"Have fun on your honeymoon," Penny said as she drew back from Sheldon, having just shared a quick yet affectionate hug with him. She beamed up at him. "I love you, sweetie."
Sheldon's eyes narrowed as his eyebrows tightened together. Penny could feel her smile slipping, knowing all too well that Sheldon was about to say something very Sheldony.
"Penny," he started with a single shake of his head. "Must I point out how inappropriate it is to hit on a married man, especially one whose wife is standing within earshot?"
Penny's jaw went slack. All she could do was stare at him, dumfounded, as he started to shake his head some more. She closed her mouth and looked at Amy, who was shaking her own head, but, unlike Sheldon, she was smiling in sheer amusement. Amy reached up and skimmed her hand down Sheldon's arm, causing him to snap his head to her.
"She didn't mean it in a romantic way, Sheldon," Amy informed him, now trailing a single finger back up his arm, her face brightening with a teasing smile.
Sheldon's eyes looked darker all of a sudden as he watched Amy's finger gingerly travel up his arm. "Well, that's a relief," he said softly, staring at Amy as though he only had eyes for her.
Penny rolled her own eyes, grinning nonetheless. She wrapped her arms around herself as she felt a cool breeze gently sweep through the night air. A small group of them had congregated outside of the reception hall, taking their turns saying their goodbyes and good wishes to Sheldon and Amy before the two were whisked away to enjoy their first night together as husband and wife.
Leonard managed to pull Sheldon away from Amy long enough to say whatever it was he needed to say to him. Penny watched them. They were both trying to look like a couple of cool guys, but she could clearly see the both of them trying their damn hardest not to smile at each other in a way that only two best friends would.
Her onlooking was cut short when Amy walked up to her and embraced her, wrapping her arms around her best friend's back.
"Thank you for everything you did to make my special day with Sheldon absolutely perfect," Amy said. "You truly are a remarkable human being, Penny. I feel like the luckiest woman alive to call you my best friend."
"Aww, likewise, Ames," Penny said sincerely, slowly drawing back from Amy while still clutching her shoulders. "You're a beautiful bride, and Sheldon damn well knows it, too. I'm so unbelievably happy for you guys."
"I know," Amy said with a nod, smiling brightly. "I'm happy for us, too."
Penny exhaled through her nose and grinned wider. She started to release Amy, but not before the brunette leaned in towards her ear and whispered, "Good luck." She then pulled back, offering her a sincere smile.
Penny, meanwhile, felt a powerful shiver zap through her body. This time, though, the bristling chill had much less to do with the cool temperature outside and much more to do with what Amy was wishing her luck on. After bouncing some ideas off of Amy and Bernadette, Penny was confident that she'd managed to come up with a plan for a pretty damn romantic proposal that would definitely sweep Leonard off his feet and so much more.
She looked at him again and felt a restless flutter in her stomach. It could've been a combination of the alcohol and delicious cake she'd had, or perhaps from the overall excitement of the day, or maybe from the still-fresh-in-her-mind memory of being in Leonard's arms as they danced together.
As Leonard gave in and finally smiled at Sheldon, Penny found herself smiling, too. "Thanks," she said with a soft sigh, her stomach still churning. "I think I'm gonna need it."
"I am exhausted," Leonard said as he and Penny made their way up the stairs. He'd already loosened his black tie and undone a few buttons of his shirt, while Penny had slipped out of her heels and was now carrying them along with her purse in her hand.
"Me too," Penny said. She couldn't wait to take off her maid of honor dress and slip into a comfy pair of PJs. She glanced at Leonard, who brought up his hand to cover his mouth as he yawned. When he started to move his hand away, Penny reached out and grabbed it, lacing her fingers through his and squeezing tightly. The momentary look of surprise that crossed Leonard's face made it all the more worth it.
They rounded the third floor and started ascending the last flight of steps that led to their floor. Leonard stared at Penny the whole way up, glancing down briefly at their intertwined fingers. He looked back up at her and said, "Okay, I gotta ask…what's going on?"
