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“Come on, Penny. Drink up,” Kurt’s hand tilts the bottle of Mike’s Hard Lemonade that Penny is holding toward her mouth.
“Stop it!” She hisses, jerking her head away. The motion causes the drink to splash onto her jeans. Kurt sniggers - he is well into the fourth beer of the six-pack he brought and they haven’t been here long.
“It’s really pathetic that someone as big as you can’t hold his liquor,” Penny snaps. She is just so annoyed by him right now. Actually, it really isn’t Kurt that is irritating her; it’s the fact that she is sitting on a fallen tree, choking on smoke from a badly prepared fire and the one person she wants to see has yet to materialize.
Penny suddenly feels a tremendous amount of sympathy for Linus sitting in his pumpkin patch.
Tommy is walking through the groups of kids by the creek. Occasionally, he looks over at Penny and she can read the concern in his eyes even from this distance. When he does that, she tries to smile or act like she is having a good time. It must be working since Tommy hasn’t approached her. Penny begins peeling the label off the bottle in her hand. She takes a half-hearted sip of her drink; its grown warm in her hand and the syrupy sweetness coats her tongue. She tilts her hand and lets half of it pour onto the ground.
“Hey, you drank some,” Kurt hugs her shoulders, “That’s the spirit.” Penny gives him a tight smile and takes another half-hearted sip. Kurt’s hand slides down to her hip and he pulls her closer to him. Penny tries to create some space between them but his grip is like iron.
“Where ya goin, Pen?” His breath is hot and reeks of beer. She feels his lips brush against her ear. She rolls her eyes. Now? He wants to fool around now?
“Kurt,” Penny pushes at his hand as it follows the curve of her waist up toward her breast, “Knock it off.”
“What is wrong with you tonight?” He demands. Penny shrugs.
“Nothing, sweetie. Can’t we just sit here and hold hands?” She smiles softly at him, “I feel like we never do that anymore.”
“Whatever,” Kurt drops her hand and gets up. He sways a bit on his feet before walking in the direction of the various coolers people have carried into the woods.
Penny watches him leave. Around her, people are talking, joking or stealing kisses. She places the bottle by her feet, hoping Kurt does not return with another one for her. She scans the crowd again but there are no new arrivals. Penny tosses a log on the fire and waits.
X
A knot in the trunk of the tree is pressed right into the base of her spine. Penny is trying to give herself over to the sensation of Kurt’s kisses, but every time he leans in, the tree grinds into her back. She’s going to be bruised for weeks. Penny can only imagine how it would feel if she didn’t have a jacket, a jersey and a tank top on.
“Oh, Penny,” Kurt moans. His kisses are hot, wet slaps against the side of her neck. His right hand is pulling at the collar of her shirt while his left keeps trying to slide under it. Penny looks up through the branches of the trees. She’s not sure how much more of this she can endure.
“Kurt!” Penny twists from the fevered motions of his hands which causes the underwire in her bra to twist into her soft skin, “Get off me! Just…get off!”
She knows it’ll take a minute for her words to break through the alcohol and hormones muddling his brain. He pulls back, breathing heavily and runs the back of his wrist over his mouth.
“What’s wrong?” He finally manages.
Penny glares at him as she slips her hands under her shirt to try to fix herself.
“That’s pretty hot,” Kurt comments, nodding at Penny’s hands.
She gets her bra back in place, “You’re disgusting,” and begins to walk back toward the clearing when he grabs her arm.
“Come back here,” Kurt squeezes the soft flesh but Penny bites her lip to keep from crying out. “Let me kiss it and make it better.” The force of his grip intensifies.
Penny narrows her eyes at him, “Let. Me. Go.” She knows one yell from her would bring her brother (who is inexplicably still here) running.
Kurt must have realized it as well since he releases her and holds his hands up in surrender. Penny spins on her heel and walks away though her knees are shaking. She really didn’t know what she would have done if he didn’t let go of her. Screaming for Tommy would have been such a girly thing to do.
“I should have just kicked him in the balls.” She mutters to herself as the light from the fire brightens the path before her. She stumbles over a branch and lands inches from the fire and in between the ugliest brown and maroon loafers she’s ever seen.
No way. Penny thinks as her eyes travel slowly up endless legs covered in khaki to the inevitable Flash t-shirt.
Sheldon arcs an eyebrow at her when their eyes finally meet.
“Now, see,” Penny says casually, still prone on her stomach but propping her chin up on her hands, “I would have gone with the Green Lantern/orange long sleeve shirt combination with those pants.”
