4 4) The Middle Earth Paradigm (S1)

It had been a month since Sheldon started going to the Cheesecake Factory, although they had grown closer with Penny it was normal hanging out stuff. Mostly she had been coming over since they were offering her dinner, and since she loved eating take out a lot then she was over for free food.

Sheldon also had slept with two girls during this time but really hadn't spent much time into looking for a girl, well that isn't entirely true. He had been going around different comic books stores looking for Alice, he had decided he wanted to see if he could get with her, she seemed like a great girl to hang around with so why not.

Penny and him also had some more movie nights, though a lot of them included the guys coming over and joining them, Leonard had gotten jealous after they did it the first time. It was so bad that he questioned Sheldon every time he was leaving the apartment any time after eight, which just annoyed Sheldon to no end.

He finally had to sit the short man down and straight tell him that there was nothing going on between him and Penny, still he didn't believe it but he backed off when Sheldon threaten to punch him.

At the moment the guys were all walking inside the apartment building, they had just come back from playing paintball, Sheldon didn't understand why the other three were still dressed though. He took his gear off when they were leaving the place, they kept it on for some reason, which is why he made them all ride in Leonard's car on the ride back.

Now they were all just going to the apartment to hang out, "Okay, if no one will say it then I will. We really suck at paintball." Raj said as they began to make the walk upstairs.

"Speak for yourself, I only got shot twice. You three looked like you were running around without heads though, I am glad my dad taught me to be patient when hunting it helped when it came to that today." Sheldon said shaking his head, they really did suck but he didn't want to be compared to them.

"That is true, you still played better then all of us. Come on though some battles you win, some battles you lose." Leonard said with a smile trying to cheer the other two up.

"Yes, but you don't have to lose to Kyle Bernstein's Bar-Mitzvah party." Howard commented dryly looking back at Leonard whose smile dropped hearing that.

"I think we have to acknowledge, those were some fairly savage pre-adolescent Jews" Leonard said still trying to build moral.

"Well if you all would have calmed down and listened to me then it wouldn't have happened that way. You might have actually been able to shoot one of them if you followed what I said, instead you ignored me." Sheldon said rolling his eyes, they couldn't even follow the simplest of commands.

At least they all looked upset about that, "Oh hey guys." Penny said as she was rounding the corner they all meeting up on the third floor.

"Hello Penny." Leonard said with a wide smile forgetting what happened earlier like it was nothing.

"Morning Ma'am." Howard said trying to flirt again, but that might not be the best pickup line someone could come up with in his opinion.

"Good to see you today Penny." Sheldon said nodding at her which got a big smile from her.

"So how was paintball, any fun?" She asked looking over the other three who were covered in blue paintball splatter.

"They don't know how to follow orders well, but I enjoyed it." Sheldon said while the others gave her nervous smiles over the fact that it was because they didn't follow what he said that got them in this situation.

She giggled while shaking her head, "I'm having a party on Saturday so if you guys are around you should come by. Since it is Halloween I decided to throw a party, come in your best costume guys, it is just going to be a bunch of my friends there."

"Costume party you say?" Howard says the other guys were already looking excited ready to pick out their best costume. Sheldon could only hope that they didn't all choose the flash costume like last time, it would be just stupid if they all picked the same one out.

He was already thinking of idea's in his head, he usually went to this club that threw a costume party but he decided that he would stop by, seeing that hers was also costume he would just wear it there first. "That sound's like a good time, do you want us to bring anything?" He asked while the others thought over their costume idea.

"No that is okay, I am going to go shopping before hand so that I can have everything for the party before hand." She said with the shake of her head while smiling at how thoughtful he was being.

"Sounds good. Though I will come by a little early to help you move around some things in you apartment, no offense but the place is small so we need to make some room for it." He said with a small smile.

"Oh, I didn't even think of that, that is a good idea. Come on by at least thirty minutes before so that we can set everything up." She said with a smile while walking past them she was on her way to work, if her uniform was anything to go by, "And thanks again Sweetie for offering to help."

"No trouble Penny." He said with a smile.

"Gentleman, to the sewing machines!" Howard said as the other three started making their way up the stairs again.

Sheldon could only shake his head, he was going to call a tailor shop for his costume, he wasn't going to slave over a machine to make his own, that was what the money he had saved up was for. He could do that later though.

