Chapter 10

Leonard held Penny having no idea of the state of Penny's mind otherwise he would have been appalled that she was praying for it all to end while in his embrace. Also, it would have shocked him to know that she was mainly ready to end it all because of this last real comfort she was receiving by him. He would have probably tried to talk to her, tell her all she had to live for and reassure her that she would not have to ever go out in the cold again, if he knew. He even would have probably promised her that he would take care of her forever, if he had found out what was going through her mind at that moment, but that was not going to happen that day.

The smoke alarm going off made them both jump, since it was an alarm it was already loud but in the quiet of the bedroom, Leonard and Penny in each others arms, not a sound around them, the alarm sounded like the world was coming to an end. Of course that was the purpose of such alarms to be so loud and shocking that they took away all thoughts except those of why they were going off. So its wailing sound made Penny and Leonard immediately separate, to looked at each it stunned silence, their only thoughts at that second, what was that noise and what did it mean.

Leonard's mind was the quicker of them both, "That's the smoke alarm, Oh my God, 'FIRE'." With that last word, Leonard jumped off the bed and headed out the bedroom door. The thought of the apartment burning down now taking priority to the young upset woman he was trying to comfort.

Penny blinked as she watched him rush out, getting up a second later, one reason because he had said 'FIRE' and the other reason being she felt safe being around him, so she just followed him. She actually felt relieved when she got to the kitchen a couple of moments behind him, there was no fire, just smoke, as Leonard took the offending pan and put it in the sink. However there was a lot of smoke, in the kitchen, and the alarm was still going off as loud as could be, it was so annoying that it actually made Penny feel aggravated, completely forgetting her recent state of mind. So instinct took over, Penny was a horrible cook, she had burnt food before that she had tried to prepare for her boyfriends, when she was younger, and with Kurt, when she still lived with him, so she had set off many the smoke alarm in her day. She also remembered what she had done before when that happened as she quickly scanned the kitchen area and found what she needed, grabbing the towel to fan the air around the smoke alarm. Leonard now moving over to open a window, to let the smoke out and get fresh air into the apartment.

It all ended as quickly as it started, smoke left the apartment through the window and Penny's fanning the smoke alarm brought fresh air through it making it stop its persistent wail. There was silence in the apartment again, as Leonard, who had moved to the kitchen again, put a lid on the pot to keep it from smoking anymore and Penny put down her towel. Penny's mind was now free again to resume her panic and depression all over again, except for one thing, Leonard was looking directly at her, making it impossible for her to look away, even if she had wanted to. Again they said nothing as they just looked at each other, the crisis now over and them both slightly fatigued from the exertion.

Leonard finally broke the silence as she became his highest priority again, "I'm sorry if I upset you earlier, believe me I had no intention of doing that."

Penny looked down then shifted her feet a little before looking back up at him, "I'm sorry I didn't mean to cause a problem."

Leonard shook his head, still looking directly at her, "Penny you have never been a problem." he answered her quietly. "I'm actually happy I was able to help and get you out of that cold, no one deserves to be out in that weather."

Penny stared at him, wondering if he actually understood how it felt to be out there cold and scared, he was so nice, maybe he did. She hadn't really talked to anyone about what happened to her, she wanted to talk to him, she now was thinking maybe he would understand, "I lost my coat at the shelter."

Leonard looked at her confused, "You left a shelter?"

Penny nodded, "Some nice people took several of us there, to be warm, eat, and get clean. But some men followed me into the showers…." a tear came down her cheek as she remembered, she looked down again at her feet for a moment then she just looked back up at him "I had to get away, so I ran and lost my coat and everything else."

Leonard just looked at her almost speechless now, "Oh my God." he whispered, watching as she wiped the tear off with the sleeve of her robe. It took a moment for him to compose his thoughts and speak again, "That is why you don't want to go back to a shelter."

Penny nodded, "I was scared, they yanked at my clothes." again she stopped talking a moment as she seemed to relive it again in her mind.

Leonard was shocked this had happened to her, "Penny you don't have to go back there, you can stay here as long as you want." Leonard now offered, to try and comfort her, maybe give her a sense of security, he would figure how to deal with Sheldon later.

Penny stared at him, so many men had lied to her in the last year and she instinctively wondered if he was lying too. But she only saw the same kindness in his eyes, it had made her trust him before and it made her trust him now again. "I want to stay here." she said quietly as she looked down at her hands again, a little afraid how he would now respond.

Leonard nodded, "Then you can stay her as long as you want, no one will make you leave until you want to…..not even Sheldon, I promise." he would need to figure some way for Sheldon to agree but he had a week to figure something out, he thought.

Penny looked back up at him again, she was a little stunned that he made it seem so simple, she could just stay, just like that she had a place to live. As it sank in it made her feel unbelievably content as his words ran through her mind again, she now had sort of a home and she didn't have to worry about being thrown out. "Thank you, thank you so much."

Leonard nodded and smiled, "That is okay, just make yourself comfortable, this can be your home for now." It made Leonard feel good to help her, and in a slightly selfish way he actually liked the feeling of being needed, when he was young, no one ever seemed to need him, until he met Sheldon.