Would you believe it? A new update less than a month after the last? Pretty sure pigs are flying somewhere :P Enjoy!

When Penny entered Leonard's apartment, she found him exactly as she had expected to; sitting on the edge of the armchair, elbows on his knees, video game controller in hand and with some sort of earpiece thing with attached microphone on his head. That look of utter concentration that she had always found adorable on his face as he furiously battered down on the controller with his thumbs and fingers.

At first, he didn't even notice her come in. Not until she took a few steps toward the sofa did his peripheral vision kick in and he glanced so briefly at her that had she blinked at that second she would have missed it.

"Hey," he said, but with his attention now focused back on his game it seemed as though he had been talking to the TV and not her. "No I wasn't talking to you, my girlfriend just walked in." This confused Penny only for a moment, because she quickly realised that although the apartment was empty but for the two of them, Leonard probably had God knows how many people talking to him through that headset he was wearing.

"Yeah I do have a girlfriend! Oh my God where's my back-up guys I'm being ambushed here! And no I'm not sending pictures… she is not ugly! I don't care if you don't believe me. Dammit Greg how could you miss him he was right in front of you!"

Rolling her eyes but smiling too, Penny threw herself on to the sofa, huffing as loud as she could in the process with the hope Leonard would hear it over the guys in his ear. He didn't.

It was a bit rude, she guessed. She had just came into his apartment and he was all but ignoring her, but then again he had told her that today he would be invading… some place with… some people. She really had to listen more when he talked about this stuff. So his lack of attention for her was to be expected and considering she knew (sort of) that this is what he would be doing right now, it was probably more rude of her that she just waltzed in expecting his attention.

To be fair though, it wasn't really attention she was after. For the past couple of hours she had been packing and it hadn't been going so well. Actually, to even label it as 'packing' was a huge misrepresentation, when in reality all she had managed to do in the past few hours is move clothes from her closet to her bed into what she liked to think of as organised piles but what was really just mess.

It was Beyonce's fault, really. It was practically impossible to hear one of her songs and not sing and dance along to it, and although her iPod had been put on shuffle, Beyonce's songs just kept on popping up.

Looking over at Leonard, who was still engrossed in his game and talking to the people in his ear ("He's behind you!", "To your left!", "Ooh there's a health pack!", "Pick up the sword!", "No I told you I'm not sending you pictures now shut up and stab that dragon in the face!"), Penny wondered how best to get his help without just asking for it. He started slamming down on his controller again and it was then that Penny noticed he was wearing the blue t-shirt she liked and his bicep was slightly flexed from leaning forward on his arms, so that it made the cuff of his t-shirt look tighter than it actually was, and she could see the muscles in his forearm contract and move with every over-enthusiastic press on the controller. Those arms had always been a weak spot for her, and it was becoming obvious, with every order he barked into his mic, that he was in charge or whatever it was he was invading, and that in itself was kind of a turn on.

But no. she couldn't get him that way. No matter how simple and satisfying it would be. The main goal here had been to get him to offer to help her pack and if she stood up now, sat on his lap, ran a hand down his arm and whispered into his ear like she so badly wanted to, they'd probably spend the rest of the evening in bed. It would be more fun, yes, but leaving for Nebraska tomorrow morning with a half packed case was probably not the smartest thing to do, so she compromised with herself; pack first, sex later.

The next ten minutes were spent attempting to get Leonard's attention without directly asking for it, sighing and huffing as loud as she could manage, shuffling from one spot on the sofa to another, hoping he'd spot the movement in his peripheral vision and eventually, just as Penny was about to give in with subtlety and throw a cushion at him, he turned to her, with that triumphant grin he often wore whenever he won something.

"Hey, sorry, the guys and I were in the middle of taking control of the castle so I couldn't pause and talk when you came in but we're taking a break now before we move on to the next one." He put down his controller, took off his headset and headed to the fridge for a drink.

The way he took a large gulp of water before even closing the fridge door, as if he had just come home from a run instead of sitting on a chair playing video games made her laugh a little to herself. She'd even swear that he was breathing a little harder. It'd seem like these conquests were the nerds' form of exercise.

"What's up?" He asked as he made his way back to his chair. "I thought you were packing tonight?"

"I was," she said glumly, "But it didn't go well."

"Yeah," Leonard chuckled, "You've always sucked at packing."

