45Disclaimer: I do not own the Big Bang Theory or know anyone affiliated with the show. Just a fan
Chapter 4 - Hero's Welcome
"Hey Raj" Leonard calls out.
"Hey Leonard" Raj responds.
"I thought you would be at the airport to greet Howard?"
"Yeah, well Bernadette made it very clear she wants him all to herself today" Raj tells him.
"So what are you plans then?" Leonard asks.
"Stuart and I are going to see the Sound of Music the Sing-Along"
"Sounds like fun" Leonard responds.
"It is, what about you?" Raj asks.
"Well, Sheldon finished going through his old papers and projects so I don't want to stay at home while he has date night with Amy. I might ask Alex out if she doesn't have any plans" Leonard says.
"WHAT!?"
"You jerk, you know I was working up the courage to ask her out!" Raj says angrily.
"You could have asked her out to the Sound of Music event instead of Stuart" Leonard replies.
"You know I can't do that" Raj responds.
"Why not?" Leonard asks.
"It's too soon, besides I promised Stuart weeks ago that I would take him" Raj responds.
Leonard just gives him a disbelieving look.
"Sure" He responds.
"It's true, we were talking about it one night when I was feeling lonely and ended up at the Comic Book store. Stuart's really a good listener and friend" Raj defends.
"Yeah, Stuart's a good guy. We should hang out with him more" Leonard says.
"Yeah but you know how Sheldon will react. With Howard back he'll complain about their being too many people" Raj reminds him.
"We don't need to include Sheldon" Leonard says.
"What?" Raj asks in disbelief.
"I'm tired of cow-tailing to his demands just because he'll act like spoiled, whiny, passive aggressive baby. I'm tired of deciding what I have for breakfast, based off his schedule. I'm tired of not being able to go to the bathroom in my own home when I need to use the bathroom. And I'm tired of deciding what to do and how to do it, because I was stupid enough to sign an agreement because I couldn't find a better, cheaper place to live 10 years ago" Leonard complains.
"Didn't you sign a new contract last year to keep dating my sister" Raj needles.
"Don't remind me" Leonard responds.
"You know, she's scheduled to come back to L.A. in a couple of months" Raj tells him.
"Oh, I'm guessing it's for business again" Leonard responds.
"No, she has some time off and said she wanted to spend a week here" Raj says.
"Why are you telling me this?" Leonard asks.
"I thought you'd want to know, you did say you love her?" Raj reminds him.
"And then she went off and slept with her ex" Leonard reminds him.
"Relax dude, I was kidding. She's engaged to Sanjay" Raj informs him.
"Good for her, I hope they will be happy together" Leonard responds.
"Your taking this better than I expected" Raj says a little miffed.
"It's not like the relationship was going to work. She likes it in India and it's not like your parents would have ever approved of us being together" Leonard responds.
Raj just nods. He was still hearing it from his parents about letting his sister date the little white boy when he talked them. He even received a cut on his allowance because of it. That made him think of something else that was on his mind.
"Hey if your going out with Alex does this mean your done with Penny?" Raj asks.
"She's broken up with me twice now, I've faced facts all of you were right and it just isn't meant to be" Leonard responds.
"I thought it was three times, not including the times you two hooked up and you begged her to get back with you" Raj says with a sneaky smirk on his face.
"Two, three what does it matter how many times we broke up?" Leonard asks angrily.
"It really doesn't, I'm just messing with you buddy" Raj jokes.
"Point is I realize now that our relationship is never going to where I wish it would" Leonard adds.
"Cool ... so if I were to try to date her?" Raj fishes.
"I'd say be my guest. Penny is free to date whomever she wants" Leonard responds.
"Even Sheldon?" Raj jokes.
"Even Sheldon" Leonard responds.
"Do you even think that's possible?" Raj asks curiously.
"No, but then again I never thought the two of you would have hooked up" Leonard says with a smirk.
"Hardy har, har, har I'll have you know that if I thought my parents would have been okay with it we be together right now" Raj answers angrily .
"Whatever, look I have an experiment to plan so we'll talk later" Leonard says.
"Alright buddy, if Alex mentions me ... you better tell me" Raj says as he walks away.
'I really need to get better friends' Leonard thinks.
