Penny was feeling pretty stupid. As she waited for the moment for her head to hit the stone bench she wondered if they would make this moment a part of that TV show '1000 ways to die'. The girl that died on her wedding day because one of her heels broke.

She never thought that this moment would give her the time to think so much. But time was moving slowly and she just knew that once her head made contact with the stone bench behind her, that would be it for her. Kaput.

Penny is also pretty relieved to not have to go through the whole wedding thing. She had proposed to Leonard, he had said yes…and here they were. Penny knew that her entire attitude towards this wedding thing had been less than enthusiastic but she kept waiting for that moment of 'I'm happy', except, it never came.

She kept going through the motions, picking flowers, a wedding cake, calming Sheldon down by reassuring him for the 100th time that 'Yes Sheldon, I do want to get married…yes, to Leonard.'. She did the whole pony and dog show while feeling pretty empty inside. She wanted to call off the entire thing but Leonard looked so happy that, well, she just played along.

Maybe her mom was right and Penny was going to hell.

Leonard just wasn't it. She had been scared of ending up alone, he had been there, she had gotten used to him, it was just easier to pretend. She had reached her mid-thirties and everyone else was getting paired up, even Sheldon. So she took what she had and ran with it.

She does hope that Leonard finds someone nice after she's gone. Here, moments away from her death she can be honest. They were terrible for each other. She found him boring and dull, he found her boring and dumb, the sex was okay most of the time…when he didn't had to stop in the middle of it to take a hit of his inhaler, she missed eating cheese and ice-cream and resented him for it, they had nothing to talk about, most nights they ended up drinking way too much and she feared they were well on their way to become alcoholics. She lied about the spark. He cheated on her.

It felt good to let go of things. If she could go back in time, she would do things differently, be a better friend to Sheldon. Not date Leonard. Take acting seriously. Stop drinking. Not hook up with that guy that gave her a UTI.

Then her world fills with pain, she can hear a sickening snap and someone yelling her name. Then darkness.

Penny's world is still full of pain for a moment after she wakes up. She keeps her eyes closed both because it makes it easier to handle the pain but also to try and keep the nausea under control.

'Fuck, I survived.' Penny knows that she should be grateful to have survived but she can't, she's probably going to be recovering for months, she might not walk again, she…is kicked out of bed.

Penny lies on the floor in utter confusion because she's fine. The fall from the bed makes her open her eyes and she automatically moves to stand up, noticing that her arms and legs are working fine, more than fine actually, she hasn't felt this good in years. The pain that assaulted her when waking up is gone, now only a bad memory.

'Can't remember the last time I was kicked out of bed. The last time it happened it was when I was still with Kurt' Looking around, Penny notices that this is not a hospital room. She's in a room she thought she would never see again.

She's at Kurt's apartment and he just kicked her out of bed in his sleep.

It was a bad habit of his, born out of living in a house with 5 other brothers. She found it cute at first, she found it infuriating after 3 years.

Penny is feeling cold, like her limbs have been replaced with icicles. Nausea threatens her again but she loses this time, her body knows exactly where the toilet is and she just makes it in time before she's vomiting whatever was in her stomach.

This was impossible. 'You mean improbable.' A memory surfaces, Sheldon.

On shaky legs Penny goes out to the kitchen, she always kept a calendar on the fridge, she needed to see the date. Her lower lip trembled, this was all too much, what was she supposed to do?

The calendar is exactly where she remembers and the date on it takes her breath away, 14th of December, 2002. Two months since they've been in Pasadena. Two months since Penny started working at The Cheesecake Factory. Two months since she left home and never looked back.

Penny is hyperventilating now, she can't do this. She's going to have to spend 4 years with Kurt knowing that he is already cheating on her? Once their relationship broke down he was not shy about telling her who he had fucked and when. Looking at the clock on the microwave showed that it was 5:23 am. Kurt probably had arrived here about an hour ago from the club, he would be dead to the world until 2 or 3 pm, she could be shooting buckshot next to his face and he would not wake up.

She was not planning on being here when that happened. Making a decision she grabbed the same bags that she used to escape Omaha and once again filled them to the brim and the stuff that didn't fit she just put into garbage bags and carried it all to her car, she did not forget the TV this time.

