Chapter 24
It seemed that the day had gone by pretty quickly, after Penny let Leonard know he should go out with the guys that night and her and the girls would have a girl's night, he had even asked her by text if she was sure a couple times but eventually, she convinced him to spend the night with the guys. It also seemed that Howard, Raj and Sheldon didn't need any convincing at all when Amy and Bernadette told them the same thing, them all contacting Leonard by text messages to immediately start the planning for the night, especially Sheldon. Penny didn't know there was still a little tension between Leonard and Sheldon from the weekend, because they hadn't said much about the weekend since she returned, she purposely had avoided that discussion the whole week, but Leonard decided just to let it go because after years living with Sheldon, he had learned to carefully pick the fights with the wack-a-doodle to those that he truly felt he needed to win. So, the guys seemed fine at lunch that day, when they discussed their plans for the night, and even Leonard got a little excited. Consequently, later the guys were all enjoying themselves as they visited the comic book store, while all three girls were sitting in Penny's apartment by 7 PM, sipping on wine and eating some finger food, each of them hoping someone else would talk first.
It was Bernadette that decided to start talking when the silence began to get too awkward, "Penny, have you said anything to Leonard, yet?"
Penny just looked at her friend, not know really what to say, so she just shook her head then took another gulp of wine.
Bernadette frowned, but continued, "When are you planning to tell Leonard?"
Amy had been phoned by Bernadette in the afternoon and talked about the night's plans so she was up on what was happening tonight, therefore she now joined in the conversation. "Penny, the longer you delay, it is going to cause more problems."
Penny felt like she was on the spot and started to regret her decision on having this girl's night. "Why...why can't I wait a while?"
"Because Penny, you just found out this weekend you were married, if you have any hope of Leonard taking this better than extremely bad, you need to tell him, now that you just found out." Bernadette explained.
"She is right Penny, if you delay this for a while Leonard going to wonder why you hid this so long from him. It will hurt him more." Amy added.
Penny just stared at her friends, not knowing what to say.
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The guys had been settled down in Sheldon's apartment, reading and eating pizza for about a half hour, when Sheldon announced it was now the scheduled time to play video games. Leonard rolled his eyes at his ex-roommate, living with Penny the last few months had gotten him away from the strict scheduled life he had with Sheldon, so now looking at Sheldon's lifestyle as more of a sort of outsider, his schedules, rules and quirks just seemed weirder to Leonard. Like now, him, Howard and Raj had been eating slowly while looking at their new comic book acquisitions, however Leonard noticed how Sheldon in just the last 5-minutes had wolfed down his food just to make sure he was ready for video games at the scheduled time. So, Leonard was now deciding if he should just tell Sheldon he had to wait till they were all done eating, when Howard spoke up.
"Sheldon, you need to wait a few minutes, I have something to tell Leonard." Howard began
"Can't it wait till after the video games." Sheldon started to object. His nervousness at even the suggestion of deviating from his schedule evident on his face.
"No, I need to tell him now." Howard quickly responded.
"What in the world would 'You' have to say to Leonard that would be more important than video games." Sheldon stated, the insult even obvious to Sheldon.
Howard glared at him, "It happens to concern Dr. Hawking, is that important enough for you."
"Hawking?" Leonard looked at Howard now curious and puzzled at the same time.
Sheldon was now also curious, too, even though he wanted to start video games, he was really intrigued about what Howard had to say about Dr. Hawking. However, he still didn't trust that Howard was just joking with him, like many times before. "Why would Dr. Hawking be contacting you, you're only an engineer."
Howard was getting even more aggravated at Sheldon by the minute but he did need to tell Leonard about the offer now because there wasn't much time to decide. "It wasn't Hawking that contacted me, but it was almost like it was him, I got a call from Dr. Thomas Horton."
"Thomas Horton?" Leonard didn't know who the man was.
"Dr. Horton called you?" Sheldon acted in a little surprise, then to regain his control he turned to Leonard who obviously didn't know who Dr. Horton was, "Leonard, Dr. Horton is part of Dr. Hawking's inner circle, he acts as a liaison to those on the outside for Dr. Hawking." he stated in the most condescending and self-important way he could.
Leonard frowned, "Sheldon, not all of us can have an eidetic memory and know every person working for and around Hawking just by reading it once."
"I'm sure you would have known who Dr. Horton was, too, if you devoted the same amount of your time toward science as you do playing house with Penny." Sheldon's remark being obviously sarcastic to everyone around him.
