Word Count: 4131
Summary: After that night, if anyone asked, that would be the answer to what her favorite memory was. Some prompts from Tumblr were used.
Disclaimer: I don't own The Big Bang Theory or the characters.
Full of liquor, shouting random things to the stars, her head spinning, his laughter, and the city noise the only thing she hears. If anyone asks her what her happiest memory is, she'll think of that first.
It won't be her answer though, because that being her favorite memory when she could say her wedding day – she never specifies which one – seems wrong. So, she'll answer her wedding day and the conversation will carry on. This happened once at Bernadette's house, on one of their girls' nights, after a few too many glasses of wine.
And when the night is over, and Leonard is woken up at almost two am to pick them up because they're too drunk to drive, Penny can only think of that memory as she sees him arrive.
He helps Howard put Amy in the backseat, her voice slurring with words that make no sense, and her legs barely able to keep her upright. Penny is okay to walk, but she still uses her husband as a crutch to walk to the car because she just doesn't seem to be able to get her hands off him, especially when she drinks.
She walks behind him as he carries Amy upstairs to the apartment and laughs every single time he complains about the elevator not working. She wants to remind him each time that it's his fault, but he already knows that so there's no need to remind him of that. Besides, she woke him up in the middle of the night to go pick them up, so he doesn't deserve to be made fun of today.
He somehow gets her in bed without waking up Sheldon, and when he leaves her old apartment, he finds Penny sitting on the stairs, her head leaning against the wall. Leonard knows that waking her up won't be easy, but he's pretty tired from carrying Amy up the stairs and doesn't feel he has any energy in him to pick his wife up.
With a sigh, he approaches her.
"Penny?" He touches her shoulder, and thankfully she stirs, making incomprehensible sounds. He has to bite his lip not to laugh at her. "Come on, let's get you to bed."
"I'm not drunk." She tells him. "Just tired."
He rolls his eyes. "Where's the woman that wanted to stay in parties 'til four or five am?" He mocks, and she takes her arm that is draped around his shoulders and glares at him.
"I wonder that too." Penny finally says, putting her arm around his waist as he opens the door to their apartment.
She manages to get into the bedroom without falling asleep on the way, which she finds a small victory. Managing to put her pajamas on was a task she didn't feel prepared for, so she just sits on the bed.
That's where Leonard finds her, with her eyes closed.
For what seemed the hundredth time that night, he rolls his eyes.
"You're lucky I love you." He mumbles, and she finally opens her eyes and gives him a tired smile. "Come on, let's get you dressed."
He knew how to do it. Undressing and then dressing a drunk Penny – or, according to her, a tired Penny – was something he already knew something about. It was easier than when he had to do that to Sheldon when he was sick and extra annoying. When apparently it was okay for Leonard to change his clothes because "I'm too sick, Leonard" he would always tell him.
He quickly gets her pajamas on and manages to get her on her side of the bed.
It takes him less than a minute to be next to her too because all he had to do was take his pants and sweatshirt since he was sleeping when he got the call and it seemed unnecessary to change clothes just to pick them up.
He figures she's already sleeping when he removes his glasses and closes his eyes, but she was still awake when she mumbles in her sleep.
"You're too good for this world, Leonard."
He smiles when she says that, but he quickly falls asleep after that.
When she wakes up the next morning, he's already sitting at his desk working.
"Good morning." He says, and she immediately shushes him. He looks at her incredulously, as if he was saying something wrong.
She grabs the coffee and starts pouring it into a mug. He softly approaches her, careful not to make any noise, and puts a pill next to her. She smiles at him and kisses him.
"Head hurts." She whispers.
"I know. Sometimes it seems you forget you're not in your twenties anymore." He whispers back, trying not to laugh.
She stares at him for a moment, and then closes her eyes, one hand holding her mug, the other on his shoulder as support.
"Leonard?"
