This fic was inspired by my lovely friends at FanForum. We were talking about how Leonard's become more comfortable around Penny over time, and about how she had to carry him to the water at the beach. So, the plot bunnies took hold and I wrote this. I also tried to make their conversations make sense in the context of the show as to when they would occur. Enjoy!

I do not own The Big Bang Theory. But how awesome would that be?

Penny couldn't help but smile as she entered the lobby. Leonard was taking the final few stairs before turning left to go to either the laundry room or the mailboxes. In recent weeks she'd been seeing more and more of his natural gait, the calm, relaxed walk that changed so rapidly whenever he saw her. Shoulders would hunch, head would cock and chin would rise and fall as they talked, and it was very obvious that he didn't know what to do with his hands, shifting them from at his sides to awkwardly held at ribcage level. But the more she saw him without seeing her, the more she saw the Leonard that was comfortable with whom he was.

But she couldn't avoid him noticing her eventually, and she didn't really want to. She headed over to the mailboxes, searching her purse for her key. "Hey, Leonard."

He jumped slightly, assuming the more awkward stance that she knew so well. "Hi Penny. How are you? How was work?"

"Eh," she said. "I mean, I'm okay, but work kinda…" she cut sucks the big one off, thinking that he might not understand or know how to respond. "…isn't so great. The whole minimum wage, uniform…bad tips sort of…thing." She hated how the sentence sounded, but Leonard simply nodded like he understood completely. He obviously was unaware that it was just as hard for her to talk to him as it was for him to talk to her – she may be the thin blonde girl, but intelligence was intimidating to pretty much everyone, and she mentally kicked herself every time she said something that sounded so grade school. "You know," she added, trying to make herself sound more in control of what she spoke.

"Yeah. Uh-huh," Leonard said. "So…how was dancing with your friends the other day? Wednesday," he added.

"Oh, good," Penny said, smiling when she recalled their unnoticed visit to Leonard's apartment. "We got tired of dancing, but found other ways to amuse ourselves." They turned from the mailboxes and headed for the stairs. "And that's not dirty."

"How would it…oh," Leonard said, turning red presumably from embarrassment. "Right."

"How were things with Howard?" she asked. "Did he take the Christy rejection well?"

"As well as could be expected," Leonard said. "Much like the atomic bomb being dropped, the outcry from Japan was understandable, but there was no mass retaliation; everyone pretty much understood the magnitude of…" he trailed off again. "Never mind."

Penny wanted to tease him about the atomic bomb being his go to example, but she held her tongue. Maybe she would come off as the idiot for not knowing enough about the subject. "Sheldon must have made your lives Hell when your little group was split up," she said.

He nodded. "It wasn't pretty."

"Sorry about that," Penny said. "If it happens again I'll play Halo with you guys."

Leonard smiled. "That would be fun. I think last time was good, really good. The teams were…they were definitely well balanced."

Penny smiled, knowing that he was trying to tell her that he wanted them to be teammates again. "I think so, too," she said, nodding. Leonard was looking at her as if trying to decide if he knew what she meant by that. "You know," Penny said, suddenly feeling bad for letting Christy stay over and throw off the routines of four men who clearly were used to things being a certain way, "I'm sure Sheldon was very difficult to live with while Christy was around. Let me make it up to you?"

"Penny, you don't have to…"

"No, seriously. Come to the beach with me and some friends this weekend. It'll certainly get you away from Sheldon."

"Oh." Leonard hesitated. "As nice as that always is…no."

Penny stopped on the stairs, not used to hearing that from the physicist. He took two more steps before realizing that she had stopped. "Why not?"

"I appreciate your offer," he said, "but…you know, there's lots of medical waste at the beach. Nasty stuff. I don't want to step on that. See me?" He held out a hand, palm down. "I'm pale. I don't take melanoma lightly, nor do I want to walk on medical waste at the beach." He cracked a nerdy grin in an attempt to keep the conversation light. "No big deal. Just me."

"Oh." Penny shrugged. "Alright, then. But the offer stands if you ever want to come with us."

"Eh…" Leonard looked uncomfortable. "I don't think so. But I'll keep it in mind.

