Saturday morning dawned on the City of Pasadena, California.

As the fog of sleep slowly lifted from his eyelids, Leonard Hofstadter opened his eyes to look around the room.

Everything looked the same in his bedroom. Nothing was where it shouldn't be. He uncovered the bed sheet from himself and sat up on his bed. Rubbing his eyes, he stood up and went to the mirror to look at his reflection.

I'm still me, don't look any different, he thought.

But things were different as his mind slowly reached for the memories of last night and those memories for the first time contained happiness and a glow that seemed to carry him off his feet and made him bounce to the bathroom to begin his day. For Leonard it was a new morning, a different morning, different from any other morning in his life.

After splashing water on his face and taking care of his bodily functions, Leonard hopped in the shower and let the soothing warm water run over him and wash away all the frustrations, dashed hopes and dreams he had overcome with the spending of one evening in the company of the woman he had declared his love for – Penny.

Oh my God! Is it really true?! Did Penny say that she loved me last night? Did I tell her I loved her? He questioned himself as he replayed in his mind the entire evening as the warm water fell over him.

He remembered the thrill of her touch, the warmth of her skin, the breath from her mouth, the smell of her body and sweet enticement of her lips pressed on his while his body pressed together with hers in an embrace of pure ecstasy.

Wow, we finally overcame that hurdle!

Even though, Penny and Leonard had not consummated their evening with any love making, in Leonard's mind the evening was a great success and the fact that no sexual relations had culminated the evening made it a greater triumph still. This proved to him that his attraction was more than the initial physical one he had two years ago and now had developed an accompanying mental aspect, where they enjoyed each other's company for what they had to say to each other.

First he had declared his feelings for her. She had likewise expressed her feelings for him. Secondly they had discussed things more openly and that felt to him almost as good as making love with Penny. Next, albeit terrified he had stood up to that monosyllabic orbital mass of a bully Kurt, Penny's ex-boyfriend. Although the dragon had breathed fire on him, he had not backed down and with his verbal swords had cut that inflated, overbearing ego down; also Penny's own daggers helped the situation in perhaps ridding themselves of this vile creature of a man mountain once and for all. After drying off and dressing for a leisurely Saturday, he planned to go over to Penny's later on and see how she was doing. Of course, he first needed to deal with his bedeviling roommate, friend and colleague – Doctor Sheldon Cooper.

Sure enough by 6:45 a.m., Sheldon rose from his bedroom to prepare himself breakfast in preparation to watch one of his favorite shows – Dr. Who on BBC America.

"Good morning Leonard. My! You are up early today. Usually Saturdays, finds you at this time of day still enthralled in slumber." He remarked.

"Well this morning is different Sheldon!" Leonard remarked back knowing that it was unusual for him to be this up early considering he had fallen asleep just past 2:00 in the morning. So he was only going on 4 hours of sleep and it seemed strange to him why he hadn't slept until close to noon. Maybe his mind and body were still charged with the excitement with last night and we're eager to continue this new found journey with Penny.

"I gathered from your comment earlier this morning that your evening with Penny went well enough that you won't be introducing a feline addition to our perfectly balanced living arrangements." Sheldon stated.

"You surmised well. As far as it being balanced around here, I doubt we have come close to achieving that in this apartment." Leonard retorted trying to subtly remind Sheldon that no one with his idiosyncrasies was perfectly balanced.

"So in the few minutes that I have left before Dr. Who, I'm curious to know what miraculous processes you achieved to completely alter your horrible track record with Penny." Sheldon queried either completely oblivious to Leonard's inference or rather than getting sidetracked in another conversation about balance in the apartment. Sheldon had chosen the latter track.

"In a nutshell, Sheldon, I told her I loved her and she told me she loved me. We kissed and embraced and held hands like any other couple in love usually do." Leonard declared hoping that the statement would satisfy his colleague, which based on past experience was highly unlikely.

"So did you achieve coitus with Penny?" Sheldon asked matter of fact as a doctor would ask a sterile question to a patient.

Leonard shot back: "You know I know that with your high IQ it's hard for you to break away from mathematical formulas that hold the answer to the problem even before it's written. But sometimes, the asteroid belt produces stray collisions that send the projectiles off their intended track and produce a never before seen orbital trajectory."

Leonard continued: "So just as we know that this planet has been hit by asteroids and meteors and will be hit again by an extinction level event, so it is that asteroid Leonard has collided with Terra Firma Penny."

"So you did achieve coitus?" Sheldon responded.

"To satisfy your physicist's curiosity, no we did not and I actually feel better that it didn't happen."

"I'm confused. Isn't that the desired end result couples who have declared emotional commitment brought on by pheromones secreted, endorphins pumped into the body from the brain wish to achieve?" Sheldon asked again, because to him it seemed that sexual intercourse based on chemical stimulation from internal and external optical stimuli was the logical outcome for what Leonard had been attempting ever since he had laid eyes on Penny.

