Of the five friends, he was the least likely to carry a picture in his wallet. He was the continuously unattached, shallow one. The flippant, decadent bachelor. There was no room in his designer leather wallet for traces of memories.
Ted had pictures of girlfriends, family members, friends, and pets long gone. Both Lily and Marshall had their wallets packed with pictures of each other and their friends. Even Robin had pictures of her dogs and a picture strip of when the five of them squished into a photo booth. He wasn't in the last one however, for the barista at Starbucks had been hot and had the skill to handle other hot things, if you catch my drift.
He did, however, have just one picture. It was squished far down in the leather folds, all crinkled and worn. The image though was still crystal clear. There he was, in one of his favorite Armani suits, with a drink in his hand, the other hand in his pocket, blond hair carefully styled, a smirk on his lips and one eyebrow raised in a 'come hither' fashion to Robin, who was taking the picture. And there was Ted. It was typical Ted in baggy jeans, an old band tee, an open button down shirt, hair all tousled and messy with a beer in his hand. And his other arm slung casually about Barney's shoulders.
Ted was smiling big and wide at Marshall, who was chugging a beer in the far corner of the apartment and being cheered on by Lily. That night, as Robin and Barney turned for the door to go home, Ted had seen them out. He gave Robin a hug and made one of his usual cheesy comments. Then he'd turned to Barney. "Night, Barney," he smirked. Then, without warning, his arms were tight around Barney. And he hadn't found any woman yet whose embrace could compare to what he had felt.
When Robin printed off the picture from that night, Barney had grabbed it off the table and slipped it into his wallet when no one was looking. And on nights like tonight, when the latest young, hot thing had left or was being left, he would pull it out. Whether he was sitting in his room all alone or heading out the door as fast as his legs could carry him.
Of the five friends, he was the least likely to carry a picture in his wallet. He did, however, have just one picture.