Sat at the table she had deemed 'hers' in the library, Penny began to put her notebook back into her bag. Opposite her, Bernadette Rostenkowski was doing the same. Both girls had smiles on her faces, and the nervous, terrified look on Bernadette's face that she'd worn coming in, had disappeared.

"Hey, so, I have a question for you." Penny said, closing her bag and pulling out her phone from her jacket pocket.

"Yeah?" Bernadette looked up at her nervously.

"My boyfriend told me one of his friends wanted to be set up, and I just thought... you'd probably be a better match than anybody else I know."

"I don't know," Bernadette bit her lip, "I'm not sure he'll be my type."

"What?" Penny scrunched her face up in confusion for a moment before it clicked in her mind. "Oh! No, not those guys. I'm talking about Howard Wolowitz. Do you know him?"

"I know of him, he's - wait, why is your boyfriend friends with Howard Wolowitz?" Now it was Bernadette's turn to be confused. As far as she was aware, none of the guys Penny knew would ever be friends with somebody like Howard.

"Honestly, I ask myself that question like, all the time."

"I'm a little confused. Who even is your boyfriend?"

"Leonard Hofstadter." Penny liked how certain that sounded. She wasn't even sure if they were there yet, and she had never been one to rush into calling somebody her 'boyfriend' - but with Leonard it just felt natural to say it, and it didn't feel terrifying to be placing herself as somebody's 'girlfriend'.

"You and Leonard Hofstadter?" Bernadette raised her brows in surprise. "Wow, who'd have thought!"

"What do you mean?" Penny asked, slightly defensively, folding her arms over her chest.

"Well, you know, he's... and you're... never mind," Bernadette sighed, backing down, not wanting to cause an argument.

"Either you mean that he's smart and it's unimaginable that he would date someone like me, or you mean that you expect me to think just because I'm a cheerleader that he's not good enough or too nerdy for me." Penny frowned, peering down her nose at Bernadette. "Whichever one it is, you're wrong. And I'm not going to argue with you over this because I told myself I need to stop doing that."

"Alright." Bernadette chewed on her lip. She didn't want to get into an argument either, and if Penny was getting defensive over her relationship with Leonard, then perhaps she was wrong in questioning it. "I'm sorry. So, umm, it's Howard Wolowitz, right?"

"Yes," Penny nodded, happy to move on.

Almost wanting to say 'he's a bit… weird and creepy', but deciding that perhaps after her judgment of Leonard and Penny that would seem a bit hypocritical, Bernadette simply nodded in return. "Alright, I'll do it."

"You will? Okay, great." Penny grinned. Although she didn't particularly know either of them very well, it was exciting helping set them up. "I have your number now, I'll get Leonard to pass it on to Howard and you guys can arrange something."

"Sure." Bernadette was impressed with herself. A popular girl had her number and wasn't forcing her to do all of the work, and she'd just been set up for a date. Not a bad day at all.

"Awesome. I have to go get this book out and then get to class. I'll see you on Sunday then and we can get started on this project. I'll try get at least the first part done by then." Penny said, as she began to stand up, swinging her bag onto her shoulder.


Unable to help the slight wave of annoyance that she was no longer sitting alone like she had intended to, Penny smiled politely as Valerie sat down next to her. She'd hoped sitting in the middle row at the corner desk would mean not being disturbed by her friends during Math class, since they usually sat at the back, but apparently not.

"Hey!" Valerie grinned, pulling out her books. "Why're you sitting all the way over here?" When Penny simply shrugged, she continued on. "Are you going to Hannah's birthday party on Friday?"

"Yeah, probably," Penny nodded, "is her sister buying the drink again?"

"Umm, think so, I'll ask her next period to make sure." She placed her bag on the floor, before picking up her pen and tapping it against her notepad. "So how're things with you and Leonard going?"

"Really great," Penny nodded, smiling with a slight blush.

"What's that blush for? What did you do?" Valerie smirked.

"Nothing! Seriously, nothing like that."

While she wanted to tease her and ask if she was sure, or if it was because Leonard was a nerd, Valerie knew that with Penny this wasn't the case, so quickly moved on. "Alright. So what's he like when he's not at school being all... smart and stuff? What do you guys do? Sit there reading Superman comics?"

"Just because he's smart and into nerdy things like comic books doesn't mean he's not like a normal person!" Penny chuckled slightly. "We do what everyone else does."

"Huh, I kind of imagine them like, eating dinner and reading their comic books at the same time. And playing card games in the mall and stuff. Making up jokes about equations. I dunno."

"Okay, he doesn't do that when we're out. But isn't that like when we read Vogue over dinner anyway?"

"Suppose so. I don't know what the do, do I? They're just there being smart and stuff, who knows? Who did you get for Biology, by the way? I got Ken. Ken! Of all people, I get the one guy who is less smart than me and thinks that just because we're partners that we're going to end up in bed together after Hannah's party. Uh, no thank you."

"That sucks, he's such an ass. I got Bernadette."

"Oh my God that's not fair, you literally have to do no work!" Valerie groaned.

