My first Big Bang Theory story. No beta's were harmed, mostly because my current BR is just too busy and I wanted to get it out.

First warning: English is not my first language. I hope I don't fry your brains if there are some really weird sentence constructs in here. If you feel like you could prevent other readers from fried brains, feel free to offer your beta-services.

Second warning: I'm currently working on chapter 9. Not all of them are 6.857 words, but the average chapter length does seem to be around 6000+ words (looking at other stories for other fandoms, it does seem to be my standard chapter size, though it really is just a coincidence). I plan on releasing two chapters per week, so that I have some time to write the rest of the story (which for all I know, could be chapter 10).

Anyway, I own nobody and nothing to do with the Big Bang Theory. I definitely do not make any money with this.

"Hi, honey," Penny answered her incoming Skype call, a smile forming as Leonard's face appeared. "How are you doing? Any sea sickness?"

"Hey, Penny. I'm doing great. No more sea sickness after the first few days."

"Dammit! Now I have to pay Howard." She was still smiling, and glad her boyfriend had gotten used to being at sea.

"You bet against me, did ya?"

She shrugged. "I had to go with the odds."

He laughed. "Yeah, I guess the chances of me being sick for the entire stay were a lot greater than me getting used to this movement in less than a week. Some of my colleagues are still not used to it."

"Aw, my boyfriend is becoming a tough sailor."

"Well, I wouldn't go that far. It's great I can do my work and experiments, but believe me, I have no desire to repeat this anytime soon."

Penny was glad to hear that. He'd only be gone for a little over a week and she missed him terribly.

"So, how are the guys doing? Is Sheldon driving you nuts already?"

Penny rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but surprisingly Raj turns out to be even worse. Ever since he found out he can talk to women without alcohol, he's been jabbering to me, Bernadette and Amy every chance he gets. Why can't you get some normal friends?"

*knock, knock, knock* "Penny" *knock, knock, knock* "Penny" *knock, knock, knock* "Penny"

"Sheldon, not now. I'm talking to Leonard."

"No! Why would you say that?"

Penny looked up at the door opening, Sheldon entering her apartment.

"Oh, good, I thought you'd be talking to Leonard tonight. I must speak with him. Leonard, did you..."

"Sheldon, I didn't invite you in. Go away. If Leonard has some time left, he'll talk to you."

"What gives you the right determine who gets to talk to my roommate and best friend?"

"He's my boyfriend and he called me." Penny moved her laptop to the side. "You got a problem with that?"

With satisfaction she saw Sheldon take a step back. "No, it's just a question. Coitus, even if it's over the internet, apparently trumps intelligent conversation."

"Exactly," Penny agreed, not bothering to mention there was no coitus over the internet. "Now, get out, or I can guarantee Leonard won't have any time left for you." She placed her laptop in front of her again as Sheldon closed the door behind him. "Sorry about that."

"No problem. Believe it or not, it's good to hear his voice. Helps me to remember just how annoying he can be."

Penny laughed at that. "No kidding. So, how are the experiments going?"

"Pretty good. Of course we just started, but we already had some cool results on one of the minor experiments."

"She really is your girlfriend?"

"Yes, Albert she is. Can I have some privacy, please?"

"Of course, sorry for the intrusion. I didn't realize you were having a private conversation."

"Sorry, that was Albert. He's a great guy, but has a propensity for just barging into a room without knocking."

"We should introduce Albert to Sheldon. They might learn something from each other. So, what did he mean me really being your girlfriend?"

"Some of my colleagues didn't believe you were my girlfriend. I only brought one picture of you, and it doesn't have me in it. I understand why they'd think that, though. I mean, if I'd seen any of them with a picture of just you, I wouldn't believe them if they said you were their girlfriend."

It pained her that Leonard still didn't have the confidence that he was an attractive guy, that he could really get any woman, if he showed such confidence. Then again, this way she didn't have to worry too much about losing him to someone else. "Maybe I should send you a couple of other pictures, with both of us in it."

"Nah, don't bother. They'd probably think they're just photoshopped. Besides, Albert saw me talking to you, and I'm sure the others will hear about it. So, what have you been up to?"

"Oh, the usual. Working at the Cheesecake Factory, going to acting class. We're thinking about doing another play in a few weeks, but we haven't decided on which one yet. I'm hoping we get to do a comedy one, with the entire group."

"I remember you mentioning you never performed in a comedy piece. I think you'll be great in a comedy role."