“As if I would take fashion advice from someone sporting one earring and too drunk to keep to her feet,” Sheldon replies. One delicate hand reaches out to help her up. Penny slips hers into his and it feels exactly as she remembers right down to the callus on his thumb.
“Gee, Sheldon,” Penny brushes crumbled leaves and pine needles off her shirt front, “It’s like you never left.”
“Sarcasm?”
Penny blinks innocently, “Not at all,” then laughs as his brows draw together in confusion.
Sheldon clasps his hands behind his back and clears his throat, “Social custom dictates I ask how you have been and that we make banal chitchat to compensate for our ‘meet-cute.’”
“Yeah, “Penny answers, “We can skip that. What are you drinking?”
Sheldon opens his hand which is covering the label of the bottle in his hand, “Classic Coke.” He turns and next to the tree stump he was sitting on, there is a small cooler. Sheldon rummages around and is soon offering her an open Coke bottle, so cold vapor is escaping from the mouth.
Penny takes an eager sip - it’s like ice and she is suddenly reminded of the Coke she drank in her kitchen and how Sheldon’s eyes traced her every swallow.
“No one gets Coke as cold as you, Sheldon. I haven’t had one since you left.”
“Frozen CO2 - works every time,” his mouth hooks in a half smile, “It’s a shame I have to use the plastic bottles but dry ice causes glass to shatter.”
Penny nods and drinks more. She remembers how they would sit on the very rocks of this creek and drink Coke that was so cold it hurt and even that couldn’t provide relief from the heavy Galveston air.
“I’ve missed you,” Penny finally says.
Sheldon licks his lips and pushes his sleeves up to his elbows.
“I believe my presence here tonight indicates the feeling is mutual.”
“Then why didn’t you ever call? Write? Send a smoke signal for cryin’ out loud,” Penny puts the cap on the Coke.
“It seemed better that way,” Sheldon shrugs.
“For who?” Penny demands.
“Whom,” he corrects quietly.
“Oh, shut up!” She growls.
“Glad to see this reunion is going smoothly,” Missy sidles up to her brother. “Penny,” Missy nods and Penny smiles back. “Havin’ a good time, Shelly?”
“In some universe,” he mumbles, “At the moment, I am being scolded for my lack of communication. It’s almost like talking to Mom.”
Both Penny and Missy raise their eyebrows and share of look of he so didn’t say that.
“I’m surprised you’re out this late,” Penny snaps, “Don’t you turn into a pumpkin after 8:30?”
Sheldon stands to his full height. Penny steps back when she realizes he’s grown even more since she last saw him. In the dim light of the fire, the small details escaped her but, standing this close to him, she picks up on the very faint beard on his cheeks, the definition in his hands, and the sharpness of his chin. His voice still trembles and cracks but Penny’s pretty sure that’s a permanent condition and not puberty.
“If I could turn into anything, I most certainly would not pick a gourd,” Sheldon glowers, “Furthermore, the only reason I am enduring this bacchanal is…”
“Penny!”
She closes her eyes. Not now. Kurt is standing next to her, his arm thrown over her shoulder.
“Sheldon, you remember Kurt,” Penny begins, “Kurt, this is Sheldon Cooper.”
Kurt’s face lights with recognition but his smile is cold, “How’s it going?”
“How is what going?” Sheldon asks. Beside him Missy groans.
“What?” Sheldon is bewildered, “He used an unclear pronoun reference; I am merely asking for clarification.”
“Is this guy for real?” Kurt whispers loud enough for several people to hear. That is when Penny notices her brother is standing just behind Sheldon seemingly engaged in conversation with Junior and Missy which is odd. Penny blows air through her bangs - Tommy warned her to keep Kurt in check.
“Well, Sheldon, it was nice finally meeting you. For a while there I thought Penny made you up. See y’all later.” Kurt laces his fingers through hers and begins to walk off.
Penny digs her heels in, “Kurt, I’m not done talking to Sheldon here.”
“Seriously?” He scoffs.
“Quite,” Sheldon begins, “I was just about to explain to her….
Kurt whirls around; he is nose to nose with Sheldon but skinny genius is no match for football brawn.
“You know what, genius?” Kurt spits the word, “I don’t really care what you and Penny were about to do.” Kurt’s fists are clenched, “In case you didn’t notice, Penny’s with me now.”
“That did not escape my attention,” Sheldon murmurs, “However, we were ‘catching up’ and...”
Penny prays that Sheldon doesn’t use finger quotes but her prayers are unanswered. Kurt laughs, stopping Sheldon in mid lecture.
“What’s so funny?” Sheldon asks.