Penny shook her head. "No, we've split it, half and half."

Studying Penny for a moment, Valerie sighed. "Alright, I guess if you're actually doing work then I can do it to."

Penny was about to agree that yes, she could, when their teacher walked in and sat at her desk, placing a stack of papers on the desk. Instantly, she could tell that those were the test papers that they had taken, and they were graded. Her heart began to race. She needed that grade to be good. Not just for herself, but for Leonard, because he had put in so much time helping her, and she wanted him to be proud.

"Alright, I have your tests marked from the other week."

Watching as she stood, Penny's eyes followed the teacher as she began to hand the tests back to the students.

"Overall I'm quite impressed, but some of you do need to pay more attention, or you'll be taking an extra class on Thursday afternoons."

Please don't let that be me, Penny thought. She watched as the teacher approached her desk, and placed her marked paper in front of her.

"Well done, Penny, that's quite an improvement."

Looking down at the paper on her desk, Penny felt her heart skip a beat and a rush of relief swoop through her body. C. A smile flickered her face. Miles better than the D-'s she had been receiving (she ignored the few F's she'd gotten). Not quite the A+ grades that she knew Leonard received, but still... a C. Plus. Which was only a little way away from a B. She had never been so excited to get a paper back and receive her grade.


"Leonard!"

Penny practically ran at him, a wide grin across her face, waving her paper in front of her. He chuckled at the sight; it was adorable how excited she looked.

"I got my math test back!"

"I'm guessing you did well?"

Holding out the papers to him, she bounced slightly on the spot, "see for yourself!"

Taking the paper, Leonard flipped it over so he could see the front, grinning instantly when he saw the C+ written in red on the front. "Oh my God, I'm so proud of you!"

"I know, right. And it's all thanks to you!" Leaning up, Penny threw her arms around him, planting a kiss on his lips. "Ah, I'm so happy! Thank you, Leonard."

Slightly in shock from the fact that she'd just kissed him, right there in plain sight of everybody in the grounds between the main school entrance, the car park, sports field and main school gates, Leonard blushed and chuckled nervously. "Oh, umm, yeah, you're welcome."

"I mean, I know it's nowhere near as good as the grades you get," Penny began, taking the paper and shoving it into her bag, before linking her hand with his as they made their way towards the gates to go home, "but it's better than what I would normally get. And I really think I can get, you know, a B or something, if I work hard enough."

"Of course you can!" Leonard squeezed her hand gently. "You're already mostly there, that was only the first test you did after all that studying, you'll only get better at it as you continue and get consistently good grades."

"Think so?"

"Of course."

For a while, she simply turned her head and looked up at him as they walked, her lips curled into a soft smile. "You know, you're the first person who ever really believed in me that I could do this kinda stuff."

"Really?"

"Yes. Everyone kinda goes, okay, but you won't actually be good at it, you'll just stop failing so much. But you're the only one who actually thinks I can get better at it, and maintain that standard."

"Well, you'll just get to prove them wrong, won't you."

"You really think I can?"

"Absolutely."

"Thank you." She quickly kissed his cheek. "I'm working with Bernadette Rostenkowski on the Biology project, by the way, and we're going halves on it."

"Ooh, that sounds good. I'm impressed."

"Uh-huh. Anyway, you remember how you asked me if I could find someone to set your friend Howard up with?"

"Yeah. Again, really, you don't have to. I just thought I'd do my duty as his friend to ask."

"No, sweetie, it's fine - how about Bernadette?"

"Bernadette?" Leonard raised a brow. "She actually agreed to go on a date with Howard? I know she's not a cheerleader, and she doesn't hang out with... us nerds, really, but... I didn't think she'd agree to going on a date with Howard, since she actually knows about him."

"Yes, well, I think she's learned not to judge other people too quickly or make assumptions about relationships." Penny said quickly, her tone slightly sharp. "Sorry. But, yeah, what do you think?"

Leonard chose not to question her tone, since she didn't seem to want to linger on why that statement made her so annoyed. "Umm, alright. Howard will be delighted... I'll have to remind him not to use the phrases he usually uses about her to her face."

"What kinda stuff does he say?" Penny pulled a face.

"You really don't wanna know." Leonard shook his head.

"Oh come on, I've heard some of the stuff he's said about me and my friends! It can't be any worse than that, surely?"

"Umm..." Leonard hesitated for a moment. "Sadly, yes."

Squinting at him, Penny frowned, before sighing and relaxing. "Alright, I probably don't wanna know, then."

"Yeah." Leonard nodded, relieved that he wouldn't have to repeat Howard's words to her. They were bad enough to hear in the first place.

"I'll text you Bernadette's number later so you can forward it to Howard. No way am I giving it to him myself."

"Good idea."

"I'm seeing her on Sunday to work on the project, so I'll see what she says then." After a moment, Penny pouted as a thought came through her mind. "Leonard?"

"Yeah?"

"You know this party that I'm going to on Friday?"

"Uh-huh."

"If you're picking up your sister on Saturday, does that mean I won't get to see you on the weekend?"

