Leonard's Decision!
This is just after Leonard had ended his relationship with Penny.
Disclaimer 1: I rarely, if ever, write cannon. I write how the story takes me.
Disclaimer 2: I don't own TBBT or any of their characters. To clarify, I OWN NOTHING.
Chapter 2: The Plan
Leonard sat up on the roof of his apartment building staring at the sky. He had just done something extremely painful and just wanted to be alone. He was used to pain. Since as far back as he could remember he had been in pain. He had no childhood memories of happy times with his mother. He could not remember his mother ever picking him up and holding him. He knew it had to have happened. There is no way you can have a child and never pick him up. It's just not possible but for the life of him he could not remember one time. He had never received any affection from his parents. His mother was cruel and cold and his father was just indifferent. It was like his mom just considered him a mistake and wanted nothing to do with him and his father recognized that he was his son only because, scientifically speaking, (his sperm and his wife's egg combined to form a human—half from the mother and half from the father). So, Leonard received no love at home from his parents. He was never close with his brother and sister. He never understood this. Usually, siblings cling to each other thinking the only thing they have is each other but this never happened in the Hofstadter home. It wasn't until later, when Leonard was an adult that he realized his mother had purposely kept them from being close. She used her kids as research material for her book. She had given his brother and sister praise and encouragement while barely tolerating Leonard. Since his siblings were getting attention from their mother, they did not feel isolated or abandoned and had no reason to seek out Leonard. They also were encouraged to ignore Leonard and were rewarded for doing so. Leonard was also bullied and mistreated at school. Leonard's brilliance in school was recognized early in his school years. Unfortunately, the praise he received from his teachers was overshadowed by his jealous schoolmates and bullies. While growing up, Leonard suffered emotional pain at home and physical pain at school. So yes, Leonard knew pain well, but the hurt he felt now made the pain he had suffered growing up seem like nothing. This pain was more intense because, looking at it from a clinical standpoint; he knew his feelings for Penny were far too deep for him to be just a friend to her. He knew he could not be near her without wanting her. He was deeply in love with a woman he could not have. He could not stay in the same state, let alone the same city and apartment building with her. He would not be able to bear it when he, inevitably, would see some strange man come out of Penny's apartment. So, just in case this outcome came to fruition, he had come up with the plan. He had put things in place months ago in preparation for the talk. The plan would make his transition to his new life almost seamless as far as logistics was concerned. He didn't even want to think about the emotional side.
The plan was a collection of hard decisions that Leonard had made months in advance so he would not be making them when he was in an emotional state. Those decisions had led to a collection of moves Leonard would have to make once the plan was executed. Leonard had been in talks with Dr. Siebert, the president of the California Institute of Technology and Dr. Gablehauser, the head of the Physics Department at the California Institute of Technology. The talks had been long and sometimes loud and argumentative. Even though Leonard thought of himself as an ok scientist, both men knew Leonard was a brilliant scientist and did not want to lose him. Leonard had explained more than once that it had nothing to with them or his working environment. That this was purely for personal reasons that he was not a liberty to discuss. They both grudgingly agreed seeing how adamant he was about leaving and having this plan in place if things did not go well for whatever he was planning. He did warn them that, if executed, he would be done at the university the day of the phone call and would come in that night to pack up his things. Dr Siebert advised Leonard that they had positions at other colleges and there was one that fit his needs. He said if he considered it, he would still be employed by Cal Tech even though he worked on another university's campus. Leonard was open to the idea and asked what he needed to do to find out more about the job and who he needed to contact if he wanted to accept the job. Dr. Siebert made the phone call to his colleague, Dr Connors, at Texas A&M. Dr Siebert asked him if they still had the position open for an Experimental Scientist that specialized in lasers. Dr. Connors said that it was still open and that they were having a hard time filling it because the position was also a teaching position. Leonard explained his situation and said he would be willing to teach to take the job. Dr Connors was ecstatic at the possibility at having Leonard. Unknown to Leonard, Dr Siebert and Dr. Gablehauser always spoke quite highly of Leonard when they attended high level black tie events and in their monthly university reports. Dr. Connors also informed Leonard that the position came with a raise. Even Dr. Gablehauser and Dr. Siebert didn't know about that. He explained that it was something that was added to make the job more appealing since