A/N: Hey guys! First fic ever here...be kind? Nah, I accept criticism :) So I always have all these fics in my head but I never have time to write any of them down. However...this is the 10 year anniversary to my favorite couple's first meeting! I just couldn't ignore this so I sat down and wrote this one-shot. I wrote about this idea some weeks ago at the fan forum and Zephon75 encouraged me to write it. Thank you Zephon! So here you go... A one-shot dedicated to my beloved Lenny 3. I am not a native English speaker so I apoligze for any mistakes. Hope you Enjoy it!
Oh, and The Big Bang Theory belongs to Lorre and Prady and yada yada yada...
Leonard glanced at his watch. The chocolate chips muffins he was making, following the recipe he googled earlier, would be done in a minute. Penny was supposed to be home any second after a long, busy day at work. He wished she wouldn't get caught up in traffic and could get to eat the pastries straight out of the oven. He never tried this recipe before but the scent that was now filling the apartment was intoxicating. Well, if these muffins taste like the moth cookies Sheldon once made him, at least they'll have that.
As if on cue, the door opened just when a gentle "Ding!" sounded from the oven. "What was that? Did Sheldon install some new Penny-alarm?" Penny asked, closing the door, when suddenly her face lit up "Something smells fantastic!".
Leonard grinned, this is the reaction he was hoping for. "That sound was from the oven, you not recognizing it explains some things." he said, thinking back to some carbon-tasting dinners."The smell is chocolate chips muffins. You have been dreading this day for a week so I thought I'd try giving it a nice ending." he smiled warmly at her.
"Oh my god Leonard that is so sweet of you!" she rewarded him with a soft kiss.
"It turns out Google is good for all kinds of things." he winked.
"So how was your day? Was it as terrible as you thought it would be?" Leonard asked his wife while getting the muffins out of the oven. She didn't have to answer. Once he turned to look at her, sitting across from him at their kitchen island, he saw exhaustion written all over her face.
"Ugh. So many meetings, barely any breaks. I hate it when the company releases new drugs. And I mean, anti-depressants that start to work about 2 days earlier, on average, for the price of your chin possibly turning purple for 5 months? Who would want to prescribe that to their patients?! I tried saying that it might become 'a thing', you know, purple would be the depression awareness color, like pink is for breast cancer." she said, clearly embarrassed. "Yeah, that is the look they gave me" she nodded, looking at her husband cringing.
"I shouldn't complain that much" Penny sighed, stuffing a muffin into her mouth "The money is great, this muffin is greater" she said with her mouth full, making her concerned husband smile a bit, "and I don't have to smile while I take the order of some stupid teenager thinking that he's got a shot with a 12 years older waitress, although I do miss spitting on their food." she finished.
"No, you have the right to complain, especially to your husband. I wish I could do something to make you feel better." Leonard said, a sympathetic sad smile on his face.
"Aw you already did babe, these muffins are something else!" she put a muffin in his hand and took another, clinking them together as if they were wine glasses.
"I'm glad you like them," he answered, taking a bite, "but I want to do more to cheer you up, you deserve to have some fun."
"Um… Maybe we could go see the Wolowitzs tomorrow morning? Halley is usually fun to play with after breakfast, not unlike her grandmother." Penny smiled.
"You know I like playing with Halley, especially with that cool Chubaka doll Raj bought her, but we do that all the time. How about something different?". They both got quiet, thinking. "You know, you used to meet up with all those friends, I remember Cheryl, and there was Miranda, and the one with that weird name" he furrowed.
"Charma?" Penny asked.
"Yes! Who gives their child such an unusual name? It sounds like a Pokemon!" he answered.
"Actually her original name was Brittany but she changed it at 20, she wanted a name that represented "her unique being", so she mixed Chakra and Karma." Penny laughed.
"Unique indeed. Anyway, as much as I know, you haven't seen these and other friends for ages. We mostly hang out with the gang. I know I have never been good at interacting with those friends of yours but how about you invite them over, or meet them somewhere? I don't have to be there. Maybe this different social group will bring in some new kinds of fun for you." he suggested, giving her his enthusiastic smile that was almost enough by itself to make her say yes.
"That's a nice idea. I guess I kind of lost contact with some people over the years, you know people grow apart… But it would be nice to catch up. But you are not getting out of it mister! I want to show off my cute, brilliant, soon to be baker-on-demand husband. Maybe these girls can bring in their husbands or boyfriends too, I remember Charma had a fiancé."
