It had been a gorgeous day.

Even now, sitting in the patch of evening sunlight on the floor, carefully layering another coat of Perfectly Pink nail polish onto her toenails, Penny could smell summer in the air. A nearby window, wide open to the street below, directed a waft indoors that was hypnotizing. Moist earth, a bit of road dust, the smell of the sun baking the old paint on the sill and the shouts of the neighbourhood kids at the park all floated through. If she closed her eyes, she could almost believe it was August, that she'd just smoothed on coconut scented tanning lotion, and was stretched out on the beach with the sun kissing her thighs as she drifted off to a wave lullaby...

Ok, so maybe Penny had never fully outgrown make believe. She didn't really care. The effect on her frayed nerves was more soothing than a massage and a therapists session.

Cheaper too. Which was why she was sitting there on the floor on a beach towel, wearing shorts and a tank top and painting her nails, thinking her way through the thoughts that had been muddling her mind since she had had the bright idea to take Sheldon dancing.

And he'd said he didn't dance, pah! He'd waltzed her right off her feet, once the groping businessman had moved on to Amy. The tall, gangly man next door could really move. And not just move, but dance, lead, command the dance floor. It was like her very own version of Dancing with the Stars. Just fun and games- a little bit of harmless enjoyment, she thought. But the next morning, a very hungover bestie had called and confessed she had kissed Sheldon, and that they had both decided to pretend it didn't happen.

Which was fine, good even, except that Penny had found herself suddenly full of questions that she didn't dare ask.

Did he like it?

Did he kiss back?

Was it a short kiss? A long kiss? A french kiss?

Did he hold Amy as they kissed?

Visions of how comfortable she had felt in his arms moving around the dance floor floated back to her. For the first time, she wondered what it would feel like if he did that, took command, and then kissed her. Would he even know what he was doing?

Did she even want him to?

The thought of Sheldon ever kissing anyone he wasn't related to and thereby forced to kiss had never really crossed her mind. It had in fact been banned after the unfortunate sight of Leonard's mother laying one on him.

Was it just like that, again? A frozen, deer in the headlights look, followed by a glare?

But what if he liked it? What if he now felt intrigued by it, and started looking for willing females to bring home to kiss and do other things with?

She had tried to imagine coming up the stairs to find Sheldon and some nameless woman in a heated clinch outside his door, but the images just wouldn't come. It was far easier to imagine him leading her around the dance floor at another University function and then pausing as the lights dimmed, to place a gentle yet thorough kiss to her lips, after which he would immediately spin her around the floor again, like Fred Astaire. She'd be Marilyn Monroe. The thought of her red lipstick leaving a mark on his immaculate shirt collar made her smile wickedly and brought her back down to reality.

Lipstick on his shirt? Sheldon would have a fit. He'd have to call his mother to figure out how to get it off and then...

She began to giggle. Oh, what a pickle he'd be in then! She was still chucking to herself when she heard him knock on the door.

"Come in Sheldon." She called, stretching out her legs to admire her handiwork and twisting the cap back on the polish bottle.

He came in as he always did, his eyes scanning the room before landing on her, a silent condemnation of the mess that was her apartment in his eyes. "Have you hurt yourself?" He questioned, seeing her sitting on the floor.

"Nope, I'm enjoying the sun." She offered with a big fake grin that told him what would happen dare he finish the line of questioning. "What can I help you with?"

He fidgeted slightly, "You're well versed in amorous activities, correct?"

She narrowed her eyes and jutted her chin out defensively. "Watch it buddy."

"Kissing." He clarified.

"Oh." Penny smiled. "Is this about you and Amy?" She couldn't ask Amy her questions because she was far to astute but Sheldon might be sufficiently oblivious enough to get some answers out of.

He cleared his throat and make sure her door was closed before coming to stand before her awkwardly. To her surprise he sank down to the floor and sat on the end of the towel by her toes. Her raised eyebrows must have conveyed her surprise because he muttered something about the towel being the cleanest spot in the room. Silently, she waited.

"You've heard then," he began finally, "about Amy's inebriated attempt to engage me in the act of kissing?"

"What about it sweetie?"

"Amy kissed me."

"And?"

"Then she vomited copiously for approximately forty minutes at which time she passed out on the bathroom floor and I placed a folded up towel under her head and came home." He blinked at her.

"I meant, did you like it, did you feel something?"Penny sighed.

He thought for a moment. "Yes, it felt awkward."

"And?" She motioned with her hand, indicating she needed more details.

He stared at her blankly. "It was interesting."

"What was?" She mentally ground her teeth. He was really making her work for information, and it was annoying as hell, especially since she wasn't quite sure why she wanted to know in the first place except for that stupid waltzing fantasy.

His long fingers drummed at his kneecaps, he looked uncomfortable sitting there cross legged, but now she was irritated and wasn't about to stand up and let him take a chair.

"It was different. Not altogether unpleasant. Odd though."

"Why, don't you like Amy?" Penny tilted her head inquiringly.

"Not in that manner, but that is not what was odd, I have been kissed against my will before." He reminded her.

"So what's the problem?"

