Leonard POV

It was Sunday afternoon and since Leonard had seen Penny on Friday and been snappy with her he had been unable to sleep properly, he couldn't stop thinking about her and their time together and everything seemed to be going wrong, his car had refused to start, then his laptop was randomly freezing while he was working on it and then just now as he was helping Amy with the Sunday dinner he had managed to drop all the vegetables and smashed the dish they were in, feeling completely frustrated Leonard left everything on the floor and stormed off to his room leaving Amy and Sheldon gawping at him in surprise

'Sheldon can you clear up the mess and I will speak to Leonard he's obviously upset and I think I will be able to help' said Amy

'Are you sure?

'Yes'

Amy walked round to Leonard's room and finding the door slightly ajar walked in to find Leonard sitting on the edge of the bed breathing into his asthma inhaler

Sitting next to him Amy let Leonard calm down for a few minutes before speaking

'Leonard if you want to talk I am happy to listen and help'

He looked at Amy for a long time before answering

'Maybe it will help, I guess I can't keep bottling things up'

'Is this about Penny?

'How did you guess?

'Well I am a neurobiologist I understand how the brain works and how it deals with emotions and I can also see that you are exhausted from lack of sleep thinking about Penny all the time'

'I miss her so much you know and you are right I can't stop thinking about her'

'I know and its evident how hard you are trying to keep her at bay when she comes over, it's like you have your shields up'

'I don't want to get hurt again and I said a lot of things to her when we broke up about how I cant go running after her anymore and she needs to sort her life out before I can even consider going back to her, if I give in now then how do I know she's not going to do it again in the future?

'Even I cant answer that one' said Amy

'I miss her so much and I know she still hangs out with us on Fridays but its not the same and I don't think it ever will be' said Leonard

'Leonard I don't know if this will help but Penny is doing exactly what you asked of her'

'What is she doing?

'She's been going for twice weekly therapy sessions for the past few weeks to help her deal with issues, I think she is realizing how much hurt she has caused, you know she is still in love with you'

'Even if she does still love me, I don't think she needs me anymore anyway, look at what's happened since we broke up'

'How do you mean?

'She's going to therapy as you just mentioned which is good and now got herself a long term acting job and on top of that she's selling the penny blossoms, I want to tell her how proud I am of her but I am afraid that if we have a conversation I will just fall back in with her and I just can't risk that at the moment'

'Leonard you know she's doing all these things to benefit herself for now and maybe its best that way for now, it's very clear neither of you are ready to jump back into the relationship when you both have a lot to deal with and if you want to tell her how proud you are maybe send her a card congratulating her, it doesn't have to be anything long, just a short note'

'Do you think that will work?

'Yes and the reason I took Penny to my room on Friday was to try and defuse the situation I could see you were not up to talking to her and maybe she was being a bit over eager with you, but you will know when you are ready'

'Will I?

'Yes, tell me Leonard do you think you could ever get back with her in the future?

'I would like to think so but she has to sort out her commitment issues and I need to get over the trust issue like you have with her'

'Oh Leonard, whilst I am happy to be friends with her, for now she doesn't know anything about my relationship with Sheldon but I am working on it myself and the more time I spend with her the more I notice she doesn't ask me questions about it'

Leonard nodded and looked thoughtful

'Amy thank you for talking to me, this has helped a lot'

'Your welcome Leonard and anytime you want to talk don't be afraid to ask, also if your car is still not working then I can drive you and Sheldon to work tomorrow and pick you both up'

'Amy you are a star' said Leonard as Amy reached over and gave him a hug

'Why don't you and Sheldon play some video games this afternoon after dinner, it might help release a bit of frustration as well'

'You might be right and I'm sorry I messed up the dinner!'

'No problem, we can just have the chicken and potatoes! Said Amy as she smiled at Leonard

Monday morning

Sheldon had an idea and went straight see President Siebert about the arrangements for May

'President Siebert may I have some input into the days we have to go away?

'Of course but I must tell you now that 3 of the 4 universities have requested you spend two days each with them so we have extended the trip to two weeks but you will have a weekend free in Barcelona in between and a little break at the end of it'

'Oh' said Sheldon momentarily forgetting what he wanted to say

'Dr Cooper you said you had a request?

'Yes! I was hoping that the end of the trip could include May 24'

'Amy reason in particular Dr Cooper'

'Yes that day is 4 years since Amy and I met and I want to do something special and if we are away then that could work out nicely' said Sheldon as he noticed Siebert was writing something down

'Dr Cooper I will work that into the schedule and let you know the full plans later this week, if you want to do something special with Amy let me know and we can work something out for you, what did you have in mind?

'Well' said Sheldon as he launched into just why it had to be special

Some 10 minutes later President Siebert replied

'Ok Dr Cooper, leave it in my hands and once we have sorted the plans we will arrange a meeting with yourself and Dr Fowler, not mentioning your plan of course

'Thank you President Siebert'

At lunchtime Leonard had got Raj to drive him home so he could meet with the breakdown mechanic man who was coming to take his car to the garage to be fixed

Penny woke on on Tuesday morning and as she left the bedroom noticed an envelope under the door, picking it up she opened it to see a congratulations card with a short note from Leonard just saying how proud he was of her with her new acting job and that she hoped she was successful in her Penny Blossoms endeavours

Penny found herself being extremely moved, then hearing noises outside she peeked through the spy hole and saw Leonard leaving the apartment, she quickly opened the door to see Leonard going down the stairs

