This was requested by Jen at Fanforum. She wanted a multi-chapter fic about Priya not understanding some of Leonard's nerdiness and when something happens to something he owns, Penny helps him. So here it is. It'll probably be only two chapters, and will probably be finished tonight, but, here's the first bit!

I own nothing. Not even the idea! (And sorry if this is bad. My creativity is suffering like mega today. :\

Penny entered the apartment building with a purposeful stride, even though she had no ambition to do anything. There was laundry, of course, and she had to clean her apartment before Howard, Bernadette, Amy, and Sheldon came over, but that was tomorrow. It didn't matter today.

Yet her stride was still purposeful, perhaps due to her need to feel like she actually had a purpose being there. "Move out," Leonard had asked her weeks ago.

She hadn't. But she might as well have.

She never saw them anymore. When she did, it was while walking up the stairs or doing the laundry. They talked. Due to proximity, she talked more with Leonard and Sheldon than Raj and Howard, but even with the secret dinners that Howard, Sheldon, and their girls had with her in 4B, it wasn't even close to the amount of time that she used to spend with them.

And she'd missed Howard's proposal. Everyone – everyone – had been there except for her. She'd been working – a shift that she'd traded with Bernadette herself. She'd traded for it because it was too hard being in her apartment, hearing them next door and knowing that she couldn't go over there. It physically hurt.

"Oh. Hello."

Penny had been so consumed in her hurt that she hadn't realized that she was on the second floor landing. She shook her head to get her bearings, and then realized who had spoken. "Oh. Hi, Priya."

Priya gave her a small smile. "Can I go down?"

Penny realized she was standing just at the top of the steps, preventing Priya from descending. "Oh. Yeah. Sure."

"Thanks." Priya started down the stairs. Penny watched her for a moment, and then turned to continue her ascent.

"Hey."

Penny stopped, hesitating, and then turned back around. "Yeah?"

Priya reappeared, stepping back onto the landing. "Can I ask you a question?"

Penny suddenly felt suspicious. Thanks to Raj, she knew that not only was Priya's opinion of her very low, she talked about her, too. "Um, sure. I guess."

"When you and Leonard were…" she stopped, then figured that even Penny knew what she was talking about. "How did you deal with…him?"

Penny frowned. "Excuse me?"

"Not him like everything, but…some of his…quirky nerd behaviors? With my brother I could just kick him in the samosas. Leonard…" She trailed off. "I am not sure how to say this without sounding judgmental."

Clearly. "Well…what in particular?" Penny asked.

"He's lost some magazine. He's almost in tears over it. I don't understand why, but he thinks that I should. I don't know how to react."

Penny wondered if this was a test. Priya was smart, she might know the right way to deal with it but was testing if Penny would be honest or not. "Well, I'd just try to understand how he feels," Penny said. "You know how invested he gets in these things…honestly, just accept it."

Her last few words felt harsh coming off of Penny's tongue, but Priya didn't seem to notice – or she didn't care enough to respond. She simply sighed. "Thank you," she said, spinning on her heel and heading back down the stairs.

Penny climbed to the fourth floor, thinking. By the time she reached it, she didn't care about Priya's stupid rules. And she didn't think he would, either.

She marched into 4A without knocking. She always used to. "Leonard!" She yelled as she entered the living area.

She needn't have yelled. He was sitting in his chair, his head in his hands. He looked up as she entered. "Hey."

"Hey." She stopped in the door. "Priya said you lost…something?"

He sighed. "I don't want to talk about it. Can you please go away?"

Move out. Go away. Penny hated those words. They'd never have come out of his mouth, directed at her, before Priya.

But Priya wasn't here right now.

"No."

Leonard raised his head slowly and looked at her. His eyes were red. He looked stressed. "Penny."

"I'm not leaving," she said, shutting the door to the apartment firmly and walking over to him – walking with a purpose. She had one.

She sat down on the arm of his chair and put an arm around his shoulders as she bent her head down to see him better. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"It's not important," Leonard said, shaking his head. "It's a magazine."

It's not important. Was that what Priya told him? Penny closed her eyes. "Leonard, don't do this. Don't shut me out." She frowned after she said that, feeling that for some reason one of his Science Fiction movies had someone say that…she couldn't remember. "Leonard…" She hated how wistful she sounded.

He looked up at her. "Do you remember the summer after we met you? When I went to the Star Wars convention and got that 100th edition of the Insider Magazine?"

"Uh-huh…" Penny felt horrible that she didn't actually remember that incident. "But…sweetie…can't you get another one? Those aren't…special magazines, are they?"

"No." Leonard sighed. "But it was signed."

"Oh." That Penny understood. "Oh." She squeezed his shoulder. "I'll help you find it."

He rolled his eyes. "I looked at work – I took it there today to show the guy who replaced Crawley – and it's not there. It's not here, it's not in the car. It's gone."

"Are you sure Priya doesn't have it, you know, by accident?"

"I asked her. She said 'what the hell would I be doing with it?' and I realized that was a very good question."

Penny sighed and sat up straight. "We'll find it."

He looked up at her, confused. "We?"

"It's important to you, Leonard," she said. "And I…" she swallowed, "as your friend, am going to help you. Priya doesn't have to know."

Let me know what you think! Part two will be up later today!