"Don't I wish. I'm terrible at comedy. I start laughing, get the timing wrong. At least the director can give me pointers on the right timing, and how to move or look."

"Well, I think you're a fantastic actress. You really were amazing in 'A Streetcar named Desire'. Even Sheldon was impressed."

Penny smiled, touched by Leonards unconditional support. "Thanks, honey. So, we only get a few minutes?"

"Yeah, our time is almost up, too. We won't be able to talk for three weeks, but at least we'll have half an hour then."

"Oh, Leonard, I don't want to wait that long. I've missed you so much this past week, and now I have to wait even longer to be able to talk to you."

"I know, but you agreed this was too great of an opportunity for me to miss out on."

Penny didn't care tears were now forming. "I know, and I'm really happy for you. It's just that... I love you and I miss having you around. I miss having you sleeping next to me."

He sighed. "Yeah, I miss all of that, too."

"You remember when you guys came back from the North Pole? I can tell you right now, the minute you get back I'm dragging you into my bedroom and show you exactly how much I missed you! And nothing will interfere with that plan this time."

"That...," he licked his lips. "That'd be good." He shook his head. "Why did I have to go and leave?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make it hard on you."

He glanced around briefly and then said in a half whisper, "You made something hard alright."

Penny grinned. "You think it's easier on me?" It definitely wasn't. She'd reacted physically to his response. "In case you didn't know, you turn me on just as easily as I can turn you on."

"Maybe, but I'm not really in a position where I can do much about this."

"And I can?"

"Didn't Sheldon find the battery-operated chew toy?"

Penny laughed at the reference to Sheldon's find during the cleaning of her apartment. "Poor guy. Really hasn't got a clue when it comes to sex." She became serious again. "And for the record, that 'chew toy' is a poor-mans replacement for having you here with me." She meant every word of it.

"Thanks."

He looked shy again, like he wasn't sure she meant it. She would need to do something about it when he got back, Penny decided. After all this time he should know she wouldn't joke about something like this to him.

"Well, looks like our time is up. I'll mail you as often as I can, and we'll talk again in three weeks."

"Alright, honey. I love you." She blew him a kiss.

"I love you too. Just ask Sheldon to send me mail, since I won't be able to talk to him anytime soon."

"I'll tell him. Bye honey."

Penny just stared at the laptop, thinking about Leonard. They'd ended their short conversation almost half an hour ago, but she tried to relive the entire thing in her head, attempting to hold on to the image of his face, the sound of his voice.

It occurred to her she'd said 'I love you' to him again. Twice, actually. Up to just a week before he left, saying those words had terrified her. But she wasn't afraid anymore, not since she realized they'd be apart for four months.

And it hadn't been scary because she was unsure about her feelings for him, or his feelings for her. No, the thing that scared her the most was the fact that she felt so strongly about him, a much deeper love than she had ever felt for anyone. And she knew how much Leonard loved her.

But knowing they'd be apart for all that time, that's what made it clear to her she was being childish. There was nothing wrong with feeling deeply and strongly. Leonard had stayed with her, despite the fact she never told him how she felt, and he deserved better than that.

Nevertheless, having the words come out twice in less than fifteen minutes was still a surprise. Hopefully she wouldn't just ask him to marry her by accident, she thought with a smile, but then sobered and asked herself if it would be so terrible.

A knock on her door shook her from her reverie. She got up to open the door, knowing it wasn't wackadoodle number one, but fearing it'd be wackadoodle number two, mister 'talk your ears of'. She was relieved to find Bernadette on the other side of the door.

"Hey, how are you doing?"

"Hey, Bernadette. I'm doing alright, I guess." She invited her friend inside, suddenly feeling terrible she'd hardly taken the time to ask Bernadette how she'd been doing when Howard stayed in the International Space Station.

"Yeah? Because I remember how I felt when Howie went to the space station."

Penny nodded, pouring a glass of wine for her friend. "Well, I'm not overly happy, but I'll survive." She sat down next to her. "Listen, I just realized I really haven't been there when Howard went away."

"Penny, it's okay. I could talk to Howie almost every other day. Besides, if I hadn't gone through that, I wouldn't have known just how much it hurts."

"Yeah, it does hurt, so much. How did you deal with it?"

Bernadette raised her glass with a smile. "This certainly helps." She took a sip. "You just have to take it one day at a time. When you miss him the most, write him an email, or look at pictures, stuff like that. Most of all, spend a lot of time hanging out with your friends."

