Leonard's Friend
Chapter 1
" Sheldon you're being ridiculous! I just want to turn up the thermostat 2 degrees!", Leonard hissed as he stood next to the thermostat in Apartment 4A that he shared with his roommate/best friend. He was wearing brown slacks and a green t-shirt with the recycling logo underneath a gray hoodie.
" Why Leonard?! Give me one good reason for that!", Sheldon hissed as he stood a few feet away with his arms crossed. He was wearing his khakis and red Flash shirt as well as his wristwatch on his wrist.
" Because it's freezing in here! It feels like we're living in a frozen tundra!", Leonard hissed.
" Oh you're just over exaggerating! 72 degrees is not that cold!", Sheldon hissed.
" Yeah well you're not me buddy!", Leonard hissed as he turned the thermostat up to 74.
" Oh no no no no that's very true, but, THIS is the temperature that you agreed to in the Roommate Agreement so therefore it shall stay that way!", Sheldon hissed as he turned it back down to 72 and pointed at it.
" For God sakes will you stop throwing the Roommate Agreement in my face?! It's really getting annoying!", Leonard hissed as he turned it back up to 74 again.
" I will if you don't keep constantly trying to violate it! Leave the thermostat alone!", Sheldon hissed as he turned it back down again.
" Yeah well at this moment I don't care! I'm freezing so I'm turning up the thermostat whether you like it or not!", Leonard hissed as he reached for the thermostat again.
" Not if I blow up your head!", Sheldon hissed as he pressed his fingers against the side of his head and strained his face, referencing the film Scanners.
" Ok you know what, fine! I'll just leave the apartment for a bit then! I don't have to take this!", Leonard hissed as he grabbed his wallet and keys before he stormed out the door.
" At this time of night?! What are you nuts?!", Sheldon hissed out the door.
" No but you are for constantly making us live like we're in the Arctic Circle!", Leonard shouted as he was storming down the stairs.
" Wrong sir, wrong! The Arctic Circle is way colder than 72 degrees! Try the negative 100s!", Sheldon shouted.
" Oh just shut the hell up!", Leonard shouted back as he kept storming away down the stairs and out the lobby doors into the parking lot to get to his car. But just as he was about to get in his car he suddenly ran into Penny as she was coming back from work.
" Oh hi Leonard what are you…?", Penny started to ask but Leonard said, " Don't ask at the moment Penny. I'm not in the mood." before he got into his car, started the engine, and drove away.
" Well… o-ok.", Penny said before she started walking inside the building and hissed under her breath, " What did you do now Sheldon?!"
" Godd*mn you Dr. Sheldon Cooper what is wrong with you?! Who do you think you are, a dictator?! You know what sometimes I just want to… wait, what the…?!", Leonard hissed to himself as he was driving through the city when all of a sudden he noticed that there was a beautiful young caucasian woman that looked like she was about 25 years old just sitting on the sidewalk, crying as she was hugging her knees into her chest with her back pressed against a wall of a department store. She had chartreuse colored eyes, long wavy brunette hair, and was wearing blue skinny jeans, a black tank top underneath a red and blue long sleeve plaid shirt, and a pair of black sandals on her feet. She also had black wire framed glasses on her face as well and she had a red leather purse sitting right next to her.
" Hey miss, are you ok?", Leonard asked in concern when he pulled over to the curb and got out of his car after he put it in park.
" No! I'm scared!", the woman cried.
" Well what happened? Did someone attack you?", Leonard asked in concern.
" No someone just hi-jacked my car and left me stranded here! I have no idea where I'm at and I couldn't get a hold of the police when I tried to call them!", the woman cried.
" Well that sucks. Do you want me to call someone for you?", Leonard asked in concern.
" No it's fine I'll just… wait a second… Leonard Hofstadter?", the woman cried as she then looked up and suddenly recognized who she was talking to.
" Yes… do I know you?", Leonard asked in confusion as he stared at her.
" You do, at least I think. It's me… Delaynie Konnerack.", Delaynie said as her crying began to subside. Leonard thought for a moment before he gasped in surprise.
" Oh my god, I don't fucking believe this! I haven't seen you in like 10 years! What the hell are you doing here?!", Leonard asked with a smile as he walked up to his best friend from childhood and pulled her up to her feet.
" Well I was heading to Lucky Baldwins but then like I said some knucklehead stole my car and dumped me here.", Delaynie said as she tossed her hair over her shoulder.
" Well do you want me to drive you Delaynie? We can go get a drink together and just talk if you want.", Leonard asked.
" Sure, I'd like that. Thanks Leonard.", Delaynie said as she picked up her purse and followed Leonard to his car.
" No problem.", Leonard said as he started the engine and pulled away from the curb after the two of them got in next to each other.
" It's so great to see you again. So, how have you been lately?", Delaynie asked with a smile.
" It's great to see you too. I've been doing good mostly busy with my experimental research at Caltech but also a bit stressed at times because of my roommate.", Leonard said.
" Roommate? You're living with someone?", Delaynie asked in shock as she stared at him.
" Yeah his name's Dr. Sheldon Cooper, he's a theoretical physicist colleague of mine at Caltech. We share an apartment at 2311 North Los Robles Avenue, not that it really matters.", Leonard said.
" No I totally get it, that's nice. What apartment number is it?", Delaynie asked.
" Apartment 4A.", Leonard said.
" Ah got it. So… what brings you out here tonight? Having a problem with Sheldon or something like that?", Delaynie asked.
" You could say that. We got into a fight over the stupid thermostat. I wanted to turn it up 2 degrees and he wouldn't let me because he said that it's a violation of The Roommate Agreement which he constantly throws in my face whenever we have disagreements about anything but whatever. It's just how he is even though it drives me insane at times.", Leonard said with a sigh.
" That's so funny! Remember when me and my sister Zoey used to do the same exact thing when we were growing up in New Jersey?!", Delaynie laughed.
" Oh yeah don't remind me I totally remember her screaming at you saying to turn the heat down because she's sweating bullets enough to turn the living room floor into a swimming pool!", Leonard laughed.
" Exactly! Oh and not only that but remember the time when we messed with our school bully Marni Shirley Rivera on Halloween night when we were 16?! You know, after we went trick-or-treating?!", Delaynie laughed.