Penny gave the saddest sigh she could muster and said, "I know… its just so boring and I have, like, no organisational skills and I can never ever decide what to bring with me and I don't wanna pack too much stuff but at the same time I don't wanna be over there and think 'oh I should have brought that other pair of jeans' or something. You know? It's just so hard."

"It's not that hard, you're just making a bigger fuss about it than there needs to be."

"I'm not! I just really suck at it. But, maybe, if I had someone helping me or something, just even to make sure that I don't get distracted or whatever, I think that might help." She jutted out her bottom lip and lifted her eyebrows at him, hoping the sad, puppy eyed look would do the trick.

Leonard knew that look. He knew she was trying to rope him into helping her but he hated packing too and didn't really fancy spending his evening going through a woman's wardrobe. "Why don't you ask Sheldon to help? He'll probably be back from the train store in about a half an hour and you know that if you just mentioned something about you packing he'd volunteer to do it for you because he'd be so sure that you're doing it wrong."

"Yeah I know but I don't want Sheldon to help. Come on Leonard pleeeeeeease. This is our last day together before I go home for a few weeks don't you think it'd be cool to spend it together? I know you were going to play your game and come over later but you will have loads of girlfriend-free time to - you know - conquer stuff, while I'm gone. And I really, really, really need your help. Packing is, like, my carbonite."

Leonard broke into a grin and chuckled, "Your what?"

"You know, my carbonite. That stuff that kills spiderman or whatever. Stop laughing at me!" She slapped him on the leg but Leonard was laughing so hard he'd fallen back into the chair and barely noticed the hit.

"Oh, wow," he said as he composed himself and sat up again, wiping tears of laughter from under his glasses. "I wish the other guys were here to hear that. It's not carbonite it's kryptonite. And technically it doesn't kill it just deprives powers from Superman, not spiderman. Well, not just superman it works on any Kryptonians but-"

Penny rolled her eyes and waved her hands to stop him, "oh my God okay, okay, I get it. Whatever." She sat back against the sofa and crossed her arms. "It all sounds the same to me."

Leonard continued to chuckle to himself, "That was so funny. Oh don't go all huffy!" He said when he noticed her closed off body language. "You've had plenty of laughs at my expense!"

"No I've not!"

"Oh yes you have! Remember the time I said I thought the Kardashians were a singing group and you wouldn't let it go for three days?"

Penny grinned at the memory, but quickly wiped it from her face, "Oh yeah. But that was just silly everyone knows who the Kardashians are."

"I didn't! I thought they were like The Jackson 5 or something. And then there's the time I told you I hadn't ever watched Friends."

"That wasn't even funny that was just plain insulting. Everyone should watch Friends. It's, like, the law of life."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. You said that the first time. But you'd never seen Star Wars and in my world, that's a law of life."

Penny's crossed arms dropped and she smiled, realising for the first time that she was going to miss these kinds of moments when she leaves, and suddenly she didn't just want Leonard to come with her to help her pack, she genuinely just didn't want to back into that apartment without him.

But before she could decide on whether to tell him this or not, he stood up and said, "Alright, let's get this over with."

"Really? You'll help?"

"Yeah, why not."

Jumping up, Penny threw her arms around him and planted lots of kisses over his mouth and cheeks, "Thank you, thank you, thank you! You're the best!"

"Thank God we're out of there. If I had to listen to Sheldon tell me one more time that I should have gotten the train back to Nebraska instead of a plane I would have for sure punched him in the face."

"Aw man, I kind of wish we'd stayed a little longer just so I could see that."

"I'm pretty sure you'll see it one day. Do you want me to get that?" Penny asked as she watched Leonard struggle to carry her suitcase down the steps of their apartment building.

"No, it's fine." He said as he heaved the suitcase from one step to the next, his face reddening further with every step. "I got it."

Feeling bad, but at the same time not wanting to hurt his pride by insisting she take it (she had always been stronger than him, and to be fair, she definitely had over-packed that thing), Penny continued her walk downstairs at a slightly slower rate, checking back on him every now and then just to make sure he was still moving.

"Did you put rocks in there when I was looking last night?" Leonard said once they reached the ground floor and had left the suitcase to fall to the ground. Hands on his knees, he struggled through a few breaths before taking out his inhaler and taking a couple of puffs.

"No," she laughed as she picked the suitcase up off the floor and pulled out the handle to walk with it out to the car, "it's probably the shoes weighing it down. And the make up, and the hair dryer and straighteners… and the jackets."