Leonard was now getting mad, "Sheldon we talked about that this weekend, I told you not to make disparaging remarks about Penny."
Howard could see things were getting tense fast so he interrupted, "ANYWAY", he then watched as both Sheldon and Leonard went from glaring at each other to now looking at him. "Dr. Hawking has a team going out to the North Sea soon to try and find Unruh radiation in a large body of water to prove one of his theories on the relationship between general relativity and hydrodynamics."
"That could be a major advancement in Physics if he could prove that." Leonard said, very impressed.
Sheldon nodded, then asked, "But what does that have to do with Leonard?"
Howard smiled, he just knew how jealous Sheldon was going to be when he said the next piece of information he had to say and he just wanted to enjoy Sheldon's pain. "Dr. Horton wanted to ask Leonard to join the expedition."
"ME!" Leonard said in shock
"LEONARD!" Sheldon said in even more shock, making a small smile form on Howard's lips.
Leonard frowned at Sheldon before turning back to Howard, "Why would Hawking want me, it is not like I have worked with him or his team before."
"And more importantly, why would they ask Leonard before they would ask me." Sheldon added, getting another frown from Leonard.
"Well, they need an Experimental Physicist because the one they had cancelled and I talked you up to Horton and Hawking when they were last here." Howard told Leonard before looking at Sheldon, "Also, Hawking has already met you, so he probably didn't want a crazy person on the team." He added that last dig at Sheldon with way too much satisfaction.
"I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested. Plus, anything Leonard can do I can do better." Sheldon came back with.
Leonard nodded and looked at Howard, "He is right Howard." Immediately getting a surprised look from Howard and a smug look from Sheldon, before he continued. "His mother did get him tested." Howard finally smiling at Sheldon's smug look dropping from his face, Leonard then looking back at Sheldon and adding, "As to you doing Experimental Physics, I don't think you know how to operate anything more than your felt marker on your whiteboard and even then, we can't safely let you have the fruit smelling markers."
Sheldon just stared at Leonard, not knowing how to come back with a suitable response after Leonard's statement, while both Howard and Raj giggled at him. Finally, he gave up on a response and just whined. "It's not fair, one of the greatest minds in our century should have one of the other great minds of our century there to help him, instead of someone as unexceptional as Leonard."
Howard looked to see what Leonard would say to another of Sheldon's obvious insults when he noticed Leonard had suddenly got quiet and seemed to be deep in thought. "Is something wrong, Leonard?"
Sheldon looked over at a contemplative and noticeably worried Leonard, too "I expect Howard that Leonard is realizing how much this is over his head." A slight smile on his face, him thinking he had now recovered from Leonard's previous remark.
However, Leonard just ignored Sheldon and looked at Howard, "How long is this expedition, Howard?"
Howard shrugged, "He said three to four months." suddenly seeing Leonard's eyes go wide.
Leonard actually looked pained and confused, and it took him a few moments to get back to normal before he responded, "I don't think I can go Howard; it is just too long at time to be away."
"See Howard, Leonard was the wrong choice, so just tell Dr. Horton that Dr. Sheldon Cooper is the logical solution to his problem." Sheldon said smugly
Howard just looked at Sheldon, "Sheldon, this involves being on a medium sized boat in the North Sea for three to four months. The North Sea, Sheldon, where storms happen on a regular basis."
Sheldon stared at Howard for a moment then responded, "I've changed my mind, tell Dr. Horton that Dr. Cooper is already committed during that time and he will have to seek someone else."
Howard just shook his head, "He didn't want you in the first place." he then turned to Leonard, "Leonard, are you sure, this is a great opportunity for you plus you get to work with Hawking's team, how great is that!"
"I know, you're right, but...I don't really think I can go right now." Leonard responded.
"Well Leonard, really give it some serious thought, I don't have to give him an answer till Friday morning so you have over a day to think it over, okay." Howard told him with a little bit of hope Leonard would change his mind.
"PENNY!" Sheldon exclaimed as the thought hit him, making them all jump. "You don't want to go because of Penny, you know her carnal lust will drive her to other men while you are gone."
"NO!" Leonard quickly responded, then more quietly, "At least I don't think so."
Howard slowly nodded, "I guess I do see your point; you have to choose between a hot girlfriend or an expedition of a lifetime, I can see your dilemma."
"I would choose the hot girl, especially since it is the beautiful Penny." Raj offered to the conversation, getting a glare from Leonard, Raj's remark obviously referring to the night him and Penny slept together almost two years ago.
