Chapter 18
It was almost noon when Leonard woke up, feeling the intense headache coursing through his skull. He pushed himself to get off the bed and put his glasses on, trying to get a sense of direction and focus. He took a deep breath as he slowly remembered the events that happened yesterday with Abby breaking up with him and then Penny and him sharing a drunken kiss. He went to his closet and got a fresh set of clothes before going straight to the bathroom to wash his thoughts away. He glanced at the living room and found Sheldon watching TV.
"Hey Leonard, how are you feeling?" said Sheldon.
"My head feels likes it going to split." said Leonard as he stood on the hall.
"Well there's aspirin in the medicine cabinet if you need it." Sheldon said.
"Thanks. I'm gonna take a warm shower." Leonard said before turning around towards the bathroom.
He stepped inside, putting his clothes on the towel rack before getting undressed and turning the water on. After mixing the hot and cold water to his liking, he stepped inside the shower, letting the warm water massage his thoughts away. He thought of the things that happened the day before with Abby ending their relationship, Penny getting him drunk and them kissing again after two years of being separated. He felt more conflicted that ever, he knew that he loved Abby but her constant jealousy is just pushing him away. He thought of Penny and the old feelings he had for her are slowly resurfacing again. He may not show it but his feelings for her were somehow still inside of him, like a dormant volcano just waiting for the right conditions to become active again.
After almost half an hour of washing and rinsing, he got off the shower feeling refreshed before getting dressed and stepping out of the bathroom. He went straight to his bedroom, throwing his dirty clothes into his laundry basket and decided to take them downstairs to the laundry room. He put all his dirty laundry on his bed, sorting them when he saw Penny's old robe. How could he have been so careless of not giving it back to her, he thought. This with the fact that Abby felt threatened and jealous of his past with Penny was the final straw that drove Abigail to her decision to end their relationship. He decided to put the robe on the pile with the rest of his dirty clothes, thinking of returning it to Penny afterwards. He went out of his room into the living room carrying his laundry as Sheldon sat on his desk, typing on his computer.
"How are you feeling?" Sheldon asked.
"Not as bad as before, thanks for asking." said Sheldon.
"There's some leftover Chinese food in the fridge if you're hungry." Sheldon said.
Leonard smiled, touched by his friend's concern. "Thanks Sheldon, but I think I'll do my laundry first." he said as he went to the door.
Leonard went downstairs straight into the laundry room, putting his clothes inside the machine and dropping a few coins before pushing the buttons on it. After making sure that the machine was doing its job. Leonard took his empty basket and went upstairs to eat some lunch, feeling the low rumble from his stomach. He reached his door when Penny opened her door, carrying her laundry basket.
"Hey." said Leonard as he looked at Penny, noticing that she too had taken a shower to wash off last night's alcohol.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" she asked as she went near him.
"Could be better. How about you?" he asked.
"I'm getting there." she said as they stood in front of each other, looking into each other's eyes. "I was thinking about last night." she added.
Leonard sighed. "Me too." he said. "Are we really gonna try again?" he asked.
Penny gave him a weak smile. "If you want?" she said.
"Do you want to?" he asked.
Penny nodded. "We can start over again. Have a clean slate if you like." she said while putting her basket down.
"I'm scared Penny. What if we screw up again?" he said.
"I know. And I'm kinda scared too. I mean, I don't want to hurt you again." Penny said. "But we won't know if we don't try right?" she said.
Leonard nodded. "I promise I won't push you into something you're not comfortable with." he said.
Penny smiled at him while touching his face. "And I promise not to hurt you again. We're gonna make it work." she said hugging him tight and kissing his cheek.
Leonard felt Penny's perfume and put his arm around her, hugging her back. They released each other while holding hands when they suddenly saw Abby looking at them from the stairwell landing.
"Abby, what are you doing here?" asked Leonard.
Abby walked up the stairs with a stern expression on her face. "I came back to make up with you but I guess I'm already late and she's just here to steal you away from me huh!?" she said raising her voice.
Leonard quickly pulled Penny behind his back while facing Abby. "But you already broke up with me." he said.
"So is that it Penny? You're just waiting for me and Leonard to fight and then you'll swoop down to get him back again?" asked Abby.
Penny was about to answer when Leonard spoke. "Okay that's enough!" Leonard told Abby. "I won't let you talk to Penny like that!" he said surprising Abby.
"You're gonna take her side!?" Abby asked.
"In this case, I will!" he said, surprising Penny.
"You have got to be kidding me?" said Abby.
"I'm not. You broke up with me remember?" he said. "And you always find a way to bring her up whenever we're together even if she's done nothing but to steer clear of us." he said. "Can't you see, you were always pushing me back to her!" said Leonard.
"Now you're being unfair." Abby said.
"I'm unfair!? Is it fair to be always jealous of her even if she and I aren't even talking to each other while we're together?" he asked. "And what did Penny ever do to you?" said Leonard. "Abby, we can't be in a relationship if you don't trust me." he added.