" Yeah we grabbed a couple egg cartons from the fridge at your house and snuck over to her house to throw the eggs at it after you shouted, " Fire the torpedoes!", Leonard laughed.
" Yeah and one of them actually cracked all over her snotty face while she was sleeping when it went right through the screen of her open bedroom window! Oh man she was so pissed that she instantly woke up screaming at us, " You are so dead for this Konnerack and Hofstadter!" and as we were running away laughing you said, " Happy Halloween you wicked witch!", Delaynie laughed as she pounded her fist on the dashboard.
" So true Delaynie! That was literally the best Halloween prank ever!", Leonard laughed.
" Exactly Leonard, and we were so lucky that after we did it we didn't end up in juvie for committing asault and battery! Because that would have been really bad!", Delaynie laughed.
" To hell it would have!", Leonard laughed before they started to calm down and he asked, " So, what have you been doing since our hiatus from seeing each other?"
" Teaching aerobics classes at a local gym.", Delaynie said.
" Really? You're a fitness instructor?", Leonard asked.
" Yes I am and it was because of this that I ended up meeting a man who was in one of my classes at the time and shortly after we struck up a conversation and became friends he asked me to be his girlfriend to which I said yes because I thought he was a really good looking nice guy but unfortunately he turned out to be anything but that.", Delaynie said.
" Really? How so?", Leonard asked.
" He was actually a registered sex offender who had been previously convicted of having sex with a 12 year old girl to which I didn't find out about until 6 years into our relationship from my dad due to him doing some digging into this guy's background.", Delaynie said.
" For God sakes are you serious?!", Leonard shrieked in horror as he briefly looked at his friend before back at the road in front of him.
" No I swear to God I'm not joking. At first I was mad at my dad for interfering in my life and wouldn't talk to him for at least 3 weeks after that because I thought he was just trying to be a homewrecker but then I realized that he was just trying to protect me because shortly after I found out about my boyfriend's sex offender background was when my boyfriend started putting his hands on me in places that I was not comfortable with and it got to the point where I couldn't take it anymore so I immediately broke up with him and kicked him out of my class telling him that I never wanted to see his face ever again and to stay the hell away from me.", Delaynie said.
" That's rough, I'm so sorry that happened to you. What was this guy's name?", Leonard asked.
" Well he was an illegal immigrant from Mexico and his name was Bruno Emilio Espanio.", Delaynie said.
" Well that's definitely a mouthful to say.", Leonard said.
" Yeah you think? Anyway, even though it sucks I'm just really glad this guy's out of my life now because who knows where things could have gone if I had continued to see him.", Delaynie said.
" Well you could have ended up dead which would have been very horrible to think about because to be honest… I don't know what I would ever do without you. You were probably the only really good thing about my childhood that made me happy and feel like I actually mattered because all the rest of it was just a bunch of crap.", Leonard said as he stopped at a red light.
" True but at least now we can see each other again which is nice because… I really missed you Leonard. Ever since my family and I moved away after we graduated from high school I always thought about you and how your life was going and even though I did make a few friends after we parted ways it just wasn't the same. For a while I even cried whenever I was alone because I just really wanted to see you again and when I realized that I couldn't it just made me really sad. Zoey even tried to help me feel better by thinking of fun things for us to do together which did help somewhat but it still didn't take away the fact that I still missed you and wanted you back in my life again.", Delaynie said with a sigh.
" I really missed you too Delaynie and I felt the same way too. When you left everything in my life just sucked after that to the point where all I could do was just cry and watch old videos of us playing together which did help lift my spirits somewhat but it didn't fully make it better.", Leonard said with a sigh as he continued driving when the light turned green. The two of them continued their conversation with each other for the rest of the ride and shortly after they got to the bar and ordered their drinks Leonard asked, " So do you live around here now or somewhere else?"
" I'm actually surprisingly living near where you work. Have been for at least a few years now so far.", Delaynie said with a smile as she took a sip of her cocktail.
" Are you freaking kidding me?! You mean this whole time you've been living that close by and I never even knew about it?! Oh my god I am such an idiot, I'm so sorry I didn't…!", Leonard gasped in shock after he took a swig of his beer as Delaynie exclaimed with a laugh, " No no no it's ok, it's fine! I honestly didn't know you worked at Caltech until now! It's really nobody's fault that we didn't reconnect sooner because we just didn't realize how close we actually were to meeting up again!"
" You're right… just, wow! That is crazy!", Leonard exclaimed.
" I know, it's insane! What are the odds of that happening?! It's like a bolt of lightning striking twice in the same spot!", Delaynie exclaimed.
" Yeah it is kind of like that.", Leonard said as he nodded his head and took another swig of his beer.
" Hey this might be a completely odd question to ask but… do you mind if I take a selfie of us together and post it to Facebook?", Delaynie asked after she took another sip of her cocktail.
" Oh no not at all, go ahead!", Leonard said.
" Well ok, smile!", Delaynie exclaimed as she took her phone out and snapped a picture of their faces before she added Leonard as a Facebook friend and posted the picture in her Facebook status that said:
Hello Facebook friends, currently sitting at a bar having a drink with someone who I've not seen in over 10 years that has been my absolute best friend since my childhood while growing up in New Jersey! Words can't express how happy I am to be able to see this man again that I've always thought about ever since we lost touch with each other for a number of years and have missed like crazy! Life hasn't been the same without him but now seeing him again after all this time apart makes me feel like I just won the lottery! Life couldn't be anymore bittersweet! Here's to new adventures and memories with you buddy, the nerds are back bitches! # Delaynie Ariel Konnerack and Dr. Leonard Leaky Hofstadter Friends Forever. :)
" I missed you.", Leonard said with a smile.
" Me too.", Delaynie said with a smile as she leaned over and embraced Leonard, pulling him out of his seat as she rested her head against his shoulder just as the music that was playing on the bar speakers ended the previous song that had been playing and the song that came on next was Pocketful of Sunshine from the ugly truth movie soundtrack. As they stood there with their arms wrapped around each other they began to slowly sway their bodies from side to side before they began to dance with each other, laughing in amusement as if they didn't have a care in the world.
