A/N I'm not even going to try to explain why this took so long. If you really are desperate to know, PM me. This chapter ties up a loose end or two and pushes the story forward a bit, but it is needed. A special shout out to Terrible Waitress for some insight into the female mind. Not that it made any sense to me, as I'm a guy. But, I parroted it back enough to make sense in the chapter. As always, I don't own any of the characters, except Bruce. Terrible Waitress owns Kim. I think that covers it.

Chapter 37 Relationship Issues

Penny slowly woke up, and was surprised she didn't hear the shower. She groggily grabbed her phone and looked, and saw it was 7:15 AM. This was a shock to her, as she usually heard Leonard in the shower, but she must have missed it this morning.

She rolled over and went back to sleep, knowing he would wake her before he left. What seemed only ten minutes later, she woke and it was 8:30. Somehow, she had missed Leonard completely this morning. Did he try to wake her up and failed?

She walked out to the kitchen and found the coffee on, so Leonard must have turned it on earlier, but, there wasn't even a note. She knew she had to hurry, as she was she had to be in at ten, so she walked back into her bathroom to get her shower.

A half hour later, dressed only in her shorts and a T-shirt, she was out in the kitchen, pouring her coffee. She decided to send a text to Leonard to see what happened.

did u miss kissing me goodbye this morning xoxo

Penny put a muffin in the toaster, moving over to pour a glass of orange juice. She heard her the tone, indicating she had a message.

Sry woke up late, never got a chance to come back, Sheldon was being Sheldon.

The muffin popped up and she buttered it, took a bite and answered.

OK, have a good day. ILY

She was just taking another bite when she saw his message:

Love u 2 Sry I didn't get to kiss u xxxx

She finished eating the muffin, drank her juice and poured what was left of her coffee into her travel mug, then she added some from the pot to fill the mug and rinsed out the pot. She went to the bedroom and put on her uniform, put up her hair and put on her makeup. She grabbed her mug and headed out, only running ten minutes late.

It was a busy lunch and before Penny knew it, she had looked up to see it was 2:30. She walked over to her manager and reminded him that she was supposed to get off at three. Penny turned over a new table over to Kim and ordered a salad so she'd be ready to eat at 3:00.

She checked out, grabbed her salad, poured a glass of unsweetened tea and found a table and started eating. What is the problem with Cheryl? She looked so upset and was so grateful I would work for her. What is going on? I really hope I can help her.

Penny was almost finished when she saw Cheryl walk through the front door, followed by Jim. Penny was surprised. What is he doing here? She watch as Cheryl waved at her and stopped and talked to the manager. She saw Jim walk directly to the bar and say something to the bartender.

Penny waited for Cheryl to come over, taking a sip of her tea. After a few minutes, Cheryl came over and sat down across from Penny. Penny looked closely at Cheryl. While her eyes weren't red, as they were the last time Penny saw her, her face held a deep sadness.

Cheryl looked uncomfortable under Penny's gaze. Penny noticed and smiled at her, which Cheryl returned weakly. Penny reached out and held Cheryl's hands, Cheryl looked down. Penny said, "What's is happening, Cheryl?"

Cheryl tried to smile, but she couldn't hold it. "Penny, I don't know what to do. Jim said he would forgive me, but he won't let me out of the apartment without him. He keeps my phone, he...he...he just looks and talks like he's angry with me all the time."

She looked scared, and Penny tried calm her, "Tell me what is happening. I talked to you on Friday and you didn't come to work for about three days before that. Is Jim forcing you to stay in the apartment?"

"No," said Cheryl, "it's just every time I leave, he goes with me."

"Hold on," said Penny. "You were here the day after your night out. You talked to him then and he said he was willing to forgive you, but you had to understand it was going to take a while. What changed?"

"He came to get me that night," explained Cheryl, "and he saw me being playful with the customers, the way we do, you know..."

Penny could see where this was going, but she nodded for Cheryl to continue.

"Well, I guess him seeing that happen made him think that if I was flirting with the group of guys at the table, I must have been flirting with the guy the night before," she said sadly. "Which he though meant I wanted to end up in the car with that guy."

