"I don't give you enough credit!" Leonard shouted as he closed the door, a smile on his face. "Seriously, I'm considering giving you two hundred dollars because you're so good!
Long stared at Leonard in surprise, obviously shocked by the happiness Leonard was showing. "While I do enjoy being praised, I do prefer knowing why I'm being praised."
"Oh right! Sorry!" Leonard replied, restraining himself from hugging Long as he sat down. "You're advice about that waitress from the cheesecake factory. I listened to it and everything is perfect!"
"Really?" Long asked with a frown. "I honestly thought that wouldn't work. I mean, when has that ever worked?"
Leonard froze and stared at Long, his face filled with mix emotions before he exploded. "You gave me bad advice on something as serious as that!"
"So, how have things been in your dreams?"
"Good. After I was honest to Bernadette, things are better." he answered, hoping she won't bring up their previous discussion about him and Bernadette. "I mean, it's a little awkward, but you know, we're working through it. Strangely Gilda and Katie have proven themselves helpful in making it less awkward."
"Interesting." Robert mumbled. However, when Leonard didn't say anything, she looked at him expectantly for a moment before speaking. "Aren't you going to ask me what's so interesting?"
"I don't need to. I know what you would say." Leonard replied. "You will go on about how that somehow means I like Bernadette, or how she only accepted it so well because I mentally forced it to end so well."
Robert was quite for a moment before speaking. "Am I that predictable?"
"Sort of. Sorry."
"No need to apologize. But can I ask you a question Leonard? Something's been bugging me since we first started these sessions and I've only just realized what it is." she asked.
"Sure."
"How can you not know when you're asleep or awake?" Robert questioned, and quickly continued when Leonard frowned in confusion. "I mean, surely common sense dictates that if you live a day twice, once in reality and then again in your dreams, surely the first time you experience that day is reality."
Leonard let out a sigh, shaking his head. "You keep forgetting that this isn't recent. I've been dealing with this since I was eleven years old. I've already considered that idea. I mean, it was one of the first things I considered. But after awhile I realized that, because everything seemed so real, I could be dreaming of the next day before waking up and actually living it."
"But that's a bit of a stretch, surely?"
"Maybe. But let's say that's the truth." Leonard said as he stared at, eye to eye. "If that's true, it means this is the dream."
"Pardon?" Robert asked simply, obviously not expecting that answer.
"If it was the start of a new week, I would experience Monday first in that other world. Then I would got to sleep and wake up here on a Monday." Leonard told her, his face serious. "If I really experience reality and then dream of the same day, that means this world is fake."
"Has anything knew happened in your life?"
"Well, a new guy has moved across the hall." Leonard told him, making sure to avoid helping Long realize he was talking about this reality's Raj. "He seemed very...withdrawn I guess."
"Have you tried to communicate with him?"
"Obviously. Just a few days ago me and Stuart went out for a drink with the guy."
"Stuart?" Long asked.
"Right, I don't think I've actually mentioned him before. He's Gilda's boyfriend" Leonard answered. "He's in my dreams as well, except there he's the owner of a comic book store."
"May I ask where you met him?"
Leonard knew what that question actually meant, and so he answered truthfully. "While it was only briefly, way before he started dating Gilda, I met Stuart here before I met him in my dreams."
Long just smile, as if that proved something, before nodding to Leonard. "So tell me what the three of you did. You, Staurt and this new guy...What's his name?"
"Raj." Leonard said after some hesitation, before quickly lying. "Not the same Raj obviously. But anyway, me and Sheldon were playing three dimensional chess in our apartment."
Leonard glared at his roommate, staring straight into his eyes. Sheldon stared back, trying to hide the fear in his eyes. Yet Leonard could see it. He could see the nervousness and anxiety holding Sheldon back, as he slowly but surely moved a chess piece. Leonard could see the desperation as he let go of it to wait for Leonard's move. And Leonard made his move swiftly, moving his knight near Sheldon's piece.
"Checkmate!" Sheldon shouted, as Sheldon groaned in annoyance.
"How do you keep beating me!?" Sheldon asked. "My IQ is higher than yours!"
"I honestly don't know. I wish I knew the reason, but I honestly don't know." Leonard replied with a grin.
"Well I'll tell you the reason." Sheldon said, getting up to walk towards the kitchen. "My father always made me learn how to fight, even when I was nineteen and way past the age where I can choose not to. So I never had the time to play chess growing up."
"My response to that is two things. One, because of him you can win a fight against a lightweight boxer." Leonard told him, with Sheldon slowly nodding in agreement as both of them recalled that fight.
"And two, you can't blame your father for you sucking on so many levels." Leonard said with a smile, gesturing to all three levels of 3D chess. Sheldon glared at him for a few seconds, before storming off to his room.