Later that night
*Mhhmmm* *Mhmmm* * MHMMmmm*
"God I love kissing you" Leonard says as he goes in for another kiss.
"I like kissing you too" Alex responds before giving in to another round of smooching.
*Ring* *Ring* *Ring*
'Damnit, who is this?' Leonard thinks.
"Aren't you going to answer it?" Alex asks breaking the kiss.
"It's probably nobody important" Leonard tries to argue.
"It could be an emergency" Alex returns.
Not wanting it to turn into an argument or a big thing Leonard takes out his phone checks the caller ID.
"Huh, it's Howard" Leonard reveals.
"Oh, Dr. Cooper really wanted to see him today but he said there was a change of plans" Alex tells him.
"Yeah, his wife Bernadette wanted time alone with him on his first day back and we all understood. They were married just before it was time to go to Moscow for the launch and never even got to have a honeymoon" Leonard tells her.
Leonard picks up the phone and answers.
"Hey Howard, welcome home Mr. Astronaut" Leonard greets.
"Hey Leonard, where are you?" Howard asks.
"Actually I'm on a date" Leonard tells him.
He looks over and notices the smile on Alex's face that he returns.
"Really with who, I just left your apartment and Penny's there with Sheldon & Amy playing some weird game" Howard responds.
"Yeah ... you've been gone awhile. Penny and I broke up maybe a month ago" Leonard reveals.
"Wow, so let me guess ... she dumped you" Howard says.
"Well ... yes, she broke up with me" Leonard answers.
"Hehehe, called it" Howard gloats.
"Yeah, whatever you called it. Look Howard I'm on a date so if you don't want anything else ..." Leonard tries hoping he will hang up.
"Hey what's the hurry. Raj is out with Stuart, Bernadette is sick, and the rest of the gang is caught up playing some stupid game that for some reason they couldn't invite me to join so how about we hang out for a bit" Howard suggests.
"I'm on a date" Leonard tries to remind her.
"That's great bring her along, maybe she'd like to hear stories about a real American Astronaut from a real American Astronaut" Howard responds desperate.
"Hold on a minute" Leonard says as he puts his hand over the phone.
"Is everything alright?" Alex asks.
"Yeah, it's just it sounds like he's having a rough night and wants some company or someone to brag too about going into space" Leonard says.
"Oh okay, I understand you can take me home and hang out with your friend" Alex says.
"Actually he suggested I bring you with me" Leonard says.
"Where is he?" She asks.
"Actually I don't know, let me find out" Leonard says picking up the phone.
"Howard where are you?" Leonard asks.
"I'm at a diner" Howard says.
"He's at a diner" Leonard repeats to asks to Alex.
"Okay, sure" She responds.
"Alright, text me the address and we'll be there in a couple of minutes" Leonard says as he hangs up.
"You sure this alright, if you want to go home or do anything else we don't have to go" Leonard tells her.
"No, it's fine. I'd like to meet all of your friends" Alex responds.
"Okay then, let's go" Leonard says as he starts up the car.
30 minutes later
"Welcome back Howard" Leonard says as he embraces his friend.
"Hey Leonard" Howard greets.
Breaking off the hug Leonard introduces Alex.
"Howard, this is Alexandra Jensen" Leonard tells him.
"Hello Alexandra, is that like the famous Alexandria of Hypatia featured in the works of Raphael?" Howard asks as he shakes her hand.
"Howard cut it out, your married remember" Leonard reminds.
"Sorry Leonard, but when you got it you got it" Howard says as he sits back down on his bar stool.
"Whatever" Leonard responds.
"It's nice to meet you Mr. Wolowitz, please call me Alex" Alex greets.
He and Alex also take a seat although Leonard made sure he was the one sitting next to Howard.
"So how long has this been going on?" Howard asks.
"Not that long, we've been going out about a month now" Alex answers.
"How did you two meet?" Howard asks.
"Actually we met in Sheldon's office, she's signed up to be his grad assistant" Leonard answers.
"May god have mercy on your soul" Howard jokes ... sort of.
"He's not that bad. My dad works for SETI so I'm used to eccentric scientists" Alex responds.
"Yeah, but nothing like Sheldon I'm sure" Howard probes.
"Well one of them was sure that aliens were listening to his thoughts so he's wear those tin foil hats everywhere and periodically he'd make a weird screeching sound, because he said it disrupts alien thought waves" Alex tells him.
