A/N: What happens when reading too much of Maraton Zack's canon breakup stories?
In the packed studio of cheering and clapping audience, Jerry Springer appeared on the stage and greeted the people in the first row. Camera buzzing and panning around, audience at home watching with anticipation.
"Thank you very much and welcome to the show!" Jerry waited for the cheering audience to settle down.
"Our first guest tonight, Penny, says she doesn't love her boyfriend as much as she loves his best friend!" Jerry announced in his introduction and made his way down the stairs to the stage. Penny looked beautiful on the lit up stage in her casual black pants and flowery top. Certainly not the typical fat trailer trash type of women, which usually come up on the show.
"Welcome to the show. Please, tell us about it." He joined her on the stage.
"Susan!" Wyatt yelled from his living room chair. "Come here, you gotta see this. Our Penny's on TV." He pointed at it, surprised and curious of what was about to happen.
"Hi Jerry. I've been with my boyfriend Leonard for two years now, but I've been kinda seeing his best friend slash roommate behind his back for a few weeks now. I didn't cheat on him, but I really like spending my time with Sheldon. Just talking and hanging out. Tonight I want to face Leonard and tell him it's finally over between us." Penny stated with confidence.
Howard almost choked on his popcorn at home. "Penny's breaking up with Leonard to be with Sheldon!?"
"Yeah, seems so..." Bernie acted surprised, but she knew it was about time for those two to realize. She was happy for both of them.
"Wow, two years. That's a long time to be in a relationship."
"Well, it's complicated. We went on a date, been together for a while, broke up and tried again. I met both Leonard and Sheldon when I moved into my current apartment five years ago and they lived across the hall. Leonard never stopped chasing me since we met, but Sheldon always kept his distance, until recently."
"An attractive girl moves next door, feelings emerge..." Jerry was leading her on.
"Has it already been five years?" Raj wondered himself, watching the show. He remembered that day clearly. Penny wrapped in nothing but a towel with three pairs of eyes ogling her. But the tallest didn't even buckle. "Huh..." He always had a hunch for those two, but always dismissed it.
"Except the feelings between me and Leonard, I always felt they were one-sided. The truth is, he just wants me because of my looks, to boost his self-esteem. But I don't want to be just a pretty face. I really like spending my time with Sheldon and in this time he made me realize, how fake my relationship with Leonard really is."
The audience clapped at her encouraging words. Beverly gave her a few claps herself as well.
"Finally, that girl recognized. Sheldon is a remarkable man."
"And you feel his best friend, will treat you better?"
"Sheldon always treated me better. He tries to understand me, he's always there for me, if I need his help, he encourages me to do better, he even cleans my apartment!" Penny smiled as the audience gasped and laughed. "I could not ask for a better boyfriend and… maybe even a husband." Penny blushed at getting the thought off her chest.
"Thank you, Penny. Okay, let's bring out your boyfriend, Leonard!" Jerry announced Leonard's arrival onto the stage.
Audience gave a round of applause to the short bespectacled man, coming up onto the stage. Camera caught the audience reaction. A surprise of sorts, how a guy like him could get a girl like her. Leonard smiled at Penny and took a seat next to her, on her right side.
"Welcome to the show, Leonard. Penny says she's been your girlfriend for two years now. How do you feel about your relationship?"
"Umm, sure, what can I say? I've been in love with Penny ever since I first saw her the day she moved across the hall. Frankly, I couldn't be happier for us."
Leonard looked at Penny with his puppy eyes as the audience cooed.
"AAAWWW." The felt sorry for the nerdy guy as the pretty blonde is about to break his heart.
"Penny, you're my everything. I cannot live without you and I want you to be the woman I'll spend the rest of my life with. Wanna tell me now, what's going on?"
Penny wasn't having any of it. She knew this side of him too well. She felt for it a few times now. Cameras were focused on their faces. Leonard's cocked eyebrows and sad eyes, versus Penny's determination, not giving into his begging.
"Just… stop it, Leonard. This..." She waved her arms back and forth in between them. "It's not working for me anymore. I want and need more from a relationship."
"What are you saying?" Leonards face turned sad, camera capturing the moment. Everyone dying with anticipation and enjoying their popcorn.
"Oh, man. Penny's gonna smoke this guy tonight." Zack watched the show from his couch. "I almost feel sorry for that little fella." He raised the bottle of beer in his hand and took a drink.
"You can be a really nice guy, but you can be very possessive. You keep chasing the next shiny thing you cannot have. Every time a pretty woman came into our lives, you went chasing after her. You keep bragging around how hot your girlfriend is, just to make your friends and colleagues jealous. I don't want to be a part of that anymore." Penny revealed all her cards on why their relationship won't last. She knew all the other times Leonard kept chasing other women. Sheldon remembered every one.
