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3rd POV
Leonard entered Apartment 4A and glanced at Sheldon, who was sitting and reading his Mandarin book. Raj and Howard were still glued to their laptops, searching for Penny's ex-boyfriend's blog.
"Sheldon, what did you say to Penny?"
"What?" Sheldon looked up at Leonard. "oh, I simply told her that it would be incredibly foolish to meet her ex-boyfriend right now."
Leonard grabbed a Diet Coke from the fridge. "I already told her that!"
Sheldon paused and stared at him. "Really? And what exactly did you say to her?" He challenged.
Leonard remained silent, bracing himself for Sheldon's usual blunt remarks. "You're her gay friend." And there it was.
Howard and Raj chuckled, making Leonard feel even more embarrassed. Sheldon looked at him again. "I don't know what you told her, but I heard her say, 'I overreacted.' That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard—well, aside from the things you do daily. Anyway, you didn't tell her what she needed to hear; you just told her what she wanted to hear."
Howard and Raj stopped what they were doing and turned to Sheldon. But he ignored them and returned to his book. "If you keep doing that, you'll end up like Wolowitz."
Howard shot him a dead-fish stare, while Raj laughed. Leonard, still sulking, sighed. "Then what am I supposed to do?" he whined again.
Sheldon let out a deep sigh and looked at Leonard with irritation. "If you have something to say, just say it to her directly! Stop beating around the bush—you're only confusing her and leading her to make pointless assumptions!"
Raj glanced at Sheldon. "So, what you're saying is... Leonard should ask her out?"
"I think you're an idiot," Howard said, turning to Leonard. "Listening to a crazy person." He then shot Sheldon a pointed look, throwing back Sheldon's own jab at him.
Sheldon, unfazed, met Howard's gaze. "I am not crazy. My mother had me tested." Then he turned back to Leonard. "What I'm saying is that when Penny is upset, her emotions are unstable. She has a lot on her mind, and your habit of giving her stupid advice—whether you mean it that way or not—only pushes her in the wrong direction. Is it wrong to write about your sex life in a blog for others to read and giggle at? In my opinion, yes. Even my brother would shoot a guy if someone did that to our sister."
Sheldon looked at the group. "I don't know what all of you are thinking, but I say what's on my mind. And I won't stand by while someone makes a mistake and let them go through with it."
He turned back to Leonard. "Don't complain that Penny isn't listening to you. You're the one who failed to make your intentions clear."
Leonard, Howard, and Raj stared at Sheldon, who continued his rant without hesitation. His words made Leonard rethink everything.
They were nerds. The ones who got bullied. The ones who never had a real shot with women.
They were desperate for sex.
Maybe Howard paid for it, but that was just transactional—money in exchange for satisfaction, with no real concern for feelings.
Leonard understood that. Deep down, part of him wanted to help Penny. But there was also a small part that wanted something more.
A knight in shining armor, wielding a sword that could cut through anything, rescuing a damsel in distress.
He imagined that. And he found countless excuses to help her, hoping that maybe—just maybe—Penny would finally start looking at him differently.
With renewed determination, Leonard stood up and marched toward Apartment 4B.
Sheldon paid no attention and went back to his book, but his friends continued staring at him.
Howard turned to Sheldon. "Since when are you an expert on women?"
Raj nodded in agreement. "Dude, you're freaking me out. What is going on with you today?"
"Howard, I was raised in a family surrounded by real men—men who loved me and protected me completely. Even for me, I could feel that." Sheldon said, glancing up at them, momentarily shifting his attention away from his book. "Maybe it's my Texas genetics, or maybe it's the people around me who influenced me." he added, indifferent to which was actually true, yet knowing it all the same.
Howard and Raj said nothing, but they both knew the latter was the more likely explanation.
A new question popped into their minds.
"Then why weren't you like this from the start?" Raj asked. "Why were you such a pain in the ass from when we first met?"
From the moment they met Sheldon, they knew he was difficult to understand. But over time, they accepted him for who he was and remained his friends, despite his eccentricities.
"I don't even know if this is really you," Howard said jokingly. "Or if some robot with a better processor has taken over your body."
"Well, that is just my rebellious phase after all these years." Sheldon smirked. "Congratulations—because the Sheldon you've known all this time is, indeed, the real Sheldon." He then held up his book. "Do you mind? I'd like to get back to my reading."
Howard and Raj shrugged and sat beside him. They had accepted Sheldon into their lives, and they would continue to do so.
After all, what's worse than being friends with Sheldon? It's being friends with Sheldon.
As long as he didn't turn into a killer or a psychopath, they would stick around.
