Penny didn't know what was waiting for her once she got Clementine's message, or her subsequent text. She had been to the house a time or two. She hadn't cleaned, she hadn't wanted to move a thing. She hadn't wanted to change anything in case everyone came back home needing to find it exactly as it had been. She had cried there, all on her lonesome, feeling the sting of being lonesome, and without her family. A cousin she had missed something fierce after they'd grown apart by life and circumstances, had been back in her life. A baby she'd looked after time and time again, been up nights with, and loved on like the auntie she'd always wanted to be able to be. She'd had thoughts in her mind of watching Joy grow up and being close like she'd always wanted to be with someone, she'd never had aunts like she'd read about or seen on TV. No older sisters. Nothing like that. She'd tried with Jake when he was small, but she'd gone and failed at that too real well.
He was gone with the rest of them, last thing she heard from him was how he hated her and her heart ached over it.
These were the thoughts she had as she put herself into Field Surgeon mode, and washed herself up a little, even putting a scrub shirt on over a pair of jeans, just because she didn't know what was about to happen. She grabbed her kit, med bag, and stepped out of the front door with a "be good" to Frannie, and walked the few, real long, steps over to the door on the other side of the porch.
She let herself in, didn't look around, couldn't look around, but smelled the coffee, and saw Clementine. She set her stuff down, poured herself a cup, wordlessly, and joined Clementine, sitting down next to her on the couch. Well next to her was putting it lightly, she was sitting tucked in real close and wrapped her arm around her waist and tucked herself in even closer her chin resting on her shoulder. Lonely was the understatement of the century, and maybe it wasn't a greasy diner, but the catastrophe that was about to burst through the door and upset their plans (once again) hadn't reared its ugly head just yet. So she sat there tucked in for just a second.