"You mean, like listening to Raj talk about anything and everything?" Penny barely suppressed a shudder.

"That wouldn't be my first choice, but if it helps you take your mind of Leonard being far away, why not?"

"Yeah, no. I'll find someone else to hang out with, like you or Amy. So, what's up with you guys?"

"Howie and I are looking at buying a condo together."

"Really? Still close by, right?"

Bernadette nodded. "Yeah. It'd be a little further away from my work, but it's only a few more minutes. We'd be closer to you guys, though."

Penny took a moment to think. "Are you talking about those condo's a couple of blocks over?"

"Yeah. Some of them have been on the market for a while now, and the prices have come down considerably."

Hi Leonard,

I know we talked on Skype yesterday, but I felt the need to write to you. I don't know if you realized, but said 'I love you' to you twice yesterday. Don't worry, I'm not taking those words back :) I meant those words, just like I meant it when I told you in the car, just before you got out and left on that plane.

After our talk I just sat here on my sofa, thinking and daydreaming about you. It was during that time that I realized about the I love you's, and how silly I've been for not telling you sooner. Because I did love you. I think I fell in love with you just a few months after I moved in across the hall.

Don't ask me to explain why I couldn't tell you how I felt, because I'm not quite sure myself. I think it's because you're the first guy I feel so strongly about. Or maybe I was just an idiot (you better not agree with me, or you'll never see me naked again :) )

Anyway, I promise you I'm no longer keeping quiet about my feelings for you. You might actually get tired of hearing me tell you that all the time.

So, yesterday Bernadette came over, trying to cheer me up. She actually succeeded, too. I told her I was sorry that I hadn't been there when Howard went to the ISS, for not realizing what a difficult time it must've been for her. But we had a good talk and she gave me some pointers on dealing with this whole you being away thing.

One of the things she told me is to write you a lot, especially when I miss you, so here I am, writing this rather long email to you. And I got to tell you, Bernadette was right. Just writing this to you makes me feel closer to you. So expect a lot of mails like this.

I love you, and I miss you.

xoxoxo Penny

Hi Penny,

Let me start by telling you I don't mind long e-mails at all. I love reading your emails. As you know, my schedule doesn't allow me a lot of free time, at least not during hours you are awake and home, so being able to read your mails during my down time is the best thing. Well, besides actually being with you :)

I would never call you an idiot, because you aren't one. Some people just have a hard time talking about their feelings, and I respect that. I know you love me (though I didn't know your feelings started that early, wow) even if you still hadn't said it to me. You show your love to be me in all the things you do. You know the saying, actions speak louder than words? Well, you've practically been shouting your love at me, so don't worry about it.

Like you did with Bernadette, I really underestimated how hard it is being away from someone you love so much. I can tell you I've really questioned my sanity the past few days. The weird thing is, practically nobody around me gets it. Except for Harry nobody here is in a relationship. The others just don't get it. Well, Samantha probably does; she just came out of a long term relationship. I guess she just deals with it by immersing herself in her work.

I wish I had more time to write, but I have a report to finish :( I love you and I miss you, so much.

xoxoxo Leonard

"There's a girl there," Penny said out loud after reading Leonards reply. "And she's available."

Penny grabbed her laptop when she heard a Skype call coming in, and was surprised to see it was Leonard. She hit the 'answer' button and waited a few seconds for the video started. "Hey, that's a surprise. I thought we wouldn't be able to talk for another two and a half weeks?"

"Yeah, we're just waiting on an analysis. I figured I might as well hog the internet connection to talk to you while the numbers are being crunched. I know the other teams are busy and unable to talk anyway. Samantha said she didn't need to talk to anyone right now."

"Samantha is on your team," Penny asked, becoming slightly worried this was going to be a repeat of the whole Alex thing.

"You have nothing to worry about, love."

Apparently her worry shone through in her voice. Penny saw a pretty woman walk into frame, which did nothing to lessen the worry in any way.

"But now that I see you actually do look like the picture, Leonard might have to worry."

Leonard was smiling rather smugly. "I think Samantha rather has you on her team."

Penny saw the woman wink and nod. "I most certainly would. I'll leave the two of you alone. You have about fifteen minutes. Nice to meet you, Penny."

"Nice to meet you, Samantha." Penny saw her move out of frame and moments later heard a door close.

