Leonard sat in the middle seat in the back of the car with the little white box open in front of him. He could hear Raj and Howard in the front talking, but he wasn't listening to them. His mind was totally focused on the little white box that held inside it the symbol of his future. That tiny little box held everything he had wanted for the past seven years. Penny Hofstadter. Penelope Hofstadter. Mrs Penelope Hofstadter. Leonard smiled as those three names circled around his mind in a continuous loop, but he was being presumptuous again. He didn't know that Penny would take his name, for all he knew she could want to hyphen it or just keep her own surname. Hell, she might not even say yes, but that didn't stop his brain going into over-drive as it pictured Penny walking down the aisle in a beautiful white gown. It didn't stop him imagining their wedding day, their honeymoon, and their children. The little Hofstadter's. His heart fluttered and he shut the little box and put it back inside the bag. He had to stop getting ahead of himself again and wait until she at least agreed to marry him before he thought anymore about the wedding, and especially children. One step at a time.

"So, when are you going to do it then?" Howard asked, turning around slightly in his seat so he could face Leonard.

Leonard sighed. "I don't know. I was thinking this weekend… Or maybe next weekend." He suddenly became very nervous as it hit him that there really was nothing left to do but propose. The ring was bought, permission had been given, all he had to do was book the restaurant and he was done. "Maybe the weekend after that." He said quietly.

"No dude, you can't wimp out now!" Raj said as he drove, sensing by Leonard's tone of voice that he was getting cold feet. "You should do it this weekend, get it over with."

"Raj is right, the longer you leave it the scarier it will get." Howard added. "Do you know where you want to take her?"

"Well, there's that new place that just opened by the beach. I was going to take her there because I know how much she loves being at the beach."

"Ohh that sounds great!" Raj said excitedly. "Book it now!"

"I can't. I have to talk to Penny first." Leonard said with a giggle. It really did amuse him how Raj got so excited about these kinds of things. "I don't know what nights she is working this week."

"Well, find out tonight and book it." Howard said. "It's just opened, so it will be pretty popular, you don't want to leave it too late and then not get a table."

"Stop pressuring me okay, I will do it when I do it!" Leonard snapped. Raj and Howard looked at each other in surprise and a few moments of awkward silence followed. "Sorry." He said with a sigh. He looked down as he nervously wrung his hands. "I just didn't expect this to come around so fast. It feels like I only just told you guys I was proposing. Now suddenly everything is done and all that's left is to ask her. She could pretty much either make or break my life with one word. It's pretty daunting."

"Look, this bit is scary. It's the biggest question you will ever ask, it's supposed to be scary, but you have to push past this. Don't let your nerves stop you. She loves you. Everything will be fine." Howard tried to sound as calm and re-assuring as possible. He knew how this part felt, and he knew how easy it was to decide to keep on putting it off.

Leonard nodded blankly. He knew Howard was right, he couldn't let his nerves stop him now after coming so far. He took a deep breath and then another, as the car pulled up outside of the University, putting the small bag into his pocket as he left the car.

"Thanks guys." Leonard said as he headed to walk over to his own car.

"No problem! Text us when you have booked the restaurant! So we know you have done it!" Raj yelled to him.

Leonard rolled his eyes and nodded. "I will."

Leonard entered his apartment building, just as Penny was walking up from the laundry room, with a big basket of freshly cleaned laundry in hand. "Hey, sweetie." She said as she walked towards him. Leonard quickly stuffed the tiny bag into his jacket pocket as she leaned in to give him a quick kiss. "Where did you go today?"

Leonard looked at her feeling suddenly panicked. "What do you mean?" He asked as they began their ascent up the stairs.

"Sheldon came knocking on our door earlier looking for you. He said you left work with Howard and Raj. The poor guy had no one to take him home! He had to take the bus. He was pretty pissed so I'd avoid him if I were you." She said with a grin. "So, where were you?"

Leonard's jaw dropped as soon as he heard the name Sheldon and felt instantly guilt ridden as he realized he had completely forgotten that they had left him at the University. His mind began to race as he tried to think of a reasonable explanation for where they had been that day and decided it was best to tell her the truth, just a very vague version of it. "We went shopping." As soon as he said the words, and saw Pennys confused and surprised expression, he regretted his earlier decision. He should have realized she wouldn't just accept he had went shopping, she would ask where they had been to and more importantly why.

"You? Went shopping?" She said with a raised eyebrow, stopping in her tracks in the middle of the staircase.

"Um… Yeah…" He began to walk up the stairs again, but Penny didn't budge.

"You, Howard and Raj, went shopping?" Leonard sighed at his failed attempt to end the conversation and nodded. "Why?"

"Because… Um…" Leonard suddenly felt a few drops of sweat begin to form on his forehead and he hoped with all hope that Penny didn't notice his agitation. "We were helping Howard… Buy some um… You know… Those things he wears." He said pointing to his neck as his panicked state took hold of his vocabulary.

"Turtlenecks?" Penny said screwing up her face. "He needed you and Raj to go with him to buy some turtlenecks?"

"He wanted our opinion." He said slowly, not even convincing himself that his lie could be true. She stared at him in confusion for a few more seconds, but eventually shrugged her shoulders and began to walk up the stairs again, much to Leonards relief. She either thought that it was just weird enough to be true, or her complete trust in him told her he wouldn't lie to her about something so silly, either way she had believed his crappy lie. "So, I was wondering, what nights are you working this week?" Leonard said, desperate to get the conversation off of his shopping trip.

"Um… tonight… tomorrow, Friday and Saturday. Why?"

"Well, I was thinking of taking you out this week, for dinner."

"Really?" She said tilting her head as they turned the corner and began to walk up the third flight of stairs. "Why?"

"Can you stop asking why?" Leonard said with a giggle. "Because, you are my girlfriend and I want to take you out." He grinned.

"Aw well aren't you sweet!" Penny laughed. "Sounds great, what night?"

"Um… Sunday?"

"Awesome! It's a date!" Penny giggled as they reached their floor. Leonard opened the apartment door to let Penny inside, and as soon as she headed to the bedroom to put away the laundry, he pulled out his phone.

"I've done it guys, Sunday is the big day!" He texted both the guys and Raj responded immediately with, "OMG! Can't wait!" And Howard a little later with, "No turning back now! Better prepare your speech!" Leonard smiled as he gripped the little box in his pocket. No turning back now.