" Well I may have lost my car tonight to some kleptomaniac lowlife but seeing your face again just totally makes up for it!", Delaynie exclaimed as she was being spun around by Leonard before he pulled her towards him looking into her eyes as they kept dancing around the bar to the music.
" Yeah well not as much as it makes up my night for seeing your face too!", Leonard exclaimed.
" Oh will you just shut up you dork?! Man you kill me Hofstadter!", Delaynie laughed as she playfully punched him in the shoulder while they continued dancing around.
" Well you kill me too Konnerack! You've been killing me ever since we were kids after we first met and became friends!", Leonard laughed. The two of them continued their fun, dancing and swinging each other around but little did they know that Howard would suddenly see them from the sidewalk outside as he was walking by with Raj having a conversation about what Amy had said about the Indiana Jones movie.
" So do you really think that what Amy had said about Indiana Jones was true? That if he wasn't in the film the events in it still would have happened?", Raj asked his best friend as they were walking by the bar window.
" I don't know, maybe to some degree but… hold on, Raj come back here! You got to see this!", Howard exclaimed as he stopped walking and backed up to look in through the window they just walked by.
" What? What is it? What are you… holy crap is that Leonard dancing in there?!", Raj asked as he walked back to Howard to look in the window only to gasp in surprise when they saw their friend hanging out with a woman who they had never seen before.
" No it's C-3PO from Star Wars, of course it's Leonard! Who the hell do you think it is Captain Obvious?!", Howard hissed in sarcasm as he backhanded Raj in the chest.
" Ow, that hurt Wolowitz! Don't do that!", Raj hissed as he rubbed his chest.
" Oh please you dirty ape, I didn't hit you that hard but that's not important right now! But what is important to know is who the hell is this chick with Leonard in Lucky Baldwins?!", Howard hissed in Raj's face before he turned his attention back to window.
" I don't know man maybe she's somebody that he knows but come on, let's just get out of here and go to Stuart's comic book store! I don't want to get caught standing around here looking like creepy stalker and end up being deported back to India!", Raj hissed as he started walking away only to stop a few feet and turn around when he realized that Howard was still standing by the bar window watching Leonard dance with the woman that they still had no idea who she was.
" Howard come on, I said let's go! What are you doing?!", Raj hissed.
" I'm coming in a minute just hold on!", Howard hissed back before he exclaimed, " Hot d*mn, this chick is hotter than Penny! I can already feel my Little Engine That Could bells going off, oh baby!" as he started to feel himself being turned on as he kept staring at the bombshell that Leonard was with.
" Oh for cripes sake! Dude you're married to Bernadette and what are you… holy crap you're right! That bi*ch is smoking hot but… oh man if Penny finds out about this she's going to have a conniption fit and we'll never hear the end of it!", Raj hissed as he stormed back over to the window to see for himself.
" Oh puhlease, that's ridiculous! Why would Penny have a conniption fit just because Leonard's hanging out with a hot chick that's not her?! Her and Leonard broke up about 3 months ago so it really shouldn't be any of her concern about what he does with his life! He's a grown man!", Howard hissed as he rolled his eyes.
" True but you never know with Penny and her feelings! She may say that she's over him but in reality she may still have a few feelings left for him and if she finds out that he's hanging out with another pretty woman she might go apesh*t and break his face which is probably the same thing Leonard will do to us if he finds us standing here spying on him so let's get out of here!", Raj hissed as he grabbed Howard by the shoulder.
" Ok ok geez Louise!", Howard shrieked as he was yanked away from the window and out of sight just before him and Raj caught the attention of Leonard who stopped dancing with Delaynie doing the same.
" What the hell?!", Leonard hissed as he walked over to the window to peek outside with Delaynie following him.
" What is it? What's wrong Leonard?", Delaynie asked.
" Nothing Delaynie, I thought I saw two of my friends walking by here but my mind was just probably playing tricks on me. You want to just continue with what we were doing?", Leonard said as he shook his head.
" Sure I'd love to!", Delaynie exclaimed as they went back to finishing their drinks and dancing to the music for a while longer before Leonard decided to drive Delaynie back to her house after she told him where she lived.
" Thanks for a great night Leonard, it really was so nice to see you again.", Delaynie said with a smile as they walked up the steps to her porch and stood underneath the porch light outside her front door.
" No problem Delaynie, it was was great see you too.", Leonard said with a smile.
" Do you want to come inside for a few?", Delaynie asked as she took her house key out of her purse.
" Oh… well, thanks for the offer but I should probably get going before Sheldon starts freaking out about where I'm at.", Leonard said as he shook his head.
" Well, ok. Thanks for driving me home then.", Delaynie said.
" Of course. Good night.", Leonard said as he turned to walk down the stairs to go to his car but just as he got halfway down them and he heard Delaynie turn the key in the doorknob to open her door he stopped, turned around, and said, " Wait… you know what, on second thought Sheldon can handle one night without me. I think I will just come in, since you offered."
" Ok, great. Come on in then.", Delaynie said as she opened her door and walked inside with Leonard following her.
" Thanks. Nice place you got.", Leonard said as he looked around his friend's house just as she closed the door behind them after she turned the lights on.
" Well it's not much, it's pretty much the only thing I could afford on my fitness instructor salary.", Delaynie said as she hung up her purse and tossed her house key into the bowl.
" Well there's nothing wrong with that. Like I said it's nice.", Leonard said.
" Thank you. You want anything to drink? Water, soda?", Delaynie asked.
" No I think I'm good, thank you though.", Leonard said.
" Alright but just let me know if you woah wahhhhh!", Delaynie said before she took a step forward and shrieked when she stumbled over her vacuum cleaner that was laying across the hallway floor after it fell out of the closet.
" Oh for God sakes are you alright?!", Leonard shrieked as he immediately reached out to catch her before she could hit the floor.
" Yeah I'm fine, I just tripped over my vacuum. Son of a bitch, I really got to find a better place to put this thing because it doesn't seem to want to stay in this closet very well.", Delaynie said with a sigh as Leonard stood her back up before he helped her pick up the vacuum to put it back in the closet.
" Well I could move it somewhere else for you if you want.", Leonard said.
" No no it's fine I'll figure it out later, thanks though.", Delaynie said as she shook her head.