"Wow, really?" Leonard asks.
Alex just nods.
"Yeah, okay that guy's nuts" Howard says.
"You know it wasn't exactly like that, but Sheldon did something similar to that in the past although it wasn't aliens. He actually hopes aliens come and enslave the planet and make him the supreme overlord" Leonard remarks.
"And we long ago established he's also nuts" Howard responds.
"So Howard tell us all about Space" Leonard says.
"Oh, there isn't much to tell ..." Howard begins.
2 hours later
"You know it took me the first month to figure out how to get out of the sleeping bag safely and did you know that there is no ..." Howard continues.
"Ugh Howard, it's been really great to see you but it's now 11:00 P.M. and you know Sheldon if I don't get home soon I'll miss my chance to use the bathroom" Leonard tries to leave for the fifth time.
"Oh come on Leonard, we used to stay up later than this playing Halo" Howard responds.
"I'm sorry Howard, but it's time for us to go ... but there is something I wanted to talk to you about now that you're back on Earth" Leonard says.
"Sure, what is it" Howard asks.
"You remember when me, you, and Raj mined some coin in your room?" Leonard asks.
"Well I have been looking into buying some property recently and I remembered the coin. I remembered that I had it on my old laptop, but then loaned it to Penny. Long story short I found the coin and sold my portion and here is the flash drive with the rest" Leonard says handing the flash drive to Howard.
"A batman flash drive?" Howard chides.
"Yeah, Sheldon was the one who actually had it too 'teach us' a lesson he put on this old flash drive that I threw away. Lucky for us, that Stuart had it and didn't erase it. Oh, I also had to promise him a share of the profits you receive from it" Leonard tells him.
"Damn that crazy bastard, you know valuable this flash drive might be in a couple of years and he almost ruined it for all of us. How do you still live with that megalomaniac?" Howard asks.
"I honestly don't know, anyway I just wanted to give you that. Maybe you and Bernadette can use some of the money to go on a honeymoon if you decide to cash in now" Leonard says.
"No, I think I'm going to wait and let it the price on these bad boys go up even higher. You didn't tell Bernadette about it did you?" Howard asks.
"No, the only ones who know are me, you, Stuart, and Sheldon" Leonard says.
"Great, I love Bernadette but she has her job and I want a little something set aside for myself" Howard explains.
"She's a lucky woman" Leonard remarks.
"Don't you know it, but hey I've taken up enough of your time. You kids go out and have a good time" Howard says.
"Great, I'll see you tomorrow" Leonard says.
"It was nice to meet you, Mr. Wolowitz" Alex says.
"Please, call me Howard" He responds.
"Okay, Howard it was nice meeting you" She responds.
"Nice to meet you too Alex"Howard responds.
2 weeks later
"Hey Leonard" Howard greets.
"Hi Leonard" Raj greets.
"Hey Howard, Raj" Leonard returns.
"Where were you last night?" Raj asks.
"I was with Alex" Leonard answers.
"Really what's that the third night this week, please tell me your at least hitting that" Howard says with a disturbing little wink.
"What I do with Alex is none of your business Howard" Leonard replies seriously.
"So ... nothing happened, again. What are you her girlfriend?" Howard questions.
"Dude, back off. If Leonard is comfortable being another woman's lady friend who are we to question it. Besides, he missed the big news last night" Raj interjects.
"I am not her lady friend. I'd like it if my friends didn't badger me about my relationships and what we are or are not doing and just support me" Leonard requests.
"Yeah we got you dude, we're okay that your wuss. That's not what's important. I said you missed out on some big news last night at the comic book store" Raj responds.
"What's your big news?" Leonard asks giving up.
"Stuart is throwing his annual Halloween bash and he put me in charge of it!" Raj almost squeals.
"Well congratulations" Leonard says and walks away.
"Wait dude, do you not understand what this means?" Raj asks.
"Yeah your the decorating committee for whatever lame party Stuart can afford" Leonard responds.
"Haha, he got you there Rajina" Howard laughs.
"Stuff it, your just upset we finally told you that we're sick of hearing about you being an astronaut" Raj bites back.
"Can you believe these guys, I do something incredibly amazing and they want me to shut up about it because their jealous" Howard responds.
