A/N - I added the last bit a few weeks ago, completely forgot about it until reading this again just now :) Glad you've enjoyed these little stories, it was fun writing them! I don't know what I'll be publishing next but I'm working on stuff so… who knows. Out of interest, when reading these, when and where do people place these - Pasadena/Nebraska, the present/ten-ish years ago? Thanks for reading, enjoy this final little addition and I shall see you all… soon because I just can't leave Leonard and Penny writing alone. :)
Dates must be in crowded public places. You want romance? Read a book.
Penny opened the door to Leonard, smiling at him, her eyes twinkling. "Hey."
"Hey." Leonard smiled back at her.
As they always did, they leant in to give each other a quick kiss on the lips.
"Leonard, nice to see you. So, where you kids going tonight?" Wyatt asked, coming into the hallway from where he'd been waiting by the kitchen door.
Stepping inside and closing the door behind him, Leonard gave a small nod to Wyatt in greeting. "To the Italian place in town, sir."
"It's that one where you and mom-"
"Oh, that's very-"
"Romantic." Penny finished for her father quickly.
Meryl emerged from the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron. "Oh, Penny sweetheart, don't you look pretty. And Leonard, you're looking very handsome in that suit."
"Thank you." Leonard smiled nervously as Penny smoothed down her knee-length red dress.
"I just hope it's a busy night. Two youngsters in a place like that..."
"Come on Wyatt, Leonard's a perfect gentleman and our Penny knows how to behave now."
Penny rolled her eyes but she knew her parents had a point there. With Leonard, she didn't go to underage parties and come home drunk, to have her father tell off whichever guy had driven her home. Though to be fair, it's not as though she'd done anything more than share a kiss over a song with those guys. With Leonard, she'd gotten caught doing more than making out in the back of his car - her parents probably wouldn't be too happy about that. They were right about him being a perfect gentleman though - at least her first time had been in Leonard's bed, and a bed was more than she could say for most of her friends.
"Alright." Wyatt raised his brows. "You kids have a nice time, but nothing more 'romantic' than hand holding in that place. Don't let the dim lighting fool you into a sense of seclusion."
"Wyatt, they're not going to do what we did and-"
"Ooh, mom, I don't really think I want to hear this story." Penny held a hand up. "I'm fine with knowing that they asked you not to come back."
"Yeah, you're right." Meryl frowned in consideration, before turning to Leonard. "That was five years ago, though, we wouldn't do anything like that now."
"Oh, don't bring Leonard into your crazy antics." Penny begged. "He already gets enough of that from Bridge and Scott."
"That's true." Meryl and Wyatt agreed in unison.
"Yeah..." Penny looked at the ground thoughtfully. "They really don't set a great example of this family..."
"Oh, that's okay, my family don't exactly set the best example for 'family' either." Leonard shrugged.
"Also true." Penny nodded, before grinning up at him. "Though your mom sure got a surprise when I-" she stopped suddenly, biting down on her lip, deciding that perhaps finishing her sentence with walked into the kitchen in just your t-shirt because I thought she wasn't home wasn't the best idea in front of her parents.
Meryl raised her eyebrows expectantly and Wyatt cleared his throat.
"My mom's just... not very familiar with me or my siblings having friends round, especially of the opposite sex, for non-academic reasons." Leonard finished for Penny. "She's a very peculiar person."
"Non-academic reasons," Meryl muttered, smirking.
"Shut up." Penny mumbled.
"It was just a bit of a shock for mother to see me reading a comic book and Penny the latest issue of Vogue in the kitchen instead of a text book." Leonard nodded awkwardly.
"Of course."
"Either way, just... behave yourselves. There is a barrier between romantic in public and romantic in private." Wyatt stated.
"You're really not making this situation any better, Dad." Penny shook her head.
"Oh, you know what I mean."
"Yes, sir."
"Yes, Daddy."
The four of them stood awkwardly in the hallway for a moment, the girls biting back grins and the guys looking down at their shoes.
"So, anyway, have a lovely time, the two of you." Meryl said eventually.
"We will." Leonard and Penny immediately responded.
Leonard shook his head as Penny bit her lip again. "I mean, uh, thank you."
After saying a quick goodbye, they left the house, both of them releasing deep breaths once the door was shut.
"Your parents are still away on that trip, right?" Penny asked, taking Leonard's hand as they walked down the path towards his car.
"Yeah." Leonard nodded. "Why?"
"Because I'm wearing a red dress, and I have a red nightie for later. That's my contribution to the romantic evening."
"A nightie?" Leonard raised his brow at her.
"Okay, I know, but I didn't know what to do so I asked Bridge and that's what she suggested, and then she had to buy it for me because I was too scared to go in there and... it does count as romantic, right?" Penny stopped to look at him, suddenly worried that perhaps this was too much and Leonard had been expecting something different when he suggested they do something romantic.
Leonard chuckled, before leaning in to kiss her. "Yeah," he grinned, opening the passenger side door for her. "I suppose it does."