A/N: Here it is. The end. Teeears. I'm gonna miss these characters and I'm going to miss all of you! I promise, this won't be my last Shenny. I've got a lot of ideas (most of them as twisted as this one) in store for these two. :]

First of all, what an amazing experience for my first Big Bang fan fiction. I started this story at the beginning of the hiatus, hoping to just entertain myself while we wait for season 7, but it became so much more—it became important to me that I write something to be proud of and would be enjoyed by all of you. I can't believe I wrote over 100K words! And I loved every second of it.

So this last chapter is dedicated to all of you who have reviewed since day one (a special shout out to my guest reviewers whom I wish I could message and thank personally!) and everyone who has offered their kind words and encouragement along the way. Thank you so much for giving this crazy premise a chance and welcoming my original characters with open arms (I know George Jr. technically isn't my original character, but I hope I created an enjoyable personality for you all to enjoy. Thanks to the show's writers for installing the nugget of possibilities, hehe).

Enjoy the conclusion. This one's for you! :]

P.S. Yes, I did cry while writing this chapter. Hard.

Four months later.

Leonard leaned over the conveyer belt between two other people and grabbed his enormous duffel bag. Securing the strap over his shoulder, he hobbled over to the benches near baggage claim and dropped the bag on the bucket seats. He stretched until he felt something pop in his lower back. It felt so good to be back on land. After nearly 4 months of seasickness and no contact with anyone back home the entire time, a long plane ride was a small price to pay to finally find himself back in sunny California. But he would never forget his expedition because now, one thing was for sure: he was an accomplished physicist that could very well be on the path for a Nobel Prize. Not that he was counting on it as much as his loony roommate might be, but Leonard and his team had high hopes after the results of their research were published.

He thought of Sheldon fondly and a smile came to his face. Yes, he missed Penny and the guys, but he felt oddly excited to see his best friend. Leonard hoped that he wouldn't allow his jealousy to get in the way of all the exciting stories he was dying to tell him. Only Sheldon could truly appreciate the leaps in science that Leonard had made during the summer.

The night before when he was staying in a hotel before his flight, he tried plugging in his cell phone to call home, but the stupid iPhone crapped out on him after not having been turned on in four months. He figured it had to do with misuse almost as much as the fact that it got banged around a lot during the turbulent voyage while it sat in his trunk at the foot of his cot. He tried to shoot off an e-mail to Sheldon with the hotel lobby's communal computers to let him know that he would be home tomorrow but the internet system was down.

He reached into his back pocket and fished out his wallet, inspecting it for cash. Without a working cell phone, Leonard figured he would just hail a cab outside and head back to the apartment to surprise his roommate and girlfriend.

He walked outside into the unexpected drizzle. The clouds were thick above him and he looked up as a cab pulled up to the curb, grateful once again to be back on the ground. The drive to the apartment took longer than he desired; traffic in Los Angeles was hell in itself. He paid the cabbie, climbed out of the car, and yanked open the front door to the apartment building, where the AC pumping into the small lobby immediately blasted him with cool air. He welcomed it with a goofy grin. The smell of home enveloped him and for the first time since he broke the sole elevator at 2311 Los Robles, he gratefully trekked up four flights of stairs without complaint before he arrived at apartment 4A.

"Sheldon, I'm home, buddy!" Leonard called as he turned the key, twisted the brass knob and pushed the door open, lugging his bag inside with him. The apartment was dark and uninhabited. He tossed his keys into the bowl near the door and stood still for a moment before glancing at his watch. It was an early Friday evening and Sheldon would have been home by now, if not eating Chinese food then at least huddled around the coffee table playing vintage video games with Raj and Howard. He looked at Sheldon's spot on the couch by impulse. Shrugging, he turned and left the apartment, closing the door behind him. He strolled happily up to Penny's door and gave it a few jovial knocks with both of his fists. He placed his thumb on the peephole and waited for her to answer. A few moments later, he heard shuffling on the other side and the sound of the bolt being turned. He plastered a huge grin on his face and opened his mouth to say, "Surprise!" but was taken aback by what he saw when the door opened.

"Can I help you?" the man asked, a toothbrush hanging out of his mouth.

