A/N: Did ya miss me?

"So that's it... He dies-regenerates and now we got this new guy?" Penny asked as she watched the tv, she was chewing on popcorn, legs tucked under her and leaning against Sheldon's shoulder.

"Yes, it's an ingenious idea. It was a way to keep the series going without having to worry about the actors getting too old. And it also refreshed the series." Sheldon said as he muted the ending credits.

He glanced at her as she nodded her head slowly, taking in what he had said.

"Did you enjoy the show?" he asked, there was a bit of hope in his voice. He had leaned into her a little bit, enjoying her closeness.

Penny was still watching the credits, "I did like it, it was very unique." and then she looked up at him, "the special effects need some work though." She finally said.

Sheldon narrowed his eyes at her; she stuck out her tongue amused. He huffed slightly, a little annoyed, but it was playful.

This was their second week of dating, there wasn't a formal announcement, it just sort of happened. Right after Penny realized that she enjoyed spending her days with Sheldon. And Sheldon realized he missed hearing her talk over tea or when she asked him about a comic… or anything for that matter.

He really liked her and it scared him, he hadn't expected to be able to move on from Amy so easily. He didn't expect to feel for someone the way he did for Penny… But Penny was just… she was Penny. She was warm and soft and she smelled good and she didn't make him feel bad about the things he liked. It was a warm feeling in his chest when she would smile at him or listen intently.

He was careful, he knew what he did that annoyed people, but for some reason, Penny never fell into those traps. He was trying to get better; he didn't try to force his food schedule on her. She'd already beat him at Halo… he was trying to be a better boyfriend, although they hadn't defined what they were just yet. But there was a lot of kissing, so in his mind… he was her boyfriend and she was his girlfriend.

"Okay, next week, we watch the whole series of Faulty Towers." Penny said as she sat up. He missed the warmth. Penny looked around. "Oh shoot," she reached and grabbed Sheldon's wrist and looked at his watch. "I need to get home." Penny said, she sounded a little upset.

Sheldon checked his watch himself. "Oh... Yes, I need to get to bed soon." He started to stand up and Penny pressed a kiss to his cheek. He looked at her and she pressed a kiss to his lips.

Her lips tasted like buttered popcorn and he found himself licking his lips slowly, with a confused look on his face.

"You're cute when you look bewildered." Penny whispered.

Sheldon felt hot and continued to stand up. "I want to walk you home." Sheldon said as he walked to grab her sweater off a chair.

"Oh no, I couldn't ask you to do that." Penny lightly waved him off as she stood up herself and stretched. Her arms were above her head and she shut her eyes.

Sheldon couldn't help his eyes from looking her over, she was such a beautiful creature, he wanted to say those words out load, but he feared how she would react to that. But he thought it all the time. Looks didn't matter, but with her, he found himself breathing a little faster and watching her a little longer than needed.

"No... I insist. I'll sleep better tonight." He added the last part softly.

"You're such a sweetie." Penny said as she took her sweater and gathered up her purse.

Sheldon pulled on his jacket and grabbed up his wallet and keys. "I think that aside from my Meemaw... No one's ever considered me sweet." Sheldon said as he followed her out the door.

"Well, your Meemaw sounds like a smart woman." Penny waited for him to lock up.

Sheldon turned to her smiling. "She is and I'll tell her that in the next letter I send her." Sheldon said as he stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets.

Penny leaned up and pressed a kiss to his cheek again before she started for the stairs, with Sheldon right by her side.

They had both been surprised a week ago when they realized they lived only a couple blocks away from each other. They walked into the lobby. Penny called for the elevator. He still hadn't been in her place but he was never itching to be taken up there. He'd wait, wait for her.

"I'll text you when I get home." Sheldon said as they waited.

Penny nodded. She stepped closer to him. She got on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his lips.

Sheldon had titled his head just so, and pressing back into her. He enjoyed kissing Penny... She was soft and gentle and she smelled like strawberries and vanilla and cocoa and flowers and he couldn't handle it. His hands were on her waist, he squeezed her slightly, pulling her closer to his body.

