A/N - Happy Hello Kitty Monday! :)


"Kim!" Penny grinned as she saw her friend walk into the staff room.

"You're smiling!" Kim gasped, walking straight over to hug Penny. She pulled away, holding her at arms length. "And you don't look like you haven't slept for a year!"

"I know." Penny smiled.

"So, what's got you feeling good again?" Kim asked as she pulled off her jacket, although she was pretty certain she already knew the answer.

"Well... I spoke to Leonard." Penny said shyly, smoothing down her apron.

"Ooh. Just spoke?" Kim winked.

"Yes!" Penny rolled her eyes. "After the dinner thing the other day I kind of walked out. Priya was being a bitch and Sheldon was being... Sheldon. Leonard came over to see if I was okay and we talked about some stuff. Oh, and he gave me his hoodie."

"Aww," Kim put a hand over her heart. "That's so cute!"

"Hmm, I know," Penny opened her locker to show her his hoodie, neatly hung up on the hook at the side. "I think I've been wearing it too much but I can't help it."

"So really, all you needed was to talk to him?" Kim asked, closing her locker and tying her apron.

"Yeah, I guess so." Penny nodded, shutting her locker and following Kim to the door. "I just didn't realize it until he came and sat down next to me that that's what I needed."

"At least you got there." Kim smiled back at Penny as they walked into the restaurant.

"Wow, so busy." Penny said sarcastically as she observed the empty restaurant.

"We still have like, ten minutes before it opens." Kim shrugged, walking over to a table near the doors. "I spoke to the manager, he says everything's set up already."

"Yeah, he said that to me too, he was just finishing up the tills when I came in." Penny nodded, sitting down opposite Kim at the table. "Anyway, I didn't talk to Leonard about... everything. Just some stuff that had really got to me that week, and he was the best. Oh, and his girlfriend called, but it wasn't him she had meant to call. He was all 'oh, see you tomorrow when you've spoken to Sanjay'... I told him he couldn't know for sure that's who she was meant to call, but I'm pretty sure it was."

"He actually said that to Priya?"

"No, she'd already hung up on him by then." Penny sighed.

"Okay, no offence to Leonard or anything, but... if he's bothered by Priya doing that, and he still comes over to talk to you all the time, and you've kissed and whatever... why is he with her?"

"Ugh, I don't know, okay." Penny slammed her hands on the table, groaning. "Probably because she's smart, pretty, and doesn't have a gazillion issues with things like commitment and isn't scared of having feelings. In that sense I can see why they're together. But she's such a bitch. I dunno... maybe she's different when it's just them two, maybe she's nicer." Lifting her head, Penny glared at Kim. "Great, now I'm overthinking everything."

"Sorry, sorry," Kim put her hands up apologetically.

"The thing is, I want him to be happy. I'm just waiting until the moment I feel happy that he's with her."

"That makes sense." Kim nodded, patting Penny's arm sympathetically. "You'll get there. At least you've still got him in your life."

"True. And I'm so glad I do." I need him in my life, Penny thought to herself, bringing a hand up to rub her temples.

"Good. Now get up, we've got customers arriving and you get to use your smile at work again!"


Curled up on the sofa, Penny left her Physics for Dummies book open, turning it upside down and placing it next to her on the couch as she reached for her phone, which had just alerted her of a text message.

It had been, for the most part, a significantly better week. Whenever she saw Leonard, and he was without Priya, he would give her a hug and ask how she was doing. They would catch each other up on their way up or down the stairs, sometimes stopping in the hallway or lobby for a chat. It was this more than anything, which kept a smile on her face, for the most part.

However, there was one little thing that had been troubling Penny. She had heard through the grapevine that was the girls, from their men, that Leonard had been spending an increasing amount of time with Priya, especially sleeping round at Raj's (Raj ending up on his couch). Despite how often she told herself and her friends that she was glad Leonard was moving forwards in his relationship, and that the whole texting Sanjay thing was probably not as big an issue as she made it out to be, she still hated it. In her eyes, the more time Leonard spent with Priya doing couples things, the less time Leonard would spend with Penny, doing... anything. Of course she wanted him to be happy, but she just couldn't feel it for herself sometimes.