It wasn't the fact that it was a man, a very muscular, tall, tattoo-covered man, who was dressed in nothing but a white towel slung around his waist, accentuating a very intimidating six pack that Leonard was nearly eye-level with that surprised him. No, it was the striking familiarity of the stranger, particularly the bright blue of his round eyes that were assessing Leonard carefully, that nearly knocked him off his feet.

"Who…who are you?"

The man pulled the toothbrush out of his mouth. "You knocked on my door, hoss. You first."

"I'm Leonard –" he brought his hands to his chest, clasping his fingers together, then leaned to the left to get a look at the door. "This is apartment 4B, right?"

"Last time I checked."

"Then this isn't your apartment!" Leonard watched as the man pursed his lips together and cocked his head to the side, gracing him with a haughty look of…Is that…derision?

"Tell that to the landlord," the man drawled as Leonard's heart began to race. "He's the one who keeps charging me to live here. Anything else?"

Leonard turned and looked over his shoulder at his closed door. Where is Sheldon? He slowly brought his gaze back to the man in front of him. "But…where's Penny?" He watched as the stranger's face fell and the skin between his eyebrows puckered, almost like he was giving him a look of pity.

"You're that Leonard," he said softly.

"Yes, I suppose I am." Leonard adjusted his glasses before crossing his arms. Panic started to sprawl over his chest, threatening to clench his lungs. "Look, can you please just tell me what's going on? Where is my girlfriend, the woman who lives, er, lived here?" He had the sudden urge to flee to his apartment and grab the inhaler from his duffel bag.

"Why don't you come in, Leonard," the man stepped away from the threshold and waved his massive arm to the black leather couch in the center of the living room.

"No! Where's Penny?" Leonard took one look at the unfamiliar furniture and arrangement of the apartment and felt his lungs constrict. He took a large step back, away from the stranger.

The man placed both of his hands on his hips, studying Leonard with a thoughtful look. "You want a beer? Let's go get a beer. I don't keep any in the house. I'll go get dressed then we'll go. My treat."

"Look, I'm about five seconds away from calling the cops…"

"I didn't hurt Penny, she's fine," the man said. "She just…she's not here."

"Three seconds…"

"I'm George. George Cooper."

Leonard began to blink at a rapid pace. "Huh?"

"Sheldon's brother?" George tried again. "Your cuckoo roommate?"

"Yes, I know who Sheldon is…wait, you live here in Penny's apartment now? Where does Penny live?" As if answering his own question, he turned around again and looked at his door. Then he returned his eyes to George.

"I'm guessing you want that beer now?"

Four months ago, Sheldon Cooper set fire to his life.

"Let me in," Amy told him. He ushered her into his apartment and instead of offering her a beverage after her long flight, he found himself bursting at the seams to be rid of her. He tried so hard to shut the dam, but it all came rushing out.

"Amy, I regret to inform you that I wish to terminate our relationship." Sheldon was never one for sugar-coating.

"What?" her face fell and she grasped the strap of her purse across her chest, her knuckles white. "Sheldon, are you serious?"

"I am so sorry, Amy. But I am not in love with you. Romantic love was a concept I had never bothered comprehending until it finally happened to me. I am in love with Penny." He paused as Amy gasped, bringing both of her hands to her mouth. "I apologize for the pain this may cause you…" He began to reach out to her, the raw emotion on her face causing his resolve to weaken. When he took a step closer to her, she slapped his hand away. He winced at the sharp pain and watched her carefully.

"Don't you touch me. How could you do this to me?" her voice rang out, filling the silence of the apartment.

"I didn't do this to you, Amy. This wasn't supposed to happen. If you'll let me explain..."

"No, Sheldon!" She pushed past him and yanked the door wide open before turning one last time to face him. "I gave you three years of my life. You want to talk about things that were not supposed to happen? Me falling in love with you." Her voice broke and she looked at the floor. "I don't ever want to see either of you ever again."

"Amy –" He was interrupted by the slamming of the door, and he stared at it for a few moments, the rattling of the doorframe sounding in his ears.

Watching Amy go was like the splash of cold water on the flames that extinguished that part of his life. From the smoke and ashes rose what came next. He took a few steadying breaths before opening his door and walked slowly to Penny's apartment. He raised his fist and began to knock.

Knock, knock, knock. "Penny?"

Knock, knock, knock. "Penny?"

Knock, knock, knock. "Penny?"

