A/N: I know, it's been a while. I'm sorry. This chapter speeds up the lives a bit, only showing snippets of the last few weeks of Leonard & Penny. I'm not trying to finish the story, but I want the story to get to a certain point. Also: I've screwed up the names of Leonard and Sheldon's hulking neighbor in a few chapters. It should be Jason (as stated in the first chapter he appeared in), but somehow I ended up with two chapters of calling him Frank. I would fix it, if I wasn't too lazy to go back and change the name.
"Are you sure you're okay with this?"
Penny refrained from rolling her eyes but looked intently into Leonard's eyes. "Leonard, sweetie, you need a place to sleep, now that Sheldon kicked you out." That had been a huge surprise when Penny had accompanied him to his apartment. That was not a good way to end an otherwise very enjoyable weekend. "And you know my bed's really comfortable," she added with a smirk.
Leonard smiled, but seemed to be uncertain still. "Yeah, but this might be a bit longer. So far it's only been weekends."
Sometimes Penny just wanted to shake Leonard or knock some sense into him. Instead she stepped even closer to him, grabbing both his hands in hers. "Sweetie, you can stay here as long as you want. Even if Sheldon has a change of heart, which, by the way, he clearly needs literally, you could still stay here with me and Andy."
Leonard's smile widened. "You're assuming Sheldon has a heart?"
Penny grinned, happy to have him focus on something else, even if it would be brief. "Well, I admit there hasn't been any evidence so far, but I'm sure he has one."
Leonard chuckled. "Ever the optimist." He grew serious again. "I really appreciate your offer, I do. I'm just worried it's going too fast and you only made your offer because you felt obligated to do so."
Penny pressed her lips again Leonard's to stop him talking. "I wouldn't do anything I wasn't comfortable with," she assured him afterward. "I can see why some people would think this is really fast, but I don't think it is. We've had this connection pretty much from the first time meeting each other. We have fun together, we enjoy each other's company, so why not?"
"Okay, but if I do something that annoys you, just tell me, okay?"
Penny nodded. "I will, but you have to do the same if I do something that annoys you." She turned even more serious when she noticed the look on his face. "Don't look at me like I'd never do anything to annoy you, because I will. Not intentionally, but there's bound to be some things in our day to day lives that will cause annoyance."
"Okay, I can do that," Leonard responded, a much more serious look on his face. "Are you absolutely sure, though? I could probably crash at..."
Penny stopped him by pressing her lips against his once more. "Sweetie, point of annoyance: you questioning my brilliant solution to a problem."
"Right," he answered, adding a small nod. "I'll keep that in mind. I guess you know what you're doing."
Penny nodded emphatically. "Yes, I do. I asked my wonderful boyfriend to move in with me after his roommate and supposed friend kicked him out."
"What's wrong, honey?"
Leonard turned his head to look at Penny, unaware he had done something to tip her off something was on his mind. "I just hope Sheldon's okay." He knew it would seem stupid to care for the man who had simply terminated the roommate agreement and kicked him out, but to Leonard, Sheldon was still his friend. And for the past years, Sheldon had depended on him to navigate the, to him, foreign everyday world. Leonard saw a sympathetic smile form on Penny's lips.
"I'm sure he's fine. Jason promised to keep an eye on him." She gently shook her head. "You know, that's one of the things that makes you so very special. Here you are, being kicked out by your friend, and the first thing you do is ask your neighbor if he will make sure Sheldon's okay."
"He still needs someone to help him deal with most normal things in life," Leonard said, sounding defensive.
Penny smiled, hoping to convey to him she didn't think he was wrong to do so. "Baby, I understand that, I do. But..." Penny paused, unsure if she should continue, then decided she should. "But isn't it kind of your own fault?" She saw a change in his expression. "I don't mean it was wrong to help him initially," she said, emphasizing the last word, "but don't you think that over the years you should've helped him do things on his own?"
"Sheldon may look like a grown man, but he really is a child inside."
"Because you allowed him to continue to be one," Penny said, wanting to make Leonard see he was part of the problem. "You need to let a child grow, every now and then force them to do something on their own. Sure, they might fail at first, but at least they'll have learned from the experience." Worriedly Penny observed Leonard as he stared at the ceiling, in deep thought. Had she pushed too hard?
"Huh, never thought about it like that," Leonard admitted after a minute or so. "I never taught him to deal with anything, I just did it for him."
Penny was pleased that Leonard at least now realized he had partially caused Sheldon to behave the way he did.
"But this is a really big change for him," Leonard continued, apparently not completely ready to just leave his former roommate to deal with the situation he had caused himself.
"That's why it's good he has Jason around," Penny said. She then smirked. "Though it might be best for you to not visit Jason for a while."
