Chapter 4

Penny stood there and thought about it again, it was almost a year exactly since Leonard left for Europe and North Sea, and now he was leaving for Europe again. The big difference this time was he was going to a week long meeting at Cambridge and Penny was going with him. But that wasn't the best part, they were leaving for Europe, tomorrow, two weeks before the meeting, so that they could take a 10 day tour of Europe along with a 4 day cruise of the Mediterranean Sea. It was a real vacation, the first real vacation Penny had ever had since getting to California, and she was excited, really excited. Penny was actually going to use the Passport she got years ago, to go visit Switzerland, and it would be full of stamps from all the countries they would see. A smile formed on her face for about the hundredth time that day as she picked out another cute top to put in her suitcase for when they were going to leave in the morning.

Penny had been very excited for the whole last month, especially after the Cheesecake Factory approved her 3 week vacation. She had never traveled outside the United States, so seeing Paris, Rome, Berlin and other famous cities seemed like a fairytale to her, however what made it even better was that she was going with Leonard. Since Leonard came home from the North Sea, things had gotten better and better for them and their relationship, their life together had been amazing. They had gotten closer and closer, so for the last six months they were almost living with each other, they never slept alone anymore. It didn't matter whose apartment they slept in, they always slept together, and Penny really enjoyed crawling into bed with Leonard every night, being cuddled and kissed. Even after a had late night at the Cheesecake Factory, just knowing she could snuggle next to Leonard when she got home, either on the couch or in bed, make everything seem okay to her. Penny smiled again as she thought how good things were between them now, and how being with him seemed so natural anymore.

They had been washing clothes and packing the whole day, trying to get everything done before the little going away dinner they were going to have with their friends tonight. Leonard was now downstairs finishing up the last load, as Penny gathered up his and hers clothes, putting them in the suitcases on her bed, she was using a packing list Sheldon gave her and she had to admit it did really make things easier. She was looking through Leonard's bag and checking things on the list when she noticed Leonard had no socks and she giggled because she knew Leonard couldn't go anywhere without socks, he even wore them to bed sometimes. Penny smiled and put the list down, leaving her bedroom and practically skipping to 4A, on her quest for her boyfriend's socks.

Penny opened the apartment door, to find Sheldon still in his spot watching the Dr Who marathon, he had been watching all day. She knew he would sit there till 6 PM, when it ended and that is why their dinner reservations were for 7 PM that night. Penny could now go freely between her and Leonard's apartment without Sheldon being upset anymore, the Penny rider on the roommate agreement, giving her complete access to the apartment and a shelf in their refrigerator. Things had changed some, but still they didn't, Sheldon remaining Sheldon, even though Penny was around much more.

Penny stood there a minute waiting for a commercial to not disturb Sheldon's enjoyment of the show and to not get another strike, she was too happy today and didn't want to ruin it by fighting with him. No sooner that the commercial break started, Penny addressed him. "Sweetie, still watching your show?"

"Penny since you asked me that two times before when you came here to get some item from Leonard's room, what makes you think things have changed?"

"Sorry sweetie, I just want to make sure that it will be done on time so we can go to dinner tonight. You still want to go with Amy, don't you."

"Penny, I promised Amy I would go and yes the marathon will be over at 6 as planned, Happy?"

"I'm not un-Happy." Penny giggled as she headed to Leonard's room.

Penny didn't hear Sheldon's response because she was through Leonard's bedroom door before he had thought of a response to her obvious mocking of him. She smiled to herself as she closed the door, verbal jousting with Sheldon was fun, whenever she beat him. She stood there a second trying to remember which drawer, Leonard kept his socks and was disappointed she didn't remember which drawer it was, so she sighed, starting from the top and opening each one. It didn't surprise her it was the bottom drawer, which made it inconvenient, so she grabbed an armful of socks and spread them on his bed to pick the ones for the trip. It was then she first saw the small plastic bag, that she had accidentally scooped up with his socks.

Penny had a few quirks, one was she was a gossip and had trouble keeping stuff to herself, the other was she had the curiosity of a cat, and couldn't keep her nose out of things. She looked at the bag, from he boyfriends drawer, and couldn't control herself, she grabbed it, turned it over and dumped out the contents on the bed. Two things fell out, a small jewelry box and a folded receipt, and the sight of them hitting the bed, unencumbered by the bag, made her eyes go wide. The jewelry box especially caught Penny's eye, it was the size of a ring box and as she stared at it, Penny's heart started to beat faster. The more she looked at it the more nervous she got, so she turned her eyes and stared at the folded receipt, her eyes noticing the year on the receipt.

