The Choice

Disclaimer: I don't any of these characters or the show.

Note: I apologize ahead of time, I have absolutely no writing skills whatsoever, but I am just such a fan of this show that I wanted to share a fan fiction with you. Reviews with any constructive criticism would be nice, seeing as I probably need it. I tried as hard as I could to keep these guys in character, but it was pretty hard. Anything you guys tell me, I'll be sure to consider in future chapters. I hope you enjoy it!

A/N: I finally finished editing all these chapters. I put them in the proper dialogue format, but not much has changed. I just added maybe a few words here or there so the dialogue format worked. You can reread it if you want, but it's not necessary. And I sincerely apologize for the long delay in updating. I'm working on the last chapter right now. It's very, very long, which is why it's taking so long to update. But hopefully it will be up soon. Thanks for being patient!

It was a bright and sunny Friday afternoon, and Leonard and Sheldon were driving back to the apartment after a long day of working.

"Nitrogen," said Leonard.

"Nickel," Sheldon said with confidence.

"Lithium."

"Manganese."

Leonard paused. "Uhh…"

"Time's up!"

Leonard looked at Sheldon. "Wait, what do you mean 'time's up'? Since when have we had a time limit?"

"Since you've taken too long to answer. You know, you could have said Einsteinium, or Europium, or…"

Leonard cut Sheldon off. "All right! I get it, Sheldon."

"…Erbium."

Leonard glared at Sheldon.

"You start this time," said Sheldon.

Leonard was a little reluctant, but gave in. "Uh, all right. Iron."

"Magnesium."

"Mercu—wait. Iron ends with an 'N!'" protested Leonard.

"True, but iron is also called ferrum," Sheldon shot back.

"Now we have an alternate-names rule?"

"Well, I thought it was implied…But if you want to discuss the rules further, maybe we could have a meeting," Sheldon replied.

"Never mind, we're home."

Leonard parked his car and they both stepped out. Leonard was feeling a little "nauseated," as Sheldon would say, from driving, thinking of elements, and arguing with Sheldon all at once. But he was looking forward to seeing Penny and immediately forgot about his nausea.

As they walked up the stairs, Sheldon and Leonard went over their typical work encounters and tribulations.

Leonard was trying to reason with Sheldon. "I'm just saying, Sheldon, writing a letter to the cafeteria saying their food is not like "Matrix food" isn't going to help make the meals better."

"Why not? They should be able to easily conclude, from my superior yet simple letter, that their meals are lacking in the taste department and they should make the obvious decision to serve food that is up to par with Matrix standards."

Leonard sighed and shook his head as they continued up the stairs.

As Leonard was opening the door to their apartment, Penny opened her door.

"Hi, Leonard. Hi, Sheldon," chirped Penny.

Sheldon smiled. "Hello, Penny."

Leonard turned around and looked at her. "Hi, Penny, how are y—"

Just before Leonard was able to finish the rest of his question, Kurt stepped out of Penny's apartment. Leonard flinched and Sheldon subtly stepped behind Leonard.

Leonard pulled his hand away from the door and faced Kurt. "…uh, h-hi Kurt. Nice to see you again."

"What's up, Lenny?"

"It's Leonard, but that's okay. Um, P-Penny, what's…?" Leonard looked at Penny with confusion.

Penny smiled at Leonard as she closed her apartment door. "Oh, we're just going out on a date."

Leonard's heart dropped a little. "A date? I thought…"

Leonard paused.

"What?" asked Penny.

Sheldon chimed in. "He thought that you were smart enough to not make the mistake of going out with Kurt again."

Leonard turned and yelled, "Sheldon!"

Kurt glared at Sheldon and Leonard.

Penny was hurt. "Excuse me?"

Leonard tried to smile. "He didn't mean it."

Sheldon glanced at Leonard, confused. "Of course I did. You said those exact words to me the other day."

Leonard looked at the ground. He knew this whole situation had already blown up in his face and did not feel the need to add to the disaster.

