Chapter Three: Question and Answer

Leonard however just couldn't believe that Sheldon had actually gone on a date with Penny and so as soon as he could hear Sheldon in the bathroom going through his pre-bedtime ritual, he stealthily left the apartment and walked across the hall.

Tentatively he knocked on the door and heard Penny bark out. "Go away Sheldon!" Gritting his teeth together Leonard tried the handle and found that the door was unlocked. He entered and saw that Penny was in a very appealing dark green dress. That along with the fact that she was pouring herself an extremely large glass of wine basically confirmed for Leonard that she had gone on a date with Sheldon and that it had not ended well, just as he said.

"Uh...bad night?" he asked watching in surprise as she looked up at him. "With Sheldon I mean."

"That geeky bastard is just using me to get to Amy," Penny stated angrily as she took a large gulp of his wine. "He doesn't care about me or my feelings. And why should he? I'm just the annoying failed actress, eternal waitress who lives across the hall from him and..." she paused in her ramblings and looked up at Leonard's face. Penny could see that it was a mix of horror and shock and despair. In that confused look of his, Penny realized that there was some part of Leonard that loved her still and even though she regretted letting him go, she also knew that she would never be able to love him the way that he wanted her to.

"What?" she asked at last. "Didn't Sheldon gloat about how his little date with me was bound to make Amy jealous?"

"No actually..." Leonard told her as he walked a little closer to the couch. "He just mentioned how he wasn't jealous of Amy and Stuart and how he was genuinely confused as to why you were mad at him."

"Oh."

"Why are you mad at him?" Leonard asked as he sat down on the arm of the couch.

"I..." Penny began but she found that she couldn't think of an answer and so she just took another gulp of her wine instead.

"Oh my god," Leonard choked out, interpreting her silence for something else entirely. "You're falling for him."

Leonard's statement caused Penny to spew out the wine that she hadn't swallowed in surprise. After choking slightly on the liquid that went down the wrong way she just looked up at him again. "Excuse me?" she asked as she wiped her hand across her mouth.

"You're falling for him," Leonard restated. "Why else would you be so upset?"

"I'm so upset because I asked him point blank if he was using me to make Amy jealous and he said no."

"Then why don't you believe him?"

"I don't believe him because he brought her up twice."

"In what context?" Leonard asked, even though he really didn't want to know the details of her date with Sheldon. Even thinking of Penny on a date with Sheldon made his blood boil and while his natural instinct was to yell some sense into her, Leonard also knew that if he was ever going to have a chance with her, he was going to have to be her friend first and foremost.

"What does it matter?" Penny asked as she took another gulp of her wine and ended up downing the rest.

"It matters because Sheldon doesn't think like the rest of us," Leonard pointed out. "Plus he doesn't have any close female friends aside from you and Amy. It would make sense that he'd draw comparisons between the two."

"Yeah like I could ever compare to Amy," Penny scoffed as she poured herself another large glass of wine. "I may be prettier than her but she is a hell of a lot smarter than I am and seeing how Sheldon can have actual intellectual conversations with her, I don't stand a chance."

"Oh my god." Leonard repeated. "You do like him."

"Not it that way," she assured him though she wasn't sure whether or not she was telling the truth.

"Then in what way?"

"I...he..." Penny began however she once again was at a loss for words and so she took a smaller sip of her wine. It was going to her head and she was afraid of saying something to Leonard that she would regret later.

How could she tell him that there had always been something magnetic about Sheldon. She remembered how when she had first moved in she had been more drawn to him— tall and handsome that he was. Is irksome qualities had made Penny do her best to ignore him and instead she gravitated to Leonard because it was nice to actually be wanted by a guy who wasn't just after one thing.

How could she tell Leonard that throughout it all Penny had built up a friendship with Sheldon. He seemed to understand her in a way that none of the other fellows did and as Penny took another much larger gulp of wine she realized that somewhere along the line her feelings for Sheldon had changed. She wasn't falling for him, she wasn't even close to thinking that he was relationship material but he had been her friend just a few short months previous and now she knew that she couldn't just place him in that category because he was so much more to her now.

"Okay," Leonard continued trying to keep the flow of conversation flowing. "How about you tell me the contexts in which Sheldon brought Amy up."

"Well the first it was at the restaurant," Penny replied. "He mentioned how he wouldn't be able to come back because Amy doesn't like French food."

"And the second?"

"He asked if I was going to tell Amy that he gave me a peck on the cheek and that we had as a, and I quote "pleasant evening to boot" as if anyone talks like that."

"Sheldon does." Leonard retorted. "And from what you've told me...and from what Sheldon told me, he was being sincere."

Penny took another huge gulp of wine. "How do you figure?"

"Well in terms of the first context he was mentioning how none of us would go to a restaurant like that let alone dancing. Amy might have been willing but she and Sheldon are on the outs right now."

"And the second?" asked Penny.

"Well don't you tell Amy and Bernadette every aspect of your lives?"

Penny paused mid-sip and realized Leonard was right. "I guess I should apologize to him, shouldn't I?"

"I think that that would be a good idea but not right now," Leonard agreed. "In the morning."

Penny gave him a sheepish smile. "Thanks for the advice."

"You're welcome..." he said as he stood up. Leonard wanted to comment on how odd it was to be giving her advice on Sheldon but he wasn't willing to go there. "I'll uh, see you later."

"Later." Penny agreed.

Leonard let himself out of her apartment and crossed the short divide to his own only to find that the door was locked. He thought about pounding on the door to wake Sheldon up because he didn't have a key, however Leonard knew that such an action would be futile considering the fact that Sheldon slept with earplugs in.

With a sigh he turned around and hoped that Penny had a their spare key still. He knocked softly and she opened the door with a surprised look on her face. "Sheldon locked the door and I don't have a key," he told her. "Do you have the spare?"

Penny shook her head. "He made me return it ages ago."

"Oh uh...can I stay here for the night?" Leonard asked cautiously. "I'll stay on the couch of course."

"Of course," Penny stated as she finished off her glass of wine before letting Leonard into the apartment. "No problem."

"Thank you," Leonard stated sincerely as she went to her room and grabbed the spare pillow and blanket that she had stored in there. "I appreciate it."

"What are friends for?" she asked with a smile as she handed him the pillow and blanket. "Night Leonard."

"Goodnight Penny," he replied as he watched her close her bedroom door. "Friends..." he muttered to himself as he settled down. "Guess that's all we are now."

TBC