On his last round of knocking, he heard something scrape across the floor. Then the bolt unlocked and Penny slowly opened the door, revealing only half of her face. Her cheeks were red and her emerald eye was moist. If it was the last thing he could ever do, he would be sure to never inflict this much pain on her ever again. "I understand if you stay with Amy, Sheldon," she croaked, catching him off guard. "She loves you. She crossed an ocean for you today."

Sheldon placed his large hand flat on Penny's door and pushed it open gently, causing her entire body to come into view. He felt his own body react to the sight of her, the pure carnal knowledge of her figure, and all reservations and doubts rose into the atmosphere and floated away, much like the smoke from the ashes of his past. He advanced on Penny, closing the door behind him as confusion crossed her features. For every step he took towards her, she took one back. Soon, they were in her bedroom.

"What are you doing?" she asked, finally stopping. "Where's Amy?"

"Amy crossed an ocean for a man she has had an idea of for the last three years," Sheldon said softly, his voice low and deep. "Today, she met the real Sheldon Cooper. The man who is irrevocably in love with Penny, the girl next door."

"Sheldon…" Penny eyed him warily. He watched her shoulders hunch as she closed in on herself, her guilt getting the best of her. Perhaps Sheldon should feel guilt as well? But he didn't. What he felt was the tightening of his skin, the burning desire to consume her. He closed the gap between them in two steps and wrapped one long arm around her body, pulling her to him, letting her feel all of him and what she was doing to him. His hand lowered until it found his favorite spot, the bottom of her hip. His other hand reached up and wiped the fresh tears from her face as realization came over her.

"Last week you made a promise to me that you would never leave me. I think it's about time I made the same promise to you." His free hand traveled down her cheek to the graceful slope of her neck and he rested it at the base, letting his fingers massage her shoulder. She purred beneath his touch, and it was all he could do not to forget his sore body and broken nose and take her on the bed right then and there. They groaned in unison as his obvious arousal pressed into her stomach. His hand rubbed over her chest, sliding down the valley of her breasts until it reached her abdomen. He couldn't keep his touch pure. Soon, his fingers were under her shirt and he rubbed the skin of her belly tenderly. "I love you, Penny. And I will never leave your side again. For as long as you'll have me. What do you think of that?"

"One certain phrase comes to mind," she breathed after a moment of silence. He pressed his lips to her neck and could feel her pulse race beneath them, a tiny tremor that coupled with her dilated pupils informed Sheldon that she felt the same way as he did.

"And what phrase is that?" He brought his face up to hers, carefully positioning his lips right in front of her mouth, poised to attack as she continued.

"Innate behavior," she whispered. He grinned before pressing his mouth to hers and ran his tongue along the plump skin of her lips on pure instinct, stabilizing both of their environments to what they saw fit.

After the smoke cleared, the damage that took only 7 days to create was assessed.

Amy returned to Cambridge and never came back, regardless of Bernadette's pleas and Penny's attempts to reach out to her. She eventually stopped taking calls from Bernadette all together, and sadly never surfaced in Pasadena again.

Sheldon mourned the loss of his friend Amy; it cut him deeply. It didn't help that his social group had taken a direct hit to their heart when news broke about him and Penny. Raj and Bernadette were the quietest on the matter, only expressing their hope that Sheldon and Penny were happy. Howard was irate and the least quiet. He called Sheldon every two-timing, rat bastard name in the book, and looked down at Penny with disgust and betrayal.

"What about Leonard?" was his main method of attack. It took weeks for him to even agree to coming around the couple again and it was under the pretense that Bernadette forced him by withholding sex. She also made him see that the group needed to be strong for when Leonard came back. He would need all of their support. Howard stuck it out and finally started talking to Sheldon and Penny again, but made it very clear that if it came to falling on sides, he would take Leonard's in a heartbeat.

Two weeks after his attack, Junior was released from Huntington Hospital and into Sheldon's 'custody', as he liked to put it. He wasn't allowed to leave the apartment without telling 'the warden' where he was going. He was not to have a sip of alcohol until his antibiotics were complete to ward off any infection. He was not to step foot in a ring ever again.

A few days after he stashed it in an alley (luckily it had not been towed), Junior told Penny where her car was. He explained that he only withheld the information at first because he was afraid he had been followed. Now that the nightmare with Marky was over, she was free to retrieve it. And now that Junior was out of the hospital, he spent his days working on her engine and finally, one late-July evening, he bounded up the steps to apartment 4A and greeted the couple with a wide smile.