Cheryl stopped. Penny was thinking. I understand the innocent flirting and being playful, the way we do, we get more tips that way. Though I can see why Jim would be pissed after seeing her do that, after Cheryl told him. Hmmmmmm.

Penny spoke up, "So why didn't you come into work? Why do you need so many days off"

"He didn't want me to come to work," Cheryl said. "He kept saying that I was just going to flirt and find someone else. He would apologize later, then he would get mad again, then apologize."

Penny was concerned. "He didn't hit you, did he."

"No, no, no," Cheryl said quickly. "Nothing like that. Jim would never do that."

"OK," said Penny, "So, you've been taking off because he didn't want you to be flirting with customers. What does he expect you to do and why are you letting him do that?"

"I don't know Penny," Cheryl said sadly. "He's working on it, I know he is. Because the first two days we were together all the time and, we talked about it. The problem was, the more we talked, I know he was getting angrier, but he kept trying to hide it."

"Why," Penny asked?

"I'm not sure," said Cheryl, "but, I think it's because he knows I have to come back to work, and if he doesn't get over this fast, he won't be able to think about me at work, without thinking I'll be flirting with someone or think I'll be fooling around on him."

"I told him that tonight is it. I either come back to work tomorrow, or I just know I'll get fired. But, when I told him, he just shut down. Didn't say a thing. Just kept telling me not to worry about it."

"Penny, I know it's killing him," Cheryl continued. "I can see it on his face. He's a lot more relaxed when I get another day off. I've destroyed our relationship Penny. He says there's no problem, but I know he can't let it go, just from the way he acts, and I keep replaying it in my mind, keep beating myself up over it."

Penny was floored. How much it sounded like her feelings with what happened with Raj. It was only within the past week that she was able to start to forgive herself, and Leonard held his feelings in until he blew up at her.

Hmmmmmm, maybe I can get through to both of them, but, I'll need to talk to both of them, together.

"Cheryl," Penny said. "does Jim know how much I know about it?"

"Yes, I told him how much you calmed me down that day."

"OK, do you think you can bring him over?" Penny continued, "Do you think he'll come over and listen to me?"

There was a look of uncertainty in Cheryl's face, "I don't know. I just don't know how he'll react anymore."

"Go ask him. I'll wait," said Penny.

Cheryl got up and went to the bar, Penny was thinking. OK, I hope he comes over. He's got to get it out. If he's angry, hurt, whatever it is, he's got to get it out, let her know how it's affecting him. She has to tell him how it's affecting her. How do I do this?

Penny watched as Cheryl and Jim talked, Jim looked upset, but he finally got off of the stool and walked back to the table with Cheryl. They sat facing Penny.

"Cheryl says you want to talk to me about this whole thing," said Jim.

"Yeah, I think I can help you two work things out."

"How," said Jim, "are you going to do that?"

Penny looked at Jim for several seconds. Jim held her gaze, but finally dropped his eyes. Penny said, "Jim, what are your feeling? Are you pissed off at her? Are you sad about it? Don't trust her? What?"

Jim stared at Penny, "I'm not sure I want to tell you."

"You have to Jim," explained Penny. "You need to get it out. If you bottle it up, you won't get over it."

"You seem to be the big expert and know this, how?" Penny could hear the sarcasm in that statement.

Penny paused. How much should I tell them? Screw it, I'll tell them everything, they need to know.

"You know Raj?" said Penny. "The Indian guy that come in here with everyone."

Cheryl nodded, Jim just shrugged.

"Well, almost two years ago, now," explained Penny. "I got drunk and ended up in bed with him, for the night."

Cheryl gasped. "What? Does Leonard know?"

"Yes," said Penny sadly, "he does, but, he was dating Raj's sister at the time. We were not together, so the situation isn't quite the same..."

Jim spoke up, "That's why I asked you, how do you know I need to get it out?"