" Well alright.", Leonard said.
" I'll be right back, I got to use the bathroom.", Delaynie said as she headed down the hallway to her bathroom.
" No problem, I'll just be out here in your living room.", Leonard said as he started walking around in the living room, looking at everything sitting on the entertainment center. He even started gently running his fingers across a few items before his eyes rested on the stereo and after he thought for a moment he decided to press the power button to turn it on just to see what would come out and to his surprise the song that thumped out of the speakers at a moderate level was Or Nah(Remix) performed by Ty Dolla ign feat. The Weeknd, Wiz Khalifa and DJ Mustard.
" Ok, this is cool.", Leonard said to himself as he started nodding his head around to the music and even singing a little bit just as Delaynie was coming back from the bathroom.
" Really Hofstadter?! You haven't even been in my house for more than two seconds and you're already touching my stereo?! You are really something else!", Delaynie said with a giddy laugh as she shook her head and walked up to him.
" Yeah well I have a habit of touching things that I really shouldn't but that's not the point. I'm sorry, I really should have…", Leonard said.
" No no no it's ok, I get it.", Delaynie said.
" Great.", Leonard said before he asked, " Delaynie?" as he looked at his friend.
" Yeah Leonard, what is it?", Delaynie asked.
" This might be an odd question to ask considering the fact that we just reconnected tonight after we haven't seen each other in so long but… aww fuck! I guess what I'm trying to ask is how would you feel if I… kissed you? Not like in a friendly way but more like a romantic kind of way?", Leonard asked with a sigh.
" Well, I'd say… I thought you'd never ask you big asthmatic dork.", Delaynie said with a smile as she then pulled Leonard towards her to kiss him, making both of their eyes flutter shut in a passionate way which instantly ignited a love spark between the two childhood besties.
" I love you. I've loved you since the day we first met.", Leonard whispered as he kept kissing her.
" Me too.", Delaynie whispered as she kept kissing him back, wrapping her arms around his neck as the music kept playing on the stereo with Leonard wrapping his arms around her mid-section as they began to slowly sway to the music as well completely unaware that someone was watching them from outside the house as he was hiding behind a tree. It was Delaynie's Hispanic sex offender ex-boyfriend Bruno Emilio Espanio who had somehow snuck back into the United States recently to follow her around after being deported back to Mexico because of his sexual harassment conviction from a 12 year old girl he assaulted a while ago during his relationship with Delaynie.
" A la mierda esta mierda! Si yo no puedo tenerte Delaynie, nadie puede! ( Fuck this shit! If I can't have you Delaynie, no one can!)", Bruno hissed angrily under his breath to himself before he stormed away thinking about what he was going to do next.
" I don't know if I should be saying this yet,but… will you be my girlfriend?", Leonard whispered with his forehead pressed against Delaynie's.
" You honestly didn't even have to ask me, f*cking hell yes.", Delaynie whispered as a smile spread across her face before the two of them went back to kissing each other while waltzing around the living room to music still playing on the stereo. At some point during their make out session Delaynie kicked her sandals off and soon after their kissing turned into them ripping each other's clothes off, having their way with each other on the living room floor in a consensual way after Leonard grabbed a condom. He didn't want there to a possibility of getting his brand new girlfriend pregnant, at least not at that time. The two of them eventually ended up in Delaynie's bed sleeping together moments later which about the same time that Sheldon began to get worried about where Leonard was and why he hadn't come back home yet.
Knock knock knock! " Penny!"
Knock knock knock! " Penny!"
Knock knock knock! " Penny!"
" Oh hi Sheldon, what are you…?", Penny asked when she answered the door to see her theoretical physicist neighbor/friend standing there only for him to interrupt with, " Not important at the moment. Have you by any chance spoken to Leonard?"
" No I haven't sweetie. Why? Have you?", Penny asked as she shook her head.
" No I'm afraid I have not which is greatly starting to concern me. He said he was leaving for a few moments but so far he has not returned.", Sheldon said in concern as he shook his head as well.
" Oh balls this doesn't sound good. Let me see if I can get a hold of Amy and Bernadette and ask them if they've heard from him yet.", Penny said in concern with a sigh as she then took her cell phone out to call her two gal pals but after they said they hadn't heard from Leonard either Bernadette said that she would get a hold of Howard to ask him.
" Well what did they say?", Sheldon asked in concern.
" They said that they didn't hear from him either so Bernadette's going to try to get a hold of Howard to ask him, oh god now I'm really worried. Where do you think Leonard could be?", Penny asked in concern as she cupped her face.
" I'm not sure but I'm hoping that nothing bad has happened to him. I honestly don't know what I would ever do without him.", Sheldon said in concern.
" I don't think any of us would either but hold on one second, it's Bernadette again. Hello?", Penny said in concern before she answered her phone again when Bernadette called her back.
" Hey Penny I just talked to Howard and he said that when him and Raj were walking down the city sidewalk to get to Stuart's comic book store having a conversation about Indiana Jones he said that they saw Leonard hanging out in Lucky Baldwins about an hour ago with another woman that neither of us have ever seen before.", Bernadette said.
" Wait Raj and Howard saw Leonard doing what?!", Penny hissed as her eyes went wide at what her friend just said.
" He said that they saw him with another woman just having a drink with her, dancing with her, and that it looked like she was somebody that he knew very well. Oh and try not to get mad but Howard also said that this woman looked way prettier than you.", Bernadette said in a nervous tone.
" Are you freaking kidding me?! Hold on one second, son of a bitch!", Penny hissed as she stormed back into her apartment, slammed her phone down after she hung up with Bernadette again, and began furiously typing on her laptop to go investigate Leonard's Facebook to see what he was doing which immediately caused Sheldon to walk up behind her and ask in concern, " Well this certainly feels like a tense moment right here. What are you doing?"
" Not now Sheldon I… OH MY GOD! Ok I'm going to kill that jerk!", Penny hissed as she angrily picked her phone back up to call Howard.
" It's poetry in motion! She turned her tender eyes to me!"
" Hello?", Howard said as he answered his phone again.
" Hi Howard it's Penny. Listen I need you to do an IP address trace on someone named Delaynie Ariel Konnerack.", Penny hissed.