they were having a problem filling it. Since the position is a Cal Tech position, you will still be getting paid by them but since it will be Texas A&M students you are lecturing, you will also be getting paid by Texas A&M, Dr Connors explained. We also offer a relocation package that includes any fees you may incur like storage or breaking a lease. It also includes travel expenses and hotel costs while you find a place to live. Leonard was very relieved how everything was working out. Leonard had asked Dr Connors if he could send him the name and number of a reputable realtor and received more good news. Dr Connors informed him that he could look for places of his own but the university had two, three and four bedroom homes that they offered their Professors and visiting dignitaries from other countries. The homes were paid for and Leonard would just be required to pay utilities. Since the homes were on the university campus, yard care, trash pickup and landscaping was part of the universities overall landscaping package. The university had to remain nicely groomed to entice prospective students. There were no pets allowed and the only family members that were allowed to live with him were his spouse and kids. Leonard had no problem with this since he had asthma and would never be getting a pet and he was single so a two bedroom home would be perfect. Leonard advised Dr. Connors that he would let him know his decision very soon. He had a personal situation to attend to and he would inform him shortly thereafter. Leonard had already spoken to the owner of a moving company and explained he would need them on standby to send a truck to his place immediately to get his things and put them in the storage. Leonard was very meticulous in his planning and took pictures of everything he would want them to get in case he wasn't able to be there when they came.
What surprised Leonard most was how little preparation he had to do. He didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. The apartment was in Sheldon's name so there would be no lease to break. The roommate agreement was just some cockamamie agreement his whacko roommate had made up that basically had Leonard being a slave to him in order to share his apartment. He was not worried about that in the least plus he would leave 3 months of his half of the rent. If he was leaving, that would mean the talk had not gone well and he would have no ties as far as family was concerned since he would no longer have a girlfriend. He would leave letters for all of his friends explaining why he did things the way he did it. He knew it would be a crappy way to leave but he really didn't want to face anyone. He would have all of his mail forwarded to the university where Dr. Gablehauser would gather it and forward it to where ever he was. He did not want anyone to know since none of them could keep a secret from each other. He would basically just need to get in his car and go.
Leonard decided he would stay in a hotel room tonight and execute his plan in the morning. There was no sense in delaying. He could write the letters tonight and leave them at Sheldon's tomorrow along with his keys once the moving company was done. Leonard did not want to go in the apartment and face his nutty roommate so he simply went down to the street and got in his car. Before driving off, he took his cell and turned it off. He was not in the mood to talk to anyone.
Penny had finally gotten up off the floor where she had been crying since Leonard had left. When she had come to the conclusion that she did love Leonard and wanted a life with him, it still had taken her a while to get her thoughts and herself together. Without looking in a mirror, she knew she was a mess. She got up and went to take a shower thinking, I have to talk to Leonard and let him know that he is wrong. I have to let him know that I want all of those beautiful things that he wants. I have to apologize to him for making him feel anything other than the best thing in my life. Before Penny stepped into the shower, she called Leonard. Just as Leonard powered down his phone, Penny hit her speed dial for him. It went straight to voicemail. Penny knew that meant his phone was off and she knew why. It wasn't any secret to any of them that Leonard was head over heels in love with Penny. Knowing him the way she does, she knew he was hurting. She knew how hard it had been for him to say and do the things he did today. She knew he would rather cut off his arm than break up with her. Yes, she knew he was hurting bad and she was hurting for him especially since she was the cause of it. She has to fix this. Penny thought for a moment then started smiling as an idea came to her. She would take a shower, put on that little blue dress that Leonard loved seeing her in and go over to his apartment and explain her feelings to him beg him to take her back. She knew Leonard couldn't resist her and she would use everything in her arsenal to get him back only this time she would make sure he never had a reason to doubt her love and devotion to him. With her plan formulated, Penny headed to the shower feeling much better.
After the shower, makeup and dress, Penny went across the hall to find Leonard. When she walked in, she saw Sheldon in his spot watching TV.
"Hey moon pie" Penny said to Sheldon while smiling.
"Penny," Sheldon exclaimed! "I've told on numerous occasions that only my meemaw calls me that so will you please refrain from calling me that. And why are all gussied up?"