Kurt grabs the collar of his Flash t-shirt, "Listen, beanpole. You and Penny – that’s over so go find some other freak like you to dissect frogs or build a tree house with.”
“C’mon Kurt,” Penny starts to walk away, “Let’s just go.”
“The wise ones always fall to the fools,” Sheldon calls to her. Kurt is on him instantly.
“What did you just call me?” He shoves Sheldon back a good foot. Sheldon stumbles but keeps his footing. “Come on, say it to my face.”
“Kurt! Kurt!” Penny pleads, tugging on his shoulders, “He was talking to me.”
“Oh so now you insult my girlfriend?” Kurt lunges at Sheldon again who scrambles, Penny notices, back closer to her brother and his own. There is a crowd now in a semi-circle.
Kurt takes a wild swing. His punch lands right in the middle of Junior’s chest. Kurt bites his lip to keep from crying out; Sheldon is peering out from behind his brother.
“Tell me you wasn’t aimin’ for my little brother,” Junior’s voice is serene.
Kurt is speechless for just a moment before he regains his bravado, “And what if I was? He’s shootin’ his mouth off about me and my girlfriend.”
Junior shakes his head, “So you just start throwing punches? Seems a little extreme.”
“Is there a problem?” Tommy steps out from the crowd.
“Hey, Tommy,” Kurt lifts his hand then slowly lowers it when Tommy ignores him.
“Apparently,” Junior turns to Tommy, “We have a case here of liquid courage gone awry.” Tommy shakes his head.
“I can take him,” Kurt boasts. Junior looks over his shoulder at Sheldon who is still peering out from behind him.
“You could,” Junior agrees, “but then you’d have to deal with me and I’m pretty sure your Momma likes your face just the way it is.”
Kurt swallows a bit but doesn’t step back. Penny feels a light touch on her pinky. She looks down to see that Sheldon’s arm, hidden by both George and Missy, who worked her way to the fore, has snaked out and is trying to catch her hand. She takes a slow step to her right.
“I think it’s time you went home,” Junior steps forward, “It’s way past your curfew.”
Sheldon grabs her hand and pulls her through the crowd at a dead run.
Penny races alongside him as they fly deeper and deeper into the woods. Their feet automatically head for one of their many hiding spots down by the creek. Finally, Sheldon slows to a trot but holds onto her hand. Penny casts a sidelong glance at him.
“Sheldon, you’ve really brushed up on your chess tactics since you left, huh?”
He gives her a small smile, “Mwuhaha.”
X
Eventually, they come to the rocks. Sheldon steps aside to let Penny begin the climb first. With anyone else, she’d be flattered by such a chivalric gesture; with Sheldon she knows it’s pure survival - her job is to scare off the snakes that may be lurking on top.
He notices her shoulders shaking with silent laughter.
“Have I done something to amuse you?”
Penny looks over at him. The moonlight glints silver against his dark hair and seems to cast a faint glow to his eyes.
“Don’t ever change, okay, Sheldon.”
He blinks, “Change? Why would I do such a thing? I am practically at the apex of the evolutionary scale as it is.”
Penny clambers up the rocks. Perhaps she’ll leave just one snake.
Sheldon follows shortly after once she gives the all-clear. He finds her sitting on her favorite boulder, feet dangling over the edge of the small cliff. Penny knows her brother among others dive of this precipice into the cool waters below; she herself did it at the beginning of the summer. The rush was incredible and she would give anything to get Sheldon to take such a leap. He is content to sit beside her, though, imitating her position.
“What a beautiful night,” Penny comments. The stars are in full view and she waits for Sheldon to begin an astronomy lecture but he is oddly silent. “Hey,” Penny digs her elbows in his ribs. “You didn’t stage that elaborate escape plan back there just to sit here quiet as church mouse. What’s on your mind?”
“Things beyond your comprehension,” Sheldon replies.
“I know that,” Penny gestures toward the night sky. “But it is physically impossible for you to sit here and not tell me about Alpha Centauri or that dog one.”
“Sirius.”
“As a positive pregnancy test,” Penny snorts in laughter while Sheldon is stone-still beside her.
Suddenly he perks up, “Oh wait- you just made a pun! A play on the name Sirius with the more common homophone ‘serious.’” His breathy laugh makes Penny smile. Sheldon looks over at her. Their eyes meet and hold. Penny is acutely aware that the cicadas’ drone has dropped off and how very alone they are up here. The bonfire is a miniscule dot off to her right. Penny swallows and Sheldon mimics her action before sliding his hand into hers.
