October 2010:

Barney strolled into MacLaren's with a young blonde on his arm. They were laughing loudly and Barney was talking to her the way he would only talk to a potential conquest. Robin knew that this would be uncomfortable. Even though Robin had broken up with Barney, she still didn't like seeing him with other girls this soon.

"Everyone, this is Claire." Barney announced proudly, motioning towards the blonde on his arm. "She's an exotic dancer." He winked. Robin tried not to throw up.

"That's a… nice job. I'm sure you meet some characters." Ted said, trying to make the situation less awkward.

No one else in the group seemed too happy to meet Claire but they at least tried to be nice. Robin seemed to be going out of her way to be rude.

"So Claire, you're a stripper? Did you choose that as a career because minimum wage is good for you or do you simply enjoy taking your clothes off?" Robin said, sneering. Claire just stared at her in shock. She turned to Barney, obviously looking for something to say.

"I hope she enjoys taking clothes off." Barney said, looking at Robin seriously. He could tell that she was doing this on purpose. Claire was just a random girl. She didn't deserve this from Robin.

Robin couldn't help but feel betrayed by Barney. They had only just broken up 2 weeks ago, but she hadn't imagined it being this hard. The feeling that she had was worse than anything she'd ever experienced. It was pure, uncontained jealousy. Was this the way Barney had felt back when she was casually sleeping with Ted? It was before they dated, but Robin understood why he had freaked out so much. This was torture. Claire leaned over to kiss Barney, playfully. Robin had to get out of the bar. She couldn't deal with this. As Barney and Claire slid closer in the booth, Robin got up to leave.

"I can't stay here." She said, trying to hide the tears that she could feel coming to her eyes. God, why did she have to care about this so much? This was Barney, after all… the Barney before their strange, too serious relationship. She should've known that he would go straight back to being this way. It was really all he knew.

Robin made eye contact with Barney for a quick moment. His expression was odd; almost sadness, or possibly guilt. Robin hoped that he felt terrible. She rushed out of the bar and started walking. The cold air hit her and she shivered, wrapping her arms around her self. She should've had enough sense to bring a coat, but this was a pretty unexpected trip. She had no idea where she was headed, but anywhere was better than here.

After Robin left everyone at the booth was silent. It was obvious that Robin was very upset. She could do something crazy if someone didn't go after her.

"I'm going to talk to her." Lily said, getting up from the booth.

"No." Barney said quickly. Seeing everyone's startled expressions he corrected himself. "I mean, uh, no. Let her go. She needs to get her frustration out. Why does this even bother her? She dumped me, remember?"

Lily started to snap at Barney but Marshall interrupted. "Dude, Robin's desperately afraid of commitment. I mean, she's worse than you are."

"Yea, I dated her too man. You guys were getting pretty serious, and that scared her. She had to run away." Ted said to Barney.

Claire sat silently next to Barney. Everyone had simply forgotten she was there. "Barney." Claire said. "I'm going to leave. It looks like you've got some things you really need to take care of."

Barney turned to look at Claire. "You're right. I'll see you around… I guess." Barney made a mental note to never go to the strip club she worked at again.

Claire left the bar.

"Thank God!" Lily exclaimed. "Now, Barney. Please go find Robin. She needs you right now."

Barney nodded, knowing that he was the only one who could help Robin. "Wish me luck. I'm really going to need it." Barney left the bar and hurried down the street. He had no idea where he was going. But something told him that this was where Robin had been.