Sorry about the few days of waiting. I got sick, and then there were Christmas parties, and The Hobbit, and... Ugh. Whatever. Anyways, I think everyone will be very satisfied with this chapter. It's a little longer than usual, and a little hotter. Enjoy.
After several reports with the police department and insurance companies, Leonard finally managed to get Officer Hodgkins to take them home. The older gentleman tried to talk Penny once again about the Witness Protection Program, but she shot him down just as quickly as the first time. She was about to become a huge TV star, and the advertisements for the show had already been released. It hadn't cause too many problems with the paparazzi, yet, but it was only a matter of time. WPP was useless because of Penny's career choice.
As Penny thought about it, though, she knew she didn't want to go into hiding. She finally had her dream job (only second to being a movie star), but if she wanted to be honest with herself, she knew her biggest reason was she couldn't leave her Pasadena life. She loved her crazy group of nerds, and she was getting really close to Leonard, lately. They hadn't talked about the kiss they shared that night a few days before. When she tried to up the kiss a bit, he backed out and said he needed to go. She was highly disappointed, and it almost made her want to cry. When she began thinking about why he left, though, she thought she may have come on too strong. Leonard was no virgin, and she knew that. But she also knew that he was still inexperienced when it came to the full effect. She knew he was different, but it was in a good way. She was still confused about her feelings, but it was starting to become painfully obvious that he was more to her than just a friend. He had risked his life to save her, and she noticed that she wasn't freaking out near as badly as she should have. Oddly enough, he made her feel safe, and instead of fear, she felt angry. She was angry that Donovan had gotten the jump on her. She was angry that Leonard had gotten hurt trying to save her. She was angry that the psycho had gotten away. She was angry that she hadn't gotten the chance to bash him with her crowbar.
None of it mattered, though.
Leonard took her straight to her apartment, getting them both inside and locking the door behind him.
The two stood there awkwardly for a moment before Leonard spoke. "Maybe you should go get a hot shower. I can't imagine that your floorboard is all-too clean."
He raised an eyebrow at her, and she couldn't help herself as she cracked a smile at his joke. She decided her retaliation could be just as fun. Leaning close to him (at which he almost fell backwards into the door) and giving him her most seductive look, she said in a lowered voice, "Hmm, yes. I am a rather dirty girl."
Leonard had a sudden coughing fit and looked at her incredulously, obviously at a loss for words. She smiled and slipped away to her bedroom before he gathered his composure.
Thirty minutes later, she came out to her living room to find Leonard on her couch with two glasses of wine on the coffee table.
"It's like you could read my mind," she said aloud, alerting him to her presence in the room. She quickly jumped over the back of her couch and landed next to Leonard.
He grinned and handed her a glass, grabbing his own and toasting it to hers. "Unfortunately, I have yet to acquire mind-reading abilities. That's a level 95 scientist perk, I'm only a level 87." Chuckling at his little joke, he sipped from his glass and relaxed back into the couch.
"Oh?" she inquired teasingly, settling back with him and taking a sip of her own. "And what does level 100 do?"
"Have you met Sheldon?"
She laughed and sipped again. "Then I think you need to stop leveling up. It's bad enough with one Sheldon to terrorize the villages."
He laughed and agreed. "Yeah, I'd hate to run into another being like him. I can't believe I put up with him on a daily basis."
"Me either."
They sat in silence, enjoying the warmth in Penny's apartment as cold wind began whistling outside. It was an unusually cold winter for Pasadena, and it only seemed to get worse.
"Penny?"
Penny snapped herself from her thoughts about the weather to see Leonard looking at her. "Yeah?"
He leaned up and set his empty glass on the table before clasping his hands together. She noticed they were shaking slightly, but assumed it had something to do with their impromptu collision or the cold weather. "Are you okay?"
She immediately waved his question off. "Leonard, I've told you a million times, I'm fine. You didn't hurt me at all. The only reason I'm injured is because I apparently have a problem with word vomit in ridiculous situations." She polished off the rest of her glass and set it on the table as well, facing Leonard.
He cocked an eyebrow at her. "Word vomit?"