"Then why was her robe still inside your closet?" Abby said.
Penny touched Leonard's arm. "What robe?" she asked,
Leonard turned his head slightly. "I'll show you later." he said then turning back to Abby. "I told you, I forgot it was there." he said. "I can't do this Abby. I'm sorry." he said.
Abby turned around and ran down the stairs crying.
Leonard bowed his head and covered his face with his hands before taking a deep breath. Penny put her hands on his shoulder to comfort him, reassuring him that it's gonna be alright.
"Are you okay?" Leonard asked Penny.
Penny nodded. "It's not the first time another girl yelled at me for stealing her boyfriend." said Penny.
"Penny, you're not stealing me." he said. "She kept pushing me away. I never wanted us to break up but I can't be in that kind of relationship." Leonard said.
"What are we gonna do now?" Penny asked.
Leonard sighed and saw Penny's laundry basket. "You want me to help you with that?" he asked while pointing at her dirty laundry.
Penny smiled and kissed his cheek before holding his hand. "Come on." she said pulling him towards the stairs.
They reached the laundry room as Penny went to load her clothes into one of the machines. Leonard saw that his laundry was done so he decided to get them out of his machine. He pulled out the robe, showing it to Penny.
"That's not mine." said Penny.
"What!?" Leonard said.
"That is not my robe." she said again.
"Then why did you wear this the last time we slept together in my room?" Leonard asked.
"I took it from your storage closet. It was nice and comfy." she said.
Leonard took a deep breath and tried to stay calm. "Okay, are you saying that I broke up with my girlfriend because she got jealous of why your robe is in my closet when in fact this isn't even yours?" he said.
"Sweetie I'm sorry." said Penny. "Why did you keep it in the first place anyway?" she asked.
Leonard shrugged his shoulder. "I don't know. If I'd known this would cause my breakup I would have given this back to you a long time ago."
"What do you want to do now?" Penny said.
Leonard sighed. "Well it's too late to get her back now. She already saw us together." he said as Penny finished loading her machine and dropping a few quarters in before pushing a few buttons, making the machine hum to life.
Penny went to him and hugged him tight. "I'm so sorry sweetie." she said kissing his cheek.
"It's alright." he said. "Let's go back to my apartment, I'm getting hungry." said Leonard as he held her hand towards the staircase.
"What food do you have?" asked Penny.
"Sheldon said there's some leftover Chinese food in the fridge." he said as they start to climb up the stairs. "We can share if you want?" he said.
"That would be nice honey." she said smiling at him.
"Hmm, so we're back to honey now huh?" he said, teasing her.
Penny glared at him. "Of course! You are my boyfriend and I'm gonna call you whatever I want." she said as they reach the fourth floor.
Leonard quickly pulled her hand, kissing her on the lips. "That's my girl." he said before opening the door, seeing Sheldon still typing on his desk.
"Hi Sheldon!" Penny said as they went to the kitchen island with Leonard taking the leftovers and heating them in the microwave oven.
Sheldon looked at them. "Have you two decided to resume your romantic relationship given Leonard's previous detachment from Dr. Abigail?" he asked.
"What?" Penny said.
Leonard laughed a little. "Yes Sheldon, Penny and I decided to see each other again." he said.
"Alright, then I guess I better get started on a new addendum to the Roommate Agreement to revise the girlfriend clauses from Dr. Abigail to Penny." he said while turning back to this computer.
"Sheldon, do you really need..." she said as Leonard quickly cut her off.
"Do you really want to contradict him?" asked Leonard.
Penny looked at him and realized his point. "You're right, I almost forgot." she said.
Sheldon then turned around on his chair, facing them. "If you want, I can make you your own Relationship Agreement so you two can avoid doing the same mistakes you did before." said Sheldon.
Penny looked at Sheldon. "You're joking right?" she said.
"I'm not." he said. "You two broke up because both of you clearly have issues with each other, and one way for you to resolve those issues is if you have a written contract enumerating the ways to rectify them." Sheldon said.
"I don't want to say this but that's actually not a bad idea." said Leonard.
"You're taking his side now!?" said Penny.
Leonard held her hand to calm her down. "Okay Penny, you have to calm down. Let me ask you, what is the first thing that comes to your mind that you want to 'improve' about me?" he asked.
"Nothing! You're perfect!" Penny said, trying not to offend him.
"Come on Penny. We both know that's not true." said Leonard. "Don't worry, I promise I won't get mad." he said smiling at her.
Penny sighed. "Fine, besides your clothes, you always make this sound whenever we kiss. It's like you're trying to eat me or something." she said as Leonard gave her a surprised look.
"Okay, I thought it was an expression of love, but clearly I was wrong." said Leonard, bowing his head.
"See? That's why I didn't want to say it!" said Penny. "What about you? Do you have any complains about me?" she asked looking him in the eye.
"Penny, I don't think..." said Leonard as Penny quickly cut him off.
"Come on tell me!" she said.