Laughing she said, "ok Sheldon, I'll stop calling you moon pie and I'm all gussied up because I wanted surprise Leonard" she said looking around.
"Is he in his room?"
"No, I haven't seen Leonard since he told me he was going over to see you. He is already late taking me to the train store."
Penny did not like the sound of that. Leonard had not come back to his apartment after he left her and his phone was off. She was starting to get worried. Penny called Howard and Raj and they both said they had not seen or heard from Leonard. Penny was starting to panic.
"Penny, what did you do?" Sheldon asked her.
"What do you mean Sheldon?"
"Well, looking at you it's easy to see that you and Leonard had some kind of a falling out. You are wearing his favorite dress but you are very nervous and calling all of Leonard's friends just because he is not home yet."
Penny put her head down and mumbled something.
"You guys broke up and it's all your fault" Sheldon repeated.
Penny looked up startled and then she remembered.
"Damn your Vulcan hearing! Yes we broke and it's all my fault."
"Well, you two have broken up many many times before and have always gotten back together despite my protests so I'm sure you two will get back together once again."
"No, I don't think so Sheldon, not this time."
"Why is that Penny?"
She looked up with tears in her eyes.
"Because this is the first time that he has broken up with me!"
Sheldon did not have a reply for that. This was a new development. Everyone knew Leonard would always take Penny back no matter what she did but never would Sheldon have ever thought Leonard would break up with Penny.
"Would you like a hot beverage?" Sheldon asked Penny because social convention required it.
Meanwhile, since it was dusk, Leonard had gone to the university to pack up his stuff. He went to his lab first since that would be quick and easy. Well, he thought it would be quick and easy. The actual packing up part was not a problem. It was them memories of the times Penny had come and surprised him here. When he looked at the desk they had made love on, the nostalgia started setting in and his chest started to hurt. He had so many firsts with her. She had brought him out of his shell and given him the strength to stand up for himself. It was ironic that the strength and courage it took for him to end the relationship with Penny was taught to him by Penny. He finished packing up the lab which was basically one box and carried it up to his office. As he started packing up his office, he realized it wouldn't be a lot to pack up in here either. Leonard came to work to work so there were not too many personal items for him to take. He would not be taking any paperwork since the university had to examine it first for proprietary rights. Since technically, he still worked for the university, they would forward all paperwork dealing with his experiments to him in Texas. Leonard ended up with three boxes and wheeled down to security on a dolly.
"Hello Sam," Leonard greeted the security officer.
"Hey Leonard, how are you doing?"
"I'm fine Sam. How is Henry doing with his science?"
Henry is Sam's 14 year old son who had been struggling in science. Leonard had overheard Sam talking about it one day and offered to tutor him.
*****FLASHBACK*****
Leonard is walking by and waves to Sam since Sam is on the phone talking to his wife.
"I know hon but I can't just go up to one of the guys and say can you help my son, he's having problems in his science class. These are for real scientist who do big stuff here," Sam said into the phone. He pauses to listen to what his wife is replying back to him.
"I understand what you are saying baby but they don't pay me to bother these guys with my problems." Again Sam pauses to listen.
"Ok hon, I'll see what I can do. Love you too. Bye."
Sam did not notice that Leonard had stopped after he passed by and was waiting for Sam to finish his call.
"Hello Officer Mitchell" Leonard greeted him.
"Hello Dr. Hofstadter, what can I do for you today?"
"As I was passing by, and mind you I wasn't eavesdropping, I heard you say something about your son having trouble in science and was wondering if I could help?"
"Oh don't worry about it Dr. Hofstadter, I know you wouldn't eavesdrop" Sam said.
To say Sam was surprised that a big time scientist had offered to help his kid would be an understatement. Sam didn't know what scientist charged to tutor but knew he would not be able to afford it. When Sam had asked how much, Leonard had looked insulted.
"Officer Mitchell, I wouldn't think of taking one red cent from you just to help out a fellow scientist with his work" Leonard stated.
Sam was a proud man and had never taken charity in his life and was not about to start now even though he knew if his wife found out he was turning down help for their son because of his pride she would skin him alive.
"Dr. Hofstadter, I'm not a charity case and can take of my family just fine."
"Officer Mitchell, when did you hear anyone call you a charity case? We work at the same place, speak to each other every day and right now have an easy solution to help your son with his science, something I've been told I'm pretty good at" Leonard said smiling.