////////

"You sure have been talking about this girl Penny and writing about her a lot in your letters Moonpie." His MeeMaw said as they were talking on the phone that Saturday a couple of hours before the party.

At the moment he was in the bathroom putting dye in his hair, although it wasn't long lasting it was useful for his costume, he also had some face paint sitting there too. "Well she has become a close friend MeeMaw, but not in the way you are thinking, she is just someone fun to hang around." He said with a smile while talking to her.

His smile seemed to never leave his face when he was talking to her or his mom, although he still didn't agree with his mother on the whole religious thing it didn't mean they weren't close. Mary Cooper still believed she could get him converted one day though so he let her talk about it, didn't help that he knew the Bible backwards and forwards.

Still he always loved their debts on the matter, it also helped that sometimes his siblings would join in, though Missy seemed to agree with their mom a lot more these days. Though she couldn't really talk seeing the way she lived her life, she was bound to have a child out of wedlock soon.

"I am just saying, this girl seems to put you in a good mood and you have been spending a lot of time with her. It might do you some good to try and see where you can take your relationship with her, who knows she might even be the one for you." She said and he could clearly hear the smile in her voice as she said it to.

He sighed, she had brought this up many times but he could honestly say he saw Penny as a sister, they had just spent so much time as friends that he now just put her in the friend zone. He didn't see anything happening romantically between the two of them.

"Well if anything ever happens you will be the first to know MeeMaw." He said trying to placate the woman so she would stop trying to convince him to be with Penny.

"Good, I can't only rely on Missy and George to give me great-grandbabies I also want you to settle down and find the right girl. You are not getting any younger, you will need to find someone to settle down with soon." She said while sighing lightly into the phone.

He nodded, he didn't plan to spend his whole life alone either, he just wasn't in a rush to actually be with anyone at the moment, he might be looking for Alice but who knew how that would go. As for kids he was waiting a long time until that happened, he didn't think he could handle any kids at the moment.

"I promise you MeeMaw that I will have kids before you pass, which hopefully never happens," she chuckled lightly hearing that, "Also if it is a girl I will be naming her after you, so you will always be here in memory." He said while getting ready to put the face paint on.

"Awe, thank you Moonpie! Well I will let you go, have a good Halloween Moonpie." She said but he could hear the big smile in her voice.

"Alright you have a good night MeeMaw." He said while hanging up the phone.

Shaking his head at the phone he went back to putting the face paint back on, he didn't know why she was pushing it so much but he wasn't going to change any time soon. He might have gotten along better with his family, and she might be his favorite of them all, but that didn't mean he wanted settle down yet.

Setting that to the back of his mind he finished the last of the face paint, happy with the results he went to his room, looking at the suit that was on the bed he started to put it on. He was glad that the tailor shop was able to do it in a week, even with it being Halloween he was still able to get it done.

He put on the striped purple pants first, then the hexagon purple shirt along with the dot tie, he then put the forest green vest over the shirt. Nodding he grabbed the purple over coat and put it on, looking in the mirror he nodded loving what he was seeing.

Yes he was The Joker, if it wasn't obvious. He used Heath Ledger as a overview before choosing what he looked like, he admitted it looked amazing.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

Sheldon walked over grabbing his phone and looking to see who was calling him, it turned out to be Penny, "Hey Sweetie, I just got back to the store and am getting ready. You can come over now and set up if you want."

"Alright, I will be there soon." He said with a smile before hanging up.

Putting on his socks and shoes he left, he didn't bother to check on Leonard but he could hear him getting ready inside the room, he didn't think he could help anyway. Walking out the apartment he walked right over to Penny's and smiled before knocking.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Penny!"

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Penny!"

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Penny!"

He could hear her laughing as she opened the door, she was still in her normal clothes as she opened it with a smile, "Is that really necessary Sweetie?"

Smiling he leaned over kissing her on the cheek, "Of course it is Penny, I have to annoy you sometimes." He said while walking inside the apartment.

"Well that is true. You look amazing by the way, you are The Joker. right?" She asked as he looked around the room.

He nodded while pushing the couch back, "Yes, now go get ready while I get this living room figured out."

She giggled while nodding and walking out the room, "Alright well see you in a little, and thanks again Sweetie."

Not bothering to reply he went back to moving the things around, he set the couch against the wall while moving the small table into the closet. Nodding he then started to sweep and vacuum the living room, he wanted to make sure the place was clean enough for the people she was having over.

