Chapter 25

The morning light started to shine through the room curtains, making Alex's room a little brighter. Leonard was very slowly coming awake, his biological clock now set to European time and his subconscious realizing it was time to start another day. As his mind slowly transitioned from restful sleep to being awake, he felt the sensation of another warm body tucked in close to him, still asleep. His mind, not fully awake, thought he was still asleep and having another dream about Penny and he did not want to wake up, he loved this feeling of her in his arms. When he had slept with Penny, holding her in his arms was, to him, one of the most intimate parts of their relationship, at that moment she was his, all his, he had no doubts, no insecurities, she was his. As he lay in bed, he didn't want to give up that feeling, that feeling that had been denied him the last few weeks. He pulled her gently a little closer, she was so soft and like many times before, he put his face into her hair just to smell her, but she didn't smell like Penny!

He immediately woke up and opened his eyes to see brownish red hair and slowly then started to realize who he was holding, it was Alex! His mind raced, he was trying to get his conscious fully awake and remember what happened last night, did they sleep together, did they have sex, he thought, 'No, please, NO! He was now fully awake, scared, he took a quick inventory and realized he still had all his clothes on, from last night, and Alex still seemed to have her clothes on from last night, too, so no sex, GOOD! He started to rationalize that they must have fell asleep watching the movie, they both were tired, and one of them must have thrown a blanket over them in the night. Leonard was somewhat relieved, but this still felt wrong to him, he had this horrible feeling like he had just cheated on Penny. He couldn't understand this feeling, he was broken up with Penny so he really didn't cheat, but why was he feeling guilty? Leonard very gently removed himself from Alex and then her bed, so as not to wake her from her peaceful sleep.

Leonard went to his room and sat in his chair, trying to figure out why he felt like he did, his logical mind said he should be moving on, but his soul would not let Penny go. Leonard wanted to get over Penny, no not wanted, he just thought he was suppose to want to get over Penny, but every minute they had been together was burnt into his soul and he didn't want to loose a single minute of it. Every second he had spent with Penny was the most wonderful time spent in his life, and he knew, his time with Penny, he would never forget. He sat in his chair, his head in his hands and a tear in his eye, wondering what he was going to do with the rest of his life.

The alarm went off, almost an hour after Leonard left, waking Alex and she reached over to turn it off, her movement making her realize that Leonard wasn't next to her anymore, and she didn't remember him leaving. She sat up in bed, and as she did, she could hear the shower from Leonard's room. She sat there wondering, did he get up at night, or did he just get up now, not wanting to wake her? A few minutes went by as she was thinking, she didn't know if what happen last nigh was good or bad, and she wanted it to be good. She thought, how could it not be good, all they did was sleep together, that is innocent, isn't it? Innocent, maybe not she thought, he had held her, like no boy had every held her before, she had felt so safe and secure with him, it wasn't innocent, it was intimate and she wondered if he had felt the same way. Alex heard Leonard's shower go off, so she finally decided to get ready and wait to see if Leonard said anything about last night, she hoped it hadn't made things awkward between them.

Leonard got out of the shower and heard Alex's shower going, thinking this morning might be a little uncomfortable between them. He admitted to himself that he liked Alex, but it just seemed weird that he had spent the night with her, in her bed, and he wondered if she felt that way too. Was he thinking too much, was the real reason he felt weird was because his heart was still with Penny, he couldn't answer his own questions, he just felt confused. So Leonard did what he always did, when his emotions had him confused, he forced himself to think about his work. He started to get dressed and while he was doing that he turned on his laptop to warm it up and check his email. Twenty minutes later, now dressed and ready, he was scrolling down his email, when he noticed an email from Howard, so he opened it and read it.

'Leonard, how are things going there in Switzerland? I would like to talk to you about something and so I would like to setup a Skype session with you. I can set it up to talk to you in person on Skype this weekend, in the morning or the afternoon your time, can you connect?' the email said

Leonard sent Howard a response, 'Ok, I can tomorrow morning, about 8 to 9 AM my time or 11 PM to midnight your time. What is going on?' and as a afterthought, 'Is Sheldon in trouble again?' He was surprised when he got a quick response from Howard, 'He must be on the computer now', Leonard thought.

'LOL, No, Sheldon hasn't been in any more trouble than he usually is in. He is a little more of a pain in the ass since you moved out and especially now that Raj is back at his apartment while you are gone, but Amy has now taken over his care. Amy has also moved temporarily in your old room, staying with him till Raj moves back, how about that! I'll tell you more when we Skype, see you then, and talk to you in about 24 hours.' Howard responded.