After Leonard had packed the chess getaway, there was a knock at the door. Still smiling from beating Sheldon, Leonard answered it. His smile immediately fell as Stuart waltzed right inside, an arrogant grin on his face and shades on his eyes, while Leonard felt a bad sense of foreboding.
"Hi Leo! How you doing dog!" Stuart asked, while Leonard resisted the impulse to strangle the bastard.
"Fine Stuart. And my name's Leonard. I would prefer it if you called me that for once."
"Sure thing Lenny!" Stuart replied with a smirk as Leonard closed the door.
"Gilda's not here you know. She's out with Katie on a girl's night." Leonard told him, desperately wanting to get rid of him.
"I know, but I decided that it's about time I taught you how to live." Stuart told him, and Leonard instantly felt that foreboding feeling become worse.
"Uhh, thanks but I'll pass." Leonard replied, opening the door quickly and gesturing for him to get out, knowing that he doesn't want Staurt to stay here any longer than he already has.
"Larry, my man." Stuart said with his arms out, as if inviting Leonard to hug him. "We're both young-"
"No, you are a forty-two year old man who is dating my thirty-five year old friend, while I'm a thirty-seven year old guy who just wants to finish off the night by watching Daredevil 2."
"-good looking fellas who deserve, yes deserve, to go out and have some fun." Stuart continued, ignoring Leonard. "Now grab you're best coat and put on a better shirt, because I'm going to teach you how to pick up girls."
"No, you're not."
"Hey." a voice said suddenly, and Leonard turned to see Raj having exited the elevator, staring at them. "I don't want to be rude or anything, but can you have your door closed when you have arguments. People don't tend to like seeing them. Unless they're horrible people."
"Right sorry." Leonard said quickly, not wanting to ruin a possibility of becoming friends with this version of Raj. Ever since he had learned that his friend was living across the hall from him, Leonard had desperately been trying to find ways to start a friendship with him.
"Who are you?" Stuart asked Raj.
"My name's Raj. I've just moved across the hall."
"Well then Raj, congratulations." Stuart said suddenly, and both Leonard and Raj looked at him in confusion. "You are one of the lucky few who I choose to become by pupils. I shall teach you how to pick up some babes tonight, and soon you may be half as good as me."
"Yeah, I'll pass thank you." Raj said slowly, turning to walk away.
"Me too. Goodbye Stuart." Leonard said, again gesturing for Stuart to leave.
However, Stuart simply smirked. "I assure you, the two of you are going out to a bar with me tonight."
"Then what happened?" Robert asked him.
Leonard let out a sigh that was a mixture of annoyance, confusion and amazement as he thought about the analog Staurt. "I don't know how he did it. Seriously, I can barely understand how he got me to step outside my apartment. But somehow he got me and Raj to come with him to some bar."
"Is Stuart like that here in reality?"
"God no!" Leonard said with a chuckle. "Stuart here is the exact opposite to the Stuart over there. I mean, the exact opposite. I mean, here Stuart's pale complexion makes him look dead. In my dreams, he somehow pulls it off and makes himself look like some sort of movie star."
"Why do you suppose he is like that?" Robert asked. "Is it possible he represents everything you wish you could be?"
"What!? No way!"
"Why not?" Robert asked, apparently fascinated by his answer.
"Okay, in my dreams Stuart is fun and I can get a good story by hanging out with him. Half the time he is almost an alright guy." Leonard began, struggling how to say the next sentence. "He's just such a..."
Robert waited patiently for a few moments before speaking. "You've just trailed off."
"I know. I'm just struggling to find a word that both gives you an idea of the kind of person he is and yet has been sugarcoated enough that it doesn't offend anyone who hears it." Leonard replied, his face showing how much he was thinking. "You know what, I'm just going to settle on the word douche. Yeah, he's the world's biggest douche."
"How come?"
"He's just so full of himself. I mean, I don't know why Gilda even likes him. The things he says border on sexism and the objectification of women. Seriously, I once saw him flirt with two girls despite being in the same room as Gilda. She just doesn't listen to me and Katie when I tell her how bad he is."
"And Stuart isn't like that here?"
"No. The Stuart here make look a little like a creep sometimes, but he's one of the kindest guys I've ever met. If I could get Gilda and him to meet, they would be perfect for each other. Gilda would teach him to become more confident, and Stuart would treat her how she's suppose to be treated."
"Well, what happened next."
"I can't believe he got me down here." Leonard muttered, as he looked around at all the twenty-one to twenty-nine year olds scattered around the bar they were in. Meanwhile, Raj was glancing around anxiously and obviously full of fear, as if he would have a heart attack if a girl even talked to him.
"Okay students. First things first, I need to no what I'm dealing with." Stuart told him as he arrived carrying three beers, before putting them on the table near them. Suddenly, he walked over to the girl closest to them, and quickly grabbed her attention. "Excuse me, have you met my friend Raj?"
