AN: Happy summer! (To everyone who's experiencing summer right now, at least.) Penny has come back from Texas in this chapter. :-)
I don't own anything! Please review, guys :-) Thanks!
One month later
"Tell me everything!" Bernadette shrieked as soon as she saw Penny coming out of the airport. "How's Texas?"
Penny hugged her friend. "Great! I had fun."
Bernadette squinted her eyes at Penny. "And Sheldon?"
"He's fine. He's staying in Texas, but he's fine." Penny replied.
They entered Bernadette's car. "Did you guys talk about... um, you?"
"I'm still married to Leonard, sweetie," Penny said more to herself than to Bernadette. "Nothing's going to happen. Besides, I love Leonard more than anything."
"But you guys are... soulmates!" Bernadette whined.
Penny shrugged. "Seriously?"
Bernadette shrugged back and continued driving. "Well, yeah."
"Hey, you," Penny said to Leonard as she entered the house.
"Hey." Leonard replied, obviously mad at something.
Penny glared at him. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Leonard lied. "Welcome back."
Penny shrugged and went to the kitchen. Leonard watched her walk away, but he couldn't help the words that sprung out of his mouth. "You really have no idea what's wrong?"
"No, so would you mind telling me?" Penny replied, downing a bottle of water.
"You were with Sheldon in Texas, Penny!" He exploded. Penny put the cap back on the bottle and turned to face him. "So?"
Leonard showed her the tabloid with Penny and Sheldon's picture on it. "Oh, for God's sake." Penny replied. "We're friends, Leonard!"
"You weren't friends for what, two years?" Leonard replied.
Penny took a deep breath. "Look, Leonard. We ran into each other and we decided to patch things up, alright? Tabloids are bullshit, sweetie, don't you know that? Don't you ever trust me?"
"How can I trust you when you do things like this?" Leonard asked.
Penny put her hands on her hips. "So you don't trust me. That's what it is, isn't it?" Leonard just stared at her.
"I'm an actress, Leonard! People are always going to take pictures of me... they're always going to want to know what's going on in my life, and they're always going to try to make up false stories about me!" She sighed. "You've got to trust me, Leonard. I married you, alright. I'm vowed to be freaking faithful, for God's sake."
Leonard looked at his feet. "I have trust issues, alright? And it was definitely better before, when people didn't know who you were."
Penny glared at him. "You knew I've always wanted to be an actress. You shouldn't have married me if you couldn't take these... consequences."
"I didn't know you were actually going to succeed, alright?" Leonard replied.
She raised her eyebrows. "You know what? I shouldn't have come back here." Penny got her purse and car keys and went to the one place where she felt most secure.
How ironic is it that Penny told Bernadette that she loved Leonard more than anything and then she found out that he didn't know that she was actually going to succeed?!