When he was done in the living room he went to the kitchen, he only found two big bowls though so he went to his own apartment to grab some. After getting back he set up all the snacks, finished with those he opened the cooler and poured the ice in before putting the drinks inside.

She had also bought some lights to put up which he started setting up, it wasn't a big party nor one for kids so he didn't play Halloween music. He did connect her Ipod to it and went to look through her music, he already set everything up so he went ahead and sat down to wait.

While he was waiting he played some mobile games, though the best they had were tetris, one thing about being in the past was that phone games weren't that advanced.

"How do I look?" Penny asked as she walked into the living room again, Leonard and the rest were here earlier but he had told them to go back until the party started.

Looking over at her he was speechless for a moment, she was in her cat costume and she just looked beautiful. With cat ears and a pink color along with the black dot she looked adorable, she had on a black furry bra with a pink bow in the middle of it along with a black frilly skirt with a black tail sticking out the back.

"Where is the tail connected." He couldn't help but ask as brought himself back from staring at her, though from her sly smile it was obvious that she noticed him staring at her.

She smirked, "It is apart of the Skirt, where else do you think it could be?" she asked with a flirty smile.

He shook his head at her, "Well can you blame me? You look really sexy in that costume there is no way that I can not stare at you, or wonder where the tail is connected at."

She blushed, "Thank you." She said quietly before hearing a knock on the door, which brought them out of the quietness that took over the room as they started at one another.

//////////

"So you guys enjoying yourselves? I mean have you even attempted to talk to anyone yet?" Sheldon asked looking at Raj, Howard and Leonard who were against the wall scanning the crowd of people. Raj was still Thor, Leonard a Hobbit (fitting), and Howard he could be both Robin Hood and Peter pan, though he looked more like Peter Pan

"We are just trying to get some time for the party to pick up more, I am sure we will get out there soon." Leonard said while watching Penny as she walked by to welcome someone who had just shown up.

"Sure you are, well I am going to enjoy myself and meet some new people, you guys go ahead and keep hugging the wall." Sheldon said tipping his soda to the three of them and walking off, he wasn't going to sit around with them all night. They also needed to learn to branch out on their own, if they didn't the they would be forever alone.

Walking around it wasn't until he was getting another soda that he was stopped by someone, "Okay seriously this is frustrating me, I talked to Penny earlier and she said you look good under the face paint and suit, is that true?" A girl who was dressed as a sexy policewoman asked as she stood beside him.

Sheldon raised a brow, "I would have to agree with her on that, though with this face paint and stuff you can't really tell."

She nodded, "Well my name is Anna, yours is Sheldon right?"

He nodded, "Yeah, so how do you know Penny?"

She sighed before answering, "Well me and Penny were roommates before she moved in with Kurt, then after she broke up with him I already had another roommate so she got this place."

"Ahh I see. I live next door, my roommate is that little guy over there who is trying to flirt with that woman, though he is hopelessly obsessed with trying to be with Penny." Sheldon said while rolling his eyes.

Anna nodded, "That's cool. I can see him going after Penny, she is a good looking woman and seems to draw every guy to like her, if not at first then slowly over time, it always happens. Has it happened to you yet?"

He laughed, "No, we are close but I see her as more of a sister, but at the same time we couldn't match well. She is to messy of a person for me."

Anna laughed, "Yeah I had that same problem with her when we lived together, she always seemed to want to go out and do something rather then cleaning."

"Sounds like Penny. So what do you do for a living?" He asked, she was a cute girl not overly beautiful or anything like that but she still looked amazing. She actually reminded him of the actress Katrina Law, that was the closest person he could compare her to if he had to choose an actress.

"I'm a resident at Pasadena General Hospital. I started my rotations as a resident just last month actually, it has been fun, but it takes a lot of my time. What about you, what do you do?" She said with a shake of her head.

"I work as--" He was cut off as Penny stepped in between the two of them while smiling at both of them, though he thought he saw something pass in her eyes as she looked back at him.

"Hey guys! I see you two have finally ran into one another, what are we talking about?" She said, it didn't escape his notice that she moved Anna a little further away from him, he only shook his head seeing that.

"Well I was just talking to your very beautiful friend Anna here about what she does for a living." Sheldon said as he finally opened his drink and took a sip out of it.

Her eyes dimmed some as she heard that but she hid it well, "Oh yeah! How is that going by the way?"

