Leonard and Penny drove on through the night in awkward silence. After fifteen minutes of quiet tension, Leonard broke the stillness with a soft "Uh, oh."

"What is it?" asked Penny.

"The check engine light came on, and I can see the temperature gauge rising. I think we may have a blown radiator hose."

"Surprised you know what that is," Penny exclaimed, a little cruelly. "How fast is the temperature rising?"

"Pretty fast. It's already into the red. I think we need to get to a service station. I'll take the next exit; I think it's coming up soon."

"So long as we don't see any steam or smoke from the hood, or the exhaust, I think we're all right," Penny offered, remembering her father's warnings from her teenage years.

As if on cue, Leonard pointed to the hood, where a few lines of steam seemed to be rising. "Famous last words. I think we have to pull over and call AAA. I don't want to blow a head gasket."

"Again, surprised you know that," Penny repeated.

"To be honest, I have no idea what it means, but I've heard it in the same breath as a blown hose," admitted Leonard. He pulled over to the breakdown lane, put on his flashers, and called AAA.

"Forty five minutes to an hour, they say," he informed Penny. "What shall we do? Wanna play a road game?"

Penny snorted, then reconsidered. "Sure. Let's play How Stupid."

"I don't know that one," Leonard said cautiously.

"OK, I'll start. I ask, you answer. First question: How stupid do you have to be to kiss a girl while you're off on a four-month expedition and your girlfriend is sitting at home lonely and missing you and she just told you she loves you?"

Leonard sighed. "All right, I get it. Very stupid. Very, very stupid."

Penny snickered. "Second question: How stupid do you have to be to not tell your girlfriend that you kissed another girl for two frigging years and then tell her while you're on the way to get married."

Leonard groaned. "Way too stupid for words. Look, Penny, I can't tell you how sorry I am. I made a terrible mistake – very, very stupid, OK – and then compounded it by not telling you."

"And why exactly did you not tell me for two years? I find that even more disturbing than the kissing, to be honest."

"I was scared, just scared," Leonard admitted. "I thought you might break up with me and I couldn't face that thought. So I told myself it was no big deal. But it kept eating me up inside. I knew it was wrong but I didn't know how to make it right."

Penny paused. "Some things can't be made right; what's done is done. But at least you can be honest. You needed to trust me, to trust that I would listen to you and not run away screaming at the first hint of a problem. And I wouldn't have. But the fact that you didn't trust me makes me really angry. Two years of secret-keeping gives me a lot to think about. Not to speak of your bringing the issue up as we were on the way to get married."

"I understand, I truly do," Leonard said sadly. "I only hope you can find a way to forgive me so we can move on. I was looking forward to getting to a new place, to getting married."

"Maybe the car is telling us not to get married tonight. But let's not make any major decisions right yet," Penny concluded. "I need to process all this, and now is not really the time." Although her anger had subsided a bit in the face of Leonard's regret, she was still seething at his timing. Jerk.