DISCLAIMER:I do not own any characters/places/brands/referances other than Alison and the plot ideas. This is my first FanFic so hopefully it will be decent :)

Just a note: If you strongly support Shamy this is not going to be a good fic for you. I really don't see them as a good romantic pair. I don't see them as really able to go anywhere. That said, because I'm writing this it's going to be a long slow(yet not boring) time before this story actually goes anywhere. I really wish I could also add /humor/friendship to the genre because this is really a lot of things. Also the _ means a POV change.

The best day of her life. She was sure that it was today. Alison had sent in her application to Caltech's expanding genetics department only 2 weeks ago. She was fresh out of college, and it was unheard of for someone like her to get a job so fast. It was accepted, and now she was on the plane to her future. Dr. Carter pressed her head into the back of the plane seat grinning, her eyes squinched closed. This was the day that both of her biggest dreams would come true. She would live in California AND be a geneticist, like actually employed; doing research that could ACTUALLY count for something. She looked at the email confirming her belongings being shipped to her new apartment to arrive this afternoon, 2311 N. Los Robles Avenue in Pasadena, California, Apartment 4C. Of course she would have to get the things up to the 4th floor, but the shipping company just wrote down exactly what she put in for her address. It sounded so perfect she wanted to stare at that line of text until the very second the attendant forced her to put her phone away. Biting the inside of her lip she closed her eyes and turned off the pink box that held all of her secrets and dreams. She focused in on the image; she had always been able to remember random snippits of things forever, but she had been practicing since high school so that maybe someday she could remember everything without having to work for it. She had made some strides, but she never wanted to forget today. EVER. 'Today August 22nd I am on a plane, going to California. I will be starting my new I'll start my job, my dream job. I will be doing everything I could have pictured since the 8th grade. Plus I will finally get the taste of apartment life that I've wanted since I lived in the same house since I was 2 months old. I will live today. I will remember everything about today.' And then the plane took off.
_

"Sheldon, we are getting a new neighbor!" Leonard yelled. Sheldon leaped off of the stool. He was undeniably curious, the first explanation he came up with was certainly not something he could get used to.
"Penny's leaving?" He asked. Penny was important to the group structure, not vital, but necessary enough to warrant the concerned tone.
"Nope, in 4C" He laughed a little from across the room, "Arriving sometime today."

Startled and unprepared for the new neighbor living so very close, "4C has been empty for years! Male or Female? Bedtime? Music Preferences? What does he slash she do for work?" He began asking questions only stopped by Leonard walking out the door. The car ride was the most painful thing Leonard had ever endured. Constantly asking questions, of course ones that Leonard didn't know the answer to. He had brought a note pad, that before the drive was half over he had filled with incomprehensible notations, he knew what they meant, but anyone looking at it wouldn't have the slightest clue what he was trying to figure out. Sheldon was worried that this new neighbor was really just like Penny. Penny has always been a schedule change in the making, imaging the chaos caused by 2 Pennys! Sheldon of course was too wrapped up in the stresses of a new next door neighbor to care about the feelings of his current roommate, not that he typically did. Little did he know, but Dr. Alison Carter would be the best and worst new neighbor he would ever have.
_

After a ridiculous amount of time and three stops Alison heard, "We will be arriving at LAX in 9 minutes," over the loud speaker, she squealed with glee, she knew there would still be a 48 minute cab ride to the building, but still this was amazing. She would soon be standing in the airport that she had always dreamed of traveling through. The whole thing felt so picturesque to her. She was hardly even sure that she wasn't living in a dream from herself in the 9th grade. She immediately turned her phone on, she placed a call to President Siebert, "Excuse me sir, this is Dr. Carter. I just got off the plane, I was just checking on everything, it's only Tuesday… I know I don't begin work until Thursday, but I was just wondering if I could drop in tomorrow for like an official tour, or something?" He agreed that she should stop by and visit the facilities before she officially began work, after 5 minutes of arguing in the cab. Next she called the building manager who confirmed her apartment was ready and that her stuff was in the lobby ready for her to take it up. She arrived only moments after Sheldon and Leonard returned to the building. Sheldon had been digging around in one of the larger boxes, containing mostly the pieces of her bed frame while Leonard signaled him to stop from the first landing.

"So, need any help there?" Alison boldly blurted out. This was rather uncharacteristic of her, but she felt like it was the right thing to say for this part of this perfect day. She usually would have been at a loss for words, but somehow she managed to pull it together in time for a witty comment.
"Actually yes, I'm trying to find out about my new next door neighbor," Sheldon said, rifling through a box with the words "Towels, bath" Printed in black Sharpie on the side. Alison's face was hidden behind another tower of boxes.
"Well, I guess it's totally logical to start with the labeled boxes, huh? People smuggling in cocaine don't right "Cocaine" on the box..." She said laughing
"Exactly, the last time a new neighbor moved in my roommate didn't understand that!" Sheldon exclaimed. Looking up past the boxes and seeing Alison for the first time.
"Alison Carter, Apartment 4C, glad to meet you," She said smiling, she hated using her title when first meeting people. Dr. Alison Carter, that just sounds too intimidating, too formal and professional for the casual setting of bumping into someone in the lobby. "So, how would you and your flaily friend like to help me get this stuff into the elevator?" She asked still giggling about the situation.

Leonard, finally coming down replied, "Elevator is broken, has been for years. But I guess helping you get your stuff up the stairs is the least we can do, especially after this."

She and Sheldon both said, "Really?" at the same exact time, though Alison's was an expression of gratitude, while Sheldon couldn't believe his dear friend would volunteer him for such a task.

"I have a friend from online who lives in 4B who said she'd help before she went to work, she should be down soon…." Alison said just as Penny walked down the stairs. They both ran screaming to each other, then proceeded to jump up and down squealing things about how great it is to finally meet. They somehow managed to get everything upstairs by 7:30. Alison thanked them for the help as she pushed the last box in and began to unpack her things.
_

"Well this has certainly thrown a kink in my schedule! We were supposed to be AT the cheese cake factory an hour and a half ago!" Sheldon wailed as he and Leonard got into the car and started driving to the cheese cake factory, "We should be done eating, done driving home, I mean REALLY I don't understand why you insist on always being neighborly! I mean you are in a relationship with Penny now, what can you possibly gain from this?"

"Let's try NOT GETTING ARRESTED! You went through her stuff! She could have called the cops and gotten you and probably me in jail!" Leonard yelled.

Sheldon didn't really see how trying to find out more about the person who he would have to spend every day right next to could be illegal. "She seems like a friendly person!" Sheldon yelled back.

Leonard muttered "Luckily" under his breath while Sheldon sat trying to figure out as much as he could about Alison just from the box labels and the towels that were all Pink or Aqua. Deciding that she must still be in college, or she never went, no mature woman would have neon colored bath towels. She must be like Penny, a wannabe actress, immature, girly, and hopeless when it comes to life. He couldn't have been more wrong about her. Though the fact that she and Penny were online buddies reinforced that theory, and she was a bit disorganized, but she is a lot smarter than she looks.

"Certainly, she's just another Penny."

Sorry for the slow intro chapter. There will be better ones I promise! Please review this, I really want to hear what you think about it, I do appreciate constructive criticism, but DO NOT flame on me just because you ship Shamy. (BTW this is going to be a really long thing when I'm done) Chapter 2 coming soon, I promise it's way more exciting than this one. Also, I think I know the characters well enough to write this, but if I get something glaringly wrong, please point it out to me. (Trust me you won't hurt my feelings)