A/N: Finally was able to think about the finale. This should be four chapters, besides this prologue, and I'm done with three and a half of them, so I feel safe publishing this now. I'm shooting for every five to seven days between new chapters. I want to thank Zhalen for looking over the rough drafts.

Prologue

The silence in the car was deafening. Leonard was grateful that they were continuing toward Las Vegas, but was worried that Penny hadn't said a word to him since her "don't push it" over an hour ago. She had simply been silent, since she uttered those words, looking out the passenger side window, except for the two times she reached into the back seat for her purse. He had heard several sniffles and assumed that she had been crying, and was getting a tissue out to dab the tears from her eyes.

He had been trying to think through the whole thing, however the traffic wouldn't let him. While it wasn't bumper to bumper, the weekend traffic heading east on Interstate 15 was heavy enough to force him to concentrate on it, instead of his problem. Not so much on the road, but on the other drivers. One car had changed lanes in front of him, then it's brake lights had come on, forcing him to swerve to the lane to his right.

Another car had almost sideswiped him, when it changed lanes, again causing him to swerve to his right. He was thankful that there hadn't been any other cars in the right lane when his swerved. After that, he decided it would be best to leave the thinking to after their arrival, not while driving. However, if the traffic cleared for a bit, he had difficulty keeping his mind from thinking about it. He knew better than to say anything, he would have to let Penny start the conversation.

Two hours later, the car pulled up to the main entrance on the north side of the Wynn, the trunk popped open and Leonard exited from the drivers side. He started walking over to a luggage trolley, but a bellhop was quicker, pulling one toward the rear of the car. Leonard watched as the bellhop moved the four bags from the trunk onto the trolley. Leonard passed the keys to the parking valet, while swiveling his head around, looking for Penny. It wasn't until after the valet gave him his parking receipt that he finally noticed that she was still in the car.

He walked to passenger door, opened it, and waited for her to get out. She continued to stare straight ahead, with no emotion in her face. After quite a few seconds, he started tapping his fingers on the door, and at that, there was an audible sigh from her and she finally left the car. Ignoring Leonard, she quickly walked through the doors of the hotel, leaving Leonard at the car. He shook his head, closed the door, and headed in after her, the bellhop pulling their luggage into the hotel behind him.

Leonard was looking around the lobby for Penny. He could see the lights of the casino beyond the lobby and the sound of coins dropping and slot machines ringing reached his ears. He continued looking around and finally found her near the registration area, leaning against a large column, watching the various people checking in. Walking up to her, he asked, a bit sarcastically, "Do you want to come with me to check in?"

She shook her head and turned away from him. He felt anger rising and he was about to say something to her, but stopped. He decided it was better to wait until they got to the room, rather than discussing it(or arguing about it, more likely he thought) in the lobby. Leaving her standing there, he looked and saw a hostess who was not checking someone in, and went to her location at the counter.

"May I help you, sir?" she asked.

He looked at her name tag, reading her name, Alice. Figures, he thought. Maybe it's a good thing Penny didn't come to the counter with me.

"I have a reservation," he said. "The name is Hofstadter." He spelled it for her as he he passed along his credit card and drivers license.

The woman typed his name in, waiting for his reservation to come up. When it did, she noticed that it was for a suite and the additional annotation that they were planning on finding a wedding chapel. She smile at Leonard, looking for his partner. Not seeing one, she asked, "The notes tell me you are here to get married Mr. Hofstadter, do you want us to provide a wedding package for your room sir?"

Leonard grimaced, "Not right now."

"Would you like me to get you a concierge to help you with locating a wedding chapel?" she continued.

"No," snapped Leonard. "I'll ask for one when I'm ready."

Her smile slipped a bit, and she fell silent as she entered the information, only speaking again when she asked for the license number, of his car. Leonard gave that to her and waited as she she finished entering the information. She handed back his two cards and also two red cards, the "keys" to their room. She explained how the cards worked as keys, how they could be used to charge things to the room, at the various shops and at the restaurants within the hotel, then gave him a map, while also explaining how to to get to the elevators.

Leonard said, "Thank you." He started to walk away, but stopped and turned back to her, "Errr, listen, I'm sorry I snapped at you, we've been driving for five hours, in traffic and I'm just a bit tired."

"No problem sir," she said, smiling. "Thank you for your apology. We don't always get those."

Leonard smiled back at her, nodded his head and turned to walk toward Penny. He gave the bellhop the room number, one of the cards to Penny, then they both followed the bellhop to the elevator.

It didn't take very long as Leonard felt his ears pop. These things are fast, he thought as the door opened. The bellhop led them out of the elevator and down the hallway, stopping in front of their room.

Leonard stepped forward, opened the door, then stepped back, allowing the bellhop to roll the trolley through the foyer and into what he told Leonard and Penny was the living area. Leaving the trolley he gave them a brief tour of the bathroom, then the bedroom, along with instruction on how to open the drapes.

The bellhop led them back to the living room, where he unloaded their luggage onto the floor, near the desk. He pulled the empty trolley toward the door of the room, with Leonard following him. Leonard got a brief explanation on how the bar worked, then the bellhop opened a door that led to another toilet. Afterward, he pulled the trolley through the door to the room, Leonard stopped him, passed along a tip, and closed the door.

He took a deep breath, going over in his mind what he wanted to say to her before turning and walking into the living room, to find her sitting on the sofa. Looking at her, he said, "Penny, I want…", but Penny interrupted him.

"Leonard, I'm going to take a shower," she said. She got up, grabbed her toiletry bag, and headed toward the bathroom.

"Hold on Penny…" Leonard started again.

"Leonard," she snapped, "I don't want to talk right now." Leaving him standing there, she walked to the bathroom, and just before entering, looked back at him. "Just leave me along for now. I'm getting a shower, anything else can wait until I'm done." She turned and walked through the door, closing it. Leonard could hear the click of the lock.

The frustration on Leonard's face was evident, but he didn't say anything. He walked over to the bar, opened the fridge and pull out a beer. As he returned to the living room, he twisted off the cap, and took a large drink. He sat on one end of the couch and turned on the TV. He wasn't paying attention though, he was trying to gather his thoughts and make sense of the situation, in which he now found himself.