A/N Beta'ed by the one and only TheRimmerConnection…round of applause please. *Clap clap clap*

Previously...

"Hi," she said. Sheldon felt a twitch in his eyebrow and lip.

"You can't sit there. Penny sits there!" Sheldon spat. The lady smiled again.

"You must be Sheldon. I'm Lisa, this is Junior. Penny gave up her seat for us. Isn't she the greatest."

Leonard looked at Sheldon, finding that he was going from twitchy, to shock.

"Leonard. She's in Penny's spot."

Penny looked out the window of the bus. She was pretty happy that the air line was willing to pay for a bus ticket for her if she gave up her plane ticket altogether. She rode the bus from Nebraska when she came to California so many years ago. She felt a ping in her chest when she realized that she was talking the same roads that she rode before. Penny was thankful for all of the time she got to think. It didn't help a lot, but she needed the time just the same.

She took in a deep breath when the bus rolled to a stop at the depot. She waited until most of her fellow travelers exited before she stood up and collected herself. He would be waiting, she knew he would. She felt like she was giving up when she called him. She wanted to be better, be over all of what he stood for in her eyes. She saw him right away when she took the final step off the bus.

"Hey sexy," he said, grinning like he did when he wanted some tail.

"Hey Kurt."

Sheldon was crazy. Not that this was new information to Leonard, but he was really off the walker now. Leonard looked up from his plate to the large white board. He looked at the freakishly detailed layout of the airport. Sheldon had mapped out the possible planes which Penny might arrive on. Mapped out the routes in the airport that Penny might take from the gate, to baggage, to the main exit. He shook his head and scooped up some more food. His phone buzzed on the table. He groaned as he reached for it. He already knew who it would be.

"Hello Sheldon."

"Wha- Ho- How did you know it was me? Oh never mind. I figure you looked at the screen which indicated that it was me who was calling. But really Leonard, why would one assume that it was me, when it could have been some random mugger who bludgeoned me to death and stole my phone? Racking up my minutes, which doesn't really affect me since my death, but still."

"Sheldon," Leonard warned.

"Oh, yes. Right. I'm calling to see if Penny has returned any of your calls."

"No Sheldon, she hasn't. Don't you think that if she called me, I would call you?"

"Well how am I to know? That's why I called. It's irrational to assume. Honestly Leonard."

"Sheldon, let me again warn you. You're going coo coo. Calling Penny repetitively like an obsessed stalker(,) is not going to help you get back in her good graces. Having me call her repetitively is not going to help me get back in her good graces. Chill out! The security guard from the airport already has your picture on display for security. You're on the list."

He could hear Sheldon sigh. He waited for a few moments, only knowing that they were not disconnected from the sounds of the overhead announcements he could hear.

"I just need to make it right. I need to talk to her," Sheldon said sounding defeated.

"I know," Leonard said before Sheldon said bye. Leonard looked down at his food, no longer hungry. He got up and walked to the kitchen. Just as he was rinsing off his plate, there was a knock at the door. His heart jumped.

"Hello?"

He turned and found Penny at the door. He couldn't help but smile and rush to hug her.

"Penny! Where have you been? It's three days," Leonard said as he let go of her. She smiled.

"I took the bus back. Look I'm just here for my mail. I'm going to assume you all got it, my mail box is empty." Leonard nodded and looked over at Sheldon's desk.

"It's in there," he said as he pointed to the desk. Penny looked at him expectantly.

"Will ya get it for me?"

He fiddled with his hands. "Um, I've already got two strikes," he whined.

"Oh for crying out loud," she said, making her way to the desk. She ripped open the desk drawer. Her heart clenched when she saw her mail. Sheldon had neatly stacked it, from largest envelope to smallest and wrapped it all up with a folded paper binding. Her name was neatly and clearly printed on the center of the binding. She took a breath. She reached for the stack and ripped it open. She looked for a pen on his desk and found one. Once she had scribbled a note for Sheldon on the paper binding, she waved bye to Leonard and walked out.

Sheldon slowly stepped up to his apartment. He hadn't found her today. He didn't know who was going to be driving him to the airport tomorrow. Leonard had driven him the first day willingly, begrudgingly on the second day. Today he had bribed Raj by giving him back his Hulk gloves. He opened the door and slowly walked in. He flopped on the couch, looking at Leonard who was at his laptop.

"Hey," Leonard said, turning around. He had a look on his face that clued Sheldon that something was up.

"She call?" he asked, hoping. He shook his head. Sheldon sighed and slumped back.