"Yeah?" He asks, as she grips his shoulder tight, her balance not the best this morning. He takes the mug from her and places it on the counter, and she winces at the noise.
"Somehow you don't even have to open your mouth to make my head hurt." She whispers again, and at that moment, Amy opens the door.
Leonard had learned his lesson before with Penny, so he just smiles instead of saying good morning. Penny is still with her eyes closed, but nods in acknowledgment of her arrival.
"Do you guys have any aspirin? I have a huge headache." She whispers, and Leonard nods and points to the counter where the aspirin is.
"I know, but you chose to marry him," Penny says, and Leonard grins as Amy rolls her eyes when Sheldon arrives.
"Good morning." He says, in normal volume, which causes both girls to wince. Penny chooses that moment to take one hand from her husband's shoulder and with her eyes still closed, she tries to find her mug.
Before she makes a mess by letting the mug drop – which would make noise, something they definitely didn't want – he just picks it up and gives it to her.
"Sheldon, please keep your voice low," Amy asks him, almost begging.
He takes a look around, seeing Penny sipping her coffee with her eyes closed, and the zombie-like on his wife's face.
"What happened last night?" He questions, looking between Leonard and Amy.
"They drank some wine," Leonard tells him, and he nods. "You didn't hear Amy arriving?"
At that moment Amy, who is sitting on one of the chairs on the kitchen island looks at Leonard as she remembers what happened last night.
"Did-did you- how did you get me up here?" She whispers as she realizes how fuzzy her memories of last night are after the third bottle of wine was opened.
Sheldon looks at his former roommate. "You had to get her in the apartment?"
"Was I supposed to just let her sleep on the stairs?" Leonard asks, and Penny laughs.
"I didn't hear you come in," Sheldon tells Amy, ignoring Leonard.
"I don't remember coming in," Amy mentions and looks at Leonard. "Thank you."
He just nods, still deciding not to talk unless absolutely necessary, because Penny is still with her eyes closed – he's wondering if she wants him to get her some sunglasses – and Amy seems to be wondering about her life choices as Sheldon starts talking about whatever it is that he's working on at the moment.
Even Leonard that is not hungover isn't really paying attention, but he can practically hear Penny complain without any words about Sheldon still being in their apartment, and worse than that, he's talking.
"Hey buddy, what if we go to the comic bookstore?" Leonard asks Sheldon, and he sees both girls just sighing in relief – something that seems that Sheldon doesn't notice.
"But I want to talk about- "
"You can talk on the way to the comic bookstore," Leonard tells him, interrupting him. Sheldon nods. "Go get your coat then."
There's a spring in his step as he walks out of his old apartment to get his coat. Amy looks at Leonard and silently thanks him. He just grabs a mug from the cabinet and fills it with coffee, and Sheldon arrives as he gives her the mug.
"Let's go!" Sheldon demands, and even Leonard winces at the volume he used to say that.
He kisses Penny, grabs his jacket, keys, and wallet, and with a sigh of almost regret for offering to take Sheldon to the comic bookstore, he leaves the apartment.
It was a terrible drive for Leonard. He wondered for a moment if Sheldon was actually breathing as he speaks because he was talking a thousand words per second and loudly. He doesn't say anything, and he's thankful that at least someone was happy that morning, because only after entering the car did Leonard feel tired, the few hours of sleep he had not enough to deal with that Sheldon.
Somehow Sheldon talking so much actually kept him from closing his eyes, because otherwise it would be silence in the car and that wouldn't work well.
When they finally arrive at the comic bookstore, Sheldon still has the same spring in his step as he walks to the comic books, Leonard close behind, dragging his feet.
Stuart sees both arriving, says good morning to them, and was going to talk to them but a customer talks to him so he attends to him.
Sheldon is still talking excitedly, except that now about comic books. Leonard is more and more feeling like a truck hit him.
He hears his phone vibrate and picks it up to find a message from Penny.
- Why is it that there's always one of them in our apartment?
