2020 Tropes & Fandom challenge:
Square: 46/Regular - Trope: Hurt/Comfort

The Homecoming Fluctuation

"Oh, thank goodness you're here!" Mary Cooper answered the door to her Texan home with a smile on her face as she drew the young woman on the stoop into a warm hug. "Shelly's been drivin' me crazy with all of the mopin' and such," she said before she paused to look past Penny to the empty space behind her. "Where are the others?" she asked.

"Well, they're men! They can't seem to admit when they're wrong or being complete jerks about something, so…" she paused.

"So you came alone," Mary said knowingly and Penny nodded. "Perhaps that will be even better in the long run, Dear. Shelly cares an awful lot about you and I just know that it will mean the world to him that you're here. Now, why don't you go see if you can talk some sense into him. The Good Lord knows that I have tried my best. He's upstairs, last door on the left."

"Thank you, Mrs. Cooper," Penny replied politely.

"None of that now. You can call me Mary." The woman answered with another motherly smile as she shooed the young woman towards the stairs. As Mary watched her go, she could not help but to wonder…and hope…if maybe…just maybe…against all odds…the Lord had answered more than just one of her prayers when He sent that pretty and kind young gal to comfort her son.

…

Penny paused outside of Sheldon's door and, on a whim, knocked the same way he had done a hundred times before on hers back in Pasadena.

Knock, Knock, Knock, "Sheldon!"
Knock, Knock, Knock, "Sheldon!"
Knock, Knock, Knock, "Sheldon!"

Sheldon sat up in bed immediately. "Penny?" he asked. "What on Earth are you doin' in Texas?"

Penny smiled at the sound and at the proof that even after only one day back home, a hint of an accent had crept back into his usually carefully regulated voice. She did not mention it, though, as she cracked open the door and peeked her head in. "Can I come in, Sweetie?" she asked gently.

"Technically, May I come in? would be the grammatically correct way to phrase such a question," he answered in his typical matter-of-fact tone. "However, you are both physically capable of doing so...and you also have my permission...so please feel free to enter."

Penny did not even acknowledge the correction. She had learned a long time ago it was just her quirky friend's way. She knew that he did not really mean to be insulting…he was just stating the facts as he knew them…so she did not let it bother her. She just entered the room and carefully sat next to him on the edge of his bed, instead.

Sheldon repeated his earlier question. "What are you doing here, Penny? I thought that you and Leonard would be having coitus by now."

Penny snorted at the term, but shook her head in the negative. "No...when Leonard chose not to come after you, just because he thought he was going to have sex with me, I knew then that he was not the nice guy that I thought he was. So there will be no…coitus…with him…Not ever!…even despite the perfect everlasting snowflake gift that he gave me."

"Do you mean the one preserved with polyvinyl acetyl resin?" Sheldon asked with pleased interest after her declaration.

Penny nodded. "I guess that's what he said."

"I was the one who made that for you," Sheldon admitted with a bit of uncharacteristic sheepishness. At her surprised look, he nodded in confirmation. "Leonard said he wanted the perfect gift for the perfect girl. I knew that he was talking about you, so I thought of the snowflake – beautiful, unique, extremely tough and durable in some circumstances, but surprisingly delicate in other ones."

His unexpected answer touched her. "Oh, Sweetie, I don't know what to say except…Thank You! I really do absolutely love it!" She gazed at him fondly at the knowledge that he thought about her in such a positive way. "Can I…No, wait…May I give you a hug?"

"You may," he answered, proud that he had taught her something…and that she had actually appreciated his gift. Consequently, he allowed Penny to wrap her arms around him – even though he usually avoided that kind of contact with others. It had always been different with Penny, though, so he even allowed himself to relax and lean a little into her embrace, as well.

Penny was careful to pull away after just a moment, however, because she knew that prolonged contact often made him uncomfortable…and she did not want that. Instead, she looked at him carefully again. "Tell me the truth, Sheldon, how are you?" she asked. "Do you need me to sing 'Soft Kitty' for you?"

This time, Sheldon was the one to snort. "I told you that song was for when I was sick…not sad," he answered a bit petulantly, but Penny noticed that his lips had actually turned up at the corners anyways, so she went with it.

"And I told you that sad was a kind of sick," she answered with her usual brand of Nebraskan brashness. It worked…and the little hint on his face finally turned into a full-fledged smile.

"Either way, I don't believe that the song will be necessary," Sheldon quietly declared. "I have to admit that I am feeling considerably less sad in your presence."

"I'm so glad, Sweetie," Penny answered truthfully. "So…are you ready to come home now?"

The smile disappeared completely from Sheldon's face at the question. "I don't know, Penny. Leonard lied to me and betrayed me. He may have even destroyed my scientific credibility with his sabotage – even though he knew how much my work has always meant to me." He paused thoughtfully. "I don't think that I can just go back to the way things were…not after all of that."

"I understand, Sweetie, I really do. I don't think Leonard is the kind of man that either of us thought that he was." She thought about the fact that Leonard had been willing to let her think that he was the creator of such a thoughtful gift…just to get in her pants…and she had almost let him! She sighed at her own stupidity as she reached up to run her fingers soothingly through Sheldon's hair for a second, just the way she knew he liked it, before she reached down to grab both of his hands with her own.