"I did not get the same enjoyment that you appeared to get when she kissed You." He stared at her.

Penny frowned. What was he saying? That she liked it when Amy kissed her? Or that Amy liked kissing her? Or maybe that Amy was a bad kisser? Which she sort of was, but that wasn't necessarily her fault, practise makes perfect right?

Finally, she asked, "Was it a proper kiss?"

"In what way? Both of her lips touched both of mine, for a brief interval not exceeding three seconds, in a similar fashion to the kiss which she gave you at the bar."

"Oh, no sweetie, you are supposed to hold her maybe, and it should be longer than that." Shaking her head she finally stood up and made her way into the kitchen, pulling a bottle of water out of the fridge and lifting herself to sit on the counter while she sipped at it.

He watched for a minute and then followed her in, protesting. "But it doesn't make sense Penny."

"What doesn't?"

"You both enjoyed it, why didn't I?"

Penny shrugged, "I only enjoyed it because I was drunk and it was funny, Sheldon, Amy isn't really my type, maybe if you had been drunk you would have liked it too."

"It was not UN-enjoyable." He said quietly. "It made me curious. I believe I would like to experience a proper kiss to see if my reaction remains the same, I need a female to do so, and Amy and I have already agreed to never let it happen again."

"Wait. You want me to kiss you?" She froze.

"You kissed Amy for fun, surely you could do the same for me for this experiment."

Could she refuse? Did she want to? It might be a good way to banish those thoughts of swaying in his arms... She tried to find a way out of it, but she couldn't. "A proper kiss." She repeated slowly. "Are you prepared for it?"

With a twitch of excitement that she recognized from the last time Linux had come up with a new Ubuntu he clasped his hands in front of himself. "What will it entail?"

Penny slid down off the counter. "Well, you have to put your arms around my waist, I will put my arms around your neck and pull you towards me, our lips will meet and stay firmly pressed against each other for no less than five seconds."She suggested, waiting for him to bolt for the door.

He pressed his lips together but then nodded. "Are my eyes to be open, or closed?"

"That's up to you. I prefer to kiss with my eyes closed so I can feel the sensations better."

"Ah, by depriving yourself of one sense you intensify the others, intriguing." He noted.

She tried to smile reassuringly but it didn't quite happen. "So, you ready?"

He nodded and stepped forward. "How should I hold you?"

Silently, she took each of his hands and placed them on her waist, stepping forward into his arms. His hands were warm through her shirt, but he was barely touching her, like she was made out of china, or possibly contaminated with foot and mouth disease. Trying to stifle her own thoughts, she moved closer and slowly so as not to scare him, placed her arms on his shoulders and her hands at the back of his neck. When she looked up, he was staring down at her, just watching, waiting. She nodded, and pulled on his neck a bit, rising to her toes. When his mouth was just above hers, she glanced up at him again, then closed her eyes and pressed her mouth to his.

For the first second, it was like he was frozen. In the second, she felt his eyelashes flutter against her cheek as he closed his eyes. By the third, he was relaxed, his hands steadying her and holding her closer, she didn't have to pull on his neck to keep him in place...

His lips parted slightly, probably to ask a question or breathe, she didn't know, because by the time her mind caught up to her she had already run her tongue across his lips, inducing him to snap his mouth closed, catching her lower lip in between hers. She froze, afraid to move, it had not yet been five seconds after all, and he would be disappointed if they failed to reach the set time. Then she realized that he was gently sucking on her trapped lip.

Tasting her. He released her lip and pressed his mouth to hers again, moving it slightly, like the boys in high school had, trying to get it figured out. What felt good? What didn't? What happens when I do ...

She opened her mouth slightly, and he mimicked her, this time it was his tongue that tentatively flicked at her lip. She touched hers to it gently, and felt his grip on her waist tighten just slightly.

Five second had come and gone a few seconds ago, she knew, but he didn't seem inclined to stop, bent on figuring out this new experience and mastering it. He needed to work on it a bit, but at least he wasn't open mouth drooling on her the way some boys had, way back when first "real" kisses were more common than experienced ones.

She was starting to get into it, her hands sliding to rest on his shoulders, his had found it's way into her hair to angle her head into what she supposed must be a more comfortable position for him, and had even gone so far as to half bend so she could be flat footed.

With Sheldon, a short woman must wear shoes, with high pointy heels she thought, before his tongue entered her mouth for real.

It was the ringing of a phone that interrupted them, both of them stepping apart quickly and fumbling in their pockets, trying to figure out whose phone was ringing. It was hers, and she quickly turned it off.

"My mom." She explained curtly. "I'll phone her back."

He nodded, backing towards the door. "I have to... Go."

Penny nodded. She knew her cheeks were as flushed as his, he probably needed a few minutes to analyze and document or something like that. What SHE needed was a good long drink of cold water. Maybe a cold shower too.

Making out with Sheldon... Ok, so they hadn't technically been making out, but it was certainly a real kiss. A good one. She felt warm in places that hadn't been warm in a very long while. Suddenly, she smiled.

"Summer loving, had me a blast..."

She'd just blame it on the weather...