Things fall apart

Penny sat on the floor in a dimly lit room drunk as hell tears streaming down her face she looked at the half empty bottle of wine and the rest of the bottles scattered around the room. She thought this is what has become her. A sad drunk with no self-respect and nothing to live for, her life was perfect and living her dream the world at her feet and new friends. Traveling the world and more money than she could ever dream of. Until recently when it all came crashing down by her failure to listen to those close to her and cutting them out of her life because she took advice from the wrong people. She thought of ending it all what the point of going on. She had nothing to lose. Her mind drifted back to the love of her life as it's had frequently done. Her thoughts went back to when things started to fall apart.

Flashbacks

It's three years since Leonard, and her broke up. After the kiss revelation penny just couldn't trust Leonard anymore. Heartbroken and devastated by Leonard's infidelity. WHY, WHY LEONARD. She remembered the evening like it was yesterday. Penny was pretty quiet during the drive and just thinking why now to bring this up was he trying to sabotage the wedding. Penny was in shock she couldn't think straight so much was going through her head right now. What does this mean for them, will she be able to forgive him, and is there any more secrets he's hiding from her. She was so happy until he told her about the kiss. How could he do this to her? She wanted to forget about the kiss and marry him but the more she thought about it, the more she was having second thoughts. As it all sank in she realized she couldn't go through with it and when they finally got to Las Vegas it was all too much for Penny she decided to call off the wedding. The betrayal was too deep and tonight was supposed to be the happiest of her life and Leonard ruined it with his revelation. Of all the people in the world, the last person she thought would hurt her was Leonard. He was just like the rest of the guys she dated in the past. A cheat and not to be trusted, all the time she was missing him while he was away he was too busy enjoying himself and kissing another girl. Penny wanted to ask more questions but was afraid of the answers. She just wanted to go home.

When they got back to Pasadena, she asked Leonard for a break to sort her head out. Leonard tried to explain that it was just one kiss, and he stopped it and nothing further happened. He also told her how the quilt has been bugging him for the last two years and was afraid to tell her because he was scared of the consequences and her reaction. Penny stood by her decision and in the end he admitted defeat and agreed to the break.

Penny avoided Leonard for the first two weeks. She didn't go to 4a for dinner but spend her time with the girls in 4b and putting more effort in her job as a sales rep to take her mind away from Leonard. Amy and Bernadette were worried about her state of mind as she wouldn't open up to how she was feeling but just kept saying she was fine. They could see she wasn't but left it like that until she was ready to talk. Things began to fall apart, she just couldn't bring herself to forgive him or forget about what Leonard did. After a month of successfully avoiding him, Penny finally broke things off and giving him back his ring. It was the hardest decision she ever had to make, but it was the right thing to do as she now saw the man she loved as nothing but a cheat. She couldn't trust him anymore, and it's not like the first time he'd cheated, but this was the first time on her. She was angry with him for betraying her and mad at herself for maybe taking him for granted most of the time and not treating him with the respect he deserved. She was now sorry for that but over the years she had opened up her feeling, putting all her trust in him, never in a million years did she think he would destroy her happy world. She was now living in a dump of a flat with nothing to look forward to in her life. She hoped to never wake up from this nightmare and finally find peace.

Leonard was devastated and didn't take the breakup well he begged penny to give him another chance and professed his undying love for her. She'd already made up her mind and the way she looked at him now told him all he needed to know. She hated him, but Leonard wouldn't give up because he knew somewhere in her heart she still loved him. Leonard was losing this battle but kept trying. He wrote her apologetic and love letters, brought her flowers every day. Reminding her of all the good times they shared to no avail but penny would just send them back unopened and refused to talk to him. He gradually slipped into his world drinking heavily and avoiding his friends staying in his room listening to Marvin Gaye or going out to bars to get drunk just to ease the pain. The guys tried to help and support him assuring him penny is just hurting and will forgive him she just needs time, but he refused to believe them. He scares them with his angry rants and erratic behavior while drunk. He sometimes became threatening so they just left him to his own devices and hoped one day he would realize drinking will not solve his problems, and when needed they would be there for him.

Sheldon and Amy had fixed their relationship, and he had made a lot of efforts to prove to Amy his love for her was real. They were engaged and happy she spend a lot of time and sleepovers at 4a. It did not go unnoticed by Leonard as it reminded him of how happy he once was and threw it all away. For some stupid kiss, he didn't enjoy. Why did he let it happen? And why didn't he tell penny sooner or just kept his big mouth shut he knew he did the right thing if he wanted to marry Penny with no regrets. Everything was falling apart for him, and it finally sank in that his one night of weakness has ended his relationship with Penny. As the month went by he saw less and less of Penny they were drifting apart she wanted nothing to do with him. He was losing it, and he couldn't live without Penny. He loves her so much without her in his life it wasn't worth living so Leonard made a decision that would change his life and everyone around him. He stood outside a bar contemplating if to go in. It wasn't a hard decision. He was going to get drunk tonight, and he didn't care he had nothing to lose. It didn't matter the pain would end soon, and he will be free.