Earlier that day she had done her presentation for her acting class. She had been slightly nervous about the realization that now, it wouldn't be just her mirror, or her scene partner or teacher watching her - it would be the whole class. Leonard had wished her luck that morning as he passed her in the hallway, and she kept those words in her mind the whole day. She managed to get through the scene comfortably, and felt she had done a pretty good job considering it was a big change from the material she would have usually chosen. They would be getting their feedback the following week, but her teacher told her that she was overall impressed. Penny realized that Leonard had been right; whatever feedback she got next week, would be what she used to build on what she had begun working on here.

Upon returning home, she had sent him a text to tell him that she thought her scene had done great and thank him for the good luck. He had just replied, and she smiled to herself as she unlocked her phone to read the message.

Glad to hear it! I'm on my way home now. You want me to stop over at yours and you can tell me how it went? x

She didn't care how eager she must have seemed when she quickly tapped out Yes x in response, and quickly jumped up from the couch to have the shower she'd been going for before locating her Physics book beneath the Husker's t-shirt she'd deemed acceptably clean for wear tonight. Though now Leonard would be coming over, perhaps some actual clean clothes would be a better choice.

After a quick shower (she didn't want to be in there when Leonard arrived), Penny pulled on a pair of black jeans and a blue top from the pile of freshly laundered clothes she'd brought up yesterday. She managed to quickly put away a few things to make the place seem somewhat tidier before she heard a knock at the door, and she grinned as she opened the door to him.

"Hey, come in," she said, gesturing into the apartment.

"You look happy," he commented as he stepped inside and she shut the door.

"My scene went well and now you're here, of course I'm happy!" Penny smiled as they both sat down on the couch. "And I finally moved onto the next chapter of my Physics book."

"That's impressive." Leonard nodded. "What's this one about? Oh, no, tell me about your scene first!"

"Okay." Penny shuffled a bit so her legs were crossed beneath her. "So, I was pretty nervous about it because... well, nobody apart from Mark and my teacher have really seen me doing that scene and that kind of character before. And you saw the script, it's really... different, you know? I think I did pretty well, like I didn't mess up or anything. But I kept on overthinking and worrying after every line, 'did I do that right?' or 'oh, I should have done it like this'. I'm trying not to look back on it too much until I get feedback next week. Like you said though, at least I can build on it."

"Aw, well, that's good then!" Leonard smiled. "I'm glad it went well and you didn't mess up. Did you enjoy doing it?"

"Mm, yeah." Penny tilted her head to the side. "Not as much as the easier, more light-hearted stuff but I guess that's just because I'm not used it. I had to think more."

"Ah, thinking, that's never fun." Leonard joked. "Especially for you."

"Shut up." Penny rolled her eyes and tapped his arm lightly. "I'll do some more thinking once I have the feedback. I hope it's good."

"I bet it will be. Even if it's not as good as you normally get, just remember, that was a new experience for you." Leonard reassured her. Suddenly her frowned, remembering the night she had shown him the script and told him about her scene partner. "How did... how did Mark do?"

"Yeah, he did pretty good. I wasn't thinking too much about him, I was kinda busy thinking about my own acting and just going off his lines... hmm, probably should have focused on him more I guess..."

"Yeah... has he asked you out again, or...?" Leonard trailed off, now wondering if he really should have asked that question. But his mind was distracted now; he had to know.

Penny shook her head, giving him a soft smile. "No. After the last few rejections I think he may have gotten the hint."

"Good, good." Leonard slowly nodded, before moving on quickly to avoid an awkward silence. "So, the Physics book. How is that working out for you?"

"Pretty good, actually!" Penny said excitedly, picking up the book from the table, where she'd moved it to during her quick tidy-up. "Some things take me a while to understand though. Like that equation there-" she pointed to it, "-confused me at first. But then I looked at it again a few times and it was pretty simple to see what they meant. I think I was just looking for it to be complicated."

"The explanation for the equation is right there." Leonard pointed to a grey box at the bottom of the page.

"Yeah well I know that now, silly." Penny scoffed.

"Alright, alright, Miss Smart-Pants."

Penny looked at him thoughtfully. "I like being called that. It's a first, but I like it." Better than panties anyway. Oh God, Kim would love this. Smarty Panties... yup, I'm so not telling her about this.