"What do you mean?" Penny asked as nonchalantly as she could.
"Well, it's kind of weird that you're being so…" He took a second or two to search for the right word and finally decided on, "…affectionate. Should I be worried that you're up to something?"
Yes. "No, don't be silly. What, just 'cause I'm holding your hand, you think I'm up to no good?"
"That, or I'm in trouble for something I can't remember doing, and you're just trying to soften the blow by being extra nice to me," Leonard said.
Having reached their floor, Penny stopped and fully turned her body to face him, gently letting go of his hand. Leonard stared at her, his eyebrows crinkling and his mouth curving into a pout. Seeing him like that, looking so incredibly anxious, almost made Penny want to get down on one knee and propose to him right then and there, just so she could finally settle his nerves, and he could finally understand why she wasn't acting life herself.
A flirtatious grin spread over her face as she leaned in and pressed her lips against his, hoping to kiss away the adorable little pout on his face. When she pulled away, though, he looked all the more confused. Apparently being more affectionate was only making it worse.
With a sigh, Penny loosely cupped Leonard's jaw in her palm, running her thumb over his chin. "Maybe I'm just drunk," she said, trying to throw him off.
"No, I've seen you drunk literally hundreds of times," Leonard said. "You aren't slurring your words or trying to get me into bed, so that's definitely not it. You're up to something."
Penny frowned, disappointed in herself. He knew her too well. "Well," she started, deciding to take a new route since this one was failing miserably. She let go of his chin, only to clasp her hand against his shoulder. She leaned in towards him again, purposely brushing her nose against his as she whispered seductively, "Who says I'm not trying to get you into bed?"
She kissed him fully on the lips, knowing it would do him in, and sure enough, he immediately reciprocated by wrapping his arms around her back and eagerly moving his lips against hers. She dropped her shoes and her purse in favor of wrapping both of her arms around his neck, and she let him back her against her door, where her head nearly clunked against the gold 4B plate.
Without breaking the kiss, she slipped one arm off his neck and flung her hand back to grope for the doorknob. When she found it, she tried to twist it open, only to realize that in the midst of this impromptu make-out session, she was forgetting something very obvious. "Mmm…keys," she mumbled around Leonard's mouth.
"Mmm…right," he mumbled back, but he kept kissing her, leaving Penny with no choice but to grab either side of his face and pull his lips away from hers. She breathed out heavily, smiling at the sight of her lipstick smudged across his lips. She rubbed her thumb against the corner of his mouth just before he let go of her and turned around to get her purse.
"You know," Penny started, still a little out of breath as she walked over to him to pick up her discarded heels. "I was actually thinking… Could we maybe spend the night at your place instead?"
Leonard glanced up at her from beneath his glasses, his suspicions clearly rising up to the surface again. "What's wrong with your apartment?"
"Nothing, it's just…what with Sheldon moving out to live with Amy, you've got that extra bedroom now, so I figured we might as well…put it to good use," Penny said, grinning suggestively.
"Hold on," Leonard said, taking a step towards her. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"
Penny gave him the sauciest look she could muster as she nodded her head while slowly and deliberately licking her upper lip. That was all it took for Leonard to drop her bag, and for the shoes in each of her hands to fall back onto the ground as Leonard wrapped his arms around her, kissing her hard. Penny simply wound her arms around his neck once again, smirking against his lips.
The sunshine attacking Penny's eyes was sudden and very much unwelcome. She groaned as she grabbed her pillow and slid it from underneath her head, curving half of it over her face. She shifted her body closer to the center of the bed, and as she did, she realized that she had a lot of space. Blinking in confusion, she let go of the pillow to see that she was, in fact, alone in the bed.
She sat up, lifting a hand to her face to sweep a strand of disheveled blonde hair out of her eyes as she looked around Leonard's bedroom. After their passionate night in the neighboring empty bedroom, they'd found their way back into Leonard's room to sleep. It was one thing to have sex in your old roommate's bedroom, but to sleep in there would have been a whole new level of creepy that Penny didn't want to touch.
