A/N: I'd like to thank alanjay for pointing out some "linguistic mishaps" to me in chapter 6. English is not my first language, so I expect that more of these things will happen or already have happened. ;-)
Once again, a big thank you to all those who have read and reviewed.
Here's the seventh chapter of this story. I hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction using characters from The Big Bang Theory. I don't own any of the characters.
CHAPTER 7
Leonard and Penny were sitting on a hill, watching over Los Angeles, whose countless millions of lights lit up the night sky. A splendid full moon above them, which seemed within their reach completed the scenery. Penny sat in Leonard's lap, his arms wrapped around her upper body. She turned her head around and looked into Leonard's wonderful brown eyes. She could see the reflexion of the moon in his eyes and all she wanted in this moment was to kiss him. Leonard smiled softly. It was a smile that melted her heart. They came closer and closer and in the moment their lips touched that blissful feeling she loved so much shot through her body. Their kissing, which started gently became more passionate...
The alarm on Penny's phone tore her out of this wonderful dream. She was confused, still feeling Leonard's lips on hers. It took her a few seconds to realize she had dreamt. God, how I miss those kisses. How I miss those eyes. How I miss Leonard. Looking around with drowsy eyes and seeing the empty apartment, her mind slowly returned to reality. And suddenly it hit her like a hammer. Today was the day she left Nebraska and moved to California. And this wasn't a dream. This was real. She jumped up from the mattress, which served as her bed for the last night in her Omaha apartment. "California, I'm coming! Leonard, I'm coming!" Penny exclaimed enthusiastically. It was 10 o'clock in the morning. In less than six hours she would be sitting in a plane to Los Angeles to start a new chapter in her life.
Dancing and singing Penny hopped into the bathroom and took a shower. After finishing the rest of her morning routine, she called her parents. They had agreed to have brunch together, before Susan and Wyatt would bring her to the airport. She also wanted to call Leonard but remembered he had told her the evening before, he couldn't be contacted by phone till afternoon due to an experiment he wanted to conduct in his lab. But that was okay, she would see him in a few hours anyway. Shortly before her parents arrived, Penny checked everything in the apartment to make sure she had not forgotten something. Looking out of the window in the combined living room and kitchen, she looked at the empty spot where normally her car was parked. She had sold the vehicle for a relatively good price two days ago. Penny just wanted to turn away from the window, when she saw her parents arriving. Grabbing a suitcase and her purse, she opened the apartment door and stepped out into the hall of the second floor. Having a final look into the place that was her home for the last three years, she closed the door and went down the stairs. Before leaving the apartment building she deposited an envelope which contained the keys and a few signed documents into the mailbox of her now ex-landlord in the lobby. A few moments later she stowed her baggage in the trunk of her parent's car and literally jumped onto the back seat.
After having a nice brunch in a restaurant in downtown Omaha, Penny and her parents set out for the airport. They arrived there a few minutes after two o'clock in the afternoon. Penny checked in and a short time later they all stood in front of the security area. What followed was a highly emotional farewell, with lots of tears from all. Seeing Penny happy like never before, barely able to wait to start this new chapter in her life, made the parting easier for her parents. Penny promised to visit her parents as often as possible and her parents promised they would visit her, either together or individually, as often as possible too. As a farewell gift Susan and Wyatt gave Penny a framed picture of them with her and her sister and brother in it. The whole family united in one photograph. Then the boarding call came. Penny hugged her parents a final time and walked towards the security area. Turning around before entering the gate, she waved at her parents with a big smile on her face. She was on her way to California.
It was hard for Leonard to focus his attention on his work. He messed up the experiment he was conducting in his lab several times, because he thought of Penny all the time. And time passed by extremely slow today. Penny's flight from Omaha was scheduled to arrive at 5.22 p.m. He wanted to be at the airport at the right time to welcome her, so shortly before four o'clock Leonard left his lab. Fortunately the traffic on the 30 miles to the Los Angeles International Airport wasn't too heavy, although the afternoon rush hour was about to begin. But he was able to arrive at LAX in a little more than an hour. He parked his car, which wasn't an easy affair at this big airport, and went to the arrival terminal. The arrival board showed him, that Penny's flight just had landed, with a delay of ten minutes. Leonard walked to the gate, where the passengers from Omaha would come out. Sitting down, he waited joyful and in anticipation for Penny to emerge.
Twenty minutes later it was Penny who spotted him first, after she stepped into the arrival lounge. "Leonard!" she yelled. There was a second gate and he watched at the wrong one the whole time. Hearing Penny's wonderful voice he turned his head around. And there she was, beautiful as ever.
Penny dropped her suitcase and began to run into his arms. Seconds later she had her arms wrapped around Leonard's neck. "I missed you so much."
Holding his hands tightly around Penny's waist he looked into her sparkling green eyes. "I missed you too."
Seeing the affectionate look in Leonard's wonderful brown eyes she had missed so much, Penny couldn't hold in her feelings any longer and pressed her lips on his. It was a gentle and tender kiss, a meaningful kiss, which Leonard reciprocated immediately. The world around them was forgotten, only the two of them existed in this moment. For the people around them, Leonard and Penny must have looked like a pair of lovers, reunited after a long time of separation.