Flicking through the book, Leonard frowned in concentration. Some of the stuff did seem pretty tricky; he was impressed that she had gotten this far already, considering how confused she looked whenever he or Sheldon would begin talking about work in front of her. He was sure she could probably do a simple equation without too much difficulty, but it was probably more a matter of wanting to do an equation as opposed to learning about it. The same with the theories: Penny could probably understand what she'd read through so far an give a basic explanation, but applying it to something would be something she'd have to want to do in order for it to be effective. "This is some pretty good stuff in here, you know."

"Yeah, it's pretty neat. Some bits are still really boring but other parts are pretty cool." Penny shrugged. "Mm, not as cool as my science experiments kit though."

"Nothing is cooler than the science experiment kit." Leonard raised a brow. "That's why I do Experimental Physics - it's cooler. I get to mess around with stuff... obviously on a bigger, more serious scale than what's in that kit, though."

"Oh!" Penny's jaw dropped as her eyes widened in realization. "That's what your job is?"

"Yeah, kinda."

"Huh. Though I'm guessing you don't make fireworks in a jar all day."

"Nah. Those are fun but wouldn't really help any of the projects we have lined up."

"Okay, well, that kinda makes more sense to me now. Though in my mind, it's still a lab full of rainbows in a jar and soda-vinegar volcano explosions, so."

"I still have to like, write papers and stuff, all the boring things associated with Physics."

Scrunching up her face, Penny shook her head. "Way less cool. I think I'll stick to this book and my experiment kit. Anything more than that is a no-go for me!"

"Well, considering everybody in the group has something to do with Physics or Biology and all that kind of stuff, we need you to keep us from turning into Crazy Scientists." Leonard laughed.

"It's too late for Sheldon, but I can try with the rest of you." Penny grinned, noting to herself that he didn't include Priya's being a lawyer in his summary of the group, but she tried not to dwell on this too much. "You want something to drink, or eat?"

"I just had dinner, thanks." Leonard smiled. He thought he saw a slightly disappointed look fall across her face for a moment, and he quickly added "but some hot cocoa would be nice if you have any?"

"Hot cocoa... yes! I do!" Penny jumped up quickly, walking over to the first cabinet. She pushed through a few packets until she found a tin at the back. "Swiss hot cocoa!"

Turning around on the couch to face the kitchen, Leonard grinned. "Is that the one I bought when-" he stopped, not wanting to bring up the point of we were supposed to go to Switzerland for our first Valentines Day together. "Is that the one I bought you?"

"Yup." Penny nodded, smiling gently, her mind in the exact same place his was. "So, you want some?"

"Yeah. That would be great."

"Okay. Two mugs of Swiss hot cocoa, coming up. You can pick something to watch on the television if you like."

Setting about preparing the drinks, she heard Leonard switch on the television and flick through the channels. She hoped he wouldn't find one of his Sci-Fi films on somewhere, though she knew she'd still watch it with him if he wanted to. Maybe put up a little argument but give in anyway. By the time she had returned to the couch and handed him his mug, he had settled on a sitcom she had only watched a few times before but never really gotten into.

"What is this?" Penny asked, sitting down across the couch so her back was leaning on the arm rest.

"I don't know, but there's nothing else on, and you watch this channel quite a lot." Leonard shrugged. "Soy milk?"

"Yeah." Penny nodded. "Okay, I guess it's not a good night for TV." She kicked off her flip-flops and tucked her feet under Leonard's legs.

For a few minutes, they sat and watched it, cautiously sipping at their hot drinks as they sat comfortably. Leonard couldn't help but let his mind wander from the television; it wasn't really funny and too much was going on at once. His mind was currently on Penny's feet sitting comfortably under his leg, like she always did when her feet were cold. He had told her many times that perhaps she should put on some socks, but she never listened; she insisted on keeping her feet there. Secondly, she had soy milk. He didn't remember her ever having soy milk in their fridge, apart from when they were dating and he'd pick it up at the grocery store or bring it over from his own apartment if he knew he was staying over. He considered asking her why all of a sudden she owned soy milk, but then he supposed asking that question would also be kind of out of the blue. And he knew it was soy milk because he'd had a few sips already and he felt fine. Usually he'd be trying to calculate how much time he had left before he really needed to get up and use the bathroom. He looked over at her and saw that she wasn't really watching the television either.