" Oh hi Penny and wait, what? Delaynie Ariel Konnerack? Is that what that woman's name is that Raj and I saw at the bar with Leonard?", Howard asked in shock.
" Yes because I just went on Leonard's Facebook and saw this woman's post she made about the two of them together that she tagged him in! I want to find out where she lives because I'm pretty sure that Leonard followed her home after they left the bar, especially since she apparently is somebody he knows that he never told us about!", Penny hissed.
" Alright alright I'm doing the trace now! Don't get all bent out of shape!", Howard hissed as he started doing the trace on his phone with Penny still on the line.
" Oh please you wouldn't know bent out of shape if someone came up and hit you in the face!", Penny hissed.
" That's not helping!", Howard hissed.
" Whatever! Did you find where the bi*ch lives yet or not?!", Penny hissed.
" Almost, hold on a second! Ah here we go, hmm… this is strange. The signal's pinging somewhere near the university.", Howard said.
" Well where near the university exactly is the signal coming from?! I'm not in the mood to go on a wild goose chase looking for my a*hole of an ex-boyfriend!", Penny hissed. Howard just said nothing after she said that and sent her the satellite image of Delaynie's house as well as the pinned address to Penny's laptop causing Penny to instantly look at it when she heard a 'Ding!' sound.
" Ok thank you for the information! We are all so going over there now so I can kick Leonard's stupid ass for treating me like I'm one of his one night flings! He's so dead and he doesn't even know it! Come on Sheldon, let's go!", Penny first hissed into her phone before she hissed at Sheldon as she put the address into her phone before she shut her laptop, hung up with Howard stuffing her phone back into her pocket, and stormed towards the door after she grabbed her purse and keys.
" Ok this most certainly is getting very chaotic at the moment and I don't appreciate it! What is going on and where are we going?!", Sheldon interjected with a scowl as he followed Penny.
" Where the hell do you think Dr. Whackadoodle?! To kick your roommate's honey tree!", Penny hissed in anger as she threw the door open and stormed out, slamming the door shut behind herself and Sheldon before she locked the door and the two of them made their way down the stairs to get to her car. Shortly after she convinced the others to come along as well they all eventually arrived at Delaynie's house a few moments later.
" Bestie don't do anything stupid that you're going to regret later! Let's just act like mature adults and leave!", Amy hissed as she and the others followed Penny up to the front door.
" Amy shut up, not now! If Leonard wants to be an a*hole to me then this is what he gets!", Penny hissed in her best friend's face.
" Penny come on, you're just over-reacting! Completely freaking out and getting all pissy over Leonard moving on is not going to solve anything, it's just going to make you look worse!", Bernadette hissed as she tried to talk her friend out of doing what she was about to do.
" Bernadette butt out! This is between me and my ex-boyfriend!", Penny hissed.
" Actually it's more like between you and the door at the moment.", Sheldon said in a Know-It-All voice which instantly sparked some smirking and snickering from Howard, Raj, and Stuart with Howard saying in a low voice, " Nice one dude!"
" Thank you.", Sheldon said.
" Sheldon shut up!", Penny hissed at him before she turned back to the door and started banging on it shouting, " Leonard Hofstadter you open up this door right now you f*cking jack a*! I want to talk to you!"
" What the hell was that?", Delaynie asked when her and Leonard woke up to the sound of banging and shouting coming from the porch outside the house.
" I don't know but it sounds like my ex-girlfriend. Come on let's go see what's up.", Leonard said as he put his glasses back on before the two of got up out of bed to go to the front door. Leonard peeked through the peephole at first before he opened the door and asked with an irritated voice, " What?!"
" You sick geeky bastard!", Penny hissed as she stood there on the front porch while the others were gathered behind her with her arms crossed giving him an angry stare.
" Excuse me?! Penny what are you and the others doing here?! How did you find Delaynie's house?!", Leonard hissed as he stood in the doorway next to Delaynie looking completely annoyed.
" Oh shut up, don't act dumb! You know how we did it! Howard traced it with satellite imagery!", Penny shouted.
" Wait Howard did what?! How did he know about what I was doing?!", Leonard hissed.
" Raj and I saw you through the window at Lucky Baldwins when we were walking by earlier tonight to get to Stuart's comic book store!", Howard interjected.
" I thought that was you two I saw! What were you doing spying on me and another thing, how did you know what her name was to begin with to even do a satellite trace?!", Leonard hissed as he pointed at his new girlfriend who was still standing next to him looking completely confused as to what was going on.
" That's because I went on your Facebook and saw the post that she tagged you in shortly after Bernadette and Howard both told me about this woman! What the hell are you doing sleeping with her now?! What, you just decided to move on to another relationship without saying anything?! You are such a jerk!", Penny shouted.
" Excuse me but no I'm not and why do you care about what I'm doing?! We broke up 3 months ago!", Leonard shouted.
" Yeah well 3 months is still very fresh in my opinion which means you don't just get to drop me like a fly whenever you feel like it and treat me like I'm just one of your stupid one night stands or flings or whatever the hell you call it! It doesn't work like that mister! When I'm ready to move on then you can do whatever the hell you want but until then you don't go looking for another mattress to hop all over like a bullfrog!", Penny shouted.
" You are being ridiculous and completely selfish right now by what you're saying to me and that is really starting to piss me off! I'm a grown man, I don't need this!", Leonard shouted.
" Yeah well why don't you come here to say that again and I'm gonna…!", Penny shouted as she was about to kick Leonard in the groin like she did to Todd Zarnecki only for Delaynie to step in with her arms out and interject, " Ook let's just calm down now and talk about this like adults because the last thing I want is to call the police for a disturbance!"
" Stay out of this bi*ch!", Penny hissed in Delaynie's face.
" Excuse me?!", Delaynie hissed in offense causing Leonard to step in and shout, " Ok you know what, Penny get out of here! Same with the rest of you, I will talk to you guys in the morning! Right now I just want to have a nice evening alone with my new girlfriend and to not be bothered with stupid ridiculous nonsense like this! I'm not in the mood for drama, I just want to go to bed!"
" If I could just say something here…", Sheldon started to say but his friends quickly shouted, " Not now Sheldon!" which forced him to immediately shut his mouth.
