Disclaimer: I don't own "How I Met Your Mother" or anything related.
The bar was cold and still a little bit dark. Barney took a drag of his cigar—it had been expensive, but worth it—and slowly let the carcinogen-smoke escape from his lips in a sigh. He was alone at the table, for once. It was way too early in the morning for Ted or Marshall or Lily or anyone to be there. He was practically the only one in the bar.
Which was why he turned when he heard the door open. A brunette who looked too wide awake for that hour in the morning walked in. Robin. Just my luck.
He had meant to think it a lot more sarcastically than it ended up sounding in his head. He'd come to escape her, after all, to escape all of them for a while. Feelings were taking over his life; he needed to take a breather.
Robin automatically walked to their usual table, and Barney could tell by the startled look on her face when she saw him that she hadn't expected him to be there.
After a moment to pause, she slid in the booth opposite him. "What's wrong?" she asked, her voice low but not too serious.
He blew out another puff of smoke and offered her a cigar, ignoring her question. She took it and pulled a lighter out of her purse.
Watching her light it, his eyes tracing the path of her hands and the swing of her hair, he knew that his thoughts were far too Robin-centered again. He turned his head with deliberation, staring into space. A silence followed, not uncomfortably, but it lasted long enough that Barney had to glance up once or twice to check that Robin was still there. Suddenly he decided he didn't really want to be alone with his thoughts. He did need to take a break from Robin, but she wasn't going to leave anyway, and her company wasn't really all that bad…
He smiled at her, just a little quirk on the side of his lips that disappeared in a second and that really resembled the smirk he usually wore, but Robin noticed and smiled back before looking out a window. Barney followed suit, staring past the panes of glass to see the dimness of early morning that obscured everything it covered.
It must have been an hour before one of them said a word. An hour with no Feelings-charged air between them, no awkward attempts at conversation, no giggles from Marshall or Lily. An hour of just sitting with Robin.
Barney found he enjoyed that hour a lot more than he'd ever admit.