Marshall was awoken by a loud, harsh knocking at his door. He looked at the alarm clock, seeing that it was six in the morning. Too early to be up, he decided. However, when the knocking continued, he got up, his comforter sliding off his body. He was in a pair of sweatpants, and had no shirt on as he made his way over to the door.
He looked through the peephole and was surprised to see that it was Mary. He wasn't sure how he felt about her being there, just inches away from him. He hesitated to open the door. He would be lying to himself if he said the news of her engagement hadn't affected him.
Finally, Marshall opened the door, and before it was even open a crack, Mary pushed past him and made her way in.
"We need to talk," she said plainly, in her usual harsh tone as she stood there, pacing back and forth.
She seemed nervous, but Marshall had never known her to be nervous about anything.
"What about?" He asked cautiously.
"You start," she answered, refusing to meet his gaze. She honestly didn't know what she was doing there. She had felt an urge to see him, to talk to him, to know what the hell was going on with him. She felt like he was starting to slip away, and she would do anything to keep him by her side; even if it was just as friends.
"Okay. Why didn't you tell me about the engagement?" He struggled, not knowing what this little question would cause.
"I'm your best friend, aren't I? Why wouldn't you tell me something like this, Mary?" He asked. The question had been burning inside him ever since he found out on his own.
"Marshall, you know I'm not the marrying type. I didn't want anyone to know, not even you. Besides, I could barely choke out the words, anyway." She said with honesty as she rolled her eyes.
"Why not? I mean, most women who get engaged are ecstatic and let the whole world know. But you, you couldn't even tell me, your partner, and your best friend. After everything we've been through, you'd figure something like this would be trivial," he said going off on a mini-rant.
"Why are you interrogating me?" She demanded in her usual harsh tone, but continued in a softer tone, "Marrying should be about love. I love Raph, but I'm just not in love with him. He's safe… If I'm with him, I can still be your partner. If I lost him, I could deal with that. If I lost you-" she started choking up.
She wasn't crying, but she was having trouble trying to say something after that.
"I'm not going anywhere," Marshall replied. He wanted to hug her, and put his arms around her, but he wasn't sure how she would react. He didn't want to jump to conclusions. Instead, he settled for putting a hand on her shoulder.
She finally turned around to face him.
"I gave Raph the ring back," she finally admitted, biting her lip.
"Why?" He questioned, feeling his heart literally lighten from the ton it had been carrying for quite some time now.
"I couldn't go through with it. I was only trying to fool myself. I couldn't walk down the aisle towards Raph, when my heart belongs to someone else," she trailed off, looking into his eyes for something, anything that would give her a glimmer of hope that he felt the same way.
"And who might that be?" Marshall questioned.
"You're such a doofus," Mary replied, rolling her eyes as she turned around to stare blankly at a picture on the wall.
"You're the only thing I think about day and night. Dammit, you tore down every defense I had built up. You're-" she stopped, not knowing what to say. He was simply everything.
Of course it was Marshall; there was no doubt about it. Speaking of Marshall, he was too stunned to speak.
"How did you mean it when you said 'I love you'"? Mary asked, without turning around.
"What do you mean how did I mean it?" He asked, returning her question with one of his own.
"Marshall, you know what I mean," she said harshly. She was losing her patience.
Marshall hesitated, before he turned Mary around. They looked in each others' eyes for a minute, before he said, "I meant it like this."
With that, he crushed his lips to hers, with passion, want, need and impatience. The feelings they had kept hidden from each other were finally revealed. This was something they had both wanted, for far too long.