Chapter 26 - Hurt Feelings
The next day was quiet for Leonard, he spent most of it straightening up his new office and catching up with his email, especially the ones from Cambridge. With Sheldon not around the university that week, there was no chance of an awkward confrontation so at lunch time Leonard decided to hunt down Howard and Raj, to eat with them. Since the girls were meeting at Howard and Bernadette's apartment that night, the guys even ended up making plans to go to the comic book store for an hour that evening. It was also at lunch that Leonard found out the guys had not seen much of Sheldon for a while, since he left for Cambridge, and that Amy was pretty much taking care of him, doing everything Leonard use to do for him. He was really surprised when Howard and Raj told him they had actually hung out more with Amy than Sheldon the last couple of months.
Penny's day was quiet too, her friend Carol was still tired that morning from working to almost 10 PM the night before, her and her fellow cast members finally finishing the second scene from the previous week. As a matter of fact everyone in the cast seemed to be tired and Penny was really wondering if they actually got anything productive done that day. What made the day worse for her, was because they did so little, Penny had a lot of time to think and what she thought about was the girls night they all had planned. She was now having doubts about going to the girls night that night, she knew there would be a lot of questions from her friends and she didn't know how she felt about answering them. Leonard and her were in a good place now and she would have really preferred just staying in that night curled up next to him, she still was living in the euphoria of having him back so their time by themselves was still precious to her. Consequently the thought of being with her friends and not Leonard tonight was really not appealing to her, especially when her friends would probably want her to spill her personal life to them.
Sheldon had a quiet day too, he spent the whole day doing research, not on physics but on paternity lawyers that specialized on the father's rights. Sheldon hated having to rely on a substandard mind for his legal work, but he didn't have time to spend learning about paternity law to deal with Leonard and Penny, so he just convinced himself this was all necessary. It had taken a lot of tedious research, but by 4 PM Sheldon finally found a lawyer who appeared acceptable, with a case success rate that was better than his peers, so Sheldon picked up the phone and made an appointment for Friday.
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Amy drove straight to Bernadette's after work, relishing in her solitude after having to listen to Sheldon complain the night before and tell her that Penny and Leonard where not going to get away with their actions. That night she managed to convince Sheldon she had to go to bed early and had actually had a good nights sleep by herself in Leonard's old room. However, she again had to listen to a still aggravated Sheldon in the morning before she left for work, so now spending a night with the girls and away from him, seemed like an excellent idea.
Amy arrived in the parking lot of Bernadette's apartment complex at the same time as Penny, so she quickly headed over to her, so that they could walk to Bernadette's apartment together. "Hey Bestie."
Penny turned in surprise to look at her friend. "Hi Ames." With all that happened with Sheldon, Penny was now unsure how her and Amy stood in the friends department, would she be mad because of the problems between her, Leonard and Sheldon? "How are you doing?"
Amy immediately felt guilty, Penny was her friend and yet she needed to be loyal to Sheldon too. "I really should be asking you that. How are you?"
Penny gave her a small smile, "Okay I guess."
Amy was going to say more, but Bernadette's apartment was close to the parking lot and they found themselves at her door almost immediately. Penny knocked and the door flew open, the petite blonde seeming to have anticipated their arrival. "Hey guys, come on in."
Penny smiled at her friend and entered her apartment, but that smile froze on Penny's face when she saw Emily sitting on the couch. Penny hadn't really talked to Emily much, but the times she did, there had been a lot of tension and Penny could tell Emily didn't like her, which she hated to admit was the way she felt about her too. So Penny said a quick greeting then looked for and sat in the chair furthest away from Emily, while Bernadette got drinks for everyone.
Penny was uncomfortable, more so because of the tension between her and Emily, but also because she knew her friends would bring up Leonard, and since she was part of their group they want to know what was going on with her. That uneasiness in Penny made her jealous that the other girls had wine in front of them and all she had was a large glass of orange juice. Ever since Leonard came back to her in Nebraska, she hadn't even thought of drinking, she guessed it was partly because of the mother instinct coming out in her, to protect her baby, but she knew it was mostly because she was so happy with Leonard around her all of the time. Just being cuddled up to him made her feel safe and secure, that she had no worries and everything would be okay, he had become her security blanket for all that was happening to her now. However right now, she wished she had a stiff drink in front of her to help her get through this girls night.