It was almost two weeks later that Penny, Charma, Miranda, Cheryl, Janet and 3 of their significant others met at the Home Café. It seemed like an ideal place for such a gathering, small but spaced, it had sofas and armchairs distributed around some tables making its name feel well earned. For the girls though it was mostly the Friends air it had that piqued their interest.
Leonard and Penny were first to arrive. "Ohh I forgot about the timing thing! We had this kind of unwritten rule with these girls, the time we would set used to be the time the "early birds" among us would head out." Penny said upon looking at the empty seats.
They sat on a loveseat and were talking with each other, sipping on their coffee for a while, when a slim brunette woman about Penny's height, wearing a hot pink mini dress entered the coffee shop, accompanied by a tall muscular guy, his dark red shirt too tight, making Leonard think it might tear up Hulk-style any minute. "Penny?! Penny oh my!" the woman cried, snapping Leonard and Penny, and everybody else in the coffee shop, out of their conversation bubble.
"Janet hi!" Penny got up to greet her, holding Leonard's hand tight and pulling him with her. They gave each other a quick hug, Penny's hand still holding Leonard's.
"Look at you girl, covering up for Hubbie?" Janet asked, examining Penny from head to toe.
Both Leonard and Penny were confused for a few seconds, she was wearing a loose light brown shirt and long blue jeans, her big jean jacket on the loveseat next to Leonard's. It was a completely normal look for Penny. As of recent years. Realizing this Penny said "Oh of course not, Leonard would never try to tell me what to wear, I guess my style has changed."
"Oh..'kay. Well it is cute that you guys match, Aaron here would never agree to that." Janet remarked as the four were heading to their seats.
Leonard and Penny looked at each other and chuckled. Leonard was wearing a light brown shirt with a tree print and black jeans. "Actually we didn't even notice." Penny replied.
Soon after came Miranda, a tall blonde with prominent eyeliner emphasizing her blue eyes, wearing black pants and a green tight top, and her man, wearing a fine-tailored suit. With Charma in tandem, it was hard to notice Cheryl, wearing a yellow tank top that seemed to match her pixie cut blond hair. Charma's deep red wavy hair was even longer than Penny remembered, reaching her hips. She wore a long loose tie-dye dress with shades of orange and purple.
With the whole group finally greeted and seated, it was time for introduction, or re-introduction for the women. Charma, of course, volunteered to start. "So for you cute boys who don't know me or don't remember me" she started.
"Don't remember her? Is this possible?" Leonard whispered to Penny, causing them both to work hard not to laugh.
"I am Charma, a free spirit, a warm spirit, an ever-growing spirit, and a high school lunch lady." she continued slowly and dramatically.
"Sticking to that lunch lady job huh?" Cheryl asked.
"As I told you before, I am in a journey to find myself and my path in life. Until I find it I might as well have good insurance." Charma shrugged.
"Hey Charma didn't you have a fiancé?" Penny asked "Jeremiah's energies didn't work with mine so we decided to untangle." Charma shook her head. Penny rolled her eyes, making it again hard for her and Leonard, who have learned how to interpret almost every one of her many ways to roll her eyes, to not burst out laughing.
"Okay, my turn." Cheryl opened, "I'm Cheryl. Used to work at the Cheesecake Factory, home of the most hideous uniforms I have ever seen, but now I work as a stylist for semi-celebrities, you know like people from "The Bachelor"." she said proudly.
"That nice Cher, you probably get some exciting pieces of gossip!" Janet said, everybody nodded, although Leonard was just playing along.
"Do you get to work with some your favorite designers?" Leonard asked, remembering Penny had all those designers she admired, which he thought was somewhat akin to him admiring certain directors.
Yes! I've got people like Lorena Kemke inviting me to fashion shows all the time!" Cheryl replied excitedly, met by an excited response from the group.
Penny smiled at Leonard and moved her right hand up and down his left arm. He was helping this gathering work with his friendly and welcoming manners, and making it better for her even by his mere presence. And she knew it was all out of love for her.
"I am single tough, found out last month that my stupid boyfriend was cheating on me." Cheryl said sadly.
After a bunch of "I'm sorry for you" and a minute of awkward silence the introductions continued. Miranda, a dance teacher, and her husband Mason, a night club owner were next. Cheryl and Charma told Miranda she married right, making it possible for her to go to a club whenever she wants to and drink at a lesser cost, Penny agreeing on the last part. Mason explained that his choice of clothes was part of their branding, gaining their club a reputation of a place for "grown-ups" to have fun without being crushed by extremely drunk young college students.