He chuckles at the picture of Amy lying on the couch with a blanket draped over her – despite the complaint, Penny must be the one that placed it on top of her.
"What is it?" Sheldon asks, but Leonard just shakes his head which makes him understand that it didn't matter.
As the boys were in the comic bookstore, Penny decided to do something to make sure she didn't fall asleep again. So, she went to the bedroom and made the bed, changed her clothes, and after going to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face again to see if it woke her up a bit more, she came back to the living room to find Amy sleeping on the couch.
Refraining from rolling her eyes because she knew that would hurt, she takes her phone and texts Leonard. Not expecting him to answer, she puts it on the coffee table and turns the tv on, putting it on mute – that way she wouldn't bother Amy's sleep and her head would appreciate the silence too.
Eventually, she felt her eyes start to get heavy, and she knew she had to get up otherwise she would definitely fall asleep. So, she started to put the dishes away, but once that was done, she just sat on the chair again, wishing for the first time since the boys left that they didn't.
Well, Leonard hadn't left, because she did want Sheldon to leave.
Because that way he might have found something to do, and Amy would most likely be the one putting up with Sheldon.
She sees her phone screen turn on, and looking at it, she finds a text from Leonard.
- He's even more annoying when I'm tired
It's the first time that she realizes he must not have slept that much either. Despite not having a hungover he was woken up in the middle of the night and must have woken up soon after. She remembers him telling her he needed to go to the lab in the morning for something she now wishes she had paid attention to.
So, she finally finds something to do. Going to the kitchen, she finds the coffee pot almost empty and makes a fresh pot of coffee for him to have whenever he got home.
But soon after she's back to sitting on the couch, with nothing to do. Whatever it's going on between the characters in whatever show is on she doesn't care about and can't hear them. She uses the lack of sound to create her own story, but that makes her sleepy. Deciding not fighting, she drifts to sleep.
They stop at a coffee shop on the way back to the apartment. Sheldon decided to stop talking, deciding on reading the comics he bought instead. Without the noise, Leonard is feeling even more tired and decides to get some coffee.
Sheldon gets a croissant for himself, and they sit at a table. Leonard gets a text from Howard.
- Bernadette is saying that wine is forbidden now
There's a photo of Bernadette sleeping on their kitchen table that makes Leonard chuckle, making Sheldon look up from his comic, but quickly looks back at it when he sees Leonard on the phone.
Eventually, they are done with what they ordered, and they leave the coffee shop finally returning home.
There they find both their wives sleeping soundly, and glancing at each other the door is closed and wordlessly, they go to the other apartment. Leonard lies down on the couch and closes his eyes, while Sheldon goes back to the whiteboard to work.
They stay that way for a while, Leonard sleeping as Sheldon works. But eventually, Sheldon starts to feel hungry and wakes Leonard up.
If looks could kill, Sheldon would definitely be going six feet under. But Leonard still gets up and goes across the hall to check on the girls. Penny opens her eyes at the noise.
"Want to get something to eat?" He whispers.
She looks at him, and then at her phone to see the time. After realizing it was, in fact, lunchtime, she nods.
"Should we wake up Amy?"
They both look at Amy, still sleeping comfortably. Neither wants to wake her up, but they know she'd be mad if they left her there.
Penny goes to wake her up as Leonard tells Sheldon to get his coat. Slowly the four go down the stairs, Amy just trying not to trip, Leonard and Penny holding on to each other.
Sheldon keeps talking but he seems to notice the tiredness from his wife and former roommates, so he speaks lower.
Lunch is fast. The tired three just want to sleep, and Sheldon wants to get back to work. Despite all that, they all eat everything on their plate, since they only had coffee for breakfast – except for Sheldon, who just ate the normal amount he usually has, especially since he had eaten a croissant less than an hour ago.
Eventually, everyone was finished and back in their respective apartments.
