(AN: Thanks go to WeBuiltThePyramids for looking this over for me. As my first BBT one shot I hope ya'll like it. This is based off of two of my drabbles.)

Mistletoe

Penny knew above anything else that she would always be thankful for Leonard. When she'd first left Kurt and moved into the apartment, she hadn't really intended to stay. If he hadn't decided to introduce himself, if he hadn't invited her to lunch or invite her over, if he hadn't included her in his little social circle, she would have gone home to Nebraska. Or she would have gotten back with Kurt, or someone like him. If she hadn't met him she'd almost certainly be married, with at least two children like the majority of her old friends.

Her neighbors and their friends became her support system in this new town. They helped her when she needed it, even if it was a challenge for them sometimes. They defended her and she defended them. They became friends, brothers, and eventually more. They made her feel like she belonged. They gave her a reason to stay. Even if it was only to serve Tuesday hamburgers, and help teach them about life, but she knew she was so much more than that.

She'd truly felt like she belonged for the first time in her life. Then she'd started dating Leonard, and he showed her that she liked smart men, preferred them over the brainless Neanderthals she'd been dating since her teenaged years. Through dating Leonard, she got to spend even more time with him, and Sheldon, getting to know them both more and more. Through dating Leonard, she learned to look at the world in a different way, and saw her new and old friends in different ways as well.

The Penny that existed before Leonard and Sheldon wouldn't have dreamed of sitting on a roof watching stars through a telescope, or driving a Physicist to work, or helping him when he was sick. She'd never have dreamed that she'd have more fun playing Halo and watching Sci-Fi than going out dancing and drinking. Going to a party at a comic book store would have definitely been a horrible idea to her old self.

She almost didn't go, the breakup between her and Leonard still causing awkward moments between them, but he'd asked, all of them had, begging in their own strange ways, for her to come. So she'd put on her Christmas hat, and a happy smile and brought them to the party.

She'd be the first one to say she got a little tipsy, just enough to really enjoy herself and not enough to get caught under the mistletoe, that all the guys seemed to want to steer her towards. She didn't expect Leonard to push her under the mistletoe, didn't expect to land in Sheldon's arms.

She also couldn't say why she stood on her tiptoes and placed a kiss on Sheldon's lips, instead of a peck on the cheek. She didn't expect him to lean into her, and couldn't say who opened their lips first to allow the other access. She didn't expect the rush of feelings to overwhelm her as she lost herself in his kiss.

She was snogging Sheldon Cooper, and he was snogging her back. Mouth still attached to hers, and hands roaming her back, her hands doing the same to him as they got lost in each other.

One last thought travelled through her brain before her brain was shut down from the feelings and emotions.

She owed Leonard a present for this.

Sheldon Cooper was seriously considering giving Leonard a strike for this. He didn't enjoy the pointless frivolity, he didn't enjoy the large amounts of alcoholic beverages—besides having the impression they'd done something to his—it made the others act in unpredictable ways, and he didn't enjoy the dancing and proximity to so many people. He still didn't know for sure how it happened, one moment he was standing in a corner watching her dance, the next he was standing under the mistletoe, Penny falling into his arms. He'd tried to get away from the offending plant, but the other party goers wouldn't let him. With their cheering and whistling and crowding around, they had him trapped.

That was when Penny placed her lips on his and he forgot. The thoughts in his head rushing through his brain before hiding from the onslaught of emotions. The sounds of the crowd faded as his awareness focused solely on him and her. The brief thoughts of the amount of contaminates that echoed in his brain were quickly squashed until all that he was, all that he could be, was focused on her lips, focused on their actions as he leaned into the kiss.

He was so lost he couldn't think when their mouths opened, their tongues dancing together as their hands began exploring each other's backs. Her soft moan mingling with his the only sound able to penetrate into his brain as they continued.

When they finally pulled apart to breath, they heard the catcalls and wolf whistles of their friends.

Neither of them cared, as they stared into each other's eyes, blushes on their faces, before he took her hand and they walked to her car.

He shivered as she wrapped her arms around him again as they got to the car, pressing her lips to his, her hands getting bolder. His hands weren't idle either, exploring places he'd only dreamed of.

They'd only done it as a last resort. As they saw it they had no choice. Neither of them was going to admit anything on their own. They could see both of them needed someone. They could see that there could be something there. But they couldn't tell Penny and Sheldon that outright, they would just hide behind the curtain of being best friends. They don't think she realized that it was only after Sheldon had asked had she agreed to go, they don't think he realized it was only the fact that they wanted Penny to go did he agree to come in the first place.

They had arranged for Stuart to have a party at the Comic Book Store. They'd all come up with reasons to convince Sheldon and Penny to go. All that needed to be done was to maneuver them both under the mistletoe and keep them from running.

They were surprised how well it worked. Leonard giving Penny a little shove, Howard accidentally bumping into Sheldon, both of them landing under the mistletoe. For a moment it looked like they were going to not do it, but the whistles and cajoling words from everyone watching caused Penny to kiss him.

For nearly three minutes they watched as the two kissed, then they stopped and everyone waited for an explosion that never came.

Sheldon just held out his hand and the two walked away.

She hoped this wasn't a dream, she hoped this wasn't a nightmare either. She'd never thought of Sheldon in this way until that kiss. She shivered remembering it, and couldn't resist stealing another one. She just hoped he didn't decide to end it, that whatever was causing his acceptance didn't go away leaving the seemingly emotionless Vulcan in his place.

A moan escaped her as his hand found its way under her shirt, even as her hand travelled beneath the waistband of his pants and boxers.

She knew they needed to talk, they needed to discuss this, but at the moment neither of them wanted to stop.