But when her bottom lip ended up between both of his, Penny had to slowly pull away. She was very tempted to just drag him up to her place and finish things.

"Goodnight, Sheldon." Penny whispered.

"Goodnight, Penny." Sheldon replied as he watched her get on the elevator. She was smiling and waved and Sheldon waved in kind of a dorky way and she giggled.

Sheldon spun on his heel and strutted out of the lobby. He had his hands in his pockets and he was practically skipping along. He was happy. He had a little smile on his face to boot.

Sheldon opened the door to 4A, sending a text to Penny as he did. He shut the door and turned around.

Leonard was sitting at his computer, watching him. "Good evening Leonard." Sheldon said with a little grin.

"Where were you?" Leonard asked.

"I walked Penny home." He removed his jacket and hung it up.

"Oh... Wait you were watching Doctor Who with Penny?" Leonard asked bewildered.

"Yes, we binge watched The Ninth Doctor." Sheldon said as he set his keys in the bowl and pulled his wallet from his pants.

"So Penny willingly watched Doctor Who with you?" Leonard was still trying to come to terms with this.

"Yes, she said it was kind of odd but I assured her that they only get better." Sheldon had that grin on his face as he went to the kitchen.

"I'm... Wow. She's so gorgeous and she actually enjoys Doctor Who?" Leonard was looking off into space as he said it.

Sheldon gulped down some water and eyed his friend, he set the bottle down, "where's Dr. Stephanie tonight?" Sheldon asked.

That jogged Leonard from his stupor, "oh she's um... She's doing her rounds at the hospital." Leonard gave a little awkward nod.

"Well, I'll be turning in." Sheldon said as he recycled the water bottle and then turned on his heel and headed back to his room.

Leonard watched him leave and he couldn't get his mind off of Penny. "How did he ever get so lucky?" He shook his head.

It's Thursday night and its Anything Can Happen Thursday on top of that. The group is getting ready to go out on the town.

"So you just left Sheldon at work?" Howard asks as he fixes the jacket Bernadette wanted him to wear, since this club is apparently very classy.

"That's what he asked me to do." Leonard doesn't really care. He fixes his corduroy jacket and then peaks over at the mirror Stephanie has out to check her lipstick.

"So he'll be missing tonight?" Stephanie asks.

"That's a good thing, babe." Leonard replied.

The front door opens, and when they see Sheldon walk through, well he's backing up through the door, hand on the handle, talking.

"So in that alternate universe, there might be a Sheldon and Penny who are made of candy." Sheldon said with a tiny grin on his face as Penny looked up at him and smirked.

"And that's possible?" she asks; she is looking up at him, her head cocked slightly to the side, she reaches out and tugs on his jacket slightly to pull him closer.

"Absolutely. Anything is possible, Penny." It's the way Sheldon says it, his voice kind of low as he looks down at her.

The group of friends is left a little speechless.

"Holy Shiva…" that's Raj.

"Oh, hi!" Penny says when he realizes they are not alone in the apartment.

Sheldon spins around to find all of his friends there. "How come you're all home, you're supposed to be out." Sheldon says, he sounds a little angry about it.

"We were just leaving," Bernie says with a smile on her face.

Penny looks at everyone and then at Sheldon, "some sort of couple's party?" she asks. She wonders why they were not invited. She tries not to think about it too much.

"Two couples and one fifth wheel." Raj says as he sips his beer. Howard shakes his head.

"It's Anything Can Happen Thursday." Leonard suddenly speaks up when he notices how Penny looks at Sheldon.

"I don't follow?" Penny asks, she is still weary around Leonard, although she's only been around him a couple of times. She gets a weird vibe from the man.

"Anything Can Happen Thursday or ACHT, is something that us as a group created so we could break away from Sheldon's demanding schedule." Leonard says it with a slightly annoyed look on his face.

