Chapter 4

Leonard had heard her come into the room but was not prepared for what he saw when he turned around, it made him stand there stunned for a moment, her transformation from the person he found on the bench to the person now sitting on his couch, almost unbelievable. Under those ratty clothes, dirt and matted hair was a beautiful young woman, and it made him wonder how such a person ever ended up this way. "Um….I just put your clothes in the dryer so it will be a few minutes. Would you like some tea?"

Anything warm seemed heavenly to Penny, who nodded and then responded, "Thank you"

She then watched him as he turned and made the tea, it being only a few minutes later that she was on the couch, sipping the deliciously hot brew while shorter man sat in the chair next to the couch, obviously giving her some space. She hadn't felt anywhere near this comfortable in over two weeks, and as the minutes passed she knew she didn't want to give it up for anything. Her deep down desire to not loose this new found comfort made her know that she would even sleep with him to stay there, the thought of sleeping in a nice warm bed that night more important to her right now than giving up her body to this man. She was scared though, how did she let him know she would barter her body for shelter with him, and what if he didn't want her and turned her out in the cold again.

Leonard wanted to talk to her, but he didn't want to scare her away, she seemed so quiet and she reminded him of a scared animal ready to flee, so he went with a simple introduction. "I'm Leonard." he said while looking at her.

She was still thinking about how to stay there when he spoke, surprising her, "Um…..I'm Penny."

"Penny…..that is a nice name. Are you from around here?" Leonard felt stupid as soon as the words left his mouth, but he didn't know what else to say.

Penny shook her head feeling a little sad, "Not originally, originally I'm from the Omaha, Nebraska area."

"Oh…that is a long way away from California." he responded, again not knowing what else to say. Then a sudden thought came to his mind, maybe she was a runaway.

"I know." Penny croaked out, she suddenly wished she was home in her parents house, and had her old room back.

Leonard saw how sad she had quickly became, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. Is there anywhere you rather go after your clothes are dry, a friends place or a shelter?"

Penny's head shot up to stare wide eyed at him, she never wanted to go to the shelter again and she had no one in California anymore, all she wanted right now was to not leave his apartment. The sudden thought came to her, as she started to panic, that she should do something to let him know she would have sex with him if he let her stay. "No, please, I have no where to go."

The pleading look in her eyes, immediately made Leonard feel bad, so without even thinking he blurted out. "You can stay here tonight if you want."

His offer made a sense of relief flood Penny's body, she had someplace to stay tonight, that wasn't outside and she thought was maybe safe. She still didn't know what the price for staying there was, but if it was her, she would pay, she had done it before and she knew she would do it again.

"Thank you." was all she said.

A few minutes passed as they both drank their teas in silence, Leonard had seen her scared look when he asked if she had someplace to go and although he didn't know why she acted that way, he thought maybe that he should not ask her any more questions for a little while. It was about fifteen minutes later that Leonard told her he needed to check her clothes in the dryer and excused himself, but before leaving turning the TV on low so she could watch a Christmas show. She had been left sitting on the left side of the couch, with a throw he gave her, just before he left, to cover her feet, feeling now warm, clean and comfortable, and along with the low sound from the TV, it all made her feel tired again. Even though it was only about 7 in the evening, she had been awake since the day before, so being so comfortable now was causing her to relax to the point she was having trouble keeping her eyes open. It soon became too much for her, so Penny decided to close her eyes and stretch out on the couch, her head and part of her body resting on the right side of the couch facing the apartment door, her feet on the left. She mentally told herself she just wanted to rest her eyes, but the feeling of contentment she felt was slowing making her dose off no matter how hard she tried to stay awake, so when she heard the shout she practically jumped off the couch in fright.

"What hell is this. Leonard! The bathroom is a mess." came from the bathroom scaring the crap out of Penny. She sat up on the right side of the couch looking around and finally seeing Leonard's tall roommate come out from the hallway, anger all over his face and when he looked at her he seemed to be angrier. "What do you think you are doing!"

Penny wilted under his stare, "I don't know…I'm sorry."

"First you turn our bathroom into a germ infested cesspool and then you park you bug infested body in my spot. That is what you are doing." he shouted at her.

Penny now stood up and backed away from him, "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too, but you need to leave, now." Sheldon said with venom in his voice.

"I'm sorry." Penny croaked out.

"I SAID LEAVE!" Sheldon shouted.

Penny now quickly went out through the apartment door to the hallway, wearing only the oversized sweat suit, her bare feet on the cold floor, not knowing what to do, as she watched the tall man slam the door behind her and then heard the lock set. She had nothing now, not even her clothes, nothing to protect her from the cold and she was terrified. It was that moment that everything fell apart for her, she couldn't go on, she might as well been nude in a blizzard, she would never make it through the night outside. The tears now fell down her cheeks and she couldn't stop them as she shivered more from fear than the cold, she was totally helpless now, having no place else to go.

It was just then Leonard walked up to the fourth floor, with the clothes basket, reaching the landing to find her trembling body frozen there. "Penny why are you out here?"

Penny looked at him, the tears now falling more freely, "The tall man ….'sniff' …he said I couldn't…'sniff'…. stay here." she barely got out as she started to sob.

Leonard put the basket down and carefully pulled her against him, to let her cry. "It's okay, you are staying here tonight, no matter what he says, just ignore him, you don't have to worry."

Penny just melted into him, she had no strength to fight anymore, she was beaten, anyone could do anything to her now, she was beyond resisting, she just wanted everything to be over. She barely felt herself being lead back into the apartment, not even hearing the short terse remarks Leonard made to the Sheldon. She just let herself be taken down the hall to a bedroom and be put in the bed, covers being put over her as soon as she laid down. She closed her eyes, not caring what happened to her next or what he did to her, but instead of feeling his body next to hers, all she felt was a soothing hand rubbing her back, the soft warm bed and his voice telling her to rest and sleep. It didn't take long for warmth to engulf her, finally overcoming all that happened to her in the last 24 hours, as she quickly drifted off to sleep.