Neither of them knew how long they stood there, kissing and holding each other. When they broke their kiss, looking into each other's eyes, their foreheads touching, Leonard smiled at her. "Come on, let's go to your new home."
Smiling back, Penny nodded cheerfully. "Yeah, I can't wait to see my new home."
She let go of Leonard, while he grabbed her suitcase. With holding hands they walked together to Leonard's car.
During the drive from the airport to Pasadena it was nearly impossible for Penny to stop talking. For Leonard it was such a delight to listen to her. Once in a while they exchanged tender looks, which caused a blush on both of their faces.
It was almost half past seven, when they arrived at the apartment building. A few minutes later they entered the lobby. "I'm sorry," Leonard apologized. "We have to use the stairs. The elevator is broken."
"Oh, will it be fixed soon?" Penny asked.
Leonard was a bit embarrassed, since one of his experiments was the cause of the broken elevator. "Yeah, anytime soon."
They started to climb up the steps with Leonard carrying Penny's suitcase. When they reached the hall of the fourth level and stood in front of apartment 4B, Leonard handed over the keys to Penny. "Here we are, your new home."
Penny smiled brightly. "Thank you, sweetie." She inserted the key into the lock. "That's so excting."
The door opened and they entered the apartment. All of Penny's furniture was parked inside. It was a bit chaotic, but everything was there and nothing was damaged. A box that was marked with 'dishes" nearly slid off Raj's hands, but Leonard could prevent the box from falling to the ground at the last second with an artistic jump.
Penny was impressed. "Wow! You brought up all my stuff in here."
"With a little help from my friends," Leonard chuckled. "Howard and Raj gave me a helping hand. Now we can furnish your new home according to your wishes," Leonard smiled.
Penny looked around and investigated the boxes. "That's so cool. How can I ever thank you?"
"Nah! That was nothing!"
She hugged Leonard and gave him a smooch on his lips.
"Umm...are you hungry?" Leonard asked. "Howard and Raj will bring Indian food for dinner. They must be here any minute. Why don't you come over to my place and meet my roommate Sheldon."
Penny nodded. "Oh, that would be nice. Let's go."
Together they walked over to apartment 4A. Leonard opened the door and they stepped in. Sheldon stood behind the kitchen island and poured himself a cup of tea.
Leonard closed the door and put his key in a bowl, which was placed on a small cupboard next to the door. "May I introduce Penny to you?"
Smilingly, Penny waved at Sheldon. "Hi, Sheldon."
Sheldon replied a bit reserved. "Hi, Penny."
"Well, make yourself at home," Leonard said to Penny.
"Thank you." Penny walked around in the apartment and saw Sheldon's board. "This looks like some serious stuff. Leonard, did you do this?"
Sheldon stepped in towards Penny. "No, Leonard didn't do this. This is the work of Dr. Sheldon Lee Cooper, Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, Master of Arts, Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor of Science, Caltech theoretical physicist. Me!" He walked over to the board leaning against it as if he wanted to hug it and grinned complacently. "This is just some quantum mechanics with a little string theory doodling around the edges. That part there, that's just a joke. It's a spoof of the Born-Oppenheimer approximation. Leonard isn't capable of doing this," he scoffed.
Penny was taken aback. "Umm...okay, that's quite impressive, but why are you so condescending and mean?"
Sheldon was flabbergasted. "Pardon? I'm not condescending and mean. I'm just telling the truth." He walked over to Leonard and spoke to him in a quieter voice. "She's too perky and doesn't seem to appreciate my contributions to science. I don't like her. Make her go away."
Penny rolled her eyes. "I've heard that. And the truth is, Leonard's a great guy and from what he told me during the road trip it's safe to say he's a great scientist too. So, be nice to him."
Sheldon was lost for words and opened and closed his mouth like a fish. He couldn't believe how this girl talked to him, given the fact they just met each other a few minutes ago.
Leonard raised his hand. "Umm, Penny. I have a board too. Look, this is my board."
"Holy smokes," Penny exclaimed. She was truly impressed.
Sheldon wrinkled his nose. "If by holy smokes you mean a derivative restatement of the kind of stuff you can find scribbled on the wall of any men's room at MIT, sure."
Leonard was outraged. "Are you kidding me?"
"Wow! That was really nasty." Penny glared at Sheldon. "I said be nice to Leonard!" Turning to Leonard she smiled at him and gave him a peck on his cheek. "I like your board, sweetie. It's really impressive."
Again, Sheldon was baffled by Penny's assertiveness and couldn't counter her. She walked over to the couch and sat down. But of course she sat down in Sheldon's spot of all places. His protest followed immediately. "Umm...Penny, that's where I sit."
"Can't you sit somewhere else?" Penny asked.
"No, I can't. I sit there," Sheldon insisted.
Penny became slightly annoyed. "What's the difference?"
Sheldon was aghast. "What's the difference?"
Sitting down in his armchair, Leonard facepalmed. "Here we go."