"Shame on you Leonard, picking a girl over doing science with Hawking, that Nebraskan hillbilly has destroyed your sense of what things are of greater substance, even worse since you have abandoned me and went to live with her." Sheldon now interjected.
Leonard just glared at Sheldon a moment before turning back to Howard, "I'll think about it but I'm really thinking I won't be going so don't tell Dr. Horton that you have any commitment from me."
Howard just nodded, "Okay, but really think about this hard, it could be very good for your career and you never know Penny could be loyal while you are gone."
Leonard just looked at Howard, "Yeah...thanks for the vote of confidence."
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Leonard came back into the apartment a little after 10 PM, to find only one light on in the living room and the room quiet, he was wondering why Penny wasn't there and then he saw four empty wine bottles on the coffee table. He shook his head and wondered if Bernadette and Amy had drunk a lot, he didn't really think that Penny had drunk them all, but still decided to find her and see if she was okay, finally finding her asleep in the bedroom. Since he didn't really know her condition, he got a couple of aspirin and a bottle of water to put on the nightstand and a small waste can near her side of the bed, before he went to clean up to go to join her in bed.
Penny again just laid there listening to him as she faked sleep, she had combined the wine bottle the girls killed that night with three empty wine bottles she was saving to put candles in for a romantic home dinner with Leonard in the future, which seemed to have worked in making him thing she had too much to drink. Nevertheless, her guilt was now worse after spending the night with the girls, them convincing her she needed to tell Leonard her secret very soon if she didn't want to hurt him more. She hated that they had convinced her to do it, because she now knew they were right, and she told herself she would do it tomorrow and this made her so worried that she didn't even know if she would be able to sleep that night. It made her so deep in thought that she almost blew the whole being asleep already plan when Leonard surprised her by getting in bed and her almost jumping surprise. She took a moment to calm down, getting ahold of herself just in time for Leonard to snuggle himself close to her and eventually the warmth of his body overcame her worry and allowed her to sleep.
That morning, after again faking being asleep while Leonard went to work, her knowing Leonard would never wake her up if he thought she was sleeping off a hangover, Penny found herself sitting on their couch trying to think of the words to say to him later that day. The girls had actually been a help with that the night before, convincing her to just be completely honest with him, letting him know it was a mistake and that she didn't even know her and Zack were married until that past weekend. However, that still didn't alleviate the fear in her about how Leonard would take the news when she told him and for the first time in her life Penny was terrified that a man would possibly break up with her. She had broken up with guys many times before, guys she thought she was in love with, but she always got over it, nonetheless this was different, she knew she wasn't going to get over it if the worst happened. She was in love with Leonard, really in love with him and no matter how she tried she just couldn't see herself happy in a life without him.
It only took Penny about an hour or two of overthinking about what could happen, when she told Leonard about her marriage to Zack, before she had almost convinced herself again to delay the whole thing. So, it was maybe woman's intuition or her being a good friend that resulted in Penny getting a call from Bernadette at 11 AM that morning with an invitation lunch, which Penny reluctantly agreed to accept. Penny had been pretty much useless since she returned back from Las Vegas, not even attempting to seek any acting or extra work since her mind had been too preoccupied by her situation with Zack and Leonard, so even going to a lunch, even knowing she would have to talk about her problem, was at least doing something in her mind.
Of course, lunch had gone exactly as she expected, Bernadette immediately sensing her reluctance to talk to Leonard, so again, like the night before, she reiterated to Penny her need to tell Leonard sooner than later which did finally make Penny decide to not put it off. However, that didn't make things easier for Penny, so no sooner that lunch with Bernadette ended, Penny drove down to the ocean to walk along the surf and think for the next hour, the ocean always seeming to have a calming effect on her when she had trouble on her mind. It had actually worked for a little while, until she got back to the apartment about 4 PM that afternoon, then the waiting for Leonard to come home seemed to just ramp up her fears again and raise those same doubts from before.
So, Penny actually jumped when Leonard walked in the door, two hours later, her being so deep in thought that the time that had passed seemed to have passed without her notice. Leonard's quick smile and greeting of "Hello pretty lady." only making her feel worse and made her even more sure that she was going to hurt him by telling him the situation with Zack. She didn't realize how deeply these thoughts had occupied her mind that day so she made her first mistake when she looked at him in obvious surprise and barely squeaked out a greeting of "Hi." her playing the role of everything being fine all week now forgotten as it seemed to her, she no longer had any place to run.
Leonard's smile dropped as he saw the 'deer in the headlights' expression on Penny's face and was soon replaced with a frown of concern. "Is something wrong, Penny?"