"I'm sorry I didn't mention that Samantha is into women in my last email. I really hadn't thought about it until I saw your reaction when I mentioned her again."

Penny laughed. "No, it's alright. I don't know why I got so insecure. I trust you completely, I really do. It's just, well, remember Alex? She hit on you and you didn't even realize until she stopped being subtle about it."

"Yeah, I can be dense sometimes. But be honest, why would I want someone else when I have you?"

Penny shrugged. "Right now, I'm not there and she is, so..."

"Penny, you don't have to worry about that, ever. I'm only interested in you. Besides, I really think Alex was a fluke. Pretty much nobody would hit on me, and why would they?"

There it was again, the self doubt. "Leonard, you're a very attractive, smart and funny guy. I'm sure other women hit on you regularly. You probably just don't pick up on it."

"I don't think so. I may have failed to notice with Alex, but girls never approach me. I always had to approach women and hope they'd go out with me."

"Really? I know doctor Stephanie came on to you. So did Leslie Winkle and Priya. And that Dr. that stayed with you guys."

He smiled at that. "Yeah, I guess they did."

"Like I said, you're a real catch, so of course I get worried about losing you to someone else."

"You're not going to lose me, I promise. You really are the best thing that ever happened to me. Why would I jeopardize what we have?"

"Alright, alright, I get it. I shouldn't worry. So, what's going on? You know, besides the experimenting."

"Not much really. We usually work about fourteen or sixteen hours a day, because there really is nothing else to do. I usually take a break after about six or seven hours, but with the time difference that is still at a time that you'll be at work. By the time I'm finished you're either on your way home, or going to acting class, and I'll be too tired to stay awake much longer."

"Yeah, I can understand that. I'm glad you found an opportunity to call me now, so unexpectedly. I love being able to talk to you and see you at the same time."

"Hey, is that the locket I gave you?"

Penny looked down and held it closer to the camera. "It most certainly is. I'm keeping it close to me at all times. When I go to bed, I just hold it in my hand keeping it close to my heart, wishing you'd come back soon. Oh, that reminds me. I have something I want to show you. Hold on, I'll be back in a minute."

She stood up and darted into her bedroom. She quickly undressed and put on the sexy outfit she bought the day before. On her way back to the living room, she grabbed her robe, so she could put that on in case someone walked in.

She could see the laptop screen and saw he was still alone, so she moved into her camera's view, delighted at the very audible breath intake.

"Wow! I need to get back!"

Penny smiled broadly. "Down boy. You have a job to do. Just remember that I'll be wearing this underneath my clothing when I come pick you up at the airport."

Hi Honey,

I hope you're doing okay. I read that there are some pretty severe storms where your ship is. It scares the crap out of me, thinking about you being out on a ship in the middle of a huge storm.

Today our acting class decided on what play. This time there's enough roles for pretty much the entire class to perform. And it's a comedy! We haven't decided on the roles though. Our mentor, who's going to direct it, wants to have all of us do a test performance, to see what he can do with us. So, we'll see how that's going to turn out.

Raj finally stopped his constant jabbering to us girls. I think he was just so happy he could finally talk without alcohol, he just went a bit overboard. He's really a great guy to be around, and I really hope he'll find a girl to be happy with. I think he's earned it, after all these years of not having anyone. Did I tell you I went to his place after I dropped you off at the airport? He was just so devastated, thinking that he was just unloveable.

I think Sheldon is getting used to being alone. I have to say I'm really surprised he hasn't been bugging me every single second of every day. I think Amy spent a few nights, though I'm sure Sheldon had her sleeping on the couch. He seems to be content to be alone most of the time he's home, though I eat at his place at least three times a week, usually with the rest of the gang. But twice it has been just the two of us.

Anyway, you're up to speed again on the going ons over here. I really hope to hear from you soon, even if it's just a quick note to say you're okay. I love you.

Penny

P.S.: I've attached a photo of me with the glasses. I know how you liked it when I wore it that one time.

P.P.S.: I was totally naked when I took the picture. Happy dreams honey :)

Hey sweetheart,

Your tough sailor is still in one piece, and I only threw up once. A lot less than most of the others :) But it got pretty hairy over here. We were in our life vests during the storms, because it was so dangerous.

I'm glad to hear Sheldon and Raj both seem to be doing great. You're right about Raj deserving someone in his life. I guess now that he can talk without alcohol, he's less likely to say the wrong thing.