Leonard and Penny both sit in front of the TV – unmuted now – to make sure they didn't sleep during the afternoon and could sleep all through the night. Penny was able not to sleep and focus on the rom-com that was on. But when she looks to her side, she finds her husband fast asleep against her shoulder.
She lets him sleep, just for a few minutes she tells herself.
But seeing him sleep made her feel the sleep come back.
"Just for a few minutes." She tells herself, closing her eyes and leaning her head against the back of the couch. "Just a few minutes."
They wake up with someone knocking on the door. They both jump from the couch, panicking. Penny gets up faster than Leonard, that just sits on the couch, his elbows on his knees, holding his head. She opens the door to find Amy.
"What?" Penny asks, dizzy from getting up too fast and with a hoarse voice.
"We were wondering if you liked to get dinner?" Amy tells her. "I'm sorry, did I wake you?"
Penny sighs. "It's fine. Huh…" she looks behind her to Leonard. "Want to get dinner?" He doesn't answer, already sleeping with his head on the armrest. Penny looks back to Amy. "He's- Leonard's sleeping." She yawns. "I'm kind of tired too. It's okay, go without us."
Amy just nods, and Penny closes the door.
Looking at her husband and the lack of space he left her to sleep in, she just places the blanket on top of him and then notices that maybe she could fit between him and the back of the couch. Careful not to justle him and woke him up – even if she did, he probably would fall asleep fast – she manages to get in that place. Getting the blanket to cover her too was a bit trickier because he had already hogged the blanket, but she somehow managed to get him to stop holding onto it so hard and let go.
Eventually, she was sleeping once again.
It was dark, he first noticed when he opened his eyes. The second thing he noticed was that someone's knee was on his lower back and that bothered him.
After a few moments, he realized it was Penny's knee on his back. He still didn't remember when he fell asleep lying on the couch. The last thing he remembers is someone knocking on the door.
He feels the blanket that is usually draped on the couch on top of him, but he feels too warm, so he takes it off of him, careful not to wake her up.
Slowly, he walks to the bathroom. Once he leaves, she's still sleeping.
He hears his stomach growling, which made sense since he only had food during lunch and that was hours ago. Still careful not to make noise, he grabs the cereal box and a mug and pours some in. Seeing some of his lactose-free milk on the fridge door, he pours some in. He eats that as he scrolls through his phone.
He reads the texts that people – Howard and Sheldon – had sent him as he slept. He answers both of them. He eyes the box of cereal and checks to see if he still has milk once he's done with what he has in the bowl. Happy to see he still has milk, he pours cereals and milk and starts eating that.
"Another bowl?" He hears coming from the couch. The person whose voice that belongs to is coming towards him, blanket around her.
He doesn't even take his eyes off the phone screen to answer. "You seem to underestimate the amount of food I can stuff in my mouth before I need to stop."
She rolls her eyes and then looks excited. "Hey, it doesn't hurt anymore." He finally looks at her and shakes his head but with a smile. She sits on the chair on the island. "So, what do you wanna do?"
"The normal response would probably be sleep."
"We slept all day though."
"Food?"
She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. "That's your second bowl of cereal. You're still hungry?"
"Again, you really underestimate just how much I can eat." He gets up and washes the bowl, coming back to the island once that's done to put the milk and cereal in their place. "We could go get burgers?"
Penny looks interested. "Fries?"
Leonard laughs, as Penny's eyes have a certain twinkle of excitement in them. "Sure."
Just as that word comes out of his mouth, she jumps out of the chair and almost runs to the door.
Leonard just blinks a few times and takes a deep breath, knowing it was going to be a long night.
They find a place still open and sit in a booth, facing each other. They order burgers, sodas, and fries. Leonard was looking at Penny as if she was a child who was allowed to have fast food, and not a grown-up that could eat fries anytime she wants.
They eat quietly, just enjoying each other's company. Penny takes that time to answer the girls too, because they texted their group, complaining that she wasn't there to help them deal with the boys. Penny laughs at this, and when Leonard looks at her questioningly, she just tells him that his friends were hard to deal with sometimes.