She didn't really know what to say, so Bernadette's lunch conversation immediately came to mind, her friend telling her repeatedly to just tell him the complete truth and don't try to make excuses or sugar coat it in any way. Therefore, with just a little hesitation she responded, "Leonard, I need to tell you something."
Leonard was conditioned to think that when a girl said "We need to talk." that something bad was going to happen, but Penny telling him "I need to tell your something." confused him and he didn't really know how react, so his only response was "Okay." as he continued to stand frozen near the front door where he had just walked in.
It then just remained awkwardly silent for a few moments, Penny sitting on the couch looking up at Leonard while he just stood near the door looking at her on the couch. It actually made Penny want to scream for a second, though she knew she wouldn't, things were already almost unbearable for her so this now awkwardness seemed only to make things worse. Luckily though she somehow was able overcome everything that was driving her crazy at the moment and finally said to him. "Leonard why don't you take a seat; this might be a little long."
Leonard again didn't know how to act or what to expect so almost like a robot he again answered "Okay" and then automatically walked over to the couch to sit on the opposite side that Penny was on.
Penny immediately noticed the distance between them, as Leonard sat down, and even though she didn't like them being so far apart she realized that maybe it was for the best because he may not want to be that close to her after she told him about her marriage to Zack. That thought brought up something she hadn't thought about before, how she tells him; did she tell him she was married to Zack and then explain how it happened or did she work up to it with the marriage to Zack being the final bit of information to him. Actually, it was an easier decision than she thought and she made it quickly, she wasn't brave enough to just tell him she was married right off and she needed to explain to him how surprised she was to find out just like he was going to now find out.
So now with her quickly thought out plan she began. "Leonard, I need to tell you about what happened in Las Vegas this weekend." she began
Leonard immediately felt his heart clench up, Penny having to sit him down and explain what happened over a weekend in Las Vegas made him immediately think the worst and of the guys teasing him that weekend about Penny finding someone else. It had always been a deep-down fear of his, Penny seemed so amazing to him that he never could understand why she would be with him, much less live with him like they were doing now. So, he had to actually mentally control his mouth not to just say to her that whatever happened was okay and that they could work through it, his feelings of love for her so strong that he at the moment seemed ready to accept and forgive anything that happened.
The silence between them again went on for a couple moments before again Penny got worried and had to say something to break the silence before it drove her nuts. "Leonard, did you understand, can we talk about the trip to Las Vegas this past weekend."
Leonard, slowly seemed to come out of his trance as she mentioned the Las Vegas trip for a second time, so he just nodded, and again said, "Okay."
Leonard just repeating 'Okay' was bothering Penny, he seemed like a whipped puppy dog already, so knowing she was going to hurt him more was already making her want to stop this whole confession, but she knew deep inside she couldn't, she was already committed. "I want to start from the beginning so just let me talk till I get everything out, Okay." She then watched as Leonard just nodded, again her being reminded of his whipped puppy dog look.
Penny was already regretting the conversation she had started, as it dawned on her this was going to hurt more than she had imagined and that there was a very good possibility that he was going to take it all very bad. This reminded her of something else about their relationship over the years, she had always taken for granted that Leonard's feelings for her would always win out whenever they had problems, like the several times they had short breakups during their first relationship and he always took her back, but now she wasn't so sure that would be the case. That seemingly sense of control she always thought she had in their relationship was now gone, she was suddenly vulnerable to him like she had never been before and she knew the outcome to their discussion tonight would be solely up to him.
Penny sighed and began, "I won't bore you with the trip there, but after we checked into our small two bed hotel room, we got dressed and went to eat, I sent you a text about that." She watched as Leonard just slowly nodded, "Okay, well after we ate, we went to the main floor of the hotel then and as you know, like every other large hotel, the main floor was their casino, so the girls wanted to hit the slot machines. I didn't really care about playing the slots but I figured 'what-the-heck' and just decided to stay with them, until Amy took the can out of her purse, she bashed my nose with earlier this year." She stopped for a second then to see if Leonard had a response, but he just sat there staring at her, and if he wasn't breathing, she would have thought he was a wax statue.
She let a few awkward silent seconds pass before she confirmed to herself, he was not going to say a thing, so she continued, "Anyway, after seeing that can, I felt mad and since I was not really wanting to throw money down slot machines, I decided to wander away before I told Amy something I would regret." Again, she watched and got no response from Leonard so continued. "I therefore told the girls I going to wander around and would see them in a little while and then I began to walk around the casino floor, until I walked up to the Craps Table to watch." She was getting use now to Leonard saying nothing so she this time quickly continued. "To make a long story short, I ended up playing Craps and actually wining, the whole time getting free drinks while I played until that is all I remember of the night." She then swallowed, "Except for earlier, before I blacked out, Zack came by while I was playing to say 'Hi' and find out how I was doing."