For once, Sheldon is not the one to ruin it all with his endless talking - she is.
“So you’re home until Sunday?” The hope if her voice is palpable
Sheldon shakes his head slowly. He hasn’t stopped staring at her; Penny’s pretty sure he hasn’t even blinked.
“I’m leaving tomorrow,” he answers. “I have important work that I need to finish. Junior offered to drive me back.”
“Oh,” Penny feels as small as that flickering dot of flame in the forest until a thought occurs to her, “But you’ll be back for, like, a month at Christmas, right?”
Sheldon tightens his grip on her hand and Penny swears she can feel the pounding of his heart where they are joined. Maybe it’s just hers. She notices he is shaking his head once again.
“Momma, Missy, Junior, Meemaw and, perhaps, my father will be coming to Austin to spend the holiday season with me.”
A small bundle of dread has lodged in Penny’s stomach. The entire Cooper clan going to Austin for Christmas? He’s not telling her something. She lays her head on his shoulder. For a brief second, she feels him rub his jaw against her hair before his body assumes its habitual stiffness once again.
Despite every warning bell in her head telling her not to ask the next question, she does anyway. She survived this cliff jump, after all.
“Summer, then?”
Sheldon sighs heavily. The sound causes her eyes to fill - it is so familiar and comforting. She listened to it day in and day out for two years of middle school. High school has been such a whirl of activity and studying that she managed to ignore how keenly she felt his absence. His sigh brings it all back.
“Just tell me,” She wipes a tear that is trailing down the bridge of her nose.
“I’m going to Germany at the start of second semester. I’ll be teaching and finishing up my first PhD while I am there. It is a tremendous opportunity and...”
“Stop it!” Penny manages thorough clenched teeth, “Stop talking. Stop explaining. Stop…justifying yourself to me.” She yanks her hand from his and walks to the edge of the drop-off, “Why go through all this tonight, then? What the hell was that all about if you’re just going to be gone in less than twenty four hours?” She groans in frustration.
“Penny…”
“No, Sheldon. Just no,” she keeps her back to him as she vents her rage, “When you left, I….I don’t even know how I managed. Seriously. New school. New teachers. Classes that are so much harder than I ever expected and this big gaping hole in my life where you used to be,” she takes in a breath, “I managed. I made friends, got involved…”
“Got a boyfriend,” Sheldon supplies.
“Yeah,” Penny finally faces him, “I did but that didn’t stop me hoping to find you on the front porch swing every freakin’ day when I came home.”
Sheldon is now sitting with his legs stretched out before him. His hands are clasped and his eyes slightly downcast. Anyone else would think he was the picture of contrition but Penny knows he is biding his time until she calms down enough to stop yelling. If she were closer, she’d see the nervous working of his jaw that always appears when people yell.
“So, why,” Penny throws her arms in the air, “ after I finally started to feel a little normal, did you cause all that ruckus tonight?”
“I don’t know,” is all he says.
Penny’s eyes bug out and she begins to step toward him, “You. Don’t. Know? I don’t think I have ever heard that sentence come out of your mouth until now.”
“It’s true,” Sheldon stands up, “I have gone through endless journals, used up at least three hundred dry erase markers and drank four gallons of warm milk trying to understand why you fill my thoughts every second I let my guard down.” He runs his hands through his hair, ruffling it in an uncharacteristic gesture of frustration. Penny almost can’t believe he deliberately made himself untidy. ‘It’s incredibly distracting,” he continues, “I can’t tell you how many times I begin to write the symbol for momentum and write Penny instead. Once, in front of a whole lecture hall.”
Even in the half-light, Penny can see the burn in his cheeks. She steps closer.
“I hypothesized, “Sheldon clears his throat, “that by seeing you tonight, I would exorcize those demons and be able to focus on my time in Germany with a clear head.”
“And?” Penny arches a brow.
Sheldon’s arms encircle her waist. His lips press down on hers but he does nothing else. Penny’s hand travels up to his forearm and, just like last summer, she opens her mouth a bit. The only difference this time is she knows more about the whys and wherefores of kissing. Sheldon holds her tighter against him as he follows her lead. Penny breaks the kiss briefly and catches his bottom lip with hers. Sheldon is eager, repeating every motion she makes and making her blood sing. A twig snaps like a gunshot and Penny pulls away; Sheldon’s lips chase after her to land on her cheek.
When she turns back to him, his eyes are dark, his lips reddened by the force of their kissing.
“You’ll write to me?” She phrases it as a question but her nails dig into his forearms changing it to a command.
“Everyday,” Sheldon swears.