The lean blonde casually rested his forearm on the doorframe, peering into the room before him with mild interest. His eyes gleamed with traces of wistful youth as he focused on two teens sprawled across an expensive, but worn sofa; they reminded him of his own attitude back in the day. The man calmly blinked a few times, then made up his mind to enter. The dark-haired (although graying) man inside paid him no notice, engrossed in his own story as he lectured his children. Placing a fist to his mouth and fighting back a chuckle at the obvious boredom of the kids, the blonde was silent. He stopped moving forward and leaned once more against the wall, amiably balancing his weight from hand to hand. Not wanting to interrupt, he remained standing here: at the very edge of the room, where the shadows rendered him practically invisible. In fact, the man took pride in his skill to move undetectably; Barney had always liked magic.

As the graying man enthusiastically launched into another tale, Barney watched his young niece and nephew groan with annoyance. A grin flitted across his cheeks. Oh, Ted. You haven't changed one bit. He still wasn't used to being called their uncle – although, he had to admit, he certainly was a cool one. The coolest, in fact. No one else had dressed up as Santa and hidden inside the chimney when they were toddlers on Christmas. Of course, Ted had almost had a heart attack, but still. There were presents. Now, they were grown – almost adults – and receiving the painful, almost excruciating details of how they had come to be. Barney, of course, thought this was hilarious. He listened in for a little while, noting the glee on Ted's face as he relived his glory days. Suddenly, an awkward pause settled over the room at the end of a tale and Ted brought his attention back to the present. He glanced over his shoulder and gave a small jolt of surprise as he noticed Barney in the corner for the first time. Eyes meeting, blue to brown, the two friends shared a nod as they both mentally filled the gap in the story.

Ted continued to speak, the story's skip in time going unnoticed by his exhausted children. It was a part of the past he'd rather not relive.

Barney eased his fond gaze away from the group and twitched the corners of his mouth in remembrance.

Pellets of rain stung Barney's face as he dashed down a deserted New York street, clutching a small object. His fingers pressed it so tightly into his palm that jolts of pain shot through it, but he didn't notice. There would be an imprint in the skin there later. His suit had torn open in the wind and fluttered behind him like a pair of dark wings. Barney nearly slipped and fell on the wet grates of a sewer; he frantically regained his balance, but didn't look back. Panting heavily in frustration, he forced himself to continue. He hadn't expected it all to come down to this.

One Week Earlier

"Get ready, Ted, 'cause I have a surprise and it's NOT my next Halloween costume!" Marshall announced as his friend approached the booth. Ted's eyes sparked, but his face remained uninterested. "A puppy?" he suggested.

"No." Marshall's face fell. "That would've been sweet."

Ted snickered. "But guess where we're going next Friday?" his friend lilted, face frozen in the moment. Ted stared at him for a few seconds until he realized a response was expected. He sighed. "Where are we going this Fri—"

"We're making beer!" Marshall exploded. He raised his hands in conveyed excitement and held them there as Ted raised his own. "No way! We've wanted to try that for years! How did you-" Ted was interrupted again as Marshall yelped in surprise. A hand had appeared from beneath the table and clutched the wood as it began to drag the rest of its body up. Marshall leaned away from the hand in disbelief as Barney clumsily rose up next to him and straightened his tie.

The man brushed himself off without a glance at his company. "What up?" he greeted, cocking his head. He was met by stares.

"How did – how –" Marshall gestured to the table, unable to form his question. He placed his hand on his chin. "WHY?"

Barney rolled his eyes. "I was waiting for you guys and I fell asleep," he explained nonchalantly.

"Under…the table." Ted pointed out. Sometimes he tried to understand his friend, but Barney always managed to leave him stumped.

"Yeeeesss," Barney replied slowly, raising his eyebrows and gesturing to the table. "That's what this is called, Ted. And this is a booth. And this is –"

"Got it, Barney," Ted's muffled voice sounded from beneath his hands.

Barney shot him a side glare. "And this is me showing you how it's done" He raised his fingers to his lips and whistled, catching the attention of a wandering girl at the bar. She beckoned him over and he obliged, flicking Ted's face as he passed.

