As promised, to make up for the shortness of the previous chapter, this chapter is slightly longer than the others. Also, I love the reviews that I'm getting. Keep them coming! xD And as usual, enjoy! :D

As it turns out, Penny regretted what she had done. Not one word about what she had said was wrong, but it was the effect of what she did that was going to come back and hit her square in the face. She knew exactly how everything was going to play out, all the pointing and laughing, the whispers in the halls as she walks past. "Ugh." She groaned and let herself fall back onto her bed. Once again, she had let her emotions get the better of her. But partly it was also because she had been away from Leonard for too long and had fallen into the darkness that was her emotions. Even if it had only been two days since he had disappeared, it was way too long for her. Every second without him felt like minutes, and minutes felt like hours. Is he ever going to come back? He promised he would be there for me no matter what, didn't he? She found herself growing more and more dependent of Leonard as time passed, and his existence had become necessary for her survival. It was like they say; only when you have lost something you would learn how much it means to you. But has she lost Leonard? She didn't know.

It was like she had been thrown into a mess the day she had met Leonard. And the only way to get out of that mess was Leonard himself. Or was there really a way to get out of it? It's not that she didn't like being in a mess, it had spiced her life up by so much more than before. And she would rather have that than live some boring, dull life that revolves around gossips and rumours and what not.

She desperately needed Leonard here with her, only he could tell her what she was supposed to do. How could she possibly set foot in school after having so many pairs of eyes fixed on her when she was throwing a hissy fit in the middle of the school cafeteria? But if Leonard was around, she wouldn't care if people were talking about her, because she didn't give a damn what they think, all that is important is what Leonard thinks of her. She hoped he would retain his opinion of her being beautiful, because whenever he says it, it always sends chills down her spine. Leonard was the only one that could talk to her, and when she's talking to him she didn't care for anything else in the world. Other people could say whatever they want about her, and she could easily swallow it down like it was no big matter. But Leonard was the only one who could see beneath her forced smile and realise how much she is hurting inside.

Right now she was all by herself. There was no way she could face an entire school all by herself. She didn't want to go to school anymore. Not at least until Leonard's return, which she still had absolutely no idea when it was going to happen. She let out another grunt of frustration and clasped her hands to her head. "What have I done?" she hit herself on her head with frustration and slowly moved her hand down to cover her eyes.

The moments of silence she had to herself was soon disrupted by the rapid vibration of her phone on her desk. It didn't go away after one vibration, signalling that it was a call instead of a text. She didn't wanted to speak to anyone at the moment, but quickly came to the realisation that the caller could very well be Leonard. She immediately sat up and felt the rush of blood to her head, but she didn't care. Quickly, she scooped her phone off the table and hit the green button.

"Hello?" She said with more enthusiasm than she could hide.

"Hey Penny. It-"

She ended the instant she heard the voice from the other end. She knew exactly what they were going to say, that they were sorry and didn't mean to upset her but in reality not one word spoken is the truth. She knew them well enough. She has been pretending to be one of them for years. She couldn't care less what they say, what was the point when they were just all talk and no action. Maybe she would consider forgiving them if they were to kneel down in front of her and beg for her forgiveness. But why would they do that? They think they are the queen of everything, and whatever they wanted they'll get. Penny knew she was being overly cruel to them, despite this being in her head, but she couldn't help it. She felt it was what they deserved after years and years of watching them abuse their authority and being mean to the other people in school.

Why couldn't everyone just be equals? Why must there be a hierarchy in school? Why divide people up into groups? If only everyone could be themselves, without getting teased or laughed at. Or better, if everyone were to be like Leonard.

It was a hope she had, but it was never going to happen. There would always be one poor kid being tortured by the bigger one with all the fame and popularity. Nothing is fair, if it were, her life would be so much less complicated than it is now.

Her phone vibrated again, buzzing exactly the same way it did before. She was getting pissed off, hanging up on someone was obviously saying that she didn't want to talk to them, and yet they continue to pester her. She pressed her thumb on the green button with more force than she usually does, as if it could help get out the anger she has building up inside of her.

"Look, I told you I don't want to talk, so just leave me the hell alone." She was close to shouting, and she felt her cheeks starting to burn slightly.

"Penny?"

And it was gone. All her anger she was about to let out, the sorrow that was eating her up inside, everything. Everything disappeared upon hearing his voice, his comforting voice, laced with concern after hearing her outburst. She loved the way he says her name, it was probably the same way everyone else pronounces her name, but to her, it sounded different. It had the ability to calm her, and suck all the negative feelings she has contained out of her. She felt herself already falling for him even more now that she has heard his voice again, but she knew that wasn't her main concern at the moment.

"Penny?" he repeated. "You there?"

"Leonard!" she spoke his name with a little too much excitement, but contained within as a sign of her relief, relief that he was safe, and that he wasn't gone forever.

"Yes, it's me." She could practically hear him smiling over the phone. "What happened to you?"

"Never mind me. What the hell happened to you?" Penny was curious as to what took him so long to call her back, and where he was at the moment.

"We had to leave town. My aunt Grace passed away."

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Penny suddenly felt silly, one of his relatives had passed away, and she was only concerned about herself, and how she needed him without thinking about how he also had his own life and had other concerns that doesn't relate to her.

"Sorry I couldn't call you back until now or at least leave a message. It all happened so suddenly and there was just so much to do. I hadn't checked my phone until now." He explained himself. "You must have been real worried; my call log is filled with your name. Not that I mind, such a beautiful sight."

There it is again. Beautiful. This time he was referring to her name, but somehow it still managed to send chills down throughout her whole body.

"Of course I was!" I thought you were going to be gone forever.

"I'm sorry. I promised you that I would be there, and a day later I've broken my promise." They were silent for a moment before he continued, "What happened?"

"Matt told everyone what happened. And now people know that we hang out together." She said with a hint of anger as she went through the day's events in her head.

"Oh." His tone of voice changed. "Does it bother you? Does that mean we can't hang out together anymore?"

"What? No!" She exclaimed immediately upon hearing his question.

"Oh okay. So, what did you do?" She thought she heard him let out a sigh of relief, and she couldn't help but smile over that.

"I just lost it. And I shouted at those bitches in front of everyone else. After that, I just left." She paused. "What am I supposed to do, Leonard? Every single person was staring at me. I can't even go to school after this. At least not without you there. When are you going to be back?"

"I'm not going to be back for at least another few days. I hate that I'm so far away from you when you are so vulnerable. Maybe you should just stay home for a few days, tell the school you're sick. I don't think you should be around them for a while. It would just make everything worse, you'll feel worse, and I don't want that."

"Yeah okay." She agreed, slightly nodding even though he couldn't see her.

"Was there anything else you needed to talk about? You know you can talk to me about anything."

Yeah. I think I'm starting to have feelings for you. Do you feel the same way?

But she knew this was not something she could talk about over the phone. She needed to see his face when she told him, and he would be honest with how he felt, not that she thought he would lie to her, but seeing him tell her that he also felt the same way in front of him would possibly be the greatest feeling that she was going to get. But she had to talk about this later, now was not the time.

"No, nothing."

"Well then, I guess I'll call you soon?"

"Wait, Leonard. Can we just talk?" She sounded desperate, but she needed to hear his voice. Two days without it was a torture, and she would savour every moment she had with him and his beautiful voice.

And talk they did.

He whispered a "Goodnight, beautiful." before ending the call when her side had gone silent because she had drifted off to sleep.