A/N: Sorry everything is taking so long to get posted. Some mornings, I just don't feel like writing, especially after working the night before and no sleep. Anyway, my updates might take a tad bit longer now; usually I write a little each morning before work, then finish everything up on my days off, but, unfortunately for the stories and fortunate for my friends and family, my next few days off are going to be filled up with plans. Finally get a weekend off! Woo!

Okay, without further-a-do, here's chapter 3! This one takes a LONG jump ahead to Season 6 this time. I'll go back and fill in other seasons as well, none of these are connected line in my other stories. Just little ideas running through my mind.

Enjoy!

Rushing down the stairs, Penny took the steps two at a time. The walls began to close in around her; her palms began to grow sweatier as the seconds passed. Her thoughts ran through her mind at a thousand miles an hour and she wondered briefly if this is what it felt like to be inside Leonard's head.

Right as she made it to the second floor landing and took another step forward, her legs feeling like jelly, she felt the ground slip out from under her and, soon, she was stumbling to the ground. Her hands instinctively landed in front of her, catching her and preventing her head from hitting the hard floor. Unfortunately, that did nothing to protect her knees from colliding.

With a groan, Penny moved from the floor, leaning her back against the door to 2A behind her, praying they weren't home at the moment. She slid the bottom of her work uniform up just an inch, grimacing at the bloody scrapes on both knees. Gritting her teeth and closing her eyes, she took a shaky breath, begging her nerves to calm down.

Just minutes earlier, Penny had been standing between apartments 4A and 4B. She had been shouting at Leonard, once again arguing over his insecurities in their relationship. She didn't understand how he couldn't see it. She wanted him. She cared deeply for him. She loved him.

Penny's eyes popped open as the memory hit her like a baseball to the face. The words had slipped past her lips before she had time to even register what she was saying. She vaguely remembered the smile on her face and the warm feeling flowing through her body. She barely had time to focus on those things when the fear had crept back up, showing it's ugly face and handing her the bricks to start building up her walls again.

Then she had ran.

Her heart sank. What kind of person confessed their love and then ran away? Apparently a really messed up one.

Angry at herself, she began to bang her head back against the door it rested on, not giving a damn about the occupants inside. She knew she should be on her way to work, but she also knew just how terrible of a waitress she was and she wouldn't be missed. All that was on her mind at the moment was Leonard; she hoped she hadn't hurt him, hoped he understood.

Leonard.

How long had this been going on now? How long had she had these feelings and refused to admit them?

Her mind wandered back to three years earlier; there first try at a relationship. They had only been dating for about six months. Her shift at work that day had been long. Her head had been pounding and she had barely been able to put one foot in front of the other, but, by the time she had reached her car, her day had gotten much better. There, pinned between the wiper blade and windshield wiper, sat a single red rose. There wasn't a note, but one wasn't needed. After the snowflake from the North Pole, the plane ticket to fly home to see her family, and everything else he did for her, she knew exactly who it was from. As she had lifted the flower to her nose and inhaled the sweet scent, she couldn't help but think that she loved this man.

The flower had slipped from her fingers suddenly, fluttering to the ground. Brow furrowed and a frown expanding across her face, she wondered where that thought had come from. Yeah, he did sweet things; yeah he was an amazing guy; but did she really love him? After just six months?

She had quickly gathered the flower in her hands and drove home. She had hesitated outside of Leonard's door. She knew he was asleep already, but that had never stopped her before. Instead of tiptoeing down the hallway and climbing into bed with him, her head resting on his chest as his arms would wrap around her, like they always did, the thoughts racing through her mind and the anxiety bubbling up inside her forced her to turn, hide the rose away in the box buried in her closet, and sleep alone that night. She had managed to push that fear to the back of her mind, to forget about that little slip, for the next few months.

Until Leonard said it.

Her world had crashed around her. She couldn't bring herself to say the words back and it cost her the most important person in her life.

Luckily, they had found their way back to each other, had gotten pass the awkwardness of their breakup and settled for being friends.

Then it happened; Then she happened. Another woman had come along and swept Leonard up, right in front of her. Then, the woman had the audacity to ban her from the guy's apartment. What had hurt her most though was Leonard actually agreeing to it. She worried she had lost him for good and a different kind of fear burned through her. She had wondered if the feelings rolling through her veins, the pain she felt from watching him kiss a woman that wasn't her, and the jealousy that took over and led her to more drinking actually meant something bigger. Maybe she did really love him..and she had missed her chance.

Somehow, by the grace of God, she had gotten him back. They had fought through their struggles and hardships that came in the form of drunken incidents, bug reports, and spontaneous proposals. Just a month after the night Raj had demanded she confess her love and she, once again, refused, Penny had stood in Leonard's lab. Her boyfriend had been explaining..well..something about the universe. There had been a cool hologram, causing her to gasp and grin like a small child seeing a magic trick, but what had amazed her the most, had been Leonard. His face had been filled to the brim with excitement, his eyes overflowing with passion for his work, and it was then, in her boyfriend's cramped lab, that Penny had really felt it. She had repeated the words over and over in her head, begged and pleaded with her brain to just get the words out, but nothing had come. She was still unable to form the words she knew he desperately wanted to hear. So, instead, she told him in the only way she could, ordering him to remove his clothes. As he held her close and she stared into his eyes, she hoped he could see it in her own eyes.

And now? Now she had finally gotten those three words out. It wasn't how she had pictured, not in any way; but did that really matter? Did Leonard need the flowers, the candles, the romance? Would that make a difference to him or not? Or had she screwed up by not waiting, not planning the moment better?

Her heart suddenly dropped into her stomach. Her hand quickly fished the phone from her pocket. Frowning, she noticed an unread message. She slid her finger across the screen, unlocking it, and navigated to her messages. One from Leonard with just four words.

'I love you, too.'

Penny felt all the tension leave her body with that one sentence. Her heart rate began to slow and she released the breath she had been holding, while whispering to the abandoned hallway, "He loves me, too."

A/N: I don't own Big Bang Theory and I don't own the 'stages of falling in love' from How I Met Your Mother which are: 1. The moment when you think it. 2. The moment when you think you know it. 3. The moment when you know you know it, but you just can't say it. 4. The moment when you know you know it, but you can't keep it in any longer.

Hope you enjoyed this little glimpse inside Penny's mind! I enjoy reviews!