--------Note: This story is a crossover but to explain it would be to give the game away.
Laundry Day
Penny… it always came down to Penny. He takes his basket of laundry and hefts it on to the machine, watching her out of the corner of his eye.
Her hair… the way her hair catches the light… the way it shines... it takes his breath away.
He turns resolutely back to the pile of dirty clothing, trying to sort it quickly, picking out the geeky, slogan T-shirts and tossing them quickly in the tub. A white T goes in by mistake and his cheeks flame. He can't bare to dive back in and re-sort. He'll look like such a nerd. He'll deal with the T turning grey. He'll buy a new one…
He cringes and glances behind him. Wow. Her figure… she just looks so… amazing… Penny… the way her sweater clings…
His knuckles whiten on his roll of quarters. Focus, focus… think of anything… anything by Penny. He takes a long, slow (very quiet) breath. Why does she always have this effect on him? Why does she render him speechless, like…? He's not… that's not who he really is.
A guy walks in, hefting his own, overflowing basket. This new guy, he's taller… and handsome bastard. Penny smiles at the guy. He tries to hold himself back, tries to hold back the tide of jealously because he's got no right to feel this.
New-guy glares straight ahead. Yeah, because he's so intense and charismatic and just a little bit of a jerk. Just the kind that girls apparently go for. New-guy fills his own tub mechanically, his jaw fixed as though he's trying to get this over with as soon as possible.
Real men don't do laundry.
He sighs inwardly and shrugs, giving Penny an apologetic smile. She misses it (of course) because she's staring at new-guy.
"Hi," she says, sweetly. "I haven't seen you here before."
New-guy turns around and stares at her as if he hadn't even noticed her before. New-guy frowns - no, he scowls. He doesn't answer her.
Ignorant bastard. Ignorant intriguing bastard. He can practically see Penny swoon.
This is completely unfair.
Not that he thinks he's got any kind of chance with Penny. He's not stupid, he smirks to himself. No one could ever accuse him of being stupid. They didn't give PhDs to just anyone.
"I'm Penny," Penny forges ahead, regardless of the obvious hostility. The new guy seems to soften and shakes his head. Then new-guy smiles. He's got that film-star, pinball smile that girls apparently love.
Evil, ignorant, charismatic Penny-baiting bastard.
"Hi Penny," New-guys says, biting his bottom lip. "I'm Billy…"
Penny turns towards him. "And this is Leonard, he lives in the apartment next to mine."
He swallows. "Hey, Billy. It's great to meet you." His smile is fixed. Billy. Stupid name. He preferred it when he was just new-guy.
"What do you do, Billy?" Penny says, nodding as if to encourage new-guy/Billy.
"I'm a- I'm kind of a scientist," Billy replies. "I just moved here."
Leonard mentally kicks himself. Yeah, scientist. Of course he is. Of course he is. Scientists don't have pinball smiles and Penny-attracting abilities. He's obviously fallen through a worm-hole into some kind of alternative reality.
"Great!" Penny is saying, laughing. "You'll fit right in…" She moves closer to new-guy Billy. "Although you don't look like a scientist…"
Penny touches Billy's arm and the new-guy doesn't really react much. He even frowns slightly.
Yeah, Leonard thinks, just enough of a dick to keep her interested. Suddenly he hates Billy with every fibre of his being.
Why don't nerds ever get a break?
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------------Note: Hopefully if you are a fan of The Big Bang Theory you'll have picked up the twist? If not, then go check it out. It's awesome.