Leonard smiled politely as Meryl placed his plate in front of him, doing the same with Penny's. They waited as she went back to the kitchen to collect her own and Wyatt's plates, before sitting down opposite Leonard, next to her husband.
"Alright, tuck in!" Meryl grinned, picking up her fork.
Nervously, Leonard picked up his knife and fork, waiting a few seconds as Penny and her parents began eating before he copied. He'd never understand why he felt so conscious eating around other people - though he wondered if this was universal, since most people probably wanted to appear well-mannered at the dinner table around their partners parents.
"Mm, this is so good, Mom," Penny said, her mouth full. They usually wouldn't use the fancy plates they were using, and her mother didn't normally bother making a salad to accompany the meal, or preparing home-made sauces for the food. But she had today, and it warmed Penny's heart that her mother had gone through all of this trouble just for her. She noted to thank her later on.
Nodding, he waited until he had swallowed his mouthful before agreeing. "Yeah, it tastes wonderful."
"Glad you kids are enjoying it." Meryl nodded across the table, smiling. "So, Leonard, do your parents cook?"
"Here we go." Penny rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "Question time! As if the quiz on TV wasn't enough!"
"Now, now!"
"Umm..." Leonard dabbed at his mouth with a napkin. "They cook sometimes, yeah, my Dad's quite good, but they're not home that often anyway."
"What do they do?" Wyatt asked.
"My mother is a neuroscientist-slash-psychiatrist. My father is an anthropologist. He travels a lot and she spends a lot of time out of the city nowadays."
"Wow, that sounds interesting. No wonder you excel in academics with your parents working in those fields. Do you have siblings?"
"Yes, I have an older brother and sister. Michael and Kate."
"And are they into the more academic side of things too?"
"Well, I guess so, Michael's studying to be a lawyer and Kate has recently started at med school."
"That is very impressive. Too bad Scott and Bridge never got that far with their studies. Still, we have hopes for Penny now that she's got you helping her." Wyatt stated.
"We do still have some hope for Bridget now that she's beginning to settle down a little. Perhaps not med school but... a full time job would be good. She's coming home in a few weeks, actually." Meryl told them. "You'll get to meet her then, she'll be delighted. Have - was it Kate and Michael? - have they met Penny?"
"I met Kate." Penny chipped in, frowning as she picked up a bit of potato that had fallen from her full fork onto her lap.
"And when was that?" Meryl gave her daughter a challenging look.
Penny faltered slightly, her forkful of food hovering between her plate and mouth. "It, umm, we... I met her-"
"We were shopping at the mall and we bumped into her when we stopped for a drink." Leonard finished for her.
"Uh-huh. At the mall. Okay." Meryl looked back and forth between Leonard and Penny, one brow raised, mouth in a small smirk, head tilted forward slightly. Leonard guessed that was the 'look' that Penny had told him about.
"Yup." Penny stuck her jaw out defiantly. "Anyway..."
Not understanding his wife's tone or comment, Wyatt continued on with the conversation. "So, you have a law student and a med student in the family, do you know what you want to do in the future?"
"Uh," Leonard chewed on his food to give him time to think. "Probably Physics, I think, I'd like to study that at college, since that's what I'm best at. I like it too, so that helps."
"Physics, very good." Wyatt nodded. "Probably Penny's worst subject, I'd say."
"Daddy!" Penny scoffed. "Even if it is, Leonard's helping me with it, aren't you?"
"Yeah, I am." Leonard confirmed.
"Oh I'm sure he's helping Penny with a lot of things." Meryl smirked.
Glaring at her mother, Penny stabbed her fork into the piece of steak she'd just sliced. "Thank you, mother," she mumbled sarcastically.
"So long as that help is paying off and improving your grades." Wyatt said sternly. "I hope it's not all going in through one ear and out the other."
"It's not!" Penny said defensively. "You saw how well I did on my Math test in comparison to the others! And we're handing in the Biology project soon too, I worked really hard on that."
"She really has." Leonard said quickly, nodding. "Today we were working on Chemistry-"
"Chemistry, huh?"
"Oh, ha, ha, Mom."