"Your 'check engine' light is off."

Two months later, Junior had begun to feel restless. With Penny's help, he got a job bartending at the Cheesecake Factory and enrolled in community college to study business, much to Sheldon's delight. Not that he believed Pasadena Community College had any actual academic merit, but it was a step up from bare-knuckle fist fighting around a bonfire in East Texas. When Junior suggested one day that he move out of the apartment, sick of staying in Leonard's tiny bed, Sheldon was hesitant to let him out of his sight, and Penny knew this.

"Why don't you stay in my apartment until you can find your own place?" she offered. Sheldon was working on an equation on his whiteboard and whirled around, piercing Penny with a stunned glare.

"Really?" Junior asked, his face lighting up.

"On one condition. Your brother gives me a place to stay." She stood up from her seat on the couch and walked over to Sheldon, gazing up at the physicist as she batted her eyelashes.

"Well, let's see." Sheldon capped his marker and set it down. "You're here on a daily basis already."

"And a nightly basis," Junior added with a wink. He was pointedly ignored as Sheldon continued.

"Your culinary skills are subpar but I already have an allotted schedule from where I order food all seven nights a week." He crossed his arms and paced, his face thoughtful.

"You sound like you're trying to talk yourself out of letting me live here, Sheldon," Penny fussed, crossing her own arms.

"No," Sheldon protested as he stopped pacing and turned to face her. "On the contrary, I've thought about this from all angles long before today. I can't find a single reason why you shouldn't live with me."

Penny's smile was like the sun breaking the horizon. And so the move progressed, and after a few weeks, Penny had begun to sell her furniture and signed the lease over to Junior, allowing him to make a real home out of the apartment across the hall from his brother, his friend.

Every night, Penny and Sheldon fell asleep together. Sometimes they went to bed angry because Penny left a speck of toothpaste in the sink, or because Sheldon had deleted one of her reality shows on the DVR without asking. Sometimes they bumped heads about money, or lack thereof. Sometimes Sheldon resisted the massive changes that their relationship was enduring, or Penny became irrationally enraged when she was menstruating. Sometimes they took out their worry and stress about Leonard's eventual return on each other.

But every night without failure, Sheldon climbed into bed and extended his arm to Penny's side before closing his eyes. Sometimes they would make love, ravish each other like it was the first time every time and until neither of them could move a muscle. Sometimes he was already asleep when Penny snuggled up to his body. But even in the deepest realms of his REM cycle, he knew she was there, and would always be.

28 years earlier.

They were in the last leg of summer, the day before autumn began. The sun was low in the sky, creating a dark blue with pink swirls ether above the house. Meemaw sat both of her favorite boys down on the porch swing as the elder one scowled and the younger one whimpered. Their identical blue eyes gazed up at her, waiting for the punishment to be dealt. "What in the hell gave you the idea that this was okay?"

"It was my idea, Meemaw," George Jr. admitted, raising his scrawny, milky arm. His face was lined with sweat. "Shelly just came along for the ride. Dad was giving him a hard time again this morning and he hasn't left my side since."

"Junior you are 9 years-old but don't you ever believe you're getting too big for an ass-whooping," Meemaw warned. "You could've gotten yourself killed, your brother, too! What were you thinking?"

"I'm sorry, Meemaw," the younger boy wailed. "I had my seatbelt on. I made Junior fasten his, as well."

"Shelly, I'm glad you thought of safety first, but what you and your brother did? Joyriding in Pop Pop's pick-up? That was very, very wrong."

"Aww, come on, Shelly," George Jr. groaned and rolled his eyes as the young boy continued to swallow air and holler, just like he did every time he got into trouble. "That's enough."

Meemaw relaxed her pose and watched George Jr. as he forgot about his angry grandmother for a moment and consoled his little brother.

"You're gonna be fine. Meemaw loves us and forgives us. You're a good boy, Shelly." George Jr.'s dirt-stained fingers gently patted Sheldon's shaggy hair as he hiccupped and began to relax.

"Am I still your sidekick, Junior?" Sheldon asked, looking up with red-rimmed eyes. Meemaw's heart melted a little.

"You sure are. But no more adventures in the Batmobile anymore. When we go home we can play something else."