'Leonard wait a moment'

'Penny I can't stop I'm in a hurry, Amy is waiting to give me and Sheldon a life and they are already in the car'

'Fine then left me walk down with you'

'You are in your nightwear you can't do that, what's the matter anyway? Asked Leonard as he noticed the card in Penny's hand

'I just wanted to say thank you for this' Penny found she couldn't speak anymore so she walked closer down the stairs to Leonard and gave him a quick hug

Leonard stiffened at the hug but found himself inhaling Penny's scent and hugging her back before she quickly let go and walked back to her apartment

Penny found herself curled up on the sofa sobbing because of the unexpected card from Leonard and how much she missed him, she decided to text Amy, Bernadette and Alex to have an emergency girl's night

Later on at Penny's

Penny had got takeaway Pizza had poured everybody except herself some wine and they were settled down chatting

'I think we could do with having a girl's weekend away' said Penny

'Well funny enough Sheldon mentioned that he and the boys would be going to Comic Con at San Diego in two weeks over a weekend so we could go the same time they are away' said Amy

'Where were you thinking of asked Bernadette

'I have always wanted to go to Carmel-on-sea its only a few hours driving, which we could take turns doing and its got great shops, a great beach and fantastic restaurants' said Penny

'Has something happened that has made you want to get away? Asked Bernadette

'Yes I had awkward encounter with Leonard on Friday before you guys got there and this morning he put this card through my door' said Penny as she showed them the card

'I wonder what made him do that? It's very sweet, said Alex

Amy decided to speak up

'He was upset on Sunday and he wanted to express how proud he was of your Penny but he couldn't do it without fear of what might happen with a big long conversation so I suggested it' said Amy

'Amy you really are a proper bestie for doing that and im so sorry for giving you cause to not trust me' said Penny taking Amy's hands in hers and patting them

'Penny its fine, I am trying to let it go and I don't want this to cause a problem between us anymore'

'Well you have my word I will never try anything so stupid again, look what its cost me' said Penny feeling sad

'You still have your girls Penny and we will help give you a fantastic weekend away' said Bernadette as the girls all agreed with her

'Oh by the way I have quit the cheesecake factory for good now, I have a final meeting with HSN this week and all going well then I should be starting on the channel within a couple of weeks'

'That's good, cant wait to see you selling them' said Amy

'Thanks, so for the weekend away, do you want me to look in to booking everything? Are we going Friday to Monday?

'Friday to Monday sounds good, if you could book everything and we will pay you what needs owing'

'Shall I book single rooms or double bed rooms?

'I think single, as we can have a little privacy that way as well' said Bernadette as Alex and Amy agreed with her

Later that night when Amy had got back to 4a she mentioned the trip away

'Sheldon just to let you know when you all go to Comic Con us girls have arranged to go to Carmel for the weekend'

'Oh that's good I was worried about leaving you and I was going to invite you but I kind of guessed that's not your thing' said Sheldon

'Not really but maybe in the future I could come with you to one but I wont be dressing up!

Sheldon pretended to pout and sulk but then kissed Amy very softly

'I hope that will change your mind?

'Nope not a chance, you will have to do a lot of convincing!

Thursday that week

Sheldon and Amy had been given a meeting time of 9am in President Sieberts office

'Good morning Dr Cooper and Dr Fowler, the plans are now completed and I have the full itinerary here' said Siebert as he handed over two folders which Amy and Sheldon both started leafing through

'I will just give you a brief breakdown. As you have noticed you are leaving on May 9th so you can of course take that day off work to travel, your flight is at 1735 from LAX landing at Heathrow at 1205pm Saturday and then you have a connecting flight to Edinburgh at 15:15pm, Dr Fowler you will notice that we have arranged a hire car for you to drive from Edinburgh to St Andrews as it is a distance of some 50 miles and we have booked hotels for you both at all the places you are staying and you will finish the University tour on May 21st where you will have 4 days free to go to CERN and whatever else you would like to do before leaving Geneva on May 25'

'Thank you for the use of the hire car President Siebert, will I need to arrange insurance? Asked Amy

'No that is all taken care of, now is there anymore questions?

Sheldon and Amy both shook their heads

'We will arrange for all the prospectus to go directly to all the universities ready for when you arrive, I know its still a few months away but I know you both wont let Caltech and UCLA down, we may have more meetings scheduled to talk about this nearer the time but for now you can go'

Sheldon was walking Amy out to her car when he remembered something

'Amy, Leonard is going to take us out to dinner tonight as a sorry for ruining Sunday dinner, I told him it didn't matter but he insisted'

'Oh that is very nice of him, do you know where he is taking us? Asked Amy

'No he said he would tell us later'

'Ok I have to get back to UCLA now Sheldon' said Amy as she reached her car

'Bye Amy' said Sheldon giving her a brief hug and kiss

Also Thursday

Penny along with Raj and her manager had met up with the HSN director and producer to sign the contract for selling the Penny Blossoms on TV and Penny was told she would start next week Monday with two live episodes with a primetime slot for 6pm which would she would then repeat live at 10am on Tuesday, the rest of the slots would be repeated throughout the week and she was able to fit in the filming of her web show with the live slots from HSN and they had also agreed on a retail fee of $7.50 including postage for the Penny Blossoms in all their varieties

They were also able to get a non exclusive clause allowing them to sell on the internet and Raj was able to set their website back up again

Next chapter will show Penny's debut on HSN