"-and she'd already drawn out a few of the skeletal models for the molecules in the textbook."
"I don't even know what that is, so, that must be impressive." Wyatt shrugged.
"You don't know what anything is," Meryl rolled her eyes at her husband.
"Oh, and you do know what this... model molecule thing is?"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, you're both high school drop outs, of course you don't know what it is." Penny interrupted, sitting up slightly. "The point here is, I'm studious. I told you I wasn't making that up or lying about studying!"
"Alright, alright, we believe you, sweetheart." Meryl giggled. "But probably not as studious as Leonard, I'm afraid. How do you fit in so much studying?"
Deciding it was probably best not to mention that he didn't do that much studying, spending more time playing video games that in front of text books, Leonard shrugged. He did do most of his studying in the library though, usually spending at least two hours there after school, so he supposed that counted for something at least. He'd never really given it much thought. "It doesn't take up too much of my time, I do most of it in the library where there aren't any distractions. I guess this kind of stuff comes naturally to me."
"I'm sure you really enjoy the library." Meryl raised a brow.
"Uh..."
"I'm just impressed that we have one kid who even knows what a library is." Wyatt chuckled to himself. "What kind of stuff interests you, outside the world of academia?"
Why does everything I like sound lame? Leonard thought to himself, once more using his food as an excuse to give himself some time to come up with an answer that would make him sound good. But he didn't have to, because Penny jumped in eagerly.
"Leonard collects comic books - vintage ones, and new ones, all kinds. It's a pretty cool collection, actually. And he's good at making things too, like doing mini-experiments - he made his own Bat Signal! Oh, and he's really good at chess, Kim told me." Penny grinned.
"You've seen his comic book collection, huh?"
As she began to falter again with her response, Wyatt jumped in instead, focusing on another point. "You've met Kim, then?"
"Yeah." Leonard nodded. "She's sort of seeing one of the guys we play chess with, and who is in my Physics class."
This certainly distracted Meryl. "Wait, hold on, I thought Kim was seeing somebody from work?"
"What?" Penny exclaimed, slapping Leonard's arm. He flinched, but laughed slightly with Wyatt at her reaction. "If she is she hasn't told me. That sneaky bitch."
"Penny!"
"Sorry."
"I spoke to Anne yesterday, she said Kim was out on a date with some guy from work. Sandy, I think it was."
"Sandy. That's a lame name." Penny snorted, before her eyes widened. "Alexander Chapman! Oh my God! Leonard, remember we saw them having lunch together at the mall? Oh my God!" She gripped onto his arm tightly. "Boy, she has some explaining to do."
"So what's she doing with this friend of Leonard's then?" Wyatt asked.
"It's Kim, she's having her cake and eating it too. Yup, I always knew she was gonna turn out to be the slutty one."
"Penny!"
"Sorry."
"Kim hasn't been round here in a while." Wyatt observed.
"That's because Penny's been spending all her time with Leonard instead."
"Does she still drive you to school? You two used to be inseparable."
"Yeah, she does." Penny nodded, gathering the stray vegetables on her plate into a pile. "And we're still really close, we're just older now and spend time with other people. But I'm gonna find out about this Sandy guy."
"It's so adorable that you two are all about guys now, when I still remember you as little girls expressing how much you hate boys because they're yucky." Meryl said fondly. "Leonard, these two, they were terrible growing up together. As if Penny and Bridget wasn't enough mischief, add Kim to the mix and it was mayhem. And Lexie. Have you met her?"
"Yes." Leonard nodded, hoping he wouldn't have to elaborate.
"Well, I'm sure you can imagine, Anne and I had our hands full with these four girls. Scott and Adrian always hung about Wyatt and Steve, they always fancied themselves as lads."
"Remember when Scott fancied Lexie?" Penny laughed. "Ah, that was cute. When you meet my brother you'll find this information hilarious."
"Didn't last long, after Lexie put gum in his hair." Meryl shook her head. "Suppose that was fair, since he put a spider in her riding helmet."
"Gross." Leonard shuddered.
"We were a delightful bunch to bring up!" Penny grinned proudly.
