With Leonard's parents away, prom weekend was spent at his house. The first night was just Leonard and Penny together, but the next night they held a large sleepover party; Sheldon, Amy, Howard, Bernadette, Raj and a his date Lucy (whom Penny vaguely remembered seeing a few times working alone in the library) all came over and they hung out in the front room for a while. As it hit the later hours, the guys played video games and watched movies afterwards in Leonard's room, while the girls gossiped and watched a few chick flicks in the front room with a few glasses of wine. Although Penny had always envisioned spending her prom weekend with her friends, on a mini-getaway where they drank like crazy, she much preferred this. While she wasn't too sure how to be around Lucy, who was incredibly shy and quiet, and Amy still constantly shocked her with her antics and bluntness, the company was great and getting to hang out with them properly was a nice change. There was still wine involved, but not nearly as much as she would ever drink at a party. In fact, she quite enjoyed playing hostess at Leonard's place when everybody came over, offering snacks and drinks that they'd made in the kitchen during the day.
When it came to sleeping arrangements, Penny was determined to get to stay with Leonard in his room even though Sheldon was quite insistent that they go by the guys 'tradition' and all stay in Leonard's room and the girls can decide for themselves where to sleep. In the end she won the argument with the ruling that it was Leonard's house so it was up to him to decide - and she knew she was practically taking advantage of him because she knew he wouldn't say no to her, but he did insist he would prefer to stay with Penny and that the others could make use of the empty bedrooms. Howard and Bernadette stayed in Kate's old room, and Sheldon insisted that he got Michael's room to himself. Leonard offered that he set up the spare mattress in there so Amy would have somewhere to stay too, since Raj and Lucy would be on the couches downstairs. Lucy had been apprehensive about staying over, but she agreed in the end. It was funny to see how everyone slowly sauntered off to their designated sleeping quarters, Penny again feeling hostess-like as she told everyone where the bathroom was and checked all the lights were off everywhere before finally retiring with Leonard.
"I never in a million years thought I'd be spending my prom weekend with a bunch of nerds." Penny mused, sitting down on the edge of Leonard's bed once she'd returned from the bathroom.
"And how is it?" Leonard asked, putting his comic book down on the nightstand.
"Well, I know I'll remember it unlike my friends who will be too drunk to remember anything at all. I still got to have some wine and be all girly, but I also get the evening with my boyfriend and a hangover-free morning tomorrow, so... I would say this is way better. Best of both worlds, really." Penny grinned. "You nerds got this all figured out."
"Or you have this figured out, and this nerd just goes along with it." Leonard chuckled.
"Either way, this is better. Wouldn't you agree?" Penny asked, and she suddenly stood up and took off her robe, revealing nothing but her naked body underneath.
"Uh..." Leonard gulped, taken by surprise. God my girlfriend is so hot. Best prom EVER, he thought - years of expecting to go to prom alone and he'd ended up with the hottest girl in school and she was now standing naked in front of him. "Yeah."
Smirking, Penny got under the covers, straddling him. "Thought so."
The following week was the final week of the academic semester, and that signaled one thing: end-of-year summer blowout parties. While some found it strange to have prom and then another week of school, the majority enjoyed having the two weekends to celebrate and a relaxed school week in between. Leonard and his friends were going to do their usual extreme game night, but Penny this time decided she would go to the party like she had all the years previously. It would be her last time seeing quite a few of the people there, and a part of her did miss the fun of partying with her friends. She reasoned with herself that she hadn't been to a party in a long time and this was a good reason to go to one, so she could really go all out.
She got ready with Kim and it was almost like they'd gone back two years in time; giggling away in her bedroom as they sipped on wine neither of their parents knew about before trying to leave the house pretending they hadn't been drinking at all, even though they both knew full well her parents knew what was going on.
Soon enough, Penny could feel the effects of the alcohol taking over. Her lack of alcohol drinking had turned her into somewhat of a lightweight, and it didn't help that she was eager to drink anything offered to her. Everybody ended up playing a game of 'Never Have I Ever' - a game that Penny usually hated, especially when it inevitably turned to more sexual topics and she would usually end up not drinking for the best part of an hour until somebody came up with something else as they ran out of positions or embarrassing occurrences in the bedroom. However this time she found herself drinking almost every single round. She had skipped out on this game last year, having been in the middle of a relationship issue with Leonard. As she continued to drink, the confessions becoming worse and worse, she realized how far her relationship with him had come over the past year. From not being able to reciprocate his "I love you" to making the decision to move to New Jersey for him - and everything in between (she giggled to herself as she thought everything in-between the sheets). She quickly texted him what she thought was an eloquent "Just wanted to say I love you" but actually read just sayin i love you LOTS before re-focusing on the game. Just as she was beginning to think she'd never stop drinking (boy, Leonard really likes to experiment, she thought as she took another swig from her bottle) there finally came something she hadn't done.
"Yes! Now that I haven't done!" Penny exclaimed excitedly, slamming her bottle down onto the ground.
"Yet." Kim nudged Penny, thought it turned into more of a lean as she tried to regain her balance.