Sam had a slight smile on his face now because the situation was a little comical. He knew that Dr. Hofstadter was indeed just trying to help and not looking down on him. Everyone liked Dr. Hofstadter because he was a down to earth guy, not one of those stuffy uptight scientists like that Dr. Cooper idiot. He had seen with his own eyes, on a day to day basis, how Dr. Hofstadter treated everyone the same. From the President of the university to the Janitor of the university, everyone got treated the same. Even the students liked him because he treated them like people.
"Ok, Dr. Hofstadter, I accept but I am going to pay you for your services."
"Ok Officer Mitchell if you do two things for me I will accept your terms" Leonard stated while grinning.
Sam almost broke out laughing as he was sure Dr. Hofstadter was having the same problem. Here were two grown men acting like they were negotiating a peace treaty to stop a war rather than tutoring a 14 year old boy. Sam was looking at Leonard slyly trying to figure out what he was up to.
"Ok Dr. Hofstadter, what are these two things?" Sam asked.
"First, my name is Leonard and second, since you insist on paying me, I have heard from some of your fellow officers that no one can match your wife's cooking expertise. How about I eat dinner with you guys on the days I tutor your son as payment. Come on, you have to say yes to this. I'm a single man; I don't get many home cooked meals. Please."
Now Sam was actually laughing out loud. Damn but he liked this guy. He was practically begging Sam to let him help his kid and not be paid in the process. This guy was one of a kind.
"I accept your terms Leonard but I have one condition of my own, the name is Sam."
Leonard, who was also laughing, held out his hand for a shake.
"And I accept your terms Sam" Leonard said as they shook hands.
"Now call your wife and make sure she accepts both of our terms because my stomach is growling already," Leonard said as he started back down the hall.
*****END FLASHBACK*****
"Leonard, it's like night and day. We can't get him to talk about anything but science. Now that he understands what the teacher asking of him, he can answer the questions easily. I don't know what you did to get him so excited about it but my wife said she is going to start fixing you a lunch right along with mine every day."
"Well, let Michelle know she is off the hook for my lunches because I'm leaving California tomorrow" Leonard said.
Sam looked at Leonard to see if he was serious.
"You're really leaving Leonard?" Sam asked.
"Yes, I just cleaned out my lab and my office and was bringing the boxes to you so you can check them before I leave."
"Sure Leonard, I'll check the boxes."
Sam was quiet as he checked the boxes. He didn't know how to take the news that Leonard was leaving. They had gotten to be pretty good friends. His wife was nuts about him and his son could never stop talking about him.
"Ok Leonard, your boxes are clear to go."
Leonard held out his hand to Sam and Sam immediately took it to shake it.
"I'm going miss you and your family Sam. I really value your friendship. Please let Henry know he can still call me anytime if he needs help. Tell Michelle I'll send you guys my new address when I have it so she can send me my payment dinner in the mail," Leonard said smiling.
"Deal, Sam said also smiling. Really going to miss you around here Leonard! Just leave the dolly on the curve there. I'll take it back for you. Save you a trip."
"Take care Sam," Leonard said.
"You do the same Leonard."
Leonard put the boxes in his car, waved at Sam and got in and drove off. When he got to the hotel he was staying in, he left the boxes in the car and went up to his room. Leonard settled into his room for the night and started writing the letters he would leave for his friends the following day. He was pretty calm considering he was about to uproot his life here in California and start anew in Texas, a place where he had never been and did not know anyone. It was ironic that his new location would put him closer to Penny's hometown in Nebraska. Leonard went back to writing the letters trying to convey to each of them how sorry he was for not saying goodbye face to face. He was going to really miss them but everything here would remind him of Penny, including his friends. He also didn't think it would be fair to them if they thought they had to take sides. He didn't want that. Leonard finished the letters and started working on his itinerary for the following day. If the moving company was able to come in the morning, he would be able to get on the road by noon. Leonard finished his itinerary and went to take a shower. He wanted to get to bed early since he was going to have a long busy day tomorrow. After his shower, he set his alarm and was almost asleep before his head hit the pillow. His last thoughts were of a blue eyed, blonde head beauty with angelic face.
Next Chapter: Execute