The days leading up to Sunday were Hell. Leonard was constantly on edge, scared that Penny might find the little box that he had hid in his drawer. He worried about every detail; what he would say, at what point during the night he would ask, he even worried about what he would wear. He was so distracted, so on edge and so nervous the whole week that he was certain Penny knew something was up. She would give him funny looks every now and then and ask him if he was okay, to which he quickly replied yes and tried to act as normal as possible, luckily for him Penny didn't push him too far to tell her what was wrong. He loved her for that.

The speech was what got him most worried though. He had no idea how he was going to explain how he felt about her and how badly he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He ended up deciding, late on Saturday night, that he couldn't possibly rehearse that part of the evening. He decided, after spending most of the past few days searching his brain for the perfect words, that he would wait until the perfect moment and just say what came naturally. He wished he had thought of it earlier.

And now, Sunday was here. The day he had been building up to over the past few weeks had finally arrived and he was full of mixed emotions. As nervous and panicked as he was, he couldn't deny the sudden feeling of relief that swept over his body. The day was finally here, no more waiting and wondering, by tonight he would finally know if all this work had been worth it. He would finally know if Penny was going to be his wife or not and knowing that made him feel just that little bit better.

With that in mind, Leonard got himself dressed up in his suit and tie. He stayed calm and tried to act as normal as he possibly could, telling himself this was just like any other date they had been on, but that little box in his jacket pocket screamed, "No it's not!"

The minutes crept by as he waited on Penny to get ready. His nerves slowly inching their way into his body with each moment that passed. All sorts of visions flew by in his mind, and none of them good ones, each one had the exact same conclusion, Penny saying no. He tried to stop the thoughts. He tried to stop his overactive mind from making assumptions on what would happen that night, especially bad ones, but they wouldn't stop. His stomach became knotted and his heart pounded against his chest, forcing him to take a breath from his inhaler. He wondered how on earth he was going to act normal that night, how he was going to have dinner when the thought of eating made him sick. How was he going to hold a conversation with her when he could barely take his mind off of the life changing question he was going to ask? His phone buzzed in his pocket, he knew exactly who it was before he even looked. It was Raj, informing him that the whole gang had gathered next door and they were to come in and see them before they left. At that moment he regretted ever telling them when he was going to propose, wishing that he could turn back time so he could keep that part a secret. But it was done now and there were two little guys sitting across the hall eagerly awaiting the events of the evening and probably just as nervous about it as he was.

Leonard sat on the couch, rested his head on the back of it, closed his eyes and began taking deep breaths in and out, hoping to clear his mind and calm his body. He wasn't sure how long he stayed in that position, but some time later Penny entered the room.

Leonard was brought back from his almost meditative state by Pennys voice. "Alright I'm ready! How do I look?"

He immediately sat up and turned around. Words escaped him and a smile lit up his face when he saw her, looking radiant in a gorgeous purple dress that hugged her body, with her long wavy blonde hair hanging down, framing her face. She was the vision of beauty, and she made his heart race once more, undoing all of his work to calm it.

"That good huh?" Penny said with a giggle after Leonard hadn't spoken for more than a few seconds. He simply nodded in reply as he got up off the sofa and went over to give her a kiss. Sometimes he found it extremely hard to believe that he had managed to find himself a woman as beautiful as her. She had her flaws and he knew it, but sometimes, on nights like this when she would walk out of that room looking as gorgeous as she did now, he found it incredibly hard to remember what those flaws were. In these moments, she was nothing other than perfect.

Eventually and reluctantly, he pulled away from her. "You look beautiful." He said as he gazed into her eyes, knowing that it probably won't be the last time he utters those words to her that night.

Penny grinned and stepped back, "You don't look half bad yourself!" She said as she patted his chest and dusted off his shoulders. "Very handsome… Let me fix this though." She giggled as she undone his messed up tie and re-tied it for him. He watched her intently as she focused on his tie and had to fight every urge in his body to ask her to marry him at that moment.

"Alright then, let's go." He said as soon as she was finished.

"Already? I thought our cab was booked for 8? Its only half 7."

"Oh… yeah. Well do you want to go next door? Maybe have a drink with the guys before we go. I'm pretty sure everyone's over there now."

"Yeah sure!" Penny said happily as she grabbed her purse. Leonard found his wallet, his keys and his phone, before quickly checking his jacket pocket to make sure the special gift was still there. Satisfied that he had everything he needed, he locked up and followed Penny across the hall. She knocked and then quickly entered the apartment, not bothering to wait on permission.

