'Priya? What are you doing here?' Penny asked, 'Are you ok?' As much as Penny wanted to shut the door in the face of the woman who had caused her pain, she knew she couldn't do that to someone who was extremely upset, not to mention pregnant. That would add karma.

'May I come in?' she hiccupped and Penny nodded, stepping aside. Sheldon looked up from his plate of food and almost choked as he saw her walk in. Penny gestured to her seat and Priya slowly sat in it, a tear falling down her cheek as she rested a hand on her tummy. 'Leonard left us.'

'What?' Penny gasped and Priya buried her face in her hands after throwing a note at Penny. She opened up the note and read it before passing it to Sheldon.

"Priya,

I know I said I was ready to settle down and be a good partner and father to you and the baby. The fact of the matter is, I'm not. I know you love me and all but I can't do this. For starters, we both know you were sleeping with your ex around the same time I cheated on Penny with you so I know that your baby isn't mine and I don't want to be stuck raising another man's kid. Secondly, I'm too young to settle down and have a family; I haven't finished my research and I want to experiment with more women. So yeah, I guess that's it really. Have a nice life and I guess I'll see you around.

Leonard."

'I'm going to be a single mother; I don't want my baby growing up without a daddy,' Priya sobbed, 'I don't want to do this all by myself and I wasn't sleeping with Jamal. I haven't seen Jamal in 6 months, he's married now and has his own child on the way. When my parents find out, I'll be disowned or be forced to get married. How could he do this to me?! Especially after what we went through!'

Penny looked at Sheldon, who looked extremely angry, before continuing. 'I don't know Priya, did he give you any indication that he was unhappy?'

'No… He told me he loved me, he said we'd be a family and he was really excited for our baby.' Priya said, dabbing her eyes with the tissue that Penny handed her. As much as Penny didn't want to care, she knew she had to help Priya, thought she didn't understand why Priya had come to their apartment. She'd have to ask her at a more convenient time

'You won't raise this child alone Priya. Trust me, I'll make sure you're alright and I will personally have Leonard tracked down.'

Priya looked at Leonard's former girlfriend before looking away in guilt. 'I owe you an apology Penny. I should never have slept with Leonard whilst you were together. I knew you were going out with him and I still went and slept with him. I'm sorry.'

Penny sighed and nodded, 'It's alright, and I forgive you. Unfortunately we were both like two moths drawn to a flame and burned, only in different ways. If you and Leonard had never slept together, I would never have discovered what an amazing man Sheldon is and we would never have gotten together. In the long run, you're better off without him, Priya and we girls have to stick together now.' She smiled, taking Priya's hands, 'so I propose you stay the night tonight, just so you're not alone.'

Priya smiled and squeezed Penny's hands, 'Thank you Penny.' Penny returned the smile before looking over at Sheldon, who didn't look happy. She shot him a look, which Priya saw and she smiled to herself as it became fully obvious as to who wore the trousers in this relationship. Penny then showed Priya to her room and settled her in. When she had fallen asleep, Penny left the room and walked into the lounge.

'Well there goes our anniversary.' Sheldon whined and Penny sighed, wrapping her arm around him so she was hugging his torso. He, in turn, returned the favour and enveloped her in a strong hug. Penny breathed in his Sheldonness (as she liked to call it).

'Honey, we can celebrate it tomorrow when Priya leaves.'

'Orrr we could be really quiet.' Sheldon hinted, wiggling his eyebrows.

'You are but a shadow of the old Sheldon I used to know.'

'Am not, I'm just improved… thanks to you. I'm Sheldon 2.0,' he smiled and kissed her nose. Penny chuckled.

'I like you just the way you are.'

Leonard walked into one of the dodgy clubs, smiling at all the girls. Here he wasn't Leonard Hofstadter, experimental physicist at Caltech University, but Leonard Hofstadter: Male stud on the prowl. After a LOT of drinks and a couple of snogs with a few women, he found himself being handed a lit roll up of aluminium foil. Alarm bells started ringing in his head and he wasn't sure it was a good idea but everyone else seemed to be enjoying it, plus the hot girl said it was good and she was hot, so she had to be right.

'What is it?' he asked, still hesitating and debating whether or not he should take a drag.

'Just try it,' the girl laughed, taking a drag herself. Leonard quickly calculated his options of what he would be smoking and narrowed it down to one possibility: heroin. He knew heroin was an extremely addictive drug but what harm could one drag do? He had done weed before and hadn't got hooked on that so surely it was similar. Then again the anatomical structures were completely different, with heroin's being far more complex due to the dangerous chemicals involved. 'Leonard, just smoke it!'

