Summary: Fireworks can cause heartbeat to accelerate but so can other things.
Word Count: 1412
Disclaimer: I don't own The Big Bang Theory or the characters.
Her jeans were getting wet from the wet grass she was sitting on as she watched the fireworks light up the night sky.
It wasn't a cold night outside, like it usually was in Nebraska, as it was summer. The festivities were beginning in the city but seven-year-old Penny wasn't going that year. She was staying with her family on their farm, taking care of the animals and their grandfather that was sick. He was never someone close to them, but like her dad always said he's family.
But they at least had time to stop everything that was meant to be done to watch the fireworks erupt in the dark Nebraska sky. As the sky was illuminated, the outline of the mountains around was visible. It was beautiful.
She grabs the hand of who was next to her, and he blushes. She doesn't look at him but smiles at the sky as if she knew exactly the reaction he got from the simple act of grabbing his hand. He was the same age as she was, but much smarter. He used to live on another city, but after his parents got a divorce, he went to live to that city they were in, and they got to be good friends – Penny secretly had a crush on him, but she never told him that, he's a boy.
They lived on the same farm, so they were always together. They went to school together, did their homework together. Penny taught him how to ride a horse, laughed when he fell, helped him up and then drank hot chocolate her mom made for him to feel better.
They were always together. And she was happy with that.
And as the fireworks light up the night sky, Penny looks at him and smiles as the fireworks light up his face with different colors.
She smiled as the fireworks splashed some color on the otherwise dark sky.
It was good to have something good happen after finding out her best friend was dating someone that wasn't her. Sure that it was her fault for not telling him how she felt about him, but she thought he knew. Who was she kidding? He sucked at knowing how people felt! Of course, he didn't know about her true feelings towards him.
Maybe he doesn't feel the same way that I do, she thought.
Penny looks at the mirror in her room. It was a big mirror, and it had a sort of desk that had her makeup and accessories. When she first got that from her sister that didn't want it anymore, thirteen-year-old Penny ran to tell her best friend about it. She would always do that, everytime something happened she would go to him and tell him about it.
He ran to her room to see it with his own set of eyes – that had a new pair of glasses in front of them - and he hugged her.
Congrats, he had said.
He went to the desk she had full of notebooks from school and took a picture from it, placing it on the mirror of the newest piece of furniture. Over the years, more pictures were out there, making it the memory mirror.
She looks at the first picture that was put in the mirror. It was a picture they took the time they became best friends. They had pinky sworn to always be best friends, no matter what. They were seven.
And as the fireworks end outside, fifteen-year-old Penny sits on her bed. Not even fireworks could make her feel better at that moment.
She could only hear the fireworks.
The whole world seemed to have stopped at that moment. At least her world did. After he said it, she didn't think she would be able to survive any longer.
She always knew something like this would happen. He was a smart guy, of course, he would do it.
And she was happy for him. Really happy. But her heart broke. She hugged him, trying to cover up the tears that were forming in her eyes. When he pulls away, she sees tears in his own eyes. She only feels her own on her cheeks when his thumb sweetly pulls them away.
It will be okay. We'll always be best friends. Remember? he said, raising his pinky.
She smiled through the tears that were now traveling free in her face. Nodding, she joins hers in his pinky. He nods to her, promising right there that it wouldn't be the last time they would see each other.
They watch the fireworks together, both of their hearts already missing one another.
And when the fireworks are over, he leaves, saying nothing. And she stands at the window, alone.
She could almost picture the fireworks.
She couldn't believe she was moving to California. It was always a dream of hers to that sort of thing, especially California. She remembers the afternoons spent with her ex-best-friend deciding where they were both living It felt ridiculous now, thinking back. They were just two kids, they shouldn't think about it.
She looks down at her watch, a simple one actually. She got it in the mail when she was twenty-three-years-old, by her once-best-friend when he finally got his P.h.D. It had been the first and last letter she ever received from him.
The watch had an engraving, on the back. I promise.
She had smiled when she received it. Their friendship had been made through promises since day one. It was a sweet way to remember them. What they used to be.
She finally arrived at her apartment. It was on the fourth floor, and since there was no elevator she had to climb all the stairs. But at least the rent wasn't that bad.
She was unpacking when she heard a familiar voice. She thought she was hallucinating. He was different from before.
His hair was shorter, but there were still those sweet, amazing curls she always loved to mess with. It was fun to do that, and he liked it too.
His clothes were still the same, but baggy. Not that he got fatter, only that his clothes were way too big on him. He always complained that he needed to buy kids clothes' because the ones that were in the man section were too big on him and he needed to push hem a little up.
He still had his black-framed glasses, the same ones – or at least the same style – he always used and she used to tease him about. But he couldn't see without them, and lenses weren't a good thing for him – she remembered the day he wore them for the first time back in seventh grade and he crashed against everything.
But his outfit wasn't the only thing that was different. He seemed more shy, reserved. He wasn't the kid she grew up with. No. He was someone else.
But that voice. It was still the same sweet voice that would calm her down before a big test or when she fell down.
The very same one.
He appeared by her door, saying hi. She said it back, of course, her being polite. He had three people around him. A tall man, that wasn't clearly interested in her. A short guy, with a weird Beatles-like haircut that was way into her. And there was a guy with darker skin – and walking around those three very much pale man made his skin darker, more like dark caramel, with a red hat, that seemed worn out.
They all greeted each other, but her used-to-be-best-friend stared at her differently than the Beatles guy. That one she was ready to hit with the lamp she was taking from the box before they showed up. But him... she was ready to hug him. But he was still trying to find the courage to ask her if they knew each other.
She looked at him, making sure he noticed the green eyes she had, the ones he always loved. She knew it because he wouldn't stop saying it. She smirked when his eyes widened.
He grinned when he hugged and pretty much heard his friends' jaws dropping to the floor. He couldn't believe she was there!
"Hi, Penny!" He greeted, with even more enthusiasm.
"Hi, Leonard!" She said, meeting his levels of enthusiasm.
And they couldn't hear the fireworks then, but they could feel them. Inside.
The End
I had fun writing this piece. Hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did. I love fireworks, don't enjoy the sound but love the colors they emit. I always remember the way the sound of them makes my heart pound inside of me – well outside would be a little concerning, I guess.
Anyway, what do you guys think of fireworks? And what did you thought of the story? Good enough?