Penny asked softly, "Leonard, why would you say that?"

Leonard was uncomfortable and fell silent. "I…um."

Kurt shot back at Leonard and told Penny, "Just ignore them, babe. You're plenty smart, you should know that."

Leonard looked up at Kurt, getting angry at Kurt for lying to her like that.

Penny smiled sweetly at Kurt. "Aw, honey, thank you. Leonard, you should be ashamed of yourself. Why can't you be kind like Kurt?"

Leonard just about exploded.

"Why can't I be kind like Kurt?!" Leonard was getting furious. "Penny! Do you see how he's manipulating you?! He's lying! He'll just dump you like he did all the other times! Do you really want to feel worthless again?! Why can't you learn?! What's wrong with you?!"

Penny was utterly shocked at Leonard's sudden anger. She'd never seen him get so mad. But his words irked her.

"How dare you. You know what, Leonard? I don't need someone like you getting between me and my boyfriends. You can just leave the ungrateful piece of crap that you are in your own apartment, away from me."

"Gladly."

Penny scoffed.

Leonard was practically steaming. He didn't even hear the words that were coming out of his mouth. He started to feel lightheaded and dizzy and thought he was going to pass out in front of everybody. It was like he had absolutely no control over his body anymore. He was breathing hard and his heart was pounding right through his chest. Leonard felt his stomach churning and wanted to throw up. In response, he swallowed the thick saliva building up in his mouth. He was having a panic attack, but clenched his jaw in an attempt to muffle the panic and nausea overcoming him.

Sheldon, standing behind Leonard, was getting scared. He hardly ever saw Leonard get into verbal fights this massive. He saw Leonard moving back and forth and thought Leonard was going to fall. He became wary of the weakness in Leonard's legs at this point. Sheldon kept his arms in front of him to catch Leonard in case he unexpectedly collapsed. He wanted so badly to step in and stop this whole mess. But for once, he saw Leonard's side of the story and saw how much he was hurt by seeing Penny with Kurt.

Sheldon had to say something. "Penny, don't be so mean to Leonard."

Penny shot back. "What?! Sheldon, don't you see what Leonard's saying to me?!" Penny was starting to turn on Sheldon, too. "Why do you always have to take Leonard's side? Because he's your friend? Because he's your roommate? As smart as you claim to be, Sheldon, you can be a real idiot sometimes."

Sheldon felt like he was hit with a baseball bat. No one had ever called him an "idiot" before simply because he was stating his opinion. Sure, they called him "annoying," but they never spat out words that questioned his intelligence. His voice quivered with increasing anger.

"Penny, I was simply stating what I thought of this whole situation. I did not side with Leonard because he is my best friend. That has nothing to do with my opinions. Granted, if I took your side, Penny, Leonard would probably never speak to me again, never drive me again, and never buy food for me again. But in this case, Leonard's friendship with me has absolutely nothing to do with this particular situation. And if you think otherwise, I'm afraid I shall become very angry."

Sheldon tried as hard as he could to keep calm.

"Oh, yeah right! You're both complete morons, not to mention absolutely pathetic, with your ridiculous geeky video games and comic books and action figures."

Penny realized that her sheer anger was making her say things she didn't mean. Really, she didn't mind the video games and comic books. Penny was baffled as to how anger could turn her against her best friends.

Sheldon couldn't take it anymore. "All right, that's it. Penny, I will not tolerate your impaired and, for lack of a better word, stupid words that you are currently relaying to Leonard and me. I don't appreciate your inability to understand our side of the story. As a female individual, I would think that you'd be more understanding of these kinds of situations, but apparently I was mistaken."

"Ugh. Stay away from me, both of you!" yelled Penny.

Penny grabbed Kurt's hand and stormed off, down the stairs.

Leonard felt his legs getting weaker and weaker. His head was pounding and everything got blurry, like he suddenly lost his glasses. Just as Sheldon was asking if Leonard was okay, everything went dark.