DISCLAIMER: The characters of "The Big Bang Theory" do not belong to me.

Author's Note: What if Penny didn't get the acting job & actually decided to leave? What would have happened? How would Leonard have reacted?

The Truth Resistance

Leonard was in shock; he wasn't sure whether he had heard exactly what he thought that he had heard. His brain had registered that Penny had stated quite emphatically that she was leaving on account that she had screwed things up so royally and that she had no future in acting. But while his brain accepted this as fact, his heart couldn't. He was still reeling from his break up with Priya, and there was a deeper part of his heart that was still reeling from his break up with Penny the year before. In that moment, Leonard had a clarifying thought. He still loved Penny, and there was no way that he was going to let her go. So the moment that she stated that she was leaving he got up and stood before her.

"Penny, I hope that you're not doing this because of me."

"No Leonard," she whispered apologetically.

"Then why are you leaving?"

"I have no future here," she stated sadly, and Leonard could see a couple tears in her eyes. "There's no way that I can stand another moment at the Cheesecake factory and there's no way that I could continue to live across the hall from you, knowing how monumentally screwed up I've been."

Leonard shook his head. "You can get a new job, you can get past what happened," he assured. He was willing to say something, anything to make her change her mind. But much to his dismay she shook his head.

"I'm sorry Leonard," she apologized once more as she kissed him gently on the cheek. "But this is goodbye."

With that said Penny left the apartment leaving a very shocked and confused and almost heart-broken Leonard behind. In the days that followed, he watched as she got rid of most of the things that she had collected. "I've got to save up for a plane ticket somehow," she told him when she met him on the stairs on afternoon, and aside from that little bit of contact he had hardly seen her. To Leonard it seemed as though Penny was going out of her way to ignore him.

"Don't be ridiculous," Sheldon had told him. "She's just getting ready to go home. It's a lot of work packing up broken dreams and hopes you know."

"Sheldon don't you have a heart?" Leonard had snapped on the eve of her leaving. "Our friend is leaving, quite possibly forever."

"Course I have a heart," Sheldon answered. "If I didn't I'd be dead, or a vampire, or a zombie and seeing how I am neither of those things it proves that I have a heart. And as for Penny it is her decision completely whether or not she stay here. You heard her, she has no future in acting, she has no future in relationships here, and she's fundamentally ruined the friendship that she has with us, though I really don't see it at all."

"This is all your fault," Leonard stated angrily, turning on Raj. "If you hadn't slept with her then this wouldn't be happening right now."

"What are you saying?" asked Raj. "That our night of passion is responsible for this?"

"That's exactly what he's saying," Howard answered. "But in Raj's defence, it takes two to tango."

"I know that it takes two to tango," Leonard muttered as he sank back down onto his chair. "I just wish that she wasn't leaving."

"I think it would be fair to say that none of us wish that she was leaving," Sheldon stated, earning a look of surprise from all of them. "What?" he continued. "I have already stated that Penny is one of my friends too. I might find her infuriating at certain moments but on a whole I have found her not only quite entertaining, but sometimes quite informative as well. When she's gone I do believe that I'm going to miss her."

"Okay," Howard said as he turned to Leonard. "You can't let her go. She's Sheldon's kryptonite. She's made him have a human heart."

"Like the Grinch," Raj added.

"On the contrary I have always had a heart," Sheldon interrupted but Leonard cut him off.

"What can I do?" he asked. "Her plane leaves in a couple hours."

"Well go over and say goodbye to her," Howard stated. "We all have."

"Even me," Raj said.

"And she didn't want us saying goodbye at the airport because she said it would be too emotional," Sheldon added. "It is quite unusual considering the feelings that you still harbour for her that you would not have been the first one to say goodbye to her."

"How can I say goodbye to her when I still love her?" Leonard blurted out, hardly realizing what he had said until he looked at the disbelieving and quite surprised faces of his friends.

"You love her?" asked Raj. "What about my sister?"

"Your sister is back in India if you do recall," Leonard snapped. "She broke up with me."

"But you just don't stop loving someone," Raj continued. "Clearly you loved Penny while you were with my sister. She deserves better than that you know."

"If you recall I never treated your sister with anything other then the utmost respect," Leonard pointed out. "I didn't even realize that I was still in love with Penny until she said that she was leaving."

"And it's taken you this long to admit it to us?" asked Howard. "I don't know what you're playing at but if I were you I would go over there and tell her how you feel."

"How can I do that?" he asked. "She's leaving to get away from me."

"Love is a marathon, not a sprint," Howard reminded. "And this is the last thousand feet. If you don't tell her how you feel now then you're going to lose her, quite possibly forever. Is that what you want?"

Leonard fell silent. He didn't say anything.

"Leonard you have said yourself that you still love her," Howard continued. "So get over then and tell her that you don't want her to leave."

"I have."

"Have you told her that you still love her?" he asked.

Leonard shook his head. "What difference would it make."

"All the difference in the world considering that she told me that she had made a mistake concerning you," Raj interjected, causing all eyes to shift to him. 'What? She was really drunk and said it just before she was all over me."

"We don't need to hear the details," Howard reminded.

"She said that she made a mistake with me?"

"I can second that," Sheldon added. "Amy has told me on several occasions how she has had to deal with Amy's petty jealousy towards Raj's sister and how she has wished on numerous occasions that she could take back the break up."

"What?" exclaimed Leonard in surprise. "What have none of you ever told me this?"

"Because Amy made me swear on my comics that I wouldn't," Sheldon answered.

"I was drunk," Raj explained. "I only just remembered the other day."

