Do not own The Big Bang Theory or any of the characters.

Thanks for all that have reviewed and read the first chapter! Here is the 2nd part too it. I wrote this while listening to the new Adele CD.

"I'm sorry," she began, her voice shaking a little. "I didn't mean to hurt you like I did, Leonard." Her green eyes poured in his as she spoke. Her hands were shaking, making the silver bracelet on her wrist jingle. She then clamped her hands together and placed them in her lap. She clicked her tongue softly before continuing on. "I didn't mean to humiliate you like I did last night. I didn't attend on running out on you. It just became too much for me. Being in that room. There was too much pressure. I know you wanted me to say...to say those three words back to you. And you still do. But I'm not ready to Leonard. I'm sorry," her voice trailed off as this as she looked away from Leonard. Tears were pouring down her cheeks. She didn't want Leonard to see her like this.

Leonard looked on at Penny with a mixture of sadness and hurt in his eyes. He was not mad at her for not saying 'I love you' back. He was more saddened by the fact that she couldn't. That she wasn't ready to love him like he already did for her. He hadn't meant to pressure Penny like she felt. He was just hurt that they didn't share the same feelings for one another like he had thought. It seemed like no one ever loved him enough. Not his mother or father or his siblings. In all of his relationships in life, he was the lover, not the love-y.

Tears slid down his cheeks as he slowly reached out and took one of her hands. It always surprised him how well their hands fit together. They were both about the same size. It always amazed him as he looked down at their fingers intertwined with one another. He squeezed her hand gently before whispering her name, "Penny..."

She turned around and looked at him at this. "No, don't say it," she spoke, silencing him once again. She didn't want to hear how he still loved her. That it didn't matter. Because it did. Even if he looked into her eyes and told her that it didn't matter if she didn't love him just yet. That he loved her enough for the both of them. It wouldn't matter, because she would be able to see that he was lying. It did matter. Maybe not at this moment, but it would soon. Making Penny even more pressured to say those words that she knew Leonard wanted to hear. She wasn't ready. It was all too much.

Looking away from Leonard, she dropped her gaze onto her bare feet. "I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice breaking with emotion.

Leonard sat there for a moment, still holding her hand before reaching out and pulling her to him. His arms wrapped around her body as she rested her cheek against his chest, letting her tears soak into his shirt. He kissed the top of her head as his own tears fell down his cheeks and into her hair.

The two lovers stayed like this for a good moment or two, not breaking apart from the embrace on the couch.

"I shouldn't have invited you in," whispered Penny as she lifted her head and pulled away from Leonard, brushing the tears away from her eyes.

Leonard looked up at her with confusion, his eyebrows knitted together. He didn't understand why she had just said that. "Why not?" he asked, hurt.

"Because..." she began to explain, taking a deep breath. "Because, I thought...I thought it would be like old times. That you would come over here like my friend and not my boyfriend," she whispered as she nervously played with a loose strain of hair, twisting it in between her fingers.

"I have just broken up with the best man I have ever known. And I been feeling shitty and needed my best friend. You are my best friend, Leonard," she whispered sadly, looking up and meeting his eye. "And I need my best friend to lean on. But I was wrong. I shouldn't have invited you in. Thinking that things would be different. That it wouldn't hurt so much, seeing you. But it does. Talking to you hurts. Seeing you so broken, hurts. And knowing it's because of me, that just make it ten times worse. I am an awful person. I'm a selfish person who doesn't think about anybody but herself. I should have known better then to invite you here, thinking that you would want to talk. I should have known that I am probably the last person you want to speak to right now. You probably never want to see my face again. But I didn't think about that. I just thought about myself and my own broken heart. "She shook her head at this before suddenly raising to her feet.

She couldn't look at him. She couldn't dare to look into those brown eyes of his and see companion and love for her there. She knew that Leonard loved her. And would no matter how hard he tried, would never be mad at her. He would always be there for her. She hated that even after what she had done to him, that she was still taking advantage of his loyalty towards her. It would make her feel better if he yelled at her. Thrown things and object at her like she deserved. Instead of sitting on her couch, and listening to her. Looking up at her with concern. She wanted him to treat her like she deserved to be treated, like trash.

Rage then all the sudden bubbled within her. She was suddenly mad at Leonard for not acting like he should be.

"Why aren't you yelling at me?" she asked, suddenly turning on her heel and appearing down at him.

Leonard looked up at her puzzled at this.

"Why aren't you telling me how shitty I am? How I destroyed you, how I broke your heart that you offered to me with opened arms? How I don't deserve to be loved? That you never want to see my face again! That I hurt you like you thought I would never do too you! Uh? Why aren't you yelling at me?" she cried at him in a fit of rage. Hot tears rolling down her face as she stared at him. Waiting for him to explode.

However, he didn't react like she wanted him too. He was silent for a moment, studying her saddened face. Pondering what she had just told him. Would yelling and screaming at her really help? No, it wouldn't change anything. It wouldn't change how he felt about her. Or make her suddenly love him. Shaking his head slowly, he spoke, "Because I love you."

Penny watched as he rose to his feet. "I won't yell at you and tell you, you are trash and I wish I never met you, because that would be a lie Penny. I still love you," he whispered sadly, "Nothing can change that. I still love you. No matter how hard I try to convince myself...I cannot change how I feel. Yelling at you, will not change matters between us. It will just make you feel better but it won't make me. I could never stand here and tell you that I wish I never met you that I wish you were dead. Because if you were dead, I would be even more broken then I am now. "

"You are my best friend too," he added as he locked eyes with her. "And like you, I need my best friend. I need my best friend to lean on and tell me everything is going to be alright. To listen to my broken heart." He then enclosed the space between them before wrapping his arms around her body once again. Penny hugged him back, resting her chin on his shoulder.

The two of them stood there for the longest time, holding one another as they cried, comforting each other like friends do.

Thanks so much for reading, please review!

Julie