" You know what, fine we'll go but tomorrow you won't see me anymore because I'm going back to Nebraska! I'd rather be somewhere else to forget about my problems then to have to constantly deal with them day in and day out looking at your stupid face across the hall! Come on Sheldon, let's go home and leave Leonard to his sexual desires because apparently that's what he wants at the moment and doesn't give a care about anybody else but himself!", Penny shouted as she stormed off the porch and back to her car.
" Well alright if you insist.", Sheldon said as he followed her causing the others to stare in their direction.
" Well that killed the mood.", Stuart said.
" Stuart that's not helping and come on Penny don't be like that! That's not what this is!", Leonard hissed.
" Shut up, this is clearly what it is Dr. Leonard Hofstadter! You want to act like you're some hot geeky bachelor with a Ph.D in experimental physics so go ahead and do whatever you want, I'm not going to be a part of it and if you ever try to call me again I'm going to make you wish you were dead!", Penny shouted before she got back into her car and drove off flipping him off with her middle finger.
" Well, at least she didn't break his face like I thought was going to happen.", Raj whispered into Howard's ear.
" Yeah well whatever, let's just go home now.", Howard said with a sigh.
" Good idea. Sorry for the rude awakening, good night.", Bernadette apologetically said before the rest of them left.
" Good night.", Delaynie said before her and Leonard headed back inside and shut the door.
" Oh god I'm so embarrassed about what just happened right now that I just…!", Leonard hissed as he covered his face with his hands only for Delaynie to gently grab them in her's and say, " It's ok I know it doesn't have anything to do with you. Let's just go back to bed and we'll talk more about it in the morning, ok?"
" Ok.", Leonard said with a sigh as they headed back to bed after they kissed each other good night. Meanwhile shortly after Penny and Sheldon reached the 4th floor of their apartment building Penny hissed, " Good night and goodbye Sheldon!" as she stormed across the hall to her apartment and angrily turned the keys in the keyhole to open the door.
" Now hold on wait a minute, Penny!", Sheldon interjected as he followed her only to get the door slammed shut in his face.
SLAM!
" Good Lord, what is with all this drama tonight! It's like I'm living through my childhood in Texas all over again!", Sheldon hissed under his breath as he walked back over to his apartment that he shared with Leonard and shut the door behind him to head to bed.
Penny's apartment…
" Godd*mn you Leonard! How could you do this to me after only a 3 month breakup between us?! How could you just treat me like complete garbage like all this stupid stuff you gave me!", Penny screamed as she angrily started packing some of her things up in cardboard boxes before she began to shove things that Leonard had given her over the years that they were together into a large garbage bag which instantly began to make her cry due to the fact that these things still had sentimental value even though they came from a person who she now thought was a complete jerk that didn't care about her anymore.
Ring ring ring!
" What?!", Penny cried when she answered her phone while she was still in the middle of packing things up and throwing things away.
" Penny are you ok?", Amy asked in concern on the other end.
" No! Why the hell would you ask me that Amy?! I'm a complete mess and you know what I don't want to talk right now! Just leave me alone!", Penny cried as she then hung up on Amy and continued with her packing and pitching only for Amy to show up a few moments later to ask in concern, " Penny?"
" Amy I said I didn't want to talk right now! What do you want?!", Penny cried as she stopped what she was doing and turned around to face her best friend.
" I want to know what your deal is. Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?", Amy asked in concern.
" Because I'm hurt that Leonard would just move on like that without so much as saying anything about it! He didn't even give me enough time to get over him which really pisses me off and is just a complete load of bullsh*t!", Penny cried as she kicked a box across the floor.
" Penny just calm down and take a breather, everything's going be fine.", Amy said in concern as she reached out to put her hand on Penny's shoulder.
" No everything's not going to be fine! Do you not understand what he just did to me tonight?! He treated me as if I was a short fling of his and had the audacity to tell me that I was being ridiculous and selfish after only three months of us not being together! 3 MONTHS OF PURE HELL FOR GOD'S SAKE! I should have known right from the start that a guy like him was only looking for one thing and that is to just get himself laid with a hot ass bitch like me who can't even manage to get a successful acting career going for her so she has to earn a minimal wage working as a waitress just to be able to pay her rent! I am so stupid!", Penny cried as she began to pace the floor, knocking things over in an angry jealous rage.
" Bestie that's complete nonsense! You know that's not true at all and if it was then why would Leonard have done all those nice things for you when you guys were together such as going out of his way to try to retrieve your tv as well as the money that Kurt owed you back, give you a preserved snowflake from the North Pole, and buy you a car after your old one broke down a long time ago?! He did these things because he really did care about you, it's just that things unfortunately didn't work out between you guys and I know it hurts but you got to understand that it's obvious that you and Leonard are just at different stages of the breakup!", Amy hissed.
" Yeah well I don't like it!", Penny cried.
" And that's ok to feel like that but don't try to make Leonard miserable over it by screaming at him and calling him every nasty name in the book because it's only going to make your pain and suffering much worse to which I'm pretty sure you don't want.", Amy said in concern as she shook her head.
" You're right I don't but what am I supposed to do?! Just be ok with Leonard moving on with his life to be with Delaynie even though I'm not ready yet?! I can't just forget about the fact that I still have a few feelings left for him! That's what hurts the most about this, the fact that I have feelings left for him and he doesn't care!", Penny cried as she then threw herself into Amy's chest.
" You may think he doesn't but he does, he's just not showing it! Trust me, he's probably missing you just as much as you're missing him.", Amy said in concern as she was rubbing circles on Penny's back.
" You really think so?", Penny cried.
" Yes I do. Look, let's just put everything back where it was and if you want I'll sleep over here tonight.", Amy said in concern as she let go of Penny after a few minutes.
" Ok, thank you.", Penny sniffled as the two women then started unpacking the boxes and pulling everything back out of the trash bag to put everything away before heading to bed.
' Even though you broke my heart… I still miss you so much Leonard!', Penny thought in her head while she was sleeping next to Amy as silent tears fell down her face. Things were quiet throughout the city for the rest of the night and then the next morning back at Delaynie's house, Delaynie slowly began to wake up before she leaned over to kiss Leonard on the lips which woke him up. As he laid there for a second slowly blinking his eyes his lips began to curl up into a smile.
