New story time :) This one is based around the finale. There are no spoilers in it so don't worry, the only thing from the finale that is mentioned is the fact that Leonard is planning on leaving. The chapters that do have any slight spoilers in it will be uploaded after the finale airs, but even then the spoilers are just small things, but still, I don't want to ruin anything for anyone.

This story is quite different from what I have written in the past in that it isn't solely a L/P fic, it is also a S/A one. Recently I have found myself becoming quite drawn to those two and I wanted to write something that included them in it. I intend on giving each couple the same amount of time and growth, although due to the fact I am so used to writing for L/P, the scales may tip slightly in their direction!

Now, this is the first time I have written for Sheldon and Amy and I should say keeping them completely in character is hard! I think I have gotten Leonard and Penny down, but I am still getting the hang of writing for S/A so please keep that in mind when reading!

And finally, I want to tell you that this story won't be getting updated quite as often as my previous ones have. I want this story to last a little longer since there will be no more new episodes or taping reports to keep me going! Although you can probably still expect at least a couple of updates per week.

Phew, this is one long A/N so I will be quiet now! I hope you all enjoy this story and as ever, please let me know if you do! Oh, and I have even given each chapter a title, go me!

I own nothing in this story :(

My Little Puppy

Penny knocked on the door of 4a once, and headed inside without permission, like she usually did. She had only finished her lunch shift at The Cheesecake Factory about an hour ago, and was looking forward to spending some time with Leonard before he left.

"Hey sweetie!" She said as she spotted Leonard sitting at his desk. She walked over and put her arms around his neck as she crouched behind him, gave him a kiss on the cheek and then rested her chin on his shoulder. "Wotcha doin'?"

"Hey," He grumbled, "Sorry Penny I don't have time to hang out I've got a lot of work to do."

"Oh," She said sounding obviously disappointed. "Are you still sorting stuff out for your trip?"

"Yeah and I have to get this paper finished before I go." He said as he rested his head on his hand and began to massage his temples. "There is just so much still to do and no time to do it in."

Leonard was leaving in just over a week to go to the North Sea to work for Stephen Hawking, and for the past few days he had been stressing himself out over absolutely everything. He had a few things he had to finish off before he left and he had been staying up late trying to get it done, as well as trying to sort everything out for Sheldon, who unsurprisingly wasn't taking Leonard's pending departure very well, for his own selfish reasons. Penny could tell Leonard was nervous about the trip, about it going well and about leaving her. She had tried her best to be supportive and help him through his restless nights, but it was hard.

"You look tired, honey." She said as she turned her face to the side to look at him.

"I am tired, and stressed and hungry." He said, almost snapping at her. "My head hurts and my eyes are stinging, but I have to get this finished."

Penny wasn't shocked by the abrupt tone of voice, she had heard quite a bit of it over the past few days and although she had fought with him because of it for the first day or two, she quickly realized it was better to ignore it, because she knew it wasn't really his fault, he was overworking himself and he wasn't getting enough rest.

Penny didn't say a word. She just removed her hands from around his neck and sat on the sofa. Leonard swivelled around in his chair, wondering if his snappy words had upset her, but he didn't see any anger in her face. "You're in Sheldon's spot." He said. He wasn't even sure why he had said it, he didn't really care, it was just weird to see someone sitting there and not have Sheldon telling them to get off.

"I don't care, come here." She said as she patted her leg.

"Penny I told you, I've got work to do."

"And I told you to come here." She said softly. "Look, you have barely slept and you are stressing yourself out. Come lie down and get some rest, it's the only thing that will help."

Penny looked him stubbornly in the eyes, telling him she wasn't going to back down, and Leonard caved, mainly because he just didn't have the strength to fight her, and laying down sounded like a better idea than trying to write out more of his paper. "Okay." He said quietly as he got up off his chair and walked over, while Penny grabbed a cushion and put it on her lap.

"Good boy." She said with a grin as he sat down beside her. "Put your head here." She patted her hand on the cushion and touched his head as he lay down on her lap. Leonard looked up at her as she gently took his glasses off and placed them on the coffee table. "I think you forget sometimes how brilliant your mind is," She said as she began to stroke his forehead, "You have to give it the rest it needs, or else it will become as useless at solving the inner workings of the universe as mines!" She said with a smile as she touched his cheek.

Leonard looked up into her beautiful green eyes and gave her a smile back, "I love you, Penny."