"Oh... I guess it does."

There was silence for a few seconds before Penny spoke again. "I could always not go to the party."

"What? No, you should go, it's your friends birthday. Just... whatever it is that made you upset and want to leave last time... let me know you're okay so I don't worry?"

Penny smiled at him, grateful that he wasn't asking her about what had happened, and touched that he cared so much. "Of course."

A part of her was filled with guilt. She knew that she wasn't supposed to go to parties, and get drunk. She didn't want Leonard to be worried about her, and she didn't want to spend the whole weekend without him. But... like he said, it was her friends birthday. And Hannah was a good friend. And going to parties was just one of those things she did. It was odd, how her mother telling her off and warning her about going to these parties had never bothered her, but Leonard made her question all of this without even meaning to.

"I'll probably go over to Sheldon's, since I won't see them over the weekend."

Well, that made things slightly easier. "Okay, that sounds nice."

Stopping at the parting, she turned into him. Leonard took her other hand, leaning down a little to plant a gentle kiss on her lips. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Uh-huh." Penny smiled, biting her lip.

For a minute, both of them simply stood there, looking into each others eyes, wanting nothing more than to continue that kiss; deepen it, make it go further. Only they were both incredibly aware that this was a fairly populated road, not her empty back yard. This was a public space, definitely not private.

"So, uh," Leonard chuckled nervously, "umm, make sure you show your parents your paper. They'll be proud."

"What?" Penny blinked, before coming back to her senses. "Oh! Yeah, yes, of course, yeah."

"Okay, good."

Still slightly flustered, they leaned in for a tight hug, braving another quick kiss before they pulled back again.

"See you tomorrow, Penny."

"Goodbye, Leonard. See you tomorrow."


"What is up with you?" Meryl raised a brow, as Penny practically danced into the kitchen, beaming, cheeks red.

"Nothing." Penny shrugged, grabbing a clean glass and filling it with water.

"So what's all the dancing about?"

Gulping the water down, Penny grinned and pulled her paper out of her bag. "I got my math test back - guess who got a C+?"

Pulling the paper towards her, Meryl gasped, and then grinned up at her daughter, pulling her in for a hug. "Oh, congratulations, sweetheart!"

"Thank you," Penny grinned, squeezing her mother tightly, before pulling back.

"Guess Leonard did a really great job, huh?" Meryl patted the paper.

Leonard. Penny's cheeks flushed again. "Oh, yeah. He did, he really did. He was really proud of me when I showed him." Penny nodded, picking up her bag again. "I'm gonna go take a shower... I had gym class today."


"So-o," Leonard's sister, Kate, grinned as they drove off from the service station they had stopped at for coffee, and to refill the gas tank. "You gonna tell me about this mysterious Penny?"

"What?" Leonard's head jerked around to look at her.

"Eyes on the road!" Kate exclaimed, giggling when his focus returned to the road, his expression still confused. "I called Michael to say I was coming home for a few days and see if he might come home too, and he told me you went on a date with a cheerleader. And it's been going well, apparently. Why didn't you tell me about this!"

"Because you always make a huge deal!" Leonard whined at his sister.

"Yeah, well, it is a huge deal when my baby brother doesn't tell me he's seeing this pretty girl! So, what, is she like, your girlfriend, or...?"

"Umm," he furrowed his brow, "I guess so. I mean, Howard said that Bernadette said, that Penny said I was her boyfriend. And she introduced me to her mom as her boyfriend, so I guess-"

"You've met her mom?"

"And her dad."

"What? Already? Wow, impressive." Kate nodded approvingly. "I didn't meet Henry's parents till like... two months after we started going out."

"Well, her dad wanted to meet me, she said. And I only met her mom because I took her home from a party, and her friend had called her mom to say she was coming home, so she came down to the kitchen."

"Ah, I see. So you weren't at this party?"

"Please, as if I get invited to those kind of parties." Leonard rolled his eyes.

"Maybe you will now that you're going out with Penny. But anyway, moving on. Has she met dad yet? Ooh, or mom?"

Leonard let out a laugh. "Yeah, right! Because I'm really rushing for that to happen."

"I seriously don't blame you, at all. So since mom and dad are away until Thursday, you gonna invite her round? Huh? Huh?" Kate nudged Leonard playfully, fighting back a grin.

"Can we not talk about that? I already get enough of that from Michael, I don't need it from you as well. Besides, she's with her friends today - hungover, apparently - and tomorrow she's working on her Biology project."

"Yes that means there's still a chance I'll get to meet her during the week. Oh my God we should do a double date! That would be so cute, me and Henry, you and Penny-"

"Do you want me to just become a puddle of nerves?"

"Alright, too soon, I'm sorry. But I still want to meet her. I have Big Sister duties to fulfill."

Leonard sighed. "Remind me why Henry couldn't pick you up, and why I didn't just leave you at the airport? And why couldn't you just stay at college to write this paper of yours?"

"He's working, and because you're too nice a brother to do that to me. And because mom and dad aren't home so it's a good time to go home while I can."