"But I love you, Penny. I will do anything for you. Just tell me what to do." Leonard tried to grab her palm, but Penny pulled it back.
"I can't, Leonard. I cannot carry on with you, pretending. I never fell for you, the way you fell for me. Our relationship is a one-way street. It's just… I didn't want to break your heart, but I should have done it sooner. The longer we carry this on, the harder the breakup will be for you."
"You're… You're breaking up with me? On a freaking TV show!?" Leonard could barely hold back his tears. He got up from his chair and so did Penny. They were staring face to face. Leonard emotional reaction was real. Getting his heart broken by the person he thought loved him as much as he loved her.
"I should have done it sooner, I'm sorry. I'm seeing someone else." Penny threw him out, crushed his heart with a few words.
"Wh... Who?" Leonard stared at her, puzzled.
"Let's bring up on stage, Penny's new romance, Sheldon!" Jerry interrupted their moment.
"NOO!" Leonard exploded and yelled at her. Security guards were ready to break up the upcoming fight.
"You're leaving me for that fPEEEP PEEEP !?"
At this moment, Sheldon appeared on stage, slowly walking towards the center and the crowd went wild, waiting for the face-off. Leonard pushed Penny aside and walked towards Sheldon, rolling up his sleeves. He had it with Sheldon. Stealing his girlfriend pushed him over the edge. This is the moment he's been waiting for. He suspected for a while Penny had something with Sheldon, but he never thought it was this serious.
"You stay away from her, you fuPEEEEP PEEEEP! I'll fPEEP you up!" Leonard tried to struggle with Sheldon, but he defended Leonard's shorter arm reach well. Microphones on their shirts were getting scuffled around, but Leonard never got close in toppling Sheldon down. He stood confident and determined, pushed away Leonard's waving hands, touching and shoving into his torso. Leonard was spewing every drop of bottled up hatred he held for Sheldon, all flowing out in the open.
"I'll never let her have you! Penny and I belong together!" Leonard wanted to stay with Penny, ignoring her earlier words to him.
"She doesn't want to be with you, Leonard! You clearly don't deserve her!" Sheldon responded as the security pulled them apart. He was serious, staring directly down at Leonard, not afraid. He knew this day would come and Penny prepared him well for it. He didn't seek violence, but he will defend himself if provoked.
"You go Shelly! The Lord is on your side." His mother Mary cheered at the television, with Meemaw by her side. They were both proud of Sheldon. They both knew Leonard won't be a treat to him. "That Penny girl, she's perfect for our Shelly."
"No! She's mine!" Leonard was too desperate to keep Penny for himself. He won't lose her, no matter the cost. Especially not to his crazy roommate. His face turned red in anger as he jumped towards Sheldon again and grabbed his shirt. The smaller physicist finally managed to topple the taller one down with great effort.
JERRY, JERRY, JERRY! Audience began their cheer as two men collapsed to the ground, struggling and wrestling over the love of their lives like toddlers.
Rolling over each other on the dirty floor, before the security had to pull them apart. Sheldon did manage to get the upper position and already held Leonard by his neck with his right hand. It looked like something of a Darth Vader choke grip.
"Let… me… go..." Leonard could barely speak as Sheldon's grip began to shorten his breath, turning his face red. Sheldon's right knee pressing down on his chest didn't help either. His arms waved around, fighting and trying to push Sheldon's arm off him.
"You let her go." Sheldon replied in cold and dark tone. The first time Leonard saw how far Sheldon is also willing to go for Penny.
"Sheldon, that's enough!" Penny stepped between the two men, together with the security, who pulled Sheldon away from Leonard. He began coughing and catching his breath, gasping loudly.
It was a good thing he kept his inhaler in his pocket at all times.
Sheldon on the other hand remained calm and focused. He got up on his feet and quickly began to straighten up. He tried to clean and dust off his clothes with his hand.
Penny went over to check up on Leonard, who clearly got more than what he bargained for. No matter the situation, she still cared for her ex boyfriends well-being. But instead of accepting her help, he lashed out on her.
"No! I'm not giving you up to him!" Leonard desperately tried to grab Penny instead, but she quickly defended herself and stepped away.
"Leonard, stop it! It's over between us! Deal with it." Penny faced Leonard. Still out of breath and the tone of her voice was enough to make him back off from Sheldon for now. All three were separated by the security and allowed to settle down. They were spaced more far apart now. Leonard sat on the right, Penny in the middle, with Sheldon on her left.
Leonard was trying to catch up with his broken heart and anger. His face buried in his palms. Coming into the final stage of grief over the loss of his dream girlfriend to none other than his roommate. Sheldon was not his best friend anymore.
"I get it. This is your way of revenging the Arctic, isn't it? I destroy your reputation, so you plan and steal my girlfriend?"
