Hey there, thanks a lot for your reviews and messages. Here's the second part of this little thing. I hope you enjoy it.

-2-

No one had seen Sheldon in days. Penny only knew that because she had received an annoyed call from Amy, telling her that Sheldon was ignoring her. Penny's stomach had dropped rather fast because she knew exactly what was going on with him. After all, she had been the stupid bitch who had made a move on her bestie's boyfriend and her own kind-of-boyfriend's best buddy. It had been a move she thought she wouldn't ever pull and yet, somehow her deepest, darkest thoughts had finally caught up with her.

Kissing Sheldon had been a fantasy of hers she'd been pushing into the far end of her mind for so long and a part of her had apparently been unable to resist anymore. The crazy thing was that Sheldon had kissed her back. Of course not instantly but the second, a lot more passionate kiss had been initiated by him which was a pretty big deal, considering he had never kissed anyone voluntarily before and that he usually claimed that he was above anything physical that even remotely reminded of intimacy. It had been so hot and toe-curling and exactly like she had both hoped and feared it would be. Apparently she had more chemistry with Sheldon than she had ever had with anybody else, including Leonard whom she had been thinking she might be able to fall in love with over time. For days, next to her guilt and panic, only once question constantly ran through her head: had it been a fluke, a spur of the moment thing or would it feel like that again if they kissed again. Of course the more sensible part of her brain reminded her that it would definitely be a slutty, bad move to kiss Sheldon again, if he agreed and even more so if he didn't and she would just spring it on him like she'd done a few days ago. The other part though, the one that kept her awake at night and left her wondering what her whackadoodle of a neighbor looked like naked and panting above her, his blue eyes dark with lust and his skin sweaty as he moved deliciously with her, that part wanted her to do it again. Desperately.

The problem was that no matter if she won or lost the fight against her own little devil, it wouldn't change what had happened prior. She and Sheldon had kissed which made it cheating at least on Amy and kind of on Leonard too, even if they were not really dating yet again.

Therefore, she had also been hiding which was probably why she hadn't known Sheldon had not been seen for three days before Amy called her. She had been too guilty and shocked of how good it had felt to kiss Sheldon to face Leonard or even worse her whackadoodle himself. Of course Leonard had been pestering her, trying to get her to answer if she was onboard with the whole beta test thingy, but she'd avoid him each and every time, not answering her door and texting him she had to work long.

When Amy had called her Penny had found out that Sheldon had apparently took the bus to work very early and left long after Leonard had gone home. He did not eat with the guys during lunch break but instead stayed hidden in his office. The guys and Amy thought he was in a mood caused by some science problem but Penny knew better. Not that she had informed Amy of that but she knew exactly why Sheldon felt the need to hide. Because she had seen the look on his face, had felt what he'd felt while they had kissed passionately in her apartment. He had certainly not acted like someone who hated physical intimacy. Naturally, he had been frightened by his own reaction and had fled but that didn't mean it had not happened.

The only question left now was where did that leave Leonard, Amy, Sheldon, her and the different relationships they had with each other?

With a sigh, Penny finally grabbed her dirty laundry and moved to open the door. For the past few days she hadn't exactly been in the mood to do chores but now there weren't any more panties left in her closet so she figures she couldn't prolong washing her clothes any longer. Most of the time she still did in on Saturdays evenings with Sheldon but today she was intensely happy she wasn't a creature of habit like Sheldon who wouldn't be able to vary from his routine.

Quickly grabbing her keys, she went out into the hallway only to be stopped by Leonard who'd pulled his apartment door open like a maniac and almost jumped out into her path.

"Penny! Hey!", he said urgently as her stomach dropped almost painfully.

Damn it, damn it, damn it. Shouldn't he be still at work or something? Penny definitively didn't feel up to talking to him yet.

"Hey Leonard," she greeted, a false smile on her face. Her heart squeezed painfully in her chest and she had to swallow against the lump in her throat. "I'm…uh…a little busy," she said, quickly moving the basket of dirty laundry in her arms.

"Yeah, I just…feel like I haven't seen you in days," he replied, sounding a little depressed.

Penny grimaced. Yeah, he hadn't had he? But what else had she been supposed to do besides staying away? She'd made out with his best friend after all.

"I…uh…have been busy," she added lamely, biting her lip and hoping to god Leonard would back off and let her go down into the laundry room.

"Yeah, I know," Leonard said, fidgeting slightly from one foot to the other. "I just…" He eyed her hesitantly, biting his lower lip. "Have you…maybe…been avoiding me?"

Her stomach dropped all over again and of course she blanched and automatically went into defensive mode, even though she knew he was right. "What? No! I haven't," Penny denied but Leonard seemed to see right through her.

He took a few steps closer until he was near enough to take the basket away from her and put it on the floor. Penny desperately wanted to step away but forced herself to stay put and swallowed against the lump in her throat.

"Look, Penny, I'm not pressuring you and I meant what I said about the beta test. We can take all the time you need and-"

And suddenly the words stumbled right out of her mouth, turning their whole universe upside down. Letting the bomb detonate. "Leonard, there's someone else."

Her own eyes widened upon realizing she had spoken out loud what she hadn't even admitted to herself yet because she couldn't actually consider Sheldon as boyfriend material, could she?

Of course, kissing him had felt like the single most erotic thing in the world and he could be considered to be her best friend because while he could be a pain in the ass he was also loyal, honest, always had her back and he could be charmingly endearing if he wanted to. But Penny also knew how he was with Amy and – oh god, Amy!

What the hell was she doing thinking these thoughts, especially while Leonard was standing right in front of her, looking all kinds of brokenhearted and she couldn't believe herself because a week ago she had been really looking forward to get back together with Leonard again. How could two kisses, with Sheldon Cooper of all people, make her throw away everything she'd hoped for for so long?

"Leonard," she tried, moving forward to grab his hand but Leonard moved away as if she'd just electrocuted him. A wounded look of betrayal all over his face.

"Why? How? I…I mean…I thought…", he stuttered and because of all the pain on his kicked puppy dog face, tears started pooling down her cheeks.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered brokenly, her voice full of pain, sadness and confusion.

"Have you been seeing him all these past few days?", Leonard asked, causing her eyes to widen again upon the sentiment. Into his pain was slowly moving a shade of anger.

"No, no, no!", Penny quickly clarified, "it's not like that," but Leonard was shaking his head in disbelief, like he hadn't even heard her.

"How could you do this to me? How?"

And then, before she could say anything else, before Penny could try to make amends, Leonard had already turned around and slammed the door of 4A shut behind himself.

Crap, what in god's name had she done?