She flung the covers off her body and got up, clad in only her purple robe. She walked barefoot out of Leonard's room and into the hallway, where she could smell something delicious coming from the kitchen. She found Leonard standing in front of the stove as he fried up some eggs. He turned his head and smiled at her.
"Morning, cowgirl," he said with a wink.
Penny smirked at the nickname as her mind briefly flashed back to last night. She sauntered up to him and gave him a quick good morning kiss. She leaned over his shoulder to look at the fluffy scrambled eggs he was mixing with a spatula. "Look at you, making breakfast," she said teasingly. "You're like a cute little housewife."
Leonard frowned, turning to her. "Housewife?"
"I'm only kidding," Penny assured him. When the frown on his face still wouldn't budge, she reached up and pinched his cheek, before releasing him and walking to the couch. She sat down in Sheldon's spot, just because she could, and crossed her legs.
Leonard returned to his eggs, and Penny watched him for a while. He looked so cute in his dark red robe and his hair still a mess from last night. Penny felt a grin spread across her face. She could get used to this, waking up with him every morning, both dressed in robes. They could take turns making each other breakfast, before Leonard would have to get ready to go to work in the morning. Penny could do some online shopping before she'd have to go slave away at the Cheesecake Factory.
Or, better yet, maybe she could go back to school again while going on a few auditions here and there. Eventually, she'd land a lead movie role and finally become rich. She could buy Leonard a new car, buy herself a whole new wardrobe, even buy them a house and a cute little dog, like a Pomeranian or a Yorkie. Then, after a few years, she and Leonard would have their first child together, an adorable little girl. They'd give her a pretty name like Rebecca, or Melanie, or maybe Violet, and she'd grow up to be a perfect blend of both her parents, smart and beautiful.
The more Penny thought about all of this, the more excited she felt, and it was then that she realized that she didn't want to wait until tonight over dinner to propose to Leonard as she'd originally planned.
She wanted to propose to him right now.
Maybe the realization should've terrified her, but instead, all it did was excite her even more. She could feel her heart pumping with adrenaline, fueling her and encouraging her to just go for it.
"Hey, Leonard," she said, rising from the couch. When he turned around to face her, she felt her breath catch in her throat. "I…" She trailed off, starting to lose her nerve. She cleared her throat. She needed to buy some time. Going with the first thing that popped into her brain, she pointed to the door with her thumb. "I'm just gonna go over to my place so I can get changed really quick."
Leonard stared at her, looking skeptical, which downright scared her now, because for all she knew, he could've seen right through her, but then he just shrugged. "Okay," he said. "Eggs are almost done, though, so don't take too long."
With that, he turned back to the stove and continued mixing the eggs. Penny stood there a moment, feeling like she'd just gotten away with murder with his casual response. Not wanting to waste any time, she promptly headed for the door, grabbing the spare key to her apartment from the bowl.
After leaving his apartment, she hastily walked across the hall and opened the door to her own. She closed the door behind her and immediately leaned up against it, letting out a long breath to calm herself down, though it didn't really help much.
"Okay," she said through the heavy sigh. "Gotta think fast…"
Quick thinking and even quicker movements had paid off quite nicely. Penny now stood in the middle of the hallway, surrounded by a ring of tealight candles while donning a huge smile on her face. It had been about ten minutes since she'd left Leonard's apartment, and she knew that in another minute or so, he'd open up the door to see what was taking her so long. The confusion that would definitely be on his face when he'd see her standing there, with all the candles around her, would be absolutely priceless. He'd ask her what was going on, and she wouldn't say a word, but instead, get down on one knee…
…and he would look down to see a full helping of her boobs. Crap. She wasn't wearing a bra underneath her robe. Her shameless nudity would definitely take away from the romantic atmosphere she was trying to go for. She needed to put on a bra, and fast.
Carefully, she stepped over the circle of candles and opened the door to her apartment, where she sprinted towards her bedroom. Once inside, she opened up one of her drawers and started shoving aside clothes. As she dug through shirt after pair of shorts after cute pair of underwear, she found herself wishing that she'd just gone ahead and let Sheldon organize her clothing drawers for her, as he'd offered to do it so many times, and her answer had always been the same. "Hell no."