"Can we continue my research on electromagnetism for my paper?" Sheldon blinked the last of his tears away, watching his big brother expectantly.

"Er, sure." George Jr. turned and looked up at his grandmother as if just remembering she was there. "I'm really sorry, Meemaw. It will never happen again."

"Sheldon," Meemaw said, keeping her eyes on George Jr. "Run inside and go to the kitchen table. There's some dirty silver ready to be polished and a rag with your name on it."

"Yes ma'am," Sheldon said miserably, jumping up from the swing and disappearing inside. Not a minute later, the two people on the porch heard the young boy call out, "Meemaw, this rag does not have my name on it. Should I use it or search for another one with a monogram of my name?" He waited for a moment. "I'll just use this one." After a few seconds of silence, Meemaw shook her head and joined Junior on the porch swing.

"I know your father is a son-of-a-bitch, Junior. But you can't keep acting out every time he pisses you off."

"I saw him dangle Sheldon by the scruff of his neck today, Meemaw. Like he was some damn jungle cat."

"I know I cuss like a sailor, but watch your language, boy." She caught her grandson's eye and gave him a stern look for a few moments then winked.

"Sorry. I just had to get out of there. And take Sheldon with me."

"You're very protective by nature, Junior. Your heart is filled with good intentions. But you can't drag Sheldon with you every time you're in the mood to raise some hell. It's not good for him." They met eyes for a few heartbeats before they turned and watched the sky. After the call of a mockingbird in the tree right nearby, George Jr. spoke again.

"I feel like I was born with something bad inside of me." All was quiet for a moment and when he opened his mouth to say more, he was hushed by the feel of his grandmother's warm arms around him, squeezing tightly. He was going to ask her to ease up a little because his ribs were being crushed, but stopped when he heard her sniffle.

"There is not a bad bone in your body. You're a little hard-headed. And I see a future where you make mistakes, lots of them—we all do. But the love you have for your family, especially for Sheldon who needs you most, it trumps all. You are his big brother before anything else. Don't ever forget who you are, Junior."

"I won't, Meemaw," he said, returning her embrace. He patted her shoulder just like he had patted Sheldon's head moments before. "I won't."

Present day.

Penny balanced the tray with four plates of food and maneuvered through the busy dining room of the Cheesecake Factory, avoiding other wait staff balancing their own trays all throughout. She made it to her table and carefully set the tray down on the stand already set up for her. "Alright," she said cheerfully, grabbing the hot plates first. "Chicken fried steak drowning in white gravy for Bernadette."

"Thank you," her friend squeaked.

"Triple cheese pizza for Raj."

"Yum!" Raj rubbed his hands together as Penny set the plate down in front of him.

"A large chicken Caesar salad for Howard." She placed the large bowl down in front of Howard who smiled gratefully at her for a moment, never really meeting her eyes. Howard hardly ever made time to meet Penny's eyes these days. But she understood. She bit back the small ounce of sadness and reached for the last plate on her tray. "And last but not least, one barbeque bacon cheeseburger, barbeque sauce, bacon, and cheese on the side. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a special barbeque bacon cheeseburger. Because it's Friday. Not Tuesday." She placed the plate on the table and leaned in flirtatiously, waggling her eyebrows at her boyfriend. "Baby steps."

"I would hardly call this burger special being that I can tell you scraped the sauce off the bun, just like you do every time I order it, probably because you forgot to tell the cooks I like my barbeque sauce on the side, just like you do every time I order it. In order for this to be a special barbeque bacon cheeseburger, you would have to have actually gotten my order correct." Sheldon sighed deeply and looked down at his food with disappointment.

"I love you too, sweetie." Penny rolled her eyes. "Dig in, guys. I'll be back in a few minutes to check up on you." She winked at Sheldon who grudgingly rewarded her with a sideways smile before munching on a French fry. She turned around to go check on her other tables when two people who were standing at the entrance of the restaurant caught her eye. Her good mood was suddenly drained from her body and her heart palpitated.

