Penny Teller had experienced many strange things since waking up reincarnated in Pasadena.
But nothing—nothing—was stranger than Sheldon Cooper checking on her.
Regularly.
Consistently.
Predictably.
Like clockwork.
It started the morning after Issue #2's limited-run launch and Issue #3's online upload. Penny had barely slept, still dizzy from the emotional high and the panic that followed. She'd spent half the night convinced the world was ending and the other half swearing she would never take on that much work again.
At 8:02 a.m. on the dot, someone knocked on her door.
Not Leonard.
Not delivery.
There was only one person alive who knocked like timed percussion.
Penny opened the door.
Sheldon stood there, clipboard in hand, looking both stern and… worried?
"Good morning," he said. "I have come to assess your condition."
"…my what now?"
"Your condition," he repeated, as though she hadn't heard him the first time. "You collapsed two days ago. That level of physical failure does not resolve in a single night unless you are secretly Wolverine."
"Uh-huh," she said slowly. "And why exactly are you—"
"I am conducting routine verification," he said quickly. "Purely logical. Collapsing neighbors are inconvenient."
---
It didn't stop there.
Check-in #2 happened during her lunch break when she bumped into him at the Cheesecake Factory.
Check-in #3 was an unsolicited text ("Have you consumed electrolytes today?").
Check-in #4 came when he brought her herbal tea with the excuse that Leonard bought the wrong kind and he didn't want it.
By the time she sat with the guys for movie night, Raj and Howard were whispering like conspiracy theorists.
Howard leaned in. "Is Sheldon… fussing over you?"
Raj nodded with wide eyes. "Like a Victorian husband."
Penny nearly choked on her popcorn. "He is NOT fussing. He's… checking in. Like a friend."
Howard snickered. "A friend who shows up every four hours with a clipboard."
She flung a piece of popcorn at his head.
Leonard, sitting on the floor, turned slightly. His gaze lingered on her—thoughtful, searching. Penny felt her stomach twist. Leonard had been almost suspiciously quiet lately.
He knew something was off.
He just didn't know what.
---
The next morning, she opened her door to find Sheldon already halfway through knocking.
"Penny." He adjusted his posture. "I have created a list."
"Oh boy."
He handed her a neatly stapled document.
She blinked at the cover page.
Forty-Three Logical Reasons You Should Inform the Others About Your Comic
by Dr. Sheldon Lee Cooper, PhD, ScD, etc.
Her heart stopped.
Reason #3 read:
Secrecy creates unnecessary physiological stress, and your collapse was concerning.
Reason #12:
Stuart's shop would benefit financially from associating your work with a local creator.
Reason #18:
Howard is going to figure it out soon because he likes puzzles and he is nosy.
Reason #22:
Leonard already suspects you're hiding something. You should tell him before he reaches an incorrect hypothesis involving a secret boyfriend.
Reason #31:
I know you are Elisabet Eiríksdóttir.
Penny froze.
"Why didn't you say anything?"
He lifted his chin. "Because you did not say anything. And you have a right to your secrets until such time as you choose not to have them."
Her chest squeezed painfully.
Oh.
Oh, that was… surprisingly gentle.
Almost unbearably so.
She looked down at the packet. "Sheldon… I don't know if I'm ready."
"I know," he said.
His voice was soft in a way it rarely was.
"But working yourself past the point of collapse is inefficient, unnecessary, and—" His jaw tightened slightly. "—troubling."
Penny swallowed hard.
He was worried.
Actually worried.
She nodded slowly. "I'll think about telling them."
Sheldon straightened like she had just announced the successful launch of a rocket.
"Excellent. I will, of course, provide supplemental lists if needed."
"Of course you will."
She hugged the packet to her chest.
Sheldon didn't just know about her secret.
He respected it.
And—if she was reading him right—he cared about her wellbeing more than she had realized.
Which meant trouble.
Because Penny Teller was starting to care back.
Hard.