"Sounds it." Leonard chuckled.
"We'll save all of the Penny stories for another time." Meryl said, putting down her cutlery. "Don't want to scare you off too early."
"Hey! I was not that bad!" Penny folded her arms stubbornly. "Compared to Bridge and Kim, I was the best."
"Questionable." Wyatt laughed.
"Whatever. At least I was cute as a kid."
"Still cute now." Leonard grinned at her.
"Aww." Meryl cooed.
"Yeah, adorable."
"Shut up Dad." Penny rolled her eyes. "All he did was say I'm cute. Would you rather your daughters boyfriend tell her she grew up to look like an ugly troll?"
"She does have a point."
"Really, you should be encouraging him to call me sexy." Penny grinned, knowing she was trying her luck. "It's good for my self esteem."
"Alright, and for that comment, you can go take these dishes through to the kitchen." Wyatt said, shaking his head and raising his brows pointedly at his daughter.
Sighing deeply, Penny stood. "Damn. Should have stopped while I was ahead."
As she began piling up their plates and cutlery, Leonard said "here, let me help you."
"No, sweetheart, you're the guest, you just sit here and relax." Meryl smiled at him, getting up now too. "Penny, just take those through, I'll wash up. It's best not to leave Dad alone with Leonard for too long."
"Thanks, Mom." Penny grinned, pausing halfway to the kitchen. "Anybody want any tea or anything?"
"Some coffee would be great, Slugger." Wyatt said, brushing his hands on his jeans before standing.
"Coffee for me too." Meryl nodded, following Penny.
"Leonard? I'm having some green tea if you want some too." Penny smiled his way.
"Oh, umm, sure, that would be nice." Leonard nodded, standing because everybody else was.
"Perfect. You go through to the front room with Daddy, I'll be there soon." Penny said, before going off to the kitchen with her mother.
Nervous, Leonard followed Wyatt through to the front room. The memory of him handing him a bag of condoms flooded through his mind, and he hoped that there wouldn't be another awkward situation like that. Or any questions. Because he wasn't the best liar, and he could tell Penny didn't really want her parents knowing that much about their dating life - even if Meryl seemed to know anyway. Sitting cautiously on the couch while Wyatt sat in his armchair, Leonard watched the television as it was switched on.
"Anything in particular you want to watch?" Wyatt asked.
Feeling as though this were a test, Leonard thought for a moment. "Umm, I don't mind, to be honest."
"You sure?" Wyatt looked over at him, before shrugging. "Penny usually tries to claim the television to watch... whatever show it is she watches after dinner. So if you want to watch something specific, now's your chance - she won't argue with what you choose, after all." He chuckled slightly here, almost fondly.
"Oh, it's okay, I really don't mind."
"Alright." Wyatt scrolled through the guide, before locating an old sitcom he enjoyed. Putting the remote control on the arm of his chair, he sat back. "Seen this before?"
"Yeah!" Leonard nodded enthusiastically, recognizing instantly the characters on the television. "I really like this one, actually. When I was younger, me and my brother would watch this with my father - back when we all actually spent time together, that is."
"I'm guessing you never had much time together as a family, then?"
"Not really. Though I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing, in my family, anyway." Leonard added the last part as an afterthought.
"Oh. That's too bad." Wyatt frowned. "Well, at least you like this program. It's one of my favorites. Since you like it, you can help me in persuading Penny to watch this more often. Her brother and sister used to watch it too."
"What are we persuading me to do?" Penny asked, walking into the front room with two steaming mugs. "Here, sweetie." She handed one of the mugs to Leonard, sitting down next to him. "Mom's bringing to coffee in. She's just finishing the dishes."
"Thanks," Leonard smiled, holding the mug between his hands. "We were just talking about how we both liked this sitcom."
Penny watched the television for a few seconds, before scoffing. "This? Really?"
"Yeah. I like it." Leonard nodded. "I used to watch it with my brother and sister, with our dad."
She looked at him sympathetically for a moment, for sighing and nodding, leaning into him, tucking her legs beneath her and holding her mug on her thigh. "Okay, we can watch this."