Penny glared at Jim, "Because Leonard and I finally talked about it the other day. He was extremely pissed, after two years, even though we weren't dating and he was with Raj's sister. We almost didn't make it through that part of our talk.

"What talk," said Cheryl.

"You know me, I don't talk, right?"

Cheryl nodded.

Well, Leonard and I talked for three days and remember when I was in here with Bernie the other day?" Cheryl nodded. "I did most of the talking, Bernie was leading me along.

Cheryl was stunned, but Jim simply said, "What's that got to do with us?"

Cheryl looked at him and said, "Jim, you don't understand, Penny doesn't talk with anyone. For her to talk that much something has to be going on."

"What was going on," Penny explained, "was that something upset me and it ended up that Leonard and I talked about our relationship going all the way back to when we broke up."

Cheryl looked at Penny. "Broke up? You two dated before? "Yeah," said Penny with a slight sad smile. "We dated for nine months over four years ago. I couldn't say I loved him and I didn't want to string him along, so I broke it off. One of the biggest mistakes of my life. That's why I was talking to Bernadette, she was helping me work through my misconceptions of love and understand my feelings.

Cheryl looked astonished,"You mean you just this week figured out your feelings for Leonard?"

"No, I figured out what my feelings for Leonard meant." Penny looked thoughtful, "So anyway, when I ended up in bed with Raj, it hurt Leonard. Even though he was dating someone else, I found he still had feelings for me and having that happen was an emotional dagger into his heart."

"But," she said, looking directly at Jim, "he never worked through it. He said he forgave me and said it was fine with him, because he was dating someone else and I was single. Then, we started dating and he didn't want to bring it up for fear that it would mess things up with us."

She spoke directly to Jim, "So, you see, it was hidden and when it came up during the talk, he exploded. Not that I can blame him. I really screwed that up and it was really bothering him but because we didn't work through it before, when it finally did come up, it caused a lot of trouble."

"That's why I'm telling you, you have to work through this. Otherwise, it will keep coming up in your mind, and you will never be able to forgive Cheryl or, if you finally bring it up, it could destroy you two."

Jim's face had gone from blank to thoughtful.

Penny pressed on. "So you said you could work though it, but you seem not to want to let her out of the apartment. Why?"

Jim was still quiet.

"See, this is what I'm talking about," Penny snapped. "Talk to us Jim."

"I don't trust her," Jim said defensively. "Is she going to run off and find someone else to jump into a backseat, or next time, will she just go home with the guy? The day she told me, I come in here and see her flirting with some guy at a table. I kept trying to talk to her about it, but I just got madder and madder at her. So I just shut up, so I didn't just scream at her. I just so frustrated by the whole thing."

Penny looked over and saw Cheryl's face was a study in sorrow, tears dripping down her cheeks.

Penny became very serious. "Jim, listen to me. I'm not going to tell you what she did isn't wrong, it is. She has to own up to that, has she?"

"Yes," Jim admitted. "She keeps telling me how wrong of her it was. She's said she was drinking but she says that doesn't excuse her."

"And, she told you right away, right?"

"Well, yeah."

"Jim, this is important," Penny said seriously. "She stopped. In the middle of groping around, rubbing each other and taking their clothes off, she stopped."

There was a flash of anger on Jim's face, "Well, she shouldn't have been there in the first place."

Penny didn't care if Jim got angry, she had to get through to him and if it took getting him mad, so what. "Did I say she should have been? I'm trying to get you to see that she stopped, she didn't go through with it."

"She shouldn't have been drunk," Jim insisted.

"Jim, we both agree with that," Penny said, "but, have you ever gone out, gotten drunk and then started looking at other women?"

"Yeah," he said defensively, "what's your point."

"I'm an expert on this, believe me. When I was younger, I would get drunk, and I could end up in bed with anyone. Hell, I ended up in bed with Raj." Penny didn't think the specifics needed to be told. "My point was that many girls who are drunk, don't stop. Mostly I haven't. Cheryl thought about you, and STOPPED, think about that."

Jim was silent.