She thought back to what she said to Donovan. Suppressing a dry grimace, she said, "Yeah. Word vomit. When he told me to drive, I was already so annoyed with my car being dead and he was adding insult to injury. I kind of blurted out, 'What do you think I'm doing on the side of the road?' He wasn't too happy with that I guess and he cut me when he pulled the knife away, I'm assuming to hit me in the back of the head."
"So," he said, wringing his hands almost nervously. "You're okay?"
She rolled her eyes and pulled him to hug her. "Yes, sweetie. I'm perfectly fine." She felt Leonard's arms wrap around her shoulders, and she could smell his sandalwood cologne and they embraced.
"And you're not going have nightmares because you refuse to talk about your feelings?" she heard him ask.
She chose to laugh at that one and hug him tighter before releasing him. "I think I'll be okay. I wear big girl panties now." She patted him on the head before standing and taking their glasses to the kitchen to refill them.
"Come on, Penny," he said with a serious tone in his voice as she sat back down, handing him his glass. "I... I think I should stay here tonight. On the couch. In case you need me."
Penny certainly wasn't opposed to that idea. "It would make me feel better."
"O.. Okay?" he asked, slightly surprised. She nodded. "Okay. Um, yeah, so if you don't mind, you should come with me to my apartment so I can grab a few things and we'll come back here and watch a movie or something."
Penny was feeling a buzz starting and told herself to slow down on the wine. She really didn't feel like being drunk, so she set her glass down and followed Leonard to his apartment. It was only ten o'clock, so she shouldn't have been surprised to see the whole gang in the living room as they entered.
"Leonard," Sheldon started in immediately as Leonard made his way to his desk. "You didn't tell me you would be late this evening."
Leonard opened a drawer and pulled a couple of files out, flipping through them before shutting the drawer. "So? I didn't think I had to. You were with Amy, weren't you?"
Amy chimed in happily, "Yes, he was. I took him to get his hair cut and then we met my mother for lunch. And then I took him to the train store to cheer him up after my mother called him a heathen."
Penny could tell Leonard wasn't really in the right mood to deal with the gang's usual ritual (neither was she, really), but Amy's comment caused both her and Leonard to chuckle.
"She called you a heathen?" Leonard asked. "What did you do to the woman? Dump chicken Marsala in her lap?"
Sheldon gave Leonard a glare. "The crazy wench– " He stopped and corrected himself quickly at Amy's glare. "The woman had the audacity to compare what I do to how magnets work. When I tried to explain how wrong she was, she said I was a complete moron and a heathen." Sheldon grumbled some more, but Penny understood that it was probably his version of obscenities.
Amy, however, just bounced in her seat elatedly. "Yes. I think my mother really likes him." Leonard disappeared down the hall as the others continued their conversation.
"Sure," Howard said. "Just like how I knew my mother liked Bernie when they reached the same decibel and shattered a window."
"I told you," Bernadette said, flicking Howard on the nose. "That wasn't our pitch, it was the bottle of fingernail polish I threw at your head."
"Penny," Amy cut in, her eyes drawn to the fresh bandage on Penny's neck. Leonard walked back in the room to hear her ask, "What happened? Why are you hurt?" Any glanced at Leonard and saw the bandage at his hairline. "Why are you both hurt at the same time?"
Penny sighed. She had forgotten about the injuries, honestly, and she supposed Leonard had too. She huffed and settled herself on the arm of Leonard's chair. "Leonard, could you please explain?"
Leonard had the distinct look of not wanting to, but he started anyways. He explained how she became stranded on the road and called for him just as she was attacked. Sheldon tried to cut in a few times, but every time Amy put her hand over his mouth, he became more conscious of the germs and kept his comments to himself. Leonard explained crashing his car and the EMP blast (which just about caused Sheldon to bite his own tongue off), and that he wasn't going to leave Penny alone until they caught the immediate threat.
Penny was tired after reliving the incident for the umpteenth time, so Leonard made their excuses and escorted Penny back to her apartment. After locking the door, they both flumped onto the couch, Penny picking up the remote and turning on the TV. They opted for another Family Guy marathon and sipped on their leftover glasses of wine.
"Leonard?" Penny asked suddenly.
"Yeah?"