Marshall snickered as Ted pressed his hand to his cheek. "Ow," he muttered grumpily. "Really?"

"Face it, man," Marshall laughed, pointing to the bar. Barney had already reached first base as he openly pressed his face against the girl.

Ted rolled his eyes. "Dude, are we really inviting Barney to this beer-making thing? He's been acting more... irritating than usual," he sighed.

"I was just gonna ask you…" Marshall shifted uncomfortably. "I invited all of our friends from college, so it's just gonna be a bro party. A bro beer party!"

"Barney won't want to come to a party with no girls," Ted spat out, but he knew it wasn't true. Barney loved hanging out with them; sure, he didn't always show it, but it was a well-known fact that he depended on their friendship to get him through this stage of his life. But did they want to deal with him tagging along and ruining all their plans…?

Marshall's eyes screamed warnings as Barney made his way back to his seat. "Totally just scored her number! Hi fi-…what?" he sneered, noticing their disgusted looks. Ted focused his gaze to match Marshall's, starting a psychic conversation.

Barney'll get mad if you don't invite him.

Marshall pouted. But he'll scare all our friends away!

I don't want him there either! You handle this!

"Guys?"

Say something!

"Earth to bros?"

It's YOUR party!

"Okay, so I ended up on the floor. I'm a rough sleeper."

But…I'm scared, Ted!

"Tired five?"

Dammit.

"So what's this I hear about a beer party?"

Giving up on the battle to win their attention, Barney tilted his head back and began to fake-snore. Ted glared at Marshall until he broke the silence. "Um…Ted?"

Ted scowled, and Barney opened one eye. "I think it's your line, Ted," he whispered.

Ted's gaze moved to fix on his smirking friend. "Um…yeah. It's next weekend. You can come if you want to but you don't…"

"Cool!" Barney instantly brightened, cutting Ted off for the third time. "But may I suggest one little modification…?" Ted slammed his forehead down in shame. Marshall was going to be annoyed, but Barney was still his friend.

Marshall blinked and bit his lip. "No offense, man, but I'm keeping the party the way it is! It might be the last one I get to throw before I'm married."

"Oh. Oh okay, that's cool too." Barney glanced down in submission. "Or-"

Ted glared sternly at him. "Can you please not ruin this one? Please?" He felt a pang of guilt as he saw Barney wince.

"How could the Barnacle ruin…" he trailed off at the looks on his friends' faces. "Fine…no karaoke?" he tried.

Marshall and Ted shared another glance, and Barney scrunched up his face in defiance. "Really? REALLY?! I thought we were bros! Don't you guys trust me?" he argued. "Fine. I'll be normal at your party. Or whatever passes for normal with you people." He pouted and rose from the booth. "But this party is going to be LA—wait for it—ME. LAME." He stalked away from the two gaping men only to spin around and rush back. "Hah, if you pronounce it different it says 'Lay me'—"

"I thought you were leaving?" Ted leered. He was getting sick of the jokes. Couldn't Barney act his age for one night?

Barney frowned. "Ted, I'm serious. That line might work." He dipped his head. "And I am leaving! I'm angry!" He stormed away for the second time, cursing under his breath. Barney was tired of not being liked by his friends - his BEST friends. It wasn't fair…after all, he was awesome... They were all he had in the world, but they just didn't seem to get it. He didn't mean as much to them. All he wanted was to mean something... He walked briskly, fuming with rage. All he wanted was to be important to them. Barney halted outside the bar and snapped his fingers in realization. He was forgetting something.

Ted and Marshall, meanwhile, continued discussing their party plans. "Is he okay?" Marshall asked, concerned. Ted sighed and raised his eyebrows.
"Yeah, he's—" he paused to stare as Barney dashed back through the door, pointed with two fingers from his eyes to theirs, grabbed the wrist of the girl from earlier and dragged her back outside.

Ted crossed his fingers as Marshall stifled a giggle. "Marshall, you better hope he listens…"