She greeted the group as she always did, with a cheery, "Hey guys!" as she made her way to sit on the arm of the couch. Her words were met with the usual, "Hey" from most of the people there, but also by the sound of what could only be described as a screech of excitement from both Howard and Raj. Upon hearing the unusual sound, most of the gang looked at them in confusion, except from Leonard, who gave them both his best, "I'm gonna kill you" look.

"What the hell was that?" Penny asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh, I don't know… Nothing." Raj said nervously. "You look pretty." He smiled, hoping all weirdness would be forgotten with a simple compliment.

"Aw, thank you." Penny replied with a smile.

Leonard shook his head and headed to the kitchen to pour him and Penny a drink. Thankfully Penny never asked any more questions about the guys' weird outburst and began to chat happily to Bernadette and Amy who were sitting on the sofa, beside Sheldon who was watching television and had barely even noticed the arrival of his friends. Howard and Raj came over to the kitchen to talk to Leonard, trying to be as nonchalant as possible.

"Oh my God dude, I can't believe you are doing this tonight!" Raj whispered. "I have been so nervous for you, I haven't stopped peeing all day!"

Leonard smiled and downed the first glass of wine he had poured for himself.

"Wow, slow down. You don't wanna get drunk and mess this up!" Howard said quietly.

"I know I'm just so nervous." Leonard whispered. "How on earth did you manage this! I feel like I'm going to get sick every time I think about it."

"Then don't think about it." Raj said. "At least not until you actually do it. Just pretend it's a normal date."

"If only it was that easy." Leonard replied as he sipped on the second glass of wine he had poured.

"So, do you have everything? You know like…" Howard held up his left hand to his chest and discreetly wiggled his fourth finger. Leonard nodded and patted his jacket pocket. Howard smiled and said. "Good. And you have your inhaler?"

Leonard frowned and shook his head. His inhaler was something he never really took out with him when he went for dinner, although he was certain Penny always carried one for him in her purse, so it hadn't crossed his mind to bring one now.

"Dude you better go and get it. You're not exactly in for a nice, quiet, calm dinner date! You're probably gonna need it at some point tonight." Howard told him.

Leonard nodded his agreement and finished pouring the drinks then headed over to give one to Penny. She thanked him as she took the drink from him and once again Raj made the excited screeching noise, only a little quieter this time. Leonard turned around to glare at him, but almost laughed as he saw him looking at Penny, looking as if he was about to burst out crying with excitement. He eventually caught his eyes and once again tried to tell him to 'be cool' with one glare. Raj got the hint and immediately stopped looking at her and sat down.

"I'll be right back." Leonard said as he made his way out the door, not waiting for any sort of response. Penny just watched him go in confusion then turned back to her conversation with Bernadette and Amy.

Leonard returned back to the apartment within a few minutes, his inhaler in hand.

"Okay what is with you guys tonight?" Penny said sternly as she looked toward Howard and Raj. Leonard immediately put his head in his hands, once again wishing he hadn't told either of them about tonight. "You keep on giving me weird looks. It's freaking me out!"

"Just ignore them Penny." Bernadette said. "The two of them have been acting strange all night." She said glaring at Howard.

"Come on Penny, I think it's about time we left. It's almost 8." Leonard said. He had to get her out of that apartment before those two freaked her out even more, or even worse, gave her an idea of what he planned on doing.

"Have fun you guys!" Bernadette shouted, followed by Amy who said something much to the same affect.

Howard done his best to stay calm and wished them a good evening, Raj however couldn't quite do the same. He got up off of his seat and hugged Leonard, whispering "good luck" in his ear, before hugging Penny, and telling her to "have the best night ever." As soon as she pulled away from him he squealed again and waved them off down the stairs.

"How much has he had to drink tonight?!" Penny giggled as they walked down the stairs.

Leonard smiled and shook his head, relieved that Penny had found her own conclusion to his odd behaviour because it meant he wouldn't have to come up with one. Penny giggled again and took hold of his hand as they walked down the stairs, blissfully unaware of the nerves that were beginning to once again creep under Leonard's skin. This is it. They were leaving for the restaurant and from now on, it was just going to be the two of them. There was nowhere to hide, no more time to go over what he might say, or to close his eyes and calm his nerves. As they left the apartment building and stood on the street waiting for their cab to arrive, Leonard realized that when they came home he would either be completely heartbroken, or with the future Mrs Hofstadter on his arm.