"However, neither one of us can solve those problems from here. And if there is one thing that I know about Sheldon Cooper, it's that he's a problem solver…and there is a big ass whiteboard sitting in his living room and covered with Beautiful Mind equations and other sciency stuff that proves it!"

Sheldon smirked at her comparison, but he actually thought about what she said before he nodded with a newfound conviction "You know what, Penny? You are absolutely right!" he told her…and the woman beamed with delight. "However, I'm not sure that doing the math will be able to help me this time. After all, I don't think that I can continue to live with someone that I cannot trust."

Penny shrugged. She knew that there was only one answer to that question…and she realized that Sheldon knew it, too. He just wanted to hear the confirmation from somebody else. "I know that you don't like change, Sweetie," she told him kindly, "but I think we both know that if you truly feel that way, then you will have to find a new roommate."

Sheldon froze at the statement and just looked at her seriously for a moment before he nodded in acquiescence as he came up with the perfect solution. "Would you be interested in the vacancy?" he finally asked. As she gaped at him in surprise, he continued his rational argument. "After all, it would be a much more favorable financial arrangement for you to share your living expenses rather than trying to afford an apartment on your own. Plus, your presence here confirms that you are a much better friend to me than Leonard has ever been. Consequently, I would even be willing to negotiate some of the clauses in the Roommate Agreement with you."

Penny just looked at him in shock. "You would actually want to live with me?"

This time it was Sheldon's turn to shrug. "I don't see why not. As it is, you practically live there already. You already have your own key. I see you almost every day for coffee in the morning and then again at night for dinner. You already steal both my milk and my wifi. Therefore, I am already quite used to your disruptive presence in my formerly quiet life," he admitted, "and, surprisingly, I don't find it at all distasteful. In fact, I now know that it is rather…pleasant…to have you around. Consequently, I believe that you might as well do it from a more convenient distance…from the bedroom that Leonard currently occupies, in fact! I would prefer for you to wait until it is vacant, of course – especially since you seemed to have come to your senses about that particular issue. I would hate for you to have a hormonal relapse in judgement."

"Awww…Sweetie," Penny was touched by his open honesty – even about her relationship with Leonard. She certainly could not argue with him about that, however, so she nudged him playfully with her shoulder, instead. "I like being around you, too - even if you are a great big whackadoodle!"

"That's Doctor Whackadoodle to you," he answered in the same light tone. "I do have three PhDs, remember?"

"How could I forget?" she rolled her eyes fondly at her adorkable, but undeniably brilliant, friend. "However, why don't we wait to discuss the apartment sharing idea until after we get home, okay? After all, you and Leonard might be able to work things out…and I don't want for anything to get…weird…between us."

"I find both of those scenarios to be highly unlikely, Penny, and I do not anticipate changing my mind about them - especially since my eyes have been opened to Leonard's true character," he answered in his matter-of-fact tone again. "However, we will wait until after we speak to him…if that makes you more comfortable."

His thoughtfulness surprised Penny, yet again, and she found herself looking at the man in a way that she never had before. Yes, he often drove her bat crap crazy and he could be both extremely condescending and exasperating, as well. Nevertheless, he had always been there for her when she really needed him to be – and he never expected anything in return the way that she knew Leonard always had.

In fact, she had the sudden bewildering realization that she perhaps she had put too much of her focus on the wrong roommate all along. With that incredible thought, she looked up to find his warm brown eyes trained on her, too. He looked as if he was deep in thought, as well, and she felt a sudden thrill when she wondered if they could have possibly been thinking about the same unlikely thing.

It seemed to confirm her suspicion when Sheldon shook his head and cleared his throat a little awkwardly before he spoke again. "However, if…when…we decide that we both need to put some space between ourselves and Leonard…"

Without even thinking about it, Penny interrupted him to immediately answer the unspoken part of his question. "Then I will say yes to your roommate proposition."

"I'm glad to hear it."

"I'm glad to tell it."

They both grinned cheerfully at each other, and perhaps would have said even more. However, they were interrupted at that moment when a voice carried up the stairs.

"Shelly, honey,…Penny, dear,…it's time for dinner!" The announcement broke the temporary spell that had fallen over the two people on the bed, and they moved apart, suddenly self-conscious in a way that they had not been before.

Surprisingly, it was Sheldon who recovered first. "Come on, Penny," he cajoled in an almost boyish manner as he stood up excitedly. "You have not lived until you've tried my mother's fried chicken." He moved quickly to the door, but paused unexpectedly as he politely waited for her to join him so that they could leave the room together.

…

Thank you, Jesus! Mary Cooper offered up the silent praise and smiled happily as she watched her son and the young lady walk down the stairs side by side. Her mother's eyes could immediately see the difference in Sheldon. It was as if a black cloud had been lifted off of his shoulders…and she had no doubt who had affected such a miraculous change so quickly.

Shelly's friends had broken his heart, but this girl had obviously mended it again in a way that his own mother could not. There was something about the warm way Penny looked at him, now, too, that boded well for their future. Mary was not blind to the possibilities that such a look suggested…and even though she knew that it would probably take some time for her son to truly see what…or rather who…had been in front of him all along, she found that she could not wait to see how it all turned out in the end.

Don't tell me prayer doesn't work! she thought to herself with happy conviction as she sat down at the table with the young couple for whom she now had such high hopes.