The Nightmare Consequence

Chapter One

Amy's call on Skype had been quite a shock. He had not seen this coming. Then again, he had never been particularly good with people, so maybe the signs had been there.

He had been frozen though. Just when he had been ready to propose, his girlfriend of five years had dissolved their relationship. At least that was what the internet said did Amy's phrasing mean.

At first Sheldon had been unable to really comprehend what had actually taken place. Then he had felt a combination of hurt, anger and betrayal. Or so the internet said.

And then...well, the Leonard-and-Penny-debacle had happened and one tiny part of his over-active genius brain, a really tiny one that apparently dealt with the rather irrational aspects of the universe, had wondered if it was only a coincidence that just when Amy broke up with him, set him free, Penny and Leonard's relationship appeared to be over as well. Curious.

When he had told Leonard he was saving his best friend's marriage before moving in and quickly smashing his mouth against said man's wife's, he had meant that. A part of him at least. The other one had been curious.

Of course he wanted to help his friends, but the tiny, maybe selfish part wanted to know. Wanted to know what could have been if he had been able to really flirt with Penny when they had met all those years ago. What could have been if he had simply ignored Leonard's 'dibs' on her and pursued her himself.

Sheldon had never actively thought about that. Probably because he had known it would be pointless since he was too good of a friend and because Penny would never be interested in him. Instead he had built a platonic but deep friendship with Penny. He had had dreams though and in those his mind had wandered.

Nothing had prepared him for the feelings that kissing Penny evoked in him though. Nothing could have because what was actually happening had never taken place before. He wasn't thinking about germs or the fact that he was exchanging salvia with another human being. Instead all he wanted to do was get closer, get more of Penny. Her fingers were tightly wrapped in his hair, he was holding her leg around his hip and swallowed the tiny moan she let out. Kissing Amy had never been like this.

"What's happening?", he heard Leonard cry in the background, but Sheldon was unable to focus on anything else than Penny. She began sucking on his lower lip and Sheldon lost it.
Feverishly, he hoisted her up, felt her breasts against his chest as one of his hands supported her bottom while the other arm was wrapped securely around her. He felt himself stumbling, his body not used to support any additional weight. Penny noticed and slid down to stand on her own feet again. On her way, she brushed against the apparent erection in his pants and he let out a groan. Sheldon could not recognize himself anymore. What had happened to him to go from a germaphobic, strictly controlled genius to a horny idiot in the blink of an eye?

A painful shove against his left shoulder forced his mind to finally catch up to his actions and he opened his blue eyes as Leonard's angry push caused him to stumble backwards.

"Leonard, no!", Penny cried and quickly stepped between the two boys. Sheldon couldn't do anything but stare at her red, bruised lips. He had caused this. The combination of pressure and sucking, provided by his mouth, had made Penny look like this. Something primal had been set free in him. He felt his heart start pounding madly in his chest because right now he wanted to kiss her again.

"What do you mean 'no'? He kissed you!" Leonard's voice was loud and his face red and angry. Usually, his roommate wasn't one to bring physical harm on someone else and yet he had shoved him. Quite strongly.

"Yes, and I kissed him back. So if you want to hurt him, you should hurt me, too."

While Leonard stared at her scandalized, Penny's statement forced Sheldon out of his stupor. "No," he said strongly, "I will not let him hurt you, Penny. A gentleman does not let that happen and my mother raised me to be one."

"Did she now?," Leonard screamed, "I bet she wouldn't be too happy about her precious boy wonder sucking faces with his supposedly best friend's wife."

Sheldon considered this. Probably not. On the other hand, he knew his mother liked Penny. They had each other on speed dial after all.

"I want you out of the apartment," Leonard said angrily, but Sheldon merely blinked.

"I'm afraid that will not be possible. Like it is stated in the Roommate Agreement-"

"Fuck your stupid contract," Leonard spat, effectively cutting him off, and turned to Penny. "How could you do this to me? And with him of all people?"

"Are you kidding me? You're the one who cheated on me because you couldn't keep it in your pants for four freaking months and you're still seeing her at work," Penny cried.

"How many times do I have to say I'm sorry? It was just…for a minute we thought we had chemistry."

Sheldon who had been watching the heated and angry exchange, did not have much experience with women. Whenever he had angered Amy somehow he had not even noticed most of the time. Yet, he could see now that Leonard had apparently said the wrong thing because Penny's demeanor changed. Her shoulders straightened and her face became cold.

"Yeah? Well, maybe Sheldon and I have chemistry, too!"

"What?"

Of course they did. If they didn't, they would never have been able to form a friendship like the one they had. "I concur," Sheldon piped up, "in fact-"

"Shut up!", Leonard cut him off loudly and Sheldon wisely chose to do just that.