"You want to put a film on or something?" he offered.

"No-o," Penny moaned, turning her head to look at him.

"Why not? Do you like this program?"

She shook her head, and then looked at him shyly. "I'm comfy and if you get up my feet will be cold."

"Oh. Alright then." He couldn't quite help the slight blush that crept across his face at the way she said that. It was just adorable.

The pair sat with a peacefully comfortable silence between them as they tried to watch the sitcom. To Penny's delight, the next program on was Friends, which they watched gladly. Every so often they would laugh at a joke, which always made Leonard smile for a while afterwards - Penny had seen every episode numerous times, yet she would still laugh at the jokes. That was another thing he found adorable - when she laughed along to jokes on a show she was watching, or cried along with a sad part of a movie.

As the episode finished and the commercials began, Leonard turned to Penny, expecting her to have fallen asleep as usual. She turned her head away from the screen to look at him too and gave him a smile, turning back to the television before he could return the smile properly.

"See, that's the good thing about single and not looking for a guy," Penny said suddenly, gesturing to the television.

Leonard turned to look back at the screen too now and saw that it was showing a commercial for an at-home bikini wax kit. "What?" He raised a brow.

"Don't have to bother with any of that." Penny shrugged. "Like, I don't have to worry about spending money on waxing or getting my nails done and I can get away with doing my eyebrows at home instead of the salon. And I don't have to dedicate so much shower time to shaving my legs."

"Wow. Says the woman who shouted at me for asking why it takes you so long in the shower." Leonard chuckled.

"Ugh, shut up." Penny rolled her eyes. "It's just nice that I don't have to bother with that. Not to the point it's disgusting but... just not so much as I usually would. Wouldn't you want to like... I dunno, just not shave and grow a bit of a beard, just so for a little while you don't have to bother?"

"Umm..." Leonard frowned. "I don't know. I'm not really sure not bothering with a bikini wax is the same as growing a beard, you know."

"Yes, I know, but now we're talking about beards. Would you?"

"Well I already kinda had one after the North Pole trip. I dunno if I'd do that again though. I guess it was nice not to bother with it."

"Yeah, I remember that, you looked really -" Penny stopped suddenly, her eyes wide, cheeks red. While Leonard took the extra few seconds to get where her sentence was headed, she cleared her throat and looked back at the television, which had now changed over to a different commercial. "Basically... I'm not going to buy that home waxing kit." Or talk ever, ever again.

"Uh, okay." Leonard cleared his throat too, before standing awkwardly, forgetting completely that he had been keeping her feet warm. "I should probably go back now, I've got to finish off some stuff for work."

"Oh, yeah, of course." Penny instinctively got up, her feet still warm, and walked over to the door with Leonard. She sighed, looking at him apologetically, before giving him a small smile. "Thank you for the company."

"No problem. Thanks for inviting me." Leonard returned her smile fully this time. "I'm glad your acting presentation went well. Don't think about it too much, but let me know when you find out how you did."

"I'll see you before next week, won't I?" Penny asked, almost desperately, her brow raised.

"Yeah, of course." Leonard reassured her.

"Okay then." Penny stepped forward to hug him, and breathed a sigh of relief when she felt his arms curl around her too. It wasn't as long as she would have liked, but it was a safely timed hug. She patted his chest lightly when they pulled apart. "Goodnight, Leonard."

"Night, Penny."

Watching as he left and entered 4A, Penny felt herself smile. However, that smile turned into a groan as she shut her door and grabbed her phone from where she had left it earlier and flopped onto the sofa, opening her messages with Kim.

Oh man i just told Leonard about bikini waxing and leg shaving and I don't think I should be allowed to talk like ever. At least blow-by-blows was funny. x

Groaning once more, Penny sat up again to turn off the television before shutting out the light and heading to her bedroom. She had just changed into her pajamas when she saw her phone light up and Kim's name appeared on her screen next to the message icon.

