Proper Visitor Protocol, Ch 1/?
Title: Proper Visitor Protocol
Chapter: 1/?
Pairings: Sheldon/Penny, Penny/Leonard, Sheldon/Amy
Rating: PG-13
Words: 2605
Summary: Penny is dating Leonard. Sheldon is dating Amy. So why does it seem like they spend all of their time with each other? And should they enjoy it, even the fighting, as much as they do?
Spoilers: Anything up to and including the season five finale.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.
A/N: Despite my time spent in other fandoms, this is my first foray into TBBT fanfiction. Hopefully I can do the Shenny relationship justice. Most of this will be from Penny's third-person POV, although I may occasionally take a look at things from Sheldon's view if it seems suitable. The romance aspect to this story will definitely be slow-moving (despite this chapter occurring after the events of the main portion of the story), so keep that in mind. I also intend to start and end each chapter with a few appropriate song lyrics for the events of the chapter. I will only include short excerpts from the song and the lyrics at the end of the chapter may not directly follow the lyrics at the start. Despite the lyrics, this is not a songfic as lyrics will not appear during the body of the chapter. This chapter's lyrics are from 'Speak Now' by Taylor Swift. Please read and review! Thanks!
Prologue: The Wedding Infiltration
I am not the kind of girl
Who should be rudely barging in on a white veil occasion
But you are not the kind of boy
Who should be marrying the wrong girl
How had she gotten here again? Penny wondered as she slipped through the large oak doors into the main room of the church. She definitely wasn't supposed to be here; she hadn't even received an official invitation. Yet here she was, sliding into a pew toward the back with the hope that she wouldn't be spotted.
She wasn't sure why she had come or what she was planning to do. Ugh. That thought had her burying her face in her hand, her long blonde hair forming a curtain around her. She wasn't going to do anything, she mentally chastised herself. She had already had this mental argument with herself on the plane earlier. Of course, she had also tried to fight the urge to buy the ticket last night and to get on the plane this morning, and she had lost those battles. She just needed to see for herself. If he was happy, she would sneak out before the vows were exchanged and they were announced man and wife.
Because she had to be wrong about the meaning of the e-mail that he had sent her yesterday.
Lifting her head, she brushed her waves back over her shoulders and scanned the room. The faces around her were so familiar and yet strangely foreign. She knew that she would no longer feel completely comfortable moving to the second pew on this side and sitting down with Howard (Bernadette was matron of honor) as if nothing had changed. It was completely probable that he would welcome her; it wasn't as if she had left on bad terms. Still. Six months. It had been six months since she had left Pasadena, and she only kept in regular contact with two people -- Bernadette and Sheldon Lee Cooper. The groom.
As her eyes slid over the crucifix hanging at the front of the room, Penny suppressed a snort. She still couldn't believe that they had chosen to get married in a church. Actually, the choice had his mom written all over it. This must be killing him. She knew that it wasn't his taste at all. In fact, he was probably in one of the back rooms having a total fit over the religious vibes that a church wedding sent out. Placing her fingers over her lips, she muffled a snicker. If he had his choice, he'd probably get married in his office or just go down to the courthouse and do the whole justice of the peace thing.
Amusement dying, Penny dropped her head onto the back of the pew and stared at the ceiling. She wouldn't have minded either of those scenarios, not if he was the one with her. Which was funny because she had always pictured a big fairytale wedding when she had thought about it in the past. She wasn't sure when her opinion had changed. Maybe it was when Howard and Bernadette had their tiny wedding on the rooftop. Perhaps it was when the man in question had held her when she cried despite his discomfort with the action. Or maybe it was a decision that she came to after so many hours spent together while she waited for her boyfriend to pay attention to her. Whichever it was, she just knew that the wedding itself wouldn't matter so much if he was the one she was slipping a ring onto. Yet here she was -- preparing to watch him marry someone else.
Why had she come here? Why would she torture herself like this? As he would say: it simply wasn't logical.
Silence settled over the room as the chatter died out. The sudden lack of noise pulled Penny's attention away from her misery and she raised her head back up. Staring forward, she saw that the male half of the wedding party had filed out of the back room. She scoped out the groom. He was standing next to Leonard and Raj. She drew in a sharp breath at the sight of him in a traditional black tux. He was gorgeous, but she knew from past experience that he would think he looked ridiculous. One corner of her mouth quirked up. He always thought that when he dressed in clothes that most people found appealing but she blamed that on his strange idea that fashion was completely determined the brightness of the colors.
As she took in his posture, she nibbled her lip. He was standing stiffly, even more so than usual. His hands were clasped behind his back in what she instantly recognized as an anxious gesture. He looked every bit the role of a nervous groom except that his gaze wasn't focused on the doors at the back of the church through which his blushing bride would enter. Instead, he was scanning the faces in the crowd with a frantic expression that she was all too familiar with. The difference was that he normally wore that look when he was stuck on some complicated physics problem that wasn't working out like he thought it should and that she didn't understand in the slightest.
When she realized that his eyes were close to landing on her, Penny ducked down so that she was hidden behind the pew in front of her. She didn't want him to know that she was here. Not that she thought that he was looking for her, but she just didn't want to interfere. And she knew him well enough to know that he would insist she change her seat so that she was sitting with at least his valued acquaintance (poor, poor Howard). She really didn't need a closer seat. From her current seat, it would be easy for her to slip out undetected once the nuptials were well underway.
Penny peaked over the edge of the pew in time to watch him end his glance around the room. Straightening back up, she saw the way his upper body turned away from the crowd. His suit fit so well that she could easily tell that his shoulders had slumped slightly, as if he hadn't found whoever it was he was looking for. He was clearly upset and every fiber of her being was screaming for her to go to him and smooth her hands across his strong back. But if she went up there, she'd probably just make a fool of herself and ask him to sing her 'Soft Kitty.'