"Look Howard, your right we're all jealous. You did something none of us will ever be able to live up to" Leonard starts.
"See, at least you acknowledge your jealousy and don't try to make me feel bad about a once in a lifetime achievement" Howard says.
"You didn't let me finish ... as amazing as it is, you find some way of working it into every conversation. It gets old, especially after you spent 2 hours putting me down and talking all about it to my girlfriend" Leonard finishes.
"Wow, I really can't believe you guys. Your all just a bunch of jealous bitches!" Howard yells storming away.
Leonard and Raj watch as he walks away.
"That was uncalled for" Raj says.
"Let him blow off some steam, he'll figure it out eventually" Leonard says as he too starts to walk away.
"Wait, you didn't let me tell you the best part" Raj says stopping Leonard.
"Fine, what is it?" Leonard asks.
"I'm paying for the whole party, which includes getting a Tardis!" Raj says enthusiastically.
"Who's idea was the Tardis?" Leonard asks.
"Mine ...but, Sheldon may have pointed out my party would suck without one" Raj admits.
"Well good luck with that" Leonard says.
"Wait aren't you coming?" Raj asks.
"Actually, Alex suggested we go to this Halloween Fundraiser. It sounds like it's going to be a big deal with a few celebrities scheduled to attend, but if there is some time I'll stop by" Leonard says as he walks away.
"Whatever dude, my party is going to be way better!" Raj calls out.
In his lab
*Knock* *Knock*
"Come in" Leonard calls.
"Hey" Penny greets.
"Wow, this is a surprise. Why are you here?" Leonard asks.
"Oh no reason, I just realized I had never seen where you work before" Penny responds.
"Huh ... yeah that is true. So why now?" Leonard says.
"I just wanted to talk" Penny responds.
"About?" Leonard asks.
Penny looks around hoping for something distracting when she notices a box on the table in front of her.
"Hey what's this?" Penny asks as he goes to lift the lid.
Leonard hurries over and stops her.
"Sorry it's just what's inside is a high energy nitrogen laser. If you opened that it would cook your eyeballs in seconds" Leonard warns.
"Oh, high teckieteckie... there should really be a warning sign on it" Penny says awkwardly.
"It's right here" Leonard says pointing out the danger signage on the box.
"Ah, danger ... what's this?" Penny says point to something else.
"Pencil sharpener" Leonard says.
"Oh, low teckieteckie" Penny responds.
"So what are you working on now?" Penny asks.
Leonard moves over to the door and cuts off the lights. He then picks up a pair of googles and hands them to her.
"Here, you might want to put these on" Leonard says as he puts on a pair himself.
"Ahh, for safety" Penny responds.
"Yeah, well when dealing with lab equipment it's better to be safe the sorry. What I'm working on is a laser based tracking device" Leonard tells her.
He then reaches for a pencil which he places in the middle of the device.
"Here I'll demonstrate. Alright, I'll just place this pencil here ..." Leonard starts.
"Sharp, thanks to the machine we saw earlier" Penny jokes.
"Very good" Leonard responds with a smile.
"A laser will map the surface of the pencil and ... voila" Leonard says he flicks a switch.
A holographic image of the pencil appears as it floats above the table. Leonard manipulates the image getting it to do flips and spins and doing imaginary writing.
"Wow, so cool" Penny responds.
"You know there is a foundational idea in string theory that the whole universe maybe just a projection" Leonard says.
"Huh, what do you mean?" Penny asks.
Leonard flicks a second switch and the pencil is replaced with a globe of the earth slowly spinning on it's axis.
"The holographic principle suggests that what we experience every day in three dimensions, may really just be information on a surface at the farthest reaches of our cosmos" Leonard says.
The projection switches to an expand view of the solar system and then further out to a view of the Milky Way galaxy.
"So it's possible that our lives are really acting out a painting on the largest canvas in the universe" Leonard finishes.
"Sometimes ... I forget just how smart and incredible you are" Penny says as she moves to kiss him.
Leonard quickly moves away dodging the kiss.
"What's wrong!?" Penny says in frustration.
"We broke up" Leonard reminds her.
"So?" Penny responds.
"So, I have a girlfriend now and as beautiful and amazing as I believe you are ... I don't want to mess that up with a meaningless hookup" Leonard responds.
"What if it wasn't just meaningless" Penny responds.
