Last chapter-thanks for the lovely ride, folks! I hope that you enjoyed it as much as I did.

D.

The Aftermath

Monday evening, Sheldon opened the door to his apartment and entered for the first time since that night.

When they had returned to the apartment from the Castle, Penny took one look around and said, "Let's get out of here for the rest of the weekend." Sheldon had found himself inclined to agree.

They had both packed a bag, got in her car (and Sheldon deliberately ignored the 'check engine' light, just because he wanted to get away from conflict), and headed into the desert.

Palm Springs was beautiful, hot, and far enough from Pasadena and the Arctic Circle to let them both forget. It made it perfect.

They sat by a swimming pool (with Sheldon under an umbrella with zinc oxide covering two-thirds of his body), sipping drinks and relaxing.

Sheldon told her stories of his childhood, tales of his adventures in Europe, and the rest of the story concerning the Arctic expedition. Including how desperately he missed her, how he saved 'her' spot on the couch and forced Raj to continue sitting on the floor, how he read her emails repeatedly although he never answered even one. All the secrets that he thought he would keep forever he spilled to her; it cleansed him and gave him peace within, something that he needed badly and never realized.

She confessed as well. About her infatuation for Sheldon, how she tried unsuccessfully to hide her growing feelings for him. How she wished that he had showed his interest on that very first meeting. How she thought that they had wasted precious time before realizing what they were together. How much she relied on alcohol to make her feel better about herself and subsequently, make her feel better about her job, her relationships, and her failures.

They were in bed after a rousing bout of coitus when Sheldon decided to raise the question of their current relationship. "What is this, Penny?"

She raised her head, gasping for air. "What is what, Sheldon?"

"What are we doing? Is this just a dalliance for you, friends with benefits, or is it something more?"

She got up and paced the room, completely forgetting about her nudity. "When it all started, Sheldon, I was just pissed and wanted revenge. For you. I wasn't thinking of how Leonard treated me like I was some kind of empty-headed doll, just how badly he had treated you."

She turned back to face him and said, "Now? Now I can't be certain what this is. When I'm with you, I feel…complete. That's the only word I can think of to describe it, complete. I don't feel like I need to weigh every word or action, or to pre-think anything. If I want to do something I do it, say something I say it. There's no second-guessing myself because you take me for face value, not what I can do for you. I'm not just arm candy or a convenient date, but someone who is actually involved with you. When I was with Leonard, I felt like a trophy girlfriend. You would never treat me like that, would you?"

"No, I would not. You are not a possession, Penny."

She nodded. "I…care about you. More than I ever thought I would when we first met."

"That sounds like an emotional attachment, Penny. I have to confess, I feel the same way."

She waited and he continued. "I do not understand feelings, Penny. I have never been that good with human emotions or touch. I have always been apart from everyone and was glad to be that way, if only because it prevented me from suffering from close physical contact. It—it frightens me. Why would one want to experience such a loss of control? Then I met you."

He sat upright, the sheets pooling in his lap. "You have always challenged me to understand things that I had no desire to before. Feelings, touch, now coitus—but in doing so, you have changed me. You made me want to feel things and have since the day you moved in next door. You made me see a world of color when I was blind and ignorant of the possibilities. I had no idea that interpersonal relationships could be so rewarding and fulfilling."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." He looked at her and gave her the same shy, little-boy-lost look that he had the day they met, standing by his whiteboard. "I would like to learn more about normality, Penny, from you. Only from you. Would you be my teacher?"

She laughed and crossed the room to sit in his lap. "Oh, honey, I don't know a thing about being normal. The only thing I know about is being me. I don't know if I want you messed up like that."

He combed his fingers through her hair. "I do not believe that you are dysfunctional, Penny. In fact, I believe that you are the most functional human being I know."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly. "Let's see what happens with this. If we both decide that this paradise isn't optimal, we will part as friends."

"Do you mean paradigm?"

She gave him a gentle smile and pushed his hair out of his eyes. "Paradise, paradigm—they're both the same when you're talking about us, aren't they?"

Later, as he watched her sleeping next to him with a sweet, contented smile on her face, he found that in this case, he would have to agree.

He opened the door to his apartment and entered to find his erstwhile friends inside, waiting for him.

Leonard jumped off the couch, and then winced at the sudden movements. As he rolled his shoulders and shifted in place, he asked, "Sheldon, where were you? We were worried. We even called your mother."

Sheldon refused to look at any of them as he shrugged off his jacket and placed it carefully on the back of the desk chair. "You did not have to do that, Leonard. If you would have looked in your room, there is a letter of intent for you to vacate within the next thirty days. Also, a document that nullifies the Friendship Clause of the Roommate Agreement. I would appreciate if you would have it signed and notarized and back to me forthwith."

"I found them. Sheldon, about the expedition…" Leonard started. Sheldon ignored him and picked up his bag. Leonard stepped forward and Sheldon neatly bypassed him to head down the hall.

He paused at the entrance to the hall, not turning. "Yes?"

"We went to Gablehouser and Siebert today. We laid it on the table and you've been exonerated. We—we told them how we tampered with the results of the experiment and…falsified the results." Leonard looked at the floor. "We told them about everything. How we misled you, how we encouraged you to write the email—all of it, Sheldon. All of it."

Sheldon turned to face them. "Well, that is heartening to hear. What made you decide to do that?"

They looked at one another and Raj was the one who spoke up. "We've been shown the error of our ways. Can we leave it at that?"

