Leonard, Howard and Sheldon, were sitting in 4A, engrossed in a game of three-way chess. Leonard and Sheldon were in their usual spots, and Howard was on a chair opposite Sheldon. Both Leonard and Sheldon were waiting patiently, looking in Howards direction, waiting on him to take his turn.

"Howard, it's your turn." Sheldon said.

Howard stared at the board, with his elbow on his leg and his hand on his chin, looking quite confused. "I'm thinking."

"It doesn't matter what move you make Howard, Sheldon is going to take you on his next move." Leonard said with a smile.

"We'll see about that." Howard said as he moved one of his black pieces across the board.

Sheldon instantly moved one of his white pieces, "Check-mate, Howard you are out." Sheldon said with a grin.

"Aw damn it!" Howard said as he sat back on the chair. Leonard chuckled at his friend and was about to make his move, when he heard some noise outside the door. He instantly stopped and looked towards the door.

"Leonard, what are you doing? Make your move." Sheldon said to him.

"Shh." He said holding up his hand. Sheldon and Howard looked at each other in confusion, before turning and watching Leonard as he got up from his chair and headed to the door.

He could hear shuffling noises and what sounded like people talking in the hallway, and his heart started to pound and the chance it could be Penny. He slowly put his eye to the peephole, and frowned when he saw a man hanging out beside Pennys open door. His mind instantly thought the worst; that Penny had returned with a new boyfriend, and his stomach fell. Surely not. He told himself as he opened his door, and stepped outside, leaving his door wide open.

Leonard looked at the guy standing at Pennys door with a frown, who looked back at him in the same manner. A few seconds later, another man came out of Pennys apartment with a smile on his face, about to talk to the other man, when he spotted Leonard. The other guy looked familiar to Leonard, he couldn't quite place him, but there was just something about him that made him feel like he had met him before.

"Hey." The man said as he stepped out of Pennys apartment.

"Hey." Leonard said back, still with a frown on his face. "Are you… um… staying there?" He said motioning to Pennys apartment.

"Oh, no. I'm just picking up a few things for my sister, Penny." He said, "Do you know her?"

Leonard instantly breathed a sigh of relief, Oh, it's just her brother. He thought, as he looked at his face and immediately saw the resemblance. He had the same big eyes and round face as Penny, and his blonde hair was similar to hers, albeit cut short and slightly darker.

"Uh… yeah," Leonard replied, "I'm Leonard, her neighbour, as you can probably tell…" He said as he looked towards his door and back to him, "We are friends."

"Oh! You're Leonard!" He said with a huge grin, and reached a hand out to him. "I'm Lewis," Leonard shook his hand, "This is Owen." He said as he nodded to his friend. "Nice to finally meet you, I've heard a lot about you." Lewis said with a chuckle.

"Really?" Leonard asked with a frown and a hint of a smile.

"Yeah," He said with a nod. "Back when you and Penny were together, my dad used to give me hell about how I should be more like you." He said shaking his head. "He constantly gave me shit about how I should go back to school and get a degree instead of 'getting myself into trouble'" Lewis said with a giggle and Leonard couldn't help but smile too. He barely knew Lewis, but he already liked him, he really did remind him of Penny, not only with his looks but he had the same mannerisms, and the same bubbly personality. "And for the past week or so Penny hasn't shut up about you. She's been driving us crazy."

Leonards smile widened, Penny couldn't stop talking about him. She was missing him, just like he was missing her.

"Wait a minute." Owen said, as he walked over to the two of them. "You used to date Penny?"

Leonard blushed a little and nodded, "Yeah."

"Wow. Well done." He said with a nod and Leonard immediately frowned. He didn't really like the way he said that, like she was some sort of prize that he had won. "She's one hot piece of ass!" He said with a smile and slightly dreamy look. "and her,"

"DUDE!" Lewis said interuppting him as he gently pushed him with one hand, sounding just as annoyed as Leonard felt. "That's my sister!"

"What!" Owen said holding his hands up, looking slightly shocked at Lewis' reaction. "It was a compliment!"

Lewis continued to stare at him with a look of anger on his face. "Whatever, remind me never to let you anywhere near her again, you big pervert."