"What does that mean?" Leonard asks.
"Look I know I said I wanted to break up, but I didn't mean it" Penny says.
"They why did we break up?" Leonard inquires.
"I don't know, we were in a good place in our relationship and it really was great ..." Penny starts.
"but?" Leonard probes.
"I don't know, didn't you ever feel like there was something missing?" Penny says.
"No, I had an amazing woman whom I loved that I wanted to believe loved me. What more could I want?" Leonard responds.
"I don't know ... it's just really confusing" Penny says.
"What do you want me to do?" Leonard asks.
"I ... I don't know, maybe this was a mistake" Penny says as she leaves.
"DAMNIT!" Leonard shouts in frustration.
Later in the cafeteria
Leonard walks into the cafeteria and sits down next to Howard who's still angry.
"Dude, what's wrong with you?" Raj asks.
"Penny stopped by the lab today" Leonard shares.
"What did she want?" Howard asks no curious.
"I don't know, I showed her my experiment and then she tried to kiss me" Leonard says.
"What are you telling me you had sex, with Penny, in your lab just now?" Howard responds.
"No, I stopped her before anything could happen?" Leonard says.
"WHAT!?" Raj and Howard explode getting the whole cafeteria to look at them.
Not that that stopped them.
"Dude are you telling us that your gorgeous 5'6 35-24-36 blonde actress ex, stopped by your lab with no one around and wanted to have SEX with you and you turned her down!" Howard explodes.
Now everyone in the area were looking pointedly at Leonard even Sheldon, although he was trying to figure out why everyone was staring.
"She's my ex, hello I have a girlfriend. You met her" Leonard reminds them.
"So, if Penny came up and wanted to have sex with me ... I'd be all like Bernadette who" Howard responds.
"Yeah, I can't believe you turned down hooking up with Penny for some girl who's probably going to ditch you anyway" Raj says.
"What?" Leonard asks hopefully not hearing what he thought he heard.
"Dude, she's here on an internship working with this guy?" Raj explains pointing at Sheldon in the end.
"I'm surprised she's still here" Raj says.
"Hey, I'll have you know I'm a great boss. There's string cheese in my fridge and that's for anyone" Sheldon protests.
"Good to know, but back on subject. Once her internship is over, do you really think she's going to stick around?" Raj points out.
"You know what, you guys really SUCK!" Leonard shouts and quickly leaves the cafeteria.
"Wow, can you believe that guy?" Howard says.
"I know, he didn't even stick around to hear about the new developments with the party I'm throwing" Raj responds.
"Yeah he really missed hearing all about the draculoney and cheese sandwiches" Howard snarks.
Raj just ignores him as he continues to think on ideas for the party.
Later that day at the apartment
Leonard and Penny arrive at the same time her going to work and coming home from work. Leonard goes to walk by when she stops.
"Leonard, I want to apologize" Penny starts.
"You don't have to apologize, forget all about it" Leonard tries.
"No, ummm ... I'm running late for work, but I really want to talk about this later" Penny says.
"There's really no need, we're friends right. You go ahead to work and we'll talk some other day" Leonard responds.
"No Leonard, I don't want to come off as demanding but we really should talk. There are some things I was afraid to say earlier, but I'm ready now" Penny says.
"What is it?" Leonard asks curious.
"Later, I'm going to be late if I don't start running" Penny says as she takes off.
'great later, am I supposed to just sit in the apartment in wait ...' Leonard thinks as he heads up the stairs.
Later that night
Penny enters the apartment finding Leonard alone watching television.
"Hey Leonard"
"Hi Penny"
"I thought we could have that talk now" Penny says.
"Okay" Leonard responds.
Penny moves to sit directly beside him, which is when Leonard notices what she's wearing.
"Penny what are you wearing?" Leonard asks.
"Do you like, this is going to be my Halloween costume" Penny says.
"Won't you feel exposed going to the comic book store ... like that?" Leonard asks.
Penny was wearing a black hat on her head, a small black skirt that barely covered anything, and a bikini top that was just two small badges that barely covered her nipples. Needless to say it was a very erotic sight as she moved and posed in front of him also revealing that she wasn't wearing any panties under the skirt.
"So what do you think?" Penny asks as she bends over in front of him swaying a bit exposing her nipples.