"No, Rajesh, I don't think that we can leave it at that. What massive occurrence would force the three of you to confess your betrayal to the department head and president of the university? It must have been life-changing for you to take such a drastic step." Sheldon carefully put his case on the floor and folded his hands behind his back, showing his intent to wait for the answer

"Oh, yeah, it was life changing. It was." Leonard twisted his fingers together and stared at his friend. "It was enough to make me rethink everything I've thought up to this point. I haven't been honest with myself about a lot of things and I haven't been fair to you, buddy. I've never been fair to you and for that, I'm sorry."

Sheldon tried to feel bad for Leonard and found his heart had turned to stone where his friend was concerned. "Apology accepted, Leonard, but I fear that you have destroyed any chance at maintaining a friendship with me. I do not believe that I could ever trust you in the same way again."

"I don't blame you." He saw Sheldon's raised eyebrow and repeated, "No, I really don't blame you. I've never really been a very good friend to you, have I?"

"That is opinion, Leonard, not fact. As a scientist, I deal in facts, not opinion or conjecture."

"Yeah, I guess. Anyway, I think that I'm going back to Jersey. Maybe have my mom hook me up with some counseling. I've not been…the healthiest person in the world and I need to get some things right in my head. I've…discovered some things about myself recently that I need to understand and time and distance from who I was…well, I think that it would be best."

Sheldon inclined his head in agreement. "As do I."

"Will you need a new roommate, Sheldon?" He glanced at Raj and saw the eager anticipation on his face. It was true that at one time, he would have considered Raj to be the perfect replacement for Leonard, but he was weak-willed. Another consideration was the amount of time Howard would be spending there. He could tolerate small doses of the smarmy behavior, but day in and day out? It was repugnant, to say the least. He already had an idea, however, and he decided to voice it and damn the repercussions.

"I will ask Penny to move in here, Raj. Does that satisfy your insatiable curiosity?"

Leonard got a strange look on his face at the mention of his obsession. "Oh…oh, that's good. That's good for both of you."

"Yes. It will be optimum for both of us. She will not have to live in a chaotic maelstrom or a cardboard box full of shoes, she will have regular meals instead of wine and free Wi-Fi, and I will have a friend who will watch my back."

Leonard had the grace to look ashamed. "Yeah, my room will be perfect for her. I'll be out by next weekend. I just have to tie up a few loose ends at the university before I resign my position."

"That fits with our timetable as well." He picked up his suitcase and headed to his room, done with that particular conversation. He ignored their reaction to his plural pronoun.

'Our timetable', Howard mouthed to Leonard.

Raj and Howard both shrugged. Who could tell with those two?

Penny bounced in the door with a smile on her face and saw them sitting there in the living room, not speaking, watching television. At her greeting, Leonard flinched, Howard looked miserable, and Raj looked serenely back at her. "So, how was your weekend?" she asked with a grin.

"Fine. Fine. It was fine," Leonard said, not looking at her. "How about yours?"

"Fun in the sun and sleeping in every day. It was…memorable." She got that secretive smile that Leonard recognized from her previous relationships and his heart cracked just a little bit more. Although he knew that he had killed any attraction she had for him, he still had a small grain of hope in his chest until that moment. Even after she had pegged him so violently Saturday night, he still thought that she was bluffing.

Sheldon came out of his room and joined her. She kissed him hello, wrapping herself around him and clinging like a limpet. She smiled up at him and said, "So, are you ready?"

"Yes, I do believe that I am, Penny." He untangled their limbs and reached for his jacket on the back of his desk chair.

"You are not wearing that ratty thing. Here's one." She went around the couch and reached in the closet to grab his leather jacket.

Their faces were almost comical. Leonard's looked like a fish gasping for air, his mouth opening and closing repeatedly. Howard's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. Raj just looked at them, stunned.

Sheldon, looking almost smug, shrugged on the jacket and winced at the residual pain in his shoulder. "Thank you, Penny. I cannot consider this an everyday jacket, however, because it lacks adequate insulation."

"Well, you're not wearing that old thing—it makes you look like somebody's grandfather. Let's go get some Chinese food, Shelly-bean. See you guys later." She grabbed his hand and they were out the door before the other three men could react.

The guys looked at one another, shock etched on their features. "Do you think…?" Leonard started.

"Naw, it couldn't have been him. Could it?" Howard said.

"Does it matter? We paid for our actions. We confessed. Actually, I'm surprised we were allowed to retain our jobs." Raj got to his feet and headed for the door. "As for me, I'm going home to think. I think that we all need to think about what happened—not only this weekend, but in the Arctic as well."

"Yeah. I'm—I'm gonna head out too, Leonard. I'll see you tomorrow." Howard stood and he and Raj headed out of the door together.

He listened to their fading voices as they receded down the stairs.

"You've been awful Zen about everything since Saturday, Raj."

"I had an epiphany, Howard. I think that we all did, in our way. I noticed you…."

Leonard sat in the empty apartment, staring at the walls around him. How had it come to this? He had been popular for once, with friends surrounding him and infatuated with the hot blonde across the hall. Now he was alone, questioning his sexuality and his geeky roommate was out with the blonde.

It didn't seem fair. Then again, nothing was fair about love. He shook his head. Life wasn't fair. God, this was maudlin. Maudlin and pathetic.

With a new sense of fait accompli, he decided to sleep. Sleep would be good. Maybe he could dream of a better future, without all the ambiguity and questions. And the thought that Sheldon bested him once again, this time getting the girl.