"Alright... I'm ordering Chinese food!" Sheldon declared, convinced that Szechuan Palace would finally get his Tangerine Chicken order right this time.
Mandarin was a complex language, with over 50,000 characters and no direct correlation between writing and pronunciation. It also used a tonal system, where changing the tone altered the word's meaning entirely.
Sheldon was a genius, but even he needed practice. And just reading a book wouldn't make him fluent.
He called Szechuan Palace, glancing at Howard and Raj, who gave him thumbs-ups with goofy smiles.
"Nǐ hǎo! Wǒ xiǎng diǎn yī fèn zhèngzōng de júzi jī, bú shì chéng jī." (Hello! I'd like to order authentic Tangerine Chicken, not Orange Chicken.)
(A/N : I am sorry if I write it wrong ! cause I am not Chinese!)
Howard shook his head, watching as Sheldon attempted Mandarin. Raj listened but had no idea what Sheldon was actually saying.
Sheldon focused on the response from the employee. "Bù, wǒ yào júzi jī." (No, I want Tangerine Chicken.)
Howard smirked. Sheldon had said 'júzi' with a flat tone, which made it sound like he was ordering orange juice along with his chicken.
Satisfied with himself, Sheldon nodded. "Howard, what do you want to order?"
Howard simply reached for the phone. "Just give me that."
"Hello, yeah, I'll have one shrimp with lobster sauce, one beef with broccoli, and one Kung Pao Chicken." Howard said in English—unlike Sheldon's Mandarin attempt.
Sheldon shook his head. "I'm afraid you'll be disappointed when I successfully order food in their native language."
"Is Leonard okay?" Raj asked, turning to Sheldon.
Howard, hanging up the phone, smirked. "He should be grateful if Penny devours him."
Raj, used to Howard's twisted humor, just shook his head.
"Well, when I gave Penny advice earlier, she was already feeling better," Sheldon said indifferently. "If Leonard plays his cards right, he might actually manage to ask Penny out or at least get her to have dinner with him."
Just then, the nerd gang saw Leonard walk back into Apartment 4A. His face was frozen in disbelief, as if something completely unexpected had just happened.
He stood there in silence, looking at his friends—his gaze finally landing on Sheldon.
"…I asked Penny out…" Leonard said in disbelief.
Howard gasped dramatically. "What? Really? What did she say?" Raj was also eagerly waiting for an answer, watching Leonard with a grin on his face, ready to mock him if he said, No.
But Leonard didn't answer. Instead, he broke into a little victory dance in the middle of Apartment 4A.
Howard and Raj gasped in unison. "She said yes?!" Raj exclaimed, and Howard turned to Sheldon.
"I suppose that's the case. Watching his dancing reminds me of the happy hippo in Fantasia." Sheldon commented, but his remark did nothing to stop Leonard.
Howard was still in shock and turned back to Leonard. "What happened?"
"She said yes! She's going on a dinner date with me." Leonard announced, grinning goofily.
"Congratulations, Leonard!" Raj said before adding, "Honestly, I thought you'd screw it up again."
"The probability of Penny accepting Leonard's invitation was quite high," Sheldon interjected. "Given her current state of emotional distress and her still somewhat reckless mindset, she was likely to say yes and take a shot at having a date him." He shrugged.
Leonard paused and looked at him, his goofy grin still intact. "Yes! I'm like a shining knight to her!"
"Well, you played your cards well, Leonard. Congratulations." Sheldon remarked.
"I want details!" Howard demanded, narrowing his eyes at Leonard. "I don't believe you just walked up to her, asked her out, and she happily said, 'Oh, Leonard, I'm so glad you asked me out!'" He exaggerated his voice, mimicking a high-pitched, feminine tone.
Raj nodded in agreement, eager to hear what had really happened. But Leonard, still grinning, simply said, "Believe it or not, I have a date, and you don't." He chuckled.
"Alright, gentlemen, before anything else, I suppose we're getting a free dinner tonight, courtesy of Leonard successfully securing a date with Penny. We've already ordered from Szechuan Palace." Sheldon stated, uninterested in the details of Leonard's triumph.
"Alright!" Leonard agreed, his grin unwavering. That only annoyed Raj and Howard even more.
"Stop smiling, dude!" Raj groaned. But, like it or not, Leonard's grin didn't fade—at least not until he started wondering whether he'd made the right decision.
A knock on the door pulled them from their conversation.
"Perfect timing!" Sheldon announced, glancing at Leonard.
Leonard stood up without complaint and walked over to grab their order. "Thanks. Guys, who ordered orange juice?"
Howard chuckled while Sheldon gasped dramatically.