A/N Once again, I am returning these characters to their rightful owners. Thank you so much for your reviews. I am always blown away by your thoughts and insights. I want to also thank the rest of my readers.

Leonard's restless sleep was interrupted by the ringing of his phone. He checked the time, 7:30. Noting the call was from Bernadette, he grabbed his glasses and answered the call.

"Hello."

"Leonard, it's me, Bernadette. Did I wake you?"

"No, I was just getting up, what is it?"

There was a hesitation, "I probably shouldn't be doing this. Maybe I should just forget it."

"What's going on?"

Another hesitation, "Penny called me and I went over to the apartment last night."

"I assume she told you what happened."

"Yes, I was just stunned. I never thought she would do anything like that to you."

Leonard waited and she continued, "Like I said, I should just stay out of it and let you guys work it out…"

She went on, "But I just needed to call you to let you know how bad she feels about all this, how much she blames herself. I know she deserves whatever happens, but I just hope you guys can figure it out. She really does love you, Leonard."

Leonard was glad to hear what she said and it gave him a little more confidence in what he was going to do. But it was still between Penny and him.

"I appreciate that, Bernadette, and am glad you called, but you're right, Penny and I need to do this on our own."

"I know, Leonard. Just know I'll be pulling for you both."

"Thank you, Bernadette. Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Leonard."

Leonard called Caltech and told them he wouldn't be in. He called Penny and told her he would be there at 11:00. He then took a shower, did his absolutions, had breakfast, and checked out.

Penny found herself pacing, the morning just seemed to drag by. She tried to eat something but was just too nervous. She realized her whole future could depend on what happened when Leonard got there. Finally, at 10:30 she settled herself down and sat on the couch sipping a single glass of wine. She knew she needed to let Leonard know three things, how sorry she was, how much she loved him, and that she would promise to never do it again.

When the knock finally came, she was relieved but scared. "It's open."

When she saw him, everything in her wanted to get up and crush her to him, to smother him with a kiss, to let him know how much she loved him, how much she needed him, how much he meant to her. It saddened her deeply that she wasn't sure how he would react. In the end she sat and said, "Hi, Leonard, thank you for coming back."

He nodded and sat down at the opposite end of the couch. They stayed like that for a few moments, each not sure how to proceed; Penny hoping that he had come to talk, to tell her they had a chance.

Finally, Leonard spoke, "When you told me about you and, what is his name anyway?"

"Brad."

"When you told me about Brad, I felt like I had been socked in the stomach, I felt empty, like I had lost something, something important. I was angry, hurt, but mostly sad. Sad because you had ruined something very special."

Penny felt herself tearing up, but told herself, No, she wasn't going to cry. She needed to listen, to try to understand what she had done to him.

"All of the fears, the insecurities I had felt in the past came roaring to the surface. My greatest fear had come true, I had lost you to someone else. That you didn't really love me. That I wasn't the kind of man you wanted."

Penny had to say something, "No, Leonard, none of that is true. He means nothing to me. You are the one I love; you are the one I need. I may not completely understand why I did it, but I do know it had nothing to do about how I feel about you, nothing to do with what kind of a man you are."

Leonard seemed to accept what she said, but made no indication of whether he was affected by it. She was getting nervous at how calm he seemed.

Leonard had to steel himself. She had said what he wanted to hear, but he knew he needed to stay on course, to say what he needed to say.

"I did a lot of thinking last night." He smiled, "I even bought some Whiteboards to try to marshal my thoughts."

In spite of the situation, Penny had to smile at that. It was so, well, Leonard."

"I know how I should feel, what I should want. I should need for you to be sorry, to be crushed by what you did. I should need to be angry with you, to want you to suffer, that you need to prove to me that you have fully repented, to punish you so you will never do it again. To make you win back my love. To earn back my trust. To promise me you'll never do it again."

Penny started to speak, to tell him she would do all those things. That she knew she deserved his anger, his contempt. That she would do anything she had to do to convince him he should take her back, that he could trust her. But to her surprise he went on.

He leaned forward and looked into her eyes. "But that is not how I feel at all. I believe that you are sorry, that you do not have feelings for Brad. And I do believe you still love me."

Penny was stunned, what was he saying, for the first time, she felt real hope.