"Normally, yes, that would be the end result." Leonard declared.

"So why didn't you engage in sexual intercourse, if as you say, declared an emotional attachment to each other?" Sheldon asked once more.

Leonard thought back to the evening and pinpointed the exact moment that evening's intended trajectory took a hit by the random asteroid – Kurt.

Leonard sat down in his spot, while Sheldon joined him by sitting in his.

"Our evening was knocked off kilter by an asteroid." Leonard stated.

"What was this asteroid you speak of?" Sheldon questioned.

"It was Penny's ex-boyfriend, Kurt." Leonard replied.

"Oh no!" Sheldon retorted. He shuddered to think about encountering the mass of man that was Penny's ex-boyfriend; one of the few things that struck fear into the heart of Sheldon Cooper along with bears and Leslie Winkle.

"Oh yes, I mean when you think of the odds against running into another resident of Pasadena, 20 miles from their common 'stomping grounds' if you will, it boggles the mind that he happened to be in the exact same restaurant at the exact same time." Leonard continued.

"The odds of that happening are calculable but it would astound any lay person as to what their chances of occurring would be."

"Leonard, what did you do?" Sheldon asked him, showing a curiosity not seen often in Leonard's tall and thin roommate.

"Believe it or not, I stood up to him and chewed him out for belittling me." Leonard recounted.

"And you lived to tell the tale?" Sheldon exclaimed.

"Well, he shoved me back into the booth, but then Penny got into his face, chest actually and gave him a tongue lashing that I would be afraid to be on the receiving end of." Leonard stated.

"And that stopped him?" Sheldon asked.

"Well, the restaurant manager and the off duty cop, helped out, especially the latter."

"Incredible." Sheldon stated.

"Overcoming that fear and then being able to survive that encounter, actually made it easier to tell Penny how I felt and I think my standing up to 'Goliath' if you will, made me seem even more attractive to her." Leonard concluded.

"Now I understand the ease of your conquest. In a similar way that male birds display bright plumage or horned male such as the moose, elk or ram, butt heads for the opportunity for copulation with their female counterparts, your reckless display of new found courage made it possible for Penny to become engrossed with you." Sheldon remarked.

"Believe me, Sheldon; there was nothing easy about it when you consider how much of my past I had to overcome in those few seconds. My parents', especially my mother's, domineering nature, the constant bullying I endured when I was younger and my past failed relationships with women just seemed to make me realize I wasn't going to take it anymore. I was prepared to go down fighting if necessary, even with no hope with winning a physical altercation with that specimen." Leonard explained.

"And as David won his battle with Goliath, that put him on the road to ruling the Kingdom of Israel, so you now are on your way towards achieving the Kingdom of Penny." Sheldon stated.

Leonard was taken aback; he had never known Sheldon to refer to Bible references in their conversation.

"What?" Sheldon looked at him quizzically.

"I've never known you to use Bible references in our discussions." Leonard clarified staring at him with a strange expression across his face.

"I don't. However, you brought up the reference to the Biblical Goliath. That plus the fact that many years of Bible School will subliminally plant a seed even in this highly evolved brain. It was beyond my control to absorb the knowledge." Sheldon explained.

"So where do you go from here with her?" Sheldon inquired based on the recollection that after a first successful date with Penny last year, it eventually resulted in no meaningful pairing beyond simple friendship soon after.

"Well I certainly don't intend to repeat the mistakes I made in snuffing out the embers of last year's first date. We've gotten off to a much better start and the embers are hotter this time around. I plan to stoke the embers this time rather than snuff them out." Leonard stated as he thought of an idea that would perhaps be a nice follow up to last night's outing.

"Yes, it seemed you strangled 'Schrödinger's Cat' last year. Looks like you're on to cat life number two!" Sheldon remarked.

"Believe me I'm going to give this life a lot more care." Leonard stood up and went to grab his jacket from his bedroom.

"Look, I've got to go out for a bit, but I'll be back soon." Leonard informed to Sheldon.

"Alright, I'll be here watching Dr. Who and then I'll be heading for the shower. Remember we've going out to see Star Trek with Koothrapali and Wolowitz." Sheldon replied as he grabbed the TV Remote and clicked on the monitor in preparation for his show.

"Oh yeah!" Leonard remarked with disappointment. In all the excitement of preparing for last night's date with Penny, he had forgotten he had committed to seeing the new installment of this particular iconic science fiction genre. Even though he knew Penny would be working later on, he didn't feel like going out with the guys, at least not today. He wanted to follow up with Penny and ensure that the initial euphoria would evolve into a more stable and durable afterglow. After putting on his jacket, Leonard grabbed his keys and opened the door.

"Don't you want to know where I'm going?" Leonard asked Sheldon.

"No, it's time for Dr. Who. Goodbye." He replied curtly.

With that, Leonard closed the door and headed downstairs.