Sheldon has set his messenger bag on his desk and is removing his jacket, he freezes. "It's not demanding… I like order." Sheldon looks at Leonard as if he wants him to challenge him.

Leonard ignored the look. "So, every last Thursday of the month, we eat what we want, do what we want…" Leonard has this smug little smile on his face as he talks to Penny.

Penny knows guys like Leonard, she's dated guys like him, and she can tell what he's doing, or trying to do. "I don't know what you mean, I've been hanging out with Sheldon every night this week and he seems pretty flexible to me." Penny says with a little shrug. She walks up to Sheldon and smiles at him in a sweet way. He can't help but smile back at her.

"Do you guys want to come?" Bernie asks suddenly. Everyone looks at her. "It's sort of an after work social club, so Penny you don't have to change, but Sheldon…" she doesn't want to broach the subject. But she motions to him.

Sheldon looks down at his khakis and his Iron Man shirt.

Penny does as well, and then she looks back at the group, she sees that the boys are all wearing jackets; the girls are wearing their smart work clothes they had worn to work. "Wait one second." Penny says. She grabs Sheldon's hand and gently tugs him back to his room.

The door closes, Penny turns around to face him, and he's got this confused look on his face. "Do you want to go?" Penny asks.

Sheldon sighs, "Well to be honest, no… I wanted to stay in and watch some tv with you and order pizza." He has his hands behind his back. He looks down. "But, we haven't socialized with my group of friends and I would very much like you to get along with everyone. So maybe we should go." He adds on quickly.

Penny wasn't going to push it on him, she had wanted to spend some more time with his friends who seemed to be very important in his life, she only knew Bernie and she wanted to be involved in Sheldon's life fully, but only if he wanted her to be.

She leaned up and pressed a quick kiss to his lips before turning to his closet.

Sheldon sighed and followed her to the closet; he's standing behind her as she goes through his organized closet. "This is the only suit you own?" Penny asks as she looks back at him, the blue plaid between her fingers.

Sheldon looked down, "yes, I was told it was a fashion disaster by many people…" he looks annoyed.

"Well… wow matching pants… okay you have to have something… oh what's this?" Penny bends over to pick up a box.

"My twin sister, Missy, sent that to me a few of years ago." Sheldon says as she opens it up.

"You have a twin?" she looks surprised.

"Oh yes, and an older brother, my mom and Meemaw… we should talk about our families more." He says it casually.

She nods absently as she opens the box. "Sheldon… there is a perfectly good jacket in here." Penny pulls out the black blazer.

"Well when she sent it… it didn't fit." He stated as she shook it out and held it up to him.

"Too small?" she asks a little disappointed.

"Too big," He says as he crosses his arms over his chest.

Penny looks at the jacket and then at him, he has biceps, covered by his layers, his chest has some shape to it… "Try it on now." She whispers as she tries not to think of him without his shirt on. They haven't gotten that far yet. Although she has a feeling she'll be pleasantly surprised.

Sheldon takes it and slips it on, it fits perfectly. Penny touches his arms.

"Okay, I saw some dark wash jeans in there, put those on, the jacket and um… wear one of your darker super graphic shirts." Penny says getting excited about dressing him up.

Sheldon arches an eyebrow at her giddiness, he steps closer, "Batman or Superman?" he asks carefully.

Penny looks up, "Batman." She pats his chest and turns to leave him to get dressed.

When she joins the group, they're looking at her expectantly. "We will be joining you." Penny says before she moves to the kitchen to get some water.

"Oh god… the plaid suit." That's from Stephanie. The group seems to realize that that's all he owns. They groan in unison.

Penny smirks knowingly.

Sheldon steps out 10 minutes later, black blazer, dark jeans, black batman shirt with the dark gray symbol on the front, it's clear he's only wearing the one t-shirt and it's kind of tight on his body.

"I'm ready." He looks a little annoyed. And then he sees how everyone is sort of gaping at him.

The group is in shock because his jeans fit just right and he looks good. And no plaid.