"Penny has nothing to do with that, leave her out of it." Sheldon denied the accusations.
"So this is it then? You're choosing this whacko over me?" Leonard turned to Penny again, creeped his puppy eyes up, like he always did with her.
"You don't deserve her, Leonard! Penny is far more than just an eye candy. A pinup, which you so proudly parade around with." Sheldon made his argument to him, looking past Penny. Triggering the reaction in him.
"Oh fuPEEP you, Sheldon! You know I saw her first, Penny belongs with me! Friends don't do that to each other. How could you do this to me!?" They settled and calmed themselves, but still throwing words at each other. Sheldon snorted and nodded his head in denial at his last comment. Friends, right.
"Quite a love triangle you're all having. Sheldon, what's going on?"
"That's Doctor Cooper. Over the past few weeks, Penny and I realized our close bond for each other. We were always close, but we never wanted to admit our true feelings for each other. Instead, we insisted in our ill-fated relationships, which didn't work for us. Now, we want to be together. I want to be with Penny and she wants to be with me. But our possessive spouses…" Looking at Leonard. "Won't take no for an answer. They'd rather keep us for themselves like some pets."
Penny nodded in agreement. "That's right."
"Typical Leonard. Just like his father." Beverly remarked to herself. "Giving up his toys always came difficult for him."
"Well, what did you expect? Me and Amy just letting you two go!?"
"You will let us go, Leonard. You can either accept it or we end our friendship, right here." Penny set the ultimatum for him.
"It's just a lot to take in right now..."
"Hold on, who's Amy?" Jerry interrupted, playing curious.
"She's Sheldon's girlfriend!" Leonard yelled and shocked everybody in the studio and people watching at home. They responded with a shocked laugh and amusement over this latest revelation.
"Leonard, I'll make this clear one last time. Yes, Amy is a girl. Yes, she's my friend, but she's not my girlfriend."
"That's not how it goes, you idiot." Leonard threw another insult at Sheldon, not really surprised at his response.
"Excuse me!?" Sheldon felt the offense. "I'd have to lose one hundred and forty IQ points, to be classified as an idiot." Sheldon tried to smack Leonard, but only provoked a laughing reaction.
"Ouch. Nice burn, dumbass." Leslie was amused in front of her telly.
But that didn't bother Sheldon at all. Jerry waited for the audience to settle down, before asking Sheldon the obvious.
"Is Amy your girlfriend or not?"
"As I was saying, the relationship between me and doctor Fowler is strictly on the intellectual level. I have no desires for an intimate physical relationship or procreation with her. Much like between Leonard and Penny, Amy felt for me, but I feel nothing as such towards her. She was arranged to me without my consent, but her knowledge on certain matters did provide an additional stimuli in my discussions with her. If she's willing to continue our friendship, I won't deny her that privilege."
Sheldon talked strict and precise. The audience noticed his alpha behavior, a stark difference from Leonard.
"Arranged without consent? How does that work?" Jerry wanted to know more.
"My so called "friends"..." Sheldon made the air quotes. "Registered me into some internet dating site and found Amy for me."
"Okay, time to her in person, here's yet another doctor, Amy Farrah Fowler!" Jerry swinged his arm and announced the forth guest to the stage. Unlike Leonard before, she heard every Sheldon's word he said about their relationship.
A wild bespectacled brunette appeared on the stage entry and marched straight towards Sheldon, furious like a bull. She heard everything from the backstage, Sheldon's revelation her deeper than anything before. The audience greeted her with an explosion of cheers, knowing and waiting what will follow.
"You fPPPEEP PEEEEEP!" Amy smacked Sheldon across his head, something he did not expect. He was taught not to hit women, so he could only defend and rely on Penny at this point. Which she did. Sheldon knew she would.
Penny stood up to his defense, shoving Amy away. It felt surprisingly good. Penny never liked that person, no matter how much she sucked up to her.
"Stay away from him, you cow!" Which only made things worse and Amy even more angry.
"You stay away from my boyfriend!" Amy now stormed straight towards Penny and managed to grab her hair and wrestle her to the ground. "You know how much he means to me, you fuPEEEP whPEEEP!" Penny was taken by surprise, struggling with Amy, now these two were rolling on the stage floor.
Audience exploded with cheers once again, witnessing and enjoying the furious catfight. The sight of two women pulling by their hair and yelling, with the security guards getting busy separating them.
Leonard and Sheldon instinctively made towards the struggling women, but couldn't get them to separate. Sheldon wanted to help Penny but she didn't need it. Even though Amy got the upper position, Penny saw the opportunity and managed to plant her right fist hard onto the Amy's crooked nose. With her thick obstructive clothes, Amy couldn't match Penny's agility and couldn't dodge or block her surprise blow to the face. Everyone jerked back and exclaimed as they heard the punch.