We're still working on our experiments here. Sam and I decided to take a different approach from the other teams. She and I get along really well, and we find we think alike when it comes to finding a different angle. I think we stumbled on to something, but we have to rerun the experiment to see if the previous results weren't just coincidental.

Oh boy, that picture you send? I love it! Especially with your comment about your state of dress, or rather undress. But believe me, I don't need those kind of pictures (but if you have more, don't hesitate to send them over) to have happy dreams.

I've attached two pictures. One is of the sunset during very calm weather, the other is of me and Sam going over our results (one of the other scientists walked by and made the picture).

Okay, I love you and miss you, alot!

Leonard.

"Hi Bestie."

Penny smiled at Amy, as she walked over to the table her friend was already seated at. "Hi, Amy. I thought I was early, but you still managed to beat me to it."

"I didn't intend to arrive this early, but I happened to be finished a little early at work. You want some wine?"

Penny shook her head. "No, I'll just have some water."

"Oh, my god," Amy said, fanning herself. "You're pregnant!"

Penny looked around nervously. "No, I'm not! And even if I was, I wouldn't want everyone here to know." She glanced around once more, trying to make sure nobody was giving them any undue attention. "I just don't feel like drinking wine."

Amy frowned, but asked the waiter, as she passed by, to bring some water. "Oh, look, there's Bernadette."

"Hi ladies," Bernadette said as she sat down. "Looks like we're all early." She looked up at the waitress as she brought a jug of water. "I'd like a white wine, please."

"So, ladies. To what do I owe this fancy dinner date," Penny asked.

"Bernadette and I realize how hard it has been, being without Leonard for the past two months."

"Yeah," Bernadette chimed in. "We figured you could do with a nice dinner with just us girls." As she noticed Penny drinking water, she added, thankfully in a whisper, "Are you pregnant?"

"No, I just don't feel like drinking wine, that's all." Penny could almost see the gears in Bernadette's mind turning.

"When I came by the other night, after your first Skype conversation with Leonard, you gave me some wine, but you didn't have any then, either."

Yep, here it came.

"Penny, are you... I mean," Bernadette didn't quite seem to know what to say.

"I think we all agree I drank quite a lot. I figured I needed to stop now, before it gets to the point where I actually can't just stop." She shook her head and smiled. "I picked quite the period to do it, huh? You have no idea how many times I've walked over to my kitchen cupboard to just have one more glass of wine. But I haven't, yet." She shook her head again, this time to clear it. "Anyway, let's not talk me into a depression and just have a nice dinner together." She glared at the two of them. "And don't either of you think about not drinking any the rest of the evening. I can handle it, I promise."

Penny unlocked her apartment door and stepped in, a smile on her face. The night out with the girls had been a lot of fun. Dinner had been great, and afterwards they'd gone to a bowling alley, the one above which she'd performed the Anne Frank play.

She couldn't remember the last time she had had so much fun, at least not without getting drunk. She was proud of herself, for quitting alcohol completely. She'd set herself a goal to go without alcohol for at least four months. After that, she'd just see how things went. A drink every now and then wouldn't hurt, be she needed to be careful and not drink as much as she'd been doing for the last six, seven years.

She turned on her laptop and opened up her Facebook page. She saw a message from Samantha and read it over, and then reread it again to make sure she understood things correctly. She typed up a quick reply, and sent a message to Bernadette, before shutting off the laptop to head to bed.

The next morning Bernadette came over at ten thirty. "Hey, I got your message. What's wrong?"

Penny smiled and replied nothing was wrong. "Last night I got a message from Leonards partner, Samantha, and she..."

"Oh Penny, Leonard wouldn't cheat on you!"

"I know. For starters, when he'd get back here I'd kick his ass all the way back to England. Besides, Samantha is into women. Anyway, in her message she told me the expedition is getting a week off in London, and she invited me to come, to surprise Leonard."

"Oh, Penny, that's great! Why didn't Leonard invite you?"

"Because he doesn't know he's going to get a week off, not until the night before."

Bernadette smiled. "I bet he's going to enjoy spending some time with you."

Penny smiled. "Yeah, me and him both. However, and I really hate doing this, but I'm a little short on money."

"Don't worry about that. I'd be happy to pay for your flight. If you want to book it now, I have my credit card information."

Penny hugged her friend. "Thank you. And I will pay you back, I promise."

"Don't worry about it, Penny. I'm happy I can help you see Leonard a a couple of months earlier than either of you expected. You don't have to pay me back." As they ended the hug, she added, "Do we need to book a hotel room as well?"