Owen huffed and Lewis turned his attention back to Leonard. "So, how is Penny doing anyway?" Leonard asked.

"Good, I think." He said with a shrug. "She's still as annoying as she always was. Do you know she wouldn't even let me and Owen stay in her apartment while we visited here?" He said shaking his head. "Yet she has the cheek to ask us to pick up stuff for her… Although I guess it was probably a good decision," He said looking towards Owen. "I don't know if I really want him living in my sisters apartment."

Leonard chuckled a little, completely agreeing with him, but then he realized what he had said, that he was picking up stuff for her and that could only mean she was staying in Nebraska longer. "Do you know when she will be back?" Leonard asked.

Lewis sighed, "No, she seems pretty happy, I wouldn't be surprised if she never left." He shook his head and chuckled a little. "I think I will have to move out if she does."

Leonard sighed, closed his eyes and put a hand to rub his head and Lewis noticed how sad he looked after he had said that and wished he had said something different. He looked towards Pennys door and then back to him. "Hey, how would you feel about getting these things she wants for me?" Lewis said and Leonard looked up to him in confusion. "It's just a few things," he said pulling out a list from his pocket and began to read a few things from it, "Make-up, photos from fridge, grey Nebraska hoodie…" He looked up at Leonard with a frown, "I don't even know where these things are, and I don't fancy snooping around my sisters stuff, especially with Pervy Perverson over there." He said looking towards Owen.

Leonard took the list from Lewis, and smiled a little, "Okay, I'll get them."

"Thanks," Lewis said with a grin, then motioned to Owen to follow him as he headed for the stairs. "I'll be back in about an hour to collect the stuff, thanks again!" He said as he and Owen headed down the stairs.

Leonard looked at the small list in his hands, and then up to the open door in front of him that showed a glimpse of Pennys apartment.

"What's going on?" Howard said as he stepped out into the hallway. Leonard turned and looked at him with his mouth slightly agape.

"Um…" He began, "that was Pennys brother. He gave me a list of stuff she left behind that she wants... I don't think she is coming back." He said sadly.

Howard didn't quite know what to say. He couldn't really believe it, everyone had been under the impression that Penny would return, and deep down he still felt like that was true. He figured that Leonard just feared the worst, probably from whatever Pennys brother had said. "What's on the list?" Howard asked and Leonard handed it to him. He looked it over quickly before looking back up to him. "There's nothing on here that would suggest she isn't coming back. Maybe these are just some things she misses. I still think she will come back Leonard." He said with a smile, hoping it will make him feel a little better. "Do you want some help to look for these?" He said as he handed the list back.

"No," Leonard said shaking his head. "I'll be alright. Thanks." He gave Howard a small smile and he in turn gave him one back and a pat on the shoulder.

"Okay, but if you need anything, just let me know, okay?" Howard said and Leonard smiled at him again and nodded.

Howard headed back into the apartment, leaving Leonard alone in the hallway. He took a deep breath, preparing himself to go into Pennys apartment for the first time in weeks. He held the piece of paper in his hand tightly, as he walked towards her door, and pushed it open completely.

Leonard stood in the doorway for a second, taking in the room he hadn't seen in what felt like years. Everything looked exactly the same, just a little duller. The coffee table had a lair of dust on top of it, as did much of the other furnishings. The room smelled musty and felt cold, lacking the warmth that Penny brought to it. He headed straight to the fridge and took off all the pictures that were stuck to it, smiling at the moments captured in them, of Penny in happier times. He placed the photos on to the kitchen counter and headed to her bedroom, to collect the rest of the things on the list.

