"We have some news!" Penny said with a beaming smile on her face as she stood at the kitchen counter. Everyone was gathered in 4A and had only just cleaned up the mess from their takeout dinner when Penny made her announcement. "We're getting married!"

"What?!" Bernadette said loudly from her seat on the sofa beside Amy and Sheldon. She had a mixture of shock and excitement written on her face, as did much of the rest of them. Penny just grinned and showed off the new ring on her finger. Howard, who was sitting on the armrest beside Bernadette, and Raj, who was sitting on the floor, said nothing. They just sat with their mouths agape in shock, while Amy and Bernadette began to get excited at the prospect of another wedding.

Sheldon was the first one to get up and congratulate her, it was the social protocol for this type of situation and he wasn't caught up by emotion like the rest of them were. "I believe the appropriate beverage under these circumstances is champagne," He said after giving Penny, and then her fiancé, who was sitting on a stool beside her, a firm handshake. "But I don't believe we have any. Leonard, you need to go to the store."

Leonard was still sat in his chair, completely blindsided by what had just happened. He was fully aware that Penny was in a relationship and had been for about 18 months, but he hadn't realized it was this serious. As soon as she had spoken those words he felt a little piece of his heart ache, a reaction he hadn't quite expected. As far as he knew, he had gotten over Penny. They had been broken up just over a year when she, and the man that would now be called her fiancé, Brandon, had started dating, and over that time he had managed to accept that they could only be friends. It didn't stop him loving her, but he figured he would always have some sort of love inside himself for Penny, so there was no point in trying to change that.

It had hit him hard at first when she had started to date Brandon, because of all the guys she dated after they had broken up, he was the first one that she kept around for longer than a month, and that told Leonard she really liked him. He couldn't blame her, Brandon, by all accounts, was a great guy. He was older than her, but younger than Leonard by a year or so. He was tall, dark haired and although Leonard himself had never seen his body, the tailored suits he wore seemed to show off the physique of a pretty toned and muscular man. His tanned complexion and soft, yet strong features, hinted at some sort of foreign background, maybe Spanish or Italian. He was smart too, not genius smart of course, but he was in no way stupid. He had recently attained his law degree and was beginning work for a local law firm.

Leonard couldn't help but think, when Penny had formerly introduced him to the group, that she couldn't have found anyone more perfect if she had tried, and he was pretty sure the girls would agree by how giddy, yet weirdly shy they became around him. Brandons perfection was shown off best however, in his personality. He was incredibly charming, funny and confident, and it hadn't taken him long to win over each member of their group, including Leonard. But the most important thing to him was that he made Penny happy and because of that, Leonard, over time, just about managed to let go of what romantic feelings he had for her and assumed the role of her best friend.

So why did it hurt so much? Why wasn't he feeling the same excitement for her that the rest of his friends were? Maybe he wasn't as far along in the 'moving on' process as he had thought. Maybe a small part of him had thought that at some point, they would find their way back to each other. Maybe it hurt because ever since the day he had met her he had pictured himself being the one to take her down the aisle, and the thought of watching someone else have that honour, just about ripped his heart out.

Leonard was snapped out of his thoughts when Brandon spoke. "No need for that Sheldon. I already got some!" He said as he headed out of the apartment and into Pennys.

Leonard watched on as all his friends went up to congratulate Penny and he realized he would have to do the same. He put aside his twinging feelings of heartache and he got up off his chair, putting on the best smile he could muster up. "Congratulations Penny." He said softly when he reached her. She gave him a knowing look, like somehow she understood how hard this was for him, and then smiled and pulled him in for a hug.

"Thank you, sweetie." She said quietly in his ear as she held him. After a moment they parted, gave each other a quick smile and sat back down.

Brandon returned almost immediately with two bottles of champagne in hand, and headed to the kitchen to open it and pour the drinks. Bernadette and Amy then pulled Penny over to the couch, sitting her in between the both of them, and moving Howard off his spot on the armrest, then proceeded to grill her on every detail about the proposal. Leonard immediately got up and headed over to help Brandon pour the drinks, not quite ready to listen to Penny gush to the girls about this perfect guy she had found and had no doubt given her the perfect proposal.