"AUU! You fuPEEEP bitch!" Amy shrieked in shock and anger, fired up to throw a punch herself, but the pain of the direct hit made her to bury her face in her palms. She staggered back, fixing her glasses. This allowed Penny to get up on her feet and take a defensive position.
"That's my girl." Wyatt felt proud of his daughter still knowing how to throw a good punch.
Amy wanted to dive towards Penny again like a wrestler, but the security halted her attempt. They settled her down on the side of the stage and offered her a help with a bleeding nose.
"This isn't over!" Amy could only threaten Penny, with the security holding her back.
"I'll beat you again, if you dare to come between us!" Penny yelled her lungs out across the stage, over the cheering audience. Sheldon stood by her side, covering her back.
"Are you alright?" He asked concerned, checking for any bruises. He took her right hand into his and noticed the bruise. Penny's middle finger knuckle marked where she made contact with Amy's cheekbone.
Camera quickly glanced over the battle wound on her fist and the dialogue between them.
"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks. You?" Penny relieved a slight pain, by shaking off and stretching her right hand, before the camera panned around, checking up on recovering Amy at the side of the "ring".
The crew helped her fix her clothes and microphone. Penny was raging inside, but glad she had Sheldon by her side.
They both took the seats in the middle. Leonard sat all depressed and hurt on Penny's right side, while Amy kept her distance on Sheldon's left. Her nose stopped bleeding, but it still hurt. She never expected from Penny such a nasty hook to her face.
"How could you do this to me, Sheldon!? On national television! I worked so hard to make you more human, to train you to accept me. And I get punched in the face for it!?"
"This is why our relationship cannot work, Amy. I don't love you, the way you want to make me. I never will. My heart belongs to Penny. She was always the one." Sheldon now turned around on his right towards Penny. "These past few weeks, we both realized the obvious." Penny leaned in and kissed his cheek.
"But you're nothing like her! You have nothing in common!" Leonard still tried to reason with Sheldon.
"Oh shut up, Leonard." Penny turned to him, angry again. "Opposites attract, remember? Yes, Sheldon gets on my nerves sometimes and I want to kick his ass when he does, but he always makes me stay. He always makes me want to be around him. To be myself. To be proud of myself." Penny turned towards Sheldon and accepted his hand. "I hope I have proved myself to you tonight."
"You certainly have. You always had." Now Sheldon leaned towards her, sharing a tender kiss over their lips. "You're always my medicine for when I'm sick. My Soft Kitty for when I'm depressed. My cheeseburger for when I'm hungry. I cannot imagine living my life without you."
"AAWWW..." Sheldon and Penny didn't mind the cameras or the audience at this point.
"This is why we want to be together. We naturally defend and take care of each other. We always did. A few weeks ago, Sheldon asked me to join for a dinner, when both Amy and Leonard were out of town and it went from there."
"We realized how much better both of us were feeling in each others company. We couldn't let it stop, so we began seeing each other in private as much as we could."
"Wow. Leonard and Amy, will you be able accept their love and move on?"
"Never." Amy walked off the stage in denial, unable to confront the reality, being back to square one. Leonard quickly followed her, trying to consult her.
Sheldon and Penny remained seated on the center of the stage as the lights turned dark and the whole crew prepared the stage for the next group of guests. They slowly walked off stage, when told to do so, leaving the noise of loud applause behind. Hand in hand, fingers entangled, not wanting to let go.
"What you said on the stage…" Penny got emotional, almost teary and turned towards her tall physicist.
"It was the truth." Sheldon simply stated.
"You fought for me."
"And you for me." They both stared at each other. Penny noticed a slight bruise on his left cheek and brushed her palm against the soft skin. She sniffed as a tear made past her nose. Both of happiness and sadness at the same time.
"I'll never hurt you the way she did, I swear." Penny promised him.
"It's okay, I'm fine."
Penny raised of her toes and kissed the spot, slowly a few times. Her warm breath and a touch of her cherry-balmed lips always had a great effect on him.
"Feelin better?" She smiled at him.
"I believe I will require some more nurture, when we arrive home." Sheldon smirked and looked at her.
Penny smiled back at him and playfully nudged his shoulder. Happy to finally be with him as they were leaving the studio. The moment presented the perfect opportunity for Sheldon. Something he wanted to ask her for so long now.
"Penny? Would you... like to share a dinner with me tonight?" For some reason, he barely got the words out. They shared dinners before, but he never asked his in this way. In the official romantic kinda way.
"Are you asking me out on a date?" Penny stopped, startled.
"Yes, Penny. I am asking you out." They were both standing still again, almost face to face. Sheldon blushed and broke eye contact, not knowing what her reaction will be.
"Yes..." She answered in a flirting manner. "I will go out with you." A kiss on his lips sealed the deal.
THE END