"Shut up!" Penny giggled as everyone burst out laughing. "You drank to this one, that's pretty slutty."
"And you are slowly but surely joining the slut parade." Kim raised her bottle with a knowing grin.
"Ha, the slut parade!" Lucy cackled. "I think Jamie's at the head of that committee."
"She's having a baby, not a threesome." Penny pointed out - she had never taken lightly to young mothers being labeled as sluts, given her family's history. "Doesn't make her a slut."
"Oh, don't rule out the threesome." Valerie scrunched up her face. "Trust me. Really, really don't rule it out. That's all I'm saying about the slut parade!"
"Oh my God, who was it with?" Penny's eyes grew wide. She could never not get involved in the gossip, especially once the alcohol got involved.
"I'm not gonna be naming any names but... Sean was involved." Valerie whispered the last part as though that accounted for contradicting her not naming any names.
"Sean?" Kim slapped Penny's arm. "No way! He said he's never even made out with Jamie!"
"Man it's a good thing nobody in here is going out with Sean." Valerie laughed.
"Hey, I went out with Sean!" Lucy pouted.
"Valerie slept with him."
"Hey! That was one time!"
"One time? That's not what I heard."
Penny had to laugh; at least she wasn't involved in any of these confusing who-dated-who systems.
"Oh God." Penny groaned as she awoke the next morning. "Oh God."
"Shut up." Kim mumbled from beside her.
Rolling over slowly, Penny reached a hand out to feel around for her phone. Peering at the screen in protest to it's offending brightness, she looked at the time. "I know you told me to shut up but you have work in two hours."
"Oh my God I hate my life. I'm officially no longer a student and instead I'm a soon-to-be full time waitress. Fuck I hate everything." Kim grumbled, sitting up and reaching for her phone. "Ugh, I literally want to die right now!"
"Okay well you hurry up and get us breakfast and water so you can drop me home and go to work." Penny said, lying back down and bringing the covers over her head. "You can die after that."
"I'm gonna make Lexie get us food." Kim decided, texting her sister. "After I had to clean up her sick last time she owes me more than just a car ride home."
"As long as I get food. And water. A lot of water."
Eating breakfast became a constant battle between wanting to throw up but needing the food in their stomachs whilst discussing what they could remember of the night before, which was very little. While Kim had a shower, Penny scavenged around the mess that was Kim's room for her belongings; locating her heels in two separate corners of the room. She couldn't help but tease her friend when she got into her work uniform and rub her own day off in her face.
Halfway through the journey to Penny's house Penny suddenly sat up in her seat, the seatbelt locking from the sudden movement. "Can you drop me off at Leonard's instead?"
"Why? You wanna do that thing you haven't done with him?" Kim smirked.
"God I hate that game even more now that I have a boyfriend." Penny groaned.
"That's not a no, so... I'm gonna take that as a yes."
"No! I'm not going over to do that!" Penny clarified, rolling her eyes. "I'm just going over to see him. I wanna spend some time with my boyfriend, is that okay with you?" Penny scoffed, glaring at Kim. "Plus my parents would kill me if they saw me like this; I haven't come home drunk or hungover in... a long time."
"It would be so funny if you came home like this and told them you're moving to New Jersey."
"That would not be funny. That would be the opposite of funny. That would be Penny getting murdered for multiple reasons."
"I don't get it; if your parents are so supportive of you and think Leonard is so great, why would they hate the idea of you moving to New Jersey?" Kim asked.
"It's New Jersey. It's... far. They were worried about Bridget moving to Kearney and that's only a couple hours away by car. You know how they are."
"But you're not Bridget. You're way more... composed than Bridget was, even at your age."
"Bridget moved to Kearney because she looked for a job further from home and needed to have her own space in life after the mess that was her teenage years got to her. My parents got that; they were there through it all. They hated that they couldn't protect her and that she'd be so far away if she needed them, but they understood. I'm moving all the way to New Jersey for a guy. As much as they love Leonard, that's all they're gonna see. Eighteen-year-old daughter moving to a different state for a boy. Seventeen-year-old daughter making dumb decisions."
"But they'll get over that. Sure they'll freak the hell out at first - and then they'll sit down and your Dad'll do that thing where he sits in his chair and looks at you for a while, and your Mom will give you a lecture about life and then they'll be fine."
"Well they're gonna have to be fine with it because it's not up to them." Penny said stubbornly, folding her arms. "It's just scary - the thought of telling them."
"The sooner you tell them, the longer they'll have to come to terms with it. You can't just tell them the day you're leaving."
"I'm not gonna leave it that long, I've still got a whole year of school here!"
"So don't waste it. Seriously, make it count. Prove to your parents that you're not just this seventeen-eighteen-year-old doing something stupid. I know you're not doing something stupid but parents need that to be clear, especially because they're so protective of you. And if they think you don't like, ever drink anymore, either you or they are seriously deluded. Why are you getting so serious on me right now in the car anyway?" Kim raised a brow at Penny.