" Good morning Leonard.", Delaynie said with a smile as she tossed her hair over her shoulder.
" Good morning Delaynie.", Leonard said with a smile.
" Did you sleep ok for the rest of the night last night?", Delaynie asked.
" Yeah, as well as I could.", Leonard said.
" Still feeling a little weirded out by what happened last night as far as your ex-girlfriend acting like a complete lunatic on my front porch in front of the rest of your friends?", Delaynie asked.
" Yeah maybe a little bit but whatever. I still can't believe Penny had the audacity to do that.", Leonard said as he sat up in the bed.
" I can't either but maybe she was just jealous. Who knows what her reasoning was for doing that in the first place.", Delaynie said.
" True. Hey do you mind if I use your shower for a moment?", Leonard asked.
" No not at all, go ahead.", Delaynie said as she shook her head.
" Thanks.", Leonard said as he leaned over and kissed her before he got up and headed to the bathroom to take a shower.
' This is seriously the best morning ever in my life! I'm finally in a relationship with my childhood bestie! Suck it Bruno, you sick pervert!', Delaynie thought with a big smile on her face as she immediately jumped up from her bed and started jumping and dancing all over the place with glee for a few moments before she headed out of the room and down the hallway to her kitchen after she picked up her cell phone. As she began to pour herself a cup of coffee her phone began to ring the Zoey 101 theme song to which made her look at the caller ID and see that it was her sister Zoey.
" Ooooh, I know you see me standing here! Do I look good my dear?! Do I look good today, day?!"
" Hey Zoey, what's up?", Delaynie asked with a smile when she answered her phone.
" Not much Delaynie except to tell you that I saw your post from last night! Did you really meet up with Leonard again after over 10 years of not seeing him?!", Zoey asked with a smile as she was sitting in front of her laptop at her house in her bathrobe watching a documentary.
" Sure did and get this… we're now dating!", Delaynie exclaimed.
" Shut up, no way! Are you bluffing with me?!", Zoey exclaimed in complete shock at what her sister just said.
" No I'm not, I'm serious! We just got together last night! Can you believe it?! Me and my childhood best friend, in a relationship!", Delaynie exclaimed.
" No I can't, oh my god! That's awesome, congratulations sis! I've always liked Leonard when you guys were hanging out, he's such a great guy!", Zoey exclaimed.
" Thanks, I know right?! I'm so happy about it right now that I can't even think straight! I've just missed him so much over these past 10 years but now that we're back together again like old times and we're dating now it's just a really awesome feeling that I hope never goes away, at least until the day we die!", Delaynie exclaimed.
" Exactly! But anyway I am really happy for you that you found your happiness again because it was really hard seeing you fall apart since we moved away! I never realized how happy Leonard actually made you feel until that very moment when we left New Jersey!", Zoey exclaimed.
" Are you kidding me?! He was the best thing in my life since sliced bread… and he still is!", Delaynie exclaimed with a giddy laugh.
" I can tell because you talked about him so much like literally all the time to the point where Dad basically said, " Just marry the boy already!", Zoey laughed causing Delaynie to start laughing as well.
" Yeah you're right and Mom was agreeing with it because she was sick of hearing me go on and on about Leonard, talking about how great of a guy he was! I specifically remember her saying to me one time, " Delaynie, you go find that boy and make him put a freaking ass ring on your finger or so help me Lord I'm gonna staple my ears shut!", Delaynie laughed as she started pounding her fist on the kitchen counter.
" You're right, to be honest I remember her saying that too which freaking cracked me up so much that I almost fell into the bathtub!", Zoey laughed.
" Oh my God, really Zo?!", Delaynie laughed.
" Yeah I swear to God I'm not joking! I went into the bathroom one morning to brush my hair and the moment I heard Mom say that to you in the other room I started laughing like a hyena which made me stumble a bit on the rug in there causing me to almost fall backwards into the tub! The only thing that prevented it from happening is me grabbing a hold of the towel rack after I dropped my hairbrush into the tub!", Zoey laughed.
" Is that how you got those bruises on the back of your legs?!", Delaynie laughed.
" Yes that's exactly how I got them after you asked me, " What the hell did you do to yourself?!", Zoey laughed.
" Well I only asked because I wanted to make sure you weren't self-harming yourself all of sudden! We're sisters!", Delaynie laughed.
" I know that you goomba! If we were ever separated on an island in the middle of the ocean I'm pretty sure I would know who my sister is out of a crowd of people even if someone came up to me and hit me in the face! I'm not stupid!", Zoey laughed.
" I didn't say you were!", Delaynie laughed as she tossed her hair over her shoulder and sipped her coffee.
" Oh shut up!", Zoey laughed before she calmed down a bit and asked, " Anyway aside from that and you and Leonard getting together… have you by any chance heard from Bruno since you guys broke up?"
" No surprisingly I haven't which is a really good thing because I really want him to stay away from me. I don't want anything to do with that sicko anymore.", Delaynie said as she shook her head.
" Good, me neither. He's a creep.", Zoey said.
" Yeah he really is and I'm sure Mom and Dad feel the same way about him too.", Delaynie said.
" Oh they definitely do especially Dad because the last time I talked to him on the phone he said that if he ever sees Bruno's face again he's going to threaten to take his head off with a shotgun and throw him out into the Gulf of Mexico.", Zoey said.
" Well that seems a bit extreme doesn't it?", Delaynie asked.
" Yeah but you know how Dad is, he's the kind of guy that always has to have the last word.", Zoey said.
" True. So anyway how are things going for you? Anything new going on?", Delaynie asked.
" Well, I recently got a job as a beach lifeguard.", Zoey said.
" Really?! That's awesome! Where are you stationed at?", Delaynie asked.
" La Jolla Shores in San Diego.", Zoey said.
" Wow, that's just a little over 2 hours away from here! Is that also the area that you're living in?", Delaynie asked.
" Yes it is which means we'll probably get to see each other a lot.", Zoey said.
" Nice. Do you know where Mom and Dad are living?", Delaynie asked.
" I think Mom said that they're living somewhere in the San Francisco Bay area.", Zoey said.
" Well if that's the case then I'm sitting right in between you guys as sort of a half-way point.", Delaynie said.
