Penny's POV
I also had a surprise for Brian, I knew he was going to like it. I had mixed feelings.
The day after the surprise engagement party, we slept in, skipped breakfast and went out to lunch.
"So how does it feel to be engaged to Synyster Gates?" He asked.
"It feels pretty good, I do love a bad boy! Does this mean I get to have a stage name too?” I winked at him.
"Yep, you're Penelope Gates." He used a goofy voice and made a crazy face.
"One of these days Haner!" I shook my fist at him. He threw his head back and laughed. "Seriously, I have something to tell you."
"Uh oh, that sounds ominous." He said.
"I am pretty sure you are going to like it. Do you remember the cuts at my work?"
"Yes, aren't they supposed to be at the end of this month?"
"In less than two weeks. Thing is, I am one of the people being cut." I watched his face for a reaction. He didn't seem very surprised.
"I'm sorry for your sake, I know you loved your job and you had worked there a long time. As for me, I'm pretty happy about it."
We finished lunch and went home.

We decided to take a swim and relax by the pool. We were lying next to each other on a large lounge chair, both having a beer and enjoying time together.
"Was Bianca cut too?" Brian asked
"No, actually she is going to be assuming a lot of my responsibilities. They sort of merged our two positions."
He looked at me and almost had a grin on his face. "Wow, sounds like it could have went either way. That must have been a tough decision for the company."
"I'm sure it was, but you know in the end Bianca still has a job. I am glad for her."
"She should be really glad, not only because she still has a job." Brian said.
"Well yeah, she has Wane and a new house. She has a lot to be thrilled about." I said.
"And she has a friend who gave up her job to make sure Bianca got to keep hers."
"What? How do you know that? Not even Bianca knows that!"
"Relax Penz, you told me after my Birthday party when you were drunk."
"I did?"
"Yes, it was really comical. You told me not to tell Brian." He started laughing hard.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked.
"I knew that you would tell me about your job when you were ready. I also want you to know that I think what you did for Bianca was amazing. I understand exactly why you did it. I would have never thought you did it to mooch off of me. But..."He paused as if he were carefully considering what he was going to say. "I wish you hadn't tried to keep it from me. We're supposed to share everything."
"I'm sorry, I just didn't want you to think that..."
"Think what Penny? Think that you trusted me? That you were finally ready to let me take care of you like I've wanted to?" He was getting angry.
"I'm sorry Brian, you know how I am. I thought you'd be happy that I wasn't going to work anymore."
"I am happy that you are leaving and I am glad you did that for Bianca. It's what I would have encouraged you to do in the first place, if you had just talked to me."
"I didn't lie to you, it did come down to Bianca and me. It could have gone either way; all I did was do what you wanted me to do months ago!"
"I just don't understand why you kept it a secret from me. Actually I do know why, it's your stubborn pride. Penny, I've never tried to control you or keep you from being who you are. But I have always asked you not to keep things from me."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you mad. I'll work on not letting my pride keep me from telling you things."
"Open and honest, from now on?" He asked.
"Yes."
"Then who hit you?"
"What?" I was caught off guard.
"Who hit you? You said when you were drunk that someone hit you."
"Brian, I don't want to talk about it. That is not about pride, it's about my past and things I don't speak to ANYONE about. Even my family knows not to speak of it. Either you respect that or the wedding and everything else is off!"
I ran to my art studio and locked myself in. I sat on the floor hugging my knees and cried. I wanted to tell him, I wanted to talk to him, but I couldn't. It wasn't about pride; it was about survival.

Brian's POV
I'm not sure what just happened. I didn't mean to go off on Penny about the work thing and I certainly didn't mean to bring up the hitting thing again. Penny had locked herself in her art studio. I had to make a phone call.
"Hello"
"Hi Tess, it's Brian"
"Hi Brian. Is there something wrong, is Penny okay?"
"I'm not sure, she's locked herself in her studio. I need your help; I need to know what happened to Penny in the past. Who hit her?"
There was a very long pause. "Why do you think someone hit her?"
"She told me when she was drunk once and she won't talk to me about it."
"I think you should respect that she doesn't want to talk about it, Brian." Tess said very seriously.
"What the hell happened to her?"
"Look Brian, it was a very long time ago. She won't even talk to me about it and hasn't talked about it since..."
"Since when?" I asked.
"Since it was all over. Look Brian, she loves you and she has trusted you and opened up more of herself to you than she has anyone else. I hope that someday she will be able to talk to you about it. I think that will be good for her and I think if she will talk to anyone it will be you."
"So tell me what happened and I will be ready."
"I can't Brian, it's not my place and I have been sworn by my sister not to speak of it to anyone. I have to respect that. It's not about wanting to keep it a secret, it's about protecting herself. The fact that she even mentioned it to you when she was drunk is a huge step. Please don't push her about it, let her talk to you about it when she is ready. If you really love her, you will back off of it for now. Please Brian."
"Okay Tess, let's not tell her we had this talk okay?"
"I was going to suggest the same thing. Just love her and know that she loves you."

After getting off the phone with Tess, I had to collect myself for a minute. I know that Penny has let me closer to her than anyone else has. Jay even told me that she was always determined never to rely totally on him. She wanted to make sure she was self-sufficient and able to take care of herself. He said he was surprised that she had let herself become as dependent as she had with me. I still think she could have been upfront with me about the job, but I also understand that to her it had to be her decision.
As far as the other goes, Tess was right. It was obviously something very traumatic and still very hurtful, pushing her to tell me would just hurt her more. I decided I wouldn't pressure her about it and be here if she is ever ready to talk about it.
Now the hardest part, getting her out of that room. I got up and turned around to go to her and she was standing there looking at me. It was obvious she had been crying and she had the saddest look on her face that I had ever seen.
"Baby, are you okay?" As soon as I had the words out of my mouth, she ran to me and hugged me. She held on to me tight and I did the same back.
"I'm sorry I pressured you. I won't do it anymore, but I am here if you ever want to talk about it." I felt her tension ease a little after I said that. But she still didn't speak. "Penny, can you speak to me?"
"I'm sorry." She said very softly.
"It's okay. I understand why you wanted to make that decision about your job on your own. It just hurt that you didn't include me. I'm sorry I was a jerk."
"Do you still want to get married?" She asked.
I broke the hug enough that I could lift her chin to look at me. "Of course I do. You are my soulmate."

The engagement wasn't a secret to the public very long. Apparently, someone saw us in the restaurant and took pictures of us holding hands with Penny wearing her engagement ring. That took care of that.
Penny ended up staying on at work until the end of August and we had some other shows to do. Finally, in September we were able to start nailing down some details for the wedding. Penny had a dress designed and made especially for her. We picked out flowers, hired a caterer, ordered our cake, made flight and hotel arrangements for everyone, decided on vows and planned the ceremony. We sent out invitations to the small guest list and tried our hardest to keep the details a secret from the press. That really wasn't easy, there were eyes everywhere. Sketches of Penny's dress even leaked onto Social Media before it was even finished. Of course the funny thing was that multiple pictures and sketches claimed to be of her dress and the one that was actually correct was mostly dismissed as fake. They were thinking white...they didn't know my Penelope well enough. She was going to be purple from head to toe.
The holidays were a blur, so much to be thankful for and to celebrate. Soon it was January and all was in place. Soon Penny would be my wife.

Notes