"So Penny how is your show coming along?" Bernadette asked, purposely avoiding discussing Leonard for a little bit.
Penny wanted to tell them what was happening, but she hadn't told Leonard yet, so she lied. "Okay, it has sort of fell into a routine."
Bernadette quickly picked up on the lack of enthusiasm in Penny's response. "Is something wrong? I thought you would be extremely excited, because this was your dream?"
Penny thought to herself 'Crap' and force a smile, "No, I am excited, it is just a lot has happened the last few months." Penny knew immediately after she said it that she said the wrong thing.
"Oh Penny, talking about the last few months, how are things going between you and Leonard." Bernadette quickly responded, taking advantage of Penny opening up the subject of what had all happened the last couple of months.
Penny just looked at all three of them, as they stared intensely at her waiting for a response. She had no one to blame but herself, her response to Bernadette almost begged the question of her situation with Leonard to be the next item they would all want to know. She swallowed, she had to tell them something, even though she was not really ready to discuss Leonard, because she was actually scared that if she talked about how good they were doing, it would all fall apart. It made her nervous just to think about it and suddenly she felt the pressure squeeze down on her making her a little distressed. The next words out of her mouth would even surprised her. "I love Leonard and he loves me!" it sounded defensive and she shocked herself that she blurted that out, it caused tears to come down her cheeks.
Bernadette could see Penny was upset and moved over quickly to hold her, Amy joining her a second later, both telling her they were sorry. Emily just watched, she couldn't feel any sympathy for the pretty blonde, who she just considered a big slut. She knew what had happened between her and Sheldon, and it just reminded her that Penny had also slept with Raj, so it actually aggravated her a little that everybody was going around saying poor Penny all the time.
The girls hugging Penny helped, and as soon she was able to compose herself again, her friends seemed to know what to do to make it less awkward as they directed the conversation far away from her and now started discuss what everyone else was doing. They talked about Bernadette's work, Amy's new study and Emily's residency and how it took up so much of her time, and when that was done they planned on talking about Howard and Raj. Penny listened quietly most of the time, comfortable in her little bubble of anonymity because her and Leonard were not the subject of conversation anymore.
It was almost two hours after they arrived and two bottles of wine later, mostly drank by Bernadette and Emily, that they were wrapping up their talking about Howard and Raj. "Howard is a sweetheart, and I love him to death, but he really still needs some work. He has been getting a lot better, but sometimes I just want to slap him at some of the things that come out of his mouth, because they are either crude, disgusting or so sexist." Bernadette said to her friends.
"Well be happy, Sheldon has been taking a long time to realize that some of the things he says are rude and insulting." Amy told her friend.
"Yeah Ames, but you have been really good from him, he is a better man because of you." Penny told her friend, which made Amy blush.
"Yeah Amy, Penny's right you have been good with Sheldon." Bernadette added.
"And you have been good with Howard, he is a better man too." Amy responded.
Bernadette sighed, "I'd like to thing so, but I think part of his problem is that he never really had a long relationship with another woman before me, so he really never learned how to act properly. I hate to say it but sometimes I wish he had been with more women, for a longer period time, before we met and this part of him was gone already."
"Bernadette be careful what you wish for, Howard is the only one of the guys Penny hasn't had sex with yet." Emily said as she giggled to her own witty remark, the wine she had consumed making it extremely funny to her, however her comment made Bernadette and Amy just look at her in shock.
Penny was staring at her too, not having drunk any alcohol, Emily's words were nothing near funny to her, they actually distressed her, because there was a lot of truth in them. Now Penny didn't want to be there anymore, she felt betrayed and she just wanted to curl up and cry, but not in front of them, she wanted Leonard and she wanted him now. "I need to go." she said as she jumped up from her chair, immediately turning to the door.
Penny was out the door so fast, that neither Amy and Bernadette had time to recover from the shock at what Emily said to respond and stop her. When they did get their wits back, they both ran to the door only to see Penny's car leaving the parking lot with a squeal of her tires. "Oh Shit." Bernadette moaned. She then quickly got her phone to call Leonard, hoping Leonard and Penny's current situation was where she would go to him and he would comfort her, and she hoped that she was doing the right thing by calling him.