'I…' Leonard started, letting his sensible side take over before stopping himself short. He was fun, cool Leonard tonight, screw what his brain was saying. He took the joint in his fingers before taking a deep drag and slipping into the feeling of Euphoria. The rest of the night was a blur and he found himself waking up in a hospital bed, 'What the hell?' he said, sitting up. He suddenly wished he hadn't… his head was seriously hurting and he found himself feeling very anxious, his pulse was erratic and his muscles hurt. 'What was I… oh God….' Leonard began to recall the events of last night; he had taken a lot, and he meant a LOT of heroin. He hoped this wasn't the start of an addiction because that was the last thing he wanted. Suddenly the door opened and Sheldon walked in, 'Sheldon, what are you doing here?' he gasped

'I'm your emergency contact. When I got a phone call at 6am this morning saying you had been brought into the emergency room due to intoxication, I nearly put down the phone, telling them to send you to alcoholics anonymous. However when I was told that you had a near lethal amount of heroin in your blood stream, I decided that perhaps I should come down and see if you were alright and try and talk sense into you.'

'Near lethal? Oh God,' Leonard rubbed his temples, 'So… how's Penny? Does she know?'

'Yes, as my other half and living partner, I thought she was entitled to know.'

'You two are living together?'

'Yes, but that's not the point. The point is that we are currently comforting Priya, who is devastated at your abandonment of her and your unborn child. You and I both know that that is your baby. All the dates match, so don't try and tell me otherwise.'

'Have you told her?'

'No, we decided against it. Though, I think we need to have a serious chat.'

'I guess… Sheldon, what if I'm addicted to heroin now? God, I'm stupid! What the hell was I thinking… I don't think I possess the strength or willpower to get over it. I'm gonna end up a junkie.. I'm an expert physicist! What was I thinking?!'

Sheldon sighed and drew a chair up beside Leonard's bed. 'Leonard, heroin addiction, or any addiction in fact, is not about lack of willpower or strength – it is a matter of science: if you put this drug in your system frequently enough… the body will begin to need it, and ultimately it will not be able to function without it. You've had a lot of heroin in your system, so naturally your body has adjusted to it, hence why you are feeling like you need it. Look, the strongest willed person in the world will become an addict if an addictive substance like heroin finds its way into their system often enough: addiction isn't a choice. Of course, there is a choice whether or not to take the drug so frequently in the first place, but the concept of 'physical' addiction before you have experienced it, well it's so abstract and hard to comprehend that most users go into it thinking addiction is about will-power and strength and believing they will be the one who'll be strong enough to control it.

'It's only when you learn just what is meant by physical addiction. When you understand that it is a biological process and not a mental one, it becomes obvious at how little chance you stand against it. It's only when one experiences physical dependency first hand that you realise how powerless you are. So when initially using a substance like heroin, there is no urgent need to show restraint or in trying to be strong. You believe using will always be about choice. That you'll use when you can and want to, and when you've had enough or don't have much money, you'll stop. Only all too often, by the time the user reaches that crossroads, it is too late as the body has by then become physically dependent on the biological changes the drug has brought about. Luckily for you though Leonard, I'm here to stage an intervention so you don't fall into this habit that could bring you spiralling downwards.'

'Why are you doing this? I thought our friendship was over.'

'Because Leonard, despite what you've done… I don't want to see you end up six feet under, especially not when you have a baby on the way.'

'That kid isn't mine.' Leonard huffed and Sheldon thumped his shoulder, 'Oww!'

'Of course that kid is yours. Look at your life Leonard! You're not young anymore! You aren't in your 20s, look at what trying to be someone you're not did to you! Lying in bed in a hospital! Next time you might not be so lucky to be discovered by a man walking his dog. You have to realise what you have now is a good thing Leonard. You have a woman who loves you; she is carrying your first child… you can start a family. If you're unsure about the baby, then get a bloody DNA test done after it's born. You have a well-paid career, a home with Priya. Don't chuck it away trying to chase a fantasy. You've had a taste of what being "young and hip" is like… now get a hold of yourself, because,' Sheldon sighed, opening the door to Leonard's room, 'If you don't want to help yourself, there's nothing I can do to help you.' Sheldon then shut the door, leaving Leonard with his thoughts.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Just want to say, I don't condone drug use, however everyone is entitled to their own opinion on it. Let me know what you thought on the chapter :] Do you think Leonard will take the olive branch that Sheldon has thrown him? Next update will be soon! xx