Leonard sighed. "Alright fine. Whenever I ask you if something is wrong or what are you thinking of, you always say 'nothing' or 'don't worry about it' when something is clearly bothering you and I would like for you to be honest with me about it." said Leonard.
"This is what a Relationship Agreement is for." Sheldon said.
Leonard held Penny's hand. "So? What do you say?" he said smiling at Penny.
Penny sighed. "Fine." she said. "So how do we do it then?" she asked.
"Well, I think we should make a list of the things we want to improve and give them to Sheldon so he could type up the contract." said Leonard.
"Okay." said Penny.
Leonard lightly squeezed her hand. "Hey don't be sad. We can do this!" he said. "And I promise I won't go out my way just to sabotage our relationship." said Leonard.
Penny smiled and nodded at him. "Okay I'm in!" she said.
Sheldon clapped once and turned back to his computer. "Oh this is so exciting! I get to make another contract!" he said while typing on his keyboard as the couple continued eating on the kitchen island. After a few minutes, Sheldon stood up going to the bathroom when he saw Leonard's laundry basket.
"Leonard, why do you have this?" he said as he pulled out the robe from the basket.
"Is that yours?" asked Leonard.
"No, this is my mom's" said Sheldon. "Why is this your laundry basket?" he asked.
Leonard looked at Penny. "I think Penny can fill you in." he smiling at her.
Penny sighed. "Fine. I took it from your storage closet when Leonard and I are still dating. But I didn't steal it!" Penny said in defense.
"So all this time I thought that the guys who broke in here three years ago and took our computers and video games also took my mom's robe but I never thought it was you all along!" said Sheldon.
"Sheldon I'm sorry! Leonard and I slept together that time and I got off the bed in my underwear. I looked inside his closet for something to put on but all he had were those silly t-shirts and hoodies so I went to the storage closet and saw that robe." she said. "It's very comfy." she added.
"Leonard, why didn't you asked me about the robe?" Sheldon said.
"I thought it was Penny's. I forgot she left it there in my closet when Abby wore it, thinking it was mine. When she found out it was Penny's, she accused me of still holding on to Penny that's why she broke up with me." said Leonard.
"Are you saying that you and Dr. Abigail broke up because of this robe which she thought was Penny's but really belonged to my mother?" Sheldon said.
Leonard sighed. "Yes Sheldon." he said.
"I suppose it's too late for you to get her back huh?" Sheldon asked.
"Yeah. She came here to get back together with me but she saw me hugging Penny at the hall." said Leonard.
"So let me get this straight one more time, Dr. Abigail got jealous of the robe that she found in your closet that you both thought was Penny's when in fact that she, Penny, actually stole it from our storage closet thinking that no one will get upset?" said Sheldon. "Is that what happened?" he said.
Penny sighed. "Yes Sheldon. And I didn't steal it. I just borrowed it so can we please just change the subject!?" she said.
Sheldon nodded. "Fine." he said as he went to the bathroom while the couple finished eating and started to clean up on the kitchen island.
Penny hung her head and took a deep breath while Leonard put his hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?" he asked.
"Yes." she said.
"Hey, look at me, we can do this." said Leonard, hugging her tight.
"I know." Penny said. "If you never kept that robe, then we wouldn't be back together right?" she said.
"What about you? Have you kept any of the things I gave you?" asked Leonard. Penny quickly grabbed his hand and pulled him into her apartment, going straight to her bedroom. She then opened her closet, taking out a cardboard box and putting in on the bed.
Leonard looked inside the box. "What's this?" he asked.
"Everything you gave to me!" she said while showing him the stuff inside. "Look, the tickets you bought for me so I could go home for the holidays...the first rose you gave me... the New Jersey mug... oh here is the snowflake you made for me when you went to the North Pole." she said pulling out the acrylic slides from the cloth pouch.
Leonard was speechless. "I thought you threw these when we broke up?" he said.
"Why would I throw it out? It's you!" she said.
"How about your ex-boyfriends? Did you keep any of the stuff they gave you?" he asked.
Penny smiled and touched his face. "No. You're my only boyfriend whose stuff I kept because most of them either hurt me or cheated on me. But you never did any of those." she said smiling at him.
Leonard nodded and pulled her close, hugging her tight as Penny did the same, feeling Leonard's affection. Suddenly, they started kissing, feeling their deep longing for each other as their hands started to feel each other. Leonard then quickly broke off and put all the stuff back in the box, putting it on the floor as they jumped on the bed while kissing each other and starting to take each other's clothes off.
"Leonard?" Penny whispered.
"Huh?" said Leonard while kissing her.
"Shouldn't we slow down?" said Penny not taking her lips off him.
"Do...you...wanna...slow down?" he asked while continuing to kiss her.
"No." she said as she finally lifted Leonard's shirt. "I've waited long enough." she added as Leonard started to take her pants off.
They were down to their underwear when they laid on the bed, pulling the sheet over them as they start to make love under the covers while removing the rest of their clothes.