"You know what I think, but why are you showing me this and aren't you worried that Sheldon will come in here. You know he has the worse timing and always pops up when you don't want him to?" Leonard asks.
"I'm not worried, because I'm not doing anything Leonard. I am just asking a friend how my costume looks" Penny says as she turns and bends over again and then slowly walks over to sit beside him.
"It feels like your doing a lot more than that" Leonard says as he tries to look away.
Penny leans in closer and gently uses her hands to force him to look at her.
"I want to get back together" Penny tells him.
"I-I-I ... " Leonard stammers.
"I'll take that as a yes" Penny says before moving in for a kiss.
*Mmmmm* *Mmmm*
Leonard moans into the kiss, but then he remember Alex and manages to tear himself away standing up.
"No, I'm not doing this again" Leonard says.
"Doing what again?" Penny asks acting confused as she lays back on the couch exposing her pussy to Leonard.
"This, I'm not doing this again. I'm 32, I want to get married and have kids and a dog maybe two dogs" Leonard says.
"I want that too" Penny says sitting up.
"Okay, but do you want that with me?" Leonard asks seriously as he sits down.
"I don't know ... eventually" Penny answers honestly.
"Eventually, when's that? A year from now, two years, five?" Leonard asks.
"I don't know" Penny responds.
"Look I love you, I have always loved you, but do you love me?" Leonard asks.
"Ummm ... I like you ... a lot" Penny responds lamely.
"That used to be good enough, but it's not anymore. That's why I'm leaving" Leonard tells her.
"The room?" Penny asks confused.
"No, I'm leaving the building. I have a realtor and he found a house for me. It's actually close to where Howard's mother lives" Leonard tells her.
"So your moving ?" Penny says confused.
"Yes" Leonard says.
"YOUR MOVING!?" Penny shouts.
*Bam*
"What's going on?" "Who's shouting?" Sheldon calls out from the floor of his room.
Not wanting Sheldon to see what she's wearing Penny quickly leaves the apartment. A second later Sheldon comes out with is light saber.
"Are we under attack?" He asks Leonard.
"No it was just Penny, calm down" Leonard says.
Sheldon relaxes until a thought comes to him and he walks over and shines the light saber over the coach.
"What are you doing?" Leonard asks.
"Checking to see if you two were having coitus on my couch" Sheldon responds.
"We were not having coitus, we broke up remember" Leonard reminds him.
"I suppose your right, besides I've never heard Penny scream anything when you were having coitus although a couple of times I heard a whimper. I just assumed it was out of disappointment with your performance" Sheldon says.
"Just go back to bed" Leonard tells him.
"Alright, I don't know why your the one that's upset. I'm the one that was woken up out of their sleep" Sheldon says as he leaves the room.
2 Day's later in the cafeteria
"Dude you missed the party and it was totally off the hook" Raj says.
"Yeah sorry, I went to that fundraiser and lost track of time" Leonard says.
"Hey is it true?" Raj asks.
"Is what true?" Sheldon asks.
"Stuart told me Leonard was moving out" Raj responds.
"Leonard is this true?" Sheldon asks.
"It's true, I was going to wait several weeks to tell you when your mother and sister were going to visit" Leonard says giving a pointed look at Raj.
"Hey don't blame me, Penny and Amy were the ones who were telling everyone" Raj defends.
"Hey what are you guys talking about?" Howard asks pulling up a chair.
"Raj just told me I don't have a roommate anymore" Sheldon says.
"Oh so, you know?" Howard responds.
"You knew too?" Sheldon asks.
"Well of course I know. Bernie was shocked, she thought the two of you would live together until the day you died" Howard says.
"Like you and your mother" Leonard mocks.
"Haha, at least I'm married with a woman that loves me" Howard responds.
"Wait ... you said my mom and Missy were coming for thanksgiving?" Sheldon interjects.
"Missy's coming?" Raj asks.
"They want to be there to help you when I broke the news" Leonard responds.
"I'm not a child, if you want to leave than leave it's no skin off my back. Frankly it'll be great to get a new roommate, hopefully they'll be less whiny and needy than you" Sheldon says.
"I don't need to move out right away, I can wait until after Thanksgiving" Leonard tries.
"No, you want to leave than leave. I was doing just fine before you moved into my apartment and I'll do just fine after you leave" Sheldon responds.