Okay, maybe it was a bit unfair for him to play the 'family' card with Penny. But Leonard wanted Wyatt to like him, and to be on the right side of him, so he figured it wasn't the worst thing in the world to play on Penny's sympathetic side.
Meryl came in with the two coffees, and sat on the other end of the couch. They mainly focused on the television for a while, and occasionally Meryl and Wyatt would have a short conversation, other times Penny would quietly ask if he was okay, or if he wanted another drink or a snack. He got the sense that this was their usual post-dinner activity; sitting together in the front room, talking occasionally but mostly just having some time to relax in each others company. It was quite nice, because it meant he got a sense of her home life, as well as it giving him some time off from answering questions.
As the two sitcom airings came to an end, and her father picking up the remote control once more, Penny sat up, sighing loudly. Leonard looked at her questioningly, but she simply raised her brows at him quickly before returning her gaze to the television. "I should probably get started on my homework now."
"Good idea." Wyatt agreed.
"I'll just take our tea mugs back to the kitchen and go get started on that, then." Penny stood carefully, taking her time to pick up the mugs, hoping her parents were still focusing more on the television than on what she was saying. Holding her hand out to Leonard, she winked. "You wanna come with and help me?"
"Sure." Leonard nodded, standing too.
They had just made it to the door, when Meryl held up a hand, her focus still on the television. "Nice try, sweetheart."
"Damn." Penny mumbled under her breath.
"You two can sit in the room and do your homework."
Jutting her jaw out, Penny rolled her eyes. "Fine."
Leading Leonard to the kitchen, she placed their mugs in the sink. "You want me to wash them up?" He asked.
"Nope, Mom can wash them up. That's what she gets for making us work in the room instead of my room." Penny groaned as she turned on her heel, leading them back to her bedroom to get her work. "The one time I don't want her listening to what I have to say, she's actually listening."
"Well, it was worth a shot." Leonard shrugged.
"Guess so." Penny walked into her room, going straight to her desk to get her stuff. "You don't actually have to help me with my homework, by the way. D'you wanna borrow my laptop? You can do your work then, or you can watch some TV on there if you want."
"Sure, that'd be good. I have my USB with me so I can do a bit of work on my paper." Leonard patted his pocket, before she handed him the laptop.
They headed over to the room, closing the door behind them and settling themselves onto the smaller of the couches, laying their things out across the coffee table.
"I'm sorry this is... boring." Penny frowned, placing a hand on his thigh.
"That's okay."
"Like, I dunno, I didn't want to spend this whole time with my parents. And as much as I really want to just ignore that stupid five-minute rule... I want them to trust us together. They already like you, so, while it's going well, I just want to keep it that way."
Putting his hand over hers, he smiled. "I understand. Don't worry."
"Hopefully Mom will talk to Dad and they can ease up the rules a little." Penny bit her lip. "We'll get there eventually. Right?"
"Right."
"Thank you."
Looking up at him as he smiled at her, Penny decided that since her parents weren't in the room, and they weren't alone in her bedroom, there wasn't a rule that prevented her from kissing him in that moment. And her parents favourite show was on, so they'd be occupied for at least another half hour. And any sound they made wouldn't travel through to the front room; there was enough distance between the two rooms, and the door was closed. With than in mind, she leaned forward, placing her lips over his. He hesitated for a moment, before he remembered that they were alone in the room - and if Penny wanted to kiss him, he definitely wasn't going to object. And once he began to respond, things escalated quickly.
She ended up on his lap, straddling him, with one hand in his hair and the other flat on his chest, practically pressing him into the back of the couch. He had one hand around her waist, the other tangled in her hair. Despite how carried away they were, in the back of their minds they knew exactly where they were, so they made sure to keep quiet - Penny's attempts would fail every so often, but they remained undisturbed and alone.
"Shit," Penny mumbled, breathless, pulling away ever so slightly, eyes still shut. "Leonard," she bit her lip, before opening her eyes to look at him, her pupils dilated, "we can't have sex here."
"Probably not," he replied after a moment, moving his hands to her hips.