"So you and Stephanie broke up, huh?"

Leonard looked up from where he was sitting, cross – legged, on his chair, comic book in hand. "You heard about that, huh?"

"I didn't have much of a choice," Penny said. "Sheldon is devastated."

"You don't think I am?" he asked. Penny cocked her head. "Okay, I'm kind of relieved," Leonard said. "It…it kinda takes the pressure off."

"Yeah, yeah, that's a good way to look at it," she said, nodding. Penny hesitated a moment more before moving over to the chair and sitting on the wooden one next to him. She put a hand on his knee. "Hey, remember what I said in the laundry room?"

"Yeah," he said bitterly. "So what? Am I supposed to go 'oh, yippee, this one wasn't meant to be!'? You've actually had relationships end before, haven't you?"

"Oh, sweetie," Penny said. "It's hard, I know. But think about it, now you can go look for the right person, right?"

He was silent for a few moments. "I guess." He looked up at her and smiled.

"You know," Penny said "I'm going to the beach with this new girl at work. I don't know her that well, but…"

"Penny, I don't really want to look for someone else right now. That last one kinda…" he smiled. "Kinda intimidated me."

"Oh, she's not intimidating," Penny said. "She's shorter than I am, and very shy. But it's her first week and she's new to the area, but…" Penny trailed off when she realized she was digressing. "That's not even my point. I'm not trying to set you up with her, it's a group of us going. Why don't you just come with us?"

"Penny," he said, "I don't go to the beach."

She gave a playful eyeroll. "You cannot be serious."

"Penny, the medical waste is not just a paranoia, it's a legitimate concern rooted in…"

"Yeah," Penny said standing up. "I have to be someplace." She grabbed his hand and squeezed it briefly. "I'll get you to that beach one of these days."

She looked at him as he smiled at her. "No, you won't," he said. "It's dangerous there."

"It is not," she said, laughing. "You'll see. Give me a year."

"I doubt it," he said, his tone now teasing.

"Just watch me. I'll get you there."

"That's what she said."

Penny and Leonard turned to see Howard standing in the door. He grinned, and then backed up a step. "Bad timing?"

"Always bad timing," Leonard told him.

"Okay," Penny said, marching into Leonard's apartment and smiling. "I read your stupid book."

"It's not stupid," Leonard said in a measured tone, not looking up from the table.

"Okay, fine, it wasn't. You win." She threw up her arms in mock annoyance, and then, noticing what he was doing, she cocked her head. "Are you playing Klingon Boggle by yourself?"

"I'm practicing. Sheldon's been kicking my ass."

"Ah." She came over and sat next to him on the couch, putting her head on his right shoulder and her arms around his neck. "So…" Leonard made an odd sound in the back of his throat. "I wasn't choking you, was I?"

"What? No." Leonard smiled at her. "I was trying to sound out this word."

She smirked. "So as I was saying, you went to see the psychic, I read your book…now it's your turn."

"My turn?"

"To do something for me."

He put his pencil and paper pad down. "Okay. What will I be doing?"

"We're going to the beach."

The smile faded from his face. "No."

"Leonard!" she whined. "Please? I love the beach!"

He sighed. "It's a health hazard."

"I'll carry you."

"What?"

Penny smiled. "I'll carry you to the water."

He cocked his head. "Is that supposed to make me want to go?"

"Well, if you don't go," she said, "then I'll be sad. You don't want me to be sad, do you?"

He sighed, looking down at the table, and then back to her. "Okay."

Her face brightened. "Really?"

He smiled. "Sure, why not? You told me after my relationship with Stephanie ended that it was time to look for the right person. Maybe you're the right person for me to go to the beach with."

"Aww!" Penny kissed him on the cheek. "Sounds like a plan, then."

He smiled back at her. "But my feet do not touch the sand, okay?"

She laughed. "Got it."

Also, I just realized that the woman I described in the second part could potentially be Bernadette. It wasn't my intention, but if you want it to be her, then go ahead and pretend it is. If you think she met Penny later than mid-season two, you can pretend it's someone else. :)

And remember, I *heart* reviews!