A/N: This story is set shortly after the events of Season 3, episode 19. I'm not sure where MeeMaw would actually live, but I've put her somewhere in rural Texas for the sake of this story. Be forewarned, this is a Shenny fic. Enjoy, and please review!
Disclaimer: I own no part of The Big Bang Theory. This is simply for fun.
The MeeMaw Effect
Chapter One
"Penny, if I may ask...why did you and Leonard break up?"
Penny blinked in surprise. It had been three weeks since the breakup, and apart from some initial weirdness adjusting to living so close to her ex while trying to remain friends, nobody seemed to think much of it anymore. Nobody, that is, except Sheldon.
Penny dumped the rest of her laundry into the machine and shut it before she spoke. "I guess... I don't know. I guess we were just in two different places," she mumbled.
"I don't believe that," Sheldon stated matter-of-factly. "It's physically impossible to be in two different places at once. If it weren't, I wouldn't need to waste time on things like food or sleep. I could just work all the time, whilst another 'me' took care of all the necessary trivialities."
Penny stared at him, dumbfounded. It never ceased to amaze her how completely unworldly this man could be.
"He told me he loved me," she stated baldly, "And I couldn't make myself say it back."
Sheldon contemplated her a moment, noting the defiance in her stance, the challenge-me-if-you-dare glint in her eyes.
"I see," he said at last. Then, "Tell me. Do you fear all commitment, or simply commitment to Leonard?," he asked.
"What?," she demanded in return.
"With the number of short term affairs we've seen begin and end at your discretion, it would appear that you have a fear of commitment. Yet you continue to openly pursue romantic relationships, evidently expecting the outcome to change each time. So in your mind, is Leonard the problem, or are you?"
"Sheldon," she began, grasping for purchase. His argument had her reeling, her usual sassy reply held in check by her own genuine uncertainty. Was Leonard the problem, or was she? She had no idea. "I have to go," she said instead, grabbing her empty basket before bolting up the stairs.
Sheldon watched Penny leave, realization dawning that he may, perchance, have overstepped some invisible social boundary in his line of questioning. Folding the last of his laundry, he carried it up the stairs, resigned to the inevitability of having to apologize to a friend for a mistake he couldn't quite identify.
Reaching Penny's door, he set his laundry basket down before knocking.
Knock, knock, knock, "Penny," he said.
Knock, knock, knock, "Penny."
Knock, knock, knock, "Penny."
"What?," Penny demanded, throwing the door open wide.
"I seem to have offended you, although that was not my intent."
"Sheldon, I get that you don't get social niceties, but I really don't want to talk about this right now," she huffed. "And if you really need to know, I don't know, okay? I don't know the answer to your stupid question."
"You're upset. Would you like a hot beverage?," he asked calmly, trying to maintain his footing in an increasingly uncomfortable situation.
"No, Sheldon," Penny said, beginning to shut the door.
"Penny, wait," Sheldon said, miraculously stopping her from slamming the door in his face.
"What now?"
"I'm sorry if I've caused you any unnecessary grief. I was simply curious," he said, turning to go.
"Sheldon, wait," she sighed, opening the door some more. "It wasn't your fault. I've been asking myself the same question for weeks now," she confessed. "I just can't seem to find the answer."
"Then perhaps it is the wrong question," Sheldon replied thoughtfully.
"Excuse me?"
"In science, if a definitive truth cannot be extrapolated from the data at hand, it is often because an incorrect theorem has been postulated," he explained. "In other words, the question does not apply to the situation."
"I don't know, it seems pretty relevant to me," Penny admitted doubtfully.
"Yes, well, the data never lies," Sheldon retorted. "And if the data doesn't fit the question, then it is the question which needs to be changed."
Penny gaped at him a moment, trying to shake the effects of his sciency mumbo jumbo.
"I'll look into it some more, and get back to you when I have the right question to ask," he said, his mind already hard at work reliving every detail he could recall regarding Penny and Leonard's failed relationship. Which was a great deal, of course.
So lost was he in his own thoughts that he forgot to say goodbye to the most unique addition to his social group, heading into his apartment and straight for his white board while muttering to himself.
Penny stood in the doorway watching him a moment longer, then shook her head. There was no use trying to reason with him, she decided. He would just have to learn the hard way that sometimes there are no answers.
Shaking her head once more, she shut the door, deciding it was high time for some good old fashioned ice cream therapy.