At least you painted a nice picture in his head of pantie-area and below! ;) xxx

Confused, Penny re-read the text she had sent, before sighing and tapping out a reply.

Noo i said i havent been doing any of that as often :( kmn! x

Occupying herself with brushing her teeth and cleaning her face, Penny thought about how Leonard hadn't even seemed bothered by that part of the conversation in the first place. He had just laughed at her and reminded her that before, it had been a big deal to have that time in the shower. Smiling into her flannel, she realized a lot of their conversations were the same as they were when they were dating - they were easy and comfortable, until something was brought up that would remind them both that they were simply friends now. Despite knowing that would be difficult, she always hated having to remind herself that now they were broken up and he was in a relationship, some comments simply weren't appropriate.

To her delight, when she picked up her phone after getting into bed, Kim had replied.

Wow, smooth. Way to get a guy into your panties, panties ;) xxx

Penny scoffed. This reply wasn't the delight she had been hoping for. Though really, she shouldn't have expected anything more from Kim.


"Oh man!" Penny frowned as she hit the refresh button on the internet furiously to no avail. She squinted over to the bottom corner at the internet connection symbol Leonard had told her indicated whether or not she was connected to the Wi-Fi or not. Picking up her laptop, she carried it tentatively around her apartment in the hopes it just wasn't picking up the connection. She resigned with a sigh, knowing what this meant. "Not again."

Balancing the laptop on one arm, she left her apartment and knocked on the door of 4A, before opening it and immediately seeing Sheldon.

"Hey, Sheldon, did you change your Wi-Fi password again?"


"Uh... that is a beautiful tapestry."

Quickly closing the laptop on Mr. and Mrs. Koothrappali, Leonard turned his head in the direction of the bedroom Priya had just run into and slammed shut.

She was his girlfriend. How had she not told him she was moving back to India? That was something people shared, did they not? Moving back to their home on the other side of the globe?

He wasn't even sure if he was angry at her. He knew he was upset, only he wasn't sure if that was even because of the fact that his girlfriend was returning to India. It was more that she hadn't bothered telling him this, that upset him.

Just when he thought that finally, he was in a place where he could view his relationship as healthy, this happened. Priya had been spending a lot more time with him, and less with her laptop and phone, which had been greatly reassuring him. He had actually begun to convince himself that Kim had made up the whole Sanjay thing for the sake of being on Penny's side as his ex-girlfriends friend. Was Priya moving back to India for Sanjay? Did he know she was coming back? Shaking his head and placing it in his hands, Leonard sighed. Likely.

Things with Penny had been going well too lately. While they still had their awkward moments, and he admittedly still felt a certain attraction to her that he figured would never leave him, things had been much better. There were no more make-out sessions that did or did not lead to sex. They could spend time together, as comfortably as they would have when they were dating, but even better because they were even closer friends now. Conversation came naturally again, they could laugh at each other, and hug each other. Sometimes they would give each other a kiss on the cheek. They were finally, he had decided, best friends, and without benefits.

He'd gotten that separation. His girlfriend, and his best friend. He'd even begun to think that perhaps they two of them would get along as proper friends now.

And now Priya was just moving back to India without telling him?

Leonard stood abruptly, deciding he couldn't be here. Not right now anyway. If Priya didn't want to talk, then fine, they wouldn't talk now. They could do that later. Maybe he was overreacting right now and things would work themselves out later.

Driving home so fast he was sure Penny would be impressed, he found himself climbing up towards his apartment in next to no time. He tried to tell himself the whole time that he was driving home that it wasn't as though Priya was moving to India tomorrow. A month. She still would have had time to tell him. But still, she hadn't even mentioned that it was a possibility that she would be going back.

Stopping on the fourth floor, he looked towards Penny's door. She would have answers. Even if she didn't, she would listen to him while he expressed the debate in his mind. But it was late, and he remembered she was working early tomorrow because she had her acting class feedback that evening... sighing, he turned back to his own door.

"A disappointing night alone on the couch it is, then." Leonard mumbled as he stepped inside and kicked off his shoes, practically falling onto the couch, face-first.


A/N - You all know what's coming next... aah! It's almost done, but I'm trying to get far enough ahead with my writing so I can do two updates a week (maybe). Busy times! Let me know what you think :)