A/N - I couldn't stay away from this story at all, there were just so many ideas floating around in my head. As the sequel to The Situation Diffusion, I would recommend reading that so you understand the context here - but you don't have to, you'll probably pick it up along the way. This story will be both very happy and exciting but also have it's moments where it will get very sad and difficult. There will be some mentions and on occasion, deeper looks, into depression and self-harm at times, so if people would prefer me to put a little Trigger Warning before those, let me know (you can do that by PM if you prefer) - it won't be anything explicit or incredibly detailed, nothing I would find too difficult to put into words, but just in case. That being said, for the most part, this will be a happy story! :) So, I hope you enjoy this - we begin in Nebraska. Happy reading!


Chapter 1: You Have Someone to Dance With

Penny rarely let go of Leonard's hand by choice if she had the opportunity to keep holding it. She liked the comfort and closeness of having her fingers linked with his; it made her feel warm, wanted and protected. She liked how it meant people would see that they were together; a couple who were happy to show off their love. She liked how he still held her hands in his, interlocking their fingers, palm to palm, even though he knew what she had done to her hands - he'd seen what she could do to them, and how easily she could do it to herself, but that never scared him off.

But as they walked through the final doors to leave the baggage area, and Penny saw her parents standing, waiting, in the Arrivals lounge, she let go of Leonard's hand. He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze just before she slowly released her hold, running her fingers gently through his, before their hands were free. He placed his on the luggage trolley handle, making it easier to steer. Penny practically ran towards her parents, and straight into her mothers open arms.

"Mom," Penny managed to choke out, squeezing her eyes shut tight as tears slid down onto her cheeks.

Leonard followed closely behind, stopping with the luggage trolley besides Penny's father, his heart warming at the reunion of mother and daughter.

Instantly, Wyatt pulled Leonard into a hug, patting him firmly on the back. "Thank you, son. Thank you."

Not entirely sure what to say, Leonard simply returned the hug. He knew that her parents felt the same concern and worry as he did for Penny, and thus they were the two people who would understand him - and in turn, he understood their emotional reactions in this moment. Seeing somebody so important to them, safe, and to have them in their arms, was something he could fully understand and relate to.

They parted at the same time Penny and her mother parted, and Penny went to hug her father, settling into his protective embrace. Leonard hardly had time to get out of their way before her mother's arms were around him in a tight hug, squeezing him as though her life depended on it.

"Thank you so much for taking care of our Penny and for coming out here. Thank you, thank you, Leonard." As she pulled away, she kept her hands on his arms in a way that reminded him very much of Penny. "I'm Meryl, by the way. It's so lovely to finally meet you."

"It's great to meet you too." Leonard smiled. "She's really been looking forward to coming back here and seeing you again. Since we made the plans to get a new place in Pasadena and come out to Nebraska, she's just been so excited, it's been amazing to see her like that."

"We are just so... so relieved she's here, and happy, and with you." Meryl said quietly, her lip trembling in a way that was, again, reminiscent of her daughter.

Pulling away from her father, Penny turned to look at Leonard with teary eyes and smudged make-up, but with a radiant smile nonetheless. "Welcome to Nebraska," she said, taking his hands. "I guess you met my mom, then."

"Yeah," Leonard nodded, smiling at her. He brought his hands up to her face, tucking her hair behind her ears, before using his thumbs to softly wipe the tears from her face. Her smile stayed, her hands on his chest, as he gently rubbed at the smudges of mascara to tidy her make-up a little.

"They're so cute," Meryl whispered to her husband, smiling. As a mother, the sight in front of her was all she had ever wanted for her daughter: to find somebody she loved and loved her back, somebody who made her smile, somebody who wiped away her tears and somebody who put her first without so much as a second thought.

"They really are." Wyatt nodded. It was a mixture of pride and happiness that he felt, seeing Penny and Leonard together - in a real relationship, both happy with each other and moving forward with their lives.

Turning slightly from Leonard, but not letting go of his hands, she looked at her parents. "Shall we get going? I can't wait to show Leonard around and introduce him to Mom's cooking."

"Sure thing, sweetheart." Wyatt nodded, taking hold of the trolley.

Deciding not to protest because he was still a tiny bit scared of Wyatt, and also because he didn't want to let go of Penny's hands, Leonard let him take the luggage trolley. They walked behind Penny's parents, Penny keeping one hand linked with his and the other across her body holding onto his arm lightly.

"Sweetie, you should do up your jacket, it's going to be really cold when we get outside." Penny said, as they neared the exit. She reluctantly let go of his hand so he could do so, in which time she unzipped her handbag, pulling out a blue scarf. "Here, put this on." Handing it to him, she pulled out a pink scarf, putting it on herself.

"How much did you put into your handbag?" Leonard raised a brow as he tied his scarf.

"Not much, I just packed scarves because I knew we'd need them." Penny shrugged, relinking their hands. "It's cold in Nebraska, baby. I know to be prepared."

As the automatic doors slid open to let them out, Leonard shivered and turned to Penny. "Smart move."


"And the last stop of our tour is," Penny wiggled her eyebrows, her tongue between her teeth, "my bedroom."

"I kind of guessed that, considering it was the only room we hadn't been in yet."

"Come on Leonard, sweetie, can't you just go along with it for once?" Penny frowned, one hand on the doorknob, the other resting on her hip.