Sheldon began to explain. "In the winter that seat is close enough to the radiator to remain warm, and yet not so close as to cause perspiration. In the summer it's directly in the path of a cross breeze created by open windows there, and there." He pointed in the direction of two windows. "It faces the television at an angle that is neither direct, thus discouraging conversation, nor so far wide to create a parallax distortion, I could go on, but I think I've made my point."
Penny was somewhat perplexed and shook her head. "Do you want me to choose another place to sit?" she asked unnerved.
"Yes, please," Sheldon said.
Penny was about to get up, but Leonard signified her to remain seated. He looked over to Sheldon. "Try to sit somewhere else."
"Fine." Sheldon pouted. With a lost expression on his face, he began to wander around the room in circles and tried to find another place to sit, that could match his needs.
Leonard and Penny watched him in a mixture of amusement and bafflement, before Leonard lost his patience. "Sheldon, sit!" he ordered.
Like a dog Sheldon sat down where he just stood in this moment. He flopped down on the opposite end of the couch, next to Penny. "Aaah!"
"Wow, you look really uncomfortable," Penny chuckled.
"It seems my discomforting pleases you," Sheldon replied.
Penny nodded. "Oh yes, it does," she laughed, while Leonard had to grin broadly.
In this moment Howard and Raj entered the apartment with bags in their hands. "She's here! Hi, Penny", Howard greeted her. "It's so nice to see you again." Raj just smiled and waved.
"Hi Howard! Hi Raj!" Penny greeted them back.
Sitting down in a wooden chair next to Leonard, Howard looked over to Penny and raised a brow. "Let me take this opportunity to point out that you are looking particularly ravishing today."
Penny answered with a shake of the head and Leonard with an angry stare. Before Howard could continue to talk, Raj gave him a dig with the elbow and whispered something into his ear. "Oh right, our deal," Howard said.
"A deal?" Leonard asked.
"Umm...it's nothing," Howard replied and quickly changed the topic.
Raj handed out the food and sat down on the floor, opening a bottle of beer. They started to eat and talked about the events of the day. All but Sheldon, who nervously fidgeted around on his unfamiliar place on the couch.
After a few minutes, Penny asked for the bathroom. Leonard showed her the way. As soon as Penny got up from the couch, Sheldon instantly took his usual spot. "Ah, that's better," he said relieved.
"By the way, since when can you talk to women?" Sheldon asked Raj.
"We found out, that alcohol gives me this ability. Cool, huh?" Raj answered with a grin.
"Fascinating," Sheldon replied in Spock style.
When Penny returned after a few minutes, she saw that Sheldon was back on his spot. "Well, I guess I have to find another place to sit."
Leonard asked Howard to sit on the couch and offered Penny the wooden chair next to him.
An hour later, Howard and Raj left the apartment and went home. Leonard and Penny sat at the table in the living room and talked, while Sheldon sat at his desk, working on a scientific paper on his computer.
Penny stretched her arms and leaned over to Leonard, her mouth near his ear. "Do you want to come over to my place?" she whisperd in a quite seductive tone.
Leonard gulped. "Umm...sure."
Penny got up and walked to the door. Winking at Leonard, she imitated a kiss.
"Hey, Sheldon," Leonard called out to his roommate. "I go over to Penny's."
Sheldon turned around. "Okay, but whatever you do over there. Keep it down, please," he said matter-of-factly.
"Okay" Leonard and Penny answered in unison and giggled.
Sheldon shook his head and turned his attention to his work again.
As soon as they were out of the apartment and the door was closed behind them, Penny pulled Leonard to her and started to plant fierce kisses all over his face. "Oh, Leonard. You can't imagine how hard it was for me to sit next to you the whole time, not able to do anything." Continuing to kiss him she walked Leonard over to her apartment and quickly opened the door. She pushed Leonard, who didn't really know what happened to him, inside and kicked the door shut.
"Wow, Penny what..." But before he could speak on, Penny had her lips firmly pressed on his. She pushed him against her apartment door, her tongue desperately seeking entrance to his mouth, which he granted after a few seconds. Now reciprocating Penny's kiss passionately, Leonard laid his arms on her waist and began to caress her upper body. Penny pushed herself tighter against him, her hands linked around his neck. Their kissing became fiercer with every second. Gasping for air after a while, Penny let out a deep moan, while Leonard breathed laboredly, his chest heavily heaving up and down.
Smiling at each other, Penny removed her hands from his neck and started to undress him. She took his hoodie off, lifted his t-shirt and began to roam over his chest with her hands. At the same time Leonard thoroughly kissed Penny's neck below the ear, which caused further sensual moans by her. Bringing his lips back to hers, they startet to kiss again in an extremely passionate way. Breaking their kissing again to gasp for breath, Penny broke away from Leonard and pulled his t-shirt over his head. She pointed with her head in the direction of the wood-rimmed glass door in the corner of the room. "I guess this is the bedroom."
Leonard nodded.
"Let's see if you have set up my bed correctly," Penny grinned and pulled off her shirt.
Leonard's eyes went wide. "Umm...Well, there was just one possibilty to..."
Penny put her forefinger on his mouth. "Honey, shush, shush, shush." She smiled seductively, took Leonard's hand and led him to the bedroom.
To be continued...