Chapter 7 - Realizations: "I've played my cards too late."

They arrived back at the hotel in the evening, yawning, but with smiles on their faces. Penny had been right; the Observatory had been more fun than she had thought, and it was actually very interesting, although a lot of if meant very little to her, it was still worth it for how fascinated Leonard looked by everything. After purchasing a few small souvenirs, they had headed out to dinner, before going for a long walk, and eventually deciding to make their way back. They hadn't even questioned whether Penny was going to back to her place or back to his hotel.

"So, was that more fun than you thought?" Leonard asked, grinning as she placed the plastic bag containing a few things she'd got from the gift shop on his desk.

"Yeah... it was pretty cool, actually." Penny nodded, turning around to smile at him. "The planetarium was nice. Did you enjoy it?"

"Of course I did! It was so awesome, the stuff you learn there is fascinating." Leonard nodded eagerly, putting his plastic bag down next to hers - his contained three books, and thudded slightly as it hit the desk.

"Well, thank you for a fun afternoon. And thank you for dinner and a nice evening." Penny smiled up at him.

"You're welcome. Thank you for keeping me company."

"Any time." Yawning, Penny stretched her arms up, before dropping them down to her sides. "Ugh. Do you mind if I use your shower?"

"Oh, sure, go for it." Leonard led her over to the en-suite bathroom, switching the lights on. "Up on that rail are the spare towels."

"Perfect." Penny nodded, before biting her lip. "Uh, Leonard, I don't have any pajamas. Or a robe."

"Umm... okay, well, I can call down to reception and ask them to bring up another robe. As for pajamas... uh, I guess you could use one of my t-shirts."

Grinning, she nodded. "Okay. That works for me." Ooh, yeah, it definitely works for me. "Now go, that awesome shower is practically beckoning me."

Chuckling, Leonard nodded, stepping back out into the bedroom. "Okay, okay. Have a nice shower."

"I will. Thanks!" Penny grinned once more, before shutting the door.

Shaking his head, Leonard made his way over to the wardrobe in which he'd placed his clothes (he hated living out of a suitcase) to find her a t-shirt. He was still in a slight state of disbelief - not only that he'd actually run into Penny, but that she was here with him, right now, using his hotel shower, about to wear his t-shirt. Who would have thought? He'd always figured if he saw her again, it would be in Pasadena, in ten years time when Sheldon and Amy got married, or something like that. But this was better, much better. Even if it meant knowing her painful story, and living with the guilt that he was the one who'd caused that, being with her right now was the best feeling in the world.

Suddenly, he heard a scream from the bathroom, and he dropped the t-shirt he was holding in favor of running to the door and pulling it open in a panic. "What, what? What's wrong?"

"I couldn't figure out what switch does what and I got cold water in my face along with a butt massage!" Penny exclaimed. "Which was not what I bargained for! What the hell are all those stupid jets for anyway!"

"Oh my God, I thought you'd fallen over or something, thank God." Leonard held a hand to his chest. "And you said those jets were cool."

"Well I've changed my mind. I hate them." Penny folded her arms across her chest, before realizing that she was naked, and covered in cold water. Her voice went quiet as she crossed one leg in front of the other. "Leonard, can you get the shower running please?"

"Huh?" Leonard blinked, tearing his eyes away from her body. "Oh, sure, sure." Stepping past her, he adjusted the temperature control and switched the water control to the overhead power shower. He placed a hand beneath the stream of water, waiting until it was coming out at the desired temperature. "Here you go."

"Thank you." Penny bit her lip as she stepped closer to him to get back into the shower.

Without thinking, her arms flew around his neck as her lips crashed onto his. Surprised, it took him a few seconds before he responded. It was only a few minutes later that she made it into the shower, a move that was greatly improved by the fact that Leonard was there too.

"Guess there's no point in you calling down to ask for a robe or lending me a t-shirt now." Penny smirked, rolling onto her side to look at Leonard.

"I suppose there really isn't." Leonard agreed, propping his head up on his elbow.

Having pulled the covers up to her chin, Penny sighed. "I still don't know how you ever leave this bed. It's so comfortable and big and awesome."

"Well, now that you're in it, it's a task that's gonna be a lot more difficult."

"Yeah?" Penny grinned when he nodded. "Well, that is one thing that I am not sorry for."

"Penny-"

"Shh." She placed a finger over his lips.

"Okay," he said softly. He took her hand, bringing it down from his lips and holding it beneath his chin. "Hmm. But I'm not kidding, you're going to make it really difficult to get out of bed tomorrow."

"Works in my favor. I don't have to be in until earliest half six in the evening. Do you have to get out of bed tomorrow?"

He thought about it for a moment. "All I was planning on doing tomorrow was working on a presentation. So I'd have to get out of bed to get my laptop from my desk. But other than that... no, I don't really have to get out of bed."

"Good." Penny shuffled closer to him, transferring her head from the pillow to his chest. "Mm. Do they do room service here?"

"Yeah. Are you hungry?"

"Not right now. I meant for tomorrow."

"Oh. Yeah, yeah they do. We can do that."

"Perfect. But you'll have to answer the door for them. I intend on spending as much time in this bed as possible." Penny giggled to herself. "You'll just have to go with housekeeping not cleaning your room for a day."

"That's fine by me."

"Right answer." Penny tilted her head up to kiss him gently, before placing her head back on his chest and draping an arm over his stomach. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, inhaling his scent. "Mm. This is nice. Thank you for today, Leonard. I really mean that. For everything." Nuzzling her head slightly, she felt him kiss her hair in response. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Penny. Sleep well."

"I will."

Two hours later, Leonard found himself lying there, wide awake, mind whirring. Penny slept peacefully in his arms, sweet and beautiful as ever, her soft snores rhythmically tickling his skin. It was how happy, comfortable and at ease she was being now, compared to the day before, that was keeping him from going into a complete panic.