"No, but she's back." Leonard smiled. Sheldon looked at Leonard, not believing what he heard. He was sure that he was imagining it.

"She's back?"

"Yep."

Sheldon flew out of his seat and raced to his desk. He ripped open the drawer and jumped back like it was full of snakes. "Where's her mail?"

"She came by earlier and got it. I had nothing to do with it," Leonard said holding his hands up. Sheldon looked down at the note that was scribbled on the binding.

Sheldon, thanks for getting my mail. Don't do it again unless I ask you to.

He felt a tightening in his chest. He wanted her to be more happy. He wanted her to be swept off of her feet about the fact he got her mail for her. He nodded at the paper and turned around. He was going to walk over to her apartment and tell her. Tell her that he was sorry and that he honestly believed that he loved her. He wanted to wrap her in his arms and smell her vanilla scent.

He gave Leonard a knowing look and marched off to Penny's.

"So babe, whacha been up to?" Kurt asked. Penny squirmed out of his embrace.

"Oh not much. Working at the restaurant, acting auditions. Same ol' same ol'."

Penny walked to the kitchen and unpacked the short list of groceries she had got at the store. She opened a can of diet soda and a yogurt. She was trying to convince herself that Kurt wasn't a bad thing. She had called him to pick her up from the bus depot and was trying to entertain the idea of starting something back up with him. He was everything she didn't want. He wasn't Sheldon.

She convinced herself that Sheldon was not going to happen, she was a used car, and Sheldon not only wouldn't be the type to buy a used car, but even worse, he didn't drive.

"So when should I come by and pick you up?" Kurt asked as he walked over to her kitchen island. She looked over at her calendar. Work was going to be a bitch. She had missed so much time with her extended vacation. Work was having a shit fit with both her and Bernadette out.

"Um, not sure. What works for you?"

"How's Friday?"

"Bad, working the dinner shift. I could, but earlier."

"How's Saturday?"

"Double." Kurt made a noise from the back of his throat and stepped closer, dropping his lips to her neck. He remembered just what heated her.

"How about-"

Knock, knock, knock.

"Penny."

Knock, knock, knock.

"Penny."

Knock, knock, knock.

"Penny."

She tensed and clenched her fist. Just what she she didn't want. Sheldon to show up with Kurt here. She made her way to the door and opened it a little. She felt the knot in her throat when she saw Sheldon. He was shifting from foot to foot.

"Hello. Um, it's not really a good time."

"Penny, it'll just be a moment. I wanted to talk to you about the other night, I, well you see, I apparently said something that to someone not me, could be misinterpreted. I have been trying to come up with a -" he stopped and almost cried out with the pain he felt in his chest. He felt his throat tighten when he saw Kurt step up behind Penny.

Penny sighed, she hated this. She felt like bursting into tears, but told herself that this was better. Sheldon would see it would be better. She lifted her head high telling herself, to just rip the band-aid off in one fast motion.

"Sweetie, like I said, this isn't a good time." Sheldon nodded as Kurt reached over Penny and shut the door. Sheldon stared at the door, willing himself with all of his might to turn around and walk back to his apartment. He didn't remember doing it, but he made it to his door. He stepped in and slowly walked toward his room.

"Hey! So? How was it?" Leonard asked. He was hopeful that it went well. He had thought a lot on the plane coming home, and all he wanted was for his best-friend and he best-female-friend to be happy. He had amused himself when he was trying to pretend he was sleeping, by picturing their children. Tall, beautiful, and smart. If they had two children, one child would have Sheldon's dark hair, it was statistically inevitable and the other would be a Penny clone. 'Our cool uncle Leonard' is how he imagined the kids introducing him.

He looked at Sheldon's face, and quickly knew something was wrong.

"It's a bad time," Sheldon said as he walked down the hall. Leonard listened for Sheldon's door to open and shut, when it did he walked to the door and opened it.

"So, I'll call you on Friday," Kurt said as he picked up his jacket. He knew that there was something going on with Penny. The last time they had crossed paths, she was very clear about what she thought of any idea of them getting together again. He just figured out that whatever he was doing here was directly related to one of the nerds across the hall.

"Ya," Penny said as she shoveled some yogurt into her mouth.

Kurt nodded and walked out of the apartment. He didn't feel used, hell he 'used' her plenty times in the past for this exact reason. He was going to have a fucking field day being on the other end of the game. He walked out the door, adjusting his jeans when he saw one of the nerds at their door. He grinned as he walked by.

"Hey there widdle hobbit," he said as he passed. He heard a scoffing sound and the door shut.

Ya he was going to have a really fucking good time playing Mr. Distraction.