Standing just twenty feet away was Leonard Hofstadter. He had a long, scraggly beard, similar to the one he sported when he returned from the North Pole over three years ago. The parts of his face that weren't covered by his beard were red from windburn. He eyed Penny with a complete look of loss and defeat. And right by his side was George Cooper, Jr. Penny figured that the cat was now officially out of the bag. "Oh, God," she muttered to herself, rooted to the spot. She didn't know if Leonard had come to make a scene so she was torn between walking over to him herself or calling for Sheldon. Seconds later, as if he heard her thoughts, Sheldon appeared by her side.

"Penny, I'll take care of this." He brushed his hand against hers before stepping in front of her.

"Did you know he was coming back today?"

"No, but it has been four months since his departure. It was only a matter of time that he would return." As soon as he finished speaking, Penny looked over his shoulder to see that Leonard was now headed straight for them with Junior tailing him closely, looking as though he was ready to subdue him at any moment. Not that it would be hard to do so, being that Leonard looked comically tiny next to Sheldon's brother. "Go back to the table with the others," Sheldon urged her quietly.

"No," she shook her head. "We're in this together. Always." She closed her eyes as Sheldon brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled warmly at her.

"Always," he echoed. Then he turned around and faced Leonard as he timidly walked up to the pair.

Penny shot a quick look over her shoulder and saw Howard, Bernadette and Raj staring right back at her with wide eyes. She swallowed and faced forward in time for Leonard to stop in front of them. "Leonard. I'm so glad you're home and that you're okay!" She hoped the sincerity of her statement overshadowed her dread that was plain to see on her face. She did not want to have this conversation in public. She knew that this would happen eventually, but she had foolishly hoped that she would be prepared for it.

"I'm home, yes," Leonard started carefully, eyeing both her and Sheldon warily. "But if I'm okay? That's debatable."

"I see you've met my brother," Sheldon said slowly, giving Junior a meaningful glare. "I'm glad you're home, Leonard." Penny looked up at Sheldon as the genuine sentiment left his mouth.

"Are you?" Leonard dared, one of his eyebrows perched high. The air became tenser and Penny bit her lip.

As the silence dragged on, Junior cleared his throat and stepped in. "Alright, guys. What do you say we take this outside? Penny's on the clock, we don't want her getting into trouble."

"I don't have much to say, so I want to get this off my chest now," Leonard said, his voice taut. He looked up at Penny before switching to Sheldon. Taking a deep breath, his face relaxed slightly. "Sheldon. Your brother told me everything. About what happened four months ago to you and him. I want you to know that I'm really sorry that all of that happened to you, in your past as well. I couldn't even begin to imagine what any of that was like for your growing up." He bunched his lips together as though it was hard for him to continue. "That being said, I understand that Penny was there for you during a very difficult time and what happened between you guys is not something I'm exactly thrilled about. But I have to know: is this for real?"

"What do you mean?" Sheldon asked, his own eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"I mean…" Leonard stopped and turned to look at Penny, right in her eyes. "Do you love him, Penny?"

Penny could shout her love for Sheldon from the rooftops any day of the week, any time of the year to anybody who would listen. She was over the moon, even months after they solidified their relationship, and totally enamored. But with Leonard's eyes pleading for her to say the opposite, to somehow admit that this was just a fling, a mistake, Penny felt her will crumble. She loved Sheldon and only Sheldon of course, but she didn't want to hurt anyone else, not after what happened with Amy. She realized she was taking awhile to answer and that Sheldon was now peering down at her with worry plastered across his features. She returned his gaze and took his hand, squeezed it reassuringly, and nodded at him. Then she looked at Leonard and faced her fears. "Yes, Leonard. I'm in love with Sheldon. The circumstances aren't ideal, and I will never ever forgive myself for hurting people in the process, but this is real." Her grasp on Sheldon's hand remained firm as he gave her fingers the tiniest of squeezes.

Every passing second seemed to be a bucket of cement poured onto Leonard's shoulders as he wilted under her words. "Are you happy?"

This particular question caused her eyes to water. Leonard had his faults, and he had his strengths. One of his strengths had always been, and would always be, making sure Penny was happy. She nodded as a couple of tears streamed down her face. "I am, Leonard. I'm happy. But nothing would make me happier than having you in my life, too. You are the greatest friend I've ever had. Please know that I will always love you. But I will understand if it's too much to ask."

Instead of answering her right away, Leonard turned to face Sheldon again. "This hurts me, Sheldon. This was not okay."