He had gone on, "What I am trying to say, Penny, is that I want us to be together. I love you and want to be with you."

Penny was shocked and bewildered, he wanted them to be together? Had he forgiven her? It was too good to be true.

She blurted out, "What are you saying? You want us back together, just like that? I cheated on you, Leonard, aren't you angry? I don't deserve this, Leonard. Why are you doing this? Why are you being so easy on me?"

"It's not for you, Penny, it's for me. I am being selfish. I am not going to continue to hurt because of what you did. What good will it do me to want you to suffer, to continue to feel guilty, to try to make up for what you have done? What good will it do for you to promise not to do it again? Neither you or I can know that for sure."

He grabbed her hands, "All I know is that I love you. That being with you makes me happy. Maybe it seems like I am being naïve, but I am doing what is best for me. I need to believe you are sorry, that you love me and want us to be together. I need to believe you will never do it again. No, Penny, I am not doing it because I am dismissing what you did, I am not doing it for you, I am doing it because it is what is best for me. I find no pleasure in you feeling guilty or putting yourself down."

He looked into her eyes, "So, Penny, do you want for us to be together?"

Penny couldn't believe it, but it had to be true; she undid her hands and moved forward and crushed her upper body to him, kissing him passionately on the lips. She pulled back for a moment, "Oh God, Leonard, YES, YES. I love you, Leonard, I love you so much. I was afraid I had lost you." She also told herself that whatever he said, she was going to do all she could to make it up to him.

Leonard smiled, "I love you too."

They resumed their kiss and Penny was starting to think maybe they should take this to the bedroom when Leonard pulled away and turning serious, said, "But we do need to discuss what happened between you and Brad. We need to try to understand what happened, so we can take steps to try to ensure it doesn't happen again. We also need to discuss what to do about what Brad did and how you are unhappy at your job."

She nodded and sat back. "All I know is that we had been with a group of other salesmen and Doctors and I was bored out of my mind. I was just so tired of the whole damn thing. Brad must have sensed it, because he made up some excuse for us to go up to his room. I just don't know what was the final push, why I was open to it. I do remember I had some stupid idea that it would get me out of a rut." She hesitated, not wanting to admit the next, but knew she had to be completely honest. "I also had a crazy notion that it would be good for you and me."

Leonard, who had been listening intently, stared at her as she said the last sentence. "How could you possible think it would help us? Were you thinking we were in a rut?"

Penny got scared again, "Oh, God, no, Leonard, it was like it would help me. In some stupid way I guess I thought it would make me less unhappy about work and thus not be unhappy around you. Please believe me, Leonard, it had nothing to do with us."

Leonard relaxed, "Okay."

He went on, "I am sorry I didn't listen more when we were at Big Bear. I should have never treated the fact that you were unhappy about what you were doing so lightly."

"I don't think you did. I really was more confused about what I felt at that time. And I did want to take care of that debt. It was after that when it really got bad."

"Penny, I think this job has affected you more than even you realize. I think you should quit."

"But, the money."

"We have already paid it down a long way. I can use my not so secret account to pay it off some more. I do make a decent salary. I am sure we can live on it. Besides, you might find something else that you like to do."

"Are you sure, Leonard? I want to but are you sure we'll be all right?"

"We'll be fine. So, tomorrow morning, I will go with you and we will tell Dan that you are leaving. At the same time, I think we should tell him about how Brad has been acting and let him deal with him."

"You know that Brad will probably tell him about what he and I did. Do you want that to get out?"

"The way this Brad guy sounds to me, it would get out sooner or later. I just don't want Brad to get away with what he did. Unless you really don't want it to get out."

"No, you're right, we need to let Dan know."

Penny looked lovingly at him, "You really are too good for me, you know."

Leonard smiled back, but then smirked, "I know, but there are benefits..."

Penny was caught off guard, but then smiled and looked coyly at him, "Speaking of benefits."

As they headed for the bedroom, Penny suddenly stopped as if something had struck her. She turned to Leonard with a big smile, "You know, with all that free time I'll have after I quit work, I will need something to do." She leaned into him, "Maybe we could think about having a baby."

Leonard was stunned for a moment, but then he smiled happily, "I'd like that."

Putting their arms around each other and exchanging a quick kiss, they continued to the bedroom.