Leonard signed off, wondering what was so important, Howard couldn't give him some information on the email and had to talk to him face to face. Maybe Sheldon and Amy had sex, or now want to get married, or even started that stupid idea of theirs again about having a test tube baby. Maybe Bernadette is pregnant, that would be something personal they would want to tell him to his face. Oh well, with Howard it could be anything, he thought, then he closed his laptop, put it is his bag and went to meet Alex for breakfast.

Breakfast with Alex at first was a little awkward, because Leonard didn't really know what to say to her. Alex noticed how quiet Leonard was and was wondering if last night had ruined things for her with him. She felt stupid again, she wanted to figure out something that would lighten the mood between them and make last night seem like no big deal.

"So, did you sleep well? You were pretty tired last night and fell asleep before the movie ended." Alex asked, giving him a little friendly smile.

Leonard didn't know what to say, so he had fallen asleep on her bed, how awkward was that. He thought, 'Oh My God, did I cuddle up to her at night, Oh Crap!' he was really feeling uncomfortable on where this conversation was going, "I'm sorry Alex, I didn't mean to fall asleep like that on you, I'm so sorry!" Leonard felt embarrassed.

Alex saw his cheeks turn a little red, as he blushed, she thought, 'He is so cute.' She also saw he thought he had done something wrong, she had to put him at ease. "I fell asleep too, so when I woke up a little later in the night, I just turned off the TV and threw covers on us, I was really tired, so I didn't bother waking you, sorry. Really it's no big deal, I had that happen with friends before watching late night movies." She hoped that would make him feel better, and she was happy to see him make a small sigh before he spoke again.

'They both fell asleep, that's not as bad,' Leonard thought, 'And she didn't say anything about being in my arms, maybe she didn't know, good.' he sighed, "Oh, I guess we were both tired. Did you sleep well?" Leonard said with a friendly smile.

'Good, awkward moment over.' Alex thought, "Yeah, pretty good, I guess watching the movie relaxed me and made me sleep better." She told him, but thought, 'Being cuddled by you had nothing to do with it, cuddle-bug.' Alex gave him a big friendly smile.

Leonard and Alex talked the rest of the time, they were eating breakfast, about what they had to do that Saturday morning. Jan picked them up at 8 AM and drove them to the Supercollider and worked with them the rest of the morning, calibrating the equipment, they had set up, and running a preliminary tests, that included firing the lasers. Alex and Jan were real impressed with Leonard's work especially during the preliminary testing, Jan complementing Leonard on his on the setup.

Leonard's experiment was simple in theory but much harder in application. Scientists had never been able to prove that there was enough matter in the universe to support the Big Bang Theory, but most postulated that the Big Bang Theory was how it all began. There had been may experiments, in the pass, to try and find other sub atomic particles, in the universe, that could make up the matter needed to support the Big Bang Theory, but none had ended in success. Leonard thought that the reason we could not see this additional matter was because we lacked the sensors to detect it, so he thought that lasers could be used to help. He theorized that lasers could be used brighten up the matter so it could be detected with current sensor technology, by letting the laser deposit energy in the matter so it could be reflected and detected by sensors. He was at the Large Hadron Collider to refine the laser, energy and spectrum, using controlled subatomic particles in the collider to accomplish this refinement. If he was successful, he would provide the beginning for a new way to detect the matter that made up the universe and verify the Big Bang Theory.

Leonard's Saturday morning testing went on without a hitch, the equipment operating perfectly. They were now ready to start formal testing of Leonard's experiment Monday morning, days ahead of schedule. Leonard was happy, Alex was amazed by him and Jan was impressed, they wrapped up their work and were eating lunch by 1 PM, all of them extremely pleased.

"Alex, Leonard, we have to go out tonight and celebrate." Jan offered.

"Ok, Ok, I think we now have something to celebrate. What do you think, Alex." Leonard said.

Alex smiled, "That would be fun. What time do you want to meet?" she looked at Jan.

"I will pick you up at 6 PM, we can get a quick supper then go to a club, I know." Jan smiled, thinking how nice it would be to spend the evening with Alex, and maybe the night.

Jan drove back to the hostel, and Alex and Leonard got back to their rooms about 3 PM, each going to their separate room to catch up their personal work and get ready for their evening. Alex wondered if things were Ok with Leonard, he seemed happy after everything went well this morning. She really liked the idea of doing a little partying with him tonight, she really wanted to spend an evening with him just having fun.

Leonard was on his laptop, writing up his experimental notes from the last week, when he decided to check his email. Howard sent him information on the Skype session for tomorrow morning at 8 AM, Leonard still wondered what he wanted to tell him. Oh well, he'd find out tomorrow morning, he set his watch for 7:30 AM, so that he wouldn't miss the session.