Penny shook her head. "No, a hotel has been taken care off by Stephen Hawking's people."

"Okay, well, let's get you a plane ticket."

Penny sat nervously in the hotel lobby, waiting for Leonard to arrive. It had been hard not telling him this past week, especially during their last Skype conversation, just the night before she had to leave. If he'd only known her suitcase and carry-on had been sitting by the door, just out of view.

She glanced at the large clock in the lobby and saw that it would be nearly fifteen minutes before she could reasonably expect Leonard and Sam to arrive. She grabbed a magazine and started leafing through it, not really reading or even looking at the pictures.

Fifteen minutes had seemed to take forever, but she finally saw Leonard and Sam enter the lobby. With her face mostly hidden behind the magazine, neither saw her, even though Sam knew she would be waiting in the lobby. She walked over to the reception desk and heard Leonard ask if the hotel provided free WiFi.

"Hey handsome. I don't think you need WiFi when you're with me."

"I'm sorry, but I already have a girlfriend... Penny?"

She returned his kiss with equal passion, and tears started to flow. "I've missed you so much," she whispered.

"I've missed you, too. How did you know to be here?"

"That would be my doing, love," Sam said. "I sent Penny a message last week when I heard about our time off, and we all decided to keep it from you to surprise you." Sam then hugged Penny. "It's good to finally meet you."

"Same here."

"Alright, darlings. I'm sure you have more important business than talking to little old me. If you want, we can go out to dinner around six? If you'd rather be together, that's alright with me. I have a few friends living in the area, and I'm sure I could have dinner with at least one of them."

Penny looked at Leonard and at his nod, she said, "No, we'd love to go out to dinner with you. Six should be fine."

"Alright, we'll meet in the lobby at six."

Leonard looked at Penny, curled up next to him, and smiled. She hadn't been lying when she'd told him two months ago the I love yous would be coming freely and without hesitation. He glanced at his watch, and noticed it was just past five. He'd have to wake her soon, so she could get ready.

Not that Penny needed a lot of time, usually, but he didn't want her to have to rush it. He gently stroked her face until her eyes fluttered open and look at him. She immediately started to smile when she saw him.

"Oh good. It wasn't just a dream." She yawned and stretched. "What time is it?"

"A couple of minutes past five. I figured you didn't want to feel rushed to get ready, so I woke you up."

She looked up at his face, caressing it with her hand. "That's alright, Leonard. I don't need a lot of time, though."

"Well, I figured we both needed to shower and..."

"How about we share the shower. You know, to save time."

He looked at her with doubt. "You really think it would save time?"

Penny giggled. "Maybe not, but it'd be a great experiment, wouldn't it?" She sat up against the headboard, letting the bed sheet slide down, as if to prove the point.

"Oh, I know it'd be the best experiment ever. I'm just not sure if we'd make dinner on time."

She kissed him before getting out of bed. "Then we better start now."

Sam glanced at the lift as she heard the little ding announce its arrival. Again, it didn't contain Leonard and Penny, but she figured they were still enjoying each other's company and in no rush. It was only ten minutes past six, and Sam decided that if they hadn't arrived by six thirty, she would assume they weren't coming. She wouldn't blame them. If she'd been in Leonard's shoes, she probably wouldn't want to leave the room either.

Another ding announced the arrival of the other lift, this time containing her partner and his girlfriend. Penny looked stunning, Sam noticed. She stood up to meet them halfway.

"Hey, Sam. Sorry for being late," Leonard said, throwing a mock glare at Penny.

Sam just laughed. "That's alright, darling. I would've been just as happy if you had decided to not come at all." She hugged the both of them.

"Hey," Penny said in response to Leonard's mock glare. "I didn't hear you complaining."

Leonard shrugged. "Of course not. I'm an experimental physicist. Experiments is what I do."

"Still seemed like you enjoyed my experiment a whole lot better than any of your scientific experiments."

Leonard nodded. "I most certainly did." He then looked at Sam, "Sorry, Sam, but I really do like her experiments better."

Sam laughed again. "No need to apologize for that, Leonard." She picked her purse back up from the floor, where she'd dropped it. "Are you guys ready to go?"

Penny took of her dress. "Oh my god, Sam is hilarious. I really like her, you know." She turned around to hang up the dress and grabbed a scrunchie to tie up her hair.