Leonard chuckled. "Yeah, he's probably not very happy with the situation." He frowned. "But he has to deal with the whole stalking business."
"I'm sure he'll sleep a lot better now that Miranda's moved in with him."
Leonard hummed, realizing that Jason would feel much more relaxed knowing Miranda wasn't alone in her apartment.
"Though, most likely, he's getting less sleep," Penny continued, her hand wandering over Leonard's body.
Leonard turned his head toward her, torn about what to do. While he certainly enjoyed having sex with his girlfriend, said girlfriend's son was just down the hall.
"I promise I'll be really quiet," Penny whispered in his ear, as she moved closer.
Leonard frowned at Sheldon, not quite sure what his former roommate was trying to say.
"So, all these things you and especially that woman you have coitus with complained about, are now irrelevant!"
Leonard nodded hesitantly, still not understanding why Sheldon talked about the roommate agreement to him.
"With that out of the way, there would be no need for the legal dispute to continue, right?"
Leonard shrugged noncommittally, feeling he should at least wait out what Sheldon had up is sleeve, though he thought he knew.
"Without the legal dispute, you and I could draw up a new roommate agreement and..."
Leonard sighed. "I'm not moving back in, Sheldon."
"Why not?"
"Because I'm now living with the woman I love, someone who respects me and doesn't force anything on me," Leonard answered, trying his best to not sound too harsh. The last couple of weeks had shown him that sharing a living space didn't equate to having to do everything when and how the other person wanted to.
Sheldon shook his head. "I don't see how you can live without any rules and a schedule. What if you both decide to empty your bladders at the same time?"
Leonard smiled. "Well, luckily, Penny's house has two bathrooms. But even if that wasn't the case, I'm sure one of us could wait a minute or so for the other to finish."
"Alright, what if you both are in desperate need to shower? Taking a shower takes longer, and I don't think she has two showers?"
Leonard shook his head. "No, just the one." He smirked. "And we really enjoy showering together." He sighed. "Look, Sheldon, I really am not interested in moving back. I'd still like to be your friend, and I'm still willing to take you places, like the comic book store."
"I see," the lanky physicist said. "What happened to 'bros before hoes?'"
Leonard stood up and leaned across the table. "Penny is not a hoe," he said through clenched teeth. He'd never been so angry with Sheldon, but his friend was taking this too far. "She's the one who encouraged me to try to remain friends with you, but I'll tell you right now, that if you don't stop insulting her or utter snarky remarks about our relationship, I will not be your friend and you can look for other people to treat as your personal slave!"
He realized his voice had gradually increased volume and that his last statement was heard by everyone in the cafeteria, but for once, he didn't care. He picked up his tray, glared angrily at Sheldon for another second or two before walking away.
Penny was actually bored out of her skull. A quick glance around told her she wasn't the only one hoping the current speech would be over soon. Weren't these things supposed to be informative and entertaining? It probably was informative, assuming you were paying attention, but there was no entertainment value at all. The man was just droning on and on monotonously about something or other, boring at least half the guests and nearly all the graduates.
Penny smiled and looked in the direction of her son. She was so incredibly proud of him, though it also saddened her to realize he would soon be off to college. It would be different without Andy around, but she couldn't deny him his opportunity to become the best in whatever he was going to pursue. Leonard had tried to explain it to her, but just as Andy hadn't been able to say it in a way she understood, neither had her boyfriend. To her it just meant he was going to do something high techie-techie, some specialized field within the world of physics.
She snapped her head back to the front and joined the crowd in the applause, which Penny suspected was mostly out of relief the man had finally finished.
"Man, that guy was boring," Leonard whispered in her ear and Penny nodded in agreement. "He could've at least injected some levity into it."
The ceremony continued, with diploma's being handed out. Her son was somewhere near the middle of the list, second in the 'L' section, and she estimated it would take about fifteen minutes before his name would be called. Sure enough, after exactly fifteen minutes the row her son was in got up and moved to the side of the podium. Penny retrieved her phone, ready to start recording once Andy was second in line. She had already recorded him giving his speech, in awe at the fact he seemed to do that so effortlessly and without a hint of nervousness.
Penny started recording, keeping it on her son as he was finally called upon the stage. He accepted his diploma with a smile, shook hands with the people on stage and paused two seconds at the other side of the stage to get his picture taken. Penny kept her phone's camera on him as he walked back to his place, giving a little wave and a thumbs up when he looked at her.
