So a few things inspired this one shot. One, this was the episode that I got to be in the live audience for, and I felt like I had to write something for the episode that I got to go to. Two, I've been trying to write more TBBT again. Three, I've had a crappy week and so have been watching some JAG to make me feel better, and pretty much everyone who knows anything about JAG knows about 'the coin toss.' So since coin tosses involve decision making, and this past episode was about decision making, I combined the two into this one shot. It picks up immediately after the end of the final Penny/Amy/Bernadette scene in episode 6.02, "The Decoupling Fluctuation."
DISCLIAMER: I don't own anything. Not a damn thing.
"Oh my God!" Penny said, slamming her hand down. "Stop looking at me like that!"
"Sorry," Amy said. "But Leonard's just so…"
"Great. He's just so great," Penny said. "I know. He is great." She put a hand to her forehead. "I don't want to hurt him."
"Maybe that's your answer," Amy said.
Bernadette looked at her. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, she thinks that she may want to break up with him, but she's so overly concerned about hurting him. Couldn't that mean that she really does care about him and she's just looking for a reason to run?"
"Why would I be looking for a reason to run?" Penny asked, sounding offended.
"No offense, Bestie," Amy said. "But you're as much of a flight risk as Sheldon." She lifted her hands in defense when Penny lowered her chin and gave the neurobiologist a look that clearly stated that she was not amused.
"You may be onto something," Bernadette said to Amy. "Penny, when did you start getting bored?"
"With this conversation?" Penny said. "Around the time that Amy started talking about what a sweet, funny, nerdy guy I'm dating."
"I didn't say any of that," Amy said. Bernadette held up a hand to stop her.
"With Leonard, it was…" Penny thought. "I don't know, around your wedding?"
"So around the time of the botched proposal," Bernadette said.
"Yes!" Penny said. "That was it! Before that, we were going out to the shooting range, he was teaching me how to beat him at board games…it was a lot of fun."
"Maybe he's just afraid of taking chances right now," Bernadette said. "He clearly doesn't want to lose you."
"But I can't just go home, find him, and say 'I love you'," she said. "That could be the truth, but I could be lying, and he doesn't deserve to be strung along like this if I'm not sure."
"I wasn't around back then, so correct me if I'm wrong," Amy said, "but last time you weren't sure, you broke up with him, yes?"
Penny hesitated. "Yeah…"
"And that didn't lead to much good for either of you."
"Is he pressuring you to say it?" Bernadette asked.
Penny shook her head. "Raj was last week, but no, Leonard's not asking me to say anything."
"So why do you feel so pressured?" Bernadette said curiously. "It's not like if you love him now, you'll love him forever, and if you don't love him now, you never will. These things take time."
"I've known him for five years," Penny said. "Shouldn't I know by now?"
"I think you're pressuring yourself," Bernadette said. "If Leonard isn't asking you to define your feelings, let it go longer. If he's not telling you he loves you-"
"He totally does, though!"
"Stop," Bernadette said. Amy shrank back. "If he's not telling you he loves you," the little blonde continued, "then you're not stringing him along by staying with him. What you have to decide is if you still want to be with him. Take whether you're sure you love him or not out of the equation."
"I don't know how to do that," Penny said.
"Okay," Bernadette said, getting up and going to her kitchen. She took a jar, turned it upside down, and shook it. A few coins fell out, and she selected one and returned to the couch. "Here's what we're going to do. Heads is you stay with him, tails is you break up."
"How does that help me figure out how I feel?"
"Heads, you stay, tails, you go, ready?" Bernadette said. She snapped her thumb and the coin, twirling, sailed up into the air. Bernadette caught it and slapped it onto the back of her other hand, keeping it covered.
Penny was staring at it, completely still, her eyes slightly widened. "What does it say?"
Amy was smiling. "Bernadette, you are a genius!"
"What? Why?" Penny asked.
"There's a quote," Bernadette said, and Amy nodded, "that goes 'if you are stuck between two options, just flip a coin in the air. It works, not because it solves the problem, but because while the coin is in the air, you will get to know what your heart is really hoping for.' When this coin was in the air, you had a thought, a wish for what it would land on. It was subconscious, but you knew it. And you're hoping that when I take my hand away you'll see either heads or tails." She closed her hand over the coin and put it in her pocket. "You'll never know what it landed on." Bernadette walked over to the door and opened it. "Now go. Go and break up with him if you wish. And if you were hoping for heads, then stay, and the way you feel will be made clearer in time."
Penny looked at Bernadette and then back at Amy. She slowly got up shoved her hands in her pockets, and left the apartment.
Bernadette returned to the couch and looked at the door. "What do you think she's going to do?" She asked Amy.
Amy shook her head. "I don't know."
As I don't know what's going to happen with Penny and Leonard, they could break up next episode or they could act as if last episode never happened, I wanted to leave this a bit open ended. Hope you enjoyed it!