"I don't know, I was thinking about the game last night and somehow that led to this. They just would have a massive go at me for 'oh, I thought you were smarter than that now to get so drunk' and other lectures Dad has given all his children. It's so dumb. Mom either doesn't care or she's all over the top about it." Penny shrugged. "There's too much going on right now and I don't think I could handle them in this state."
"Seriously, what is up with all this serious crap about life? Stop thinking so much, it's freaking me out."
"Leave me alone, I'm hungover."
"Ah, there's the Penny your parents would remember and hate - moody, hungover girl with a bit of an attitude." Kim laughed.
"Oh shut up. At least I'm not working. Oldie. I'll send Leonard and his friends there to eat and make it hell for you."
"Gee, okay, I'm sorry. And I'm not an oldie, I'm just... not a student. Good thing you're off to see Leonard to cheer you up. Maybe you two should do that thing you haven't done. That'll take the stress off your mind for a while."
"I hate you, you know? I'll text my Mom and say you're working and would love to see them. It has been a while. She won't shut up. She'll order all three courses." Penny warned.
"God, good luck to Leonard dealing with you."
"Leonard, please can you not be watching TV right now. It's killing my head." Penny groaned, grabbing one edge of his hoodie and stretching it over her face in agony.
"Sorry." Leonard switched off the television, leaving them sitting in just the light coming from his nightlight, despite the fact that it was only the afternoon. He watched her uncertainly as she released his hoodie and rolled over onto her side away from him. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah." She mumbled unconvincingly.
"Are you sure? You've been all... weird." Leonard grimaced; he wasn't sure how to phrase that, and in her current mood he didn't want to annoy her further.
"I'm just hungover and my mind is thinking too much crap and I hate alcohol and I hate myself for drinking it and you're pissing me off because you just carried on watching your Star Wars crap instead of even talking to your girlfriend and it took you this long to figure out that I'm not okay."
"It's actually a documentary about-" Leonard stopped himself, suddenly realizing his mistake. "I'm sorry." Okay, so perhaps he had continued to watch his program after Penny had arrived at his door without him knowing she would be coming over. All he'd asked was if she had wanted some water. He shuffled himself down the bed slightly to lie down properly, turning onto his side and wrapping an arm around her waist, her back to his chest. "What kind of crap is your hungover mind thinking about?"
Penny scowled in silence for a moment, but soon relaxed into him and intertwined her fingers with his over her stomach. "Everything. School, New Jersey, my parents, Bridget, you, driving lessons... stupid dumb drinking games."
"How is your mind thinking about all of that right now? I thought I was the one who always overthinks things?"
"I don't even know. I guess now school is officially over for the year, things are just getting really... real." Penny sighed. "I was okay until I got in the car with Kim and it all just hit me. Like, last year at that party I was terrified because you'd told me you loved me and this year I'm practically the sluttiest girl there because I've done all this stuff with you and... so much changed in that year, you know? So much happened. And now all this other stuff is gonna happen that's gonna suck and I don't want it to happen. It's not fair."
He wasn't exactly sure how exactly being 'practically the sluttiest' linked to all the things she had mentioned, but Leonard went along with it anyway. "There'll still be a lot of good stuff happening. Things will just be different."
"I don't want things to be different."
"Me neither, Penny."
"You're lying. You want to go to Princeton."
"I want to go to Princeton. I don't want to be a plane ride away from you. That's not the same."
Biting her lip, Penny slowly turned onto her back then onto her other side so she was facing him. "I know. I'm sorry. I just meant... I don't know what I meant."
"Perhaps at the next party you don't drink as much as you did last night." Leonard chuckled lightly.
"Shut up. I'll be saying that to you when you're at your college parties." Penny smiled.
"Like I'll be invited to any of those."
"You will be. And you have to get that drunk, because I want to have the opportunity to tease you about it at least once in my life."
"Great. I look forward to it."
"And I wanna come to at least one of your college parties. That'll be so cool."
"I can't believe you're thinking of college parties when you're hungover. You're crazy."
"I'm glad I came straight here you know. You're much better at Fixing Hungover Penny than my parents. They just lecture me and Dad hates me for a few hours and Mom explains the consequences of my actions." Penny rolled her eyes. "Like, obviously I do, I just didn't think about them at the time."
"They do kinda think you've become... I dunno, someone who doesn't party."
"They know I went to the party; they just don't think I'm like that at parties. And usually I'm not. Just yesterday. I got carried away."
"I can tell."
Giggling, Penny poked him in the chest. "Funny."
"Just being honest."
"I suppose I can forgive you. I was a Bad Penny. But hey, I haven't been Bad Penny for a long time."
"I can remember you being a Bad Penny recently." Leonard smirked.
Poking him in the chest again, Penny bit her lip. "Not that Bad Penny."
"I'm not sorry."
"Didn't think you would be." Penny giggled. "Wanna go eat at the Cheesecake Factory and make Kim's day hell?"
"Why are you punishing Kim for this?"
"She made me drink five shots in a row. And she's not gonna be driving me to school next year."
"Okay then yeah, Cheesecake Factory it is!"