Penny continued, "It's not easy. It can start and you can get carried away, even if you're not drunk. Just before you get to the actual sex, there is a moment where you know you're taking it to the next level, but if you've been drinking, that moment can rush right by without you even thinking about it. She thought about it and stopped, before it even got to the actual sex part."

"On top of that," Penny continued, "she came right to you and told you. She didn't hide it, she didn't lie about it to you, she came to you and told you. Have you ever been cheated on and then have been lied to about it?"

Jim was still silent, but Penny could see the flash of pain across his face.

"I see you have. This woman told you about it. She's been crushed by it. She was in here the other night telling me how worthless she felt, how she didn't deserve you, how bad she felt. Then, on top of that...she told me you said because she told you right away and didn't have sex that you were willing to work with her, is that true?"

"Yes."

"OK, you're angry, and I get that," Penny said sympathetically, "but, not letting her come to work? Not letting her leave the apartment without going with her? That's not working with her, is it? If you can't do this, tell her now and let her go." A large sob escaped from Cheryl.

"No, I can't do that," Jim said sadly. "I still love her."

"OK, then loosen up a bit. Yeah, you're mad. You're going be mad and upset for a while. We both understand that. Yeah, let it out, but you can't keep beating her up about this, if you want to get past it."

"Well, yeah, but it's hard."

"Of course it's hard," said Penny. "She broke your trust, but, if you keep her under your thumb, she'll resent it, and you'll never be able to trust her without controlling her. So, talk to her. If you get mad, come and talk to me, but, you two start talking, work out a plan, OK?"

Cheryl and Jim looked at each other. Then back at Penny. Jim looked at her, "Well, you seem to have all the answers, what should we do?"

Penny thought for a few minutes, "OK were going to try this. Jim, you have to let her come to work. That's absolutely necessary. Second, you two talk to each other. Jim, if you get angry, let it out, but don't direct it at Cheryl. She's trying and continuing to lay the blame on her isn't going to help. She already knows she screwed up. If you have to, call me. I'll talk you though it and if there's something you want to tell her, but feel you can't, let me know. We'll all get together."

Penny turned toward Cheryl. "Now, you be where you say you're going to be, at all times. You tell Jim when you'll be home, and if you can't be there on time, you call him. If he wants to verify where you are, you let him, but Jim, you can't do it all the time, or you're just going to piss her off and you'll never get the trust back."

She turned back to Jim. "Jim, you have to realize that a lot of this is on you. I know it's not fair, but that's the way it is." Jim showed a flash of anger, but relaxed. "You have to forgive her, you have to get over your anger, and you have to learn to trust her again. Cheryl, your job in this whole thing is to make Jim's job easier. If he's angry, listen, try to understand and trust is hard to get back, you have to work at it."

Penny was trying to think of something else, when Leonard's offer popped into her head. "Another thing is to seek counseling if you still want to work it out, but are having trouble doing it. There are people who do that for a living, if you need to, find them."

Both Jim and Cheryl looked sad and unsure.

"One final thing. If it comes down to it, and either of you feel like it's not gonna work, talk about it and if you have to, split before you get too angry at each other. If it's not going to work, split, and remember the good times, possibly remain friends."

Penny looked at both of them. They turned and looked at each other, turned back and nodded at Penny. Penny smiled. "OK, then, I've got your shift. Why don't you two go home and start working out your plan?"

They all got up, Penny hugged Cheryl who whispered "Thank you." Jim looked at Penny awkwardly, so she walked to him, hugged him, and said, "Jim, you know you still love her." He nodded, as Penny continued, "Just know she loves you and really regrets what happened, you can do this." She broke the hug and saw Jim smile slightly and nod again.

They both walked toward the door, but Cheryl stopped and said something to the manager, before walking out of the restaurant. That manager walked over to Penny and said, "What did you say to them? She said she'd be back tomorrow night."

Penny smiled and said, "That's between us. Just be happy that she'll be here. I've got to get ready for the bar. We'll talk tonight, but I won't get specific, OK?"

Penny walked toward the back, to get ready for the night shift at the bar, the manager watching her. A thought forming in his head.