"I love you, too." She reached down and kissed him gently on the lips, "Now, close your eyes." Penny traced her fingers over his eyes, forcing them to close, then looked down at him and smiled at his peaceful expression. She then softly traced her hand over his face, while using the other one to gently massage his scalp.

"Mmm," Leonard said with a sigh. "You have no idea how good that feels. It's so... relaxing."

Penny smiled, "Good, it's supposed to be." She said quietly. She bent forward and gave him another soft kiss on the lips, "Now, go to sleep honey." She whispered, although she was sure he was already half way there.

She cherished this moment as she watched him drift off. She had been trying so hard lately to keep her emotions in check, to keep from breaking down at the thought of him leaving. Four months. She repeated in her head. It was a long time. The only other time they had spent nearly that long apart was when he went to the North Pole. Those months had been hard, so she knew that these next few months were going to be even harder. She cared about him more now than she had back then, she was in love with him now, incredibly so. Her heart ached at the thought of not being able to see him each and every day, but she had barely shown it to him. This was his job, his career, and Penny knew he had to do it. She also knew that if she began to break down, if she cried and begged him to stay, he would do it, and ruin the chance of a lifetime. She couldn't be the one to blame for that. So she kept her tears inside, but as each day passed, they became harder to hold on to.

Penny stroked her sleeping man's hair as she began to think of all the things she was going to miss about him, before quickly stopping her own train of thought. Her throat had tightened, as had her chest, and she knew she was on the verge of crying. She took in a deep shaky breath, and reached out to grab the television remote. She flicked through some channels until she landed on a programme she was happy with and put her feet on the coffee table, making sure not to move Leonards head as she moved. She placed her right hand on his chest, feeling him slowly breathe in and out, while her left hand continued to stroke his hair as she kept her mind focused on the television in front of her, and not how much she was going to miss the man on her lap.

About a half an hour passed, and Penny was still in the same position, although Leonard had turned to the side in his sleep, and was now facing her stomach with his arms tucked up against his chest. Penny heard the door begin to open and looked over to see Sheldon entering his apartment with a bag full of comic books.

He stepped inside the door and before he could even get a word out of his mouth, Penny said, in a firm whisper, "Sheldon, Leonard is sleeping so don't make any noise that will wake him up."

Sheldon looked at her, rather dumbfounded for a moment. "You are in my spot." He said in the same tone as her.

Penny rolled her eyes. "Do you remember my rule about what will happen if you wake me up before 11am?"

"Yes, you said that if I knock on your door before that time you will punch me in the throat." He whispered very matter-of-factly as he put a hand to rub his neck.

"Right, the same rule applies here. You wake him up; you get a punch in the throat." She whispered without even a hint of sarcasm.

Sheldon hesitated for a moment, dying to tell her once again to get off his spot, but the look in her eyes scared the bejesus out of him. He was certain that she meant every word she said and although he hated the mere thought of someone else sitting in his spot and ruining the indentations in it that suited him perfectly, he also wanted to preserve the life of his voice box that would no doubt be ruined with a Nebraskan punch to the windpipe.

Penny stared Sheldon out of it, and he eventually backed down with a defeated sigh as he headed to his desk. Penny smiled at her victory, there were so few of them when it came to Sheldon, and she was sure at some point she was going to pay for this show of rebelliousness towards him, but she didn't care about that just now, she was just glad that Leonard was still sleeping peacefully on her lap. She looked down at him and once again began to stroke his hair and caress the side of his face that was facing up at her.

"What are you doing?" Sheldon whispered as he put his bags down and sat at his desk. Penny just looked up at him with a frown, unsure what he was talking about. "He is not a pet, Penny, he is a human being. Therefore I don't understand why you are stroking his hair like he is some sort of puppy."

Penny smiled and fought the first answer that came to mind which was, 'He is my little puppy', because she knew that would just confuse him even more. "I don't know Sheldon," She whispered, feeling a little exasperated. "He liked it. It helped him fall asleep."

Sheldon scrunched his face up in confusion and Penny wished she had thought of a better answer, one that wouldn't bring up more questions from the crazy man. "Even if that was the case, he is already asleep now, so why are you still doing it?"

Penny sighed, "Because… I don't know, because I like it." She whispered with a shrug. "It's called being affectionate, Sheldon. You should try it some time."

"And why would I want to do that?" He asked with a frown.

Penny sighed once again, "I don't know... to show the person you care about, how much you care about them?" Penny whispered as she looked down at Leonard. "You should try being a little more affectionate to Amy, hell, a lot more affectionate…" She whispered, shaking her head. "Poor girl."

