Thanks to my beta MillionLights for the improvements made in this story. Much better now!
The story is set between season 5 episode 7 (When Leonard and Prya break up) and season 5 episode 12 (before Leonard and Penny get together again)
I don't own The Big Bang Theory or the characters.
Sure, he and Penny weren't friends like they used to be. Since he and Priya started to date, Leonard could sense his friendship with Penny taking a turn for the worse. Most people told him that they couldn't be friends. If they could be friends, were they really in love in the first place?
This was why Leonard was sitting on the cold floor at three o'clock in the morning, debating whether or not he should call Penny. He guessed she was probably out with friends or getting home from her job. He smiled at the thought of her in uniform but quickly took that thought out of his head, since most people were looking at him like he was insane. He probably was, since love had the tendency to make people do odd, idiotic things and be complete idiots.
Flashback
He and Priya had decided to take a break. For almost three months, Leonard had been a little depressed. That day, Sheldon was being particularly grumpy, making Leonard feel so mad that he decided to go outside for some fresh air.
Once he got outside, he imagined taking his car out for a small drive. Going back inside to grab his keys only took a few seconds, and then he was out on the road. Driving to the park, he sat down on a bench and watched the people around him. Everyone seemed so happy, unlike him, which only depressed him further. Perhaps this little excursion wasn't the best idea. He got up and walked a little bit until he found a small, tucked-away liquor store. Buying some drinks Penny had shown him over the years, he went back to the bench and started to drink a few. After a short amount of time, he realized he was getting a little dizzy. Realizing he didn't care, that nobody cared, he kept drinking.
Leonard ended up taking his car and he felt invincible, much like he could take over the world. With a bottle in his hand and the other on the steering wheel, he was driving at 70 mph. Eventually, though, he heard sirens. He stopped the car, hid the bottles and opened the windows.
"Goodnight officer. How can I help you?"
"Do you know how fast were you going?"
"Of course I do!"
The officer looked at him and noticed the smell of his breath: alcohol.
"Can you please come out of the car?"
Leonard got out of the car, knowing he had just been caught.
End of Flashback
And that was why he was sitting on that floor, debating on whether he should call Penny or not. He remembered her telling him that since they were friends – back when Sheldon was fired and his mom showed up to talk to him – that if it was ever necessary, they would bail each other out of prison. 'It's what friends are for,' were her exact words. Leonard, at the time, thought she was either joking or talking about him bailing her out of jail, not the other way around.
He thought of calling Sheldon, but he was sleeping and would probably act like it wasn't his business. And he knew Howard and Raj were doing something together that night since Raj missed Howard a little.
Penny was his last option because he couldn't see Bernadette or Amy taking him out this mess.
He got up and asked the officer if he could make a phone call. At that moment, the officer was opening the door for him to call someone. A different policeman came up to him with Penny. Leonard had no idea how she found out he was there, but that wasn't something he wasn't worried about. Or something he cared about.
She looked at him sweetly, but Leonard knew better. He knew that was her 'if I could kill you here I would' look.
The officers made her sign a bunch of papers saying that she would take him. Leonard didn't read them since he was too busy looking at Penny's clothes. She wore her sweatpants and one of his old sweatshirts – one Leonard knew she had kept when they broke up.
They left the precinct, and Leonard looked around, not seeing where Penny's car was.
"I walked here," she said, sensing Leonard's confusion.
"We're walking home? It's a little far, don't you think?"
"You're an idiot sometimes aren't you? I have your car keys. I'm driving us home."
They both walked to the car and got in it, Penny in the driver's seat and Leonard on the back seat.
"What are you doing back there? I thought you got car sick."
But Leonard didn't answer her since he was already sleeping. She smiled at his prone form. He had his head on the window and his feet were on the seat. His hands were inside his sweatshirt and his mouth was a little open but in an adorable way. She took a picture of him, and drove home.
When they got to the apartment building, Penny had to wake Leonard up, which wasn't going to be an easy task. She had sung the entire trip home without caring about the noise she was making, and Leonard kept on sleeping.
She laughed as an evil plan formed in her head. She left the car and opened the door where his head was laying. He finally woke up, completely forgetting where he was.
"I regret it!" he shouted.
Penny looked at him, puzzled
"What do you regret?"
"Jumping."
Penny then realized he was still half asleep, still in a dreamland of his own.
"Jumping from where?"
"That tall building. Remember it?"
"What building, Leonard?"
Leonard ignored that question. "I also regret letting Penny go without fighting for her, but that's a secret. Don't tell her!" he said, putting his finger in front of his mouth.
Those words hit her heart hard.
"And… would you still want her as a girlfriend again?" Penny asked, carefully.
"Of course! I always loved her. I thought that maybe she would realize that when Priya and I broke up. I never loved that girl. Penny was the one in my mind. I thought that if I was with someone else, I would forget about Penny. But I never did. If anything, it made me think of her even more. I need her back." Leonard looked at her with such sad eyes she couldn't do anything other than hugging him.
She hadn't hugged him since they broke up and she had missed it. It felt good to hug him, and even if it was to console Leonard, she was feeling protected by him.
Penny realized they were in the middle of the street with the door of the car open and a man half in and half out of the car.
She broke the hug and got him out of the car, taking him to the fourth floor. She was about to open the door to his apartment when he decided to speak.
"Mean person is inside. I don't want to go there."
"Mean person?"
"Sheldon. He's mean."
"Why?"
He shrugged his shoulders.
"Don't know. He just is."
She looked at her apartment. She took a deep breath and took him to her bed. When she left the room and closed the door, she heard his voice.
"Don't go."
It was a hushed sound, and it almost seemed like it was said by a child. She went to his inside to see if he was okay.
"What's wrong?"
"Stay. Don't want to be alone."
"Leonard, sweetie, we can't sleep together."
"Why not? I won't say anything."
She smiled at him and decided to jump into bed with him. They had done that before when the gang was talking in a conference and everyone either got mad at each other or were bitten.
In the middle of the night, Penny woke up to see Leonard's arm around her, as if he was protecting her.
"Leonard?"
"Don't take her. Take me." He said, in his sleep.
"Sweetie? I'm right here. Don't worry." She soothed him back to sleep.
His arm was still around her, but his face was now back from 'I'm scared' to 'I'm a little angel'. And that was so true. He was an angel. Her angel.
The End
I wrote this a while ago (maybe last year) but forgot to post it. It's here now! :)