...

Penny slowly climbed the stairs, thinking she should have stuck with working the tables tonight. It was a Monday and the bar was usually quiet, but a group of some businessmen had come in and stayed until after closing. They were hitting on her and she fended them off with jokes. After they left, she still had to finish the prep for the next day. As a result, it was late, she was tired and her feet hurt as she climbed the stairs to the apartment.

She smiled as she recalled talking with the manager, telling him that there was a problem and they were trying to work through it and that she had given them some ideas. He seemed very thoughtful and said he was glad that Penny could help them.

Penny unlocked the door, and upon entering, saw the light over the stove on again. As, she walked to the kitchen, there again, was a bottle of wine, and a glass. There was no note tonight, but she didn't need one after the other night, she expected him to be there.

She walked to the bedroom and looked in, and there was Leonard, asleep on his back. She smiled at him, then frowned, her fear had started again. Dammit, not again, why does this hit me at night? This last week has been great, I don't know what the hell is wrong with me.

Penny walked quickly to the kitchen and angrily pulled the cork from the bottle Leonard had opened earlier, and poured a glass. Penny took a large drink of the wine. Sitting down, she was trying figure out why the scared feeling was familiar, and it was growing.

It wasn't the same as the night last week, but more intense and Penny couldn't quite place where it was coming from. She took another gulp, trying to calm down. Last week, I went to bed, and that calmed me down. That's what I need to do

She set her glass down and headed toward the bedroom. Turning into the room, she felt her fear was getting worse, and she still didn't know where it was coming from. Just inside the door, she stopped. On the nightstand next to Leonard, she could see some of the medications he had brought over.

That brought her to near panic and she turned and walked quickly back to the kitchen island and sat on the chair. Her hands were shaking. She took several deep breaths, which stopped the shaking. She downed the last of the wine in the glass and poured another glass.

She suddenly realized where the fear was coming from as it clicked in her memory. The day Leonard moved in, when he fought with Sheldon. She was very uncomfortable with Leonard moving in, but didn't want to hurt his feelings. She felt the same way she felt then and then the mention of moving his medications over just made it worse.

This is silly. I asked HIM, this time. That day should have nothing to do with this. She took another large drink of the wine, grabbed the bottle and took it to the couch, sat down and began thinking. I thought I was over this, why am I so scared? So just what is the problem? She had to admit that thought scared her even more.

Then another thought hit her. Cheryl! Oh my god. What happens if I screw up, after he moves in and he leaves me? The thought of that sent a jolt of fear though her. No, I would never do anything like that...but neither would Cheryl and look what happened.

She now had two competing fears, him moving in, and him leaving. She took another large drink of the wine. Dammit Penny, get control of yourself. He won't leave you, but, what if I mess it up?

She spent the next hour, trying to understand and control both fears. Hell, he hasn't fully moved in here, what happens when he does, do I freak completely out? If I freak out, I know I'll drive him away. I've messed us up so many times before and what happens if we move in and then I mess up? As the hour went on, she was no closer to understanding, as she finished her third glass of wine. Damn, I'm tired, I've got to get to bed, I can't be afraid to go into my bedroom...our... dammit...our...bedroom...as she realized what she said. She was still sitting there, trying to figure it out, when she fell asleep.

Leonard woke up and realized Penny wasn't in bed yet. He looked at his phone as saw it was 3:00 AM. That shocked him awake, and he became worried. He got up and walked out into the living room and spotted Penny, sitting there with her head on the back of the couch.

He sat down beside her and gently woke her. "I'm sorry, Leonard, I didn't mean it, don't leave." Penny said.

Whaa?" He shook her gently. "Wake up Penny, you fell asleep on the couch," Leonard answered, "let's get you to bed."

"I don't know if you can stay here." Penny mumbled.

Leonard wasn't quite sure he heard her correctly, but helped her into the bedroom and sat her on the bed. He then helped her get her clothes off and got her under the covers. He walked around to the other side of the bed, got in, and pulled Penny close. He hear her mumble something, but didn't see her smile as she fell back asleep.