Leonard now blinked, "You blacked out...drunk?"
"Yes, I got hammered from all the free drinks and they sort of hit me all at once, I don't remember anything else." Penny explained for him.
Leonard now was thinking the worse, "What happened...Um, was Zack there?"
Penny was not going to tell him she next woke up in a huge hotel suite, so she decided to tell him the girl's version of what happened next. "I found out from the girls that I got too drunk to roll the dice anymore so they cut me off playing and it seems right about then Amy and Bernadette found me after looking for me for about 20-minutes, so with Zack's help they all got me to a large hotel Suite, I also won, to sleep the night off. So, after they got me settled, Zack went back to his hotel room and all three of us girls spent the night in a large expensive hotel suite."
Leonard blinked again, what Penny had just told him wasn't too bad, he had actually expected the girls to get drunk at least one night they were there, so them doing it the first night was no surprise, plus they all spent the night together with no guys, unlike he had previously feared. However, Penny still seemed very serious and he knew they were still there in Las Vegas for a couple more days, so he still felt uneasy about what more she had to say. He therefore only answered her cautiously, "The girls sent a couple texts that you were pretty drunk and sleeping it off on Saturday."
Penny now nodded softly confirming what Leonard just said, "Yeah, I got pretty wasted, not my finest moment."
Silence fell between them for several seconds and Leonard began to hope that this was all that she wanted to tell him, which wasn't really that bad, a little embarrassing, but not really bad. He had no idea that Penny was now having difficulty bringing up why she really wanted to talk to him, the subject of Zack and their marriage. So, the silence went on until it actually got unbearable for Penny, it even felt like it was mocking her for being a coward and not telling him the truth, to finally get it out, like she was actually lying to him.
Finally, she began to speak again, "When I was awake later that Saturday, and the girls were back in the room, that is when I found out what all happened the night before and about the problem that came up concerning my winnings from the Crap Table." She then stopped and looked at Leonard seeing confusion on his face.
Leonard's brow furled like it did whenever he was confused, "I don't understand, what problem."
Penny swallowed, "Leonard you have to know, I knew nothing about this, it was as much of a surprise to me then as it will be to you now, I really mean this!" she blurted out quickly with panic.
Leonard was really surprised by her sudden outburst, his first instinct to protect her, so he just said, "It's okay, just tell me what happened."
Penny was now breathing a little heavily, fear now an emotion that was in control of her, but also shame, so her response was much quieter, "When the girls went to pick up my money, the casino staff said I was too drunk to take it then and could get it in the morning..." she now swallowed again; her throat now especially dry. "...they couldn't turn it over to Amy or Bernadette, but they could turn it over to my husband if he was there." Penny now stopped and looked at Leonard's reaction.
Leonard however now felt even more confused, it made sense the casino would want to turn over her winnings to her after she was over being black out drunk as a matter of fact it was really nice of them to want to keep her safe like that. However, why would they think she was married, he quickly looked at her hands and confirmed that she never wore rings on either of her hands ring fingers, so why would the casino say that. "Did they say why they thought you were married?" he asked absent mindedly
Penny swallowed again, her throat even more dry now, "They checked my ID against Nevada records, they have access to, and..." she swallowed again, "...and saw that Zack and I were husband and wife."
Leonard's mind went blank, it could not believe what Penny had just said, the words seemed too incredible to be even close to true. Words would not come to his mouth to even respond to what she had just said because the whole idea that she was married to Zack just felt too absurd to him. So, he just sat there silently just staring at her, a blank expression on his face as she looked back at him.
It seemed like an hour had passed of silence, but it had only been a couple seconds, Penny had expected some kind of response from him, screaming or crying, anything, but getting nothing made everything worse until she couldn't take in anymore, "Leonard, please say something."
Leonard finally blinked, "What did you say?" he lamely answered
'Crap' Penny thought, she was going to have to say it again, it was not like she didn't deserve this punishment, but it still didn't seem fair she had to go through it again. "Nevada records show that Zack and I are married."
Leonard's face slowly changed from its blank expression to a form of shock, "You're...you're married to Zack?"
A/N: This chapter and the next couple chapters are hard for me to write. Also, Dr. Horton is someone I made up.