Janet and her boyfriend Robert were both making money out of promoting products and events on Instagram. Leonard and Penny were impressed with the amount of money they managed to make. Penny's question about their limits was met with confused stares though."I mean, what are the things you wouldn't agree to promote, like... Would you do something that has a racist or sexist message? Stuff like that." she clarified, but except for a nodding Leonard everybody stared at her blankly."Um, it's just Instagram posts, the message is "this is cool"…" Janet said unsurely.
Penny and Leonard were last on the introduction round. "Okay, I am Penny, now Hofstadter," she said, grinning at Leonard, "used to work at the Cheescake Factory as well but now I'm a pharmaceutical's sales rep."
The women looked surprised. "What's that?" Miranda asked.
"It means I promote medications for a company that makes them. I meet with doctors and tell them about the advantages of Zanagen's drugs." she explained "Medical doctors, although I do meet a lot of non medical doctors" she added and squeezed Leonard's arm, both smiling.
"How the hell did you get there? That sounds like serious stuff!" Cheryl asked.
"My friend Bernadette works there at development, she is a microbiologist. And scares both me and my boss, which is what really got me in." Leonard and Penny laughed.
"Anyway, this is my husband Doctor Leonard Hofstadter, a brilliant experimental physicist working at Caltech." she said, beaming with pride, squeezing his shoulder.
"Experimental physicist? What does that mean?" Mason asked.
"It means I design and conduct experiments to provide evidence supporting or disproving theories in physics." Leonard explained.
"But sometimes he has theoretical ideas too. About two years ago he had one when we were eating dinner. You should have seen his face, extraordinary mind in work!" Penny added enthusiastically. "And then he and two of our friends developed this thingy out of it and were working for the military, infinite persi…persipi…" she narrowed her eyes trying to remember. Leonard opened his mouth but was quickly shut down "No no no I got it I got it! Infinite, persistence! persistence! gyroscope. Infinite persistence gyroscope! See I told you I've got it!" Penny said, very proud of herself.
"Way to go babe!" Leonard grinned at her. This gathering was meant to make her happy but seeing her talking about him and his job so fondly filled him with joy. Even though he knew all those comments about her compromising on him and potentially leaving him were jokes, which he sometimes made by himself to try and make it feel less hurtful, it was so great to feel this appreciated.
After the introduction round the group split into two or three conversations most of the time. The women quickly drifted to talking about fashion, parties, and gossip, which included some stories Penny found hard to believe.
At one point Leonard noticing her giggling to herself."What are you laughing at? Not the story of "the slutty Survival contestant who probably had her energies all blurred and broke up with her father's girlfriend" I guess" he asked.
"I just remembered the whole gossip about Howard and Bernie's possible break-up and proposal and that experiment Sheldon and Amy did. Although some years later the gossip of them having sex did come true." she answered.
"Those two crazy kids" Leonard said, shaking his head. Both of them burst out laughing and took a few minutes to get back to the conversations.
As the gathering went on Penny found herself not following her friends' conversation once and again. She did listen to Leonard talking to Mason about his club's promotion strategy for some time.
"So anyway we went to this party we were hired to promote and it was just too weird. We felt so weird, just AWKWARD." Penny heard Janet say.
"Did they all suddenly stop what they were doing and stare at you?" Penny asked, chuckling a bit. This was not lost on Leonard, who chuckled as well.
"Excuse me?" Janet asked after a few seconds of everybody staring at Penny and Leonard, who seemed to forget about their existence, puzzled.
"Oh sorry I just remembered something we saw on "Mind Games"" Penny explained once she turned her eyes away from Leonard.
"Mind Games? Is that like something that psychics do to people? Do they play with their mind or something? Clear their spirits?" Charma asked.
"What? No!" Penny answered. "It's a TV show on National Geographic. It's a cute show, they do some experiments and demonstrations and then explain why and how do these things work, stuff that has to do with the way our brains work. Like one time they showed that when a person shoots baskets blindfolded and others make them think they missed all the shots that person is likely to miss many shots later with their eyes open even if they were pretty good, and vice versa. People's brains react strongly to social stimuli, it gives humans evolutionary advantage" she explained, Leonard nodding beside her.
"Okay…" Cheryl said, her and the other women looking at Penny the way Leonard remembered Penny looking at him frequently over her first year living across the hall.
