the door. However, the moment she stepped outside, Leonard did as well with a suitcase in hand.

"Oh," he stammered and looked down to the large bag in his right hand. "Hey."

Penny shuffled awkwardly from side to side. "I didn't think you were leaving until Monday."

"Yeah we're not… but we're all meeting at Howard's before we go so I'm just taking my stuff there today to save on loading it Monday."

Suddenly forgetting where she was going, Penny backed up against her door and took a long breath. "Are you… mad at me?" She asked, hating the way her voice sounded. She had nothing to feel guilty about, yes she ended up in bed with Raj, yes he was Leonard's friend but dammit he had moved on way before she did.

"No, I'm just… tired of feeling the way I do." He took a few steps closer to her, knowing this was the conversation they were supposed to have at some point. He thought maybe she was trying to avoid it, or maybe he was.

Still, they were having it now and it needed to happen. "How do you feel?"

"Like I still want us to end up together but… I know we're not going too."

Letting her head fall a bit, she nodded and drew up her courage in a small smile. "I do care about you Leonard… but I don't… I can't love you the way you need me too."

He nodded a little too quickly. "I know, I get that and… I'm just grieving a little over the loss of what I thought we might have. Going away, seeing my dad and hanging out with the guys in a Sheldon-free environment is something I really think I need."

"Getting away from me you mean?" She said in a light, self-deprecating tone. He gave her a sympathetic look but she waved him off. "I'm kidding, I understand. Some time apart might be good for us to get back to where we were." Penny wanted to hug him, it was in her nature but she held back and merely smiled toothily at him.

Leonard laughed and grabbed his bag up again but kept his eyes on her. "You'll look after Sheldon while we're gone right? Make sure he doesn't starve or burn the apartment down or… you know build a giant killer robot."

Penny chuckled. "I'll look after him, plus Amy will be around I'm sure."

"Yeah, I'm sure." Leonard said slightly and then finally moved to the stairs. "I'll keep in touch while we're gone." He said, both of them knowing he wouldn't.

"I have a double shift tonight so I probably won't see you guys before you go. Give my best to the others and I hope you guys have fun."

With quick goodbyes, Leonard was gone down the steps and Penny stood in the hallway feeling the loss wash over her.

Pushing all thoughts of Leonard away, she shuffled to the door of his apartment and knocked twice before opening the door. Sheldon was sitting at his desk on the computer typing away furiously. She was amazed at how quickly his fingers could glide across the keys.

For some reason, Penny finds comfort in the consistency of him. The light green shirt over the gray undershirt with the sleeves rolled up and his brown chinos. He never changes, he'll be the same while the boys are gone and she is quietly grateful for that. He's absolutely crazy and will most likely drive her to a homicide/suicide by the end of August but for now… she's happy to see him.

"Hey," It took him a moment to finally look at her.

"Hello," He said a bit distractedly before returning to his work.

Penny shut the door behind her a little. "I was going to go to Starbucks, you want to come?"

He stopped in the middle of his typing and leveled a look on her that was part confusion and equal measure of irritation. "Penny you know I don't drink coffee, not after I woke up on a park bench in my Flash costume."

"I know, but they do have those little black and white cookies you love. My treat." She said and immediately regretted it. She was already dipping into her own money to buy a coffee and now she was offering him treats.

She really was desperate for company.

Sheldon pondered for a moment and sighed. "I do love those cookies." He rose from his seat. "Very well, have you had the engine checked in your vehicle?"

"Yes," she said, it was true, Bryan from the Cheesecake Factory looked at it, he told her that her alternator was about to go out, he didn't fix it, but he looked so it wasn't a lie.

"And the seat belt isn't sticking anymore because that is extremely unsafe."

Penny sighed as they exited his apartment and started down the steps. "I'm sure it'll be fine,"

"I hope so as your car will need to be in top shape if you are to drive me to work every morning over the summer." Sheldon finished as if it were the most casual thing in the world.

When they reached the lobby, Sheldon stepped in front and opened the door for her. This threw Penny for a loop as she walked out and almost missed what he said.

"Thank you… wait, I'm driving you where now?"