She turned to face him, tucking her legs behind her and leaning into him. "You're okay, right? You seem... Off." It was the only word she could think to use.
"Off?" he asked, implying that she should elaborate.
"Well, yeah. Off. Are you really that worried?" she asked, biting her lip and looking at him nervously.
Leonard sighed and lowered his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, I guess I am."
Penny frowned at his sullen display. She couldn't help herself as she snaked her arms around his waist and pulled him to her for a hug. She curled up against him and tucked her head down as he put his arms around her, holding her close. They stayed like that for several minutes in silence and contemplation before she felt Leonard move. She tilted her head to look at him, and suddenly felt his lips on hers.
She gasped slightly, caught off-guard. He was gentle, but she could feel the desperation rolling off of him. She found that she couldn't resist, and she didn't want to, so she pressed herself further into the kiss. His soft lips danced on her own as she relished the slow and languid feeling. She felt his tongue graze her lower lip and nibble at it before sucking on it gently. She couldn't stop the moan that escaped her and pulled herself flush against Leonard's hardened chest. Leonard's lips decided to explore and moved away from her lips, kissing her jawline and making his way down the sensitive flesh of her neck. She ran one of her hands through his hair and explored the contours of his chest with the other as he continued his ministrations to the hollow of her throat.
Penny was feeling that familiar fluttering in her stomach, and she wanted to feel his lips on hers again. She tugged on his hair softly, bringing his face up to meet hers as their lips locked again. They apparently both had the same idea, and slowly Penny was laid on her back, Leonard moving one hand to settle on her stomach and the other moving into her hair to cradle her head. She felt Leonard's tongue seek entry, so she opened and allowed him to explore her mouth, her tongue dancing with his own. She moaned loudly at this, which prompted Leonard to sit up quickly.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that. Um," he blurted out quickly, his face red and his glasses askew. "I... I'm sorry Penny."
"Oh my God!" Penny nearly shouted, immediately missing the feel of him against her. "Why do you keep doing that?"
Leonard paused in his rambled apologies with a confused look. "What?"
Penny huffed and rolled her eyes, sitting up. She repeated herself. "Why in the everliving hell do you keep pulling away from me?! Look, bud, you either want me, or you don't, so make up your damn mind because you are driving me insane with... with... Whatever this is!"
Leonard looked at her with a startled look on his face. "I... It's not like that, Penny."
"Then please enlighten me, oh brilliant scientist, because these mixed signals are going to make me pull my hair out!" Penny flushed, slightly embarrassed and a little more than tipsy.
"It's not you. Okay, well, it is you, but... Ugh, what I mean is..." Leonard shut himself up for a minute thinking hard. He looked down at Penny's hands and gently took them in his own. Looking back up at her, he tried again. She was taken aback by the longing and worry in his eyes. "I want you. Of course I want you. I don't think there's a man on this planet who wouldn'twant you. You could have any guy you want, yet, here you are, with me. The nerd next door who tried to mow you down and yet, you're still here."
"I figured, 'what the hell?' What did I have to lose to try? So I started trying. And then you were attacked that first time. I was so worried you would push me away, push any man away, that I almost cried when I heard you say my name in that hospital bed. Since then, I wanted to focus on you getting better, and putting away the one or two guys responsible for hurting you. I can't... put into words how much I care about you, and I didn't think it would be fair to you or me to try and pursue anything when you are still vulnerable. It's been increasingly difficult, because I find myself wanting you more and more every day. I almost lost control a few minutes ago, and I had already told myself to wait until those madmen were behind bars before I tried to go any further with you. I don't want to push you, and I don't want you to feel like you have to for whatever reason."
Penny sat motionlessly and thought long and hard about that. She was stunned by how sweet and tactful he was, yet also upset that he wouldn't at least give her a say in it. She wanted him. She had no doubts that she had grown to care for Leonard a lot, and she felt she needed him like the air they breathed. It was the weirdest emotion to her, to be so sexually and mentally attracted to someone. There was a burning in his eyes that told her she wasn't the only one.
In a shaky voice, she said, "Maybe I want you, too. Maybe... Maybe you mean as much to me as I do to you."
!R&R! My reviewers are the only ones who brought me back to my stories!