"You don't have that stuff at home?"

"Well, yeah. But not those ones."

The drive to the airport went faster than either of them would have liked. Though they both kept it to themselves, the feeling of dread at the time they would be spending apart was one they both felt. It was only three weeks, but it felt like much more than that.

This trip home for Penny represented so much that it was slightly daunting. Leonard couldn't help but wonder what would happen while she was away and how she would feel about their relationship when she returned, while Penny worried whether being at home would bring all those painful memories back to her and if this trip might do more harm than good. For the first time since she moved she'd be faced with the home in which she had grieved for so long. She'd been in a dark place back then and it was a place she really didn't want to re-visit.

Deep down, however, they both knew it to be for the best that she go, whatever the outcome of it. It'd be painful for Penny, and Leonard would likely spend most of the three week period thinking the worst while trying not to think of it, but Penny needed this closure if their relationship was going to have any chance at surviving, and she had a feeling she knew how to get it.

"So, uh, how long do you have?" Leonard asked as they entered the airport, wheeling Penny's suitcase behind him.

"Um," Penny checked her watch and felt her heart tighten. It wasn't as long as she'd like it to be. "Like, twenty minutes I guess."

"Right. Okay… We should probably check this bag in then."

"Yeah, probably."

Penny looked around, figured out where to go and Leonard followed, his stomach turning with every step.

"So…"

The bag had been checked in and they were standing in a clearing before security. Late passengers rushed past them, parents emptied their children's bags of anything that might hinder their passage through, and couples, friends and family said their goodbye's to their loved ones. Some were crying, some were laughing, some, like them, were quiet and solemn with the effort of trying not to show too much emotion.

"So… You gonna miss me?" Penny asked with a playful punch to Leonard's arm.

"Who? Me?" Leonard feigned incredulity, "No. I don't miss people, I simply notice their absence." He shrugged, "No biggie."

"Wow okay, sweetie, if you're gonna start acting Sheldon-like then we're gonna have a problem."

Leonard chuckled and pulled Penny by the waist towards him, "alright, yeah, maybe I'll miss you a little."

"Just a little?" She pouted as she took a step towards him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Maybe a little bit more than a little. Will you miss me?"

"Sure."

"That doesn't sound very convincing."

Penny held her tongue between her teeth, crinkled her nose at him and kissed him. Slowly, then passionately. "Convinced yet?"

"Not quite, I think we better run some more tests to completely eradicate any doubt."

"I'd love to, baby, but I think I'd miss my flight."

"Ah, yes. That. Forgot about that."

"I don't know how considering we're standing in the middle of an airport."

"It was the kissing it sort of… directed my attention elsewhere."

Penny laughed and stepped even closer to him, wrapping her arms around his back and after a moment, rested her head on his shoulder, her nose just touching his neck.

Leonard leaned into her hug, resting his head slightly on hers. He could feel how tense she was, could tell that she was feeling things she wasn't saying. The way she breathed in the scent on his neck told him she was going to miss him more than she let on. The tight hold she had around him gave him a feeling that she didn't want to leave the comfort of his arms. This trip was going to be tough on her and he wondered for a moment if maybe he should have went with her, for encouragement and support. But this was something she had to do on her own – they both knew that – and so he squeezed her tight for a minute, then ran a hand up and down her back, hoping she felt the reassurance he was trying to give her through it and he thought she did, because some of her tension eased.

Penny lifted her head slowly, and reluctantly, from his shoulder, "I should probably get going."

"Okay. Well… um, have a safe flight and, you know, call me when you get there and everything."

"I will," Penny smiled, put a hand to his cheek and kissed him. "I'm going to be okay you know, so… try not to worry."

"I'm afraid I cannot promise that. Worrying is in my nature."

She laughed, "I know but just... try. Some of it will suck, like, really suck, but I will be okay." It sounded, to both of them, like she was trying to convince herself as much as him.

"Okay."

"And thank you for this. And for being so… understanding and supportive. You really have been a rock to me these past few months."

Leonard smiled and kissed her, "My pleasure. Now you better go or I will cry in the middle of this airport and I don't think either of us wants to see that."

With a laugh Penny agreed and after one more quick hug and a kiss they said their goodbye's, and Leonard waved her off as she went through the gate to security, knowing that these next few weeks were bound to be the longest of his life.