Six PM rolled around and Leonard and Alex were ready, waiting at the door, for Jan to pick them up. It was only few minutes before Jan showed up to take them to another nice dinner restaurant, which was great, again, of course. Their meal went quickly, and they ended up at the club, Jan recommended, before 8 PM. The club was really something, very sophisticated, and the doorman seemed to know Jan well. Alex seemed very excited to Leonard, while Leonard thought this was a little out of his comfort zone. Another thing that bothered Leonard was the thought that Penny would have really liked this club.

Leonard only of heard of places like this, and he was never "cool" enough to go to a place like this club. Everyone in it was between their early twenties and middle thirties, dressed quite well, and he felt a little out of place. They found a small table and Jan ordered them drinks, beers for him and Leonard, and a mixed drink for Alex. Leonard waited for his drink, while watching all the people, on the packed dance floor, feeling even more out of place. Leonard started to feel that maybe it hadn't been a good idea to go out partying after all, he didn't see him having any fun here.

'Wow, this place was something', Alex thought, she really liked it. She was a struggling grad student and never been to a place like this before, so it was exciting for her. She told Jan, when he asked her what she was drinking, for a strawberry daiquiri, she wanted to seem more feminine, instead of just some nerd, so she ordered something different than her usual, wine or beer when she was friends. When she got her drink, she loved the strawberry flavor and finished it off pretty quick, which Jan then had refilled immediately. Alex was not much of a drinker so after her second daiquiri, many of her inhibitions were gone, so she wanted to dance.

Alex wanted Leonard to dance with her, "Leonard, do you want to dance?" She asked him.

"Alex, I really can't dance. Really I can't. But Jan probably can." Leonard looked at Jan, to try and get out of his discomfort.

"Please Alex, dance with me." Jan asked her with a funny pleading look on his face.

Alex was a little disappointed, she wanted to dance with Leonard, but now she was a little trapped, "Sure, lets go." she answered Jan, she thought, maybe this won't be too bad, because she did want to dance.

Leonard sat and watched Alex and Jan dance, while nursing his beer, they did make a nice couple, he couldn't but help think. After a couple of dances, Jan and Alex came back to the table and Alex almost inhaled her third daiquiri, then started her fourth when Jan talked her back out on the dance floor. Leonard felt like a third wheel, which was a feeling he had felt many times before when he was in school and college, but he was happy Alex was having fun. She had been a big help this week, making it possible for him to get days ahead in his project, so she deserved a night to party. Besides sitting alone at a table in a club, while other people were having fun, was not something new for him, and didn't bother him that much anymore.

As the night progressed Leonard was getting a little bored sitting at the table, Alex and Jan had been dancing and drinking most of the night and it was now just past 11 PM. Leonard had been in bed by this time all week so he was a little tired too, but he still didn't want to be a spoilsport because Alex looked like she was having a lot of fun. He was amazed at what a drinker Alex was, until she came back to the table with a glazed look in her eyes, giggling at everything and walking a little funny.

"Alex, are you Ok?" Leonard asked, her blank look pretty much answering his question.

Alex gave Leonard a big smile, too big, "I have been dancing." she said, she was not comprehending what he was saying too well.

Leonard now realized that Alex was real drunk, really probably too drunk and she needed to call it a night. "Alex, don't you think you had enough partying tonight and should go back to your room to sleep?" Leonard asked her.

Alex only heard and understood, 'Go back to room, to sleep with Leonard', she answered, again with a big smile. "Ok"

Jan was a little bit drunk too, not nearly as drunk as Alex, but he still didn't want Alex to leave, at least not without him, "Alex would you rather go home with me?" he asked her smiling.

Leonard, shot a look at Jan, Leonard really didn't think what Jan was asking was appropriate, Alex was drunk and Jan shouldn't even be thinking about her sleeping with him, in her state. "Jan she really has had too much to drink, she needs to go to bed." Leonard told Jan.

"Alex do you want to go with Leonard or Me." Jan said to Alex, Jan was smugly thinking Leonard would be going back to the rooms alone tonight.

Alex looked at both of them, with the same big grin on her face, her mind locked on going to bed with Leonard, "Leonard, I go with Leonard." she said.

Jan nodded, he couldn't believe she picked Leonard over him, but hell there were a lot of girls here and some of them had been looking at him. He got a piece of paper and borrowed a pen from waitress to write down the address of Leonard and Alex's hostel, then handed it to Leonard.

"Give this to the taxi driver and he will get you back. I going to stay here a little while yet, if that is OK. See you Monday morning." Jan said.

"No problem, see you Monday." Leonard said, happy to get out of the club.