"Yeah, Sam has become a good friend to me, too."

Penny nodded. "I could tell. We have to see if we can invite her over to the States, once you're back. I think she'd get along with almost everyone. I know she's like super smart, like you and Sheldon, but she seems so, normal, you know?"

"You're saying I'm not normal?"

Penny kissed him, before applying her night cream. "You're pretty close, but I know you actually make an effort. With her, it seems to come naturally." She stepped into bed and under the sheets, snuggling up to Leonard. "Or maybe I just have a thing for geeks."

Leonard laughed. "Well, I'm glad you are into geeks. So, I noticed you didn't drink any alcohol tonight. Is your experiment going well?"

"Mm-hmm. I think I can do it, no alcohol for four months. Maybe even longer."

"I'm glad to hear that. Though in all honesty, I don't think you were drinking that heavily."

Penny snorted. "Yeah, right. I drank a bottle of wine almost every night."

"Well, a, heavy drinkers usually do a lot more, stronger stuff, and, b, see how easily it was for you to just stop."

"Aw, thanks honey. We'll just see how it goes. I guess a glass of wine would be okay, but I really think that five bottles a week was just way too much. So, enough with the talking. I wanna show you just how much I love you and how much I've missed being with you."

"Hmm, I wonder how you'd be able to show that."

Penny climbed on top of him. "I'll show you."

The week had flown by, Penny thought, as she was packing up her suitcase. It had been absolutely wonderful spending so much time with Leonard, exploring London. Sam had been great by giving them lots of time just being together, but on occasion they'd gone on trips together.

Sam had taken them to her hometown, a little over an hour away, and introduced them to her friends and coworkers. Penny hadn't failed to notice the similarities between Sam's group and their group back home. Sam shared an apartment with a female version of Sheldon, though Karen wasn't as strict about rules as Sheldon, nor as socially inept.

But now, the week was over, and she had to return to Pasadena, without Leonard. She glanced at him as she closed the suitcase, seeing the sadness in his eyes, and went over to him. "I hate that I have to leave you, but you have to complete your work and I can't stay on the boat with you guys."

"I know. Doesn't mean I like it. You know, I have half a mind just blowing of the rest of this job and just come back with you."

Penny smiled and gave him a sideways hug. "Aw, that's sweet, but I want you to complete this, even if it means I won't be able to be with you for another two months. I didn't get it all, but from what you and Sam discussed last night, I get the feeling your hunch was right. It would be a shame not to see it through."

"Yeah, the results seem really promising. We're not quite there yet, but with few more tweaks, we might actually prove the whole thing."

"See, that's the reason why you have to stay. If it works, you could be looking at a Nobel Prize. You might actually kill Sheldon."

He chuckled. "Yeah, he'd be devastated. Speaking of crazy, I'm surprised he didn't contact us at all."

"I told him if he did, I'd hogtie and castrate him as soon as I got back home. I guess he decided to listen."

"You haven't heard a word I said, have you, love?"

"Huh," Leonard looked at Sam, guilt on his face. "Sorry."

Sam laughed. "Believe me, my mind would be on Penny, too, if I'd just said goodbye to her at the airport. We'll talk shop some other time."

"Thanks, Sam. I'm really not in the mood right now."

"Don't worry, darling. Tomorrow we'll be back on the ship. For now, just continue your daydreams of Penny."

Leonard smiled, and let his mind go back over this past week. It had been the best surprise when Penny just walked up to him in the hotel lobby. At first he'd thought some woman decided to hit on him, however unlikely it was. But when he'd turned around as he attempted to turn her down gently, he was happily surprised to see it had been the very same woman he had planned on calling from the hotel room and plead with her to come visit him.

They'd had such an amazing time together, exploring London, visiting Sam's friends and family, or just simply being together. He'd seen a whole new side to Penny, a Penny who was much more open about her feelings for him, showing affection even in the presence of complete strangers.

There'd even been talks about their future, however tentative. He could tell she wasn't completely comfortable with looking that far ahead, but it was a definite improvement over how she'd shunned the subject altogether in the past.

When he'd promised her that he wouldn't propose to her, that if she wanted to get married, she'd have to propose to him, he'd actually believed they wouldn't get married, but now he saw there was hope after all, perhaps even soon.

Yeah, things were definitely looking up. Now all he had to do was to get through the next two months, before he could finally be with Penny, perhaps even for forever. Life was good, Leonard thought with a smile.