Out of desperation, she turned to a small mountain of dirty clothes on the floor. She started quickly sifting through the pile, tossing aside a pair of neon jeans, a couple of tank tops and a few of her laciest thongs, but unfortunately, when she reached the bottom, there wasn't a single bra to be found. Damn.
She headed to her closet next. She slid apart the hangers where she kept her dresses until she reached the clear bins in the back, where she kept most of her shoes, since she'd run out of room on the closet floor. She pulled open the bottom bin, where she kept miscellaneous accessories: the first Penny Blossom clip she'd ever made, about half a dozen shiny clutch bags she rarely ever used because she didn't want to ruin them by spilling alcohol on them, and finally, a few of her bras.
"Yes!" she said as she pulled out a light pink silk one. She started to put it on as she walked out of her room. Just as she was clasping it around her midsection and hiking one of the straps over her shoulder, she suddenly stopped. Outside the door, she could hear the distinct sound of a high-pitched, incessant beeping noise, one that was undoubtedly coming from the hallway. Her heart stopped. "No."
She rushed to the door and flung it open, only to freeze in confusion. The tealight candles were still perfectly intact, tiny yellow flames all swaying in different directions. Yet, she could still hear the smoke detector going off like crazy. If it wasn't from her candles, then…
"FIRE!" Leonard shouted from behind the door.
"What?" Penny shrieked, just as Leonard frantically opened the door to his apartment. A cloud of light gray smoke came pouring out. Penny's mouth dropped open in horror. "Oh my God, are you oka—" She shrieked again as Leonard roughly grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her with him. They raced down the stairs, leaving the candles behind, the flames still flickering away.
Leonard and Penny stood across the street from their apartment building with several of their fellow tenants. A gleaming firetruck was parked right outside the building, and a few physically fit firemen walked out of the main doors. One of them had a fire extinguisher in his hands, while another one held a clear bag filled with Penny's tealight candles. She felt her face heat up in embarrassment at the sight of them. Idiot.
Leonard started to cough again, bringing all of Penny's attention back to him. She'd been rubbing her palm up and down his back, trying to calm him down, as he'd been coughing quite a bit after they'd run down all those steps without taking a breath.
"You all right, sweetie?" she asked, patting his back.
Leonard nodded, though he continued coughing. "I'm fine," he said through a wheeze, before placing a hand over his chest and finally taking a deep breath. "I just…I feel like such an idiot."
Penny kept her eyes on the fireman holding her candles. "Yeah, well, you and me both."
"You?" Leonard said in confusion. "You're not the one who almost burned down the apartment, let alone the whole building. I swear, I walked away from the stove for five seconds, and when I came back, the whole room was filled with smoke. I tried to find the fire extinguisher, but I could barely see a thing in there. I just had to get the hell out. You know what, I actually wish Sheldon would've been there. He would've handled the situation a whole lot better than I did. You'd think with all of those ridiculous safety drills he'd put me through over the years, I would've been more prepared."
"Don't be so hard on yourself," Penny said, running her hand down his back. "It was just a little kitchen fire. It could've been a lot worse."
"I guess," Leonard relented slightly, staring across the street at their building.
His apartment window was now wide open, clearing out the last remainder of the smoke. As Penny lightly raked her nails over Leonard's back, he turned his head to her. Her hand stopped moving altogether when his eyes met hers.
"There's just one thing I don't understand," Leonard said. She knew what he was going to say before he even asked it. "The candles in the hallway… What was that all about? Were you planning to do some kind of weird new therapeutic yoga technique or something?"
Penny stared back at him, feeling a knot clench inside her stomach. Her plan was ruined. There was no point lying to him now. So much for the perfect proposal. She could feel her eyes getting watery, and she sniffed, unable to fight the crack in her voice as she forced out a high-pitched, "No."