"Okay, I'll leave this weekend" Leonard says as he gets up and leaves the cafeteria.
"Wow, I can't believe Leonard's really going to move out" Howard says.
"I know and Penny told Stuart he bought a house close to your mom's" Raj says.
"Yeah Bernie told me. I'll have to ask him later exactly where it is. Maybe we can have a housewarming party " Howard.
"Great I know a great party planner he can book" Raj adds.
"Let me guess ... it's you" Howard mocks.
"Well I'm a little tired after throwing that great bash at Stuarts and a house party is a step backwards, but sure I'll do it" Raj responds.
"A step backwards, what are you launching a new career?" Howard asks jokingly.
"You know I could never give up space, but this is a calling dude. How can I deprive others from the genius that is me" Raj responds.
"Please, I'm trying to enjoy my lunch. If the two of you are going to continue to prattle on about who's moving and who's living where then leave and what party they should have then leave" Sheldon says.
"Fine, now that Leonard is moving out we don't have put up with you any more" Howard says as he leaves.
Raj also leaves, leaving Sheldon alone at the table.
"Finally, now I can enjoy my lunch" Sheldon says.
The weekend
"Alright, sign here, here, and here and your officially released from any obligation held by this agreement" Sheldon says.
Leonard quickly signs the document and hands it to Sheldon.
"I guess that's it" Leonard says.
"It appears so" Sheldon responds.
Leonard had already packed up the belongings he and Sheldon agreed were his ... basically what Sheldon didn't want, which left a great deal of items in the apartment leaving Leonard only needing to pack a few boxes that were in his car.
"Do you want to see my new place, it's not far and I can bring you back" Leonard offers.
"No thanks, I have a perspective renter coming after you leave" Sheldon tells him.
"Okay, I guess I'll see you at work" Leonard says.
"What do you mean? Your still taking me to work are you not?" Sheldon asks.
"As much as I enjoy our car rides together, driving here to pick you up everyday would be out of my way and we'd both be late. I'm sorry, but I'm sure Amy will be glad to drive you" Leonard says.
"You know how much I hate change, I can't have Amy drive me that will cause people to gossip about me" Sheldon responds.
"People know your dating, there's nothing to gossip about seeing a couple drive to work together" Leonard says.
"It's not that, now that your moving out Amy has indicated that ... she wants to move in here ... with me" Sheldon tells him.
"Oh ... I assume your not comfortable with that" Leonard states knowing how he thinks.
"You know I'm not. It's all moving too fast. I'm not ready for that level of intimacy" Sheldon says.
"Well if your not ready just stipulate it in the roommate agreement. She stays in her room and you stay in yours. It'll be like living with a female version of me" Leonard says.
"Please Leonard, you know Amy is far more remarkable than you will ever be. I'm just afraid that if we live together, that I'll give in and we'll both regret what happens afterwards" Sheldon responds.
"Are you afraid you'll see each other in your pajamas's and not be able to control yourselves" Leonard mocks.
"No, there is a clause about that in our relationship agreement. I just think it's too soon to live together and I'm afraid if we do 'it' then there will be no more mystery left in our relationship. Then it'll grow stale and old and we'll be like you and Penny" Sheldon says.
'I'm leaving, and after this I'm done. I'm leaving and after this I'm done' Leonard repeats in his mind.
"I don't know what to tell you Sheldon, your a grown man. Figure it out" Leonard says.
Leonard takes his keys and places them on the table and walks out only to run into Penny.
"Hi Penny" Leonard greets.
"Hey Leonard, so today is the day huh" She says not knowing what else to say.
"Yeah, I'm all packed up. I got to admit, I'm feeling a little sad finally leaving this place" Leonard says.
"I bet, how is Sheldon taking it" She asks.
"Honestly, I'm not sure but it was time to move on to the next phase of my life" Leonard tells her.
"That's very mature of you Leonard, well I'll miss you" Penny says.
She gives him a quick kiss on the cheek and then goes back into her apartment. Leonard watches as she does and then stares at her door for a moment before walking down the steps out of the building. Once outside he takes one last look at the place he'd lived for the past 8 years and then gets into his car driving to his new home.
Thank you for reading my the fourth chapter of this story. I hope you liked it. Next Leonard has a party at his house. Until next time dear reader :-)
