I own nothing

Leonard was surprised by her request. "Penny… of course you can come home. Just let me know when you are coming and I'll pick you up. Everyone will be so happy to see you again."

Penny sighed into the phone again. "Leonard, could we maybe not tell everyone right away? I just want to spend some time with you that isn't so rushed. Everything seems to be so rushed with us…. The airport in Chicago… and then when you were here… Everything just seems off and I want it fixed".

Leonard smiled. "So we should just do a soft reset of the systems… that seems like something we could do".

Penny was a little confused. "I don't know what you're thinking… but I would like all systems hard and ready to go".

Leonard blushed into the phone. "Ummm…. Yeah…. I was talking like resetting a computer… when you do a reboot….. it's a controlled reset….. and called a… a soft…. Nevermind….. sure all systems ready to go".

Penny smiled at the stammering coming from her boyfriend. She could almost see the sweat forming on his forehead. "Thanks Sweetie… I'll try to make my flight come in in the middle of the afternoon so you could get away from Sheldon. I really appreciate this… I can't wait to see you".

Leonard and Penny had one of their comfortable conversations about almost nothing at all catching up on what was happening with their friends and how much of a pain Sheldon was being. It seemed that he was not adjusting at all well to having Leonard jet setting across to England at the drop of a hat and then having Penny appear seemingly out of nowhere. It seemed to Leonard that Sheldon had become more obsessive compulsive about the order of things, if that was at all possible.

After they hung up, Penny went through her mail to see if Sheila had anything planned for the next week. There was nothing on the calendar, so Penny typed up a quick note telling Sheila that she was going to go on a little vacation back to Pasadena for the next few days and that she would be back in New York in no later than a week. Penny then found the note that Leonard had left his Credit Card Number on and started to check the internet for flights to California that weren't too expensive.

Leonard decided that he wanted to make the time that Penny spent in Pasadena special he went over to the bowl by the door and took Penny's spare key and went directly over to 4B. When he opened the door, he turned on the lights and looked around. Everything was in its place. The apartment looked nice and picked up. It was as she left it. To Leonard, it looked too clinical. There was something missing. He couldn't put his finger on it. Leonard walked around the apartment looking at the neatly stacked magazines and the cushions in their places, the neatly stacked dishes. All the pictures on the refrigerator level and evenly spaced. Something was off, he just couldn't place it. Leonard continued into the bedroom and looked at the made up bed with the military corners. Everything nice and crisp. The care bears all lined up in ascending height. The pillows just so on the bed. The closet closed and the dresser top completely cleaned off. On the night stand there as a picture of the two of them set at an angle that seemed to follow you across the room, their eyes seemingly moving with his steps. Leonard went into the bathroom and found that the towels were neatly stacked on the vanity with a new, unpacked toothbrush beside them.

It hit Leonard like a ton of bricks… Sheldon was the last person to be in the apartment. He must have felt the need to straighten up after Penny had left to go back to New York. Leonard knew exactly what was wrong. The apartment didn't feel like it was lived in, at least not by Penny. She never would have, even on her best day, had the apartment in this state. Leonard smiled He had an idea on how to make Penny's return seem more special.

Penny booked a flight that would land at LAX international at Two Twenty in the afternoon. That was great for her. Leonard would just have to figure out how Sheldon would get home. She didn't care about Sheldon. She just wanted to have some time to herself with Leonard. She texted Leonard a quick note about the flight and then e-mailed him with the details of the flight and then packed a bag. She thought she would pack light, she wasn't really planning on using too many outfits anyway. She then thought that she would have just enough time to go shopping for something just for Leonard. Penny closed up her bag and went out the door and took the subway to Times Square. She had her eye on some special undies at Forever 21.

Leonard decided to go out for some things in order to put his plan into action. He stopped at trader Joes and picked up an assortment of red and white wine that Penny had liked as well as some fresh vegetables and fruit for a snack. He also went to pick up some current magazines and some cheese popcorn. He finished his trip by picking up some aroma candles.

Later that night, he would put his plan into action. He had everything he needed, he just needed a little time to make it perfect.

Penny was going to have to go to bed early. Her flight was leaving just before Eight Thirty in the morning. Normally, she wouldn't even think of getting up at that hour. She was going to have to be at the gate by seven AM the latest. That meant she was going to have to get up at the ungodly hour of five thirty.

Leonard's phone buzzed and he opened the text message from Penny. She was coming in at two thirty the next day. That was just enough time to get things done.