As she put her phone back, she couldn't help remembering how scared she'd been twelve years ago, when she had found out she was pregnant. She had believed her happy life was over and done with. After all, she had been witness to her sister's pregnancy only two years before, how it had changed her. And it definitely had been hard, but Penny was actually glad she'd gone through that. It had changed her, definitely, but only for the better. Realizing you'd be responsible for another human being turned out to be a great motivator to change your priorities from having fun to planning your future.
The greatest benefit, besides having Andy, was that Penny now knew she wasn't actually stupid, that she could be taught and learn stuff. Maybe not as well as either Andy or Leonard, but she had found she was actually pretty good at learning, once she put in the time and effort. She was sure her life now was actually much better than it would've been if she'd simply continued being the popular high school girl.
She glanced at Leonard beside her. He would never have dated her if she'd still been that girl, assuming she'd even moved to the LA area. And if she had moved here, she'd probably come with Kurt, who'd had big dreams about becoming a famous wrestler. He'd been good looking, but even then she knew he'd screw any girl willing to spread her legs, despite him dating the head cheerleader.
No, her life would've been an unhappy one, with a cheating boyfriend, and her probably working as some waitress, hoping to get that one acting gig that would make her star. Even if she'd had gotten the courage to break-up with Kurt, or whoever she'd come to LA with, there was just no way Leonard would've been interested in some dumb blond and terrible waitress.
Andy had changed her for the better, even if hadn't, couldn't have realized he had. Life was just good, with an amazing son, who would sadly leave her to learn more at Princeton, and an equally amazing boyfriend. Having him move in had been just the best. The past couple of weeks had shown her how special it was to come home to someone special, waking up next to them every morning.
Penny glanced around suddenly, joining in the applause. Had she really missed half the diploma's being handed out? She smiled at Andy as he glanced in her direction with a big grin. She was going to miss him, she knew, but knowing Leonard was around would certainly ease her pain.
Leonard was about to ask Penny once more if she was absolutely sure it was okay for him to go with her and Andy to Nebraska, but then remembered how much it annoyed her if kept asking the same thing over and over. And he had to admit that if she assured him it was okay the last, oh, half a dozen times, it was very likely she was very sure. Instead he grabbed his own suitcase from the car and followed Penny and Andy into the airport.
Because they'd already checked in online, there was virtually no hassle and within a short time span they arrived at the gate, almost thirty minutes before boarding would begin. Sitting at the gate, Leonard's insecurity came back again, afraid Penny's parents would be upset. What if they hated him? When her father had been in town, he'd seemed to like him, but did he really mean that, or had he only said so Leonard would think he did? And her mom, would she take offense that the one time Penny and Andy visited for anything longer than a few day, she had brought her nerdy boyfriend along? Would she even like him?
"Baby," Penny said softly in his ears. "Relax, okay? Daddy already likes you, and I'm sure my mom will too."
Leonard looked at Penny with wonder, and smiled lightly. "You can read minds, too?"
She shrugged. "Not really, but I could tell you were worried about something, and I think I know you well enough what it was about."
Leonard nodded. "Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry."
Penny frowned. "What for? It's pretty normal to be nervous about meeting your boyfriend's or girlfriend's family. I was when your mom visited."
Leonard chuckled lightly. "Well, anyone who knew even a little bit about Mother would've been nervous, but I get your point."
"You know," Penny said, "I could always distract you during the flight." The seductiveness was not lost on Leonard, but he glanced quickly in the direction of Andy, who was watching the airplane activity. "He'll be two rows in front of us, remember," Penny said softly in his ear. She then sighed dramatically. "If he wasn't on the flight, I'm sure we'd apply for a membership to the mile high club."
Leonard almost choked on the sip of water he had been in the process of swallowing. He glanced at Andy, smiling and waving his hand to indicate he was okay. Once Andy had turned his focus back to the airplanes, Leonard turned his head toward Penny. He could tell she was actually serious about her suggestion, and now he was actually disappointed.
"But if you come with me," Penny continued, "when Andy's going to college, there's an entire flight back to LA where we could put in our application."
Leonard grinned, his girlfriend painting a very alluring picture, with his own mind happy to fill in several blanks. He was definitely going to ask for a couple more vacation days at the end of summer.
A/N2: next chapter will show our couple enjoying a Nebraskan summer vacation and of course the moving of Andy to go to college. And maybe the application to the Mile High club, though I kinda don't wanna increase the rating.
I'll also be posting a new 'kick-ass Penny' fic in the crossover section. It's a new story in my Agent Penny universe which I started in The Classified Information Conundrum and continued in Penny vs. The Interview Disruption (the latter being the first story that combines the BBT universe with the Chuck universe). I'm currently working out the story beyond chapter three (yes, I'm actually planning that story), with chapter two already in the final stages of 'fine tuning', and chapter three's scenes have brief descriptions of what will happen in each of those scenes.