But that didn't stop his mind from worrying and overthinking everything she had told him, everything that had happened to get them here.

It was the same sentence that he kept coming back to: I didn't try my best to be there for her.

His mind pointed out to him that he should have paid more attention during their conversations over Skype to make sure that she was really happy, and not just saying she was happy. Sheldon had told him by then that he had observed differences in her behavior - he should have insisted on more information instead of just accepting 'she just seems different, she never wants to eat with us anymore' - something he'd attributed to her being fed up of Sheldon's company and wanting time to herself. He shouldn't have accepted Penny's answer of 'there's only so much time I can spend with Sheldon without you there to keep me sane'.

When she'd ended their conversation that evening, he should have been stronger and tried to call her, text her, anything, straight away, instead of just sitting there in his room, shocked and heartbroken. He knew that she was someone who liked their space when they were upset, but all he could think of was how hopeless he had been in that situation and that he should have tried harder.

And on top of all that, he should never have accepted that second trip. No matter what she told him about it being the right move, and that she would never have let him say no.

The only thing that kept him from completely hating himself was the fact that at least right now she was happy, and at least she had landed herself a wonderful acting job. Perhaps she thought she was weak for what had happened to her, but to him she was the bravest, strongest person he knew. Despite how difficult on her all of this had been, she made her way through it and worked hard to get herself that job, and took the steps to get back on her feet.

Pulling her closer to him, he placed his lips on her forehead for a moment, before tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I didn't try my best to be there for you." Leonard whispered. "And I am truly, deeply sorry from the bottom of my heart. But I promise, I will never, ever let that happen again."

Promise made to her and to himself, Leonard closed his eyes, finally allowing himself to be pulled into slumber.

Having spent the majority of the morning and afternoon in bed, Penny had decided that she would come back to the hotel after the show. He used the time she was away to work on his presentation, since he hadn't really been given the chance to during the day. Of course, he wasn't going to complain: spending time with her was something he'd much rather do, in comparison to... well, anything, really.

When she returned to the hotel that night, he had a bubble bath ready for her, though she still insisted it was a swimming pool, not a bathtub. For a while he left her to relax, but she called him in. It was relaxing and intimate; simply enjoying the warmth of the water and her back against his chest, not needing to talk but simply be in each others company.

When she exclaimed that she was becoming "more prune than human" they got out, and he teased her by asking if she was missing her Star Wars shower gel to which she simply rolled her eyes. Despite their temporary displacement, the painful time they had spent apart, everything right now felt right. Almost like it had been before, only they appreciated each others mere existence a lot more now. They slipped back into each others lives so naturally, so easily and so openly that the routine of going between intimate moments and teasing each other gave them back their sense of belonging.

That night they went to sleep in each others embrace once more, Penny in one of his t-shirts and a pair of boxer shorts as a pair of make-shift pajamas. He wore his white t-shirt that night, having had no need to put it on previously. It was calming, seeing him wear that simple garment, and she immediately placed her hands on the material. The familiarity warmed her heart.

The following morning they went to Starbucks for breakfast. Penny wished she had brought more than one pair of panties with her and a change of clothes. And she needed to shave her legs, and cleanse her face, and moisturize... yes, there was a lot to do that she hadn't even considered. By the time they'd got back to the hotel she had admitted defeat and told him they'd have to go back to hers and stay there for the night.

"That's cool with me," Leonard nodded when she told him. "I'll spend the time you're at work watching Babylon 5."

"You are never going to shut up about that, are you?"

"Nope." He shook his head, grinning smugly.

"Alright. Whatever. I guess I deserve that." Penny sighed, as she flopped down onto the bed and switched on the television.

As he went to join her, his phone rang, and she muted the television so he could talk.

"Hello? Hey. Yeah, no, I'm not doing anything." Leonard paused as he listened, furrowing his brow in concentration. "Oh, that sounds great. Yeah, I'm free then. Where's that? Uh-huh. Alright, I'll look it up. No, sorry, I didn't finish the presentation yet. I'll get that finished for you tonight and send it tomorrow morning. No, time-wise it's fine, don't worry. Of course. Alright, I'll see you then. Bye."

"Who was that?" Penny asked, unmuting the television.

"My boss." Leonard replied, putting his phone down on his desk and taking off his jacket.

"What did he want?"

"To arrange to meet and finalize the details of the next trip."

Her eyes shot from the television to his. "The next trip? When is that?"

"It's..." Leonard dropped his gaze to the floor, as the problem clicked together. His heart jumped to his throat. "It's in two weeks time."

"Oh. Two weeks. That's... that's great." Penny nodded slowly, and she could feel the panic and dread rise in her body. How had neither of them foreseen this? She felt herself rise off of the bed. "I... two weeks, that's... soon. Really soon."

"Penny-" He wanted to kick himself. Or to be swallowed up by the ground. Or for a time machine to appear right now.

"And, I have two weeks to decide if I want to stay on for another year," Penny told him, reaching for her purse, moving on autopilot. "So, you know, I guess I should... I should really start thinking about that."

"Listen, Penny, I'm sorry, I should have-"

"No, no, it's fine, I mean, we're both in London for a reason, right? Your job travels, I know that, so, this was going to happen anyway," she said, fighting back the tears she could feel threatening to spill, walking backwards towards the door. "I mean, it shouldn't be such a surprise, right?"

"I haven't-"

"I really do need to get back, and you need time to do your presentation, Leonard, and I need to think about my contract - and look at bills, I mean, I still have my apartment in Pasadena to think about - so, yeah, I'm just going to..." Opening the door, Penny left her sentence unfinished as she stepped out, slamming it behind her.