Penny noticed Leonard get up and leave as soon as Amy had asked how Brandon proposed, and couldn't help but feel a little guilty as she cursed herself for not realizing that her announcement would hurt him a little. She had gotten so used to him just being her friend, that she had almost forgotten the history between them, and as she thought about it now, she wished she had told everyone individually, not like this. She allowed herself a moment to think what it must feel like for him right now, imagining how she would feel if he suddenly announced he was marrying someone else, and then immediately erased the thought before she could actually register how that would feel, scared of what her heart would tell her.

She returned her attention to the two girls at her side, eagerly awaiting her details of the night before. "He did it last night, as we were watching the sunset from the hills." She grinned as she remembered the night. It had been so peaceful on that hill, just the two of them as they watched the world go by beneath that slope. Brandon had always been a very romantic man, and his proposal reflected that. He got down on one knee and presented her a beautiful ring as the sky turned from blue to various shades of orange and red. He had told her how much he loved her, how he cherished her and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. How could she say no? How could she deny something as beautiful as that?

She vaguely remembered her panic the moment he began his speech, knowing exactly where he was going with it. She remembered hearing his words in the distance as her mind ran through what was happening. Marriage was something that had always scared her. It was the biggest show of commitment to someone and commitment was something she wasn't very good at dealing with. She reminded herself as she watched him speak, that she loved him. That this is what people who are in love do, and that if she wanted to be with him, this was something she had to do. She didn't want to hurt him with her fear. She didn't want to do what she had done before and deny someone she cared about because she was afraid, and later end up regretting her decision. But could she really agree to marry him now because she was afraid she would regret it later if she didn't? They weren't even living together yet, that would be another hurdle that she would be forced to jump over if she said yes, but maybe it was time for her to make that jump in her life. Maybe now she could make up for all the times when instead of making a leap, she would curl into a ball, and make the biggest leap ever.

All of this ran through her mind within a split second and before she knew it, he was looking up at her, with hope in his eyes and love in his heart, waiting for her answer. She knew then that she couldn't do it again. She couldn't let her fear stop her forever. And even if she wasn't one hundred per cent sure she was ready to make this jump, she didn't want to take the risk of feeling the same regret as she had in the past if she ran away from someone she cared about. Somehow she had once again found herself a good guy, one who cared a great deal about her, and she couldn't let that go again. So she said yes, and hoped that she had made the right decision.

"Oh, that sounds wonderful!" Amy said dreamily, bringing Penny out of her thoughts.

"Okay, here you go." Brandon said as he walked over to the sofa and handed out the glasses of champagne, followed closely by Leonard who was handing out a few as well.

Penny smiled as she watched Leonard help out her fiancé, thinking how glad she was that she and him had managed to stay friends despite their break-ups. She still cared deeply for him, and she was sure he did too after seeing the moment of hurt on his face when she announced her engagement. But they were better off like this, as friends, because when they become more than that, someone always gets hurt.

Penny noticed everyone begin to stand up and gather around the coffee table, so she stood up with them. Brandon came over to stand beside her and took a hold of her hand. She smiled as she took her glass from him and held it slightly in the air with everyone else.

"To the happy couple," Howard toasted, "It's all downhill from here!" He joked and most of the group laughed except from Bernadette, who nudged him in the stomach and glared at him. "It was a joke!" He said raising a hand defensively.

"Well it wasn't funny!" Bernadette barked.

Leonard and Penny locked eyes from across the room. They gave each other a small smile before Leonard put his glass in the air and said, "To Brandon and Penny," which was then echoed from the rest of the group.

"To Brandon and Penny."

Just a quick note about timeline. This story is set roughly a year and a half from the beginning of season 6. It sort of goes A/U, with the idea that Penny actually did break up with Leonard in episode 02 of season 6, instead of falling for those puppy dog eyes! Like I said in the summary this story is intended to be full of angst and does deal with some quite sensitive subjects, but I hope you enjoy it :)