"You know me to be a man of pride, Leonard," Sheldon began. For a minute Penny thought he was going to coast right past an apology and she frowned. But then the softness of Sheldon's face shocked her. "But I will not stand here in front of you and insist that what I've done is right. I have betrayed our friendship, your trust. No violation of the Roommate Agreement or social convention will have to attest to that. I've come to this realization on my own. So I beg of you, for Penny's sake as well as my own, to forgive us. And I will spend as long as it takes to earn back any fragment of trust you could muster and show you that your friendship truly means a great deal to me, even though I may not deserve it."

By now, the patrons in the restaurant had stopped eating and turned to face the emotional confrontation in the center of the dining room, not just Howard, Bernadette and Raj. Penny couldn't care less; Sheldon's emotional plea to Leonard sent her over the edge, and her shoulders began to shake as she attempted to suppress her cries. She watched as Leonard turned around and looked at Junior, as if asking for help or for what he should do next. Then he looked back to Sheldon. Penny could see the shimmer in his eyes as well as emotion threatened to overcome him, too. "I can't guarantee things will ever be the same. And I have so many questions. I definitely don't give either of you my blessing." He cleared his throat and looked down. "But you both are my best friends, too. That's what makes it hurt so bad." He raised his head to look around Sheldon's shoulder at the table where his three other friends sat down. "I'm guessing they all know?"

"That is correct," Sheldon nodded.

"To be clear," Penny suddenly said, causing Leonard to look at her. "Nobody was happy about this. Howard is still fighting it tooth and nail. But everyone remains in agreement about one thing. We don't want to lose you, Leonard. Please."

They were all silent for a moment, Junior looking over the three of them with watchful eyes as Leonard mulled over her last statement. Finally, he sighed then walked past the couple. He took the empty seat at the head of the table and smiled at his friends as they expressed their happiness at finally seeing him again. It didn't reach his eyes, and it didn't come easy, but he smiled. And Penny would forever be grateful to see that look on his face.

Sheldon and Junior walked slowly to the table, where the former took his seat next to Raj, and the latter grabbed a chair from an empty table, placing it on the opposite end of Leonard. Penny wiped her tears with the back of her wrist, took a deep breath, and strolled over. She pulled out her notepad and pen and looked down at her dear friend. "What can I get you to eat, Leonard?" His eyes were glistening when he looked up at her and said nothing. Tears continued to fall down her face as she picked her hand up to wipe them again, when Leonard suddenly brought his hand up too and caught her fingers in his, squeezing them gently before placing a tender kiss on her knuckles.

Then he let her go.

"I've been living off of fish for way too long. I need a steak."

"Make that two," Junior chimed in before winking at Penny.

A few hours later, Leonard went out with Raj and Howard for a few 'Welcome Home' drinks and probably a little bit of Sheldon and Penny bashing, Penny had stayed behind to finish her shift, and Sheldon and Junior found themselves walking home together. The rain had finally cleared, but the sky was still smoggy, the stars hidden from view.

"The sky here in L.A. is just sad," Junior commented. He walked alongside his brother and jammed his hands in his pockets. "Times like this I miss Texas."

"I miss certain elements of home," Sheldon chimed in. "I miss Meemaw. And barbeque. And having land."

"You ever think you'll move home?"

"I misspoke," Sheldon said suddenly, turning to look at his brother. "I meant to say I miss certain elements of the place where I grew up. Home is where Penny is. So to answer your question: I'm already home." They smiled at each other, mirroring the other's lopsided grin. "Junior?"

"Hmm?

"What did you tell Leonard?"

Junior sighed. "I told him about the hell I've put you through since you were seventeen years-old. And that the only hope you had from pulling out of this situation alive was Penny. He didn't take it well at first. It doesn't take much to get his water working." He mimed crying, wiping his eyes with his fist. Sheldon chuckled. "He plans on moving out and is going to start apartment hunting tomorrow. He cares about you both, though. I think he'll come around eventually."

"What makes you so certain?" Sheldon asked, genuinely interested.

"You're worth it, Sheldon," he said simply, as if it were a scientific fact. The brothers stopped walking and Junior looked him in the eye. "You're worth coming around for."

And so they continued walking until they got home, said goodnight, and retired into their respective apartments.

When Penny got home, she was surprised to see that Sheldon had stayed up well past his bed time to wait for her.

He was determined to be awake to feel her snuggle up to him that night.

The End.