"Umm, no." she said in response, turning to look at Raj, who Stuart had been pointing at when he had spoke to the girl. Leonard grimaced and looked away while grabbing one of the beers Stuart brought over, knowing what was coming.
While Leonard didn't look to see the expressions on their faces, he heard the sound coming from Raj as he tried to speak. It was squeaky like a dog whimpering, and it almost broke Leonard's heart as he heard the woman walk away from Raj, the physicist feeling so much pity for Raj. Eventually however, Leonard moved his head up to see the look of despair and embarrassment on Raj's face and the look of utter bafflement on Stuart's.
"Wow. I may have actually met my match with you." Stuart said as he looked at Raj, fascination in his eyes, as if he's found a new toy. Leonard simply shook his head, wondering how he was going to kill the time. As he began figuring out a way to convince Stuart let him go home, even if it would cost his own dignity, he saw her.
He almost dropped the beer in his hand, but someone he managed to retain his grip on it. She was evidently hanging out with some friends, though he has never seen them before. Suddenly, and without warning, she started walking away with her friends, talking about something that he couldn't hear due to how far he was from her. Without thinking of a way to explain why to Stuart and Raj, Leonard put his beer back on the table and made a dash after her, not thinking about the consequences of this decision.
But there were too many people. Not enough space to move around. He tried pushing through the crowds, but he only realized after getting through it would have been faster to go around. But he ignored that fact and ran to the front door of the bar, exiting quickly before looking around the street. But it was too late. Penny had vanished without a trace.
"Leonard? Are you okay?"
The physicist looked up to face Long, realizing he had trailed off before he had spoken about Penny. Which was good, as he didn't want to attract any problems. After a few months of this, he eventually learned that Robert was the most relaxed and calm between her and Long. Unlike her, Long would likely blow it way out of proportion and call the men in white coats if Leonard had told him about Penny.
"I'm fine, thanks for asking." Leonard said quickly, trying to quickly cover up what he just did. "Nothing really happened at the bar. It was honestly kind of boring."
"It is interesting that you saw Penny in your dreams at a random bar, yet you don't take that as proof that they are dreams."
"People meet people they know by accident all the time. It doesn't mean that it was a dream." Leonard argued.
Robert let out a sigh of tiredness, before looking at the clock on her wall. "Our time is almost up. But can I ask you a question Leonard?"
"It's a free country." Leonard responded as he waited for another annoying question about how he is dreaming an alternate life and how it all symbolizes how he feels.
"Why don't you tell Penny about your dreams?" Robert asked, and Leonard frowned in response.
"Haven't we already had this conversation? Am I in some kind of time loop right now?" Leonard asked, though not seriously of course.
"I'm serious. I understand not telling all of your friends, but Penny is your wife." Robert told him, and Leonard slowly began to pay more attention to what she was saying. "You are planning to be spending every day of your life with her until you die. And since you don't plan right now to get better and stop these dreams, do you honestly believe you can keep a secret like this from her?"
"Look, I...I don't see why I have to explain my marriage to you, alright? I've managed this condition of mine for twenty-six years! I don't see how you can think you know how better about how I should manage it than me!" Leonard responded angrily, before storming out of the room.
Leonard got out the keys to his apartment, still hating the lack of a elevator in this building. If he only lived in this world, he guessed he would have gotten used to it years ago. But as a consequence of living another life in a building with a working elevator, he never has gotten used to it. As he opened the door, he was surprised to find Penny sitting on the couch and staring at the door, as if waiting for him.
"Penny? What's wrong?" he asked with worry, shutting the door behind him and putting his work bag on the floor.
"We need to talk Leonard." Penny told him simply, and Leonard instantly saw the pain in her eyes.
"Uhh, sure. What's wrong?" he asked her, sitting down beside her.
Penny took a deep breath, as if afraid of continuing this conversation, before speaking. "Why did you fall unconscious at the university and why do you have a therapist now?"
"Oh god. Penny, I told you that everything if fine. You don't need to worry about it."
"I don't need to worry!?" Penny exploded. "You fell unconscious and didn't wake up for hours! The doctors had no idea what was wrong with you! I thought you were going to die!"
Leonard looked guiltily at the floor, lost for words as tears began to form around Penny's eyes. She continued to speak however.
"And I know you know why it happened and I want to know why you won't tell me!" Penny shouted, the years coming out like a rainstorm. "Please, just tell me the truth."
"I...I can't. It's complicated." Leonard said weakly, knowing that it was the only response he could have given her without telling the truth. Penny didn't talk for a few moments before speaking again.
"You can't tell me because you don't trust me." she said slowly. Before Leonard could speak, she stands up and pulls off her ring. Her wedding ring. And slowly, she places it on the table and without looking at him, leaves the apartment. Leaves him to stare silently at the ring that he had given her, knowing what that action meant.
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