"I've got to after her," Leonard stated worriedly as he strode to the door. Without looking back at his friends he left the apartment and walked across the hall to Penny's place. He knocked on the door several times before realizing what time it was. Her plane was due to take off in a couple hours. She had already said goodbye to the rest of them. She was probably at the airport now. As quickly as he could he returned to the apartment and picked up his keys. Without telling his friends where he was going he was gone again, though they all knew where.

"What are you doing?" asked Raj as Howard began texting frantically.

"Telling Bernadette to stall Penny from getting on the plane."

"Why?" asked Sheldon.

"If she stops Penny from getting on the plane then there's a one in a million chance that Leonard will actually be able to talk to her and convince her to stay." Howard explains. "And I hope that Bernadette will be able to stop her."

…

Meanwhile, at the airport Bernadette looked down in disbelief at the text that she had just received — Leonard in love with Penny. Coming to stop her from leaving. Delay at all costs. Love you. Howard — and while Penny was checking in at the desk, Bernadette showed it to Amy.

"Oh my," the socially awkward woman remarked. "This does put a new spin on things."

"You think?" Bernadette whispered back. "We've got to stall her."

"And how are we supposed to do that?" asked Amy.

"I don't know," Bernadette admitted. "But we've got to think of something quick."

"Okay," Penny said as she walked over to them. "I'm all checked in. I'm going to go through security now 'cause I hate long goodbyes."

"Oh just one drink," Bernadette pleaded. "I'm not going to see you again for a while, maybe forever."

"It's not going to be forever," Penny promised.

"Do you have the money to return quickly?" Amy asked.

Penny shook her head. "Well no."

"Then it might as well be forever," Amy continued. "Come have a drink with us."

Penny wanted to refuse, she knew that it would probably be a good idea to refuse but before she could stop herself she agreed. After all, she had well over three hours before she had to board the plane. She figured a glass of wine or two before she went through security wouldn't hurt, after all Penny knew that she'd miss her girls terribly.

Well over two and half hours later and four glasses of wine, Penny had completely forgotten about her flight and was giggling like a school-girl with her friends. When she looked down at her watch and realized that she only had thirty minutes to get through security she almost instantly sobered up.

"Oh my god!" she screeched as she stood up. "I'm going to be late."

Bernadette looked down at her watch and then glanced to her phone, there had been no texts from Howards and she had to wonder where in the world Leonard was exactly. Realizing that she couldn't delay her friend any longer she nodded. "You better get going then."

"No," Amy insisted. "Stay, one more drink."

"No," Penny stated emphatically as she picked up her carry on purse. "I've got to go now."

"But you don't have much time," Amy pointed out. "You're never going to make it."

"Sorry girls," Penny apologized as she gave them both a quick hug. "I'll call you when I land."

And with that said Penny went sprinting through the airport. She reached the security line, which was mercifully empty and raced through to get scanned. However the guard who was to check her realized that she had been drinking and refused to let her through security.

Penny tried to argue her case but the security guard was hearing none of it and tossed her back through the gates to the check-in area. Penny threw her carry on down in anger. She couldn't believe that she was going to waste more money on a ticket home. She couldn't believe how her life had gotten so out of control. And she had no idea what she was going to do.

"Oh thank god," came a voice behind her. "You're still here."

Penny froze and then slowly turned around. There, looking quite out of breath was Leonard and Penny had no idea as to why he was there. "I was sure that I was going to miss you," Leonard continued, clearly out of breath. "The traffic getting here was so bad, I nearly totalled my car about four times and then when I got here I couldn't find a parking spot and…" he paused and looked at his watch. "Shouldn't you be boarding now?"

"Leonard," Penny asked curiously. "What are you doing here?"

"What?" asked Leonard, clearly out of his depth for a moment.

Penny just stared at him until he realized that the words that he had so carefully crafted in the car had left him. However instead of letting that stop him, he strode forward and kissed her. Penny was completely caught off guard and in one split second she was worried that kissing Leonard was going to be beyond awkward however her body remembered what it was like and she soon found herself kissing him back.

When the finally pulled away, they were both quite out of breath and Penny couldn't help but wonder if she was passed out drunk somewhere. She had long given up on Leonard, and Leonard had long since given up on her as well. But staring into each other's eyes they realized that what they had been searching for, what they had wanted all along was right there. For Leonard it was a small sense of recognition that from that moment when he first saw her, she was the one. For Penny, it was the realization that the feeling of always being loved no matter what had always been there in front of her eyes.

"I love you," they both blurted out at the same time, earning looks of surprise from each other.

Penny was the first one to find her voice. "You still love me?"

"You've fallen in love with me?" Leonard asked a split second later.

Penny nodded. "I should have told you ages ago…" she paused and gripped his arms a little tighter. "How could you still love me after what I did to you?"

"I've always loved you," Leonard admitted, realizing that there in the airport was not the time to be mincing words. "I always have, from the very first moment that I saw you. It just took me a while to tell you."

Penny kissed Leonard again.

"When did you fall in love with me?" he asked, when they pulled apart.

"I don't know," Penny admitted. "I think I realized that I had fallen in love with you a little while after we had broken up to tell you the truth…" she paused and shook her head. "Only by the time I realized it you were dating Priya and I'm not the sort of girl to break up a happy relationship… but I guess I didn't need to worry about that huh?"

Leonard shook his head. "How could that relationship have ever been truly happy, when she wasn't you?"

"Do you really mean that?"

"Yes," Leonard confirmed. "I do."

And with that said, they kissed knowing that not matter what was to come in the future, they had told each other the truth when it had counted the most and they would face the unknown future together with little resistance.

END