But before she called Leonard she glared at Emily, "What the hell where you thinking."
Emily was actually surprised, "What! Like I said anything that wasn't true. Poor Penny, she had fondled Raj, making him get off, by the way that is sex in my book, and she is pregnant with your boyfriend's baby." she looked at Amy when she said that last part.
"Umm." Amy wasn't mad at Penny, she was aggravated with herself for letting it happen, she knew she was the most sober and that she could have stopped it.
"Damn it Emily, Penny and Raj where drunk and didn't know what they were doing." Bernadette yelled.
"Yeah that is always her excuse, she was drunk with Raj when she got him to cum and she was drunk with Sheldon when she let him cum in her, while she fucked him. Grow up, the only one I feel sorry for is that pathetic nerd Leonard, he is much too nice and cute to be still with a cheating slut like her." Emily responded loudly back to Bernadette.
Bernadette was so red and breathing so hard, Amy thought she was going to explode and Emily was going to be the only causality, so it wasn't a big surprise what came out of her mouth next, "Parties over, I think you should leave." Bernadette was staring at Emily.
Emily shrugged, "I thought this would be fun, but everyone seems to be very emotional and touchy, pardon me for telling the truth."
"Out!" Bernadette shouted as she pointed to the door.
Emily shrugged again then left through the front door, Bernadette slamming it behind her, before sitting on the couch with her phone to call Leonard. Amy sat next to her, "What are you doing?"
Bernadette's anger seemed to be all gone as she spoke to her friend, "Calling Leonard, I'm hoping him and Penny are good enough that she goes to and confides in him. He needs a heads up so that he handles her right, she needs him now." Amy just nodded.
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It was only an hour and a half later Penny was on her couch, actually in Leonard's lap, her arms around his neck and her head on his shoulder, her crying now having died down to little sniffles. Leonard had been perfect, not saying a thing, just letting her crawl on him and cry until she was done, holding her and making her feel secure again and loved, reinforcing her feeling that everything would be okay as long as she had him. The horrible feelings she had, over an hour ago, were now surpassed by the comfort of being with Leonard, but she still hated that her breaking down again was the cause of her now being in his arms.
Everything seemed to make Penny cry anymore, it was not something she was use to, or proud of, and Leonard even told her that sometimes the hormones, associated with pregnancy, where very overpowering in some woman causing extreme emotion. He had read that in a book he bought called 'Taking care of your Pregnant Wife, for dummies'. Even though she had teased him for buying it, it did sort of explain the feelings she had now, how everything upset her more and sometimes it would actually make her feel scared. But as Penny snuggled closer to Leonard, she also knew she was lucky, like tonight, all she needed was Leonard to make her feel better.
However, Penny still hated she seemed to have completely lost control of her emotions, because not only was the need to cry upsetting to her, she was embarrassed that she was also sexually aroused all the time. Like now, she was distressed about the night with the girls and just needed the reassurance of Leonard holding her, but being in his lap, her bottom against his crotch, was making her more aroused by the minute, no matter how she tried to suppress it. These mixed and completely opposite feelings made her want to scream and as she got more saddened from it, she began to cry all over again.
While Penny was being comforted by Leonard, Amy let herself into apartment 4A, happy that it was late and Sheldon was asleep, because she had too much on her mind right now to deal with him right now. The first thing that bothered her was that her friend had been hurt that night and that she had a little part in it, she and Bernadette probably shouldn't have pushed Penny about her relationship with Leonard. But there was more to it than that, there was her supporting Sheldon, who was trying to get Penny's baby away from her, that was bothering her too because she was just going along with everything Sheldon was doing.
Amy knew she was supporting Sheldon because she loved him and would be the one person who would always support him. But in addition, she did feel it was unfair that Sheldon had no input in what was happening with his child. Leonard and Penny basically banishing him from their presence and his child in Penny and was not right either. However, it made her uncomfortable that Sheldon's solution was taking the baby from Penny, it seemed extreme, and as she laid down in bed that night she wondered if she was really doing the right thing.