52
Penny walked over to Apartment 4A, opened the door, walked in, closed the door behind her, collapsed back against it and sank to the floor. Almost as one her gathered friends rose and started to approach her.
"I'm okay. I really am. I just need a minute."
"Sheldon. Tea." Missy called out as she approached Penny. "I'm not so sure y'all are as okay as you think you are, sweetie. You're pale as a ghost."
"Really, Missy. I'm okay. At least I will be."
"Take your time. Do you want to tell us what happened? I mean, only if you want to."
Sheldon approached and offered Penny a hand to help her up from the floor. "Would you like a seat? Please, take my spot."
"Thanks, Sheldon."
Sheldon helped Penny over to the sofa and then brought her a cup of peppermint tea. Penny took a breath and looked down at the floor. She took a sip of her tea, looked around at her gathered friends and began in a monotone voice.
"Leonard's moving back to New Jersey. Beverly's getting him a job teaching at a high school there and he's going to live at home while he looks for another university job."
"Are you going to New Jersey with Leonard, Penny?" asked Sheldon.
"He wanted me to. He thought I could help take care of Beverly's house and get a job at The Cheesecake Factory there."
"And?"
"I gave him a chance but he made a decision and he expected me to just go along with it. And… I just can't do it. I finally have a decent job and I might have a future and I have a life and I have friends and I can't walk away from it to just be Mrs. Leonard Hofstadter. It's not enough. He's not enough."
"Penny, what did you do?"
"I ended it. I gave Leonard his ring back. I told him to keep his stupid car and I told him that I'd pay him back every cent he ever gave me. I don't want any part of him in my life any more."
"Oh, sweetie." Missy sat down next to Penny as she began to sob.
"I can't believe I ever thought he was the answer for me. He's a selfish, stupid snob who just wants to show me off to his friends and have me as his personal fuck toy and baby factory. He doesn't care about me. He never really cared about me. The only person Leonard has ever cared about is Leonard."
And then Penny pulled back the tears and straightened up.
"Sheldon, we need to talk. Excuse us everyone but there are some things I need to say and they're for Sheldon alone."
"Alright. Let's go speak in my bedroom."
"But nobody's allowed in your room, sweetie."
"The baby is asleep in Missy's room. Unless you wish to speak in the bathroom, which I believe would be wholly inappropriate, I hereby give you dispensation to enter my bedroom."
"Okay."
Penny and Sheldon slowly walked back to his bedroom.
"What the heck is that about?" asked Howard.
"Those two have always had a special connection," answered Raj.
"They've gotten even closer since Sheldon came back and Penny started working for him," added Missy.
Sheldon closed the door behind him and Penny sat down on his bed.
"Sit down next to me, Sheldon."
"Alright."
"I wanted to thank you."
"I don't understand."
"You always knew that Leonard and me were wrong."
"I. Leonard and I."
"Right. And you were never quiet about it. And I didn't listen."
"Actually, I thought it possible that on more than one occasion that you stayed with Leonard to spite me."
"Yeah, you might be right about that. But for the most part you stuck to your guns. And then I did one of the dumbest things I've ever done in my life."
"You'll have to be more specific Penny."
"I agreed to marry Leonard and pretty much chased you out of my life."
"That's not entirely correct, Penny. Your betrothal to Leonard and your potential cohabitation was but one of many factors that led to my departure."
"Okay, but when you came back you could have just ignored me and gone on about your new life with Missy and your nephew and your new research but you didn't do that. You moved forward with your life and you offered me a chance to move forward with you and I don't think I could have done what I just did without you doing that. I was pretty far down the road to living Leonard's life and you went and gave me my own."
"Penny, I merely opened a door for you. You chose to walk through it."
"For the first time in my life I have options and they don't hinge on being with a guy or satisfying someone else's image of me. I get to be Penny. Not Leonard's Penny or Kurt's Penny or Amy and Bernadette's Penny or even my parent's Penny. Just Penny. Me."
"That's all I wanted for you."
"No it's not."
"Excuse me."
"I overheard what you said Saturday night. I know how you feel about me."
"Penny, this isn't the time."
"You're right. I know. I need space. I need to not be with anyone for a while and make the life that I have now mean something. I really like working with you and Alex and I have every intention of making that work."
"And we have great confidence in you."
"Thank you. And I really want to work hard on the thing with Wil."
"Penny, I am certain that you will light up the television screen and it will only lead to better things for you."
"But here's the thing, Sheldon. You are my best friend in the world. And I have a pretty good feeling that somewhere down the road, when we're both ready for it we're going to be more than that."
"I'd like that very much."
"But for now we both have our own lives to put together. And that has to be our top priority. And we get to help each other do that. Sort of like partners. Everything else gets put on hold."
"I believe I can agree to that."
"Can I have one of those patented Sheldon hugs?"
"I don't see why not."
Penny and Sheldon stood up and put their arms around each other, pulling each other close when they heard a crash. And yelling. They looked at each other and said, "Leonard," opened the door and ran out to the living room.
A/N: Sorry I skipped posting yesterday. I needed to take a breath after that last chapter. I hope you understand. So what's next? Well, Leonard isn't gone yet. And what the heck is going on with Amy Farrah Fowler? It's not like her to just disappear, is it?
And thank you all for helping me mark the end of Lenny Week in an appropriate manner. The sickeningly sweet tripe that's being posted to mark "the greatest love of all" has really stolen my fic-reading appetite. However, we barreled through 600 reviews and right now it looks like the top two current reviewed fics on this site are this one and Risknight's Bundle of Joy (read it if you aren't already), both either Shenny or Shenny-adjacent. That says something, doesn't it? Anyway, the next goal is 700.