Because sad and heartbroken was a kind of sick.
When the soft music that had filled the room as the guests waited changed, Penny turned to look at the door. She watched as first Missy and then Bernadette filed through the doors. Her eyes focused on her friend. She shook her head at the sight of the clearly curved belly that the blonde was carrying around. She had never thought that Bernadette would come around to the idea of children, and the other woman had explained that the only reason she had opened up to the idea was because Howard was the dad and she knew that she could count on him to be there for her through it all. The thought of Howard Wolowitz reproducing still terrified Penny to the point that she was watching for the other signs of the Apocalypse, but she had to admit that he adored Bernadette and had been a lot less skeezy since they had gotten married. The two of them together were actually kind of, dare she say it, sweet.
Penny never thought the day would come that she was jealous of Bernadette Wolowitz, but she really did want what she and Howard had. The problem was that she wanted it with the man who was saying 'I do' to another woman today.
Speaking of...the traditional bridal march started up, and Penny scrunched her face in distaste. She had never understood how something so harsh and blaring had become the standard for the last walk of a single woman. She had always thought that the steps up the aisle should be accompanied with something peaceful and joyous since they were the first steps into marriage. It seemed like it would only be good luck to start the whole marriage process with the right mood, and to her that didn't include the usual wedding march.
Penny didn't stand with the rest of the guests for fear that the groom would see her and stall the wedding to make her switch into what he deemed a proper seat. She was in the last pew and she didn't have anyone with her so she was sure that the small sign of disrespect (although she didn't actually mean any disrespect by it) would go unnoticed.
The bride was beautiful. Her dress was princess-pretty, and her brown hair was curled and pinned enticingly, topped with that damn tiara that Sheldon had bought her despite Penny's more practical suggestions. Amy had traded in her glasses for contacts for the day and she was walking down the aisle on her mother's arm since her father had died when she was still a kid. As she passed, Penny could see that Amy's eyes were glued to the front of the room, probably on the surprisingly dashing groom waiting for her at the end of the aisle.
Facing forward once again, Penny couldn't help but find her eyes drawn to him yet again. She expected to find him staring at Amy, as enchanted by her as everyone else in the room was. She was shocked to see that he was yet again frantically searching the crowd, a tic going in his left eyebrow. When he still didn't find what he was looking for, his eyes focused over the shoulder of the approaching bride on the oak doors that she had come through. Studying him, Penny could practically see the gears turning in that big ol' brain of his. When his leg twitched unconsciously forward, it suddenly hit her what he was thinking.
Holy crap on a cracker! He was thinking about running out!
As the pastor began to speak, Penny tuned him out, her mind racing with this new realization. Sheldon didn't want to get married today. She had translated his long e-mail with its complicated vocabulary correctly. But just as she knew that he wanted to escape, she also knew that he wouldn't. Not without a push in the right direction. His mama had raised him to be too much of a gentleman to leave someone at the altar.
Penny wiped her sweaty palms on the skirt of her short green dress. Could she do it? Could she give him the push that he had obviously been pleading for in his e-mail?
She didn't want to be that girl. She had never wanted to be that girl -- the one who breaks up a marriage. But they weren't married yet and wouldn't it be worse to let him go through with this wedding when she knew he didn't actually want it? When he was obviously considering leaving? When she was pretty sure that he felt the same way about her that she did him? Wouldn't letting him marry Amy do a great disservice to everyone involved? Her, him, and, most especially, Amy? Heaven knew that the brunette deserved to marry someone who wasn't spending their wedding thinking about leaving her.
'I feel a distinct obligation to follow through on my promise to Amy as I do not wish to see her discontented. However, I ponder that my own feelings are not as jovial as they should be as I approach my nuptials. I don't reject the reality that our affair of the mind is quite agreeable, yet I find that Amy's mental stimulation is incomparable to the physical, social, and emotional stimulus that unnecessarily complicated my life in your presence. I find that I am at a loss on how to proceed and require your assistance in determining my future course of action before I proceed down an irreversible path.'
The words of the e-mail floated through her head and she felt a bundle of nerves tangle in her stomach. She knew what she needed to do -- what he needed her to do (unless she had read it wrong). But was she brave enough to do it? Sure, she was a big ol' five when it came to sex, but could she be a big ol' five when it came to her heart? Sex was easy; it could be just for fun and it didn't have to mean anything. However, if she interrupted this wedding and asked Sheldon not to marry Amy, it would mean something. It was a huge risk because she would either get the man that she had slowly fallen in love with while she was dating his roommate or she would walk away with a shattered heart that would probably never recover. If she had translated his e-mail the wrong way, this could only end with the broken heart. But if she had deciphered it correctly...
"...speak now, or forever hold your peace."
The pastor's words filtered through her panic. She hadn't realized the ceremony had reached that point. This was the last chance for objections and if nobody said anything, the vows would come next, followed by the kiss, and the official pronouncement of the happy couple as man and wife. An anxious tingle crawled up her spine and as if her body was separate from her mind, she felt herself standing up.
A roomful of eyes turned to focus on her, including one beloved pair of piercing blue.
I hear the preacher say, "Speak now or forever hold your peace"
There’s the silence, there’s my last chance.
I stand up with shaky hands, all eyes on me.
A/N 2: That's it for the prologue, which as you can probably all tell is set in the future compared to the rest of the story. Next chapter will begin the tale of how the events of this chapter came to be. For anyone who's read any of my other stuff and is used to my sex scenes, I hope you're not too disappointed to learn that this story will stay firmly in PG-13/T-rated territory. I hope to see you guys back for the next chapter, and let me know what you thought of this one!
Chapter One: Disturbed Routines