Taking a moment to write a note for Kurt, she makes sure to burn that bridge thoroughly, Kurt will be pissed and also scared that she knows so much about his shitty behavior.

By the time 10 am rolled around Penny had emptied Kurt's apartment of her things and was driving to Los Robles.

Penny is not sure what to expect when she gets to the building. She knows exactly why she's here, because she needs her 0,0,0,0.

For the first time ever she thanks Sheldon for being his thorough self. The first thing she sees when approaching the lobby doors is a printed paper with the words 'Roommate required' and is signed by her Wackadoodle.

The elevator is actually working so her legs are spared the climb. While she waits to arrive at the 4th floor landing Penny takes a moment to check her appearance. She doesn't own anything remotely business casual at this stage of her life so she goes with skinny jeans and a flowery blouse with no cleavage, her vans also received a quick wipe with Clorox and too many napkins.

She was nervous, she could admit that. Leonard told her horror stories of how bad Sheldon was before he arrived, but she was not the 21 year old Penny that would have balked at the Wackadoodle once he opened his mouth. She was the 35 year old Penny that had been friends with Sheldon for over a decade.

She was about to knock when Penny had a fun idea.

*knock, knock, knock*
*knock, knock, knock*
*knock, knock, knock*

Sheldon opened the door as soon as she finished with the third set and was looking at her with his eyebrows raised in pleasant surprise.

¨Hi, my name is Penny. I saw the announcement on the door. Are you still looking for a roommate?¨

¨Hello Penny. I'm Dr. Sheldon Cooper, and yes, please come on in and I'll ask you some questions to determine if you would be a good fit.¨

She entered the apartment and was surprised to see the couch missing and instead there were two lawn chairs, one in Sheldon's spot and the other where Leonard's chair would usually sit. Sheldon was now carrying a clipboard and had what she recognized as his 'serious face'.

'Bring it on Moonpie.'

Penny shouldn't have been surprised by some of the questions he had, Star Trek, Paintball, Halo, Batman, Flash, if she knew how to use a gun, how she would act in a zombie apocalypse scenario, if she could drive him to work. Honestly, this was just regular Sheldon and not the robot described by Leonard.

¨Last question. When would you be able to move in?.¨

¨Right now.¨

¨Excellent.¨ He didn't even bat an eye at that. Wackadoodle. ¨Here is the roommate agreement, once you sign it I'll provide you with your own key. And since you're moving in the middle of the month, as stated on the Roommate agreement you only have to pay for half of the rent and services, for a total of $208.50, which you have until December 28th to provide.¨

¨Ah, no need, here you go.¨ Penny was glad she arrived before her past self had spent it all on shoes.

¨Excellent, allow me a moment to find the exact change.¨ She didn't bother arguing with Sheldon, she was perfectly aware of his views on owing anything.

Back at her car Penny realized that she had no idea when her next shift in The Factory was and she was thankful that her binder had the whole week planned. She didn't have a shift today by pure luck but tomorrow she had the breakfast shift and experienced or not, Penny still hated that shift…which, now that she thought about it, she hadn't had to work it in like 5 years.

In fact, she had already made a big change. She took the room from Leonard, which was fine, Leonard would still meet Sheldon at work and they'd hit it off so she didn't feel bad about it.

One big change done, so why shouldn't she also make other changes? Other decisions, better choices.

To start, Penny made an oath to never date Leonard. That was just a disaster waiting to happen and she wanted to do better this time around.

Take acting seriously, maybe go to UCLA for acting.

Find a better job.

She should listen to some of Sheldon's ideas and suggestions from time to time.

Maybe try playing a Necromancer on Age of Conan.

Definitely drink less.

And...not be so focused on finding someone to be with. She's explored that road and it's taken her to some bad places.

Yeah, all of that sounds great. Maybe she can even prevent Bernadette from meeting Howard. 'There's an idea'

For now though, she's got a Wackadoodle in her life and that's all she needs. And also tonight is new comic book night, if she remembers correctly.

Penny, feeling happier than she had in years, skipped towards her new apartment and roommate. 'You got this Penny.'