The women started talking about new dance clubs they have been to and the number of guys that tried to hit on them in the latest parties they attended. Penny was mostly staring at them, not quite following the conversation, when she felt Leonard's phone buzz from his pants pocket pressed against her leg. A message from Amy appeared at the screen when Leonard unlocked his phone. "My research partners from Princeton thought agreed with me that your suggestion is the most cost-effective way to confront our problem. Thank you very much Leonard." the message read.
"Is this about this con..something problem she had that you talked about the other day? Is she doing something that has to do with physics?" Penny asked.
"Confounding is a problem that is relevant for experiments in many fields, from the social sciences to biology and physics. Experiments are a big part of both Amy's work and mine so I was able to help her thinking how to deal with the problem she was having." Leonard answered.
"Can you try to explain what she's working on to me? It sounded interesting when she and Howard talked about it last night but I couldn't follow all those sciency terms." Penny asked.
After talking about Amy's current project Leonard and Penny went on to talk about various things. From their new laundry softener to Penny's thoughts about the kind of other job she would like to have, from Wyatt refusing Susan's request to paint the door, which was a burning topic on their last Skype session with Penny's parents, to the donation they decided to make for that charity that helped less fortunate children to stay at school. It was only when they turned to take their last sips of their second mugs of coffee that they noticed everybody else was gone. Penny's old friends and their partners were not to be seen neither at the door nor at the part of the street that was visible from the coffee shop. Penny also noticed that Janet's pink car, which was parked just in front of the window, was gone.
"Hmm. I guess we kind of got carried away with our own conversation. I hope they weren't offended. Sorry." Leonard said.
"About what? We were both talking to each other, and I believe we would have noticed if they came to say goodbye to us. Don't feel bad honey." Penny turned and smiled to her husband, giving him a quick peck.
They both sat there for a moment, quiet, thinking to themselves. "You know, you really changed me." said both, smiling, at the same time, their smiles becoming giggles realizing it.
"What do you mean by that?" Penny asked, before Leonard could.
"Ten years ago I would have never managed to survive a gathering like this, let alone befriending and setting another meeting with a dance club owner at his club like I did with Mason. I would have sat there clueless, wondering what on earth were the rules for interacting with those people, probably ending up freaking them out talking about curry being a natural laxative. On the Halloween party you had the year you moved to the building I was listening to Sheldon's insights on socializing with your friends, Sheldon's insights for crying out loud!" both of them took a moment to laugh at that. "You got me out of my little bubble, you showed me the world outside, that was so much bigger than what I've thought. If it weren't for you I would have probably remained unable to communicate with anybody who was not a scientist or a nerd. I would have become this narrow minded guy, encapsulated in his shell of low self esteem. I would have probably ended up with some girl who would dominate me completely." Leonard said, looking deep into his wife's her eyes. "And," he took her hands in his, "I would have never known what real love and real happiness are, I am sure of this." he finished with his special smile, his eyes filled with love and adoration."Leonard.." Penny said, touched deeply, tears forming in her eyes. He enveloped her in a tight hug.
They parted after a few minutes, Leonard holding Penny's hands in his again. "Now, what did you mean?" he asked, Penny wiped her eyes. "Being with these old friends today was…weird. Don't get me wrong, it was nice and although I have already said that various times during the last two weeks, I want to say thank you again for thinking about this idea and helping me setting it up. But, I kind of felt like these girls were still in that place they were in years ago. The girls and their guys are nice people, but I feel like I am not at that same place they are at anymore. Leonard you are not the only one whose world has changed. Yes, I knew more about interacting with people and about popular music, TV, movies and this kind of stuff. But I was in a bubble of my own, caring mostly about myself and things that had to do with having fun at the moment. Consequences? Financial stability? Social issues? The workings of our universe and our brains? I would have never even let thoughts about these things cross my mind. I would also look at people like you and our friends as if they were alien, intended to be ridiculed. I would have never come to care so much and do my best to understand people who were so different. But something in you got to me at the very first moment I saw you. And the way you treated this crazy man that anybody else would have tried to choke with his pillow if they lived with him for only one day… Seeing him as broken. as needing guidance. Forgiving him and so many people around you, including me. Too many times me. Leonard you have changed me so much, in ways that even you don't understand." Penny's eyes filled with tears again, a smile on her face, a look of love and adoration in her eyes. This gathering was aimed to let Penny have some fun in some people who were part of her world some years ago. Instead it showed her how much she loved her world now.