Penny is in the most shock. She thought he was cute and could look sexy at times, but he's just drop dead gorgeous in her eyes. She has the best looking man in the whole group.

"Wow, Sheldon." That's from Raj.

Sheldon gives a little half smirk. He turns to Penny, and gives her a bigger smile.

"Well okay then! Let's go!" Howard shouts after he claps his hands and grabs hold of Bernadette's hand.

The couples and Raj pile out of 4A Sheldon locks up, Penny waits with him as the group trample down the stairs.

"You look really handsome." Penny finally says, she places her hand on his chest, feels his warm skin under the fabric.

Sheldon steps closer to her, he really doesn't know why he is drawn in by her touch, touch always bothered him, or he just tolerated it, but he likes it when she touches him.

"I didn't mention today, but you look very… pretty today, I like your hair tied up like this." He admits softly.

She blushes; she wondered if he noticed, she was wearing her sexiest pencil skirt and light blue blouse. Only because she knew she was picking him up from work today.

"Thank you, Sheldon." She really means it, and she knows he means it. He's a man who doesn't notice other woman, doesn't ogle, doesn't watch tv or movies because a pretty girl is present. So it means a lot when he says that to her.

Sheldon is blushing now as well, being bashful and shy.

"Hey! We gotta go!" Leonard calls up the stairs. Sheldon sighed and then followed Penny down the stairs.

The club was different, it wasn't filled with bodies mashing together, gyrating to the music. There were people and there was music and drinking, only everyone was standing or sitting and chatting. Everyone was dressed nicely, business casual for the most part.

When the group walked in, had their ID's checked and then entered the place, a few people looked at them, but pretty much everyone ignored the group. Although they did stick out in this place. Between the boys; with Howard's usual purple and tight pants look, he's got a sports coat on so he looks kind of like a 70's reject. Raj has a tie and sweater vest and a brown jacket and it's clashing. Leonard still has his corduroy coat, it's on size too big and his dress shirt is a little wrinkled. Sheldon is most put together of the four, he's tall and lean and his colors look like he put some thought into his clothes.

Bernie looks cute, but as usual she has the whole 50's housewife thing going on, Stephanie seems to be the only other person in the group who can actually dress. Pants suit and all.

Suddenly Penny doesn't feel so out of place here, at least with Sheldon by her side. She holds onto his arm and they follow the group to a reserved table, it's low and plush and this place is obviously way to hip for this rag tag group and it starts to become obvious because the boys, sans Sheldon are looking around awkwardly.

Sheldon is on the end of the round booth bench; Penny is next to him, and then Bernie, Howard, Stephanie, Leonard and then Raj.

They order drinks; everyone either gets a beer, some wine, a mixed drink and something on the rocks. The only hold outs are Sheldon and his diet coke and Penny and her orange Fanta. When she gets odd looks from the group, again, sans Sheldon, she only shrugs and sips her soda.

30 minutes in and well, Penny is seeing why this was bad idea.

Raj is getting weepy over the loss of Emily; it was his fault so…. Bernie is rolling eyes as she argues with Stephanie about the merits of some sort of medical procedure. Howard is trying not to get involved and keeps trying to shush his wife. And Leonard seems to be trying his hardest to show how awful Sheldon is… but is mostly looking like an ass.

"You're telling me you seriously like dating Sheldon?" Leonard asked from across the table.

"Yes, and now we're dropping the conversation." Penny says annoyed and hoping that ends it. She looks over at him, Sheldon's been quiet. He is not having fun, and frankly neither is she.

"I mean… do you know that he's a virgin?" Leonard shouts over the music. That stops everyone at the table cold in their tracks. And Leonard pushes on. "he never kissed a girl until Amy came along, and even then she had to trick and bribe him into even touching her!" he's smirking.

"Leonard I think that's enough." Stephanie tries to shut him up.

"No, one more thing," Leonard leans forward, "if he doesn't give out, are you going to leave him?"

