Charlize Theron Sean Penn los angeles romantic

There have been so many rumors about Sean Penn and Charlize Theron over the years, we don't know what to believe, but we DO know this: On Thursday morning X17 photographers snapped the actor leaving Theron's Los Angeles home just 12 hours after the two jetted from Hawaii to LAX.

Penn quickly ditched photogs in his Nissan truck, and shortly thereafter Charlize left in her Lexus SUV. She reportedly stayed at his beachfront home in Hawaii for the last week, and the two even took the same flight back to the mainland on Wednesday night.

The two initially sparked rumors of a romance in 2010 when they were seen having dinner together, and just last month they attended Seth MacFarlane's holiday party. Seems like an awful lot of time to be spending with someone if you're just friends!

And get this -- while there were reports that Penn and ex-wife Madonna were rekindling their relationship, a rep for the singer denied that the former couple were back on. So if he's not dating Madonna, has he found love with another blonde?