Penny woke up with a start. It was just before eight and she heard the apartment door close, and Leonard appeared in the doorway. "What are you doing awake?"

"I don't know," said Penny, "I just woke up."

Why'd you fall asleep on the couch?" Leonard asked, "I brought you to bed at three, why didn't you just come to bed?"

"I don't know," Penny said evasively. "I was just sitting out there and the next thing I knew, you were waking me up."

"You said something about not leaving and then something about how I could stay here. What was that about?"

"I must have been dreaming," said Penny, remembering exactly what she said and meant.

"OK, well, just come to bed next time. No reason to fall asleep out there."

Penny just nodded.

Leonard leaned over and kissed her, afterward saying, "Have a good day at work, love you."

Love you too," answered Penny.

Leonard turned and left.

Penny got up, and walked to, first the bathroom and then, when done, to the kitchen. She poured herself a cup of coffee and sat at the island, trying to think this through, but her thoughts were jumbled and coming quickly.

What the hell happened with me last night? What happens if I freak out like that in front of Leonard. Why is this hitting me so hard? I've got to figure this out.

A thought suddenly occurred to her and she became very sad. What if I'm not ready, what if I'm never ready? Then something else occurred to her, This thing with Jim and Cheryl. That has to be part of it. I told Leonard that most of my examples were bad, and these two were one of my good examples, and now they may split.

The longer she thought of this, the more she convinced herself that this was it. Of course, I spent so much time explaining everything to them, it's stuck in my mind, and now I'm thinking that it will happen to us, and that makes me scared of getting together.

She downed the last of her second cup coffee and rinsed out her cup and poured the rest into her travel mug, before rinsing out the pot. She got her shower, put her makeup on, and then got dressed. She grabbed her mug and headed out the door to work.

It wasn't a very busy day, and Bruce kept calling her over to help with the cash, and receipts. At first she was puzzled by this, but since the assistant manager was out, she figured Bruce needed some help. It helped keep her mind off of her problem with Leonard staying with her.

She was getting ready to go, when she saw Cheryl come in. Penny looked at her, and saw, while she didn't have her normal happy smile, she didn't look depressed as she did the day before. Penny was also happy that her eyes weren't red from crying. Cheryl looked over as she walked toward the back to clock in and she waved and smiled at Penny.

Penny finished up her side work, then walked over to Bruce, "Bruce? Can I talk to Cheryl for a couple of minutes before she starts?"

Bruce had seen Cheryl come in and was happy she was there and knew it was because of Penny, so he simply nodded.

Penny waited until Cheryl came out from the back, grabbed her and guided her to a booth. "OK, Cheryl, how's it going?"

Cheryl gave a slight smile and said, "Better. Jim got angry last night, but he told me, then walked into the other room. Thirty minutes later he came out, told me he was past it and we talked. Getting ready to come in, he was looking at me getting ready and I thought he was going to get mad, but he didn't. He just told me to have a good night, and he was working on it. Then, he told me he loved me. Penny, that's the first time he's said that since that morning. Thank you so much."

"Don't thank me yet, you two have a long way to go yet."

"I know, but it was so wonderful to hear him say I love you, so thank you."

Penny smiled and said, "You welcome. You have a good night."

Cheryl smiled and got up to go to work. After a few seconds, Penny smiled and got up to go home. As she was leaving, Bruce pulled her off to the side and said simply, "Thank you." She nodded and continued out the door.

She got home, and changed out of her uniform, into a pair of jeans and a long sleeved shirt. Opened a bottle of wine and sat down on the couch and continued thinking about her fears. Just over an hour later Leonard came in.

Walking over to the kitchen he stopped to give Penny a kiss and looking at her face he sensed something wrong, but all he said was, "How was your day?" He opened the cupboard, and after taking down a glass, poured himself a glass of wine.

He walked over to the couch and sat down. Penny could tell he was thinking about something, there was the look of concentration on his face, so she ignored his question and said, "What are you thinking about?

Leonard looked at Penny and said, "We need to talk."