Leonard's mouth dropped as Penny brought a hand to her own mouth, her eyes scrunching tightly. She let out an involuntary whimper, trying her hardest to keep the tears from flowing, but it all went straight to hell when Leonard grasped her by both of her shoulders and pulled her in for a hug.
"Hey, come on," he said soothingly, running a hand down the length of her hair. "Why are you crying?"
Penny's chest shook against his as she broke down and relentlessly cried against his shoulder. Her voice came out even squeakier as she mumbled into the soft fluffy cotton of his robe, "Because I ruined everything."
"What are you talking about?" Leonard asked, still stroking her hair as he held her close to him. "You didn't ruin anything."
"No," she cried out in her shrill, weepy voice, closing her eyes and letting out another sob. It was no use. He just didn't get it. Her voice dropped to a whisper as she confessed hopelessly, "I was going to propose."
Leonard's hand stopped moving. He stopped moving completely. He just kept his body firmly pressed against hers as she let out another ragged breath, her heart pounding ferociously, though whether it was from all the crying she was doing, or what she'd just said to him, Penny couldn't tell anymore.
"What?" Leonard finally asked, pulling away from her very slowly. His eyes were wide and serious, while Penny knew hers must've been all puffy, and her nose must've been red, and her cheeks blotchy with drying tears.
She sniffled again and let out a loose, quivering breath. The tears had finally stopped, thank God, and now, she was just staring into Leonard's brown eyes, soaking up the warmth in them. He looked the most adorably confused he'd ever looked in his life, and it was beginning to bring a smile to Penny's face. The feelings of shame and sadness were melting away, and all that was left was an unexpected, overwhelming feeling of undeniable happiness. Here they were, outside with the warm sun shining down on them, still wearing their robes, and despite the situation and everything that had just happened, this moment just felt…perfect.
"Leonard," Penny began, finally feeling more like herself again, and, most importantly, feeling ready. She rubbed her eyes and smiled, dropping her hand to her side. "I…I just want you to know that you mean so much to me. I know we don't always see eye to eye, but I think all the hardships we've been through have only made us stronger as a couple." She paused, feeling more tears well up in her eyes, though for a whole new reason. "I used to dream about meeting my soul mate, and in all honesty, not even the most amazing prince charming I could've ever dreamed of even begins to come close to how unbelievably amazing you are."
Leonard's eyebrows raised at that. Penny smiled wider.
"You're smart, and handsome, and sweet, and funny, and genuine, and above everything else, you've showed me, time and again, that you really, truly care about me from the bottom of your heart. That's something I've never experienced with any other guy I've ever dated. You care about me and believe in me, and I hope you know that being with you has only made me a better person."
She let out a deep sigh and, with as much poise as she could muster, she lowered herself to the ground and knelt down on one knee. She looked up at Leonard, smiling through her tears.
"And so, Leonard Hofstadter, it's with all the love in my heart that I ask you, as my best friend, my boyfriend and my one, true soul mate…" She reached into the pocket of her robe and withdrew a small object, squeezing it in her hand as she held it up to him. It was an inhaler inscribed with two letters that were surrounded by a heart: LP.
"Will you marry me?"
Leonard stared at her, speechless, while she let a fresh round of tears trickle down her cheeks. He took the inhaler from her hand, the gold initials bouncing off of the sunlight, and then, he dropped to his own knees with a heavy thud.
"Yes," he said, kissing her flush against the lips. She brought up her hands, cupping his face, grinning and crying and feeling her head spin from all of the emotions whirling through her. His arms wound around her back tightly, and he pulled her closer, so close, in fact, that they both lost their balance, and Leonard's back collided against the ground.
"Mmm, are you okay?" Penny mumbled, but Leonard's lips never left hers.
"Yes," he murmured again, "yes, yes, a million times yes."
Penny smiled then and kept kissing her fiancé until he was so out of breath that he had to pull away and use his new inhaler.
Author's Note: I hope you had as much fun reading that as I had writing it. I enjoyed exploring Penny's character, and my Lenny feels, too, haha. ;)
Please don't forget to review. Thanks again. :)
