Hey guys, first off, I really want to apologise for the MASSIVE delay on this update. But, I'm going to upload the final chapter tomorrow, and then immediately update the rest of my fics, to try and compensate a little I guess :S

This, was actually by far the hardest thing I've ever written. The amount of time I've spent deliberating whether or not to upload this chapter is crazy, and I've rewritten it multiple times. I hope you enjoy this! (As much as possible, given the contents!)

Take care!

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, not one little single thing. :P

Penny slammed the door of her car closed and ran, slightly disorientated up to the hospital entrance. Everything was such a blur, she could barely remember being going up to the main desk and asking for Leonard's room. As she followed the nurse, practically at a run, Penny began to think about all of the things she would say to Leonard, begging him to take her back, telling him that she loved him, holding his hand and kissing his lips. It was evident to the nurse that Penny was deep in thought, because she had her tongue out and was scrunching her forehead up.

As they reached Leonard's room, after following a labyrinth of corridors, Penny saw Sheldon sitting in a lone chair, head in hand's. Her heart immediately felt a pang of worry, 'Why was he alone, why does he look upset?' She thought to herself. Not even thanking the nurse, Penny ran straight up to him, and crouched next to his chair, and cleared her throat before talking.

She never got a chance; Sheldon looked straight up at her as soon as she made a noise, and with heavy eyes said,

'He's dying, Penny. Leo-Leonard's dying.' As soon as he finished his sentence, he put his hands back over his eyes and started silently wailing into them.

'What?!' She screamed, 'Bernadette told me that he was fine, that he'd woken up, and was just overthinking and wanted to say goodbye, even though he knew he was going to be okay. He can't die! How did this happen?!'

For once even the great Sheldon Cooper didn't have an answer.

'I don't know, I'm sorry.'

She wanted to be sick, moreover, she wanted to scream bloody murder at Sheldon for lying; she wanted to beg him to be lying, even be playing a cruel joke on her. She even wanted to wait for the bazinga that'd never come. All determination to see Leonard was gone; she couldn't see him on his deathbed, not again. She couldn't see him die, see him suffer. She instinctively curled her hands into balls and slammed them against the ground, letting tears drop to the cold floor as she did so.

Penny wanted to get up and sit with him, hold his hand, and tell him what she really felt. But the cold steely grip that was cowardice had her held fast. There was no way she was going anywhere.

'Penny? Aren't you going in? He's already said goodbye to everyone, and you'd be alone with him in there, you can say whatever you need to.' Sheldon sounded so fragile, that it made Penny cry even harder, when she finally spoke, it came out in a hysterical, incoherent slur of words.

'I can't,' she croaked, 'I just can't do it, I can see him like that, it'd kill me.'

Penny could see Sheldon immediately look shocked, she saw him look at her with rage, with disappointment and with anger. But when he came to reply, to her words, it all disappeared.

'You were the love of his life Penny. He talked about you every day, remained loyal to you, put up with your faults, took the blame for everything in your relationship, and worshiped the ground you walked on, paid for your food, heck he even paid for your rent. I never understood any of it, favours and friendships, but now, I can see why, sadly, it came too late, and I'll forever regret it. I hope when you realise that you threw away your last chance to ever see a man as incredible as Leonard, you don't. You've made a grave mistake today Penny, and even though he'll deny it, your absence will be the thing to kill him. I don't wish to sound harsh, but that's the cold truth, and it's unavoidable. I also hope that all of the men that you carelessly slept with were worth the consequences they've brought. Now, I'm going to go and be with Leonard as he dies, because he's my best friend, and he deserves to be with someone that cares at the end. Goodbye, Penny.'

Each word that Sheldon had spoken slammed a stake further into her heart. It was all true, and Penny knew it, but she still couldn't move. Her legs were still deadweight's that refused to operate. She knew she had to do something, and so she asked Sheldon to give Leonard a message.

'Shel-Sheldon?' She started, once his sad eyes rested upon her she continued. 'Please tell Leonard that I love him more than anything.' She was sobbing, but the words came out perfectly, she knew that he'd heard her.

'No.' He replied. 'I don't wish to torture him with what might've been, nor with false proclamations of love.' And with that he was gone; he was on the other side of the door, breaking Leonard's heart on her behalf. He couldn't clear up the pieces this time. It was the end.

Penny heaved her body to the door, and pressed her ear against it. She could just make out the two of them talking about the latest issues of their favourite comics, and about how Sheldon's progression in the Skyrim story was going. She could hear Leonard's faint laugh, followed by a rasping cough as Sheldon complained about lacklustre ending that the game held. She heard them talking about physics, about a new theorem that one of the physicists had devised involving quantum tunnelling.

But what had followed left Penny feeling even more broken, beat and scarred. She could make out their voices as clear as anything.

'Sheldon?' Leonard's weak voice said.

'Yes, buddy?' She heard him reply

'I'm really tired, could you sing me soft kitty?'

'Sure, Leonard.'

'Soft Kitty, warm kitty little ball of fur.' His voice was cracked, Penny knew he was holding back tears.

'Happy Kitty, sleepy kit-' He was interrupted by a long ringing from the machine, signalling that Leonard had fallen asleep, for good. But even though he was gone, Sheldon's obsessive compulsive left him forced to finish the hardest sentence he'd ever had to speak, torturing him, mocking him.

'Purr, Purr, Purr. Sleep tight Leonard, I'll miss you.' And then, just muffled weeping from behind the door.

Sorry, but I just enjoy writing angst too much to give Leonard and Penny a break!

See you tomorrow!