fic: The White Lie
Title: The White Lie (1/10)
Word Count: 915
Rating: PG
Spoilers: None in this chapter
Summary: Sheldon's grandmother comes to visit, but Mary may have misled her about Sheldon's romantic status... suddenly Penny finds herself helping Sheldon lie to his Meemaw.
A/N - Yes, I know I have about 100 WIPs, but this is really stuck in my head at the moment. Grr. Anyway, it's all planned out, so hopefully I'll be able to update it pretty quickly. This chapter is very introductory and short; the real fun will start in the next part.
This will probably be buried under a ton of posts about tonight's episode, but c'est la vie. I haven't seen it yet, but can't wait! :D
Anyway, enjoy.
The White Lie, Part One
Penny was in the guys’ apartment eating Thai food when Sheldon’s mother called for him. America’s Next Top Model was on so they were all pretty occupied with the TV, but they couldn’t fail to notice the stricken look on Sheldon’s face when he walked slowly back to the sofa and sank down onto his spot.
All four of them sat watching him, waiting for him to say something, but he just sat there silently staring at his half-eaten noodles.
“What’s wrong?” Leonard said eventually.
Sheldon’s head snapped up and his eyes fixed on Leonard. “My grandmother is visiting friends in Napa this week and is planning to drop in for a surprise visit on Thursday,” he told him.
Leonard nodded. “Oookay?” He said. “What’s the problem?”
Sheldon swallowed. “My mother told my grandmother that I have a girlfriend,” he said after a moment.
Leonard’s eyes widened. “What?”
“And now she expects me to play along with the deception,” Sheldon added. “That’s why she’s ruined Meemaw’s surprise.” Penny glanced down and noticed that he was gripping his knees so hard his knuckles were white.
Leonard looked nonplussed. “Why would she tell her you have a girlfriend?” He asked.
Sheldon’s mouth tightened with disapproval. “Apparently it is a ‘white lie’,” - he made air-quotes as he spoke - “told because Meemaw is old and would like to know that I am ‘settling down’.” More air-quotes.
Leonard nodded slowly. “Ah.”
Sheldon finally looked away from Leonard, and turned his head to look at Penny who sat next to him, then down at Raj who sat on the floor next to her, and then at Howard who was opposite him in Leonard’s desk chair. Finally he looked back at Penny. “What do I do?” He asked, a hint of panic in his voice.
Penny shrugged, but as sympathetically as she could. “Play along I guess - if the thought of you with a girlfriend makes your grandma happy, what’s the harm?” She asked.
It was obvious from the condescending look he was now given her that Sheldon thought the idea of playing along was a stupid one, and Penny was rolling her eyes as he started speaking. “Alright, assuming that I accept your premise, how do you suggest I ‘play along’?” He asked her. “You know I cannot lie.”
Hmm. True - Sheldon was a pretty atrocious liar.
Leonard put down his food and sat forward on the armchair. “That’s not true - you can, you just need a good cover-story,” he said. Sheldon turned to look at Leonard, who gave him an encouraging smile. “And you’ve got three days to come up with something,” he added.
Penny nodded. “Yeah!” She said. “Actually it’s good that she’s coming suddenly, because you can tell her your girlfriend’s out of town.”
Sheldon looked at her appraisingly for a moment before sighing and shaking his head. “With anyone else that might work… but I can’t lie to Meemaw,” he said.
Penny shrugged again. “Well then just tell her the truth when she gets here,” she said. “You don’t have to go along with it.”
Sheldon shook his head. “I just promised my Mom that I would,” he said.
Penny rolled her eyes. “Well then Sheldon you need to decide what you want to do - lie to your Meemaw or break your promise to your Mom,” she said, not feeling nearly as sympathetic now. Really, did he have to promise? He really brought these things on himself.
The look of complete despair that Sheldon gave her instantly made her feel bad for putting it so bluntly, and she sighed again.
“Sheldon, buddy, it’s okay,” Leonard said. “We’ll come up with something really good. Something un-unravellable.”
Sheldon gave Leonard a look and they had a strange kind of telepathic conversation for a moment that Penny didn’t even try to understand. She shook her head, “It’ll be easy - we’ll all help,” Penny told Sheldon, placing her hand on Sheldon’s arm. The fact that he didn’t give her so much as a look just went to show how tense he was. “We can say she’s away for work or something.”
“This is a golden opportunity,” Howard said suddenly. “You can create the ultimate fantasy girlfriend.”
“True - she can be anything, do anything,” said Leonard, smiling.
“We can find a picture online and get it framed for your desk,” said Howard.
“Good idea! We can write love letters,” said Leonard, warming to the task at hand.
“I’ll write them - I’m awesome at love letters,” Howard said, grinning slyly and winking at Penny. She glared at him, hoping desperately he wasn’t going to try out his dubious skills on her.
“We can -”
“No!” Sheldon said forcefully, cutting Leonard off. He stood up, his hands clenching and unclenching nervously. “I mean… I don’t know. Excuse me.”
And with that he hurried down the hallway.
They all heard his bedroom door slam shut, and stared at each other with wide eyes.
“Well,” Leonard said. “It’s gonna be exciting anyway.”
Howard grinned. “I’ll say - god, I hope he decides to lie. It would be a car wreck!”
Penny glared at Howard, but inwardly she kind of agreed with him. Not that she wanted Sheldon to make a fool of himself with his grandma or anything, it would just be interesting to see what Sheldon came up with. Maybe they would finally be able to answer that burning question: what the hell is Sheldon’s deal?
