Chapter 16

Abby laid her head on Leonard's shoulder as they try to catch their breaths, tired from making love in Leonard's bedroom.

"That was fun right?" Abby said.

Leonard smiled at her. "Yeah. After spending a week in your parent's house in Manchester, I was glad to be back here so we could, you know, get busy." he said making Abby laugh.

"Sorry about that." She said. "I should have told you about the limited space and privacy over there. Unless you're born into aristocracy, a duke or maybe a lord, the domestic living space is bound to be limited." she added.

"It's alright. Your parents were great anyways." said Leonard.

"What about my brother?" she asked.

"He's cool too. You know how it is with teenage boys right?" said Leonard."Not to mention I'm sleeping with his big sister right?"

Abby looked up and kissed his lips. "I'm gonna get some water. You stay here alright?" she said as she stood up and went to Leonard's dresser to look for something to put on before going out of the bedroom. She found an old robe and put it on, going out of the room. She came back after a couple of minutes handing a glass of water to Leonard.

"Thanks." said Leonard after taking a sip.

Abby locked herself in mirror, checking out the robe. "This robe locks really nice honey, and very comfy too! How come you never use this one?" she asked.

Leonard hesitated. "Uh." he muttered. Abby turned around and looked at him, puzzled by his reaction.

"What? Did I say something wrong?" asked Abby.

Leonard sighed. "That is actually Penny's robe." he said surprising Abby. Leonard saw Abby's expression and knew that they were going to have another fight about his past with Penny.

"Then what is it doing in your closet!?" she asked.

"I forgot it was there I guess." said Leonard, hoping his girlfriend wouldn't make a big deal out of it. Abby took off the robe and started to put her clothes on. "Uh, what are you doing?" Leonard asked.

"l'm going home." She said.

"Are we really fighting over this again?" asked Leonard as he put his robe on, facing Abby.

"Do you wanna fight about this!?" asked Abby as she buttoned her blouse.

"I don't want to fight because there is nothing to fight about!" said Leonard. "Please don't blow this out of proportion!" Leonard added.

"l'm not making a big deal out of this Leonard! I'm choosing to leave!" Abby said. "She always seems to work her way between us and you seem to be okay with it!" she added.

"It's just a robe! Why are you being irrational!?" he said. "I haven't even talked to her in three weeks and it was when I ran into her in the laundry room." he said hoping to calm her girlfriend down.

"There you go again, always taking her side!" Abby said, almost yelling.

"There is no side! I can't believe that you still don't trust me!?" said Leonard.

Abby gave him a stern look as she took her purse. "I'm going." she said as she walked out the door, closing it behind her.

Leonard sat on the side of his bed, pushing his face on his hands and not knowing what to make of his fight with Abby. He wanted to confront Penny and tell her to stay away from him but he doesn't have the right to say that since him and Penny are rarely talking to each other now except for the casual 'hello' and 'how are you doing?' when they run into each other in the stairwell or at the lobby. Is this it?, Leonard asked himself. it was only a matter of time when him and Abby would talk and he wouldn't be surprised if she left him and break his heart, like many women did before. He then heard a knock on his door. He stood up and opened it, finding Sheldon on the other side.

"Hey Sheldon. I'm sorry for the noise." said Leonard as he went back to sit on his bed while Sheldon entered his room, looking at him.

"Leonard, are you and Dr. Abigail breaking up?" asked Sheldon.

Leonard sighed. "I don't know Sheldon." he said as Sheldon sat beside him.

"I'm sorry Leonard." Sheldon said making Leonard smile a bit, touched by his friend's empathy.

Leonard lightly tapped Sheldon's shoulder. "It's alright buddy, I guess I'm just destined to be alone huh?" he said.

"What's wrong with being alone?" Sheldon said.

"What?" Leonard asked, giving Sheldon a puzzled look.

"Well, Penny made some spaghetti with hotdogs last week and invited me over for dinner at her apartment." said Sheldon.

"Uh, what does that have to do with anything?" said Leonard.

"Well, while we were eating, I asked her if she was dating or seeing someone and she told me she wasn't." Sheldon said. "And when I told her it seems like a good idea to be single, she asked me if I was being sarcastic." he added.

"I'm listening Sheldon." said Leonard, thankful for the distraction.

"I told her that being single is not that bad since you don't have to worry about anyone else, you don't have to ask someone about their day or what type of movie they want to see. You know, that sort of stuff." Sheldon said, making Leonard smile.

"I think there's more to being single than those things Sheldon." said Leonard.

"If it makes you feel any better, my relationship with Amy is no better than when we started seeing each other." said Sheldon.

"You really think that Sheldon?" Leonard asked.

"Oh no, we kind of had a fight the other day and that's what she told me." Sheldon said. "Who would have thought that these things would happen to us huh?" he added.

"What do you mean?" asked Leonard.

"Here we are, bellyaching about the women in our lives, completely clueless on what to do." Sheldon said. "We have a combined IQ of over three hundred and forty and we still can't figure this out." he added making Leonard laugh a bit.

"Thank you Sheldon." said Leonard.

"For what?" he asked.

"For being here. I guess talking about it somehow makes it a little better huh?" said Leonard,

"Leonard, you're my friend. I may not show it but I get hurt every time you get hurt, especially when women leave you." said Sheldon.

"I appreciate it Sheldon." Leonard said.

Sheldon nodded. "You're welcome Leonard." he said. "I think I better go back to sleep now. I don't want to get drowsy at work tomorrow. Bye Leonard." said Sheldon as he went out the door, closing it behind him.

Leonard took off his robe and hanged it behind his door, he slipped under the covers to try to sleep, knowing that it would be hard to do as he can still smell the scent of Abby's hair on his pillow.