"I need to get out of here." Still clad in his pajamas and tennis socks, he marched over to the front door, making Sheldon wonder if his roommate was actually planning on going out like that. But Leonard's murderous glare let him know any talking would not be appreciated, so instead of pointing out Leonard's crazy actions, Sheldon held the words in and watched him leave.

As soon as he had closed the apartment door forcefully behind him, Penny plopped down on the couch and let out a frustrated sigh. Sheldon stood helplessly, unable to come up with the right protocol. What was one supposed to do in a situation like this? Would a friendly pat on the shoulder and a calmly stated 'Sheldon's there' suffice?

Uncomfortably and unsure of himself, he moved to sit in his spot, but held his upper body slightly turned towards his blond friend. His thoughts ran a mile a minute, unable to provide him with the right course of action. Taking a deep breath, he realized Penny was not looking at him and therefore maybe not expecting anything from him. So perhaps simply sitting in silence would be everything he had to do. At least that was something he was good at. Instead he mentally went through the last half an hour, remembered the kiss and the following fight. Sheldon wondered if kissing Penny had been wrong. At least Leonard's behavior indicated just that, but on the other hand it had been the perfect solution for all of them. Penny and Leonard got even and his curiosity was satisfied. Yet, nothing was right and Sheldon being Sheldon was unable to function properly if something was in disorder. But how was he supposed to get everything ordered and back under control?

"I think I need to get out of here for a while," Penny suddenly said, pulling Sheldon out of his musings. "But I don't know where to go on such a short notice and it's not like I got a bunch of cash laying around," she told him miserably.

Sheldon, always the quick thinker and generous man, turned around to fully face her. "I may have a solution for your problem," he piped up, making Penny stare at him in surprise. "I have a room reservation in a hotel in San Francisco from tomorrow until Monday morning."

Baffled, Penny sat up. "What? Why?"

Sheldon sighed, unwilling to talk about is failed plans. "It was supposed to be Amy's anniversary gift, but she dissolved our binding relationship contract before the opportunity arose to present her said gift," he explained.

He was not sure, but Penny looked sad all of a sudden. "Oh no, sweetie, I'm so sorry."

"Why?", he asked confused. "It's not your fault."

"What? No, Sheldon, it means I'm sorry that happened to you."

"Regardless," he dismissed, "if you went the short vacation would not forfeit at least."

Unexpectedly, Penny's eyes watered and she grabbed his hand, causing his heart to flutter and his body to overheat. "You'd really take me with you?"

He frowned. "Take you with me? I did not think I would be going as well."

"Of course you will," Penny insisted, "sweetie, it was supposed to be your vacation and you paid for all of it."

"But it's only one room," he protested. Surely, Penny was going to see reason now. Sharing a room with one's female friend might be debatable, but cohabitating with one's best friend's wife was certainly socially unaccepted.

"I don't care, Sheldon. We just exchanged a lot of saliva, so accidentally touching each other during sleep is really no big deal."

Put like that, logic dictated him to agree. Besides that, he supposed social conventions were mostly off now, considering the current state of chaos that ruled all the relationships he had with various people in his life.

Taking a deep breath, he gave a nod. "Very well. We will go on this trip together."

Penny squealed in joy and hugged him quickly. Sheldon felt his belly tighten in reaction and noticed his heart beat picking up pace again. Awkwardly, he patted her back and Penny pulled back. What was this sudden strange reaction his body seemed to have developed towards Penny?

"I suggest we start packing. We are due to leave in approximately three hours, forty-six minutes and eleven seconds," he stated, checking his watch.

Penny nodded and got to her feet, her blond curls bouncing due to the movement. Sheldon found he rather liked the color of her hair. It suited her complexion and her eyes well.

"Thank you, Sheldon," Penny said, effectively pulling him out of his musings. While he had stupidly pondered his new-found appreciation of her appearance, Penny had made her way to the front door and turned around to face him again.

"You are welcome," he replied before swallowing and not knowing for what exactly she was thanking him.

She sent a smile his way that caused his knees to feel funny and made him thankful for still being seated. And as his neighbor and female friend of nine years went to pack her suitcase, Sheldon suddenly had the unsettling feeling that maybe taking Penny to San Francisco would turn out to be a bad idea for entirely different reasons.

So this is the first of six chapters in total of my first story centered around Penny and Sheldon. After rewatching and rewatching old episodes, I realized I kinda like them together much better than him and Amy. So this is my first try with them. The story is already completely finished, just needs to be typewritten because I actually wrote it on paper.

I hope you're all gonna enjoy this and read and review.

Cheers.