" That's totally true Delaynie.", Zoey said.
Knock knock!
" Pasadena Police! Open up!"
" Oh fudge. Hey Zoey it was great talking to you but I unfortunately have to go now, the police are here at my house for some reason that I'm not sure what it's about yet.", Delaynie said.
" Oh ok, great talking to you too. I'll let you go see what the problem is, love you.", Zoey said.
" Love you too, bye.", Delaynie said before she hung up on her sister and walked to the door to answer it.
" Good morning Ms. Konnerack.", one of the police officers said as he stood on the porch with another officer standing next to him.
" Good morning to you too. Can I help you officers?", Delaynie asked.
" Yes you can. Ma'am is this your vehicle by any chance?", the other officer asked as he pointed at the car sitting next to Leonard's that they had just towed there. It was a bright yellow SUV.
" Yes that is my vehicle, someone stole it last night while I was on my way to Lucky Baldwins. How did you find it?", Delaynie asked as she nodded her head.
" A local citizen found it abandoned at a local gas station about 7 miles from here at approximately 4 in the morning and called it in. We arrived at the scene a short time ago and ran the license plate which traced it back to you as the owner so we thought we would bring it back to you.", the first officer said.
" Oh well thank you so much, that's very appreciated! Is that all?", Delaynie said with a smile.
" Of course and one more question, who does this other vehicle belong to in your driveway?", the officer asked as he pointed at Leonard's car.
" Oh that belongs to my new boyfriend Dr. Leonard Hofstadter. He spent the night last night after we left Lucky Baldwins and he's currently in the shower at the moment.", Delaynie said.
" Oh ok I guess that will be all. Have a good day ma'am.", the officer said as him and his partner tipped their hats before they walked off the porch to leave.
" Thank you, you too. Bye.", Delaynie said before she shut the door only to get startled by Leonard when he got out of the shower and said, " Hey."
" Oh geez Louise you scared me Leonard! I thought someone was going to attack me!", Delaynie shrieked in surprise as she placed her hand on her chest when she turned around.
" Oh sorry, I didn't mean to. Who was just at the door?", Leonard asked.
" That was the police, they were just bringing my car back. Apparently somebody found it at a gas station 7 miles from here at around 4 in the morning and decided to call it in as an abandoned vehicle.", Delaynie said.
" Oh really, someone found your car?! That's great!", Leonard said with a smile.
" Yes it definitely is because how else am I going to get to work today?!", Delaynie laughed.
" I don't know!", Leonard laughed.
Knock knock!
" Who the hell could that be now?", Delaynie asked as she looked at Leonard.
" I'm not sure hold on one second… are you freaking kidding me?! It's my ex-girlfriend again, goddamn it!", Leonard said before he hissed under his breath when he looked through the peephole and saw that it was Penny as he then opened the door. She was wearing her Cheesecake Factory waitress uniform due to the fact that she was on her way to work again.
" Hi.", Penny said in a calm voice with a straight face.
" Penny what are you doing back here?! I thought you said you were going back to Nebraska?!", Leonard asked with an angry look on his face.
" I did say that and I thought about doing it but eventually Amy talked me out of it when she came over to spend the night and made me realize that the way I acted towards you and Delaynie was way out of line and I'm really sorry. It's just this whole thing took me completely by surprise and I guess I just wasn't expecting you to move on so fast from our breakup.", Penny said with a sigh.
" Really? That's what this whole calling me a jerk thing and threatning to move back to Nebraska last night was about?", Leonard asked in shock.
" Yes. Look Leonard, I miss you. These past 3 months have been pure torture for me. I've just been crying myself to sleep every night since the breakup and no matter how hard I tried to get you out of my head and get over you I just couldn't do it. I still love you and I should have told you that the night you first said that you loved me because I know that was something you wanted to hear but at the time I just couldn't get the words out. I just felt this immense pressure on me and it makes me so angry with myself for not trying harder to make things work between us.", Penny sadly said.
" For God sakes that's a bunch of malarkey Penny! Why on Earth would you ever feel like you had to try harder to make things work?! I don't understand what you're getting at!", Leonard shrieked.
" Because you're not the kind of guy I usually go out with! The guys that I've dated before were nothing but a bunch of jack a*es and skateboard punks! You were the first guy I've ever dated outside the box and probably the only one that I was ever truly in love with!", Penny shot back.
" I really loved you too and I still do, but… just because we're not together anymore, doesn't mean that we can't still be friends. I really do want us to be friends but not if you're going to call me a jack a* and think that I just casted you aside as if you didn't mean anything to me because that's not true.", Leonard said.
" You're right and like I said I'm really sorry Leonard. I should've just acted like a mature adult instead of flying off the handle like a little girl throwing a tantrum. Same to you Delaynie, I'm really sorry for acting like a crazy bi*ch and calling you one.", Penny said.
" It's ok, I forgive you.", Leonard said.
" Me too.", Delaynie said.
" Good, should we start over? Hi, I'm Penny and you are?", Penny said with a smile as she held out her hand.
" Delaynie Ariel Konnerack, nice to meet you Penny.", Delaynie said with a smile as she shook hands with Penny.
" You too Delaynie. So… how long have you known Leonard?", Penny asked.
" I've known him since childhood. We grew up together in New Jersey and have basically been inseparable since we first met.", Delaynie said as she went on to talk about the things that her and Leonard did which included the Halloween prank that they pulled on their school bully when they were 16 years old to which made Penny start laughing in amusement over.
" Oh my god are you freaking serious?! Leonard?!", Penny laughed as she stared at Leonard.
" What Penny?! So I did something stupid as a teenager, it's not a big deal! I'm sure there was a lot of stupid things that you've done as a teenager, not just me!", Leonard laughed.
" Yes there was which I think I've told you about a long time ago but that's not the point! The point is I can't believe you actually said, " Happy Halloween you wicked witch!" after you threw an egg at someone and ran away because that's the funniest thing I've ever heard in my life!", Penny laughed. The three of them continued to talk for a bit longer before Penny left to go to work.
" Well that was a surprise.", Leonard said.
" Yeah it was.", Delaynie said as the two of them talked a little bit more before they went their separate ways to go to work as well after they kissed each other again.
To be continued…