Penny stands up and in the process pushes Sheldon out of the booth. Penny walks up to where Leonard is sitting, Raj cowers a bit, "listen, I know I haven't known you for that long, but right now you're proving yourself to be a real piece of work. It's amazing that Sheldon puts up with you at all!" and with that Penny grabs Raj's drink and splashes it into Leonard's face.

Penny turns around and faces Sheldon. He has his head down, "if you don't want to see me again based on these new facts I understand." His voice is small and sad.

Penny sighs and grabs up his hand and pulls him along behind her. Leaving the table of stunned people.

Once outside in the cool night air, Penny lets go of his hand and lets out a breath. "I can't believe that piece of crap." She shook her head. "How do you put up with that?" she asks as she turns to him.

"It's more like they put up with me." Sheldon says. He looks down, "it's hard for me to make friends, Penny. Before Leonard became my roommate I didn't have any friends. All the first 23 years of my life, I had no one… well I'd call my mom and Meemaw each week." He smiled for a moment. "And then Leonard came along and he became my best friend… between what Amy has told me and Leonard and others, if I find people who can tolerate me, I should hold onto them..." Sheldon takes a deep breath. "Which is why, if you decide that being with me is a burden, or that I'm weird or the fact that I'm a nearly 40-year-old virgin is horrible to you... I understand if you want to not have anything to do with me.

Penny walks up to him, she leans up and presses a kiss to his lips, "let's get home, order a pizza and watch some tv."

Sheldon feels this massive weight leave him, one that had been hovering over him ever since he met Penny, he nods his head.

Penny is sitting on his bed, watching him with amusement, she's changed into his CatTech sweatshirt, that's it… he sputtered a bit, but she assured him that it was enough. She has her legs folded under her as she watches Sheldon move around his room, going through his comics.

It had started as a simple question: "I don't get it." and instead of going to the Wikipedia page for the Marvel Universe. Sheldon dragged her back to his room to hunt down the key comics that would explain so much.

He'd done away with his jacket, his shoes and his socks in the process, right after she had gotten more comfortable.

"Okay, here we go… these issues should explain everything." Sheldon said as he held out the neat stack.

Penny looked at them and then back up at him. "Read them to me." She said it softly.

Sheldon furrowed his brow. "What-"

Penny crawled further up the bed and pat the space beside her, he sat down on the bed and Penny gently pushed him back so his head was propped up on pillows, she rested her head on his shoulder and snuggled close to him. "Read to me." Penny whispered it and ran her hand along his chest.

Sheldon let out a breath before he set the other comics aside and opened the first one. He held it up and started to read. He felt Penny's breath on his neck and her warm hand and body against him.

He forgot about his rule… Penny could be in his room.

Leonard's alarm clock woke him up and he almost rolled out of the bed. He felt around and realized he was alone. He was confused and then last night came flooding back to him. He sat up quickly. "Damn it," he grumbled before he put on is glasses and crawled from bed.

Stephanie had been so mad; she went across the hall to her place and told him that he couldn't follow. He knew he had done and said some stupid stuff. He grabbed up his robe and walked to the door. He sighed when he saw that Sheldon was already in the bathroom. He leaned against the wall waiting, hoping he wasn't taking a shower.

The water shut off and the bathroom door opened, and Penny walked by wearing Sheldon's Caltech sweatshirt. She didn't even notice him as she walked into Sheldon's room and then crawled back into bed, snuggling up close to him. And Sheldon was on his back, wearing his pajamas and letting her snuggle into him.

Leonard wondered if he had woken up in an alternate universe. Penny was under the covers and Sheldon turned his head just enough to rest his cheek against her forehead. Leonard narrowed his eyes, his head hurt, this wasn't helping.

When Leonard awoke the second time, he bumbled into the living room, he could smell coffee, and he never smelled coffee. He rounded the corner and discovered Penny dancing, wearing Sheldon's Caltech shirt as she made French toast.