"Oh. Oh, yeah, okay. Sure," he nodded quickly, "ooh, how exciting!"

"Better." Penny smiled, before pushing the door open. "Ta-dah!"

Stepping inside, Leonard grinned as he took in Penny's teenage bedroom. It was adorned with posters of boy bands that he had only heard of from his sister when they were younger. There were framed photographs dotted around the various surfaces of the room. On the window ledge was a small collection of trophies and figurines, which he assumed were from cheerleading and probably horse riding. While the bed was made and the room was currently neat and tidy, it wasn't difficult to imagine it covered in clothes and misplaced items. Penny opened a door to their left to reveal a small en-suite bathroom.

"Nice," Leonard nodded. "It's very... you."

"Very me?"

"You know, with the posters, and the pictures, and teddy bears, all that kind of stuff."

"Oh, yeah, I suppose it is. It was never this tidy when I actually lived here though." Penny giggled, walking over to the window. "It's nice to be back. I'm glad we came here."

Taking a moment to just watch her standing there, at home and happy, Leonard smiled to himself, before walking up to Penny and wrapping his arms around her waist from behind. "Me too." He watched her reflection in the window, her lips curled upwards into a smile. Her eyes caught his own in the reflection and they grinned at each other, swaying gently from side to side. Her arms crossed in front of her body to link her hands with his, and she giggled.

"We're dancing to no music!"

"I wouldn't really count this as dancing... and who needs music to dance, anyway?" Leonard chuckled.

"Totally true." Penny leaned back against him as they continued swaying, and she hummed a slow tune for a moment before stopping. "Leonard?"

"Yeah?"

"D'you know we've never danced together? Like... not dancing in a club. But like, properly danced."

"We slow danced at Bernadette and Howard's wedding." He reminded her.

"True... but I mean, like, you know when you see in films and they're just dancing around together? Not slow dancing, not grinding up against each other in a club, just... dancing together and having fun. For no reason. Or for a reason, but not caring that they're not dancing like everyone else is."

Not sure where she was trying to go with this, Leonard hesitated. "Umm... are you saying you want us to do that? Or are you just pointing it out?"

Turning around, Penny beamed at him, her eyes lighting up, before she went across her room to the radio set on top of her chest of drawers. Opening the box next to it, she pouted for a moment before pulling out a cassette tape. "Bet you forgot about these bad boys, huh?"

"I can't believe you still own cassette tapes." Leonard shook his head in amusement.

"What! I'm not throwing these away. I used to dance to these songs with Daddy when they were on the radio when I was younger, so he'd put them on cassette tapes for me." Penny explained, popping open the dusty cassette slot and placing the tape in. She grinned as she hit play and music began playing. "Aha!"

He loved how casually sentimental she could be, and the little stories she told him of her childhood. The pace of the music was fairly fast, but not too upbeat or loud - it seemed quite a feel-good tune. Even though he didn't know it, he found himself enjoy it. Holding out his hands to her, he grinned. "Shall we dance?"

"Seriously?" Penny blinked for a few moments, before her grin returned and she took his hands. "Yes!"

For a few minutes, they did exactly what she wanted to: dance. Not particularly well, and for the most part they weren't in time with the music, but that didn't matter to them. They held each others hands, laughing, as they swayed their bodies and kicked their legs about, moving each others arms with their own, bopping their heads and waltzing (sort of, because Leonard wasn't sure if it was the right timing) around her bedroom. They both knew it didn't really resemble dancing and that they must look ridiculous, but in those few moments they were free and happy together - a freedom that either of them rarely felt with such ease.

"That was so much fun!" Penny exclaimed, breathing a little heavier from the exertion, leaning in to put her arms around him, as the cassette made rapid clicks as it scrolled forward through the tape to the next track. It began playing a much slower piece of music, and she smiled softly. "They played this at my parents twentieth wedding anniversary. They always danced to it at home. I was fourteen then and had nobody to dance with, and afterwards Dad came over to me and assured me that one day I'd have someone to dance to it with."

"Well, now you have someone to dance with." Leonard moved his hands to her waist, and they began to sway slowly to the music.

"Mm. Yeah. I do." Penny nodded. "I love you."

"I love you too."

They continued to slowly move together, stepping back and forth with their bodies pressed into each other, getting lost in the romantic undertones the instruments were playing. After a moment, Leonard leaned forward to kiss her forehead, but she lifted her chin up and captured his lips. Caught by surprise, it took him a while before he began to respond to her, realizing that it wasn't just a quick kiss she was after. They continued to slowly move to the music as her tongue gently pushed into his mouth, her arms coming up around his neck as he pulled her tighter to him. Her nails grazed at his scalp slightly as she curled her fingers into his hair, releasing a delicate "mmm" of satisfaction as his lips left hers to kiss along her jaw and neck. A sharp gasp left her as he bit lightly at her neck, and she pushed her hips into his.

Next thing she knew, his hands were travelling up her back, into her hair while he kissed her again, back down her spine as his tongue rolled onto hers, squeezing her ass - which earned him a slightly louder moan - and then back to her hips. Her knees felt weak and she was sure he could tell because as she tugged desperately on his bottom lip with her teeth, he lifted her up, her legs automatically wrapping around his waist.

Moving her lips to his ear, she breathed, "the door... it locks."