TBC
Word Count: 915
Rating: PG
Spoilers: None in this chapter
Summary: Sheldon's grandmother comes to visit, but Mary may have misled her about Sheldon's romantic status... suddenly Penny finds herself helping Sheldon lie to his Meemaw.
A/N - Yes, I know I have about 100 WIPs, but this is really stuck in my head at the moment. Grr. Anyway, it's all planned out, so hopefully I'll be able to update it pretty quickly. This chapter is very introductory and short; the real fun will start in the next part.
This will probably be buried under a ton of posts about tonight's episode, but c'est la vie. I haven't seen it yet, but can't wait! :D
Anyway, enjoy.
The White Lie, Part One
Penny was in the guys’ apartment eating Thai food when Sheldon’s mother called for him. America’s Next Top Model was on so they were all pretty occupied with the TV, but they couldn’t fail to notice the stricken look on Sheldon’s face when he walked slowly back to the sofa and sank down onto his spot.
All four of them sat watching him, waiting for him to say something, but he just sat there silently staring at his half-eaten noodles.
“What’s wrong?” Leonard said eventually.
Sheldon’s head snapped up and his eyes fixed on Leonard. “My grandmother is visiting friends in Napa this week and is planning to drop in for a surprise visit on Thursday,” he told him.
Leonard nodded. “Oookay?” He said. “What’s the problem?”
Sheldon swallowed. “My mother told my grandmother that I have a girlfriend,” he said after a moment.
Leonard’s eyes widened. “What?”
“And now she expects me to play along with the deception,” Sheldon added. “That’s why she’s ruined Meemaw’s surprise.” Penny glanced down and noticed that he was gripping his knees so hard his knuckles were white.
Leonard looked nonplussed. “Why would she tell her you have a girlfriend?” He asked.
Sheldon’s mouth tightened with disapproval. “Apparently it is a ‘white lie’,” - he made air-quotes as he spoke - “told because Meemaw is old and would like to know that I am ‘settling down’.” More air-quotes.
Leonard nodded slowly. “Ah.”
Sheldon finally looked away from Leonard, and turned his head to look at Penny who sat next to him, then down at Raj who sat on the floor next to her, and then at Howard who was opposite him in Leonard’s desk chair. Finally he looked back at Penny. “What do I do?” He asked, a hint of panic in his voice.
Penny shrugged, but as sympathetically as she could. “Play along I guess - if the thought of you with a girlfriend makes your grandma happy, what’s the harm?” She asked.
It was obvious from the condescending look he was now given her that Sheldon thought the idea of playing along was a stupid one, and Penny was rolling her eyes as he started speaking. “Alright, assuming that I accept your premise, how do you suggest I ‘play along’?” He asked her. “You know I cannot lie.”
Hmm. True - Sheldon was a pretty atrocious liar.
Leonard put down his food and sat forward on the armchair. “That’s not true - you can, you just need a good cover-story,” he said. Sheldon turned to look at Leonard, who gave him an encouraging smile. “And you’ve got three days to come up with something,” he added.
Penny nodded. “Yeah!” She said. “Actually it’s good that she’s coming suddenly, because you can tell her your girlfriend’s out of town.”
Sheldon looked at her appraisingly for a moment before sighing and shaking his head. “With anyone else that might work… but I can’t lie to Meemaw,” he said.
Penny shrugged again. “Well then just tell her the truth when she gets here,” she said. “You don’t have to go along with it.”
Sheldon shook his head. “I just promised my Mom that I would,” he said.
Penny rolled her eyes. “Well then Sheldon you need to decide what you want to do - lie to your Meemaw or break your promise to your Mom,” she said, not feeling nearly as sympathetic now. Really, did he have to promise? He really brought these things on himself.
The look of complete despair that Sheldon gave her instantly made her feel bad for putting it so bluntly, and she sighed again.
“Sheldon, buddy, it’s okay,” Leonard said. “We’ll come up with something really good. Something un-unravellable.”
Sheldon gave Leonard a look and they had a strange kind of telepathic conversation for a moment that Penny didn’t even try to understand. She shook her head, “It’ll be easy - we’ll all help,” Penny told Sheldon, placing her hand on Sheldon’s arm. The fact that he didn’t give her so much as a look just went to show how tense he was. “We can say she’s away for work or something.”
“This is a golden opportunity,” Howard said suddenly. “You can create the ultimate fantasy girlfriend.”
“True - she can be anything, do anything,” said Leonard, smiling.
“We can find a picture online and get it framed for your desk,” said Howard.
“Good idea! We can write love letters,” said Leonard, warming to the task at hand.
“I’ll write them - I’m awesome at love letters,” Howard said, grinning slyly and winking at Penny. She glared at him, hoping desperately he wasn’t going to try out his dubious skills on her.
“We can -”
“No!” Sheldon said forcefully, cutting Leonard off. He stood up, his hands clenching and unclenching nervously. “I mean… I don’t know. Excuse me.”
And with that he hurried down the hallway.
They all heard his bedroom door slam shut, and stared at each other with wide eyes.
“Well,” Leonard said. “It’s gonna be exciting anyway.”
Howard grinned. “I’ll say - god, I hope he decides to lie. It would be a car wreck!”
Penny glared at Howard, but inwardly she kind of agreed with him. Not that she wanted Sheldon to make a fool of himself with his grandma or anything, it would just be interesting to see what Sheldon came up with. Maybe they would finally be able to answer that burning question: what the hell is Sheldon’s deal?
TBC