Sheldon shook his head as they got into a conversation about it, he could see Anna looking at him with a playful smile, which he returned. She was a nice, smart, funny and good conversationalist they actually made plans to have dinner, when she wasn't on call again at the hospital of course.

Penny didn't look to happy about it but she was called away by someone so she walked away, though she did send them looks over her shoulder as she did walk away. Anna only rolled her eyes as she talked about it, he could see she was insecure when it came to Penny, although they were close it seemed like she was really jealous.

After talking awhile Sheldon noticed what was happening by the door, he could see that Leonard was confronting Kurt for being around Penny. "Hold that thought, it seems my roommate is in trouble." Sheldon said walking over leaving Anna behind who nodded at him, he made it right when Leonard was being picked up.

"Hey how about you put him down before I make you." Sheldon said walking right up to the man.

"What's this now? You going to do something Drag Queen?" Kurt said laughing as he set Leonard to the side.

"Please Sheldon don't it isn't worth it." Penny pleaded stepping in front of him and holding his arms at his side pouting at him.

"Yeah little Drag Queen move along before you get hurt." Kurt said adding fuel making Sheldon even more mad.

Sheldon looked down at Penny who was looking at him with pleading eyes, it was obvious she didn't want anything to happen tonight, she was trying her best to stop him. They stared at one another as everything else melted into the background, since he didn't like to physically handle women he didn't try to move her out the way.

Nodding he calmed down while still looking at her, "Kurt you need to leave now!" She knew that Sheldon would go after him if he was to stick around and she didn't want anything to happen, she was worried more about Sheldon hurting Kurt then Sheldon being hurt.

Kurt growled but took off like she asked, "Leonard, are you okay?" Penny asked after Kurt took off.

"Yeah, no, I'm fine. It's good, it's a good party, thanks for having us, it's just getting a little late so…." He backed out the apartment before heading back to theirs with a downcast expression.

"Oh, okay, alright, well thank you for coming." She said looking a little downcast at seeing him take off, "Are you also leaving?"

He nodded seeing that Anna was walking over, "Yeah, Anna is taking off since she has work in the morning and I think I have had enough excitement for the night."

That made her even more downcast but she nodded, kissing her cheek he followed Anna out since he agreed to walk her to her car, she didn't seem to mind what happened earlier. "So you are going to call me right?" she asked with a playful smile.

He nodded, "Of course I am, well when you are free at lunch tomorrow of course."

She giggled nodding before kissing his cheek and getting into her car and taking off. He watched her turn the corner before going inside the building himself.

///////

Later that night Sheldon was in bed before he felt someone crawl in next to him, the smell of strawberries let him know it was Penny, "Why are in you in my bed so late, what time is it anyway?" he asked not moving but allowing her to crawl under the covers.

"Well I just wanted to make sure you were okay after what happened tonight." she said while snuggling into his side.

"Yeah I am fine. Why was he there though?" he asked while pulling her closer and closing his eyes, he could still talk to her and try and get some sleep.

"Well, I ran into him last week and, he was… just, all apologetic, about how he's changed, he was just going on and on and I believed him, and I'm an idiot because I always believe guys like that and…" She said while bursting into tears, he only knew that because his shoulder was now getting wet as she laid her head on it.

Sighing he held her tighter kissing the top of her head, "Calm down Penny. You are not an idiot, you just wanted to believe and see the best in someone you loved, hoping that they really changed. There is nothing wrong with that."

"Leonard said kind of the same thing calling me perfect and all that, then I drunkenly kissed him.... god why can't I just accept when someone is being nice and not mess it up." She said groaning as she leaned into him move.

He froze though and pushed her back a little, "You mean to tell me you kissed Leonard knowing how he feels about you, then climbed into bed with me just repeating the same things?"

She nodded hesitantly.

Sighing he pulled her in close, "Well he was wrong you are a mess, but that is what our twenties are for anyway. I am not going to fault you for any of that since it is you, just make sure to learn from you past mistakes."

She nodded on his shoulder while snuggling into him more, "Thank you for understanding Sheldon, you are the best friend any girl could ask for. Do you mind if I sleep here tonight?"

He shook his head, "Just make sure you don't do it every night, your snoring can get a little over the top."

She giggled while hitting his chest, "Shut up... Goodnight Sheldon."

"Goodnight Penny." He said kissing the top of her head and closing his eyes again as she leaned her head down on his chest holding him tight.