For a moment they stared at each other, waiting for their breathing to calm down, before she got off of him, standing up.
"Mmh, I'm gonna go grab a glass of water. Want one?"
"Yes please."
Fanning her face with her hand, Penny went through to the kitchen, running two glasses of cold water and bringing them back into the room. After handing him one, she sat down next to him, before taking a big gulp. "Well, that was unexpected."
"Yup." Leonard nodded.
"Good though."
"Definitely."
They were silent again for a while, sipping on their water, cooling themselves down. Penny smirked; proud of herself for finding a way to detour the five-minute rule, even if it didn't have quite the result she was looking for. Leonard was simply grateful that her parents hadn't walked in on them. He grinned to himself: luck was on his side - which was impressive, because luck was hardly ever on his side.
"You know, we should probably actually do some work," he said, "if your parents come in and they see we've done nothing they might be a bit suspicious."
"Ugh, you're right." Penny nodded, putting her glass down. "I'll do some of my notes for Literature." Leaning forward, she picked up the book she was studying and her notepad.
The rest of the evening was fairly uneventful. They joked around whilst doing their work, very much like their library study sessions. Her parents came in from time to time to check on them, and offer snacks and drinks. To both Leonard and Penny's delight, it seemed they were none the wiser as to what had gone on earlier. Despite Penny's earlier apology for being 'boring', they enjoyed their time spent together in the room, working.
It was only when Leonard felt himself yawning that he realized how late it had gotten already. Reluctantly, he looked over at Penny, who was now staring at her homework diary with a vacant expression. "I should probably start heading back."
Penny sighed, nodding, and then yawning. "I'm so tired. I wish you could just stay."
"Yeah, me too." Leonard frowned. "Soon."
"Yes." Penny smiled up at him.
"Want me to help bring this stuff back to your room?"
"Sure."
Slowly, they gathered the things they had brought with them, and took them back to her room, placing them back on her desk. She sighed, glancing around her bedroom, before taking his hand. "You can say goodbye to my parents first, and then I'll give you a proper goodbye at the door."
"Sounds good to me," he grinned, following her lead back to the front room.
"Mom, Dad, Leonard's leaving now." Penny announced, pouting.
"Sweetheart, stop pouting." Meryl rolled her eyes, setting her book down. Wyatt followed her over to the young couple.
"It was good to have you round, Leonard." Wyatt extended his hand.
Shaking his hand, Leonard smiled. "Thank you. It was nice to see you again, sir."
"You too."
"It was lovely to have you with us for dinner," Meryl pulled Leonard into a hug, before pulling back and holding his shoulders. "You're welcome back whenever you want, sweetheart."
"Thank you." Leonard replied shyly. He hadn't expected that. "And thank you for an amazing dinner."
"Oh, any time, any time." Meryl waved her hand, as though to brush off cooking dinner as an almost effortless task. "I expect we'll be seeing you again soon. We'll let you two say your goodbyes, then."
"Good." Penny grinned, perking up at the fact that at least her parents were giving her the chance to say goodbye to him on her own. "Come on, sweetie."
As she took his hand, Leonard smiled again at her parents. "Thank you for having me."
"No problem." Wyatt gave him a curt nod, before Leonard was pulled out of the room.
"So, that actually went pretty well." Penny commented, leaning against the wall as he put his shoes and jacket on.
"Yeah, it actually did. It was a lot less scary than I expected." Leonard nodded, pulling his bag over his shoulder.
"It's because they like you and they approve of you." Penny nodded. "Which is a good thing. So far, I'm doing better than Bridget. Which isn't difficult. But still! They like you and they invited you back!"
"I wasn't expecting to be invited back." Leonard chuckled.
"I'm glad you were, you know. Makes it easier for me to ask if you can come round." Penny smiled, before yawning. "Ugh, yeah, I need sleep. Text me when you get back, okay?"
"Will do."
"Good."
Leaning forward, he softly kissed her on the lips. "Goodnight, Penny."
"Goodnight, Leonard."
She stepped out with him, waiting on the doorstep until he had driven off safely, already wondering when was the best time to ask her parents if Leonard could come over during the weekend.