"Okay," Howard said as he grabbed a pen and notepad and got comfortable on the floor in front of the coffee table. "First thing to do is to write down everything that led up to your mishap."

Penny clasped her hands between her knees and took a deep breath. "Okay. There's a few things I don't want to talk about. Things that I am afraid to say. I can't tell you everything, because I risk telling you everything. Things that you shouldn't know."

Everyone nodded except Leonard. He leaned forward a bit, trying not to look too eager. "Are we together?"

Penny looked at him briefly. "I don't want to talk about anything except sending me back. I was trying to avoid changing the future too much, but I know now that that isn't possible. Just by being here, I changed everything. What I know of the future isn't likely to actually be the future now."

"Then how could it hurt to tell us what we were doing in your future?" Leonard asked stubbornly.

"Because it could change who we become," Sheldon said sternly. "Whatever our future holds, whoever we are to become, Penny's knowledge would alter that. And maybe not for the better."

"You can't possibly know that," Leonard argued.

Howard shrugged. "No, but the odds are not in our favor. Think about all the movies and books and comics we've read. When have you ever read a time travel story that ended well?"

"This is real life," Leonard argued, "not a story by H.G. Wells!"

"Which is exactly why we can't ask Penny about our future!" Sheldon said a bit more forcefully.

Raj watched Penny stand and walk out of the apartment wearily. He looked at his three friends, who continued to argue about the dangers of changing the future. He stood and followed after Penny, seeing her disappear around the corner of the stairwell leading up to the roof. He hurried after her, catching up as she walked out into the night air.

Penny sighed and looked up, hoping to find a few stars. "I was dating Leonard," she said softly.

Raj slowly moved a little closer to her.

"Sheldon was dating a woman named Amy," she continued, her voice pained and whispery. "I knew better. I don't love Leonard. Not like he wants me to. And he doesn't love me. He loves the envy he gets from others. He loves the sex. I'm his trophy."

She looked over at Raj sadly. "Don't get me wrong, I do care about Leonard, and I know he does care about me, but we're a convenience more than a real couple. Sheldon and Amy…they're the perfect couple. She's smart, kind of pretty, and adores him. He's changed so much because of Amy. He must love her," Penny sighed as she turned back to the too-smoggy sky. "He went on a romantic train ride with her for Valentine's Day. He kissed her. Amy said it was incredible."

Raj was stunned. Even someone as socially inept as he was could see the regret and heartbreak in her eyes.

"I couldn't take it," she sobbed softly. "It suddenly hit me. I'd lost. I waited too long. I was so sure that eventually they would break up. That Amy would push too hard and he would end the relationship. I thought that maybe then he..."

Penny shook her head slowly. "I'm such a fucking mess," she whispered. "In love with my best friend, hoping that his girlfriend breaks his heart. Who does that? What kind of horrible person am I?"

Raj tentatively placed an arm around Penny's shoulders and she curled into him, crying softly against his chest.

Neither of them noticed the roof door closing that last inch, and a shell-shocked Sheldon heading back down the stairs.