It took a couple seconds to register, but Penny finally realized the year on the receipt was when Leonard was with Priya and with that realization, Penny's heart broke. She turned her eyes to the box again, as everything slowly soaked in, the box probably held an engagement ring that Leonard had bought for Priya. Penny's joy, she had all day, turned to grief, as she stared at the box, she was beginning to feel physically sick, and the tears started to roll down her cheeks. The only thing going through her mind was that Leonard had wanted to marry Priya, he had loved her that much. She wanted to run and hide, her tears would not stop, it felt like her life had just ended, she didn't know what to do.

Penny grabbed the socks and stuffed them in the drawer, then took the ring box and put it in the bag, she could never look at the ring, it would kill her. Then she looked at the bed to grab the receipt so it too could be put in the bag, when something else caught her eyes. The month on the receipt was December, the last month of the year, Priya had already gone to India by that month and as she thought harder, Priya and Leonard were already broken up by that month. That month meant something else to her, it was the month before Leonard proposed to her during sex, and she suddenly gasped. She had always thought Leonard had proposed in the heat of the moment and he never denied it, but he had a ring, they whole thing was planned, he just screwed it up.

Penny now took the box out of the bag again and stared at it, could this be her ring, the ring he planned on giving her? Tears again started to fill her eyes as she looked at the box her hands trembling, her heart beating even faster than before. Penny slowly opened the box and her eyes went wide, her hand coming to her mouth, inside was one of the most beautiful engagement rings she ever saw. As she stared at it she realized she had seen the ring before, after Bernadette got engaged she went to a jewelry store to have it properly sized, so Amy and Penny just looked at engagement rings and Penny had picked this one out. Penny's eyes went wide again, this was definitely her engagement ring, how did Leonard find out. Knowing for certain it was her engagement, just made Penny cry more, it was so beautiful, 'Why did he do this' she thought, 'Why?'

Leonard walked up the stairs to Penny's apartment, he was whistling and he knew he had to stop before he got to the fourth floor, but he was happy and it just seemed right. Once on the fourth floor, he turned right and headed straight into Penny's apartment, to deposit the clean clothes on her bed and get a kiss from his beautiful girlfriend. She had been so happy all day, that he chuckled at the thought he might get attacked, when he entered her bedroom, they still had two hours before they needed to go to dinner and their packing was almost done. However when he entered her bedroom he was taken back at the obvious absence of his girlfriend, so he looked in the bathroom to find she wasn't there either.

Leonard stood in the apartment for a couple minutes then decided to go across the hall and see if Penny was there, 'Where else could she have gone?', he thought. Leonard entered the apartment, seeing Sheldon still sitting in the same spot he had been all day, watching Dr Who for about the thousandth time. Leonard, like Penny, waited for a commercial break, he also didn't want to get in a fight with Sheldon, on this happy day. Leonard waited almost five minutes before he got impatient and headed to his room, maybe she was there and if she wasn't he could always ask Sheldon after a commercial came on.

Leonard walked down the hall, then opened his door, only to be stunned by his girlfriend sitting on his bed, tears still pouring from her eyes. He couldn't believe how she looked from just being with her a half hour ago, any makeup she had on was smeared on her face from crying and her eyes had red rings around them. She was now staring at him, her eyes reminding him of a doe in the headlights of a car, and it scared him to see her looking so upset. Leonard was about to ask her what happened when he saw the bag and box on the bed, the shock temporarily stunning him. He turned to look at her, his eyes now wide, his heart beating fast and his mouth dry, he didn't know what to say to her. This was one of the most scary things that ever happened to him, she was never suppose to find it, never, now what was he going to do.

They both looked at each other for several seconds, that seemed like hours, the tears still falling from Penny's eyes, Leonard too shocked to talk. Leonard didn't know Penny's hands were moving and so it surprised him when a glint of a sparkle came from her hands. He stopped breathing when he saw where it came from, on Penny's left right finger was the engagement ring, her other hand on it slowly turning it on her finger. He looked at her red tear filled eyes and she gently nodded.

The next few moments were a blur to both of them, one second they were looking at each other and the next Penny was in Leonard's arms sobbing. Leonard couldn't help the tears falling from his eyes, partly because of Penny's crying and partly because of the muffled words she kept saying from his shoulder. The tears were salty as they crossed the small smile on his face, because he knew Penny's tears where happy tears, and he could understand every word she was mumbling from his shoulder.

"I love you so much Leonard, Yes, I want to be your wife. Please marry me."