"What do you mean 'poor girl'? I will have you know I am very affectionate towards Amy." He said, removing his voice from a whisper and becoming a little defensive. "I hold her hand on occasion... I looked after her when she was sick... I make her tea!"

"Oh, you're so romantic!" Penny whispered sarcastically, rolling her eyes again, "Listen Sheldon, I don't want to get into this with you now, Leonard is trying to sleep and so help me God if he wakes up because you can't keep your crazy mouth shut, you will be wearing a scarf for the next month." Penny once again glared at him, until his tense demeanour dropped and he relaxed, surrendering to her harsh words. "Look, all I am trying to say is that Amy puts up with a lot from you," Penny began to speak much softer to him, "it would be nice if every now and again you would show her how much she means to you. I'm not saying you have to take her to bed, or even that you have to kiss her, all I'm saying is that maybe every now and again you do something small like this," She whispered as she motioned to Leonard. "Let her fall asleep on your lap, or even cuddle with her on the couch while you watch television, she really would appreciate it."

Sheldon frowned, "Amy knows that I am very fond her, I don't have to show her with hippy dippy things like that." He whispered.

"Really? I don't think she does. You have never told her, not properly. Sheldon I know you have all these weird… let's call them quirks, but you have to get over them, because Amy deserves someone who will treat her better than you. And trust me, if you don't start showing her, how much you care about her, you will end up driving her into the arms of some other man that will give her what she needs."

Penny felt a little bad that about what she was saying to him, it was a little harsh, but she knew she had to. Sheldon had gone on too long with his weird obsessions and she knew it was about time he faced up to them. Penny knew that Amy was unlikely to leave Sheldon any time soon, despite what she had told him, but Amy was still young and deserved to have a physical relationship with someone other than her toothbrush. Penny simply thought that scaring him a little with the idea of Amy leaving him, might just hurry him along in the process of becoming a little less neurotic. Although that didn't change the fact that telling him that felt much like she was telling a child that Santa Claus didn't really exist.

Sheldon looked at her in horror, "Amy wouldn't leave me."

Penny sighed as she looked at him and saw the disbelief in his face. "Really? Remember Stuart?" She whispered and Sheldon reluctantly nodded. "If you don't start upping your game soon, she will move on, and I will be the first one to help her. Don't get me wrong, I love you two together, and I know you do care about her, but Amy deserves more, and if you aren't willing to give it to her, there are plenty of other men that are." Sheldon said nothing as she spoke, he just continued to stare at her with that disbelieving expression. "Look, like I said Sheldon, you don't have to make any huge leaps yet, just one little step at a time and you never know, you might actually end up enjoying the 'hippy dippy things'."

Sheldon scoffed and turned his back to her to get away from the uncomfortable conversation. She didn't know what she was talking about, he and Amy were fine. Over the past few weeks he had felt himself let go of some of his reservations and becoming closer to her, like he had told Penny, he had looked after her when she was sick, he found himself able to touch her and have her touch him without feeling immediately repulsed. He bathed her for crying out loud! He had never gotten that close to another human being in his life! They were fine as they were. He cared about Amy and she knew that. Nothing more had to change yet, did it?

Everything around him was already changing enough. He had to deal with his best friend leaving for four months, changing his everyday life dramatically. Change begets change, and that thought was nauseating. Sure, it will start with Leonard going away for a few months, but that will lead to him being forced to deal with other people more often, since he would no longer have his roommate to take him to whatever destination he desired. And after that he might leave for good, forcing him once again to look into finding a new roommate. The same thing would happen with Amy. Once he started to change himself in order to become more affectionate towards her, she would continue to expect more from him. It was already happening, he had done his part as 'the boyfriend' and looked after her while she was sick and what followed that? She tried to move in with him. Change begets change, and he hated change.

Sheldon turned on his computer and as he waited on it to boot up, he thought about what Penny had said about Amy moving on, and as much as it killed him to admit it, he really didn't want Amy out of his life. She was the only one who really understood him, and she had been incredibly patient with him, letting him slowly get over his phobias without too much complaint. Amy was special and deep down he knew she deserved to be treated that way. The thing that really got to him as he thought about the possibility of Amy leaving him, was that that thought scared him more than the thought of change. He would rather change to keep Amy, than not change and lose her... Maybe it wouldn't hurt to try and be a little more affectionate towards her, and as weird as stroking her hair while she lay on his lap sounded, maybe it wouldn't be as bad as he thought.