He froze, a small smirk started to form on his face, he watched her for a bit until she turned around and stopped dancing. She glared at him.

"Morning, Penny." Leonard said with a smile, he was trying not to seem hung over and act cool.

Penny gave him a disinterested look and went back to her French toast.

Leonard realized she was going to be cold towards him, "right… about last night." He didn't want to apologize, but he figured if he was to get in her good graces again.

Sheldon rounded the corner before he could keep talking, tying his robe tight, Sheldon walked past Leonard and then up to Penny, he leaned over her shoulder to see what she was cooking.

"French toast?" he asked. His hands were at his sides; Leonard could see he was tensing up.

Penny nodded and she smiled up at him, "yup… thought I'd make you a breakfast." She leaned and kissed his cheek.

Leonard quickly poured some coffee and went around to sit on the bar-stool, he wanted to watch this whole thing explode. He couldn't wait.

"Why?" Sheldon asked, he hadn't stepped back from her, she turned around to face him, and he was looking down at her.

"Because you let me sleep in your room last night, even after you spent almost 15 minutes explaining to me why you don't let anyone into your room, you wanted me to stay… it means a lot to me." Penny whispered.

Sheldon started to relax, "I… you mean a lot to me as well… I was going to say that today is omelet day, but since we're both playing hooky from work today… I suppose a bit of spontaneity is in order." Sheldon leaned down and pecked her lips before he turned away from her.

Penny watched him with this pleased look on her face.

"Oh, good morning, Leonard." Sheldon said after he finally acknowledged his bespectacled friend.

Leonard furrowed his brow; he was still in shock over what had just happened. "Um... hey." Leonard started, and then he saw Penny's glare, "look, buddy, I wanted to say I'm sorry about last night… I had a bit too much to drink and said some things I shouldn't have." Leonard said it, it sounded sincere.

Sheldon watched him, he pondered his words, "while what you said hurt a great deal, it isn't anything new to me… and your words didn't affect my relationship with Penny in any negative way… so I accept your apology." Sheldon was always forgiving and noble and it sometimes pissed Leonard off.

But Leonard smiled slightly and nodded, "good, good… I'm glad, water under the bridge." Leonard took his coffee and walked back to his room.

Penny had been watching the exchange. "You're a good guy, Sheldon." Penny said.

Sheldon looked over at her surprised. He smirked just a little bit.

Leonard came rushing back from the hall, "you're playing hooky from work?!" he was almost in a panic as he looked at Sheldon.

"Yes, Penny and I had some things we wanted to do today, like visit the zoo and take in a movie." Sheldon said it so casually.

Leonard crossed his arms over his chest. "But your work," He said it as if it were this profound thing.

Sheldon sighed, "Dark Matter isn't exciting to me… I've been spending my days staring at a dry erase board with nothing coming to mind, I told this to Penny and she suggested I take a "me day" and try and not think about work." Sheldon said it with a shrug.

Leonard was alarmed, he looked back at Penny, "who are you?!" he asked, he was very annoyed, jealous, confused. This lady comes into their lives and it's just so easy to deal with Sheldon?

"She is Penny Lane, my girlfriend, now unless you want to be late for work…" Sheldon walked past Leonard.

Penny's mouth dropped open a little, "I'm your… really?"

Sheldon looked over at her startled, "oh, is this too soon, I should have asked you first…" Sheldon huffed.

Penny walked up to him, pulled on his rob, pulling him to her level and she kissed him, Sheldon was shocked for a moment before he wrapped his arms around her and tilted his head just enough, deepening the kiss. She hiked her leg up on his waist and Sheldon reached and grabbed it, holding it to him.

Leonard wasn't sure why he was watching this whole thing, he was frozen in shock. And then he quickly retreated back to his room, after Sheldon made a growling sound.

He was in an alternate universe for sure.

A/N: hello people! long time no see? I know I know... don't worry, I haven't left. I'm back. and hopefully I'll be posting some more part twos to some of these one shots, plus some more original one shots!enjoy!