He doesn't even bother to say the contrary.
(It wasn't like the same could be said about the girls, constantly complaining about them talking about comics or movies.)
"Is that my sweatshirt?" Leonard asks, a few minutes after they last spoke.
Penny looks down and nods. "Yeah?"
"I've been looking for that!" Penny bites her lip attempting to fight a grin. "It's not funny. You told me it probably got lost in the move." He thinks for a moment. "You also told me it probably got lost in the dry cleaners." He now looks upset. "You also said it got ruined when you washed it."
Penny is now full-on smiling. "It's comfy."
"You have tons of my sweatshirts. Can I, please because apparently, I have to ask permission to wear my clothes, just have some for me to wear?"
"You have enough of them." He just stares at her without answering. "Fine, you can have some of them."
"I want that one."
Penny blushes a bit. "I'm not wearing anything underneath." She whispers, a bit embarrassed. "Can I just give you the sweatshirt when we get home?"
Leonard chuckles. "If I say no and demand to have it now, will you do it?"
Penny just stares at him until his smile leaves his face. Then she gets as close as she can to his face. "Do you really want me to do that?"
It's his turn to stare at her. "I- Yeah?" She giggles as he looks a bit lost and stutters.
"Idiot." She simply says, laughing as he looks a bit relieved to leave that conversation.
(He couldn't wait to go home though. He preferred her without a sweatshirt.)
Eventually, they were finished without their dinner and left – but not before Penny bought more fries.
The drive home was as usual. Leonard drove as they both sang the songs on the radio as loud as possible, not caring if they were off-tune or not. Because they definitely were.
But once they arrived at the building they started to make as less noise as possible not to wake up their neighbors.
It was hard to do that because for some reason every single time they simply looked at each other they just wanted to burst out laughing and had to stop climbing the stairs to catch their breath and stop laughing.
Once they got to their floor, neither made a move to open the door. Neither wanted to go inside, so, wordlessly, they kept climbing the stairs to the rooftop.
There, Penny sat on the floor with the fries on top of her legs. Leonard was standing, just leaning against the wall.
"You can see the stars today." She said, and Leonard looks up and then nods. He then sits next to her and attempts to take a few fries from her. She hits his hand. "Nope. They're all mine!"
"I think someone needs to learn how to share."
She looks at him, faking shock. "Very funny. I know how to share."
"Can I have some fries?"
"No."
"You know, I'm sure Bernie has a book she can lend you that explains sharing. Want me to ask her?"
Penny smiles. "I dare you to text her right now. She'd kill you."
Leonard nods, also smiling. "Yeah. That's what you want, isn't it?" She leans her head against his shoulder, and he leans his against hers. "To see her do that."
Penny puts a fry in her mouth and then answers. "I'd like to see her try." They both laugh.
"I'm sorry to tell you this honey, but she's scary. She might win."
Penny takes her head from his shoulder for a moment to look at him. "Seriously?" Leonard nods. "You think she's scarier than me?"
"Well…" Leonard pretends to be thinking as Penny puts her head back on his shoulder and shakes her head. "You have more opportunities to hurt me if you really want to. So… I'm not sure."
Penny just smiles at that but puts the pack of fries closer to him so he can take one. "See?" She asks, a few seconds later. "I can share."
He laughs, and looks up at the stars, as she does the same.
"This is nice." He tells her, and she nods in agreement.
"Yeah. It is."
After that night, if anyone asked, that would be the answer to what her favorite memory was. It was of her and her husband on the rooftop of the building, eating fries, staring at the stars, as the world slept.
The End
I had fun writing this piece. Was it initially going to be this long? No. I didn't even know what to write. I was finished after writing 600 words. But then continued and wrote this all thing instead of studying for my tests of the next week. *sigh* (and immediately forgot about the story on my hardrive until I went to it to put the new story I just wrote)