This chapter is based off of stardustmelody's prompt that Penny proposes "on stage at another acting class night where they are acting out a scene again and Leonard goes to see her and support her."
Isn't the play over yet? Sheldon's text inquired. Am I supposed to not get Thai food for you?
Sorry, Sheldon, Leonard said. They have a new person doing the lighting, and Penny said there's a last minute lighting change in the next scene. I guess the guys confused.
Are you confused? Because you forgot an apostrophe in your last sentence.
Leonard didn't respond. The next scene was about to start. It involved his girlfriend, who was playing a female bounty hunter who slowly fell in love with the misunderstood man she was supposed to be hauling across the world to be executed. "I kiss someone in this scene," she had told him. "And he's really cute. Just a head's up."
The scene began to roll, a terribly clichéd dialogue between the male character and Penny's where they talked about changing feelings and learning about someone's soul and not judging a book by its cover. Then, the other character told her that his main fear in life was his parents outliving him, and because of that, he'd always been careful. Probably too careful, because he was afraid of anything happening to him that they might find out about. Penny's character said that she understood fear, and that was why she'd never had many romantic – or even platonic – attachments in her life.
Penny turned from her co – star and faced the small audience. "I was scared, you see. I'd always lived my life without attachment, because the life I led was so unsure, that if I fell in with someone, I'd risk not only losing them, but being the person that someone lost. Even if I'd wanted to, the idea of becoming a person that had a permanent role in my life was always such a foreign concept to me. It was terrifying." She shook her head. "It's only been recently that I've discovered…" she glanced over at her co – star, and then back at the audience, "that that has all changed. That it's possible to love someone so much that you see past all your fears. That not spending the rest of your life with them is ten times scarier than doing so. Because you know you belong together and you know you'll never be as happy as you are when you're with them, and that's why I want to take this opportunity to say," she dropped down on her knee and looked down into the front row, "Leonard Hofstadter, will you marry me?"
The audience shifted, some speaking quietly amongst themselves, some gasping. One person in the back whistled. She didn't hear them.
She was looking at Leonard, just five feet in front of her, his jaw unhinged. Slowly, that happy, affectionate smile that she'd grown to crave came over his face, and then she could see the glint in his eyes from the change in lighting.
He stood up and closed the five feet between them. The stage was set a little higher than the audience; it came up past his waist so he stayed standing on the floor as she leaned forward and threw her arms around his neck.
"I love you," she said into his ear, closing her eyes.
"I love you too," he responded, holding her even more tightly in their slightly awkward position. And I've changed my mind about the quality of this play.
She pulled her head back. "I forgot – I forgot to kiss the really cute person." She shifted her hands to the sides of his face and put her mouth on his.
The audience was applauding, and Penny's cast members came out and joined in in the ovation. But no one was as loud as the small group of five tucked into the back, just where they'd all known that Leonard wouldn't have noticed them. They stood up and cheered. Raj whistled again.