He entered her bedroom and was immediately hit with a faint smell of her green apple shampoo, and even a hint of her coconut moisturiser. The smell brought a pang to his chest, reminding him just how much he missed her. He headed to her closet, and slowly rifled through her hanging clothes, breathing in the smell of her washing powder as the clean clothes moved along the rail. He closed his eyes for a second to focus on the scent, before opening them and letting a single tear fall from his eye. He wiped the tear away quickly, before shaking his head and focusing on his task. He rummaged through the clothes, and found the grey hoodie she was looking for, the one she often wore around her apartment on the days when she couldn't be bothered getting dressed into anything other than sweats. He sat the hoodie on her bed and then headed to her bathroom, to get her make-up. He wondered as he searched for it, why she even wanted her make-up. She hadn't worn any of it in the weeks before she had left, too busy thinking of her grief to bother about her appearance, and he wondered if it was a good sign she was asking for it, or a bad one. On one hand, she could be feeling better and therefore more concerned about how she looked, but then that told him that maybe she wanted to make herself up for someone in particular. What if she had met someone, or was in the process of looking for someone new. What if she was going out to clubs again, meeting random strangers, getting out of her mind drunk and sleeping around. He shook his head, telling himself that Penny wouldn't do that, but then what was stopping her? She was young free and single and she had every right to go out and try and find someone new. Suddenly he realized the assumption he had just made, and he stopped and sat on the edge of the bathtub. Penny wants her make-up = Penny is sleeping around. He let out a slight chuckle amidst his sadness, as he rubbed his head, realizing the extent of his overthinking mind.

He took another deep breath, and glanced around the bathroom, searching for anything that resembled a make-up bag. He rummaged through some cupboards until he came across a pink and purple bag which he took out, unzipped and then zipped back up again upon seeing the make-up inside. He stood up, with the bag in hand and left the bathroom, then sat the bag on her bed beside the hoodie. He looked at her list, and saw that her laptop was next, and then a shoebox with the rest of her photos. Leonard frowned at the last one, since he had no idea she even had a box with photographs, and had no idea where it would be. He studied her room, searching for the shoebox, before getting up and looking around. He checked around the room and under her bed, before heading to her wardrobe, and found it on the top shelf, buried behind all the loose clothes. He pulled the box out and looked at it for a second before setting it on the bed and opening it. A smile spread across his face as soon as he saw the first picture in the box, it was of him and Penny. They were on the beach, she had her arm wrapped around him, a beaming smile on her face and he had his face turned towards her giving her a kiss on the cheek. He sat down on the bed, and took out the rest of the pictures. All of them were of the group, at different places, doing different things, but each one of them had a whole bunch of good memories to go with it. He had a constant smile on his face as he went through each one, chuckling at the ones where someone ruined the picture with a stupid face or in the ones where someone was obviously not happy about getting their picture taken. He shuffled through the pictures, until he came to the first one again, the one of him and Penny. He traced a finger across the image, before removing it from the pile and sitting it beside him, deciding that he would keep that one for himself. He had plenty of pictures of her of his own, but he was drawn to that one and the happiness it captured in them both. He put the pictures back in the box, and then headed out to the kitchen to get the photos that were on the fridge and put them into the shoebox with the others.

Leonard sat on her bed, and took another glance over her room, wondering if there will ever be a day when she is back, sleeping each night in here. He wondered if this really was the end, if Penny really was so happy at home that she had no intention of returning. He hoped not, there was so much he wanted to say to her, so much she needed to know that he didn't get a chance to say the last time he had seen her. If this really was the end, he couldn't let the last time he saw her, be the last thing she remembered about him. He hadn't got a chance to tell her he loved her, that he always would and that he wanted nothing more than for her to be happy. He toyed with the idea of going back to Nebraska with Lewis, and as much as the idea of seeing her pulled him towards that direction, he wasn't sure he would be able to say what he had to say to her, without turning into a stuttering idiot. Plus the thought of him pouring his heart out to her, and not have her come back to Pasadena with him, scared him beyond belief. He traced his eyes over her room once again, trying to think of the best thing to do, when he spotted a pen on her bedside table, and the idea of writing it all down popped into his head. It was perfect; he could think over what he wanted to say and write his feelings down, give the letter to Lewis and tell him to give it to her. There would be no face to face confrontation, she would know how he felt, but he wouldn't have to face the rejection, should there be one. He reached over to grab the pen from the table, but as he reached over, a small velvet pouch, sitting proudly on the table, stopped him in his tracks. He didn't need to look inside it to know what was there, it was the snowflake, the one he had given her years ago, and she still kept it beside her bed. After all these years that little pouch had had pride of place on her table, and he smiled as tears choked up his throat. Maybe she wouldn't reject him after all.